Seedlings

My seeds have sprouted! All but the parsley, maybe it just takes longer than the others I hope, otherwise I will have to start over on that one.

Now I am really itching for a yard and a garden. I even get kinda pouty when I think about it. Hope you all are having a happy spring!

A Day With the Woolies, and Al the Llama

Yesterday was shearing day. Anyone who knows me will know that the sheep are not my favorite critter on earth, and poor John who gets sucked into helping actually "hates" them. Well I thought I would take the opportunity to take some pictures since I didn't have that pressing of a job to do.

Help, I don't want to go in there!


Before and After. I am always amused how they don't recognize each other after they have been sheared.


The shearer hard at work


Max taking a snooze in the sunshine


Smudge taking a break from playing


Trimming the llamas feet
I thought this might be the exciting "western" part of the day, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I had imagined it might be.


Al was not a happy camper




How many people does it take to hold down a llama?

Garden Update

I got my seeds yesterday and planted 2 of everything. I hope they sprout soon and then I will start taking pictures of there progress. Planting those few seeds made me itch for more though. I think I am going to start my compost bin this afternoon when it thaws out some. I read this article that said they built a compost bin out of pallets and then when it was full, they dug out a 5 gallon sized whole and filled it with potting soil and then planted a squash plant right in the potting soil. I think I will give it a try. Maybe with a cucumber and a squash plant? Plus it said that with a live plant in the pile it helps it to break down better by giving it more oxygen in the soil as well as consistent water. Even if it doesn't work it should help me have some good compost when my real garden beds get built.

Dinner

I made the best sandwiches for dinner last night! Not the healthiest but very good and they are made with Johns 3 favorite ingredients; worchesthershire sauce, tobasco, and Lawry's! I have to give the credit to Ree from www.thepioneerwoman.com Very easy and very good! I used a round steak instead of cubed, just cuz thats what I had in the freezer and I cooked it quite a bit longer before I added the rest of the ingredients. I didn't take any pictures of it but you can get it from her website! Enjoy!

The Marlboro Man Sandwich
Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 15 Minutes Difficulty: Easy Servings: 4

Ingredients
1 whole Large (or 2 Small) Onions
2 sticks Butter (lots And Lots Of Butter)
2 pounds (to 3 Pounds) Cube Steak (tenderized Round Steak That's Been Extra Tenderized)
Lawry's Seasoned Salt (or Similar Seasoned Salt)
½ cups (approximately) Worcestershire Sauce
Tabasco Sauce, To Taste
4 whole French/deli Rolls (earthgrains Are Best!)
Preparation Instructions
Slice onions and cook in 1/4 stick butter until soft and light brown. Remove and set aside.
Slice cube steak against the grain. Season with Lawry’s.
Heat 2 tablespoons butter over high heat (in same skillet) until melted and beginning to brown. Add meat in single layer. Cook one side until brown, then flip and cook until brown, about a minute on both sides.
Add 1/2 cup (at least) Worcestershire sauce, 5 to 6 shakes Tabasco, and 2 tablespoons butter. Add cooked onions. Stir to combine.
Butter halved French rolls and brown in skillet.
To assemble, lay bottom half of French roll on plate. Place meat mixture, followed by a spoonful of juice from the pan. Top with other half of roll, cut in half, and devour!

22 Weeks

Well here it is! But don't get used to the pictures, I hate pictures of myself, even on skinny days, which I haven't had in awhile and I fear I will never have again. Ok, maybe that was a little dramatic!

Gardening

So I just ordered some seeds today, and I can't wait for them to get here so I can get them started. I just ordered herb plants for now. Since we don't have a yard, or a garden, or proper gardening soil I will just be planting them in planters for this year. We are going to have to haul in dirt to build gardens with here since we live on a big solid piece of horrible clay. Hopefully this fall we can get some of the yard semi ready for next spring, but for now we have to concentrate on getting the inside finished.
But for this year, I have ordered oregano, parsley, summer savory, basil, and cilantro for my Italian herb garden. And I ordered chamomile, lemon bee balm, and stevia for my tea herb garden. I have a friend that is giving me starts of peppermint, chocolate mint, and spearmint as well. I am going to look in town for some planters. We will see how long this little amount of gardening will pacify me. I think I have an addiction. I always want more. I can't wait to get established garden beds at our house. I think I will have to try to contain myself and stick to these herbs and a couple of tomato plants for now, but next year will be a whole different story.

Kitchen Chaos

Well now that the weather is slowly starting to come around I am dying to get started on the house again. We would like to get the main floor semi finished before John goes back to work after breakup. I have high hopes but realistic expectations. So in the meantime I am going through the basement (our current pad) and trying to make it more homey. Mostly trying to make the kitchen, and I use this term lightly, easier to use. Let me tell you about our kitchen, it is currently located in our future mud room. It consists of a stove, our dining room table is currently functioning as our only counterspace, and some shelves that I moved around yesterday. We have to use the bathroom sink. Luckily it is a utility sink so there is room to do dishes in it. The refrigerator and deep freezes are located in our current "living room." When we moved I had boxes of food, that got piled high, like everything else we own. So yesterday I decided to get these boxes out and use them up. After moving shelves around and trying to make some sort of pantry space, I realized that because all this food had been boxed up, I had bought more of the same. Rolling my eyes at myself, and my ridiculously low amount of storage space I realized that I had 3 bottles of worcestersire sauce, 2 huge bottles of ketchup, 2 cases of chili (which only John eats, I think it looks like canned dog food) and two one pound containers of garlic salt. For someone that has very little space I somehow managed to get stocked up on things that take forever to get used up. Did I mention how excited I am to have a real kitchen?