Here I go Again by Jen Lancaster

Do you want to read a book that will keep you laughing right out loud?


How about a book that will keep you up at night because you don't want to put it down?


How about a book that that pokes fun of homecoming queens, hair bands and the awful early nineties music scene?

If ANY of those are interesting to you then you need to pick up a copy of Jen Lancaster's new book, Here I Go Again. Hilarious, spot on high school sequences that will leave you cringing at the reality yet laughing at it too. I keep snorting out loud while reading this book, at one point making the dog leap up barking. I've been a Jen Lancaster fan for a while now and I have to say I enjoyed her first books about her life but I think I enjoy her forays into fiction even better. She writes with snark, spitefulness and spot on sarcasm that will leave you cringing and giggling at the same time.

Have you read any Jen Lancaster? Have you read Here I go Again? I highly recommend it! You definitely should if you want to read about the rise and fall of a horrible homecoming queen who has it all. And then doesn't or does she? Read it and find out.

This book was given to me to review, I was compensated for it. It's part of the BlogHer Book Club but the review and the OPINION are all mine. Do you want to join the conversation, it's going to be a whole lot of fun.



Peace and Love--



 

on the trail of a teakettle

I recently visited NonEssentials in my little home town of Palmer Alaska to grab an interview with the owner Denise for my radio show Local Eats on Radio Free Palmer. I mean to say though that I shop there often and I love it, it's a great store! While I was there Denise made me homemade handmade egg rolls, friends they were the BEST I have ever eaten and I do not say that lightly. I recorded an awesome interview with her, I can assure you it was fantastic. I was witty, she was delightful, it was perfect. And when I went to upload it to station it was gone. GONE from my recording device. There was crying, gnashing of teeth but none of that was going to bring back my interview. So I made a batch of homemade sriracha, extra mild, as a "forgive me" present and took myself back in there. It was the LAST thing I wanted to do, I did not want to face up to being a failure.

Denise was gracious, she was kind, she liked the Sriracha I brought her to make for losing the interview and she gave me another interview which was AGAIN wonderful but alas no egg rolls. Ahhh well. My interview with her was about WHAT the New Year was bringing to NonEssentials. MORE FOOD was the basic answer, more food, more local goodies and the like. Moving away from SOME of the gift lines and making way for food. I like that! She was stocking her teas the day I was in there, wow HUGE selection, it's going to top out at about 150 different teas.

After the interview was I drooling over the Flame Le Creuset lovely lovely lovely. And the best sausage you can find in Palmer

good sausage bad photo

 and an AMAZING cheese selection from a Wisconsin cooperative.

And the Le Creuset.

And the Le Creuset.

I have a small addiction to it, I cook with it everyday so it's NOT a pretty thing to buy and never use, it is very useful. And I love it. LOVE is actually a better way of putting that.

 LOVE.

I was particularly taken with a nice big tea kettle, I don't have one but considering I make french press coffee EVERY DAY it is silly not to have one. So I decided to buy one but I didn't because it's a big purchase and I needed to think about it. I went back and bought tea the next day because friends were coming for dinner and I looked at it again. And I thought and thought and finally decided I needed it and I wanted it, so today I was going to buy it.

I even wrote a facebook post that said I was going to buy it. When I went to purchase it, I felt light headed from the shock of buying something brand new! I carried it to the counter and got out my check book. The cashier looked at the pot and looked at me and said "put your money away". I was flabbergasted WHAT WAS SHE TELLING ME?? I couldn't have the tea kettle? But no she was pulling out a gift bag and telling me "you can have this one instead". WHAT?? Turns out my husband read my post and slipped out to buy me the tea kettle I had hemmed and hawed over for so long. I was completely taken aback and absolutely DELIGHTED. I love my husband, what a great guy!

LOVE

Peace and Love--




  

Just Another Meatless Monday Smokehouse Almonds

The advent of a Paleo diet for me is making the Meatless Monday post harder and harder to achieve. I love the idea of going meatless and so I will try to keep my resolve and be meatless one day a week. I will incorporate more eggs and nuts on that day to make it happen. Of course I will still be posting great vegetarian dishes here too but they will mostly likely be vegan. So nuts, eggs and vegan are where I'm going with meatless Mondays but I still want to see what everyone else is making.

Paleo isn't for everyone and I thought I'd be the last person to ever have success on such a crazy eating plan. But the difference in my life after 3 short weeks of no grains, no gluten, no dairy, no sugar is so tremendous that I can't help but continue with it where ever it takes me. Uhm that is as long as it's healthy and I still feel great.

I have been toasting up my own sunflower seeds on the stove for a week or so and I am loving having a crunchy snack again. Yeah CRUNCHY. Yesterday I roasted almonds on the stove top and wow oh wow they were great. I had to try making smokehouse almonds because I love them and I'm pretty sure the store bought ones are full of crap you should not eat. YUM. I used a bit  of smoked salt and a then drop of smoke flavor really to boost the smokiness of the almonds. They turned out so good I ended up having smokehouse almonds for lunch along with a couple carrots and a nice glass of water. It was really fun to play around with this recipe and it was tasty too.

You will need a stove top popper like this

 to make roasted nuts quickly and cheaply. You will also need a paper bag for tossing the nuts in.




Smokehouse Almonds

1 cup of almonds
1/2 teaspoon of oil--whatever you're using
1 teaspoon smoked salt-optional
1 drop of smoke flavoring

preheat the stove top popper over medium heat
when hot add the oil and the nuts
stir to combine and let rest
stir every 30 seconds or so
meanwhile grind the smoked salt with a mortar and pestle or between two spoons
when the almonds are good and toasty about 3-5 minutes
remove from the heat and place in paper bag
sprinkle the smoked salt on the nuts and add the drop of smoke flavor if using
close the bag and shake to coat the nuts
pour on a plate to cool

• Do not eat while hot your tongue will sizzle, literally sizzle and it hurts and burns. This will impair your ability to enjoy this snack/lunch deliciousness. 
• if your popper is well seasoned you could get away with using LESS or NO oil
• if you don't have smoked salt try adding an extra drop of smoke flavor and use regular salt instead of smoked

What vegetarian delights have you been enjoying? Link 'em up, share the button, leave a comment!




Peace and Love--


 

The Penny Worthy Project

How are you spending your pennies?

My week has been so, so good. Incredibly good and I am just pleased as punch. I have not scored any major thrift store scores or sold some awesome thing. I have worked diligently all week on various projects and I started cross country skiing again. I have collapsed in to bed each night and slept so soundly I can scarcely believe it's morning when the alarm goes off. I need to keep this kind of stuff up, I want to sleep so well every night.


I have been working really hard to cull the crud I no longer need. We have a room at the top of our house tucked up under the eaves, we call it the cubby hole, and believe it or not it still has boxes of stuff from when I was a little girl. Every day I have a set certain amount of boxes  I NEED to go through that day. It's not just going through, it's sorting, donating, trashing and recycling. Everything has to be in it's place before I go pick up my kids from school so I can be here and present. That gives me several hours to get it done. I like having a goal, meeting it and making headway. Just getting rid of the mental clutter of that stuff is an amazing feeling.


And the skiing. Wow. Amazing to be actually using my body and feeling the ache of rediscovered muscles. And still no chocolate, 18 days and counting.

 I have been making these super cheap Paleo snacks though, roasted sunflower seeds. The recipe is super easy and buying the seeds raw can save you big bucks.

My thrifting was totally limited this week. I bought 4 shirts for my sons. 2 for the 9 year old.

2 for the 7 year old.

I also bought a pair of boots for myself and I am waiting for them to be delivered. I have winter hiking boots but they are not warm enough and they are ugly so I bought myself a pair of these bad boys

source

YEAH ME! Now I can ditch those heavy uncomfortable sorrels that take 10 minutes to put on. I finally realized that IF I am going to live in ice and snow I should definitely be comfortable and have good boots.

Hope you all had awesome weeks too! Now who wants to link up? Last week we had some pretty great links. Lynda found an amazing salad spinner, no really click the link it is WOW! Mary Beth brought a recipe for making trout caviar, a great way to use more of the fish. Margaret brought thrift shopping for clothes into focus for us and Jamie linked up a great post about cutting food costs. Bring it on people, WOW ME.





Peace and Love--


 

Moving Beyond Want to Find Peace--week 2 Paleo check in

This week served up a bit of a challenge to my safe little Paleo 'verse. Of course I was totally the cause of the challenge and I knew it would definitely be trouble. We hosted a kids party and watched all three original Stat Wars movies with about 10 boys. We ate (therein lies the trouble), watched movies and played the day away. I struggled mightily with food the whole day.

I was in charge of food *sigh* which is what I do and I do it well. I planned all kinds of cool cookies, a Death Star cake, Yoda Soda and the like. All fine and dandy except I was completely FINE with eating a big wallop of frosting any time I wanted. Homemade cream cheese frosting, so the ingredients were fine it was the whole product I didn't need to be eating. Likewise with buttered popcorn, ahem. My mouth got this weird sugary sour taste and then I felt ill. My first sugar and corn in10 days so of course it would make me want to barf. Did it stop me from snitching bits? Um, no it did not.

Did it waylay the entire lose weight get healthy track I'm on? Um, no it did not. In fact it steeled my resolve, I came out of it wanting to try harder and do better and make better choices. And that's what I've spent the week doing. Digging deeper and finding me, a fighting me. I went cross country skiing with my kids two days in a row. I feel muscles I forgot were there and I love it. I feel so alive.

And today I got a party redo. I put on a lunch for our school staff. Ok when I say that it means I set it up, arranged volunteers to make food and put the food out. I did not make all of it, I simply undertook the task of organizing it. I volunteered to do it and was kind of dreading it because I knew there would be things I did not want to put in my mouth. LIES I wanted to put it all in my mouth. I think you know what I mean, it was all going to be tempting. And it was.

I was alone with chocolate, I haven't had chocolate for 17 days, I could have eaten all that I wanted and I didn't touch one. I knew it was the path to total abandon, eat one piece and it's over. You ever been there? I needed to move beyond the easy path and today I did. I worked with foods I could have inhaled, quiches (brunch theme) blueberry french toast casserole, cheesy sausage potato goodness and chocolates. All of it I passed over. I did eat two small pieces of egg and spinach casserole. It was good, then I ate an apple and sat and crocheted.

I had 3 people tell me how much better I look. One said you are looking good. One said "there is something different about you, you seem less foggy, more here" and one, I love this, she said "you are glowing, your skin looks great" That was the seal for me right there, I needed to hear those words and bask in them. Totally what I needed in the moment. In fact when I think of those kind words I still smile.


Tough week, good week, strong week, yes to all three.

Want to check out how my MONTH on Paleo has been, here you go!





Peace and Love--



 

Crunchy Paleo Snack Food-Home Roasted Sunflower Seeds

You know what I miss while trying out this Paleo lifestyle? Not bread. Not mashed potatoes. Not chips. Not crackers. Not cheese.

I miss the CRUNCH. I like carrots and crunchy stuff like that but I MISS THE CRUNCHY SNACKS. And I'm NOT eating them but I still want to crunch things. I bought nuts to snack on but they are, meh, sort of crunchy and sort of not what I'm looking for.

I made popcorn in the stove top popper for my kids the other day. For my snack I helped myself to a handful of sunflower seeds, raw un-roasted and again they were meh. Ok but not the best. I bought the raw ones because they are 3 dollars a pound less than roasted but I was kicking myself for not getting roasted. After I ate a few seeds and was totally unsatisfied I turned to the popper and tossed them in. It was still hot and in a few minutes they were warmed and crunchy. I was totally on to something.

Over the next few days I messed around and finally I think I have it down pretty good. You'll need the stove top popper like mine to make this work. well you can do them in the oven but they require heating the whole oven to make a quick snack and they burn really fast. I bought the raw seeds for their cheap price I don't want to counteract that by spending a couple bucks to roast them. YOU could though.

Home Roasted Sunflower Seeds

1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 teaspoon of oil--optional-your popper probably is well seasoned enough to get by without the oil
1/4 teaspoon of salt

place the popper on the burner and turn the heat to medium--your stove may be different so experiment and see how yours works
once it begins to warm add the oil, seeds and salt
stir to mix and let it rest about 30 seconds
keep repeating this pattern until the seeds are toasty as you like, 3-4 minutes
pour on to a plate to cool

A few notes

• I like mine toastier than most so between 3-4 minutes for me on my stove is perfect keep working and find your won perfect
• let them cool before you eat them or you will hear your tongue literally sizzle

Anyway if the cost of buying less processed foods has got you down these are some seriously cheap Paleo eats. Everyone in my house loves them and they've since become the favorite treat even over popcorn. And remember, sure non processed foods ARE more expensive but the money you will save in doctor bills will be well worth it in the end.

Peace and Love--




 

Just Another Meatless Monday Something From Nothing Vegetable Broth

I'm a converted broth maker. I used to buy bullion for flavor but then the salt and msg were too much for me. So I switched to broth and stock in cans, better but still salty and tiny tasting. The I moved to boxes, I liked the flavor and it was never too salty but COMPLETELY impossible to recycle. FAIL. I was just not happy with any of my options so I went back to homemade. If all else fails go back to what last worked best and go from there. So I did but I knew I didn't have time or desire to make broth when I needed it most.  I came up with a plan. I started just tossing any and all parts of vegetables into a bag in the freezer marked brothy bits. I'm talking carrot tops and root ends, celery too ugly to eat, onion skins and papery coverings too, green pepper cores, cabbage leaves to big to use, garlic skins and the like. The worst of the worst basically everything I trimmed off a vegetable went in the bag. When it was full I piled it all in my biggest stock pot add some salt and pepper and cooked it down. It smelled lovely and once completely cooked I strained it and had homemade broth to use anytime I wanted. I put it in freezer bags or small freezer containers and whenever I need it I have vegetable broth. I have vegetable and chicken in my freezer right now to use for any cooking needs that may arise. 

Forget that boxed, canned or cubed flavor I just don't need it I can have fresh and homemade anytime I want it. You can too just follow these easy instructions. Something From Nothing Broth 1 gallon or so of vegetable trimmings-keep a bag n the freezer drop in scraps use when full water to cover+plus more as needed small glug of olive oil--optional I like it this way you can opt out 1 TBSP salt available herbs--sage, oregano, bay leaf, pepper corns, thyme, tarragon, pinch of fennel, curry, cumin really whatever flavors you'd like onion or garlic powder if your scraps are deficient in that area  pour the frozen scraps in your stock pot put the freezer bag back in the freezer to catch the next brothy bits cover with water add the olive oil if using add salt and whatever spices you want or have bring to a boil reduce heat and simmer for 2-4 hours adding more water as needed strain to remove the vegetables (give to your chickens or someone with chickens) pour the broth into freezer containers and freeze until ready to use

Super simple super easy and super delicious. It's like getting broth for free really. All the flavor from all those scraps are being put to use and not just composted or worse, chucked out. Money saving and vegetarian, hot damn! Couple of notes

1. use onion skins if you want or need a darker broth
2. you could can this in pressure canner for dry pantry storage

What vegetarian delights have you been whipping up?

Peace and Love--

Star Wars Movie Party

We've been itching to host a Star Wars Party for a long time and this year our boys were finally BOTH old enough to do it. When I say Star Wars Movie Party I mean watching all three original Stars Wars movies back to back. Today was THE day. We invited over a bunch of kids and about 10 made it. We had them wear costumes if they wanted to, not wearing a costume was totally cool too. We supplied the snacks, the movies, the chairs and the intermission light saber fights.

Speaking of snacks we had some good ones. We had a tray full of Star Wars cookies.

I bought the Willams-Sonoma cookie cutters a few years back specifically for this type of party. If you're going to make these cookies DO NOT USE store bough sugar cookie dough or dough made with margarine they will not turn out and you will be filled with bitter disappointment. I planned to have the kids decorate them with frosting but they were happy enough to eat them without any frosting.


We drank copious amounts of Yoda Soda, simply seltzer water and limeade.

They also had taun taun meatballs, just meatballs in teriyaki sauce, super easy. We also had wookie cookies, no bakes made with chocolate and coconut. The dried coconut from the bulk section makes for delicious cookies, crunchy!

These kids ATE. If you're planning a party for boys plan for a large amount of food and then double it. They ate 2 pounds of sausage, 2 pounds of cheese, a bag of pretzels, 13 apples, 6 bananas, 4-6 liters of Yoda Soda, a crock pot full of meat balls, 2 rice cookers full of rice, 4 batches of popcorn,  5 dozen cookies. And still said they were hungry.

I made a Death Star cake using an igloo cake mold.

We didn't eat it because I was certain it was dried out because it didn't have frosting. My kids are militating for a dad is great he feeds up chocolate cake kind of morning...we'll see.

The party was a LOT of fun, the kids were great and movies were classics, all in all a GREAT winter day in Alaska.

 Peace and Love--




 

The Penny Worthy Project

How are you spending your pennies?

This week went by so fast and I swear I got NOTHING done I said I would or I thought I would. I'm not actually sure what I did. Oh wait kids were out of school Monday due to weather. Not snow but a huge rainy windy storm that froze and made the whole world a skating rink. Then everything melted, our driveway was gravel and puddles and now we have 7 inches for fresh snow. Winter in Alaska is never boring. 

Apart from our crazy weather the rest of the week was rather normal. I thrifted but mostly for myself which is odd because I'm trying like crazy to simplify my house. When I saw this crock 

go through my feed on facebook in the online yard sale group I knew I was interested. The asking price was more than I wanted to pay but I agreed to meet with the girl selling it and look at it. I wanted it to make sauerkraut in and I was assured it was in perfect shape. It was not as you can tell but I liked it enough to make an offer on it. She accepted and now it's mine. It is old and lovely, I wish I knew it's story.

I also bought this beautiful Starbucks coffee mug. It's really pretty!

And I got this a while back

 and I've been working on my skills. You knew when third graders crochet circles around you it is time to step up your game. Now I'm the one making them go "WOW" how did you do that? Oh man I wish I knew kid I wish I knew.

Lots of great link ups last week Live Like No One Else brought us cheap internet, GREAT TIP!! Lynda was after my own heart with fabulous finds last wee and Amy and Angie had the cutest Sailor suit dress ever! Check out the ENTIRE link up from last and then get your link ready too! You can link up ebay sales, etsy shops, reselling challenges, money saving tips, menu plans, great recipes, DIY posts anything that inspires you to live your best on a budget. 

  Peace and Love--


 

Paleo Week One Check In

This whole Paleo Diet thing came on as quite a surprise to me. I didn't buy any cook books, did NOT plan to go Paleo, was NOT interested in going Paleo, was only interested in losing weight and the Paleo Diet craze was annoying to say the least. And yet after hearing about friends on the Paleo Diet I realized that I was pretty much on the Paleo Diet. **sigh** I was simply trying out gluten free for six weeks (cutting out lots of grains too) and going sugar free and then I realized I was pretty much paleo.

So I kinda ditched the whole I'm just going to diet and lose weight, go gluten free and see if my joints quit hurting and eat less move more mentality for PALEO. Dove in mouth wide open. I gave myself a week to get off the peanuts and I still need to get soy sauce out of my life other than that I am on the Paleo Diet and I love it. I am losing weight, around 8 pounds so far. My jeans are loose, my clothes fit better and my husband says my face is looking different, younger. To me I look less puffy overall, I'll take that!

My joints feel so much better, no deep throbbing joint pain. My energy is through the roof, still burning strong at 9 pm even after getting up at 6:30 most days. My afternoons are not spent in a carb fog, I am clear headed and very centered and aware.

I am still moving more though I will not give that up. I do the stairs in my house, 10x plus whatever regular stairs I do in a day. Once this becomes easier I will add in simple weight lifting I can do at home and I'd love to get yoga involved in my life. Once spring hits I hope to be a walker again and get in a few miles a week. Joint pain has kept me from doing this for years.

Is it easy? YES for me it has been easy. I simply make an extra vegetable at dinner and cut out the grains or starches I would have served. We already eat a lot of vegetables so adding in another was easy. I try to make 2 cooked veggies, 1 raw and a serving of meat for dinner. We are all enjoying the meas I've come up with but I may indeed need to buy a Paleo Cook Book or start following a few blogs to inspire me.

Is it expensive. Yes and No.
Yes in that I try to buy the very best foods for the diet. Humanely grown meat is expensive to buy and it's the dead of winter so vegetables are harder to source. I buy storage vegetables from Arctic Organics, a local organic farm and a weekly produce box from Full Circle Farm. To that I add a BIG box of organic spinach from the store and more fruit for snacking on.

Is it expensive. Yes and No.
No in that compared to the amount I would have spent on doctors for joint pain and chronic pain and possible other diagnosis's I feel the cost of food is very worth it. I have not increased our food budget yet and don't have plans to. We'll see how that pans out.


What about giving up sugar? Hard? Not really and I was addicted big time. I have found that an apple sliced up and dipped in almond butter is so delicious I don't miss the high sugar crap I was eating, creating, gorging on. I have been using our honey from our bees to make barbecue sauces and on fruit for our boys. We all love that. If I am just wanting a little something to tide me over with no prep work and spoonful of almond butter is a great treat.

And speaking of the boys they know we are some kind of diet/paleo thing but we try not to make it a focus. They just know that sometimes they get regular roasted potatoes while we get sweet potatoes. And that the bread we opened at the beginning of the week is still around come Saturday. I don't want to make this a focus of their life and I have no desire to make them feel like they need to lose weight or get in shape. They are amazingly unscrewed up when it comes to food. I want to keep it that way.



So 11 days in RAH RAH PALEO! I'll try not to be annoying about it.



Peace and Love--




 

Just Another Meatless Monday Avocado Mango Coleslaw

Well this must be a good salad, I've made it two nights running and there are no leftovers. I was inspired by a recipe for Shrimp & Mango Coleslaw that I wanted to make. I bought all the stuff and then decided to use it as a side dish, without shrimp. I did, everyone loved it and asked for it for dinner today too. Who can argue with that? Not this mom. No it's not Paleo but it's good honest food and a whole lotta veggies for kids to eat. I'm good with that.

Avocado Mango Coleslaw with Peanut Dressing

Dressing
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 TBSP soy sauce, tamari or braggs aminos
3/4 cup of coconut milk-from a can
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce, chile paste or sriracha
2 TBSP cilantro
2 teaspoons fresh lime or lemon juice OR vinegar
Optional-1 clove minced fresh garlic-I'm allergic to raw and now I'm pretty sure to powdered dried garlic so I have to cook any of it I use--it would be great in the dressing
process in your food processor or blender until well combined
assemble salad

Salad
8 cups shredded cabbage or use the bagged coleslaw mix-I did and I used broccoli slaw too
1 shredded carrot-if using the bagged salad you could omit
2 sliced green onions--again allergic and did not use (boo)
4 red radishes sliced
1/4 cup cilantro leaves
1 avocado
1 mango

put the shredded cabbage, carrot, onions and radishes in a large salad bowl
toss to combine
pour the dressing mixture over the top
put in the fridge to meld for about an hour or so
when ready to serve peel and chop the mango and add it to the salad
slice open the avocado, remove the pit, slice right to the skin but not through
scoop out with a spoon and add it too
sprinkle in the fresh cilantro and toss to combine
serve immediately and stand back


I forgot to get a photo during our very short daylight hours today. We had maybe 4 hours of brighter than gloom out there. We have no snow, high wind and sideways rain-YEAH ALASKA!  Soooo the photos I tried to snap were LAME. Which leaves me in a predicament 1)lame photo? 2) no photo? Thoughts?






  Peace and Love--




 

The Penny Worthy Project

What are you spending you pennies on?? 

 This week has been all about the diet--no sugar--no gluten--less food--more move. I thought I'd have gone crazy and wounded someone by now. And yet here it is 5 days in and nothing. This whole get off my duff and get stuff done instead of eating is really working out for me though. I have spent hours this week organizing, sorting, cleaning, labeling and getting my studio/craft room/ reselling room in order.

I actually set up our storage closet so one side is all holiday bits and bobs while the other side is resell stuff. I went through every box of holiday stuff and filled up the back of my truck with things we just don't need or use anymore. I had an entire case of candles that were "too cute to burn" WHAT GOOD ARE THOSE?? Someone else can have them, love them and burn them, I didn't have the heart to. I got rid of nothing sacred or made for me by a child, those are the true treasures.

I went on a run to the city on Wednesday, while I was there I thought I'd hit up a few thrift stores. I came home with nothing. I did return two pairs of pants to Land's End because my kids blew them out. I even had my receipt for some strange reason. When I went in the store it was really odd I don't know who was more discombobulated me or the lady running the register. She first off told me the jeans I had were girls, um no they were not, except she insisted they were and tried to give me girls jeans. Then she asked for my id and I handed her my debit card. She scanned my receipt and said this has already been returned and you can't double return, which is funny because I haven't stepped foot in the store since August 14th(receipt!!). The we muddled through a return in which she forgot to give me my id back and I left my bag on the counter. So weird! Anyway I came out with 2 new pairs of pants, although I'm not quite sure how I managed that.

When I came home there was a bald eagle sitting in our trees.

**whistling** don't mind me a giant predacious sitting up here

He was facing the opposite way of our flock of chickens. I have a hard time believing he/she/it didn't see our birds and fancy a treat. Although he sat there for about 3 hours looking west I never saw my birds become upset. The eagle appeared to be watching traffic, as cars would pass he would turn his beautiful head and just stare after them. Majestic, yet deadly to my flock of birds.




Speaking of our flock, they are laying like champs lately. In the last week have produced about 105 eggs give or take a few. Even the footless wonder is still making eggs, she rocks! More about the footless wonder in my upcoming post entitled "interview with a chicken"

I did get out and hit up the local thrift store. I feel like I scored big time, I found a new unused box of Debbie Meyer green bags. My mother SWEARS by these things. Picked them up for a quarter and promptly put all my Full Circle produce in them, um when I got home that is.

I got two books to read because really January in Alaska is ALL ABOUT READING. Well February too, but garden planning starts in earnest then too. Once I'm done I'll pass these to my mom who is hanging out in Arizona this winter. Apparently it's a super cold winter for them and a super warm winter for us. GO FIGURE.

And I grabbed those cookie cutters, recognize them?

Yep from the movie A Christmas Story! The lamp just cracks me up!

What did you find, do or make this week? Crafts? Meal Plans? Quilts? Poetry? Shoes? Come on spill it!















Peace and Love--