Ponderings by Plowgirl

A day in the life......................

2010-04-13T00:03:00.002-05:00

of me......during planting season. Most days go something like this:

Up and at 'em after the "birthday's" on the morning show. (Ok, so 6:47 isn't really that early in the whole scheme of things!)

Check email, facebook, newspapers. Off to a shower. Wake up Plowbaby and Plowboy, and get both moving. (not necessarily an easy feat!)

Change the channel to "toonies" for Plowbaby, and try to get her to eat some breakfast and change her clothes and get ready for work/school.

The goal is for her and I to be out the door BY 9. Again, I know....not real early.....but YOU haven't tried to get Miss Pokey around in the morning! Also in the mean time, get some laundry going, and dishes cleaned up from the night before.

Drive up to the farm (or the last field from last night) to find the empty NH3 tanks from the night before. Hook up and head toward AgChoice. This is if I haven't already been sent on 3 other missions, before even hooking up the first tank! Weigh in empty tank, unhook, and go hook up a full one and head back to the farm or whatever field it's needed in.

Swing by home if possible to grab some lunch and switch the laundry around.

If it's a Monday, Wednesday or Friday, by this time we are headed for pre-school. Drop her off at school. Since I'm in town, I pick up parts and do a little grocery shopping. Then head back out for more tanks.

Since the planter is running now, BIL needed help filling it today. I ended up looking like Aunt Jemima by the time we were done! Darned graphite anyway. (Oh, how i hope i get a shower before my meeting tonight!!!).

Back to pulling tanks.

2:45 ....time to get to town to pick Plowbaby up from school.....if I can't make it HOPE that sister-in-law can!

Stop in at home so Plowbaby can change clothes, and I can start some supper.

Back to more tanks or running the guys from field to field.

At 5 pm, I start making supper arrangements. Who is here, and what field are they in? Will everyone be here by the time I'm ready to bring supper to the field?

Home to cook hamburgers (or some sort of food!). Hot food in one cooler, cold stuff in another. Don't forget the chips and cookies!!! Load all into my work van and off we go again. Oh yeah, and don't forget to switch that laundry around while I"m home.

Make my rounds to each field, or the shop, find each of the guys and make sure they get a hot meal for supper.

Back to pulling tanks.

{Tonight, I had supper ready early and started my rounds. I needed to be in town for a meeting by 7:15. Plowbaby was going to stay with her aunt and cousin while i was at the meeting. Ok, so I get 2 of the guys fed at the shop, went over to the nearest field, and fed the 3rd guy....headed to the south field to feed the last 2. I'm doing good on time here.....might even be on time to the meeting! I can leave each meal in their vehicle at their location and still make it!!! Or NOT.... 6:45 and the van dies as I'm driving down the road. UGH!. Won't start. Call for help. Thank goodness for cell phones! "Is it out of gas???" was the question. Nope gauge read half tank. Help arrives with an extra vehicle and I'm on my way again, leaving my rescuers with the broken down van to pull home. Diagnosis.....fuel pump. I arrive at the south field, pick up BIL, and head over to Plowboy's location. They enjoy their supper with the company of Plowbaby and me. We leave Plowboy to his work and take BIL back to his tractor. By the time I got back to my car, it was 8pm. I was an hour late to the meeting.....walk in late and take my fair share of ribbing. Meeting was over about 9:30. I pick up Plowbaby at 9:45, and a few minutes later, Plowboy calls and asks if I can swing by Sonic on my way home. Get fuel in the car, Sonic for the hubby and head for home. Now, it's 10:30 and we're just getting home for the day. and I still have laundry and dishes to do and a kiddo to get into bed!}

Just a typical day around here.

and yes, I got a quick shower before i went to the meeting!!!

Hope everyone has a safe planting season.

Happy trails,
plowgirl

Crash, boom, bang...........ugh (and a few recipe anecdotes)

2010-03-08T13:28:00.004-06:00

Well, I had great intentions of blogging a new recipe each week until we got back into the field for corn planting. Yeah, right!........my laptop CRASHED a week and a half ago. I miss it. I miss it dearly. My friend the computer guru says it's either a power issue or the motherboard is bad. I did her recommended steps, and have determined that the motherboard is the culprit. I'm hoping that we can resurrect it by making one working computer out of 2 non-working ones. Here's to hoping the spare one has a good motherboard!

Meanwhile, I'm using plowbaby's eMac that Santa brought her for Christmas. It's almost like learning all over again. I have a very STRONG dislike for the one button mouse, and thinking backward about how to do execute an operation is about more than my feeble brain can handle!

But our recipes are done and the pictures are taken. I just have yet to figure out how to download pictures onto the mac.

Easy Chocolate Eclair "cake" :

The dessert can be found here : http://www.mommyskitchen.net/2008/06/easy-chocolate-eclair-cake.html This is courtesy of Mommy's Kitchen. Thanks for the super yummy recipe Tina. She has the recipe and step-by-step directions on her site. (Just picture my little cutie putting it together in the pictures). This is a recipe that kids can do by themselves. Plowbaby did most of this dessert all by herself. And it was a HUGE hit at Thursday Lunch!

Yesterday morning, Plowbaby wanted green eggs and ham for breakfast. (It is Dr. Suess week at school this week). I asked her how she thought green eggs were made. Her reply was "Just put eggs in the bowl, use my stirrer and then add green coloring" {Smart kid I have!!!} So we added 2 eggs, some milk to her batter bowl and then some green coloring until we had her desired "green-ness". I scrambled them up in a skillet, then placed them on a white plate with 2 slices of ham. She was in heaven with her creation! Sure wish I could figure out how to post pics with this mac......they are priceless!

In "outside" news......it's finally starting to warm and dry up. The boys are been spreading chicken litter for the last few days. I'm sure we are real popular with the neighbors about now. (NOT!) I just hope it stays warm and dry so we can start working down the knee deep ruts that we left from fall harvest.

Have a good week everyone!

Happy trails,

~kansasplowgirl

Italian Love Cake .... oooooo la la

2010-02-18T16:39:00.006-06:00

It has come to my attention that there has been too much time lapse between my blogs.....well, here is a foodie blog. I came across this recipe on allrecipes.com. It looked just too good, so I had to try it out. It is easy and decadent. But give yourself at least a day before you want to serve this dessert, it needs time in the fridge.

The cast of characters and step by step directions:
Preheat oven to 350*.

One box of cake mix.....chocolate. I used chocolate fudge, but I read that German chocolate is good also. Make cake batter according to package directions.

cake batter

Next step:

4 eggs, 2 pints ricotta cheese, 1 tsp. vanilla and 3/4 c. white sugar (I'm thinking marscapone would be HEAVENLY!!!)

second layer

Put the cake batter in a greased 9x13 pan. Carefully pour and spread the cheese mixture over the cake batter. It will look something like this:

It looks something like this after cooking for 75 minutes. Depending upon your oven, it might need just a little longer. Use the "clean toothpick" method to see if it is done.

For the last layer you will need:

One 3.9 oz box instant chocolate pudding, 1 cup milk, and 12 oz. tub cool-whip. (I only had a 8 oz tub, and it worked fine). Mix those ingredients together and spread over FULLY COOLED cake. Refrigerate cake for at least 12 hours before serving. The pudding needs time to set, and the cake will be so moist.

Hope you enjoy this as much as we did today at Thursday Lunch!

SNOW! and an update

2010-01-29T11:10:00.003-06:00

Well, it finally decided to really, honest-to-goodness snow! For almost a week, the weathermen have been predicting a strong winter storm for yesterday and today. It was going to be as bad as the one we had over Christmas.

This morning we awoke to about an inch of the white stuff, and NO SCHOOL? What the heck were they thinking......an inch? Kids go out and play in this stuff, surely they can go to school!! About 30 minutes ago, the flakes got HUGE, and thick. I just wish the picture reflected how big the flakes actually are! It really is a pretty snow, and afterall, I don't have to get out in it, so it really doesn't affect me!!!

There is a pot of chili on to cook, and there would be cinny rolls too if'n I had a mixer! :)

Enjoy your snow day,
plowgirl

This is what the yard looks like now that the snow has ceased falling!

Bowls, bowls, everywhere there is bowls

2010-01-22T16:58:00.005-06:00

I like mixing/serving bowls.....i mean, I REALLY like bowls!!! I'd like to show you a few of my favorites. Of course, bowls are just one of the kitchen accessories that I like.....dishes in general are something that I like to collect. Along with antiques, and primitives.

This is the kitchen cabinet that I acquired about a year ago. I've wanted one of these for years.....just had to wait for the right one to come along! Mom had one similar to this, but hers was bigger and all wood, and had more drawers in it. This was an eBay find, and thanks to my friend Bryan for picking it up and storing it for me for a couple of months!

The left and the center bowls are currently my favorites. The left one I purchased on an auction from a church that was closing. The center one was a gift from my friend Judy. Both are used for raising dough....the left one for pizza and the center for cinnamon roll dough. I LOVE the center bowl just for the size of it.....it is HUGE! Love to have lots of room to work in this bowl. The yellow bowls on the right are part of the AtHomeAmerica Heirloom Pantry Bowl collection. (I am a Home Style Specialist for AtHomeAmerica.)

These beautiful pastel bowls were a "special" back when I was a Pampered Chef consultant. They are simply gorgeous. I only use them as serving bowls.

The inside of the center bowl is pastel blue.....a shade of robin egg blue

Another favorite set. Gee, can you guess why???......and I suppose when they start putting CAT tractors on bowls, I will have a set of those also!

FIESTAWARE!!!!! My all time favorite thing to collect! I leave a "drool trail" when I walk thru the Fiesta display at Macy's and Dillards! I used to have a somewhat impressive collection of Fiesta, but hubby "put his foot down" and said no more Fiesta, since I just have it "to look at" anyway! I'd like to start buying again.....I'm about 6 colors behind! My sister-in-law Lora has well surpassed my collection with hers. Her hubby, my fav brother-in-law Mike, isn't nearly as mean as his brother!! (Said with some sarcasm!)

Another AtHome Heirloom collection bowl set. This is the 2009 Limited Edition Positively Pretty Pink set. The color in this picture doesn't do it justice, this is a gorgeous pink. The bright blue bowl nesting in the middle is known as "the mashed potato bowl". That is what mashed potatoes were served in when I was a kid!

Another AtHomeAmerica set. This is the Baker's Basics 5 piece set. Love these "retro" look and colors. AtHome has GREAT bowls!!! Can you see why I joined their company??!!!

www.athome.com/kviets

The apple bowl.....also known as the "gravy bowl".....goes with the "mashed potato bowl" from above!

This popcorn bowl was a Christmas gift from Mom and Dad one year.

And no, that's not all, there are more in the cabinets......but these are the pretty bowls, and the ones with meaning to me. Each has it's own story and place in my life and heart.

Thanks for taking the time to read. Hope you enjoyed!

Happy trails,
plowgirl

Christmas Program 2009

2010-01-03T20:04:00.006-06:00

"I wonder if his mother Mary baked him a birthday cake"

Happy 18th Katie!

2009-11-17T11:37:00.009-06:00

Today's blog is dedicated to my niece Katie. I remember the day you were born like it was yesterday. Your uncle Mark and I were at college, and I went over to pick him up and take him to class. He came out of his apartment just BEAMING. He'd just got off the phone with your dad, who had informed him that you had arrived. Katie Ann, perfect and healthy in every way. You have grown into a beautiful young lady who we are very proud of. You are smart, talented, energetic and most of all, a sweet, caring, kind, giving person. You are a wonderful aunt, and cousin to the youngsters in the family. They adore you. You are a loyal friend, as can be seen in the MANY pictures Tessa posts on
Facebook!

She got into texting at an early age. No wonder she's so good at it now!

This butterfly would not leave her alone one spring day. It was so cute!

Autocrossing in the grass

First grade picture. One of our favorites!

Homecoming parade with Dad as her driver

Hanging with the class on the parade float

Homecoming queen candidates

Bustin' a move with the girls

Silly aunt

The support group.

WE LOVE YOU KATIE!!!

Stopping to smell the roses............I am so blessed

2009-10-21T08:18:00.003-05:00

I received an email this week. It was not a particularly nice email. But it did make me stop and think.

It made me stop and think about how wonderful of a life I do lead, and to appreciate the “small” and the big things in life. I have a great husband, a beautiful, joyous daughter (even if she does drive me slightly crazy!), and a nice house. I drive a nice car. I’ve not had to work, but it’s something I enjoy.

I have a wonderful family. And I’m not just talking about “my” family, but my in-laws. We all farm together. I’ll admit, some days it’s hard. We can get on each other’s nerves. But we do work well together. I have the.BEST. in-laws. EVER!!!! They have become as close to me as my own family. I honestly do not know what I’d do without them.

Friends….I am so blessed to have many friends. Hubby says I know more people in our community than he does, and he’s lived here all his life! We have a GREAT core group of friends. We all share common goals, beliefs, values and attitudes. I am reminded of when I spent a month in the hospital back in ’05. My girlfriends were there for me thru thick and thin. There are the 2 girls who stayed with me thru the hardest nights so hubby could have a break, and the girls who came over and cleaned my house, knowing I would not be returning home for some time. Hey they even cleaned out my refrigerator!! They brought their husbands along, and the guys mowed the yard, and weed-eated. We could not have gotten thru that tough time without the help of our friends and family. And for that they all have my deepest gratitude.

Community…..I’m also blessed to live in a wonderful community. Some years ago, I was visiting with a lady who worked down the street from me. We were discussing our town, and the changes that were taking place. She said to me “There are so many takers in our community, I just want to give back as much as I possibly can.” That really struck a cord with me. And from that day on, I decided I was going to be a “giver”. Currently, I serve on the FairBoard, and donate my time and energy to help prepare for the annual county Fair. I also belong to a Young Farm Wives group. Again, serving our community in whatever capacity that is needed. Five years ago, my friend Debbie and I started serving lunch on Thursday at our church. What a tremendous success this outreach program has become. Our “staff” of 6 serves approximately 55-80 people each Thursday. And to think, one sentence sparked my “giver” attitude. Thank You Bette, may God rest your beautiful soul.

And to wrap this up, yes, I suppose it looks like I live a “charmed” life. But it isn’t perfect. We all have our ups and our downs, our trials and tribulations; it’s just what we CHOOSE to do with these that count. Like Aunt Virginia used to tell me….when life hands you lemons, go make lemonade!

And in the words of another friend "I am proud of the life I have and I want others to know how blessed I feel for it."

Have a wonderful and blessed day.

~plowgirl

And the tradition continues

2009-08-30T20:00:00.004-05:00

In my family, Sunday night is known as Pizza Night. Sunday night, pepperoni pizza, and 60 Minutes, it all goes together. To this day, I can't hear the "tick, tick, tick and the familiar "I'm Harry Reasoner, I'm Morely Safer, and I'm Ed Bradley" without tasting Mom's pizza. For as long as I can remember, we've had pizza on Sunday nights. She always made homemade pizza. She was FAMOUS for her homemade pizza.

In fact, for one of the church bazaars, she put up a gift certificate for 2 homemade pizzas. It brought well over $100. I think she actually ended up making about 5 to fill that gift certificate, as a neighbor bought it, and we had their whole family over that night, plus the 5 of us!

In college, I had several speeches to compose for Speech 102 class. One of the criteria for one of the speeches was an "exciting or overwhelming" fact. (or something like that). I'd just been home for the weekend. As I was driving back to Manhattan, I started thinking of what to write for the speech (which was probably due the next day!). The pizza I'd just had for supper was fresh on my mind. An overwhelming fact........I was 19, assuming Mom made 2 pizzas every Sunday night for my entire life, that totalled up to 1976 pizzas!!!!! Holy pepperoni!!!!! Now THAT was an exciting AND overwhelming fact! Yes, I used this in the speech, and my classmates were quite impressed. I think it might have even been the only "A" I got on any of my speeches! :) {Hey Ruth, do you remember this speech, I think you helped me write it?!}

Now that I'm an adult, I've tried to carry on the pizza night tradition. It may not always be homemade, in fact, Pizza Hut is just a quick phone call away, and Mark likes their crust better. My brother and my Aunt Connie have Sunday night pizza nights too. They DO make theirs homemade. They both make AWESOME crust! Bill has a degree in milling science, so he knows his flour, and has a way with gluten!

Homemade to Mom was truly homemade. The sauce was canned from tomatoes from her garden, the crust from scratch, the cheeses from the neighbors dairy, and the hamburger probably came from one of our cows. Homemade to me, is more like semi-homemade! I assemble ingredients into a pizza.

It's my turn and duty to pass the pizza making tradition on to my next generation. And since Plowbaby has now expressed an interest in cooking, tonight was her first lesson.

Rolling out the dough

Pricking the dough so there won't be air bubbles

Expertly placing the pepperonis

Pepperoni artist

Cheese placement

Finishing up the cheese

The finished product. Her first pizza!

I also tried another recipe tonight. In one of her Kid's Cookbook, there was a recipe for Cheesy Breadsticks. Take a package of garlic breadsticks (I used Pillsbury), unroll. Place a mozzerella snack stick on the long edge, roll over, and cut. I got 4 out of one side, and had enough dough left over to do a fifth one. Bake at 425 until golden brown. Let cool, and serve with pizza sauce. They were really good, we all liked them.

Hope you all had a great Sunday night. and make next week your pizza night!

Happy trails
~kim

Out with the old, in with the new: CAR FOR SALE!

2009-08-22T13:20:00.004-05:00

Back in April, I mentioned that I wanted a new(er) car. The black 2009 Challenger was my dream car.

Wellllllllllllllllll, that wasn't quite what I ended up with.

I bought this car:

Therefore, the old car is going to have to find a new home. (Altho, plowbaby swears we are keeping it for her to drive when she is old enough!)

1997 Dodge Intrepid Dark teal green with grey cloth interior Power and tinted windows Power locks with child lock-out back doors All new tires, and new battery Air conditioning works GREAT!

Asking $2000 and hey, I will even shop-vac it out and maybe wash it for you! :=]

email me for more information at kansasplowgirl@gmail.com

The end of one chapter, but the beginning of another

2009-08-12T23:32:00.008-05:00

Well, yesterday was the last day of me being a mom to a baby. Today, she started preschool. "I'm a big girl now Mom" is quite a common saying for her now.

On Monday we went school supply shopping, bought new tennis shoes at Payless, and had lunch at her favorite place - Applebee's.

Tuesday, I spent the day convincing her that she IS going to preschool! "I'm not ready was her reply". I told her that I'd already paid for school, so SOMEONE in this household IS going to school! She thought that maybe Dad should go! But, I reminded her that Dad has to work, to which she replied that then I could go. When I told her that she would have to stay here alone, and I expected her to do laundry, dishes and have supper ready when I got home from preschool, she started reconsidering her options!

Later in the day, her teacher Miss Barb called and visited with her a bit. That seemed to do the trick! After their conversation, she went to her room and picked out her outfit to wear for the first day, then she packed her new backpack.

The outfit

And today was the big day. She wanted both of us to take her to school, but first we had to go to Peppermill (local diner) for lunch. She ate a good lunch, and was ready to get to Miss Barb's. I think it was harder on Dad to leave her, than me. He doesn't want his little girl to grow up.

At the end of the day, she had had a GREAT day, and was just simply giddy when I picked her up! There are a few kids in her class that she already knows, so she was excited about that. She was especially excited that her buddy Trey is in her class!! She is ready to go back on Friday! Horray!

Now Mom can go back to work! (part-time at least!)

Plowbaby turns 4 - the cake

2009-07-26T12:13:00.005-05:00

The theme this year was Hello Kitty. Pink, pink, and more pink......with a little bit of orange, blue, green and white thrown in for color!

This by far is my favorite cake that I have made for her, and the cupcakes turned out great too.

I used the "animal crackers" pan by Wilton for the cake, and trimmed the "bear" ears to look like "cat" ears. My friend Deb made the buttercream frosting for me. (I always wonder why she and I can use the same recipe and hers tastes SOOOO much better! - Thanks Deb!) The bow, eyes, nose and whiskers are from rolled fondant colored with Wilton gel.

I had a template to work with, so it wasn't like I was constructing this blind! The template is her snack pack that came with her backpack for school. She even picked the "funfetti" cake mix. YUM!

The cupcakes....just your standard chocolate cupcakes with white buttercream frosting and confetti sprinkles. They were yummy too!

93rd Annual Crawford County Fair

2009-07-26T10:35:00.004-05:00

The County Fair starts this week. We have been out working on the fairgrounds getting buildings and pens cleaned up, grass trimmed and mowed, a new "ice house" has been constructed and painted. (That is "we" as in : the Fairboard members, 4H families, FFA members and other community leaders). Plowboy wonders why I spend time out there, it's because I enjoy it, and I believe that Crawford County has a great Fair, and I would like to see it keep improving.

The following press release was written by a long-time Fair supporter. (Thanks Kari!)

GIRARD, KS — Plans for the 93nd Annual Crawford County Fair are underway. The Fair is scheduled for Wednesday, July 29 through Saturday, August 1, 2009.

It features exhibits from 4-H and FFA members, Open Class exhibits, in which anyone can participate, and will include a variety of livestock shows and the 4-H Livestock Sale on Saturday. Complete rules and classes are available in the premium catalog, available at the Crawford County K-State Research & Extension Office at 120 E. Buffalo Street in Girard or online at crawford.ksu.edu.

In addition to exhibits and displays, there will be two nights of ACRA/IPRA Rodeo (locals welcome) action provided by the Williams & Long Rodeo Company of Cambridge, Kan., and sponsored by Pepsi Cola Bottling Company of Pittsburg. Additional chute sponsors include Labette Bank, Pike’s Fertilizer and Molle Automotive.

On Friday, grandstand entertainment includes the third annual Tuff Trucks Figure 8 Event sponsored by Heartland Rural Electric Cooperative and on Saturday, the popular McCune-Girard Young Farmers Demolition Derby will be an action-packed event.

All grandstand events will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for all of these events will be available in advance of the shows only at the Grandstand ticket booth.

In addition to the Grandstand shows, each night of the fair will feature free musical entertainment on the Midway Stage. This year’s line-up will kick-off with Diversity on Wednesday evening. Thursday will feature Pittsburg’s own, Area 51. New to the Crawford County Fair on Friday night is the KKOW Colgate Country Music Showdown. See some of the area’s best talent compete for a spot in the state competition. Wrapping up the free music series, back by popular demand is “Little Elvis,” Duke Mason.

As always, no fair would be complete without a carnival. Southern States Amusements will have games and rides for your family’s entertainment.

So mark your calendars and plan to join us for the 93nd Annual Crawford County Fair east of Girard on Kansas Highway 47 from July 29 to August 1.

I've been missed?????

2009-07-05T21:27:00.004-05:00

It's come to my attention that apparantly the blog has been missed. Some of you think I fell off the face of the Earth, some think I "cinnamon rolled" myself into oblivion, and I'm sure the majority of you are right on........I'm just flat too lazy to blog!!

Alot has happened since the last entry.

The brick on the house is finished - and it looks AWESOME! I have pics somewhere to post.

The corn got planted , and re-planted.

It rained ALOT!!!!!

The basement got almost finished painted. We (I) have the floor to clean and then (he) will finish painting it. No pics yet. (On my to-do list)

For my birthday, I got to go to the Willie Nelson concert in Salina.......can you say SO TOTALLY AWESOME!!?? And on the way home, I picked up an antique "hoosier-type" cabinet that a friend had been storing for me. (Pictures of both coming)

Plowbaby and I had our pictures taken as a Father's Day present. (Hope to post some of them soon).

I got a new-to-me car......unfortunately, NOT the one pictured in a previous entry. But really nice none the less!!! I will leave that one as a separate blog!!!

I joined the At Home America team. (Home-based business selling home decorating items.) www.athome.com/kviets

I attended my 20th year class reunion, and had a BLAST! Pictures are on FaceBook.

That was Memorial Weekend, so I also got to spend the weekend with my family. Memorial weekend has always been a special time for my family. I enjoy going out to the cemetaries and seeing the gravesites of my ancestors. One of the cemetaries has my great-great-great-great grandparents in it. And I may be a little bit weird, but I also like to go out to Prairie Grove and say "Hi" to my Mom and have a little chat with her.
Sidebar: After the conclusion of the Military Services at Prairie Grove, Plowbaby and I were walking back to my car to leave. I decided to go say "Bye" to Mom. While walking over to her grave, I said "I sure miss you Mommy", and Plowbaby looks up at me and says "It's OK Mommy, you've got me". Out of the mouths of babes. How an almost-4-year-old knew exactly what I needed to hear, is beyond me.

Two weeks later, we headed back out to central Ks for the wedding of my cousin Pete. Pete and Sara had a BEAUTIFUL outdoor wedding at a sporting clays lodge near Russell, Ks. My brother was back for the wedding and it was good to get to see him, even tho for a short amount of time. I sure do miss him and the girls.

It rained some more.

Plowbaby attended day camp at the Preschool where she will be attending this fall. It was "gardening camp" that week. She really liked it and had alot of fun.

Finally dried up enough to plant beans ....... the same week we were supposed to go to Iowa on vacation. The beans got planted, and the vacation will have to take a rain check. I also made numerous pans of cinnamon rolls that week. Froze them, then over-nighted them to Iowa since I couldn't be there for Rolan's Benefit/NAT Gathering in person.

We finished up bean planting last Monday evening. But there were 2 places that didn't get done, because they had had cattle on them, and were too hard and dry to plant. We had a little shower here yesterday, so Plowboy finished them up today.

For Fourth of July, we went to my niece Joni's. Had a BLAST! Plowbaby loves playing with her cousins. Lots of good food, good family and friends and good times. Makes for great memories. On the way home, we stopped in Pittsburg to watch their fireworks display. Plowbaby declared it to be "SPECTACULAR!!!"

(She had just taken a big bite of broccoli when Joni snapped this pic!)

Today was spent recovering from the Fourth festivities, and enjoying the lower temperatures. I also did some yardwork outside.

What does the rest of the month bring? Well, Plowbaby has vacation bible school for the next 2 weeks, she also has been going to Summer Storytime at the Library on Tuesdays. Her birthday is this weekend. So I have ALOT to do before this weekend!
The Four State Farm Show is the next weekend. And then the county fair will be starting the next week. Since I'm on Fairboard, there is alot to be done for that also.

And after the fair......school will be starting in 10 days. UGH. I'm not ready!

Hope everyone has been having a great summer!!!

Happy trails
~plowgirl

It's my party

2009-04-16T01:32:00.004-05:00

By the time this posts, yesterday was my birthday.

And I had a GREAT day! Plowboy took the day off and we (all 3 of us) went to Joplin to have fun.

We met some friends for lunch in Pittsburg, then on to Joplin. Plowbaby fell asleep on the way down, so we went to 4States Truck (Chrome Shop Mafia place) to check out some stuff there (Plowbaby slept/then we read library books in the car). Went to Academy Sports and I got some new tenny-runners. Next was our TRUE destination......The House of Bounce. It is a "morton building" that is filled with inflatables (ie. moonwalk type things you jump in!) So my birthday party was at a House of Bounce. We headed back toward home,ate supper at Jim's Steakhouse in Pittsburg, then had to make the obligitory stop at Walmart. When we arrived home, I noticed that "someone broke in" to our house, and left me a beautiful hydrangea plant on the kitchen table. It was Plowboy's mom, and yes, the house was unlocked!

All in all, this was the BEST birthday I've ever had! (even tho I didn't get the Challenger!)

Plowbaby was concerned that I didn't have any presents to unwrap, and that I didn't get any Fiestaware like I'd asked for. I told her I got new tennis shoes, and asked if that was OK for my present. She said it was Ok, and that I'd use the shoes more than the Fiestaware anyway!

Taking up a collection

2009-04-13T22:00:00.005-05:00

My birthday is this week.

And THIS :

is what I want!

I need a new car anyway.....why not go for the gusto?!

So, I'm saving the pennies, and taking up a collection... all donations to the Plowgirl's New Ride Fund accepted!!!

Just joking........about the Fund anyway................I still want the car, but I know it's not going to happen!

BTW....it's a 2009 Dodge Challenger R/T

Happy trails
~plowgirl

My architectural salvage find

2009-04-08T21:00:00.007-05:00

I got a phone call a couple of weeks ago....on a COLD, snowy Saturday morning...... The caller asked "Was I still interested in the salvage of the UM church in town?" Of course I was! Even though it was raining/snowing and the wind was blowing to beat all heck. I talked Plowboy into watching Plowbaby for a while so I could go in and survey the situation. Upon arrival, I noted that the poor weather conditions were definately to my advantage! There were only a hand full of potential buyers there for me to compete against. Even tho it was COLD, (did i mention how COLD it was?!) I was determined to stick it out and come home with lots of goodies. The "auction" was a silent bid type auction. There were bid sheets (most were soaking wet!) on each of the elements available for sale. You simply walked around, decided what you were willing to give, and wrote your name and bid amount on the sheet. I made a trip around at the very last minute to increase bid amounts on the ones I really wanted.

I came home with a total of 9 doors, and all the trim that went with them. However, the removal was up to me (well, us.....I got a little {alot} of help).

These are doors that lead from the entry way into the sanctuary. I got one set of these. (Was supposed to have both sets, but I let one of them go. Figured Plowboy wasn't going to be too keen on the glass)

This is a pocket door. I got 4 of these. Two on the main floor, and 2 up in the balcony. They are 7 foot tall and 6 foot wide and about 3 inches thick (read that SOLID).

another pic of the same door, just the other side

This is the hole in the wall where one of the doors came out of. It's on the 3rd floor balcony! (Ya know, it never occured to me during the frenzy of bidding that we'd have to get these doors outta here!)

I also got 3 other interior doors. I didn't get pictures of them though and they are in storage now.

What am going to do with all of this? They will become "moveable" walls in the basement. I didn't want to frame in and sheet rock rooms down there, so these will serve as room dividers. The trim from around the doors will (hopefully) become trim around the new windows down there also.

On Sunday (the day after the "auction"), Plowboy and I went in to "get a plan" on how we were going to get these finds out of the church. Soon, pesky brother-in-law Tim showed up, and not too much longer brother-in-law Mike shows up also. Both in their work vehicles. And guess what.....there are just enough pry bars, hammers and tools and now manpower to get the job done. Within a couple of hours, all the doors and trim had been removed and were taken to storage. (This is the part where I mention HOW MUCH I LOVE AND APPRECIATE MY HUSBAND AND BROTHERS-IN-LAW!!!!)

On Monday, I went back in and finished removing the trim and the nails from the trim. I took it all to storage also. Now I just have to get someone who knows something about trim (and woodwork in general) to tell me if my plan will work, and what I need to do to accomplish my goal!

You might be wondering how we got the huge doors out of the balcony. Well, once they were removed from the walls and the tracks, the boys strung a rope through the rails on the top, and lowered them over the balcony wall where (my friend) Barbara and I were waiting to "catch" them. It worked pretty slick, and there were no injuries to either Barbara, myself or the doors!

Something else I acquired from the auction is sections of the tin ceiling from the entry way. Barbara and her husband Randy won the bid on the ceiling, and they were kind enough to let me have what they didn't want.

I've always had a fascination for old architecture and anything antique. Big, old buildings just have me in awe. I took several pictures of the church, many (probably too many!) I will post below. It will be sad to see the old building go. Demolition is set for April 20th.

The church was built in 1914. The last few years have been pretty hard on her. She is suffering from structural damage, and is beyond repair. The ice storm we had here last winter really did a hard number on her. The church members made the decision to have her razed, and rebuild on a new site.

This is the front of the church. It faces the east. Oh how I wish those brick arches could somehow be saved and used.

This is the south side of the building. Notice that all the stained glass windows are gone. They have been removed and put into storage, and will be used in the new church when it is built.

This is the view out the big window in the south side from the balcony.

This is the view out the east window from the balcony.

A view of the alter area from the balcony

The view of the south balcony from the north balcony. Note that the pews are gone also. They are in storage and will be put in the new church when it is built.

A view of the southeast from the alter area

A view of the north balcony. These are the two spots where two of the doors came from. The rail on the left is where the boys lowered the doors over down to the main floor.

I didn't get pictures of the amazing stairways in the church. And the pictures really don't do that beautiful floor justice. Whoever bid on the staircases has quite a job in front of them in their removal. The floorings and the baseboards weren't bid on, so I'm guessing they will be demolished with the rest of the church.

The nice thing about architectural salvage is you can take a piece of history and breathe new life into it. It has a new life with character and a story.

Stay tuned for "the rest of the story". I might have these elements installed by next Christmas!

Happy trails,
plowgirl

Never Fail Cinnamon Rolls

2009-03-27T11:19:00.004-05:00

This is the recipe for the BEST cinnamon rolls I've ever made! Vonnie usually brings 2 pans of them to Thursday Lunch, and they are gone lickety-split!

(without the glaze)

What you will need:

1 box yellow cake mix
2 pkgs. rapid rise dry yeast
1 tsp. salt
5 cups flour

Put all ingredients together in large bowl. (Electric mixer with dough hooks or a bread machine.)
Add 2 1/2 cups hot tap water and mix well
Cover and let rise until double in bulk. (About 2 hours)
Turn out onto floured surface and knead lightly
Roll out about 3/4 inch thick
Melt 1 stick of margarine and pour over the rolled out dough
Sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar and chopped pecans
Roll up and slice about 1 inch thick
Place in 2 greased 9 x 13 pans and let rise for 30 minutes
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes DO NOT OVERBAKE!!!
Glaze or frost with your favorite frosting.

YUM! (just in case you forgot what they looked like while reading the recipe!)

Tonight is a demo derby committee meeting here at my house. I'm making Baked Potato Soup (recipe in Jan, '09) and chili and these cinnamon rolls. A menu for a very cold March night!

Enjoy! and stay warm tonight!

~plowgirl

Layered Strawberry Cheesecake Trifle

2009-03-24T20:08:00.009-05:00

I made this dessert for a meeting the other night and it was a hit. It is featured on the cover of the spring edition of Kraft Food and Family.

What You Need!

3 cups sliced fresh strawberries
3 Tbsp. sugar
2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1-1/2 cups cold milk
1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) JELL-O Cheesecake Flavor Instant Pudding
2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, divided
2 cups frozen pound cake cubes (1 inch)
1 square BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate

Combine berries and sugar; refrigerate until ready to use.

Beat cream cheese with mixer until creamy. Gradually beat in milk. Add dry pudding mix; mix well.

Blend in 1-1/2 cups COOL WHIP. Spoon half into 2-1/2-qt. bowl.

Top with layers of cake, berries and remaining cream cheese mixture.

Melt chocolate and drizzle on top with spoon. Top with remaining Cool-Whip and a chocolate dipped strawberry for garnish. Refrigerate 4 hours.

(Note to those who were at the meeting---- I used Angel Food Cake instead of pound cake as I like the "lightness" of Angel Food cake better)

You can bet THIS one will be on the dessert table at Easter!

Enjoy!
~plowgirl

A Rolan update, and an impromptu NAT gathering

2009-03-14T20:28:00.003-05:00

Well, I'll let you see for yourself how our friend Rolan is doing. Look at this kid! Doesn't he look GREAT!

Loran and family were here last night and today. We had a great time! Plowbaby had an especially fun time having someone play with her and fix her hair and nails.

Lunch became an impromptu gathering of the NAT posters that had attended KC, but missed out on meeting Loran and family. NEMO Scott was here also to deliver and pick up machinery.

Clockwise from the bottom left: Plowboy, Greg Stremel, Loran, my pesky BIL Tim, John Burns, and NEMO Scott. Brenda in the background

Again, from Plowboy to the left: Hop-a-long's son Jonathan, Greg, Loran, brother-in-law, Hop-a-long, John Burns, and Scott. Brenda is in the background

Same crew with Hop-a-long and Carolynn Burns in the background

(BTW, if you wondered what I fixed them for lunch, it was lasagne, lettuce salad and green beans. Carolynn brought the garlic bread and the Super Good Brownies.)

The Kid Crew. Plowbaby is still whining that she wants Kass back to play with her! Kass made quite an impression on the 3 year old!

It was wonderful to see them again, and I'm very glad that we could have a mini NAT Gathering.

Can't wait 'til June!!! :)

Happy trails,
~plowgirl

quickly..............on my way out the door for the day

2009-03-06T08:08:00.002-06:00

A couple random things for today...........

* Happy Birthday Mom, I hope you are sending me down some "good luck" vibes today

* I've been really busy in the field that's why no blog for a few days......but I have lots of pics

* JP is here PUTTING BRICK BACK ON THE HOUSE!!! YEAHHHHHH (and I have pics of that also)

* We took a road trip on Sunday. While there we did some shopping and Plowbaby and I got new "work" boots. Well, mine truly are work boots, hers are just plain adorable! and she loves them. Will have pics of my little cowgirl soon!

* I really need to get out the door..............so until I find another spare minute.........Have a good day!

Happy trails
~plowgirl

Life on the farm is kinda laid back...................

2009-02-25T08:02:00.004-06:00

It is dry enough for us to get back into the field, so yesterday I grabbed the camera to have in the truck as I was pulling tanks.

This is what I've been using to pull tanks

Life at 25 mph! (Some tanks pull faster than that, but not the one I had hooked on for this load)

Just got Wes hooked up to a fresh tank

The Terragators that are here to spread chicken poo. Otherwise known as the "poo flingers"! (These rigs don't belong to us, just spreading the poo on our ground)

A beautiful spring sunset. (That doesn't mean the workday is done yet tho!)

A common sight this time of year. A neighbor is burning off the edge of the field, and a waterway.

Time for me to head back out and cycle the tanks thru for another day. Hope you all are enjoying your Spring also!

Happy trails
~plowgirl

12 Steps

2009-02-15T18:06:00.002-06:00

Hello. My name is Kim. I'm an addict.

That should be my opening line to the "FaceBook Users Anonymous" group.

I used to "myspace"...in fact I have 2 pages! A "plowgirl" page and my Derbydarlin' page. But since I've discovered FaceBook, the myspace(s) have gone by the wayside. I like FaceBook. It is "real time" and quite user friendly. I love catching up and reconnecting with classmates from grade school, high school and college. Not to mention family, demo derby friends, NAT friends, and other acquaintances.

It's great to put a "grown up" face on someone whom I've not seen in 20 (or so) years, and also very interesting to learn down what path life has lead them. Like, say for instance, Mike......I haven't seen Mike since he was a Freshman in HS and I was a Senior. We had home room together. I've now visited with Mike via FB to find out that he is a helicopter pilot and is stationed somewhere in the sandbox. Wow, never would have guessed that he'd become a career military man. (BTW, Mike, thanks for all you do to keep us safe over here in the good ol' USA).
And some haven't changed much at all. Some friends still live in or near our hometown. The ones whom I expected to stay close to home to farm have done so. Right now, my classmates are in the process of planning our class reunion. One of the classmates scanned and posted a bunch of pictures from our school days. That has been a hoot!!! (and kind of embarrassing!)

Some of my friends on FB, remind me just HOW OLD i am. Yep, that's you Vanessa, Jason and Chaz......I used to change your diapers. And now you are all grown up and out on your own. Each of you have grown up to be beautiful, successful adults. You make me proud to know you.

There are other fun things to do on FB. I have a "farm" to tend to. I like to send virtual flowers to my friends, I like to send gifts from the White Trash Shopping Network. (Hey, Justin and Chuck....did you like the Demo cars I sent you?!) Shannon tells me there are games to play. He is addicted to Poker. (I haven't found that application yet.) There are groups you can join. For instance the "I've chopped thistles" group, or the National FFA group, or the Kansas Demo Derby Drivers group.

In all.....FaceBook is probably a collassal waste of time.......but it sure is fun! (Much more fun that cleaning house!)

If you are on FB, and would like to be my "friend" just send me an email and I'll add you to my friends list!

NEW TOPIC: Valentine's Day

Hope you all had a great Valentine's Day. It was pretty much just another day around here. We don't do anything special to celebrate. In fact, I cleaned house all day (and played on FaceBook!) What I miss most about Valentine's Day is working in the Flower Shop. JD, you KNOW if you ever open up a shop again, I WILL be there to work Valentine's Day, Mom's Day, and Prom. I miss you and working with you!

Happy trails!
~plowgirl

Incoherent ramblings!

2009-02-12T07:41:00.005-06:00

Yet again it's been a few weeks since I've blogged. So pardon with me while I just ramble thru yet another "catch up" post.

Basement........I've started working on the basement. The construction remnants are now removed (most of them anyway, I am waiting on M and the guys to remove the beams that held up the house while the walls were out). The goal for this week is to get the bleach treatment on the walls and floor finished. Hope to get the dry-lock paint on them next week. Then I need to figure out what color/texture will go on next. I've changed my mind so many times I can't keep up with myself! I'm open to suggestions......so leave me some email, or comments!!! (Especially if you've been thru a flood and have/had water issues. I'm not convinced that this "fix" was actually a fix, and that the basement will be dry.) AND, we are STILL waiting on the mason to come back and put the brick back on the naked house. When it rains from the west, we ARE NOT waterproof.....which means that the rain comes in around the windows, and onto the new drywall and the new window sills. I'm not such a happy camper when that happens!!

Plowboy...........January saw Plowboy's 40th birthday. We went to KC for the weekend and had a BLAST! It was the same weekend as the NewAgtalk Gathering. The Gathering was located in the Legends area of KC, so there were plenty of activities to do. But mainly, we all just hung around and visited and had a good time. It was a weekend of late nights, and much laughter. We are so blessed to be able to finally meet fellow NAT'ers in person.

Plowbaby...............she informed Plowboy the other night that "I get lonely when Mommy is gone"! Apparantley I've had too many meetings/activities the last few nights. She has "had" to spend time with Grandma and Terry, then Pb brings her home and puts her to bed.
However, when she and I pulled tanks all day on Tuesday, she'd had enough of that by 4 o'clock and "demanded" to be left at the farm with Grandma!

Farming..........we've started running gas, which means that life is getting ready to gear up real fast. I enjoy being out and pulling tanks, altho my body isn't used to this much work! I'm ready for corn planting......I feel much better when we're busy and have things to do. And the fact that I like to work with the guys and be a "part" of things on the farm.

Me................I now have a booth in the Antique/flea market in Parsons. The inventory is a little bit of everything. I'm trying to sell some of Plowbaby's "higher end/better" clothing, and some of the stuff I've collected over the years. A person can only have so much "stuff" before it drives them CRAZY!!! :) Sister-in-law Terry also has some things in there also. She is DEFINATELY a "collector-of-things"!
I also had my yearly check up on Monday. Doc says I'm fit as a fiddle. But, when he asked when my last mammo was and if there was any history of breast cancer in the family, a big RED light went on over his head when he heard my answers. (Too long ago, and Mom died from breast cancer and Mom's sister has also had breast cancer). So needless to say, I "get" to have a mammo. When the nurse came back in and told me the appointment day, I had to ask her to repeat it. The appointment is scheduled for the day that would have been Mom's 62nd birthday. I hope she is looking down on me that day and sending me some good luck.

An update on our friend Rolan.............thank you for your prayers and please continue to pray for him. A little background here.......Rolan is 12 and the son of our friends Loran and Brenda. He was rushed to University of Iowa Hospital with what was thought to be a brain aneurysm back in January. As it has turned out, he has a pineoblastoma. Which is a brain tumor near the pineal gland. He is currently undergoing radiation therapy and chemo. He has a few weeks of radiation left, and a year of chemo left. He (and his parents) are the strongest people I think I have met. Rolan is doing great, rolling with the punches and taking life as it is handed to him. He got a Wii before he was released from the hospital and had the nurses and doctors playing Wii bowling in his hospital room!!! What a kid! Please keep their family in your prayers.
Rolan and his family were supposed to attend the NAT Gathering in KC with us in January, since they were unable to attend, I made Rolan a John Deere quilt and had the Gathering attendees sign it for him.

I forgot to take a pic of it with my "real camera" so here is the pic from my phone.

It's Thursday and time for me to get on the road to Thursday lunch...............chicken and noodles day!

Happy trails
~plowgirl

Baked Potato Soup

2009-01-26T13:13:00.004-06:00

I know that it's been forever since I blogged. But it has been important to me to keep the Pray for Rolan page up. (It's still important, and I will update you all later.) But I also figure you're ready to see something new. So today I will "foodie" blog.

My friend Carla and her husband Tom welcomed their 4th, yes, 4th little girl into the world on Friday afternoon. That gives them 4 girls under the age of 8. Wow! That's alot of estrogen for Tom to put up with!!!! :-) So, welcome to the world baby Caroline Elizabeth. (BTW those are 2 of the names I had picked out when I was pg with plowbaby....neither of which did plowboy let me choose). Later today, I plan to take them a batch of the following recipe.

Baked Potato Soup:

4 large baked potatoes
2/3 c. butter
2/3 c. flour
6 c. milk
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
4 green onions
12 slices bacon, fried and crumbled
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1 c. sour cream

Cut potatoes in half, and scoop out pulp, put in a small bowl.

Melt butter in large kettle. Add flour. Gradually stir in milk. Continue to stir until smooth,thickened and bubbly.

Stir in potato pulp, salt, pepper and 3/4 of the onions, bacon and cheese. Cook until heated. Stir in sour cream.

Transfer to slow cooker set on Low. Top with remaining onions, bacon and cheese.

Variation: Add several slices of velveeta cheese to make soup extra cheesy and creamy.

(Edited to add: I omitted the green onions, and added more milk as I thought it was too thick.)

Stay warm out there......weatherbug says it's a whopping 23 degrees out, with sleet and snow on the way. (blech!)

~plowgirl

Life is short. Pray hard.

2009-01-08T07:54:00.003-06:00

I received unsettling news yesterday afternoon. The son of our friends Loran and Brenda is in a dire medical condition. He needs your prayers. Rolan is 12 years old, and faces several tests and surgeries in the days to come. The best news came last night that he had stabilized and came thru surgery #1 as good as could be expected.

Please pray from Rolan, his family, Mom, Dad and 2 sisters, his team of doctors and all involved in his care. This is a special family, and they deserve our prayers and strength.

And give your own little ones a extra long, tight hug today.

God Bless,
plowgirl

Sixteen years ago

2009-01-02T11:38:00.002-06:00

Sixteen years ago today there was a terrible ice storm across Kansas. Sixteen years ago today there was also a wedding in the United Methodist Church in Cawker City, Kansas.

That's where Plowboy and Plowgirl officially became PlowFamily! I'm glad that life has led us down the path that it has. We have a good life and a great little family.

Enjoy a "through the years" review in pictures.

Engagement picture

Wedding Day

taken for the Successful Farming article in 1999

taken for Church directory in 2007

Christmas 2008

A two-fer day

2009-01-02T10:58:00.003-06:00

Today is going to be a two post day.

This post is a wrap up of Christmas and New Years. And anyone who remembers what they (we) were doing 16 years ago today will know what the nex post will be!

Shortly before Christmas, I set up the "studio" in the dining room and made Plowbaby endure yet another photo session. Out of about 200 snaps, I may get 5 usable pics.

This one is my favorite!

During the Holidays, Plowbaby got sick (again). We ended up in Urgent Care (again). She's had strep throat, bronchitis, and an ear infection. Poor baby didn't feel good at all, but she's on the mend now. Unfortunatley, she shared the cold with her father, but he's also on the mend.

For New Years Eve, Plowbaby went to stay with Grandma and Terry while Plowboy and I headed up to the City. We met some friends up at The Legends at Village West for a great meal, and wonderful conversation......all night long! We stayed up and chatted all night, and Plowboy and I headed home about 5 am! It was well worth the lack of sleep!

However, we did sleep most of yesterday!!!!

Hope everyone else had a wonderful New Years.

Happy trails
plowgirl

The list.......updated

2008-12-27T14:42:00.005-06:00

Well, Plowbaby got a pretty good haul for Christmas. In fact, I think there are more toys and games in my livingroom than at ToysRUs and Wal-Mart!

It was a great day. I wish I could keep her 3 forever. This was such a fun year to watch her, she really "got it" this year. Not only did she "get" the presents/Santa part, she really got the Christmas story of Baby Jesus and His birth. It was soooo cool to hear her re-tell the story in her own 3 year old version.

Let's see, we'll do a check list of her list:

Hungry, Hungry Hippos game......CHECK
Color Wonder Magic Brush........CHECK (Santa)
EleFun Game.......CHECK (Santa)
TinkerBell Movie.......CHECK been watching that one every nite before bed
Barbie Holiday Movie with the Diamond Castle Movie
My Little Pony Ferris Wheel
Scooby Doo House Game
Barbie Peek-a-Boo
Candy Land.......CHECK
Lucky Ducks.......CHECK
a digital camera........CHECK you'll see a blog about this one coming soon! :)
But the big thing this year was the playhouse. Uncle Opie built Plowbaby the BEST,COOLEST playhouse EVER! (Thanks Ope, and Tim for your help too!) They went way above and beyond what I ever imagined when this project started (Sunday nite, before Christmas!) Plowboy and I purchased the materials, and Ope was the contractor and Ope and Tim were the labor. Of course, Tim wanted it to be fully electric with central heat and air. It didn't go that far.....yet! The playhouse isn't quite finished yet, we have to bring it to our house and sit it on site, assemble the porch (and the IMPORTANT mailbox). When it warms up in the spring, we'll paint the trim.....Sleeping Beauty Pink.

Getting to the new "house" Her first word upon seeing it was "MINE!"

Visiting with Uncle Mike thru the "drive-thru" window

Playing with Sophia and Shane

Writing with Katie on the dry erase wall

Happy trails,
plowgirl

PS......stay warm! It was 70 here yesterday, and 30 today! Gotta love this Kansas winter....NOT!

Away in a Manger

2008-12-25T10:37:00.006-06:00

With today being Christmas, you should not be surprised that the major celebrities have taken the day off. Yep, you're stuck with a guest blogger! This is plowboy, and I've been assigned the task of getting some pictures up, so here you go!

I'm dreaming of..................

2008-12-10T23:34:00.003-06:00

a pink Christmas????? Yes, we have a pink tree this year. You can guess whose room it is in!

This will probably be the only tree I put up this year.....and that's just fine with me. Since the contents of the basement went into storage for the duration of "the project", this included the Christmas stuff and the tree. I spent some time in the storage unit today digging out a few essentials. Plowbaby was estatic when I returned home with her Fisher-Price Little People Nativity set.

and a quick basement update................today was the carpenter's last day here. The new west wall, and the stair wall are now drywalled and taped. Now I need to get busy and start hauling out the construction remnants and cleaning. Next up: paint. Anyone want to volunteer to help paint???

happy trails, and stay warm!
plowgirl

The visit

2008-12-07T20:10:00.002-06:00

Last night was our annual Young Farmers Christmas party. Santa arrived after we were finished eating. The kiddos were so excited! All of them lined up to tell Santa of the newest, greatest, most hip, fab toy out there on their list. (Not to mention the most expensive!) There were losts of Wii's and X-Boxes, and PlayStations mentioned. I'm glad we're not at the stage yet, and Plowbaby will be happy with a $12 Hungry Hungry Hippos Game!

The evening was a success, and we had a fun time eating and conversing with friends.

The List

2008-12-04T20:56:00.002-06:00

I'm sure those of you who have kiddos have seen their Wish Lists. Plowbaby has been working on hers for several weeks now. Every commercial that is on TV gets the response "Add that to my list too!"

She is told that she can add to the List, but that doesn't mean that she gets everything on the List. So far the List looks like this:

Hungry, Hungry Hippos game
Color Wonder Magic Brush
EleFun Game
TinkerBell Movie
Barbie Holiday Movie with the Diamond Castle Movie
My Little Pony Ferris Wheel
Scooby Doo House Game
Barbie Peek-a-Boo
Candy Land
Lucky Ducks
a digital camera

She is getting a few of the things on the list, but NOT ALL!!!!

My list is much smaller:

more Fiestaware and a new pair of cowboy boots.

Of course, I'd settle for : the kitchen sink faucet to be replaced, the bathtub spout to quit dripping, someone to texture and paint the "new" walls in the basement, ahhhh, this list could go on for miles!

What do you want Santa to bring you this year?

Happy trails
plowgirl

Catching up is hard tooooo doooo

2008-12-02T20:11:00.004-06:00

(title sung to the tune of "Breakin' up is hard to do" by Neil Sedaka!

My cold wasn't nearly as gone as I thought it was in the last post. The morning after we returned home, Plowboy took Plowbaby and I to Urgent Care. A couple hundred dollars and many drugs later, we are finally on the mend.

The "vacation" that Plowbaby and I took was for a week back "home" to my Dad's. My brother lives in Portland, Ore and only gets "home" once a year.....and it revolves around chasing birds! He brought his girls along on the trip. They are 9 and 6, and are the best little travelers. My sister also visited and left her daughter for the weekend. So we had 4 girls, ages 9,8,6 and 3 all together under the same roof! It was a blast for the cousins to get to know each other. They had so much fun playing dress up, rock concert, doing craft projects, playing tea party, and just generally being wild!

On Sunday, the 4 of them sang a special song in church. Of course, mine is like her momma and would rather dance than sing!

On Monday, the girls and I went to Great-Grandma's house, where Aunts Connie and Jan met us for a fun day. They had a craft project, and decorated sugar cookies and gingerbread men. (And I made lunch! Chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes, green beans, and BLUEBERRY MUFFINS for brother Bill!)

The sugar cookie production line

Of course we had to have a photo shoot with all the girls together. Brothers girls are in pink, mine in purple, and Sisters in blue.

Happy trails for tonight,
plowgirl

the disappearance

2008-11-20T15:36:00.002-06:00

My apologies for my disappearance for the last 2 weeks. This week I have been on "vacation" with little to no internet access, and last week, I was so sick I just didn't feel up to posting.

The cold is now pretty much gone, and I will be returning home to blog more tomorrow. (I have LOTS of great pictures and stories to write about!)

I even have a recipe complete with step by step pictures for you. This recipe is a MUST for your Thanksgiving Day dessert table!!!!

Stay tuned....hang with me, I will be back!

Happy trails,
~plowgirl

Update..............

2008-11-10T13:28:00.002-06:00

well, the update is that there is nothing to update. Nothing has happened with the house since last week. If the weather would cooperate, maybe we'd get something done. I hope this raining every3-4 days isn't a trend for the rest of the winter.

However, the boys did get started cutting beans on Saturday.

On Saturday, the nieces from Joplin and their kiddos were over to Grandma's for lunch. Plowbaby enjoyed the afternoon playing with her cousins.

Happy trails for today
plowgirl

A new recipe for you to try

2008-11-06T07:56:00.002-06:00

It's been awhile since I "foodie" blogged, so I thought I'd give you a recipe to try. I made this one last night to take to Thursday Lunch today. It was one of my old standby Pampered Chef recipes that I'd do at shows. It is a quick and easy recipe to toss together and doesn't require any "special" tools. (Sorry I didn't take step by step pics for you).

Hope you enjoy it. Haven't found anyone yet who doesn't!

Praline Cheesecake

Crust:
Melt 1/4 cup of butter in Large Batter bowl
add 1 1/4 cup crushed graham crackers and 1/4 cup packed brown sugar.
Mix together well and press firmly into the bottom of a springform pan.
Place in freezer until ready to use.

Filling:
(I use a mixer for this step)
Soften 16 oz (2 bricks) cream cheese
Cream softened cream cheese and 1 cup caramel ice cream topping. (I like Smuckers in the squeeze bottle)
To that, add 2/3 carton of a 12 oz carton of cool-whip. (Save remaining cool-whip)
Next, add 8 oz of sour cream
add 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
and lastly, add 2 (3.4 oz) packages of Cheesecake INSTANT pudding.

This mixture will be very thick.

Spoon over the crust in the springform pan. Smooth top and refrigerate for 30 mins or longer.

Remove collar and cut into 16 pieces. (or 12 if you like them larger). Garnish each piece with a cool-whip rosette, and pecan half, then drizzle with more caramel syrup.

Enjoy and remember to share!

Happy trails
plowgirl

Putting up the grain leg

2008-11-05T12:35:00.008-06:00

There was a crane at the farm on Monday to erect the grain leg. I created 11 minute video montage, and if I figure out how to post it, I will. There are a few stills also if I can find them.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

In other news, Steve is here working on the brickwork. He and I cleaned mortar off of the old brick Monday. Yesterday, Mark and I went to Joplin and picked up the new brick. Today Steve "toothed" out the old brick by the windows so the wall can be re-bricked. (We are using the "old" brick as to match with the existing brick). Depending upon the weather tonight, we might have the brickwork completed by the end of the week!

This is the window on the south

First row of bricks on the new wall (west)

This is the window on the north

More later, stay tuned!

plowgirl

Happy Halloween from "Bootsie"

2008-10-31T21:24:00.004-05:00

"Mommy I have to mark my 'X' on my calendar, it's Halloween!" was the first thing out of Plowbaby's mouth this morning!

This year she decided she wanted to be like "Bootsie" her kitten for Halloween. Pretty easy costume, and I think I spent a grand total of $12, and that was for the black hoodie jacket. Just gotta love homemade costumes. I had the leggings, socks, shoes, mittens and ears (she was a black kitten for her very first Halloween too.......she just doesn't remember it!). I found the black jacket at Target. I dug some white felt out of the stash to fashion the white tummy patch, and also dug some quilt batting out of the quilting stash to "stuff" the tail. (Gotta love the fact the I'm a pack rat.....if ya need it, I probably have it somewhere!!!) Grabbed some eyeliner from the makeup drawer and had the face painted in no time. She did so good at sitting still.

We went trick or treating to a few neighbors and of course up to the farm to see Grandma and Terry and the guys in the shop. Tim said that Baby Alex was going to be a puppy this year, and Dillon was there in his costume, he was a football player.

Our town had a trunk-or-treat again this year on the north side of the square. It is always awesome. I love seeing the kids (and some parents) all dressed up. Plowbaby had a blast and got waaaaaayyyyyy too many goodies.

In costume at Grandma's

with her pumpkin she painted with Aunt Terry

with the Fire Dog at Trunk-or-Treat

at the Church's "trunk"

Happy (spooky) Trails-
plowgirl

The Wall!!! The Windows!!!

2008-10-31T14:22:00.003-05:00

Rated PG 13

2008-10-29T09:35:00.007-05:00

A little Halloween humor for the morning! Basement update to come later.

Disclaimer: I'm not that talented. So, nope this isn't my handy-work. I wish I could take credit for it tho!

Tuesday a.m. update.........................

2008-10-28T09:26:00.002-05:00

I hope to have a Tuesday p.m. update for you also!!!! But so far, the carpenters have the "upstairs" wall straightened out (bowed by the caving in old concrete wall), the sill plates are replaced and the house is again bolted back down to the basement walls. They are working on the framing of the west wall for the windows. It won't be a walk out basement, but a view-out one.

Framing for the south window

A little better pic of how the new wall will look

Stay tuned!

Good chilly morning! Today is gonna be a great day!

2008-10-27T10:08:00.004-05:00

Brrrrrrrr............but at least we don't have ice on the puddles like some people I know! :)

This morning's progress includes: The carpenter's are here to put up the wall and the windows in. I should not have the huge hole in the side of the house much longer!!!! HORRAY!!!! and Mark is out burning the brush pile (trees cleared from the west yard) and the old furniture from the basement. Sorry, Grandma, but the couch you bought in 1963 had to go. It had served all of us well!

And in case any of you were wondering how many days it us until Halloween, Plowbaby has it all down. She is as anxious for Halloween as I am. This is my favorite holiday.......well, maybe,next to Thanksgiving. The first week of October, she was driving me crazy asking about 4 times an hour if it was Halloween yet. So, I printed off a calendar that she could mark the days down until Halloween. The first thing she does each morning is get up and ask if she can mark her "X" on the calendar, she then counts the days until the orange square. Today it is 4 days. OMG! only 4 days left to finish her costume and start on mine! No, no hints, you're just going to have to wait until Friday's post!

Happy trails,
plowgirl

Monday 10/20/08.....concrete

2008-10-26T14:57:00.005-05:00

..............................and finally we are ready to pour concrete!

The first truck (north side of house)

The second truck (south side of house)

Both trucks (I'm in the south yard, looking north)

Pouring the north walls

Pouring west stem wall

Pouring south walls

Action shot!

Finishing south wall

What is he doing???? Dave is using his hands to "shove" the concrete into the forms, to make a full height wall.

Finishing the stem wall

The completed concrete job

Monday 10/20/08.....forms

2008-10-26T14:39:00.004-05:00

Setting of the forms

West stem wall.....this wall will only be 3 ft tall concrete

The rest of the 3 ft stem wall

North retaining wall

South retaining wall

West end of house

A trip to the Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-19T18:04:00.010-05:00

This afternoon, the Plowfamily visited the Pumpkin Patch! It was a BLAST! We had so much fun. Here is a smattering of pictures from our fun day out

Barrel train

Hay rack ride thru the woods

Caterpillar bounce house......a favorite!

Being silly

Another bounce house......a definite favorite!

Being cute

Inside the tunnel in the haybale maze
Haybale maze

Forms, we have forms

2008-10-16T21:27:00.001-05:00

The forms arrived today. Tomorrow we pour!

Monday's progress

2008-10-15T22:03:00.006-05:00

Monday saw some progress. On Tuesday, he came back and cut the floor for the form pans to sit in. Tuesday nite it rained, and Wednesday saw no progress whatsoever.....except mud.

South footing form for retaining wall

North footing form for retaining wall

We have concrete!! The truck finally arrived.

Pouring the south retaining wall footing

Pouring the north retaining wall footing

OMG! Look what he did while I was gone!

2008-10-12T11:16:00.009-05:00

Yesterday was Fall Festival in our little town. We attended the parade, (Plowbaby gathered WAY too much candy), and took in some of the activities, and of course, had lunch. Yesterday was also one of the area's largest craft shows. Sister-in-Law and I have been attending since......well.....forever. We left Plowbaby with Grandma, and SIL and I went off to the craft show. Altho neither she nor I bought much, we did have our annual treat of the BEST caramel apples. YUM, YUM, YUM!

Plowboy keeps calling my cell phone while SIL and I are at the show......NOT to check up on how much money I'm spending but to give me progress reports on The Basement Project, and to ask various questions about the contractors.

Phone rings......"Yes, dear" I say.
"We now have a walk-out basement" he says.
"Holy cr@p! That was fast" (or something like that) was my response. My next question- "Did the west end of the house fall INTO the basement?!"
"NO!" Plowboy answered
"Well, did you at least take pictures since I'm not there"
"Of course I did" he answered. "Heck, as easily as that wall fell over, I could have videoed it while I was pulling it over!"

EEEEKKKKK, slow down my rapidly beating heart!

I return home to find this sight:

BEFORE:

DURING:

And the walls came tumbling down!

Progress, we have progress!!!!!

2008-10-08T22:29:00.003-05:00

Well, "next week" has finally arrived. The concrete guy was here last night and delivered the jack stands to jack up the house from inside the basement. And he was back tonight to CUT THE WALLS!!!! Yes, he got the walls cut. Meanwhile, Plowboy used the backhoe to excavate more dirt from around the house, and also the DOZER to remove the last large tree from the west side of the yard. (the sycamore). Oh, the yard looks sooooo bare and I miss the shade. But it was one of those things that had to be done. I can always plant more trees. This time I will plant Burr Oaks tho.

I have some pics and video that I will upload when I get time.....maybe tomorrow.

The plan now is to pull the walls out on Sunday, and on Monday, the concrete guys will be back to form it up, form the retaining walls, and pour the new walls. May be a 2 day process.

I'm not sure how much of the pulling of the walls I can bear to watch. It made me cringe just watching Plowboy on the dozer and the backhoe today. I do want to get pics and video tho.

Stay tuned!

Happy trails
plowgirl

Dave the concrete guy cutting the south corner of the west wall

Corn beautiful, fabulous corn

2008-10-02T22:36:00.001-05:00

As much as I dislike the Backyardigans, I LOVE this video.

Happy Trails
plowgirl

Drat, drat, drat

2008-10-02T00:13:00.002-05:00

Ok, those weren't the words I used this morning when the not-my-usual-AllTel-guy informed me that my phone was DEAD. "A software glitch" was his answer. It wouldn't even power up long enough to hook to the computer to pull off my phone book or ringtones. MAJOR drat, NO PHONE BOOK??? ARRRGHH, and I didn't have them written down anywhere. So, if I had your cell phone number (you should know who you are) please email it to me. And if you really feel sorry for me, text me some ringtones! (Yes, I got a new phone)

How did we ever live before such modern conviences?

Corn harvest is coming along nicely. Not much to report.

Happy Trails
plowgirl

A few pics from harvest

2008-09-29T08:22:00.004-05:00

I don't have much time to spare for picture taking in the field. Most of the time I'm the only cart running trying to keep up with at least 2 combines, sometimes 3. Even when the 2nd cart is running, it's still a struggle to keep up.......especially if we are in long rows, and it's a long way back to the truck. I will keep the camera with me and try to add more pics as the week progresses. I'd like to get some video of me unloading the combine on the go....but I have enough trouble just keeping the cart under the spout as it is!

Happy trails and have a good week!
plowgirl

The machines: 9600 John Deere combines

The rig that My Sidekick and I have been running.

75C Caterpillar Challenger and UFT GrainCart

The other cart rig:

MT 635 and a modified Big 12 Grain Kart

Let the mayhem begin!

2008-09-25T08:33:00.003-05:00

Corn harvest has officially gotten into full swing. Yesterday was the my first day back in the grain cart. Now I remember why I hate the first day........there is a sharp learning curve......remembering which hydraulic lever does which action. And of course, whomever hooked up the hydraulics did it @ssbackward to what I would have, and I have to think in reverse. Geez, that in itself is quite a feat. They may get changed today!

Will try to take my camera today and get some pics.

Happy trails,
lrigwolp

there I go, trying to think backward again!

Greenbush Day

2008-09-22T14:56:00.006-05:00

There is a little settlement just down the road from us. And on the third Sunday of September, the "population" of the Greenbush ten-folds. (There are really only 10 "true" residents of Greenbush). The St. Aloysius Historical Society prepares and serves a delicious meal of roast pulled pork, baked beans, potato salad, all available for a free-will donation.

The following text was taken from the blueskyways library website:

This graceful aging church is serenely nestled on a flat stretch of prairie about seven miles west of Girard and has stood over the years as the fulfillment of the pledge made by a pioneer priest.
There is a legend connected with the building of the church. In the spring of 1869, a Jesuit missionary priest, Father Phillip Colleton, S.J., was on his way westward from Crawfordsville, to Osage Mission when he found himself caught in a furious hail and thunderstorm. He was forced to face the storm on the open prairie. The frightened priest took refuge in a clump of bushes and crawled under his saddle for protection as he feared for his life. He vowed that if his life was spared, he would build a church on this spot.
The fervent promise of a Jesuit Missionary, Father Phillip Colleton, resulted in the establishment of St. Aloysius, Greenbush. What made Father Colleton's promise unique was that there were no settlers nearby to worship at this church. Settlers were few and far between in Southeast Kansas in this period, for this was the "Neutral Strip " that had been set aside by the treaty efforts of the government for the preservation of peace with the Indians. Father Colleton had visions of a future as well as a desire to fulfill his vow.
The first Catholic church erected in Crawford County was a small wooden frame structure completed in 1871. It became the center of a Catholic settlement. An agricultural community that was settled primarily by the French, Irish and Germans in the 1860's. Located on the Historic "Mission Road".
The elements of nature appear to plague the Greenbush site, for the church that was inspired by a storm was destroyed by a storm in 1877. The parish began the erection of the second church at Greenbush. The members of the parish began quarrying stone from the fine ledge of limestone cropping out along Hickory Creek. Xavier LaFouge, a stonemason from France, helped tie in place the stones that were used to build the church. The church was completed in 1881.
The first resident pastor, Father F. M. Verdan, arrived on December 29, 1882. Father Verdan served the church in Greenbush for fifty years before he died in 1932. Father F. M. Verdan is buried in the St. Aloysius, Greenbush cemetery.
Settlements were known mostly by the name of some near by stream or hill. The first church at Greenbush was therefore called "Hickory Church" because of its nearness to Hickory Creek. The name Greenbush was given to the post office established in 1874. The name "Hickory Church" was retained until 1890, when it was changed to Greenbush. The post office was discontinued in 1901.
Around 1900 plans began to formulate for the erection of a still larger church, a building to be larger than any other church then in Crawford County. The men of Greenbush parish began again to quarry stone from the ledge on Hickory Creek. The foundation was ready for the cornerstone on September 18, 1902. The dedication took place on July 12, 1907.
The 1881 church was converted into a community building used for church gatherings and a school for a period of time. The Sister Adorers of the Blood Old School of Christ of Wichita first began teaching in Kansas in 1893. From 1941 until 1961, the Sisters served in the catechetical center at St. Aloysius, Greenbush. Land was purchased in 1958 to build a bigger school. The Greenbush school was closed in 1975 and became the Southeast Kansas Education Service Center in 1976. ( www.greenbush.org)

Somehow the forces of nature continued to plague the Greenbush Churches. On August 11, 1982, lightning struck the St. Aloysius Church. The third church had stood for 75 years as a landmark In Crawford County before it was destroyed by fire. The ruins remain.

But parishioners were again true to Father Colleton's promise. Because of the historical value, the 1881 church was renovated into a place of worship. Thus the second church became the fourth church for the parishioners of St. Aloysius when it was rededicated on March 9, 1986. It was a fitting tribute to the history of the people of St. Aloysius, Greenbush.

Due to the shortage of priests in the Diocese of Wichita, nine churches were closed in Southeast Kansas effective September 1, 1993. St. Aloysius was closed and the last mass was held on September 4, 1993.

The people of Greenbush were concerned about preserving their history for future generations. The churches were pioneers in education and culture as they also served the people at the most important milestones of their lives. Thus the movement to save the physical structure of the church. The St. Aloysius property was approved to the Register of Historic Kansas Places.

As all things have a beginning so they must end but with the determination of the people, St. Aloysius, Greenbush, has a new beginning

Thru the grace of God, Father Colleton's promise will continue.

The Cousins

2008-09-21T16:21:00.007-05:00

Yesterday Nieces Joni and Becca came out to the farm (aka Grandma's) for the day. We had lunch- fried chicken and the works- YUM! Followed by some good hard play for the kiddos and an afternoon of visiting for the adults.

Becca's son Shane turned 4 in June, our Ainsley was 3 in July and Joni's Sophia was 2 in March. Yep, all witin 3 years......there's alot of energy in the room when these 3 are together! And let's not forget their favorite aunt Katie who is soon-to-be 17.

Happy trails
plowgirl

I can see clearly now.......

2008-09-17T17:09:00.008-05:00

the dirt is gone! I didn't realize how bad my windows really were! Plowbaby picked out tons of Halloween window clings at Wal-Mart the other day. She has been bugging me about putting them up. I finally let her put a couple on the dishwasher, and told her that the windows had to be washed first. The clings wouldn't stick to the windows as dirty as there were! Next day, first thing, HelperGirl gets up and asks to wash the windows! We get a bucket of window wash, some wash cloths and old dish towels and set to washing. She had a blast. It was even more fun to do the inside when PlowMommy (my new nickname.....according to Plowbaby) had the Windex squirt bottle. "Just a little more here mommy.......one more time......now over here.......one more time......you missed a spot mommy-squirt here.......and on, and on, and on....." You get the idea. She was starting to drive me nuts........until......I remembered all those days at Gma and Gpa's when I was the one wanting to clean the sliding glass patio door with Windex. I must have driven Gma crazy! (Not Grandpa tho.......he had a fondeness for Windex......that's a whole other story tho!)

Then she had to get my camera and take pictures of her clings. She took these (with a little help from me).Funny story about the pumpkins in the above pic: She found these in the garage a couple of weeks ago when she was playing outside. (I was in the house) I walk by the front door, see them and ask " What are you doing with the pumpkins?" Her response. "I'm decorating".....like, duh Mom, can't you see what I'm doing! She also picked out the farmer scarecrow for the chair.

Do you see a "theme" with the clings???? Yes, they all look like Bootsie!

Do you have your Halloween decorations up yet? What are you going to be for Halloween?

Happy trails
~plowgirl

Pictures..........

2008-09-16T15:47:00.011-05:00

Pictures, pictures, I've been promising you pictures......so here they are!

The new planter

Pouring of the new bin floor

Checking out Jacob's plane

Washin' Dad's van

The "new" Terragator

What day is it???

2008-09-12T21:31:00.003-05:00

Well, I think it's Friday night. It's been a long week here.

A friend of mine from back home passed away a week ago today, and his funeral was this Monday. You'll have to follow along here: Plowboy had already made plans to go to Husker Harvest Days in Grand Island, Ne. The funeral was in NCKs, just south of Grand Island. It was decided that we would stick to the original plan of him riding up on Monday with the JCB Farms crew, and Ainz and I would take our own trip to the Arctic Zone (aka, NorthCentralKS). So, Plowbaby and I loaded up and left home early on Sunday morning. We stopped in Salina for lunch at Aunt Connie and Uncle Jim's. There were 10 of us there for lunch. (When Connie cooks.....we eat!!! YUM!!!! ) It was good to see them all again. Jill even kept the politics out of lunch so Ainz and I wouldn't get up and leave! Thanks Jill! From there we headed north and west to Dad's. On Monday, we attended the funeral. It was nice to see their family, it had been a long time since I've seen some of his kids. On Tuesday, Plowbaby and I went to visit Grandma Schreuder. (Or as Ainz kept correcting me...."She's GREAT grandma"). We had a wonderful visit and took her out to lunch. Later on Tuesday, we headed up to Nebraska to visit my sister and her daughter. I can't believe how much Reata has grown. She is such a pretty not-so-little-girl. "Aunt Kim, I am 8 now ya know" she had to inform me. From there we trekked up to Aurora, Ne were the farm show crew all was staying. Got in late up there and was glad to finally get some rest. Up EARLY on Wednesday morning, and off to Husker Harvest Days. By the way.....did ya get the Arctic Zone reference above......it was c-c-c-c-COLD! up there. HHD is huge, and is a SERIOUS farm show. Not a place for a impatient 3 year old, and an even more impatient mommy. Enuf said on that. But something good did come of the HHD visit. We got to meet some friends from NewAgTalk in person. It was great to finally meet them face to face. What a wonderful group of people that hang out over there on NewAgTalk. I just wish we'd had longer time to chat.
From HHD, we picked up a sprayer part for dad, and drove it back down to his house. Ended up staying there for a visit and went out to supper then FINALLY headed back home. It was about 1 am when we got home. Long week, lots of miles and very little sleep. But it was a good trip. Got to see family and friends that we don't see very often. Altho, it's really nice to be back home in my own "space"!

An Ainsley funny......on the way up to my sister's house, she was quite concerned with our whereabouts. Especially when I told her we weren't in Kansas anymore, but Nebraska. About then, we drove over a dead skunk on the hiway. With in a few miles, there had been about 3 of them. Ainz exclaimed she didn't like Nebraska, it STINKS!!!! and is slimy. "When are we going to get back to Kansas" she would ask. I don't think we saw one dead skunk in Kansas, but Nebraska was full of them and she is convinced that Nebraska stinks.

Currently, it has been raining most of the time we were away. More is forecasted for the weekend. Remnants of Hurricane Ike. Hate to complain about rain in Sept, but jeez, this is enuf for a while. Consequently, the basement is still on hold. Next week is supposed to be clear....we'll see if something happens.

The HHD Gearhead Gathering

And last for today, but certainly not least: HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNIE!!!!

Happy Trails
~plowgirl

Absence.............

2008-09-09T08:39:00.002-05:00

Sorry that I won't be posting much new for the rest of the week. Check back on Friday.

Busy week here!!!! :)

Happy trails
~plowgirl

Thank You ...Columbus, Ne visitor

2008-09-04T07:50:00.002-05:00

You were my 1000th visitor! Congratulations! And thanks to all the people who visit, I really apreciate it. Now, just leave me COMMENTS!!!! :~)

~plowgirl

LLLLLooooooosssssseeerrrr...........

2008-09-03T21:30:00.002-05:00

That's what you should now call me. Or maybe better.....SLACKER! I had good intentions to blog and cook all week last week.....didn't happen did it??!!

On Thursday, my allergies kicked in overdrive, and I was miserable. By Friday, I was finding a doctor and getting a cortisone shot. On Saturday, I was able to breathe again.......finally.

I have pictures of Thursday Lunch to share with you. I also have pictures of the concrete project and the new planter to share.

Labor Day weekend wasn't anything special here, just a normal weekend.

It is raining here today, and supposed to for most of this week. I'm glad that we decided to put off the basement project (yes, again....), if not, there'd be a HUGE hole in my wall, with water pouring in!

Tomorrow is Thursday again. That means it's time for me to get started on Thurs. Lunch. We will have Swiss Steak, scalloped potatoes, peas, and fruit salad. My job this week is to make the sauce for the swiss steak. I am also going to make a Chocolate Chip Pie (the Deen boys recipe).

Swiss steak sauce:

Saute: One package of carrot shreds (I use matchstick carrots), one thinly sliced large onion, & 4 green peppers (also thinly sliced) in canola oil until translucent. Add some Tone's beef gravy mix as thickener. Add all that to one gallon of crushed tomatoes, add half a bag of brown sugar, Worchestershire sauce, Nature's Seasoning, a splash of vinegar and whatever is in the drawer I feel like tossing in! Heat through, and pour over steaks. Makes enough sauce for 70 cubed steaks!

The Deen Boys Chocolate Chip Pie.....basically like a giant chocolate chip cookie covered with copious amounts of sweetened whipping cream and mini chocolate chips. YUM!

Have a good nite ya'll

Happy Trails
~plowgirl

Wednesdays post on Thurdsay

2008-08-28T07:24:00.007-05:00

Wednesday was a busy day here. I was seriously in a cooking mood. From the time I got up, 'til the time I went to bed, I was cooking something!

First were the cinnamon apples. Nothing reminds me of meals at Gma and Gpa Schreuder's like cinnamon apples. They are really simple to do. In a medium saucepan, add 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water and a small bag of cinnamon red hots. Simmer together until red hots are completely dissolved. Add peeled apple slices and simmer until they are tender. Remove and drain the slices. They are best cold. But some have been known not to make it to the fridge!

The finished product

Next was the homemade lemon meringue pie. Betty Crocker cookbook......the long recipe. Every time I make this I think I'm going to end up with carpal tunnel from the stirring! I know there are quicker and easier recipes out there, but in my opinion, nothing beats the one from Betty Crocker (and it's the one Mom always used). The meringue is a "never fail" recipe. It usually stands up 4-5 inches, but I only got about 3 out of it yesterday due to the high humidity.

Hey Dad and Bill-----don't you wish you were here?!?!

Ok, now it's lunch time. Salmon patties, mac n cheese (out of the Blue box), peas and cinnamon apples. Simple, but yet oh so good!

Ainz wanted some more Jell-o, so I let her pick a color and we made Jell-o before her nap. She picked purple of course!

Something for Plowboy........(since lucky me, he doesn't like Lemon pie!!!)

The original Toll House chocolate chip cookies

More Jell-o, this time for Thursday Lunch. (Maybe I'll take the camera today and blog about Thursday Lunch later). A 9x13 pan of orange Jell-o with a can of crushed pineapple in it.

I also need to take a dessert or 2 to Thurs. Lunch. There is this cake mix in my pantry that screams "Why did you buy me if you aren't going to make me???" every time I open the door. So it got made! Lemon bundt cake with vanilla/lemon glaze.

Phone rings......it's Terry (Plowboy's sister)....."Grandma is making fried chicken, can you and Ainz come up.....and bring some mashed potatoes?!" Mashed potatoes it is!!!

Fried chicken twice in one week, how lucky are we???!!!!

And last but not least, I made a pan of DeNene's Coconut Crunch Delight dessert.

Whew! Time for bed! I'll do dishes tomorrow......after I get back back from Thursday Lunch!

As Pioneer Woman would say "Just keepin' it real"!

Not tonight, no sir-ee

2008-08-26T17:06:00.003-05:00

I'm not cookin' tonight! Baby Alex has made his appearance (see post below). Plowboy and I are headed to the hospital this evening to meet the newest employee. Ainz is going to her favorite place......Grandma's!!!! So that means that Plowboy and Plowgirl will get to have a "grown up" meal at the Steakhouse. Yipee!!!! Such simple things can please a simple girl.

And yes, we did pour concrete today......it was just at the Farm for the new bins. I have pics to post tomorrow.

Baby Alexzander. Photo take via cell phone thru the nursery window. Ain't he cute!

Mexican Casserole

2008-08-25T20:09:00.002-05:00

Tonight's "real food" was a mexican casserole. It's one Mom always fixed, and I'm not sure there is a real recipe to it. It's pretty much a dump and stir to taste kinda thing. Main ingredients are hamburger, mexi-corn, crushed tomatoes, chili beans and chili seasoning. Sometimes the meat mixture was put in the bottom of a baking dish and covered with cornbread batter then baked. Most often, the cornbread was baked separate and the meat mixture is served over it. That is how I serve it. (That way I can also slather the cornbread with butter and honey......just like my Dad does!) And don't forget the heaps of shredded cheese to the top of the meat mixture/cornbread mound! As Rachael Ray would say "YUM-O!"

Of course, I'm the only one in the house who will eat this concoction. There are plenty of left-overs, and plenty to freeze too.

Happy Trails,
~plowgirl

I really should be busy................

2008-08-24T10:52:00.002-05:00

I really should be busy cleaning (finding!) the kitchen so I can make dinner. I spent a significant amount of time yesterday browsing cooking blogs. There are some great ones out there. Some I have posted on in the side bar.

Cooking is my passion. Cooking is an inherited passion. I come from a long line of great cooks. Grammy (the "old school" Home Ec teacher) taught Mom, Aunt Jan and Aunt Connie, Grandma is also an awesome cook. I can't imagine NOT knowing how to cook. I can't imagine not being a great cook. Granted, there are some days I don't want to cook, but I do it anyway.

I always thought I had a pretty decent palate. Well, maybe not since I don't eat anything green except peas and green beans, and HEAVEN FORBID I eat anything that was a previously used vital organ. BLECH! Check out the Omnivore's 100 in the sweetnicks blog in the blogsites. See how you rate. I rated a 14 out of 100. Not too whippy. Here are my answers: 13,15,18 (does BoonesFarm count?!), 27,29,35,38,49,55,61,67,77,87,94. Granted this the original list is from the UK. I'm thinking of midwesternizing (is that a word?!) it tho.

So my goal for this week is to cook "real" food every night. and also to blog about it.

Today's menu:

One of my favorite meals: Fried chicken. I come from a long line of great fried chicken cooks. Man, do Mom's family know how to cook fried chicken. The best in the WORLD.....and I'm not kidding!
The perfect menu would be: fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn on the cob (Thank you Grandpa John!), frozen green salad (Thank you Grandma Frances), cinnamon apples (Thank you Grandma Lois) red jell-o with "shaky bananas", & candied carrots. And dessert: Lemon Meringue Pie, completely from scratch (THANK YOU MOM!), or maybe Chocolate IceBox Dessert (Grammy), or maybe Angelfood Cake with Divinity Frosting (again Grammy) or maybe Pineapple Pecan Pie (Grandma Lois). Ohhhhh, the choices are endless with the family heritage recipes.

The reality of today's lunch: fried chicken, homemade french fries, frozen corn and white-gravy-out-of-a-package, and Ainz picked wild strawberry jell-o.

So what's your favorite "family heritage" meal???? Leave me a comment and let me know!

(Oh yeah, and we're supposed to pour concrete this week!!!)

Happy trails
~plowgirl

Happy Birthday to YOU!

2008-08-18T09:38:00.007-05:00

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear (insert-your-name-here), Happy Birthday to you!

There are so many birthdays in August it's hard to keep up. So all you August birthday people, here is your birthday greetings from me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Aug. 1st...... Eli H.
4th.....Sherry P.
6th......Elda and Janet D.
8th.....Terry
9th......Dad
13th....Tim G.
15th....Grandma Schreuder
17th....Reata Jean
20th... Pete
27th... Becca
30th...Joni and Dillon

Now for some miscellaneous and random thoughts:

County Fair wrap up......all went well. I'm glad it's over! We had 36 cars sign in for the derby, and 34 ran. The MadDog Award that was added this year was a HUGE hit (yea, pun intended!), and I have sponsors for next year crawling out of the woodwork! Overall the Fair was a success. I enjoy being on the Board, and working the Fair. It is alot of work, and there is so much that the general public doesn't see, but it's worth all the hours we put in.
Ainsley did well with her flower entries. She had several blues and reds. I think each of her entries had a ribbon. My entries in foods (cookies) and photography didn't fare too well. One red ribbon out of the whole bunch! Ainsley's premium check was $15.00, pretty good for a 3 year old!

The house is at a stand still right now. The windows are in at Home Depot. We were supposed to remove the old walls and pour concrete 2 weeks ago. But, we've had some rain, so that has delayed things. I hate to complain about rain in August! The weather has been great here for the last week or so, and supposed to hold. I like this lower to mid 80's we've been having. Better than the 100's we had week of the Fair!

Corn harvest will be creeping up on me before I'm ready. I'm starting to make some meal plans and making and freezing some things so they are "field ready". I'm up for suggestions and recipes if you'd like to leave comments!

I've added some features to the blog. Hope you like them. Check out the blog sites links. Confessions of a Pioneer Woman is really cool, and the one that inspired me to do my own blog. I ran across the "Cake" one this morning. It is hilarious. I'm sure I'll add more in the future.

Better run...........the washer and dryer are calling me!

Happy Trails
~plowgirl

Our newest family member

2008-08-13T08:39:00.004-05:00

Meet Bootsie...or little boots.....or little cat.....this poor little girl is gonna have an identity crisis if we don't come up with a consistent name for her!

Ainsley got to bring home her kitten from the neighbors house yesterday. Bootsie has the sweetest, most laid back personality for a kitten I've ever seen. She will let Ainz carry her around, make her pose for pics. I think she'd even let Ainz tie her in a knot and wouldn't complain. Of course, Mark isn't too keen on the idea of a cat. Especially since she is in the house quite a bit of the time now. Bootsie will be an outside cat when she gets a little older.

Kayla's Baby Shower

2008-08-12T19:48:00.008-05:00

Over the weekend Jenny and I co-hosted a baby shower for Kayla. (Jenny's husband Wes, and Kayla's Tim both work for Viets Brothers.)

Jenny and I had great fun planning it, and I think it turned out very well. Tim and Kayla are having a boy, so we went with a blue/green/white color scheme. The invitations featured a clothesline with baby clothes hanging from it, so that became our "theme". It turned out real cute.

Jenny's friend Dawn did the cake to match the invitations. I found blue & green & white M&M's, and even found a blue punch recipe. We used lots of balloons for decorations, and covered Jenny's arbor to make Kayla a "throne" to sit in!

The baby will make his debut on August 26th.

The "Throne"

The Blue ducky punch

The Naked House

2008-08-06T12:54:00.009-05:00

The brick guys (I suppose I should call them masons) were here Monday to remove the brick from the sections of the house where the basement walls will be torn out.

Brick......the all-weather, maintenance free exterior siding.....Bull-you-know-what! The brick that is original to the house (circa 1985) is no longer made. Great, what else is new in this saga!!?? We are having to save or match as close as we can get for the new brick that goes back up. We will be able to save some of the existing brick to go back up on the north and south walls, but the west wall will be the "new" brick. I found one that is a close (but not perfect) match. At least we won't have to match brick side-by-side, it will be an entire wall that is replaced.

Refer to the previous post for what the house looked like before Steve and crew got here!

The first section.....taken out by hand, 2 rows at a time

They didn't have to work so hard on this section of the north wall. It literally fell off.

J.P. and Steve are removing the brick from under our bedroom window

Look Out Below!

View from the west

View from the northwest

This used to be ON the house!

And yes, Ainsley like to tell people that her house is naked!

Diggin' Up Bones

2008-08-05T20:56:00.018-05:00

"Diggin' up bones, I'm diggin' up bones, exhumin' things that's better left alone........"

That old Randy Travis song plays over and over in my head as Mark is excavating around the house. It's a good thing we (Viets Brothers and co.) own a number of earth moving machines. In the process, we have had a Cat Challenger, the dozer, the telehandler, and Cousin Larry's backhoe all in the yard at the same time. A virtual lot of yellow equipment.

This is what the house and yard USED to look like.

This is the first "cut"

First day of excavation

I went to town one afternoon, and when I came home, the large Elm tree outside Ainsley's bedroom window was now located out in the front yard. What you can't see in this picture is the Challenger that is hooked to to top of the tree, used to pull it out to it's present location. (Yeah, it's still there! and probably will be for a while)

This is what it looks like after he got done with the telehandler. Not quite down to the footing yet, got about 3 more feet to go.

Dozer time. Time to get serious.

Getting the corners out with the backhoe.

The finished excavation phase

At this point we were waiting on the brick guys to come out and remove the brick from the north and south corners and all of the west wall.

Note: He dug up our water line which had run from the hiway, to the hydrant in the SW corner of the yard, then to the house (underground). Now, it runs from the hiway, to the hydrant, thru a PEX hose, (lying above ground) and into the house, & ties in where it did before. A few days ago, I noticed that my cold water wasn't so cold anymore. Then it dawns on me that our water line is no longer underground at 56 degrees, but laying ON TOP of the ground at 106 degrees!!! Now, you run the water for several minutes to get COLD water, instead of hot.

SWIM!

2008-07-29T08:14:00.005-05:00

We've spent a fair bit of time up at Grandma's at the pool. Ainz is becoming quite the little fish. She has the cutest tan line too!!!

With Katie (aren't they a couple of cuties?!)

Only Katie could convince her to jump in!

July 25th 2008

2008-07-26T07:49:00.004-05:00

1987

Mother is always with you.

She's the whisper of the leaves as you walk down the street.
She's the smell of certain foods you remember, flowers you pick and perfume that she wore.
She's the cool hand on your brow when you're not feeling well.
She's your breath in the air on a cold winter's day.
She is the sound of the rain that lulls you to sleep; the colors of a rainbow.
She is Christmas morning.
Your Mother lives inside your laughter. And she's crystallized in every teardrop. A mother shows every emotion ..........happiness, sadness,
fear, jealousy, love, hate, anger, helplessness, excitement, joy,
sorrow... and all the while, hoping and praying you will only know the good feelings in life.
She's the place you came from, your first home, and she's the map you follow with every step you take.
She's your first love; your first friend, even your first enemy, but nothing on earth can separate you.
Not time , not space...not even death!

Testing 1,2,3

2008-07-24T17:50:00.003-05:00

Testing email, testing email. I just figured out how to enter email addresses to let ya'll know that I'd posted a new blog. Testing to see how quickly it works! Click on the titles in the column on the right side of the page to read new blogs.

Ones coming up: Plowbaby turns 3 - The Party and The Loot
Diggin' Up Bones
County Fair Time

Happy Trails for now,
plowgirl

Who says you can't sleep with your money?

2008-07-24T16:17:00.007-05:00

Ainz got sent to her room for a nap this afternoon.

This is how I found her.

This kid just cracks me up!!!

Plowbaby turns 3 - The Cake

2008-07-24T15:03:00.012-05:00

My daughter only has one birthday a year, so I usually go "all-out". Last year, she had a Mickey and Minnie birthday. When asked what she wanted this year, she said very firmly "A Minnie party at Grandma's like last year. With fried chicken and swimming and balloons." Ok, that's cool by me if you can talk Grandma into hosting the location. (Yeah, like Grandma is gonna say "No"!)

It's amazing how a soon-to-be-three-year-old can be so very clear on what she wants for her party. She picked pink, purple and white as her "colors". We had plates, cups, balloons, silverware, and The Cake in pink, purple and white. I used Mickey and Minnie balloons left-over from last year. Oh, and don't forget the coordinating M & M's too!!! (Told ya I can get a little carried away!)

Ainz wanted a pink and white cake. I have the Pampered Chef checkerboard cake pans set. (Which by the way, is one of the few PC products that I hate). Pink and white checkerboard cake it will be! And I have always wanted to work with rolled fondant. Another thing Ainz insisted on having was cupcakes. Apparently, she'd seen a picture of a "cupcake tree" that'd really caught her eye.

So, we'll start with the fondant. I bought Wilton, Satin Ice, White Vanilla. Decided to do "flowers" on the cake......one's similar to Minnie's. I colored them with the Wilton gel colorings.

These are the centers of the flowers

This is the next layer

All 3 layers in the mini-muffin tin drying

The dried flowers out of the mini-muffin tin. Now they are 3-D.

The finished product.
And wouldn't ya know it, I forgot to take a picture of them on the "tree".

The Cake

Was done similar to the cupcakes. The pans again burned the cakes. (I'm gonna throw those stinkin' things away!!) The flowers were also done with the same technique, but left flat.

A candle was placed above each of the 3 flowers on the top of the cake.

It's not the greatest cake in the world, but that didn't matter to Ainsley. She had her pink Minnie Mouse cake, and that was what was important to her.

The Zoo Trip

2008-07-18T16:56:00.007-05:00

We didn't tell Ainz where we were headed when we left for our trip to the Wichita Zoo. All we told her that if she was a good girl after lunch (at Burger King, where she was more interested in the paper crown than eating!) we'd have a super special surprise for her. She thought we were going to a park with slides and swings.

The Lion Display (yes, there is glass between them!)

Playing in the misters on a hot day

The Giraffe's : "they are so silly"

I'm not so sure about this one!

We had a great day, and are looking forward to visiting more zoos in the future.

Playing Catch-Up

2008-07-17T16:15:00.001-05:00

So this is my first attempt at a blog. First off, I have to tell you that I'm not a great writer. I tend to write like I speak. Speak first, think later!

Part of the reason in creating this blog is so I will have an archive of what's happening on the farm, of Ainsley growing up, and for the immediate future, a way to show friends and family the "mess we have with our house".

Yes, I mean MESS. And no, I don't mean my housekeeping ability. We have a slight problem with our basement. Parts of the walls are cracked and falling in. Therefore, we (Mark) has excavated the earth from around the west side of the house, and we (Mark and the concrete guys) will be breaking out and re-pouring new walls. This should be an interesting experience. (I think I will go on an extended vacation until it's over!!!) I have taken tons of pictures and video, and hope to post them also.

But for now, this post is a catch-up post.

Let's go back about a month or so.

June 6th: unbeknownest to me, someone scammed my credit card online
June 12th: Mark, Ainz and I were on our way to Wichita to the zoo and my credit card company calls and alerts me that there is some suspicious activity on my account. Close down card, no biggie, will deal with it when I get home. Had a great trip to the zoo. (Blog about that later!) Upon leaving the zoo, we were rear-ended. Thank goodness we were in the new Dodge truck. We also happened to have the car trailer on behind us. Noone was hurt, but the trailer is no longer in the Viets Brothers line-up of equipment!, and the Honda Civic that hit us was TOAST! The Dodge didn't even get a scratch, altho, it will be getting a new Deweeze bed to replace the new Deweeze bed that was on it.

Also that week, we had plumbing problems in the basement and it rained, so the basement flooded twice. I was ready to fly off to a tropical island and not look back!

Edited to add that: This same week, the microwave blew up, the heating element of my oven went out and I was down to 2 working burners on my stovetop. AND I HAD THIS CATERING JOB COMING UP!!!!

The last week of June had Vacation Bible School at our church and I catered a reunion in Augusta.

The first week of July was fun. Mark was busy planting beans, and we watched several different fireworks displays. Joni, Travis and Sophia came out to the Farm on the 4th, and the girls had fun swimming and doing fireworks.

Last week was Ainsley's 3rd birthday. I have some good cake pics for a blog! And she had a great party up at Grandma's house.

This week is Vacation Bible School in at Trinity, and Ainz is really enjoying it. And I got wrangled into helping too. The County Fair is a week and a half away, so I am busy gearing up for that. This weekend is also the Four States Farm Show. We will have to attend at least 2 of the 3 days!!

Well, this is the end of my first blog. I also have a myspace site that you can check out. It hasn't been updated since May, but there are lots of good Ainz pics on there. It is www.myspace.com/plowgirl89 As soon as I figure out how to post pics on here, there will be lots more blogs with progression of the Basement Project.

Happy Trails,
plowgirl