Pumpkins

I was talking to a co-worker this morning about Halloween, weekend plans, weird costumes and weirder people. During our conversation I mentioned that at a training I presented last week, one of the guys came in with homemade Cajun spiced pumpkins seeds.I was surprised that people still do that kind of thing. I remember my Mother making pumpkin seeds once or twice - actually I remember eating them and not the making at all. So, in talking to my friend, I decided that I was going to make pumpkin seeds tonight. Being the adventurous cook that I know her to be, she agreed that it was a good idea and helped me find recipes.

The recipes (posted at the very bottom of this post) call for 1 cup of seeds. Do you have any idea how many cups you get from one pumpkin? Me either, not a clue! So I got 4, just to be safe. I am happy to report that 4 pumpkins is plenty.

So here we go...

I arrived home to find Max munching on leaves.He had a snotty nose and was coughing. It was a 'boogie' nose and was worth calling the vet. We decided that he did not need to make the trip in, but should probably be put on antibiotics. I grained everyone (horses get grain at night in winter), gave Max his antibiotics and went back to the house.

Feeling industrious and wanting to assert my independence now that my neck is doing moderately better, I decided to change the recessed halogen light bulbs in the kitchen. I have no idea how they do it, but flies and moths crawl in there and die. Very small space and not a lot of room - you would think they would be smarter than that. Anyhow, I got that done and cleaned up all of the little bodies and decided that it was time to tackle my next project. Either fix the milking stand or harvest pumpkin seeds. The milk stand weighs about 100 pounds and I can only lift 17, so that was out. Harvesting pumpkin seeds only requires a knife and happen to have several of those!

I set them up on the tailgate and started. I carved two. Not bad at the carving but the harvesting seed part is awful! Have you looked at the inside of a pumpkin recently? It is stringy, sticky, slimy, orange and smells a bit off.  Bleck!

I took the carved face pieces out to the goats to see if they would eat it. Lilly, as usual, picked at it and nibbled a little. Portugal ate a few pieces and decided that she likes grain better. Nephi ate as much as he could but Lacey, the pig kept pushing him out of the way because she loves pumpkin! She loves everything but especially pumpkins! At least I have something to do with the jack-o-lanterns when we are done. R met me at the house and we finished carving and harvesting seeds from the final two pumpkins. I think they turned out very well! What do you think?

I took the seeds inside to start the 'making' process. If there is a simple way to get the seeds cleaned and detached from the gross stringy stuff, I would like to know. That was the hardest part of the whole endeavor and the point at which I almost gave up. If you have an idea, please leave me a comment or email me!

The dogs of course wanted to play and be obnoxious. I am trying to learn to use the video feature on my phone, so here goes:

I set the seeds to soaking while we went to ride. Of course I couldn't ride Max because I am concerned he is getting sick. I am thinking maybe he is allergic to some of the leaves and wood chips that we had delivered last wee and not sick, but we will have to wait until tomorrow. 

R rode Bella and worked on loping around the field. I started Molly and tried to show Mom how to sit the trot with out bouncing around too much. She did a fantastic job and had a great time. She and Molly are a great pair and work very well together. I am constantly amazed at how far they have both come in the last 3 years. I'll try to get some photos next time.

  

When it got dark, we lit the jack-o-lanterns; what do you think?! Success?

 

 

After an few hours I went back in to finish my seeds. I did one Sweet and Spicy and one Garlic and Onion. R really likes the Garlic and Onion! I am planning to take a sampling to the Ward Halloween party tomorrow. The recipe for the Sweet & Spicy is below, for the others I used a bit of oil and the Garlic & Onion seasoning for burgers.

Sweet & Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

Ingredients
1 cup raw cleaned whole pumpkin seeds
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon white sugar
Directions
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C).
Place the pumpkin seeds on a cookie sheet, and spread them out into a single layer. Roast until brown and crisp, about 45 minutes. Set the seeds aside in a large bowl.
Place the cinnamon, chili powder, and 1 teaspoon of sugar in a bowl, and set aside.
Place olive oil and 1 tablespoon of sugar in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, and heat and stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar turns a light golden brown color. Watch it carefully to avoid burning.
Pour the caramelized sugar mixture over the roasted pumpkin seeds, and stir to coat. Pour the cinnamon-chili powder mixture over the seeds, and toss to coat the seeds with the spices.

Winter is coming!

Winter is coming, it is well on its way! We had our first frost last week and all of the leaves on our trees have changes color and most have already fallen. It even got so cold that the crack in my windshield completed its trek all the way over to the other side.

'They' are saying that we will have colder than average temperatures this year. I am not sure who 'they' are, but at this point I am starting to believe them. We still have two barns to build before the snow flies. One horse barn for Molly and a stud barn for Nephi. I am thinking that this weekend is the weekend for building.

Since we don't have a fireplace, our furnaces run on propane. Yes, furnaces, plural... One for the house and one for the garage. I am not sure if the one in the garage is more for the dogs, Robert or me. The dogs because their kennel is out there, Robert because part of the garage is his man cave or me because without a man cave, Robert would be in the house and underfoot!!Anyhow, back on track. Propane is pricey and last winter with our furnace set at 65-70 it ran about $250 per month. I know; that is a lot of money. So this year, we are committed to not turing the furnace on until the end of November. As I sit here looking out the window at this:

I am reconsidering my firm position on not turning the furnace on!



 

In the spirit of winter, we got Dozer a new sweater. He doesn't ever get much hair and he gets so cold. Isn't he a cutie?! They had teal, grass green, yellow, pink and orange. Orange was the least offensive, so Bubba got orange. It fits well, but getting it on him is like wrestling with an oiled pig. Whew!

Our Ward is having their annual Spooktacular Halloween party this Saturday from 1-3. I volunteered us to bring firewood for the bonfire, which means we have to go and cannot flake out at the last minute. It will be at the Walpole's ranch, so there will be hay rides a petting zoo, fire, trunk-or-treat and some other fun stuff. This will be our first real Ward activity in almost 2 years. 2 years?! We spent most of 2009 trying to get pregnant and stay pregnant and most of 2010 recovering from neck surgery and yet another miscarriage. Now that we are on the road to recovery and working on getting our lives back, we are excited to get back into it. If only they would make the pews in the chapel more comfortable - then I could sit for longer than 30 minutes and would be able to attend sacrament more often. It has been quite some time since we tried to make it through the whole hour, and this Sunday is time to try again!

We are pretty excited about the Holidays this year. We were talking our plans and decided to do Thanksgiving at our place. We have invited Mom, if she chooses to come, but even if she doesn't, we will be planning and hopefully carrying out a feast! Christmas is going to be spent much like last year, at home with each other enjoying the true meaning of the season. New Year's Eve will be spent celebrating until midnight... or at least 9:30!

A Debt Paid

In Jerry Bridges' book The Gospel for Real Life it states the following:

“The purpose of this book is to explore those unsearchable riches. To appreciate them, however, we need to look briefly at our sinful condition. Though we live in a time when people don’t like to talk about sin, only those who understand to some degree the enormity of their spiritual debt can begin to appreciate what Christ did for them at the cross. Without some heartfelt conviction of our sin, we can have no serious feeling of personal interest in the gospel. What’s more, this conviction should actually grow throughout our Christian lives. In fact, one sign of spiritual growth is an increased awareness of our sinfulness.”

I recently met an elderly man who would cry whenever he would hear the name of Jesus. I have been thinking about that a lot lately; mainly because I am not there, not even close. It strikes me that perhaps one of the reasons he would cry upon hearing our Lords name is that he had a great understanding of his own sinfulness and therefore a greater appreciation for what Jesus did for him. As I was reflecting upon that this morning God brought to my mind the story found in Luke 7:36-49. I encourage you to read the entire story and associated parable but it is summarized by Jesus in 44-47:

Luke 7:44 And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.
7:45 Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.
7:46 My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.
7:47 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.

The fact is that I not been “forgiven little” I have been forgiven much – all of us have! Unlike this woman I do not yet comprehend the enormity of my spiritual debt that Jesus paid for me.

John Piper states that we will never fully comprehend the depth of our sinfulness but as we grow spiritually we can gain a greater understanding of it. By God’s grace may he reveal to us more and more how great a debt He paid for us and thereby causing us to truly treasure Jesus above all things!

The gospel tells us that Jesus Christ paid our debt, but it also tells us far more. It tells us that we are not enemies or objects of His wrath. We are His sons and daughters, heirs with Jesus Christ of all His unsearchable riches. This is the good news of the gospel. This is why the women in the story wept and the elderly man cried. We need to remember this every day.

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A few weeks ago we got an email from someone we do not know but her words touched our hearts and we feel compelled to share.

We will call her E, we consider her a new friend and she has a dear and sweet spirit. I feel as though I have known her for a long time, her words and the spirit in which they were delivered feel so familiar.

She read our blog and said "Sometimes you don’t realize how far you have come until someone points out that progress, or perhaps you see that progress in another." To know that someone reads this blog makes me smile. To know that this blog touches some one's heart makes me cry and increases my faith that we are indeed on the correct path. I find great peace in the fact that there are others who fins our story to be similar to their own, who struggle our struggles and tread our same path.

I wrote back to E something along these lines: It has been a long hard road and we are still traveling; but each day, week, month and year we grow a bit more, learn a bit more and find our way down the path just a bit more. We get so caught up in how far we have to go that we don’t take the time to look back to see how far we have come. On our blog at one point earlier this year, (February maybe) I remember talking about the road and two different feelings; having come so far on a quiet road vs. not being able to see the path through the mist.

I often forget how far we have come and yet at times it seems like we are back at the beginning again. *like a yo-yo* I believe this all part of the plan to keep us moving forward, if you think you are getting close to being done, you must be reminded of how long eternity is and how the road can change! And that is how we receive the blessing of new challenges! *The blessing of new challenges; 2 years ago those words would not ever be used in the same sentence. I truly believe that by trials and endurance, we grow and gain faith. It is through that new faith that we are blessed. *

Anyhow, it was nice to know someone reads our blog! E, thank you for your kind words!

Karl Creations

If you don't know Paschal Karl, you should; he is fantastic. He, his wife and dog live in South Dakota and travel to different areas doing photography.

Yes, he will travel to your place, he went all the way down to Kentucky. There is no travel fee, sitting fee or time limit. You only pay for the photos you want and you are NOT buying 'a' photo like most places, you are buying the copyright to the image so you can use it as much as you want. Super deal and great value for the price! Do I sound like a commercial?! No catch, no tricks, just great photography.

How in the world did I find him? Through an endurance riding site for our region. It mentioned that he would be making a trip through Colorado to do photos and to contact him if anyone was interested. Being married for over 13 years with no professional photos, I thought this would be a good opportunity to get some shots and to see what sticks.

He came out and spent about 4 hours at the house, took 118 photos and helped us pick the ones we like best. Here is his website Karl Creations!

Nephi and Portugal

It is once again breeding season and we have been contemplating logistics for this year. We typically spend 2 days traveling (one to take them and one to pick them up), 2 tanks of gas, $35 per doe and 2$ per doe per day boarding at the buck facility in Eastern Wyoming. Granted, he is a wonderful buck but the breeder has been in business for so long that her lines are very inbred and they are all over the area.

Our girls are from Southern Colorado lines and mixing them with Eastern Wyoming lines produces great kids. There are a few issues with this path. 1. Who will the kids be able to breed with? 2. How long can I keep paying ridiculous fees to breed each year? 3. How can I afford to buy one of her bucks - but if I do, I go back to question 1)?

What to do, what to do? I know, lets go to Eastern Nebraska to get a $600 buck at discount, throw in a $350 doeling at discount and save some money. We got both at a deep discount and did not spend over $300 for both! WOOHOO! We got to name both; check them out!

Meet our Buck:
Double Z Karim's Nephi

Meet our new doeling:

Double Z Miss Portugal

We are completely changing the breeding and lines available in Northern Colorado. We are mixing Southern Colorado lines with Eastern Nebraska lines. The kids are going to be fantastic! Check out our website for more information on these new additions, for breeding information and to reserve kids.

We will be offering limited breeding to Nephi this year and Portugal will remain dry until she matures a bit more. We are getting emails for reserving kids already! Here we go!

Post Script: For those wondering, Nephi is de-scented which means he doesn't smell terrible but he is still a buck! Bucks are nasty critters and they have terrible manners - but they are funny as heck!