SpruceHill

Obsessive Compulsive

 

My Sadie is a bit obsessive compulsive. She is a border collie and she feels that is her job to make sure the yard is watched over at all times.

 

She takes her job very seriously. Most of the time she is on patrol outside, or sitting on the front porch just waiting for a bunny to show it face.

 

She will stand or sit at the back door just watching and waiting. The only time she will turn away from the window is if her hero comes into the room. That would be Super Daddy. He is her hero because he drives this.

 

When he drives it she herds it just like if it were a lamb. The problem is that she is afraid of sheep and horses. But she is really good at herding the gator.

   

She has one other obsession that is much much worse. Can you guess what it might be?

Sunday Ride

 

Sunday HES and I were off for our regular barn visit. She snapped this picture as I turned from our lane.

 

Then as I drove slowly down the lane to SSF I stopped and took this shot. HES complained and asked me why I have to take so many pictures all the time. "Because it's fun" I said. She rolled her eyes. I think she does not understand my need to blog......You can see how the corn is turning color.

 

Tempest is going on loan today to someone who is interested in buying her. HES spent some time with her just in case she does not return. She had a good ride and lots of hugs and kisses. She is a bit sad but is very excited at the possibility of a new and larger horse. Tempest is 14.1 hh and is getting a bit small for HES. Or I guess I should say HES is getting a bit big for her.

 

On the way home I stopped twice to take pictures. I just love this view. It is just on the other side of our propery line. I love looking over the valley.

 

It was such a beautiful day for a ride. Cross your fingers and hope they like Tempest!

Think before you pink!

   

Pinkwasher: (pink’-wah-sher) noun. A company that purports to care about breast cancer by promoting a pink ribbon campaign, but manufactures products that are linked to the disease.

I was just looking around on the net for pink ribbon products. My idea was a simple one, so I thought. I make jewelery and I wanted to make something to give to all my team members who are joining me for the Susan G. Komen race for the cure. Easier said than done!

At this time of the year we are all bombarded with pink ribbons. They are everywhere you look. The market, Target, craft stores everywhere! It is over whelming at times, and sometimes it is empowering. At least for me anyways. I feel like the pink ribbon is a chance for me to raise awareness for people everyday. Someone might walk by me and say to themselves, "Wow she is so young and she has breast cancer, maybe I should go get a mammogram!". These days we have to be careful about purchasing pink ribbon items. On the site Think Before You pink they explain a lot of all of this pink ribbon stuff. In short, there are a lot of companies out there jumping on the pink bandwagon. Especially at this time of the year. Some of these companies do not even contribute the money they receive from these items to breast cancer causes. Others do but refuse to make their products cancer safe. It is a very complicated thing and it is best explained in my link.

On the site is a parade of pink products. With each product listed is an explanation of how much the company really donates to breast cancer research. Plain and simple and easy to understand.

If you do buy pink products in the next month or so, think before you pink. There are some really good products out there don't be shy. It is ok to wear and buy your pink ribbon products. Just do it the right way!

Cross posted on Mothers With Cancer

It's Getting Chilly, Time For Comfort Food!

Last night it was really chilly here in Maryland. Wet and rainy. I really had a craving for some comfort food. I had planned to do a meat loaf and wanted mashed potatoes but did not have any. So I had a great idea. Corn pudding! Yum. My SIL (Sister-In-Law) MSD gave me this great recipe. It is supper easy and I always have the ingredients. So here we go, are you ready for my first cooking post?

   

Here are your ingredients- One egg, one stick of butter, one box of corn muffin mix, one cup of sour cream, one can of cream corn, and one can of whole sweet corn. The beauty of this recipe is that all the ingredients come in ones and it is super easy to remember.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and Melt the butter while you are mixing the ingredients together. First mix the egg and the creamed and canned corn together. DO NOT drain your corn! Use the whole thing, just pour it all in. Then add the box of muffin mix. Mix it well. Then add the melted butter and the cup of sour cream and keep mixing.

   

That's it you are finished! Pretty easy huh? Here in this picture Little E stirring away. She put all the ingredients in by herself(except for the egg much to her disappointment).  

Pour the batter into a well greased 8x12 casserole dish and cook at 350 for one hour.

 

Ahhh It looks so good. I do have to say this is in no way a low fat good for you dish. If you need to I guess you could lighten it up a bit with fat free sour cream, but life is short and it tastes better with the good stuff!.

Dinner was yummy and the corn pudding went really well with the meat loaf. It is rich and creamy and sweet. I also make this and serve it with Mexican food. If you add some green chilies into the batter it spices it up a bit. I also love it leftover for breakfast heated up with a little maple syrup on top.

I hope you all enjoy the recipe. It has been fun doing my first cooking post!

Car Company

 

On Wednesdays we have a riding lessons marathon. I pick the kids up from school at 3:00 and 3:30 and we race home and change our clothes, and we are off again. It is usually a mad dash for the car. We never seem to make it in good time. There is always something we can not find or forgot to get into the car. When we do finally get "organized" we are off driving the two miles to the barn for lessons. Little E goes first at 4:30. She rides for an hour. Then at 6:00 it is HES's turn. She also rides for an hour. There is a lot of time to kill while watching the kids ride. Sometimes I have company while I watch. I usually sit in the car if it is not too hot. I can pull it right up and just sit there in my seat and see the whole ring. This picture is of Derby. He lives at the farm where we take lessons. Last week while I watched the girls he snoozeed in my car for about an hour.

   

When he comes to my car he always checks out the floor first. He is always guaranteed some kind of morsel he can find on the floor of the car. I have to admit that my car is in no way clean or clutter free. I have a very obnoxiously large Chevy Suburban. It is full of stuff. Riding boots, saddles, sweatshirts,water bottles, snacks, schoolbooks the list goes on and on.

Even though it is a marathon and we don't get home until 7:30 and have too eat fast to get the rest of the homework finished before bedtime. The girls always have fun, get exercise and lots of fresh air.