Monday, July 28, 2008

Tamra my SIL just graduated from design school in Chicago. Her school along with a couple of other schools designed torsos. They are currently on display on Michigan Ave. Here is the link, their is a link to Ebay where some of them are for sale. http://www.themagnificentmile.com/SeasonalEvents/Summer/GardenInspiredStudentFashion.cfm
posted by Cathie on 10:55 AM

In our efforts to go "green" we have been trying to buy local meat and produce. The last time I went to the farmers market we bought some wonderful Basil. Yesterday I made homemade Pesto sause. Here is the recipe I used. The ony thing I changed is adding more garlic.

2 cups fresh basil leaves
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cups pine nuts
1/2 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 tsp lemon juice
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Add all ingredients in a food processor and blend together.

I mixed it with angel hair pasta. YUMMY
posted by Cathie on 10:33 AM



Good Morning :) We went to the faire this weekend. The day went by so fast, before we knew it, it was time to go. It didn't go that fast when I was running a shop there lol. My sister in law Tamra and our friends Mary and Jimi also made the trip. Did a little shopping, visited and saw the Monie show. Willow got to go on a pony ride and visit with a fairy. Here are a couple of pictures.

posted by Cathie on 10:20 AM

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Friday, July 25, 2008



Here is a picture of Willow at the Milwaukee Zoo from our visit to Skye and Dave's
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posted by Cathie on 9:17 AM

We have been having a summer :) so that's why no update for so long.
quick list of all that has happened so far
Barn is done, all that is needed is stalls on the inside
Chicken coop is done, needs to be painted and then the chicks can move in :)
Fair booth is sold, we are headed up this weekend to have fun and see some shows !yeah
Dad's house sold, I am so glad this chapter is over. clean out your clutter lol
Getting wind turbine , they are laying the cement next week. It will supply about 1/2 of our electric needs.
Always working on beads :)
Willow is getting bigger and bigger !!
Visited Skye, Dave and Alec. I will post more on this later. Cancer sucks!!
I have been to the farmer market and taco thursday , fun fun fun
with the winter we had last year I want to look back on the summer and said I had fun lol if we have another one like that.
posted by Cathie on 8:58 AM

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Thursday, July 10, 2008

The granola bars are really good, here is the recipe that I used. I didn't have and almonds so I used walnuts and I didn't have and choc chips so I cut up an apple and put that in. I think they could cook for 35 to 40 minutes the next time though :)
3c quick cooking oats
1- 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 TBS butter, melted
1c flaked coconut
1c sliced almonds
1c choc chips
1/2 c dried cranberies

preheat oven to 350
greese 9x13 pan

In a large bowl mix all ingredients together with hands until well mixed
press flat into pan

Bake for 20 to 25 minute depending how crunchy you want them.
Cool 5 minute then cut.

let cool completely before serving.

Now off to the studio :)
posted by Cathie on 9:31 AM

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Wednesday, July 09, 2008


I have been feeling so creative lately, I am headed to the studio as soon as my audio book downloads :)

I made this great chicken salad the other day. Very easy and it was really good.

4C boneless chicken breasts

1C seedless red grape

1/2C pecans

1/2C mayonnaise

Salt

Pepper


Grill Chicken and allow to cool

cube chicken breasts

Halve the grapes

Combine in a bowl with pecans and mayo. Serve over a bed of lettuse.


I didn't have any pecan so I used walnuts, it was still great :)


I also made homemade granola bars this morning I will let you know how they are tomorrow.


This is a beautiful piece of art my friend Mary made with a picture of Willow.



posted by Cathie on 8:18 AM

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Sunday, July 06, 2008

I will try to do a complete update from the farm since my last post. We have survived the flooding. No lasting damage from the water, I feel really lucky after seeing what some of the areas around us endured. The barn is done and looks great, I will post pictures soon. We still have to get the electric hooked up and build the stalls before the goat can be moved in. We are looking a solar panels for the power :) Speaking of going green I have given myself a goal to meet in regards to going green. First I am changing all of the light bulbs in the house to the energy saving one. It is amazing how many light bulb you have in one house. Second I am only using reusable bags at the store, no more plastic bags. I have found that the cashiers are not too happy about it at store like Walmart, even through I am using one of their reusable bags :( I hope more stores stop using plastic bags altogether. Third I am not using the clothes dry at all. I love the way the clothes smell when they have been hanging out to dry so it is all good. I even think of it as a way to get in a little exercise :). I will see what kind of change we have in our kw hours next month. Another much larger change we are looking to make is getting a wind turbine. Since this is a big purchase we have a lot of research to do before we commit to a brand.
When we moved to the farm we hoped to be as self supporting as possible. Going green is more expensive than we thought. I am sure more people would go green if they could afford it.
We finally got the garden planted. With all of the flooding we had to wait until the ground was dry, luckly we have a greenhouse. Tomatoes and gourd where the only thing we planted this year, next year we will have a much bigger garder. Weather permitting lol.
A couple of weeks ago we headed out to the city to my SIL Tamra's graduation from design school. Brian's mom and stepdad came in from Los Vegas also, it has been a long time since we have all been together. We had a great time but could have done without the traffic. When we left the graduation we took the expressway to go to the resturant for lunch. It took us almost 3 hours to go 15 miles. We could have driven home in that amount of time :( I still can't believe we drove in that traffic everyday and didn't think much of it. Don't miss it at all. Sadly when we where in the city a racoon got into the pole barn where we where keeping the baby chicks and killed them all. The kids that take care of the farm while we where gone felt so bad. We told them don't worry it couldn't be helped. More baby chicks are on their way and we are working on a coonsafe zone right now.
I sold the fair booth, we are going to head up to the faire this year and have some fun :)
I also closed on my dad's house this past week,, YEAH!!! I have been dealing with this for almost a year and a half. I am very glad to be done with it. The village of Bellwood is not an easy town to deal with :(
This weekend we did some local things we had not been able to do in the past. Saw the fireworks in Shullsburg Wi, nice show. Last night we went to the rodeo and saw their fire works also. The rodeo was great and makes us want to go horseback riding.

On a sad note, my friends Skye and Dave are heading into another stage of their battle with cancer. Here is a link to Skyes blog, please send good energy to them. http://dreamsofawildflower.blogspot.com/
I hope to go and visit them next weekend. I feel so helpless.

I am off to the studio to make and clean beads.
Thank you for all of you interest in my beads, I don't have time right now to update my site.
Please go to www.vintaj.com to purchase my beads. Thanks.

Willow is doing great, she didn't like the fireworks at first but in the end she loved them.
I will try to post more pictures soon.
posted by Cathie on 12:46 PM

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