A Dog’s Love

Our Riley….

Change is inevitable.  While I am a person who thrives on change, this type of change hurts and brings with it the fear of the unknown and dread.

The past few days the matriarch of our family is starting to show signs that he is not going to be with us forever.  He is 14 1/2 and we have had him since he was about 9 weeks old.  Our children know no other life than that with their dog Riley.  Riley has been the most wonderful farm dog you could ask for.  He is a faithful companion, loving friend and fixture in every aspect of our lives.

Riley showing the new puppy the ropes around the farm

Meeting the newest member of our family in 2012

Warming his bones while waiting for Santa

It’s hard to explain what a dog brings to your life especially one that was perfect from the start and never brought anything but joy and companionship.

I am hoping he perks up and things settle down in his tummy over the next few days but reality is staring me down and I need to be strong for my children.  And while I know it’s the circle of life, I am not ready for the 2 ends of that circle to meet.  I can only hope for a little more time.

 

 

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Rainy and Gray..but that’s ok

This was the scene out of my office window all day today.  And while it’s great to have rain, we have had too much already this spring season as you can see by the following pictures

poor strawberry plants trying to grow

Front of our yard

chickens looking for worms

break in the rain and a male and female finch came to our window feeder

And while the forecast predicts 2 more days of rain, I will count my blessings as there are terrible storms in the middle of our nation ravaging homes and people with tornadoes.  I will take the rough spring and be thankful we are warm, safe, healthy and dry.

 

Coconut Chocolate Chip Macaroon Cookies

These are my “go to” cookies when we don’t have any sweets in the house and I need a dessert for the kids lunches (or a late night sweet attack like I had last night!!)  They are perfect bits of heaven with only 4 ingredients. I could barely take this picture as my daughter was loading up her green plate with 3 of them.

Recipe that I use is:

2 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut

2/3 cup chocolate chips

2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Line cookie sheet with parchment paper (easy clean up and you can bake multiple batches on the same piece) or grease well

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl

drop by teaspoon on cookie sheet and press center slightly down (place about 2 inches apart)

Bake 10 to 12 minutes until slightly browned at edges (very lightly)

let sit for a minute on cookie sheet and then transfer to wire rack to cool

store in air tight container (for as long as you can before they get eaten as they will go fast 🙂 )

beautiful