Laughing The Day Away

My friend Bertie and I headed out this morning to eat breakfast and then go thrift store shopping.  It was a day filled with laughs and giggles!

This is Bertie, I thought I'd share a different picture than yesterday's.  (I wish I had thought to get a picture of us together.)

We enjoyed a delicious down home breakfast at The Coffee Shop in Sylva, a cozy place that has been in this very spot since 1926!  The stories these walls could tell!  We talked and laughed and shared little secrets...

...and then we were off.  Bertie enjoys cruising through town in a relatively organized pattern to stop in at her favorite thrift stores, chat with other shoppers while meandering through them, and find bargains and little treasures along the way.  I'd been to places I didn't know existed today!  She explained to me that she enjoys joking with the folks she happens upon while shopping, many whom she sees each time she goes thrift shopping, that it lightens the spirit and makes people laugh.  She later confided that "some people are so sour they look like they been weaned on a dill pickle"...  I laughed all day.  And we both found a few bargains, here are mine...

...a glass baking dish ($4)...

...a peace/love fleece throw ($2)...

...and a small table top ironing board ($2)...this was my favorite utilitarian find, because I had to pull out a towel any time I needed to iron something!

At one point, Bertie asked me if I was always this frugal.  I told her I usually didn't buy something unless: 1.) I had a specific purpose for it and 2.) I had a place to put it.  She laughed and said when she doesn't have a place for something she has purchased she brings it to a thrift store!    

As the day progressed, I wrote down some Bertie'isms...I wish I could put them all in context for you, but I don't recall them all...  
"it's not worth the powder and lead it would take to shoot your head off"
"he's windy'er'n a sack full...you know what kind of sack full I'm talkin' about"
"she's gonna let me out bless her little pea pickin' heart" (after a young woman let us turn onto the street in front of her
"your welcome as a hair on a biscuit" (after my saying thank you...I said 'Bertie, who wants a hair on a biscuit?' and she said 'that's just what I say!')
"he'll be as happy as if he had good sense"
...the woman has a quick wit and a sense of humor that kept me laughing all through the day!

I knew we were close to our last stop when Bertie found an pair of shoes and immediately switched them for the one's she was wearing...her feet were bothering her and we still needed to stop at the grocery.  My last bargain, and this one is a treasure as far as I'm concerned, was this silk scarf ($3) in perfect condition, I can't wait to wear it...

It was a wonderful day for me.  Thank you, Bertie, for making it a barrel laughs, and for being my friend!  You know you always have a friend in me!

I came across this quote that made me think of Bertie and our day together...I hope it makes you laugh too.

Sometimes I laugh so hard the tears run down my leg!

~Author Unknown

While I don't hope you have this exact experience, I do hope that you have a friend who makes you laugh so deep it makes your sides hurt and your eyes water...tears running down the leg, well, we'll keep that our little secret!

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise

Today 'Round Our Holler

I woke up this morning knowing a visit to my friend & neighbor Bertie was in order...I hadn't seen her (or her husband Ron) for far too long.  Mountain Man was heading into town, so my time was free to do as I pleased...I couldn't think of a better way to spend my leisure time than to visit with my friends.  So I headed up the road.

I gently shouted "hellooooo, anyone home?" as walked up the driveway and approached their back door.  I could hear the washing machine churning inside, so I let myself into the entryway and knocked on the inside door...Ron opened it smiling and gave me a big hello hug.  It'd been so long since I had seen Bertie, she wanted to know if I was mad at her..."of course not" I said, and admitted I had no excuse for not having come sooner.

This is my favorite picture of them, a good depiction of their warm personalities and sense of humor (I've shown you this before).

It is always great to visit with them, such good people...besides catching up on the latest news, I was able to help get Bertie's computer back on line, which had gotten shut down by our recent power outage and was no longer cooperating with her.  While waiting for it to accept codes, update, reboot, etc, we were chatting.  And laughing.  And chatting and laughing some more.  At one point, we were talking about how Bertie's hip was feeling, which is bothering her, and she said "aw, it's old age".  Followed seriously with, "I got a visit from Arthur"...I'm thinking who's Arthur...and she repeats again "Arthur.  Arthur Itis.  He's the worst of the Itis' brothers!".  Cracked me up.  She is full of these "Bertie'isms"...I have got to start writing these things down!  

When I finally got her computer up and running, she wanted to know how she could thank me.  I told her our time together was enough and that I enjoyed helping because we were friends.  Then she said, "let's you and me go into town, and goof off" (I wish I could remember her exact word to describe this, but it completely escapes me), and then "let's go to breakfast".  "It's a date", I smiled.  I will bring a pad!  Can't wait to tell you about our adventures!

On my way home, I saw a couple friends up the hill and shouted "howdy".  One shouted back, "Ed here come up to see the trees John(y) wants to cut, where is he?".  "Gone to Franklin", I replied, "but I can show Ed the trees".  We met at the garden, and I showed Ed the huge trees that need to come down to make way for the sun for our spring garden.  While we chatted, he asked "so where'd you say John(y) was?  Loafin'?"  "Yes'sir, in Franklin...loafin'" I replied.  He chuckled and said "These trees will be no problem, we'll just drop them this way", pointing.  This project will be a real learning experience!

Later, when I went to get the mail, I heard the grumble of a logging truck.  Today was the first time I actually saw one pass by, though they have been thundering down our mountain road for many months now...makes me wonder if there will be any forest trees left!  I know, here we are cutting trees for our garden and I am complaining about loggers...I just hope they don't take more than is environmentally correct. 

Speaking of rumbling, last night, at 9:30ish, I heard a rumbling sound outside (sounded like in the woods or up the mountain), then felt a vibration as I was sitting on the couch.  I asked Johny about it, and he heard the same thing though he didn't feel anything...we did have minor earthquake in this area back in June 2012...I didn't find any reports of last nights activity, but it sure makes me wonder what the heck it was!

Last but not least, I'm excited to share the results of my first blog poll!  When you are baking/cooking, what do you do with the preparatory dishes?  69% of you said you clean up as you go and the other 31% said you wait until you are done and then clean up.  I always thought I was slightly unusual (well, I still do, but that's a different story) about cleaning as I went, now I know I am in very good company!  Thanks for playing along!

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise

From Felling to Firewood

Last week I shared that we began the process of felling some trees in preparation for our spring garden.  Today, we decided to harvest all that wood.  What I mean by that is we needed to cut all the branches off the trunks, and chop both branches and trunks into smaller pieces so we could transport them back to the cabin to cut into firewood.  Our wood burning stove has been blazing nonstop for the past week and we've used lots of wood...I keep wondering how much wood we would use throughout a full winter if the weather was "normal" rather than unseasonably warm like it's been this year!   It was a good, productive afternoon, with quite a few interesting diversions as we worked. 

Being that it is Sunday, I did take a few moments to sit quietly and give thanks for all my blessings...some would say Sunday is a day of rest, but for me, being in nature and working with my hands keeps my soul whole. 

As I walked to the garden (Johny rode Big Bear) I was this captivated by this sheet of ice over a puddle in the road; I looked at it for quite some time, wondering how those interesting curves and ripples were created... 

Back to the task at hand, here are the piles of branches and logs, ready to be piled into the small trailer Big Bear was pulling.  There is another pile of logs on the other side of the garden, behind the pile of branches in the far right corner of the picture.

While Johny waited for me to get to the garden, he discovered what appears to be a fox's den at the edge of the woods near the NE corner of the garden.  

I moved my camera a little deeper into the hole for this picture...

 ...and a little deeper for this one.  It does appear nothing has been in this den for a while (the leaves at the entrance have not been disturbed for a while, but we thought it was pretty neat.  We are going to put our Critter Cam on this spot to see what we can see.

This is our first load of logs and thicker branches...all will make good firewood.

As I walked back to the cabin to unload the trailer, I came across a log with this pretty fungi growing on it.  I liked how the sun was hitting the cluster.

Second load of logs (these were heavy so we didn't want to overload the trailer)...

At one point I looked over and saw Pogo eating something on the ground (he will eat anything, and I mean ANYthing), so I walked over to see what he was munching on.  I was surprised to find him chomping on this bone!  It looks like a tibia (leg bone)...I sure am curious what kind of animal this was attached to at some point!  If anyone has some idea, please do leave a comment.

Third and last load of logs.  We will be coming back for the branches another day, which will be used to make mulch.

Last distraction, I noticed these leaves growing at the end of our ramp.  They are from some bulbs I planted a year or two ago after the flowers finished blooming (I think they are daffodil's, but I'm not sure about that).  I can't wait to see them bloom, though it sure does seem early for them to be sprouting!

The next step for the wood we collected today will be to chop it into burnable pieces...Mountain Man will be doing this in the next few days.  Maybe I'll chop a piece or two, but he enjoys that task!

A final friendly reminder for those who haven't seen it yet, if you haven't taken my 1 question poll yet, check it out!  You will find it on the top right side of this blog post.  If you have a different answer than those that are available, you can leave it in a comment.  The poll will close today at 11:59PM.

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise

Easy Stir Fry with Peanut Sauce

To begin, I must confess this recipe ended up being a bit of an experiment...I forgot 1 major ingredient that changed things up a bit, though the end result was still delicious!  Read on to learn what my oversight was... 

With that said, I don't know why I don't make stir fry more often...it is easy, nutritious, can be made with a variety of ingredients to keep it from getting boring and repetitive (protein/veggies/sauce), and it tastes so good!

Easy Stir Fry with Peanut Sauce

Ingredients:
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (you can use any protein you want here, shrimp, tofu, peanuts, or none, though I wouldn't recommend beef with the peanut sauce)
4 stalks of bok choy, sliced diagonally
1/2 onion, sliced thin
1/2 red pepper, sliced thin
2 large portabella mushrooms, sliced thin
1 carrot, shredded
1 can bamboo shoots
(you can use any vegetables you want, there are a multitude of combinations, just use the general rule of using different colored veggies)
Peanut oil
3 tbsp chopped garlic
1 pkg of rice noodles (you can use jasmine rice, but the rice noodles give the stir fry an interesting texture)
For the sauce:
1/4 cup soy sauce
3/4 - 1 cup peanut butter (I used crunchy to get the peanut bits in there)
1 finely chopped dried chili (I take the seeds out, leave them in if you want the meal extra hot)
And the forgotten item...1/3 cup chicken stock

This bottle of peanut sauce saved the day for me.  I was originally determined that I would make this entire meal from scratch, including the sauce.  You can buy this in your local grocery store or here at Amazon.com.

If you have a wok, please do use it.  My wok is at the river house, so I used my 14" trusty cast iron skillet and it worked like a charm!

Begin by warming a pot of water so you will have it ready to cook the rice noodles.

Put the skillet on medium high heat, coat the bottom with a little bit of peanut oil, then add 1/2 the garlic.  When the garlic begins to brown, toss in the chicken, cooking until it begins to brown. You don't want to overcook it because it will go back into the pan for a bit.

Remove the chicken from the pan and set it aside (yes, this is the same bowl the raw chicken was in, but I washed it well with soap and hot water; NEVER mix any food in a container that had raw chicken).

Wipe any chicken remains out of the pan, pour a little peanut oil on the bottom, add the rest of the garlic, and toss in the onion and bok choy, stirring frequently (whatever veggies you use, you want to begin by cooking those that will take the longest).

Then add the red pepper, followed by the bamboo shoots and mushrooms, again, stirring frequently.

Add the shredded carrots,

and then a splash of soy sauce. 

Remove the veggies from the pan, but don't wipe it out this time.

Get your pot of water boiling. 

Put the rest of the soy sauce, the peanut butter and the chili into the pan and whisk.  It will become rather thick.  This is the point you would add the chicken stock, but I totally forgot about it!

Put the cooked chicken and the veggies back into the pan with the sauce and stir to coat.  As I looked at the mixture, I wondered why it was so thick (but look at all those yummy peanut bits!).   

Put the rice noodles into the boiling water for 3 minutes; remove and drain.

Fortunately, I had that bottle of peanut sauce and decided to add a few dashes into the stir fry, which added the needed moisture (looks like I intended it to look now!).  If you used the chicken stock as indicated, you won't need to add this bottled sauce; just let the stir fry stay in the pan on low while the noodles finish cooking.  I considered using a little of the rice water to thin out the sauce, but since I had already put the chicken and veggies into it, I was afraid the water wouldn't incorporate well. 

To serve, put the rice noodles on the plate, top with the stir fry, and enjoy!  All of a sudden, while I was enjoying the thick peanuty goodness, it dawned on me...I forgot the chicken stock!  I chuckled to myself, no wonder the sauce was so thick!  But all's well that ends well, right?


A friendly reminder for those who haven't seen it yet, if you haven't taken my 1 question poll yet, check it out!  You will find it on the top right side of this blog post.  If you have a different answer than those that are available, you can leave it in a comment.  The poll will close tomorrow at 11:59PM.

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow, 
Lise

Here are a couple items I thought you might be interested in...
                                           

Must Have's for Today...A Bumbershoot & A Balaclava

As you may know by now, I have been yearning for some snow...a good winter blast that covers the landscape with white and leaves me little choice but to go and play in it.  Though snow continues to circumvent our little mountain holler, sleet and freezing rain have been showering down all day, with the temperature remaining below freezing except for a brief period this afternoon when it hovered just above that 32 degree mark (Fahrenheit).

The result has been lovely little icicles hanging everywhere...

...branches dripping with soon to be frozen rain drops...

...and the deck chairs sporting frozen strands of water that accumulated throughout the day...looks like chair jewelry!

The ramp is covered with an invisible sheet of ice that caused Pogo to slip and slide on his way out to do his business.

All this leads to a day of staying indoors, keeping the wood burning stove glowing with coals, watching the birds come to the feeders, a little bit of cleaning, and reading & writing.  

What does any of this have to do with a balaclava and bumbershoot?  I enjoy spending time each day reading other bloggers posts; this morning, one of the blogs I visited was Powell River Books, Margy writes about her and her husband enjoying time off the grid in coastal British Columbia, a blog I always enjoy reading, (click on the link to read more), and I discovered the ABC Wednesday blog link on her blog.  

Consequently, I began a search for words that begin with B!  And with this wet, winter day, a balaclava (a knit hat for the head and heck) and a bumbershoot (umbrella) are 2 must have's for venturing out of doors.  I had to wrap my neck and face with my scarf to make a true balaclava out of my knit hat, but it worked!

I must confess, it was so icy that I did not venture out where I needed a bumbershoot, I didn't want to fall on my derriere or worse yet break an appendage, so I stuck to the porch, wore my balaclava, and watched the birds feed!  This is a true balaclava...


A friendly reminder for those who haven't seen it yet, if you haven't taken my 1 question poll yet, check it out!  You will find it on the top right side of this blog post.  If you have a different answer than those that are available, you can leave it in a comment.

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f', see you tomorrow,

Lise