Farmgirl Cookie Exchange

So many different kinds of cookies! Rose held the exchange at her house. Terri and I made simple oatmeal cookies.


Ten of us gathered for this exchange and Rose had prepared munchies and sangria punch for us, too.




We had so much fun! Next year, Rose suggested we do an ornament exchange instead of cookies. That sounds like fun, too.


This is the other Terry (with a "y") who won the prize for best display of her cookies. Rose had gathered up several prizes for various things and I won a MaryJanesFarm Calendar! Woohoo!

Woman Power!

After spending 2 days holed up in a hotel room, my friend, Terri, invited me to stay with her until I found my own place. She is also in the middle of a divorce and so was building this carport by herself. She had put up the posts and main support beam and half of the roof supports when I got there. I helped her get the rest of the roof supports up.


Supports all up and now we had started nailing the wood on top of those to support the tin (which she didn't have yet). For now, the wood would be covered with large tarps to protect it from the weather until spring.


I'm a big-time wuss up high and so I used the step ladder while she used the higher ladder.


We actually had fun getting this done. It was snowing the whole time and colder than we had hoped for but, we laughed our way through it and got it done. Terri's brother and brother-in-law came up later and helped her to put the tarps on over the top of it. I didn't get a final picture, but it works wonderfully and now she has a place to park her vehicle and won't have to clean the snow off every day and work to thaw the doors in order to get in and go somewhere.

The power of women to do what needs to be done (with a little help from the guys)!

Starting over...

I haven't blogged in quite a while as my life has been in some turmoil and I'm just getting into a new groove. I left my alcoholic husband on Dec 6 and filed for divorce on the 8th. We had been married for 19 years. His drinking has been a problem for most of those 19 years. I had spent much of it forcing myself to love someone I didn't even like and who was incredibly mean when drinking. I had finally had enough. This was a very difficult decision for me. I am a staunch believer in marriage and all it stands for. While ending it seemed wrong, survival instincts took over and I fled.

So, while the divorce rages on, I am starting all over again. I have a place of my own, though I don't own this one. I have peace and tranquility. I have the ability and opportunity to put my talents and desire to help others into action. I feel rested, calm and my home now feels warm and inviting; a place I WANT to come home to every night.

I will be able to accomplish more on my sewing machine and more of my baskets and more gardening and more activities with community groups. I won't be tied up with serving someone who thinks that is the only reason I'm here and isn't happy with anything I do anyway.

So, onward and upward as my farmgirl friends have said. I can do wonderful things now for myself, my grown children, grandchildren, friends and community. I am looking forward to the me that has been kept down all these years.

My very first BakeOver

Well, after making bread all day and then putting a pot roast in the crock pot, I decided I wanted to make some kind of dessert. I don't usually make desserts except for holidays. DH has been asking for desserts lately, though. So, it's kind of a surprise for him. I didn't have many eggs left, so a cake or cookies was out of the question. I decided to try a BakeOver.

I'm not one of those experimental, creative or adventurous type cooks. I prefer to have tried and true written-down recipes. But I guess I was feeling a bit creative in the kitchen today (what?!) and thought this would be a great way to use some of the peaches I had canned. Instead of the usual cottage cheese and peaches which has been getting boring.

So, two pints of sliced peaches, a handful of raisins, a handful of chopped almonds, 3-4Tbsp brown sugar and a splash of cinnamon sauteed in about a Tbsp and a half of butter in one of my medium sized fry pans. In hindsight, it was probably more butter than necessary.


Then, as was mentioned in MaryJane's Idea Book, Cookbook, Life Book, I added slices of cream cheese on top.


Using MaryJane's Budget Mix, I used 1 1/4c of that with 1c of water and 3Tbsp butter cut in. I was going to roll it out, but the dough was so soft that patting it out with my fingers was good enough. Getting it into the pan without ripping it was a bit tricky, but I got it done. Now into the oven at 350 for 20 minutes.


I felt it actually needed another 5 minutes of cooking time to get a nice golden color to it.


I then placed a large plate over the fry pan and flipped it over. I should have used oven mitts instead of hot pads as I burned one finger tip on one hand and the heel of my other hand. And ta da! All done. It took hardly any time at all and smells just heavenly. Can hardly wait for dinner. Hmmm, I think it needs whipped cream or vanilla ice cream on the side.


Hey, Grandma! What's for supper?

Organic beef pot roast with baby carrots, new potatoes and sweet green peppers from the garden. Home-made whole wheat potato bread and for dessert; a peach/almond BakeOver.

Yum, yum!

Voicing my political opinions

I have thought about this all day. Should I or shouldn't I speak my mind on my blog? Well, it IS my blog and we should all feel free to speak our minds, right? So be it. I voted for Barack Obama. If this bothers you, please don't read any more and please don't leave me nasty messages. I have many friends who are staunch Republicans and I listen to their opinions and believe they have the right to voice them just as I do. They are very dear friends and I love them even if we don't agree on political ideologies.

Now, to what is really on my mind. I am so proud of our country right now. I have seen the worst in people in regard to prejudice and bigotry. This election is the biggest proof of the change in our nation's social thinking. I shed happy tears last night when they announced the new President of the United States of America. I felt such overwhelming joy that our nation is finally evolving into a better frame of thinking. What an incredible, historic moment for this country. I not only lived long enough to witness it, but I was able to take part in it! I realize that most of those who voted for Obama are younger voters which means that someday, when they raise children of their own they, too, will have evolved social views of people. Will this be the new Age of Enlightenment? I certainly hope so.

The other part of this that makes me so happy is that I don't believe that the old-school way of doing things works anymore. John McCain, while a very nice man and should be honored for his outstanding service to this country, is very old-school. Our country has changed, the economy has changed, the way industries conduct business has changed, the world has changed. The old ideologies no longer produce the intended outcomes. They just don't work anymore. You know the old saying "If you keep doing the same thing the same way, you can expect the same result"? Well, it applies here, too. President-elect Obama has fresh, new ideas. He has a great, energizing, inspiring spirit. He's extremely sharp and a wonderful speaker. He also has a great temperament that I think will work in our favor when it comes time for diplomacy. If the old way doesn't work anymore, why not try something new? Shake things up a bit and hopefully turn things around.

I realize that things could quite possibly get much worse before it gets better and Obama has one hard, hard job ahead of him. Our country doesn't just have one or two serious problems, it has a dozen or more that need immediate attention and I don't envy anyone taking this on. But, I hope and pray that our country can get back on track soon and that Obama has a productive and safe term as President.