Poof..... and Back Again

So yeah.  It's been a while.

About a year.

Sorry about that.

Life got.... interesting.  It hasn't really gotten any less interesting, either.  But, I'm back, and I'm going to, again, try to keep up with this.

So I am, again, gardening this year.  Already have almost everything that I want to grow starting from seed.  I'm going to post pictures later, when I can figure out how to get them from my phone to the computer without dealing with posting to Facebook.

So far this year:

Herbs:
Catnip
English Munstead Lavender
Lavendar Vera
White Horehound
Thyme, common
Valerian, common
Sweet Marjoram
Chamomile
Feverfew
Wild Bergamot (No idea why this is called "wild", since I'm going to cultivate it, variety type, maybe?)
Lemon Balm

Veggies:  Even though some of these are really fruits, w/e)
Sweet Cherry Tomato
Cal Wonder Peppers (Bell Peppers)
Pineapple Tomatillo
Crimson Sprinter Tomato
Lettuce - Leaf Tango
Lettuce - Black Seeded Simpson
Lettuce - Green Salad Bowl
Spinich
Carrot
Broccoli
Roma Tomato
Cucumber
Okra
Corn

Fruits:
Cantaloupe
Crimson Sweet Watermelon

Flowers:
Sunflower
Wildflowers
Peonies
(among others)

.... and a partridge in a pear tree.

Now.  Sad thing?  I don't remember if I *actually* planted all these things.  My two-liter greenhouse pots.... the writing on a few of them came off.  Oops.  I know for next year to label them with something that I can stick in the dirt.  Mah bad.  The only things I have not started/planted/gotten seeds for are things that 1) I have not bought yet and/or 2) things that are too early to start.  Don't look at me funny, I'm aware that some of the above plants are really too early to start.  I had the seeds and I wanted to play in the dirt, in a vain hope that Spring would come early.

The exciting thing??  THINGS ARE ALREADY SPROUTING!  My cherry tomatoes, a few Lavender, the Thyme (OMG) and a few other assorted things are already sprouting.  I'm going to have Thyme coming out of my ears, I need to whip up a drying rack fairly quickly.  Holy smokes.

So that's it for now.  I'll be updating the site a bit, so don't be too alarmed.

A Priest named Boberry....

Funny things happen in WoW at the most random of times.

A priest names Boberry, for instance, has a passion for cooking.  Score.

Below is Boberry's Apple Dumplings... oh my!!!!

     

APPLE DUMPLING BAKE

2   tubes (8 ounces each) refrigerated crescent rolls

2   medium Granny Smith apples, peeled & cored

1   cup sugar

1/3 cup melted butter or margarine

¾ cup Mountain Dew soda

Ground cinnamon

Vanilla ice cream

Unroll crescent rolls and separate dough into 16 triangles.  Cut each apple into 8 wedges.

Wrap a crescent dough triangle around each apple wedge.  Place in a greased 9 x 13 x 2 inch baking dish.

In a bowl, combine sugar and melted butter;  sprinkle over rolls.  Slowly pour the Mt. Dew around the rolls (do not stir).  Sprinkle with cinnamon.  Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve warm with ice cream.

Christmas

Muhahah.

I got a handmade BoS from my sister in law (yes, I damn near cried when I opened it)

I got a Soda Stream (was actually a graduation gift, poor hubby) *rubs hands with glee*

and I got the coolest pair of slippers from my husband.

More on the Soda Stream later!

Throw together Chicken Dinner

I didn't really feel like making dinner tonight, but this is my "I may have outdone myself" throw together dinner tonight.  Husband approved.

BS Chicken Breasts
Cheddar cheese, sliced
can condensed soup
1 1/2 cups instant rice
1 can plus a half cup water
spices to taste

Pre-heat oven to 375.

Flatten those chicken boobs.  Vent your frustrations!

Roll cheddar in the flat chicken boobs.  I also sprinkled them with oregano, parsley and garlic powder.  Pin shut with toothpick.  Place in glass baking dish.

Combine soup, water, spices and rice.  Mix well, pour into baking dish.

Bake for 45 minutes.  Mix the rice before serving, enjoy!

Don't forget to take the toothpick out.

I'm not dead!

Been a busy semester, and only about half done.  Crocheting, JK Whims going live on the net....

Yeah.

Check out our page at JK Whims

Hopefully I'll have good news come December, which should entail being done with school and having a job. 

<3 you all.

Random Thought of the Day

I am so re-installing EVERYTHING from OS up after classes are over!

A Few Digressions

Sitting in class waiting for my instructor to actually teach something, so I am going to throw out a few thoughts here.

As you can see from the title of the blog, I am a witch.  Wiccan.  Pagan.  Whatever you want to call it.  I have been a solitary practitioner for years.  I have recently thrown in my lot with a bunch of Wyrdoes here in East TN.  It's nice to have a group of like minded people that I know will not attack me for my religion.

Now, I promise, this blog is not going to take on too much of a pagan bent.  But I feel the need to get my thoughts down somewhere that is relatively safe.

I was talking to a friend of mine last night about how I felt while participating in Pagan Pride Day and the ritual.  (Trust me, that ritual confirmed that I do not want to be part of a coven in anyway shape or form.  I'll stick with my group, thanks.)  It's no surprise to anyone that I am a protector, an enforcer.  I am also a leader.  It's natural for me to try to take charge if I feel that something needs to be taken charge *of*.  This brought up an interesting quandary for me.

I don't have any pull from the Goddess to be a priestess above what a Wiccan is in her own right.

I have experience with being Her enforcer.  It's not something that I will talk about with anyone but the person who was also involved, but suffice it to say, I know what it is to walk in the moonlight with a sword at my side.

So my question became- what am I?  Where do I fit in?  I am comfortable with being on the fringes.  I am comfortable taking charge when I feel there is a need.  I am comfortable with being the strength behind - or in front of - someone who needs it.  I am comfortable with the earth and in the moonlight.  

I am a Guardian.  My totem is the Wolf.

I am Emberwolf.

Garden Stuff

Yes, I am aware that it is the first day of Fall.  Don't remind me.

Couple of things.  I am going to move my raised beds up to in front of the house.  Where they are now I just can't keep a good enough eye on them.  Plus, they get to be the center piece of the walkway/herb bed that is in the planning stages.  It will eventually wrap from the front porch to the back one.  The herbs will be planted in the puzzle area of the walkway and the rest of it will be mulched or planted with a cover plant (I'm thinking mustard) to smother the weeds and keep the pathways clear.

Yard work, and Pinterest Ideas

Seriously, who isn't addicted to Pinterest?  If you care, here's mine.  Not too much in the way of new foods, but I have been trying out ideas that I have pinned.  Here's the rundown:

Mason Jar Salads  I love this.  This is so handy to do for lunch.

Cinnamon Roll Waffles  I liked em.  The trick with these is they get kinda tough, so don't let them get overdone.   I also recommend using the Grands... the regular sized ones were cute, tiny waffles.  The only reason not to is if they don't have the orange ones in Grands.

Homemade Fajita Seasoning  I will never buy packaged fajita seasoning again.  Ever.  I made mine without the pepper flakes, since we don't own them.

On to the non food items:

Natural Display   I went a little nuts with this one.  I made two wall hangings along these lines for my jewelry biz, Jen & Kim's Creative Whims.  We needed a way to display necklaces without cluttering up the tables, and this was the answer.  If it were not for my cats, I would make one for me.

Homemade Dishwasher Soap  It really does work, and its a ton cheaper than anything else.  The kicker?  You HAVE to shake it every day or it hardens.  No idea that it was going to do that when we went on vacation for a week.

And on to the pin I want to try the most...

Milk crate compost bin  The hardest part about this so far is finding the milk crates.  They were everywhere when I was a kid!

Now on to re-plant bulbs in flower gardens, plan a new flower bed and get my sqft gardens moved up closer to the house!

New Food!

Been a while.  Sorry about that.  Long summer.

But, I have been busy with food too.

First, it was the jams- lots and lots of jams.

Today, however, was a few things.

Food and recipes after the break!

Meatloaf Win!

I made the best meatloaf tonight that I have ever made.

1lb ground turkey
1 egg
1/2 sleeve wheat crackers, crushed
Italian seasoning
garlic and herb seasoning
garlic salt (just a tiny bit for the salt)
ketchup
cayenne pepper

Pre-heat oven to 375, line glass baking dish with foil.  I also spray it with cooking spray, mine tends to stick.

Mix the egg, ketchup and herbs together, add the meat then the crackers, mixing well in between.

Dump it in the pan, shape it, sprinkle a little extra garlic salt on top and put ketchup on it for good measure.  Cover it, and bake for 1 hour.  I added julienne potatoes on each side.  Yummy!!!!

Catching up

School's out for Spring.  I escaped by the skin of my teeth.... with three A's and a B+.  Yeah, I'm damn proud of that.

Garden's in and stuff's growing.  Gotta get the rest of that in too.

I'm also going to try to catch up with my crochet.  I have three blankets to finish before I'll let myself start doing stuff for me.  There is a hat that I really want to do, so I should get cracking on those blankets, huh?

Gonna post more recipes when I can.  It's difficult enough right now to cook, let alone post what I cook.  Zach's on the crap shift- 2:15-11:15pm.  Ugh.

Last Month of Classes

For this semester, anyway.  I'm slowly going mad, but I have two semesters to go, then I'm done and will walk next spring.  Can't wait.

Will try to get some more recipes up in the mean time.

First day of Spring!!!!!!!

Lets not be like last year, kay Mother Nature?  Lets have a good year so I can get in all my gardens and enjoy the weather instead of being terrified of it.

Brown Sugar Pork Chops and Apples

6 tablespoons brown sugar

6 tablespoons butter

dash of cinnomon

dash of nutmeg

1/2 tablespoon soy sauce

2-4 thick pork chops

1-2 sliced apples, depending on amount of pork chops

preheat oven to 350.  combine first 5 in a sauce pan, bring to boil.

place the sliced apples and pork chops into baking dish.  drizzle sauce over the apples and pork.

cover and bake 45 mins.  uncover, bake 10 mins one side, flip, bake 10 more minutes.

serve with rice or mashed potatoes.

Catching Up

As opposed to Falling Up.  (hehe, Ash)

So, finally got done with the semester from hell.  Thanks to a crappy class load combined with Zach switching to nights, this semester was pretty bad.  I'll be happy to have passed my classes this semester, sad as that sounds.  I have also decided that SQL is the devil.  

Next semester should go lots better.  I am taking all night or online classes.  I'll be taking Network Security, Windows Professional, A+ Software and Sociology.

However, first I have to get to the first day of the spring semester.  Monday the 19th, Zach and I will be going up to Mountain Home VA center for me to have surgery.  A breast reduction.  Needless to say, I'm a bit on the apprehensive side, but am very much looking forward to it.

What I'm not looking forward to?

Being an invalid.  I hate feeling dependent on someone for everything.  I also hate hospitals.  Tomorrow I go to have a mammogram done.  We'll also head up for overnight lodging Sunday.  Other than that, I plan on loading my eReader down with books and hoping that I'll be able to crochet.

Fud

I know I have not written much here, I think it's going to have to wait until after school is over. But! New recipe in the Fish/Seafood section. Baked salmon and veggies. There is also a new recipe in the Meatless Dishes section: Parmesan Roasted Potatoes.

Whisky Tango Foxtrot, over

Did someone make it monday and not tell me? It's really been one of those days. First, I kept forgetting stuff in the house this morning (I never did find my belt) so I left late again- today I was only about two mins late for Database. Then, I stop at Food City to get me some salad to go with dinner tonight to find that I have left my debit card somewhere in the house. THEN I find out I left my external hard drive in the lab. Oh but it doesn't end there. I call my husband on his lunch to ask him who made it Monday again... and he doesn't answer. Sad panda. But the wtf about that was that somehow his voicemail has swapped back to default- and I have no idea why. And he never returned my call. Still sad panda.

Tired

Third week of classes.  Already tired to the bone.

Found out yesterday that Western KY University will be offering a transfer for those of us who want to get a Bachelors Degree.  Don't know if I can afford it or what, but I know that I will be here at PSTCC for at least two more semesters.  Thanks to the changes to the Post 9/11 GI Bill I can't afford to quit my job and just go to school all day every day and the PTB here at the collage, I have no choice.

On a totally different note- I don't like my dreams anymore.  In general I don't remember them when I wake up, but here in the last few years I have been remembering snippets of ones that I have right before getting up- wither its from a nap or after hitting the snooze button a few times.  Most of the time they are just bizarre, but there have been a few of them that I truly woke up in a panic from them.

I think I have wondered off in Database enough during his ramblings.  I'll update more later.

Free Stuff

I'm so not above free stuff.  Clorox 2 is having a contest in the bloggers area, and the blogger who gets the most clicks wins.  The blog with the most clicks gets a washer and dryer along with a years supply of Clorox 2.  The 4 runners up get a year supply.


Plus, the video made me lawl.    


http://goo.gl/KuuKq