Fall in the Ozarks

It has been a beautiful fall weekend! Today was especially warm and sunny. I spent most of today outside soaking up the sun while it lasts.

David came home on Thursday and we spent the next few days doing nothing but eating - or so it seemed. :) His new job is certainly an adventure! Last week he traveled to Massachusetts and back. This week he is off to Canada! He is team-driving, so the truck does not shut off from the time they leave Missouri until they get back. It's been a new experience, but I think he's adjusting. I am too. I'd rather have him here of course, but I am finding lots of things to do while he's gone.

Today I piddled in the yard all day - pulling up impatiens, planting pansies, fixing up a new wreath for the shed. Exciting stuff, I know! But I stayed so busy that I didn't leave time for a nap. I figure there will be plenty of yucky winter days to nap.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Good TV Night

Amos Sports His Fall Do

I Think I'll Stick to Canned

Last week, Pioneer Woman showed us how to make our own pumpkin puree. Pop on over there now and look at how easy it looks. Between now and January, I will go through a lot of cans of Libby Pumpkin. How wonderful it would be to make my own! How very Martha Stewart of me. Pumpkin pies made with pumpkin that I personally pureed? Why I'd get the wife of the year award! I stayed home sick today, but when my headache began to lift, I was a woman possessed. Carpets vacuumed, laundry done, oil changed (I don't mean that I did it - I took the car to the dealership for them to do it), groceries purchased. What was left to do? I picked out two beautiful perfect pie pumpkins. I brought them home and fired up the laptop to follow Pioneer Woman's step-by-step instructions. If you haven't clicked on the link at the beginning of this post, go now. I'll wait. My first clue that this might be a little more than I bargained for was my near inability to cut the top off. Even with David's favorite sharp knife. I finally got the top off and got them cut in half. I still have all my fingers, but I'm not quite sure how. I scraped out the seeds and pulp and cleaned their little insides. After finished pumpkin #1, I admired pumpkin #2 and contemplated just sitting it somewhere to look festive. But no, Pioneer Woman had two pumpkins in her pictures. Onward and upward!
Here are the little darlings after 45 minutes in the oven. I expected a heavenly pumpkiny smell, but I can't say I smelled much. Still a little stuffy maybe. The peeling came off pretty easily, but they just didn't feel soft enough to mash. I don't have a food processor, but Pioneer Woman said that a blender would work. So, I put a few pieces of pumpkin in and hit the puree button. Lots of noise, but not much pureeing. I added a little water, but it still wasn't quite what I expected. So, I tried the potato masher. That did more smashing than mashing.
Back to the blender. This is a bad picture, but a good illustration of what happens when you put your spatula in before the blades on the blender have actually stopped. Oops!
Once every possible surface in the kitchen was covered with pumpkin or pumpkin paraphernalia, I finally declared the Pumpkin Debacle finished. I should have given up and dumped the whole mess in the trash, but I was on a mission. Here's a finished bag of puree. I had planned to use some to make a loaf of pumpkin bread, but I've already dirtied every dish and bowl. Pumpkin bread will have to wait.

I have decided that I will contribute to the economy by ensuring Libby's continued success in the canned pumpkin industry. I would hate to single-handedly put them out of business by pureeing all my own pumpkin. Just wouldn't be right.

Miss Him

Good Company

Fall

Another Beautiful Weekend in the Ozarks

Saturday, I went to a baby shower for my friend and former neighbor, Tim. It was possibly the most entertaining baby shower I've been too. It's not every shower where the new father models as many gifts as possible. Saturday afternoon, Christina and I went to Apple Butter Makin' Days in Mount Vernon. I didn't think to take a picture, but the nominee for worst craft of the year was something called a "Butt Pot." It's a porch post on a wood base with a bucket screwed to the top. I think it's for your cigarette butts. The best part was that you could choose from many different themes. Nascar Butt Pot? Of course! John Deere Butt Pot? Why, we've got one right here! How much would one expect to pay for a Butt Pot? $25 was the going rate. Amazing! :) Sunday, we took the freshly washed and fluffed Tuley to Art in the Park. We met another sheepdog, who was about half of Tuley's size.

We tried to figure out what kind of tree this is. I think maybe it is a Cypress, which is what our Clyde is aspiring to be in the backyard. I hope we're right, because they were really neat trees.

Today, David started his new job! And today I got a new cousin! Mom and I went to see baby Ryan at the hospital. He is just perfectly adorable and has a LOT of hair.

That's the news from Lake Wobegon!

Built Like A Brick %#$@house

Early on in this blog I mentioned that one of my only duties in the wedding planning was “Hauling” of anything that needed to be hauled. The title of Hauler has lingered past the wedding and now seems to be a permanent gig. If you have been keeping up with Wedded Bliss Road you will know that we recently tore-out our front stoop because there were three loose bricks. The replacement bricks had to get from Acme Brick to our house… this sounds like it is job custom made for me and my mighty sidekick the Discovery. You’ll note in the picture below that the rear end of Discovery seems to be ridding low.

And here’s why….




Peace-Out My Brick-A-Brack Brethren

Is That a Vanilla Woofer in Your Hand?

May I have it now? Please? Huh? Please?

Bath Interrupted

Vacation!

I've been off work for the past 2 days to take a bit of an at-home vacation. David starts his new job on Monday (yippee!), so it worked out perfectly to spend a couple of extra days with him. We went to Silver Dollar City yesterday. It was really empty, which was nice for us. I rode a couple of rides that I wouldn't wait in line for, but were fun when they were empty. David is not a ride-person, so he took a couple pictures of his nerdy wife all alone on the rides. :)

While on my mini-vacation, we also picked out bricks for the new steps. New steps might be coming next week. Another yippee!

What Do Class Reunions and Donkeys Have In Common?

Friday night we attended David's high school's homecoming game. It was nice, but his school doesn't play football anymore. It's just hard to get a "homecoming" feeling from a soccer game. :)Saturday night was his 20 year reunion, held at the Springfield Brewing Company. That was lots of fun. One-third of his graduating class was able to come, along with spouses and significant others.
I thought I'd heard all of the stories, but there were a few that were new. :) It was nice to meet more of his high school friends, even if he did forget my last name for a second. Um, it's the same as yours? :) Sunday morning we went to Farm Fest at the fairgrounds. I'm not sure why we keep going since our yard is small and our livestock is limited to two cats and one dog, but we always like to wander around and look. The show is huge, covering the same amount of space as the fair. I'm not sure what the men in this picture are discussing while sitting outside the antique tractor barn, but I couldn't resist taking their picture.
There were lots of animals, including these miniature donkeys. I think we should get one - it's smaller than Tuley!
If we ever win the lottery (which is unlikely considering that we buy about one ticket a year), this will be my first purchase. I love these backyard greenhouses.