Sunday Photo - King of the Hill

Paco striking his most regal pose while playing King of the Hill on the 10-foot tall manure pile. He had just run little Mercedes, one of the miniature donkeys off the top spot!

Linking up with Madge for Weekly Top Shot, Jan for Straight Out Of the Camera Sunday and Nancy for Your Sunday Best.

Skywatch Friday #38

Local wisdom states that until the mesquite trees bud out we could still get a freeze. The temperature is going to be in the mid-to-upper 80s today with still no buds in sight.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday this week.

Riding Lesson

We took Dallas (and Candy!) over to our friend, Joe's, place for a little schooling. First, Joe made ME put the bridle on...I know, I know, but Jerry has always done it for me! (blush) THEN, Joe made me get on without a mounting block!! Oh, the indignity of it all! At least Jerry didn't get a picture of me struggling up into the saddle! LOL!!

Here, I'm getting a little "preflight" instruction.

"C'mon, Dallas, let's go!"

We're walking...we're walking...

"Whoa, Dallas...good boy!"

Joe is trying to break me of some bad habits...like holding onto the saddle horn when the horse goes faster than a walk. He's right, I don't need it! ;-) We are also trying to break Dallas of some bad habits...like being lazy. That's why I have the "bat," Joe doesn't believe in kicking a horse, just tap him gently on the rump.

Here, I'm getting some "post-flight" input. Joe said I did good, I bridled the horse myself, I got on without a mounting block, I trotted without holding onto the saddle horn and I got off on the right, or opposite side, of the horse.

Dallas is just glad school is over for the day!

Linking up with Lisa and Nancy for Rural Thursday and Deb and Heidi for Farmgirl Friday.

Black and White Truck

This old truck sits in the cow pasture where we walk in the mornings. Linking up with Heidi for Black And White Wednesday and Kent for Wordless Wednesday.

Barn Charm #78

This barn belongs to a friend of ours. It's pretty fancy for this part of the Arizona desert. It has a few decorations inside.

I like this old painting.

I really, really like all the interior doors! :)

And the weathervane.

There is a dog, Rose. She is a sweetheart!

And there is even a horse! LOL!! He is a handsome, flea-bit gray Arabian stud.

Linking up with Tricia for Barn Charm.

Sunday Photo - Violas

I love Violas! They are the flowers that modern Pansies were derived from. The blooms are much smaller, measuring about 3/4-inch, and the plants are only 2 to 3 inches tall. Yep, I laid on my stomach in the yard to take these pictures! ;-)

Violas are also called Johnny Jump Ups and Heartsease. This purple, yellow and white combination is the most common but I have also seen them in shades of orange, yellow and white.

I haven't actually planted any Violas in several years but I always have a few volunteers show up in the yard because they self seed so easily. To encourage a longer blooming season, pinch off the dead flowers.

Linking up with Madge for Weekly Top Shot, Jan for Straight Out Of the Camera Sunday, Nancy for Your Sunday Best and Lisa for Macro Monday.

Friday's Fences #26

I have a gate for today's Friday's Fences, I hope that is okay. There is a fence attached to it! :)

This is the entry gate of the property belonging to the people we bought Dallas from last week. When we went to pick him up, I just had to take the camera along to get some pictures of this cool gate! I asked the husband how he got the saddle and boots up there, he used the backhoe. Duh! I like the cow skull on the side too. Here is a close-up of the metal cut-out on top.

Linking up with Life According to Jan and Jer for Friday's Fences. Oh yeah, I have been riding Dallas for the past three days and I'm still here to tell about it! LOL!! He is a whole lot little spoiled but he is getting over it. I guess the grandkids had mostly been riding him and he had figured out that he could pretty much do what he wanted, which seems to have been as little as possible. Not anymore buck-o! ;-) He really is a nice horse and once he figures out that I am now in charge he's going to be great!

Thankful Thursday, #7 "Hey, those are MY eggs!"

I have one hen who is very vocal when I try to get eggs out from underneath her...she literally starts screeching at me as soon as I open the door to the hen house! LOL!! She is so funny, she gets all puffed up too! I usually laugh at her and pet her and then leave her alone and gather her eggs later.

This is Dolores, my only chicken with a name. She is 7 years old this year and she still lays eggs! She has given us 3 nice eggs in the past 10 days. She laid 8 or so eggs last spring which really surprised me! :) Hers is the green one in the basket below.

The 10 girls gave us 10 eggs yesterday, I think that was a new record for us! I am very thankful today and every day for my lovely chickens and all the yummy eggs they give us!!

Linking up with Nancy at A Rural Journal and Lisa at Two Bears Farm for Rural Thursday.

Chocolate Guinness Cake

This recipe was posted on Simply Recipes last week for St. Patrick's day. I love all the recipes Elise posts and have gotten many that are keepers. I made the cake Sunday to have as dessert for our dinner of corned beef with oven roasted potatoes, carrots, onions and cabbage. My favorite corned beef recipe also calls for Guinness so I figured it would be a good time to try the cake. We were celebrating Jerry's mom's birthday a day early so the cake doubled as a birthday cake. :)

What a wonderful chocolate cake recipe! It's not overly sweet, you do taste a bit of the Guinness but it's not overwhelming and the cake is very rich, moist and easy to make. The recipe calls for baking in an 8-inch or 9-inch springform pan and I recommend using the 9-inch pan as there is a lot of batter, which makes for a very impressive looking, tall cake. It also calls for superfine sugar (which I don't have) but I used regular granulated sugar and it worked just fine. The original recipe also calls for a cream cheese frosting and it is very good and a great complement to the intense chocolate flavor but I may try a chocolate buttercream frosting next time just for fun! You can find the recipe here: Chocolate Guinness Cake. I am so impressed with the flavor of this lovely cake and how easy it is to make that it is now going to be my go-to recipe for chocolate cake and cupcakes, St. Paddy's Day or not! ;-)

Linking up to The Country Homemaker Hop with Heidi at My Simple Country Living and Mira at Crisp PhotoWorks for Weekly Photo Stew and Food Photography.

Tuesday's Tails, #14

You all remember Jerry's horse, Paco. Well, even though we got the mini donkeys, Esmeralda and Mercedes, to keep him company, Jerry still felt we needed another horse for companionship for Paco.

Meet Dallas!! He is actually MY horse! :) "Hey boys, come here so I can take your pictures for my blog!"

We got Dallas this past Saturday morning, just before the nasty, windy, cold, rainy/snowy weather started on Saturday afternoon. Monday afternoon was the first time they were both out of their pens at the same time and they got along really well! Lots of running around and bucking but nothing serious! :)

"Good boy Paco!"

"Good boy Dallas!" I haven't ridden in over a year and I'm excited to get back in the saddle! I'm shooting for Thursday when the weather settles a bit more. I'm going to do some round pen work with him today and tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll be able to give ya'll an update Thursday or Friday! LOL!!

Garden Update

The little tomato plants are growing nicely in my south-facing window...

...so are the peppers and eggplant.

The snow peas are growing well in the garden, they are finally big enough that I don't have to keep them covered to prevent the birds from eating them! :) The turnips, rutabagas, spinach, lettuce and onions are all doing well too...they are still covered but it was too cold this morning to uncover them for pictures! LOL!!

I need to get some more radishes planted this week, I have harvested almost all of the current crop. Speaking of radishes, what do you all DO with all the radishes you grow?!? There are only so many salads we can eat!
I tried a new recipe for braised radishes last week and it was really, really good! :) Just halve or quarter your radishes depending on their size and then cook them in a saucepan with a little chicken stock, butter and salt and pepper until tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Cooking them takes away most of that radishy bite. I will definitely be making this again, I ate the leftovers for breakfast the next morning!! LOL!! I also tried a radish sandwich for the first time the other day, thinly sliced radishes on a nice crusty bread with lots of butter and salt. YUM!!

Linking up with The Country Garden Showcase and Macro Monday. 

Sunday Photo - Iris

I can't believe the irises are getting ready to bloom! I took this picture earlier in the week after watering, I like the sun and shadow and water droplets. By next Sunday, I should have blooms to share! :)

Linking up with Jan at Murrieta 365 for Straight Out Of the Camera Sunday, Nancy at A Rural Journal for Your Sunday Best and Madge at The View From Right Here for Weekly Top Shot.

Gated Entry

I really like the look of this old gate and the fact that it is wired to the post on the hinge side and tied shut with baling twine. With the weed growing up through it, I don't think it gets opened very often! ;-)

Check out Friday's Fences at Life According To Jan and Jer for more great fences and gates!

Irish Soda Bread

Just in time for St. Patrick's day, here is a recipe for the best Irish Soda Bread you will ever eat!! This recipe is from the Feb-Mar 2010 issue of MaryJanesFarm magazine. I think it's so good because of the addition of the whole-wheat and oat flours. I made my oat flour by taking old-fashioned rolled oats and processing them in my mini food processor until fine. I did make one change from the original recipe, it called for 2 cups of buttermilk but that was waaay too much and I only use 1 1/2 cups. Maybe they measure their dry ingredients differently than I do! ;-)

Irish Soda Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour               **Click here to print this recipe**
1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup oat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Combine flours, salt and baking soda in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the buttermilk all at once. Mix with a wooden spoon until dough is too stiff to stir. (Do not overmix.) Dust dough with additional flour and form into a round loaf. Resist the temptation to knead. (It is kind of wet so make sure to flour your hands well.) Place dough in a greased cast-iron skillet or on a baking sheet. Using a serrated knife, cut a cross into the top of the dough, about 1-inch deep. Brush top with beaten egg. Bake until the bread is golden brown and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped, about 35 to 40 minutes. Cover loosely with foil after 25 to 30 minutes to prevent overbrowning. Remove from oven and cool for 5 to 10 minutes on a wire rack. Serve warm with butter.

I'm linking up with Lisa at Two Bears Farm and Nancy at A Rural Journal for Rural Thursday, Mira at Crisp PhotoWorks for Weekly Photo Stew and Food Photography and Deb at Deborah Jean's Dandelion House for Farmgirl Friday.

Yard Art

Arizona yard art as seen in Tombstone! :)

Linking up with Kent Weakley for Wordless Wednesday and  Me As A Mother for Black and White Wednesday.

Barn Charm #76

"Wow! This is a cool looking old barn...kind of different..."

"I wonder what it was used for? Let's go look around inside."

"Well...it's certainly seen better days! What is that stuff over against the wall?"

"Hey! This was a milking barn! I had heard there used to be a dairy around here!"

"There's even a good lookin' cowboy to show me how the stanchions work! Isn't he sweet to drive me all over half the county looking for photo ops?!?" ;-)

Linking up with Tricia at Bluff Area Daily for Barn Charm.

Popcorn - My New Favorite Brand

I love popcorn, it is one of my favorite snacks, and my new favorite "brand" of popcorn comes from Teresa at Eden Hills!! :) Teresa lives in Iowa and grows this yummy popcorn on her farm. Her mom helps her husk, clean and bag it for sale. You can read a fun post she did about it last fall here.

Just look at all this lovely, freshly popped popcorn...mmmm, can't you just smell it?!? Now for some really good news, you too can buy Teresa's popcorn and enjoy it at your house! It's always good to know where your food comes from but how often can you find homegrown popcorn! Teresa has an online store where she sells the popcorn (very reasonably) along with handmade soaps, lip balms, cards, calendars and other goodies! You can find her store here. And if you have never visited Teresa's blog, I highly recommend stopping by to see her goats (and kids!), peacocks, ducks and all the other critters that call Eden Hills home!

These were all the kernels that didn't pop when I made up a batch of Teresa's popcorn over the weekend, pretty good, huh?!?

Disclaimer: I receive nothing for doing this endorsement other than the pleasure of telling my blogging friends about Teresa's wonderful popcorn! :) Linking up with Lisa's Chaos for Macro Monday.