I did not abandon

Hey there! For the last month, I've been trying to upload pictures to this blog, and would get mad, and just shut it down. Not completely sure what's going on, but I finally sent a note to Blogger to see what the problem is. I know not everyone is having this problem, but hopefully it's not just me.

So anyways, I've been doing quilting, working on cleaning out the chicken run, making the chicken house pretty, keeping the nest boxes cleaned out because chickens are nasty...oh and I set eggs this week.

I set my first batch on Tuesday night, in the new incubator that we got last year. Well, went out and got new batteries for the one humidistat because it wasn't working. Got the new batteries in, it came on, hooray!!!! Set it in my old incubator that we started out with, and it was working just fine. Came back 10 minutes later to check the temperature and humidity, and it was dead!!!! Well, thankfully I had thought to order 2 new ones because you never know. So they came in yesterday, got it in, and well the temp in that incubator was at 105...so I turned the heat back, and took out the plugs to let heat out...the temp was not coming down. So I took the lid off, thinking that maybe it had just been at that temp for too long. The temp came down fairly fast, put the lid back on, and the temp started climbing again, rapidly, and I'm turning the heat back and it's not working. So I called for Frank, who comes and looks at it, and informs me that the switch is gone, and that incubator will basically have to be rebuilt. He can order the parts and have them here fairly quickly, how much time did we have left before we had to get the eggs in...basically none. So...I apparently looked so sad and forlorn, that he told me to go and get a new incubator, since we had planned on getting a third one this year anyways. I had decided that I'd get the cheapest one I could find. Luck would have it when I got there, they were on sale, the really expensive ones were the same price as the ones that didn't even come with a turner!!!! So, I got a sports model that is really deep, and you can hatch Turkey eggs in!!!! The entire top is clear plastic so you can watch them hatch out better,  and has a digital count down on it. Now eventually we do plan on having a cabinet incubator, but for now, this will work out perfectly. So as of right now, I have 82 eggs set, and they have 2 different hatch dates. Now, they all won't hatch, because it's just my one rooster, with a lot of hens. I'm going to candle the first incubator tonight, and I'm sure that I'll be taking close to half of the eggs out. (I'll let you all know)

 Alright, that's it, going to try and figure out this picture problem, because it really is quite annoying!!!!

Time flies

Hey everyone who may or may not still be reading my blog!!! Time really gets away from me as you all can tell. I'm going in so many directions at once, that it's hard to keep up with everything I love. And trust me, I love this blog!!!! You just can't tell here lately by the way I haven't been posting.

Frank has been working a lot extra at work, he's been teaching some classes, and then they have a bunch of overtime days. So, I've been trying to keep up with all the farm work, the book keeping, the house work, and my sewing. This is going to be a sort of catch up blog.

Last weekend was Frank's birthday. We didn't really do anything to celebrate. As we get older, we find that we like to spend a quiet night at home. So, we made a big pan of nachos with seasoned beef, lots of cheese, black olives, refried beans, salsa and some other stuff that we put in the oven and baked until everything was nice and hot and bubbly. Then, we put sour cream on top of it all. Once that was ready, we settled in to watch TV. We were going to watch a movie, but decided to watch a couple episodes of Lethal Weapon on Hulu. (We're still behind, by 5 episodes) (I was really afraid to watch it because the movies are classic, and was afraid they would really ruin it, but I was wrong, it was fantastic!!!! It really gives the characters more depth, and personality, and gives them so much more life. I love it) Then we added some grown up beverages, and it was just a nice relaxing evening.

My chickens are doing great, they took me by surprise last week. I walked into the hen house, and there were 4 eggs waiting for me...after not getting eggs for a couple of months, I was so happy!!! The next day there were more, and then I got 9 eggs by day 3, and by the end of the week, I was getting 3 dozen a day!!! I truly was not expecting that considering the number of older hens I have.  When I went to Tractor Supply yesterday to pick up some feather fixer for some of my Easter Egger Hens that had been in a separate pen with 6 roosters, which are no longer in existence, I had to stop and ogle the chicks. Oh they are so cute, and loud!!! I almost caved and bought 6 Black Australorp chicks...I still have my original girls of that breed, and they are older, and barely laying these days. They are laying, but just a couple times a week. What I love about them goes beyond the fact that they are good layers. I love that they are big, and beautiful, and so laid back, and calm and friendly, and don't act like fools when you pick them up to check for eggs. Not like the White Leghorns which are fantastic layers, and don't eat much compared to what they lay. They aren't my favorite breed, they are a really high strung bird in my opinion. They tend to get my Easter Egg hens wound up, which cracks me up because they are generally a laid back breed.

My rabbits are doing well. I think I told you all about Betty having to come in the house. (My Chocolate Silver Fox) I thought she was doing well, and was going to possibly make a full recovery and be able to go back outside when it warmed up again. She was doing great, she was eating, and drinking, and cuddly. Then one day she just stopped eating, but was still drinking, the next day, she stopped drinking as well. I kept her close to me that day, and examined her, but my guess is, she had injuries to her back legs that we didn't realize, and we made the decision to very quickly, and very humanely put her out of her pain, because it was very obvious she was in pain. I can assure you all, she didn't feel a thing. We do not believe in allowing any animal to suffer, and will do everything in our power to keep them from suffering. Yes, I buried her, and yes I cried. I still get kind of teary eyed when I look at her son George who we kept. I'm planning on breeding him with Ethel this spring/summer since I know she has the chocolate gene, and plan on trying to get a new chocolate doe.

I have lots of sewing projects going on!!!! I'm working on some more dresses for my friends little girl, a dress for myself, some dresses for the dress a girl around the world project, some t-shirt quilts, and some other quilts that I've been working on for a long while. I have one pinned together, that's ready to be quilted. Frank is back on his regular work schedule starting Saturday, so I'm thinking I'll work on finishing something this weekend.  Basically, I sew based on how my hip and back feel.

I'm still in love with the Subaru. I don't know what took me so long to decide that we needed one of those!!!! Since we've done all the work on the Neon, it's running like new!! Well, not quite like new, but it's running better than it has in years. It still has under 120 thousand miles on it, and with it being a Dodge, and is over that repair hump, Frank thinks we can make it to 300 thousand miles easily. I think I might be a little sad when the Neon does kick the bucket though, it's kind of part of the history of Frank and Brandi.

That's about it from here for now. Hopefully I can get back into posting things again, it's just a matter of things getting back to normal!!!!

Fudgy Mocha Brownies

These brownies are incredibly delicious!!!! I love baking from scratch, It's just one of those things that I find relaxing, and these were no disappointment!!!!  I don't know how much you all will love this, but I know they were a hit here!!!!

Ingredients

1 and 1/4 cups unsifted flour devided

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup cold butter

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 egg

1 teaspoon instant coffee dissolved in 1 tablespoon hot water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking powder 3/4 cup chopped nuts

Directions

preheat oven to 350 F

In bowl, combine 1 cup flour and sugar, cut in butter until crumbly. Press mixture firmly in bottom of 13x9 inch baking pan.  Bake 15 minutes.

Meanwhile in large bowl, mix all other ingredients including 1/4 cup of flower, but leave out the nuts. Mix well, and then add the nuts after everything has been mixed. Pour mixture over crust after it comes out of oven, and then bake for 20 minutes until center is set. Cool, and then cut into 36 brownies. Store in an air tight container at room temperature.

This is very very tasty, however, it could use a little more coffee in it. I'm thinking that maybe one more tablespoon will make all the difference.

My DNA quilt

Hello everyone!!! Bet my post title got your attention!!! This is a quilt I made for us here at the couch, after it's been to show and tell at the quilting bee the weekend, It will go on the back of the couch, where we can pull it over on us should we get cold.  This was my first big scrap quilt, and I must say, I think it turned out fairly well!!! I have been jokingly calling it my DNA quilt, because of all of the injuries I managed to get while working on this bad boy!!! First there was the running the sewing machine needle through my finger, and after that, I went back into my sewing room Sunday night, and managed to snip my finger while snipping threads...to be honest, that hurt worse than the sewing machine needle, bled more too surprisingly. After I got through all that, and managed to get this whole thing quilted, I was removing the last safety pin from the quilt, and when it popped open, what happened??? Why the darn thing decided to give me a nice big scratch. Thank goodness, I managed to get the binding on without any incident. Although for you quilters, I want you to know, I was determined to use up all of that black fabric that I used as my sashing, and cut 2 inch strips for my binding. That was work getting that on there, and I did it by machine, because this girl doesn't do any hand sewing if it can be avoided.

Right now, I'm working on some t-shirt quilts. I started ironing on the stabilizer this morning, and thought there was something wrong with it at first...absolutely nothing wrong with it. It would seem I forgot to turn my iron on. I think my brain is broken!!!! I have 2 of them I'm making, and will post pictures once they are done. Hopefully I don't get any injuries while working on these.

If you are interested in how I made my quilt, I just did 12 inch Churndash squares using scrap fabric, and I did 3 inch sashing between everything. The white fabric going around the inside was a 2 inch strip, and then I think I did a 5 or 8 inch strip around with the green fabric. It was a lot of fun to put together, it was a great escape, and I found myself in a happier place while working on this quilt, because I wasn't thinking about Facebook, or any of the protests going on. It was just me, my fabric, my rulers, my rotary cutter, my thread, and my machine, and Bryan Adams in the CD player.

I'm currently playing around learning how to use my quilt designing program, and have many hopes of designing a few things for here. Stay tuned, as soon as I find what I did with it, there will be a new crochet pattern coming your way!!!

Stay warm!!!
Brandi

So Sorry

Hey everyone!!! I know I promised you guys recipes and some new crochet patterns this month, and I truly have a stack of recipes, and patterns I've written, and I swear I'm not coming up excuses for reasons why I didn't get them posted.  Both Frank and I spent most of this month sick. We got whatever that nasty gunk is that's been going around. I had it twice as long as Frank did unfortunately. My congestion was so bad, that when I would lay down because I was feeling so bad I had to lay down before I fell down, everything would drain to one side of my body, and then when I sat up, I had to stay in the upright sitting position for a good 5 minutes before I could stand up. I still have a little bit of congestion that gets me at the end of the day, and my nose holes are sore still from all the nose blowing I had been doing.

In other news, I had to break down and buy a new sewing machine a couple of weeks ago, thank goodness for an Amazon Prime membership. I would have to say it's the best investment we have ever made. It's already paid for itself, between the movies, the free shipping and the discount prices. I was working on quilting a scrap quilt that I made to get to know my new sewing machine, and for the first time in my sewing career, I actually ran my finger under the sewing machine needle!!! It went all the way through, the tip of the needle came out a good 1/4 inch of the other side of my finger. I don't know how I didn't panic, and how I kept calm enough to raise the needle out of my finger. Frank grounded me from my sewing room for a few days, and I haven't been up to finish my quilt. (Although I've decided that my finger doesn't hurt much anymore, and I can type with it with no problem, so that means I'm healed up.)

Our Neon is almost over the repair hump according to Frank. It's in the shop right now, there is another sensor that is being replaced, and the final engine mount is being repaired, and whatever is wrong with the break line is being fixed. (All I can say about the break issue is, thank goodness that it went while I was sitting in the driveway, and not when I was halfway to the grocery store, or while Frank was on his way to work) After about 3 months of research and saving for a down payment, we got a new car. I think I know more about vehicles than I ever wanted to know. We knew we were going to want something with all wheel drive, but something that got good gas mileage. I was comparing cars against each other, and reading reviews, and stats, and learning about problems, and longevity, and the list goes on. My list started out with 56 different vehicles. Who knew that I would have that much of a choice, it ticked off so slowly, and it came down to 2 different vehicles of the same make. It came down between the Outback Subaru, and the Subaru Forester. The winning car was (Insert drumroll here) The 2017 Outback Subaru. We got it this past Thursday, and I'm not going to lie, I absolutely love it!!!! Considering children are not off the table for us, no matter how we become parents weather it's natural, scientific, or adoption, we still want to be parents, and I like knowing that I have a vehicle that will be a great family vehicle, with safety ratings that are completely awesome.
   
So!!! Now you have been caught up, and I promise you guys, I do have recipe's and patterns coming your way. Once I figure out my electric quilt program, for quilt designing, I'm hoping to have some quilt patterns to share with you all as well!!! So then, this little farm blog will have a little bit more of everything!!!!

Happy New Year

Greetings my fellow readers!!!! I'm so happy that the new year is here, and that we can get a fresh start on things. Nobody can deny that 2016 was a rough year, it wasn't all bad, but it was indeed rough. It seemed like everything kept breaking, and going wrong. However, some of the breaks were for the better it would seem. Having to replace our Washer and Dryer, we got an HE, and monitoring my electric bill, it's actually using about $40 less worth of electricity a month.  So, even though it seemed tragic at the time, it was kind of a blessing in disguise. (I will admit though, it was really kind of sad, because Frank's parents bought us that set when we bought this house many moons ago)
We've managed to keep the Neon going, and are probably going to be putting it in the shop again here soon, and getting something else fixed. We're going to try and limp it along for as long as we can. Our plan is to get something with 4 wheel drive, that sits up higher than a car, but isn't huge. We've been looking at the crossovers. The plan is to have as big of a down payment as we possibly can, so that we can pay it off as fast as we can. We actually managed to pay off a bunch of stuff last year, and I really love not having a lot of payments.

I have been writing new patterns to share with you all, and I have them in many different drafts right now. I think you all will enjoy them. They are fun, and fast. I'm going to attempt to post a pattern a month for you all. The first one won't be posted this week, mostly because I have a bunch of stuff going on this week, but I will have it up before the month is out!!! I've also been trying new recipes, and I have a huge stack of them to share with you guys, and I'm going to try to share at least one a month with you guys as well. I know that last year my posting got rather minimal, but this year, I'm going to try to do better. This blog is a fun hobby for me. I love writing, and sharing, and I truly hope you all enjoy my rambles.

Well, that's it for today, Until my next post! Have a great week, and a Happy New Year!!!!

cleaning up

Well hello again!!!! I've had to do a major clean up of my sewing/craft room. It was so out of hand that when I went in there to get some yarn to work on a pattern I'd been writing to share with you guys, not only could I not find what I was after, but I realized when things came tumbling down that it was time to gut that room!!! Once I got started, I ended up throwing out 5 bags of stuff, and filling many bags and boxes of stuff to donate to the thrift store. I'm very close to being finished in there, and will be in there working on many things this weekend!!!! I have several sewing projects that need to be finished, and several more that need to be started. 

At this point, the way our year has gone, I'm thinking that I'm not going to be making any promises to have any new patterns, or recipes to share with you all before the year is out. I honestly wanted to have so many things for you all, but life just kept getting in the way!!! However!!! Once my workspace is clean, and workable, I am positive that I will hopefully have so very many things to share with you all!!!!

So, if I don't check in with you all before the end of the year, I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas, and a very Happy New Year!!! I hope 2017 is much better!!!!