~ Plucky ~

Do any of you remember our hen, 'Poor Grace'?
For that matter, do any of you remember me??!!
Good gravy, it's been about forever since I last blogged.
There is 'settling in', and there's 'settling in'!
Well, truth be told, we're still settling in... *smile*.

Poor Grace was Plucky! 
She had that ole' wacky beak, and yet she persevered. 
She never gave up, and whats more, she became the most favorite hen of the entire flock... both people and the other hens loved her.

I've been considering ole' Poor Grace and her plucky character.
I need to cultivate a plucky attitude myself, and have resolved to do just that.... beginning right now!

Each one of us can determine to have courage in the face of the difficulties that we are going through.

Looking forward to many more hikes in our canyon.
I just had begun to explore our new canyon and new town, then winter was upon us. 

Oh what joy it will bring to enjoy the creek, the mountains, and the beauty all around. 
Our canyon is just a teeny bit up the road from our new home.

Our new town also has hot springs, and hot pools! They are lovely and the view from the hot pools simply cannot be beat... why, you can see our entire town, and surrounding area from the pools!

Simply the best thing has happened to us... we are expecting our second Grand. 
It's a girl this time, and we could not be more excited to meet her. 
She is scheduled to have her debut the first part of June.

Our sweet Liam will be a big brother, and some day he will teach his little sister how to catch a fish!
I'm missing our Grand!! 
I miss going to church, and especially going to the temple.
I miss all the 'normal' things.
 We all miss 'normal' don't we! 

Here's to my new plucky attitude :
* getting a garden in this summer...yay! 
We moved in last summer too late in the season to grow a garden.
*My sweet husband getting off the doctors list... I hope in May!
(He ended up with a twelve inch blood clot in his leg, just before Thanksgiving, but thankfully he is doing great. Taking his blood thinners and getting back to regular activities.)
*Taking lots of pictures, and showing you all around our new home and town!
* Putting a smile on my face, and happy in my heart, and finding a way to serve others.
 Because I sure can get bummed out, if I let myself!

Attitude of gratitude:
~ Grateful for this day. 
~Grateful for little seeds that are sprouting and hold so much promise for a great garden this year!
~Thankful for my 'consolation' gift from our daughter. The concert that we wanted to go to in Santa Fe was cancelled, and so she bought me the cutest t~shirt and CD from the "The Mavericks" .

*~ October Shenanigans ~*

 Do I ever have a tale to tell you!
October shenanigans going on around here!
 Last night, our dog started barking at the top of the stairs. I woke up and I too could hear something in the basement. 
Oh, dread! I was afraid that a skunk had fallen into the window well, and that was what we were hearing.
 My sweet husband ran downstairs and checked things out. He could hear something, but then the noise stopped.
He told me it was a kitten that he had heard. 
Down the street, a mother cat that is wild had a litter of kittens and we have seen them running all around the neighbourhood.
We went back to sleep and it seemed that the kitten had run off and we had just heard the mewing coming from outside the window.
  Then... this morning as I was outside pulling up annuals, I heard the mewing again.
 I looked and looked for that kitten. 
I looked on the roof, the rain gutters, under the smoker and bbq, in the window wells, etc.. etc..
 Finally, I called our youngest son and he and his wife came over. 
He listened and looked and looked and listened. Our daughter~ in love told me that she thought the mewing was coming from inside the furnace vent. 
  No way. I knew that there wasn't any way that the kitten could have gotten into our HVAC system!
 Our son ran back down to my husband's office and the kitten was mewing. 
 Somehow, that kitten was inside the wall of my husband's office?????!!!!!!!!

 I grabbed a small utility knife and Spencer cut a peephole in the drywall that is in a storage closet on the opposite side of my husband's office wall.
 I handed him a small mirror and the mewing got louder and louder.
Bingo! He could see the kitten. 
He then cut an access hole nearer to the floor in the closet. I handed him some leather gloves and handed his wife a blanket. 
He reached through the hole and got the kitten!
Oh, my goodness!! 
You can only imagine how thankful I am that he was able to locate and rescue the kitten!!
 Then, Spencer found where the kitten had crawled up inside a teeny tiny hole where the bay windows are next to the French doors and somehow made its way past the sill plate and into the basement wall.
Kittens are very mischievous critters!
 My husband's brother has a massive cattle ranch just across town, so we are going to re~home the kitten to the farm.

 We were due to get tons and tons of rain.
Nope.
We haven't even received enough rain to make the flower beds wet.
I had been waiting until it rained and softened the dirt so that I could finish pulling out the annuals and cleaning out the veg bed.

 As I pulled up the last of the squash, lo and behold two more butternut squash were clinging to the vine!
Yay!
One little butternut squash plant yeilded us a total of seven nice butternut squash.

 Looking across the meadow, with the clouds clinging low to the mountain, I had high hopes of a real thunder~buster kind of storm.

For you can see how very dry the meadow is, and how badly we need rain. 
  Well, I can tell you one thing... October is starting off with some real shenanigans. 
  Hoping that we get some more rain, and enough to truely soften the dirt in the borders and flower beds, then I can pull up all the rest of the leggy annuals. 
  My sweet husband is stopping by the hardware store on his way home and picking up rigid foam insulation in order to cover that teeny tiny hole and also a half sheet of drywall, for we will be repairing the access hole and the peephole. 
  I was so afraid that the kitten wouldn't make it! 
I just could not imagine how awful it would have been if the kitten stopped mewing and we couldn't find it.
 So grateful that we found and rescued that little kitten.
If it wasn't so wild and such a feral cat, one could keep it and give it a name such as ~Sheena.. for shenanigans!
Or Dennis, as in Dennis the menace!!

Attitude of gratitude:
  ~Feeling thankful for the crock pot.. again. 
How nice and easy it is to have such a wonderful way to make a meal. Last night it was tortellini bake, with enough leftovers to have tonight. 
 ~Grateful that my husband and I were able to get up to the lake and he was able to get in a bit of end of summer fishing. 
We had a picnic, and it was so peaceful and beautiful in the mountains.
 I am so grateful that we live so close to our incredible mountains.
 ~ So grateful that this coming weekend is General Conference. 
 Semiannual General conference truly feeds me spiritually and gives me a renewed focus of being the best daughter to our Heavenly Father that I can be.
  

A Most Perfect Day

 Monday night the clouds gathered, and the pitter~patter of raindrops began to fall on the giant leaves of the hostas.

 Cloudy skies and rain are most welcome. It has been a very hot and dry summer, with little to no rain.
A thunderstorm was sorely needed.

 As the clouds thickened and thunder rolled deep and low across the valley, my heart did a happy dance. 
Rain, glorious rain!
Rain continued throughout the night, then in the early hours of the day, we had a slight break in the storm.

 Tuesday morning dawned with more clouds gathering around the valley and across the mountains. 
A promise of another stormy day; a most perfect day.

 Across the meadow, clouds over the mountains, and gathering thickly. 

 I walked around the yard, checking downspouts and making certain that anything that could blow around was buttoned down and storm readied.

The cozy view outside the kitchen window. 
An impending storm.
I searched the candle cupboard, and pulled out a Yankee Candle called " Spicy Pumpkin". 
I lit candles and turned on accent lights and a few lamps. The entire house glowed with a most lovely light and I shut up all the windows as the rain began to pour down. 
It rained most the day. Dark cloudy skies, and thunder rolling across the mountains and valley. 
I almost made soup... as it felt so nice and cool. 
I watched Midsomer Murders... again. 
It was a Most Perfect Day.
Today, we are looking forward to more thunderstorms. I think it's going to be a lovely day, but it would be hard to beat the feeling of Autumn that yesterday had.

~ Attitude of Gratitude :
Feeling beyond thankful for the rain, thunder, and even the wind that prevailed yesterday and the night before. So much smoke from fires and stale air was scrubbed out of the skies.
~Grateful that I am blessed with a thrifty manner. I bought candles for Autumn when they went on clearance this past spring. Saving money while enjoying the scents of Autumn are a perfect match!
~I'm so grateful to live where there are four seasons, and just when I thought I couldn't handle one more day of endless heat, smoke, and crunchy grass, Heavenly Father sent us rain. 
He knows me so well! He blessed us with a taste of Autumn and a remembrance of better days ahead.

~* Autumn Blessings *~

 There is no other time of the year I love more..... for me, Autumn is the finest season of all.
The crisp morning, and gorgeous sunrises and sunsets, rain storms, and thunder.
A cup of cocoa while sitting next to the fireplace. The smell of woodsmoke in the air, cozy blankets to cuddle under.
Crispy~crunchy leaves to walk through, football games to cheer to, and warm bowls of soup.
The list goes on and on... all things wonderful about autumn.

 Slowly, I've been breaking out the autumn decor.
Little bits here and there, and most can stay out throughout the autumn season.
Gourds, and twinkle lights.
Chalkboard signs......

Faux berries, and candles.
A wee corn husk basket...

 More candles, and a flickering candlestick.

 The picture stays up year round.. a tribute to my favorite season, it depicts a harvest season in a small mountain village... quite like the area that we live in, actually.
Colors of gold, and yellows, and crimsons.

 In the kitchen, a large galvanized tray holds a 'blessings' platter, a small lantern, and a pitcher full of glorious green faux hydrangeas.

 On the range, a new pumpkin.; porcelain covered cast iron pot.
 I've wanted one like this for ever...... one day while perusing Wal Mart, I spied this lovely thing, and promptly bought it.
I think it will stay on the top of the range for many weeks to come. Of course I'll cook in it!
Thinking about chili, chicken and dumplings, cowboy casserole, beef and barley soup....etc..etc.

 A beautiful metal pumpkin sits front and center on the buffet in the dining area of the kitchen.
A small bunch of faux bittersweet tumbles out of a grapevine basket.

 On the windowsill, little acorns...... found on a morning walk recently.
The 'Fresh Eggs' sign is a recent yard sale purchase, and sits next to a brown spatter ware pitcher, also a yard sale find.

 In the living room, on the blanket hutch a small bowl of 'ancient' coins, and two aged brass candlesticks.
The candlesticks and the coins were a recent purchase, found at a thrift store in Santa Fe.
They always will be a warm memory of a great trip with my sweet husband.

While I can't authenticate the age of the coins that I was told are 'ancient', I still love their patina and their shape, and they are certainly a topic of conversation.

 The last of the flowers fill a few vases around the house.
Lovely colors of gold and pinks and salmon.

Little birds flock to the last of the sunflowers and enjoy the last of the warm days.
*my sweet husband took this picture.

 Another picture that my sweetheart took.
What a sweet little bird.

 One more picture that my hubby took.... I do love this one, so much. I love that little bird perched on a dry sunflower. A perfect Autumn photo.

 Deer in the meadow.... grazing.
I love to see the deer, but I am dreading when they move into the yard and start munching on our plants.

The elk, higher in the meadow.
The elk are in the rut now, and bugling can be heard at all times of the day, and sometimes at night.
The elk farmer has already trimmed their antlers so that they don't hurt each other.

 The time to be happy is now.... absolutely!
Autumn is an especially happy time for me.
Hope you are all enjoying this wonderful time of year.
So, have you tried the "Pumpkin Spice" Lindt truffles?
Or the Pumpkin Butter that you can buy at Trader Joes?

~Attitude of gratitude
~Grateful for good health.
~Grateful for a wonderful husband and great kids!
~Feeling thankful that the lawns have dried out from last weeks storms and I can get the mowing done. I have always enjoyed mowing the lawns, and I'm grateful that I have the good health that allows me to do it.

~ All Around The Cottage , and naan revisited

 All around the cottage.... flowers on the kitchen table....

 sun shining through the windows.
It's a beautiful day here at Mill Hill Meadow.
We had a gorgeous, summer-y weekend, baking and rain showers, and putting in new plants.

 Do any of you long time readers remember my kitchen at the Cottage on Main?
Filled with lots of red, and gingham, and farmhouse touches.

 My kitchen {in any house that we've ever lived in}, is a place I love to spend time in.
 I love to be in my kitchen baking and cooking, with my family gathering.

The first time that I made naan, it was in the kitchen at Cottage on Main.
We love naan!
I've been making batches of naan here in the kitchen at Mill Hill Meadow.

 The recipe I am using now, is different than the recipe that I used at Cottage on Main.
That older recipe used yogurt, and this newer recipe does not.

Here's the new recipe for naan.....

Simple Naan :
1C. warm water
1/4 C. sugar
1 egg, slightly beaten
3 T.  milk
2 t. salt
3 1/2 Cups flour
1 T. dry yeast
* Add ingredients in order listed above to bread making machine. When dough cycle is finished, divide dough into 12 equal balls and roll out into rounds.
Preheat oven to 500* degrees. Place large cookie sheet in oven, as the oven is preheating.
Place naan on preheated cookie sheet, in preheated oven, and bake naan on each side for about 3 minutes or so, or until done.
* Edited : I forgot to mention that when you bake the naan, your oven rack should be placed in the highest position in your oven. I make naan so frequently, that it is just something I do automatically, but if you've never made naan before, you might need to know this :)
I've modified the recipe to be made in my bread machine, but the recipe could also easily be made in a kitchen mixer, or by hand.  It is a really good recipe!
I've also made garlic/rosemary naan simply by adding granulated garlic and rosemary to the flour before adding all the other ingredients.
I've also made Maple Cinnamon naan, by replacing the sugar with 1/4 cup pure maple syrup, and decreasing the milk to 1 T. and adding 1 T. of ground cinnamon to the flour before mixing.
Maple Cinnamon naan is delicious warmed in the microwave then a smear of whipped cream cheese on top.
* Edited.. also, when making Maple ~ Cinnamon naan, cook naan at 475* degrees, instead of *500 degrees, because the maple syrup caramelizes at a lower temperature than sugar. Also keep a close eye on the baking process... it may not take as long as regular naan.

Attitude of gratitude:
~Feeling thankful for a cozy home. Feeling thankful for a home that is filled with family and good conversation, and good food.
~I'm grateful for the rain that we've been receiving. All of our new little shrubs, perennials, and annuals are doing so well this summer, and we are trying to establish new borders along the new fence so the rain is really a blessing.
~I'm SO grateful that our son, Spencer was with me this past week; I had a tire blow out and he was able to change the tire for me. Then, the spare started going flat as well..... it hadn't been used in years and so the bead on the tire wasn't sealed. I was able to get off the highway, and he aired up the spare and we continued home. Two new tires will be put on our Tahoe this week! I feel so blessed that we were safe and sound, and that we didn't wreck.