January is almost over

January is finally making its way out and February will be here tomorrow.  Groundhog day is day after tomorrow.  I think I will stay home from work so I can find that silly groundhog and hold an umbrella above his head so he doesn't see his shadow.  Spring can't come soon enough for me!
This has actually been a good week.  Phil went for his doctors follow up on Monday.  I am happy and thankful to report the tumor was non cancerous.  He will be going back to work tomorrow.
I have been ducksitting for our neighbors while they are on vacation.  Every evening after work I stop at their house to water and feed their ducks.  Even better, I am able to collect the one egg that is laid daily and keep it.  My other job is to feed the wild birds.  Both jobs are fun to me.  Caelum came out yesterday to spend the night, so he collected the egg yesterday and today.  He thought it was pretty darn cool!
We still have some butternut squash left from our garden last year.  Unfortunantly they are starting to spoil so I am looking for new and different ways to use them up.  I stumbled across a recipie for squash "cookies".  I am up for a new adventure ...... these cookies are made from squash, a little honey some spices and pumpkin seeds.  You put them in the dehydrator for about 10 hours to "cook" them.  They are suprisingly good.  Certainly not like a cookie, I don't know what to call them but a very good flavor indeed. 
I have been trying to find a healthier alternative to the granola bars I buy for our lunches and snacks.  In the same website I found the squash cookies I found a recipie for granola bars.  The old odd thing in the recipie was buckwheat ... that sealed the deal I had to try it.  I didn't realize buckwheat would be as difficult to find as it was.  I found it at a nice new Hy-vee with a great health food section.  I had no idea how to cook it, or how it would cook up.   If the recipie calls for 2 cups of cooked buckwheat, only use about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of raw buckwheat.  I have tons of cooked buckwheat left over and I have no idea how to use it except to make more granola bars.  They have lots of fruit, honey from our bees, oatmeal etc and are quite yummmmmmy.  I think I just might make more.  A great advantage of making my own, not so much waste with all the wrapping. 
Caelum's mom is here to pick him up this is it for January.   Happy February to us all.

January stories

Oh my,  January in the midwest can be nasty!  We have had snow on the ground for WEEKS.  The driveway is a thick sheet of ice.  My bees are buried in a snowdrift and I haven't been to the barn since early December.  I have had bronchitus for over 2 weeks and  I am on my second round of antibiotics and other meds.  Phil finally had his surgery last Thursday.  Poor guy has been stuck at home for the last week and hasn't even been able to go outside because it is so cold and slick.  He will be at home for the rest of this week and have his follow up  appointment on Monday to see when he can go back to work.  This morning when I left for work the dirt road we live on was very slick and I ended up sliding sideways toward the highway and nose first into a snow drift.  Fortunantly it was ultra slow motion and nothing was hurt.
I am hoping we are about to start the "January thaw" this weekend.   The forcast says we are going to be in the 40's and get lots of rain.  I will be SO happy to be able to get to the compost bin, and dig the bees out of the snow! 
Phil has been working very hard to help me get through winter and found a calendar to count down to the first day of spring.  Thanks for working so hard sweetie.  I can't wait to get back outside and start planting again!!

Just another day in paradise

It is 2 weeks into the new year, and I am ready for the "new" to begin.  We have been covered in snow for about 6 weeks.  I have had to miss work on several ocassions because of the snow.  We haven't been back to the barn in weeks ...... I hope the doors are still closed!  I look out my bedroom window and the snow is up to the window sills.  Phil's room is just as bad.  I can't see the bee hives but I am pretty sure they are under a snow drift, even though we build a wall of hay bales to block the wind and the drifts.  UGH, when will this stop?
I think it is even worse for me this weekend because I have bronchitus again.  I am weezing and coughing .. and can't really go outside unless I want to start a new fit of coughing.  I am on medications and hopefully it will be better tomorrow (it is a little better today).
Phil's surgery was cancelled on Thursday and is re-scheduled for this Thursday.  I will be glad when that is over and he is not so stressed out and grumpy!!  February is going to be the start to our new year I think!!!