It's That Time of Year

when it rains and rains and rains and it's raining again today! This year has been one of the worst for our area.


The flood waters are VERY slowly receding.


Many people are still waiting to get back to their homes.


I talked to a friend of ours who was able to drive out from their house for the first time yesterday. The roads have been blocked on all sides by water for weeks.

It's also the time of year for Amish strawberries!

I put 14 quarts in the freezer and made 10 pints of strawberry jam this year. We still have a few left from last year so I'm finished with strawberries for this season.


Next will be cherries!


If it ever stops raining and dries out enough,


I'll get my garden planted!

Delicious Pot Roast

I have received a few concerned emails and posts from my readers concerning the flood! Flood waters are still up but slowly receding. I am sorry to have worried some of you! I had surgery last Wednesday. Nothing serious, but it is taking a little while to recover from. My wonderful husband and boys have been pampering me and taking care of the animals. My husband went back to work this morning. I made it to the barn and fed everyone. (Yes, I was told to stay in the house and take it easy but that's hard to do when it's so beautiful outside, right??).

I thought I would share a delicious recipe for pot roast I found a couple of weeks ago.

It's easy to throw in the crock pot and have for supper while I'm recuperating!

Delicious Pot Roast
3 to 4 pound roast
8 medium potatoes
1 bag baby carrots
1 package Ranch dressing mix
1 package Italian dressing mix
1 package brown gravy mix
3-4 garlic cloves (pressed)
2 - 3 cups water

Peel and quarter your potatoes and put in the bottom of your crock pot, add carrots. Add thawed roast on top of vegetables.

Mix together the dry dressing mixes and the brown gravy mix. Pour this over the top of your roast and rub it in well. Add two cups of water to crock pot. Press 3 - 4 garlic cloves and add garlic to top of roast and rub in.

Set Crock pot on high for 6 - 8 hours or low for 8 to 10 hours. I do turn the roast once or twice while it's cooking and add a little more water if it's needed.

This is so good! You end up with a wonderful roast and gravy. We love to eat it served over homemade bread with a side of beef rice.

Enjoy!!!
Printable Recipe

Flooding

Please forgive me for not posting more often. We are having terrible storms and flooding here in Kentucky. The storms we've had have kept me off the internet a lot of the time.


Today is the first day we have seen the sun in a long time! This is 2nd worse flood in history our area has been through. The other was the Great Flood of 1937.


I'd like to share a few photos of the flooding and the sky I have taken in the last few days. It's amazing how something can be so scary and so beautiful all at the same time.


Please keep all of those affected by the floods and recent tornadoes in your thoughts and prayers. I'll be spending tomorrow gathering supplies for the shelter in a small town near us. I grew up with these people. They are friends and family.


It hurts to see them going through something so devastating. Losing things they have worked for all their lives. Farm land will take months to dry out. Many people make their living planting crops here and they have no idea when they will be able to get back in their fields.


The rivers are supposed to crest May 3 and there has already been so much devastation to homes along the rivers.


We went to the Amish Community Saturday and stopped by the swinging bridge. The water was already up and is a lot higher now. Of course, we still had to cross it a couple of times.


Our house is safe from the flooding and I am so thankful for that.

On a happier note....


All this rain has brought out the green.


My weigela bushes are blooming and


my kids are playing in a yard that desperately needs mowing! They also seem to have a lot of fun on this...


Doing this....


I hope you have a wonderful and blessed Friday.
Be thankful for all that you have and do a little something to help someone out today. You just never know when it might be you needing the help in return.

Desktop Freebie

This photo was taken in front of my parents house. I have it set as my background on my desktop and I love it! I thought I would share with you.
The link below downloads the large file size. Download it then right click on the file name and click "Set as Desktop Background" and there you have it!
Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Download 1024 x 768 file.

Free! Free At Last!

We spent yesterday afternoon after church at the barn. We fixed a leak in the roof, escape-proofed the goose yard (I hope) and mucked out a few stalls. The grass is getting so green here and everyone wants a bite of it!


I let the goats out for a couple of hours at a time to start with so they don't overindulge themselves and end up with bellyaches. Everyone loves green grass! Even the chickens.


This is Pumpkin. He has moved up to head rooster after losing Red.

While the other goats were out picking the field clean, I let Nanny and the babies out to play! Their first outing! They were so excited!
Momma was pretty happy to get out and visit with the other ladies as well.


Prepare yourself for the cuteness. Our boys have gone with the names Buddy, Brownie and Blackie.

Buddy

Blackie

and our spoiled runt of the litter with the adorable curled up ear,
Brownie!

They played and hopped and jumped and yelled for Momma when they couldn't see her!


They told each other secrets and plotted to escape again soon!


I can't be totally sure but I think these guys are in on it too!


24 baby chicks from the incubator. They hatched a week ago and I have another 40 eggs due to hatch on May 2! It's definitely Spring on the farm!