In the Country? The Cows are Miffed

It is no secret I love living in the country. 
I love our new hometown of Orange, VA and everyday brings a new experience.

One thing Steven and I like to do is sit on the front porch at night, looking at the stars and listening to the quiet.

It IS quiet out here.  Such a change from the suburbs we came from. Eventhough we live in town, this is a very small town surrounded by farms.  Orange County is almost entirely agricultural and the miles and miles of farmland attest to exactly what our neighbors' livelihood is.

Which brings us to the cows.

The above pics were taken less than two miles from our home.

As I said, we like to listen to the quiet. The country quiet is occasionally punctuated by a train whistle or the mooing of a cow.  We love the trains, and can schedule our days around them rumbling through town.

The cows are even cooler.  Every evening, around dinner time, we can hear one of two cows mooing off in the distance.  When we first heard them they seemed so far away we weren't quite sure if we were hearing a cow because, as I said, we live IN town.  Sound travels out here evidently.

So yep, definitely a cow.  We still laugh everytime we hear nightfall's first moo and will sit, happily, for an hour listening to them let their farmer know "Hey! It's dinner time."

[At least we think that is what they are saying. Who speaks cow?]

Last night was different.  Last night was a cow cacophony. 

As we sat on the front porch chatting we heard the first sounds of our bovine friends.  I giggled at their perfect timing and continued talking about the day. Suddenly that one moo turned into four cows mooing, which multiplied into what sounded like six, ten, twelve?

It was a lot. 

Then it was the entire herd of [what sounded like] some pretty ticked off cows.

It went on for over an hour.  They sounded really upset and kept going on and on, voicing their displeasure.  It started to get a little sad because they sounded so unhappy.

Then I figured it out - this week the farmers were separating the calves from their Mommas to send them off to the livestock auction this weekend.

Bye Momma

Ah, such is the country life.

And just so you know - I lost a bet this week to our pal Joe over at These American Servers. We are both die hard baseball fans with Mr. Sixtop having the greater fortune of a much better team, the St. Louis Cards.  So if you like, pop over to Joe's and read up on an early restaurant memory of mine. The words "drunken" and "debauchery" come to mind. ::wink::

Take care Tadpoles. We'll see ya' on the flipside. xo Janine

[Disclaimer:   No, I am not sad about the "circle of life" or farming or anything else. I grew up around cows, calves, auctions and the local butcher. It's just a blog post, okay? No worries.]

Dinner Cost Me Squadoosh

. . .as Steven would like to say. ::grin::

Squadoosh means "nothing" for those that don't know my husband. hee

I know, I know. I haven’t been around. The whole *busy moving, enjoying the new house, sleeping* thing is a drag - but. . .I have been productive.

 

For one thing we have not ordered out or eaten at a restaurant this entire move. Not even when we lived in the country house temporarily.  We did go out for Squirrel's birthday but that was only because I couldn't cook for her with her at college.

 

So?  I would say that is a win, because there have been a lot of nights when I just wanted to toss in the towel, scrape change and order a pizza.

 

Finances and my hard head refused. Sigh. I need a softer head and more money I suppose.

 

Since that isn't happening anytime soon - let's chat about what I did today. Shall we?

 

It starts with a backstory:

My beloved Mother In Law always sends me old copies of magazines she subscribes to and I love them for the decorating and recipe ideas they give me. One article I read was excellent in pointing out how much food we, as Americans, throw away every year. Either because it is a wilted head of lettuce or leftovers we *leftover* too long in the fridge.

Everything in that article screamed at me, saying “Janine! This is you! Stop doing this.”

It was.
And I did

I always thought I was pretty good at stretching leftovers. Ask any chicken that has ever been roasted in one of my ovens on a Sunday. That bird is seeing [Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday] Thursday if I have my way - but there were so many other things I would throw out because I just didn’t want to DEAL with them.

No more.

Case in point. My family’s favorite soup is a Spicy Kielbasa, White Bean and Cabbage number I made up. I make it all the time and they love it, but I always want those main ingredients in the house when I do it. I get nervous if I don’t. What if they don’t like it if I use similar, but not the same, ingredients? What if I have to throw it away if because it isn’t perfect?

The angst. ARGH!

Ha! Nope. I kid.

I figure if I am going to throw out any leftovers I don’t want to deal with anyway why not throw it in a pot of soup?

I had what I had. And really? I didn’t want to go grocery shopping and spend money.

Steven had made me kale with ham for my birthday. LOVE! [And why there is any still left is beyond my imagination considering this is like chocolate to me but. . .] Oh and we had Pigs in a Blanket for appetizer on my birthday too. [We call them Boomettes....I digress]
 

As I like to say in our house,  “I jerryrigged the sh*t out of that [those leftovers].”

With the leftover kale and mini weinies from Monday ... I give you....

I had the ham in the kale along with the Lil smokies to replace the Kielbasa.

I used the can of cannelli beans [that has apparently made the trek all the way from Sterling?] in place of raw navy beans.

I tossed the kale in to replicate the cabbage.

I used ground ginger instead of fresh.

Jarred garlic because the season is over and I used up all my fresh about a month ago.

And I doctored a package of vegetable broth with water to use in lieu of chicken broth I normally have.

The rest of the ingredients I always have handy.

Celery, onion, jalapeno, cumin, salt, pepper...etc.

My house smells so good. Hee.

 

 

Hope you are all doing well. Seems to be some tough times out there in y'all's ponds. I am trying to stay connected and we should have full on internet tomorrow, with a phone and such by Sunday.

 

Please know we are thinking and praying for all of you. Take care. Much love and hugs, xo Janine

　

　

　

The Inadvertent Selfie [and other pics']

Is "Selfie" the right word? Wallene has a grand time laughing at her Momma attempt internet speech, but...okay. I have the keys to the car kid. Hush. hee

I was trying to get y'all some good pics of the new house and I took this one by mistake.
Turned out to be a pretty good pic' tho' because you can see our lawn and the neighbor's place across the street.
Well, I thought so anyway.

 And this is what I meant it to look like [without me in the glass door. ::grin::]

 

Our front lawn. The leaves started falling yesterday.

 Have fun Wallene!

Side yard leading to the street. I helped mow that. I am very happy about that. :)

 

 Our neighbors have a chicken coop [and a GORGEOUS lawn]

I want chickens too.

 Spottie patrolling her property.

Our new washer and dryer.

Told you they were cool!

 The only stairs I have to navigate.

12 steps instead of 37.

LIFE IS GOOD. YAY!

 And finally. . .the birthday girl.

LOVE!

It isn't much Tadpoles but it's about the best I can do right now. If you know me on Facebook then you understand the trial I have been having getting internet/cable in here. Wore me out a bit - but absolutely NO worries.  It's all good and nothing, not Comcast or DISHnetwork, could dampen my enthusiasm for our new home.

You guys are the best and I thank you.  Gotta scoot. A wee bit tired.

See ya' on the flipside of another glorious day. Hugs xo Janine

I Don't Even Know Where to Begin. . .

What a gloriously splendiferous week.

I am pooped.  We're all pooped.

This moving is serious biz y'all. But you already knew that, right?  It has been so long [7 years] since our last move I had forgotten what all this entails.

But? It's ALL good. No. Good isn't enough. It is all GREAT. Better than great.

As I said it has been GLORIOUSLY SPLENDIFOROUS. :) [Evidently splendiferous is a real word. No red squiggly line underneath that one. Wow Spellcheck. Who knew?]

Anyhoodle - in an effort to save time and my sanity [trying to remember everything I want to tell you] I will just write a list of everything that has happened this week. Okay? Okay.

• The house is perfect.  I didn't think I could love a house like I love this one.  The family agrees.  I don't think I have ever seen Steven happier than I have this past week.  I swear I think he is pinching himself because he can't believe our good fortune that this is OUR home.  Wallene is completely and utterly in love with everything here in Orange.  It is such a relief knowing we did the right thing moving here.
• Speaking of Wallene - our child is amazing. Truly. I know you guys think I brag an inordinate amount about her, but the person she is and the things she does amaze me.   Her 16th birthday was this past Wednesday.  The second day in her new school.  Here we are 100 miles from her old friends, in a town where she has no new friends [yet] and her parents were scraping the bottom of their savings account to come up with a little something to make her birthday memorable. We had the usual Birthday Girl's choice for dinner and a homemade cake, with two very small presents [and by small - I mean not 16th birthday girl worthy] and I spent a lot of time in our bedroom crying for our baby because I just felt as tho' I had let her down, y'know? Through it all she smiled and laughed and told us that it was a great birthday. Perfect for her. Not one complaint uttered, or tear shed [on her part anyway]. No blame that we had taken her from her real home or her old friends. None of the screaming tantrums that everyone warns you about when your kid is a teenager. Just happy, happy. [Personally? I get tired of people "warning" me about what my kids are going to do when they hit a certain age.  Perhaps your kids did it, and you use it as an excuse, but mine? We'll just wait and see what MY kids do. All kids and parents are different - so I'll thank you to keep your warnings to yourself. And this is not directed to a single Tadpole or even an Anonymous reader - these are just real life friends and acquaintances that have been doing this since I popped the first kid out, okay? Don't email  me thinking I am talking about you. I'm not. giggle] Okay, so where was I?  Oh, Wallene, so yes. She had what she considered a great birthday. And I love her so much more for it.
• School is going really well for her too. She loves her new school.  Best part of my day is seeing her walk up the road to our house and then sitting on the front porch listening to her go on and on about her new friends and classes, etc.  We have discovered that Band Kids are the same all over. Kind, funny [my gawd Tadpoles these kids are FUNNY] and willing to embrace a newcomer like an old friend. Whew. So we dodged a bullet on thinking she was going to be lonely and friendless. On her third day of school she stayed after with a group of kids to just hang out and help with Marching Band practice.  Our only fail in moving here was we missed Marching Band Camp by 4 days, so she has to wait until next year to march.  No worries - they treat her like one of the team anyway [YAY!] and she is in Symphonic Band with them during classes.
• One final Wallene story and then I will get back to the house. She got her learner's permit on Saturday. Yep! My baby is driving now. She is so cute too. I have been letting her drive Ozcarz [I heard that collective gasp gang. hee] and she is so tense, thinking she is going to wreck him.  I keep telling her she won't and if she did we have awesome insurance so stop worrying.  She'll loosen up in time and I can already tell she loves driving [like her Momma] and will be really good at it soon.
• The house!  Have I mentioned how great this house is?  IT IS.  Steven said it reminded him of his childhood home and I had to agree. It reminds me of mine too.  It was built in the early 80s so it isn't all "open floor plan", high ceilings and bumpouts. It's just a simple brick rambler built on a basement [a HUGE basement mind you, to which we have taken to having wheelchair/roller chair races around the perimeter - too fun!]  The house is plain and simple, but still there is a sense of coziness about it.  The most amazing thing is all of our furniture looks as tho' it was made for this house. It fits wonderfully. I can't even begin to describe it, it just IS.
• Funny story about our first day here - Steven went north to meet the moving van while I went to the new house to wait and clean up a few things.  On my way to the house I had to go potty. The closer I got, the more I had to go. I zipped into the driveway, unlocked the door to our new, entirely empty home and dashed inside. Since I came in through the backdoor I had to go through a few rooms and a hallway to get to the bathroom. The house being so new [and it really isn't that big] I couldn't remember how to get there. I think I managed to visit every room in my quest to find it.  I did, obviously - but never having used the facilities in this home I didn't realize that these toilets were original to the house and therefore quite a bit lower than the new models most of us of used to now.  Guess what happened when I went to sit down where I am used to the seat being? Yep, missed it by a mile and cracked my tailbone on the way down. [Not literally, I am fine, but it was a gorgeous bruise for a few days. hee] I think my neighbors heard the bang when I hit it was so loud.
• This house didn't come with a washer or dryer. Not a big deal because there is a nice Laundromat in town and I can also go to the country house and use theirs, but. . .we actually found the deal of the year on Saturday. We didn't think we would be able to afford a set until after Christmas, but God is smiling on us because the set we found is practically brand new [I don't think they were ever used] without a ding or dent on them. All for the low, low price of $225. Can you believe that? I have been skippyhappydancing for two days over this.  I know, I know the weird stuff that excites me, but it does. And as an added Skippy bonus, just who do you think helped Steven unload the washer? Me! Yes, me! And while he was hooking it up Wallene and I dragged the dryer out of the van and put it in the basement next to the washer. Ta-Da. I can now do laundry in our own home. Yippeee!
• The lawn. Wow. Let me just say that our neighbors take lawn care very serious out here. It is a matter of pride to have a well mowed and maintained lawn.  Which is wonderful and makes our neighborhood extra specially pretty, but we were townhouse dwellers for years. We haven't had to mow a lawn in a decade, let alone even own a lawn mower. Not a problem. My very generous and beloved in laws told us to use the one at the country house. Wonderful, except we have a big yard. Big. Almost an acre. Everyone, and I mean everyone, here owns a lawn tractor.  We will have to be content with mowing our lawn with the push mower for now.  And to be honest Tadpoles, it does not suck.  Between the three of us we managed to mow it in a little over 3 hours.  And yes, that does say "the THREE of us" as in Yes, yours truly helped mow the lawn. I grew up mowing our lawn every week for years and I actually like mowing.  Steven and Wallene didn't want me to do it, and I admit to not being the biggest contributor to the entirety that was cut, but I did my share and by rotating we all got to take a break when we needed. It was pretty awesome Tadpoles. Preeeeeettty awesome. [Pain? What pain? HA!]

I guess that is all for now. I have to get Wallene up for school. Oh, speaking of the school - it is only 1 minute by car from here. So cool.  Walking to school takes 20 minutes and is really hilly, so I drive her in the morning [there is a school bus too, but the route is so circuitous that it is an HOUR long bus ride. ha. no.] and she walks home in the afternoon. Except I may start picking her up so she can practice driving the whole 1 minute home. ::grin::

Okay, gotta' scoot. I hope y'all have a wonderful week and everything is shiny, happy in your pond too.

We'll see ya' on the flipside! xo Janine

Whew! What A Week

We're here!

We are all moved in to our lovely new home on Red Hill Road, in the friendliest little town of Orange Virginia. [That is actually our towns website. The link just happened to come up orange. How coinky dink, eh?]

So . . . Tadpoles?

Life just could NOT be any better than this.

::happy sigh::

I have a frajillion things to tell you and a bunch of pics to share, but right now I am back at the country house tightening some things up from our stay this summer.

When I get back home [HOME! YAY!] I will sit down with my camera and a glass of Kool Aid and regale y’all with the juicy details.

Just know gang that all is right in the pond today.

::Majorskippyhappydance::

Love to y’all. Take care and we’ll see ya’ on the flipside.

xo Janine