A Jubelale Day

A Jubelale Day

I’m visiting friends later this week and promised to bring a case of Jubelale. I stopped by the store on the way home to grab it. Little did I know, Jubelale was the theme of the evening. Happy convergences….

snow on Lookout Mountain

There was snow on Lookout Mountain and the Ochocos, the view from our porch. We usually make Jubelale chili on first snow.

Jubelale Chili (our annual first snow batch)

Jubelale Chili (our annual first snow batch)

Ingredients:

  • olive oil
  • one onion
  • some garlic
  • ground beef
  • one can each: chili beans, diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes
  • chili powder
  • 1 bottle Jubelale

Directions:

  • sauté onions and garlic in oil
  • add ground beef; cook until pink is gone
  • add cans of beans and tomatoes, chili powder, and Jubelale
  • bring to slow boil for a few minutes; turn down heat and simmer for 30 minutes or more

Serve with corn bread and milk. (Fair warning: This is a totally made-up recipe that changes each time we make it. So far, it’s always been good. I credit the beer.)

This year’s Jubelale artwork is a stunning collage by Kaycee Anseth Townsend. I like it so much, I ordered one of her other collages, Despite All of His Finery. It came today (!) and now I think I’m going back to Etsy for several others. So good.

Despite All of His Finery by Kaycee Anseth Townsend 

Happy Jubelale season!

A Long Time Coming….

A Long Time Coming….

I haven’t made a journal entry in almost a year. I’d been nearing it the past month or so, but was still pushing it off a little. Then I happened upon Darcy at Life With My 3 Boybarians, who I feel like I know really well, without even knowing her at all in real life. (Rambunctious boys. Lego overabundance. Over-commiter. Don’t mean to be creepy, but we may have been separated at birth.)

And then my friend-who-I-know-in-real-life-and-would-really-like-time-to-get-to-know-better, Holly, posted a funny new entry over at MooBee Farm. Perhaps we’ll have some bonding time next week, when we’re sweating and worrying over our pigs and kids at the county fair.

Their posts were light taps on the shoulder to get me moving again. Thanks, ladies.

It’s been a wild and crazy year. I had to take a little time for some cancer stuff (more later) and a lot of job stuff (more later) and some family stuff (more later). So, had I even wanted to write, I don’t know that I would have had time. And, if I had time, I don’t know that I would have wanted to write. A paradox, eh? Writing would have meant facing some of the truths of life in black and white. Truths like…how odd my face looked when I didn’t have my dark eyebrows and eyelashes that I took for granted for most of my life. (Remind me to show you my bald passport photo sometime and tell you about the looks at customs.)

I scribbled random thoughts in my worn paper journal, but pen and ink are somehow softer than type on a computer screen. So. Here I am again. I’m ready to write. This post has been a long time coming….

In the past year, the pullets have grown into beautiful hens. They provide us great eggs and greater enjoyment. I can now say I totally get the phrase, “Don’t lay an egg.” I’ll try to catch it on video. Chicken freak-outs make me laugh.

Chickens in the Yard

chickens in the yard

Boys in the Meadow

my two sons sitting on a log on a mountain trail

The boys are nearly grown. They don’t lay eggs, but are otherwise just as funny as the chickens.

And I’m looking forward to growing (just not anymore around the hips, please), getting my groove back, and enjoying the beauty all around.

Lily in the Woods

lily in the woods