Birthday gifts part 2

For my birthday I wasn't just given rubber boots, that I had to return for gray ones with red trim on the bottom.

My parents also gave me a metal water bottle, chocolate (!!!!) and a four book series called Journey Through the Night. It is one of my favorite book series and I am so excited to own them. It is so hard to find the orignal Journey Through the Night books for sale online because they are extinct.

This is the yummy ice cream cake that we ate after dinner. It only took about 10 minutes to make, you've got to like simplicity, except when it comes to barn boots . . . . never mind.

Birthday Boots Part 1

The photo above is of the boots I was given for my birthday. My barn boots had sprung two leaks a week before my birthday and I requested rubber boots as a birthday gift.

On the day of my birthday, I was happily surprised to find that I had recieved boots from my parents, but these were cooler than my last pair. From now on I would be going out to the 'barn' in a styling pair of boots that were blue with yellow flowers. They even had a buckle!

But dissapointment was about to cloud over me. My mom only meant them as a teaser. We would return these ones for a pair that was blue or maybe gray and more practical.

The next day I tried to focus on the positive side of the pair of boots that sat before me; "Well" I thought, "they are a very nice shade of gray and the red trimming on the bottom is very attractive . . . Right?"

Maybe someday I will have two pairs of boots. One for the barn and one for going to town. Maybe.

But for now I am content with my gray, red trimmed (you did see it, right?) boots.

Thank you, Mom and Dad!

Wontons: how to

I used store bought wonton wrappers . . . . maybe next time I'll try make my own.

For the filling I mixed 1 lb. of ground pork (I did beef the next time and they were great also), ground ginger, pepper, salt and green onions.

Take one Wonton wrapper.

And put 1 tsp. of the pork mixture on the wrapper.  Then brush around the edges with egg white.

Don't use too much pork mixture or the wonton will burst.

Then you can fold them diagonally (you can also brush the edges and fold them in so it looks like a envelope).

Or you can place another wonton wrapper on top.  Either way, make sure no pork mixture squeezes out of the edges and that there is no air in the wonton.

Then place seven at a time in boiling water and boil them until they rise to the top.

Then they will look like this; Leslie says they look like brains :)

Then I served them with with chicken broth (with mushrooms and green onions).

She liked them :)

I liked them too!

"Ode" to the Dirty Dog . . .

I have been taking care of our neighbor's two golden retrievers this past week. The farm dog and long-haired dog thing doesn't go together very well. At least that is what I think.

Anyway, I biked over to take care of them this afternoon and Mabel, the younger dog, wasn't there. A few minutes later she came running from around the barn. She was covered in manure. Fresh manure. And she stank . . . really bad.

I grew up on a farm, so manure isn't gross to me. But when it is on a dog that wants to jump on you and that you have to feed and pet and . . . yeah. Mabel looked at me with a pitiful, sad expression. My heart and hand almost went out to her . . . almost, but it didn't.

I really wanted to spray her off with the hose. But she was avoiding me because she knew I wasn't happy with her.

We still went on our walk to the creek, which was great because Mabel went in the water, and sadly--for her-- all most of the manure was cleaned off of her. I was sad too, because Mabel shook diluted manure and creek water on me.

#1-I am feeling like this . . .

#2-I wish I was better at playing this.

#3-I feel scared when the top of the neighbors big tree falls into our yard during a wind storm.

#4-This is what I wish I was doing right now (sleeping) . . . . but I'm not, sigh.

#5-I know this seems like a contradiction after #3; but if I can't sleep, I'd like to play volleyball with my cool team.

#6-eating cake.

#7-But have a supper of homade Won Ton soup (my newest accomplishment) first, before indulging in #5

#8-What I'll have to do after I indulge in every crumb of #5--brush my teeth. But I won't mind it at all because I like the way my teeth feel after baking soda brushing--I know, I am wierd.