The Big Change

Never in a million years did I think we would be saying goodbye to our beautiful home in the country.

At least not in 2017!

Yes we had discussed downsizing once the pipeliner got closer to his retirement years.

But something stirred inside of our hearts telling us now was the time to go.

On September 1st we closed on what would be our new home.

It has a pretty little creek running through the south side of the property.

The "new" house is an older home that needed some work.

We figured that work could get done while we waited for our current house to sell.

Our country house was on the market for only 40 days before an offer came in that we accepted.

It wasn't long before the moving trucks were there to take our belongings away.

One of the hardest parts was saying goodbye to my Lily goat and the chickens.

 The new house we bought is in town.

Last year the town passed an ordinance banning chickens.

I'm assuming goats too.

Thankfully the people who bought our house were interested in raising chickens and a goat.

Still hard to leave them behind!

We closed the chapter on our country living the Monday after 

Thanksgiving.

We shed a lot of tears the weekend before, thats for sure.

But after we  

signed the papers over to the new owners everything felt strangely right.

I went back to some great words written by Rick Warren

that really made me feel a lot better.
"It is a fatal mistake to assume that Gods goal for your life is material prosperity or popular success, as the world defines it. 
The abundant life has nothing to do with material abundance.
Never focus on temporary crowns.
Your identity is in the eternity, and your homeland is heaven.
Eternal values, not temporal ones, should become the deciding factors for your decisions."

So here we are.
Pretty much settled into the house.
It does feel like our home.
Now we are ready to make some new memories,
in an old home.

Liz

Change and the Same

Life marched on in 2017,

even though I failed to blog about it.

A lot of things stayed the same.

I continued to make my noodles and crusty bread for the local farmers market.

The gardens were full of flowers for the market as well.

The garden produced another bountiful supply of vegetables.

 We spent time visiting the pipeliner at the camper.

And continued to be amazed by the most wonderful views from our backyard!

2017 brought us a new member to the family.

The cutest little black lab who was born with a disability.

Her right eye never developed properly.

But that has not held her back at doing anything.

Daisy is one of the sweetest dogs you could ever meet!

We enjoyed some firsts with the grandson.

His first airplane ride came when we took him on vacation last January.

He was also thrilled to ride his first passenger train.

 This was taken on his first trip to the big city too.

2017 stayed pretty much the same through out the year.

Until the big change that came at the end.

After lots of discussing and praying 

we decided to list our home and land for sale.

More on that big change on my next post.

Coming Back to Blogland

I can't believe that a year has passed since my last blog post!

I tried to keep up with all of my favorite bloggers for awhile.

But then I had computer issues,

internet issues, 

and life gets busy issues.

I stopped reading.

Back this fall I started to drop by again and read.

It made me miss all of the great people that I had followed .

It made me realize I still had things I wanted to blog about.

As the New Year starts

I to am going to start.

Start reading again,

start writing again.

Here's to blogging in 2018!

Liz

The Crud

the crud

When you turn into a walking snot ball you have "The Crud" You cough up mucus and your nose runs constantly therefor the use of the word "crud".

You go to the office and you cough and blow your nose for an hour and a coworker asks "what's wrong with you?" Yo respond, "I have the crud".

#de crud #crud #crude #cru #filth

That describes me perfectly!

I have had the crud since the first weekend of December.

I came down with it while we were in Las Vegas for my 50th birthday celebration.

The pipeliner had bought tickets for a favorite singer of mine way back in August, the month of my 50th birthday.

We were so excited to get away after the busy summer and fall, and then I get sick the first night there!

I came home and laid on the couch for about a week.

I  gave in and went to the doctor.

I finally started to feel better.

Then the grandson brought home a cold from pre-school.

We all caught that!

I had to sell my tickets to the Bears/Packers game

(Another birthday present from the pipeliner)

because I was to sick to go.

The week of Christmas I made my way back to the Dr. again!

I sure didn't get a lot of decorating done this year

or shopping for that matter.

We finally ventured out on New Years Day.

As I strapped the grandson into his car seat he looked at me 

and said

"Grandma I don't feel good".

Those words started round 3 of another bout with the crud!

I am not kidding you,

80% of my facebook friends have had the crud!

My mom has it.

The pipeliner has it.

The daughter and her husband have it.

The grandson is finally getting over it.

I am still stuck with it!

We have been through 5 boxes of kleenex.

A couple of bags of Halls.

(The pipeliner found Sucrets on his last trip to the drug store,

those things are the bomb!)

A whole bottle of hand soap.

I have ate oranges and apples,

Drank a couple of gallons of tea.

We have sanitized about every inch of the house!

The pipeliner finally decided we need some sun and warmth to get rid of this crud!

He booked us a trip to Florida!

28 more days until we go!

I sure hope I am better by then!

Liz

Fresh is the Word

At the beginning of every new year I like to think of a word 

that I can use as a focus for the next 12 months.

Last year was goals.

I achieved quite a few,

and am still working towards more.

This year the word is FRESH!

There are a lot of things in my life that I want to "fresh"-en up.

My first one would have to be the journey I walk with God.

A new year lets me take a fresh look at my spiritual life.

To read by Bible with a renewed vigor.

I found a wonderful prayer journal that I have downloaded.

I can't think of a better way to begin my mornings,

fresh with the Lords word.

Another thing I would like to keep fresh is my home!

With 2 dogs and a 4 year old running around,

the house tends to get dirty and cluttered fast.

I was under the weather for most of December

and my poor house really suffered for that!

 I have downloaded and printed some great cleaning lists that make keeping a home fresh and clean really simple!

Fresh Foods

I usually try to keep my eating habits pretty healthy

but again that is something that has kind of gone down hill over the last few months.

More and more processed foods have made their way into my diet.

We subscribed to a food delivery service earlier in the year.

All of your meals are delivered to your door fresh,

the only thing you have to do is prepare them.

I really liked that most veggies came from organic farms.

The only thing I didn't like was the price tag!

I have found some great recipes online and in my cookbooks that are made with lots of fresh vegetables and fruits.

Januarys suppers are already planned out.

Healthy & fresh!

My fitness routine has become stale and boring.

Time to reFRESH that too!

Lets face it if you don't continue to change up your exercise routine

it becomes hard to stick to it.

Also your body becomes accustomed to the same thing over and over.

Time to add a fresh plan to challenge my 50 year old body.

Sleep is huge on my list for this year!

I think that is how I ended up getting sick.

My body had not been getting the required amount of sleep.

I got worn down and so did my immune system.

I am trying for at least 7 hours a night!

Plain and simple I need to plant and harvest more fresh veggies for next year!

I have so many ideas for my fresh cut flower business.

Now just to get them all down on paper.

Make a fresh plan for an even bigger season!

Fresh ideas for my blog!

Last year I just felt like I had nothing new or exciting to blog about.

This year I have a weekly calendar to jot down all the things I want to write about.

Plus I added a new blog for my fresh cut flower business.

Ogee Acres

There is always something to write about in there!

Even though 2016 was a pretty good year,

I am ready for a fresh start for 2017!

Happy New Years!

May 2017 bring you a fresh start too!

Liz

Happy New Years

Crusty Bread

This is the first Friday in a long time that the smell of baking bread hasn't filled the house with its wonderful aroma!

I usually have the oven going by 6 in the morning trying to get as many loaves baked as I can.

A week ago Saturday was the last Farmers Market for the season.

Time to take a break from bread baking!

I thought I would share this super simple recipe for my crusty bread.

I have been making  jalapeno/cheddar and asiago/garlic loaves.

There are so many different add ins you can use.

But these two have been great sellers for me.

You will never believe how simple they are to make!

Ready?

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt and yeast.  Add water and mix until a shaggy mixture forms.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 12 - 18 hours.  Overnight works great.  Heat oven to 450 degrees.  When the oven has reached 450 degrees place a cast iron pot with a lid in the oven and heat the pot for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, pour dough onto a heavily floured surface and shape into a ball.  Cover with plastic wrap and let set while the pot is heating.  Remove hot pot from the oven and drop in the dough.  Cover and return to oven for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes remove the lid and bake an additional 15 minutes.  Remove bread from oven and place on a cooling rack to cool. 

How easy is that?

I have been stirring in 1/3 cup shredded cheese and a half of a jalapeno,

or 1/3 cup shredded asiago cheese and 1 clove of garlic minced to the mix before adding the water. 

My counters are full of bowls of dough the night before baking day.

This is the pot I use to bake my bread.

It is a Red Le Creuset pot I received as a Christmas present from my son years ago.

I love this pot for everything! 

It is  especially great for making this bread.

I ordered some of these cute little Le Creuset pots for making bread bowls.

Aren't they the cutest?

I think they will be a great seller for the few craft shows I signed up for during the winter.

I had one loaf of jalapeno/cheddar bread that didn't sell at the last market.

I brought it home, cut it into chunks, tossed it with olive oil then broiled it in the oven for a couple of minutes.

It made delicious croutons to top a bowl of chili with!

I hope you find this crusty bread recipe as easy and as tasty as we do!

(I am adding a link to the blog where I first discovered crusty bread.

She has some great instructional pictures)

Liz