Grandma Mary rolls

I had a request to share an old family recipe when I was asking a group for help on making yeast rise. Here is the recipe and the story I was told about the recipe by My husband's grandmother.  

She told me Pa taught her to cook and this was a recipe from home in Kansas. Pa was her father in law that lived with Mary and Grandpa on the farm that was bought right after the land run in the early 1900s.

Ingredients

2 cups of milk
1/4 cup Luke water
3-4 Tbs vegetable oil
3-4 Tbs sugar
1/4 ts of salt
1 package of Fleshmans yeast
Flour


 Scald milk. (Heat milk to a simmer and then bring to Luke warm). Mary said that she did not think it needed this anymore but when Pa taught her with fresh milk it was necessary.

 While the milk heats up put yeast in very warm but not boiling water. This was to make sure your yeast was good.

When the milk cools. Mary taught me to check it like a baby bottle style by dropping a few drops on your wrist. Add the vegetable oil, sugar, salt, and yeast water. Wait a minute to make sure it activates.

Start adding flour by the tablespoon until it is the consistency of white gravy. Let rise to twice as tall.  Around here that is about an hour. (The fb group told me to heat the oven to 200 degrees and turn oven off. Then put a pan of water in the oven with the bowl of doe)

After it rose, add flour till very stiff. Where you can't stir it. Barely Oil it to be glistening.
At this point you can put it in the ice box with a cover til morning or continue on.

Let it rise for 1-2 hours. It should be double the size.

Knead the dough about 20 times in flour. Make into rolls and dip tops in oil. Put on a pan about 2 inches apart. Let rise to 2.5 times bigger than started.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-20 minutes until lightly brown. 

This is a recipe that my husband insisted I learn to make. I enjoyed learning to make it and still treasure the time I get to spend making rolls with her. 

Enlarging a Picture

I have always worked with a grid to transfer the image to the paper. This helps to keeps my proportion accurate from a small image to the big paper. When I started doing this I used PowerPoint to grid out my pictures. It's easy and I will take you step by step how to use it.

1.Open PowerPoint to a blank page.

2. Draw a square that is 5 x 7 inches by going to INSERT.

• Click on shapes and find the square. Drag a square on your blank page don't worry about the size. 
• Double click on the square you drew.
•  At the top of the page to the far right is the size. Type in 5 tall and 7 wide
• Also look for the square that is outlined with no color in it to make your square see through but with a perimeter.

3. Inside the 5 x 7 square make a 4 x 4 table.

• Back in INSERT tab
• On the far left is the table tab
• Click and it and hold the mouse down to highlight 4 squares wide and 4 square tall. 16 total squares are highlighted.When you let of the mouse it will magically appear.
• Click on your table that is random colors and a Table tool will appear. click it.
• Click on the Table and hit Control and the A key at the same time. 
• While the whole table is highlighted, In the Shading tab (about the middle of the page)  click no Fill.
• In the borders section click all borders.
• Resize it by dragging the edges to be the same size as the square.
• SAVE it now!!!

4. Adding the Picture. 

• Insert is the place to be.
• Click the picture icon and go to where your pic is located. Select it
• Right click on your picture and hit go to back
• (If white box appears that means you have a fill in your square or your table) see note
• Resize with the little balls on the edge of your picture. Use the ones on the corners only or it will distort the picture. 

5. Print and work from anywhere. 

NOTE

Click on the table and go to the table tab. Click on the back ground and click no fill.

Click on the square (sometime you have to move the table) and click draw tab. Click the background and click no fill. Move table back.

I also have printed these on transparency to take and lay over printed pictures to work from.

  This is a great way to resize your drawing and get to know your subject better while sketching it. 

(if I am drawing to an 10 x 14 or 16 x 20. True the large size is not a perfect match it converts to a 15 by 21 but you can add background to the edges or crop to make it fit the standard canvas.)

Double bonus is my daughter likes to use the grid drawings for coloring sheets later.

What do you Dream about

This week as my students at school watched a movie the main character told a true story of a long jumper for the olympics that on his boat ride over to the event. Sat the whole trip looking at a line on the deck that was two inches farther than the world series. The athlete never practiced on the trip just sat and focused on the rope. When he competed at the Olympics he broke the world record.

I had heard this story more than once in my life. It got me thinking; what do you dream about?

We used to laugh at my husband's grandpa when we came in for a snack or dinner. He was bedridden at the time and we could hear him in the living room yelling at the cattle, or cussing the tractor. He dreamed what he did all his life. He dreamed about the farm, its animals and the crops.

What do I dream about? I mean not only when I am sleeping but even when I catch myself daydreaming. Do I dream about my passions. My husband laughs at me because sometimes I give test in my sleep, or teach a lesson in my sleep. When I wake up in the morning I am tired but I still go and teach art.

Then I started noticing that I do not dream about painting. Is this because I don't have the passion or the drive? Maybe I don't have the focus. Maybe I am still learning. My goal is to paint more and I try to work toward that each day.

What Do You Dream About? What drives you?

Cooking on the Open Fire

A few weeks ago my brother and sister-in-law cooked lunch over an open fire pit. They were practicing for a cowboy cookout competition. I was glad to be a taste tester because their cooking was great.

I learned something about cowboy cooking

1. I am glad that today I have a stove. It took a long time to get coals started and add the ingredients. Yes they tasted great but daily I would get nothing done but 2 miles on a fire

2. In Oklahoma summer cooking would have killed me. The hot sun and then to stand next to a blazing fire is not an idea of romantic western life

3. Biscuits can burn easily and need lots of TLC. Brother worked hard at getting his biscuits to keep warm coals under them and then warm coals on top. He was turning them  a few times and rotating the lid to cook them evenly. In my electric stove I dump them in and go load the washing machine.

Do you have any other thoughts to cooking out doors. It was great food and an even better cobbler. I am glad I can throw something in the oven and get other things done while it cooks without worrying my fire is going out.

Time Flies and All those Exuses

There is no good reason for not getting back with you. I can honestly say that this last month has been a blur. You know the kind. You are left feeling like a cartoon character standing in the middle of the road when two cars come racing by. The dust settles and here you sit with little birds flying around your head.

We have started school, in a blur. I have taught class and came home, cooked, washed a child and read a bedtime story. Other than that I believe I am lost.

I added an Etsy store to my list of credits and wondered if you have ever bought from a Etsy or other artist site like it. What was your thoughts? Please help me out because with out some feedback I do not know what works.

God Bless

Cutting Hay

Being a farmer's wife I had planned after a long day in the City to go and make supper, play with my girl and rest. I even promised a swim in hr grandma's pool before we went home. Then my phone rings, Tractorman asked if I could help him cut hay while he raked hay so that we could get it baled before the rain next week.

I took my girl for a swim and her grandma offered to keep her all night so she did not have to ride in the tractor that long. Out to the Bermuda pasture I went. Tractorman took me one round and gave me the instructions on how to turn this corner and watch out for branches.

Well with the tractor to my self and the radio on I love the time alone. As all mom's know that is rare. I had made about four rounds with the 16 foot swather out to one side. Read about driving the tractor to understand my challenge with this. I look back to see the bar in front of the swather broken and bouncing like a kid on a trampoline behind me. I shut the whole thing down and make my favorite kind of phone call. "Honey I broke it" is how that call starts. He had went to get the rakes about a mile away. "Meet me at the front gate" he told me after I detailed my mess. 

For the most part he is good about fixing my breaks I just get to hear (teasingly) about them forever. When he saw my mess he told  me that it was the same spot I used to hit the back of his 1 ton truck with flat bed with. I dented the bar into the reel and cracked his rear brake light. I still don't live that one down.

Well with a few welds I was back on the go again and finished the patch at midnight. The thing I like about field work is once done than I have a few months unlike dishes which have to be done nightly. Ever feel like everything you try to help with breaks? Please comment and tell me I am not the only one.

Oh I started a Etsy Page. Check it out and Tell me what you think.

My Artwork in Different Uses

I love to paint with watercolors. The paints are transparent and show off more little highlights better than anything else I have ever painted with. So from the paintings I enjoy making them into different items for you to wear, coasters magnets and prints. Here is some of what I do.

Here are my coasters drying. They are 4 inch tile with a cork back. Then have a protective coat on them and will not fade or peel off. 

 My glass magnets are very durable. I have a daughter and if a artwork can be broken by her I look for other options. These have been dropped and stay in great shape.

On  of my favorites is the necklaces. They are 1 inch around on a 16 inch chain. I love the way the colors glow under the glass.

The way I create all my items is a great photograph. Then I Photoshop it to make it into the size I need. When that is done I print them at a local print shop on matte paper. (Gloss does not work.) From there I cut them down and Modge Podge them 3 times on both sides. From there each project is different. I would be glad to tell you all about it. What project would you like to know about?

My Driving

If you have went to my website you can see I have been raised on a farm. We did all kinds

of normal farm stuff. Drove trucks, learned to shoot, played in the pond and drove tractors.

This week while my husband harvested wheat, I spent my time in the big 8 wheel drive tractor with a 28 foot disc. Tractor_man plows around the edge and I work in the middle. No biggie right. A farm girl is supposed to do this. Right?

Let me give you some history. At 16 I hated driving. Dad rebuilt an amazing 1992 Thunderbird for me and him and my younger brother said it could fly. I was one that did not drive it THAT fast. I totaled it by hitting a Toyota. Moving the engine 3 inches to the passenger side.

Six months later I toke the front in off a Pre SE. Both were from a stop and both were my fault. I am not a good driver.

Three years later I had an amazing English teacher in college that had me tested for dyslexia. She would not let me pass my last class if I was not tested. I found out I had Irlene Syndrome.

Walking out of the testing center with the new dark lenses on I exclaimed "Mom the porch really juts out in front of the building over there" Mom almost fainted. I did not know about depth and she did not know I could not see depth. Still don't well.

As years went on I found out the glasses made my astigmatism worse and tried doing eye exercises. My normal eye doctor who had seen me since junior high made the comment that I never complained about poor grades. My response was he never asked how long I worked on homework either.

Today I have a little better depth perception but not much. I look at shadows and measure things compared to other objects for depth. I still flip letters and jumble words when I right. I have learned to compensate by writing in my hours that I can concentrate and when all else fails tell it to a computer.



So Stick me in a tractor with a disc, it is on your head if we have to fix fence. This time... No fences were lost in this pasture.

World's Best Bubbles

1 C of Joy soap (this brand works the best)
1 Tbs of Glycerin (buy at the drug store)
1 gallon of water

Take a gallon container and add the Joy and glycerin. Fill to top with water. Let it sit overnight with lid off. Pour out and have fun. The longer it sits the bigger the bubble get.

Pour it into to a pan and get your fingers wet. Use a string that is tied into a loop and try to make bubbles. I have made 9 foot long bubbles just can not close them.

History of Our Farm

I never realized til I read about some other farm wives blogs that I need to tell you about our farms in Southwest Oklahoma. Our history of Oklahoma changes the way this area farms. When the government decided this "useless land" they gave to the Native Americans could be settled by white people they had a land run or raffle. Out here it was a raffle.

This is all of Oklahoma except no man's land, as we call it, the panhandle.

The government cut up the land into square miles or 640 acre sections. Then drew names to who would get a quarter section or 140 acres free. Each side of my family came to own land this way. My husband's mother's side (follow that crooked path) bought the land from the people that sold out or could not farm the land they won. From what I understand that was 5 years after it was raffled. I have not researched it to be accurate. Over time the land has been bought, handed down and sold mainly in quarter sections. Sometimes split into 80 acre tracks but not much smaller.

My grandfather's mother house of the land they homesteaded.

When I grew up, not that long ago, there were few houses that did not belong to the farms around us. Either they were kids of the farmers, or someone that bought those houses after death or divorces. With in the last ten years developers have come in and would buy quarter sections for $3000 an acre and cut it up into small lots, 5 acres or less. Then these big houses would rise from the wheat fields giving us new neighbors that do not understand why we drive slow on country roads (cattle out) or how to be neighborly. Many houses are sold within a few years because these city people do not realize that a gallon of milk can take an hour to get.

The house behind the cattle is in a row of about 20 houses on less than an acre each.

The scariest part of this is that for a young farmer and his wife the idea of buying more than 80 to 160 acres is almost out of our reach. We farm the land that is in our family but when the grandparents die who will inherit. It will be split among the children. Not all the children are farming.

Trying to Spray the Yard

On a calm weekend my hubby, Tractorman, was spraying pastures at the farm. Since I was not needed out there I stayed home and decided I would spray the yard. We spray for weeds that take the water from the grass. I pulled the sprayer in the lawn wagon that hooks to the back of the riding lawnmower out of the barn by hand. After rinsing it out, I wondered the yard picking up toys, water hoses and trash. I remembered that I did not tie the gas can to the truck well during the winter and had to go buy a gas can and put gas in for the lawn mower. So my daughter and I ran into the local hardware store bought the gas can and went by the gas station and filled it up. Getting home it is lunch time, so we eat lunch.             Cool I think, She will go down for a nap and I can spray. Well when she was asleep I went outside to start the lawn mower. It would not start. I put the battery charger on it; still no luck. What does a farmer's wife do when it doesn't work? Call a farmer. I called my dad realizing he was done spraying. So he came over, about the time my girl woke up and helped me look at the lawn mower. We could not get it started; he jumped it to diagnose the problem. Well a mouse must have been in it because we guess my dog was after something and pulled the wires of the clutch.  Okay now we know the problem lets kill it and Monday we will get the parts. Dad turned the key off... it kept running. He pulled the wire connector apart....it kept running. He finally pulled the spark plug  (that is not fun). It died.        After Dad left I called Tractorman and told him of my discovery. "Did you try the other lawnmower that my Dad put in the barn?" I had forgot about it. So I tried to jump it and had no luck. I had came to the conclusion this was not the week to spray.       Tractorman gets home an hour later. Starts his dad's lawnmower, helps me get set up and sends me to spray the yard. He even helps me keep our girl in the house. It felt good to get the weeds wilting over the week. Sure was glad to have his help after the rough day.  Ever had a day like this?

Finishing the Fence

My husband complained that I was not lining the post up well but I feel I did an okay job. We are following the terrece just like his grandpa use to do. During the fall Tractorman's grandpa would roll out hot wire on each terrece of wheat. Then he would Let the cattle into different terreces to graze letting the other wheat grow during that time. Each summer he would roll it up with his own invention so he could harvest. The invention we still use today. Click here to see the painting I did of it on the Model A. My little girl is learning the ropes. She has on her new fence fixing gloves. With a little help from me, she can put the wire in. This is a temporary fence that has a electrical current going through. Once it is all put it all together we add the charger last. Right now it is just a wire fence. It gives the cattle a slight shock if they touch it. The cattle can smell the electrical current and do not even touch it most of the time. If they do they realize it is unpleasant. Every farmer has touched a hot fence and though it is no fun it will not hurt you.  I have been asking for pictures of tractors you can send them to me at nicholelorenzen@gmail.com or on my facebook page.  Here is one I did of Vincent Franzen of his tractor. He liked it and bought it. You do not have to buy the picture I paint but I am always looking for more tractors. Tell me what tractors would you like to see painted. Or any farm equipment for that matter.

FIXING FENCE

Before we could work on fence Tractor man had to modify our old tool. We will set a roll of wire on the pole  that is leaning on the ground. The part that he is welding on will sit in the hay spears holder on the back of the truck. After the post are put in we just tie the wire to the end post and drive down.  Thanks to the front end loader loading and putting T post in has gotten much easier and quicker. With the T post on a pallet we just pick them up and put the pallet on the truck. In the field I load a few bundles of 5 onto the forks. Tractorman drives to where we start putting them in and I take one off the stack. Stand it up and he uses the front end loader to push it into the ground. I let him get the loader resting on the post and I step back a few feet so it will not spring out from under the tractor and hit me. Sure beats using a t post driver on each post.  Our daughter went out to help build fence. She got new gloves and was excited.  She decided she would go exploring instead. You can see where she decided to sit in the wheat and pick it. Thank goodness for lots of land to explore.  Stop By my Ebay to see what you can win.  Also Sign up for my mailing list. I would hate for you to miss a give away I am doing soon.

Bring on the Rain

The soft patter of rain on our roof woke us up yesterday morning. The unfamiliar sound was a great relief.  Each drop was new and refreshing my father carried water to cattle for 26 months straight. It ended with the rain in August. Now going into spring if rain had not come we would again be carrying water. With each cow drinking up to 20 gallons a day it was not cheap to give these animals the liquid.  The rain that fall washed in the fertilizer that we spread this weekend. It is a gamble. To put fertilizer out without rain can burn the plant but with out the food the plants do not grow. The rain brought grass to grow, water to drink, it brought a refreshing spring. You can say it even washed some of the worry off my farmer.  Here is what I have been painting on this week. Click Here to go to the Auctions.  Add Comment Painting a puppy 04/16/2014 0 Comments I would  like to introduce you to Sam.  Sam was my husband's dog, a stray he showed up one day. When Tractorman, my husband, he crawled out from under a work truck. Tractorman went into the house and got a shot gun.  He shot at the ground to scare the stray off. Sam crawled back under a work truck.  Tractorman threaten to get rid of Sam if he was still there when classes was over. That evening Sam was still there. He stood over knee high. Tall skinny and lanky with a calm disposition. He quickly learned to put cows up. With marking like a coyote, you had to do a double take  when he trotted across the pastures. One night we were feeding cattle and he was running around, down to the pond and looking for rabbits. A truck stopped on the road to watch him. It was a group of coyote hunters checking Sam out. Tractorman yells "Sam get on the truck" and here he came. He gracefully jumped on the truck in one flying leap and sat there like this is my kingdom. I painted him laying under the tractor tire. His favorite spot to sit while we worked on equipment.  You can win an original painting of Sam by bidding on it on eBay. Click Here.

Painting a puppy

 

I would  like to introduce you to Sam.  Sam was my husband's dog, a stray he showed up one day. When Tractorman, my husband, he crawled out from under a work truck. Tractorman went into the house and got a shot gun.  He shot at the ground to scare the stray off. Sam crawled back under a work truck.  Tractorman threaten to get rid of Sam if he was still there when classes was over.

That evening Sam was still there. He stood over knee high. Tall skinny and lanky with a calm disposition. He quickly learned to put cows up.

With marking like a coyote, you had to do a double take  when he trotted across the pastures. One night we were feeding cattle and he was running around, down to the pond and looking for rabbits. A truck stopped on the road to watch him. It was a group of coyote hunters checking Sam out. Tractorman yells "Sam get on the truck" and here he came. He gracefully jumped on the truck in one flying leap and sat there like this is my kingdom.

I painted him laying under the tractor tire. His favorite spot to sit while we worked on equipment.
You can win an original painting of Sam by bidding on it on eBay. Click Here.

Studying a Small John Deere

Before every artwork I create an 5 x 7 inch study in one color in my sketchbook. This allows me to check for a poor composition before I start the drawing on a good board. I also can see what size I want to make the final artwork. Some just lend themselves to smaller artworks while others beg to be created in a larger size. This artwork will be an 8 X 10 art piece when I make in in full color and with great clarity.      Some of my other tractors I have painted are listed below if you would like to see more. Painting a Retired Massey A Model A A FarmAll A Another John Deere      Since this is my first time videoing myself painting it is not great. If you have a helpful hint please comment. I only get better with your help.  God Bless

Finishing the Massey.

In Oklahoma the snow fall I have seen all my life can be wrapped up into about 5 storms. That is it. Yes it has snowed more but a typical snow storm here is on the ground at morning. If you don't play in it before lunch it is gone before Dad got home. So my little girl has seen more true snow storms in the last four years than I have in my whole life. She is enjoying her dad's homemade sled here. Back to the Massey, I am left handed so I work from the right side to the left. Just my way of working without getting paint everywhere. I have added the layer of madden brown to make it look rusted without getting muddy in the color. The under area of blue helps to push the tire out for me. The process was repeated like a sewing machine. Work the yellow and purple into the shadows. Add the yellow for highlights When dry add the madden brown. But man is the process working well. Here are some other tractors if you like to look at them. Don't over think the details. Here I added some Payne's gray for the shadows and purple in layers to cast the shadow. Adding some yellow and ultramarine wiggles marks for the grass. Then glazing the whole underside with a green. That will be all folks.   This painting is for sell and at a nice 8 by 10 it is a perfect size for any small office.

Painting the Retired Massey

Doesn't Woody look like he has his hands full.  While I let the cows out of the catch pin where the guys sorted calves off, Old Hereford sneaked up on my girl playing with Woody. The old cow is gentle and my daughter seeing her coming decided to get in the middle of the truck bed where the cows could not reach her. After working cattle all day I waited til the next morning to get started. I drew out my drawing in pencil and then used a permanent pen to ink it in.  Next I added yellow ocher and some green into the engine area. Since the Massey is rusted the green will help to make nice gray areas. A little blue for the sky allow me to define the background while I was waiting for everything to dry. I started adding purple into my painting for the deep shadows this helps to give that great deep area that does not look flat.  I will show you the rest of the work later this week.  Click Here if you would like to see some of my other painting step by step.