Beauty Farming Life

Saturday, we decided to stop at Home Depot to get some cleaning products for the farm.  The garden section is pretty much desolate this time of year but I wandered to the back of the section anyway to look at concrete pavers.   That's when I saw these two trees. Crape Myrtle trees I was standing there for a second and about to walk away and the guy that worked there said "you want those trees?"  I smiled and said "no thanks, I wasn't here to buy trees today".  He said "no, not to buy, I was about to throw these out, but you can have them if you want". UM...   FREE TREES?   HELL YEAH! Natchez Crape Myrtle This one is Crape Myrtle "Natchez", a white flower... Tuscarora Crape Myrtle This one is Crape Myrtle "Tuscarora", a hot pink flower... Apparently they throw them out if they look scraggly and it's the end of the season.  Sad note, he said he threw out "about a dozen" a few day...

I posted an image of this a couple of years ago but it was in the background of another photo...so I  thought I'd give it its own post now for those new to the blog too...we love it. Kitchen wisdom I bought it for 2nd Man as a birthday gift...or anniversary?  Valentines Day?  Christmas?  It was one of them for sure, ha.  It now hangs directly over the stove at the farm so we can both be reminded of the important things (and reminds me to help wash).   So it got us to wondering, anyone have any witty or neat kitchen/cooking sayings?

Every Thursday, we like to post a picture of something we've found online that inspires us to do something similar at the farm.   Sort of our own blog bulletin board so that we can eventually look back and, hopefully anyway, recreate it...enjoy! Outdoor lighting, image courtesy Outdoorconcepts.com When we find pictures of outdoor seating areas we like, this is something we never thought about.  We were looking through some of the ones we've posted over the years (making some plans for next year) and 2nd Man said, "what about at night?  How do we sit outside in the evening if it's pitch black outside, we might want light".  At the risk of a bad pun, a light bulb went off.  We never thought about that!  So I started looking online for outdoor seating ideas with, of course, lights.   Now with a a big piece of property, we'd need solar lights most likely as running electrical all over the place is not even a possibility.  Anyway, this ...

Regular readers know that I have a new favorite place to look for bargains...our downstairs trash area!  Our building has trash chutes on every floor and they feed into a separate room, but for boxes and other things that people can't put in the chute, there is an area (indoor) near the loading dock, for people to put things they don't want.  I've found several cool items so far. And here is what I found the other night.  A wire magazine rack.  It's in perfect shape.  I guess someone just didn't want it.  They just tossed it in with a bunch of boxes and so I saved it from the landfill.      Not sure if I'll paint it.  It's a stainless color metal and I think with the wire design, it might be hard to get the paint on all parts of it.  Or maybe it would be cool and give it a distressed look.  For now, it's perfectly fine the way it is. We'll find a great spot in the kitchen to put some cooking magazines....

Yep...this is our forecast... Today, a high of near 80 (could break a record I fact)...with temps dropping overnight to 40 (they say temp should drop 40 degrees in about 20 minutes once the front passed through).  Then it won't get any warmer on Sunday than Saturday's low and we have a freeze Sunday night into Monday morning.   Then upper 20's on Monday evening.   So today it's off to the farm to undo hoses, shut off valves, and wrap a couple of faucet heads.  This isn't pipe bursting weather but it's easier to do this in the warm weather now before the deeper cold hits in January.  I hate doing this stuff in the cold, my fingers always feel like they are freezing, ha.   I'll harvest what I can from the garden too. More later, as I'm sure tomorrow will be bundled up inside where it's warm! Our apologies for being cold in 30's when we realize so many people are in sub-zero temps. Our hats, coats and gloves off to you...I do...

Freezing at noon and "feels like" 24 degrees.   Mexican hot chocolate and pan dulce  (Mexican pastries).   Nice way to warm up the insides.  What is your favorite "stay warm" treat?

Got to the farm Saturday and it was SO windy.  We've never seen winds so strong out there (when it wasn't during a bad storm of course).  We had gusts to 40mph...it was like walking in a wind tunnel.  It was also cloudy and misty raining, humid and the temp was 79 degrees.  The official high in Houston got to 80, which broke the record.   Everything at the farm is looking more like Winter.  Desolate and whatever leaves are left are blowing off.  Soon it will be all brown.   "R" from 2nd Family came up and helped us with the house water.  We turned off the main valve, opened all the faucets and let them drain out.  Then he brought his air compressor and put the hose in the outside faucet and blew air through the pipes.  It was pretty amazing, with he water shut off, and all the taps drained to where nothing was coming out and you'd "think" it was empty, however enough water came out with the air that it w...

OFFICIALLY! Found this wonderful picture on Pinterest and loved it, just had to use it for this post (no snow like this here but I'm sure it is for some of you). Today is the first day of Winter! Posts will be sporadic since  Christmas  is almost upon us but I'll update with some good food and maybe a gift or two... Stay warm wherever you are!  

Every Thursday, we like to post a picture of something we've found online that inspires us to do something similar at the farm.   Sort of our own blog bulletin board so that we can eventually look back and, hopefully anyway, recreate it...enjoy! Image via Pinterest Our  ultimate goal is to have the house painted the same barn red and white as the barn and shed and hives are painted.  We saw this and realized that we could still have some great decorations even with a red house.  Love the white lights and the candy cane stripes on the porch posts.   Of course, we won't ever have that kind of snow...but it's still a pretty look.   Image via Homesteadingtoday.com ...and while our barn is not this big (more snow too!) it's a nice reminder that barns (and sheds) can be decorated too! Be inspired!

Including 1st and 2nd Man, LOL! We are both home from work early for the long weekend... The weather is gray and misty raining... And the cats are sound to sleep... So that is what we are doing as this posts.   It's nice to have a nap in the middle of the day during the week.   Hope you get a good nap in this long weekend!

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house,not a creature was stirring, not even a  mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there. The children were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads. And mama in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap, Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap. When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash, tore open the shutters and threw up the sash. The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below. When what to my wondering eyes should appear, But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer. With a little old driver, so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St Nick. More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, and he whistled and shouted and called them by name! "Now Dasher! Now,...

Thank you all for the Christmas wishes of the last few days.  We wish you all nothing but the best, hope you have a wonderful Christmas, have some great time with family and friends and of course, eat lots of wonderful food. Speaking of, last night was Christmas Eve tamales, a tradition we have, and today we're doing a ham dinner with lots of sides. Pics to follow! Oh, and we do have a question we ask occasionally around the holidays: When do you open presents? Christmas Eve? Christmas Morning? Other?

Since some of you asked for it, just like we did for Thanksgiving  dinner, here is our Christmas dinner in a series of pictures... I was in charge of snacks again, so I made a plate of Colby Jack cheese and salami slices with pita crisps... These are called "King's Nut Mix" and are sold at a grocery store here. I LOVE them, they are coated peanuts and rice cracker type crunchies, ha, so yummy...   Of course we needed some potato chips... I made this appetizer and it's super simple.   Just take some cubed feta cheese, a few sun dried tomatoes, herbs and toss it all in olive oil.  It's delicious... Cashews, 'cause, well, we love cashews... 2nd Man made two pans of homemade yeast rolls... And a lasagna dish full of macaroni and cheese.   Of course, this was when it was on the stove being prepared, it was baked in the oven after it was all mixed up... Pan sautéed broccolini in butter and garlic... ...

Yesterday, I posted HERE about Christmas Day dinner... Texas tamales So today I thought I'd share our Christmas Eve dinner.  This is sort of a Christmas Eve tradition for us, tradition at least from the last few years.  In Texas, tamales are hugely popular at the holidays and so we've adapted that into our tradition.  Occasionally we'll have beans and rice with it but this year we just had the tamales (saving room for Christmas Day, LOL!). Christmas Eve tamales We like to cover them with red and green salsa (Christmas colors!).  Now before you ask, we didn't make these tamales (though both of the salsas are homemade).  No, these were homemade by one of our dear friends who has actually promised to have us over sometime in January to help her and her mother make another batch. Who knows, hopefully next year, they WILL be homemade!

This year has been particularly bad when it comes to celebrity deaths.  So many of them shocking, sudden, and unexpected.   Of course that is as death often does.   But when they come to our childhood heroes, our idols, the people that create the music that is the backdrop for a part of our life, well, then it's as if a little piece of our childhood is left behind. Carrie Fisher.   Actress.  Screenwriter.  Author.  She has a lot of jobs behind her name and deservedly so, but for millions, probably hundreds of millions, myself one of them, she will always be Princess Leia.  In the most recent movie, she had changed titles to General Leia.  And that's fitting, she was always kind of a bad ass in both her on screen roles and in her personal life.  She had struggles but was always open about those struggles, hoping that if someone could learn from them then something good would come of it. I met her at a Star Wa...

And now for something more fun.  At a local hotel here in Houston, their pastry team created this large gingerbread house... Check out these stats! Hilton America's Gingerbread House Now to be fair, the underlying structure is wood, as are the porch columns, because something this large would need a support structure. The railing " pickets" and the "snow" on the roof however, are white chocolate... Gingerbread house ...and the detailing along the edge of the roof is white chocolate as well. Gingerbread bricks Here is a closeup of the gingerbread "bricks".  You can see where people have broken off pieces, which in a way is good because you can see how they are glued on with frosting.  The bricks look so real. Then frosting is put in between them to make it look like real mortar.  Pretty impressive.   This "stone" fireplace chimney is made of marzipan.  It smelled wonderful! Chocolate shingles An...

Well, it's been a yucky day here, we've had constant rain since about 4am.  No flooding thankfully, but still quite wet (and in the 50's so wet cold too)... ...since the water is still shut off at the farm (freeze preps), and the roads are wet with potentially crazy drivers out there, we'll stay in town today.   As for New Year's Eve, we always stay in, just safer that way.  Plus it seems the older we get, the less we like large crowds.  Quiet is often better and it is certainly less stressful.  We will be enjoying a nice meal, some bubbly, and of course watching NYE unfold on television (we enjoy CNN with Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin).   2nd Man has a pork loin roasting in the oven (pics later) so we'll have a good evening with full tummies.  Hope everyone is safe and get to spend the evening doing what makes you happiest! Do you celebrate out or in?   Any NYE traditions?

Some thoughts... Good riddance to 2016! Always know that a moment of darkness is an opportunity for light... ...and don't let anyone ever steal your joy. Remember to give thanks... ...and lets help to make this year better for everyone everywhere.