Yowsers!

OK, hang onto your hats, folks . . . this one is going to be kind of long, as there's been a LOT going on!  

To start with . . . I'M GOING TO BE ON TV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!     One of the former meteorologists on Channel 9 up here (Tony Schumacher) does segments on the news with Cooking and Gardening Tips (Tony's Tips) and occasionally has guests on the segment.  He does the segments from his home, which is just up the road from us in Dorchester.  I sent him an e-mail last night telling him that I'd love to do a Dutch oven segment with him when it gets just a tad warmer outside and he responded saying he'd LOVE to!   We'll film the segment in April to have on TV in May!  Isn't that cool!!!!!!!!    WOW! I'm just in shock . . .

Actually, to be truthful, I didn't send the e-mail.   I had it all prepared and had Greg read it.  I was busy making dinner and he said "should I send it."  My answer was "sure" . . . that way I can say it's all your fault!!!  LOL  Yep, it's all his fault!   

But WAIT!  It gets even better!  

I had a radio station ad person in the store yesterday who said that they are going to be giving away a campe r. . . donated by Kings Campers in Wausau.  She initially came in to talk about advertising, and after a bit of chatting and talking about campfire cooking, she mentioned how they're going to be taking the camper (a pop up) all over the area for remote broadcasts.  She then stated that she thought it would be really great if I could be at some of the remotes with them cooking and talking about cooking in my Dutch ovens!!!!      WOW!!!!!!!!!!  MORE free advertising!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   And all I have to do is do what I love!  

I REALLY had a GREAT day yesterday!    

So, back to "normal" news . . .  

Greg was off tonight, so we were able to have a nice family dinner together.  I made one of my favorites when it comes to chicken . . . a recipe that I found a couple years ago.  It's called Honey Glazed Chicken and is really easy to make.  We had what we call "Cheesey Hash Browns" (hash brown potatoes, fried with onions, salt and pepper, and then baked with shredded cheddar cheese mixed in and also sprinkled on top -- it's a favorite of the kids').  

We've had issues with our kitchen chairs (cheap Chinese manufacturing!)  in the past, but they were holding up OK.    We had been having a really fun time at dinner, chatting and laughing, when all of a sudden .  . . .   Abby was dropping to the floor!!!!!!!!!!!!  I sit across from her at the table, and watched as it unfolded.  As her chair gave way underneath her, she hollered, her hands flew up over her head (think of someone on a roller coaster), and suddenly she was on her butt on the floor!  OMG!  It only took about two seconds, but dang!  It was hysterical!      Good thing she's young!   She wasn't hurt, and was laughing like crazy, as were the rest of us!  Yea, we're warped, and we admit it!         

It's so cool to be able to tell ya'all about good things and normal things.  It's funny . . . after Abby fell from her chair, all I could think of was how I couldn't wait to write about it in my blog!    OK, so that's kind of pathetic, but, these computers are the way we all communicate these days.   I must admit . .. I'm still chuckling about Abby!  

So, that's it from the "normal" Mik household!   Hope ya'll have a normal day!

Julie

Got Mice?

I've been having an issue with my left shoulder for about the last six months.  The only thing I can figure out is that I'm not at the right height when I'm sitting at my laptop at home.   I tried my "office" chair, thinking that being up a tad higher would help, but it really didn't.   Sometime last night or early this morning, I had an epiphany!  We have a lovely chair pad on the beautiful wooden rocking chair that Greg's parents bought for us way back when I was pregnant with Aaron.  Because it's all wood, I bought a really pretty chair pad for it to make it more comfortable.  Well, this morning, I actually remembered that epiphany and put the pad on my office chair.   I won't know any results for a few days, but I'm already noticing a difference and am hoping that I'll wake up in the morning and not have such a sore shoulder.   That would be SO awesome as most days, I wake up and can hardly move my left arm without a LOT of pain.

We can certainly tell that spring is coming!  I went downstairs yesterday to wake Aaron up, TWICE, and it wasn't until I was headed upstairs the second time that I realized that that wasn't just a big fuzzie laying on the ground in front of the stairs . . . yep . . . it was a dead MOUSE!         We're not sure if it was Mitzi or Mickey that got the mouse, but we DO  know it wasn't Murphy!  LOL   . . .   we thought we didn't have any mice, as we had Murphy . . . well, turns out that she's NOT a mouser, in any way, shape or form!  Mitzi caught TEN mice in our house in the first two months she was here!    Mitzi showed up in our garage 1-1/2 years ago and refused to leave.  She was a barn cat from across the road, and our neighbors were always asking us to take a cat, so we decided to keep her, seeing as she refused to leave.   Good thing we did!    

This picture is from the FIRST mouse that she caught in our house . . .  



Isn't that an AWESOME picture?!       With Mickey being young and relatively new to our household, we can only assume that Mitzi was the one to find and kill the mouse.   Frankly, I don't care which cat is catching them, as long as they do!      Living in the country, mice appear to be a fact of life . . . so it's a good thing we have our kitties to get rid of the problem!

After finding that one this morning, I decided it was time to check the camper for mice.  Fortunately, I didn't find any evidence out there, but still put a box of D-Con in the cabinet under the sink where we've had them in the past.   We have to put another  box of it in the front basement, as that's another place we've had them in the past.   If that doesn't work, we'll just have to take Mitzi camping with us!   

Not much else going on up here . . . it's chilly, at about 15 degrees, and we're expecting another cold front in the next day or so, but that's only supposed to be around zero, rather than the horrible -25 to -45 temps we've had in the past this winter!

Hope everyone has a normal and mouse free day!

Juliue

Quiet Week

This week has been fairly quiet.  Not much happening.  Isn't that GREAT!  I LOVE weeks like that!  

We did get some new stuff in the store that I'm excited about!   The first one is the Camp Chef Camp Oven.  This is the coolest little oven ever!  



There is NO ASSEMBLY required -- just take it out of the box and start using it!    It operates on a little one pound propane tank, or one of your bigger 20 lb. tanks!   VERY cool!  

One of the other great items we recently received is a beautiful smoker.   It actually looks like a bank vault!  




Of course, some assembly is required with this one and guess what?  It's so easy, even I was able to do it!  Only took about an hour and it was done and ready to go!   It's really a beautiful smoker.  

Fantastic Vent has come out with a removable screen for their fans to make cleaning easier.  The "pop 'n lock" screen comes two per box and like I said, makes cleaning the fan really easy!  



That's about it for store news.   For folks that are wondering, Bambi is still with us, but I'm trying hard to find a new home for her.    

Weather here has been getting better.  We actually reached 25 degrees yesterday!  WAHOO!!!!  Feels like summer out there, after all the below zero temps we've had lately!    The sun was so nice and warm.  I stood outside in my sweatshirt facing the sun and just soaking up all those beautiful rays!   Amazing how 25 degrees can feel warm!

On Tuesday, I had to take Erica to the orthopedic doctor for her knee.  The GREAT news is that she doesn't need surgery!  WAHOO!!!!!!!!    She has some special exercises to do to strengthen the muscles in her knee, and she has a new brace that will keep the kneecap in place, especially when she's playing sports.   We're VERY relieved at this news, as you can imagine!  

Remember I said I recently paid off my truck?  Well, on the way back from the doctor, the "Driver Information Center" went wacko and started dinging.  The information displayed was something to the effect of "CHECK BRAKE SYSTEM"!   Yikes!    My brakes felt fine, and I had 30 miles to drive to get back to town.   I called the local dealer and they agreed to look at it right away.  Of course, I'm thinking the worst.  I need new tires, and a $500 brake job is just NOT in the budget right now!   The FABULOUS news is that it was simply a matter of a bolt, or some such thing!    Total bill:  $69!  Wahoo!    

Ever wonder how much a highway 4x4 sign post costs?    Well, I'm here to tell you that in Wisconsin, knocking one of those puppies down will cost you $135.24!!!  Dang!   At that price, I should have unbolted the damned signs and taken them with me to hang up in the basement!!         

Hope everyone has a normal day!

Julie

Snow, Snow, go away!

I've had a couple folks mention how LOOOOOOOOONG my entries in this blog are, one of whom is my OLDER, MUCH OLDER sister (not the one that posts here, but the one that turned FIFTY a couple weeks ago), and others as well, and that it must take me forever to write this and that I must have a LOT of spare time on my hands.   Just to set the record straight . . . in a previous life, I was a legal secretary for 20 years.  Even though it's been a few years since I worked in an office, I still type at 100 wpm.  These entries really only take me 10-15 minutes for each post.  So it doesn't really take me very long to type these entries.    

Now, on to the last two days.   We had all kinds of warnings yesterday about snow and how much we're going to get.   The store was closed as it was Sunday and we're still on winter hours, so I wasn't worried about going anywhere.  Greg on the other hand, had to work from 4 p.m. to midnight.   It was NOT a fun drive to work, that's for sure!  

We only got about 8 inches on Sunday, not too bad, but we had a LOT of blowing and drifting.  Unfortunately, Greg had to work from 4 p.m. to midnight.  I was worried about him getting there and back, but that wasn't a problem.  The problem he had was getting into the driveway!     When he got home, the driveway was drifted over with at least 3 foot drifts, and he couldn't see them, so he literally plowed right into one!       He couldn't get out, so he left the car at the end of the driveway and walked through all those drifts.  Needless to say, he was NOT a happy camper when he finally got into the house!  

This morning, our neighbor came over to plow for us (thank goodness for neighbors with BIG tractors!) and only did the other driveway because Greg's car was stuck.  Once Mike (our neighbor) finished the other side, I moved Aaron's car over to where it was plowed and backed my truck out of the garage.  I backed up to Greg, intending to pull him out.   Who'd have thought that my BIG, HUGE, BEAUTIFUL truck could NOT pull him out?  Certainly not I!       Yea, I'm as surprised as ya'll are!   I even put my truck in 4-lo, but nothing!   With the extra blowing and drifting from overnight, his car was buried up to it's headlights!    Sheesh!   

Thank goodness for neighbors with BIG tractors!   Did I say that already?    Well, Mike got some chains and was able to pull Greg's car out of the snowbank for us.  He then plowed the rest of the driveway.  I finally got to the store about 10:30 this morning and was able to get all of today's orders out.  I ended up closing early because it snowed all day long (NOT forecasted, of course), and I really wanted to get home without skidding across the highway again.  

We ended up with a total of about 12 inches since the snow started yesterday morning.   Like I said, not a really big deal here over two days.  The blowing and drifting is just too much, though!  

Here's a pic out our patio door, looking at the deck -- this drift is about 4 feet deep, and I think Abby would be lost in it!  




From our kitchen window --



The front yard:



The geese, sitting on our front porch -- the only place that was sheltered from the wind -- and only because it was enclosed by snowdrifts!




So, that's it for now!  Even though we've gotten more snow than normal, we haven't gotten as much snow as the folks in Madison have had!    

Hope everyone had a "normal" day!

Julie

Mik Mutiny!

These last few days have actually been good!   Wow.  What a relief to be able to say that!   For those wondering, Bambi (our lone remaining goat) is doing fine.  I'm sure she's lonely, though.  Goats are sociable creatures and a single goat is a very lonely and unhappy goat.    The good news is that we may have found a home for her!  

I need to backtrack a bit first, though.   The girls went on a field trip with their 4-H club today to see High School Musical on Ice in Green Bay (about a 2 hour drive from here).  I had to drop them off at the neighbor's house down the road at 7:45 this morning and they got on the school bus with the rest of the 4-H club to see the show.  Seeing as 4-H has so much to do with animals, I told the girls to talk to the other kids and parents and see if anyone is looking for a goat.   Turns out one of the kids said their grandpa was looking for a female goat.  Apparently, one of his milking goats recently passed away, so he needs another that can be milked.  Bambi is not "fixed" so she can be bred and then milked.  She's just the right age, too, as she's just going to be two this year.   Wahoo!!!!!!!!!!!!   I'm SO excited!   Please, keep your fingers and toes crossed that "grandpa" will take Bambi for us!   Best of all, he's close enough (within about 30 miles or so) that we can visit Bambi whenever we want and can even hang out with her babies!  That would be such a GREAT ending!!!!!  

I suppose ya'all are wondering about the "mutiny" I mentioned in the title.    Well, that's just a little family "issue" we're dealing with right now.   Aaron bought a Nintendo Wii for himself back in September.    Now, Aaron owes us a chunk of change for his car, license, title, insurance, cell phone, etc.   He wants to buy a laptop for himself, but he's not allowed to buy that until he has us paid off.  

Apparently, there are NO Wii's to be found within a 100 mile radius of our home and there are boatloads of folks willing to pay top dollar for them . . .   you see where this is going?    Yep, Aaron has decided to sell his Wii and make about $100 profit.   He really wants to get us paid off so he can save for his laptop!    

So, what's the big deal you ask?  Well, the girls are TICKED!  They play with the Wii as well, and it's the only thing that keeps Aaron off the kids' computer so the girls can go on.  Abby is fit to be tied and is having a hard time grasping the concept that Aaron bought the Wii with his own money so he can do what he wants with it.  She, of course, doesn't have any money, but she's desperately looking for stuff that she's bought out of her own money to sell to come up with money to buy her own Wii!  

Erica's just ticked, because she figures that Aaron will be on their computer even more now, seeing as he doesn't have the Wii to play with!    So, it's  a little girl mutiny in the Mik Household!       I'm pretty sure I can deal with it, though . . .

As the hamburger is cooking for the tacos we're going to have for dinner, I'm watching the movie Miracle, which is the story of the 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team . . . you know . . . where our guys WON the gold medal, against all odds.   I've never seen the movie, even though it's rather old, but it's a really good movie and I'm thoroughly enjoying it!  

I'm not sure if I mentioned this earlier, but we're finally getting some COLEMAN products in our store!   Wahoo!!!!!!!!!!!!   We weren't able to get them earlier for various reasons.     I called our salesman yesterday and it's entirely possible that we'll have them in our store this week.  I'll find out more information on Monday, but I'm totally psyched to be able to get Coleman's products in our store!    As soon as they're in, I'll be sure to let everyone know!  

So, that's the latest update . . . a "normal" day in Mik Land!   Isn't that cool!!!!!  

Hope everyone else has a normal day!

Julie

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentines Day, everyone!   I woke up this morning thinking how nice it was going to be to make an entry here about how "normal" it's been these last couple of days.  We don't seem to get much "normal" in our family, so it's been quite nice!  

We were supposed to get a lot of snow, they were talking anywhere from 3 to 12 inches.  We had all kinds of warnings, etc. yesterday for overnight and today.  I woke up at 6 and turned on the TV, well, we got about 5-6 inches up here, so no big deal and the kids had to go to school.  South of us, of course, they got a lot more!      LOL  Ha, ha, better them than us!    

Unfortunately, that was the end of "normal."   Aaron went out to take care of the goats.  We only had two left -- when I mentioned in a previous entry that we had "lost" Spud, that was my gentle way of saying that she had died.   I apologize if I misled anyone.    Well, we're now down to one goat.  Rudy died overnight.    Bambi is the only one left.    I'm so sad.    Aaron was so angry.  He'd been taking such good care of them.  The only thing we can come up with is that they couldn't handle the severe cold weather that we had.  I don't know.  I give up.  I have already made a call to a friend who's mom and dad have a farm and have goats.  I'm hoping that they'll take Bambi for us.  I just can't deal with this any more and goats are very social creatures.  They need to be around other goats.  One goat is a very lonely goat and I just can't do that to Bambi.  She needs to be someplace where she has other goats to talk to and play with.   I'm just praying that these folks will take her.  Please keep your fingers crossed!    

We're going to stick to poultry from now on.   The chickens and geese are doing fine and we've had no further incidents with them.  Maybe it's for the best.  I just don't know anymore.  

Aaron had to leave for school, so we'll talk more about everything tonight and try and figure it all out.   Unfortunately, Aaron wasn't able to leave!   Remember that snow I mentioned above?  Yep, you guessed it, his car was STUCK.   I woke Greg up to go and help him, called the school to tell them that he'd be late and then jumped in the shower.    When I got out of the shower, Aaron came upstairs and told me that he was probably going to be home all day.  What?  Why?  you're still stuck?  My thought was that I'd pull him out with my truck (I've had to do that for Greg in the past, so no big deal).   Apparently, Greg had already thought of that though, and he managed to end up getting MY TRUCK STUCK AS WELL!     

OK, time to get out there.  As I'm putting my boots on, Greg is walking across to the neighbors (you know, the ones that plowed out so we could get our septic tank emptied).  I'm looking at my truck in the driveway, thinking, geez, my tires were buried a LOT more than that when I spun out and hit the snowbank.  Hmmmmmmmm  I'm also noticing that there are no ruts in the snow behind the front tires . . . do you see where this is going?   I open the door of my truck and gee whiz . . .  it's NOT EVEN IN 4 WHEEL DRIVE!        No wonder he was stuck!  I put it in four wheel drive and backed right up without a problem!      

Aaron rocked his car back and forth a little bit and was able to get out of where he had been stuck and he left for school, with me hollering at him to drive CAREFULLY!  I had already called the school, so he didn't have to rush to get there.  

Greg walked back over and said "what'd you do?  How'd you get it out?"   Uhm, dear . . . I put it in FOUR WHEEL DRIVE.    

OK, to his credit, and as he told me, his car is "all wheel drive" so there's no buttons to push.  He doesn't drive my truck very much and never even thought about putting it in four wheel drive.  Still, I thought it was pretty damned funny!    He went back to the neighbors to tell them we're fine and don't need any help.  I'm sure they're wondering about us these days!   We always seemed so "normal" until this past winter!    

So, I'm now at the store, didn't wipe out or anything on the way, the kids are safely in school, and Greg is at home, hopefully sleeping.     I'm REALLY hoping that things will be "normal" whatever that is, for the rest of the day!  

Hope you all have a "normal" day!    

Julie

1st Dutch Oven Class Today!

Today was my very much anticipated FIRST EVER Dutch oven cooking class!    I was so nervous last night and all day today!    

When I got to the store this morning, I decided to check and see how "smokey" it might get by lighting the charcoal on our propane burner, using my charcoal lighter basket.    I'm sure glad I did!   I tried and tried, and couldn't get the flame high enough on the burner to even get the charcoal started!      YIKES!  I MUST be low on propane . . . that HAD to be the reason!  

Well, that was NOT the reason.   I discovered that I had turned on the propane on the tank too fast, which caused some sort of "low flow" thing to activate as a safety feature and that's why I couldn't get the burner on high enough to light the coals.   I turned the tank off and turned it on SLOWLY, and Wahoo!  It worked just great!   In fact, it worked SO great that half our store got a tad smokey and the fumes permeated through the mall from the charcoal.     OK, so that was NOT good!    In case you're wondering, when I'm cooking in my Dutch ovens on my propane burner, I use our charcoal lighter basket to get my coals going for the heat on top.  Instead of putting newspaper underneath the lighter basket, I put it on a burner and turn it on.  That way, you don't get those newspaper ashes flying around.  It works GREAT and your charcoal is good to go in a matter of minutes, without the need for lighter fluid.  

So we have a slight problem!        I got some fans from our neighbors at Dollar General next door (thanks, Jackie!), and opened the back door (it was a balmy 19 outside at the time!) and got the fans going to blow the smoke and odor out.   Unfortunately, the odor managed to permeate most of the mall we're located in.    To help get rid of the odor, I made a batch of popcorn .  .  . which really got rid of any odors all the way up and down the mall.   

We had taken every precaution imaginable, including having a fire extinguisher close-by.  We got the OK from the mall owner (our landlord) and had the fire chief come into the store and check on everything we were going to do.  Everyone was absolutely OK with our plans.  I was doing the bulk of my cooking on the propane burner, which is as safe as using a gas stove.   The charcoal was only being used for heat on the top of the
Dutch oven, so we made sure to have all our ducks in a row before we even started.  

Because of the smoke, I called Greg and told him he had to bring our little tabletop grill so he could light the charcoal outside for me so we wouldn't have that problem during our class.  You know, it's not easy to get charcoal going outside when the winds are starting to blow at 25 mph and it's snowing outside!   Fortunately, Greg has been known as "Greg Grill" for years and years and years, so he was able to handle his duties as my chief charcoal starter without problems!     For the record, he was NOT happy that I had encountered these problems, as that was what he was worried about all along.  I, on the other hand, firmly believe that it was the fact that I had the burner on too high to light the charcoal to begin with.   Fortunately, starting the coals outside and bringing them in when they were ready worked GREAT!  We had NO smoke and NO odors from doing it that way and that's the way we will handle things from now on when we have classes inside at the store.  

We had five folks at the class today, which was pretty good, considering that the outside temps were dropping like crazy throughout the day, from about 22 when I went to the store (and no wind chill) to about 15 (and well below zero wind chills) when the class started and that there wasn't a lot of advertising for the classes.   Most folks called because they saw the ads that I had put in the local paper for them, so I'll be sure to continue doing that.  

In the class, we went over basic Dutch oven care, from seasoning to handling rust, to everyday use and cleaning.  Of course, we did some cooking, too!  I made a Mountain Man breakfast, which is great, because it really shows the versatility of the Dutch oven as you start frying, and end up baking.  I also made a VERY difficult Apple Crisp.    Of course, everyone got to munch on everything I cooked, as well.   The class size was perfect, as they could interrupt and ask questions, and could get up and look into the oven to see how things were cooking and how it looked.    I was really pleased, once I settled down a bit and was able to talk without being so nervous.  

My "students" were quite pleased (at least that's what they told me!).  Obviously, I hadn't done a dry run of everything, as I wasn't sure how it would go with questions and all, but we had the class scheduled for two hours, and we finished about 10 minutes early, so the timing went quite well!  

Abby was my "gofer" today and provided a bit of comic relief as well, when she broke into the discussion.  Everyone enjoyed her comments and she event received a $1.00 "tip" from one of the participants as a thank you for helping out and serving the food, etc.  She was in heaven and can't wait until the next class!    I think I have an apprentice!  

So, all in all, I'm quite pleased!  I'm also VERY happy that the very FIRST class is done and over with!  I'm certainly no Emeril or Rachel Ray, but you know, everyone has to start somewhere!

As to other news . . . there's not much.  Erica is still sick.  She still has a slight fever and stayed on the couch all day.  Aaron was supposed to work from 8-4 today and he left County Market at about 2 because now HE'S sick with whatever Erica has.  Not surprising.  Greg is working 4-midnight, and of course, he's getting sick, too.   That kind of goes without saying.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he doesn't get as sick as Erica, because if he does, he's going to end up in the hospital.  His body just can't take that sort of illness.    Keeping my fingers crossed on that one!  

So, we had a GREAT day, even though it's colder than a witches "you know what" outside!   I'm hoping and praying that the animals outside are able to withstand another two days of horribly cold weather and we don't lose any more.   In the grand scheme of things, we're lucky.  We have three wonderful children, we all have full bellies, we're healthy (relatively speaking), and we have a sturdy house to keep us warm in these frigid temps.  Yes, I'm happy and grateful for all our blessings.  

Hope everyone had a GREAT day!  

Julie

Another Normal Day?

WOW!  Can't believe we've had TWO "normal" days in a row!       

The update on Erica is that she's, get this, SICK!   Yep, that's pretty much the diagnosis we got from the doctor!  OK, OK, in their defense, they DID say that her ears are infected and that she has "diminished lung capacity."  Those both make sense.  We're pretty sure this started out as a sinus issue (hence the ear problems), and the traveled to her chest, as she's been hacking up stuff, so that would explain the lung problems.  She's on antibiotics and even went to school today .  .  . for less than two hours, that is!  Yep, at about 9:30, she was calling me to come and get her.     She's still feverish and not doing well.  This has been going on since Tuesday.  I certainly hope the antibiotics are going to start working and she feels better soon! 

Now, here's something you don't hear every day!   Living in the middle of nowhere, this home came with a holding tank rather than a septic system.   We usually have to call about every two months or so to have the 8,000 gallon tank pumped.  It has an alarm, and we always joke when one of us "flushes" and the alarm goes off!      OK, kind of gross, but still funny!   Anyway, Greg won the lottery earlier this week and called yesterday to have it pumped.   I got home and didn't see any signs that a honey wagon had been there  . . . we got a call this morning.  The truck couldn't get close enough to the tank because of all the snow!    Greg had to go and talk to our neighbors to ask them if they could plow that area for us so we could get the tank pumped.  While they were at it, they plowed a path to the barn to make it easier for the kids to get to the goats to take care of them.   The sanitation company showed up shortly after the neighbors plowed and our tank is now empty!    I know, I know, probably TMI, but we thought it was funny!   After the days we've had lately, you just gotta laugh at the stupid things!    

Once again, the furnace at the store was out!   I didn't even realize it at first this morning, as I was moving around a lot and have been wearing my warmest sweatshirt to the store anyway.   Fortunately, it was fixed by about 3:30.  I sure hope it's working OK tomorrow as we have our first Dutch oven cooking class tomorrow afternoon!   

Speaking of the classes, I must say, I'm quite excited about them.  I've had a really good response from folks about coming to them.  Last night, I chopped, sliced and diced all the ingredients I'll be using so that I don't have to worry about that.  I keep thinking about what I'm going to say and do, and keep hoping that folks are going to like it.    I think they will and we'll have a good time and folks will learn something.  It's funny, I didn't realize how animated I got when talking about cooking in my Dutch ovens until someone else mentioned it . . . quick story here . . . we belong to the local 4-H and of course, they have a scrapbook.  Well, into the scrapbook goes everything that members do, whether it's 4-H related or not, just to show that we're a diverse group.  The woman who did the scrapbook last year included the article that was printed in our local paper.  In her description she wrote that "Julie's eyes just light up when she talks about cooking in her Dutch ovens."  I was so surprised to see that, and when I started talking about the Dutch ovens (naturally), she looked at me and said "SEE, you're doing it NOW!"    I guess I really DO love my Dutch ovens!     

Just when we thought that the bitter, bitter cold of winter was over, we come to find out that we have another arctic blast coming our way tomorrow.    Later in the afternoon, winds are supposed to pick up and temps are going to drop.  Winds are expected to be 20-30 mph with 35-40 mph gusts.  Temps will plummet to below zero, with wind chills of -35 to -45!   Sheesh!  We usually only have those kinds of temps once per winter, and we just had them two weeks ago! 

I'll end this today with a poem that was sent to me by a good friend and really sums up Wisconsin in the winter!

Why I Love Wisconsin ...

It's winter in Wisconsin
And the gentle breezes blow,
70 miles per hour at 52 below!
Oh, how I love Wisconsin
When the snow's up to your butt.
You take a breath of winter air
And your nose is frozen shut.
Yes, the weather here is wonderful,
I guess I'll hang around.
I could never leave Wisconsin,
'Cause I'm frozen to the ground.

Stay warm, everyone, and wish me luck tomorrow!

Julie

Much Better Day Today!

Wow!  Today was a perfectly "normal" day in the Mik house!   Actually, it was kind of exciting, too (in a good way!).    

The chicken coop was still standing when we woke up and there was no smoke coming from it, so we did a good job making sure there was nothing more smoldering in there.  Whew!    All the chickens and Quagmire (the duck) are still alive, so it looks like we dodged a BIG bullet there!   Again, whew!   I need one of those smileys that wipes the sweat from your brow!     The goats also seem to be fine today.  We'll probably never know what happened to Spud.  I'm still quite sad when I think about it, and can't really even talk about it.

There's a couple of GOOD things today!  We are NOT part of the area that got the HUGE winter storm today!   That all stayed well south of us . . . in fact, if we were still at our old house in Sturtevant, we'd have gotten nailed!  Both my sisters live in Racine, and they got SLAMMED today!    Wahoo!  Glad it wasn't us!    

I was supposed to have a delivery truck at the store today with all the great stuff I ordered from Camp Chef at our show last month, but of course, the distributor is in Milwaukee!  You guessed it, with all that snow, none of their trucks went anywhere and we'll have to wait until next week to get all that great stuff in the store.  At least I'll be prepared for it and can make sure that Greg is there to help unload all the CAST IRON that's coming!   Ya know, that stuff's HEAVY!    

The other good news . . . actually, the BEST piece of news is that something we've been working on since the beginning of January is finally DONE and ready to be unveiled to the world!   Yup, our new website, Dutch Oven University.com is DONE!    We've done a LOT of work on it and have a lot of FABULOUS information on that site.  Information on outdoor cooking -- everything from Dutch oven cooking to Pie Iron Cooking -- can be found there!  We also have a FABULOUS cookbook filled with Dutch oven recipes, foil recipes and pie iron recipes.  It's a FABULOUS addition to RVing Outpost and we look forward to helping folks learn about this fabulous way to cook and enjoy the great outdoors!  

I had to take Abby to the doctor today for a checkup on her "exercise induced asthma" and because Erica is still sick (did I mention that yesterday?) and may have the flu, they suggested a flu shot as folks with asthma tend to have bronchial problems if they get the flu.  Abby was NOT happy with me for agreeing to the shot!   We tried to convince her that it was to keep her healthy, but she was having none of it . . . she got the shot, though, and it was done before she even realized it!

If Erica's still sick tomorrow, we'll head over to the doctor to find out if it's for sure the flu.  They say they can give her some meds if it is the flu, so we'll have to see.   The doctor also said that if she DOES have the flu, they can give all of US meds to take to prevent US from getting the flu from her.  That's cool!  Goodness knows, I have way too much on my plate to be able to take time off to be sick!   If I'm going to take time off, it's not going to be for the flu!    

That's about it for today.  It's great to have a nice, "normal" day around here!    

Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone that was in the path of yesterday's tornadoes.  

Julie