Be Strong!

Maltbie Davenport Babcock

Be Strong!
We are not here to play, to dream, to drift;
We have hard work to do, and loads to lift;
Shun not the struggle - face it; 'ts God's gift.

Be Strong!
Say not,"The days are evil. Who's to blame?"
And fold the hands and acquiesce - oh shame!
Stand up, speak out, and bravely, in God's name.

Be Strong!
It matters not how deep intrenched the wrong,
How hard the battle goes, the day how long;
Faint not - fight on! To-marrow comes the song.

A great coffee sign

“I saw this sign on a large self-serve coffee urn in a café in Milwaukee: ‘Please don’t laugh at our coffee.’ You may be old and weak yourself someday.” – Earl Kronberg

Lime -Cilantro Dressing

Cooking Free cookbook by Carol Fenster

(This book is one of our family’s favorite. Though we are not allergic to gluten or dairy these recipes make you forget they have no gluten or dairy)

Makes about 1 cup

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup water
¼ cup fresh limejuice
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon grated lime zest
½ teaspoon salt
1 medium garlic clove, minced
½ teaspoon honey or agave nectar
1/8-ground cumin
1/8-teaspoon xanthan gum
Put all ingredients in blender until smooth. Refrigerate in airtight container for up to 1 week.You can also just shake it up and use on tacos, burritos, or taco salads.

Marrionberry Bars

From Gluten-free, Sugar-free Cooking
By Susan O’Brien

½ c. agave nectar or fruit sweetener (room temperature)
1 c. buttery spread, room temperature (earth nature’s)
3 - 3-½ c. brown rice flour
1 c. walnuts or pecans, chopped
Vegetable spray
10 oz. all fruit jam – Marrionberry or seedless black raspberry

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Combine agave nectar and buttery spread in large mixing bowl. Beat until light and fluffy.
3. Add egg, flour (add till lightly sticky, but still able to press out), and nuts. Beat at low until well mixed. Set aside 1 ¼ c. for toping.
4. Spray 8x8in. square pan.
5. Press the remaining mixture into pan.
6. Spread jam on tope and spread to within ¼ inch from the edge.
7. Crumble the reserved flour / nut mixture over the jam.
8. Cook for 35-45 minutes or until lightly browned.
9. Let cool and cut into bars.
Serves 12

My New Bunny Curio

Curio was about 4 weeks old when (he/she) got out of its cage at the Young’s while we were watching the Farm for them. At that time Rachel had two Dutch rabbits with the same colored babies. Dad found it and put it in “its cage”. Mom came by the next day and saw the baby sitting by the door of the cage. She soon discovered the problem and set it in the right cage. But the baby hadn’t had milk, water, or food for one whole day. It also had a bite on its neck (from the wrong mother rabbit), left side, and ear as well as a possibly broken leg.

It couldn’t hop around the wire cage very well, so when I came over of course I took it under my “wing” and brought it home to be taken care of. This was my first rabbit that I had ever hand fed. I found out that the best thing to do was to feed it 10 -15 ml of goats milk twice a day. Once in the morning around 7 a.m. and once around 7 p.m. I enjoyed it very much and Curio adopted me as its mother.

In a week we found out that its leg was fine, but its bites had developed abscess. So we tried to clean and treat them. By week 3 there was not much change, so we took Curio to the vet for some antibiotics. After a week of medicine we saw a great improvement, but not enough to clear it completely. So off we went to the vet again for some more medication. If Curio was over a year old they would rather cut the abscesses off, but for now the antibiotics will have to do.

Curio has improved very well! One abscess on the neck has dissipated completely and the other drains pretty well now. Curio will most likely have to have the abscess cut off some time in the future.

Thanks to the Reilly's we now have a cage for it as well.

It was very nice of Rachel to let me keep it! Curio loves to fallow me around and even comes when I call. Every day I get little kisses too!

Curio has very good markings and can still b bred. I think Curio is a boy, but its still a bit soon to tell.
So yes the Bryan Clan has had another unexpected animal land in their laps again. (I don’t mind… really!) Curio is now 6 ½ weeks old, weighing over 3 ounces and still as curious as ever.