Last post of 2008!!

Well, Christmas came and went. Crazy, wild and exciting. It was awesome. The boys had a blast. They loved everything. I am glad to be moving on from all the hustle and bustle though. Tonight is New Years Eve, and we don't have anything planned. That is par for the course of being a farm family. Philip still has to get up at 4:30 am and milk. The girls could care less what day or year it is, or what is going on... These are the times I seem to feel it the most. I won't lie. It does bother me. Oh well. The boys had their first overnight with my mom since Sawyer was a tiny baby. It was nice to have the break. I still had to get up and do chores in the morning which sucked but atleast I didn't need to cart the boys down to the barn. They are going to stay again on Friday night and I won't have to do chores so that will be nice. Philip and I will be able to go and get breakfast and pick them up together. Philip's great aunt Caroline Ranney turned 100 yesterday. She is doing well. We went to see her and Donald and June and some others and had Cake and Ice cream. It was really nice. Caroline isn't talking too much, but she listens. She has in home care round the clock now, which is good. She has for only about the last 2 years or so. She is such a remarkable woman. Well I guess that is all for now. I got to get our pizza ordered. Wishing you all a happy, healthy and safe 2009!

Fudge, Fudge and MORE Fudge!!!

I have been making FUDGE all morning! Mmmmmmmm!!!!! I have made chocolate walnut fudge, plain chocolate fudge, chocolate coconut fudge, chocolate peppermint fudge!! I still need to make the Peanut Butter Fudge, which is our personal favorite!

I used the recipe on the back of the Nestles chocolate chip bag for Nestles Famous Fudge!

The recipe is...
1 1/2 Cups granulated sugar
2/3 Cups evaporated milk
2 tbsp butter or margerine
1/4 tsp salt
2 Cups mini marshmallows
1 1/2 Cups Semi Sweet chocolate chips (9oz)
1 tsp vanilla extract
Line 8 inch pan with foil or wax waper
Combine Sugar, evap milk, butter and salt into medium saucepan. Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Do this about 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Stir in chocolate and marshmallows at the same time, along with vanilla. Stir vigorously until melted. Pour into prepared pan, cool 2 hours until firm. Lift from pan and cut into peices.

This makes a great base fudge. Add in options-
crushed peppermint candy (on top)
walnuts
coconut

I will let you know how the peanut butter fudge comes out and post the recipe as well!! :)

Poking Hay...

I hate it. WHY do I hate it so much? Because the mother in me can't stand when each cow doesn't have the "same". LOL. Yes. It's true. It drives me crazy!! Most of the cows could care less, but every now and then I get one girl that looks at me as if she were saying..."They got MORE!" Silly I know. :)

Christmas is coming!

The goose is getting FAT!! lol. Just kidding. (About the goose anyway!) Life sure has been hectic around here preparing for the big day! We had Sawyers "Wemo Paaarty" (Nemo Party in sawyer-ese). It was great. We had pizza and wings and it was a pretty mellow gathering for the most part.

My christmas shopping is almost done. The boys pretty much are. Now if only I could stop seeing things I think they MUST have! I have a few extended family left to get for, and alot of baking to do next week :)

We got hit pretty hard Thursday night/early friday morning with rain/sleet/ice. We lost power for a short time here. About 2:30 am until about 4:15 am. I had been up with a sick Sawyer when it went out. and was up with a disgruntled farmer when it came back on... lucky me :) In all seriousness though, we were concerned about the barn, milking with the generator and Philip not getting oatmeal for breakfast!

Sure enough though, the barn was flooded. Big time. Poor Willie was standing in about 2 inches of water, and the girls in the last section near the end of the barn were totally flooded as well. Wet udders and all. Our little sump pump was NOT going to work. Philip milked, wading through rough waters, and after he was done, called around to find a pump that was bigger. We did, and it worked. Thank Goodness! We were able to get all the water out of the barn before the temperature dropped below freezing. We would of had a skating rink!

Every calf that could get loose that morning did, although it was quite cute, and their spunky little attitudes and total cuteness, entertained Philip and I, and kept us from losing our minds with all that had gone wrong.

There are still quite a few without power, and it really makes me think about how lucky we were this time around. And how blessed we are in general to have the things, luxeries really, that we have, and just how much we take them for granted. Farming is alot of hard work for sure, but it was alot harder back in the days when they did everything by hand or horse. Sometimes when everything seems to go wrong, it's easy to forget that things really could be worse. Alot worse.

So that is about all for now. I most likely won't get a chance to get back to update again before the holidays.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!! (and to all a GOOD NIGHT!)