Springtime Rains

We are finally getting some rain here tonight.Thunder rumbling and some lightning.I love the rain and the thunder,not much on lightning.Hubstead has another week off from work because of Easter and some vacation time.Gosh it feels like he just took some.Tonight I'm throwing together some chicken and potatoes and onions in the oven and just let it cook.The applesauce Pumpkin bread was a big hit with my friends and neighbors.I think I may make some more later.Our little dwarf pear tree is sprouting leaves YAH! Well tonight it's gonna be short so have a great weekend!

Applesauce Pumpkin Bread

I decided to try this recipe and WOW is this ever good and it contains no oil.

1 1/2 cups applesauce
2 cups pumpkin puree
4eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground mace
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (optional)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two 9x5-inch loaf pans.
Mix white sugar and applesauce together in a large bowl; stir pumpkin puree and eggs into sugar mixture until smooth. Mix baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, ginger, cloves, and mace into pumpkin mixture; fold in walnuts and chocolate chips. Stir flour into pumpkin mixture until fully incorporated. Pour batter into the prepared loaf pans.
Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center of each loaf comes out clean, 1 hour. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack. Sprinkle each loaf with confectioners' sugar.



I didn't put the confectioners sugar on top instead I will be putting cream cheese frosting.This full loaf goes to a friend tomorrow.I was really surprised at how easy this was.If you cook some let me know how it turns out.This was an online recipe.A lady named Virginia Ann from Maryland makes it.You can find it on AllRecipes.com under pumpkin bread.This stuff is good!I put the chocolate chips in this one and pecans for my friend.Ours was just with the chocolate chips.I got less than a half loaf left,I gave my neighbor some for her and her teenagers.I need to stay out of it LOL.

5-in-1 Pear Dwarf Tree

This book has some really nice ideas for a southwest garden.





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I hope they turn out as pretty as these but pears lol.





Hubstead always has wanted one of these.So we ordered one and now we got tiny little red looking buds showing up.Well it's worth a try.This what you get when you order a tree.This is a 5-in-1 dwarf pear tree.




Today I had bad news.My ex-husband had a stroke while my son and him were on the road.They are both truck drivers. Fortunately my ex wasn't driving at the time. He is up in Denver Colorado in the hospital from a blood clot in his head. So for my son and him I am praying for a speedy recovery.This of course may be the end of his truck driving days.

I have been reading everyones blogs and wow ya'll sure are excited about spring.I am too.We have been sitting here with the doors and windows open to let some fresh air in.Here we still have that aggravating pollen fron the mesa blowing down this way in this valley.I have been sneezing up a storm.It seems it isn't as bad as it has been in the past spring.Probably getting use to it.Since we are going to be here alittle longer ,I have been looking at these boxes we packed up and trying to decide if I should unpack them and put everything back OR leave them in the boxes and keep adding to them like I have been.It's going to be next March before we get things going.

Well I better get off my duff and get some housework done,I like doing this stuff at night cause it's so much cooler and he's not home lol.

Lookie what I got!

Trying to go smaller here.A friend of hubsteads called this weekend and asked if we wanted these.I didn't know it but hubstead had already talked to him about the rocker for my birthday.How cool was that? I have waited and waited for a rocking chair and finally got one!It's dang near brand new.($5.00 for both) The bench seat was included.Now some suggestions for cushions would be most welcome for the bench seat.Orion didn't like the idea of us taking his couch out and he can't jump up on the bench seat cause it rocks back and forth.The first thing he wanted to do was pull the pillows off and we got on to him about it.So he's been sulking some about it.We saved two cushions from the couch for him to lay on but he has been laying on the bed so I guess he figures we took his,he's gonna take ours!Rotten hound.Now we got to get started on the bedroom.I got all my kitchen stuff in and where we live there is a swap meet page on Facebook.I have already picked up a shelf from there.

Recently I went down to one of our grocery stores and picked up some sweet potatoes.I can't remember the last time I had some,besides the pies,but I was amazed at how small they were.I was thinking gosh is the produce getting smaller too.I also got some avacadoes and yuck they were too ripe.So now I have to look around for better produce.What is going on here? I can see why people are growing their own.I got two tomatoes too and for some reason,maybe mind wise?,I could taste the pesticide in it.So in the garbage it went too along with the avacadoes.I think the only things I have found here that was good is the local honey,tomatoes grown from the local farmers.That's pretty skimpy uh?


Orion is starting to shed which is our sign that spring is here.It's gonna be bad too.I constantly have to vaccum when he does because he has that soft under fur and I have gray and black tuffs all over the place.I can make another dog out of what he sheds.We have been keeping him outside more which he prefers any way but living here I have to watch for kids aggravating him.We don't let him out before eight in the morning and we bring him in before three in the afternoon.Got two kids that will tease him if we don't.And people wonder why he don't like children.That also goes for the utility guys too that check the meters in the alley.He has never been social with people.And living here I didn't want him to be with hubstead working nights.He is a great watch dog but he barks at everything.

I went ahead and planted some cactus seeds,well they are coming up but I don't think they will live.I have no idea what they are either,it was a mixed pack of seeds.So today I guess I will try to replant what I have and wait and see.Yeah Texas needs more cactus uh?Oh well that's what has been going on here.Everyone have a great hump day!

Taking Pictures,Cold back home.

I'm trying to not use up too much space on here by taking alot of pictures.I want to save some for when we move.Yes we are still moving but around this time next year.I have been eyeing the weather in New Mexico to get a general idea of what we may be facing in March.

Something must of said don't move because when I talked to my sister-in-law,she told me it had been sleeting and snowing there in that part of Alabama.I am glad we didn't go,it would of been sooo cold!This is going to give us a year to get what we need anyway.I have been checking out the barrels for the rainwater and the water tanks online.I may just get them here depends on the price.Here's another,if we move up in the mountains on the southwest of Albuquerque,HA it's snowing there recently.But hubstead wants to move where there are trees.He's not too fond of the flat desert I had looked at.So I guess we will go with the mountain home.Water will be plenty and shade and it shouldn't be too hot.He's still doesn't like the idea of having to do all the work himself but I told him how satisfying it will be him knowing he did it.

I'm happy to report over my eating habits I am getting stretch marks ugh!but heck who's gonna see them anyways? It's amazing ,you change some things around and it works.I have been eating more of the fat burning stuff and even now I quit getting indigestion.I sleep better too.My back doesn't hurt much either unless I am standing up too long.I love to go shopping but can only do very little time in a store.We went and got the last Twilight breaking Dawn 2 and wow what a line,but once they started selling it the line moved fast.They had four check outs going on.We are avid DVD collectors.I have quite a few Native American movies I watch.

Been collecting Cds too for historical records.My ancestors are from Ireland and Scotland so I have been trying to finish on the computer the rest of my family history.Now I have people coming to me for records and stuff and I gladly give it for free because alot of people don't know where or how to start.I don't have a genealogist license but try to help when I can.I have always done really good with history.I know how frustrating it can be when you hit a brick wall on your family.I just tore one down on mine after twenty+ years of looking.

Well I'm gonna sit here and my yogurt and later we got to run to the big store and get some more veggies.Hope you have had a good day!

Tea Tree Oil

It's a fantastic oil!I have two bottles of this stuff and I burnt my hand here while back and have been using it on the burn spot.I also have a place on my nose that didn't seem to want to clear up and so I put some on it too.Tea Tree Oil dries the sores up.But warning the smell is something else.It has a smell of eucalyptus and pine sol.Best way I can decribe it.If you use it in a room it will smell that room up.Tea Tree oil come from Australia and they know their stuff too.You're not suppose to use around eyes,nose or mouth but it hasn't bothered me with my nose.This stuff I have is pharmaceutical grade,I got it on amazon.I haven't use it on anything else considering it has a lot of ways to use it.It definitely keeps the dog away from me for awhile lol! If you get some keep it away from children.

If you use this let me know how you use it.There is alot of info online about it.

We had a good day today,went and paid bills Blah! and took a ride to the local hobby place.Hubstead wants to fix up his cowboy hat.Got a truck need a hat.I told him I wanted a sticker that said"Trucks are for Girls,you silly Boys".But he won't let me lol.

I wanted to tell you about that change of eating habit I'm doing.I am trying out coconut oil for cooking.People you got to get some of this stuff.It goes a long way.I usually cook with olive oil but I cooked some snow peas in a skillet with coconut oil and WOW!I have been feeling better and my glucose hasn't been acting up.I switched back over to almond milk with vanilla,drinking ginger root tea,green tea with berries,eating a mix of tomatoes,jalapenos,onions and parsley.
I cut out any kind of condiments,flour,fried foods,I'm weaning myself off sodas(yes I'm an addict)lol.Within a week I can feel the difference.I'm not too active because of my back pain but I have been taking the vitamins everyday and it has helped some.I think the krill oil has done more good than anything.It's not dieting just changing some food groups around.I'm using more fat burning stuff ,I'm heavy in the front part,and I noticed stretch marks.Yeah it wouldn't hurt the guys either.If you are like me,I have a spouse who don't really like change on the food but what he don't know won't hurt him.Not unless he has an excellent sense of taste.The other night we had steaks.I wanted some mushrooms and onions and I cooked those in olive oil.I decided that it needed it own food group title.It was awesome.I told hubstead I like to cook now.Which he was pleased lol.We put those on the steak,he had A1 sauce I just had the mushrooms and onions.You know how some people have a bag of onions?Well I buy two purple(red) onions a week and I use that same onion alot for different things.I started that a long time ago.I'm using more spices now and we have one shaker with garlic powder,onion powder,parsley,paprika,salt and pepper.It gets used on all of our meat.The reason why I had to do this change was because the older I get the more food allergies I am getting.Like today we went to a chinese place we like to eat at,I got the sesame chicken and I had something that resembled a crab salad and noodles,bad combo,I had a sneezing fit and I told hubstead I was not feeling good.I only had one bite of the salad.So what ever was in the salad was a no-no.It's crazy right? We don't eat out alot just sometimes and I have noticed I get that way but at home I don't have a problem because I guess I know what is going in my food.

Ok I have rambled on enough, time for some coffee.Now if I could just cut that sugar out I'd be doing good,Oh well can't win them all,just yet(WINK).Orion says "HI" and no he won't eat mommys health food.