When the Back-breaking Work Comes to an End...

Things just feel good (except your thighs which are killing you becaus you've spent so much time squatting.)

This weekend, we did it. We finally got our butts in gear and FINISHED the lawn.

I know, you're amazed.

We went from what originally looked like this (originally being after we pulled out all of the rock and grass, etc)

To this:

The pads and walkways were in already, but we finally dug the sprinkler line and lay the sod this weekend so it's FINISHED! (okay, so we've got a few things we've got to do,like relay some of the rock around the edges and clean up some things... but essentially, we're done.)

For the whole project, read the thread, HERE.

Christmas Spirit and Beef Barley Soup

I’ve lived in Phoenix for over 5 years now, and I’m still not used to the weather here around Christmas. Christmas should be cold and precipitous (in Oregon that meant rain, not snow). It shouldn’t mean that two weeks before Christmas day I should get a small sunburn whilst doing yard work under a wonderfully warm sun. (Yes, for those of you who were wondering, even though we’re not moving into the house, we’re still helping her finish the yard. We wouldn’t just leave her to it.)

My point with this is, I’ve never really gotten into the “Holiday spirit” here, because… it just doesn’t feel like Christmas. Thusly I’m not a big decorator. I have a very small amount of Christmas decorations and I don’t often put them up.

My step mother is the queen of decorating for Christmas. If she did this for everyone’s birthday (not just the observance of Jesus’) everyone who knew about it would be shoving elbows into each other to get to her door first and put themselves on a list of who’s birthday to celebrate. She’s that good at it. And she bakes… I cannot begin to guess the grocery bill associated with the wonderful heaps of goodies she makes each year around Christmas. Can’t imagine it at all… So I wonder when I started on this downhill slope toward being a Grinch?

I had a point to this… I swear! Earl’s mom gave us her old Christmas tree yesterday. She’s trying to convert me to a seasonal decorator, I’m just sure of it. But it kind of fits perfectly under our new 10-foot ceilings (its 7 ½ feet tall). And now I’m looking at this lovely narrow, pre-lit tree (that I’ve yet to form because… well, I had to go to bed so that I could get up and write this post – er, go to work) and I’m sadly ill prepared for it. I have like 7 ornaments. Sad, I know.

Earl wanted to put the tree in the corner of the giant windows…. And I looked at him for a minute, trying to hide my shame and finally mustered up the courage to mention that I’d be fairly embarrassed to have this gorgeous tree… with one ornament per foot of tree…. So it’s been nestled into the corner of the dining room where only the people we invite over will have the opportunity to see it.

Also, I’m using an old gold table cloth for a tree skirt – yep… I’m THAT prepared for a Christmas tree…

***

Alright… on to the Beef Barley!

I’m going to admit that this soup was a little daunting to me at first. I mean… barley? Where the heck was I supposed to find that? I’ve never actually noticed the bags of pearl barley neatly stacked next to the dried beans in all my years of buying Lentils (Oh, how I love Lentils)… and yet, there they were, right where I’ve been ignoring them all these years! This recipe is soup-er easy (and yes, I know how cheesy that was.

(Sorry I don’t have a picture for you. I’ll take one the next time we make a fresh batch and attach it… just in case.)

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp Minced garlic
• ½ cup Onion (chopped)
• 3 (12oz) cans sodium free chicken stock
• 1-2lbs Stew beef (depending on how meaty you want your soup)
• 1 cup Pearl barley (washed, dried and all debris removed)
• 1 cup Peas
• 1 cup carrots (chopped, slivered, shredded or whole – if you do baby carrots)
• Seasonings to your liking.

Directions:

In stock pot add Minced Garlic and Onion. Cook until Onion becomes clear, but make sure the garlic doesn’t burn. Add chicken stock and 1 can of water, stir. Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat, add beef and barley. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes. Add vegetables and spices. Cook until barley has expanded and beef is cooked through.

Five points for a Friday:

1. Tomorrow is the end of the Hair-a-thon! That’s right, 3 years will be up and I’m chopping off approx 16 inches! Good riddance. (Pictures on Wordless Wednesday)

2. They’re sealing the concrete today (finally) which means that we can start back up on the yard again soon! Halleluja! All we’ve got left is laying new sprinklers, putting down sod, planting some lantana and laying more rock and we’re pretty much done.

3. It’s almost Halloween. That means that it’s time to get blood punch going. I’ll post the recipe for that (with pictures sometime next week) the best thing about it is that if you do it right… it starts to coagulate!

4. We watched Real Genius last night – a movie that I sadly had not seen before – and while I dislike Val Kilmer in almost everything he’s done (excluding True Romance and Tombstone), I happened to love his character in this. If you haven’t seen it, don’t deprive yourself any longer.

5. Apparently the farm girl in me has come back with a vengeance… I’ve stopped drinking any soda on the week days. Instead I stick to water and skim milk. However, between cereal and drinking it, I’ve gone through 2 gallons of milk since Sunday evening… I looked. Technically I’m only saving 10 calories per serving by drinking milk instead of 7-up… but at least I’m getting a log to calcium (?).

The Before and After Pictures of the Back Yard

This only took 5 hours....

Voilla!

Form It, Pour It, Smooth It, Stamp It!

Concrete is being poured today! That means that I have to drive to work on my own (no HOV) because Earl has to be there to supervise, while my presence is unnecessary and therefore I’m not willing to sacrifice any of my PTO just to hang out while a bunch of strange men work in the back yard. By the end of the day, the back yard will be fully ‘creted, three large pads (one for a barbeque, one for a pergola and one more for symmetry) will be connected by four paths that will line out a square section of grass. I’ll update this tonight with pictures of both before and after.

Earl left at six this morning, because they should already be there, putting down the forms, so technically, he’s not really getting a day off – and yet, I don’t feel bad for him…. Well, I have to head off to work. Today is a day of working on my critique partner’s ms and writing whatever I feel like in-between!