Rain!

Wonderful, marvelous, beautiful rain. 

The clouds came.  The thunder rumbled.

The wind blew and kicked up a dust storm.

Then it rained.  It wasn't much...more like a drop of water on a dying man's tongue, but it was something.

Then, unexpectedly, it rained later in the night.  We need a whole bunch more, but it rained enough to soak the ground and leave a little water in the livestock feed troughs.

We are grateful.

I'm Back, Cyberfriends

Just when I thought I was going to coast through the rest of the summer painting and napping, my daughter went and got herself engaged and set the date for October.  So, there will be no napping for the next two months.

The mother-in-law needed a picture to put in their city's newspaper, so I was elected to do some quick snapshots.  Now, I've never claimed to be a photographer, but I have a really nice camera with lots of fancy features that I don't know how to use, so I gave it the old college try.

I took about 20-25 pictures, then transferred them to the computer and told Meagan to go through them and delete the ones she didn't like and send the one she wanted to her mother-in-law to be.  When I came back to check on her progress, she had deleted all but one.  Well, I didn't think I was THAT bad of a photographer.

Luckily, I hadn't deleted them from the camera and was able to load them back on my computer for my own use.

It was my wacky idea to stand by the tree.  Somebody shoot me before I get any more ideas.

It was only about 103 degrees and poor Drew has a suitcoat on, but he was a trooper.  I think turnabout is fair play, don't you?  Women have to freeze in most public places and formal events with cold air blowing up and around their sleeveless dresses so men can be comfortable with their jackets on. 

"Look natural," I say.

Now we're getting somewhere.

"Um...hot."

What a guy will do for love.

Touchdown!

**Click on pics to get a better look and especially to see the ring**

Slow Season

It's the slow part of the year for me right now, especially with the drought going on.

With all the goats and donkeys foraging in the hayfields and pastures, I don't have regular feeding time.  I've let the milk goats dry out because (1) I was tired of milking and it really ties me down; (2) I was concerned that the heat was stressing the goats who were producing; and (3) they'll be bred again in September or October and I wanted all babies weaned and all the mothers to have time to rebuild their strength before then. 

The only thing producing in the garden is peppers, so all that is necessary right now is pulling up the few weeds that can survive the heat.  I started planting my fall garden last week, but so far the only thing that has come up is one winter squash and one pumpkin.  It's a little soon to expect much, but I don't know if anything will make it since as soon as it comes up it will be blow torch scorched with this heat.  I'm watering every evening to give the seedlings a fighting chance.

Tom has still found plenty to do even though he has finished goat fencing the perimeter of the entire property.  He cut down the worst one of those maples in the front yard that really didn't come back after the Arbor Barber pruned it severely.  That's OK.  It was ugly anyway.  We put a red oak in its place and we're hoping it will survive.  He spends the day fixing things, mowing, cleaning the chicken coop and taking frequent breaks in his office drinking gatorade and trying to cool down.

I think the heat is stressing the chickens because we're getting an average of three eggs a day, whereas we were getting over a dozen a day before the heat got so severe.  They could be hiding their eggs or a snake could be getting them, but I mostly think that they just aren't laying.

So, I actually have a lot of free time right now and have started on a project.

I've made much progress on it since taking this picture, but it's a gift and I don't want to reveal too much until it's done.  Then I'll explain what it is and why.

Bag Boy Liam

Who needs toys?

Look at this great bag I found!

Hmm, what can I do with it?

Oh, I know!

The very definition of LOL!

That was so much fun!

I Love Buttercream Frosting

I'm not much of a fancy baker and am not one to make up new recipes or experiment with food.  Pretty much I just plain ol' don't like to cook.  But I like to eat and since there's nobody else around that's going to cook for me, I do what I can.  I'm a good cook and what I do cook tastes good, I just don't enjoy the process.

Anyway, the past couple of months with it's events and occasions have presented the "opportunity" for me to frost a lot of cakes and cupcakes.  I used to just buy Betty Crocker or Pillsbury frostings and be done with it, but I wanted different colors and decided the best way to do that was to make it myself.

For the first couple of batches, I used a recipe that Meagan found for me on some woman's cake decorating blog.  As her base, she uses shortening.  It's good, but it's a little to greasy tasting to me.  So, I found another recipe and tweaked it a bit and I think it is wonderful.  I could (and have) eaten it by the spoonfuls.

This recipe will generously frost about 30 cupcakes.

1 cup of unsalted butter (two sticks), about room temperature
1 cup of shortening
8 cups of confectioners sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp. table salt
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
Up to 8 Tbs. milk or heavy cream

Beat butter and shortening together with mixer on medium for a few minutes.  Add 3 cups of powdered sugar and with your mixer on the lowest speed (so the sugar doesn’t blow everywhere), mix until the sugar has been incorporated with the butter. Add the rest of the sugar while mixing.  Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and 1 tablespoons of milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes.  If the frosting is too stiff, add milk/cream one tablespoon at a time until you reach the consistency that you want. 

I'm sure this could be made without the salt, but I wouldn't recommend it.  That little bit of salt adds just the right touch so that while you're eating it, you get that little hint of salty/sweet that makes this so enjoyable to savor.  Yum!