Bunnies for meat and a stroll through Historic Schoenbrunn

Today I wanted to show off some of the bunnies from the farm, you all met John the neighbor before, what a critter he is, you just never know what he is going to do or get into! I always find "treasures" on my back porch that he thinks I will like, if it's something he is going to trash, he brings it to my porch instead just in case I want it LOL and Cora knows also that "Laurrie will take it", so she gives John the goods and he drags them over here, gotta love them!

the neighbors! We get our beef and lovely brown eggs from these folks (as well as all those treasures)

and like I said, you just NEVER have a clue what he will drag out of one of his barns or sheds, one day he showed up in our driveway on THIS! all proud as a peacock too LOL

 talk about vintage LOL

I guess you just have to get them out on occasion to keep the beasts running!

 now meet the "meat bunnies" they get HUGE, and are awesome in the freezer, yea I know, they are cute

but they do make some great suppers, at least we know what goes into them, and well, can I just say they are the best bunnies in my opinion :)

We are fortunate enough to live near HISTORIC SCHOENBRUNN VILLAGE

in fact, my husband grew up real close to there, the park was his stomping grounds as a kid and now his brother actually owns a portion of the park area - we call it the family pond, there is an acre old gravel pit pond that we love to go swimming and have gatherings at during the hot summer months!

but for today I will show you the park area at Schoenbrunn, many a family walk has been taken there, family reunions held there too in this pavilion

so pretty and peaceful there (still have picnic tables in there too)

 the grounds used to be covered with picnic tables and little grills, today only one single grill remains, and the grill/grate portion is missing

 it's not used so much anymore and you can rarely find anyone down here, I used to mow this area as a volunteer every Monday :)

 then there is the "wishing well" it doesn't hold water any longer but it's still a gorgeous piece of history

lots of family photos taken around here

We even had a hog roast down here for one of our reunions, plenty of space for all the generations to play and run around, trails to walk and lots of wildlife to see

the road my brother in law made from his pond property over to the park, lovely fall walk :)

Hope you enjoyed your little visit ~ please stop back again soon.

Peel & Stick Laminate Flooring

Howdy folks, it's mid November and it's time for an update, we have been here at this home for 3 months and it's time for updating that kitchen linoleum I showed you in an earlier post, it was original from 1965 and it was well past its prime, was held together with tape!! worn through in areas and showed the underlayment, so I held off as long as I could to redo with nice flooring, but decided since my hubby is a cabinet builder, why not wait until he rebuilds the kitchen to do the "good floor?" so for my temporary fix, I purchased 3 boxes of inexpensive floor tile, $30 bucks for a cheap fix, oh yea I can handle that, and get it all done while hubby is at work, that's the best time, sneak things in and not tell him, then I can't get an argument out of him on what I am planning tee hee

so how about the before shot of the lovely floor we were blessed with when we moved in

remember this . . .

ahhh yes, I see you DO remember that lovely flooring, remember that washer and dryer stuff too don't ya? lol just remember it's gone already HA so there

so here we go, let's put down this tile, it's a piece of cake, 3 boxes of this stuff from no where else but Family Dollar store, cheapest I could find trust me, that way I am not out much if I don't like it or don't do a good job, at $10 a box, I only needed 3 boxes to complete both the kitchen and dining room side

 I chose something neutral with this pattern, I mean, after all this is a farm and there IS a LOT of dirt out there to be drug inside, so I wanted something that would at least appear pretty and hide some dirt if it got tracked inside

just sit yourself down after you clean the original flooring surface really good and let it dry, and simple as that - start along a wall and follow the little arrows on the back, peel that puppy and stick it in place!

look how pretty and new compared to the old stuff 

 told ya, see how easy this is!!

just press it down really good before you move onto the next one, keep your lines straight and follow the arrows and before a few hours pass, you will have a new floor!

I butted it right up there to the hardwood pine flooring that leads to the hallway, easy peasy, and see the "nook" where the washer and dryer used to be there behind the door, yup, it's gone, the fridge now is housed there and hubby built me pantry shelves!!! WOOT WOOT it's a very nice storage area for the canned goods and other odds n ends, eventually I wish to put doors on it but for now I am just happy with the storage space and NO washer/dryer behind that door!

do you also remember where the old stove top was in the countertop and the cabinets that hung above it, I said they had to go because it blocked off too much of the kitchen, I felt it needed gone so the rooms would feel more together instead of closed off from each other (and look at that old dirty wall paper up there!!!)

there ya go, the before kitchen cabinet with the stove top burners and the upper cabinets that blocked my view to the dining room . . . 

and here is after hubby removed the stove top, filled in with a piece of plywood until we get the laminate to redo the countertops, he has removed the upper cabinet and oven hood, we still need to patch the holes in the soffit and I will have to repaint that area (notice that old wallpaper is GONE), and those cabinets, yes I still think they are too orange colored, one of these days I am going to change them out!!!

You can also see that new floor, isn't it pretty? It needs walked on to get it all down good and sealed/adhered but I am more than happy with my $30 purchase!! Complete  in about 5 hours.

now how about some cookie making in this new area?

 14 years old, it's time she makes her own cookies, today it happens to be peanut butter, her favorite

Yummies

Want her recipe?

Peanut Butter Cookies

(about 2 dozen)

  1/2 cup granulated white sugar

  1/2 cup packed brown sugar

  1/2 cup butter softened

  1/2 cup peanut butter

    1 egg

1-1/4 cup flour

  3/4 teaspoon baking soda

  1/2 teaspoon baking powder

  1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Beat the butter until creamy, add the sugars, beat for couple minutes. Mix in the peanut butter and egg.  Mix together the dry ingredients - flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir the dry  ingredients into the sugar butter mixture.

2. Wrap dough in plastic & refrigerate at least 3 hours. (we just cover the mixing bowl and set in fridge)

3. Preheat oven to 375°F. Shape dough into 1 1/4 inch balls. Roll in sugar if you want.

Place about 3 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

Flatten in crisscross pattern with a fork. Bake til light brown (9-10 minutes).

Cool on baking sheet briefly then transfer to wire rack to cool.

For chewier cookies, bake at 300°F for 15 minutes.

hubby was impressed with the new floor when he got home (and the cookies!!), I love not telling him anything about my projects until I do them HA like I said, he can't tell me no if they are complete when he walks in the door right?

Just have all your stuff planned out, get yourself started as soon as he is out the door for work and it will be all done for when he walks in the door after work!!

He might even like it and play you a tune :)

How about some Skynyrd babe???

Firepit & Cookout Time

It's November already!

Where has the time gone, we have been at the new homestead for 3 months now, so many things we have "in the works" like a new sidewalk, building a fire pit area for fires and family gatherings

Even made a wreath for the front door area

Remember I talked about my box turtles usually around end of October they head into hibernation, well, here is Bucky, he isn't ready yet ~  I think Baby, Jack & Jill have already headed "down under" but for Bucky, he knows when I throw earth worms in there on his feeding slate, he may as well stick above ground for a few more treats, Bucky is my handicapped baby, well not a baby, he is over 40 years old!!! He had his front claw-foot area chopped off or eaten off sometime or another, he was a rescue, a lovely gal had him in New Jersey as her pet for  38 YEARS, when she had to be placed into a nursing home, her granddaughter contacted me to see if I could take the pair she had, I gladly accepted, we didn't want to ship them, so she drove to Ohio to bring them to me! I am honored to have these old babies

Bucky eats the worms up as fast as I drop them in there for him, he loves apples, bananas, strawberries, well truth be told, there really isn't much he doesn't like!

Just look at him, "more mama?" my slate is empty  LOL

but he better be heading south soon, I don't want winter sneaking up on him

Still pretty weather for middle of November, the girls went for a 4 wheeler ride and as usual had a blast

Wanted to show a further back shot off the hillside, you can see the end of the house where I created the new walkway, and where it stops for now

you can also see I have some patio area laid out under the sweetgum tree, I also plan for a firepit there made out of field stone when I get it all drug down out of the field!

Just a pretty side yard view, I have an idea to build a raised bed around the sweetgum tree where the field stone are now, to the right are 2 chestnut trees that are 45 years old, they leave a horrid mess and we can't walk barefoot there, I do believe as much as I hate to, that these will be coming down, each time the wind blows we are picking up huge branches that are old, rotted and dead, time to replace them I think with something different but I know as soon as I do I will miss the shade they provide.

There is the temporary fire area, outlined it to see how the size would work for us during our gatherings, of which, we are having one tonight! got out the ole' stumps and hacked off some weinie sticks . . .

always a great time to have friends over to sit around a fire!

and roast some weinies too

yes, I think that area I had laid out will work, perhaps just a "little" bigger when I get the field stones rooted out and drug out of the field . . .

and well I thought it was time for a change, I lopped off over a foot of hair! Then had my 14 year old daughter give me "highlights" and yes I am happy with it!! Good job!! LOL maybe she will become a beautician? Naw, highly doubt that, more like a dare devil.

See you folks next time!!

New box turtles from New Jersey

I have 2 new boxies, brand new box turtles from a lady who shares the same name as me "Laurrie" they were her grandmother's turtles, she had them for 38 & 40 years but had to go into assisted living, nobody in the family wanted to deal with them, so they found me to take them, they came to Ohio from New Jersey!

She had gotten the male first and he had part of his front leg missing, then 5 years later she rescued the female from a group of kids tossing it around in the street like a softball, she kept them in an outdoor pen but they had wire fencing separating them, so this was the first time they get to be together in the same enclosure

they had a very comfortable car ride here, we met about an hours drive from my house and she handed them over to me, I asked for a photo and she was happy to oblige

top is the male

and here is the female - getting their first bath in my sink before I put them outside in their enclosure

 getting used to the enclosure they now have

 I say, are you down there, come here baby!!!
oh dear, he is soo happy to be in the same space as she is that he will try anything to breed after looking through the fence at her for 38 years!

whoa! well I believe he got what he was wanting, breeding turtles - who would have thunk it LOL