house projects

Here is our finished fence w/ gate. Half of the fencing came from our old trade show booth and I had to purchase the other half of it. The gate/door came from the curb down the street as someone was trashing it. So this entire fence and gate cost us less than $100 (lumber, gate hardware, screws and paint. We will in time add a few more blue berry bushes in front of the fence to give us 8 bushes on site.



Our new whole house fan is in great compliments to Todd Garrison for providing the fan. I have kept it for years trying to figure out the best way to use it in my shop. Then the other night when the temps were cool, it hit me. Use the fan to make a whole house fan which we have desired for years when fall and spring roll around. So this is pre-install so that you can see how it is built. The 'honey baked ham' styrofoam lid opens and closes automatically when the fan is turned on and off. This is to keep the attic air out of the house when the fan is not in use.





And finally - our amazing okra crop this year. We are still getting 12-24 pods every few days. Each pod has about 6 inches of usable okra between tip and stem. To give you an idea of how tall this stuff is, the flower that I have circled is at 6'. WOW

vera - 3 months

good for you brownies

I found this recipe awhile ago - just tried it again, made a few changes and it turned out great!! These are not sweet, dessert type brownies, more like chocolate flavored bars - at least sounds healthier to call them that!!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup dry milk powder
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 - 1 cup walnuts or other
nuts

Directions:
Heat oven to 350. Grease 9 x 13 baking dish or pan.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla till light and fluffy. Blend in cocoa and milk.

Stir together flour, milk powder, wheat germ, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to butter mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in nuts, then spread batter evenly into pan.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until bars begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely, then cut into bars.

muffin tin tuesday

we had a very fun lunch today - cousin david was over to enjoy our first ever "muffin tin tuesday" lunch. here is what they had: sandwiches, popcorn, applesauce, raisins, cheerios, drink, cheese, carrots, ranch dip! what fun they had!

fun with bobby

life with bobby brings lots of fun - and some great humor with his laid back style and attitude. recent example - as we are getting ready for bed one night:
anna: (from the bathroom) aaaaaahhhhhh!!!
bobby: (from the bed) what is it?
anna: there was a bug in my hair!
bobby: did you get it?
anna: hum, I don't know, not sure where it went.... (walks out of bathroom)
bobby: well, shut the door, stay in there and find the bug.

ah, yes - doesn't get better than that!

everything takes two

around here i have a little shadow that does everything with me - vacuuming, washing dishes, feeding vera, changing diapers, cooking etc...... it is great fun to see halsie learn new things and understand so much about what all we do to live life.

This weekend

Here are a few pics from this weekend. We spent Saturday at the lake with Anna's parents. We swam tons and had fun on the boat. Here are two pics from the lake:Halsie and I enjoying the ride after my turn on the ski biscuit.

Moments later - she is out!

This is our back yard now that the grass is established.

This is the front yard with Halsie - the fig tree just above the mail box is really taking off - exciting.

The best thing we have growing is okra - we love it.

You can see our asparagus at the top left of the pic and below it are the strawberries. The strawberries are putting out runners like you wouldn't believe. The tomatoes below them are just there.


The left flat is clippings of azaleas that I am rooting for the pine straw slope in the back yard. The right tub is clippings of pomegranate that I am trying to root. Time will tell on both.