Mock Pecan Pie

This pie is amazing, it tastes just like pecan pie, but without the pecans. Great for someone who is allergic to tree nuts. Credit to Company's Coming by Jean Pare.

Mock Pecan Pie

2 eggs

1 cup corn syrup

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup melted butter

1 cup quick cooking rolled oats

1 unbaked 9" pie shell

beat eggs in small bowl, beat in next 4 ing. Pour into pie shell, bake on bottom rack at 350* for 50 minutes until set. Scrumptious!

Sleeping in....or Not

It's 6:30am on a mid summer day. I'm awake, though I don't want to be. I have no where to be, nothing to do today, yet here I am awake. I'm hungry. Simple enough, get up and grab a bite to eat, then go back to bed until a reasonable hour.

Except....if I get up, the dogs will get up with me. They'll need to go outside.

If I take them outside, the chickens and the horse will want to be fed.

When I get back inside, the dogs will want to be fed.

If I feed the dogs, the cats will want to be fed.

If I feed the cats, the ferrets will want to be fed as well.

If I feed the ferrets, the guinea pig will want to be fed.

If I feed the guinea pig, the fish will want their light turned on, and they will ask for breakfast as well.

If I tend the fish, the button quail Bonkers will want his attention this morning as well...

Can I have breakfast in bed?

God bless,
Chela

Treats, please!

My chickens are growing so fast, they look like adult birds now, at only 10 weeks old. I let them out to free range in the morning, and they spend the day exploring the yard, and looking for bugs to eat. They've also learned that if they peck at the kitchen door, I'll come out and give them a treat. Today was no exception. I brought out an ear of corn for them. Only this time, I pulled down the husk and left it attached to the cob. This is what ensued:

Feathers: What in the name of chicken food is that?

Chicklet: Can we eat it?

Slow Poke: No, definitely not, it will eat us first!

The hens all stand around staring at it, waiting for the corn to make the first move.

Feathers decided to be the brave one and peck the cob

Feathers: Alright, I'm going to peck it. Now be ready to run when I do, this thing is surely going to strike!

She gives the cob a big chicken peck, and all the hens jump

Feathers: Hey, nothing happened, and wait, that was good! Lunch time everybody!!!!!

All the chickens greedily attack the corn.

Thank You Jesus

For the Last Supper, and instituting Holy Communion at the first Mass, thank You Jesus

For your prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane, thank You Jesus

For calmly bearing the betraying kiss of Judas, thank You Jesus

For healing the ear of the servant, thank You Jesus

For predicting the betrayal of Peter, thank You Jesus

For bearing the scourging of the Roman Soldiers, thank You Jesus

For the crown of thorns, thank You Jesus

For hearing the crowd cry "Crucify Him", thank You Jesus

For carrying Your Cross, thank You Jesus

For falling, thank You Jesus

For enduring the nailing of your hands and feet, thank You Jesus

For forgiving the thief, thank You Jesus

For providing for your Mother, thank You Jesus

For forgiving your tormentors, thank You Jesus

For bearing the taunts of the soldiers, thank You Jesus

For watching them cast lots for your garments, thank You Jesus

For Your death upon the Cross, for me and all mankind....thank You Jesus

For the Resurrection to give us eternal life, thank You Jesus!!!!

Happy Easter

I recently cared for my friend's farm while she was on a much-needed vacation. Among her chickens is a very broody hen, who threatened very unpleasant happenings on anyone who messed with her. I admired her dedication until her first chick hatched. She then decided she was done sitting, and had to tend her chick. This left 8 eggs that still needed some loving care and warmth. Fortunately, there was an up and running incubator waiting for them.

I gathered up the eggs, and noticed one had a "pip" in it. The chick was hatching, and had made a small hole through the egg shell. As I moved it into the incubator, the chick was talking to me. Peep peep peep!! I was so excited, and felt vested in this egg more than the other 7. I carefully laid it down in the incubator, and hoped for the best.

Hatching is a long process, taking 24 hours or more. But after 6 hours, nothing more had happened, and my hopes were dashed. I was sure this chick, who had been so chatty earlier in the day, had died. I was really feeling crushed and disappointed. I left for the day, not expecting anything more to happen overnight.

The next morning, I went about my duties, and finally made it to the incubator. With some trepidation, I picked up the flashlight, and peered inside. To my delight and astonishment, the egg was broken, and the chick was alive! I was so happy and relieved. Little chatty chick had a tiny little beak, little feet and feathers, and there he was!!

Isn't that what Easter is all about? The disciples had seen Jesus die on the Cross, and their hopes were dashed. This loving Messiah, who did only good for the people, who healed the sick, who preached peace and the love of God, had died most cruelly on the Cross. That was it, then, no one comes back from the dead. The disciples left the tomb feeling confusion, heartbreak, and wrenching grief.

Yet when the disciples arrived at the tomb three days later, it was empty! How can that be? Where was Jesus? Then Mary Magdalene spoke to a man near the tomb.He called her "Mary", and she knew her Savior was alive! How her heart must have leapt, and been filled with joy at the news. Jesus offers us the same eternal life that death cannot keep in the grave. We will live on in Heaven with Our Savior and Lord. All that we have to do is ask Jesus into our hearts, and tell Him we need this promise of eternal life. He loves us with unconditional love, and desires greatly to bring all of us home with Him. Happy Easter!

Be Still....

Recently, while pet sitting my friend's farm, I kept misplacing things. Food bowls, the scoops for food, buckets, my egg basket, things like that. Trying to locate these items in the barnyard was met by a pushy pony, goat horns, and a cacophony of hungry animals. Often, I'd have to work around it until the missing item reappeared.

It occurred to me that my mind was racing while I was caring for everyone. I'd be feeding the dogs, and my mind was running something like this: Okay, half a scoop of food per dog now, then half later. Did everyone get the same amount? Okay, the ties look good, I think everyone will stay put. Once they get done eating, I'll fix that one tie out. The kiddie pools are working great for water, I hope my friend approves of the idea. I wonder why they didn't do this already.

Moving on to the hens, Okay let's check food in this feeder, looks good. This one needs food. Where's my scoop? The waterer looks low, I'll top it off when I do the brooders. There should be eggs here, here, and here. Oh, she's laying, I'll get those eggs next time I come down. Gosh, that broody hen hasn't calmed down one bit since her eggs hatched. She's going to eat me one of these times. Why do the roosters have to be so loud?

This is all rapid fire thoughts in my head, constantly as I'm making my rounds. I'd set something down, but my mind is racing so fast, I pay no mind to where I set it. This must be what it's like to have ADHD. So this goes on all week, and I just can't really relax. At home, I'm trying to run my household, and worrying over my charges at my friend's house. At her house, I'm racing to get everyone cared for, and worrying over my house.

Saturday rolls around, and I have an ampitheater program at the zoo. It went well only due to my partner, a jr zoo who volunteered to help. I am so frazzled I can't keep my facts straight, and think like I need to be doing. After that, I have Mass to attend. I get to church, and completely relax. My mind settles down to concentrate on the Word of God. It's the first time I've relaxed all week.

Relating this later to my daughter, she asks me why I was able to relax in church, and not anywhere else. I don't have an answer at first, but I think on that question for a while. Finally I realize what made the difference. I was at Mass, and I didn't need to be anywhere else at that time. All I needed to do was listen to the Word of God, and focus on Him. I didn't need to be at my friend's house straightening up, taking care of dogs, or chickens, or the pony. I didn't need to be at my house washing dishes, or playing with the dogs, or working on the yard. I just needed to be in the presence of God, and worshiping Him. What a wonderful hour, I really needed that time to just stop and be with God.

God tells us in Scripture, "Be still, and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10 "Come to Me, all who are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28. God is good, all the time. Amen

Starting my chicken journey

I've recently ventured into chicken keeping. I've wanted my own backyard chickens for almost 7 years now, ever since we found a flock in my neighbor's yard. We caught those, and they went to a friend's house as she had a better set up for them. I've helped with them, had ups and downs, and learned a lot. I finally took the plunge towards my own birds.

My first birds are 4 Rhode Island Red pullets from a feed store nearby. Well...not really, the feed store is actually about an hour away from us. It was worth it to me to get my first chicks though. At the chain farm store, you have to buy 6 chicks at a time. Most hatcheries require you to buy 15 so they stay warm during shipping. My feed store allows whatever you want to buy, so four it is!

Here are the babies the day I brought them home. I set up the brooder, set them in, and they all fell asleep-face first in the shavings:



Time went on, and they outgrew two brooders, so we had to come up with something that would last. Here is the brooder we built using a large dog crate, and cardboard.



It's been three weeks today, and I can't believe how much they have grown. I call them my ostriches because they are so big.



My husband needs to hurry up and build me a coop, these ladies will soon be ready to go outside. Keep checking back as I blog my exciting chicken journey.

God Bless
Chela

Don't Eat That!

I recently read a report online that said kale is bad for you. Good old kale, that leafy green stuff you pick up at the farmer's market, or the grocery produce aisle. Don't go telling our guinea pig Shadow it's bad for you, he loves the stuff!

So...you shouldn't eat kale. Hmmm...well fruit is tasty, and supposed to be healthy for you, right? No, not really. It has too much sugar. A zoo recently made the decision to stop feeding their primates bananas, as they have a high sugar content. Since scientists think we are just a less hairy form of monkey, we need to stop eating fruit as well.

Let's see...no fruit, and no kale. Okay, what about other vegetables like corn or potatoes, or green beans? Oh yeah, those are all genetically modified. So our favorite vegetables are out. That is disappointing, I love spaghetti squash.

We still have meat in our corner, right? Well no, meat is full of hormones and antibiotics, so that is no good either. Plus animals are raised in inhumane conditions, so it's cruel to eat meat unless you raise your own. We're rapidly running out of things to eat here.

Dairy, there we go! Milk, yogurt, cheese, ice cream. Well...those are all carbs, which turn to sugar in your system, so those are out. Plus milk comes from farmed cows, so see above on that one.

We still have water, don't we? At least you can drink a glass of water at mealtime without upsetting anyone. Not really. Water makes you fat. You knew that right? It's true, because of the chemicals cities put in water, (chlorine, fluoride) and what is missing from it, (whatever that might be) it makes you gain weight. Or someone online said, anyway.

I guess I'll stick to just breathing air. Unless that is so polluted it isn't healthy either. So whatever you planned for your next meal, or whatever you have beside you right now, just don't eat it. It's not good for you!!

God bless,
Chela

My Valentine

There was once a good King, how ruled justly over His Kingdom, and all that He had made. He admired beautiful sunsets, heard the wind praising Him as it blew through the trees, and reveled in the majesty of the mountains as they towered over the plains. The great King also watched His people as they went about their daily lives. He saw babies being born, and farmers tending their fields.

Sadly though, the King did not see people following the laws He had given them. People were worshiping idols instead of their one true King. They did not keep the Sabbath holy, and were not respecting the name of the King. Marriage was not treated as the sacred sacrament it was meant to be. Murder had become the norm among the people. Stealing was common among the market, and the sacred temple was treated as a den of thieves.

The King realized something had to be done. The punishment for sin, breaking one or more of the Commandments, was punishable by death without exception. Yet the King loved His people, and wanted to give them a chance at Redemption. The King thought about this, and realized there was only one thing to do. He would send His Son to earth, to teach the people how to live in peace, how to follow God's laws, and how to live forever in Heaven with Him.

The King's Son of course deserved to arrive in the highest palace, with robes of finest silk. He should be welcomed with palms and blankets before His feet, with people bowing before Him. But the King was a very wise King, and knew His Son needed to live humbly, to be a King for all people, from the shepherds to the richest wise men. So the day came, and the King's Son was born in a stable, in the cold, to two poor people in a foreign land.

The Son grew in favor with the King, and very soon He was teaching the Rabbis, and performing miracles. He cured the sick, told the lame to walk, and even raised the dead. His knowledge of sacred Scripture was mind-boggling. He had a group of followers, but nowhere to lay His head. He roamed the land, healing and teaching as He went. He told them they were to love the King, and to worship nothing else. They were to love their neighbor as themselves, the most important Commandment.

People soon realized this Son had a lot of power, as if He was the King himself. They soon grew fearful of Him, thinking He would take over their positions of power. The people decided to crucify the Son. They arrested Him, and tortured Him, before nailing Him to a Cross. The Son had been given a heart full of nothing but love, so before He died, He forgave his tormentors.

You would think the story ends here, but the King is an amazing King. After His Son died, He was in the grave for three days. The He rose from the dead. He was alive again! With this Resurrection, he offered all of the people forgiveness of sins, and life eternal in Heaven, exactly what His Father, the King, wanted all along. All the people had to do was believe in the Son, and ask Him into their hearts, where He can still live today. The Son is named Jesus, and for all of this that He has done for me, He is my Valentine!

Hiking pictures

We took the dogs out today to stretch their legs and get some fresh air. They love going to the state park and hike, it is puppy Disneyland. Here are the photos we took:
A small pine tree:

Peaceful stream

A downed tree

A fallen tree with moss and mushrooms

Ferns

Hiking Pictures 2

Here are the rest of the pictures from our day at the state park!

Josh hit this tree and said it sounded hollow:



It was!


My favorite photo:


hornet nest:


Sweet Pea found this stick in the water to be very dangerous:



I hope you enjoyed your day at the state park. Get out and hike!!

God Bless,
Chela

Lesson Learned

I went into town today to order my son's class ring. Afterwards, lunch sounded like a great idea. Although it could very well have been just in my head 'hey, we're in town, and there is a fast food place. Gee, you're hungry!' Regardless, I stopped in to grab a bite before heading home.

As soon as I walked in, I noticed a friend of mine, Frank. I should have been happy; this gentleman is really nice, and I haven't seen him in a while. Still, he would want to talk, and I wasn't feeling very social really. Still, I plastered on a smile, and made some small talk during lunch. Towards the end of my meal, Frank mentioned that he should be heading home. Here it comes, he's subtly asking for me to give him a ride.

Frank has a very hard time getting around. He relies on a cane, but even with that, walking is incredibly difficult for him. I thought perhaps he was born with spina bifida, but he was actually run over by a cow when he was younger. (He volunteered this, I didn't ask)

I thought about the situation, and realized I was acting incredibly selfishly. It brightened Frank's day to see me, and chat for a bit. It would take maybe 10 minutes to drive him home, and the rest of the afternoon was mine. I bowed my head, and asked for Our Lord's forgiveness. 'I'm sorry Father, please forgive my attitude. Please allow me to be cheerful to do Your will, and to help Frank. Thank You for bringing me here today.'

I drove my friend to his house, just a short jaunt up the road, and went about my day, happy to have helped my brother in Christ, and to have participated just a bit in God's work. Please help me to be a cheerful giver, and to do Your will Father. Amen

God Bless,
Chela

The Boondocks

A friend of mine on Facebook recently posted about taking a 40 mile round trip to support some friends who are bakers. She wanted to buy some of their delicious bread. I read the post, and laughed to myself about how driving 40 miles for something was such a big deal for her.

Other than a Dollar General, our town really doesn't have much. We have to run to the bigger town 20 miles away for decently (sort of) priced groceries, a hair cut, a hospital, school, fast food, and other restaurants. We make this trip about once a week. Of course ds heads there every day for school. They also have a big chain pharmacy store there if you don't care to use our two family owned ones here.

Yeah, you read that right, we don't have a hospital. It was shut down some time ago. It wasn't a good hospital when it was up and running anyway. (there are two doctor offices) We have 911, but the paramedics are 14 minutes away. The volunteer firefighters here are trained in first aid, if any of them are here and not at work elsewhere when you need them.

If you want a fancy restaurant such as Applebees, Chili's, Golden Corral, those are 45 minutes away in the bigger city. Bowling, Wal Mart, all the stores you associate with a city are there as well. Plus our church, and the zoo.

So you see why a 40 mile round trip for us is no big deal. I guess if you live in a city with everything at your fingertips, it is an adventure to go that far for some bread. I do love our town though. I love the people, the environment, the lack of crowding. There is good and bad everywhere, I suppose. But here in my town, for me, there are more goods than bad.

God Bless,
Chela

Frontier Festival

Our zoo held our annual Frontier Festival last weekend. It's a three day festival embracing the ways of early America. They have black smithing, spinning wool, Native Americans, horses, it's just a lot of fun. Friday went well, but Saturday was rained out. I took these when we went out Sunday for my son's shooting lesson with his new bow.

Here is the zoo booth, beautifully decorated with our biofacts:

One of my favorite activities with the zoo is running a table. People are so curious about what you have on display, and it's a great teaching tool. We usually have a live animal or two out as well for people to see and touch. On the table we have a Gopher Tortoise shell, (GA state reptile) an alligator hide. This was confiscated by fish and wildlife. A coyote skull facing away from you. Further down, a hawk wing, plus hawk and owl talons. Behind the shell, you can see a bit of the sea turtle skull.

On the other side of the table, we have this on display:

and this:

Those two pictures are of the same butterfly! One side looks like the blue sky, one looks like sunlight, or flowers. Great camouflage!

We flew the hawk! This is Maverick, our Red shouldered hawk. He came to us as a white fuzzy chick. How he's grown!!

Josh had never held a snake before. We remedied that. This is him holding Twiggy, our Gray Rat snake. This is Josh with his, 'what do I do now?' face

Let's Shoot!

My youngest son, Josh, had been asking relentlessly for a bow and arrow for Christmas. We shopped around, but couldn't find what we really wanted. Then I remembered we had a gentleman at the zoo who is very into the primitive ways of the Native Americans, Mr. K. He makes bows, arrows, just about everything he needs, from scratch. We watched him take a rock from the river, and make an arrow head using only a deer antler. We met with him, and picked up a bow for Josh for Christmas. A couple weeks later, at our Frontier Festival, we met with Mr. K for shooting lessons.

Josh shooting

He lost the arrow!

Found it!

I'm very grateful we were able to get Josh something he wanted so much, and the whole thing has more meaning coming from someone I've known and admired for years, who handmade this bow and arrow. Mr. K is also going to teach Josh how to make his own arrows. We're happy. :)
God Bless, Chela

Say What You Mean

There is a song out there with a good message titled, "Let Your Yes Be Yes." I forgot the band name, my apologies. But the song talks about saying what you mean, and following through on what you say. It came to mind quite a bit during the events that transpired today.

I drove up about two hours to see my daughter at college. Ds and I had no problems on the drive, and enjoyed some time with dd before she had to head back to class. Then the plan was for ds and I to travel up to another town to meet dh for lunch. Okay, simple enough, we can do this. I've never done it before, but the directions sound easy enough. Both dd and dh gave me the same ones, so they must be right.

Heading out, I followed exactly what I was told. Turn right out of the college, follow it to the interstate, go down two exits, turn off, the pilot (truck stop) will be right there. The drive through the mountains, with it's busy curving roads was so pretty. I could feel my ears plugging up from the altitude changes. After a while, we came to a dead end road. Hmm....this wasn't mentioned. I thought about it, and made a turn, then drove a while. Nothing is looking like interstate here. Call dh, he has no idea where I am. Now when the truck driver can't locate you, you're lost. We turn on the GPS, and it routes us all the way back to the college, then on from there.

At this point, I'm getting tired, and very frustrated. Why did the GPS reroute me like that? I keep on going, and dh tells me when we get to the interstate, go under it. I get to that point, but there is no going under it, it's an overpass. I pull off the road, and have a meltdown. I call dh crying, telling him nothing is making sense, and I don't know where to go. He explains that he couldn't remember if it was an over or under pass, but the point he was making was to go past it, and not take the motorway. (as my GPS words it.) Sigh.

A few more miles, and I arrive at the truck stop for lunch. A trip that should have taken 20 minutes has taken over an hour. As we ate lunch, we discussed what went wrong. Apparently when both dh and dd told me to "turn right out of the college", that isn't what they meant. They meant turn left out of the college, go down to the light, then turn right. Somehow they expected me to know that. Then the whole fiasco with the over/under pass thing.

It would have been so much easier if I had been told, "Go down to the light, turn right, follow to the interstate." And "You'll come up to Interstate XYZ, don't take that one, take the ABC Interstate." Say what you mean, in simple terms, especially with directions. You can't assume people know anything, especially the directionally challenged. That would be me.

I guess it turned out okay, I did find where I was going, and made it home eventually. The whole thing was just so frustrating though. Say what you mean to say the first time, it saves a lot of grief.

God bless, Chela

Dirt Roads

My son had a birthday/New Year's party to attend yesterday. I was unfamiliar with the address for the party, but the kids looked it up on Mapquest before we left. We easily found the address, but were a bit stumped once we did. There was the 911 sign with the house number, a mailbox, and a dirt road. All around us were peanut fields.

The dirt road was marked by three very large potholes, full of water from our recent rain, which looked all but impassable in my Nissan Altima. We pulled over to think about our options. To free up space on his phone, ds had deleted multiple messages, including the girl's phone number for the party. We got out to look at the dirt path, to determine if it was at all passable. I entertained the possibility of going home to get our truck, which has 4-wheel drive.

We decided that with a bit of rodeo driving, we could probably make it around these potholes, and the road from there on looked good. Slowly we started our approach. To the left of this pot hole, swing wide, to the right of this one, around that one, looking good. We made it!

We proceeded on to the barn, still not at all sure where we were going. At the barn, it was clear we weren't going any further with the car. Ds and I got out to walk, and see if we could find the house. We walked down a straight away, enjoying the peace and quiet while looking at the deer tracks. The road curved again, and at this point we really didn't know where we were going.

A couple more curves and straight aways, and the road ended at a little blue house. We hesitated; was this the right house? Oh goodness, they have a dog. Is he friendly? The dog ran to the end of his yard, then sat and considered us for a moment. When he ran up, sniffing our shoes, and whining, I decided we were friends. He was adorable! Jet black, with a basset hound body, lab head, and huge basset paws. He was as friendly as he was cute. I think we made his day, as he danced around our feet and enjoyed lots of head rubs.

We walked up to the house, escorted by their friendly dog. Unfortunately, the party had been cancelled, as the girl had gotten sick. (a lot of that going around lately) We gave our condolences, and headed back to the car, accompanied by a very friendly, mismatched black dog.

At the car, we introduced the pup to our dog Sweet Pea. They liked each other right away. I'd love to get the two of them together for a play date one day. Dodging pot holes once again, we safely made it out onto the paved road. Although the party was a loss, I can't say the day was after all. We learned to navigate multiple pot holes, got in a good walk, and met a really cute pup. Next time we head there, we know a few things; bring the camera, leave time to enjoy the scenery on their long driveway, and drive the truck!

God Bless,
Chela