Imagine What You Could Do . . .

Greetings Fellow Earthlings:

Imagine what you could do, if you knew you would not fail.

Ponder that for a moment.

Imagine what You could do, If you Knew you would Not fail.



If you Believe that you will fail, you won't be disappointed because you most certainly will.

If you Believe you will succeed in your quest and are willing to do what you need to do to accomplish it, you will.  You don't know what you are capable of until you give it your all.  It may not happen as quickly as you desire, but with perseverance, it eventually will.

We all have the potential to do great things, to be someone's hero, to create a good life, to fulfill a dream.  Fear, then excuses and doubt, are often what keeps us in a place we don't want to be.  This and the choices we make on a daily basis. 

We knew from a young age to get to our desired goal, sacrifices would have to be made along the way.  For us these weren't actually "sacrifices" as we had a goal in sight and were quite willing to forgo immediate gratification for the bigger picture.   Our goal and dream was to live in the country and become self reliant. 

We always told our kids that you don't become a Rocket Scientist by taking Underwater Basket Weaving.  You don't become a Ballerina by studying Taxidermy.  And you don't become Self Reliant by ordering Take Out. 

Whether your dream is to travel, become an expert in your field of interest, grow your own food or become a fashion designer, your lifestyle and frame of thought needs to reflect your goals.  Find a way to make it happen.  It's one thing to dream about something. It's an entirely another thing to Do something about it.

Just Imagine what you could accomplish, if you knew you would not fail.

Around the Yard:

Being a Cat around here is hard work, evidenced by our Smoky, aka "Twitchy", as I caught her napping in the Lilacs.  Ah, to have the life of a cat!  Hee Hee!  But, to be fair, I have witnessed her "go to work".  She along with her sister, Bandit, do a fine job of keeping our place virtually rodent free.  The Twitchy moniker was given, as she will twitch her tail when she's ready to pounce on her prey.  No mole hill, no mouse, no gopher is safe with our girl on duty!  That is, unless she is enjoying a battery recharging, sunbathing, power nap in the lilacs!

Smoky taking a nap.  Do you Mind?

When we received these two girls, 10 years ago, they were mere kittens and more than half feral.  We didn't want them to become pets - we needed them to do a job.  So we left them be, for the most part, while still keeping them fed, watered and sheltered.  They have free access to the garage and yard, but we do lock them in at night as we do have coyotes very close by. 

We laugh how these two "free" cats cost us a small fortune by the time we had them vet checked, spayed, chipped, de-wormed and given their shots.  Over time, they have warmed up to us and us to them.  They have been a wonderful source of entertainment and amusement for two old people and will continue to be so for many years to come I am sure.  They both chatter at us and each has her favorite human to snuggle up to.  It is challenging sometimes to be out in the garden when one or the other suddenly appears and demands a good body massage.  Apparently you really only need one hand to weed.  The other hand is very much free to pet a cat!

Chick Update:

The Baby Chicks have been moved from their first brooder area into their growing pen.  Papa noticed that several of the chicks would Jump Up to See him whenever he went into the brooder area to check on them, refresh their water and add more feed.  It became very apparent that the 18" high wall surrounding them wouldn't keep them contained for much longer.  Moving day came a lot quicker than we had anticipated.

They have lots of space in their new digs. When they get the rest of their Big Bird Feathers, they will be given free access to their private outside yard to run in the grass, eat bugs, scratch in the dirt and do what happy chickens need to do. 

Baby Chicks in their new home.

CAF Snowbird Sighting:

We found out the that the CAF Snowbirds would be flying in our area on the 16th.  It looked, at first glance of their scheduled flight path, that they would go right over our house!  We had our morning tea out in the back pasture, hoping for a fly over, but alas, their path had changed and they were several miles to the east of us.  We were happy to see what we did see, although it looked more like a flock of geese with a vapour plume!  

We were extremely saddened to hear of the crash and the loss of one of the pilots the next morning.  Such a wonderful act of hope and love marked with such tragedy. 

Morning tea waiting for the CAF Snowbirds to fly over.

Greenhouse:

The greenhouse is doing beautifully!  I love to go out there and breath in all the amazing smells.  It is great for your spirits.  Papa has planted much of the garden and has moved out much of the veggie starts from the greenhouse.  By the time the weekend is over, we'll only have Tomatoes, Long English Cucumbers and Sweet Bell Peppers left in here. 

Overview of the greenhouse.

We started these petunias from seed collected last fall.
I didn't expect them to grow, much less bloom as they are a hybrid.
Double Bonus for sure!  I'll collect seeds from these -
assuming they put off any and try again next year.

In the Studio:

I have been out in the studio whenever the mosquitoes decide that I'm going to be a tasty treat or if it's raining out.  This particular project goes to a newly "incubating baby chick", who should be joining his/her family around the end of this month.  I had made a wedding quilt for the parents, and saved back some of the original fabric for baby quilts.  One has already been made for the soon to be big brother when he first "hatched".  Not knowing the gender of the new arrival, I went neutral for the background color, while still using some of the original fabric.  And just an fyi:  should they add a few more baby chicks to their brood at a later date, I'll be able to continue to make a few more baby quilts from the same original wedding quilt fabric. 

Will post a picture of the finished quilt after it has been delivered to its recipient. 

Quilt Under Construction for Baby Under Construction.

In the Kitchen:

My Sourdough starter had gotten rather lack-lustre recently. It was very wet with a lot of hooch on the top.  I did some research and discovered that it was "hungry" and that I hadn't been using it enough.  The suggested solution to my problem, was to retain only a small amount - I saved about 1/4 cup - and to feed it either rye or whole wheat flour and half the water it would normally receive.  I stirred in the hooch (I could have poured it off as well - either was acceptable) and scraped it into a new, clean jar.  

To the 1/4 cup of starter, I added 1/4 cup of Whole Wheat flour and a few tablespoons of water. I stirred this all together and scraped down the sides of the jar.  I then loosely placed a lid (or you could use a towel) over top.  I then set it aside on the counter, after marking the starting point of the starter with a rubber band.  I was so happy to see some growth that very afternoon.  Before bed, I added another 1/4 cup of the W/W flour and a couple more tablespoons of water to the mixture and stirred well.  Imagine my delight to wake up to a fully ripe and happy starter!  I was so excited that I was able to save it.

Rejuvenated starter doubled over night! 

Apparently the Whole Wheat or Rye Flour is best for feeding your starter.  I had been using Unbleached All Purpose.  It was fine for quite a while, but mine spends a lot of time in the fridge (I bake multiple loaves whenever I do use it) so it is better to use a more "nutritious" flour. 

Look at all that bubbly goodness!

The information I found suggested that although completely safe to store your starter in the fridge, it still needs to be fed occasionally in its resting state - I did not know this!  So now I check on it once a week to see how it's doing.  If I see a bit of hooch on top, that means it is hungry and could use a small feed, even if I am just going to put it right back into the fridge.  Because of this, it is also better to have it a bit drier than my first set of instructions expressed.  It doesn't need nearly the water most people give their starters.  Apparently the equal amount of water and flour, is to quickly create bulk.  Since mine isn't used very often, it is better to have it a bit drier, only adding more water when I want a larger amount to bake with.  This way I am only keeping a small amount of starter on hand and making what I will be needing to use a day or two before I need it.  There is so much to learn about this wonderful craft and so many opinions and methods that may or may not work for your particular circumstances.  Who knew!

Hot Sourdough Bread, fresh from the oven!
Look at that Ear!

Since rejuvenating my Sourdough starter, I have also started to bake my bread in a Cast Iron Dutch Oven.  It gives a very different product from the more conventional pan baked method.  This one is the result of a very long bulk rise and a 45 minute Dutch Oven bake.  I am very happy with the results.

World Affairs:

We are doing our best to not let the current state of the world's affairs completely take over our lives and our heads.  In fact, since we've stopped listening to the news about it - it changes moment by moment and there are far too many agendas, opinions and updates to try to keep up with anyways.  We can't tell fact from fiction any more. We have decided that we could let it consume us or we could get on with our lives.  Fear has an incredible way to get a hold of you to the point where it cripples, causes self doubt and makes you question everything around you.  We don't want to live that way. 

Although we aren't reckless by any stretch of the imagination, we are really getting tired with the constant and never ending "changes" of protocol.   We have always washed our hands and faces upon coming home from town.  We don't touch public surfaces intentionally, my purse never sits on the floor, I don't touch public door knobs with my bare hands, and we don't do crowds and so on.  Lids have always been washed, cans wiped down and no child or grandchild of mine will ever drink directly out of a soda can - before or after any of this.  Veggies and fruit were/are always washed before they are peeled or cut into.  Counters have always been wiped down after the groceries were put away and my reusable bags hit the washing machine immediately after being emptied, to be done in the next load.  We have town shoes and farm shoes - mostly because no one wants to go to town with chicken or steer goo on their feet!  We go to town once or less per week and try to do everything in one trip.  Since we rarely, if ever, eat out, that too isn't a risk factor for us - you don't know what that restaurant standards are or if a staff member is sick - I have worked in the restaurant industry and I have seen things.  And if one of us is sick - which is extremely rare - we keep our butts at home!  How did all these things we have always done, suddenly become the "new" rule.  Weren't these things "always the rule" of public health and safety?  They always have been in our home. 

We only really notice the how crazy the world has become is when we do have to go out in it, on the rare occasions that we do.  It is so sad that things have had to come to this.  It's like living in a science fiction movie - and a bad one at that!

I found this the other day and it speaks volumes:

Words to think about

It really is a lovely perspective on things.

As we take another trip around the sun, consider and Imagine what You could accomplish, If you knew you would not fail.

Until next time, Stay Safe.

Warm Regards,

Gremlynn