Ofelia!!!

(Pictures taken [by me] at her previous owner's place.)

I got a cow!!!!

This one is not a beef cow. She's a MILK COW!!

Because she's not destined for the freezer, her name is "Ofelia" (named by previous owners).

We took her to the vet before buying her, and he gave her a clean bill of health.

She's due to calve in just two months.

We'd thought the guy had said she was due in October, but come to find out she was bred in October.

So we don't have all summer to learn more about milk cows and get everything ready.

We're going to learn to milk right during cherry harvest. We don't even have a milk bucket. Or milk jars. Or a barn. Or a milking stool. Or a kerchief. If I'm going to be a milkmaid, I need a kerchief (and wooden shoes?).

But I'm sure this sweet little Jersey will be very nice to us during the learning curve. And maybe she won't mind if I'm not wearing a kerchief.

Trick to Keeping House Clean

1. Kept my house nearly spotless for a whole week! Know the trick? Never be at home. If you only come home to go to sleep and take a shower, it's amazing at how things stay clean.

2. Planted another garden bed! Actually it was compulsory planting. I left the seed packet out overnight when it rained and they all sprouted. After planting a full packet each of tangy mesculun, buttercrunch and salad bowl variety, we should have enough lettuce to feed.... half the county?

3. Saved $20 in cell phone overage charges (bleh) by buying an extra 100 minutes for $5.

Check out others' small successes and share your own at Faith & Family Live.

Garden Progress

Here are my 4x4 foot raised garden beds!

This is a 4x2 foot bed filled with rootstock strawberry plants.

They sat in a box for 10 days before I had the soil to plant them in... so they're looking kind of wonky. I'll post another picture at the end of the summer if they make it.

Meanwhile, last year's strawberry plants are thriving and flowering.

Most of my tomato plants bit the dust, but the peppers are looking promising!

And here's the new overseer of the garden project. Mush mush! Meow.

Grilled Spareribs

Grab the button here and come join us, or just link to another site with a recipe you're going to try... or post a recipe in the comments!

Photo from: Rumpke Family Cookbook

My roots in the south prohibit me from calling this BBQ. BBQ is low indirect grill or smoker heat and slow cooking times, preferably a smoke ring, and melt-in-your-mouth slap-ya-mama amazingness. Throwing some BBQ sauce on meat, even if it's cooked on a grill, does not make it BBQ!

With that said, these are very good, too. On my husband's unspoken scale of 1-5:

• 1 "Thank you for dinner!" (and no further comments, I interpret, "epic fail.")
• 2 "That was good." (I interpret: "but let's not add it to the regular menu plans.")
• 3 "Yum, that was really tasty!" (I interpret: "I'd like to have this again sometime.")
• 4 "Holy cow! How did you make this??" (I interpret: "Let's have this every week.")
• 5 2 head nods, eyes open wide, look down to the right (I interpret: "Perfection.") 

Judging by that scale, I'd rate them a 3 1/2.

For the middle of the week, 3 1/2 is a great rating!

Grilled Pork Spareribs
This is a method, not a recipe.

1. Place ribs in a deep heavy-bottomed pot (I use my enamel covered dutch oven). Cover with 1 beer, water, some salt, garlic powder and other desired seasonings. Simmer on medium/low heat for 2 hours. At this point you could refrigerate overnight for make-ahead preparation.

2. 20 minutes before dinner, preheat the grill (or have the coals ready 20 minutes before dinner). Dab some BBQ sauce on one side, grill for about 6-8 minutes and repeat on the other side (they're thoroughly cooked, obviously... you're just heating them, adding grill flavor, and caramelizing the sauce).

Totally tender, and somewhere between "yum" and "holy cow!" 

What tasty recipe will you share this week?

Change of Plans

I had a lovely post planned for today with pictures of my raised garden beds (last weekend's project), but my data card reader bit the dust and the pictures are trapped on my camera. Alas.

But I'm pleased to participate in "Monday Morning Musings" (in the afternoon) from one of my favorite blogs, Patch O' Dirt Farm.

 

Right now... 3:15pm. It's beautiful outside but I'm inside cleaning and making my shopping list.

This past weekend... we planted beans, late Spring lettuce, strawberries and finished building the square foot raised garden beds! We also (well, I watched, but it was moral support so I can say "we!") got one of the balers ready for hay season. And... we had a glorious date involving the LA Times Crossword, Netflix and take-out Chinese food.

Some plans for this week: Sadly I have to work every single evening this week (including Saturday). I can't really make too many plans for a week like this.

If I can find some time for myself, I want to... bake bread. It's a lofty goal, but my husband really does enjoy it.

Special prayer intentions: For all the teenagers of our parish who will be Confirmed this Saturday. And for the kick-off of the Marian devotion in the youth group this Wednesday!

Something that makes me smile: Knowing my husband left the Chinese leftovers for my lunch today. What a dear man he is!