The Eyes have it.....

This was a busy day.  Spent the morning carting around people.  Old Army Man to college, then picked up Big Tall Son to do some job searching.  In this neck of the woods "It is the Economy Dummy" still effecting our lives.  I have three children, myself, and a husband.  None of us are working full time.  Me, it is normal for the line of work I am in, plus I (we) have the farm, OAM life has given him a recovery learning curve from all the stuff that is happening with his body.  Way to long of a list to outline in one blog, let me tell you.  Two sons and one daughter, well lets see what is happening.  One boy went out with me today as he followed up on jobs he has applied for prevously also Mom being mom stopped at new places and pointed out other places for him to research.  Okay if every day he can follow up on 5 job apps, learn of three new places to go back to and leave applications, and get mom off his back about well you could move back into my place.  I did have him come over this week and we cleaned up stuff OAM has not been able to do for one reason or another.  Being we live on a farm a great deal of the work involved cleaning up droppings of this and that.  He did his job with out grumping but when I called to say I was in town with 2 hours to fill he said lets go check job apps, and I want to go see if so and so really has a we are hiring sign out.  Between 10 am and 11:45 we went to business on a Wednesday morning.  At noon took Olderst to a meeting, meet OAM, went to lunch, came home, put OAM into bed, then went back out and had my eyes checked.  I went back to my old eye doctor.  She has kids the same age as my olderst (her youngest) which gave us some time to talk about what was overlapping in our lives now.  Our kids us to be on sport teams together back in our younger years.  Well her husband is still around and kicking, her 30 old son is going back to college to fine tune his degree and area of study a bit more.  Her other son, 28, is just joined the milatary and is right now learning how to be a firemen for his country.  She was talking about something I had been thinking about. 

Both her and myself were dealing with life matters at 27-28 jobs, kids, ed done, house, etc.  Now we are talking and both our kids are having trouble finding a place in life or where to head their lives until there late 20's early 30's heck my 23 yr old daughter whom I have been very worried about put in this light may just be ahead of the curve as she is at least trying to figure out what she wants to study or do with her life.  Without her using drugs or alchoal to change her veiw of life maybe there is still hope, maybe.  My eyes were wide open for the doctor to view them now that I have elder issues that can start showing at my age but maybe she opened my eyes in a whole new way along with the exam. 

Time for dinner soon.  Steak, zuccini, peaches, and some starch to be named later.....

I will be seeing you soon, Take care,

Old Mossback

 

Made Iced Coffee this weekend

Made iced coffee over the weekend, yes I did!  So good, now to recall how to stay awake all day long and not take super long naps.  Used just Folgers Coffee this time, it came out well.  I can pick Folgers up at the second’s store in town for half the cost of the name brand stores, plus other items I save on, like cottage cheese, a quart for 99 cents. I like going there to shop first then see what else I need.  They even have frozen meat sometimes which can really help stretch the food budget.  Going there is streaky so I see what is there first then fill in the gaps.  If I see something I will need in a few weeks or months form then, like cranberry sauce for two quarts for a dollar fifty, I get it then wished I had more.  Old Army Guy likes homey in his stews and soups so when I see it for 3 for a dollar I load up with 6 cans.  Which will last me will into spring if not I get more. 

Not each time do I load up on things, but with a fresh deli of Amish made cheeses and meats I find hard to pass on good meats for sandwiches.  Sometimes I have them slice the chopped ham the thickest slices they can then come home and freeze each slice on its own then use the slices to flavor bean soups or other savory soups. 

Chopped bacon needs to be made and bundled up as it is getting that season where I use the bacon flavor to help cover the lack of meat in some meals.  Potato Soup with bacon in the broth helps meet the need of “meat” my tongue asks for yet gets veggies into OAM (Old Army Man)  if I sneak some into the Green bean soup, one of my favorite ways to eat green beans, once the novelty of fresh steamed, pressure cooked, or just plan fresh wears a body down.  I purchase the bacon now as it is often on sale for BLT’s of summer eating.  Cutting it up into usable size bacon bits to fry later and store them in ice cube trays in baggies until frozen then put them in a larger zipper bag to keep them together.  I do this with other items I buy in large number 10 (commercial size cans) as I can get lots of meals out of one can for half the price of buying thes same amount in smaller cans.  Corn and chili work well for this along with other things I may see in large cans now and then. 

We have three refrigerators.  One is for the livestock and dogs meds, and dried milk replacers storage.  One is pop, ice tea, cold beverages, plus overflow and large item storage, and then there is the kitchen frig.  I love the overflow frig.  It has a place to put the next night’s meat out to defrost, remember those large cans of food I purchased will some was mustard, mayo, and ketchups.  I repackage some, others I leave in there packaging.  Last might I had pork chops defrosting and OAM got out steaks so I went to the frig, got out the Carna Asada sauce for that night, put a sweet soy sauce over the pork steaks, and tonight I will have Asian style pork with cold slaw (also from the overflow frig as the container is filled each month during the last few days of the month as OAM likes a vinegar based cold slaw so he gets it at the end of the month when other fresh veggies have run out) and then a jasmine rice which in the summer I store in the freezer part of the 2^nd frig due to Indian Meal moths in the house.  Then once again back to that 2^nd frig as dessert will be watermelon as it is too big to put in the kitchen frig.    Dinner tomorrow night I will need to pull out of the big freezer tonight after OAM gets home he was stopping by the store to get food he likes or I had forgotten or we were out of before coming home tonight.  Two more days and two more nights of him in summer session and we will be free of college for a while.  Doctors found some things in need of care so we will see if he goes back to college or what in September. 

Other things you will find in that second frig, oranges, apples, extra carrots, other root veggies in the fall and winter, spices, sauces I purchase in bulk, in the freezer is frozen milk, flours, etc that meal moths get into in the summer and in the winter frozen meals I make ahead for tax season.  If I make double in Nov-Dec then the meals I come home to are homemade rather than fast food or eating at midnight when I am working during tax season.  I often will go to bed w/o, but now that I have sugar issues I need to eat something to keep on track.  If we can, we butcher a pig and or a cow, but this year with ORM injured we sold the beef and sheep off and the goats are too small to butcher so we will need to talk about if we are buying half a pig or beef or what.  We do not even have a chicken right now which is so strange for us.  We do have the dogs, but they are the bread and butter of how we earn an income off this small farm of ours. 

 

Back to the second frig.  I love having it.  I went without for three years and found it hard to manage.  In the old cabin in the wood were I first had my home there was a cold storage box that was in the coldest part of the home in the summer that we could keep things cooler in like onions and mustards, but not mayo.  In the second place we had in Albany, we had an old frig which we kept things ready made for the kids to eat in the summer so they did not have to come into the house all the time to snack or get drinks. That frig out in the breezeway helped by cutting down the home cooling bills and allowing their dad who worked nights to sleep without the doors slamming all day long.  I made Kool-Aid and froze it in lidded reusable cups or paper cups and the kids could get them out and eat on them or drink them as they wanted.  I also had cheeses, sliced meats, cut up veggies and fruit and such for them to pull out and share if they had friends with them.  Along with cookies and such now and then to treat the other kids and my own or for them to grab for a meal if they wanted as long as I knew, some days I even packed lunches and put it out there for them so they babysitter did not have to make lunches on the days I worked.  It worked slick until I was feeding the whole neighborhood then we had to put rules on the who’s and whens of eating out of our frig.   

 

Better go time to fix myself up a bit before OAM gets home.   Wash my hands, run a comb though my hair, and well check to see if there are any dishes ready to use or if I need to do a other load of dishes before we can eat.  Next maybe I will write about limited water pressure and the effects on getting housework done the modern way.  Who will know, I will see what strikes me when I sit down to write. 

 

So long for now,

 

Old Mossback

 Iced Coffee

 

One 12 oz “can” of coffee

water

Pour coffee into a large container, cover with three times the water.  Let sit at least 12 hrs on the counter, but I never get to it before at least two days due to my lack of planning.  Stir, and stir ever twelve hours or so, strain the mixer into a mesh strainer.  Rinse out the large container.  Let the coffee mix sit a bit longer use a coffee filter this time and strain into the rinsed out large container.  Rinse out the storage container once empty of all the segment and then pour the coffee mix into the storage container.  Put in frig.  I sweeten mine with stevia and use whole milk about 2 oz. of coffee, two-three drops of stevia, and 2 oz. of whole milk to a glass filled with ice.  Now fix it to be favored by adding almond flavoring or such to the coffee or purchased a flavored coffee and go from there to sit and drink your refreshing iced coffee you made for the cost of one iced coffee at a coffee house.  This lasts me about three to five days on hot summer days or very long hard not much sleep nights otherwise I make it like once a week or every 10 days when I can.    

Pin Interst started the day

Okay spent some time today on Pin interest.  Did some laundry, and read some thing about how this Toshiba laptop has a way to get some free bokds on it.  However for some reason all the books I want to read cost!  Go figure, whemmm.  Just my luck not to be a big classics fan or maybe t's just about me having read most of the free books offered.  Read this to say-lived in boring little rual areas for years (decades really) where I read allot as some of the places only had 2 TV stations (NBC_ Klamath falls on the bounce) & ABC (Portland) in winter CBS-Portland & ABC (Eugene) summer) which were grainy at best and two radio stations to pick from until I was much more experienced in life (this means older).  Read Pioneer Women's notes on blogging, today.  She said to write in my own style.  Okay, I must do that cause I do not play well with being something I am not.  She said to write often, I am trying to get the knack of doing that.  PW said to write about my life.  Well it's the one I know the best that is what I am trying to do.  She said to love my viewers.  If you all loved closer I would have you all for coffee! or Lunch, Or TEA but something where we could chat.  In my world having someone to share your meal with will that is loving you because I feed you (coffee means cookies, pies, lunch, sweet tea, tea, small cut out sandwiches with the crust cut off even I would do for you) being Luthern means to share a meal is to share God's Love and Word in action.  I would even let you clean my house cuz I hate to clean alone and, well, we would talk as we did clean house maybe get a pizza to share and drinks so we could continue to have fun then next time we meet at your place to clean AKA gab.  Then she said something that will be me hardest to do that is to spell good and use English also known as grammer correctly.  If you know me you will know this is an area of my life I struggle with day in and day out.  Well as I only know English I had part of that done, but the spelling and grammar part may be me hardest things for me to reach for and thrive doing.  I will try and use spell check and there will be attempts at always using fair to good grammar with some funning now and then written in but I know I will write a he for a she and a to for too so "bear" with me and help me find those errors that are mine and my own to "bare". 

 I have been looking at chickens again for ordering.  Old Army Man wants to have chickens again.   He is also missing duck as one of our meats.  His grandparents had a hunting lodge they had ducks and goose often in the fall and winter.  Froze what they did not use for summer meals.  I miss the taste of the home raised eggs.  Duck or Chicken even the goose (or is it geese) eggs were tastier than those I get from the store now.  We have free range poultry or did now we are fixing up an enclosure so the hawks and raccoons can be kept out and we get to keep our critters rather than be a smorgasbord for the wildlife nearby. 

You know that I am even thinking of raising (gulp) fryers.  Turkey, rabbit, guineas, duck, goose, and chicken.  I love chicken and dumplings and old hens make such good chicken and dumplings.  It may seem like it takes two days to get the flavor good and the meat soft, but it is something ever so good.  Mom use to go get capon fryers now and then, even looking into how to raise (capon) them.  I am liking the idea of a chicken plucker.  Then would need a barn, and a...well a girl has to make her lists or there never will be hope.  Just hoping I can live so long as to see and do the a few more of the things in life I hoped to do as a child. 

Better go now I feel like doing another load of dishes and well better get to it before the passion passes and we have lost all hope of dinner dishes for this evening. 

Take care,

Old Mossback

 

At least the dogs liked dinner!

I had such great hope for dinner tonight, easy, microwave meal of food we both love.  Alas somehow I missed the boat.  Two plates needed rather than the one large platter was the first error.  2nd error, hubby not relating finger food with dinner.  3rd error,  not making another dish hubby related as a meal. 

I like nacho dinners now and then.  Not asking for monthly or weekly, but a couple times a year just to feel out of the mold of this is dinner-meat or meat base casserole, salad, side dish carbs.  I like dinner salads, soups, and stews for dinners.  Husband thinks of these as starter courses.   Now there are some things he likes that I just never have had or he finds he enjoys, but for the most part he has boundaries on what he thinks dinner is and expects it in his head.  He does not mean to be so set however he is very set in his way of thinking in many ways.   There is a reason I relate to him as Old Army Man.  Rules were rules to guild you though situations all you had to find was the right book to guide you.   Someone from above sent down the orders then others took and gave those orders into orders of action.  Old Army Man was midway up the chain so he was one who did take and do some delegating however he was also low enough on the pole to feel some of the dirt run down hill now and again. 

Maybe it is just because he is in his last week of classes in community college after being out of college 3 decades that he is grumpy.  Now getting those brain cells to open up to today's education system with computers, wireless systems, phones that have more power than we ever would have hoped to have in our lifetime power.  Remember the first time you walked and talked on a wireless phone.  I can recall having to sit by the phone and having a three foot cord with a 6 minute time limit or the phone company kicked you off the line no matter who you were talking to or why unless it was long distance than they loved charging you for long distance.  You know long distance like the town 8 miles away.   Yea I am on old piece of shoe leather.  I had to learn to use a party line phone with an operated on it when I first learned to use the phone.  Silly to think now I can 750 miles away and call my kids up and them not even know I am out of state.  

Progress is good do not get me wrong.  I had a mammogram yesterday.  I have odd shaped breasts in that they are not small two three picture each side breast.  5 positions latter on each side and at the angled view I am leaving.  No pain, no long term smashing of the tissue, no hour to be in the odd positions.  The pictures they can do now are wow.  I was loving it.  A course I was having a heat flash so I stunk up to high heaven.  Poor gal taking the shots had to get up close to me several times.  I had showered just minutes prior to getting into the car so I could be fresh and clean for the mammogram.  The best laid plans of mice and men went out the door.  Big heavy set ladies who are more round than tall in their 50's do have BO even on the best of times if they are hot, no a/c in auto, warm day, and having a heat flash.  I had water dripping off my face so bad I had to wipe my face several times during the 20 minutes it took to take the images. 

Cancer was the cause of death for both of my grandmothers you would think I would be more aware of things.  I become overwhelmed by thinking to much on the topic.  I have eaten home raised foods for the most part of my life until I went to work and stopped canning, freezing, and other methods of food preserving.   Well this gets to deep if I go where this is leading we will cover this topic in later posts I am sure it will come up again. Eating right well for who you are happens to be a topic I can talk on for hours. 


Thanks for your time, enjoy the rest of the week.  Until we meet again. 

Old Mossback. 

Figuring it out.

So I am reading about blogging, what, when, where, who, who not, what not, all messed up. 

Lots to learn.  I see no one really knows what all is happening or that I even have a blog.  How to promote.  Yes, I need to promote.  I am writing about myself, fears, family, sharing things I have not shared but with close friends or family.  Now I need to promote myself.  Yikes this idea is worse than sharing many of the "secrets" I have in my life.  You know those private things that are not as private as they use to be due to social media like facebook, google 1+, diggs, myspace, blogger, you know what I am a trying to be telling ya.  I find myself using poor English and out and out phases that just do not make the grade these past few weeks.  Well lets see if I can get some things moving here so I can learn to be a better blogger, get a following, write better, heck maybe even show you more of my so life along with what makes me Mossback Tough. 

Well time to get to making waves so I have some reason to get back on her after work Thursday.  Friday out of town, Saturday three sets of people will show up to pick there pups.  Evil house cleaning to do and much of the dang stuff to do also.  Dishes yuks, laundry, need it done to have cloths to wear, yeps, Floors sweeps so others do not trip,  Mopping the floors to remove that old dog smell.  Let us know forget to clean the kitchen counters to make less places for those old mice to hide.  I may even take pictures of before and after for you all.  by now mossback...

Off spring good and sorrows abound

This is one of this old Mossback Toughs offspring.  He is a good size man, now.  He is my first born.  He took some time learning life's lessons, but his heart is good as big as his shoe.  His name was picked out by his dad years prior to the sperm meeting the egg which formed this guy of mine.  We grow them big on my side of the family which made his dad bubble with joy.  Have you ever had a good kid turn away from the hope you had for them?  Well, it was heart breaking for a while between us.  The death of my husband, his dad, did not make matters any better.  Not understanding each other, me to willing to believe the "stories" his issues put us into was trialing at best.  Many of year of okay can we be family even if you don't like it occurred.  He is sitting along the Oregon Coast around the 4th of July here.   He was having a picnic with friends.  I must say I am happy to claim him as my son again. Proud of him again feels good.  For this I must say God answered prayers.  I like this young man's quick wit, fun actions, and willingness to share the happiness most of all.  It took a while, some miss steps by both of us along the way yet I have a son I am proud of without remorse today.   Makes an old tough bag like me tear up now and again.  You all come back now you hear, Old Mossback. 


 

Mama's Chinese Chicken

Love this so much we have gone to making a whole chicken cut up into smaller easier to handle pieces for this or we butcher out several chickens saving the backs and necks for stock, the breast will either be cut up into two or three pieces depending on if I took the wish bone cut on the the back of the chicken or not.  The are times we have hit a huge sale and saved the breasts for later.  I love the thighs cooks this way so they almost always go into this dish. 



This is one those recipes that came from someone years ago in college can we say back when shoulder pads were in style.  Chicken wings were cheap food back in the day can you say 29 cents a pound so it feed a group for on the cheap.  She had gotten it from someones mom that had gotten it out of a magazine or was it a back of a box of some sort what ever it was it is a keeper when you want to wow someone with a cold food addition.  She showed me how to after the chicken was all fried up to then make what she called fried Chinese pancakes.  Well, no matter what you call them, they may be the best part of being the one getting to cook the chicken. 



I made this for my first husband when we went to the coast on one of our first dates.  I won that man with my cooking on that day.  I used this recipe leftover sauce and soaked beef, pork, turkey, wild game in.  The pork is a close second to heaven done this way right after the chicken.  The game birds were really nice well one can say nothing was turned away but the beef and ham were the last pieces to be eaten.  Always a clean plate unless you cook an unreal amount.  The recipe calls for only 2-3 pounds of wings well I used this to make 4-6 pounds of chicken with many a time doubling or more the recipe to meet the need groups of teenage boys rumbling tummies.  My second husband had this one night after work when I was making it for a group meeting the next day when he came by to visit after a swing shift.  I can only say he liked it so well the next time he came to my home he had the wedding rings in his pocket.  (Not saying it will happen this way with you but heavens to Betsy I swear I am telling the truth to the best I can recall.)  This recipe does take planing ahead as well as time, can be made ahead, is colorful, smells great, worse thing about it (after the fact it is fried) is garlic breath so make sure you have your love one eat a piece or two along with you.  Over time I have made this my own so you know you can change things here and there to please your taste buds, but first make it this way before you start to change to much. 



Recall I am new to this once I figure out how to make print this for recipes I will use it until them please be nice. 

Chinese Fried Chicken 

Severs 4 or more depending one on how many teenagers you have eating

Oven temp 350 degrees F

Sauce:
2 T Sesame Seeds*
4 T Flour
8 T Cornstarch
4 T Sugar*
1/2t Accent      I now omit due to MSG allergies
1 & 1/2 t Salt*
5 T Soy Sauce
1 egg
1 clove garlic or equivalent in dry form minced if fresh*
2 green onions (scallions) things sliced*

Mix everything together pour over

2-4 lbs of chicken

marinate.  It will look gummy at first this is okay.  Put in the frig from anywhere from 2 hours to several days depending on when I get a chance to fry up the chicken.  Stir this every so often to get a good even coating on the meat.

Oil enough to go half way up  the side of a cast iron fry pan or several inches deep in a wok.  (Lard or shortening works the best for a crispy coating)

I like to use the wok as I have more control with the heat on my stove.  Or I can do it outside on my side burner of the BBQ.  Keeping the chicken warm under the cover until the baking rack is full.  I have found if I use a cookie cooling rack in the sheet pan the oil drains off better and the chicken taste is not effected.   The cookie rack I have is able to go into the over without a problem.  Check ours to make sure yours can also if you use a rack.  Parchment paper in the bottom of the sheet pan helps in clean up also. 

Fry the chicken until it reaching a light golden brown, remove from fryer, drain, place on sheet pan, place in warming over if using.   Once chicken pieces are all cooked bake at 350 degrees F for 30 to 50 min making sure chicken's largest pieces are cooked though.  Place in the frig until you are ready to sever it them,.  Now when you serve these stand back just to watch because it this gone in like 60 seconds.  Or so it seems for all the time and work you put into it. 

Now you say what are those * on some of the sauce ingredients?  Things I did not have some times that I have left out or in the case of sugar used honey, rice syrup, or brown sugar. 

Remember that sauce you soaked the meat in, Well now is the time to address it.  You have finally have all the chicken fried cooking in the oven.  The grease is still hot now is time to use that hot grease (oil) to fry up pancakes in small dollar cake sizes and enjoy.  Much bigger size than a silver dollar and they take take too long to cook and get way too greasy.  Flip to cook each side of the "pancake" in the oil.  Other times I will have the second group of meat going to start the in the batter and using only a few hours cook this up also to serve later.  Sometime using or serving like chicken fried steak for breakfast or bunch with a quick reheat in the morning. 

T= Tablespoon
t= teaspoon

Well off to go make my batch so I can take pictures for you along the way.  Recall many of the things I have cooked are old, from friends, family hand me downs, to wow I want to learn to be cutting edge like my favorite cooking stars I never get to see because we now use Roku for all our TV viewing enjoyment. 

Source: Mossback hand written recipe book. 

Come back soon you here in the mean time Take Care, Mossback

Best laid plans

Ever have those plans where you say tomorrow I will get this done, then you wake up say I will get to it in a moment then that moment never comes.  Yea that is today.  Need to get the shelves done in the pantry so I can put pans on the shelves as the mice keep getting into the lower shelves causing messes.  I have tried so many traps it is silly but when you live on a farm one has mice I accept that however it is the neighbors next door with three huge barns filled with grass seed straw that make control so hard.  Our LGD (livestock guard dog) kills hundreds of mice and rats each week, the chickens, duck, and cats do their part also alas some if those nasty critters still make it into the house.  Let get back to plans.

Planned to make chili from scratch today.  Was going to go shopping last night than I thought no no not until the counters are sorta cleaned off.  Well it is 3 pm and they are not cleaned.  I have pinned things of interest, facebooked for the business, farm, self, and even spent some time learning to twitter.  I was awake at 8 am, 9:30 am, work up again at 12:30 pm told myself I needed the rest.  I want a big cup of coffee but I am not getting to that end of the house to make it.  I like the ice coffee as I tend to go make myself one but I need to make that also.  I had plans to make it.

Plans to clean the bathroom, make some things for the house and do some dishes and washing so I had clothing to wear.  Old Army Man is up asking what is up meaning hey girl I want to see what is happening on my fb, website, email, and just see what the sport and political world has happening in it today. 

Yea I had plans to be all done with everything by now and sitting in a chair watching something on my roku or to be setting up my new roku in my office so I could fb, tweet, write to my heart's content while chili simmered and gave the house smells to make ones mouth water.  Better go start on that counter.  I may take pictures if I get things done.  Write more later,  O

Finding a job at over 50

Today went well. How was your day?  Old Army man felt well enough to drive himself today.  He took it easy, did not push it.  His army disability is paying for him to attend local community college 3/4 time.  He has a long way to go to be finished however he has a goal and hope of working again which at 55 plus may be a punishment or a blessing.  He wants to work the farm so bad yet the pain will not go away if he is on his feet too much plus right now he is just under so many what if's from the doctors that we are falling the rehabs line of hope along with maybe he can work again some day.  In our area of the country people 55 just do not seem to be hired then again just a few months ago unemployment was over 11% county wide with our area of the county closer to 17%.   We live in a large Oregon County. 

Ever tried to rethink your life and it's goals.  I work a 12 step program, have for 22 plus years now.  My word it is hard. Sometime I have to adjust my life dreams and hopes to be more real other times I just need to allow myself to be in the moment, forgive myself.  Experience starts to become an issue as you have too much,  employment agencies state you should be looking at these types of jobs-high pay, leadership, jobs like state workers have and paid as good or better than them, yea right.   In all the years I have looked no one I mean no one has said gee whiz girl you are too cute, able bodied, or too athletic to have this job.  Rather I get well you are over qualified, ( you must be old) your are just not what we are looking for ( combo-not a knock out beauty, too fat, I am so fat it scares them, they see their insurance rates going up because of age, weight, or conditions), best of all is the I wish I knew of someone hiring cause you have so much to offer someone however you just will not fit in here.  (See above).  I have had people hire me nearly sight unseen, they have loved my work once they got past the oh my she is heavy, old, gray haired hum, or other reservations.  I have gotten great responses from them however seems these jobs just did not work out due to the changing economic climate in most cases.  So I now work a job that requires someone in my state to hold a licence's to work at that job.  I only work tax season but it is a job that does not pay out right well but better than any other I have been offered in the past 5 years.  About 10 years ago I started looking for something to be a second "job" one of my own making say a business I could work at between tax seasons.   I had several things I was researching when I meet my husband and well farming came back as an option. 

I attended Oregon State took courses which would have lead me to be an agriculture extension agent related work.  Alas 18 months after I had gotten my diploma the state started changing how or who they hired.  I needed a Masters degree to even apply.  Shot here I was two kids in diapers, drink unemployed abusive carpenter husband #1, who had been told by the college when I went back 3 yrs later I needed to update my college skills before entering the masters program.  I had a 12 day old baby when I walked down the concourse to get my degree handed to me.  Seems all those job apps I had been applying for just did not know how to take my degree.  I am holding anger over choices I made.  I have drank over them plus other choices I have made.  Seemed each time I started to make headway something got in the way.  It took years but I know now I need to be the one making my way in the world not asking people to make my way in the world.  I make my own way.  Not something corp America likes to hear, drives my boss nuts during tax season as I am a bit of a maverick.  I can read his reports he allows us to read, I had economics, business, and math, along with social insight classes.  I have read the results of the reports as I see them and being able to read some of the writing on the wall.  I have had to learn to wait to respond to the boss when I work for others.  I love the freedom to work for myself there are months I earn more working for myself then I do working for the "man" however I still am not sure enough to go it alone without the  safety net of a job to help cover the expenses most of the year. 

I like doing it on my own. Being the one who knows the market, advertises, does sales, research which can be the best side of this being self employed equation.  Then there is the promotion of my bit of heaven.  Dog trails, livestock auctions, the everyday wonderful God bless them real people.  No one trying to stab me in the back in the next office, no one telling me Not to go there, but watching to see if it works.   I can name many ways not to raise sheep in the Willamette Valley.  I can tell you dozen of ways how not treat to allow your livestock guard dog to behave or acts one should not allow them to see.  I can tell you which types of goats I am liking and willing to spend time around.  I learned I miss the smell of a horse on the place.  Calves can cause as much laughter as baby lambs.   I don't get to hold the calves as long on my lap as I do the lambs but then again calves are not as often coming into the house looking for me like the goats and sheep do.  Chickens are great.  Ducks actions bring smiles.  Geese can eat loads of grass.  Things I find heart warming.  Grand kids love to feed the baby livestock, run around seeing all the sights we have on our small acreage.  I love my ATV plan and simple. 

Better go now.  I have spent the day removing mouse droppings as I moved things around on the pantry shelves finding 3 places those buggers have chewed though the wall to get into that room.  Old metal shelves where on the floor moving and cleaning those not fun.  Taking the time to sort out old stuff, do I need that in here questions, and just adjusting life to live it a bit better.  Need to go into town and get some drywall maybe steel wool so these mice will not chew back though the walls where I patch.

Old Moss had better go finish this blog as it is nearly 10 pm and I work in the morning. 

I have started my blog. Now what?

Mossback Tough starts today with a bite of freedom for a change.  These last three years has had me driving more than riding with my husband places.  Old army man has had better days leaving me to test each morning to see how the wind blows with him.  Why you may ask am I calling myself Mossback Tough?  A mossback is an old bull that has been around so much he has moss growing on him.  Well I am tough, I feel the weather more now than decades ago, I have been tested time and again, plus I just keep going for one reason or another. 

Leaving in Western Oregon I have owned clothing left out in the spring or fall that has growing moss on it.  When I lived in the coast range I would leave college in the morning pulling old man's beard moss down to get into the car under the oak trees then on the way back I would have to stop somedays and pull the old's man's beard moss off the tree limbs so I could get back to the small cabin we lived in back them.  28 acres of timberland with a 3 acre field and a two acre house and garden area around the small old wood heated cabin in the woods that had a small barn we had to pass by to get home.  There were streams to cross and miles of unpaved roads to travel to get home each night after work.  We raised over an acre of garden, a few head of sheep, a few horses, and trouble of our own doing back then by the time we had two children I had finish college, the depression of the 80's and the spotted owl forced us out of the cabin and into city living.  Strange what things like pizza delivery and a store closer than 7 miles away can do to a lifestyle.

I hope to cover tough times and hope of recovery, life and death, today and yesterday, not sure what I need to say just that I am to do this blog.  I will stumble, fall not sure it will go anywhere lets just say for now it is mine.  Something I must do for myself. 

I will try and find from time to time things I do that lead to a better life, follow our improvents on our bank repo we purchased, our animals, our goals, children and grandchildren, things that make life go around be it church events, cowboy life, or things that move me. 

Come back soon you here in the mean time Take Care,  Mossback