Adventures Of Life!

The wind showed up with a bang. As we speak insulation is flying off the house where we took the siding off for the movers on the house. It will probably land in the next county before somebody will be able to pick it up. We here at the ranch keep a close eye on the weather and non of us expected this today. They said this morning 20% chance of moisture which in this country means nothing! Not today, it brought pea size hail and spots of rain and GUSTY winds! We almost had everything done we had planned on getting accomplished today! Oh well always tomorrow! Hubby and I tagged a few new calves this morning then went out to gather all our mineral barrels of all sizes. We had to go to the 20,000 gal water tank, pick up the pump and set the pipes to drain the ENTIRE tank to get it ready to move. I will probably have a lake out back when it is done, fresh water for the horses not so bad. Then we went out to the Windmill pasture (speaks for itself) and picked up these huge tanks, that us...

This recipe has been in my family as far back as I can remember. If I was told right my dad's brother Jerry came up with this recipe. I found it in my moms old recipe book from the 70's when the community radio station made up a book for the ladies. They would send in their recipes by a certain deadline and they were published in this book. Anyhoo, Sauerkraut Pie is one of the easiest casseroles in the world! To start cook up a 1 lb of ground sausage (More if you have a bigger family or big eaters-I used 2 lbs tonite) then add two 8 oz cans of sauerkraut spread out on top of meat (Note make sure you have this casserole in an oven ready dish) then either use ready to make potatoes or peel/cut/boil potatoes for mashed. Make about enough for 4 servings  then spread on top of the sauerkraut. Bake in Oven at 350* for 30 mins or until heated thru. Now let me tell you a secret, I cheat a lot on cooking, such as this evening I had 4 small potatoes(I baked in Micro for 5 mins) which ...

Temps have dropped down here lately to wake up to a bit of frost on everything. Just enough to know it got cold! Brrrr.... We appreciate the sun when she shines...makes things a bit crispy. Well back to packing I go!! LaLa Psalms 78:47 He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycomore trees with frost .

Both of us ended up with a head cold. Doggonnit anyhow! Hubs caught it first and I thought maybe I was gonna have to take a trip with him to the Doc. Under much protest we waited one more day and he seems a ton better today! He is really prone to pneumonia and I was afraid it was droppin into that zone from all the hacking I was hearing everyday! Then yesterday it hit me like a ton of bricks, so today we are taking it a bit easy. My throat last night felt like a sheet of sandpaper but it is much better today. Hopefully, we are on the mend. And hope FIL don't catch it! FIL returned this morning as it would have been really late last night and our road is not nice when it's been rainin. 8 miles of mud and muck. Most people around here don't like our road on a good day! When he gets here it is always a whirlwind of excitement. He always brings lots of goodies for us and this time was no different. While he was home he had smoked a pork shoulder and guess what's for sup...

Feeling like a chatter box today. That's what blogs are for, right? I decided since it was rainy and cold that I would brew up something in the ol' crockpot. So last night before bed I dusted off the ol' crock and went to work. I have jars of dry beans in my pantry so I picked up the 15 bean jar and poured out, in the bottom of crock, about half a jar which came to about 3 cups. Then added double that in water, I don't think you can have to much water add more if you think it needs it. So in my large crock this came to about 3/4's full. Then I let them soak until this morning about 8 am. I plugged 'er in, turned 'er on high and started addin' seasoning: 2 pinches of marjoram, parsley, basil and 1 pinch of thyme. About 1 tsp of black pepper and 2 tsps of Montreal chicken seasoning. Oh and don't forget like I did, a pinch of salt. Cut up a whole onion and add, then add a package of ground sausage (1lb), mine was frozen so I shed it of it package and...

John 5:8 - Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. Moving is always a huge undertaking, I don't care who ya are. If you move out of an apartment or a huge house it is change! I go from one room to the next and am still wondering where in the world did all this stuff come from? We had stuff coming 600 miles over here but not this much....it seems we will never get all our stuff moved another 1200 miles the other direction. Then there is the clean up that goes along with moving. It is never ending! We live in a dusty prairie and it seems that every time the wind blows, which is a lot of the time, the dirt ends up inside this house to coat everything in its path. I hate dusting ask anybody you will see it in my house until I get to the point that I can't even stand it anymore! Today is a rainy day so I guess I will be cleaning up the joint like get it back to normal so I can see where we are in the packing department! On another note, Hubby took...

Pork Ribs I made these ribs yesterday and boy howdy did they taste so yummy!!! I have one word for ya "heavenly". These are not for the ones who don't like spicey in their lives! These are a perfect mix between sweet and spicy. The glaze on the outside is gooey and the ribs were juicy! Ok now for the recipe.....1/2 rack beef or pork ribs don't matter(I did both) Sweet/Spicy Rub...2 handfuls(good ones probably about a cup or cup and half) of brown sugar, 2-3 heaping tablespoons of pepper flakes, 1 tbls of black pepper, 2 tbls of paprika...mix well together rinse your ribs well then coat your ribs with rub( if you like for less mess do this in a gallon plastic bag) I don't have rib racks or pans to do them in so I used my racks in my oven( be prepared for clean up)...I covered the BOTTOM one with aluminum foil to catch drippings then took top rack and cleaned it real well. Turn oven on broil (500*) After coating the ribs with "Rub" I place...

Well we woke to a steady rain this morning. The kind that will soak into the ground slowly.....we can hope right? We are thinking this will be an all day deal. So I think we will do some more packing!! Hubby mentioned to me this morning how blessed he felt we were, in that we got the container out of here and the horses done yesterday before the rains. Aahhhhh! We will probably do a little resting today as well. See what tomorrow brings......

Well folks this week 5 trips w/two trucks to Gillette with equipment was quiet the week. Still more to go but it is starting to look a little empty around here. Butterflies in the belly is the feeling I can describe this morning. Our big container headed out yesterday for its long trip south. On the flip side, our house is a bit more empty...... And yes father in law made it safely to Missouri! On today's agenda we had the vet out here for getting health checks and brands on the horses including Curly! Sedated Curly waiting his turn for his brand Tom is making the brands for the horses! We chose to freeze brand them. I know some would say this is cruel but in our country where livestock gets stolen everyday we thought it would be best. T bar M is our personal brand here in Montana, have applied for that brand in Missouri as well. This process is so simple really and I think a lot less painful for them. Sedated first then your irons are sitting in liquid nitrog...

Yesterday realty hit with a thud!  Let me explain, we took our sheep and goats to sale. This is one of the biggest sales of the year for these parts. Farmers and ranchers alike come from all around to this sale to buy and sell sheep. Yesterday they had buyers as far away as Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, Texas, Idaho, North Dakota and Minnesota. The comments goin around was this was the highest priced sale that they had seen in this year. So we got real good prices for our livestock yesterday. For me it was a bitter sweet especially selling my goats! Today the chickens are traveling 3 hrs to go to their new home......and in a couple weeks we start sending the cattle to market. Hopefully we will get top dollar for them too! I am trying to look at this as it is not the end but a beginning. We look forward to the quiet life that is so needed and family that is so wanting.