Meet Layla

Meet sweet Layla!

Y'all, the LAST thing I needed on this earth was to take care of another living creature, 

but here we are!

This sweet girl was destined to be with us, 

here is her story.

We go to church in a very small town, and on the way there, we pass some trailer houses.  A long time ago, I noticed this little dog who was chained to the end of one of the trailers. 

Over time, her owners encircled the end of the trailer with cattle panels and plywood.  This poor little puppy only had a 4X8 space to live.  When we would drive by, sometimes I would see that she had worked her way in between the plywood boards to try to be in the sunshine.  The chain was only about six feet, so she couldn't go very far.  And since she couldn't go very far, I figured she slept, ate, pooped and peed in that very small six foot radius. 

It broke my heart.  I cried.

And since always we passed her on the way to church, I often prayed for her at Mass.  

Silly, right?

I thought about her all the time during the heat of summers, frigid winters, storms, you name it, 

she was always on my mind.  

She never ran in the grass, felt the sunshine on her face, or even a loving human touch.

I prayed for her for a year that the Lord would rescue her.

I contacted the sheriff's office during an ice storm, they did nothing.

I contacted the local animal rescue, 

they did nothing.

Last Monday, something FINALLY happened.

My husband went up to that trailer and rescued her himself!

He talked to the owner and he just gave her away like a sack of trash, he didn't even say good bye to her.

Poor baby was covered in filth, fleas, and sores.

But she was finally safe.

She was finally loved.

She was finally HOME.

You'll be happy to know she is now living like a QUEEN!

We cant change her past, 

but we sure can change her future!

We love you, sweet Layla

A Mess Of Greens

We're expecting low temperatures 

in the 20's next week.

Texans are not built for that!

And neither is my garden, so I went out today to harvest as many greens as I could.

As it turns out, it was A LOT of greens...

The washed greens covered the span of my island!

 Hardy greens like kale, collards, mustards, and swiss chard all lend themselves to freezing and the process in incredibly easy. 

After a thorough washing and removing the stems, roll stacks of your greens into a "cigar" shape and then make rough chops across.

Heat a large pot of water to just under boiling.  Put your greens in and blanche for 3 minutes.  Remove the leaves with a slotted spoon and submerge into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking.  Keep the leaves in the ice water for 3 minutes then wring them out really well. 

Pack your greens in a quart sized zip lock freezer bag, press out all the air, and seal.

These little packets of goodness will keep 10-12 months in the freezer.

It's so nice to have these on hand to throw into a soup or smoothie.  But my favorite way is to boil a smoked ham hock and onion in some chicken stock and add the greens to that for a good 'ol southern "mess of greens."

The Goodness of Bread

One day, I took my daughter to the library and while she was browsing, I did some browsing of my own.  I went to the cookbook section and found a treasure trove of bread baking books.  

I checked out like five of them.  

It was wonderful, dare I say life changing...

My favorite book was this one:  

Bread Baking for Beginners

I literally baked my way through this book!

Now, I'm no stranger to bread baking. You can see in some of the previous posts on this blog that I did quite a bit of it.  But this book helped me take my skills to the next level!

And I shall refer to December 2023 as the month of "Fatty Christmas" because I baked so many versions of bread...

Focaccia,

Cinnamon & Sugar,

English muffins,

An insane amount of pizza,

and the list goes on.

And while this little side track may seem frivolous to some, I have gained so much confidence in this new skill.  Mass produced bread products are just that, mass produced.  One reason homemade bread tastes so much better is that I know exactly what is going into it.  Not every loaf of bread is perfect, but every loaf of bread is edible...

and that makes bread baking the most delicious form of therapy for me while my garden is sleeping over the winter.

Wild Lettuce

So in my last post, I told you about my farm job.  

Y'ALL...

I come home most days, jump in the shower,

 take 4 Motrin, 2 Aleve, crank the heating pad to the "lava" setting and crash for several hours.

  

I am old.

I am out of shape.

I am basically falling apart.

Doug had been doing some research on medicinal herbs and came across wild lettuce.  

Now, that's WILD lettuce...NOT the devil's lettuce!

  Anyway, it turns out that it is an incredible natural pain reliever.  Doug bought a bottle of capsules of the dried herb and I've been taking them daily.  

I take them in conjunction with an OTC pain reliver and only at night and I have to admit that it does what it says!  It relaxes me and makes me a little sleepy.  On the nights I forget take it, I usually wake up several times due to pain.  I liked the effects so much that I purchased a package of seeds from Strictly Medicinal Seeds and grew out five plants this past fall.

There are about 50 varieties of wild lettuce and from what I've read, they all have about the same medicinal qualities.  I recently harvested the plants and dried them.  I think I'll make a tincture to last me through the winter and then re-sow the plants in the spring.

For me, it's a great substitution 

for so much OTC medication,

and I know my liver will thank me for that!

Check out some info on Wild Lettuce HERE.

The Perks of a Second Job!

So how does a girl go from having no job for a year to having TWO?

I'm not quite sure, but if I figure it out I'll tell you.

It turns out the job at our local college is VERY part time....more like PRN.  PRN is "nurse-speak" for "as needed", and they really don't need me that much.  Also, it's winter break and there is simply nothing available for me until the new year.  So when I get a call from a local farm for help with their gardening, I jumped at the chance!

The job is at a homestead/farm just a few miles from me.  It has lovely gardens, lots of farm animals, and two of the kindest folks you'll ever meet who call it home.  My days are spent weeding, planting, watching the ducks on the pond, and listening to the birds.  My strength isn't what is used to be, but I'm working on that!  And there I DO get my part time hours, and at Christmas time, it is much appreciated.

One of the residents of this lovely little farm is this Jersey cow.  She is very gentle and her owner has provided a "cow share" to some local families for her milk.  Now, we're no stranger to raw milk!  It literally cured John Paul of terrible eczema when he was a child, but to actually be able to milk a cow myself?  I never thought I'd have the chance!  But here I am with the opportunity to milk her twice a week until the new year.

I have a feeling she is going to be my new best friend and I can't wait to make cheese and butter with her gift of milk...and fresh steamed cream for my morning coffee.  

THAT'S the kind of benefits package I can get behind!

So say a prayer for good weather, and strength for my back and messed up foot.  God has yet again provided us a source of income with the added bonus of tending to His creation.

Check out:  The Medina Farm

Now if I could just muster up the strength to tend my own garden!

Happy Thanksgiving

Turkey, football, and pumpkin pie!

Today I give thanks for my stretchy pants...

...and for wine.

Thank you, Lord, for every blessing!

Happy Thanksgiving from

The Creamers

One Year Later...

The Lord truly does work in mysterious ways!  

Exactly one year ago today, November 3, 2022,

 I was fired from Houston Methodist Hospital for refusing to take the Covid 19 vaccine.  My 31 year nursing career ended.  Ended not on my terms but the terms of a tyrannical mandate.  

I spent that November and December embracing the time off and trying to make the holidays magical for my family.  I was thankful for that time off to decompress and to mentally deal with being fired for no wrong doing.

As 2023 started, I began to apply for (non-nursing) jobs.  And the more jobs I applied for, the more I was rejected.  It seemed no one wanted an educated older woman to work for them.  I became depressed, angry, and anxious about taking care of my family.  Doug stepped up and began to work more.  

It was tough, but God always met our needs.

Here we are again at November 3rd.  

Today I had an interview with Wharton County Junior College for a position as an instructor for vocational nursing.  

I was hired on the spot.  

Did you read that?  

Exactly one year from my firing, 

I was hired again!

To be truthful, I never wanted to go back to any kind of nursing after getting fired.  

I'm still very salty about the whole ordeal!  

But I'm very excited about the future and teaching the next generation of nurses.  I want to help them become strong, critical thinkers who are firm in their beliefs...

and willing to walk away if they are asked to violate their conscience.

Because I believe that the character of a nurse is just as important as the knowledge he/she possesses.

Pecan Season

Here we are at the end of October and quite possibly the BEST pecan season we've ever had!  

I have three large pecan trees in my backyard and despite record high temps and a drought this summer, these trees have pumped out 

pounds and pounds of pecans.

And not just regular pecans, 

these babies are full and buttery.  

Literally the best harvest we've ever had!

And every October, me and Abby are in the backyard harvesting these beauties.  Abby has an un-natural love of pecans (or any nut for that matter).  Some years she'd eat the shells and all!  But most days we'd sit together and I'd shell half a dozen or so for her.

But this year is a little different.  

Abby is going on 15 years old, and the poor girl is feeling it.  She still goes outside with me to harvest pecans, and I still feed her as many as I can crack by hand.  

Maybe the trees know, too, that this is Abby's last pecan season.  Maybe that's why they're extra good this year.

And you can be sure that I'll bloody my fingers shelling them to make sure she gets her fill.

Thirty Years

October 23, 1993

Two young kids in love.

October 23, 2023

Two old farts STILL in love!

30 years

360 months

1,560 weeks

10,950 days

and still counting...

Turning 22

I don't know about you, but I'm feelin' 22...

(sing along ala T.Swift!)

Everyone in our family has a birthday buddy.  

Mary Grace and John Paul are a mere 

six days apart by dates.

It's a busy time of year for us!

Due to unforeseen circumstances, we couldn't make the drive to go see JP this year.  

But thank goodness for Door Dash!  

This mama sent him a lemon Bundtini to celebrate.

(IYKYK)

He had a quiet evening hanging out with his friends at his apartment.

You know, it's a mother's job to teach her children not to need her anymore.

The hardest part of that job is accepting success.

Even at 22, you'll still always be my sweet little boy!

Turning 12

Our Mary Grace turned 12 and we celebrated 

for three whole days!

When you're the youngest of five and the only girl, sometimes you have to be a little bit EXTRA.

We started off with a trip to the mall for some shopping and getting her ears pierced.  

She was such a trooper and didn't even flinch!  Now she can hardly wait for the six weeks to pass to get some fun and funky earrings to wear.

 

I had taken to FaceBook to ask about fun places to have lunch or dinner to celebrate.  You all gave some great ideas and I was excited to take her out.  When lunch time rolled around, do you know what she wanted?  

Mall pizza and her favorite drink from Starbucks!

The next day, we had a girls night out and went to see the Taylor Swift ERAS TOUR movie.  It was so cute seeing her sing and dance to the music.  She even came prepared with friendship bracelets to trade!

The last day of celebration stole the show!

Our #3 son, and Mary Grace's best buddy-John Paul, came into town to take her to her first concert.  They ventured into downtown Houston for Suki Waterhouse.  And honestly, I have no idea who she is or what she sings!  But Mary loved it and rode that high through the weekend.

Oh, and there was even a solar eclipse in her honor!

Fitting, don't you think?

But I don't know how we'll top THAT next year!

Fire Cider

The end of summer begins the prep for cold and flu season.  My counter is currently filled with jars full of ferments for wellness, and the main one is FIRE CIDER.  Fire cider is full of health benefits from medicinal plants and herbs that are infused into raw apple cider vinegar and sweetened with raw honey.  A tablespoon a day will help support your immune system and overall health throughout the year but especially during cold and flu season.

Here's how I make it:

You'll need:

Organic apple cider vinegar with "the Mother"

Onion

Lemon

Garlic

Turmeric

Black Pepper

Ginger

Rosemary

Horseradish

Any Hot Pepper

Chop all ingredients and add to a glass jar.  Pour apple cider vinegar over and make sure the ingredients are submerged under the vinegar.  Loosely lid while fermenting so gasses can escape.  Place in a cool dark space and shake occasionally.

Let ferment for 2-6 weeks.

Strain into glass bottles for storage and sweeten to taste with raw honey.

Work up to taking a tablespoon a day, this is potent stuff, and increase to 2-3 tablespoons in the event of illness.

All of the ingredients have amazing health properties and really help to support a healthy immune system. If you can't find the ingredients listed above, you can always substitute dried OR any other medicinal plants you may find like elderberries, sage, oregano, lemon balm, lemon verbena, holy basil/tulsi, savory, catnip, etc.

Herbal vinegars like this should last a year at room temperature.

Homemade Yogurt

Yogurt can be expensive to buy plus it has a long list of artificial ingredients.  Many years ago, when I still had little kiddos at home, I used to make it in the crockpot.  Fast forward a decade and my boys still love the stuff with granola and fruit.  

So, I pulled out my trusty crockpot and am sharing this easy recipe with all of you!

Homemade Yogurt

Pour one gallon of milk into your crockpot.  

Store bought milk is good, but if you can source raw milk, the taste and nutritional value 

will be even better!  

Set your crockpot to LOW and let it go for 2 1/2 hours.

At the end of 2 1/2 hours, 

unplug the crockpot and let sit for 3 hours.

At the end of 3 hours, the yogurt should be around 110 degrees. If it's hotter, you could possibly kill the yogurt cultures.  Mix in one regular container of unflavored Greek yogurt. Make sure it says, "active cultures".  Then wrap your crockpot in a couple of towels or a blanket and let it sit 

for12 hours.  

THAT'S IT!

Look at those vanilla specks

Don't forget to save one cup of your yogurt 

to start the next batch! 

You can get fancy and flavor your yogurt if you like.  I added two Tahitian vanilla beans to the milk and the flavor was so good!  You can add honey, flavorings, or just leave it plain.  If you like really thick yogurt, you can strain it through cheesecloth.  

We like to eat this with fresh fruit or jam, with granola, in the blender with frozen fruit for a cold smoothie, and I like to use it in place of sour cream in a lot of recipes.

It stays good in the fridge for two weeks.