Recipe Book to be updated

Today another batch of scones came out of the oven. A great treat -- a scone with a glass of iced tea! (mmmm-- Not too sweet and not too bready.)

This time I added another cup of flour to the recipe. Before, I always had to put lots of flour in the dusting, when rolling out the dough, as it was so sticky! Also, 3/4 cup corn meal was added instead of 1/2 cup, as that was all that was left in the container. It turned out very good. Just right for the recipe book. Thanks, Anita, for turning me on to scones!!

The outside temps dropped down to 12 F, so I brought the dogs in. Besides a treat, I gave Sam a new squeeky toy to play with. I threw it in their area and it rolled up next to the fence. Little Fuzz, the one who charges without thinking, immediately ran up to play with it, sticking her paw through the squares. Then, she backed up when she saw Sam. Sam is now standing as a sentinel, waiting, watching, and not moving, knowing that Super Fuzz will again try to paw that ball.

You can see the straw, on the rug, just brought in by the dogs. Their dog houses are filled with warm straw. Each stalk, insulates against the cold. The dead air space in the empty hollow tubes create a barrier, as the straw meshes together, one stalk against another. Since Beamer is losing his hair (The vets cannot explain it or stop it.) I try to bring them in if there is no sunshine and the temps drop below freezing. His store-bought coat and vest does protect him, but not all of him can be covered.

So, as we catch the edge of another winter storm, I'll have a break, with tea and scone, and then start on that recipe book, that I have procrastinated the updating of. Everything sounds like fun when you plan it, but I guess there are a lot of lazy bones in me that don't want to get started!!

Winter on the Prairie

What a beautiful wintery day! As I came home the other day, I spotted a sun dog in the sky. A "second little sun" that added the touch of a miracle to the day. A gift from God.

Traveling down the road, winter's beauty was everywhere. The countryside sparkled with white frost and a fine, powdery mist of snow. Weeds and grasses stood majestically on the silent, white prairie. The animals burrowed deep in their holes, awaiting the warmth of the sun. Everything was still.

The Lord kept us safe, as our tires crunch over the snowpacked graveled roads. Plows have long since pushed the hugh drifts, that once made these roads impassible, into the ditch. In the distance, huge bales, now covered in snow, loomed high above the fields, as a reminder of the summer past, when they had stood as tall stalks of grain basking in the heat of the sun.

All things are as the Lord meant them to be. God is good.

Isaiah 55:9-11

9 “ For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
10 “ For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there,
But water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater,
11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

Thanksgiving

"Cozy comfort" as the kittens bathed in the warmth of the fireplace. One would think with their fur, they would look for cooler places!






The kids dug a snow cave while they were here. Kat, Andy, Tim and Huimin helped (and got to play in the cave too). It was quite warm and sheltered on the inside, keeping them from the biting, cold wind that continued to blow across the prairie.




Later on, Huimin, Tim and Serena put their talents to work and finished off the Christmas ornaments. Their creations turned out beautiful. The final touch is to add the family pictures to those with frames.


Tim took time out and did some drawings that came out fantastic. It is such a blessing to have a talent! We enjoyed his company and that of his family. It is so good to have a child come home!

Time flew by. It seemed like, except for eating the turkey and ham dinner on Thanksgiving, there wasn't time to get hardly anything accomplished. Everyone came and the next thing we knew, it was time to get ready to leave. On the last night together, Tim brought out his new XBox Kinect game. They took the furniture out of the family room downstairs and then everyone took turns interacting with the game. Well, except me! You have to be able to jump and be quite agile to play. It WAS fun to watch, though.

Everyone went home on Sunday and what a travel day that was!! Tim and family went South, and Andy and Chris went East. They braved snow storms where they couldn't see but inches in front of the car. Tim then hit icy roads going over the Sierra Nevadas. We lived on prayers that whole night. Finally, in the early morning hours of Monday, they got to their homes.

Tim, Huimin and kids, after returning to their home, then went to retrieve their pets. Madison was the pet-sitter for Bane and Lily. She is such a caring person and did such an excellent job!! (Thanks to Victoria and Nick for letting their house be turned into a temporary "zoo"!!)

God is good. I am so very thankful that we are so blessed to know His love.