*****NEW WINNER ANNOUNCED*****

I want to say, Thank You to all my Blogger friends for participating in my recent give-away.

Two winners were selected in this give-away.  One of the winners failed to make contact with me, by the cut off date and time which has already passed (Thursday, February 21, 2019 by 11:59PM).
Therefore, I'm offering the Gerber Suspension Multi-Plier+Sheath to another participant who has already registered in my sponsored give-away. 

The new winner's name:  Harry Flashman

The new winner has until Wednesday; February 27, 2019 to respond to my e-mail address below me with their mailing address. 

SandyLivesay@gmail.com

If the winner does not respond by 11:59 PM on February 27, 2019; I will have no choice but to select another winner.

*****Winners Announced*****

The winners of the Gerber Suspension Multi-Plier + Sheath, and the Victorniox Swiss Army Knife are:

Wyoming Heart, you won the Gerber 

And

Hobo, you won the Victorinox

The winners have until Thursday; February 21, 2019 to respond to me with their mailing address. 

If the winner does not respond by 11:59 PM on February 21, 2019; I will have no choice but to select another winner.

Hobo and Wyoming Heart, please e-mail me your mailing address.

My E-mail is: SandyLivesay@gmail.com

*****GIVEAWAY*****

I'm hosting a give-away of 2 separate items, a Gerber Suspension Multi-Plier & Sheath, and a Victorinox Swiss Army Knife.  Register HERE for my give-away 

Two Give - Away's

Give-Away

I’m giving away two tools in separate give-aways; “Gerber Suspension Multi-Plier + Sheath” and “Victorinox Swiss Army Knife.” Anyone within the United States may register for these give - aways. 

1st Give-Away, Gerber Suspension Multi-Plier + Sheath

2nd Give-Away, Victorinox Swiss Army Knife

Rules

If you’re interested in winning, register below by placing a comment to this post.

All Entries must be received by Sunday, February 17, 2019 by 11:59 PM CST. The drawing will be held Monday afternoon, February 18, 2019.

All names will be placed in a bowl, and two names will be pulled from the bowl Monday afternoon, February 18th. If your name is picked as a winner, I will post your first name on my blog along with my e-mail address. You will have 4 business days to respond to me by e-mail. If there is no response, your entry will be null (void), and I will be required to pick another winner.

How to Enter

All entries must be made on the comment form of this post.  One entry per person. Good Luck Everyone!!!! 

 

All Give-Aways posted on the Oklahoma Dreams Blog are sponsored and purchased by me, Sandy, as a special gift to say Thank You.

Additional Changes, Garden, Donations

Along side our small orchard, and the fenced in garden area behind the house was 3 cedar trees which needed to be cut down, and a pile of old trees and branches.  All of which needed to turned into pulp and shredded.  Here's a before and after picture.

Before clearing area and chopping trees

Different view of clearing area and chopping trees

Before

After

We replaced the screen door on the back porch due to wood rot, the door falling apart; and  also because it had a dog door in it allowing access by any wildlife critters.  Mainly raccoons!!!

We added a piece of solid colored corrugated plastic to the bottom of the screen door with

screws to prevent the raccoon (or other critters) from pushing in the screen to get access

to the back porch.  The corrugated plastic also blocks the dog's view from the door, so he can't

see what's just outside the door; to where he barks his _ $$ off, thinking he's got a play companion

waiting for him outside.  Now many of you are going to ask what about the rest of the screened

in porch, won't the dog see the critter.  Actually, he won't, because we put blinds down during the

winter to help with blocking the cold air.  Our dog's  main concern is always 

lunging at that screen door, never the screen on the rest of the porch.  I really think it had a lot

to do with the doggy door.

Speaking of Beans, here are a few cute pictures of my large Chihuahua………..

*****

Have you placed your seed order yet?  I've placed an order with Baker Creek.  This year's

order is a small.  I'm only starting a small garden due to all the work required back down

south with my sister's estate.  I started my celery slips several weeks ago inside the house,

on my kitchen window sill.  There are 4 celery slips growing roots, and small stalks.  I'll keep these

slips in water until it's time to plant them in soil.  I've never had any luck growing celery from seed,

so when I purchase organic celery from the store, I chop the bottoms off the stalks and

place them in water to start slips.  This process has been very successful for me.  When I need celery for a recipe or meal, I just go out to the garden and cut what I need, leaving the root ball in the ground to continue growing and producing.

*****

Some of you are probably going to say, oh what a cute little ladybug!!!  NOT...…….

this is a Chinese Beetle, Harmonia Axyridis.  This beetle has been a royal

pain in the butt in areas of Oklahoma.  When temperatures warm up in the winter,

these beetles swarm.  They love to get into your home through cracks, or any type of 

hole or opening.  They'll land on you while outside, and inevitably they come inside your

home with you.  These beetles will bite you, which is not as bad as an ant bite.  

When you kill them, they stink, and leave an orange liquid which stains furniture, 

curtains, and clothes.

This year, the Chinese Beetle has been a real hinderance.  Many say they're good 

for killing off bugs in your garden.  I don't have a garden yet because it's still

winter.  My thought about the Chinese Beetles, they need to go away......stop harassing humans 

until winter is over!!!

*****

Last weekend, Bulldog Man and I drove back to Texas to pull my sister's truck out of the

garage, wash it inside and out, and drive it to CarMax in order to sell it.  The truck

was a gorgeous Chevrolet High Country, with all the bells and whistles.  We didn't need another

truck, and it was just too fancy for us.  This truck was not the type of truck you wanted to

haul manure in, or use on the farm out in a pasture, if you know what I mean.  CarMax did my sister's

estate well.    

And this weekend............

We drove down once again; this time we donated my sister's furniture, dishes, etc.... to 2 families

in need.  My sister loved helping people out, and I think she would be proud of the decision I made on donating her household goods to help 2 families.

*****

I didn't forget about the give - aways.  Tomorrow, I will be introducing two items in a give - away 

I'm sponsoring.  Keep your eyes peeled!!!

Before & After, Birthday, & Give - Away

I promised you updates on the homestead.  Below are two videos, both showing the woods around the driveway which encompass approximately 5 acres of wooded area, broken trees, and tons of underbrush.  Our goal was to clear the old unwanted alive, and dead trees, along with the underbrush.
Bulldog Man and I started the work and realized it would take us a year, or longer, to get all the work done.  So, I hired a company, Bushwackers Land Clearing (from the Oklahoma/Texas areas) to come out with one piece of equipment for 3 days to do the work.  They did an excellent job of shredding the underbrush, dead, and old trees.  It is now so much easier for us to eventually level out the area, and create some garden beds, RV storage, and areas for future building.

BEFORE

AFTER

*****

We've been busy down in Texas this week as well.  We finally had our probate court hearing for my sister's estate.  It took over 7 months to finally get administrator rights, and heirship.  The delay was mostly due to an election, where the original judge was voted out of office.  We had to wait until a new judge was put in office, and trained.    Having the legal paperwork finally allowed me the opportunity to get the ball moving with bills, banking, my sister's house, and her vehicle.

*****

Catalog picture from Baker Creek (Rareseeds.com)

Did any of you get "The Whole Seed Catalog for 2019" from Baker Creek yet?
I'm already marking pages in the catalog for new seed purchases.  You really need to get this catalog, it's got all kinds of unique seeds, and makes for a great book for your coffee table in the living room.


*****

Today's Tanks birthday, 26 years of age....time sure flies.  Instead of making lunch this afternoon, Tank suggested we go to a Mexican restaurant in the next town.  We honored his wishes, and I'm making a cake right now.  Actually, it's in the oven, as I piddle with the computer to get a post out to y' all.

In the near future, I will be sponsoring another one of my awesome give - away's to show my appreciation to my blogger friends for sticking it out with me while I deal with the loss of my sister.
Keep an eye out for my give-away!!!

Something Good!

You've probably noticed 2 posts, both without the option to comment.  The reason, I'm still in the process of working on the function keys, within my blog, under the new format.

On to the good stuff! I had a quart of over ripe strawberries, and needed to do something with them. I started searching strawberry cake recipes on the internet, and came across a Martha Stewart Recipe, for not a "typical" strawberry cake, and had to try it.  The cake turned out really good.  Bulldog Man gave it 4 paws.....so it had to be pretty good for the rating.  Here's the recipe, thank you Martha Stewart.

Strawberry Cake

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pie plate

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup milk

1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flower

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10 inch pie plate.  Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl.

Put butter and 1 cup sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, abut 3 minutes.  Reduce speed to medium-low, mix in egg, milk, and vanilla.

Reduce speed to low, gradually mix in flour mixture.  Transfer batter to buttered pie plate.  Arrange strawberries on top of batter, cut sides down and as close together as possible.  Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over berries.

Bake cake 10 minutes.  Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake until cake is golden brown and firm to the touch, about 1 hour.  Let cool in pie plate on wire rack.  Cut into wedges, and serve.

Contact 

Email:  SandyLivesay@gmail.com

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 5701 Norman, OK 73070

About Me

Let me tell you a little about myself.

I'm Sandy Livesay.

I’m a city lady who loves the country and anything to do with nature.

 Striving to eventually have a homestead that one day rests on many

 acres and is totally off the grid. I have this natural love for animals,

 wild or domesticated. One of my pleasures is photography and the ability

 to share my story through the camera lens.

New Addition

A typical morning; up at 4:30AM, brewing coffee for Bulldog Man and myself.  He's preparing to go to work, and me, planning my day on the homestead.   First, I need to prep the venison for crockpot stew.  My little buddy, Beans, is sitting not too far from my feet as I brown the venison meat on the stove.  He's hoping Mom will accidentally drop a piece of meat, while browning it or placing it in the crockpot.  Little does he know, Mom is making sure not to drop any piece of meat, or food, on the floor.  Little Mr. Bean's was put on a prescription dog food diet (an expensive food) for his sensitive digestion system a couple of months ago. There is no way he's getting any venison (it's too rich for him).  I'll let him continue dreaming about something dropping on the floor.  He'll eventually get tired of sitting there waiting and go back to his bed, making sure I hear him leave a voice-stress grunt.

While waiting for the sun to come up, I've started our laundry, making sure to strip down the bedding to wash everything.  Bulldog Man and I have been dealing with allergens relating to tree pollen; floating in the air, from all the wind we've had the last several days.  I also need to vacuum, mop, and change the air filter.

Now that the sun has come up, I need to load our truck with several feed lot panels, fencing wire, and T-posts, and bring it all down our driveway to build a fenced-in enclosure around an old collapsed well from the '20s.  The area looks pretty solid, we've walked around and on it multiple times, but would feel more confident if we just fenced it off and planted flower seeds.

I also have to remember to go down to our gates at the end of the driveway and take down and put away our Christmas wreaths.  Did I say put away the wreaths? I sure did, and you ask where are those wreaths being stored.  Let me show you........

We purchased a new barn for storage, and potentially a work shop for Bulldog Man.
The barn is 10 X 20 with 2 lofts (located on the front and back of the barn), we also had a radiant barrier ceiling put in to help with the heat and cold air.

Final Product

Happy New Year, & Checking on Parents

Hey it's 2019, and I'm slowly updating my blog.  So please, excuse any buttons which may not be functioning nor work properly.  My blog is a work in progress!!!

Happy New Year, Blogger Friends!  My motto: "2019 will be good to all of us!"

I'm sharing  a video created when Bulldog Man and I went out to New Mexico, not too
long ago, to check on his parents.  They're getting up there in age; and we hadn't physically put eyes on them in a while. You know how it is when you talk to your parents on the telephone; "We're fine." We drove down to the southern-most part of New Mexico to surprise them (really to check on them), and to see if there were any chores where they needed help.  Good thing we went; we took down a large Willow Tree, it was dead inside, but still standing.  It was a potential widow maker.
Bulldog Man's parents were so happy to have us visit (aka: check on them).