Status Report

1) The electricity is back on

2) The pipes didn't freeze, much

3) It's above zero, finally

4) Pony is on her feet but isn't out of the woods yet

5) I lost my cell phone, yee ha. Well, it's been a year since I lost the last one so I was due

6) Oxycontin does wonders for a mal-functioning back

7) One should listen to the doc when he says don't drink any alcohol with this medicine (see #5)

8) I'm still laughing

I'd post a photo but I don't have a picture of a smoldering pile of ruins that would represent this week.

Instead I'm picturing a lovely sunny day, about 65 degrees...ahhhh. To turn things around I'm taking a half day off and am going shopping!!! I deserve some new clothes for getting through this week. Pony needs a blanky too while she convalesces. Nothing like a little shopping to put things right. Cheers from the tundra!

b

Recipe Time!

So I put 800 miles on my car, driving around the frozen midwest having adventures. I drove to Des Moines, Iowa to give a presentation for work and along the way had some hilarious phone conversations with all my siblings and of course, Barbara. The recipe below is courtesy of Lady B, who had me laughing all the way into Des Moines telling me about the roast beast she made. She called it "Road Kill Beef" and you'll find the recipe below for your cooking pleasure.

My road trip got started because my little sister and I decided to change kitchen tables; I got a new (old) farm table and she got mine. So when the opportunity came up to speak in Des Moines I figured I'd just swing up to Neen's and deliver the table. Ha ha..I didn't check the map to see it was going to be an 8 hour ride but that's ok--I love a road trip.

I loaded the table into the car, packed some lunch and off I went. The table and chairs were very good road trippers; didn't eat anything or throw garbage around the car. We all made it in one piece and Neen's new house is georgeous!

We had a bottle of wine and a house tour. What a fabulous location and beautiful home. I slept in my niece's bed and when I awoke, thought I was in Colorado! It's like being on top of a mountain there over the Mississippi River.

I took off at 10 to head to other sister's house in Western Wisconsin. That's where I made my Big Mistake. I decided to drive all the way up to the house on a driveway that hadnt' been plowed well. So I made it half way before getting stuck and had to walk half a Km to the house. There I found Mike, Sara and their houseguests happily drinking champagne and no one minded that I was now blocking the driveway. We managed to get the car unstuck, thanks to a team effort and some wild backwards driving by Mike--hollymolly--never thought my car could go 30mph through the snow up a hill, backwards.

Anyway, twas a fine weekend. Now here's that recipe...bon appetite!

Lady Barbara’s Road Kill Pot Roast
Ingredients:
-1 pretty good sized slab dead cow
-1 envelope Lipton’s Onion Soup and Dip mix
-1 can Campbell’s condensed cream of mushroom soup
- few cloves minced garlic
- Good shake Bouquet Garni
- 1 Bay leaf (that you will remove when done, of course)
- ¼ cup red wine – if you haven’t imbibed it all.
Sour cream to taste just before serving.


Preparation and cooking Instructions:
Accidentally leave meat in shopping bag on counter top amidst bills, tools, and miscellaneous flotsam.
Rediscover package in tidying frenzy after about 1½ days.
Tentatively open corner, sniff cautiously, and ignore slightly gray tinge; Yeah, it’s dead.
Wash, pat dry, and sear both sides.
Slap into bottom of large slow cooker, gray side down if it bothers you, and top with soups, spices and wine.
Cook on low 10 hours (8PM to 8AM by my reckoning.)
When done taste small bite. If not sick by noon, eat lots for lunch with sour cream over a baked potato. Enjoy!

Giddyup, Amy!

That there is Miss Amy..who loves Oscar and he loves her right back. Amy is new to Madison and was looking for someone to play horse with and voila, thanks to Craig's list we hooked up! It's been great to watch her work with Oz and I've learned a lot. Here she is, about to take off for a morning spin about the fields. Oz is sporting some lovely blue threads, thanks to Amy's tack trunk.

He wasn't too happy about the camera, and kept flicking his ears around at the noise. Here's another cute photo of them just before they rode off into the field.
So it's been raining and raining and I've been slippign and sliding on the ice. Note the green path behind Oscar in the photo above. It looks green, but oooohhhhh no. Sneaky bits of ice lurk everywhere. This morning I hit the deck trying to unload 100 pounds of manure and the wheelbarrow slid and kicked back. I had poo all over me.

Needless to say, my coat is in the wash now and should be safe to wear sometime tomorrow.

Stay tuned for the next entry about Betty, the black truck. We hauled all sorts of furniture in it tonight and I'm tarred!
more soon,
becx

Apres Holiday Ski!

Happy New Year! Me and my fabulous brother, Brian went skiing all over the farm just before New Year's. Brian had some awesome striding skiis (circa 1980) that busted through the 7" of fresh snow rather nicely. Not only that, he's fast so I had to hustle to keep up.

As we were skiing I couldn't help but think of all the times Dad took us skiing in the Kettles back, oh, about 1978 and what a brilliant move that was. Take 4 kids skiing for a couple of hours and you are guaranteed an afternoon and evening of very quiet kids!

This photo is our tracks heading east. There's no question that the snow has been amazing and I'm a little sad that it's supposed to be 40 degrees this weekend. Slushy, mush here we come.

All the animals are doing ok. Beep threw off her shoes and it's been below zero--too cold to attempt a rewrap but with temps going up I'll refit tonight and not get frost bit in the process.

The fox continues to torment Gabby. I think I have a new purpose for riding Oscar. Yep...let the Sunny Hill Fox hunt begin! It'll be a cruelty-free hunt; we'll just chase Mr. Fox around.

Stay tuned for news and photos of Betty, the new Dodge truck. Hee hee.
b