Not The Most Exciting Day

Today was a cold lazy day.  At 9:00am this morning it was 24 degrees out and tonight's low is suppose to be 20.  The freezing weather might have killed my strawberry plants and my fig trees time will tell.  My exciting day was cleaning out the fridge, reading and watching some TV.  While sitting on sofa surfing the internet with my blanket wrapped around me I Googled Living Rancho Delux.  Here are a few things I found.

At Country Living Website I found Rancho Deluxe Dressing

3/4 cups Mayonnaise

1/2 cup Buttermilk

2 Tbsp Finely Chopped Fresh Flat-Leaf Parsley

2 Tbsp Finely Chopped Celery Leaves

1 Tbsp Finely Minced Red Onion

1 Tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice

2 Tsp Dijon Mustard

1/4 Tsp Dried Dill

1/4 Tsp Salt

1/4 Tsp Cracked Black Pepper

Directions

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1. In a medium bowl, whisk together mayonnaise and buttermilk. Stir in parsley, celery, onion, lemon juice, mustard, dill, salt, and pepper. Cover and chill 1 hour to overnight. Store, tightly covered and refrigerated, for up to 5 days.

Rancho Deluxe: Rustic Dreams and Real Western Living by Alan Hess available at Strand Books

We also have the Jeff Bridges Movie Rancho Deluxe 1975 - Full Cast IMDB

I hope tomorrow is a more exciting day here at Living Rancho Delux

Until Next Time,

Pam

A Royal Tea and a Royal Wedding

My daughter and I put together a Tea fit for a Princess to enjoy while we watched the Royal Wedding.  What a beautiful wedding it was (just as beautiful as Princess Diana's Wedding).  I loved Kate's dress it reminded me of Princess Grace.  I must say I was very moved and even shed a few tears.

A simple Tea for Three

The Menu

Scones with Cream, Strawberry Jam and Berries

Olive Sandwich

Cucumber Sandwich

Egg Salad Sandwich

Roast Beef and Swiss Cheese

Chicken Salad Sandwich

Chocolate Cake Balls

This was our first time making Cake Balls we did pretty good on the cake part however, we do need practice dipping the cakes in the candy coating.

Now to plan the next Tea and hopefully it will be for Prince Williams Coronation being crowned King. 

For all of you that might be disappointed William is now taken remember

Found at allposters.com

Until Next Time,
Pam

Exploring Around Our Town

It was just Anna and I going to town today so we did a side trip and drove around on the outskirts of town. We have only been here 4 months and most of the time it has snowed so we have not done that much exploring.  Here are some photos of the locals we encountered.

It as fun to watch the spring lambs hopping and jumping around

Not sure if these were Shetland Ponies or Mini Horses.  They are just shedding their winter coats and look very mangy.  They were very fat too so they might be preggers.

I brought my dwarf fig trees out of the basement.  They are getting big I hope in the next year they will start bearing fruit.  At the end of summer I am going to transplant them into bigger pots before putting them in the basement for winter.  It was pretty windy today so I didn't get to work in the garden.  I will try again tomorrow (after I watch the Royal Wedding)

Until Next Time,

Pam

For The Birds

Yesterday the family and I went into town.  We needed to go to the post office and run a few errands.  We stopped into CAL Ranch to get some gardening gloves and a rake.  We could hear chirping so of course Anna and I have to go over and see the chicks and ducks.

I'm sorry the photos are so dark I forgot to use my flash

After we got home I went up to the craft room.  Let's just say my work table isn't clean anymore.  I started going through old photos.  Then realized I have a wireless scanning sitting next to me and I started scanning photos and putting them on Facebook.  There were old photos of my cousins and myself from the 1960's and birthday parties from that time too.  I was putting on photos of my daughter from middle school and baby photos too.  I was having a wonderful time and was up there for hours.

While sitting there I looked out the window and this Bluejay was sitting on the tree

I have a lot to do today.  I'm working in the garden, going into town to do some grocery shopping and of course hitting the post office again.

Until Next Time,

Pam

Whitey

My Jack Russell Terrier Whitey is 14 years old today.  We have had Whitey since the day she was born she was the 4th pup born out of 5.

Whitey is afraid of other animals (except squirrels) 

Whitey is a coach potato and would rather sleep on your lap than go outside and play and explore

Whitey hates to go in car but did very well on our road trip last year.  

Whitey is my constant companion and follows me to every room in the house.

Happy Birthday Whitey
Until Next Time,
Pam

Craft Room

Today I worked in the Craft Room.  I moved some furniture around and put stuff away.  What you don't see in the photos are all the boxes I still need to go through.  I still need to have Bill put up my shelves, my little buckets and a couple of wire baskets.  Once I get those in place and using them I can start planning what I still need to get everything out of the boxes and put away.

I moved this dresser behind my wire racks.  On top of the dresser I have my Quickutz and my small Sizzix dies.  I put my wire tower next to the dresser.  I am using the top shelf as a beverage center.  The middle shelf has pens, pencils and paint brushes.  I haven't decided what to put on the bottom shelf. 

I moved the wire rack and dresser closer to my paper racks.  

Moving the other dresser to the other wall has given me more room on this side of the room for another piece of storage furniture that I will get at a later date.

In these three baskets I have spools of ribbon, packages of ribbon and fibers and alphabets (my drawer of alphabets was completely full)  I have 3 baskets left to fill.

I put my loose ribbons, lace and trim in the drawer instead of using one of the baskets

My work table is finally cleared off and ready to use.  I feel like I accomplished a lot today. 

Until Next Time,

Pam

That was some weather we had

We had the strangest weather for Easter.  It rained, hailed, snowed, wind and sunshine.  Mother Nature couldn't make up her mind.  Even with the crazy weather we still had a beautiful Easter Sunday.  I sure hope everything drys out quickly.  Our driveway turns into a muddy mess we can usually get down okay but coming back up is a real problem in the mud.

Until Next Time,

Pam

Easter Sunday

Happy Easter

We are having a nice quiet Easter at home and a simple dinner 

Our Menu 

Roast Beef and Turkey Sandwiches

Corn on the Cob

Baked Beans

Fruit Ambrosia

Delived Eggs

Sending all Joyful Easter Blessings

Until Next Time,

Pam

AreoGarden Update and Banana Bread

It has been 26 days since I put together my AreoGarden and I must say I am very happy with the results.  If you are thinking about getting one of these systems I highly recommend it.  You won't be disappointed.

 Mixed Herbs

Basil

I had some very ripe bananas so I decided to make Banana Bread.  I found this recipe on Foodnetwork.com it is Flour's Famous Banana Bread Recipe.  It is so easy to make and very yummy.

The only thing I changed was I used pecans instead of walnuts.

Ingredients

• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup oil
• 3 1/2 bananas, very ripe, mashed
• 2 tablespoons creme fraiche or sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of a loaf pan with parchment paper.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Beat sugar and eggs with a whisk until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes. Drizzle in oil. Add mashed bananas, creme fraiche, and vanilla. Fold in dry ingredients and nuts. Pour into a lined loaf pan and bake for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Until Next Time,

Pam

Happy Good Friday and Earth Day

I had a plan today I was going to the market for my Easter grocery shopping and then work on the craft room.  Funny how things change....  Anna and I started out on our 30+ mile drive to the Farmers Market in La Verkin to do our grocery shopping.  Before going to the market we decided to make a side trip and head towards Zion National Park which is only another 20 miles away.  We had a nice "girl talk" on our scenic drive.  We stopped in Springdale which is the Gateway to Zion and had lunch.  We didn't want to go into the park without enjoying it with Bill so we headed back to do our grocery shopping.

Here are some photos I took today.  I can't wait to go back to Zion National Park to explore I am so lucky to only live an hour away from such beauty.

I took these two photos of Anna before we left on our Girls Trip to La Verkin

What did Bill do while we were gone today?  He got Mr. Chainsaw out and started cutting some of the dead trees around our property.  We need to get rid of the fuel "dead trees" that are close to the house.  He started to stack it up so we will have firewood for winter.

Until Next Time,

Pam

April Showers.....

Boy did we have a storm blown in last night.  I was sitting on the sofa playing on the computer listening to music and the whole living room lit up and just after the lightening a huge boom.  It hailed then a down pour of rain.  This went on for the next hour.  I had not heard thunder like that since I was a kid spending my summers in Missouri.

This morning the sky was blue but pretty muddy out.  We have had nasty winds today but they are to leave us pretty soon.  On the way back from town we passed a house where the flowers and trees were in bloom.  I had Bill drive around the corner so I could stop and get some photos.  I feel so blessed being able to move here.

I just took a blackberry pie out of the oven and now I'm going to make some vegetable beef soup for dinner.  Tomorrow is grocery shopping for Easter Dinner.  I'm still trying to put together a menu everyone will be happy with.  (I've got some picky eaters here)

Until Next Time,

Pam

I Can't Believe it is Already Mid Week

Happy Wednesday!

The morning didn't start out like I wanted I woke up to a massive headache.  I took a couple Advil made breakfast of poached eggs and bacon.  By the time I finished breakfast my headache was gone. Yeah

I spent the first part of my morning reading blogs and I also read a couple chapters of my book.

I have two Budgies Zoe and Craig.  Lately Zoe is hanging on the door of her cage greeting me as I walk through the laundry room.  For the last couple of days they have been talking up a storm really loud.  I love to listen to them chatter.

I had three more daffodils open up this morning.  They are so beautiful.  When I think of spring flowers they are the first ones I think of.  

I got a call from UPS today that I had a package.  I was shocked that it was my Cath Kidston purchase.  I placed my order just three days ago and it's here from the UK.

Isn't this the cutest mug to celebrate Will and Kate's Wedding.  I ordered the complete set which also included a Tea Towel, Reusable Bag and a Key Chain.  Anna claimed the Bag and Key Chain.

You can order a set for yourself and have it here just in time for the Royal Wedding Cath Kidston

Tonight Anna and I are going to play on Pogo together.  We get real silly sitting on the sofa playing games and chatting on the message board.  Love our Mother-Daughter time.

Until Next Time,

Pam

Spring Has Arrived

For the last three days I've been working in my craft room.  I have almost all my cling rubberstamps in the CD cases.  I didn't realize how many rubberstamps I have.  

Spring is really trying to arrive here.  Our temps have been in the upper 60's and lower 70's and the low has not gone below 36.  We have some rain in the forecast but that isn't even panning out. Yesterday it rained for about 5 minutes, one thunder and one lightening.

This Daffodil is trying its hardest to bloom

One red strawberry I can't wait until all of them are ripe

Anna was in a baking mood.  She made these darling cupcakes for Earth Day.  They are so good even without the cream cheese frosting.  

Until Next Time,

Pam