ICE!!! (frozen stuff)

BUDDY!

Cover crop in the garden

Christmas day

present #1: calendar (birds)

present #2: new trousers (blue) and a flannel shirt

present #3: bottle of scotch (6-year-old, Canadian)

Buddy finding a place to bury the gourd he found . . . sigh

FIREWOOD

wood for the fireplace

LOTS of wood for the fireplace!

wood in need of chopping by unsuspecting visitors (aka Billy Hollman)

Callaway Gardens

This is the chapel at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, GA
Also, this is the last picture of Sarah before she became engaged!
(good thing she was happy 'cause she's in for it now)

Buddy-print!

This is a buddy-print (after bath)

New Orleans trip (Thanksgiving)

James, Kenny, Sarah, Galyn (and a baby)

on the rooftop terrace whisking away a New Orleans sunset

being all cute 'n stuff at a bar on Bourbon Street

CHRISTMAS TREE!

YAY!!!

WE'RE ENGAGED!!

To all of those who didn't know already, Kenny and I are getting married! He popped the question two weeks ago and I'm still a little tingly from it :)

We're expecting a wedding in Spring 2010, better see you guys there!!! (Sorry for the delay, ROBYN!)

Cooper Update!

As some of you may remember, about a month ago Kenny and I found a poor starving puppy (Cooper) and decided to rescue him. Well, after a week at the shelter Kenny and I decided that we couldn't let the poor pup stay homeless, so we went back to get him. Well it just so happened that my sister Kristen was in need of an amazing dog! So lo and behold, I now have my first nephew and now he's HUGE! Here's a Cooper now and he's a giant! But a cute giant :)

Thanksgiving in NOLA

We're home! Kenny and I went to New Orleans to spend Thanksgiving with my friend Galyn and her family. Galyn is now married with two amazing boys, so we had a lot of fun relaxing, eating, trying to stop babies from crying, and exploring the city. It rained a lot while we were there, but it was still a great trip!

Kenny and I stayed in a hotel just off of Canal St. on St. Charles Ave (which is right downtown). Galyn and her family, plus her parents, aunt, uncle, cousins, nephew, sister, and grandmother rented an old victorian house in the Garden District, so K and I trollied around and got some good exploring in.

A great trip, but it's nice to be home :) I have finals starting tomorrow (eek!) and Kenny has crops to tend to. I'm going to be back in Florida on Thursday to see my family, do some Christmas shopping, and celebrate with my family!

Sorry Billy for the infrequent updates!!!! Also, can't wait to see you guys at New Years! You can participate in our annual tradition which consists of cooking and eating as much as possible. Woohoo!

Buddy goes for a car ride! (his favorite)

This is the babies when they were first born

little baby chicken

We rescued it from a tub of water (to small to get out), dried it off, and gave it back to mama hen.

Kristen & Vic's cat Pearl

Don't touch this cat: it will bite your extremities off!

Sarah planting herbs on the porch

Plowing up our spring garden

This is our friend Billy Murphy (who owns the cows). The veggie garden was all overgrown with weeds, so he is helping clean it up for us so we can plant good things in spring.

Charleston, SC

Kenny and I went to Charleston this past weekend to visit my sister Kristen and her husband Vic (and their new kitten Pearl!) in Charleston, SC. What a beautiful town! We didn't do much aside from enjoying being away from Alabama, but we did manage to go downtown on the rainiest day ever to walk around. It wasn't a bust though, because we ate at Andolini's which served amazing calzone/pizza. All of you in the Gainesville area: it was like the Burrito Bros. of pizza. Thanks Vic!

Ooh, also, we ate at this AMAZING restaurant in downtown called FIG (stands for Food Is Good). It's all local food and the menu changes everyday and it was probably the best meal I've ever had. Kaminski's afterward didn't hurt either (yum, cake and alcohol!) If you're ever in Charleston, I highly recommend it.

Below is a stock pic of FIG since K and I were too lazy to take pictures...

OMG! Puppy!

This is a little puppy we rescued, bathed, and fed (and got rid of its fleas). It is at the Roanoke Animal Shelter now if you'd like a great little friend . . .

1st Annual Founder's Day!

Buddy playing with cardboad

Georgia Aquarium

(where Obie thought it best to try and catch the stingrays . . . presumably so we could take them home for dinner)

Pouting Pup

For the first time since we moved here, Buddy bit himself again. Now he has is cone on and is laying in his bed pouting. Ah, poor Buddy!

SNAPPER

Obie's brand new lawnmower!

something emerges . . .

(whew! It's just Buddy)

Food (as usual)

I have a new favorite recipe! Every time we go to Scotland, the first thing K and I want to eat is Indian food. For some reason we have a hard time finding good Indian in the States, and now that we're in the middle of nowhere, we have zero chance of finding anything other than BBQ and burgers. I decided that I would find a recipe for Chicken Korma (my favorite) and I found an awesome one! Thought I'd share it:

Chicken Korma

4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon julienned ginger
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 pound chicken, cooked
1 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala, or to taste (a spice blend found in any store, even the Alabama WalMart! McCormick makes a good one.)
1/4 pint heavy cream
2 teaspoons finely chopped cilantro

Note: I added a little (1/4 cup) coconut milk just at the end. I could swear that the ones I've had used coconut.

Heat oil in a large deep frying pan adding chopped onions and fry for 4 to 5 minutes on a medium heat until the onions are slightly brown. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for a further 1 or 2 minutes. Add the salt, turmeric and ground cumin.

Turn up the heat and further cook for another 1 minute then add the chicken. It is very crucial that spices are mixed within the pan at this point and stirred to ensure that the chicken cooks with texture and flavor. Add water after stirring the chicken into the spices. Turn down the heat slightly and stir in the garam masala and cream cook for a further 5 minutes. Serve sprinkled with cilantro.

Yum yum! Tonight I'm going to try making naan too!

Life is tough!

Hard at work on the farm.