Muddin' Introduction

Long ago in a time far away in the most distant recesses of my mind there was a time when Cody and I used to get muddy on four wheelers.  It could be warm or cold. It simply did not matter.  If we had a chance, we would go muddin'.  That stopped when I was pregnant the first time and the doctor told me I should not be on a four wheeler while pregnant. Somehow with a baby we never got back into it since the four wheelers were my parents.  

Now that we live in the country my parents decided to give us one of their four wheelers since they don't use them much anymore.  Cody's parents had another that they gave us that has been sitting up unused for three years.  It would need a new battery and some tinkering with but it is working now, also!!! What a gift to receive!!! Of course, there have to be tight rules for safety for the kids on the four wheelers.  The first couple of weeks we really reinforced the importance of safety and taking it slow.  They are only allowed to ride in 2nd gear and take the curves extra slow, etc.. But those rules are for the kids.  You can imagine their surprised faces when we got behind the wheel!!! We showed them what it is all about!  

They were just starting to get a little mud in them in this picture, so they were smearing a little in each others faces.  

Sahara soon found out what mud was all about!  That WAS a white shirt!  

She really liked it afterall. 

Savannah and Sierra were all about to trying to "share" their mud with each other.  

Caden decided to just get IN the mud hole.  Yuk!  

That's pretty nasty really.  

Having fun! 

And. Then.... Daddy got a little bit of payback!!! 

Let's Talk Turkey!

I feel the need to play a bit of catchup on what has gone on during my break in posting.  This little adventure happened just before Thanksgiving.  This gives new meaning to "bringing home the turkey".  Only this turkey is NOT for Thanksgiving dinner.  We just needed to get our Tom and his lady moved to our current home. What better way than to just put them in the car with us?!  

Yeah.  It was weird.  The turkeys thought so, too.  I need to point out that turkeys aren't really cuddly creatures.  I mean, they do not want to be caught and they certainly don't want to be held.  And, they are very strong.  Once you have them they do settle down but that does not mean they like it.  Somewhere along the road trip Savannah mentioned a warm feeling on the side of her leg.  Hmmmm... It seems that nervous lady she was holding had to poo.  Fun times!  Memories being made folks!!! Great memories!  

So, we got them home and put them in the temporary housing with the chickens.  All was well until it kept raining... and raining.... and raining.  We soon discovered that our temporary housing location was a bad choice.  It's a good thing it was temporary.  These birds were wading in water an inch deep part of the time.  Over Christmas break we surveyed the land a bit and moved them to higher ground.  That is what we got to spend our precious Saturday doing.  It was good that we did it then because more ran came... and more rain... and more.  Those birds would have been in water three inches deep!  They have been enjoying the higher ground.  We moved the rabbits nearby, also to get them away from the water.  

Now, to fast toward to current days....

All has been well.  All of the chickens, turkeys, and rabbits have been working well in their new location.  Suddenly, our dogs have taken an extra interest in them this past week, though. It stems from a couple of the neighbor dogs coming over and discovering all these interesting caged creatures.  One if our dogs, Sugar, decided to show off her skills to the others and somehow got our Tom through the cyclone fence dog kennel (the temporary housing).  Honestly, I don't know how Tom is still alive.  I told Cody he needed to kill him shortly after the incident but we are all quite attached to Tom and Cody would not kill the poor thing.  

It's bad!  Interestingly, I did not realize until posting this picture that Sugar is in the background.  She is awfully proud of herself.  Bad dog!!  The first night I locked Tom up in the chicken coop and kept him locked up the next day.  I was seriously surprised to find him alive the next day.  In all honesty I was kind of thinking if he died and he was locked up in the coop we could salvage the bird for meat.  Nope!  He made it.  And, the next day he was still alive.  And, the next... Still hanging on.  I can not imagine that wound healing but it is just the skin torn back.  The parts are all in tact otherwise. Sierra keeps asking if he is dead yet because she wants some turkey.  The rest of us are quite happy he is still hanging in.  He's our Tom-Tom!!! I honestly think he may pull through.  I hope so because we really need him to breed with his lady and give us some little turkey poults to raise and eat.  

One Burning Cooking Adventures: It Must End

While my "one burner cooking adventures" were a good learning experience all "good things" (insert sarcasm) MUST come to an end.  Honestly, I wanted to hold out until our other house sells but I just could not take it any longer.  Don't get me wrong... there are way worse things to go through in life and I have been through a few, but I was starting to get depressed by the whole situation.  Every meal had to be cooked differently and in stages... or eliminated completely.  I went five months without cooking spaghetti separately from the sauce.  It was time.

Still, I did not run out and buy an expensive stove.  I have some plans for this little kitchen that could very well include major changes.  I shopped around and a "cooktop" in the size we needed varied in price from $450 - $1,000+.  I just did not want to spend that.  Seriously, I don't even really like to cook!  I don't enjoy spending money on a stove.  

I truly stressed about this.  I was afraid to order this cooktop and not be certain it would fit properly or hook up properly since this stove is made for installation in other countries.  The savings was amazing, though!  I decided to take the risk.  I made my first ever appliance purchase through eBay!  Kind of scary!  I mean, who has ever heard of WindMax anyway?!!  Yikes!  But, here's the deal... yes, "the deal"... That SIX burner stove was $245 and that included insured shipping!!!!!!!  I was really sold on the glass top since I know it will be easier to maintain than an enamel top.  Most of the lower end stoves sold locally are enamel.  I am not wild about the stainless but I am liking it.  This is not a top of the line stove, but I did not pay a top of the line price so I am pretty happy about that.  It is well made, though.  There are a few negatives I would give it in a product review.  

     1.  The burners light weird and it does not come with instructions that tell about that.  That information can be found online, though.  

     2.  The front middle burner is too close to the knobs really.

     3.  It is obvious that the print in the stainless is going to wear off.  That won't affect the use of the stove, though.  

Overall, I think it was a great choice for my needs.  And, the best part....

I cooked with more than ONE burner!!!!  That means we had pasta that was cooked separately!!! Oh, how I have missed such a simple thing!  In all honesty I struggled with trying to cook because my mind is still in "one burner mode".  I still only used two burners!  Ha!  The mixed veggies were leftover from the night before, so I just heated them in the microwave.  The bread was store bought and I heated it in the oven.  I cooked the pasta on one burner and the chicken and sauce together on another burner.  Pardon the disposable styrofoam plate.  We had to remove the dishwasher due to it leaking.... Sigh... Hmmmm... I wonder if I can find a bargain dishwasher on eBay...