Yummyness!

This came from Tim,

a Creekside Grains fan from Wisconsin.

I had to share! 

"Just sent you a Creekside order, was lacking yummyness here!!! 

You just can't beat the aroma & taste,

minutes out of the oven!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I agree!

Turkey Trees

 Two days ago, I heard a really funny sound outside. 

It sounded like a turkey.

Michael looked out the window and saw two turkeys staring back at him.

He was able to walk out and take a picture of them.

Here's Tom.

Jerry was hiding behind a post.

This morning while I was shoveling snow, 

I saw two massive birds flying at me.

They landed in our maple tree.

It was Tom and Jerry!

I never knew that birds as big as turkeys hung out in tall maple trees!

I learned something new today.

That's one big bird on one little branch!

Zero and Falling

Not sure where global warming is, but it is certainly not here this week. 

Right now, it is zero degrees and falling. 

We have lots of snow and more coming this week, along with single digit temperatures.

Good thing I LOVE winter! 

I spent over an hour getting my morning exercise by shoveling snow. 

It sure beats being inside at a gym!

I look forward to more snow, so I can shovel more and get more exercise!

We Were Gone, but Now We Are Back

We just returned from spending seven days in Minneapolis for a Gift Show. 

We had a great time at the show.

We took orders for 28 new stores and are starting to pack over 1000 mixes

that will ship next week.

When we left last week, the roads were icy and driving was slow. 

While we were there, the temperatures were below zero, with wind chill factors of -25 degrees. 

It was so cold that we did not even visit the Mall of America, which was only ten minutes away.

We just went back to our hotel and stayed warm.

On our way home, the roads were icy and snow covered and driving was slow, 

but...we had so much fun looking at all of the ice shanties on the frozen lakes.

One lake had hundreds of shanties on it.

That's either a lot of fun to be out with friends in the great outdoors,
or there are a lot of fish to catch!

January Thaw Brings Carrots

Fresh from the January thaw...carrots!

It was warm enough yesterday to dig out the rest of the carrots that Michael planted last summer.

A little dirt scrubbed off, and we will have carrots for a few more months!

The photo does not show it, but some of these carrots are the size of my hand. 
Some of them are odd shaped and have funny things growing on the side
(one looks like an angry bird),
but they still taste great.

Home grown carrots are soooo good!

Go Angela - Miss Michigan

 

In 2008, we first met Angela Venditti when she competed for Miss Heart of Michigan.

In 2011, Angela was Top Five in Miss Heart of Michigan.

In 2012, Angela was crowned Miss Michigan.

She is currently in Las Vegas, competing for Miss America.

We are so proud of Angela!

We are looking forward to watching Miss America tomorrow evening.

Go Angela!

Happy New Year

As I was preparing breakfast this morning, 

I noticed a downy woodpecker on the pole just under the suet. 

He was sleeping! 

He did not move for at least ten minutes. 

When he woke up from his nap, he had his suet snack, then off he flew. 

We have seen him do this before, but not for this long. 

Maybe he was resting so he could be awake when we ring in the New Year tonight!

Happy New Year!

Christmas Cactus

At least ten years ago,

Michael's aunt gave us a giant Christmas cactus

that had sat on top of a chest freezer on her porch for decades.

It was in a huge clay pot with the original sand 

from her farm.

In the past few years, it started to look sad,

so this year, I repotted with all new cactus dirt.

It likes it! 

We have several blooms this year

and they are beautiful.

Let's see how long we can keep this plant happy

and how many more years it can grow.

New Director of Taste Testing

My role as Director of Taste Testing has been taken away,

by a SQUIRREL!

Michael has been creating blueberry muffins for the past few weeks.

After I taste the newest batch,

we take the extra muffins and put them by the bird feeders

for the birds to enjoy a treat.

Last week, we looked out and saw our neighborhood squirrel

taking the muffins away.

He must like them - he took most of them!

This image shows him stopping for a snack before he moves on.

What fun we have with our wild critters!

Wellington Farm, USA

We just met the most wonderful couple who run the 

Wellington Farm in Grayling, Michigan. 

Howard and Gloria Taylor have an historic, working farm community.

They picked up Creekside Grains mixes for their gift store.

It looks like a great combination of farm and baking mixes!

Check out the site, then stop in and take a step back in time.

 

www.wellingtonfarmpark.org/