Beautiful day

Today was beautiful. The sun was out, the air was warm. It felt wonderful.

After I did the morning chores and left the dogs who were passed out in the sunshine to watch the animals for a while, I decided to go for a walk. I couldn't go far because I've not been feeling well and didn't want to get myself too far away from home. So I went out to what we call the juniper point. We call it a point because it sticks out into our pond and we can stand and look back at the house. A lot of our deer lie in there during the winter.

Big buck track, probably Torn Ear's or Deer Normans

black Squirrel

As I was standing near the water looking towards the house taking a picture, I jumped a deer out above me in the juniper bushes. It was a large deer, possibly a buck because it was loud, and I felt the ground move when he got up. I stayed still so that he wouldn't run too far. I took one more picture of the house and then turned around and a doe and fawn were standing less than 10 feet behind me starring at me. They jumped when I did. They backed off but did not run away. I didn't want them to leave their area so I went high and climbed the hill through the juniper.

Kevin worked with his son today, they moved the wood box to the house which is quite a project. To be truthful I was glad I got out of it! I'll have to move it in the spring with Kevin, but at least it will just be once this year. Then they headed out to start cutting wood into rounds to get as much done as they can.

This afternoon while my beef stew was cooking in the crockpot and my bread was rising, I took Noel outside with the dogs for a while. I did not take Ferd outside because he's never been outside loose before. Noel has been going outside with Norman since she was a baby. She's good on a leash and also without one.

Isn't she adorable? I'm going to frame this picture of her

I opened a can of pumpkin last night because Norman was not feeling well, he was having tummy troubles. He only needed a small amount of pumpkin and I had a large jar of it open, so I made pumpkin cheesecake bars with the rest. I made these THREE years ago and have not made them since, just because I haven't thought about them. I was going through one of my several binders full of written and printed recipes and found them again. They are really good, and not very time consuming either.

Pumpkin Cheesecake bars

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

5 tbs cold butter

8 oz cream cheese

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup canned pumpkin (or cooked pumpkin)

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon.

The original recipe for this calls for pecans and allspice, neither of which I've ever used. You can if you'd like.

In a bowl combine the flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter until crumbly. Set aside 3/4 cup for topping. Press remaining crumb mixture into a greased 8x8 square baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes. Cool.

Meanwhile, mix room temperature cream cheese with sugar. Then add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour into cooled crust, and top with remaining crumb mixture. Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown. Cool and cut into bars and store in refrigerator.

I was watching diners, drive in's, and, dives, and he was at a restaurant who served Peruvian food. Some of it looked really delicious. I have made Papa a la huancaina before, at least a variation of it. Basically it's sliced boiled potatoes in a cheesy and spicy yellow sauce. But he made a delicious looking dish (not for those who are dieting) called lomo saltado which is basically spiced steak cooked, and served with rice and french fries. I think you can cut down on the fat by making homemade oven fries instead of cooking your fries in oil. It's on my list of dishes to try for sure now. How good does this look?

 The other night I was looking all over for Ferd and I couldn't find him and then saw him out of the corner of my eye, in a bucket! He jumped in the bucket because there was some pellets in the bottom of it. It was really cute. Douglas went to check it out too.

This evening it was calm, warm, and the sky was clear when I finished up my outside chores.

So tonight will be a good night for stargazing. This is a great website for anyone who is interested in that stuff.... http://stardate.org/nightsky