Neon Mile

I had planned on running a few miles today after work, now that the days are getting longer again (yay!), but got caught up in something at work and got home later than usual.  I was really tempted to just skip exercising at all and already had a dozen excuses, but I know if I do that it will be easier to use excuses the next day and the next, until I'm back where I was a year ago.  I feel like I've come pretty far in my running in the past year, and don't want to lose ground.  So I sucked it up and put on my neon yellow long sleeved shirt (all the better to see me by, my dear!) (and all the better to look really pale in, my dear!) and vowed to get in at least a mile.  I got outside and saw that I only had about 15 minutes before my street was dark, so I decided to run a mile as fast as I could.

Now, I've never been a fast runner...but back in high school, it was relatively easy to run a mile in under 8 minutes.  Because of that, I made it a goal in my 25 for 25 to be able to run a mile in under 8 minutes again.  Well, today showed me that I'm alllllmost back there again.   I ran a mile in 8:20.

That route includes one relatively hard hill, which makes me think that I could probably run an 8:00 mile on a track.  So anyways!  Just a little humble brag here I guess, but felt like sharing.  :)

Hope everyone is having a good week.  Glad tomorrow is Friday!!!

Confused

My poor like hydrangeas are so confused with this weather!  32 degrees in the morning, and 72 degrees at 3pm.  They shed all of their leaves and blooms a couple of weeks ago, but now they're trying to bloom again!  They look pretty wonky at the moment!

You guys have any plants in your yard confused with this crazy weather?

Life in the South Pt. 2

Here's another indicator that you live in the South:

Cellophane wrapped cake

Before moving to south Georgia, I can honestly say I had never seen so many cellophane wrapped pieces of cake.  Almost every restaurant here has them!  And they look like they are shrink wrapped!  There are some serious cellophane wrappers down here ya'll.  It helps that the cake inside is always delicious!  This piece was from the Pickle Patch Deli, a local place breakfast and lunch spot that has never let me down.  This piece of cake had 22 layers to it, with chocolate icing in between, so naturally I highly recommended it. :) 

Downton Time

Spot of hot tea?

Check!

Electric blanket?

Check!

Downton Abbey?

Check!

Poultry Palace

Back in my Mule Day Festival post in November I wrote about the Poultry Palace Eggzibit.  A couple of weeks later, I saw a comment on the post from the Chickenman himself!  I was so excited that he decided to comment on my post, that I asked him if he would do an interview for my blog.  Thankfully he agreed!  His responses are below!

1. How long have you been working with your chickens?

We bought our first two chickens, Bantam Blue Cochins, at the pet store in the Albany Mall as an impulse purchase on December 23, 1998. We had no coop or knowledge of how to keep them. We learned that they liked to sit on the couch, eat popcorn and watch the same movies we liked.

The Chickenman!

Photo taken by me at Mule Day 2012

2. How many chickens total do you guys have?

We generally take 12 chickens to each show. We have 20 “Show” Birds; so it’s hard to decide who goes and who stays. We have about 6 birds that are retired, and ten more potential stars coming up.
3. Where all do you guys travel with your Poultry Palace?

We’ve traveled from Moulton, Alabama to Madison, Florida; mostly in Southwest Georgia. You can visit our history page on our website poultrypalace.net for a complete list of the events we’ve attended.
4. Which festival is your favorite to attend?

We have fun at every festival, even if it rains; but our favorite is The Wild Chicken Festival in Fitzgerald, Georgia. We were made for that festival. That’s where we started. It’s really neat so see how The Wild Chicken Festival and we have grown together.

Strawberry: Half Rhode Island Red Rooster

Photo courtesy of Poultrypalace.net

5. What is the most enjoyable aspect of working with chickens?

We enjoy the love from the chickens, the laughter from the children, and the amazement from the adults.
6. The most frustrating?

Closed minded event planners that are used to doing things the some old way, when we have so much more to offer.
7. At your Mule Day presentation we noticed you have an educational aspect to your show, do you guys go to schools to do presentations?

We have done a couple of “Fall Festivals” and “Farm Day” after school events; but no classroom training with the chickens. A rooster’s crow can be heard up to a mile away.  Just imagine that in a classroom.

Tom: Turken Rooster

Photo courtesy of Poultrypalace.net

8. How long has Fruit Punch been playing the piano?

Fruit Punch was a gift for Abby’s sixth birthday, she’s 7 ½ now, about a year.  We have a video on facebook of his training at 4months old.

Fruit Punch playing the piano!

Photo taken by me at Mule Day 2012

I want to say a special thanks to the wonderful people at the Poultry Palace for agreeing to the interview!  For more information please visit their website or find them on Facebook at Friends of the Poultry Palace Chickens.  Hope you guys are having a wonderful weekend!

Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Bell Peppers

Hey guys!  Got a new winner of a recipe for you guys to try out!  Husband and I made some Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Bell Peppers the other night from a recipe I saw on Quick'n Easy Recipes and they were delicious!!!  You use roast beef sandwich meat, which cuts down on time.  It had great flavor, lower carbs since there was no bread, and was almost even better heated up the next day!  You can find the recipe here!

Hope you guys have fun plans for the weekend!

The Lone Bellow

Got some new music for you guys!  I stumbled across these guys a couple of weeks ago and their first album comes out next week.  They've got a unique country, soulful sound.

The Lone Bellow

Love the lyrics to this song.  "Teach me to know my number of days.  Hold out, my heart, from getting carried, carried away."

You can listen to the full album on NPR.

Hope you guys like!

Vodoo Dog!

Yesterday Husband and I had a little date day in Tallahassee.  While there we went to a little restaurant called Voodoo Dog for dinner.  It was quite delicious, and had some interesting menu items.  Here's what we got!

I got a bacon wrapped deep fried hotdog topped with mac and cheese!

Husband got a burger!

And we shared some chili cheese fries!

We definitely plan to go back there!  Any of ya'll had some out of the ordinary food lately?

Fried Rice!

For the past two weeks, Husband and I have been trying to learn how to cook fried rice (or as well like to call it Flied Lice).  My Nanny bought me a Wok for Christmas, and I absolutely love it!  It is huge, 14" inches in diameter and weighs about 50 lbs.  (not really, but it feels like it!)  We've watched videos, read articles, looked up recipes...and it tastes delicious!  But!  The rice in it is a little soggy?  Tonight we made it again and I made the rice yesterday and refrigerated it (as suggested on several youtube videos) hoping the rice would be, well, fried tasting.  But it still didn't have quite the right consistency.  I'm thinking maybe our chicken is too juicy?  I do teriyaki chicken in the crockpot, and maybe we should dry it off a little?  What do you guys think?  Any of ya'll cooked fried rice before?  I'd love to hear your suggestions!

Special shout out to my Nanny for buying us the Wok.  It's awesome!

Life in the South

How you know you live in the South....

Your boss asks you to drop off his fishing pole to his wife, and it's so long that it has to hang out of your window...

You come home to your Husband's friend's duck boat in your driveway...

It gets up to 80 degrees in January...

Just a few examples of life in good 'ole Georgia!

Happy 1 Year!

Happy 1 Year Blog anniversary!!  

A year ago today I joined the bloggy world and vowed to faithfully write down what was happening in mine and Husband's lives.  As of late I haven't been too faithful with it, and for that I apologize.  Here's to hoping 2013 is a good year of blogging!!
In other news, any of you guys Downton Abbey fans?!  Looking forward to the Season 3 premier tonight!!!  I'm thinking Mary and Matthew might be getting married?