Pink Squirrel Farmstead

We have had the farm for about 3 1/2 years now.

There have been lots of changes along the way. If any of you, reading this knows anything about me, then you will now my absolute favorite holiday is Christmas 🎅. And it took us 1,250 longgggg days to finally have Our First Christmas 🎄 at the Farm !!

Chad was able to get 2 weeks off from work 🎉

So we had the opportunity to go to the farm to work on a few projects and enjoy Christmas and New Year’s at the farm.

It was nice to see my parents and Hunter for Christmas this year, it’s been several years since we actually had Christmas together on Christmas Day🎄

We had fun opening up our gifts and having lots of laughs.

My favorite part of being at the farm for the holidays, was cooking a nice holiday meal in my ginormous kitchen.

Dad has made a lot of progress with building all the cabinets from scratch.

While making Christmas Dinner, I was able to fine tune the exact design and details I wanted for my kitchen island 🥰. The Island, is going to take a lot of work to complete. The top will be a solid hardwood butcher block. It is going to be almost 6 foot wide and 7 foot long once it’s completed

I can already envision myself, rolling out pie crust and cookie dough and playing board games around the island with the family.

It makes my heart warm just the thought of what memories are going to be made in this kitchen of my dreams !

We also had the chance to finally finish the upstairs bathroom!!

While we were in Kentucky we went to one of our favorite places in Morehead the Piddlers Mall. It’s a combination of crafts booths and antique booths. We had the chance to find a ton of antiques.

Most likely you have never heard of an international food market named Jungle Jims in Cincinnati Ohio. Unless you read my previous blog post about it. Last time I was at the farm I went to the first location. Chad has not been to either one, so this time I, decided to take him to the one I hadn’t been to, so it would be a new experience for us all! It is incredibly large and has different sections from countries around the world. We enjoyed going there for the day and getting out and about. If you never heard of it before, there is a ton of YouTube videos and TicTok videos about it (hence how we learned about it) this is where Hunter found several exotic items for us to try. Jungle Jims only has these 2 locations on different sides of Cincinnati. Both of these locations are very different from each other so it is a unique experience to see them both !

Not only does it sell food and other grocery stores products but it also has a ton of animatronic displays and other things to look at. All in all it is a fun little get away where you can spend all day long browsing. (actual it is bigger than 200,000 sq ft)

We decided while in Cincinnati, to try some grub that we don’t have in the huge metropolis of Childress TX. We found a neat little Mediterranean Cafe to try out. Chad and Hunter both had a lamb gyro. Cheyenne had tomato basil feta soup. I indulged myself with a wonderful salmon and Basmati rice dish. This cafe was delicious 🤤

We also had the chance to finish up most of the office space that connects the library to my sewing room

Still need to finish frame outs on the door ways & put permanent carpet down, but it is mostly finished. I choose to divide my sewing room into two separate rooms because I wanted to have different use for both sides of the room. I don’t sew all of the time so I didn’t want to have a huge room tied up just for that purpose. I have decided I want to find a pretty floral wall paper to put on the ceiling of my sewing 🧵 room. (Darn you Instagram and Pinterest)

Also we plan on making a huge crafting area in the basement for all of us to be able to utilize.

The entire time we were at the farm I was hoping that it would ⛄️ snow. Most days the weather was raining and warmer than normal. And just with my luck 🍀 it finally snowed for a few minutes about an hour before we had to leave to head back to Texas. ❄️

We made it home to Texas about 1 am and just so you know as soon as we hit Oklahoma Chad points out EVERY SINGLE BRAUMS!!! We don’t ever stop there on our trip but he just points them out just to be a pain in the butt….. I know you are surprised 😂. We can’t wait to go back again soon, so time to start planning out and saving for our next trip.

I have heard this treat called many things over the years, so call it what you want. I love making different holiday treats and this one is easy. This one can be made for many holidays and it is quick and easy to make. I love all things peanut butter so this is a favorite of mine. So let’s get to it!

Ingredients

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 bag of butterscotch morsels

2- 5oz containers chow mien noodles

Small candies of your choice (optional)

In a bowl combine peanut butter and butterscotch morsels and put in microwave for 30 seconds intervals and stir in between until melted smooth and creamy ( usually only takes 2 intervals. Add in both containers of chow mien noodles and stir until all noodles are completely coated. Use an ice cream scoop or large spoon and scoop into small piles onto parchment paper. Press 3 pieces of candy into middle of pile to resemble a bird nest. Let sit to harden for approximately 30 minutes. Enjoy!

You can change the candy up to match each holiday or just use the candy of your liking. I used what I had on hand this time and I have made them and even left the candy off. I hope you enjoy these as much as our family enjoys them! Merry Christmas!🎄

I remember when I was a kid going to visit my Aunt Anna and she made us Chocolate Gravy and biscuits and I thought she was the coolest aunt ever!!! Then years later after my dad retired from the Navy we moved to a small town in Oklahoma called Clayton and they served chocolate gravy in the School cafeteria!

Since the kids are all grown now, I haven’t made it in several years. I was making a recipe book for someone recently and my sister in law, reminded me that I told her about chocolate gravy, many, many, many, years ago and never made it for her and I “should” make it for dinner for her 😇.

So guess what we had for dinner tonight? Another easy weeknight meal!!!

What are some childhood meals you remember and cherish? Chocolate gravy always seems to be one that reminds me of my Aunt and the holidays and my years in Clayton. I can’t believe it’s been so long since we had it.

So, I thought I would share an easy weeknight meal that I made tonight. Everyone in my house loves this meal, especially Carla! She would have this multiple times a week, if I would make it. It’s not only easy but it’s a meal that will make your family think you are an amazing cook!

This is called French Country Chicken and we usually serve it over rice, mashed potatoes, or noodles with a side of veggies. I am not sure where I got the original recipe but I have tweaked it a few times to the way our family likes it.

French Country Chicken

3 chicken breast butterfly sliced in half

16 oz sour cream

1 tbsp dill weed

Garlic powder

Tony chacheres spice and herb

Knorr vegetable recipe mix

1 cup water

4 tbsp butter

Pour the Knorr vegetable mix into the water.

Season both sides of the chicken breast’s with garlic powder and Tony’s seasoning.

In a large deep skillet melt butter on medium high heat then place chicken breast in.

Cook on each side for 5 minutes until chicken on cooked completely and browned.

Move all the chicken breast to one side and pour the vegetable water mixture in and about 3/4 of the container of sour cream in to the pan and whisk until combined. You might have to move the chicken around a bit to get the juice from under the chicken. You can use the whole container of sour cream if you want but I generally like using only about 3/4 of the container. (Make tacos the next night and you have the rest for tacos 😛🌮)

Then cover the chicken breast in the sauce and add 1 tbsp dill weed and stir.

Put a lid on it and let simmer on low for 15 minutes and then enjoy!

I hope you take the chance and try out this recipe! Please let me know if you do and how you like it! I will try to share more recipes with you in the future 😊

For years I have been talking about wanting to make marshmallows. And for years I have talked myself out of it because I thought that it would end up being a gigantic sticky mess that would take forever to clean up and would just be a waste of my time and money. This year I made it a Christmas goal to make marshmallows.

Yes, I have unrealistic Hallmark Christmas movie goals that I set out to achieve each year but I don’t try to do them all in one year at least! 🤷🏻‍♀️ I love Christmas time and I love Christmas festivities and doing Christmas things as a family. If I didn’t get one gift for Christmas I would be fine with it, I just want to do all the Christmas things with my family!

Yesterday I made gingerbread cookies and Royal icing and we decorated the cookies after dinner. It was so nice sitting around the table watching everyone’s creativity in action and listening to the laughter, it definitely warmed my heart ❤️.

In addition I made marshmallows for the first time yesterday!!!! And let me tell you a big secret…… IT IS SO EASY!!!! I did do my research and read a gazillion and one recipes and blogs about it before hand but settled on a recipe that I thought would be the best to try. I will link the recipe below if you want to give it a try.

How to Make Homemade Marshmallows

After making the marshmallows I let them sit for about 3 hours before touching them, then lightly sprinkled them with powdered sugar and cut a few out with cookie cutters to eat immediately then covered and let them sit overnight. I noticed after sitting overnight they had more of the outside texture of a store bought marshmallow and were less sticky but the taste is soooo much better.

This recipe is a keeper in our house and is going to be laminated and kept for years to come. I am sure I will be making this recipe very often to go in our homemade hot chocolate.

What are some of your favorite Christmas activities that you and your family enjoy?

Doing things together as a family means more to me than anything else at Christmas time. I saw this craft and immediately thought, how fun it would be for Cheyenne and I to do together. Today was the day we tried it out! Cheyenne had a blast and said it was so soft and was better than play dough. So I guess if all else fails we have an amazing new “snow play dough” recipe!!

Recipe

2 cups baking soda

1 cup corn starch

1 1/2 cup water

Pour all ingredients into sauce pan and mix until combined. Turn on medium heat and stir continuously until mixture is thick like play dough. Remove from heat and let cool on a dough mat or parchment paper. Roll out dough until approximately 4mm thick. Cut with small cookie cutters place on parchment paper lined cookie sheet and use toothpick to cut holes into each one. Bake at 200 degrees until dry ( approximately 2 hours)

So, I found this recipe a lot less detailed on TikTok and learned a little bit so you don’t have to 🤪. The dough was a bit sticky at first and I thought maybe I should have cooked it longer but turns out I should have just been patient and let it cool completely 😂…. Also, after cutting out a cookie sheet full with Cheyenne we only poked one hole in each one but I would recommend to poke 2 holes in each one so that they won’t move as much, on the garland once strung up.

I enjoyed stringing up this garland with some fresh cranberries. Cheyenne painted her little cutouts and enjoyed making it a few days of crafting fun.

This was a new fun project, that might be a new family tradition, where I can make the whole family get involved. My next new adventure is trying to make homemade marshmallows and I can’t wait to share that with you soon! Hope you are all enjoying this magical time of the year!

Merry Christmas!

Woke up to snow on the ground at the farm today! Technically not the first snow of the year but it is the first snow that stuck to the ground. It wasn’t a lot of snow but it is still pretty! I LOVE LOVE LOVE snow! My parents not so much lol!

I always say if it’s going to be cold, then there should be snow! ❄️ Do you like snow? Seems like the perfect weather to decorate for Christmas if you haven’t already and to kick off the Christmas season with a cup of hot chocolate in your hand!

This is the time of year when I, along with most people; reflect upon the year and ponder upon all the things we have been blessed with and to be thankful for.

I have so many things that Heavenly Father has blessed my life with, I would not even know where to begin.

As most of you are aware, if you have followed my post, Chad and I have had more than our fair share of Medical Issues to deal with last year or two.

Everything from broken bones, 🦴 knee surgery, countless trips to the hospital 🏥 and numerous hospitalizations. Even with all of this, we remain thankful. Both of us are extremely grateful and blessed to have found each other and are truly soul mates. We are both there right next to the other to help each other out.

We have been blessed as a family and grateful that Carla has moved in with us. She is a tremendous help and such a wonderful person. We are also extremely excited that we have all decided that she is going to move with us to the Farm. We look forward to converting the “ground floor or 1st floor” {she doesn’t like the idea of it being called the basement 🤣🤣} into her own apartment.

We have also been blessed with Payton becoming a Mother in a few more short months and we will become Oma and Opa!

Luckily, last month in October, I felt well enough to go to the farm for a couple of weeks and spend some time with Dad, Mom, and Hunter. Cheyenne and CoCo also came with me! I was thankful for feeling well enough to get a few things done while I was there. I did get some rest in between, so I didn’t overdo it and didn’t have too many bad headache days.

Now on to the Farm renovation updates. I know this is the part of my blog that most of you come to see anyway 😌.

The Next project I was able to work on, was my sewing/ craft room. This room was also split into two separate rooms. Had to make room for the grand baby!

I had never tried to lay laminate flooring sheet before. Normally Chad does this type of stuff, but he was back in Texas at work and he couldn’t come. I think it came out great 😌

Coco says it’s exhausting supervising all day

We had seen on TikTok videos about a supermarket in Cincinnati Ohio, that is coined the Disney land of grocery stores it’s called Jungle Jims International Market. All of us enjoy stores like World Market and other non traditional stores, so I decided it would be a fun little getaway for all of us to go see. Mom, Dad, Cheyenne, and Hunter went. Cincinnati is only a short 2 hour(ish) drive away. Some of you are probably like a 2 hour drive 😱. But after living in the Texas Panhandle for over 5 years, 2 hours is just a normal commute to the next town 😉

The store is ginormous. It’s over 6 acres or stuff.

Jungle Jim’s, has a ton of links and videos on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok and you name it. Nearly every aisle is food from a different country and it is so amazing to see all the different kinds of foods that are available, I cannot wait to live closer so we can try more of the diverse food options.

Here are two links if you are interested seeing more about it:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60993-d7289644-Reviews-Jungle_Jim_s_International_Market-Cincinnati_Ohio.html

Their website link

https://junglejims.com/?

Dad has been working on several projects around the farm. It’s nice to see the transformation the farm has made since we purchased it. I have spent countless hours researching ideas for how I envision it to be. Luckily, my Dad and Chad have been able to help me turn these ideas into reality. It is really a fun project. I have learned a ton. The best part of all of this and I am truly thankful for is all been renovated by us as a family. It’s just amazing to walk around and see something I know “hey, we did that !” Or “I love how my Dad did that” on and on in every room. I know that it will be memories we will always have.

I am Thankful, that my dreams are coming true.

Well, I have not been to the farm in almost 6 months. This is sad 😞. Thankfully my Dad has been able to work on several projects on the farm so this makes me happy !!😊

(Make sure you read the full post, I have a special announcement at the end 🤫)

As y’all know, if you have been following my blog; I truly LOVE the fact that we bought this Amish Farm. It is like we bought a shell of a house, which gives me the chance to make my home unique and just how I want it.

With this being said, it also means Chad and my Dad, have a blank canvas to create things also. Chad came across an idea that is rather popular lately: “hidden doors”. He knew he wanted one somewhere on the Farm.

Dad and Chad tossed a few ideas around, then presented me with their creative idea for my approval 😜.

In the hallway is a door that opens into the Master Bedroom. There is a separate door that leads into the powder room. Normally, we always go thru that door in the bathroom to enter our Master Bedroom.

We had initially thought to use the master bedroom door, in the hallway, as a closet door. Then we could access coats etc. from the hallway or from the bedroom. Chad decided this would be a neat place for a “hidden door” instead.

Although I am biased, I think this Hidden door turned out fantastic!!

Unfortunately, my medical issues haven’t been great this past year. My migraines have increased significantly. For almost 2 years, I have had a daily headache constantly with no break. Almost 2 years ago, I had Covid for the 2nd time and shortly afterwards my headache began to get worse. The intensity in the past 6 months has increased. At 1st my migraine would be a 2-4 outta 10 pain scale. On occasions the pain would spike up to 8-9 scale. Last 4 or 5 months the pain almost never is below a 5 or 6. It is often a constant 8 or above.

I have been going to a neurologist this entire time and have been on so many different medications and dosages that I can’t keep up some days. I have been to the ER more times than I can count and have been admitted to several hospitals multiple times, just to try and make the pain tolerable.

I have had MRI, CAT scans, X-Rays, EEG, EKG and about a gallon of blood 🩸 has been drawn for labs (or it seems 😉) and numerous other tests and so far I still haven’t gotten a diagnosis. Apparently my symptoms and test results are complicated. (Stop laughing, I know you are shocked, 🫢 that I am considered complicated).

Thankfully, Carla (Chad’s sister) is retired and has been willing to move in with us. She has been such a blessing 🥰. With all my medical issues and Chad’s hurt knee (which he has re-injured again btw 🙄 waiting for another MRI) and Payton pregnancy with Paxton, she has been a tremendous help with all of us 🥰!

We have all decided since she plans to move to Kentucky as well, to just go ahead and move to the Farm with us !!!!

Originally we had no real plans what to do with the basement, so Chad was going to just turn it into a “man cave”. Now we have decided to instead to turn it into Carla’s Apartment. Which will be great for everyone! So we told Dad our plan, so he could start rethinking our original plans and be able to adjust the basement for Carla.

Our last time at the Farm, Dad and Chad had put a bathroom into the basement. Chad had a vision to make that bathroom a “steam punk” theme. Fortunately, Carla also likes that vision (since this will be her bathroom now 🤣).

Dad was able to finish most of the basement bathroom. It’ll still need a little cosmetic work here and there, but it is 💯 functional!! It’s hard to believe, three years ago when we purchased the farm it had no indoor bathroom just the outhouse. Now the farm has 3 fully functioning bathrooms!

Obviously the basement is where the electrical and plumbing are at, so dad was able to close that area off to make a utility closet

Chad came across a picture that he liked of a metal rack to hang cast iron pans and hoped Dad would enjoy hand forging them.

So if you know me at all, then you likely know my favorite thing to do is cooking and baking. With this being said, my biggest “want” for the farm is my DREAM KITCHEN!!!

Dad has been busy…..

Getting a bunch of the cabinets made. Once he finishes building and installing the cabinets he will go back and build and put the cabinet doors on.

Also, found a nice antique cabinet my Dad picked up for me. I plan to use this cabinet in my master bath to display “pretty, pretties” in my spa theme bathroom.

Things have been growing a lot. The weather has been pretty good except for one bad storm that knocked a tree down in the yard and a bit less rain than normal. Hunter and my Dad were busy cleaning up the debris from the tree branch breaking. It will be good for firewood. The orchard is getting well established. Won’t be long and we outta be getting some fruit.

So now on to the most exciting part of this tale. I’m confident that you know I am absolutely obsessed with squirrels!! 🐿️ If you don’t know how intrigued I am with these amazing creatures, then you should probably start reading all of my blogs from the beginning (🤣🤔🥰😉)

Any ways as you see… I went a lil “squirrelly” and got side tracked. Any who, someone I know happened to rescue an orphaned baby squirrel, whose mama got killed. They knew I like these lil critters and offered it to me so I can try and keep it alive. I first was going to name it Rocky but discovered he was in fact a she, so got an even better name for her instead.

Let me introduce (drum roll,………) here is PINKY !!

Well I was going to keep on working on the blog, but Ms. pinky has a grumbly in her tummy and is insisting it’s chow time!!!

Until the next post…have a blessed 😇 day!! But just one more picture

It’s a Boy!!! We cannot wait to meet our grandson Paxton James, PJ for short! Thank you to everyone for the votes and the love you have shown our family.