To find your prince - at least that may be one story in tiny pond outside breakfast nook windows. Had big plans about changing up pond - adding trickling water rocks and generally spiffing it up. Somehow the costs in energy and finances of dealing with DH's recent health kick in the pants (aka stroke) has ended up with an amusement park for toads and frogs. Only the smoother skinned pointed snout one is a frog - all others are toads.
We got a real laugh from the morning line up (the toads get in water to eat whatever they find and rehydrate) to exit pond. Larger toad appears to be practicing for some serious rockclimbing.
Doesn't take much to amuse us here on Buhlaland - and that is good - with weather guessers doing a countdown on number of 10o F days in a row - we are grateful for inexpensive amusement close to the air conditioned ceiling fanned house!
Our trusty Amana convection wall oven is currently a kitchen hazard - doesn't cook properly (or at all?) DH is working on the resolution of our problem . In the meantime - spice drawer on the floor and pan lids in drawer in dining area - even more confusing than my normal life here on Buhlaland. But it IS good my DH is so clever at repair. Even gooder (my blog my vocabulary!) - I can't bake anything - a good thing here on Buhlaland (the home of overindulgence in all food with butter and sugar)
Yes it is good on Buhlaland for our cholesterol, waisterol and fatterol I cannot make THESE right now - but nothing says YOU can't!
Mini Chip Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
1/4 cup shortening
½ cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 cups miniature semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)
FILLING:
2 packages (8 ounceseach) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
In a large bowl, cream shortening and sugars until light and fluffy.
Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, salt and baking soda;
gradually add to the creamed mixture until blended. Fold in the
chocolate chips and pecans.
Set aside a third of the dough for topping. Press remaining dough
into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 8
minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth.
Beat in eggs and vanilla. Spoon over crust.
Drop teaspoonfuls of reserved dough over filling. Bake at 350°
for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Cover
I have done pictures about the chickens since we brought home the little fluffy chicks back in 2009 - but a couple of blog friends were asking about housing - walk in coop versus reach in - that kind of thing so I'm posting a variety of picture of what DH designed and built. The Coop Mahal has served us very well - housing 8 full grown hens and being relatively easy to clean and access the egg boxes. Egg boxes are the little extension on back - has a flap door which can be opened - get eggs or clean out boxes and closed up tight. Front is covered in some pictures to stay warmer but coop is built on fresh air principles with front section (red painted wood) being a hinged area able to open fully for cleaning. Coop Mahal also has a window on east end to maintain good air circulation during warm weather. We have an enclosed run for protection from predators - although we allow cluckers out for a while most days - they can dust bathe and scratch and eat food scraps in the run with fewer dangers.
Not a fascinating blog post but might give some folks ideas about housing. We like the raised off the ground thing - better air circulation - gives a nice shade area underneath and lessens the attacks from snakes. It is great to go out and gather your own fresh eggs - worth some effort and trouble. It is good on Buhlaland to have steady food source to share with friends!
A snippet is defined as a small piece of something, these photos are small pieces from the quilt of our summer here on Buhlaland.
Long shadows and easy to see where our sprinklers reach and don't reach in backyard - brown versus green is demarcation line.
Tadpoles hatching - you can see a tail on one - most are still curled up around egg sac getting their nutrition from built in feed source.
Egyptian lily is all I know to call this exotic bloom - heat and winds so strong even as buds open they are blasted brown on the edges.
Last snippet was a supperet - stopped at the farmers market intending to buy local honey (seen in background of picture) but the fragrance of fully ripened local cantaloupes got to me - impulse buy turned into most of supper! It is good - hot hot hot and dry but in the essentials very good on Buhlaland - maybe my brain will support more than snippets soon.
A video on youtube is being circulated through emails - while we are cautious about viral videos especially distributed via the internet - well this one seems to check out. I don't believe I have EVER heard the additional verses to our national anthem. The slight mistake made by the gentleman (not the second verse but the fourth verse) doesn't diminish the dignity of his statement. No I'm not starting a political discussion. I will close comments on my blog for a while as a preventative measure because I've seen some of the comments left on other sites by those who don't believe in free speech (well they believe in their rights but don't respect the rights of others). Whoever chooses to read please take time to digest the concepts.
Bless y'all - it is good Buhlaland is in the land of the free and the home of the willing to learn.
O! say can you see by the dawn’s early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming, Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there; O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave, O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep, Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes, What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep, As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses? Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam, In full glory reflected now shines in the stream: ’Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion, A home and a country, should leave us no more? Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution. No refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave: And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave, O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand Between their loved home and the war’s desolation. Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heav’n rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto: “In God is our trust;” And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Looking closely at our country (Butterscotch is not camera shy)
- lest we forget why we celebrated July 4, 1776
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,"
All the powers of government are from the consent of the governed - or as the great philosopher Pogo said
We appear as a country to be our own worst enemy in recent years. Americans elect people based with skewed values and when the elected officials turn out as useless (also known as without backbone, good sense or virtue) as the previous bunch - we just pick more like'em. We are not advocating Rick Perry for President - he isn't even a favorite Texas governor - but he is definitely onto something with this proclamation.Rick Perry's Proclamation
Life on Buhlaland doesn't depend on the government for our values. We don't need government telling us it is acceptable to destroy life if it isn't convenient, to defend evil and call it good, or to recreate the definition of being married. For those who are confused this election season- if you need a reference book or two - we strongly suggest the Basic Information Before Leaving Earth and on politics you might try these time tested writings. We're just suggesting - it is good on Buhlaland and with some determination, willingness to take charge again and the most uncommon of qualities - common sense - it can be good in America again. Bless y'all and if you aren't praying for rain in the southwest - well please start - we are dry as a powder keg - both precipitation wise and politics wise.
To find your prince - at least that may be one story in tiny pond outside breakfast nook windows. Had big plans about changing up pond - adding trickling water rocks and generally spiffing it up. Somehow the costs in energy and finances of dealing with DH's recent health kick in the pants (aka stroke) has ended up with an amusement park for toads and frogs. Only the smoother skinned pointed snout one is a frog - all others are toads. 
