July 27th....1982, A Love Story Begins

It was spring, 1982, and I had just gotten the best job! I worked at Marriot's Great America in Gurnee, IL (Marriott's - as the locals called it - later became Six Flags Great America.)  I was a "dolphin trainer."  No lie!  Through an amazingly weird set of circumstances, I found myself, at age 18 and having just graduated high school, working as a dolphin trainer, emceeing dolphin shows at a theme park. 

See! That's me! And Nemo and Neptune!

I found this photo, below, on the Internet and that is not me on the ladder feeding dead fish to two dolphins as they jump towards my outstretched hands, but it could have been!  I did that!  This is the exact same theater I worked in.

This one IS me with a dead fish in my mouth practicing a new trick that didn't go so well.  I got a nice black eye from a fast moving rostrum to the face.

We put on five shows a day.  I had a dressing room.  It was fun.

Ted also worked at "Marriot's" that year.  He'd worked there for several years by that time, ever since before the park opened.  His house was just down the road.  He was 20 years old, and working his way through college.  His job wasn't as fun as mine.  He was in maintenance, and among other things, one of his responsibilities was to get Wilderness Theater cleaned up and ready for show time each morning. He did that by hosing down the theater seats with a giant fire hose.  These are the very seats he had to clean.  This is where I first saw him.  Right there, in those seats! With a giant fire hose in his hands.  I called him "the hoser."  He was tall and tan, and had jet black hair.  I thought he was beautiful.

So by about 8:00 A.M. every morning, Ted would be working his way through this theater with his giant water hose making sure all the leaves, debris, garbage and sticky cotton candy residue from the day before was thoroughly washed away and I made sure I was sitting out on stage, across the pool from him, playing my guitar or petting a dolphin or reading a book.  I could have just hung out in my dressing room till show time, but I had other plans.  I told all the other girls who worked in Wilderness Theater to stay away from the tall, black haired "hoser guy."  "He's mine," I said.  I told everybody else I knew to tell him the dolphin trainer liked him.  I told Kathy Parent, my fellow dolphin trainer, that someday I was going to marry that handsome, black haired hoser.  I had yet to stand within 50 feet of him.

I had imagined for weeks what the hoser would say to me should we actually come face to face, but it never happened.  I waved to him, smiled at him, flirted with him as best I could from across the dolphin pool, but for almost three, agonizing months, we never met. 

Then one day, July 27th, 1982, my life was changed forever.

Another responsibility that Ted had was to empty the large garbage can that was positioned outside the gated back-stage of Wilderness Theater.  He normally never came into that area, it was dolphin people only.  But one day, a co-worker of mine sneakily dragged the garbage can Ted was supposed to empty into the back-stage and up to my dressing room trailer door.  I swear.  I didn't do it
.

It was hot that day, over 100 degrees.  I had just finished a show and gone back stage.  I needed to cool off and nobody else was around, so I took off the shoes, shirt and shorts that were my show costume and lied down in my swimming suit on the cement platform of the back part of the stage.   I then proceeded to close my eyes and, with a garden hose, douse myself with cool water.  After a few minutes, I opened my eyes.....and low and behold....the hoser was standing over me.  He had come back stage looking for the garbage can.  I hadn't even heard the gate open or his footsteps as he walked up.  But there he was! Right above me! And there I was, dripping wet and barely able to speak!  But I knew I couldn't mess this up so I sat up, turned off the hose and with water still dripping from my hair into my face, I spoke first.....

"I know your name. It's Ted."  

(His Marriott's name tag said "Rocky" because the girl in the office who made the tags thought he looked like Sylvester Stalone.)

"How do you know?" He asked.

"I've been asking around about you."

"What are you doing Friday night?" He asked.

"Nothing."

"Do you want to go out?"

"Sure."

And he turned and walked away. 

July 27, 1982.  The most perfect day of my life so far. 

Later that day, he came back around to my theater and we took a break together, chatted and got to know each other a little bit.  Eventually, I told him that my car was in the shop and my dad was going to be picking me up from work, a 30 mile drive, each way.  Then he said, "Call your dad and tell him not to come.  I'll take you home."  It didn't really matter to me what we talked about after that. 

I was gone.  It was over.

This is Ted before I met him.
 Look at that beautiful black hair. (Oh my...)

This is me, the week before we met.  

 On our first date, I had asked Ted if he'd consider growing a beard.  He asked me if I'd consider growing my hair long.  This is us on Thanksgiving of that year, exactly four months after we met.  He's had a beard and I've had long hair ever since.  

We never spent a day apart after that.  We saw each other every day from July 27, 1982 to July 27, 1983.  We spent that whole day back at Marriott's - the day we celebrated our 1 year anniversary and officially announced our already long agreed upon engagement.

And then we saw each other every single day from July 27th, 1983 to August 17th, 1984, the day we were married before our friends and family.  Look at that beautiful black hair. (Swoon.)

It's been exactly 30 years since that day....that perfect, wondrous day that all the future happiness of the last 30 years hinged upon.  It's been 30 years since I found the other half of me.  It's been exactly 30 years today since God favored me with a blessing I would never deserve.  I'm older now....but I'm not.  It's been a long, long time since then.....but it was yesterday.

Your name is Ted. 

I still can't believe you are really mine. 

 I'll love you till the day I die. 

Happy Anniversary, you beautiful, wonderful man.   

Another Giant Lost

One of the saddest things for me on the farm is to lose a large tree.  We have lost so many over the last several years, from wind or lightning, that I couldn't even count them, giant oaks, sycamores, sweet gums, hickories, maples,walnuts, cherries...so many.  At first, it was always a shock.  What?! That giant tree?  Down?  I don't believe it! One year, in one storm, we lost over 30 large trees. It was more then a shock.  It was a tragedy.  By now, I've come to expect it.  It's just the way it is.  Giant trees fall.  But gosh, I sure hate it.  I especially hate it when it happens to an especially favorite tree. 

This was one of mine. 

Click to enlarge and see the full beauty of this sycamore tree.

It's not a huge tree, but quite a bit larger then it looks in this picture.  It was a sycamore that stood a bit off by itself just as you enter the bottoms along our farm road.  In the summer, (still looking for a summer picture), it was full and shady and gorgeous.  In the winter, as it is in the photo above, it was even more beautiful, white and tall and reaching against the bright blue sky.  I loved this tree.

Here is my favorite sycamore today. 

Sad.  A mild windstorm was all.  We didn't have any other damage.  Just this one tree.  So sad.  The view is so different now, as we come around that corner...so much smaller then it was.  The big ones grow so slowly, and there are less of them than the cedars and other scrub trees.  As they fall, these smaller scrub trees take their place and the landscape becomes completely different.  Each of the old ones is so special to me.  What will our farm look like in 10 years?  20?  I can't imagine it with another 50 or 100 old-growth trees down.  But fall they will, as they do every year.  There is nothing we can do to stop it. I think I'm going to have to start protecting some of the oak, hickory and sycamore saplings we have.  I'll put some wire around them, transplant some to better locations, cut the cedars from around them to provide more light and water.  It may not make a difference for many, many years.  But it's all I can do to try and preserve the beauty that I used to take for granted.  I am so grateful that I knew this lovely tree for the time that I did.  I will miss it for years to come, every time I turn that corner and see nothing but sky straight ahead instead of that pretty white bark. 

Southwest Stuffed Peppers

This recipe is very similar to our Mexican Stuffed Shells, but is low carb.

Ingredients:
Olive oil
1 lb lean ground beef, goat, turkey or pork
1 large chopped onion
1 large grated carrot (optional)
1 Tb taco seasoning
3 bell peppers, halved and seeds removed (red, yellow or orange are best in this dish but green are fine too.)
1 can black beans
1 cup or can of corn
16 Pace Picante sauce
Shredded cheese, (your favorite kind)
Sour Cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Lightly coat the peppers with olive oil and roast in a 9 X 13 baking dish about 25 minutes till just cooked through.  Remove the peppers from the oven and allow to cool until you can handle them.  Brown meat in saute pan and drain.  Saute onion and grated carrot in oil till onions are translucent.  In a large bowl combine meat, onions & carrots, seasoning, beans, corn, and salsa.  Stuff mixture into the peppers.  Sprinkle with shredded cheese.  Bake in the 9 X 13 pan for another 15 - 20 minutes.  Serve with sour cream.

You can add rice to this stuffing if you like or any other vegetables.  

Ted's Favorite Enchiladas

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef (or goat)
1 medium vidalia onion, chopped
1 can black  beans
1 can whole kernel corn (or 1 1/2 cup frozen corn)
12 small corn torillas
12 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
2 cans (15 oz.) enchilada sauce

Brown ground beef and chopped onion in saute pan.  Drain.  Add black beans, corn and half the cheese.  Warm each tortilla in a saute pan sprayed with cooking spray or brushed with oil.  Spray or oil a 9 X 13 glass pan.  Fill each tortilla with ground beef mixture, roll and place in pan seem side down.  Pour enchilada sauce over top and sprinkle with remaining cheddar cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes till bubbly.  Serves with shredded lettuce, diced fresh tomatoes and sour cream if desired.  Serves six.

You could make these with low carb tortillas if you like.  Less and/or low fat cheese and lean ground beef or ground chicken or turkey would make them lower in calories.  

RECIPE: Strawberry Jello Cake

We make this cake at Easter.  It's pretty, colorful, festive, moist and yummy!

Ingredients:
1 boxed white cake plus ingredients to make it
1 large box strawberry Jello
Cool Whip
Strawberries
Granulated sugar

Bake the cake in a 9X13 inch pan according to directions.  Allow to cool.

Mix Jello with 2 cups boiling water and stir till desolved.  Add 1 cup cold water. 

Poke many holes in the cake with a straw. 

Pour Jello over cake and refrigerate till set.

Frost cake with Cool Whip.

Slice strawberries and sprinkle in a little sugar to help make a syrup.  Regrigerate till ready to serve. 

Serve a slice of cake with some strawberries.

RECIPE: Crock Pot Mushroom Beef with Gravy

Beef round steak, cut into serving sized pieces
( I like the steak to be thick, 1 inch or more.)
1 T oil
Salt and pepper
Mushrooms, sliced, fresh or canned
2 cups beef stock
1 large onion, sliced
4 T flour

Season beef with salt and pepper.  Brown the pieces in a skillet with a little oil.  Do not crowd the pan.  Seer them quickly to a nice dark brown.  Place in crock pot.  De-glaze the pan with 1 cup stock and add to pot.  Combine flour with 1 cup stock and add to the pot.  Add onions and sliced mushrooms.  Cook on low several hours till beef is fall apart tender.  Serve over mashed potatoes or egg noodles if desired. 

Target Shooting

 Josh got a new handgun and brought it over to let us shoot it.  He's also helping Ted decide what kind and size of gun to get for himself.  This one is a Sig Sauer 1911.  I have no idea what all that means but it was fun to shoot! 

 I have a handicap.  I can't wink my left eye - only my right.  But a right handed shooter needs to be able to aim with their left eye closed, so Josh stands behind me and holds my eye closed!  With his help, I hit the bull's eye on the target page below. The center hole in the top left bull's eye is mine! The bottom right bull's eye is Josh's. 

ClaireAnna practiced with Granpa's 22 rifle.

Claire's holes are on the bottom left bull's eye. 

Sniper At Fourteen Weeks

14 weeks, about 40 lbs.

FARM TIP: Easy, Inexpensive Hay Rack

Today, I quickly made two hay racks for my nanny goats that are in the kidding pens awaiting the big event.  There are several reasons to make your own hay racks to use in small animal enclosures.

1. They are easy.
2. Purchased hay racks are expensive.
3. They save hay by minimizing waste.
4. They are completely safe unlike hay nets. 
5. It's a good way to use up extra welded wire you may have laying around.

We've made ours out of 1" X 1", 1" X 2", and even 2" X 4" welded wire.  What ever we have on hand.  The smaller the mesh, the less hay falls out of the back side of the rack.  This rack is made of 1" X 2" wire.

1. Cut a piece of wire to the desired size. There is no perfect size, but make it at least as big as a flake of hay.  I randomly made this one 33 sections across by 14 sections high which turns out to be about 33" X 28".   

2. Cut out notches on the bottom two corners.  My notches are 6 sections by 3 sections or about 6" X 6" squares.  

This is my finished cut piece of wire for the hay rack. (Not laying flat.)

 3. Leave the verticals attached to your piece and then fold them down with a pliers to prevent sharp edges on the top of hay rack.  Trust me on this......would you like to see my arms?

 4. Attach the narrow, bottom section of your wire piece to the panel or gate first.  Then fold over the sides and attach them, being sure to pop out the wire to make a pocket.  I used zip ties to make this rack because I was alone and in a hurry.  I will go back later and use hog rings or some wire to secure it permanently.

Click this picture to enlarge and see the detail of the corner.

That's it! Easy peasy! Just fill it with hay.  The goat or sheep can just pull the hay through from the inside of his pen.

RECIPE: Cheesy Corn Chowder

1 large onion, diced
1 large red or yellow bell pepper, diced
3 slices bacon, cut into pieces
3 cups corn, frozen or fresh off the cop
1 stick of butter
1/4 cup flour
3 cups chicken stock
2 cups half & half
1 heaping cup grated pepper jack cheese
1 heaping cup grated monterey jack cheese
1/3 cup green onion, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large dutch oven, melt butter on medium heat and saute the onion.  Then add the bacon and saute for a couple of minutes.  Then add the pepper and saute 2 minutes more.  Add the corn and saute 2 minutes more.  Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables, stir and saute 2 minutes or so.  Stir in stock and bring to a boil to thicken.  Reduce heat and add half and half.  Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes.  Add cheese and stir to melt and combine.  Then stir in green onions and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve.

*Adapted from a recipe found on www.thepioneerwoman.com

RECEPE: Potato and Ham Soup

4 cups peeled, 1/2 inch diced potatoes
2 cups 1/2 inch diced ham
1/3 cup diced celery (optional)
1/2 large onion, diced
3 or 4 cups chicken stock
5 T butter
5 T flour
2 cups milk or half & half
salt and pepper to taste

In a large dutch oven, place potatoes, celery, ham and chicken stock.  Simmer till potatoes are tender.  In a separate skillet, saute onions slowly on medium heat in butter till translucent and tender.  Then sprinkle onions with flour and stir, cooking for a couple of minutes.  Whisk in milk/ half & half till think and bubbly.  When potatoes are tender, pour milk mixture into soup and stir to incorporate.   Salt and pepper to taste and serve. 

True Story

Last Saturday, I drove Ted's pick-up truck and the 24' stock trailer full of cattle to the sale barn at Blackwell....by myself. 

Ted was busy.......

You see, he knew that ClaireAnna really wanted to get her hair cut. So after he had gotten his hair trimmed on Friday, he made an appointment for her for Saturday morning as a surprise.  He not only made the appointment himself, he really wanted to be the one to take her so he could see the excitement on her face when she saw her new style.

This is the third time she has cut off all her hair and donated it to cancer patients' wigs.

Having a husband who knows I'm capable and trusts me to do manly farmer stuff like drive the stick shift diesel truck pulling a 24' stock trailer full of cows to the sale barn 25 minutes away on the interstate......pretty neat.

Having a marriage where traditional gender roles don't really matter, in a relationship that is a true partnership.....totally awesome!

Having a husband who is so connected and committed to his daughter that he would not only make her an appointment for her hair cut but then really, really want to be the one to take her even though he had other manly farmer stuff to do........PRICELESS!

Making Dog Treats

Step 1: Raise and butcher your own steer and hogs for about 6 years. 

Step 2: Never eat the heart or liver because that's just gross. 

Step 3: Clean out your freezer and thaw all the hearts and livers you've collected for the last 6 years.  It will be 10 or 15 lbs of organ meat.

Step 4: Fry it all up. 

Ewwww.

Cook it all the way to the well done, rubbery stage or it will be difficult to cut into tiny pieces.

 

Step 5: Cut it all up. 

Cut it as tiny as you can. Our bits did get bigger and bigger as we went along.  

 Step  6: Bag it all up and freeze. 

ClaireAnna helped chop and bag.

Thirty-seven cups of liver/ heart dog treats, individually bagged and ready for the freezer.

This looks like a lot, but when you are working with a dog every day, you can go through a lot of dog treats!  We'll use about a bag a day between the two puppies and Shani, who is not in training, but gets some anyway because I love her.  So at least for the next 37 days, I will not need to buy any Pupperonis!

LAPBOOK: Chemistry

 We took over a year to make this lapbook.  The unit study and printables can be found HERE.  We went through the book Christian Kids Explore Chemistry and as we came to appropriate sections, would complete the section and mini book from the unit study.  We also did some extra experiments, took photos and did a mini book on them.  Some of our mini books we made up ourselves but most are from the free one online.  Once we were done with our chemistry study, we had an envelope full of mini books to put into the lapbook.  We also printed off several photos, charts and graphs to include.  This is the biggest and most complete lapbook we've ever done. It was lots of fun and is now a great tool for review for ClaireAnna.  Click on the photos to enlarge.

This middle section contains several mini reports of important chemists.
On the right is a time line of their lives and a map showing country of origin. 

We learned about molecules, atoms and nano particles.

We learned what every bit of information on the periodic table stands for. 

We learned all about the different sections of the periodic table. 

 This pocket contains pictures of molecules made with this molecule kit.
On the back is the name of the molecule in words and symbols. 

RECIPE: Fruit Smoothies

You can make fruit smoothies a million different ways.  Sometimes I use yogurt.  Sometime I don't.  Sometimes I use ice, sometimes, just the frozen fruit.  I always save the juice from canned pineapple and canned peaches in a container in the freezer for smoothies later.  Here is a typical fruit smoothie that I make.

1 cup fruit juice (I like grape and pineapple the best.)
1/2 container of yogurt, any fruit flavor
1 capfull of lime juice
1 T sugar (totally optional)
1/2 bananna
3 or so cups of fruit
  pineapple, canned or fresh
  peaches, canned, fresh or frozen
  strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, fresh or frozen

In a high speed blender, blend juice, yogurt, lime juice and banana first.  Then add fresh or canned fruit and blend.  Last add frozen fruit.  You may need to add some water if the mixture is too thick.  You can add shaved ice if you like.  This amount makes 2 large smoothies.   Trying to make 4 smoothies at one time in my blender is too much for the machine.  I just do this twice.

Goat Working Day

 Back in the middle of December was a goat working day.  This means attending to regular goat maintenance, something we do several times a year.   First, we put them all out of the goat pen and bring the stand in.  Then, everybody takes a turn up on the stand and is let go into the goat pen when they are finished.

Some does in the barn alley way, waiting their turn to get back into the pen. 

Romeo was first on the stand.  What a monster!
You can see in the background, ClaireAnna is feeding Shani
some hoof trimmings. 

Munching away!
Dogs LOVE hoof trimmings of any kind.
Shani wouldn't miss goat working day for anything! 

We love this goat stand we bought used from a goat farmer going out of business. 

 It saves a lot of wear and tear on our backs! 

Every goat got a hoof trimming, a CD & T shot (vaccinations for disease), a selenium shot (to prevent deficiency in the kids) and finally, dewormed. 

One of ClaireAnna's jobs is to crank up the stand. 

Trimming is not easy only because the goats don't like it and
they pull their feet out of your hand quite a bit.
Some are worse then others.  Kate's pretty good at it. 

Claire is learning to trim the goats' feet. 

I give the shots.

Job's all done.  Time to play.