One of my favorite things as a kid were trips to down to North Dakota. How exciting was it that you could leave the country, just like that? My five-year-old brain was convinced that people weren’t allowed to leave their countries for some reason. Yeah, I was *that* kid.

Yay, semi-half-arsed Doctor Who reference. I’ve been thinking of Whovian cross stitch patterns today, so my brain has the blue. Or whatever. Anyway. Time for a ramble about time and schedules and getting back on track and stuff and things.

I like honey. In fact, I might go so far as to say I love honey, although not as much as my daughters. This rant has two prongs to it; one being that the next person to tell me Billy Bee honey is so wonderful is gonna get a foot in their arse, and the second is that constant article about the guy in Ontario that went through colony collapse.
First, I’m not condemning people who like Billy Bee. Go for it. Eat whatever corn syrup-flavored honey you want. I’ll stick …

Another one for the crock pot, although this recipe was adapted from an oven-bake method. My oldest daughter often requests this, but we never seem to get around to making it when she’s home. Today she asked for the recipe, so here it is, and good luck, Rhia!

This year the circle started as it always does, with the obligatory goals and hopes for the writing year. I’m only a whole month late, but as I’ve said so many, many times – better late than never!

This recipe came from my friend Lorna. Her mom used to make it – well, something similar anyway – and it sounded awesome, so we tried it. At the time, it was a cheap, tasty, kid-friendly meal that fit right into my practically non-existent grocery budget. In the past five or so years, I’ve watched the prices jump higher and higher to the point where this is almost a luxury. If I’ve shared this one before – oops!

I didn’t intend to get another dog so quickly, and I really wasn’t sure if we ‘needed’ another one, what with Bear coming out of her shell so beautifully once she wasn’t under another dog’s shadow. As things happened, with the new house came an opportunity we couldn’t pass up. This post is long, but I’ve broken it up with pictures, so even if you just want to look at something pretty, here you go…