Summer is winding down. We are again inundated with apples and walnut eating squirrels. School starts up in less than two weeks. The kid is excited to be going back to school, she misses her friends, but I am going to miss her. After weeks of going, going, going for various summer activities, we find the last couple weeks of summer with almost nothing to do. It has been a more or less slow week, but still busy, and next week really isn't looking much quieter. I am shaking my head, wondering what happened to last fall's vow of not so much stuff next summer.
All in all it has been good, and fun. We've seen progression up a level in both swimming and Taekwondo. A lot of reading, including a book I never actually read as a kid, The Black Stallion - although in my horse crazed life, I'm not sure how I passed it over. She loved it, and wants to read the next, and the next, and the next. Also read her one of my favorites, King of the Wind. Their quality of writing shows in their endurance as stories that kids continue to read. And I loved seeing her reactions to the suspenseful parts as I read to her, hiding her head under the covers, squealing "oh, no", or merely smiling a happy grin at the positive conclusions.
In some ways, a return to school indicates a return to a little more quiet, a little more 'me' time, which is both welcome and unwanted. Some how I hijacked myself on that this year though. Turns out I am PTA president for the next 12 months to two years. That in its self has been an experience so far, as I struggle to wrest control from the out going president, who seems to have trouble delegating even when the job is no longer hers to delegate. Hopefully today will find the turn over that should have been done two months ago, complete.
Our house is still in various stages of disarray as we recover from installing our new range! It was bittersweet to take the sawzall and cut into the cabinets and counter that my dad had built so lovingly all those years ago, but I love my new stove! No more expletives and "I hate this oven!" regarding burned or under cooked food. And there is room, lots and lots of room. Bye, bye 24", forty year old wall oven. Bye, bye uneven heating and "gas must be completely turned off at the shut off valve when not in use" gas cook top. Hello new 30" dual fuel range with real convection oven option. I am ready and looking forward to holiday baking and cooking this year!
We moved the whole thing to a different location in the kitchen, and hopefully stage two will be completed next summer. It will be nice to have it all finished, but I cringe when I think about getting the new counter top. It will be gorgeous, but around 250 times the price of the original. Yep, that is right. Sounds extravagant, and it probably is, but put into perspective my dad paid $20 for a sheet of laminate counter top that he installed himself. I'm sure he would tell me I am crazy for picking the beautiful granite we are hoping to get, but it will probably stand up better to 60 plus years of use than the old laminate did.
And the menagerie is growing again. A happy little girl now has a kitten of her own. An orange tabby, attitude filled, lovable monster of a fur ball she named Sun Streamer. He is sweet and cuddly, but a tough little guy with no fear of dogs who keeps the 80 pound hound occupied. Now if I can just convince him that certain things are not for sitting or even walking on. But, he is orange, so it is probably a hopeless battle.
It is a sunny, lovely day outside. I can hear the wind in the trees and I am glad for the cooler weather. There are apples to pick, chores to do, and phone calls to be made. Until next time, take care and have fun.
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Quail, Quail, Oh Beautiful Quail
Coturnix Quail are our latest endeavor. These little birds are beautiful, and have (to me) more personality than chickens. A couple of months ago we purchased ten quail chicks from an ad on Craigslist. I picked up the tiny, adorable chicks on a Friday afternoon in mid-March and put them in our homemade brooder. Over the period of a few weeks they grew rapidly while Josh built them a permanent home in the barn. They are now housed, seemingly happily, in their new home and producing eggs by the dozens!
We have 7 hens and 3 roosters of various varieties: two Texas A&M type, five Pharaoh, and three Tibetan type. At least two of the Pharaohs are roosters, but not quite sure which is the third rooster. The shells are a beautiful speckled brown - from tiny specks to large spots - on the outside and a creamy white/bluish color on the inside. The tiny eggs are a pale lemon color with the thick white typical of very fresh eggs. They have an extremely high nutritional value, packing in more nutrition per egg than two regular chicken eggs combined.
Quail eggs are also rumored to be safe for people that can't eat chicken eggs. So far, this seems to be true. I got over my "we're eating our babies!" qualms and had some for breakfast. With chicken eggs I would have been very sorry within minutes, but so far I am quite happy with the results from the quail eggs. Pretty much taste like eggs, but as our daughter put it, "they have a taste of their own too".
We also have about twenty eggs in an incubator that should start hatching in the next 10 days or so, if they are going to at all. They are our very first eggs, so I think it is debatable whether or not our little roosters had gotten their job quite figured out at the time. Hoping that we at least get a few so we can add to our little flock. But if these don't hatch, we'll have plenty more to try in a matter of days.
All the hens are laying now - every day! So the eggs are accumulating quickly. A friend took a dozen, and I am hoping we will be able to sell them on a regular basis as we are getting 14 every two days. I am going to have to get creative with marketing these until we get a following.
Next on the agenda is building a portable run that we will be able to put them in for a few hours so they can get some nice time outdoors every day when the weather is good.
In other news, March brought us 5 1/4 inches of rain, and April brought 3 inches. We're still pretty soggy and already at 1 1/4 inches for May. Hoping this week continues to be sunny and we can get the garden worked up and get planting! I have been considering putting in raised beds so we can get lettuces and such planted a lot earlier. I know of people that are already eating fresh lettuce from their gardens! Looking forward to the plant sale next weekend so I can pick up some good organic veggie and herb starts. I so miss fresh tomatoes and other veggies. Working away from home last year meant our garden didn't get planted.
We have 7 hens and 3 roosters of various varieties: two Texas A&M type, five Pharaoh, and three Tibetan type. At least two of the Pharaohs are roosters, but not quite sure which is the third rooster. The shells are a beautiful speckled brown - from tiny specks to large spots - on the outside and a creamy white/bluish color on the inside. The tiny eggs are a pale lemon color with the thick white typical of very fresh eggs. They have an extremely high nutritional value, packing in more nutrition per egg than two regular chicken eggs combined.
Quail eggs are also rumored to be safe for people that can't eat chicken eggs. So far, this seems to be true. I got over my "we're eating our babies!" qualms and had some for breakfast. With chicken eggs I would have been very sorry within minutes, but so far I am quite happy with the results from the quail eggs. Pretty much taste like eggs, but as our daughter put it, "they have a taste of their own too".
We also have about twenty eggs in an incubator that should start hatching in the next 10 days or so, if they are going to at all. They are our very first eggs, so I think it is debatable whether or not our little roosters had gotten their job quite figured out at the time. Hoping that we at least get a few so we can add to our little flock. But if these don't hatch, we'll have plenty more to try in a matter of days.
All the hens are laying now - every day! So the eggs are accumulating quickly. A friend took a dozen, and I am hoping we will be able to sell them on a regular basis as we are getting 14 every two days. I am going to have to get creative with marketing these until we get a following.
Next on the agenda is building a portable run that we will be able to put them in for a few hours so they can get some nice time outdoors every day when the weather is good.
In other news, March brought us 5 1/4 inches of rain, and April brought 3 inches. We're still pretty soggy and already at 1 1/4 inches for May. Hoping this week continues to be sunny and we can get the garden worked up and get planting! I have been considering putting in raised beds so we can get lettuces and such planted a lot earlier. I know of people that are already eating fresh lettuce from their gardens! Looking forward to the plant sale next weekend so I can pick up some good organic veggie and herb starts. I so miss fresh tomatoes and other veggies. Working away from home last year meant our garden didn't get planted.
Monday, April 14, 2014
Happy Birthday Baby!
I can't believe that my little girl will soon be turning seven years old! Yes 7! The time has gone by much too fast - in the blink of an eye it seems. While I am excited for all that life has ahead of her, I am also saddened that time seems to have slipped by without me having really noticed it going. I'm glad for the memories, but wish there was time for so many more. I guess that is why I am going all out for her birthday party. A fairy themed party at a gazebo in the park! I am excited to be doing this for her and hope it is as magical for her as I am imagining it in my head. There is one thing that I must remember though, a mantra of sorts for things like this - keep it simple, stupid.
So - to share in my enthusiasm here is my collection of ideas that I have assembled on pinterest annette0394 fairyland I won't be using them all, but it is nice to have everything in one reference point when I want to check on something. Now I am off to make lists and plans and - yay for sales and dollar stores - do some shopping.
So - to share in my enthusiasm here is my collection of ideas that I have assembled on pinterest annette0394 fairyland I won't be using them all, but it is nice to have everything in one reference point when I want to check on something. Now I am off to make lists and plans and - yay for sales and dollar stores - do some shopping.
Three years old was so long ago yet it seems like it was just yesterday!
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Ahh, Spring!
The snowdrops have bloomed and gone, the daffodils are blooming, and leaves and buds seem to have sprung up on everything over night. And I guess it is time to make up a batch of hummingbird food. Our first hummingbird put in an appearance today - following Josh around the yard and watching him through the shop windows as he worked on the coop for our new Coturnix Quail chicks.
Yep - Quail, our newest endeavor. We picked up ten of the adorable little birds two weeks ago. It is fun watching them grow - and they are growing fast! Josh is very enthusiastic about the possibilities of quail. He is even growing meal worms so they will have more options for food - hopefully by fall (meal worms have a rather long life cycle apparently).
I have also come to the conclusion that I need to take a slightly different tack with my blog - growing things can be such a slow business, and I often have other things on my mind, so I'm expanding to include topics that aren't necessarily about farm life or growing things. Not today, but next time I have something to get off my chest or expound from my soap box, I will. Be warned. :)
Yep - Quail, our newest endeavor. We picked up ten of the adorable little birds two weeks ago. It is fun watching them grow - and they are growing fast! Josh is very enthusiastic about the possibilities of quail. He is even growing meal worms so they will have more options for food - hopefully by fall (meal worms have a rather long life cycle apparently).
I have also come to the conclusion that I need to take a slightly different tack with my blog - growing things can be such a slow business, and I often have other things on my mind, so I'm expanding to include topics that aren't necessarily about farm life or growing things. Not today, but next time I have something to get off my chest or expound from my soap box, I will. Be warned. :)
Monday, January 20, 2014
Finally!
Yikes! After a huge hiatus - partly due to having an old hotmail email address that I could no longer use to access my blog, google finally came through and allowed me to just change my email for my account instead of having to go through some sort of microsoft account creation to get back in. Thank you google.
All that stupidity aside....
The sun is out, the mud has subsided a little, and the weather is chilly. I see that the snowdrops and daffodils are starting to push their little heads through the soil, the irises have new leaves starting, and the clematis has brand new leaf buds. Josh has cilantro sprouting in a mini greenhouse in the mudroom, our first seed catalog came right after Christmas, and the yard needs a serious clean-up after our last big windstorm. Lots of must-do's and plans for this year, and hopefully the weather won't defy us again.
We've done some canning, and purchased a pressure canner/cooker a while back. Looking forward to filling the pantry with our own home grown fruits and veggies this year. Our favorite canned veggie so far has been a veggie mix with carrots, corn, green beans, and red bell pepper that Josh found in one of our books. The green beans had gotten a little over ripe, so we shelled them before adding them to the mix. Very good and with a little butter and a dash of Johnny's seasoning even better.
We have managed to make canned apple pie filling for the last three Autumns, so that has become a staple and easy to do pantry addition. Instead of making pie with it, which requires two quarts, I have been making crisp in an eight x eight baking pan. Using just one quart makes it go further. Also found a yummy crisp topping recipe that is gluten free and doesn't take as long to get crispy so our filling doesn't turn to mush in the oven.
Here is the recipe -
1 cup uncooked oats
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Combine and sprinkle over fruit filling. Bake at 350F until crispy and golden. I'm sure it would taste wonderful with any canned pie filling.
I found it here apple crisp with oatmeal topping
Other than a day of snow, and a week of really cold weather, we have been having a mild winter. I am hoping that the cold snap was enough to put a damper on this year's mosquitoes and give the irises and peonies enough chill to bring on a lot of flowers. Time will tell.
Last bit before I sign off (hopefully only briefly) - we acquired a puppy this past summer. An adorable little hound puppy that we named Shadow. I stress little, because that is a long past condition. At a rate of a 10 pound gain per month, at seven months old he is now about 70 lbs. and tall enough that he has to duck a little when he goes under the dinning room table. So much for little, but his size isn't a surprise, just how quickly he got there. He is still adorable (for the most part :) ), and we love him. The cats and our other dog are still undecided.
All that stupidity aside....
The sun is out, the mud has subsided a little, and the weather is chilly. I see that the snowdrops and daffodils are starting to push their little heads through the soil, the irises have new leaves starting, and the clematis has brand new leaf buds. Josh has cilantro sprouting in a mini greenhouse in the mudroom, our first seed catalog came right after Christmas, and the yard needs a serious clean-up after our last big windstorm. Lots of must-do's and plans for this year, and hopefully the weather won't defy us again.
We've done some canning, and purchased a pressure canner/cooker a while back. Looking forward to filling the pantry with our own home grown fruits and veggies this year. Our favorite canned veggie so far has been a veggie mix with carrots, corn, green beans, and red bell pepper that Josh found in one of our books. The green beans had gotten a little over ripe, so we shelled them before adding them to the mix. Very good and with a little butter and a dash of Johnny's seasoning even better.
We have managed to make canned apple pie filling for the last three Autumns, so that has become a staple and easy to do pantry addition. Instead of making pie with it, which requires two quarts, I have been making crisp in an eight x eight baking pan. Using just one quart makes it go further. Also found a yummy crisp topping recipe that is gluten free and doesn't take as long to get crispy so our filling doesn't turn to mush in the oven.
Here is the recipe -
1 cup uncooked oats
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Combine and sprinkle over fruit filling. Bake at 350F until crispy and golden. I'm sure it would taste wonderful with any canned pie filling.
I found it here apple crisp with oatmeal topping
Other than a day of snow, and a week of really cold weather, we have been having a mild winter. I am hoping that the cold snap was enough to put a damper on this year's mosquitoes and give the irises and peonies enough chill to bring on a lot of flowers. Time will tell.
Last bit before I sign off (hopefully only briefly) - we acquired a puppy this past summer. An adorable little hound puppy that we named Shadow. I stress little, because that is a long past condition. At a rate of a 10 pound gain per month, at seven months old he is now about 70 lbs. and tall enough that he has to duck a little when he goes under the dinning room table. So much for little, but his size isn't a surprise, just how quickly he got there. He is still adorable (for the most part :) ), and we love him. The cats and our other dog are still undecided.
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