My Dougie can rawk a camera...

These were taken during the recent MONSOONS

(Click on the images to see full screen)

Resquiat in pacem

Doug's grandmother passed away early this morning. She will be very much missed.
Her name is Hazel and she lived a wonderful 95 years. She is mother to four, grandmother to eight, and great grandmother to seven. She was much loved by her very devoted family.
Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and may Perpetual Light always shine upon her.

May the soul of Hazel Creamer rest in peace.

Menu Plan Monday

I'm really digging the idea of "cooking once and eating twice." It makes busy weeknights so much easier and is a great help to the budget!
Here's my feeble attempt at it again this week!

Monday: Tacos on homemade whole wheat tortillas. Will make a double batch of ground taco meat. Also, a double recipe of tortillas will go towards lunches this week.
Here's a tip: Use 1 TBS. chili powder, 2 tsp. ground cumin, 1 tsp. dried oregano per pound of meat for a great taco seasoning...much better for you than the packaged stuff-NO MSG!

Tuesday: Turkey breast in the crockpot with roasted veggies.

Wednesday: Mexican stuffed peppers and garden salad. Extra taco meat from Monday will be mixed with fresh corn, black beans, salsa, cilantro, and topped with queso fresco. It will all go into the crock to cook slowly and it will be ready when we are.

Thursday: Turkey panninis and fresh fruit. Left over turkey breast from Tuesday, swiss cheese, tomato and homemade sprouted wheat bread for our sammies!

Friday: Easy spinach quiche using fresh yard eggs. Served with fruit left over from Thurs.

Saturday: Homemade pizza using my artisan bread in five minutes a day sponge. Literally I can take out some dough, flatten it out, top it and have it on the table in less than 30 minutes!

Sunday: Breakfast for dinner using more yard eggs.

A strange noise from above!

I was sitting on the back porch early this morning sipping a cup of hot tea and enjoying the view across the field. I kept hearing this crazy tap-tapping and figured that one of the neighbors must be doing a project using some strange gadget or something! I finally went out to the garden to check on my plants and realized the sound was coming from ABOVE! We have the most beautiful mama woodpecker making her nest in the telephone pole on the property! John Paul and I sat out there for the good part of the morning just watching her:

Welcome new neighbor!

Edited to add:
Upon further research on our new neighbor we found our "she"
is actually a HE!
Read more about the Red-Bellied Woodpecker here.

Trellis time

Doug and the boys got out the power tools today and made some trellises for the garden.
They measured lengths of 1X4's:

Split them down the center:

Measured off every four inches and mitered the ends:

Hammered in nails on those four inch marks and tied twine
to make an inexpensive but very effective trellis.

Soon, cucumbers, spaghetti squash, cantaloupes, and honeydews
will be climbing UP instead of OUT!

Fresh flowers on the cheap!

Spring is definitely in bloom in south Texas!

All it took was a short car ride around some back roads

to get our fill of fresh and FREE flowers.

Table project - COMPLETE!

I took advantage of the beautiful weather yesterday and had the boys haul my school surplus table out to the backyard for its makeover.

It took two cans of Kilz to cover up years of U.G.L.Y.

But...

...now I have a beautiful new entry table for a grand cost of $12!

My little pyromaniacs!

Since we had all that rain this weekend, we figured now would be a really safe time to light up our "burn pile". All that fire and smoke brought out every kid in the neighborhood and everyone had to toss something into the pile!

Hey, who forgot to bring the marshmallows?

Menu Plan Monday

This week I thought it would be fun to do some double duty meals. That means cooking one night to have enough food for two dinners...we'll see if it saves time in the long run! I'm also mixing up a double batch of 5 minute artisan bread for the fridge to use with meals all week long.

Monday: Shredded bbq pork sandwiches served with roasted cauliflower. We had roasted pork loin Sunday night and it made enough for two meals. I'll just heat it up, shred it and pour on the sauce!

Tuesday: Meatloaf with salad. Will make a double batch of meatloaf and serve one, the other one will be used on Thursday's meal.

Wednesday: Roasted chicken and vegetables. Will use chicken carcass and left over veggies to make a delicious stock for Friday's meal.

Thursday: Stuffed peppers in the crockpot. Will grind up the meatloaf from Tuesday and combine with brown rice and tomato sauce. Stuffed bell peppers will go into the crock and simmer all afternoon.

Friday: Matzo ball soup made with delicious bone broth from Wednesday.

Saturday: Homemade pizza using 5 minute artisan bread for the crusts.

Sunday: What ever Doug decides to grill!

Have a blessed Divine Mercy Sunday!

Today is Divine Mercy Sunday!
We are so blessed that our church is devoting the day to prayer, confessions, and a special service to include the Divine Mercy Chaplet at 3pm (so that's where we'll be spending most of our day!)
O Blood and Water, which hast gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a Fount of Mercy for us, we trust in Thee.

Ummm...we got a bit of rain today...

My weekend DIY project

I had ducked into the thrift store for a quick browse and found this beauty for a STEAL at fifty bucks! I've wanted a china cabinet ever since I had china to put in one!
I'm hoping for a break in the rain this weekend so I can paint it, although I'm not sure what I want to do just yet! Maybe a high gloss black, maybe a cool crackle finish, oooooh maybe a flat black finish and highly distress it....decisions, decisions!
Leave a comment and tell me what you think I should do!

Speaking of eggs...

We have a mama cardinal nesting in a trellis right outside our kitchen window!
I just love watching her feather her nest and sitting on her eggs. I think she enjoys watching all of us, too! I can't wait until her babies hatch!
We keep the bird feeders and bird bath full...just for her.

She even tolerates the children running in and out of the house right next to her nest. Plus, she cleans up all the Junebugs that end up on the sidewalk overnight.

I hope she and her babies stay around a long time!

Fresh yard eggs

It's what's for breakfast!
I found a farmer here in town that sells totally organic free range eggs for two bucks a dozen...you can't buy them in the stores for that price!

Rich orange yolks that stand up over an inch high...

Scrambled up for hungry country boys...

Or as John Paul likes to say...

"Straight from the chicken's butt to your plate!"
Guess you can't get much fresher than THAT!

A Texas Tea Party!

It was so awesome to see so many like minded people in one place...true patriots!
All of us "right wing extremist terrorists" sang our national anthem, prayed, and stood together to let Washington know that we are outraged at their actions. There was no violence, no pushing or shoving, everyone was courteous and kind, and a real bond existed among us.
If preservation of the ideals of our founding fathers makes me a terrorist...then so be it.