Latest Obsession

I blame Erin Coleman - completely and totally - for my latest obsession.

She pointed me in The Pioneer Woman's direction, and before I knew it I was reading "Black Heels and Tractor Wheels" instead of watching TV. Yes, seriously. Its the tale of Ree Drummond's whirlwind romance to her husband, full of the drama you'd expect from a novel but not real life. I felt like a fly on the wall of her life, experiencing the emotional upheavals she openly presented to those who cared to read.

She posts about the ups and downs of living on an Oklahoma Cattle Ranch, including photos of the adorable cows and rugged cowboys that make a gal's heart sing. Her basset hound Charlie is simply adorable - I'm sure Sumatra would have a field day (ha ha) with him! The stories are well-written and openly describe the ups, downs, and somewhat cringe factor side of ranching. Her photos breathe life with their images of sweeping plains, ice coated grasses and the remodel projects of site buildings.

Reading her stories remind me of a childhood obsession with all things farm life. I read the Little House novels many times, even got to visit Laura Ingalls Wilder's home in the middle of Kansas. The Young Riders - remember that one? - was filled with all the horses, cowboys and prairie dust a young girl could want. How could I have forgotten that love for huge open skies, wild winds, and a life free of paved roads and emergency sirens?

Don't get me wrong - city life has the joys of cafe's (where would I be without Benetti's) and stores merely minutes away. I can't help thinking, though, that trading those things in for a house in the middle of nowhere wouldn't be such a bad thing.

Who knows - it could happen, right? I'll keep thinking and dreaming about this one.

Happy Town

I'm all about a good Gothic show, so when I saw the ads for ABC's Happy Town I was intrigued. Set in Haplin, Minnesota, the pilot episode does what a good pilot episode does: explain the basic premise of the show and introduce key characters. I was happy to see Amy Acker - I've enjoyed her work on Angel, Alias, and Dollhouse. This time around she plays the wife of the sheriff's son and mother to their young daughter.

While some of the story didn't seem very original - when a mysterious young woman moves to small town you sort of expect all the single men to be interested and that she'll prove to be a key character. There are several characters you'd expect to see in a small town - odd lady that runs a boarding house, rich couple that basically runs the town, overly friendly business people that fill in the new person (and thus the audience) on who's who and what's what.

That said, I love that the show is working to fill a niche that's difficult on network television. Killing off a character in the first five minutes is pretty rare - and they basically gave us a glimpse of The Magic Man (aka The Bad Guy) at the same time. There were a few things that happened that were somewhat unexpected and I'll be interested to see where the story goes next week. There are some fairly well recognized actors on the show - wonder how long they'll survive!?!?

Given the buzz about last year's Harper's Island (which I adored!), I wasn't surprised to see a similar style show pop up on another network - here's hoping Happy Town lasts more than one season.

Garden Update

After the rains last weekend flooded my garden patch, I was anxious to get back to it! The last few evenings have seen me hurrying home from work so I could take advantage of every daylight hour possible to dig out weeds and get things planted. One of these days I'll replace the light fixture over my back door so I can stay out even longer - but that's a project for another time.

After diligently checking the forecast over the past few days, tonight seemed like the ideal time to get my tomato and pepper plants into the soil. The temperature's been a bit low the past few nights, and my trusty Farmer's Almanac says ideally these should be planted when its no lower than 50 degrees. I love this book - its filled with so much common sense that I can't believe I haven't gotten one before this.

Anyway, back to the garden. Last weekend I picked up heirloom tomatoes, peppers, and herbs from my local Ace Hardward. I only started shopping there recently, but its quickly become my go-to home project store - and not just because its closer than Lowe's. Their dedication to customer service is awesome - the workers ask me if I need help instead of turning and walking away. Yes, that's happened to me!The plants are gorgeous and my photos don't do them justice - should have taken them after they'd been watered.

I have one more large bed to fill - likely with squash - and I plan to build 2 more small ones (3 x3) to go under the arches. To me the garden already looks lovely, and I can't wait to see how my plants do as the season progresses.

Raiding the Library

My local Mid-Continent Library branch was closed for a couple weeks to do some updating and rearranging. I didn't realize how dependent I'd grown until it was taken away - serious withdrawal from new books and old TV series on DVD.

Its a good thing I have a library in my home, huh?

I love a good fantasy series, and a few years ago I ran across George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series while browsing at Half-Price Books. I read through the first book in a couple days, thanks to warm summer weather and a backyard hammock. I picked them up again this weekend and remembered why I'd run through the series (4 novels thus far) so quickly.

The chapter titles are the name of the character on which it focuses, so as I became interested in the characters it was hard to put down the book. Jon Snow, bastard son of Eddard Stark, intrigued me. Rather than feeling sorry for himself and lack of status, he chose the path of his life and set to it with the integrity of a true-born. Arya Stark preferred learning sword-play to lady-like behavior, and the circumstances that came across the Stark household made that seem a good choice.

Daenarys is perhaps my favorite character. The last princess of the old king, she found herself married to a foreign price at the age of 13. Having a mad older brother taught her the intrigue and self-reliance - she found her footing in her new society quickly, though her pet dragons definitely help sway people.

The deeper I got into the series the more characters intrigued, Tyrion and Jaime Lannister, Bran Stark; seemingly minor characters that soon drew chapter titles of their own. Seemingly minor decisions proved to have incredible impact, and I'm finding in my re-read that many of them were introduced in the opening chapters of the first book.

Book 5 is a LOOOOOOONG time coming in the US - wish I'd remembered to pick it up when I was in Europe last fall, but I was much more obsessed with picking up the new Wheel of Time novel at that point. Ah well. I love re-reading novels since I pick up new things each time. Guess that will have to do me in this series for a bit.

Baking exploits

Somewhere along the lines I became a bit obsessed with baking my own breads. Was the discovery that kneading dough is a great way to release stress, the amazing aroma of fresh baked bread filling my home, or the taste of preservative free loveliness? Most likely a combination of all - with a heavy dose of the latter. Yes, it takes time, but I've found if I coordinate my day appropriately, it's not that hard. It's pretty easy to knock out a loaf or two after work during the week - but I especially love spending an entire Saturday baking.

That's what happened today - and I tried out a new recipe. Several years back my lovely family gifted me several Williams-Sonoma cookbooks, including one dedicated to Bread. MMM. If you follow my sister's blog, you've seen the challah I baked earlier this year for Easter. Well, the bagel recipe (a 2-pager!) has been calling to me for a while, and I finally tried it out. Don't let yeast scare you, people - try baking bread!

After you've baked a few loaves, you'll begin to see that bread recipes are basically the same. The differences come down to the amount of sugar, oil, whether milk is used in the dough, and its shape. Bagels also add a step of boiling the circles of dough prior to baking, which is what gives them their lovely texture. For a first time out, these turned out fairly well - though I must remember that waxed paper and parchment paper are NOT the same thing (fire alarms were my hint, sigh). The recipe made a dozen, which is more than enough for a single gal like me, and they taste simply amazing. I topped four with poppy seeds, four with kosher salt, and left four plain. I have some leftover mascarpone cheese, and it tastes lovely mixed with fresh strawberries and spread on a plain bagel.

What about Lost?

Ah faithful readers and fellow TV viewers. If you know me at all, you're probably wondering - why in the world isn't she writing about Lost? Its the final season, the finale is just a month away (cue tears), and questions are being answered on a weekly basis. There's much to discuss, so let's chat about it already.

The sad truth is, well, I'm in denial.

I've loved watching Jack, Kate, Sawyer (mmm), Hugo, Sayid, Desmond (double mmm), Claire, Charlie (oh dear, cue more tears), Jin and Sun evolve over the past six season. Characters that drove me absolutely crazy in the beginning have now woven themselves into my consciousness and taken up residence. I faithfully purchase the DVD sets as soon as they are available, setting aside whole days to marathon through and relive scenes, catching previously missed clues and nuances. Before each new season began I did a marathon of the previous season(s) to make sure I remembered key story lines.

It's a momentous thing to wrap up a TV-realm-changing series is a meaningful (aka non-cheesy) way. I have no doubt the lovely writers/actors/crew have done a great job - and while I have my theories about the ending, my fingers are crossed that I'll be dumbstruck once again at the final episode of the season.

Family Yard Work Day

While I love owning my own home, there are times when I find it a bit overwhelming. This is especially true in the springtime - I tend to forget how large my yard is until I begin clearing out brush and prepping my garden patches. Its difficult for me to ask for help with things, but God's blessed me with an amazingly handy brother in law who's ready and willing to help out if I ask.

So yesterday my lovely sis, her handy husband, and my adorable niece and nephew arrived with tools (and food!) in hand to help me complete a long list of projects. Rach is always telling me I need to take photos of the work I've done in the yard - photo taking isn't something I'm drawn to - and she's right. I can barely remember how horridly overgrown the 'back 40' was when I purchased my home 3.5 years ago - I do, however, remember getting poison ivy every weekend that first year.

The barn was in desperate need of a fresh coat of paint, and it looks so beautiful in its bright white! Jesse also installed guttering and a rain barrel (fantastic way to save money and water thirsty plants!). The compost bin behind the barn served to fill six 6x3 raised beds and the bases of two cattle panels. There's a second bin on the other side of the barn that's already working so I'll have material for next year. The logs stacked near the barn are from some tree trimming my brother was able to complete for me.

Here's the cattle panels - I find these fascinating. The Bowman's use them in their yard for vine vegetables, and Rach also suggested growing lettuces and greens below the arch (since they'll get a bit of shade). I'm planning to use these for green beans, peas, and cucumbers this year - should keep the pup from snacking too! The raised beds will house tomatoes, peppers, squash, onions, cabbages, and who knows what else.

I've used the overabundance of leaves from my 10+ trees to surround the raised beds - hopefully that will minimize the weeding and help retain some moisture in the soil through the heat of summer. Miss Sumatra was sorry to see them leave their former residence on the far side of the barn - she'd created a bit of an obstacle course and loved to leap over the bags - but rolling in them brings her just as much joy.

Rach kindly provided lunch, snacks and drinks - such a blessing! Miss Ella and Mr. Roone enjoyed playing with the pup, chillin' with a movie, and some book reading over the 8-hour work day. I'm so grateful for the help my family was able to provide and thrilled to be well prepared for spring planting!

International Food Tour

There are a great many good things about owning my home, and last Friday night I got to experience one of them. Every six weeks or so I invite a few ladies over for a good homecooked meal and encouraging conversation. I must confess to an ulterior motive - I love to cook and this is a fantastic opportunity to try out new recipes on willing guinea pigs!

As the lovely Tylena and I discussed menu options, I knew I wanted to make tiramisu. For those unfamiliar with this most delectable of desserts - ah, how can I best describe? It's layers of mascarpone cheese (Italian sweet cheese) custard and ladyfingers (a vanilla cookie) soaked in espresso. A little goes a long way, and its such a rich treat I have to be certain not to overindulge! I'm pleased to report that my first attempt at this lovely recipe was rated a success by those in attendance.

Tylena also requested that I make a Greek Salad. Now, I'd never heard of such a thing, so I went to my number one go-to place for recipes: foodnetwork.com. I absolutely love their site and its never failed to reveal easy to understand and flavorful recipes (Alton Brown - need I say more?). Ina Garten's recipe proved easy to assemble, and an amazing blend of flavors and colors. If you are looking for a salad that's non-lettuce based, you simply must try this one!

Ty rounded out the meal with a lovely roast chicken, mac and cheese, and rolls. Our international tour of foods set the stage for a grand evening of conversation and laughter.

I'm already planning for next time - roasted banana ice cream with peanut butter sauce, anyone?

Tough Love

I'm not really a fan of reality shows - they tend to come across highly contrived and over edited, which to me is not very entertaining. I must confess, though, that I highly enjoy VH1's Tough Love.

As I watched the premiere of Tough Love Couples last night, I think I may have figured out why I enjoy it so much. Its not about the couples - most of their stories just make me sad for the state of people and the way they interact with one another. For me, the most entertaining part of the show is when the host, professional matchmaker Steve Ward, calls these couples out on their individual responsibilities and shortcomings.

I can appreciate a straight shooter - why beat around the bush and sugar coat the truth? These couples willing signed up to get his help and advice - which makes it all the more entertaining when they get offended by his bluntness. What did you expect? It may be easy to brush off comments made by friends and family, but when a total stranger says the exact same thing, well, you sort of have to listen, right? Especially when you've put yourself under that person's authority.

Hmm. Sounds a bit like what I appreciate about my local church, Kansas City Baptist Temple.

Having seen the good, bad and ugly in leadership over the years, I sometimes struggle with the concept of an authority structure.  Being a single woman I've learned to become highly self-sufficient and its often difficult for me to ask for advice or assistance on any subject (much less matters of the heart,  but that's a story for another time). Over the past few years the Lord has allowed me to find authority figures that make it easy for me to ask their advice - and because I've already put myself under their structure that means I have to listen to the words they share with me. My pastors and their wives dispense words of wisdom with the confidence and authority of their years of experience. One word of advice: if you don't want to hear the answer, don't ask the question.

I'll take tough love over sugarcoating any day.

Monster Blood Tattoo

Every now and then those "recommended" links actually work.

I was browsing through Amazon a few weeks ago (looking at Final Fantasy games for my Wii, truth be told), when I saw a link for a book series called "Monster Blood Tattoo". Now if that title's not intriguing, I don't know what is!

My local library had the first book in the series, Foundling, ready for me to pick up within a couple days - took me about a day to read through it. D.M. Cornish created quite the extraordinary world with this series! Its a world where monsters are quite real and humans have their bodies surgically altered to better fight them. If you are lucky enough to defeat a monster, you have its image tattooed onto your body in that unfortunate creatures blood.

Rossamund, hero of these saga, is an orphan boy with a girl's name. Hints are laced throughout the story that there is more to Rossamund than he knows, and I'm certain those things will be explored in future books. He's quite the believable character, even his bumbling comes across as honest errors made by a boy who had never been exposed to the outside world.

If you like fantastical fiction, you'll find this selection an easy enjoyable read.

Legend of The Seeker

I came across Legend of The Seeker on Hulu last weekend, and immediately remembered someone mentioning it to me last year. Its now in Season 2 but it was easy for me to watch the available episodes and feel up to speed.

Based upon Terry Goodkind's The Sword of Truth series of fantasy novels, the show follows The Seeker in his search for The Stone of Tears. His traveling party consists of a Wizard, the Mother Confessor, and a Mord-Sith - each with their own class of magical power to aid The Seeker on his quest. Guided by a compass (which only works for The Seeker), they search for the Stone that will reseal the Keeper and prevent his contamination of the world.

All in all I like this series. It feeds my desire for good sci-fi/fantasy television with its blend of interesting characters and well thought out stories. Most importantly, its renewed my interest in Goodkind's series. I've picked up his books before, but when I started reading them they felt a little too much like Robert Jordan's phenomenal Wheel of Time series.

Given that some time has past since I last picked up one of Goodkind's books, looks like I can safely add this series to my summer/pool day reading list.

First Spring Project: Raised Herb Bed

Winter 2009 gave me plenty of planning time for this year's garden projects - I can't remember the last time we had this much snow!


My brother-in-law is so great about helping me with yard projects that are just too much for me to handle. Last spring he replaced the old wooden fencing in the front of my yard with lovely new panels. The wood was still in fairly good shape, so he stored in near the back of my yard for future use.

Last week I annoyed my neighbors by pounding apart the slats from the back supports. Two hours and one headache later I had a pile of board that were nail-free and ready for reuse. Each is 6 feet long, so by cutting one in half I have 2 sides for 1 raised bed. Lovely!

In just over two hours I had a bed ready to go, filled with soil and laid out for herbs. Some can be planted this early, but others will have to wait until May. So far I have garlic, basil, Italian parsley, and chives enjoying the fine spring weather. Later this month I'll add dill, rosemary, thyme and cilantro/coriander to the box. Looking forward to adding these fresh flavors to my summer meals.

None to worry, I have many a plan rolling about in my head for all the rest of the boards!

Newly on my radar

As a fan of Parenthood the movie, I was pretty excited to hear that a series was being created based upon it. Since it has the misfortune of airing Tuesday evenings - sacred for Lost  and V this season - I turned to Hulu to check it out.

Sometimes these movie to TV adaptations go very wrong, but other times they work. This is one of those rare instances. As I strolled through the first few episodes I was intrigued by the reality of the story lines and the freshness of the characters.

What I found most refreshing was that the Braverman family actually likes one another. Seems like so many families depicted these days are horribly dysfunctional and the drama is found in their misfortunes. Don't get me wrong, these families have their issues - autistic children, teen rebellion, family squabbles, and the like. I love watching them call one another throughout the day to discuss which dress to purchase, to find help with a child, or even just to chat. Instead of turning on one another in a crisis, they turn to one another for help.

Several of the episodes have included family dinners at a huge backyard table at the Braverman patriarch's home - all four adult children with their families are just hanging out and enjoying one another's company around dinner. There's so much talk about the importance of these events, but seeing them depicted on television has just not happened in recent years.

Kudos to Ron Howard et. al. for reviving good family-based drama on primetime network television. Looking forward to the next episode.

A day in the life

disclaimer: the events described in this post are subject to the author's whims and are not meant to be an exact detailing of her life. it would just be plain silly and a bit creepy if her friendly readers took her too literally. she merely seeks to alleviate the innate curiosity people have as to how she spends her time . . .

6.30 - Sumatra (my pup) wakes me up, ready to enjoy the great outdoors and eat her breakfast.
6.35 - Start the coffee brewing before morning prep begins
7.00 - Prayer, journaling, Bible reading
8.15 - Finish prepping for the day, breakfast
8.45 - Out the door to work, running an errand or two on the way
9 - Work
12.30 - Lunch at my house, do a few house-y things or run another errand or two
1 - Work
5 - Home to feed Miss Sumatra and allow her to peruse the great outdoors. Now that the weather has turned lovely, this means I join her for gardening work and other outdoor projects. Depending on the night I might have a mentorship meeting, a sports outing, or Bible study or be with some friends so I miss out on outdoor time (sad me!).
8 - Time to wind down over dinner. TV turns on the first time, mostly for background noise.
Bedtime?? - Well, this is where the variance comes into play. Some days I go to bed at 10pm, others can be past 1am. Just depends on the day and how much is on my mind.

So not really all that much TV time. Especially when you take into account webviewed television. The average 1 hour televised drama is really about 42 minutes of show - the rest is commercials. Which means in 3 hours of web (or DVD) viewing I can watch 4 episodes of the average drama instead of 3.

I'm also a huge multi-tasker, so even when the TV is on my hands are busy doing something - cooking dinner or baking, cleaning the house, crocheting or sewing, clipping coupons, reading a book even. The only show on right now that gets my full attention is LOST.

Just another day in the life of a thirty-something in Raytown, Missouri. What did you do today?