Among Many Things

"And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof."

Jeremiah 2:7

This is one of the things I managed to squeeze into today. I started the day out canning these peaches before rushing PC off for his two month immunization shots. Sir actually had to take them out of the canner for me since I ended up running out of time. When we got home there was the canning clean-up process, vacuuming, setting up the nursery so PC could join Dolly tonight, laundry to do, and meat to marinate for the shishkabobs we're going to serve at our 4th annual barbecue. It's only 10:30, and all I have left to do, is marinate the meat!

Baby D. Has Landed!

As you can see, Doc and Bashful had their baby today - right on his due date too! Baby D. arrived close to 1:30 this afternoon weighing 8lbs, 6oz. Sir and I went to see him this evening while Dolly got to spend the night with M&T. PC had to wait in the waiting room once we got to the hospital, so he and Dolly will get to see their new cousin in a few days. I got a cute picture sequence of Baby D.'s siblings getting to hold him and of course we couldn't leave without a Family Photo.

'Friends are Forever'

What more can I say?

Bob!

This is Chasm and HisLady's new arrival. Not many babies are born with nicknames, but conviently 'Bob' was... at least it makes it easy for me to blog about him that way. His real name is much longer in case anyone really thought they settled for "Bob"! Anyway, he arrived bright and early this morning at around 3 a.m.; Chasm called us at 9:30 to share their happy news; and we packed up and went to the hospital for an afternoon visit. That gave us the opportunity to get Bob's photograph (for me to blog with of course!) and we got a couple shots of the new family together as well. Chasm and HisLady will get to take Bob home tomorrow sometime... I'm sure they're looking forward to that!

Curry!

This curry recipe is a modified, combined and doubled version of a cook book recipe and an internet recipe. I omitted things I didn't like the sound of, and kept what looked good. It actually turned out pretty good so I thought I'd record the changes I made and share it.

Csanyi Chicken Curry
Serves 12-14

• 4 lbs chicken - boned, and cubed.
  
• 6 Tbs flour
  
• 4 tsp salt
  
• 4 pinches chili flakes
  
• 1 tsp pepper
  
• 4 Tbs vegetable oil

Toss chicken pieces in flour, salt, pepper and chili flakes. Heat oil in large skillet. Brown chicken well. Set aside.

• 3 onions - chopped
  
• 4 cloves garlic - crushed
  
• 2 tart apples - chopped
  
• 2 red or yellow peppers - diced

Sautée and set aside.

• ½ c flour
  
• 1 c butter
  
• 8 tsp curry powder
  
• 2 Tbs sugar
  
• 1 tsp ginger
  
• ½ tsp dry mustard
  
• ½ tsp pepper
  
• 2 medium tomatoes - chopped
  
• 6 c chicken broth
  
• ½ c shredded coconut

Cook and stir butter, curry powder, flour, sugar, ginger, mustard, pepper and tomatoes. Cook, stirring occasionally, 5 min. Add Sautéed vegetables. Stir in coconut and chicken broth. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer1 hour stirring occasionally.

• 1 c raisins

Add raisins and chicken to sauce. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally about 25 minutes.

Dolly - 18 Months Old!

"He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom."

Isaiah 40:11

Many Talents

Among his many talents, my knight can cook! And yes, I mean more than just boiling water. Tonight he spoiled me with this absolutely delicious meal of barbecued baby-back pork ribs, flame-grilled vegetables (Belgian endives and onions), and rice!

After about 20 min this is all that was left. It was so good I could have almost fallen asleep eating it. I was whisked back to my childhood days on the range. Hey, we even had PC's vibrating chair replicating the crickets! Definitely worth waiting until 9:45! Thank you Sir!!

Prince Charming - One Month Old

"Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise."

Genesis 49:8

Camping!

This is where we spent the weekend with Sir's clan. Baker Lake Resort, nestled in the foothills of Mt. Baker in western Washington. After spending five hours more than we had planned packing and puzzling all our gear into our car, we finally got away. Faithful had a portable bassinet we could borrow for PC and I had a cat carrier I was giving her, so we met her and the boys in Burlington. The bassinet was a life saver since it could fold up into almost nothing. It was off the ground too, so I wouldn't have to worry about PC getting chilled. While we swapped stuff, the kids ran off some energy on the grass. Before heading on our way again I snapped a few shots of the cousins together.

We arrived at the campsite D&L had reserved late Thursday night and set up our tent in what was left of the rain. Dad, Mom and Hockeyman were already there too. Friday was cloudy, but dry and Saturday was absolutely beautiful! P&T arrived late-afternoon Friday and everyone was able to fit in the one campsite. Yes, all five tents! I could only get four of them in a picture at once though because they were spread out so much. We were right next to the bathrooms which was really nice, but that was also where the only campground showers were. So there was lots of traffic too.

D&L brought a boat, so Friday morning they took Dad and Hockeyman out in it to fish. PC and I tried to make some order out of our tent (you can see the before and after pictures here) and then we joined Sir, Mom, and Dolly for a walk around the campground and down to the beach. We were scouting out shore fishing spots for Sir since he was planning on fishing later that afternoon. We stopped for a while at the beach and ate the snacks we had brought along. Dolly played with her toys and I pulled out the trusty camera yet again.

After lunch PC, Dolly and I took naps while Sir went fishing. D&L took him out in the boat and after about an hour of fishing he caught a White Sucker fish! Of course there were volunteer fish -Bullheads?- that must have known they were too small to keep that risked being hooked just to get as much worm as possible. Sir's fish was 16" long and weighed a little over 1.5lbs. Mom cooked it up the next day and all that fish turned into 8 bite-sized pieces that was shared around to those who wanted a taste. We didn't know what kind of fish it was until we got home and looked it up, but it was the only 'catch' of the weekend.

Later that afternoon Dad, D&L and Hockeyman went out to give water-skiing a try. While they were out I got some pictures of Dolly playing Peek-A-Boo. Then P&T showed up early. We didn't think they'd get away until later, but they made it in time for supper. P brought his guitar and played a bit by the fire that evening while Dolly caught up a bit with her only girl cousin.

Like I said, Saturday was absolutely beautiful. After lunch we took the kids down to the beach to wear them out before naptime. Mom and T joined them in the water. It was colder than it had seemed the day before in spite of the sunshine. D&L took Hockeyman out in the boat and inner tube while Dad, P and Sir watched from shore. PC enjoyed the shade of an umbrella and Dolly stayed 'safe' near Sir after trying out the water and deciding it was not a fun idea.

As I was looking through my pictures I noticed there was one shot that had almost all of Sir's original clan. Nobody's paying attention to the camera, but I thought it might be fun to include it anyway. That said, I had to find a shot with the missing member and of course, nobody's looking at the camera there either. And finally, you can't go camping and have everything go perfectly, so I had to include a before and after shot of Dad and Mom's tent. It just decided to collapse for no apparent reason at all.

So the first camping trip of the year was a huge success! Something to definitely be thankful for!