Sausage rolls

Here's a quick-n-easy dinner for when you have very little time to cook: sausage rolls. These are merely pork sausage wrapped in puff pastry. I mean, how much quicker and easier can you get?

I adore puff pastry and will look for any excuse to use it. I keep several boxes on hand as a regular staple. I also have directions downloaded for making homemade puff pastry, but I haven't tried it yet.

Puff pastry should remain frozen until just before you're ready to use it, then let it defrost for about 20 minutes or so. Each box has two sheets inside, folded in thirds.

Unfold one sheet at a time and slice it into thirds. Be sure to use a floured surface.

Take each section and roll it flatter and larger. You'll need to press hard on the rolling pin.

One box of puff pastry will use two pounds of pork sausage. I like the "hot" stuff.

Pinch off about a third of a pound of sausage...

...and roll it into a "snake" long enough to fit one of the flattened sheets of pastry. Give yourself a little room at the ends.

Then wrap the meat up in the pastry and pinch the ends. Sometimes I moisten the ends with a bit of water to help them stick.

I cook them on a cookie sheet with a cooling rack over it, in order to let the sausage rolls drip while cooking.

Bake at 375F for about half an hour, or until browned to your satisfaction.

Serve with a veggie of your choice, my personal preference being broccoli. An excellent meal for those nights when you're really really busy.

Yum!

Advice for bug-out bags

We've been wildly busy here in the Lewis household, which is preventing me from posting on this blog as often as I'd like. So, dear readers, forgive me if something new doesn't show up every day. Our schedule will be crazy until the end of the busy season for our woodcraft business, which is mid-October.

However I just received a comment on an older post concerning bug-out bags as follows:

I am new to all of this, but for several several weeks, I've felt like I should be preparing such a bag. I have a few questions. I am in the process of creating a bag, but it seems expensive to stock it all at once, so what are the first 5 things I need put in my emergency kit?

Do I need multiple kits? Home, work, car? Are they all the same or different? I only work a mile from my house if that makes a difference...

What general suggestions or advice would you give to a single, fifty-something. not very physically fit woman both in terms of preparing this kit and preparing both physically and emotionally for a disaster?

Since many heads are better than one -- and since I've been so busy lately -- I thought I'd turn this dear lady's question over to all of you. What are the first five things everyone should have in his/her bug-out bags? Don't overwhelm her with an extensive list; just give what you feel are the most important items.

Hay day

This time of year can be a bit nail-biting because it's the time of year to get hay in. I say "nail biting" because an ill-timed rainfall can ruin a lot of hay.

Before bringing in hay, however, we needed to prepare the barn. The most obvious problem was all the huge tractor tires that were stacked in front.

We decided to move them to the side and back of the barn. We borrowed a neighbor's tractor for the task. Don managed to snag some of the tires by their rims...

...but for most of them we had to use a chain. At one point a very pregnant Matilda ambled over to see what all the activity was about.

After a couple hours' work, the tires were all stacked behind...

...and to the side of the barn.

We made sure the front of the barn was blocked off by cattle panels (sometimes called hog panels) to keep the critters out of the remaining hay bales.

Now it was time to get hay.

Grass hay is just mown-down field grass, dried and baled. The best fields don't have too much western hawkweed (a nasty invasive species that crowds out grasses) or cheat grass (a nutritionally useless invasive grass that "cheats" by droppings its seeds earlier than other species, thus giving itself a seeding advantage) or St. John's wort (which resembles 12-gauge wire when it's dried).

The absentee owner of the 25-acre field kitty-corner across from our property allows us to mow and bale his pasture. Depending on how much rainfall we get in the spring (this year: not much), we might get anywhere from nine to fifteens tons of grass hay off this property.

This year we'll be over-wintering 18 head of cattle, which means we're going to need about thirty tons of grass hay in the barn. In addition to the grass hay from across the way, we need to find other affordable hay to supplement what we get off this property.

The trouble is, we don't own any of the equipment necessary to bale grass hay. We don't have a tractor, a swather, a rake, or a baler. This means we're at the mercy of whatever farmer we can sweet talk into baling the property for us in a timely fashion. I say "sweet talk" because all farmers are stretched VERY thin this time of year. There's a tremendous amount of work to be done in a very short window of time, and these hardworking people frequently put in 18 hour days getting it done. I say "timely fashion" because if you wait too long to cut grass hay, it turns into grass straw and has very few nutrients.

A local fellow by the name of Alan has mowed the neighbor's pasture for us for the last two years. This year he mowed it on July 17.

A few days later, he mowed another neighbor's land. (No, the cows aren't in with him. There's a fence between them.)

After the hay is mown, it must lie on the ground for a few days to dry. You can't bale fresh green grass or it will rot and mold, and even spontaneously combust a few months later. But when hay is drying on the ground, it's nail-biting. Will it rain?

After the hay dried for a few days, Alan came through with a rake and pulled the rows of hay into windrows. All this means is he blends several shallow thin rows into one larger, wider row. This serves two purposes: it fluffs the hay and lets it dry some more, plus it allows Alan to bale the hay more efficiently.

When Younger Daughter and I returned from our week-long trip to Portland, we saw that Alan had baled the grass hay during our absence.

He also had the first load of bales stacked in the loader to deliver to our place.

Groan. This meant that, no matter how tired Younger Daughter and I were from the trip, the next day was going to be a Hay Day.

Actually, we had no choice. We got home on Monday, and Thursday and Friday promised to be rainy. Rain plus hay equals rot. We can't feed our cows rot over the winter.

We spent some time cleaning up the barn to make room for incoming bales. This meant piling all the haybale twine that gets tossed around all winter long into one spot, as well as pulling aside any other random things on the barn floor (such as a billboard tarp).

In the corner are the bales left over from last year (we had a surplus for once!). We've been feeding these to the bull, since of course he's penned up and can't graze. After some thought, we decided to leave these bales where they are, stack the new hay off to the side of them, and continue using the older bales up first.

We also hired two of Enola Gay's kids, Miss Serenity and Master Hand Grenade (on the right), to help stack bales. These kids are hard workers and strong. (Sorry for the blurry photo.)

Here comes Alan with the first load.

The loader tips upward and tumbles the bales out.

Poor Alan tried to use these built-in feet-pushy-gizmos that were supposed to push the bottom-most bales out, but the durn things got stuck in the "out" position and he spent a frustrating half-hour banging and cursing at the machine until the feet retracted. That's the Big Trouble with farm equipment: it breaks. A lot.

We asked Alan if he wanted to back the loader directly into the barn and stack it that way, but Alan doesn't feel confident about his backing-up skills to avoid hitting the support beams on the barn. Can't blame him, it's a liability issue. So once the bales had tumbled out of the loader, Alan drove off to get another load while Team One stacked about eight or ten bales onto a pallet strapped to the neighbor's tractor and lifted it into the barn.

Then Team Two unloaded and stacked the bales.

We stacked hay for two evenings in a row (Tuesday and Wednesday), and this is what we ended up with: about nine tons. This is about one-third the amount of hay we'll need for the winter.

There was a lot of loose hay that had accumulated in front of the barn. Hey, no sense letting it go to waste! We knew just what to do with it. After blocking off the barn with the cattle panels, we sent out the trumpet call of "Bossy bossy bossy bossy BOSSY!!" over the pasture. Within moments the thundering herd was on their way up.

They dove for the hay and munched away happily.

We got all this done just in time. A few sprinkles fell on Wednesday night, but the heavy rain started on Thursday. It rained and rained and rained, about two inches total (quite a lot for this region at this time of year).

The search is now on for about 18 more tons of hay at a price we can afford, in order to have enough for all our critters over the winter. The rain hit at a particularly vulnerable time for many farmers in the region, and hay prices are likely to be high as a result.

It's a farmer's life.

Gud speling isnt nesesary

Oh great. A Newcastle University (U.K.) professor has stated that students no longer need to learn spelling "because children can correct mistakes on their mobile phone or computer."

"Sugata Mitra, professor of educational technology at Newcastle University, said that good grammar was necessary 'maybe 100 years ago' but 'not right now,'" says this article.

I read this out loud to the girls, and both groaned. "Why are people so stupid?" mused Younger Daughter. "Oh wait -- it's because they're not teaching things in school."

Or, as a commenter at the end of the article said, "Eye thinks its thyme this per fesser gets hiss self better hearing form the pee pull. Spelling just b not as impotent as it was used too bee. Looks at me. I talk n spill real good. Eyes no so cousin my calm pewter did nun red let hers."

Personally, eye just no that if eye tryd two spel however eye wanted as a riter, my editers wood kil me. And my reeders woodnt bee two happy eether.

This professor also said that youngsters should be encouraged to communicate in other ways, such as via text messaging. For the record, I call such children "texting monkeys" since they appear unable to adequately communicate either in the written or the spoken word.

To be fair, the British organization National Association for the Teaching of English defended teaching correct grammar in schools.

Thank God.

Who is heaven for?

About a week ago, I saw an article about a former porn star who had given up her sordid life and become a born-again Christian. Here was a woman (only 26 yrs old) who had reached rock bottom: raped at 14, drugs, prostitution, stripper, porn star, several suicide attempts... and then, through the outreach of a church whose specialty is rescuing such people, found God. Very heart-warming, very positive.

Of the hundreds of comments that followed the article, the vast majority were upbeat and encouraging. But one woman's comment stood out for its horrible, graphic language. I've edited out the bad stuff, but the gist of the comment is as follows:

"You have sold your soul and your body to Devil. There is no 'going back' to innocence for the ones who have lost their souls forever. Keep [doing porn]. You are good at it. You 'accepted' God but will God accept you? HEAVEN is for DECENT GIRLS who respect themselves, not for [expletive] like you."

Believe me, the comment was way, way worse (and longer) than the sanitized version above. And it's from a woman, too.

I can't imagine why this woman thought she had to spout such hate and vitriol, but one thing I know: her definition of who is worthy of heaven surely differs from mine. Jesus willingly associated with the lowest of the low in order to change their lives. He still does, today.

But some people are blind to His works and words. I'm saddened that this idiot thought it was necessary to launch such a poison bomb at a woman who is doing her best to clean up her life. Someone needs to review the 8th chapter of John.

If heaven were only for perfect people, it would be a very, very lonely place.

Just thought I'd get this off my chest.

Old photos

Here's a fascinating little website I just found featuring old photographs of America 1879-1920.

The advantages of frugality

This is our twentieth year for our woodcraft business. Not many crafters reach this stage, particularly those for whom their craft supplies their primary income. Many crafters must find outside work in order to survive, and slowly their craft becomes either a hobby or at best a distant secondary source of income.

But we've managed to hang on, sometimes by the tips of our fingernails. The financial insecurity of the craft world has taught us one very important thing: frugality. Twenty years ago we had a choice. We could either be thrifty and work at home, or we could spend money and find a 9-to-5 job. We chose to be thrifty. We've remained so ever since.

As it turns out, a thrifty lifestyle offers advantages to everyone. Consider the following.

My dear friends Wendy and Tim, with whom I stay whenever I'm in Portland, have an unusual lifestyle. Wendy is a writer and Tim is an actor. There is no finer recipe for financial insecurity than the combination of those two occupations.

Tim's case is particularly interesting. His specialty is Shakespeare and he's done a lot of theater work in his time. He's also done advertisements and occasional television appearances. I've known Tim for nearly as long as I've known Wendy, so it's been interesting to watch his struggles over the years as he labors to do the work he loves.

But unlike high-demand Hollywood actors like Johnny Depp, most actors struggle to find work on a day-to-day basis. Last year Tim did quite well; this year, not so well. That's why I was happy to hire him to help me run the booth while in Portland; a few day's work is the least I can do to thank them for putting me up during my stay.

When Tim can't find acting work, he turns his hand to a number of odd jobs or other means of producing income. He's hard-working, honest, and willing to do almost anything. These are important quality traits in anyone, but especially for someone who has chosen an insecure field (like acting) for a career.

But Tim said something interesting last week. He said over the years, more financially successful friends have urged him to give up acting and get a secure nine-to-five job. Steady jobs are actually tough for actors, because they must often drop everything and rush to an audition at a moment's notice. Tim's flexible hours from odd jobs is far more suitable for keeping his acting options open than a steady desk job would be.

Because he refused to leave acting, the income gap between him and his wealthier friends grew quite wide.

So he's resisted the steady employment and chosen instead to keep pursuing the acting, even if it means financial insecurity. As a result, he and Wendy -- like Don and I -- have honed the art of frugality to perfection. They are thrifty and careful. They live within their extremely modest means. And both Tim and Wendy have, as a result, been able to pursue the careers they love.

But then an interesting thing happened. Many of the friends who urged Tim to give up acting in order to be more financially stable, have lost their employment in these hard economic times. They are staggering around, lost and insecure, desperately applying for jobs to keep their heads above water. They have no idea how to cut expenses or live frugally. It's not just that they don't know how; but they also resent it like crazy. They see frugality as a deprivation rather than a creative challenge. They are resentful and hurt.

Tim said that frugality has allowed him to pursue the field he loves. Frugality has allowed him to float, buoyant and light, on the rough waves of a tough economy, while many others are desperately struggling to keep their heads above the water.

Something to think about.

Milestone!

My Google followers just exceed 1000! I took a snapshot last night when it was 999...

...and then this morning I saw that two more folks joined up, pushing me over 1000. Thank you Snooglerat and Joy!

And thank you all so very much for following our humble lives.

A simple cup of coffee

I get up earlier than Don does. All through our 23 years of marriage (except for those long-ago times when we both commuted to outside jobs), I've gotten up earlier. I'm just an early bird.

So, since I'm up first, it pleases me to make my husband a cup of coffee when he arises.

This morning he got up and I made him a cup of coffee. He took it and thanked me, then stopped and said, "I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate it when you hand me a cup of coffee in the morning." He said it made him feel warm and loved to have me bring him that simple beverage.

This is why I love my husband so much. Simple gestures of affection are never taken for granted.

My husband does endless big and small things to please me as well -- anything from building me a milking stall to thanking me for coffee.

It's little things like this that cement a marriage and keep it strong.

God bless those simple cups of coffee.

Blueberry bonanza

One of the first things I did when I got home from Portland was to see how the garden looked. Don and Older Daughter did a splendid job of watering, and I was astonished how much fuller and lusher many of the plants were. What a difference a week makes!

What needed the most immediate attention were the blueberries, which were loaded with ripe berries.

I picked some before I left to bring to the friends I was staying with in Portland; but a whole bunch more had ripened in my absence.

Beautiful things.

So armed with some plastic bowls, I went out to pick. All these berries came from one bush.

This is what I ended up with.

Curious, I weighed them and found I'd gotten five pounds.

And this doesn't count what I picked earlier, nor what else will ripen in the next few weeks.

When I told a friend about this blueberry bonanza, she sent me the recipe for blueberry jam that she uses. Looks delicious.

We're in the throes of our busy season at the moment, so my plans are to freeze these blueberries for the time being. But blueberry jam sounds wonderful and I look forward to trying it when things slow down.

What fun it is to have happy blueberry bushes ever since rescuing them from their weed patch!