Lazy W Marie

Carpeing all the diems in semi-rural Oklahoma...xoxo

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Buffalo Running

   Our sweet little Chunk-Hi is happy doing lots of things in this world. He is just one of those people animals who is easily pleased, easily amused, and easily satisfied. But a few things in life really put him over the top. One of them is running free. 
   He always has free run of his own field, together with our horse of choice, and he employs that liberty with zeal. But when we release Chunk to roam the range, so to speak, he really kicks up his skinny little heels. Following are a few photos of our sweet buff enjoying a little elbow room.
   We’re crazy about him. He likes us too, if only because we shower him with graham crackers and allow him running days like this.

Feel the Wind in Your Hair Today
xoxoxo

Stream of Consciousness Because That’s All She’s Got Cap’n

This is a 15-minute free-writing exercise meant to purge words,
not make a point, inspire, or glamorize anyone.
You have been warned.


   What a wonderful holiday we’ve enjoyed. Weeks of scattered time with friends and family, including two sorely missed but deeply loved teenage daughters. Beloved guests at the farm (more to arrive tomorrow). Incredible parades of food. Fun, personal gifts both given and received. Only mild sickness this winter so far.
   Apparently the winter solstice has passed now, meaning that the days are now gradually lengthening toward springtime, exactly the news we like to hear when the sun sets around 5:30 each evening and doesn’t rise until after 7:00 a.m. And since the birds are locked up we hear precious few rooster crows these days. 
   I am not complaining; the winter has been mild and comfortable so far, most days feeling more like springtime than they really should. But every year, some years with more intensity than others, once the Christmas presents have all been open my mind involuntarily shifts into gardening mode.
   What shrubs are not leafless are mostly dormant, but if I look closely enough I do find plenty evidence of green still. The honeysuckle, the roses, the baby trumpet vine, the pansies of course…
   We visited the Oklahoma City Zoo this afternoon and as usual I was as enamored by the landscaping there as most people (like Handsome) are smitten by the animal life. Our OKC Zoo, in case you didn’t know, has a national reputation for awesomeness.
   In years past I tried getting my gardening hands on a byproduct they called, “Zoo Poo” for use in the gardens, but now I suppose we have plenty of my own. 
   We both loved the look and functionality of their raised vegetable beds there, and I have decided to take that plunge this spring. If the winter stays mild, I may be working on those raised beds well before March you guys. This is exciting. So very exciting.
   I’ve been accumulating horse and chicken manure for many months, turning it only occasionally, so by the time I get out there for a solid day of work and examine the stuff I expect to find some nice, hot, fluffy lazy W zoo poo of my own.
   We watched, on consecutive days this past weekend, both the Swedish and the American versions of the film The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Incredible. I had thoroughly enjoyed that book and the second in its trilogy (haven’t read the third quite yet), and the movies were both faithful and creative. Loved every minute, especially the opening credits of the American movie. The casting was perfection in that one.
   I need to wash my hair.


word nerd speaks
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Quick Post of Jubilation

   I have a lot to celebrate right now 
but only a few minutes to share it.

  • I traded happy texts with my first born today, for about an hour. It’s a really good thing we were texting and not talking on the phone, because I was so happy I couldn’t stop crying. My hands were shaking too, but I could steady them enough to type.
  • I am enjoying a lot of success in the sewing room this week. Feeling very blessed with both intrinsic joy and a steady stream of orders.
  • Our animals are particularly healthy, silly acting, and fully entertaining. I mean, sometimes Pacino is a little too loud when we are trying to have a quiet conversation, but that will never really change. The horses are sweet, fat cuddlers. The buffalo is just the gentlest snorting fluffy head you will ever see. And the geese and chickens are getting along this week. Dog walks have been a daily bright spot, too. xoxo
  • My little sister will be staying at the farm starting Christmas Eve, and I could NOT be happier. She is the shiz-nay. She has taken a little slice of Oklahoma with her to Los Angeles, making it a cool place after all. And I hope she knows I intend to blog lots of details about her visit.
  • After that we are hosting M Half and her Hubs, and that will be wonderful for a thousand reasons! I always enjoy our time together!
  • A much anticipated movie is now in theaters, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I thought it opened Thursday and may or may not have been dropping hints to you-know-who. We just found out it is already open, though, so his romantic opening-night surprise intentions are blasted. I still think we’ll go. I read the books and loved ’em. Can’t wait to see this and then the Swedish film and debate it all. Mostly, though, there’s the small matter of Daniel Craig on the big screen.
  • Our Charlie Brown tree hasn’t fallen down in almost a week.
  • I looked around myself this week and noticed how much romance plays a part in our happiness. Between the two of us here, in so many of our close friends’ relationships, and in a general appetite for living, a way of soaking up the universe, romance is in our daily fabric. And I love it. I feel very lucky to live this way and wish it for so many others, including my two beautiful daughters (but not quite yet, pretty please).
  • The sea monkeys are growing and thriving and in a pretty good mood. They have all been named now, and so a drama series will soon begin.
  • We have a kitchen full of oranges and apples. This is good.
  • I love my new coffee machine,. So much. So very, very much.
  • I have a lunch date on Thursday with two of this world’s sweetest, prettiest, funniest, most talented, most loving girls ever created. 
  • I have a Netflix date with Handsome right now. Gotta scoot.
Siiiimply
Haaaaving
a Wonderful Christmastime!
xoxoxo

Fridays are for Cooking

   I have visited two wonderful grocery stores in two days and have finished all of my truly important household chores for the week. I have scoured our calendar and my recipe collections for fabulous ideas and excuses to enjoy them. And tomorrow I have exactly ZERO reasons to leave the farm. To paint the picture a little better, let me say that I have a pantry and refrigerator packed with delicious ingredients and a Friday, in a clean house, all to myself.
   It’s almost like Christmas.
   Wait…
   Okay. So, there are at last count nine incredibly tasty dishes on the Lazy W horizon this weekend. 
   Tomorrow Handsome is taking the ole stand-by apple tart to an office food day. The fine ladies up there organize nearly a month of festivity every December, including Dirty Santa games and “Days of Christmas” food days. YUM and FUN. Everyone up there works so hard; no one deserves an extended party more!
  The apple tart is from Edie’s Life in Grace blog, which is a beautiful place to land for a thousand reasons.  The only thing I do differently is skip the glaze. We like it on the crispier side of life, and the glaze makes it less crisp. I can make this in my sleep now, Handsome requests it so often. 5 apples, 4 cups flour, 3 sticks butter, 2 cups sugar, spices. Bam.
   Then for a Christmas party we’re attending Saturday night I’ll make our fave chocolate fudge cake and a big batch of roasted olive dip. Maybe I’ll try to nail down that olive dip recipe and a few photos in case anyone’s interested. It is purely addictive. Salty, creamy, tangy, garlic-ish, olive-ish, and mouthwatering whether warm or cold. Addictive.
   For dinner Friday night I’m trying a toned-down Lazy W version of Giada’s minestrone soup. Naturally this calls for crusty bread and green salad. Please, if we are truly friends, do NOT warn my husband of this menu plan. Let him be surprised. I promise to tone it down. Way, way down. And I promise to have a back up plan like Fettuccine Alfredo. I have a feeling if he balks at the soup, it will be divine enough for me to finish all by myself. I’m a good sport like that.
 Also a batch each of these browned butter cookies and some chocolate-chip walnut biscotti. It seems we are a week away from Christmas and I have lots of shopping still to do, so having cookie dough ready in the freezer will be nice.
   Three quickly deteriorating bananas tell me we’ll also have banana bread in the oven tomorrow. And a special young man at church keeps reminding me to bring peanut butter cookies. 

 
   My Grandpa Stubbs once told me over the phone how to make the world’s easiest and most delicious peanut butter cookies! You can do this in a snap anytime, and I have the sneaking suspicion that being flour free will tickle some fancies. Here ya go:

Mix together with a wooden spoon 
1 cup of PB, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 egg. 
Scoop up the shiny, grainy dough by about a tablespoon at a time
 and roll each ball in a bowl of sugar. 
Dip a fork in the sugar and criss-cross each ball of dough. 
Bake for about 20 minutes at around 350 degrees. 
Cool on pan for a minute
then on a wire rack completely.
Dunk in milk.
   I will not even need Scentsy tomorrow, you guys. It’s gonna smell so good in here. I plan to finish the outdoor chores super early, take a shower, and put on some good music. By lunchtime this place should be aromaticizing. Lilting with fragrance and warmth. 
   If and when you do need Scentsy, though, my gorgeous and dry-witted cousin Jen just started peddling the heavenly stuff! You can order online here and I think if you order by December 19th you can count on Christmas delivery!

   Is it healthy to be this excited about a cooking day? If I finish when I expect to, there will just enough Friday left for me to finish a really special sewing project for an old friend. Then the frivolous, calorie-laden weekend will begin!
Three Cheers for P-90x!
xoxoxo

 

Wonderfully Disheveled

   The morning sun gleams through the east window, gilding the remains of last night’s dinner party. Furniture sits in odd places, having been scooted into spontaneous pairings for old friends to whisper secrets and for new friends to get acquainted. The fireplace is void of flames now but overflowing with warm ashes. On the wood floor I notice errant napkins, crumbs, and beautiful smudges from spilled drinks. I walk through the glorious chaos to the kitchen, where the only clean spot is what space has been cleared for morning coffee, which waits for me hot and fragrant and loyal.

   After a party I am always tempted to leave things in diarray for a while, so we can visually soak up the treasured vibrations of friendship and love. Sometimes I am more anxious to get photos of the aftermath than of the event’s set up. I cannot agree that a good party ever leaves a home spotless, whether hosted for children or adults. The mess is a small trophy for me.
   Since daily life goes on, the cleaning must ensure. But I don’t think of it as removing something dirty or righting some wrong done to my home. Instead, while touching each item I try to gently press the good memories into our surroundings. While pacing through the affected rooms, collecting dirty dinner plates and drinking glasses, scooting couches and chairs back to their every day positions, and fluffing up plants, I imprint into our domestic conscience the laughter and energy of every one of our beloved friends and family members. As I wipe clean the smudged tables I am actually polishing them with the smiles we traded the night before.
   We feel so lucky to be surrounded by good friends. They make us wonderfully disheveled.
The writer’s prompt this Tuesday 
was to discuss “Cleaning House” in 300 words or less, 
without offering up Heloisian tutorials..
This is what came to mind.