Aquarium Babies

Scout spent part of yesterday afternoon setting up his aquarium to allow his Corydoris' to have babies - they actually lay eggs and attach them to the sides of the glass - we've seen them before - but the other fish eat them - sad - I know...

He took some of the netting that I use to make dishy-scrubby-thingies and wound it around - guess what...

...right...a metal knitting needle - how ingenious is that...

...then stuck one end into the gravel on the bottom and taped the top to the outside of the aquarium so that the hood would go back on...

...Now the Cory's have a separate section of the aquarium to do their thing...and Scout is quite the resourceful little inventor - it makes this Mama happy...

A Gaggle of Geese

How many geese constitute a 'gaggle'?...

...we had six in our yard this morning...

Beet and Sweet Potato Soup

As I'm still trying to use up some of the produce we saved from last years garden - I got some beets and beet greens out of the freezer and went looking for a recipe...

I found this luscious soup at Fatfree Vegan and Susan posted my picture for the recipe...

Birdsong

Scout bought this little pitcher/whistle at a Frula concert a couple of years ago... It often sits in the kitchen window for weeks at a time - then today it was sunny and warm and we saw some birds outside - so Scout got it down and filled it with water and played with the birds...

It also makes a neat little vase for some tiny hyacinths that are peeking up now...

Mowing

It's that time of year again when Scout 'gets to' mow. I'm so happy he's still excited about mowing 'cause it really is super helpful - it turned out sunny yesterday afternoon - still chilly and windy - but a nice day to start the mowing season...

...you can see the trees are budding and the grass is almost entirely green...

The Hot Water Heater Saga

You know how they've been replacing all of the appliances in the parsonage...

...well - our Hot Water Heater sprung a leak...

...and as it was the weekend we couldn't get a plumber out to replace it - so we had to turn off the valve at the top and the breaker and only turn it on intermittently to take a shower or do the dishes - the laundry just had to wait...

Here we are mid-installation...

...and the finished Water Heater - of course it's much more energy efficient than the previous model - and we shouldn't run out of hot water again...

Pop' ems

I've posted about these little gems before

It's the ETL recipe for Date Nut Pop'ems - available here - they are so quick and easy to make - like cookies with no baking - Scout loves them - you can just pop a few in your mouth when you're hungry - so they don't last long and they're full of good things for you - try 'em...

Summer Salad - Early

They had the best looking tomatoes and cucumbers at the grocery store - so I thought I'd make a little summer salad - a little early - it's super easy:

Summer Salad

1 vine ripened (so the label says) tomato - diced
1/2 English Cucumber - diced
2 T. oil - I used Canola - but use whatever you like
2 T. Red Wine Vinegar
1/4 t. chopped garlic
Sprinkle of Mrs. Dash

That's it - super simple and Oh So Good...

Tween Birthday Boy Gift

I must admit that the 'tween' boy is hard to buy for - gone are the days of Thomas the Tank Engine - Nerf - and probably soon - Legos...

One of Scout's best friends has a birthday this weekend - and books are always a good gift...

This is one of Scout's favorite books - Hatchet by Gary Paulson - it's a pretty good adventure story and I can see why 'tween' boys would like it - it's about a boy whose parents have recently divorced and he is on his way to visit his father when the pilot of the small plane dies of a heart attack - the plane crashes into a lake in the Canadian northwoods and Brian has to survive there with only the hatchet that his mother gave him as a gift before he left...

...highly recommended by Scout - this gift includes a hatchet and a belt carrier - we hope he likes it...

Scout Wins Again - 2nd Place Essay

Scout won 2nd place in another essay contest - this one titled - What Agriculture Does for Me and sponsored by the local Farm Bureau...

This one was kinda fun - because Scout and his Papa were joking around throwing out ideas for the essay - and it went something like this - it's because of Agriculture that we have bad movies...

If you read the essay you can sort of see where that came from...

The Last Day

Scout is so excited that today is the last day of school...

We made some little gifties for all of his teachers - these boxes go to his 'core' teachers and...

...these candy bars go to his 'elective' teachers - reading/band/art/computers/music/gym...

It was fun and a nice way to say thank you...

Did you Know??? You can MAKE YOUR OWN SHOES

I found this old pattern...

I don't think it's available any more - I googled it and found a couple of old listings on Ebay - but nothing current. It has sizes from toddler to adult - it's fairly well written and simple for an intermediate level sewer...

I chose the Mary Janes and I used only stuff that I already had - leftover pleather from Scout's chaps and the bottom parts of his cutoff trousers for the lining and the inner sole - and the green foam is from a box of fruit we got for Christmas - thanks K&D...

I should mention that a set of needle-nosed pliers are a great tool for turning a thin strap inside out...

The outer sole is an old vinyl placemat that we had under the sink...

The finished shoes - Oh yes - I'll definitely wear them...

...from the top...

right side...

...left side...
...email me if you want the pattern information...

Broccoli Salad

This is a quick and easy salad that I make (it uses some of my roasted sunflower seeds):

Broccoli Florets from one bunch of broccoli
1/2 cup Dried Cranberries
1/2 cup vegenaise - I make my own using Bryanna's recipe
1/4 cup turbinado sugar
1/4 cup frozen (or fresh if you have them) raspberries
1/2 cup sunflower seeds

Method:

Break off the Broccoli Florets and place them in a large bowl. Sprinkle with dried cranberries. Mix the vegenaise, sugar and raspberries in a small bowl and pour over the broccoli - toss well to coat. Then right before serving sprinkle with 1/2 cup of roasted sunflower seeds.

I make this all the time for potlucks - it all gets eaten and no one even knows it's vegan...

Pretty Envelopes

Sweet Elissa at On my way home... had a little Bible verse finding contest on her blog - I used to love the find the verse games we used to play in Sunday School - I sometimes do that with our LYO too - and even the teenagers like doing it...

Elissa makes these gorgeous envelopes - I hope you can see some of the detail - they are all too pretty to use...

...but I'll definitely use them - so when you get a card or letter in one of these - you'll feel really special...

Thanks Elissa - I love them.

Hobo Camp

We survived Hobo Camp - at the Spring Camporee - Our first Boy Scout Campout - and I have to give it to the Boy Scouts - they certainly know how to camp...

This was Scout's Hobo costume - we packed it to take for the Hobo contest on Saturday...

We got to the site about 6 PM and set up our tents - we didn't take ours as the Boy Scouts have a trailer already loaded with all the tents and cooking utensils etc - remember - they know how to camp...

It was really cold - about 28 degrees - and windy - about 40 mph - so setting up tents was really not a lot of fun - the Scout Hobos were supposed to have Tin Can Stoves made for cooking their breakfast on Saturday - so we got started on that right after we got the tents set up - we melted some leftover altar candles for the parafin...

...and coiled cardboard into the little cans - and poured parafin over them - this makes the fuel source...

Then we took a large coffee can and made vents around the top with a church key can opener and a slot on the bottom to slide the fuel source in...

...after our work was done - we sat around the campfire in the wind and roasted some marshmallows - I took some vegan ones that I got in GF at the health food store - YUM - smores...

Here we are about to cook on our Tin Can Stoves - reveille was at 7 AM...

Washing up was a chilly-hand-chapping event after every meal...

After breakfast - it was time to get started on our Hobo shelters - they had to be made entirely of cardboard - our Scouts made a Hobo Hotel - by joining several large boxes together...

They built a lobby as well and put a room number on each room - they had to sleep in them Saturday night...

We took a break from hotel building to make tin foil packet lunches - they were so yummy - a chunked up veggie burger some peppers carrots onions and potatoes - really good...

After we cleaned up again - we made 'Biscuits on a Stick' - We just mixed some self rising flour with some margarine and milk (soy milk) - patted and rolled the dough into a snake and wound it around the end of a stick...

Then we held the stick over the fire until the biscuit was nice and brown and done on the inside - some of these boys had never had a good Southern biscuit in their lives - and we all thought they were delicious - they said they were going to 'teach' their Moms how to make biscuits - I hope they do...

Then we set out on a hike around the lake - so much fun - these boys are super...

...of course they gravitate to any dangerous point...

After our hike was Campfire - we did a skit called 'How a Hobo tells time' - it's actually the same skit that we did at the Blue and Gold a couple of years ago - of course I blogged about it...

After dark - the Scouts settled into their 'Hotel' for another chilly windy night (we had staked the cardboard to the ground so it wouldn't blow away - and the Scouts all said that the cardboard boxes were much warmer than their tents had been the night before...

It was a great weekend and I'd definitely do it all again....

A Raw Breakfast

We spent the weekend at the Spring Camporee - our first Boy Scout Campout...

It's kind of difficult to be vegan at Scout events - but I'm an experienced 'camper' and can pack my goodies quite easily. This was my Sunday morning breakfast - not this picture of course - this was taken at home - it's super easy to throw together - Just a handful of Raw organic oats - a few pecans - a splash of soymilk and a dash of maple syrup - so good...

Karen - doesn't it remind you of eating handfuls of raw oats in the barn....

PS - I'll post pictures of the Camporee tomorrow...

They've mended the road...

Remember when they cut the road - well - they finally came and fixed it...

...looks purty don't it...

Of course Scout had to check it out...

...and test the water...

and we're happy to report that they did install culverts so maybe this won't happen again next year...