The Infamous LastPost

Hi again Mindy! We will be moving to a small town in Washington county. I would have to look up Pope County, but I think that might be even farther south than where we will be living.

I found a chocolate thread... and made a post. I don't think I can go visit that often... I am already craving the leftover brownies that I had managed to ignore (and pretty much forget about) all day today...

 

Pope county is much further south and very rural. My farm is between Golconda and Metropolis (aka Superman town). Those are the nearest "big" towns. But if you want to really shop, Paducah, KY is the place to go. Life is so different there from "up north". For one thing, if you don't know where you're going, you won't find it. No one would ever find my farm if they didn't already know exactly where it is. They wouldn't even find the road to turn onto.

 

Hi CJAT
I hope you will like the place where you will move in.
Congratulations for your promotion. Do you teach in young or old children? In Greece we stop school also in end of May. Actually there are 3 weeks left. Today was the first day after the Easter holidays. I look forward to finish and enjoy the summer holidays but before that there are the exams, the most difficult part of the school year

 

I am afraid, this post in the breeding strategy thread may the closest I will get to a real update. It will be a very busy next few days for me... gosh, scratch that! It will be busy at least until church on Sunday, then it will be off racing again until next Tuesday! (Which is good, as a few breathers here and there are always nice lol!)

Aside from the conference mentioned in the above thread, next Monday night I will get with an old friend for supper and to catch up.. a bit of a drive, but have not seen her in almost 2 years!

@ Arielh - 3 and 4 year olds! I love it! Here we end in May also, but my daughter has an extra week with her school.

@Mindy - your farm reminds me of growing up in Wyoming, and driving up to the family cabin. Directions might be, "After the 4th barbed wire fence you go open/close and go through, the path divides two ways in the cow pasture... take the left hand track or you will end up (I'm not really sure - but not the cabin lol!) When you get tot he top of the hill, veer left or you will follow an old logging road to nowhere... " Yeah, I so get what you are saying lol!!

As for here in MI... up north would be the upper peninsula. A bit of trivia: According to the U-pers (upper peninsular peoples), everyone in Michigan below the Mackinac bridge (which separates the 2 peninsulas) are known as "trolls"... as we live under the bridge you see!!
Oh dear...

 

Trolls, I love it. There is a small bridge on the farm - but I really don't want to know what lives under there

 

CJAT - Wow...so much change going on in your life! You and your family are so brave to start anew in a new State...new jobs, new house etc. You must have great trust in your hubby....I don't think I could let mine house shop alone. No telling what we'd end up with. LOL

Mindy - how nice to hear of your farm. Do you & your family visit it often?

 

Lol! Typed up a reply, fixed a typo twice and deleted over half my message... so really quick..

@Mindy - bridges might also have fish under them... yumm!!

@ Brooke - I so trust my hubby! We were doing paperwork to put in an offer for a house while I was at the conference... electronically signing is great! It is a "short" sale - meaning it might take forever, depending on their bank. But I'm not worried about the house... I know anything my hubby picks will be chosen with ministry in mind - win win for me. Plus after living with MIL for almost 2 years.. I will be so happy to have a kitchen to arrange just how I want it lol!

As for the move to IL... I am really looking forward to working with the pastors there!

As far as jobs... while I would prefer to work with preschoolers or special-needs children, I'll take whatever job is available if I need to. It would be really great to have a job where I can have the opportunity to meet more people in the community.

As far as moving... well, most my stuff is still in boxes lol! It will be nice to finally be able to unpack more than clothes, the bathroom and select kitchen essentials!

PS I also added a brief G&T funny/silly story from this morning for those of you who wish to check it out and laugh at/with me!

 

Here's that recipe for you, joyce. I substitute chicken broth for the white wine, and use a little minced garlic, and love the way it turns out. You may find you want to double the sauce recipe, as it tends to cook down, but try it and see how it works for you first would be my suggestion.

Amazing Pork Chops in Cream Sauce

Ingredients

Original recipe makes 8 servings

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 8 boneless pork chops
• salt, to taste
• ground black pepper, to taste

• 3/4 cup white wine
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 (8 ounce) package sliced fresh mushrooms

• PREP
• 10 mins
• COOK
  15 mins
• READY IN
  25 mins

Directions

1. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Season pork chops with salt and pepper, and arrange in a single layer in pan. Pan-fry for 2 minutes on each side to brown. Pour in wine, and continue cooking for 6 minutes. Remove chops from pan.
2. Pour cream into the skillet, and then add mushrooms. Increase heat to high; cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until sauce reduces and thickens. Return chops to pan to warm before serving.

While I'm here, I'll post the chicken and dumpling recipe I promised tlc, too .

Slow cooker chicken and dumplings


prep time
15 mins

cook time
5 hours 30 mins

total time
5 hours 45 mins

makes
8-10 servings
what you'll need

• 1Ib boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 – 10.75 oz cans condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1 small yellow onion, diced small
• 14 oz can chicken broth
• 1 large stalk celery
• 3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced ¼" thick
• 2 cans refrigerated homestyle buttermilk biscuits (reduce to 1 can if using a small crockpot)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (for dredging biscuits)

let's do it

1. Rinse chicken under cool water and place it in the slow cooker with the butter, both cans of cream of chicken soup, diced onion and chicken broth. Stir to just combine, cover turn the slow cooker on high and cook for 4−4½ hours. Or if you want this to be waiting for you at the end of your work day, cook it on low for 8 hours. There’s no need to stir or chop the chicken—just put the first 5 ingredients in the slow cooker and let it do the work.
2. After about 4 hours, remove the lid and use a wooden spoon to stir and loosen everything from the sides and the bottom of the pot. Use the wooden spoon to break the chicken into chunks or press the chicken against the side of the pot to shred it if you prefer. The chicken should be very tender and come apart easily.
3. At this point, you will stir in the celery and carrots (or whatever vegetables you like). Replace the lid and allow the vegetables to begin to cook while you prepare the dumplings.
4. Pop open the cans of those homestyle buttermilk biscuits. Roll each piece of biscuit in flour to coat it completely. The flour will help thicken the stew. Drop the coated biscuits into the slow cooker on top of the stew. Space the dumplings out as evenly as you can but inevitably, a few of them will end up on top of each other. Once all of the dumplings have been placed in the pot, use your wooden spoon to dunk each one into the hot stew and try to situate the dumplings so they are as evenly spaced as possible.
5. Cover with the lid once again and allow biscuits to cook for about an hour. Once they are cooked through, it’s time to eat, and eat well!

*My husband doesn't like celery or cooked carrots, so I omit them and use frozen corn, or even no vegetables, and it's still good.

**I just remembered, when I dredged the biscuits before adding them to the pot, I used the same seasoned flour mixture I use for fried chicken. Really added to the flavor.

 

I have just sent hubby off to the supermarket with a shopping list and since he's the better cook I have just printed off the recipes for him too! Thanks spots.

 

You girls are making me hungry and here I am, already have eaten my supper for the night lol!


So what is up with everyone?? I'm guessing there are some who are dashing outside (when it isn't raining) to freshen up their outdoor spaces and get gardens in real life ready for planting. My hubby and my BIL removed 3 big trees out front of my MILs house this past fall, and he has spent the last week or so digging up the stumps/roots so MIL can move plants and bushes around and re-landscape. What else is going on.. any vacation or travel plans in the works??

So a little update... I simply couldn't resist an attempt to start a party in the Grapevine! We will see what comes of it...


Let's see... it's been about 2 and a half months now in my new preschool classroom. The kids are coming around, but anytime there is a change, they don't know how to handle it, and fall into their old (not so cool) habits. Last Friday, I was lead teacher and by the end of the day I felt like this: Yeah, it was not their finest moment... I get to be lead teacher for the next two Fridays also, so I will be learning from last time and making plans to redirect and keep them focussed on our routine and figuring out how to best help them in transitions. (Any prayers you want to send our way for this and next Friday would be greatly appreciated!)


It's kinda bittersweet... with spring here, I think everyone in the school has a bit of "spring fever" and is ready for summer! But on the other hand we only have two and a half weeks left of class with the kids! (I will miss them!) There is only a little bit of time before I say goodbye to my "work family" and "my kids" and then we start the trek towards Illinois! (Wow!) It's all happening so fast! My last day with the kids is the 21st (including a Goodbye Celebration with the kids), then we have a staff meeting the 22nd, and then maybe I will get to work a few days the next week in order to help prep the classroom for next year's teachers!

Anyway, I have gabbed on enough! I hope this finds everyone happy and healthy!!

~CJ

 

It is happening in my school too! But unfortunatelly we have a long way a head of us because of exams. Who can concentrate and study for exams when the weather is warm and outside we see tourists having vacation and swimming in the sea It is like we are being tortured But atleast when we finish writing exams we will be able to enjoy with our hearts our summer holidays
CJ I wish you the best of luck for this friday

 

I am sitting in a hotel room with my own hot tub waiting to pick up some passengers tomorrow.
In the meantime I will soak in between harvests since it is cold and rainy outside.
Gee, its almost like being on vacation, but I'm getting paid.

 

spots - I do the same recipe for pork chops...it is fail-safe and one of my families absolute favs!!!! But, I haven't tried the chicken & dumplings....I currently have all the ingredients except for celery (running to store)....I'm going to put in the crock pot tomorrow morning...and will let you know how it turns out.....it sounds very yummy!!!! Thanks for sharing!

CJAT - Your post was about 10 days ago....so you should be getting very close to saying goodbye to the kiddos & staff by now. I'm sure it will be difficult. Good luck on getting the new house! My hat is off to you sharing a home with your MIL....I too adored mine, but I never could have shared a home with her(for 2 years) without some tension. I'm sure you are looking forward to placing all your things exactly where & how you want them. Jora must be in High School now.....how is feeling about moving? Do you know anyone there???
I've never moved very far from home....so this is all very exciting to hear about.
Ariel - You are so wise beyond your years.....to realize study hard....and then you too can enjoy a nice, long summer holiday! Good luck on your exams!
Banjo - You always make me laugh!!! Are you in Chicago now???? Please wear a seat belt at all times...saw a very scary thing on the news where a bus driver almost hit an oncoming train b/c was shook out of his seat!!!

 

So a CAC to the first three farmers who can accurately guess which neighbor of mine wrote me this:

(Hopefully it's not too hard to figure out!) Post here your guess along with 2-3 sentences how you are getting ready for summer to qualify for winning the CAC. Again, the first three farmers to correctly identify the "mystery" farmer quoted above will each get a CAC sent to the farm of their choice!



Okay, so an update on me...

Family wise we are doing well. I recently caught some sort of cold/sinus thing and spent most of last weekend on the couch with a runny nose and without energy. Doing better now, just still congested....

Jora is excited to move! She is tired of the boys here lol! (They pay her too much attention and she wants them to leave her alone lol!)

We do have an offer in on a house! It is a short sale, which means that it may take until the end of summer to close... (Hopefully not any longer than that as we want to move before then!!)

@Brooke - Today was indeed our last day with children! It went really well! We made "graduation caps" for the children out of cut foam-board (paper surfaces that they decorated first, a paper bowl, a brad, a elastic ribbon, and some colorful ribbons as a tassel! They turned out super-cute and our kids loved them! (As did their parents!) ♥

I love that school is over as it was such a challenging classroom lol! We were reflecting how far our children had come int he 3 months we had them, and I also can't help but think that given a few more months that we could have really have gotten them squared away even more for next year! The more time you spend with the little ones, means the more you figure them out and understand why they make the choices they are making. All behavior is communication... they act as they do because they are getting something they need/want from their behavior.

@Banjo - remind me, are you a bus driver now?? I think you might have said something about that before, but I'm not quite sure I can remember correctly at this point in time! {{blush}} (My second guess is limo driver... after that, I'm switching to trains lol!)


@Arielh - when do your exams end?? Anytime soon? Before you know it, you will be free to frolic in the waves once more!

I also got an igm from Jazac - he is back farming and not quite sure where the ILP has moved to lol! Hopefully we can help him find his way back. Also, if anyone needs neighbors, you might shoot him an igm and see if he still needs some.


Hope this finds all in good health and ready for their summers! Take care and God bless! Until later.... {{big hugs}} ~CJ

 

Well hello everyone!!!! Long time no see.... Sorry I been gone for so long... I wanted to stay on forum even though I couldn't play but it was teasing me...lol that and real life just took place.. I am actually back playing.. and all I can say is I got a lot to learn...lol

 

hmmmm....let me see....I will have to think about that! LOL
We are trying to get in the mood for summer.....wanting to go check out our cabin in the mountains....but brrrrr it's still snowing up there! It's been raining here (good for our severe drought) which helps keep our lawn green for a while. After that, it will be brown grass...as we will not water because of the drought. Our 25th wedding anniversary is coming up...so are planning a trip to the coast.

 

Hi Jazac!! Glad to see you found your way here! Golly it has been a while since you were last here... I know my last message to you was at the end of 2013 - and we were talking about the farm map being switched around!! You been playing longer than me, so I imagine that it is even more confuzzling for you!!

Talking about confuzzling (and my competitions usually are lol!) Is no one going to make a guess for the CACs??? Come on Mir, SillyGuy and farmerlily... I see you liking posts lol! Now you have to wager a few guesses! No more liking without responding/guessing lol! (Besides if you don't need the CAC, then I am sure you know some farmers who need a CAC on a baby farm or who are just getting started out farming who would love a nice surprise gift!) I suppose you could always send them to this thread too.... ;D

@Brooke - you too gal! What is your guess?? You make a post and then you hem and haw??? Simply not allowed lol! - I forgive Jazac as he is still getting his farm legs back under him, but you dear need to help get us started lol!
A big congrats on your 25th Anniversary!!! Please soak up some sun and vitamin D for me!

By the way, in completely unrelated news, your avatar is making my hungry... everytime I see it from the corner of my eye, I keep thinking that the butterfly wings are ~edit~ b̷u̷t̷t̷e̷r̷f̷l̷i̷e̷s̷ jelly beans!!! (But it would make me sad to eat butterflies - they are so pretty!!) I think certain things in life are kinda designed to be eye-candy and enjoyed for just beauty alone!

 

Hi CJAT
It is nice to hear your news
I will guess this message was went by TCRooster (maybe her husband cooked the food).
My exams end in 17th of June, I have to write 11 more subjects. I have already wrote Ancient Greek and Physics. My next one is Algebra. I have already prepared for summer. I recently moved to my summer hotel near the beach,today tourists will come and stay from Scandinavia, so I just wait to finish the exams
Maybe later I will go swimming to do a small break from studying

Happy 25th Anniversary Brooke

 

Happy Anniversary Brooke!

Good to see you CJAT!

Welcome back Jazac!

Good luck with Exams Arielh!

CJ, I will guess your neighbor is Brooke. Since she said she would let us know how the recipe turned out and no one posted after her, I am going to guess she did not want to edit her post but rather reply after you posted. You get sent to the naughty corner if you double post.

Busy here...medical appointments for mom, daughter and myself. Nothing scary so no worries. Mom may need surgery but we are waiting on the results of testing. Planting flowers in the yard now that spring has arrived. School is over for daughter so a nice academic free summer ahead. I am still walking several days a week but there are some early spring flowers blooming that bother my allergies. I see my niece and nephew every chance I get as they will be traveling again overseas for the summer to see more family. My uncle is getting remarried in July. That's about it for our corner of the world...

 

Hello ladies! {{big hugs}}

Well one of you is correct!! But, oh dear... which one??? I need two more farmers to correctly guess my mystery farmer before I can announce the winners and hand out those CACs!!

@Ariehl ~ It's warm enough for you to go swimming now?? (I am only slightly jealous lol!) And you live in a beach hotel all summer?? Wow! That sounds very nice!! (Can I borrow the neublon's transporter and teleport myself and come visit??)


Please tell me how they do exams where you are from. I know in different countries they do it differently. Here in the states both high school and college tests usually range in format from multiple-choice to essay questions, even true and false questions... all depending on the professor/teacher!


@pnp ~ Hi dear!! Good to hear from you! My allergies are bothering me too! I shudder to think how bad they would be without the allergy shots I have been doing! One things I have found that helps after walking outside is to take a damp washcloth and wipe off my hair and clothes... helps pick up the allergens so I am not constantly breathing them in inside! (Or shedding them around the house lol!)


I have a few appointments I need to set up as well... our cats need their shots and I have been delaying my own dentist and eye appointment - at first due to college - and then due to the new hours at work. I can hardly believe that next week, I only work Tuesday and Wednesday - and then I'm done! (Wow!!) So many memories!! I am so grateful for the opportunity to spend the last two years there! I have learned so much and I will be forever grateful to the people who have touched my life and my heart. I hope I can find coworkers and the same focus on excellence when I move! I pray that I can continuing to put into practice the things I have learned and make my future corner of work the best it can be! But golly, I tell you, this summer I am so looking forward to being able to focus on things and not having to juggle work while trying to keep everything else in balance!

Where are your niece and nephew traveling to? (And which sister do they belong to lol?) A big congrats to your uncle - I hope the woman he is marrying will be a good fit for him and your family!


Talk to you guys more later!