Rare Sight ~ Sunrise

Saw this guy a few times the other day.  A very rare sight.

Trying to take photos is almost impossible.  Traffic will be heavy on our country highway until October.  Ugh.

Saw these guys out yesterday morning.  Three bucks enjoying their breakfast.

Well, I went out and watered everything.  It's gonna be in the 90's today, and I just shook my head the entire time.  Weeds so high and thick I can't see where the plants are or the flowers.  Only where I managed to weed tomatoes.  Oh, tomatoes are on, and so are jalapenos, and I picked a handful of red raspberries.

Daughter is not interning today.  We'll see if I can snag some help weeding and get the flower beds caught up.  Hm.  She'll probably ditch me and go swimming, but I don't blame her today.

I'll be a bit slower at getting around to everyone's blogs, but will be on indoor cooling down breaks, in between weeding.  I was up at 4:44am this morning. Oh yay......

Keeping Radishes Fresh and other Tidbits

I went out to check on the radishes again.  

To keep them fresh, if I don't use them the same day I pick them, I cut the greens, wash them, and place them in a damp paper towel.  Then I put that inside a container or reusable plastic bag.  Works like a charm.

The ground hog who got away.  I think there are two now.  Sigh.  Gonna have to keep my eyes open now.  Can't lose my garden after all this work.

A beautiful sunrise the other day.  We are entering into a very hot week this week.  AC filters were cleaned and temps turned down for the week.  Monday we reached 93°F.

With the temps soaring, the chickens are getting treated with shaved ice this week.

Woke up to a balmy, sticky 72°F at 5am.  I had plans to wash blankets and rugs.  Hm.  Yeah, that's not happening.

Random Tidbits

Wed. night Hubby, tired as he was tilled a small bit of the garden for me (for potatoes).  I yanked out one section of last year's plastic we had down for peppers, but left the rest in.  It's too wet to work in.

(That's puddle of water, and it's way too wet to till)

It's saturated in most parts yet.  We were to get rain all night, and did not thankfully.  Rain was 80% at 6am Thursday morning, but quickly changed to 50% at 7am.  Then it stopped early. 

Although it was a muddy mess, I planted 17# of red and white potatoes (90 starts).   Took a break, and headed back out to plant 53 sweet potato slips but only had room for 26.  I managed to plant a row of radishes too.  

We are really hurting in our area, farmers included.  Not one farmer has been in their fields this year other than to do soil tests.  Organic farmers may be having the same issue.

Our plan is to take it one day at a time, and then decide what's to be planted.  We will attempt fall planting of radishes, kale etc.  If I can manage it by myself, I plan to pull the pea fence and roll it up until fall.  It'd make tilling a bit easier since we can't plant any pea type at all now.

The weather changes by the hour, so it's hit or miss this year.

Allergies are at their worst ever this year.  I've relied on nettle for years, but I'm now mixing it up with mullien.   I'm also using oregano oil this year.   The diffuser is going at night, but that means turning off my dehumidifier and it's still raining here.

Goldenrod is not in season yet, and I don't have horehound.  If you have a tea remedy that works better, please share.

To relieve sinus pressure I did some essential oil steams the other day too.  I also decided to take my worries away with a long hot soak in the tub with essential oils.

I'll be looking through my herbal recipe books to see if I can find another tea alternative.  If there is nothing new in my own books, I'll be ordering some from the library.

Aurora gifted me an early morning treat on the porch.  Then proceeded to play with it, to the point I had to switch rockers for her to have more room.  Good kitty, but on the porch?  Really?

I was chilling on the front porch with a wine slushy, when I saw something move out in the field across from us.

I then remembered my chickens were out in their run, and ran out there to check.  Whew.  All accounted for, but not the barn cat. Found her later.

Just before that, our biker friend arrived to mow.  No mower.  Grr.  He has plans on Friday, and it's the only dry day for a while.  

Infused Oil Question and other Chit Chat

We were blessed with another sunshiny day, and no rain.  I went way out to the garlic and tried to recover it, lining up the holes.  Didn't happen.  Hmpf.  I then tried to hand hoe it.  Didn't happen.  Too wet, which put me instantly in a depressed mood.  It's not drying out, we can't till.  We can't plant.  Clouds moved in by 2pm, so the sun didn't last too long, but we warmed up to the low 70's.

I sat on the porch and chatted with a daughter, contemplating my options for the day.  Previous to that, I pulled weeds by the side door (what a mess).  I decided to clean the porch and get some things out of the barn.  Daughter helped, and soon it was swept, and furniture out and looking cozy.  I just need flowers, hanging pots and flower beds weeded now.

Question for you all.

I have always infused my oils with dry herbs.  Everything I've read states it is safer.  I'm also reading that chickweed loses it's value if dried.  So, has anyone infused oil with fresh chickweed?  And what process did you use to do it?  Would love to hear your input as chickweed is available here now.

I had a vulture swoop down onto the old barn and sit.  There must be something dead out there.  I had to laugh when a small bird swooped in and pushed it off the post it was previously sitting on.  I wonder if those small birds do that to keep them from eating their baby birds?  Or do vultures only eat dead animals?

If you recall, our nuisance neighbor moved out of state to start another home business.  Well, word is (just hearsay at this point) he spent all his money and guess who is back?  Yep.  When we returned from our cabin retreat, I noticed the frame that was started for a barn several years ago (and abandoned) was taken down, as well as a greenhouse at the house (no one bought the flowers he grew and sold, so that business may have gone down the tubes too).  Hm.  Yesterday, a Sheriff was down there for a long time.  Could get interesting.

Happy Homemaker Monday ~ Coyote Season

I'm joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom today.  Although I posted late last night (go back a post to read about our weekend).  We took Youngest and she had a blast.

Nothing like a coyote to wake you up in the early morning.  I took Jesse out to do his business in my PJ's.  He had his light on  (Hubby wasn't up for work just yet) and I was looking directly at him, and it came out from behind the wood barn.  Jesse tried to go after it, I reached for my gun, but realized I was in PJ's, so I screamed and ran off the porch, which prompted two girls to come screaming.  It acted like it wanted to come back, but ran off thankfully.  However, where there is one, there are more.  Now, while my heart palpitated, I realized it's going to be a rough spring.  I'll not go outside without protection (including in my PJ's) and I'll be going to the barn to check the chicken barn to make sure they are okay too.  Ugh.  What a morning.  


On the breakfast plate. . . 
Scramble.  I have 1 egg in my egg basket this morning.


The weather outside is . . .
We are up to the 70's.  It rained last night though.


On my reading pile . . .
My magazine that I planned to take with me over the weekend, but forgot.


On my TV . . .
A dvd series from the library called Yellowstone


On my menu . . .
Egg/cheese/sausage sandwiches
Salmon romanoff (never got it made), beets
Possibly something with freshly made tomato sauce
....have no idea.  



On my to-do list . . .
work out
make granola bars
wash bedding and get it on the line
library returns
deliver dish scrubbies
dishes
floors



What I am creating . . .
Knitted dishcloth.  I need to restock my netting and get scrubbies restocked asap.


Looking forward to . . .
Getting the bathroom remodel done so we can have family gatherings here again.  We haven't had time to shop for a new shower or check on flooring yet.  Always something going on.


From the camera . . .

On of the bedrooms a the historic hotel we stayed at over the weekend.


One of my simple pleasures . . .
Target practice


Praying . . .
Friends, Family, special requests.  While we were on our weekend trip, a MI motorcyclist riding a 3 wheel bike on the highway passed away.  A tire came off, throwing him into the concrete median and he died on the scene.  There were tons and motorcycles out this past weekend due to the change in weather.  The accident was in our county.

Weekend Updates

The eagles were out and about again yesterday morning.  The kids were even flying and later up in this same tree.  They were flying over our place looking for their next meal.  I'm waiting to clean my coop until this week - shotgun week starts.  I'm going to hope the eagles stay away while the hens are in the run, but I'll have to muck it quickly and put them back in.

Sunday was a day of errands and delivering extra food, and what not.  I talked Hubby into cutting wood for a good hour before it turned dark.  Family borrowed the truck for 3 days and we didn't get it back until late Sunday.  Too late to haul our cut wood to the porch or barn, and now it's raining.  Hubby's back is sore from lifting furniture up onto sliders, so we cut our time short out at the barn rubble pile (but have enough wood to last a long, long time).

I got Youngest with the hide-the-rat the other day.  She tried to get me by putting it under a kitchen towel.  Didn't work, ha ha!

We have enough food to last a few days.  The bonus of hosting and having 2 meals this year.  The house is clean too, so I think I'll do some decorating with Youngest.  She's home today.  School is out, but back tomorrow.  However, I'm told some are already closing for tomorrow due to weather.  It's raining right now, but turning to snow later.  

I will have to do constant checking of the property this week.  I've had to run off hunters (shotgun week) in the past.  Some have no respect for other people's property, so I'll most likely put Jesse on a leash this week too.

We left our porch furniture out until the holiday meal, so I'll be bringing in one chair at a time, drying it by the woodstove, and putting them in storage.  What a mess this weather is, but I think being snowed in is a fun reason to do some Christmas decorating.

Tidbits

I got more of these crocheted.

Embroidered a kitchen towel for one kiddo for Christmas.

The bald eagles were out and about again.  The are out and about this morning too.

Thanksgiving meals are behind us now.  Time to get back to cleaning (utility room, bedroom), and get back to organizing the garage.  I'll be back to share a fruit salad recipe.  Not sure what Sunday will bring, as we are worn out from get-togethers, cleaning and cooking.  Family borrowed our truck to move, so it'll be an as-we-go day.  If the truck is returned, we may just get more wood cut.

Bald Eagles ~ Homemade Seasoned Salt

We've been watching a family of 4 bald eagles out in a field by our homestead.  As long as the leave my barn cats and chickens alone, we are enjoying watching them.

I made homemade seasoned salt for a recipe I needed it for yesterday.  It was better than store bought seasoned salt.

I used my homemade onion powder and garlic powder to make it too.

Homemade Seasoned Salt
2 Tbsp. salt
2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. organic paprika
1/4 tsp. organic turmeric
1/4 tsp. homemade organic onion powder
1/4 tsp. homemade organic garlic powder
1/4 tsp. organic non-gmo corn starch

Mix and use in any recipe.  

Hunter's Moon

In case you missed the Hunter's Moon Wednesday, here you go.  We woke up to 33°F yesterday morning.

Here is the moon this morning.  We woke up to a chilly 28°F.  I got up at 5:30am to take the dogs out and stoke the fire.  Typically, I put Mia on a leash and let Jesse go do his business within sight of our pole light.  However, after I called for him, a group of coyotes moved through, and they were close.  Loud too.  I had to yell "treaty" to get him running inside.  I will be taking him on a leash now when it's dark.  They were across the street somewhere, and the corn is still up there.  My hands were literally shaking, they were that close.  Coyotes were always an issue when we had kid goats.  Thankfully, they are not around our area as much as other areas.  This is the second time we've heard them this year.

I only worked outdoors yesterday for about 30 minutes yesterday - too cold.  I can't function pulling weeds etc with too many layers on.  This week is going to be interesting.  Rain is in the forecast, so I'm yanking weeds and dead plants as fast as I can.  I'm not sure when I'll be out there today.  It'll have to warm up first.

Last night I made breakfast for dinner - homemade sausage in sausage gravy, over homemade biscuits, scrambled eggs and fried potatoes.  By the way, I made the eggs first, cooking them almost done.  I then put them in a crock pot on low while I cooked everything else.  It worked great and freed up my stove top.

Mia literally put her bone in my lap yesterday, while crocheting, ha ha ha!  Funny dog.  However, she goes after cats.  Urgh.

Weekend Updates

An Uncle of mine passed away and we had yet another family funeral to attend over the weekend.  He was 89, and a Korean veteran.  He was such a jokester and had a good full life, but pancreatic cancer took him suddenly and quickly.  It was a beautiful service, and we rode the Harley.  Uncle G. loved our Harley and I'm sure he was smiling in Heaven as we rode to his final resting place.  Such a beautiful day and my cousin's tribute at the church was downright emotional.  There were US Army soldiers there to do the flag folding, and a gun salute.  Just a very nice service.

Sunday morning we found out that a woman we rode with last year (in a group), was killed in a motorcycle accident.  She took a curve badly, tried to correct herself and hit a car.  No helmet.  

Remember that tall stack of library books?  I found recipes for dehydrator cookies and gave them a try.  We love these!  No eggs, no butter, and delicious.  Next time I'll put mini chips in them, but I'll soon try the peanut butter cookie recipe too.  These were oatmeal.

Here is the book the recipe is in.  I'm not an "idiot" when it comes to using my dehydrator, but there are hidden gems in many library books, so I always take a look.

Sunday morning I dug up the potatoes.  I'll have another post for that.

I also went out to do the first official tomato picking, expecting more than I got - 2 lbs.  Literally.  I need 45 lbs. to make sauce, or at least 25 for a half batch.  I am so disappointed this year.  It's definitely not going to be another 500+ lb tomato year.  They are small too. Too small.

The baby birds are born now, and they have left the nest.

Turnips were a failure.  They are small, and not very many survived.

Weeds ~ Raccoons

Hubby and I spent the 4th working.  He mowed (which is still not done), and I weeded.  I got a dent into it anyway.  It was a high of 92°F and a higher heat index - hot, hot, and hot.  Rain is in the forecast today again too.  

Hubby was the first to try out my homemade Aloe-Plantain cubes for sunburn relief too.  He said it felt great and this morning he's not complaining.

We've started on restocking our split wood again.  There was a dent made into that job too on the 4th.  We retired early, and put the last air conditioner in finally.  Whew!

As far as handiwork goes, I managed to finish up a pot holder set.  I had to stick with small projects on my humid porch.  We've even put a fan out there now.

Random Tidbits

I've had a few morning visitors lately.  We've been watching them every morning and evening.  Almost every other day we see a group of them on the move, looking for food and water.

Morning visitors another day.  There was about a dozen of them, just hanging out at one of the barns.

This and That

Although it's rained here quite a lot, we've seen some very beautiful sunrises while sipping hot coffee on the porch.

We've also watched the deer near sunset. 

Flower Bed Resident (s)

In between all my other work, I am reclaiming the flower beds, and each time I make my weed piles a bit higher (or more of them).

One day I decided to go rake them into one large pile and guess who greeted me under one of them?

Welcome to the Jungle! Homemaking at it's Best ~ Fox and the Chickens ~ Garden Provides

I feel like I need to add music to this post, ha ha ha!

I decided to take photos after all.  A little humor for you today. I was outside taking photos of Youngest on her 2nd day of school, and just started to laugh.

You have to have humor to see this, and deal with this (all things considered).

This doesn't even include the jungle of a vegetable garden we have either.

Grab a cup of java/tea or your favorite beverage.  Things just got interesting....

Mr. Fox is back ~ Tidbits

Homesteading comes with not-so-pleasant moments.  The fox is back.  Maybe he/she never left?  Our 17 year-old daughter took King out yesterday afternoon.  On a leash.

She rounded the big barn, and through it, she heard a noise and saw the fox on the other side.  King freaked out, pulled backwards, completely freeing himself from his collar.

The chase was on.  King barreled after the fox, as she watched the weeds sway.  She screamed and screamed, then sobbed horribly.

King ran straight into the woods.

After moments of shear panic she had lost her "baby" he ran back out of the woods to her.

We've now switched from collars and leashes, to harnesses and leashes.  The fox has to find a new home.

I'm hoping the chase has run the fox completely off this time, but he/she seems to come around when the chickens are out of their coop and in their run.   When they are inside there is no sign of Mr. fox.

Dandelion Frittata ~ Night Off?

I had a leisurely morning, considering the rain gave me the day off from the garden.  I decided to make a dandelion frittata for our daughter's birthday breakfast.  

It was delicious.  So good in fact, two girls ate two pieces.  I had to put two pieces aside for Hubby to take to work before they ate it all up.

Birthday! ~ Rain, Glorious Rain!

I spent the evening baking a cake for our daughter who turned 17 today.  We made homemade frosting and added homemade lemon extract this time (vs. vanilla).  I also splurged and picked up two half gallons of organic ice cream.  It's so hot and humid here, I did not want to attempt homemade ice cream.  It was so hot in the house, that the frosting was drooping.  We put the cake in the refrigerator last night.  We only have one air conditioner unit in downstairs and the kitchen is pretty warm.  

Our  now 17 year-old, frosted the cake after I added the first layer.  The kids love to learn how to do this, as I learned from my mother.  In fact, Mom donated all her cake decorating supplies to the girls, and a two layer 9-inch round cake is traditional here.

Last night we also received rain.  Woo hoo!  Finally.  The storms, thankfully were not too bad, and the rain came down.  I am so thankful.  The gardens really, really needed it.  I attempted weeding the herb garden yesterday, but the ground was too dry to even do it.

The saga of the raccoon from h-e-double hockey sticks continues.

Random Tidbits

No rain as of today (Wed. morning).  The forecast states that we have chances of bad storms late tonight, including bad winds and hail.  I could do without the storms, but we need the rain. 

The grass is dried up and brown, and the dirt around my trees have dried so badly, the ground is cracking.  

First lettuce from the garden.  We enjoyed it with homemade bean burritos.  It felt so nice to go out and pick it vs. have to drive to the store and buy it.

Baking like a "toasted cheeser"

At 7am, the heat is already bad.  I should be out there soaking the garden, but wanted to get a quick post in first.  The "beast" died a few days ago (our computer), so I'm using a laptop for the time being.  I am just trying to figure out how to get the photos loaded (picassa is not on here, so I'll work on that later maybe).

 What ever is doing this returned the other day.  Both porches were attacked like this.  My two pots of comfrey were put safely inside the garage for the night.  I can't afford to lost them, as I have lost all the other herbs. 

I swept up the dirt, filled the pots, put out a trail camera, and it decided to not return last night.  Of course that's how it works.