Found On the Farm-A New Series

Disclosure: We don’t actually live on a farm; not even close really.  Fact: We DO live in a town with the name Farms in it!  Fact: We do have some farm-like animals.  Fact: Most days it’s really more like a ZOO!

We have the cutest girl toy goat, names Goatee.   The goat is real, not a toy…. The toy part means she won’t grow that big.  She LOVES to be out of her goat pen even though she has a Little Tikes log cabin for shelter!  She prances all over the place, bucking and jumping sideways!  She has a small tail that is always wagging.  When she is out of her pen, she tries to eat every type of tree or flower that we have in our yard and on our porches.  We got a goat on the loose, hide your orchids, hide your palms!  She also likes to hang out on the porches like she is a dog or cat, and sometimes SVZ lets her in the house on purpose accident.  I admit it, not a week goes by when you don’t hear me scream, GET THAT GOAT OUT OF THE HOUSE. OUT GOATEE, OUT!  Obviously Goatee could poop and pee at any moment and it’s bad enough to find the little brown pellets on the porch!

We also have chickens and roosters.  At any given time, the amount of each can differ.  It’s called the circle of life and in our yard, the circle of life is supported even though that is not our intention! Sometimes the chickens don’t make back in the coop when my husband needs to close it for the night. It could be that my son spooks them at dusk and they run to hide for awhile.  It could be that we are going out for the night and it’s better to close the coop door and protect the ones who made it home. Allow me to back up….. yes, I said the chickens may not make it back into the coop…… my husband thinks it’s cool to have the chickens roam in the yard.  I will admit it really is.  We have had massacres because the chicken coop was not fully secured.  Each time he thinks it is totally secured; another massacre.  He thinks he has it like Fort Knox by now.  We are not 100% sure what gets the chicken.  Could be opossum, hawk, who knows.

On to our Found On the Farm exclusive: This sperm egg was found on our front walk way.  My husband had to rush in the house and call me to come see it.  Thanks for that; it was pretty GROSS!  I think that the egg came shooting out of the chickens but when it was pushing out a BM! EEEWWWWWW! Graphic, I know.  The shell hadn’t formed yet. 

Well, this concludes this episode of Found On the Farm!  Next Found on the Farm entry will be more pleasant!

Before and After Series: Wall Collage

We've all seen those 'frame collages' in decorating magazines and catalogs and on T.V. 

Here's a do-it-myself version.

Before:

After:

Not Pottery Barn but not bad either!  I purchsed all the frames/mirrors on the wall at Goodwill for .99-$4.14 (Goodwill has some weird prices!) and used two colors of paint which I had bought for a child picnic table on my front porch. (Another before and after on that coming soon...)

June Christening

Beautiful Saint Catherine Church, West Palm Beach, Fl

Driving through Palm Beach to get to the reception. The green flag means swimming conditions were favorable!

Daisy, Daisy....

Reception

Yummy Prime Rib, Lemon Baked Potato-to die for- and asparagus.

This is items from the antipasto platter... wait can I say antipasto at a Greek function?  Oh-well, I just did.

Cake which was really light and delicious.

The lovely Mother and the most adorable star of the day!

The Father, Sergio E, and a friend.

The beautiful favor given to all the ladies.  It's Murano glass and will find it's way to a special place on my bureau!

The star! God Bless you!

Weekend Craft Corner

End of the Year Techer Gifts

Springtime Card

Springtime Card

Whimsical Birthday Card

Two Page Scrapbook Layout

The yellow square and thick strip are where photos will be placed; one in the square and three along the strip.

Same thing here with the pictures.

Restaurant Review: Hog Snappers Shack & Sushi, Tequesta FL

Great Island Themed Art Work

The Sergio’s and I tried Hogsnappers Shack & Sushi for lunch last weekend.

The décor was very island like. 

The place is small and although we didn’t have to wait, I think we just had the timing right.

Our meals:

SVZ had the mac –n- cheese.  We all tried it and it was very tastey!  We had enough for leftovers for him!

SEZ had the clam chowder and the Crispy Hog Snapper Sandwich.  The Chowder was $8 for a 'cup' which was shy I didn't order one.  When it came, it was in a big bowl with three small ones for sharing.  It was delicious! The 'bowl' is $16 and comes with rice, avacado salad, and plantain tostones. Sergio enjoyed the sandwich.

I had an 'apetizer'.  It was called the "Shack-Shack 100%".  Weird name but yummy food!  The Shack Shack 100% was a fried basket with shrimp, conch fritters, oysters, calms, tilapia, calamari and a soft shell crab on the top.  It was served with spicy remoulade, cocktail and tartare sauces.  It was $14 and I too, had some to bring home.

The Shack-Shack 100%

Hog Snapper Sandwich on Ciabatta Bread

More great art work and my two handsome dates!

The pros: Delicious food prepared neuvo island style.  Moderate prices. Good portions.
The cons: The sodas were $2.50 and came in a small bottle so no refills. Small place so there may be a wait.

Overall: I want to go back!

Updates for May 2011

Updates:

SVZ: He is just the cutest little bugger and soooooo smart!  He makes me laugh everyday! He will be attending the Extended School Year (ESY) at the public Pre-K this summer.  It is only a few weeks Monday thru Thursday, but the structure of a routine is what he needs to maintain.  Bummer for us though because the early… 6:30… school bus pickup time will continue.  Ugh. 

SEZ: He is still recovering from his Medial Meniscus Tear Arthroscopic surgery.  He is getting around fine but at the end of the day he is very sore; in the AM too.  He needs, in my opinion, to do less beating up of his knee and more of the exercises that are designed to help it get back to normal.  He just bought a new riding lawn mower for our yard.  Cha-ching.  I guess those things don’t last forever when you have a big yard and live in Florida where the grass grows like crazy at certain times of the year.

RAZ:  Trying to keep organized with all the medical visits and referrals for SVZ and just keep moving forward.  I accept that sometimes I can only get one or two things accomplished with that in a week so I try and remember that slow steps do keep us moving in the right direction.  Actually sat down and made three home-made cards this week on a weeknight! They were an Easter/Spring theme so you could say I am a little behind or way ahead for next year…. That is provided I don’t misplace them in the mean time! J Journey Church, on Indiantown Rd. real close to where we live, is having a green market tomorrow morning and I plan to stop on our way to the lab for SVZ.  I’ll bring a little ice pack to stick in the bag if I get any produce. 

Family:

Ø  Last night we went to Sports Authority and spent a chunk of our tax return on a really nice treadmill!  SVZ was 'exercising' in the store on all the equipment he could get on. After the big purchase, we went out to eat at Duffy’s.  I had French onion soup and muscles marinara.  Sergio had clam chowder and a steak –n- cheese.  The little guy just ate some of daddy’s French fries because it was late and he had already had some chicken nuggets.  I did my best cutting Cosmo’s front nails.  He can be oh so sweet and then oh so bad and we all have the scratch marks to prove it!  We were all tired and went to bed early.    

Ø  Sergio E.’s Grandmother, “LaLa” is not doing well and is on her final days.  She is at my In-Laws and Hospice has brought in a bed and round the clock staff.  Thank God for Hospice.  I have to take SVZ for blood work in the morning so we are going by to see LaLa when that is over. We’ll stay for a while and I’ll sit in the sun and let SVZ play in the swimming pool.

So that’s what we are up to.  And you?  Leave a comment!

Everyday Beauty 4-10-11

I was hoping to find a shell or two... LOL!