Christmas Decorations Through the Years

Perhaps a too grandiose title for three years of Buhl houseviews in December. We like putting up lights even though only neighbors directly to the north can see them (except for Santa and low flying planes). Snowy picture was December 2009, darker picture was this morning and straight on view in twilight was two years ago. We keep design the same - white lights/around porch railings the end.

Room with lights on in all three is our office - scene of the crime of procrastination for regular bloggyinnovation. Quiet holiday planned - grateful for a safe, pleasant place to live, friends who care enough to contact us during the holidays and pleasant surprises. Christmas Day we'll go to neighbors -always fun to be included during holidays.

On the great debate of Happy Holidays versus Merry Christmas - I tend to come down on the Christmas side. Obviously (to me at least) in modern western society - the December holiday is about Christ's Incarnation. However - if someone were to say happy holidays to me I would not be offended. Starting to believe we Christ followers have taken up the same ugly tactic as secular world - being OFFENDED. Heaven and hell issues are about the only two issues worth standing resolute about and unfortunately we have seen lately some hell issues which have gone to wall of rational thought and pushed it down (wrong direction in my opinion). Borrowing a quote from this weeks' devotionals by Dr. David Jeremiah

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"An old prayer, purportedly from a seventeenth-century nun, says: 'Lord, you know better than I know myself that I am getting older and will someday be old. Keep me from the fatal habit of thinking I must say something on every subject and on every occasion. Release me from craving to straighten out everybody’s affairs. Make me thoughtful but not moody, helpful but not bossy. With my vast store of wisdom it seems a pity not to use it all, but You know, Lord, that I want a few friends at the end."

Evidently all my great thimble full of wisdom doesn't need to be "shared" with everyone I encounter - what a shame. Taking my stand for Christ and for love which trumps all.

One more quote which I'm sure I've published here before - but still really love.

"So, this Christmas season I pray that the warmth of the Savior's love will spread itself over you as never before. And that whenever and however possible, you will keep reminding yourself that there are still tiny, shivering sparrows who are too terrified to come in from the cold. Maybe, just maybe, this Christmas, because of something you do or say . . . they will." Chuck Swindoll

Bless all of us whether we are sparrows,robins, mockingbirds, doves, meadowlarks, raptors or grackles - we all need a shelter of warmth and kindness. Merry Christmas Y'all - if you need wisdom you'd best pray and read scripture. If you need a good recipe - you can ask me. If you need a place to stop, reflect on the infinite mercies and grace of our Creator - it is good on Buhlaland.
Y'all be careful out there.

Good to have a Friend

I've been a little tired - for what seems a long while but tired distorts my sense of time and probably proportion. This morning -this glorious summery SonDay morning - the gifts of rest, restoration and worship are mine to enjoy. While shooting a picture directly at a light source isn't "right" - I loved the effect of pure light breaking through. The light breaks through both visually and emotionally - and yes spiritually. I do have a friend - who will be with me to the end. Life is blessed on Buhlaland with productive work, times of tiredness leading to surrendering to rest. Bless y'all - sit a while and think of how the light reaches you. It is good on Buhlaland - and restful

Oh Susannah

Susannah - daughter of Montana who is the daughter of Hannah daughter of Crybaby. Sweet little Susannah is the smallest of the Class of 2010 on Buhlaland. On the right you see a picture of very feisty and rowdy kids - you do not see Susannah in this picture.









Here is Susannah - within a few minutes of her birth - she has been cleaned up and able to nurse so now resting to get energy after an abrupt and probably frightening entry into the world.

Susannah likes to "hang out" with her mama - Montana isn't the best mom in our little herd but she is all Susannah knows.

Montana has a year old daughter from Class of 2009 - we broke the cutesy pattern of names in 2009 - little doe's name is Sugar Pie (as in Sugar Pie Honey Bunch - you know that I love you) Sugar Pie is a tad jealous of mama's attention being given to intruder Susannah - as in the family portrait where she tries to unceremoniously push Susannah out of the picture!


Susaannah's closest kid pal is Milky Way - Milky is a rowdy girl but seems to calm down and be just friends with Susannah.

Amigo on the other hand irritates Susannah - a lot!

In the chute where we feed the Class of 2010 additional grain to help them grow big and strong - Susannah occasionally has a struggle pushing in for her share - the look on her face says it all "hey - do something about these greedy guts!"

But we're sure she'll be happy in the herd - with Milky Way around she knows she's got a friend.

Soon the Class of 2010 will reach an awkward stage where cuteness isn't their primary attribute - until then - we are clicking pictures and loving us some babies - when Susannah lets us catch her and nuzzles us - it is GOOD on Buhlaland.

Horns and hides

Wanted to return to our excursion on Saturday - to the ITLA show. Our neighbor and his two teenagers showed animals and they did well. First picture is Big Jo (the son) and his dad fluffing Gladiator's tail getting ready to show. According to what they told us, there is great emphasis on the animals being as natural as possible (well not all the poo and mess usually on an animal at pasture), size of horns (or on younger animals the horn base size showing potential) as well as overall conformation are important. The colors are so varied I wanted to share some of the pictures with you.
The rather distant shot of the show ring and judging includes cow/calf exhibitors - the small calf is two days old! Was born at the show and accompanies the cow during the showing on a small soft halter - although after a few minutes the calf was worn out decided to lay down. Young exhibitor had to carry the calf for the judging!


Next is a good sized set of horns - and interestingly enough this steer was from Maryland!

A few shots of "backstage" - a place you have to be careful when taking pictures - I made sure my flash was off, some of the animals are new to being shown and a little nervous. You do not want animals weighing a ton or more being nervous! Another cow and calf - taking it easy.

The steer with it's back to us is an unusual color the exhibitors said is called gorilla colored. Most people like multi or speckled coloration on their longhorns but I though this one looked like a weimaraner mutation!

The big brindle is the last I'll put up - impressive animal all the way around - if you want to know more about what is desirable or the history of long horns this link tells quite a bit.

Blog posts totally different this week - but on Buhlaland we are blessed with friends and neighbors who bring love, challenges and variety to our lives. It is Good on Buhlaland today - especially since the furnace is working (chilly in Tejas today!) And That's No Bull! (lame joke - I know!)

Playing Catch up!

No bright ideas about what to say - here we go with a list of what the pictures are.
Camouflaged bird is a real roadrunner (they don't say beep beep) - actually are fast runners, good at killing snakes and lizards.









The representation-in-fruit-of-a-flag cake is the dessert we took to BFF's for Independence Day meal and fireworks fun. It was actually a WW recipe so quite legal for our weight loss plan.

The courthouse in our little town likes for people to notice national patriotic holidays - there are flags all around the town square and the courthouse grounds.

Tincan Garden - lots of green - not many vegetables. VERY hot weather.

Chickens getting big - eating a LOT no eggs yet.

Been bizzy as a bee with not so much to show as accomplishments - it is good and hot on Buhlaland and we are grateful for chickens, gardens, bees and air conditioning!

Pigging out!

Good Monday to you! We had friends over Sunday afternoon to share a meal - decided to barbecue which might not have been a wise choice - heat index was a mere 104!. DH persevered and cooked all the kebabs everyone assembled.

Wanted to give extra flavor to the pork but not traditional red sauce and DH dislikes the vinegary barbecue baste. We have a small forest of rosemary in the garden and always have extra virgin olive oil (or EVOO). Pantry yielded a big container of peppercorn medley (from the center of gourmet cooking - Wally World!).

We were kebabing the meats so I cut a nice pork roast into large cubes (the little brass pig with a lucky pence in his back represents about 3 pounds of pork - cooked pork photographs ugly and we cooked all I marinated).

Took the cubes of pork, about 1/3-1/2 cup of EVOO, at least one tablespoon of very coarsely ground pepper (could have just been broken up in a mortar and pestle but I don't have one). Added 5 or 6 good sized pieces(would translate into 4 to 6 inch long sprigs) of rosemary in the container and sealed it up. Marinated for at least 4 hours (in the fridge - seems goofy to add the refrigeration part but don't want anybody getting poisoned by my recipes!). Next time I think we'll try overnight marinating. Everyone really liked the pork - in fact they ate more pork than the chinese marinated chicken or pure and delicious rib eye steaks. Just a thought since it is BBQ season and sometimes you want something different. Same concept would work great with a pork tenderloin or chops.

We had such a lovely day on Buhlaland and as if having pleasant company and good food weren't enough --we had a beautiful visitor after the human guests were gone. The doe is still limping a lot and we haven't seen the fawn again but are grateful to have the beauty of creation - up close and personal! It is good on Buhlaland --good friends, good food and goodness it was HOT.

New Link - try it!

April Wilhite who is a dear friend of ours just opened the website to her business. It is a wonderful example of someone who took their love of "pretty pictures" to a whole different level. April's portraits tell stories, show a moment in time focused on a person. You can tell I like her pictures and love her. Jump over and look around - if you are in the North Texas area and want a special photograph - contact her. I'm waiting to lose this miserable weight (she may retire before I get that accomplished!) but we'll ask her to do our portrait - maybe for Christmas or January 1, 2010 is our 10th anniversary - that would be a perfect gift for my DH! He doesn't read my blog - ever - so it'll be a secret?! It is exciting on Buhlaland when someone we love begins a new adventure.

Hodge and some podge of Easter

Potted tulips were a decorated with a little cross --one of the handicrafts from dear departed MIL. She loved Easter and I'm sure this year was the BEST Easter ever--she was in the presence of our Savior. Patchwork table runner was another of Ethel's crafts - she loved setting the colorful egg shaped candles down the middle.

Easter being the primary spring holiday and also a good time for flowers - we are blessed with an abundance of floral decorations. (as opposed to the non decoration I usually have on tables in our house).

The fruit platter was decorated with the top of a pineapple and blossoms from our garden - fun and really easy this time since we'd had so much rain there were no bugs on the flowers. It's the little things that make my day. The pitiful rendition of a bunny cake is all my doing - looks like a long eared drug taking cat - but it tasted great!
Iris were a gift out of our neighbor's backyard - planted many years ago by the friends from whom we purchased our land . Tablecloth on our side table was a handmade gift to Ethel when she was a young bride - still quite sturdy and makes a little more dressy background to some of our decor.

It was good here on Buhlaland for Easter - friends, food, flowers and a sense of appreciation for all of the above.

1,2,3 - easy as can be

We were having company over for supper last night and Joy in the Morning I had all the ingredients (without a trip to town) for a simple chicken dish - literally 3 ingredients (unless you are picky and want to count freshly ground pepper as 4). You'll need boneless skinless chicken breasts (unless you like the skin on - I'm not judging you here). Pound the chicken out to about 1/2 inch thickness -you'll need it to be flattened and big enough to roll up.

Slice Gouda very thinly - I used one of those little cheese slicers you drag across the cheese but had to give up once the cheese got warm and use a tomato slicing knife. Slice up most of it then plan on cutting into tiny chunks the bits left. I'll tell you why later - suspense is a technique in writing - I didn't say good writing - just writing.

Back to our story of the chicken and the cheese - well here comes the exciting ingredient Ta DA -bacon. Use thick sliced bacon any kind you fancy, pepper bacon might have been a thrill but we had plain hickory smoked.

Put a piece of chicken on a work surface - add some cheese (how much you ask - I say - enough but not too much ( if you overload with cheese you get big time melt out/burn in your pan) on the chicken, roll it up and wrap a slice of bacon around the tidy bundle of deliciousness. If you need to - stick a toothpick in there but remember you did it or somebody will get a bad surprise.

With the 8 ounces of gouda - I made 7 chicken bundles and had enough to make a cheese sauce to serve over it (very optional and this is the suspense reliever - that's what I do with extra 1/3 of the cheese). Grind some pepper over the bundles before cooking - there's that stealth ingredient number 4.

Spray a broiler pan with olive oil (BTW check out a Misto sprayer for inexpensive way to have decent quality spray cooking oils without propellants in Pam type sprays) .

Place the bundles on the rack of broiler pan and bake at 375 for -- I guess 30 minutes - sorry I didn't time it and basically it was until the chicken was done. I thought I had a picture of this process but obviously I was busier than I realized making the meal.

The sauce was a simple white sauce =melted butter, whisk in flour, whisk in chicken broth and milk - then add cheese and stir until melted - season to taste.

We served the chicken with basmati rice cooked in broth and water mixture, steamed green beans, fruit salad and cheese drop biscuits. Dessert was one of my recurring oatmeal bar things -this time with a cheesecake and diced dried mango filling. Yep - yummo.

I need to get busy - house is still far from ready for weekend company. This week is about spiritual preparation and lots of cooking (if done correctly the two mingle well!) Enjoy some easy food - I'll be back very soon! It smells GOOD on Buhlaland.

Lanny's Ride?

DH and I were turning onto Main St. after puttering around in town for a couple of hours (puttering can be translated liberally - spending money we hadn't planned) when we spotted a Kodak Moment perfect for A Dirt Woman . Lanny - I don't know whether you were in town on a lark or y'all practice plural marriage or this is a relative by Dirt bloodline - but you have some snazzy wheels.

Sorry about the spotty pic - through our front windshield isn't the clearest spot for a camera lens to work. Here it is the license plate of Mrs. Drt!

See how tricked out Mrs. Dirt's ride is here in Texas -

Love to you Dirt's woman - and yes in Christ we are Unlimited!

Not given a spirit of timidity

On Buhlaland we love visitors, like to feed them special treats and make them comfortable in a way that makes them feel right at home-- the Mi casa es su casa vibe.

Yesterday our BFF(s) brought Buddy, the basset, to visit us. He is an early Christmas present from Kathy to her DH. Buddy is a 6 pound bundle of sweet velvety puppy. Buddy felt pretty confident while being held by Kathy, posing for my camera and then -- he noticed the Rat Terrorists were jumping up and down inviting him to play.

Buddy immediately wanted down to join in reindeer games (oops combining stories - listening to too much Christmas radio this week). I meant to say - to join in doggy fun going on around everyone's feet. Our sweet Corazon - Alpha female - decided to teach that pup a thing or two. She bared her teeth and snarled ferociously --while Conan (who must be watching too much CSI)made an identity check in case Buddy was someone he'd met before. Our little hero Buddy decided to be a Timothy 2 kind of guest and not be timid - in fact he put Corey on the defensive by jumping up and making puppy snarls. Soon - wild running and puppy exhausting fun ensued. Yes a glad time was had by all (except for Corey but she is grouchy - she may be a Rat Terrorist Grincher). Buddy will visit again and Miss Corey will find out how fast little cuddly Basset puppies become big husky dogs! But we' trust he will show the quality of love and if not self discipline - we know his family will help him have good manners. Wish we could honestly say our own animals had some discipline:::sigh::::: a dog's got to do what a dog's got to do. On Buhlaland it is a week before Christmas and all through the house - it was dogbedlam!

2 Timothy 1:7 (New Living Translation)
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

What do YOU think about these burning issues?

Borrowing a meme from my pal over at Fraker Farm - feel free to use the questions if you are searching for a blog topic this week. Isn't it funny we like to know odd facts about one another? Maybe it gives us one of these moments "Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: 'What! You, too? Thought I was the only one.'" (C.S. Lewis) I would bet I'm not the only one who might make similar answers - so now we're bloggy friends. Who is a friend ? No not just someone who really knows you and likes you anyway. King Solomon wrote about having a trusted friend in Ecclesiastes 4: 9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: 10 If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! I'm grateful here on Buhlaland-- I have treasured friends who have helped me up more than once. It's good on Buhlaland to thank my old friends and welcome new ones. Read and realize - this is for grins not theology, doxology or even chronology - just a smile on a Tuesday.
1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate - with a sprinkle of cinnamon!
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Sit under the tree - especially the years when I got a doll - to see my new doll all beautiful and perfect waiting for me - woo hoo.
3. Colored light on house/tree or white? Colored lights are my preference but this year we are trying to do the frugal thang - so new lights are all white LED
4. Do you hang mistletoe? No and I should because I bet we have bushels of the stuff in our oak trees!
5. When do you put your decorations up? Usually the first week of December but this year - as mentioned in a previous post - I needed Christmas WAY early.
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Squash casserole or the ever reliable green bean casserole - I mean when you exclude desserts an entire section of my holiday menus is gone - pooff!
7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? Being at my grandparents farm in Texas with all the cousins and aunts and uncles - my cousin and I both getting beautiful dolls an uncle brought us from Italy. Even went with Grandpa and cut down a cedar tree for Christmas - being a military brat we rarely were with extended family on holidays and that one was special
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I think from my big brother but not clear on the details - I wasn't devastated I remember that much - Santa is more the feeling of generosity and miracles of Christmas (and we all know the miracles are from God)
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Definitely
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Ornaments of every size, origin and description - lights and a handmade star - not garland or tinsel because it covers up our ornaments.
11. Snow. Love it or dread it? Dread it - I live in Texas and love it we don't get much snow or cold weather.
12. Can you ice skate? Yes - used to be halfway good at it.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Probably the pearl and diamond (chips folks not rocks) ring I got -- seemed to mark the moment when my parents thought I was grown up enough to get real jewelry. Still have that ring and I'm not a terribly sentimental person about possessions.
14. What is the most important thing about the holidays for you? Time to recall the Reason for the Season - and the wonderful mood most people are in - so much more open to one another and loving.
15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Cookies - oh my yes cookies!
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Going to church on Christmas Eve.
17. What tops your Christmas tree? A star - dear Mother in Law Ethel made our current star.
18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Love to give presents - don't mind receiving but currently DH and I are not much into the presents thing - our gifts are our home and our faith (sheesh that sounds corny - but you get away with cornball when it is Christmas)
19. What is your favorite Christmas song? Joy to the World -
20. Candy Canes. Yum or Yuck? Totally Yummy - any kind - I love peppermint but the fruit flavored ones can be tasty too - I don't have canes on the tree yet because I walk by and eat them off and it is too soon before BooMama's tour!
21. What do you want for Christmas? A good day with people I love
22. Do you attend an annual Christmas party? Not really - our church has a special evening program and dessert party - but not a traditional Christmas party party.
23. Do you dress up for Christmas Eve or wear PJ's? We go to church Christmas Eve -I don't think our fellow congregants would appreciate my jammies - we dress but not formally - jeans and a sweater.
24. Do you own a Santa hat? Yes but I'm looking for a new one.
25. Who do you normally spend Christmas with? My dear and precious husband.

Tablescapes Adventure

The Peaceable Kingdom

Isaiah 11:6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat,the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.

I treasure the verses in Isaiah- prophesying a time when there will be no predator or prey and all things can live together. Our church has a brunch for the ladies every two years and they call it Tablescapes. A person or group is supposed to select a verse and decorate a table for 8 in whatever way they feel will be appropriate. Since two of my church buddies are also goat keepers, we went with this verse (hard to imagine our skittish goats even being in the vicinity of a leopard!) and planned a goaty table. The favors for each person were bars of goats milk soap with our verse on a small card attached to the bar. On each napkin was a small Lindt chocolate goat (ok not really a goat - it is a reindeer but you'd have to be WonderWoman to read the label so we pretended they were goats!) Our homemade tabletopper had images of some of our goats and we used clear glass tablesettings so the images could be seen. Our wire, two level centerpiece had dried moss and toy animals (each kind mentioned in the verse). On the base level we put a nativity set (the little child). Our morning was a bit hectic even though our group worked together to set our table up, "hostess" for our 5 table guests and then take it all down this morning --it was a pleasant time. Whenever I try to write about social events which are ladies only activities, I recall the first (probably only) journalism class I took . The teacher had his favorite (and over used) example of terrible, provincial social reporting. The example was from a small town society columnist who described each social event and concluded "and a glad time was had by all". Might not have been great journalism but does sum up many gatherings of which I've been a part. Today - I ventured off Buhlaland for a while and spent time with lovely ladies and indeed a glad time WAS had by all.

Safety Patrol on Thanksgiving

We were blessed with a good day and felt so secure since we had an actual security patrol even as we walked around the grounds of our friend's home. Yep Sigmund the Dachshund - offical Body Guard. I'll post other things later on but figured a non food related post and nothing about shopping would be welcome today! It is damp and chilly here on Buhlaland this morning and I'm about to treadmill it with ipod in ears and too much in body! Added a picture of the dinner table our friends decorated - the thing which look like scrolls are crackers or poppers - usually done at Christmas but as I posted not long ago - I need a little Christmas right this very minute! They make a popping sound when you pull on the ends, then there is a joke , a gold paper crown and a little prize inside. Just for fun - fun and fellowship and full -- that summed up our Thanksgiving! Oh and safe - very safe with Sigmund the security patrol on duty!

Retrospective (also known as a rerun)

Last Thanksgiving I was a great deal thinner,eating healthier (oh what a difference a year can make!) and cooking for three of us - DH, MIL and me. Looking back on my blog posts I wanted to post a reminder of the wonderful turkey breast preparation method we used. You could do the same thing with a whole bird -simply loosening the skin and making a LOT more herbal essences paste. Right now- sitting in the refrigerator, I have a 20 pounder bird we got supercheap from Albertson's last week. Although we are going to someone else's home for Thanksgiving dinner I will cook the big turkey in our roaster and freeze for future meals. The handsome buck goat, Tucker, lives in a pasture of the home we will be visiting - he is out of our herd and a very nice buck.

I feel spiritually compelled to be grateful for much this year -

1 Thessalonians 5: 12Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. 14And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.
16Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
19Do not put out the Spirit's fire; 20do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22Avoid every kind of evil.
23May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.



We've had a challenging year - our country is having a challenging year. My health hasn't been the best but it isn't a serious situation so we are grateful. Losing DH's mom was no doubt the low point of our year. Lots of losses this year, both through death and divorces - most people who died were known to be believers so we'll see them again, but miss them now anyway. We have enough - yesterday in church the pastor wanted us to write down three of our blessings - my very first one was Enough - not too much, not as much as we ask for - but enough to keep us working at being good stewards.

Bless all of you readers - this is one of the best holidays of the year - all about time together, food and family and friends. We are blessed this year to have friends who include us as family. Buhlaland is a good place to look back and even better place to enjoy the right now - with the promise of eternity for our tomorrows. Y'all be kind to yourself and one another. If I get in the cooking mode I'll be back with pictures and descriptions.