Monday, May 19, 2014

EGGS APLENTY, OODLES OF NOODLES!

Today we cracked and separated 4 dozen eggs generously given by our hens over the last couple of weeks.

Earlier in the day we had purchased some pastry flour for this project. We began mixing the flour into the stirred up yolks to which a small amount of water had been added. The mixing is a heavy job, but we used our dough hook on the mixer to make the process easier. We ran the heavy balls of dough through a pasta roller/cutter (seen behind the egg shells) and then hung the strips to dry. They are pictured below on a small set of clothes drying bars atop the counter ($1 at a yard sale) where we hung the dough. It dries really fast on a good day and of course, we had paper towels lining the bars. 
After the dough strips reach a certain dryness, we ran them through the pasta cutters. 
Here is one tray of the finished product. Golden yellow homemade noodles!
The dining room table full of the finished product in it's final drying stage. We will probably turn them once more this evening and let them dry all day tomorrow before bagging them up for storage.
Most of these noodles will make a trip to Colorado in June to be given to our son and his wife and our four grandchildren!!!! We are so excited to be able to go visit! The children love noodles and we hope this will be a big blessing to them!

I hope you enjoyed seeing my noodle-making adventure!

Blessings, LORI

Thursday, May 15, 2014

SPRING ROCKS!

Sign I decorated in the church fellowship hall. Then I slightly changed it for Easter Sunday replacing "Welcome" with "Resurrection--the Whole Earth Rejoices!" Then change the wording again for Mother's Day--Bless You Mom!
Chickens in the newly tilled garden area. They love to scratch in the dirt and it is quite healthy for a chicken to do so. Eating tiny grains of dirt adds grit to their diet and helps them digest their food properly. Speaking of tiny dirty grains--now we are on to bigger rocks......
Took a lovely Easter day walk in our woods. I have really made use of our two woods for walking this spring. Last weekend I walked both this woods (2-3 acres) and the woods over on our other property--about 10 acres. Didn't find any mushrooms, though!
 I'm not sure why rocks fascinate me like they do--but our woods is FULL of them, scattered around like this and in giant piles as well! It was great walking in the woods on a Sunday afternoon. It is so peaceful and beautiful right now and easy to walk before the underbrush gets tall.
More rocks in the woods! Pardon my shadow.
A pretty good sized rock that I'd like to have up in the yard.
 
It is hard to tell from this picture just how big this rock is that sits near the edge of our woods.  Actually, it's a giant boulder. It is almost as tall as me. I'm 5'3". We have had people call and ask to buy this rock and others nearly it's size--people who knew from years ago that the rock was way back there. Farmers apparently removed these abundant rocks from the field long ago and they were shoved into the borders of the woods and the fencerows. (See the green field not far from the rock?) I have always wanted this rock down by our driveway entrance. That would be a big project involving lots of small tree removal and big equipment to haul the rock. I am reminded to ponder the rock that sealed Jesus' tomb--maybe this rock is similar in size.
Another of the giant rocks. Again, difficult to appreciate its size. It's nearly as big as that last one, only lays on its side.
A view of the back of our house from the woods (zoomed in). See how green the alfalfa looks already? Since I took this picture it is high enough to make the walk to the woods a challenge.
Another nice big rock. The guy who farms our fields hauled it in place for me! It sits as the entrance to my flower garden.
This "rock" is in the archway to the garden. Can you read the message? "I won't have to cross Jordan alone." Bought this one at an auction, not technically a rock, I guess.
Wish I could have rotated this picture. It's my "Michigan" rock. Shaped like Michigan. Sorry it's so hard to see.
And finally, the new, old plow that my friend gave me. I got a call one Saturday asking if I'd like to have a free antique plow. Yes, I would! It sits by the rocks down on the opposite end of the property near the road. It reminded me of the analogy we used back in January when we were installed to pastor, we are 'setting our hands to the plow,' in the kingdom of God and breaking new ground.  See how the plow is worn? Maybe it hit some rocks in in its' years of use. Plowing is hard work, but rewarding. We have been setting up extra chairs in the sanctuary and some Sundays they were nearly filled! We had a wonderful Resurrection celebration, I hope you did too!
 
From the tiniest grains of garden dirt to the giant rocks, I hope you enjoyed this springtime tour!
 
Blessings, LORI