On the road soon

My Blue Sky Farm Blog and This Hens a Cookin blog will be on Hold as We will be vacationing in a warmer climate next week. for the month of March.  Leaving our home in care of  our dear friend who will also take care of Buster and "the girls".  Our destination first will be here at Moonstone Beach  and Hearst Castle in California.  Many Pictures will be taken as we head south and I will post when I return the end of March.  We will  travel on to Santa Barbara and then on to the  Phoenix area for our reunion with family. Spring training baseball game and a bit of golf.. good food and wine.. I wish I could take you all along but of course that's  not happening.. Sorry.. but  You can see all the pictures when I return.. It's supposed to be Winter here in Oregon next week and Hopefully warm Springtime sun shine South.

A New Dining Experience

 I think I mentioned we had a new dining experience while visiting my husbands brother and his wife  a couple weeks ago. It was so nice to share a new experience.. How can eating be an Experience you may be asking.. Well Jennifer served us "Raclette" a Swiss grille meal. We grilled our meats and vegetable right at the table and melted our cheese topping.  * the trays of cheese fit under the grille to melt while the meat and veg cook. I boiled some potatoes and  the cheese poured over the top was delish. "Raclette"  actually refers to a type of Cheese  usually sold in a round..a bit pricey and hard to find. So we substituted it with Jarlsberg and Gruyere` with lovely melting properties. A Swiss cheese would also  be good.
Tonight Clay and I enjoyed our own "Raclette". Yes, I had to have one so I ordered one as soon as I returned home  from Amazon..( my favorite shopping center). It arrived in two days. making me a happy girl.  We will be sharing a Raclette meal with our friends this Friday so this was a test to see how well ours worked.. trying different sauces and vegetables was fun and made our dining experience one we will repeat..We will try shrimp next time ... The grilling of vegetables and meats just got better here at Blue Sky Farm..

Mother Nature Tricks

This is NOT what I wanted to find when I  opened the drapes this  morning.. I am so ready for the sunshine.. warmer days and flowers blooming.. a glance at my calendar I remind myself the days are passing quickly to when we will be out of these "Wintery days of snow" soon..I wonder if I should start packing? Or just check to see if my summer clothes still fit..and  If they Don't?  I guess I should plan a shopping  trip soon.... what do you think?

Heading South Searching for the Sunshine..

Well it is Spring somewhere... and we are heading for the sunshine. Hopefully leaving Winter behind.

We will be on the road for pretty much the month of March. Headed to California and Arizona. We will take our time stopping when and where we want. No set arrivals or agendas. Visiting family and enjoying some sightseeing on our own. Planning a couple stops along the California north coast to San Francisco and Santa Barbara.  Visiting Clay's sister and  Hoping to check out  few desert landmarks and finally Arizona where we will visit my sister and other members of Clay's family to enjoy a game of Baseball.  You know Its "Spring Training" and possible visit to a casino in Scottsdale, Sitting by a pool or two, maybe a game or two of golf thrown in...and of course sipping wine.. Really looking forward to the trip, We have a great friend who will be house sitting and dog sitting.. (yeah, buster will be more comfortable at home with her).
I hope to post from the road and take lots of photos..but if I have time I will try to continue posting here until we hit the road.

Valentines Day & No box of chocolates

Happy February 14th.... I wish you all a very Happy day... My husband & I really do not celebrate Valentines Day as any special day... Oh there were times in my past that Valentine's Day was a Special Day...of Chocolate, Dinner out and always a card... but He is My Valentine. The respect, friendship and laughter we share daily is felt everyday.. I know that may sound a bit "sappy"..but it is true.. Our relationship is a happy one  so We  are both happy to just stay in tonight and watch TV.. enjoy a simple dinner and of course We will tell each other "I love you" with  hug and a kiss goodnight... but for some I understand a Celebration is in order...and may those chocolates, roses, and gifts be appreciated..and may you enjoy each others company, laughter and start another day ..... with your  Special Valentine.

A few photos at Camp Sherman

Clay, Buster and I went to visit Clay's brother and sister in law at Camp Sherman  (near Sisters ) Oregon for the past three days. We stay is a neighbor friend of theirs cabin and woke to a very pretty site. We walked into the forest area as the snow was just starting to fall.. A really nice 2 mile walk with the dogs. The cabin sits in a meadow and these are pictures of the surrounding cabins. Yeah, snow again but very pretty setting,  don't you think? When we were on our  way home today I captured these old trucks parked in a yard. One is used for "fire fighting" and the other had a big logs on it..Just waiting  for me to take their picture. I really like shooting these interesting subjects. I need to gather a couple other shutterbug friends and make a day taking these kind of shots. I really enjoy this hobby.

Buster update!

Buster fans will be happy to know he is on the mend.. His eyes are not brilliant red anymore and he has been resting ( thank you Bendril and  the antibiotics his Vet prescribed. ) We gave him a bath this  morning and he was such a good boy..Took his medicine without any hassle.. we coat the pill with peanut butter which he loves and he doesn't  hesitate to swallow it down... putting the ointment prescribed  into  his eye is a bit of a bother to him but only for a few seconds..and he gets one treat morsel afterwards.. He will be back to playing with his toys and watching over the chickens for sure in a day  or so.. He needs to lose a couple pounds so running again will  do him good too..
Thank you all for your  posts..

A trip to the Vet.

Here Is Buster on a good day... Happy  

But today He is not so happy.. We had to take him to see the Vet this morning.. He has really red sore eyes. We  think He may have gotten into something he was allergic to yesterday when he was out in the field while we took pictures at the Lake. He started rubbing his eyes last night and more this morning. He was given an antibiotic and a steroid ointment to be put directly in his eyes twice a day and to take Benedril.  He is such a good dog.. no problem taking any medication. He is resting right now and We hope whatever he has will go away in a couple days..and he will be back to his happy active self.

A drive in the country

It was a beautful Wintery day, today no rain, no snow just a bit chilly with the pretties Blue sky...  so Clay, Buster and I took a drive into the country.  We took along the camera of course and captured a few pictures of  birds and barns. There were 6  bald eagles   hanging out in the trees and on fence post but were scared away as we pulled to a stop to take their pictures except this juvenile sitting in a tree along road. He was safe in the wildlife refuge on the lower Lake Klamath. We also saw many mallard ducks including these "Northern Shovelers" swimming in the pools of water.

Leaving the wetlands I saw these two gorgeous  barns..As many of you know I love pictures of Barns.. Aren't they cool?

We love taking drives like this.. and am so thankful we can just go.  It's Great to be retired..Very relaxing and ever so rewarding.

Bead, thread and time....

While in stranded in Wenatchee,  my sister and I were busy beading. I really enjoyed making these tennis bracelets  and challenged myself to make the  "Garden necklace" as well..The beaded tennis bracelets are crystals and  silver or colored beads pearls. I attached magnetic clasps for ease in connecting them. I will be selling these for $25 apiece  and the necklace I will  keep for myself.
 We really enjoyed hours of chatting , laughing and sharing sister stories as well as a few glasses of wine.. Aren't these pretty?