3 pastured pets?

As I made my way out the door this morning carrying two buckets of grain for the horses, I noticed something a little odd....Twiggs came running first, down the hill through the gate and slid to a stop in the mud at her bucket. Next came Ronan, trotting down the hill, through the gate, tossing his head in his attempt to look like a stud muffin. He, too, slid to a stop at his bucket.

And wait, something else is running down the hill....it's the pig!

The pig that wanders our neighborhood from time to time and always stops to visit my horses and scrounge for dropped grain underneath their buckets. So here comes the pig, down the hill, through the gate, and low and behold, trots all the way down to the salt block holder like it was her bucket!!! HAHA!

She just stood there looking at me like, ok, my turn! Once the Dachshunds started barking at her, she turned and trotted out of the pasture and down the road....haha....I have no idea where she lives or even if she has a home. But she does look fat and healthy.

These pictures were taken from a different time the pig did the same thing.

The weather is finally warming up and I've ventured out of the house briefly today. Only to feed the ponies and pull off the little hoop tents we built in the garden so the plants could get some nice sunshine. Our red lettuce is doing really well but the broccoli looks a little wilted by the cold. The snow is finally melting and the ground is mushy and wet.

Steven and I have been on a big organic kick lately. Watch Food, Inc., you will be too! That movie opened my eyes and made me aware of what I was eating. I've been overweight for awhile now and I've never really thought about what I was eating. It was whatever was convenient and tasty. And that is definitely a recipe for disaster. So, by watching what we put in our mouths, I've lost 5 lbs and Steven's lost 20. He did start 2 weeks before I did. We have a new litter of kittens. (UGH) Bella got out before we were able to get her spayed. We missed the date for the cheaper humane society program that has spays and rabies shots for 50 bucks so we were saving to take her to a regular vet since that would cost upwards of 200-300 bucks. (because they require all kinds of tests and vaccines) So we were saving and then Mulligan, our Dachshund got sick. 400 dollars later, we were not able to get her spayed. So, on Christmas Day, 5 little fluffy kittens were born. One is black and white and looks just like her daddy. We named her Noel. The other 4 are all dark grey. Hopefully we will be able to find good homes for them!

Holidays and First Day of Winter

No white Christmas for us here in East Tennessee. Late last week they were forecasting snow but now just rain. Bummer. My parents are driving up late Christmas Eve with my brother. We plan to go to Ober Gatlinburg so at least we will be able to SEE some snow! I've got a lot to do this week. From last minute Christmas shopping to grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning. Our cat should have kittens any day now...Unfortunately. She only got out twice. Little whore. Haha. We've been meaning to get her spayed for some time but it seems like everytime we save up the money, something major happens such as Mulligan the Dachshund getting sick and having to go to the vet (400 vet bill) or going to get tires rotated and them telling you that you need new tires (400 more) etc etc....That's life though right...

Sigh*

Watching the early show on CBS. They are talking about easy switches to cut calories on your holiday baking. I figured I'd share since they are some easy ideas!

Pie - cut 700 calories by using half the sugar. You don't change the chemistry of the pie and you can really taste the fruit.

Puddings / Pie Fillings - instead of heavy cream use 2% milk, still get creaminess
Cut 744 calories and a lot of fat

Cookies - change flour to whole wheat flour, can do half and half....more about nutrition than calories

Cheesecake - use part skim ricotta cheese instead of cream cheese. Save 60 GRAMS OF FAT. Double the protein.

Brownies - use pumpkin puree instead of oil. Save 900 calories and 100 grams of fat. Makes MORE moist. Supposedly REALLY good.

Chocolate Cake - use 3 tbs cocoa powder instead of chocolate, save 80 calories instantly!

Happy Holidays!!!!

Snow Day

We had our first snow of the season last weekend. I snapped a couple of pics. Today, the wind is ferocious! I'm convinced it's going to blow a tree down. Wow!

I think snow is just so beautiful! I love how it makes the trees look. I don't know if I like it so much because I didn't grow up with snow or it just really is that pretty!

Buffet from Goodwill

I've really been slacking! And you'd think I would have plenty of time to post on my blog since I've been completely unemployed since the middle of November. We had snow a couple of days ago and it was beautiful. I'll post pictures. I've taken lots of pictures over the past couple of months that I planned on putting up here but haven't gotten around to yet.

I found an awesome deal at Goodwill the other day. I went in and saw this buffet under a pile of stuff. It was beautiful and I couldn't believe someone had not picked it up yet. The price tag said $65. The next weekend was a 50% off storewide sale so I returned on Saturday to buy it. To my surprise, it was STILL there! I bought it for 35 bucks and was thrilled.

I stopped by Lowe's on the way home to purchase a piece of trim to replace two pieces that were broken off.

When I got home, I sanded it down. Then I mixed flat black paint with a glaze. I painted the buffet with this mixture and wiped off some of the glaze, leaving the color in the creases and on the edges of the wood. Next, I applied a paint-on polyureathane. Once it dried, I noticed the finish had bubbles in it. I lightly sanded it again and applied a finishing wax. Here is the final results!

So, I figured since I've been on hold with the Tennessee Unemployment office for the past 20 minutes, I might as well sign in and post on my blog! The unemployment call center really needs to hire some additional people to decrease this hold time....I mean, it's not like they don't have plenty of people to choose from.. I'm still working 1 day per week at my previous job but I am still qualified for benefits, as long as I am not making more than my weekly benefit from the unemployment insurance.

Just got off the phone, finally. My call log says I was on the phone 1 hour and 1 minutes. WOW! I haven't been on the phone that long since I was in college! I really hope the economy turns around soon. I know the job market will take a while to recover but there are so many people without work. Something needs to change soon. Speaking of change, where's all the good changes Obama promised? I haven't seen anything. But I wasn't really expecting it, that's why I didn't vote for him. Something's gotta give. Have you heard that song by Sugarland? I love it. One of my favorite bands. Jennifer Nettles voice is so distinctive, beautiful, and strong.

I'm just skipping along from topic to topic in this post, huh?

Man, Fall is ALL around me! This weather in East TN the past couple of days is marvelous! Highs barely getting into the 70s and lows dipping into the mid 40s. Heaven, I tell ya! I can see signs that Fall is just around the corner in the leaves too! Many are starting to change. The horses are starting to get a little fuzzy too. I'm going to go groom and saddle the horses so when Steven gets home from work, we can go on a ride together. We haven't ridden in so long. See ya!

Get the bug Mulligan!

Today should officially be dubbed Spider Day! I've had probably 5 encounters with spiders today. One gigantic one in the basement came crawling out when I picked up a towel that was on the floor. Luckily, my wonderful bug eating Dachshund came to my rescue! Then I encountered 3 more cleaning up around the house, and one daddy-long-leg outside the back door. I then saw his friends, about 6 more on the wall outside. Ugh! I HATE spiders....or any bug for that matter. Maybe I should call an exterminator?