Man's Second Best Friend

For the longest time I have wanted a goat. I have admired them on blogs, neigbors farms and magazines. Then I got to hankering to make goat's milk soap. A neighbor gave me this wonderful Nubian cross goat named Licorice. She is a delight! I never knew a goat could be such a loving companion. Licorice is so clever and nosy. I plan on getting her a companion soon.

I enjoyed the weekend and had three days off. We grilled out and celebrated my mom's 60th birthday.

I hope you all had a wonderful Tuesday.

Blessings,

Jill

The Bee Finale

Here are the photos from the bee finale. After the flooding went down I took the bees to the new homestead. Unfortunately I was at work when the bees got put in the box. However my sister took these photos. The bees are now in their box and working away. My daddy is their beekeeper. He loves to sit and watch them in the morning. They sure are fascinating little creatures and best of all no one got stung! Now all we have to do is wait for the sweet honey we will be able to collect next year.

The new job is going well, I have been there two weeks and have adjusted to the early morning schedule. Lol, I don't feel as zapped in the evening as I did when I first started. We have the bedroom and bathroom almost done in the house and will be moving on to getting water. We will be installing an old fashioned off the grid water source called a Cistern. If you are not familiar with this it's pretty simple. Rain water runs from the house gutters underground and into a water tank. It's runs through a filter so everything is nice and clean. I hope to eventually drill a well (I can't get city water where I am building) but for now this will be my water source. I will be taking photos this week of all the house progress. Blessings, Jill

A Bee Dilemma

The Bees
Some curious bees from the neighborhood
The bees arrived this morning, they were late getting here for some odd reason. I was expecting them yesterday. We have had severe flooding in our area. The problem is that I cannot get to the new homestead where the bee boxes are! So I have to try to keep them here and feed them until the water goes down. As soon as I got them this morning I sprayed them with water and the sugar syrup. I checked and made sure the queen was alive and she is. They are fascinating to watch. The neighborhood bees are wanting to join the party and are swarming around the box. I hope you are all having a great weekend and I will keep you guys updated on the bees.
Blessings,
Jill

Updates & Crock Pot Hamburger Steak Recipe

There's been so much going on in my crazy life I don't know where to start! For starters the bees are coming tomorrow! Too bad it is giving rain, so we will probably hold off putting them in the hive until Sat. I hope to get lots of pics. The house is coming along great.
I now have a great deal of empathy for you working moms and women. Monday I started a new full time job at a local law office as a file clerk. It has been a huge system shock for me as I am not a morning person and have been getting up at 6:20 am for work. When I get home I am so tired that I don't want to do anything let alone sew. I am hoping work will get easier because it is stressing me out learning their filing system. I hope it works out and I am going to try to at least commit a month to it. I managed to go to Curves today as I haven't been all week. I was naughty last month and gained a few pounds...........lol
Several of you requested the recipe to my hamburger crock pot steak I mentioned in a previous post. Below are the directions. Keep in mind it's not an exact recipe.
Blessings,
Jill

Crock pot Hamburger Steak

I take about 2 to 2 1/2 pounds of ground beef, I mix with it salt, pepper, 1 egg, worshtershire sauce and enough bread crumbs to bind it. Form the mixture into relatively close sized hamburger patties. Roll each patty in flour and brown on both sides in a skillet. Place the hamburgers in a crock pot and set aside. To make the gravy I use two packages of brown gravy mix and follow the directions. Pour the gravy over the steaks and turn on low for about 6 to 8 hours or until the hamburgers are tender. If you gravy gets too thick just add a little water or broth, if its to thin for your liking add a cornstarch thickener. I hope you enjoy these, they are one of my family favorites.