Trail Camera Christmas Present!

My 2020 Christmas Present from Marcus!

One of my new Christmas presents from the sweetest man I know(Marcus, it’s you)! This new trail camera is amazing……it has a macro lens…..where have you been my whole life??? Yes, I love Cardinals, so I couldn’t pick just one. Still working on the perfect set-up. Super impressed with the camera and my man!

https://suspectgamecameras.com/

I have been using trail camera’s to capture my backyard birds for a few years now.  I had been wanting something that would focus more on the bird than anything.  Marcus had his eye on a new trail camera that had this marco lens.  It went on o sale shortly before Christmas and he nabbed that right up.

I had no idea I was getting this trail camera for Christmas, but I couldn’t be any happier.

Super impressed on the focus of the lens and its clarity.  I have had a many of camera’s on my birds, but this here camera it supreme caliber.

It is a work in progress….as I am trying to figure out the right distance from an object to get the clearest picture.  So stayed turned……

Satisfyingly Obsessed Homemade Granola Bars!

Chocolate Cranberry Nut Flax Seed Granola Bars

I don’t consider myself a cook or a baker. I am not famous for a dish. My better half is much more creative in the kitchen than I.

We eat a lot of granola bars. Marcus has one every morning as he gets ready for work, as he needs something quick and easy to eat before he takes his medication.

Now….I suppose you wonder, why I would go to all the work to make these granola bar when it is some much easier to buy in the store, well here is my reasoning:

1st) The granola bars at the store are expensive.

2nd) They only out 5 or 6 in a box. Well then I need to shop 1 time a week or buy 2 boxes every week to stay ahead. And if we both eat one a day that 10 bars. So then that’s 2 boxes a week and then to avoid my every dread grocery purchase and shopping trip I would need to but 4 boxes a week, hope you see where I was going with that.

3rd) I do try to pay attention to the chemicals put in my body. I am not a health nut, just the opposite I suppose…..and I wont stop drinking a Coke once a day either, don’t care what’s in there……. I like it…..it taste good……so its good for me.

My sister Brittany was having a Pampered Chef party(online) the other week and I don’t normally participate in these types of thing. But I wanted to be a supportive sister. Plus, I find there products quite expensive, for your average hard working girl.

But I found this cute little gronola bar maker and just had to have it. Not sure why…..well I had good intentions I suppose. Lord knows it wasn’t cheap. And of course it sat in my cupboard for several weeks before I used it.

Anyways….this recipe was super easy! But definitely not super healthy! I didn’t really need to put all them chocolate chips in there, but I love chocolate.

1 and 1/2 old fashioned oats

Nuts- I threw in a handful of mixed nuts

Heated a pan on the stove and toasted the oats and nut until they were a little brown and fragrant

Poured then in bowl with 1 cup of chocolate chips.

(Only suppose to use 1 cup of add-in for this recipe). I added a few tbsp. of flax seed and a handful of dried cranberries. So way over the 1 cup of add-ins. (next time I will stick with the only 1 cup total of add ins)

Mix the oats, nuts, and add-ins togther

Then in a bowl melt 1 tbsp of butter(oil if you prefer), 1 tbsp of brown sugar, and 1/4 cup of honey(I use organic) in the microwave. One all melted together. Put in the oat mixture bowl and mix it all together.

Then I just scoop a spoonful of the mixture in the nice little pampered chef granola bar maker and pressed in there the best I could.

Put the cover on and put in the fridge for awhile to harden. Done….they taste pretty good.

Its a work in progress and they are not perfect and they may never be perfect. But they are perfect to me.

Cilantro

A big ol’ batch of dehydrated cilantro ready to go! I will grind this up and store in an air tight container which will stay good until next year, if it last that long!

Great Blue Heron!

I find the Great Blue Heron a very mysterious creature as well as very stealthy! Always creeping around looking for something to eat. So sneaky! This is a picture off the Covert Cellular Camera! https://www.covertscoutingcameras.com This trail camera picture come right to my cell phone. Its nice to get real time action, but still be able to pull the SD card and get a clearer version.

Coyote Pup!

HOT OFF THE SPARTAN CELL CAMERA! You gotta look pretty closely, but its there! My 1st time ever getting a coyote pup. All the millions of pictures and I finally got a cute little coyote pup. I don’t think coyotes are cute when they get bigger, frankly I don’t like coyotes at all, but the little’s are adorable. The adult coyotes have been very active in this area and I couldn’t figure out why, we even have a ton of daytime pictures. And….now I know!

2020 Fawns

At least 2 fawn families so far. One set of twins and one single fawn. So darn cute! I sure enjoy watching GOD’S little creatures grow!

I love this time of year!

I get these pictures off a trail camera system that send pictures to my email every hour. I love how this system works.