Memories to keep....

Jenny, Ryan, Gentry, Brian and Victoria all waiting for another turn down the hill.

Jenny and Ryan try to go it together....watch out below Grant!

Victoria had a cold, and it didn't take her too long to wish for a girl to play with!

Stealing cookies and hiding in the man cave. (A term I learned from Ryan, apparently it starts very young!) No girls allowed!

Aunt Jenny and Danny
Andrea and Brett

Sir Brian- uncle extraordinaire!

My dreams came true, I got to play with all the kids, finally got to meet Brett( he is a charmer!), and played chase with Luke. He is going to love me! Someday. There were lots of hugs and kisses to share. Cousins don't taste half bad! (Brett and Joe)

Girls out for brunch.....boy did we have a lot to talk about! Tee hee. (Andrea, Jenny, Nanny, Beth, Elaine)

While the daughters-in-laws took Nanny and Jenny out for a special girls brunch.......

(Troy, Luke, Wade, Pops, Ryan, Gentry, Micah, Grant, Victoria, Joe)

the boys held down the fort, took care of all the kids (7 total, with 3 in diapers, and 2 still under the age of one.) I hate to say that while we girls had a fabulous meal, the guys had leftovers and the ever kid friendly meal of Mac and cheese. Girls rule...... just not for very long at a time.

Getting ready to eat a bunch more of Grandma's sugar....many flavors, textures and colors to choose from and all deliciously sweet. Thanks Grandma!

Father and Daughter...she seems to be listening.......??

A Very Memorable Christmas

We were so fortunate to have all of the Burgess family together at the Tapestry house in La Porte, Colorado. It was at one time the home of Gentry's Grandfather and Grandmother when Grandpa named it Hawkeye Ranch. It was the home that Gentry's mom met her future in-laws for the first time. It is where his aunt and uncle were married. The couple who owned it after it was sold did a fantastic job of rebuilding the home in the period accurate Victorian farmhouse style. It is glorious! That was all very nice and appreciated by us all but the best part was having us all together. And I think we all got along quite well! It was noisy and fun. I know I will never forget it. I think we all get a bit of satisfaction knowing that Grandma and Grandpa Burgess would have been very pleased to know we were all there together also. It is really hard to put into words the feelings of anticipation, the travel there (another story...believe me!) and the fulfillment of dreams for possibly great grandparents to most definitely grandparents to children to grandchildren.

Only one question...

Gentry was wondering if it comes with pole extentions for use in snow. I think 6 feet ought to do it. He is ready to haul it up right now and try it out. I'm thinking Victoria will want to pack it in. "Really honey, it gets lighter as you go." What a wonderful thoughtful gift. We will love it!

Man! I love early Christmas presents!

Oh...and no nothing was broken during shipping...ha ha.

The Clodhopper Report, Episode name:

The Clodhopper Report, Episode name:

This video is for my dear Mother- in- law who picked out some very special rocks for her garden from Vertical ranch and trucked them all the way back to Nebraska to avoid paying for rocks there. Makes sense to me. It seems like they said they were priced at $50.00 each? The rocks she chose are very beautiful quite unlike the rocks in the video which are lame with no good color on them, and no lichens or anything to give them visual interest. Washington is the place to come picking rock! As absurd as this seems what about how we haul out bush and grass trimmings, paying a premium for the privilege of using the city dump and then paying to haul in the same stuff repackaged as mulch and beauty bark and the like. I hope it is cheaper than a gym membership!

The Good Stuff

I love a Saturday, don't you? We have the radio on playing "That's the good stuff..." and I think I have a full cup today. Saturday mornings around here start with the family favorite of biscuits and gravy. The only time that Grant eats so much that he hurts for a couple of hours after! Then with meeting tomorrow I get the privilege of preparing my home. I love cleaning with a purpose. Otherwise I really don't. (Read: don't clean, and don't enjoy it) But Saturdays are meant for that busy deep cleaning. I cleaned the couches, and am busy scrubbing floors and baseboards, and even walls and doors. Gentry is busy cleaning gutters and we have a boy working on the basement to get it ready for a new floor (digging out more dirt, the flooding helped to soften it up some so all is good!) The very best part: The kids are cleaning their rooms! They are even doing a good job. Love it!
Have a good Saturday yourselves!

Edible artwork- my favorite kind!

More art: A goatherdess, a goat, and a hedge hog. Sorry, no longer available for sale.

A painting a day?

I have been so inspired by the daily painting guild paintings that I made Gentry cut me up a whole stack of boards to do some paintings on. Problem...I have not painted in so long that all my paint is really in bad shape, priced it out today....hooo wee! Well, I am going to do something art related everyday for at least three days anyway. Today I did an example painting for a 5th grade class (Grants class...I am just a lowly volunteer) so I am posting it. I can tell that a camera set up will be in order if I ever get famous. It really does not look at all brown in real life. They will be doing palette knife painting with acrylics, with the lesson being to create deep space using perspective through diminishing scale, converging lines and atmospheric perspective through the use of texture and color. Impressed? Wink! I think they will have fun smearing the paint around on the board anyway, like frosting a cake. Tomorrow my Jr. High class (I do get paid for this one) will be glazing the masks they made, so that will be fun too. I cant wait to glaze my example mask which the kids said looks like Abe Lincoln. Hey, I like ole Abe.

Biscuits and Gravy

Friday night we did something we have been wanting to do for a long time. Victoria asked me (as she does almost daily) "Are we doing anything fun or exciting today?" I said yes but it was going to be a surprise. All morning and right after school I was constantly questioned. Here are a few hints I gave them.....
We are going to camp out.
It is something we have never done before.
It is about 20-40 minutes away
It is a very expensive place. Ooooh! (They liked that idea!)
No, there is no TV, pool or hot tub.
We are not taking anyone else with us.
There are no beds.
We wont be taking a tent.
It is not a cabin.

Did you guess?

We finally decided to go out and spend a night at the Spec house. It was freezing when we got there because the gas company had replaced the gas meter and had put a lock on it. Why the lock? I have no idea, but luckily Gentry's life of crime came through for us and he broke the lock. It warmed up pretty quickly with the gas fireplaces, and the heat on.

Conclusions from our big night out: Beautiful home, with lots of natural light. I loved the kitchen; biscuits and gravy taste great and cooked faster on the high BTU burners, and convection microwave and both were easy to clean and operate. The dishwasher even washed my ugly old stainless steel pan with gravy paste. :)

Gentry liked the heated tile floors best. It is true, they are so great!

Victoria enjoyed the deep tubs and the music in every room. No need to haul her CD player into the bathroom.

Grant loved the basement spiders....no....guess not, but he did like the theatre chairs and all the room to run around.

Finally, it was a lot of work for one night, but glad we did it.

A Friday night out.

Family room with MY beautiful rug in it. (Can you tell I want it back?) That fireplace is so pretty, really doesn't show the wood in this picture but it isTiger Maple, and Curly Cherry.

Sunshine was coming in everywhere.....the little window way up top in this room was very noticable this morning. The man who built this stone fireplace was killed in a car accident. His wife rents our little house. He was a good man, and skilled at his job. His wife has had a hard time adjusting. Understandable.

Great room with sun coming in from the deck. Cozy isn't it?

Hasenpfeffer

It is a very rainy day here in the northwest. Over 2-3 inches of rain in the last 24 hours and lots more to come. The coast is having hurricane force winds, and there is a lot of flooding especially in the Olympics but also in the Cascade Mountains. (And including any low spots in our yard and for you sport enthusiasts we are filling up our mud pit for mud wrestling in the basement- stay posted for the entertainment schedule.) To keep myself thinking warm dry thoughts I have decided to bring out moms recipe box.

This recipe is from my fathers side of the family: the Frohbieters. I would really like to try it so if you know of any hunters that could provide me with the makings let me know! Ty????

Hasenpfeffer from Aunt Emma (Frohbieter) Shackleford (my grandfathers sister)

1 whole hare, boiled until very tender with the peel of one orange and salt
2 cups dried apple- measure before cooking
1/2 lb. raisins
1/4 lb/ currants
1/2 lb. prunes
1/4 tsp. pepper, or to taste
Orange peel

Cook each fruit separately, save juice.
Combine above ingredients after cooking.
Cut orange peel in some small pieces and add along with the juice from the rabbit and the fruit.

Plus: 1/2 cup vinegar
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. allspice

Then add enough flour to make a thin sauce. Then put back on low heat to just cook the four and melt the sugar etc. Let stand, refrigerate for several hours or overnight before serving. Good! Yummy!

Emma's notes to mom: Lou wrote this recipe down one day for me. There was no written recipe before which convinces me that this Hasenpfeffer is an original concoction. Originated by a Frohbieter or a Graper in the dim past. None of the measurements are absolute. I guess they just did it according to their taste but I do believe that the proportions should be followed if you want this particular flavor - which I think is extraordinary and unlike any other flavor. I can't understand why most people that I have given some of it to (unless they have Frohbieter blood) do not really like it. I have not offered it to many folks and have never given out the recipe. Do make it sometime and let me know how it turned out for you. I'll bet you will have fun. Emma.

It does sound fun! Let me know if you get brave and try it.

My parents had hasenpfeffer on their honeymoon, so it must be a very romantic dish!

Sledding season begins!

Perch, on, and go!

Believe me, it speeds up!

Gentry looks very graceful, arms out to steer....

And then there is me... Craaash! It takes real effort to do

what I did, any ole body can sled down the whole way! BORING!

Just a-swingin'

Gentry works hard at playing,

and the (according to his children, but what do they know?) stinky hat is left in the dust,

and he soars! Well, pretty close. It is quite thrilling to swing out over a bunch of snow with rocks and sticks poking up out of it.

A snow filled playground

Sliding on Huckleberry Pond.....


"You have to try this, it is delicious!"

I hope everyone had a happy Turkey day. I sincerely hope you ate too much, took a long nap and woke up very thirsty, ate more because you knew you needed something, and then finished it off with a very large glass of water. Wow, that can hurt.

After we ate too much we went up to Vertical Ranch to see if there was snow yet. And Happy Day there was! What was weird was that there was one spot in the fire that was still smoldering, all after 3 weeks, a few inches of rain, and several inches of snow. Ironically we had a tough time getting a little fire going in our fire pit..... with dry wood! It was as temperamental as a man who gets a meal presented to him with mashed potatoes but no gravy!

A week later.....

Well, since you folks weren't beating down our door to have your piece of tongue, we ate it without you. I maybe should have waited until Grant was finished chewing before I took the picture, and as you can see Gentry wasn't quite ready either, but this picture was so tasteful I had to post it. Gag! I have to say though we have had a lot of fun with this gift. Favorite dinner quotes, "This makes me have a light appetite" (Grant) and "Like, I am so not eating any of this" (Victoria). Proudly I can say we did all have some. It was.....well, I am not telling, you will just have to try it yourself.

Funny thing...Liane called and said the Todd had taken Kaitlyn out for appetisers at a very nice, posh restaurant and they had.....you guessed it.

Gentry's Tongue

Gentry had a fabulous birthday! Not only did he get a special gift from some very generous donors (a cow.......and Troy and Beth) his own son and daughter coughed up their own hard earned money to buy presents for Dad. Victoria's was a "value" deal with quantity in mind (2 insulated coffee mugs) and Grants gift to Dad was a fishing manual, so we can better know how to reel in some big boys! Grant could not wait to give the gift, specially wrapped by himself....but the best part was getting to tell dad how much it cost him. Hey! He has worked hard for the dough, and he knew Dad would appreciate that as much as anything.

The gift from Troy and Beth came with cooking instructions: boil, peel and slice. Sounds easy enough, I guess.....Anyone hungry? We are having a lovely dinner of boiled tongue soon. First on my guest list? Troy and Beth!

What are the odds? Couple nearly killed by falling cow | KOMO-TV - Seattle, Washington | News

What are the odds? Couple nearly killed by falling cow KOMO-TV - Seattle, Washington News

Later in the day....

OK... I know I did this all wrong, pretend you are in about 2nd grade and have to do a sequencing activity. Which picture comes first?
They don't make this easy to change do they?

Fired Up!

We finally got around to getting the slash pile burned up at Vertical Ranch. Gentry went up on Friday morning and spent some time getting everything ready, putting wet tarps on the camper cover and wetting the ground around the pile to be burned. It was about 12-15 feet tall at least and 30 feet long, 20 feet wide. There were a lot of branches, some logs, and all the stumps from when we cleared the road and the camp site. Gentry put straw soaked in diesel fuel on it...with a ladder....sigh. He lit it at about 10:30. The kids and I came up at about 3:00 and most of the big fire was gone. We were all a bit disappointed by that but relieved that he hadn't started the forest on fire. We had originally thought that we would wait until snow. Gent said it only took a couple of hours to burn down the bush part of the pile. Monday it was still smoldering- some of the stumps were actually very deep in a pile of coals and Gentry has been digging them out to get them to burn faster. Some of the pictures show him throwing the stumps on the fire. He came home with a huge load of dirty smokey clothes (about 12-20 feet high, 30 feet long and 20 feet wide) but he is back safe.

Happy Halloween!

Auntie Beth finds the newest periodical....

Little Bugs slept through the whole event, it is easy to do when you are the only one who is not on a sugar high! Sous Chef Joe taught us all it is very serious business to be the chef....for one thing you have to deal with all the critics! But his chili was awesome and the mummy dogs were, if not delish, at least humorous.

October 31

Happy Halloween! We had a fun party here with all the wrappings...mostly toilet paper! The kids had fun with the mummy wrap and then the little kids played in the tp after....so it was a hit "all around".

Looks like Lisa is really getting into character.....