Fields by full moon light

I love to take photos of nature in all of its beauty. While I can't claim any great skill at photography, I think this one came out rather well.

My little manufactured home lies in a bend of the Paradise Creek and on spring and summer nights I love to go out and sit on the porch and listen to the creek bubble and chuckle its way along and the frog song in the nearby springs.

I'm in a poetic mood, happy, a bit wistful and full of life.

Smiles
Annika

My Dream Chickens LOL!

I love the Wyandotte breed, they are such good layers and so good in the cold. My last hens were killed by a very sneaky raccoon. As soon as I have my new RACCOON PROOF coop done, I'm buying a bunch of these sweet little ladies again. I love my rooster, but I miss my hens.

I borrowed the photo from Wiki, I hope that they don't mind 0-O

My dream coop!

This is the coop that I'm going to build for my chickens. 'coon proof, cozy and cute!

I'm hoping to get chickens and maybe ducks soon!

I love this song =)

All god's creatures got a place in the choir
Some sing low and some sing higher
Some sing out loud on the telephone wire
Some just clap their hands or paws or anything they've got now

All god's creatures got a place in the choir
Some sing low and some sing higher
Some sing out loud on the telephone wire
Some just clap their hands or paws or anything they've got now

Listen to the bass it's the one at the bottom
Where the bullfrog croaks and the hippopotamus
Moans and groans in the big tattoo
And the old cow just goes "moo"
The dogs and the cats they take up the middle
Where the honey bee hums and the cricket fiddles
The donkey brays and the pony neighs
And the old grey badger sighs oh

All god's creatures got a place in the choir
Some sing low and some sing higher
Some sing out loud on the telephone wire
Some just clap their hands or paws or anything they've got now

Listen to the top with the little birds singing
And the melodies and the high notes ringing
And the hoot-owls cries over everything
And the blackbird disagrees
Singing in the night-time, singing in the day
And the little duck quacks and he's on his way
And the otter hasn't got much to say
And the porcupine talks to himself

All god's creatures got a place in the choir
Some sing low and some sing higher
Some sing out loud on the telephone wire
Some just clap their hands or paws or anything they've got now

It's a simple song, a little one sung everywhere
By the ox and the fox and the grizzly bear
The dopey alligator and the hawk above
The sly old weasel and the turtle-dove

All god's creatures got a place in the choir
Some sing low and some sing higher
Some sing out loud on the telephone wire
Some just clap their hands or paws or anything they've got now

All god's creatures got a place in the choir
Some sing low and some sing higher
Some sing out loud on the telephone wire
Some just clap their hands or paws or anything they've got now

Sunshine carrot cake and cream cheese pinapple frosting

Sunshine carrot cake

Ingredients:
6 cups grated carrots
1 cup brown sugar
2 cup golden raisins
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
3 cups all-purpose flour   
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 Teaspoon powdered ginger

In a large bowl, combine golden raisins,grated carrots and brown sugar. 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Grease and dust with flour two 10 inch cake pans.
In a medium bowl, beat eggs until light . Gradually beat in the white sugar, oil and vanilla. Stir in the pineapple and set aside.
Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon and ginger in a large bowl. Mix well.
Add the egg mixture and and mix until all of the dry ingredients are combined.
Finally stir in the carrot mixture
Bake for 45 to 50 minutes in the preheated oven, until cake tests done with a toothpick. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.

Serve with whipped cream or pineapple-cream cheese frosting.

Pineapple-Cream Cheese Frosting

12 oz.  cream cheese, warmed slightly
12 tbsp. butter, warmed slightly
2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups crushed pineapple, very well drained
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Beat cream cheese, butter and sugar until creamy. Blend in pineapple and vanilla.  Ice cake lavishly with frosting and enjoy!

You'll come out with frosting left, unless you really get baroque with it ;) but the frosting is yummy on cookies, apple slices and many other things...live love laugh and eat cake!

Carrot cakes and crazy cat ladies =)

First off I was awakened this morning at an ungodly hour by a cat fight under my bedroom window...must be a new stray. *BIG SIGH* Its springtime here in Moscow and time for students to dump their pets that they got last autumn or winter when they find out that they can't take the poor animal home for the summer... I'm a crazy cat lady and don't get me started on animal abuse and abandonment!




So I'm going to end up tracking down the new cat(s), getting them fixed and releasing them =( But it's better then being awash in litter after litter of unwanted wild kittens.

The dogs that show up all end up at the shelter if I can't find them a home.

Ok, better get me off this topic ;)

Sunday afternoon we Palouse Prairie Girls are meeting to discuss projects, laugh, eat a bunch of goodies and get on a caffeine jag!

I'm baking lemon shortbread and my semi famous Sunshine carrot cake, which is an ordinary carrot cake recipe with the addition of pineapple and golden raisins. It is very yummy and fattening!

This evening I'm making Chicken-Penne primavera for dinner, which is also fattening.... Mayhaps I should spend Saturday walking off all of this good eatin' =P

I'm nearly done with my red gingham apron that I'm hand sewing, it's turning out really nice and will be my next photo subject I think.
I'll be finishing it up this evening =)


Friends are like stars, they make your life sparkle!

"til next time 

Love and light
Annika

Crazy farmgirl garden ideas

Hello, I'm going through bouts of insomnia lately, hence some of my odd ideas =P
On a rather tight budget this year so far, so I've been thinking that maybe I could use a truck load of straw bales to make raised beds with instead of more spendy wood...yeah, I know that they'll compost, but maybe it's worth a try.
Here in north Idaho on the Palouse, we go through a serious dry spell from Late June through to September sometimes, so I'm also thinking of mulches to keep the soil from drying out.

I've got gardening on the brain right now and I'm supposed to be spring cleaning!
I  picked up a couple of Adirondack chairs last autumn, I'm going to have to re-paint them as right now they are an eye shocking blue lol!

 So my garden and sitting area beneath the aspens is coming along in my head. I just need to get enough sleep to have some energy...losing 50 pounds wouldn't hurt either...

It's going to be a wonderful summer for projects!

I need a nap ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

The cat who owns me =)

This is my beautiful rescue cat Tia, she and I sit at the computer  and sometimes she helps me type lol!

I rescue animals that get dumped off out here on my country road. I found her and her mama and siblings living in an old culvert...some of the kittens didn't make it, it was the biggest litter I've ever seen and mama cat was just about a skeleton.

It took me days and a lot of tuna fish to catch all of them, Tia was the fiercest and I had to go get a couple of shots due to all of the claw and bite holes in my hands. We carried he into the bedroom and shut the door to give her time to cool down...I must have been  meant to have this kitten, because when we opened the door to check on her a little later, she was all purrs and curiosity LOL! and she has been that way ever since 

Well I got homes for the rest and kept mama cat Kiki and little bronze Tia, who is my constant companion. I have never met a more well adjusted and loving cat. she is there no matter what and I am daily glad that I found her. The white fur behind her head belongs to another one of my rescues, Bandit, but he has his own story =)