Home cooking, better than Mom's

Yesterday, our two youngest children and I were invited to dinner.  My 16 year old daughter is taking care of a sweet, older lady for a week and   has the run of the house.  She enjoys planning meals and cooking while she's there.  For Valentine's Day, she made Fetuccini Alfredo, salad, garlic bread and strawberry cheesecake,  all from scratch, and invited us.  It was delicious!  (Did you know that there are 953 calories in a cup of Fetuccini Alfredo? ) 

I'm still  full from last night's meal.   Thank you, Mel. It was such a blessing to have dinner with you .

It's the Little Things....

The little things like... going to the root cellar and finding the cabbages are still edible and making coleslaw.

                           like....watching the kids bring in ducks and warm them up with the blowdryer before school starts

                         like...enjoying the patterns of frost on the livingroom windows as the sun hits them and makes them sparkle 

                          like...being nuzzled by a llama and having him set his head on your shoulder

                         like....getting next year's seed order sent in and dreaming....

This has been my day so far.  Who could ask for more?

The Blue Bowl

Reading an entry about bowls earlier today and then reading about the wooden bowl, it's been on my heart to post my "bowl" story.

I love the old mixing bowls.  I love the look and I actually use them for mixing.  Last summer Grandma, my children and I all spent a day rummage saling.  About the third stop, we discovered a treasure of antiques.  They weren't going cheap, but they were in good shape and not priced too bad.  I found a beautiful antique, blue, mixing bowl, with an ornate rim.  A little steep at $10, but I really liked it and bought it.  We wrapped it in old sweaters and put it in a bag, careful not to chip and to warn everyone to be careful when unwrapping it.  Once home and all the packages in the house, you guessed it, the bowl was pulled out by the sweater and my son completely forgot there was a bowl in it.  It hit the floor and broke into about 20 pieces.  I admit I didn't handle it very well. I took up the pieces, placed them in the garbage and told my son it was okay.  It was just a "thing", but please try to remember to be more careful.  He knew I was sad and wanted to fix the bowl for me.  I told him even if it was fixed I couldn't use it anymore, not to bother.  Walking into the kitchen about half an hour later, there was my bowl.  The pieces carefully put back together and glued in place.  I started to cry.  That bowl means more to me now than it ever could have otherwise.  My son was so sorry for what he'd done, and I was so sorry for making him feel bad.  He fixed it because he loves me.  That bowl is sitting for all to see, in my kitchen. 

Whoa!!! Slow down.

The geese fly in every morning now.  About 30 of them.  They send the cattle scattering all over the pasture.  I think  they do it on purpose.  A couple of the maples have turned to a soft maroon.  It's early for fall and our woodpile is in a shambles.  Tomatoes on the vine are small and so are my cukes.  Others have their's in the refrigerator already, but mine are taking their time.

So today, I think I'll can as much as possible.  Some beets, swiss chard, maybe some beans.  I'll send the kids out to weed the weed patch.  The wild rasberries are red and ripe and ready to drop.  We'll try to get some more before they do.  The blueberries are so late.  They're at their peak right now, though we don't have too many of them this year.  Enough to get a pie or two.

My two oldest start college next week.  My two youngest won't have to start school for a couple of weeks yet.  I don't like to start too early.  We learn plenty just farming. 

That's about it from Glory Farm.  Have a good and Godly day.

Update on the UN Children's Rights Treaty

Dear Friend of Parental Rights, Monday in a Harlem middle school, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice told a group of 120 students that administration officials are actively discussing “when and how it might be possible to join”  (that is, ratify) the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).  As before, she also communicated what a disgrace it is that the U.S. would stand with only Somalia against such a widely-accepted treaty. This is the first direct public statement by the Obama administration that it will seek ratification of the UN CRC. In my 30 years of political involvement, I have learned to recognize this as what is called a “trial balloon.” Like in World War I trench warfare, our opponents have “sent up a balloon” to see if it will draw fire. If things remain quiet, they will proceed with their plans to push for ratification of the CRC in the U.S. Senate. To discourage them from doing so, we need to make sure that our voices are heard with unmistakable clarity.  We must let the Obama administration know that we oppose this anti-family, anti-American treaty. Here’s what we need you all to do: 1.      Call the White House comments line at 202-456-1111. Tell them you heard the administration wants to ratify the CRC, and you strongly oppose this giving away of U.S. sovereignty to the UN. Also keep in mind that this treaty gives the government jurisdiction to override any decision made by any parent if the government thinks that a better decision can be made—even if there is no proof of any harm. 2.      Call Ambassador Susan Rice’s office at the United Nations. Tell her that you want her to represent the United States to the world rather than trying to get the United States to go along with international law initiated by the UN.  Her office number is 212-415-4000. 3.      Contact your Senators and urge them to oppose ratification of this treaty. (Find your Senators’ contact information by typing your zip code into the box here.) Ask them also to defeat it once and for all by cosponsoring SJRes 16 – the Parental Rights Amendment. It is very important that we speak up right now.  Please call before you close this email! Sincerely, Michael Farris Find this letter online.