A week in the country.

One thing about this time of year, it's warm enough in the morning to sit on the front porch and watch the sunrise. 

Everything is beginning to spring to life. 

We had a productive week. 

We freeze dried five pounds of cream cheese, and freeze dried peaches, and pears.

I made sourdough biscuits, and then put my starter back in the fridge to be neglected for another week, or so.

It's been fun to have new recipes to try out. 

 I have a sourdough banana bread recipe to try this week. 

I bought a 40 pound box of bananas, a while ago, and froze some to use in banana bread and muffins, and smoothies, and then I freeze dried the rest. 

The box cost me five dollars, and I knew I couldn't go wrong for that price!

Freeze dried bananas are so yummy!

Shopping bags full of MaryJane's Farm magazines.

One of my friends has been saving these magazines for years and gave them to me this past week. 
I'm going to read through them, save what I want to and then I'll take them back to her. She's over the Senior Citizen's yard sale and she'll put the magazines in the yard sale.

Fish Fillet station
This is the filleting station that the DNR set up, after gathering the fish from the nets.
At Piute State Park, the DNR checks the health of the reservoir by placing nets in the water, then seeing what type of fish survived winter and determining what type of fish to plant in the lake for summer time. 
All of the fish netted where donated and that way there wasn't any waste.
The water is used for farming, and in fact the water in our subdivision is all from Piute.
Our subdivision was farm land, and the water rights are preserved now that this land has been developed into a neighborhood.

Attitude of Gratitude:
Our Grands and DIL made it back from Brazil this week; our son is overjoyed to have them home again! The Grands called us to tell us that they missed us and they love us.
Our DIL's grandma is doing ok, and her health for now is stable.

Feeling accomplished with all of the freeze drying that we got done this week.

Grateful for sunny days that allow me to work in the yard. It's been far too nice to be in the house.
 
Grateful that me sweet husband has giant trout to smoke this week... should be delish! 

~ Country Roads ~

Another Country Roads drive....

 Vultures sunning themselves in the morning sun.

My favorite country road drives through one of the canyons.

In the same canyon above...a sweet wildflower grows out of a crack in the rock cliff.

Mule deer 

Cottontail

Natural cave

Dozens of pelicans.

Lastly, a morning sky along our country roads walk.

 

~ All around the cottage ~

What a week... full of busy and good things, but jam-packed with many things.

We helped our daughter move. She is relocating from Salt Lake valley to Wyoming. She is fortunate enough to be able to telecommute, so she can work anywhere. 

In the meantime, before her new apartment in Wyoming will ready, she is staying with us and working.

It has given us an opportunity to spend time together and we've been enjoying her company.

On Sat. before Easter, we went for a drive up one of the canyons here and showed her this Pioneer era cabin. 

Everyone agreed that the cabin is located in a beautiful area, and the pioneers were men and women of courage and fortitude. 

I don't think I would have made it with a bunch of kids living in a teeny tiny cabin!

Springtime is bringing out the best in our chickens.

We are getting more eggs each day, and one day, we were surprised that we got 6 eggs from our 6 hens. Well, at least they were all trying to lay an egg a day....*smile*.

That is the tiniest egg I have ever seen in my life!

Chives are growing like crazy now, and so I whipped up some chive butter and froze for later use, as well as making some chive sea salt seasoning.

I also made some oven-roasted maple~cinnamon almonds, and some Smokehouse seasoned almonds.

We also made two batches of beef jerky.... one batch was old-fashioned and one batch was orange~teryaki.

It's nice when we are busy to be able to grab a homemade snack to take on the road with us.

Two years ago, we planted around a thousand springtime bulbs...daffodils, crocus, and tulips. They are beginning to blossom and flourish and as they have split, we are enjoying a plethora of spring blossoms.

    

Another ride and we had to slow down for this turkey on the road. 

I think it is a Royal Palm turkey and about 2 out of 3 times, he will be on the road at this location. 

Like many of you, we have had wild weather this spring. 

Winds have been especially fierce, and in the storm a few days ago the accompanying winds snapped this pioneer- 

era pine tree right off. This is one of two old pines that were snapped off. 

The trees line two streets that are close to our subdivision, but not in our subdivision. The broken tree in the picture above narrowly missed a house.

This week, our pressurized irrigation will be turned on. 

In our subdivision, we are on farm shares of water, and not on city irrigation shares. 

The man that used to own this land, and farm it, retained the water shares and we pay the farm company for our water shares. 

We are not under any restrictions and should have plenty of water for this summer,

 unless things change.

We are getting our garden in shape for spring planting, my husband made a new run for the hens, and yesterday a neighbor was kind enough to bring their skid-steer over and load our trough planters for us, so that my husband didn't have to shovel dirt into them. 

Sure saved his back!

I'm dehydrating apples this weekend and working in my flower beds and borders and we are supposed to get a nice soaking rain this Friday. 

Spring is in full swing!

 

Peaceful skies, Peacocks and Longhorns

 

Country living is a beautiful blessing.

Peaceful skies.

Another beautiful day.

A neighboring farmstead with dozens and dozens of peacocks.

We've counted nearly 40. 

They are roaming the roads and fields.

Why did the peacock cross the road?

 In this case, to get to the trees so that he could roost at night!

Just around the bend from the peacocks, a different farm with a bunch of longhorn cattle.

They come in lots of colors and sizes and it's an enjoyable sight to see them grazing at dusk.

Love the brown speckled one.

Living in the county is an amazing blessing and not one day passes that I am not grateful for this beautiful life :)

Rock Candy & Frokes

 Big Rock Candy Mountain, that is.
Have you ever been to Big Rock Candy Mountain?
Remember the song 'Big Rock Candy Mountain', by Harry McClintock?
His idea of a Hobo's dream life.

 ~ Big Rock Candy Mountain, is a short drive from where we live. The drive up the canyon is beautiful, and there is a beautiful river walkway/ bike path. 

On our drives, we often pick up a 'Froke'.... or a frozen coke to sip on.
One of our favorite summer time treats!

 How darling is this potting shed ~ or garden shed ~or she shed? 
This gal has decorated her shed is such a cute fashion, and it  makes one happy to see all of her cute collections.

 This is the kitchen table 'before', and below is a picture of the kitchen table 'after'. 
We gave our youngest son our very large kitchen table when we were packing and moving, thinking that we were going to St. George. 
We had a small drop leaf table to use in the interim, and planned on replacing our main dining room table with something permanent, once we were moved in and settled.

 We had kept the chairs from our original set because we really liked the style and quality, but the table was far too large for us. 
One day, while we were visiting friends, I mentioned how much I liked their single pedestal table and they told me that I could have it. 
I didn't feel right about taking it for free, so I made a trade with them. 
I had an old extra trunk ~ the wooden kind, and traded that old trunk for the table. 
Of course I painted the entire set a cottage white, and I love love the finished project. There is an extra leaf for the table so that we can quite comfortably seat 6~8, when it's more than just the two of us for meals.

 We managed to save three red twig dogwoods and transplanted them.
I spray painted all of my metal love hearts and placed them near the dogwoods.

 I'm loving the hutch in the entryway, where I can enjoy it every day.
 It's also great for extra storage!

 Kitchen hutch is right where we like it, and love that the bee ware dishes are so handy for dinner time.

 Lastly.. I've been styling the tops of the cupboards in the kitchen. 
Above the pantry, I have a 'Bakery' sign, and little mason jar lights that are on a convenient light switch.

My sweet husband is counting down...just about 7 months more, then he will retire.
He has put in more than 30 years in law enforcement, and he always tells me that he wants at least 30 years of retirement life in kind :)
My sweet husband is fourth generation LEO, and our boys are 5th generation LEO (law enforcement officers).

 We've been practicing for retirement...going to the lakes and ponds fishing, working in the yard and garden, taking trips, going for rides, etc..

I told him "we are going to be the best retirees ever!" 
We always have a blast together!

~This week:
  *Finishing the last bit of painting in my sweet husbands office, and getting it decorated and pictures and awards etc. hung up;one of his favorite pics of the unit he was over in the police academy.
*Planting the 'new to me' pussy willow tree.
*Working on the spot where the garden shed will go.
* Planting in our veggie garden.

~ All around the Cottage ~

 All around the cottage, I'm accomplishing a great deal. 
Since we moved here 10 months ago, to the date, I had this old cabinet in a rather large closet. 
It stored craft items, candles, etc.
Whilst it was wonderful for storage,in the closet, I missed having it where I could see it and enjoy it each day.
Therefore, I moved it into our entry way.
I have styled it this week, and I'll show pictures of that next time.

 We've had some phenomenal cloud formations. How lovely it is to sit on the front porch and enjoy the clouds moving across the mountains. 
Though, because of the winds and storms, sadly the viewing of the 'jumpers' is non~ existent at the present time.
{They'll be back soon, I'm sure.}

 Previously, we had a 2~car garage. Now we have a 4~car garage.
A double garage door, and a single on the front of the house, and a single on the side of the house.
To make things look nice, we opted for 3 planters, instead of 2 along the front.
 One placed at each end of the garages, and one placed in the middle.

 Our local Home Depot only had one planter that we loved, so we compromised and bought three planters that were all the same, and then I painted them a solid matte black.
 I've now planted up all the planters. I don't know about where you all are, but around here, annuals have been a bit hard to come by; at least a large variety of plants.

 We have transplanted three red twig dogwood shrubs to the east side of our yard. Previously the dogwoods were in a shady spot and up against a fence.
I do hope that they come out of their transplant shock and thrive in their new spot.
Red twig dogwoods need sun and they need to be able to stretch and grow. 

 Mother's day was wonderful, and I feel so completely loved and blessed!
Our kids made it so special for me and my husband pampered me thoroughly.
He did all the chef and top bottle washer duties and took me for a lovely ride around our country~side. 
Look at that amazing silo! I've never seen a silo that shape before!

 This cute silo has been transformed into a nice picnic, and sitting area. 
We'll have to be certain to go back by, and see the progress. 
So cute!

The above picture is an inspiration picture that I found on Pinterest. 
My sweet husband bought me a garden shed for Mother's day.
It is being custom built and hopefully delivered in within the next six weeks.
I am so thrilled!! 
It will be all white, with a white roof, and then once it is delivered and set up, my sweet husband will build a pergola on one side for me. 
He also bought me a small greenhouse {weeks ago} and that greenhouse will be set up near my new garden shed.

~This week:
> Planting, planting and more planting is going on.
Annuals and perennials both. I have tried to get my hands on some old favorite perennials but am finding that the selections in our area are pretty picked over and slim.
 Once the greenhouse is up, I shall start my own seeds and grow my own annuals and perennials.

> Painting. I've been painting the last two kitchen chairs. Of course with each day being full on windy, the chairs are sitting on the patio with a primer coat on waiting for the final coat of paint.
I painted our kitchen table and chairs and will show the before and afters soon.

> Pulling weeds and digging grass out of our borders. I do enjoy working in the yard, so much, but have learned a lesson this week... I must wear shoes. I literally have sun burned bottoms of my feet! 
Live and learn.

~Weekend at the cottage ~

 Hello friends!
What a wonderful weekend it was for us.
We enjoyed a cosy fire, and rainstorms, beautiful skies.
We watched General Conference. 
Messages filled with hope and faith. 
Seeking good things, and following the example that our Savior set for us.

 Along our walking path, we saw a sweet reminder chalked onto the sidewalk.

 Puppies ran up to a gate to great us. 
Awww... they are so cute! 
Golden retriever pups.

 As the rains increased, this sweet little bird found a natural umbrella and lunch as well. 
Clever bird! 

 The rains continued and the sunflower head sheltered the bird as he gathered and ate sunflower seeds.

 As the clouds moved across the mountains, a dusting of snow across the peaks is revealed.

 Fall leaves glow, and white snow makes for a beautiful scene.

This week, I am more resolved to seek the good.
Uplifting.
Smile more.
Show kindness to strangers.
Serve my family.
Bless my home and family each day. 
Serve.
Happy heart experiences.
Positivity.
It is easy to be dragged down by negativity. 
It takes courage and faith to see the positivity and the good and seek after these things. 

Attitude of gratitude:
~Feeling grateful for a loving husband. 
~Thankful for a cosy warm fireplace.
~Thankful that we finished the items on 'The List' in order to be ready for winter'
~Grateful for the rains that have soaked lawns, plants, and helped to fill reservoirs. 
~Thankful for a stack of great books to read as the weather turns cold, and I spend more time indoors.