Preparing for Winter

When I'm not sick - I get to snuggle with Gideon whilst Bre showers. He's becoming very interactive and smiley. When I'm sick I watch him from behind a telephoto lens. ::snort::

The snow is all around us now. We are still snow free in the Valley.....

 The bare mountain is the one we see from our dining and living rooms....the snow is down lower on other mountains....but it seems to be protected from the snow. 

I LOVE the fall colors, with the snow....

Our big news of the day is that we found a spot to buy two cords of birch/spruce. We're told 1/2 of it is seasoned and it's split. It was immediately apparent this was NOT split. ::sigh:: From a Christian businessman too. It's on Craig's list so we can't really leave a business review. He did give us a bit of money off, when Michael said something....but we would have gotten the OTHER wood that WAS SPLIT  if he'd told us the truth.....

Well - the bottom line is we now have wood - we just need to split these 2 cords. 

We Do Windows

Everyone is working on home projects. Alex and Nolan finished washing the outside windows....

 Yuuki likes to go on the deck - and she immediately jumps on the rocking chair and looks longingly back inside. She's never content WHERE she is. She certainly needs to learn to live fully present. That'll Preach! 

Saturday

I woke with a sore throat....headache....then got chilled....achy...GI upset....I went back to bed. I missed the fun. 

The guys came out. Larissa stayed home with our new grand puppy - a bear fighter. It's a Karelian Bear Dog  - bred to go on hikes with you and keep the bears away.  Somewhere in the late afternoon, they started a bonfire outside my window. 

It is fun to listen to the banter.....

Pizza & Games - We LOVE Fridays!

Friday evenings are bliss!

School is DONE. 

Lately, Saturdays are for work, work, work, as we beat back winter with the sheer magnitude of our "Property Projects."

BUT - FRIDAY NIGHTS ARE TO COLLAPSE and VEG  RELAX!

Years ago, Fridays became Pizza and Movie night. We made pizza in San Angelo and Japan, we moved to using Papa Murphy's at Beale....and now, in  my ever growing effort to tame the grocery budget, we are back to homemade pizza. The afternoon is not QUITE the rest it used to be. 🐽 I have several pizza dough recipes....EASY FREEZEABLE Pizza Dough has long been a lifesaver. I can make and pre-bake pizza crusts, and just pull them out when we are tired on Friday afternoons.  I have no clue why - but the recipe is failing me now.!!!! I need a mallet to force it into shape, rather than my trusty rolling pin! Could buying flour rather than milling fresh wheat be the problem? Or maybe the yeast is dead? The dough has tasted fine, the kids enjoy making individual pizzas....I tend to make a large one to get them started, and while they eat that, their individual ones bake.

We settled in for games.....we seem to do Pizza and Games much more than Pizza and Movies. 

Having the fire right by the kitchen tables adds a cozy element to game nights and dinners. I wonder if I could make fire baked pizza on or in the wood stove? Hmmmm....

Banana Bread (Susan G's)

Bananas are an odd thing around here. They are missed when I don't have them. They go bad, when I do get them. ::grin:: I had a batch of ripe bananas - seemed a great time to make banana bread. I'd not made this while living in the RV. I could have - but I didn't buy produce in big enough quantities to have ripe bananas when living in the RV. I remember when ripe bananas would be sold for .10 a pound and I refuse to pay full price for ripe bananas.  It has been at least 3 years since I made banana bread. I wasn't sure who would like it. 

Susan was a backyard ally neighbor in Hardin. She had a teenager and three little girls the ages of our pre-schoolers. We lived in Hardin for 6 years - the longest I have ever lived in one place. Susan was a great friend and mentor all of those years. She's the mom who got us started going to toddler story hour at the library.  I'd never thought of attempting story hour with 4 young ones. In those days the kids could play back and forth in our back yards without a lot of concern about abduction. At our first assignment, the contact priest was her husband's uncle. We kept in touch for about 10 years after we moved. Sadly, I've lost track of where she is.....but I remembered her banana bread! She brought over a loaf soon after we purchased our first  little house. Our mortgage was $250 a month. When I first made it it seemed like such an odd, edgy, crunchy type recipe. I had to go buy WHOLE wheat and yogurt. ::snort:: Now, I have everything on hand; though I subbed Rapadura for the Brown Sugar. Several enjoyed the bread. In addition, I enjoyed the memories. 

 Ingredients: 
1/2 C butter (1 stick)
3/4 C brown sugar
1 egg
1 C whole wheat flour
1/2 C unbleached white flour (soft white or just use all whole wheat)
1 t baking soda
3/4 t salt
1 1/4 C ripe, mashed bananas (2-3)
1/4 C yogurt or buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350*.

Directions: 
Cream butter and sugar.
Add eggs.
Sift flour, baking soda and salt (I just mixed).
Combine bananas and milk. Stir to mix.
Add dry ingredients alternately with banana mixture to butter mixture.
Stir to combine.
Turn into greased 9x5 loaf pan.
Bake 50 - 60 minutes.
Cool in pan 10 min. Remove from pan and cool on rack.

Makes 1 loaf.

For more recipes click the "Yummy Eats" recipe at the top of the blog.

The Rest of the Day

After school and Japanese, Stacia and I raced across to the next town for sewing club. Oy vey - the stories we have to tell if we weren't so tired.  I didn't take a single photo.  We eventually got the front and backs of her PJ's sewn together, the inside seam has been sewn twice for reinforcement,  and we'll get the outside seams done before next week.

In an effort to conserve gas, we decided to go grocery shopping. Walmart is also in the next town over. For the third week in a row they were out of all Great Value frozen veggies....we'll grow our own next year...if the moose will leave us alone to grow and harvest.

We got home late. I'd planned an easy dinner. The boys had burritos ready to put in the oven and rice in the rice steamer. 

Meanwhile, Michael sorted through the mish-mash of recycling. The local center has about 12 categories they want it sorted into. Now that we KNOW, we'll get rid of this and then sort into containers so we NEVER  have to sort through a trailer full of "stuff" again. Nolan and Cory did it last month. They went to Eagle River and we thought Valley Recycling might be different.

Arielle must have needed a study break while we were gone. This is Alex when we left. She's gotten good at this.

A cut and a beard trim...handy skills to have.  I'm so pleased to see the new Alex. 

Mornings are for MOOSE - 6 in October

After taking mountain photos, it's time to scan our yard. The little post at the right of this photo was a corner of a horse pasture.....we've not tilled it under yet. We see lots of evidence the wildlife like the wooded acre in the back. Because the horse pasture is growing wild, it is bringing them closer to the house. 

I don't think these are the same two moose we've seen before. One is a bit smaller than the other - the other two were the same size. The biggest was a bit more aggressive - note her ears and stance.

I don't mind them eating the brush pile and weeds in the old horse pasture....but I'm not so sure about stripping the leaves off the trees.