Welcome to Fall

We returned from a very quick, last minute, one-night trip to Portland yesterday. It was the perfect chance to get away in the Jeepster and get a bit of a break from normal responsibilities. I like it that my job allows for a bit of spontenaity. We actually packed lots of good stuff into a trip that ended up being only about 32 hours away from home. I'll try to get around to sharing bits and pieces in the next few days.

Until then, I thought that because it is now officially fall (even though it's more of an unusual sunny than a typical fall rainy here), I'd share what I put into the slow-cooker for dinner tonight.We have an overabundance of tomatoes and other random garden yumminess that has needed to be used before it's too late. So this morning, I chopped and chopped vegetables galore, ground in some pepper, threw in some course kosher salt (my favorite), half a bottle of Syrah that I didn't finish last week, a couple of all-natural free range chicken breasts, fresh basil and rosemary, and set the cooker to 10 hours. As I type, the delicious aroma of fresh vegetable chicken catetori is filling the air, even all the way upstairs at the other end of the house, the effect giving my senses the cozy and crisp feeling of fall.

Now I've got to get back to work...things have picked up considerably in the last few days. I'm stoked to be getting into the rhythm of this job.

The Jeepster

Here she is, the Jeepster. It took several frustrating attempts over the past few weeks to finally find the right vehicle with the right features at the right price. Thankfully, the search ended last Monday. She made the cut because she was a fantastic deal (the dealer made an error when advertising her online and posted her for about 3K less than normal - the manager was shaking his head on the price!), she has low milage - only about 21K - so we'll be able to keep her for a long time, she also is 4x4 - a plus because I plan to take her to the mountains to snowboard and also the roads around our house here can be a bit dicey in the winter, she has a V6 engine - not so big that she'll guzzle gas and not so small that I'll have trouble getting up to speed quickly on highways and have to ride in the low lane when driving through the mountains, she's also silver - my 3rd silver vehicle in a row - hides dust and dirt well. She's not the most fancy vehicle out there, and I have to say that I was sad to see my former car go (we traded her in), I even got a little teary eyed at one point. BUT...the Jeepster is the right set of wheels for me, I'm quite happy. We upgraded her roof rack system with some cross bars so she'll be all ready to have the Thule attached to her when we're ready to load up our snowboarding and skiing gear and head to the mountains...wooohooo! It's also no small thing that the search is over, sometimes the car buying process is easy, sometimes not-so-much...this has been a very challenging process. The right car at the right price when you're watching your budget is not an easy order, but the husband and I both feel like we did the right thing. Plus, she's already got a cute nickname, I love talking about the "Jeepster", it makes me happy!

Fresh Cut Flower Friday

This little side table sits between two chairs in our master bedroom. It is one of my favorite places to sit and read or relax...I like it even better when there are fresh flowers there as well. Sooo...doing these little fresh flower show and tell posts has made me consider doing a themed week on my favorite things around my house...I love where I live, we have been blessed with a beautiful home full of wonderful belongings!

Turkeys Come To Visit

Funny thing...As I was finishing up some work in my office upstair this afternoon, I was distracted by the sounds of turkeys and a few chickens calling to each other as they made their way down the driveway and through our front yard...

I guess things like this are pretty normal in the country, but the city girl in me is a die hard and the sight of turkeys strolling through is still funny to me. Pictures were in order...

Figaro came along as I took pictures, he's pretty much done with the idea that he'd like to hunt one and eat it, now he's more interested in following turkeys and chickens around - possibly he wants to be one of them?!

I don't ever look out my windows and people watch like you could do in a busy city, but on the flip side, if I were in a busy city, what are the chances I'd get to see my cat hanging out with turkeys?

Oh! One other thing...check out the new banner, I finally took a little time to learn my way around powerpoint enough to put this together. It was actually pretty easy, I'm kind of suprised that it took me as long as it did to put out the little bit of effort. I guess the part of me that is sometimes a little intimidated by new things was in charge of that... Speaking of which, I am busy with many new things on the job front. I have real courses and students now...teaching online is such a different experience, in many ways I can't believe how much more smooth and relaxed it feels. While on the other hand, there are lots of things for me to learn and remember. I have been enjoying the challenge. I didn't expect to feel so connected to other people while working at home alone...a nice suprise, I was a little worried I'd feel isolated. The flexibility has been a huge relief as well. I have been getting up at about seven each morning and reminding myself that in my former job I'd be walking out the door at that time. The work was a little slow to get going this week, so I have been using the extra time to get things around here done, it's been a nice relief, especially because I was feeling so completely overwhelmed last week! Yesterday I was able to do some thorough house cleaning and Monday we were able to finally end our search for our next car - I plan on sharing a bit about that later this week. The chickens are doing well and have a very tidy coop - I just collected our 6th egg this morning and boiled up a few to go with my lunch today.

It's Wednesday (already?!) I will most likely see you Friday with some more flowers!

Fall Pastels

The shades I typically think of for fall are warm - reds, oranges, yellows - but interestingly though the colors I'm being drawn to right now along with the expected fall shades are these blue and green pastels. The squash above is a hubbard squash that I found at the farmer's market in Yakima. I am going to make a point of preparing it with dinner sometime this week, but right now it's beautiful to look at in my kitchen. The eggs are adding up now...one more since I took this picture. It is still just the one chicken laying, I'm sure the other six are going to begin in the next couple of weeks...I can't wait until I get two eggs (or more!) when I check!

Fresh Cut Flower Friday

This is one of those "two birds with one stone" type of posts. I am continuing with my current Friday theme and also using this post as a show and tell for my recent resolution. By the way, I think September is an excellent time to make "new year's" resolution. Obviously it's not January yet, but in my teacher-trained brain, new beginnings happen in the fall...hence the perfect time for resolutions. My resolution - I may have shared this here before, I can't remember right now - but my new resolution is to have fresh flowers on my desk and my bed side stand at all times. It is a simple thing that brings joy to my day. So far I'm keeping up on my resolution very nicely. I've heard it takes anywhere from 4-6 weeks to establish a new habit, I'm pretty sure I'm heading into week 4!The picture above is a shot of my desk earlier this week, the working from home thing is soemthing I'm still loving and still getting the hang of.

Have a fantastic weekend! We're heading to a Def Leopard concert tomorrow - should be interesting!

Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner! Well not dinner...

...unless you want an omlette for dinner! That's right folks, the waiting is over! Last night I received my first bundle of joy. The husband and I had gone out for a little pre-dinner stroll around our property. We heard some loud chicken squacking out in the garden and went to check it out. I think it was Berkeley having his way with one of the ladies, but I am not completely sure. While out there I checked the nesting boxes as has become my habit to see if there were any deliveries...I honestly didn't expect to see anything. I have never been more happy to not have my expectations met! This is what I saw...I literally jumped for joy and whooped my heart out! The husband and Bambino were with me when I made this fantastic discovery...Bam jumped around with me, always one to enjoy joining in on someone else's happiness, and the husband grinned, gave me a high five and congratulated me on my chickens not being duds. I have checked those nesting boxes so many times without any success, I guess I was beginning to believe that I'd never see an egg. Well, I can proudly say that I have at least one chicken that is neither a dud when it comes to laying nor a rooster that stayed in disguise for nearly 5 months. Actually shortly after I discovered the egg, after I'd snapped a few pictures, and after I'd calmed down a bit, Berkeley started crowing...I think he wants to remind us that his presence there will help to keep those eggs a'comin'. This first egg is a pastel green, a beautiful shade if I do say so...this picture was taken outside at dusk, so it really doesn't do the color of the egg justice. Below is a picture of our egg-cellent little treasure next to a store-bought egg. Our egg is much cuter and prettier don't you think? I am told that in about two weeks or so the eggs will be a more normal size, these first ones are going to be little.

What a fantastic end to my waiting and beginning to my days of collecting eggs! I honestly couldn't be prouder if I'd laid the egg myself! Actually, if I'd laid the egg myself I probably wouldn't be this proud. I'm just sayin'!

On that note I'm proud to announce that the winner of the contest is none other than my lovely friend, Tami...her guess of September 8th and blue was in fact the closest guess. It will be my pleasure to award the prize to you, Tami!