May 31, 2012

got back to Michigan safe and sound this evening...after a 57 hour whirlwind.....16 of those hours spent driving....what a wonderful time we had celebrating my nephew Davids graduation and my Mom's 72nd birthday.....didn't get a chance to blog last night because when I finally got back to my brother Tim's house, where we stay, it was already well after midnight.

here is the some of the family at David's graduation....

when my brother Mike passed away unexpectedly on November 26, 2011.....his wife Rhonda came up with a GREAT way to honor his generous spirit....she is in the process of creating a group called Mike's Helping Hands....the purpose of this is to provide help for people who either can't afford or just can't physically get a project done around their house....Mike and Rhonda were always helping folks do odd jobs....Ross and I were privileged to take part in one of those events yesterday to help a wonderful family.

then my brother's Tim, Dan and I went on a search for our fathers gravesite.....we had the address, lot # and plot #.....my dad was not a part of any of our lives after about 1972 and so when he passed in 1991 we went to the funeral home for the service and then took the word of his wife what her intentions were for our dad's remains.....so we showed up at the cemetery 20+ years later...found the lot and plot # and were told that dad did not have a stone and that his ashes were scattered in between these 2 particular stones......not what we were told by his wife...but now we know....

later in the evening we went to our families favorite place to have a celebration....The Old Spaghetti Factory in downtown St Louis...14 of us went to celebrate Mom's birthday....we always have a wonderful time...



and today is our niece Alex's 27th birthday.....Happy Birthday Sweetheart...we love and miss you!!!

Pleasant Dreams!!!

May 29, 2012

today is my Mom's birthday.....actually got to be in Missouri with her today....very cool because that normally doesn't happen.

My nephew David Miller graduated from Lindbergh High School tonight....Good Job Davo!!!

having a party at brother Tim's ... love having the family together

Pleasant Dreams!!!

May 28, 2012

Happy Decoration/Memorial Day.....A great time to reflect on all of the folks that gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country....and all the men & women who served and are still serving in our incredible armed forces.

what do you get your Veteran husband to say THANKS for serving our country on Memorial Day......a GYNORMUS grill....one that has a charcoal grill, propane grill, smoking area and a searing area.

FIRST....he has to put it together......

      SECOND.......he has to cut the hickory to put into the smoker.......this is the proper way........right?

THIRD....make the rub and mop/basting mixture for the brisket



FOURTH....put it on the grill....started at 10am

Brisket Rub Recipe:
1 Tbsp Salt
4 Tbsp Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp Chili Powder
1 tsp Cumin Powder
2 Tbsp Cayenne Powder
3 Tbsp Red Pepper Flakes
1 Tbsp Dried Onions
1 Tbsp Fresh Garlic
2 Tbsp Paprika
2 Tbsp Black Pepper

Mix this all together......put the brisket on a piece of foil....rub worchestire sauce and stone ground mustard all over the brisket....then rub this mixture all over the brisket.....turn it over and repeat.

put it in the smoker at about 225 - 250 degrees for 8 hours....YES....8 hours.....you will need to Mop/Baste the brisket several times during the 8 hours....whenever it appears to be dry...about every 45 minutes or so....here is the Mop/Basting recipe.....

Mop/Basting Recipe:
1 tsp Salt
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1 cup Cider Vinegar
1 Tbsp Red Pepper Flakes
1 Tbsp Fresh Garlic
1 12 oz can Beer
1 Tbsp Black Pepper

then take it out of the smoker and wrap it completely in foil and put it back in for 1.5 more hours....remove....let it rest for 15 minutes....cut and serve....YUMMY!!!

Pleasant Dreams!!!

May 27, 2012

had a GREAT day at church today...go to www.h-hcc.org to hear Pastor Bob continue his series on being Blessed and Greatly Favored.

because of all the plants that grew in the greenhouse (our yield this year was EXCELLENT)...the garden got full before I ran out of plants....so when this happens....we plant around the trees on the farm.....here are Ancient Red Sweet Pepper plants around the 2 cherry trees by the garden....

and around this cedar tree in the front yard we have 4 different kinds of peppers...Jalapeno, Hot Banana, Sweet Banana and Hot Cherry.

made some pretzel buns today....recipe on April 28th

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Memorial Weekend!!!

Pleasant Dreams!!!

May 26, 2012

we got working in the garden at 7am....wanted to get an early start in case it got really hot today....work a little, then it would rain a little (which is fine because we are in desperate need of rain) then back to work...

Step 1: run string line so everything is planted the same distance apart and

cut the black fabric with a razor knife in an X

Step 2: plant.....plant....and then plant some more until each side is done.

this side has cabbage, 4 types of lettuce, cayenne peppers, watermelon, cucumbers, honeydew, cantaloupe

...here is a closer look...



the other side is all about the tomatoes and bell peppers....we can 12 different recipes that call for tomatoes and/or bell peppers...this year we planted 160 plants of roma, big boy, small round and lunchmate tomatoes ....and 48 california wonders ....so we should be good to go...

here it is all finished

here is a close-up from the other corner.....we put the tomato cages on the day we plant, then we don't have to mess with it later

the garden is 50 feet long and 25 feet wide.... right at 450 plants planted this year

it is going to be a BUSY fall....

Pleasant Dreams!!!



May 25, 2012

it is finally here....Memorial Day Weekend.....we plant the garden on this weekend EVERY year...

this is how it looked when we started

Step 1: removal of last years matting and some of the weeds

Step 2: roto till it

Step 3: flatten the dirt with TUG and the roller

Step 4: lay the new fabric matting down and duct tape the seams

Step 5: plant the green beans on the fence that runs down the center



Step 6: put lotion on your sunburn and go to bed...because tomorrow....WE PLANT!!!

Pleasant Dreams!!!

May 24, 2012

got all of the equipment up front that we will need to put in the garden...we use our old zero turn lawn mower (TUG) to do the leg work in the garden...so we worked on getting that started.....then TUG pulled the trailer that had the roller, the york rake and the tiller in it.....the roto tiller started right up....so we are ready to start the garden tomorrow...it is a several day process...over 450 plants to plant.....we will keep you updated in pictures each day.

Finally....the REDS came outside....must have been too hot in the coop......and one of them got over to the boys side....look close on the other side of the orange.

every family member has a tree named after them at the farm....I thought I would put them out here a family at a time, so everyone can see how their trees are doing....here is the Mike Miller Family....

Mike's Birch Tree

....you can see a little bit of Angela's Spruce Tree and if you look back and to the left on the hill,

you can see the Rhonda Birch Tree.

close up of Rhonda's Birch Tree

and here are the kids Spruce Trees...right to left...Angela, Brandon, Chad and David

Pleasant Dreams!!!

May 23, 2012

I have been going through my Uncle Daves genealogy boxes in preparation for our trip to Pennsylvania in June.....found a few documents I would like to share....

in celebration of the school year coming to an end....here is my great grandmas Alice Mable Ott's school report card form 1893-1894...look at the list of classes...she was a good student...she got several 100's.

here is my great grandparents marriage certificate ... Elbert Austin Miller and Alice Mable Ott ...look at the questions that were asked.....very interesting....this is from 1902 so we can see what was important 110 years ago.

My great grandma's birthday was January 30,1881...I found this letter from the White House.....apparently my Grandpa (her son) Allen Ott Miller....sent a letter to the white house letting them know that his mom shared the same birthday as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt....this letter was sent back to her...just amazing!

what an incredible HISTORY journey this has been....I am loving every minute of it!!!

Pleasant Dreams!!!

May 22, 2012

here is another one for the ...gotta love living in the country segment.....our mail lady puts the mail in the box and then honks the horn so i know that she has been......she also gives the dogs biscuits everyday...and with 4 dogs...we run her through a box pretty quick, we don't have too many days when we get no mail...however....today i heard the honk and went down to get the mail and there was just 4 dog biscuits in the box.....We appreciate You CHER!!!!!

the pink peonies bloomed today....again about 3 weeks ahead of time

we have an old rose bush that we were told is called 7 Sisters

it is also blooming about 3 - 4 weeks early

LOVE all the color around the farm.....we are concerned about no rain though....having to drag approx 300 feet of hose all over to get everything watered has not been fun.

Pleasant Dreams!!!

May 21, 2012

we live on a dirt road and because it hasn't rained in awhile, every time a car goes down the road it creates a cloud of dust that works its way right toward the house and puts a layer of dust over the wood floors...so this morning was move every piece of furniture day and wash every floor....not fun...but it looks GREAT!!!

then Ross treated me to a movie...we saw THE AVENGERS.....loved it!!!!

made some Jalapeno Bread when we got home....

this time I used chunk cheese and we made 1 big loaf and 5 rolls (they came out as small loafs)

....the recipe is on April 17th.

here it is all mixed together...

here it is after the first rise...about 1 hour...

then you punch the dough down and form into whatever you wish...this is what we did....



these rise again for an hour and then you bake them.

Pleasant Dreams!!!

May 20, 2012

had a wonderful day at church....Pastor Bob is preaching on FAVOR....go to www.h-hcc.org to hear it.

The conference on friday went wonderful and the perennial sale was a success...busy weekend at church.

this woodshed was created years ago by pieces from another building that we torn down.....

we love to recycle/reuse everything

Ross made this wall of the 1st floor bathroom and the medicine cabinet  from the front porch planks that we replaced when we moved in...as far as we know the planks we removed were original....so 125+ years old.

and of course, while I was taking pictures of the woodshed,

this Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly landed next to me on the lilac bush...

never a dull moment at the farm.

Ross needed some more blue cheese dressing...so we created a new recipe.

Blue Cheese Dressing:

1 cup mayo

1 cup sour cream

2 cups blue cheese crumbles

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp cayenne pepper powder (from our garden)

Pleasant Dreams!!!

May 19, 2012

so glad it is saturday...working on lots of projects all over the farm.....

replanted the 4 kinds of lettuce this morning before the greenhouse got too hot...

the tomatoes that got replanted last night are looking great

the iris plants are in bloom...just an amazing shade of purple...2 - 3 weeks early

we planted this lilac bush about 6 - 7 years ago on the side of the outhouse...we use the outhouse for storage of all the sports equipment.....baseball bats, mits, bases and balls.....volleyball stuff.....soccer and kick balls....and lots of kites, for those windy days!!!

FYI...this was a 2 seater outhouse  :)

ross grilled steaks.....I made salads and we had dinner on the porch....gotta love it!!!

the blog got to over 4,000 hits early this monring...very exciting!!!

Pleasant Dreams!!!



May 18, 2012

left this morning before 9am to help out at church for the perennial sale tomorrow.....lots of great plants to choose from....then we had the Riding out the Storm Conference tonight...it was wonderful....God is so cool!

I got back home just now....10:45pm and ross had done chicken chores and closed down the greenhouse for the night....THANKS honey I appreciate you very much!!!  off to bed for me....

Today is Pastor Bob's and our cousin Carolyn's Birthday....it was great being together tonight!!!!

Pleasant Dreams!!!

May 17, 2012

very busy day today.....mowed the entire property....it was a PERFECT day to be outside.

Prayer Meeting tonight....tomorrow night is the Riding out the Storm Conference at church....it has been fun preparing for it....lots of folks involved....gonna be a long day tomorrow.

got home tonight and had to split all of the tomatoe plants to get them into their own container....

I love working in the greenhouse at night....

we are a little over 1 week out until we put everything into the ground,

 my original 3 1/2 flats of tomatoes are now 5 1/2...

I still need to split the lettuce and some of the bell peppers.

Pleasant Dreams!!!

May 16, 2012

one of my favorite things to do with the canned goods is to SWAP them......ross traded one of our friends some apple jelly, grape jelly and sweet tomato relish for some peaches, pickeled beets and a box of biscuit mix that cant be found here in Michigan....very excited to try another peach cobbler.

we had salmon (that we caught in Lake Michigan) and salads for dinner.....wanted to try a new recipe for Blue Cheese dressing for ross.

Blue Cheese Dressing:
1 cup mayo (made from scratch...recipe on April 21)
1 cup sour cream
1 cup blue cheese
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp honey
2 tsp worchester sauce
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp hot sauce

wisk it all together and chill......ross said it tasted GREAT!!!

Pleasant Dreams!!!

May 15, 2012

the other day when we were cleaning out Big Mike's Bunkhouse....we found some old grain sacks....brought them up to the house to get some pictures......just gotta love something that is 70+ year old, still in great shape.....that has been sitting in a pile on the floor for over 50 years....

close up of SALERNO Flour....Chicago Illinois



close up of a Indiana Farm Bureau sack

close up of the C.F. PLUMB stencil on a BEMIS bag

the plan for the sacks (after many wash cycles in the washing machine) is to turn them into bed roll blankets for the bunkhouse....will keep you updated when that sewing project starts!!!

Pleasant Dreams!!!