Sad News

For a very long time, Daughter has wanted to breed her sweet, athletic Warmblood mare, Tango. 

  

(There are a couple  additional photos of Tango on my sidebar.)

Now that we have our own farm, it was finally feasible to breed her.

Daughter did a lot of research and chose this beautiful up and coming stallion in Pennsylvania to be the sire.  He is appropriately named “Amazing.” 

 photo source 

The artificial insemination “took” on the first attempt and we were very excited at the prospect of  Tango delivering her first foal next April.

All previous vet checks and sonograms in the last couple months revealed Tango was doing well and the pregnancy was progressing normally.  Sadly though, at Tango’s 90 day sonogram earlier this week, it was evident that Tango has miscarried.  :(

At this point, it is rather late in the season to try again so a second attempt to breed Tango to Amazing is planned for early 2011.

Boiled Eggs vs. Steamed Eggs

Did you know…

if you steam (instead of boil) eggs in their shells  for about 15  minutes and then let them sit in the pot and cool before peeling, the shells almost always slip off like butter?

I use a Revere Ware steamer pot which is similar to a double boiler except the top pot has holes in it.   However, any method you use to steam vegetables will work for steaming eggs. 

Since my mom taught me this trick years ago, I rarely have to fight those teeny tiny little bits of shell that so often stick to the eggs, nor do I have to throw away part of the eggs because the shell is impossibly stuck to them  like glue. 

You’ve had that happen, right?

I have heard many reasons why the shells stick, the most common being the eggs are too fresh.  But what is considered “too fresh?” 

I’ve also heard (and tried) many tricks to keep the shells from sticking such as adding salt or vinegar to the water. 

Overall, steaming the eggs seems to produce the best and most consistent results for me. 

Try it and let me know if it works for you.

The Fate of the Craigslist Cherry Buffet

Several readers asked if I was planning to paint the bargain Craigslist cherry buffet white.  My husband just assumed I would because, in his eyes, I have a “white obsession” and I paint “everything” white.  lol. 

I make no apologies for that.  I love white.  I love painted white furniture.   And I know I am not the only one.  Right?!   :)

It would definitely be beautiful painted white, wouldn’t it?

 

In all honesty though, the fate of the cherry buffet is still undetermined. 

When I bought it, I had a concrete plan.  Now? I am rethinking it because I have realized there are a couple options for it.

At the moment, the buffet  is just temporarily parked in the foyer at the house in Hooterville because it’s out of the way while we continue to renovate, but I originally bought it with the  intention of using it  in  the home office with my distressed cherry Ballard Designs desk and hutch (below), which is in the office/guest room in the current My Cottage of Bliss.   I envisioned using the buffet to  store unsightly, but necessary, office supplies and paperwork for our Windswept Farm business.

However, once I got the buffet inside the house in Hooterville, I realized it would also work perfectly for the vision I have for the formal dining room.  I’ve mentioned before that I am striving for a similar look to this dining room that Layla designed for one of her clients.

photo source: The Lettered Cottage

So far, I don’t have any furniture for the formal dining room yet, except a mirror (which I found at Goodwill for $15.00) … and now possibly the buffet.

If the buffet ends up in the formal dining room, it will stay the cherry wood tone.

But if I decide to put it  in the home office, I’m actually toying with the idea of painting the buffet a pretty muted French blue to go with the blue and yellow color scheme of the office.

I’ll let you know what I ultimately decide.