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Sep 30, 2013

corn harvest 2013 kick off


Yesterday was the calm before the storm. My husband and I (he really needs a nick name, doesn't he?) went on our pre-harvest date. We try to do that every year. Once harvest starts, you just don't know when you'll have free time to go out and do anything again. 

We ventured up to the big city and wandered around the mall a little. Our intention was to trade in my husband's phone at the Apple store since his was 3 years old and it's been doing funny things lately... like turning off on it's own and not wanting to come back on for an hour. I wanted him to have something good and reliable for harvest. Of course Apple was sold out and we couldn't upgrade his phone. Apparently the new phone just came out and everyone had to have one all at the same time? I guess we just wait until ours go bad before we upgrade. 

We treated ourselves to some Olive Garden, roamed around Super Target and slowly drove home taking in the beautiful fall scenery. 

Tonight, after work, the combine was fired up and the fields were opened to get some corn in the dryer to make sure it's working properly. We started off doing granny's field for her. She has the the sandier ground so her field always gets done first. 

Sep 29, 2013

harvest blessing


My most favorite time of year is fall.

And not because of all the pumpkin spice goodness, the beautiful landscapes and the crisp, cold weather. Don't get me wrong. Those are all things I look forward to.

My husband raises field corn and soy beans. He pours his heart and soul into our few acres each and every year. "We don't have much, but we are the biggest smallest farmers around" he says. It is true. My husband never sits back and complains about his older equipment or the fact that he has to work a full time day job before he can get in the fields with just an hour or two of daylight left. He never gets jealous of his buddies with the bigger and the better equipment. He's genuinely happy for the guy who outbids him on the ground he so desperately wanted. He's it.

He's the real deal.

And fall harvest season....this is his Super Bowl. But you won't see him in spandex. Trust me.

Sep 26, 2013

share the road

Every year, I see it happen.

A combine having to go down a highway that was built across farm ground.

Lines of cars waiting impatiently to get by. 

Horns honking.

And then, there's always that one car. 

Mr. or Ms. Hot Shot. You know the type. 

They fly around all the other cars, drive in the grass on the other side of the tractor barely hitting a mail box just dodging the oncoming car in the other lane. Their middle finger flying through the sun roof.

It doesn't always happen like that. But I see similar situations all too often. Whether I'm in the tractor or I'm a civilian in a vehicle patiently driving behind the tractor until we can pass. 

Graphic by Old Blue Silo

Sep 25, 2013

front porch corn shocks

There are a lot of perks to being a farmer's wife. The ability to walk out to my back yard with my hack-saw in hand, having the access to as many corn stalks as I'd like to make front porch corn shocks is one of them. 

Nothing cozies up a fall front porch like some corn shocks around your porch posts. 

Sep 23, 2013

SLOW COOK ITALIAN CHICKEN ROAST

Ladies and gentleman, I am presenting to you one of my all time favorite slow cooker meals, Italian Chicken Roast. If you lived underneath my roof, you would probably be eating this a lot. Sorry Dan. I hope you love it as much as I do.

It's easy, healthy and tasty.

We are almost into harvest season (some of you may be already!!) and I love having meals that I can throw together in the crockpot that travel easily out to the fields.

Trust me, you will want to pin or print this, especially for this fall and winter!


Sep 22, 2013

fall indulgence

This morning I woke up early and decided to go downstairs while my husband (and the cats) were still sleeping. I lit one of my favorite fall candles and brewed my first cup of pumpkin spice coffee of the season.

I love to indulge and take in each season for what it's worth. I look forward to some of my favorite fall indulgences all year long, counting down the days to when I can buy my first bag of pumpkin spice coffee or pull out my soft flannel shirts from storage. These indulgences are far more coveted than Cadbury Eggs in the spring or watermelon on the 4th of July. Those are great, but I could live without.

But my fall indulgences, there's no way I could live without.

 

Sep 20, 2013

rustic dry erase board

So last week, miss Gwen from The Bold Abode created a Personal Dry Erase Board out of an old picture frame, paint and burlap.

I've been wanting something similar in my home to jot down groceries we need, to do lists, etc. and I can never find a dry erase board that I like to match my home. If you know me, everything matches in my home. And the more rustic, the better. So, the standard white dry erase board was not going to cut it.

I knew I wanted my boards to have a permanent purpose so I put a different twist to mine, making personalized boards just for cleaning and groceries. This way, I would be forced to use them and I wouldn't use them for something else. No guarantees they won't collect dust, but so far this week, they have been handy!


Sep 18, 2013

when is fall?




I have a question for all of you. How do you know when the season of fall is here?

I had a good friend ask me about a month ago when the right time to start decorating for fall was.

She really had me stumped. I don't know why, but she always turns to me for decorating/home tips. It usually makes me feel needed, though. Usually I have a pretty straight forward answer for her.

Sep 17, 2013

$5 landscape address marker

I was walking around Big R one morning, stopping in to get socks and coffee. You know, the usual necessities. I ventured down the landscape aisle to see what was on sale. I came across this guy, which I am assuming people use for edging and thought it would be a fun base for a project of some sort. It was less than $5. 


When I am at places like Big R and hardware stores, I am always trying to find things that I can turn into something else. I'm usually not looking for anything in particular. That's how I ended up finding contractor shims for making my miniature pallets.

I thought this piece would be fun parked out in front of someone's house with address numbers. So, I painted some numbers on and ended up with a fun little trinket to stick in your landscaping.

Sep 16, 2013

chippy green chair



My dining room has been pretty empty besides my table and hutch. It needs filled with love. When I created a new kitchen shelf for a wall in my kitchen, I had to move my beloved old shutter from the kitchen into the dining room. 

Sep 15, 2013

reese's monster cookies

Everyone has that go-to recipe they always tend to make or show up with at parties. We are all guilty of it. Eventually your friends and family begin to ask you to bring that specific dish after you've become famous for it.

My go-to item to make is my monster cookies bars with Reese's pieces instead of M&Ms. Not only are they super easy to make gluten free without tasting gluten free, I love peanut butter. If you've been to one of my parties, you've had one or have at least seen them. I use this recipe from Domesticated Duchess to make the cookie bars. I have to give her a lot of the credit. I have this recipe memorized. I could recite it to you in my sleep.

Lately I have been burnt out on bars and wanted to try turning this recipe into a cookie. I was invited to a birthday party and offered to bring cookies. So, I took my favorite bar recipe and attempted to make cookies with it and was quite successful.



Sep 13, 2013

gluten free broccoli cheese soup

What a crazy week! We had a high of 97 degrees on Tuesday and Wednesday. Yesterday was mild and today it's chilly! Tonight they are calling for frost in our northern counties. We are right on the line so we shall see what happens.

I was going to wait to post this recipe because it's been so warm, but today is the perfect day for a cup of soup!

Some of my favorite recipes come from The Pioneer Woman. Ree sure knows how to make your taste buds happy! (P.S. My brother told me last night he had no clue who The Pioneer Woman was. Say whattttt?)

The problem I have with some of her recipes is she doesn't cook gluten free and uses a lot of butter. I have adapted a lot of her recipes to make them my own and gluten free friendly. Today I am going to share my gluten free version of The Pioneer Woman's broccoli cheese soup. I have to give her credit for most of the recipe, especially the nutmeg! Please do not forget the nutmeg.

This is one of my most cherished recipes and it's the best broccoli cheese soup I've ever had. I use to make it with Velveeta and ever since I've tried this, I can't go back!


Sep 10, 2013

two year wedding anniversary

 

Two years of marriage... already! Wow, time flies.

I'd like to say happy anniversary to my wonderful husband whom I am beyond thankful for every single day. Even if I don't always show it in the best of ways.

These two years have flown by faster than I can blink my eyes. It seems just like yesterday I was walking down the grassy, aisle arm in arm with my father on my way to greet my future husband on 9.10.11. I know, we had a pretty cool wedding date, huh? You'd think it would be easily remembered for years to come. That was a comment made by many a folk. No, ladies. In fact, it does not matter how easy of a date it is. He will still forget.


Me: So you know what tomorrow is right?
Dan: Hump daaaaaay!
Me: No, it's only Tuesday.
Dan: Hmmmm *followed by 5 minutes of awkward silence and stares* I am not craving coney dogs if that's what you're thinking. 
Me: Do what?
Dan: The B&K has coney dogs on special Tuesday.
Me: Ummm no. Try again.
Dan: Oh wait! It's the 10th! I thought that was a week away. 


Sep 9, 2013

gluten free mini pumpkin pies

I think I may have discovered a little bit of what heaven is like this past weekend.

It's been a long time since I've had pumpkin pie. Around three years.

Recently, Pilsbury came out with a line of various pre-made dough in cute little tubs. They have cookie dough, pie dough and pastry dough, pizza dough. They even have a $1 off coupon you can sign up for!

The first thing that came to mind when I saw this was pumpkin pie. Yesss.


I've been intimidated by making my own pie crust for years. I don't know why. I just need to do it. Once I went gluten free, I completely did away with the idea of making pie all together.

I decided to give this stuff a shot to see what I came up with and I was very impressed. I made miniature pies because we were going to a birthday party that evening and I thought they would be nice to box up and share with the birthday girl. It's hard to eat a whole pie when it's just you and the husband. I love making "mini" versions of things.

I think this was the best pumpkin pie I ever had. Or maybe it had just been so long that anything would taste good at this point! I've been dying to make these for so long :)




Sep 7, 2013

little black diary


A few weeks back, my mom and I were venturing around an antique store. We came across this little pocket diary from the early 1900's. I want to say it was 1910, 1915 somewhere around there. We were skimming through the diary reading his little entries on the faded pages. There were several about major flooding in the spring like what we had going on this year. He wrote about the weather, often. He made entries of places he visited to. He marked down deaths, illnesses and other news of people he knew. He proudly documented purchases he made.

It was interesting to read through this little diary because again, I found myself imagining the past of someone else. What it would have been like to live back in those times. The times without facebook, cell phones, Red Box movies and an "app" for everything.

Sep 6, 2013

new-to-me kitchen shelf

It's finally Friday! It always seems like a long week after a holiday Monday. I got off to a slow start this week, but lots of great things are coming together! 

You all remember my post last Saturday about that random garage sale I went to in order to buy some cheap antique milk bottles? You know, the one where we went to my mother in law's friend's pastor's mom's son's garage sale? You need to read and catch up if you haven't! That post has become a personal favorite of mine. I've read it at least 10 times. I smile every time!

Well, when I bought the milk bottles, they were in pretty scummy shape! I ran them through the dishwasher on the sanitize cycle a few times and all but one came out sparkly and beautiful. The 4th bottle, which happens to be my favorite is camped out in the laundry room filled with vinegar in hopes to disolve the lime build up. 




Sep 5, 2013

5 minute mexican skillet

Ok, you all are going to think I am crazy.

You may even think I deprive my husband of good meals.

But I promise you, this meal is good. And he likes it. At least he says he does.

I found the recipe on the back packaging of some queso quesadilla cheese. I swear it was a gift from God. I couldn't even tell you the brand, it was so long ago.

It's ugly. It looks like slop on a plate. There is no possible way to make this recipe look pretty. But it's oh so good. And it's gluten free for all you fellow gluten free dieters out there.

And I am sure it's healthy too.. errr uhh... in some ways. Maybe not.

I love it mostly because it's tasty and only takes 5 minutes.

Introducing one of my favorite go to quick recipes of all time........


Sep 4, 2013


It's official! I took a big step and finally purchased a dot-com domain for Old Blue Silo. You will no longer need to use the long oldbluesilo.blogspot.com address.

Be sure to change your bookmarks and use www.oldbluesilo.com in the future!

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weeds or wild flowers?

I have been in a wee bit of a project, recipe and creativite rut lately. I am however, finding inspiration in the beauty of nature and others. I am taking advantage of it. You can find inspiration and beauty everywhere you go. You just have to open your eyes. And look for it. Go on a drive. Take some time out from the daily routine of go, go, go.


One of my favorite things to do in the summer and early fall is to seek out wild flowers in the ditches along the fields whether I am on a walk or driving. I have found a favorite spot the last few summers where morning glories seem to pop up around the same place. Ironically, it's in my husband's best friend's field. He hates morning glories. Morning glories are a nuisance for crops because they wrap around and vine upwards. It makes harvesting difficult and can create a tangled mess.

However, I think morning glories are beauitful, nuisance or not. Even though the fields are sprayed for weeds, these guys seem to find a way to grow. They start growing in the ditch line and work their way to the corn stalks.

Sep 3, 2013

august 2013 top 3



August has come and gone! We are officially into September. Say whattt?! All the Labor Day weekend festivities usually causes it to sneak up on us. I took a little break from blogging this past weekend to spend some time with friends and family.

I have been working extra hard on my blog this month. It is a lot of work and takes a lot of time with late nights and early mornings but it's all worth it! I love doing it and the more I get into it, the more rewarding it feels.

We started a Facebook page for Old Blue Silo. Be sure to visit and like us! Share with your friends that will enjoy my stories, ideas and recipes. Liking Old Blue Silo on Facebook will help you stay up to date on all the latest posts and I will even share some behind the scenes Facebook exclusive pictures and updates. Don't miss out! :)

My traffic has increased some since I started my Facebook page which makes blogging even more rewarding. So, new bloggers out there, get a Facebook page! I wanted to share with you my top 3 posts for the month of August to make sure you didn't miss out on some good reads or if you're just now joining us!

more than just a hobby


My husband's grandfather has a rare and unique hobby that I've never come across in my life time. He farmed his whole life, but that was to make a living. He hunts and gardens but that puts food in the freezer. He loves to nap but that's to rest his body. He chops wood but that's to heat his home in the winter time.

All of these things most people consider "hobbies" but he does these things to live. 

His hobby is building 1/8 scale trains. It's his passion. It's what makes him happy. It's what he lives for. Whether these trains are diesel, steam or battery powered, he's all about it. I've heard of people with model train sets in their basement. I've heard of people who read every piece of material on trains they can get their hands on. But I've never actually seen someone build and power a real minature train the way my husband's grandfather does.



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