I could spend every day admiring Nature's Beauty

One week ago today I returned from Vancouver where I proudly watched my mom receive her major award.  The Gala and award night was simply magical.  I was so proud and the event was a culmination of all the awesome work my mom has done.  I wouldn't have wanted to miss it for the world.

The Gala was a huge starry filled event of happiness.

My mom looked amazing up on the stage and on the big movie screens around the ballroom. We all smiled all night long. 

Vancouver is an amazingly beautiful city.  There are museums and stores and parks and waterfront and the list goes on and on. Where was I during every free moment?  Loving Nature of course!!!!!  I can never get enough of Nature's beauty! So here is the picture overload!  

There are totems to be found everywhere

If you look just a little left of the center of the trees - you will see a bald eagle flying.  That one flew right over my head!  

Here is the treetop canopy.  You could walk above the forest floor from tree to tree.

There were trees in this forest that were 1300 years old.  They were SO tall and SO majestic.  I had to just give them a big hug!

The suspension bridge that goes over the gorge.  It was a little wobbly but definitely worth the adventure!

I literally just stood here in silence and took in the beauty.  The air was crisp and fresh.  The trees smelled so good.  The forest was complete serenity and peace.  I could never tire of this.  I wish I could visit this spot every day.

This was a huge catwalk that jutted out from a cliff face.  

Nature all around!

Glass walkways way on top of the gorge

Sea to Sky Highway

Squamish, BC! I could not stop looking at this view.  I think I would be happy living in a tent right in this spot.  So beautiful!

This forest was SO green.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  My sister and I kept calling it a "fairy forest" as it just looked magical.  It looked like one of the places on that list of "places you must visit."

The fairy forest trail led to this view.  I just stood here in awe. Nature's Wonders....right before my eyes.

Bear number 1.  Yes that is me.  Yes I know - don't approach the bears.

So, I am sure this is a mystery person that is close enough to take this picture of the bear eating berries off the bushes.

More Fairy Forests.....Whistler BC

Bear Number 2.  I am a very good bear spotter.

Waterfalls are so breathtakingly beautiful!

Ahhhhh.  So peaceful!  I love to just stand there and listen to the water cascade down the mountain.

Bear number 3. It was a good day for bears!

Some people have this sunset view EVERY single night! WOW! I think I would have to take a picture every night!

This is Beaver Lake in Stanley Park.  The park is literally DOWNTOWN - with buildings and freeways and hotels all around.  Once you enter the park, thoughts and visions of metropolis vanish.  It is nothing but peace and quiet and nature.  I loved it so much. I would walk here every day!

See?  Look at all the trees in this forest!  It is so beautiful.  Did I mention I love nature?  And trees?  And forests?  LOVE!

One last adventure before I headed back to Yesteryear Acres.  

Whale watching! And yes....despite the frigid temperatures it was AWESOME! That's a humpback right behind me.  AND it swam right up to the boat, stuck its head out and looked at us and then swam under the boat on his way.  AWESOME!  I LOVE NATURE!

Subconscious Alarm Clock

Do you ever have one of those nights where you wake up a bazillion times in the middle of the night because you have to wake up early the next morning? You know you desperately need the sleep but your mind wakes you up every half hour just to remind you to wake up early.  That was my night last night.  I don't know why my mind can't just set itself to wake up when the alarm goes off rather than make me worry about whether the alarm will go off.  It is an odd torture. "Hello...I know you won't be getting much sleep tonight because you have to get up early.....so I am going to make sure you don't sleep at all."  Thank you sub-conscious alarm clock!  How thoughtful!  Of course, I did wake up on time so the extra sub-conscious reminders were totally unnecessary. Our first few puppies were picked up by their new families this morning before the sun was even awake.  I can't say that I looked my best, but thankfully it was still dark outside! I was up early and had the puppies running around outside to do their early morning business right on time.  It was worth getting up early as the puppy families were soooooooo excited and sooooooooo nice!  I even got a few presents today which TOTALLY made my day even more awesome!  I hope that all the new puppy families are safely at home with their new furry babies enjoying their happy puppy weekend.  It was a puppyful wonderful day!

Trifecta of Fun

I am pretty sure when you are done reading this blog, you will be consumed with jealousy over my most awesome day. One would be hard pressed to top this much awesomeness! First, I went to the gynecologist for a VERY long overdue medical check-up.  When I say very long overdue, let's just say, the doctor almost forgot who I was! Yes. I was scolded.  Sometimes it is hard to find the motivation to go to a doctor when you feel perfectly fine.  I mean let's face it.... there are much better ways to spend a day! I finally acquiesced and went to my gynecologist appointment.  While I was with the doctor, she asked me when my last mammogram was. Hmmmmm.  Last mammogram? I said, "it wasn't that long ago.....I think I had one when I was 35."  The doctor then said, "soooooo 13 years ago?!!"  ACK!  How did that happen???  Wasn't I JUST 35????  So guess what I got to go do right after I saw the gynecologist? OH YES.  I got to go get a mammogram.  See?  You are so jealous.  You are thinking, "WOW!  WHAT AN AWESOME DAY!"  I have to admit, the mammogram was really simple.  I was done in less than 5 minutes and I was thinking now I can check that off my list for YEARS.  At least that was until the radiologist said to me, "See you next year.  You are at the age when you need this done every single year."  WHAT?!  I am old AGAIN?!  What is this?  Some kind of conspiracy? I called Mr. Yesteryear Acres from the car to let him know that I was finally on the way home when he asked me to stop by the store to pick up a few things.  UGH.  I was waiting at the pharmacy window FOREVER when the technician asked me if I would like a free flu shot.  FLU SHOT?!  OH BOY!  Yes please!!!!  Sign me up!  The flu shot was JUST what I needed to complete my trifecta of fun!  What an awesome day! Doctor, Mammogram AND Flu shot!  I wonder what tomorrow will bring?  Dentist maybe?!  I haven't seen him in a while........Maybe I can schedule that AND have my eyes examined and get reading glasses cause evidently....I am old enough for that too!

Today's Blog is Brought To You By the Letter L

Way way way back when my sister and I were little we had a contest to see who could take the longest to say the alphabet. On her first turn, she took about a minute to run through the alphabet.  My turn followed and lasted 5 minutes.  Then her turn was again right around 5 minutes in length.  Then I said, "Oh yeah....well I will say the world's SLOWEST alphabet.  40+ years later.....I am giving my sister the Letter "L" in honor of her birthday today. Aren't I a great big sister? Just what she ALWAYS wanted....the letter "L". Just in case you think that is ALL I gave her, I also gave her some Luxurious Lovely Lounging pajamas when we were together in Vancouver last week.  We definitely got to spend some fun sister time......

Giant swinging suspension bridge

Walking through the treetops!

A Bald Eagle just flew over our heads. Awesome!

Who doesn't love trees!!!

On the Sea to Sky Highway

The waterfalls were breathtakingly beautiful

To say it was "foggy" in Vancouver would be an understatement

There was a huge freighter ship right behind us blowing its horn.....we could not see one inch of it!

All dressed up for the Gala

Whale watching in the freezing cold?!  Yes Please!!!!

Happy Birthday to my sweet sister who willingly went on all my adventures with me.....including the one when I said, "Hey, I know!  Let's walk up all 30 flights of stairs to our hotel room!"  Only a best friend sister would agree to that one!  And....of course...we made it with no problem!  See?  We aren't THAT old yet!

Happy Birthday!!! Enjoy your LETTER L!

Hot Date

Man!  Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I really know how to do a date night! After working all day, we realized we were out of milk.  EGAD!  AND we were almost out of puppy food! This is a serious emergency! I offered to run to the warehouse club to go get what we needed and then Mr. Yesteryear Acres said, "What if we BOTH go?"  What?  A date!  A real date?  My son agreed to stay home and take care of the puppies so that Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I could go dog food shopping together.  Yes folks - that is a real romantic date here at Yesteryear Acres.  We made the most out of it too.  We went up and down every aisle.  The only thing is, whatever we found interesting was always somehow related to the doggies.  For example, the warehouse club had a rebate sale on electric toothbrushes.  Did Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I think, "wow - that would be great for us!".  Nope.  We thought, "I wonder if the doggies would like their teeth brushed with this fancy electric toothbrush! It even has flossing bristles!".  Of course as we loaded up our flat bed with gallons upon gallons of milk and bags of dog food, we were continuously questioned as to what we do.  I said, "You don't like dog food and milk?!  It is better than cereal!  No tartar on my teeth either!"  Guess we don't need that toothbrush after all!

House Call

Today was a big day here at Yesteryear Acres. Our vet came out and did our yearly vet inspection and doggie health check-up day.  We are so lucky to have such an awesome vet!  She came with 2 vet techs to help do all the work.  Every doggie got a complete physical.  We had blood draws and heart checks and teeth checks and vaccinations.  The doggies got the complete works! The vet techs were prepared with nail clippers and ear cleaner and each time they examined one of our doggies they just smiled because our doggies didn't need any thing.  We kept hearing, "Wow!  Excellent!" and "You are such a nice doggie" and "Your doggies are SO sweet". The vet techs had health record cards for each one of our doggies and when the vet tech would ask the vet, "What kind of notes should I put in this doggie's chart?" The vet replied, "Write down Good Boy!"  It felt good to hear how nice and healthy our dogs were and how well cared for they all were.  She said she was so impressed with our doggies and puppies.  It was a long day but an awesome day.  Our doggies and puppies just showed off all day with their very best manners and everyone got an A+.  Who doesn't love a day like that! Thanks for the House Call!

Tail Wagging Welcoming Committee

Last night when I got home, I was welcomed with a parade of happy doodle doggies, happy doodle puppies and happy doodle people!  Mr. Yesteryear Acres was waiting in the driveway with the welcoming committee of wagging tails.  It was a great homecoming!  I am so glad to be back home and of course happy to do my weekly Monday Puppy Picture update!  

Ms. Cherry Blossom collar says, "Will you be mine?"

It was such a lovely day for playing outside

Or just hanging out and watching the leaves fall

Our Goldendoodle babies will be going home this weekend

Surprise! Kitten Doodle!  Gretel just LOVES to hang over the puppy box and play with the puppies.  She purrs the entire time.

Nutmeg's chocolate babies are SO cute.  The little girl on the right is a chocolate peanut butter cup baby!

The red caramel puppies have such beautiful silky coats.  They are so snuggable!

Happy Monday!!!!

On My Way Home!

After a day long adventures of adventures, I returned back to my hotel room last night around midnight and immediately began packing.  It is always infinitely easier to pack for the return trip rather than the outgoing trip.  No decisions to be made as to what to wear.  Just fold, pack and READY! ! My wake-up call at 5:10am seemed a little harsh but I was on the street lugging my suitcases behind me by 5:40am.  I walked the 5 blocks to the subway station and easily made the 6:00am subway train to the airport. I was so glad there were elevators at the subway! I was worried about maneuvering my two wheeled suitcases onto the escalator.  Sometimes it is all I can do to get myself safely on an escalator without bags!  The elevator was much appreciated by me.  I am now on the very last flight of my long day.  The worst part about flying west to east, is that your day is pretty much gone.  I know you gain all that awesome time traveling west....but it always seems sad to lose the day returning east.  By the time I get home, Sunday will be over!  Not to worry though.  I will be up bright and early tomorrow morning and will be ready for Puppy Picture Monday! I can't wait to see how much they have grown since I left! Yesteryear Acres.....I am on my way home!

So Glad I Was There

The Gala last night was amazing! There were little twinkle lights everywhere and the ballroom looked enchanted. Everyone was dressed in formal gowns and tuxedos. It was quite the formal affair. I was really glad I made the trip. It is hard being away from Mr. Yesteryear Acres and my son and my doodle doggies but the award ceremony was really special. It was so neat to hear my Mom's name called up on stage in front of 2,000 guests. There was an entire video presentation of all that she has done and I kept thinking, "Yep. That's my mom!"  She looked so lovely up on the big Gala stage. Here was a room full of women from over 50 countries. Prime Ministers. Presidents. CEOs and Directors of companies and scientists and global award winners.... all there to see my mom receive her award. I couldn't be more proud. We were all grinning from ear to ear as she accepted her award. Our eyes might have been glistening too. Congratulations "Women Who Make A Difference" award winner mom! So glad I was there!!!!

Dressed to the Nines

Today is the big award day!  My sister and I got up early and made sure we got our exercise workout done.  We have to look good for the big gala!  We walked over 8 miles and had a great time together. Vancouver is SO beautiful!  There is a huge urban park right downtown with GIANT trees in the forest and a beautiful sea wall with endless views of the ocean.  We saw seals this morning on our walk which was my favorite part.  Seals!  On the morning walk!  Awesome!  Now it is time to do our hair and our makeup and spend the rest of the day getting dressed to the nines.  Dresses are steamed and we are getting ready for the big event.  I think my mom is nervous.  There will be almost 2,000 people at the gala watching her get her award.  I am so excited for her.  Gala time!

Bear Doodles

My mom had conference seminars to attend to all day so what could my sister and I do?  Sit around and wait? Walk aimlessly around town? Of course not! We took a bus to Whistler and were delighted by natural beauty and wonders all day long! It was the most beautiful day ever. The weather could have not been more perfect and the drive along the Sea to Sky Highway was one of the most beautiful drives I have ever seen.  Mountain vistas.  Waterfalls. Ocean views. Islands. Granite Cliffs.  It was one breathtaking view after another.  Once we got to Whistler my sister and I took an 8 mile hike and just immersed ourselves in nature.  The pines smelled so good and the old growth forests were just gorgeous.  It was one of those days you never want to forget.  Every single second of the day was filled with beauty.  I can't wait to get home and upload pictures for the blog.  I have them all on my phone so I have to transfer them to my computer in order for the upload to work.  I even have an animal surprise for you.....Bear Doodles!  We saw 3 bears today!  One bear was so close to us that when we turned the bend, we almost walked right into him.  We have awesome pictures too!  Bear Doodles and Mountain Vistas make for a perfect day!

30,000 Feet

I am writing my blog at a mere altitude of 30,000 feet on my way to Vancouver.  I arrived in Chicago with 30 minutes to spare.  I knew I would have to RUN to get to my connecting flight.   As soon as the doors to the plane opened,  I was off.  We landed at gate C15.  I had no idea where my next gate was located.  Should I turn left?  Should I turn right?  I opted right and what do you know.....Gate C 17 was my next gate!  Now that is luck!!!  I waited a few minutes and then.....my sister arrived!  She flew in from Boston and we have the same flight going to Vancouver.  So now we are both sitting in our "First Class" seats that we have created for ourselves.  We originally had a middle and a window seat but our flight was not full so now we have the middle seat open and ready for our pseudo picnic lunch.  We bought sandwiches and chips and M&M's so our little "First Class" oasis is complete.  Food.  Check!  Seats with room to stretch a little.  Check.  Most Excellent Company. CHECK! Vancouver HERE WE COME!  

Must. Get. Done.

I am leaving for Vancouver first thing tomorrow morning.  My mom is getting a major award and I am heading to Vancouver for the big event. She is receiving the International Women's Forum Award for Women Who Make a Difference. It's a huge deal and basically the culmination of her life's work for helping women achieve their dreams.  I can't miss such a major life event, so tomorrow morning I will be flying the friendly skies.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres is going to be kind enough to take me to the airport at O'Dark-Thirty. He is totally my hero. Of course, I have to make sure everything is ready here at home for my absence.  I have been running non-stop all day trying to get everything done.  Puppy nails trimmed.  Puppy boxes all clean.  Puppy laundry all caught up.  Human laundry all caught up. I have meals to make for Mr. Yesteryear Acres and my son so they will have nice healthy dinners while I am gone.  AND....... I have to pack!  There are several dressy events including a big formal gala.  This means a long dress!  This means dress shoes!  This means I need to paint my toes, wash my hair and iron my clothes!  I. Must. Get. Done.  I can't show up to Vancouver in my puppy attire!  Although.....I bet if I had a cute adorable doodle puppy in my arms, maybe, just maybe, no one would notice my toes!  So much to do!  So little time! Now where did I put the nail polish?????

Pumpkin Doodles

I think we may have some very talented pumpkin doodle puppies here.

  They did a great job picking out their favorite pumpkin.

This one looks like a good one!

It is just the right size for carving.

Can you pick this one up Mr. Yesteryear Acres?

I will try to save it for you

I will help carve it too!

This will look great on the porch!

Uh-oh.....Did we miss the pumpkin patch?

And......We have new babies to love!!!!!

Nutmeg's Chocolate and Red Caramel Doodle babies are here

She has the sweetest puppies

They will be ready for new homes Thanksgiving weekend....

just in time for pumpkin pie!!!

Happy Monday!

Perfectly Normal

My younger daughter came home yesterday for a quick visit to soak up some family time.  She has been missing her doggies and her kitties and everything about home. I was super busy yesterday with puppy visits and sadly didn't get to spend very much time with her.  While I was busy with the puppy families, my daughter was busy in the kitchen baking me a birthday cake!  This year I didn't get a birthday cake on my birthday so my daughter thought a belated chocolate cake would be a perfect end to our day.  She was so right!

Let's just say - that is a bright and shiny cake!  No need to comment on the amount of candles....just awesome chocolate goodness!

See my daughter's beautiful face?  Best part of my surprise cake!

This morning we made time for a big Sunday breakfast.  I made homemade banana blueberry pancakes and we took our time enjoying every last bite.  After breakfast, it was hard not to cry when my daughter pulled out of the driveway to head back to college.  I telephoned her a little bit later in the day to say that I didn't miss her at all.  I said it was perfectly normal to cry while washing dishes.  She said she felt the same way about driving.  Perfectly normal.  Nope.  We don't miss each other at all! Hurry up and get here Thanksgiving Break!

Tuckered Out

Today was Puppy Visit Day!  We had a lot of families come to Yesteryear Acres to visit with their cute little puppies.  All week long I asked dear sweet Mother Nature if she could be so kind as to make Saturday a good weather day.  Please let the sun shine.  Please don't let it rain.  Please choose any other day - but make Saturday awesome so that all the puppy families could have fun playing with the puppies without enduring rain or mud.  Dear Sweet Mother Nature evidently said YES!  Today could not have been more perfect! The sun was shining, the puppies were romping all over the dry green grass and everyone had fun. The puppy visits started really early this morning and lasted until late this afternoon.  If you were to come inside my house right now ....you would hear .....silence!  The puppies are ZONKED out.  They are just all tuckered out.  If you look really closely, you can see big huge smiles on all their faces.  They LOVED the day and loved being adored by their new families.  2 more weeks to go and they will be old enough for their new homes. Yay for Puppy day!!!!

45 Seconds

Mr. Yesteryear Acres came in from working outside last night a little after 11pm. He saw my face of deep sorrow over the loss of my treadmill and said he would go look at the treadmill and try to fix it first thing in the morning. Once he saw the bunched up belt he was not too impressed with my handyman capabilities.  He started asking me questions like how many revolutions did I turn the screw and what was the height difference between the two ends of the rollers.  Uh? What?  How would I know?!  Then Mr. Yesteryear Acres took out something called a tape measure and said everything was all askew and totally messed up.  He then made some adjustments and 45 seconds later told me to turn on the treadmill.  I said, "Already?!  You have to fix it!  It is really broken!"  He assured me I could turn on the treadmill and what did it do?  Purr like a kitten and work perfectly.  Yes.  In TWO hours of attempting to fix my treadmill, I had only made things worse and was no closer to getting my treadmill fixed than when I started.  How long did it take Mr. Yesteryear Acres? 45 seconds.  Yes.  45 seconds!  Not even ONE SOLID MINUTE.  My treadmill works fine now.  I have learned a valuable lesson in all of this.  I am sure you are thinking the lesson is I should never try to fix things.  Well that is so obvious, but the real lesson is - never promise a double batch of cookies when the repair job only takes 45 seconds to fix!  Now I have to go bake!  Good ole Mr. Yesteryear Acres.  He can fix EVERYTHING!

Mechanical Inclination

Many events in my life have pointed to the simple truth that I in fact do not, in any shape or form, have the ability to assemble or fix ANYTHING that involves using tools. I distinctly remember one Christmas where I was given the task of assembling a Barbie Motorhome for my girls.  3 hours later - it was clear, Barbie was NEVER going to hit the road.  I suppose one explanation is for some odd reason I have a hiccup in my brain that keeps me from recognizing my right from my left.  I know. I know.  I am almost 50 years old and still there is about a 5-10 second lag before I can correctly identify my right from my left.  This is particularly enjoyable when I am giving directions. Mr. Yesteryear Acres learned long ago to just ignore whatever words come out of my mouth and follow which way I am pointing.  I can do the pointing part correctly so at least we can get to where we are going without getting lost. I am absolutely useless in working with tools. I cannot unscrew anything using the lefty loosey righty tighty method. If I am given directions with pictures to put Slot A in Tab B or put the right handed board with the left parallel unit.  Forget about it.  When I brought an unassembled dresser to my daughter's dorm room, I bribed the dorm residents with cookies so that they would put the dresser together.  Cooking I can do!  I am an awesome cook!  Just don't have me install anything! Today, my treadmill belt was all askew and I couldn't operate my treadmill. ARGH!  I need my treadmill to combat the evil chocolate covered graham crackers!  Mr. Yesteryear Acres is super busy on a multi-day project and he cannot come to my rescue.  I attempted to straighten the treadmill belt.  I attempted to use the provided treadmill tools to loosen the belt mechanism and align it properly for TWO HOURS.  I am now at the point where tears would like to roll down my face and my treadmill actually looks worse than when I started.  I do not think treadmill belts are supposed to wrinkle and scrunch up against the side railing.  WAH!  It is useless.  Looks like my only hope is to go bribe Mr. Yesteryear Acres with cookies!  I better go make a double batch. I think I have created quite the project for him.  Darn lefty loosey righty tighty!

Egregious Error in Judgment

Oh no.  I have made an egregious error in judgment.  I went to the grocery store......HUNGRY!  What was I thinking??!!!  I know better than to walk down the aisles of temptation whilst being hungry. Willpower - where are you?  Doritos? Mmmmm Those look DELICIOUS!  I bet my son would like some for his lunch.  Fritos? Oh my - those would be good for his lunch too.  Who doesn't love potato chips?!  Bagels!  Cream cheese! Chocolate cookies, Chocolate Covered Graham Crackers, Brownie mix, Chocolate pudding!  Those would all be great too!  My shopping cart was filled to the brim.  Nothing else would fit as I rolled to the checkout lane.  I almost had to throw myself on top of the cart to keep things from toppling out.  Once I got home and started to unload, the joy in my son's eyes should have been the first clue as to my lack of willpower.  I got the, "I was the best mommy on the planet" look.  His eyes were dancing with utter happiness.  The pantry was full and his lunch time was now going to be AWESOME.  That is......until.........Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I had just ONE chocolate covered graham cracker.  I carried exactly one cookie out to the living room for each of us.  Just one.  And then I walked back to the kitchen and brought one more.  And then I walked to the kitchen to get a glass of milk for each of us and just one LAST cookie.  And then....

They were gone.

Thank goodness I bought a spare!

Lucky Me!

Today I was so lucky and got to spend the entire day with a friend of mine that I haven't seen in over 5 years. When our kids were little, the two of us were inseparable. We had our girls really close together so we were always in the same stage of parenting.  We were pregnant with our firstborns together. We spent so much time talking about our excitement about our new babies and then when our girls were born, we had even more in common.  I think we went to the park/zoo/playground etc more than any other moms ever.  We had cooking projects and art projects and activity projects that we planned every week.  We spent a solid decade sharing every single important milestone.  There seriously could have been no better friend. Then Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I moved to Yesteryear Acres and the times we got to see each other became far too few. We both became so busy with our careers and lives and the distance was such that we couldn't do all the things we did before. When our oldest girls graduated from high school, my friend moved to Florida and that was pretty much the end of our seeing each other.  Well guess who is back!  YEA!  My friend is back in Ohio and today we spent the day together catching up.  Do you know what the best part was?  It was like we had never been apart.  She KNOWS me.  She knows me so well and gets all my jokes and she really cares about me.  I feel the same way right back.  Do you know what the second best part was?  SHE BROUGHT ME MY FAVORITE COOKIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  She always used to make me my favorite cookies as a present. It was always my favorite present as it came from her heart AND I LOVE COOKIES!  So now I have a box of my favorite cookies and the awesome smile on my face from a day spent with my dear sweet friend!  Lucky me!

Getting Bigger

Lady's Double Doodle puppies and Ginger's McGyver Goldendoodle puppies are really starting to grow now.  They are doing better cleaning their plates and are starting to venture outside for potty breaks.  By this time next week - they will be pros!

Ginger's 3 Boys - so fluffy and adorable!

Ginger's girls say, "We are too!!!"

Who doesn't love red caramel! We do!

Caramel is pretty adorable too!

And Apricot!

Delicious!

Happy Monday!!!!

Biscuit Conspiracy

Early this morning Mr. Yesteryear Acres was giving not too subtle hints about Sunday morning breakfast.  Sunday morning breakfast should be celebrated.  Sunday morning breakfast should be big and have lots of delicious food.  Sunday morning breakfast should be hearty.  He even threw in a few Sunday morning breakfast mean family love and family time. I said something along the lines of cereal and milk make an awesome Sunday morning breakfast but I don't think my suggestion was appreciated.  Just about the time Mr. Yesteryear Acres looked as though he would give into the cereal idea, my son came down the stairs and said, "Hey, Isn't it SUNDAY morning?  You know what makes SUNDAY morning great don't you?" I could tell I was in the midst of a Sunday Morning Breakfast Biscuit conspiracy.  The second the word "Biscuits" left my lips both Mr. Yesteryear Acres and my son were congratulating me on what had to be the BEST idea ever!!!  Homemade Biscuits! YAY! This was immediately followed by, "You know what goes great with that???? Homemade jam!  And how about smoked sausage?!  And eggs!!  And homefries!!!! "  Yes.  I made them Sunday morning breakfast with all the fixings. The laughter and family love and family time made the early morning cooking all worth it.  The biscuits weren't too bad either!

Alas....I spoke too soon

Oh normal day where nothing exciting happens how you mock me! Right after dinner last night, our perfectly normal, nothing exciting, run of the mill, ordinary day turned into, "SURPRISE!  Yesteryear Acres something always breaks or happens day!"  We get them a lot.  We actually have FAR more days where something goes amiss rather than days where nothing exciting happens.  We long for nothing exciting days.  So right after dinner last night, as I was opening the sliding door that separates the kitchen from the dining room......it broke.  Yep the door broke.  Came off the track again for what seems to be the 1,000th time and this time it was a goner.  The sliding door is essential.  It keeps the puppies from running through the entire house in a kind of  happy free-for-all puppy romp.  It keeps the kittens from going into the living room where they would happily climb up the backs of my couches with their sharp little kitty claws.  It separates our house into a nice "puppy zone" and a nice "human zone".  The door is essential.  As soon as the door broke, Mr. Yesteryear Acres and my son left the house to go buy the needed hardware and when they came back the small little let's fix the door became let's remove all the molding.  Let's remove the framing.  Let's get plaster dust EVERYWHERE!  We worked on the door for HOURS.  It went something like this.... My son had to lift the door up into the tracks.  So he spent hours laying on the floor holding the door up by the bottom edge.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres spent hours with a crowbar and hammer making lots of noise and a huge mess.  I spent hours looking at the clock wondering WHEN CAN THIS BE FIXED and the ultimate fun job of....holding the flashlight.  Are we living up our Friday nights or what?!  And just in case you are thinking, "Did you REALLY stay up all night fixing a sliding door????"

Yes.  Yes I did. 

Nothing Exciting

I wish I had something ultra exciting to write about for today's blog.  I have been thinking all day......what happened today that is exciting and interesting? I have come up with nothing.  Nothing really very exciting.  Nothing really very interesting.  Now some people might think that is a bad thing but believe me - here at Yesteryear Acres it is almost a miracle.  No emergencies today!  No last minute, "can you please help us?" type situation.  It was just a regular ole Friday.  I have a big stew slowly cooking on the stove so the kitchen smells heavenly.  I washed ALL the puppies and trimmed all their nails and groomed each and every one for my afternoon chores. Right now I am in the process of putting together our super awesome Yesteryear Acres puppy care packages to get them ready for the weekend. After that I am going to make a big batch of cookies to surprise the boys.  See?  Nothing exciting BUT everything wonderful.  Just like a day should be!

Unthinkable

Last night Mr. Yesteryear Acres did the unthinkable.  It was a little after 11:00pm when we finally sat down for the night.  We were both thinking, "11:00?!? .... I think it is Ice Cream O'Clock!"  Sadly, I had NO more homemade ice cream in the freezer. None. Nada. Zilch!  And I was too tired to make a new batch.  I mean it was already 11:00pm and by the time I got done making the ice cream, it would be almost midnight.  I just didn't have it in me.  That is when Mr. Yesteryear Acres did the unthinkable.  He went downstairs and brought up 2 pints of STORE ice cream.  Nooooooo!  We haven't eaten ice cream from the grocery store for ages.  It will taste so bad!  It is so fattening!  It isn't good for you! And then it happened. The spoons came out. The tops were opened and then OH MY GOODNESS!  It was sooooooooo good.  Salted caramel pieces inside rich vanilla ice cream.  The cream was CREAM.  It was not my modified "we are eating healthy so I make our ice cream with whole milk" ice cream.  This was ice CREAM.  It tasted so good.  Why did you do this to me Mr. Yesteryear Acres???!!!  I looked over at him with his big smile on his face and his pint was gone.  He said - THAT was the treat of the day! I have to agree.  Let's just hope he doesn't go back down to the basement again!  I have no willpower against salted caramel truffle ice cream!!!!!

Really?!

Have you ever seen the Saturday Night Live skit, "Really?" Where the Saturday Night Live anchors go back and forth with the REALLY?! over something incredulous. That is how I feel today.  The Government of The United States of America has been shut down.  Really!?  You are closing all the National Parks?  Really?!  You are closing down all the monuments?  Really!?  You aren't allowing veterans to visit war memorials? Really?!  You might not pay the very citizens you are supposed to govern? Really?! You are unable to provide instructors and hold classes for the midshipman and cadets at our service academies? Really?! Government websites such as the Center for Disease Control are unavailable. Really?!  The list goes on and on.  I am not going to jump on a soapbox as to where the fault lies but I am going to rely on another Saturday Night Live skit for my advice........FIX IT!

Dinner Ideas

It looks as though dinner time here at Yesteryear Acres might include an extra guest or two for a little while. Without going into too much detail, we have a high school student that comes and helps us out from time to time and he is facing some really hard times at home.  Let me just say, whenever you think you might be having a really bad day, let me promise you, somewhere else - someone is having a much worse day. If you feel safe and loved and have a roof over your head and food in your belly - that should be enough blessings for a lifetime.  To not feel loved or safe, or to be hungry - there is just so much suffering.  It literally breaks my heart. So it looks like I may be setting an extra place for a while and I need some dinner ideas! As you know, we have a huge garden here at Yesteryear Acres.  We probably eat 4 vegetarian meals a week.  We LOVE our veggies.  We also eat whole grains like wheat berries and quinoa.  The food here is always homemade and always delicious!  However, our guest has different food preferences.  I believe if he were offered pizza for every single meal - he would like that. Roasted Garden Vegetables with a Sunny Side up egg served over wheat berries would NOT be something he would eat.  So what do I make for the "hamburger and french fries" type foodie? I want it to be tasty and nutritious AND something he will eat.  Ideas?  I am thinking that my menu tonight - zucchini and mushroom spaghetti - won't quite fit the bill.  I need to change it and come up with a few new menu options.  I am sure my guest will appreciate it and yes.... so will my son! He longs for a good ole hamburger night!  Guess he will get his wish this week!