A Porch Makeover

The days are shorter and the nights longer. The crisp air is like an open window on a winter's day. The autumn colors are everywhere. In the distance I can hear a banging and then a crashing sound... what in the world!!! Hubby is tearing down the railing on the porch! Here we go again, lol. I guess we are creatures of habit. We can NEVER leave well enough alone. We are always on the look out for something to build, tweak, paint, or in this case... tear apart.

We are porch people. On a rainy day, scorching day, winter day with a blanket, or just any ole day, we are on the porch. It is a place we can enjoy the weather undercover. We each have our designated spot. The place on the porch we call our own. Hubby and I take the chairs while the little ones lounge on the bench. Porch people, that is what we are.

While we enjoy the porch the way it is, we just had an itch. A desire for something different. So down came the railings. How fun that was! After the dust settled (not really) we got to looking at the posts. Funny little things they are. I want bigger posts, I proclaimed. Hubby sat there rubbing his chin... hmmm. You see, he is very money savvy. Likes to stretch the dollar as far as he can. He says, lets box them in, how big do you want them? Oh I don't know, bigger! He goes to the lumber yard and walla...

He creates bigger posts! And just in case someone in the future wants to do their own tweaking on the porch, they will know just when we did ours.

Here is a picture after he did 2 posts, 2 more to go!

After he worked those 2 posts he wanted to make sure he got paint on them to protect them from the weather. You never know when it is going to rain. He painted them and went inside to take a break. And when he went out to check them... these little gnats wanted in on the fun. They must of gotten too curious and into a sticky situation.

Oopsy
Here is another photo. I just LOVE it!!!

It seems to have really opened it up. My next plan is to pull out all of my hydrangeas and rework the front... honey, I want plants! Hmmm

Foodie Post

Today is one of those beautiful days! The sun is shinning and promises to hit the mid to high 70's. I have opened the house up, fed the animals, and baked. With the wonderful weather these last couple of days the chickens have laid eggs like crazy. I had no idea on what to do with those things so I hit the Internet. And I found one of the best recipes I have ever tasted... Angel Food Cake. Yes, Angels! The smell itself is heavenly! I made one in the regular round pan and then others in little loaf pans.


The recipe is:
12 eggs or 1 1/2 cups egg whites
1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 t cream of tarter
1 1/2 t vanilla
1/2 t almond extract
1/4 t salt
1 cup sugar

Separate eggs. I kept the yolks to use in a flan or something else (I can't bare to throw them away). Measure egg whites to 1 1/2 cups. Place in mixing bowl and let stand at room temp. for 30 minutes.
Sift confectioners' sugar and flour together 3 times and set aside. Add cream of tarter, extracts and salt to egg whites and beat on high. Gradually add sugar beating until sugar is dissolved and stiff peaks form. Fold in flour mixture, 1/4 cup at a time. Gently spoon into an ungreased 10-in tube pan. Cut through batter with a knife to remove air pockets.
Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Immediately invert pan and cool completely.

This is the first time I have made angel food and it turned out sooo yummy. I can eat it plain. But we added a couple of strawberries to eat after lunch. MMMMM

Another recipe I wanted to share is a cornbread recipe. I may have posted this before but it is worth posting again. I made this last night with a pot of white beans and ham. Hubby likes a little kick to his food. I found this recipe on the net and tweaked it a bit to fit our family.

Cheddar cheese Jalapeno cornbread:
1 box of cornbread mix
1 egg
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup milk
2 TBS canned jalapeno peppers, cut up
1 cup cheddar cheese shredded
salt is optional

Mix together and bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes. There is just enough kick to make them oh so yummy!

And finally the almighty Almond Tea!!! This is my favorite drink in the winter months. I use it in the morning like most use coffee. Not to put coffee down, I LOVE coffee but this stuff is darn good. My good friend Sarah shared this recipe with me. She made it at one of our women's group nights.

Almond Tea:
6 cups of water
1 cup sugar
2 TBS instead tea
3 tsp almond extract (YUMMMMYYY)
1 tsp vanilla extract
juice from 3 lemons

Combine all ingredients in a non metallic pan and warm, do not boil. ENJOY!!!

Woohoo a 3 column blog!!

I am sooo excited! I have a 3 column blog now. I have always wondered how do some people have 3 and others 2 ??! All I could find in my options were 2 columns. BUT... I went to Delightful Dots and printed off the instructions and followed them word for word and waalaa! I have a 3 column blog!! I am still working on the decorations of it but I wanted to share. If you want to visit Delightful Dots just click on the logo on the top left hand side of my blog and you will be directed right to the site. Happy Blogging!

Update: I have changed back to Cutest Blog on the Block. If you need Delightful Dots just type it in your search engine, it will pop up. Sorry, lol

I am Thankful

Words can not express how blessed I feel. God has truly blessed my life in ways I never imagined. I have 2 beautiful and healthy girls, a caring and hardworking husband, a warm and cozy home, the gift of animals, loving family, a wonderful church family, friends, a nice and safe town, great blog friends, and many other things I am not even aware of. As I pray at night I try to let God know by telling Him how thankful I am. But sometimes I fall short and don't act thankful. So I am here making a great effort to let everyone know that I am thankful! I am thankful for comments made here. I am thankful for prayers given. I am thankful for time spent. I am thankful for the sun shinning. I am thankful for the rain. I am thankful!!!

Love Poem by Elizabeth Barrett-Browning

Sonnet XLIII

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight.
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace
I love thee to the level of everyday’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, –I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! — and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

Thank you God for giving me a life I am thankful for.

I love you Brad, Bok-Bok, and Bugga-Bugga!!!!!!!!!!!
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Something wicked here at Whispering Dreams

Boy did we have something scary happen last Friday evening! The girls and I were all sitting at the table eating supper when we heard some crashing around in the backyard. It sounded like something banging up against the house. I immediately thought that Pumpkin had one of the chickens. So I ran out there to find a strange site. I couldn't quite figure it all out. It looked like one of my chickens but had a weird face and it was looking at me funny. Just staring and not letting its gaze move for a second. We kept looking at one another until I figured out the situation. It was a hawk and it had my chickens head pinned to the ground!!! I was so frightened that I screamed. When I did the hawk jumped off of the chicken but didn't go far. My screaming made Alissa come to the backyard and when she saw the hawk she screamed. When she screamed the hawk swooped at her and then flew to the fence. That little stinker didn't leave the area until it got dark. I can tell you that it will be the last time I let my chickens out to roam with out someone back there. The chicken lived and only had minor bleeding. She was sooo shook up that she didn't try running from me or anything. She just let me pick her up and check her out. I felt so bad for her.

This is the hawk. I was sooo close to him and he wasn't scared a bit!

I haven't seen it back since Friday. The chickens were a little apprehensive on coming out of the coop for the next couple of days but are back to normal now.

On a lighter note I took pics of the girls in their Halloween costumes since I wont be here to see them. This will be the first Halloween that I wont be with them :(. I am excited to go to California but soo sad to not be with them on a day like that.

This is my oldest in her witchy costume! She put it together herself.

This is my youngest in her cowgirl costume. She wanted to be a horse but I couldn't find one. The shirt has a picture of a horse so she agreed, lol.

I guess that is all I have to report for today. So I am signing off. Have a blessed day and an even better week to come!!

A fence post, hehe

On Saturday hubby and I made a fence. A little piece of fence to decorate with the passing seasons. I got the idea from A Primitive Place, you can find the site on my blog list. I visit that blog every chance I get. They have such great ideas and wonderful people to boot!




We had so much fun and some great help...

Pumpkin was so excited for her new scratching post

I bought 2 different overalls and 2 plaid shirts all for $3.75 at Abilities Unlimited. If you haven't visit one please do. They are a nonprofit organization. I find some great things there. That is where I bought my hat that I am wearing in my profile picture for .50. LOVE IT!!

Blessings on this gloomy day in Arkansas!!

I look forward to Fall for so many reasons. The weather cools, the leaves change, the Holidays and... a visit to Parker Homestead. I love this place!

They have historic buildings on site and people dressed in period clothing.

They sell kettle corn, homemade soap, and lots of other great things in this market

You can even watch them make brooms from broom corn and then buy it!

Alissa would tell you that the best part is that they have a horse

It might actually be a donkey but I wont tell her, wink*

This horse/donkey goes round and round to squeeze out the molasses from the cane. They then boil it down to 80% sugar. And it is YUMMY on top of bread and butter!

Hope y'all enjoyed the tour!