Living and Gardening in the Ozarks

Catch-Up Journal - Valentine's Day Baking

2012-02-14T06:37:00.001-06:00

I am having blogging issues.....again.

I had a rather lengthy post and I thought it would be saved automatically like always....it was not!
I never hit publish either.....

I will try again.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I decided to use a dozen of the eggs and made an angel food cake and the 12-yolk lemon sponge cake....it is Valentine's Day after all and you know I don't need much of an excuse to bake!
We are routinely getting a dozen eggs a day. What bounty!

The past week was pretty routine. We did get about 2 inches of snow but most melted off today and rain is due next.

Our new hay was delivered,
We still need about 20 more bales and we are looking.....

I went to the doctor for a routine follow-up on the polymyalgia rheumatica. He wants me to stay on the Prednisone for two more months but I am down to 1/2 pill a day, 2.5 mg. I had a good discussion with him about recurrence of the PR and the negative side effects from the Prednisone but he says I am on the lowest dose and therefore, should have the lowest possible side effects. I sure hope he is right.

Does anyone need barn cats??? Here is what greeted me this morning when I went out to milk. DH has just fed them or they were waiting for him.

Well, let's see if this one publishes......

Daily Journal

2012-02-07T18:12:00.001-06:00

The last few days have been pretty uneventful. Weather has been cool and drizzly...no real amounts of rain so far.

I have spent some time checking and researching hay. I am happy to report we have found 38 round bales and have our favorite part-time farm hand (a local neighbor boy still in high school) looking for 20 more.
He found the hay for us and it is through a man his family has known for years. That is always a good thing. He just brought by a bag of a sampling of the hay...the bale was so tight he couldn't dig in very far but it smells wonderful, and is very soft. It bends rather than breaks. It is orchard grass with some red clover in....better than what we are currently feeding. The price is market price delivered and we are glad to get it.

We are still considered newcomers to the community since neither of our families are from this area. Also we are not really farmers.....so having found this young man has been a blessing for us. We found him originally through Craig's list selling wood, a very serendipitous finding.

So far, he has cleaned out the sheds, cut some wood that was down on our place. I recently booked him to cut down or back our very overgrown front shrub border. Next I will get him to paint the outbuildings.
I hope to get all this done before he heads off to college.

The hay has been a worry so I am relieved to have it taken care of. We plan to just use this young man for all our needs on the farm.

I had the usual thing of people not calling me back as promised. One man wanted to buy bred heifers...I told him I didn't have any for sale....maybe his real interest. Who knows. He sounded to promising about finding us the hay.......it has now been 24 hours with no call.

The chickens are stunning us. Another day of 15 and a day of 12.....we are loving it!
Here part of the flock are enjoying henbit.

The dinner at Bolivar was good and we all brought home leftovers. This is another pet peeve of mine....why do they serve such humongous amounts. We all could do with half the amount and half the price. Now there is a new concept!

Cinnamon Bread and more Rain

2012-02-04T14:15:00.001-06:00

Well our big storm prediction turned out to be just 3/4 inches of rain. But we are delighted. My sis in Iowa was getting some snow and she was happy about that too.

In fact she called this morning and we got wound up.....I forgot I was supposed to milk until she ended the call and it was 9AM! No problem.....DH had Willow up and I just milked a little late. She gave her normal amount. I won't have to milk again for three days.

I don't know why....maybe the cool, cloudy day but I have been thinking about raisin bread and baking. I used to buy it often before I started making our bread but I don't think I have made it in many years. During our conversation (Sis in Iowa) I asked her what she thought about using our favorite sweet roll recipe only making in a loaf rolled up with the filling inside. She thought it would be great and suggested I mix the raisins directly in the dough instead of on top of the rectangle with the filling. Since I introduced this recipe to her, it has become her favorite sweet roll recipe too. I got it from the internet (Thibault's Table) but it was originally from Joy of Cooking.
I think I have already posted it. Trust me on this one....it is a fantastic recipe.

The bread made such a large loaf I decided to do it sort of free form with no pan. It held its shape very well. I think I could have made two small loaves and used the bread pans. We have had a sample slice. It makes such a tender moist bread...now I am thinking about making just a loaf of bread using the recipe sans filling and fruit.

I also added the zest of an orange and diced very fine some of my candied orange peel. I love to nibble on the orange peel. It has been made since fall is is very tender and chewy. It gave the bread just a hint of orange flavor. I mixed the peel in the dough too.

Usually the icing for breads calls for just milk and powdered sugar, but I add vanilla and a tiny pinch of salt to mine.

Chickens

The girls set a record last evening. We got 15 eggs! That means some of my 'senior' hens are laying again. It is really fun to gather eggs now.

Tomorrow is DH's birthday. His Mom is taking us out to eat. We are going to a popular place in Bolivar, not fancy but just good country cooking.

Farm

We are running low on hay so now the current project is trying to find hay......I may have to order a semi-load in from up northwest....that will be some serious money. Beef hay now costs what dairy hay cost us back before 2004. Inflation has hit everything except peoples income!

Growing Garlic

2012-02-02T07:58:00.000-06:00

I had another almost sleepless night. I am hoping stopping the Prednisone will help with that problem.
We got pretty cool overnight, 30° but today is supposed to be in the 60's.

I actually did go out late yesterday afternoon and planted 25 feet of sprouted garlic.
All I had to do was push some mulch out of the way here and there. This is on the north side of the south garden fence. I picked a section where the clematis and roses won't cast much shade on the garlic. I am happy to report the ground was in beautiful condition and very moist. I just drug a hoe down the row and then pushed the individual cloves into the soil.

I notice that some of the garlic has sprouted and some has not....none has rotted. I need to do some research about how to store garlic over the winter.. If any of you know, please share with me. I haven't raised garlic for very long and am just finding my way. I don't know if this late planting will make either, but the garlic was sprouted and I hated to loose it.

While out back, I gathered the eggs...9 slightly soiled. I need to clean out the nests this morning....again. This is an endless job since many choose to roost in the nests and leave their calling cards behind.
I also pulled some henbit and dead nettle and tossed to them and shelled two ears of corn from my field corn crop and tossed it. I think the corn kernels are a little too big for them. I hope this will improve the color of the yolks that get a little pale during winter.

Today's plan is to do a little housecleaning. I have some points accumulated on Amazon so I may have to do a little shopping too. Life is good.

Cleaning the Milk Parlor - More greenery outside - Scones and Lemon Curd

2012-02-01T05:27:00.001-06:00

We are still having warm weather here. Yesterday it was cloudy most of the day but nice and warm.
I milked and then decided to stay in the barn and begin the organizing of the Milk parlor. I worked just an hour and got a lot done but suffered the rest of the day for being on the concrete too long.

I put up the new shelf so now I have everything up off the floors and pretty well sorted. I still need to sweep and clean some things. This is the room in the barn with the ss sinks and the old frig where I process my milk. It is just in front of where I milk Willow. The old bulk tank still sits in the middle of the room and I wish it were gone! Then I would have a roomy 12x12 area. I need to check into that this spring. Surely there is a market somewhere for this equipment that DH should have sold years ago!

I couldn't resist the urge to try scones with the rest of the lemon curd. I made them for breakfast yesterday morning and we finished up the lemon curd. We both like it very much.....I did add a little bacon on the side.

I saw lemon curd advertised somewhere, a very small jar, for $15.95....wow! That would make a lemon pie worth a lot of money.

The other day Kris showed her sprouted potatoes she is saving for planting....here is a bag of mine I had on the back porch and I found a lot more in the milk parlor during my cleaning process.

These will have to be cut first but I have a lot in the barn that are sprouted tiny potatoes and will be planted whole.
I may I will buy some red potatoes and some Yukon Golds to let sprout too.

Gardening

Here are some more greenery pictures I took the other day. Note the 'ground cover' around the base of the rose of sharon....if you can't beat em, join 'em! Henbit has been the bane of my gardening existence since moving here. I have sprayed it, pulled it, cut it down and tilled it in.....and it is more lush than ever. It occurred to me walking around and seeing it on every bare piece of ground that it grew similar to my purchased lamiums......I think I will just throw in the towel and let it be and consider it as native ground cover. I do plan to weed whack it into semi submission before it blooms.....

The roses have never lost all their leaves.

and many have 1 inch long new growth on them.

I love self-seeding anything. When you have a lot of space to cover, these are wonderful plants. One that takes this a little too far is malva sylvestris and it has a long taproot like its cousin, hollyhock. This makes it very difficult to eradicate so mostly, I just let it grow where it will.
I have these vibrant green clumps everywhere, even in the vegetable garden (those will have to go!)

I always leave Annabelle's bloom heads on so I can enjoy them in the winter.

(note: more native ground cover here)
Speaking of self-seeders.......... this is nigella damascena. She has covered more territory than ever before.
and I have several patches of her in other places. This is just the white variety. I wish I had the blue one too.
The catalogs always say that foxgloves will self seed if they find a happy place....after years of growing these biennials, I think mine finally have. It could be a neighboring salvia but I think it is foxglove. Time will tell.

The shastas have stayed green all year too.

I found one lonely gaillardia,

and here is my favorite 'real' ground cover. This is one of the lamiums.

another bed of nigella,

For me, snaps are practically perennial. There are three or four snaps in this group. They started life as the heirloom blood red one, but have morphed into various colors....maybe self seeded from the mother plant.

This next is lychnis coronaria,rose campion (fuchsia one). I am amazed how it self seeded on this stump and grows and blooms.

It is another rampant self-seeder.

The nepeta Walker's Low is greening up. I need to divide it this spring! I think I said that last year too.

and another plant that self seeded all summer and stayed green all winter (so far). I wish this was the purple one, but it is the white. Hesperis matronalis or Dame's Rocket

I have very few tulips because of the varmints eating the bulbs. I thought it was moles but a very knowledgeable gardening friend said they don't....that it is most likely gophers or voles.
These are safe because they grow in a raised narrow planter right on the patio by the back door. I keep tossing leaves over them and need to do it again.

Chickens

I am happy to report they are keeping us well-supplied in eggs. We got 10 yesterday. I am getting a rainbow mix of eggs.

This picture is for Ilene. This shows a pullet egg next to a normal sized one. They will be smaller for a short time but soon catch up.

Winter Greenery and Lemon Curd

2012-01-30T08:45:00.001-06:00

3:45 AM (nothing good lasts forever) to a cold 34° morning with a slight breeze. The sun is shining now but it is still cold.

Sue always makes me remember I should look outside now and then during the winter months to see what is happening and I did that a couple of days ago. I was surprised at all the green and sprouting and budding going on. It worries me a little.....

The mums are coming up behind the dead tops...I always leave the tops on perennials during the winter both for protection and to remind me where they are.

From winter greenery 2012

I like the green stems of the kerria japonica almost as much as the tiny yellow blooms.
I didn't realize it was such a spreader.

This is a salvia whose name escapes me at the moment. It spreads a great deal from wind blown seeds and I like both the blue flower and the fuzzy big leaves.
The columbines have never gone dormant.
These two are in the cellar bed on the south end. They are a tall yellow variety, Chrysantha.

and this is lunaria (money plant) variegata. It sprouts from seeds tossed by the wind in the fall and stays green all winter. These are at the base of an old apple tree by the chicken yard and the old chicken house.

OK. That is enough for now....more later.

Food

Remember the lemon sponge cake I made and then froze. Well,like all desserts that I freeze, they don't stay frozen long! I pulled it out for Sunday dinner. The new thing was I made lemon curd for the topping. I have always loved the sound of 'lemon curd'. It is so English or Irish sounding. Well it is the simplest thing to make and is almost like lemon pie filling except you use the whole egg and it is slightly less sweet. I was wonderful on the sponge cake.

Lemon Curd from Joy of Cooking

about 1-2/3 cups (I didn't get much over 1 cup)

Whisk together in a medium stainless steel or enamel saucepan until light in color:

3 large eggs
1/3 cup sugar
Grated zest of l lemon

Add
1/2 cup of strained lemon juice
6 tablespoons of diced butter

Cook, whisking, over medium heat until the butter is melted. Then whisk constantly until the mixture thickens and simmers gently for a few seconds. Using a spatula scrape the filling into a medium mesh sieve set over a bowl and strain. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.

Note: I had to press the filling through the fine meshed sieve that I have, but it worked.

Let cool, cover and store in frig to thicken. Will last about a week.

Can be used over sponge cakes, or with Angel food cake. Also good swirled through a cheesecake. (doesn't that last sound good!).

There is also a recipe for orange curd....sounds very good.

I almost forgot I took a picture of Sunday dinner....the above was dessert for it.

2012-01-29T16:50:00.000-06:00

5:00 AM, 33° and slightly breezy.

I enjoyed two small bagels with cream cheese with my coffee this morning. I finished an e-book and then got ready for the day.....

I have spent two days cleaning off my plant stand and washing the trays so I will be ready for seed planting. I got the lights all up and running. The stand holds 12 plant flats and has 3 sets of 4-foot lights each holding 4 bulbs. Some are regular fluorescent and some are plant lights.
I covered the tailgate of the truck with more stuff to take to the milk parlor. It seems I used the plant stand as extra shelving during the down months....

I found some poppy pods and seeds that I broadcast in the front ditch...I hope some germinate and fill the weedy ditch with blooms.

A few days ago I organized my seeds and find I only need to buy sweet corn and cauliflower seeds. I also found a local source for seeds that I want to check out.

I am cooking pork chops, and fried potato rounds for dinner. I will probably have creamed peas as a side and applesauce.

Dessert was the (frozen) lemon sponge cake with lemon curd topping.

Kris Made me Do It! and Rain

2012-01-27T07:35:00.000-06:00

We are still in the midst of some unseasonably warm weather. The final tally on the rain was two inches! What a delight. I believe more is predicted for this evening. I hope everyone who needs it is getting some.

I am worried about trees budding, roses have about a half inch of new growth, bulbs are coming up here and there. My garlic in the house is sprouting. I didn't get any planted last fall so I think I will sink some in the garden along the fence row. I have nothing to loose.

I plan to check all my seeds today. It is way too early for me to start plants for outside. I like to give tomatoes just 5 weeks of growth before they are planted out in mid-May. I still haven't found a local source for good seeds and I need to get busy.

Kris made a comment yesterday about liking tough, chewy bagels better than muffins........that got me going. I have been out of bagels for some time so.....

It doesn't take too much to get me baking, especially breads!

I used the recipe from Thibault's Table. It is pretty simple and seems to be no fail for me. I have made it many times now. You will find it listed in her sidebar recipe index.

We got 9 eggs yesterday. That is a record so far. I just have 9 young hens...the rest should be retired permanently.

This is milking morning again so I will be heading out in about an hour. It isn't like a commercial dairy. I milk when and if I feel like it. The rest of the time her two babies do it for me.

Last of Shed Cleanup Series - Joy of Cooking Muffins

2012-01-26T05:06:00.001-06:00

We got more rain during the night but not a lot even counting the light rain during the day. Every drop is welcome.

Yesterday we had the vet out to check our heifer. Good news! She is the barren one, born a twin. We began feeding her and in 90 days or so will have meat in the freezer once again. That is one of the things I love about living on an farm. I always dreamed of raising all of our food and we are almost there. Still waiting on the blasted fruit trees to do something...

I will finish up with the shed cleanup by showing the west side of the compound where the old chicken house is located. The previous owner used to raise eggs for Estes Hatchery and that is what this building was used for. It is about 30 wide by 30 feet deep....I am guessing here.

I took this picture on one of my walks west. The new chicken house is behind the old chicken house. This should give some idea of the building that was cleaned out.

This is some valuable 'stuff' I couldn't part with:
and more on the other side:

This is the 'insulated' roof. This keeps it pretty cool in the summer time, but I hate thinking about the black snakes that are no doubt curled up in that straw.

This shows the center of the shed. I see they did not sweep out the floor.....that will be my job.

Did you notice the boarded up windows. These folks were paranoid about not wanting anyone to see inside their outbuildings thinking it would encourage theft. They had even painted all the windows in the milk parlor with white paint. It took me forever to scrape off part of them.

Food

I mentioned making muffins the other day. These were still very good cold and on the second day. I did freeze 5 or 6.

I usually don't care much for muffins but these were so moist and I loved them. So did DH. We had just them for breakfast the first morning and then with scrambled eggs and bacon the second.

Muffins

From Page 635 in Joy of Cooking

12 muffins

Preheat oven to 400° Grease or line amuffin tin with paper cups (I do both).

Whisk together in a large bowl:

2 cups flour (I used l ww pastry flourand l regular, next time I will just use the ww)

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoonful salt

¼ grated nutmeg (optional, I used)

Whisk together in another bowl:

2 large eggs

1 cup milk or cream (I used whole milk)

2/3 cup sugar or brown sugar (I usedbrown)

¼ to ½ cup melted butter (I used ½)can also use vegetable oil

1 teaspoonful vanilla

Add to flour mixture and don't beat;mix until all ingredients are moistened.
Batter will be slightlylumpy. This is the secret to tender muffins....it shouldn't look like cake batter.

I filled my muffin tins but there wasstill some leftover batter that I baked in a small oiled dish.

I also made a crumb topping and addedit as an afterthought which is why it didn't spread out over the top.It was brown sugar, cinnamon, butter and chopped pecans.

Bake for about 17 minutes. Test withtoothpick. Let rest in pan 2 to 3 minutes.

Additions

½ cup chopped nuts, apricots, prunes,dates or figs (I had dates)

½ cup chopped cranberries plus 2teaspoonful of grated orange peel (I used this with the dates)

1/2 cup mashed ripe banana or choppedapples.

P.S. Blog No. 2

2012-01-25T08:30:00.000-06:00

We are getting some rain at last....can't tell you how much....my rain gauge seems to have a hairline crack...when I told DH, he commented that we can't seem to keep a rain gauge...the dog ate one.

I am going to try a bead of glue to this one.

I may have spoken too soon....I was up at 3 AM again.

I have a chicken on to boil for pot pie and am making the yellow sponge cake to use up the yolks from the white cake on Sunday. I just had 6 yolks and it calls for 12 so I tossed in a couple of whole eggs. Be interesting to see how this one turns out.

This is just a short post to answer some queries about the heifer baby born from our beef heifer....I didn't post it yesterday because Icaught it in a most unattractive mode. But, what the heck, this is life on the farm.
I am not concerned because the poop is yellow, not green....I will keep a close eye on it though.

And this is it with the mama directly in front and that is Willow's other daughter, Ginger, who had a calf this spring. Ginger is the slightly reddish one with the ear tag showing.

2012-01-25T05:33:00.002-06:00

I have been talking about getting our sheds cleaned out. I wish I had taken before pictures; just suffice it to say they were filled with barely space to walk. I did take some after pics this morning. These are of the east of the drive sheds.and this is the far east end of the complex. The whole section is 24 feet deep by 48 feet long, each section is 12 feet wide, except for that last little one and I think it is 6 feet.

These are the sheds I would like to have completely enclosed with one overhead door and one walk-in and a few windows. It would make a super heated space. We could use the wood stove we saved from the other building cleanup. One can always dream.......

I will show the empty old chicken house next.
I am loving seeing them empty.

I watered the chickens and gathered 7 eggs.

Found some more empty boxes to put out with trash.

It is a sunny, perfect day, around 57°. No rain yet.

I am making whole wheat bread. Three loaves rising for the first rise. I should be finished late this evening.

I made some wonderful muffins this morning.....more on them later. I am not a muffin person, but these won me over!

2012-01-24T10:10:00.000-06:00

Another good night's sleep! The only difference is I quit taking Clariton at night. Wonder if that is the culprit.

I have turned over a new leaf for 2012. I am going outside to help with chores each morning instead of just my milking mornings....I don't do much but I like getting out of the slug mode.

This morning I rolled the trash out to the street/road. I turned the chickens out.

Here is one of the Americana hens showing her very fluffy dark muff. They are much more flighty than the others so it is hard to catch them still for a photo.

We moved a light into the henhouse a few days ago just for really cold weather.

I heard the cattle mooing and saw DH had most of the herd in the barn lot. We wanted to see if we had anything we would select for beef..I found another 'barren' heifer! I am having our vet sleeve her tomorrow morning before we do another 90-day feeding fiasco.
I took a few pictures....all black cows are not the best subjects for group shots.

Remember, Annabelle, Willow's baby that we bought with her....She is still a very pretty girl and not as distant as her Mother!

2012-01-23T07:23:00.000-06:00

It warmed up finally yesterday afternoon quite late and the sun came out. It was 43° when I got up this morning....4:30 AM. I finally got a good 7 hour sleep. I knew I was tired after the Sunday dinner. I did stay up to watch Masterpiece Theater though.

The dinner went well. The hit was the white cake with coconut icing. It is our personal favorite and I knew my MIL loved coconut. When I was fixing her a plate dinner to take home I forgot cake! She was very quick to ask me where her dessert was. I sent her two pieces.

We actually ate this cake all but two small pieces in one day.....I won't be making dessert for a long time.

We were sitting in the living room yesterday visiting after dinner and I could see out the large window toward the west pond. I kept seeing these large black objects on the bank....at first I thought it was baby calves so I asked DH to look. Its turkeys he said. I grabbed the camera but the pictures were taken at full zoom and aren't great, but at least you can see the great numbers of them. They were spread from the pond up the hill to the shed and then on to the north gate and field beyond. I am guessing well over a 100.

When I took my last walk, I saw lots of droppings in the fields so I knew they were around. Funny how when hunting season hit, nary a bird is seen!

This is milking morning and then maybe who knows. A fencing expert is supposed to show up for the neighbor (our joint venture) but we will be very surprised to see him!

2012-01-21T06:29:00.000-06:00

I was up very early yesterday morning,2 AM....which is ridiculous but I can't seem to do anything about it. I survived the day but didn't get outside at all.

Since this is to be a daily journal, many posts will be so mundane that I suggest you just skip, but I want to keep it for me......

Yesterday was such a day. We planned to go shopping (food), but MIL called an needed DH to go with her for some banking things. He wanted me to go along and just wait and then shop, but I felt so crappy from lack of sleep that I begged off.

I did clean my desk and do some office type things (file personal property tax listing, pay a couple of bills, etc.) and make a couple of files up.

Next I mended a queen- size- older -than- I- am- coverlet by stitching along one side where the stuffing was coming out. What I really need is a duvet cover for it. I stored away some bedding in the guest room, vacuumed and that was about it for the day.

That doesn't include my daily internet and blog browsing.....I won't tell you how much time I spend doing that.

The cleanup shed crew came late and hauled away one load from the east sheds. I think we should enclose one of them for a heated workshop....we will see how that comes along. DH is very non-committal about it.

It is now Thursday morning January 19, 2012. There was a slight warmup and it was 25° when I got up at 3:30 AM (slightly better than yesterday).

This is my computer time or reading time until I fix breakfast. This morning was biscuits and scrambled eggs and milk and coffee. I think we are on our second pot now.

I will be milking this morning and then we will do our yesterday's errands.
I want to go to the new Price Cutter store. They are using the NuVal system where all foods are labeled 0-99 according to nutritional value, 100 being top. I think that is a super idea especially with boxed cereals....bet there are some really low values on that aisle!

Friday, 1/20/12. We didn't get our errands done...I ended up get a haircut and just shopping locally at Murfins which is on the same parking lot and the beautyshop. DH had to stay home because they were finishing cleaning out the east sheds. I think we are calling a halt to that project now.

Our neighbor called and the fencing contractor called with a bid on some fence between us that needs repairs, actually torn out and replaced. We will go half which is traditional. The bid was $850 which I though was very high, our part will be $425. It does involve removing two trees in the fenceline.
This made me thing about inflation.......it seems that our income doesn't increase nor anyone else' s that I know but when we hire work done...they charge a very inflated price. I wonder will it ever catch up with them and people won't hire them because they can't afford it! Curious...

Saturday, 1/21/12. Today would have been Mom's birthday. I think of her every single year.
Nothing much going on. We are having MIL out for dinner Sunday and I baked my white cake and today. I will do a 7-minute frosting with lots of coconut on top tomorrow, That icing doesn't keep well.

DH called for me to take a picture of the dog. This was looking out the kitchen window, please ignore the very dirty window. I had to remove the inside screen. I will be washing this before dinner tomorrow.
The yellow cats love Biscuit.

or they are using him like an electric blanket.

Organization....loosely!

2012-01-17T14:48:00.000-06:00

The cold front arrived sometime during the wee hours of the morning. It was 30° and very windy when I got up. Yesterday it was 70°. I hate these fluctuations....and so do the plants outside.

Yesterday down --- to ----earth blog had an interesting subject, Organization. I do organize my days, often not formally with calendars and lists but in my mind each day I think about what I want to get done that day. I think it is a very good way to get things accomplished. I often do make actual lists......and check off when I get each thing accomplished. My Iowa sis makes a lot of fun of me and my bookkeeping tendencies! I admit it freely; it is just who I am. (I also research books I read, the authors and if it is a historical based one....I research that and read up on it......she thinks I am nuts doing that too!)

OK, back to organization.....for today. I always think ahead about what I will fix for dinner so when I am outside I can get what I need from the freezer or the milk house (canned goods, extra milk). I don't like to make unnecessary trips outside in this weather.

I knew this was milking morning. When I came back to the house I brought a jar of warm milk to start yogurt; a cold half gallon for the house, and a jar of apples. I wanted to make a tart for dinner.

Here are the projects for the day: Jar of apples, frozen pie dough; milk is in the pan to heat, Dannon yogurt for a starter measured and waiting. While making the yogurt the pie dough will be thawing.

I use the heating pad, 7 hour method and that is currently culturing and should be finished late this evening.

I made the tart for dinner.

Dinner was a jar of home canned turkey vegetable soup and a slice of the tart. I am loving having these canned, ready-to-heat foods and unfortunately this was my last jar.

Ilene asked me about the cheese peppers so I thought I would show what I did with them. They are very small, probably smaller than they should be because or our dreadful growing season. I normally slice and dice peppers for the freezer but these were very small so I just washed and dried them and dropped them in a large freezer bag. I love using them. 1 or 2 is the perfect size for most dishes. I just run them under the cold water for a bit and then slice them down from top to bottom and then slice or dice.
I also did a bag of hot peppers this same way. I will probably still process the larger bell peppers (if I grow some) the normal way so they won't take up so much space in the freezer.

This afternoon I whipped up (rather roughly) two new hot pads. Mine were getting pretty sorry.

They aren't fancy, but they will work and I won't have to buy two and a kitchen towel (W-M) to get a POTHOLDER!

2012-01-14T16:32:00.000-06:00

It was much warmer this morning, 30°, a sign of our approaching warmup (yet again!).

The exciting news here is the Kindle arrived!!! I managed to get it up and running and registered. The technology is fantastic. All the things I already had on my Kindle PC were automatically on the Kindle.
Of course, I ordered two more .99 cent books after reading samples. My sister loaned me another very long book so I am set for several days. I will have to practice restraint.....the Kindle advertises freely e-books and other things for sale.......and you can buy them directly from the Kindle..a very dangerous thing.

I was worried it would feel awkward holding that little thing and reading but it just melted away and I was lost in the story with no thought about the method I was using. A great tool.
My library has a limited selection of e-books so that is disappointing. I am sure they will increase as more people use the new technology.

The other news is DH is having our 'wood men' clear out the old chicken house and I must get out there this morning to see if there is anything that I just have to save! possibly canning jars, garden hoses, tools, etc. When they finish this one, they are headed next out to the blown-down-in-a-tornado pole barn to cut up and remove all tin roofing and split timbers. I know there are at least 4 good long 6x6 treated timbers I want to reserve for my "future" greenhouse base.
I am such a pack rat it makes me nervous getting rid of all this stuff, but I haven't used any of it since we moved in 1991 so I doubt I really need it. DH is very insistent about wanting all these many sheds cleaned out.

It is now 3:30 PM and it has been an exciting day. I went out early and we sorted some lumber and canning jars and a few gardening things to one side to keep.

Then DH went out back to feed. Remember I mentioned we were feeding a "barren" heifer to butcher next month. We have been fattening her for almost 90 days now. He came in sat down at the table and said "I think the heifer is trying to calve!".

One thing you never do to pregnant cows is feed them heavily the last few weeks because the extra calories makes for a large calf and almost always calving difficulties. I bundled up and went out to check.

Of course, she was at the far end of the bull pen. It wasn't that cold, but the wind was ferocious! I walked down and sure enough I saw two feet sticking out about hoof length. I got the cow up; drove her back into the barn lot....this causes them to retract the feet and have to start all over again. By now it is 9:45 and I know my vet with be gone by noon. I decided to watch her for about an hour and if no progress had been made to call him. He is the champion of difficult births! I went back out an hour later and the heifer is laying there head up, calf feet out the same and no straining at all. I knew she wasn't going to deliver on her own. Called the vet and he promised to be out in 30 minutes. We got the cow out into the working area where we could run her down the alley. The good thing was I had no trouble driving her to the lot or into the working area. All went smooth as silk. Vet came on time, pulled a live calf, heifer jumped up and began paying attention to it so we left her penned with it for the time being. I am not even sure what the calf was, vet said he thought a bull. It wasn't an overly large calf but the heifer was through trying. What a relief. I was afraid we would loose both.

She doesn't look like much now but in a couple of days she should.

Just another day on the farm......thankfully we don't have too many of these kinds of days.

The bad news is no beef to butcher. I think we will get up another animal and just go grass fat. Lesson learned here is have a heifer preg checked before deciding she is barren!!!

4:10 PM. I went out to check the new mama and baby and decided to move the baby into the center barn lot where the heifer had gone to drink and eat. If you have ever moved a new born calf, you know what a chore that is. I stand behind pushing its backside with my legs and use my arms to keep it going in the right direction. Mission accomplished but I had to drive the new (stupid) momma over to it. The baby is a heifer and is weak from being so long in delivery, but it got up and I hope will nurse. I left them at it because if I get too close the mama will take off.

This is just one load from pole barn. They are practically finished cleaning up and are now finishing the chicken house. They are quick and excellent workers. One is still in high school.

It has been a good day, but a tiring one.....Kindle here I come!

2012-01-13T04:28:00.003-06:00

Several have mentioned my very early risings......We milked for several years and had to be up very early to get things ready to start milking at 6 am. I think I just formed a deep pattern. Also before that DH worked where he left the house at 4 am to drive to Fort Wood and I always got up to fix his breakfast.

Then I am on Prednisone and it causes some problems with sleeping....will be off that shortly.

Next I do go to bed fairly early sometimes. I get by on about 6 hours sleep but really need more.I have been known to take an afternoon nap but with the Prednisone, that isn't happening.

I do like being up early but things tend to go downhill rapidly from noon on.......

We didn't get much snow but it was bitterly cold and very windy. If you look closely, you can see the snow blowing sideways to the east in front of the woods across the road (rh side of photo).
and this is the view from the porch directly across the driveway to the east,

Poor DH had to feed some hay out in this! I chose to not milk and stay inside. I will have to milk this morning.

Day Before Yesterday

Another little annoyance......DH took the old Pontiac (I would rather refer to it as the "classic" Pontiac,1990) in to exercise and on his way home, it sputtered and died! I was right in the middle of making bread; it was about 20 minutes from baking so I had to improvise. I should have just put it in the fridge but it would have been very cramped so I set the pans on the tile floor of the back porch and placed the turkey roast pan and lid over it. That floor stays cold year round! We had the car towed to the shop; $400 and a new computer later, it is running again.

Bread wasn't affected by this annoyance at all.

Food

I sort of developed a new recipe yesterday. I love Fettuccine Alfredo but usually use chicken. I had a package of ground pork thawed for a couple of days and needed to use it. I made Italian type tiny meatballs by adding salt, pepper, some crushed fennel seed (from my bronze fennel), and some oregano to the meat and then a slice of whole wheat bread crumbled up along with an egg. Mixed it all up well and browned in olive oil with a little butter. I cooked them completely while boiling the fettucine. At the very last I added maybe a half cup of cream, a dash of freshly grated nutmeg, stirred it well and then tossed the pasta in the skillet until all was coated.

We thought it was very tasty.

I wanted to try the coconut oil in a pie crust so I made a regular pie crust (not my huge Nathan's Never Fail recipe) and made half up in strawberry tartlets an half in my mincemeat. It is OK, but not the flakiest crust and the bits I had to re-roll were even tough. The slight coconut flavor was good though.

The strawberry used in these was a way of using up leftover thawed strawberries. I just added some extra sugar and cooked them down on the stove top for 15 minutes to make a loose jam. I always do this with leftover fruits. I may even like this method better than using pectin for jam. The rule is same amount of fruit to sugar, i.e., 4 cups fruit/4 cups sugar.

My Kindle was supposed to arrive yesterday....it did not. It left KC on the 9th..I am wondering if bad weather up north caused the delay. I may make some calls to UPS today. My sis is more excited than I am and calls daily....I think she is having a slow week! She keeps warning me to call her the minute I get it. If you have a Sis like this one, count yourself lucky!!!

2012-01-12T06:15:00.000-06:00

The cold front arrived. It was 23° when I got up this morning around 5 AM. There was just a light skiff of snow on the ground but some ice under on smooth surfaces where the snow melted when it hit the warm ground and then refroze as temps dropped. The wind hasn't hit yet but it is coming.

I am sure glad I am milking inside a nice tight barn, cold but no wind!

Remember when I talked about buying the virgin coconut oil for cooking..........well I have made biscuits with it three times, each time reducing the amount of fat. I still wasn't happy with the texture. This morning I made them using lard........guess who the winner is??? Lard!

I am too easily swayed by some things I read on the internet and in books regarding real foods. Common sense should prevail in all matters...........for instance, does it make sense to have to order something from another country in order to eat real foods.....I think not! I must remind myself the next time I get revved up about something.

I suspect I now have a very expensive soap ingredient! You would think I am old enough to know better.....

Quilts
The last time I was at my MIL's she reminded me of the quilts she still had. These were pretty old and need some repair but I couldn't resist their charm. All are hand pieced and quilted. One is a friendship quilt but I can't read the names...not too many names on it. No great wonder! You would have to have known DH's step grandmother to appreciate that remark!

Here they are:

From Quilts

I love the scalloped edge on this one,

From Quilts

If anyone knows what these patterns are, please tell me.

I don't know what I will do with these now so I am storing them. I can see them laid out on an iron bedstead (I have one in my tiny guest bedroom) and that may be their permanent home. I don't think they would hold up well in regular washings.

2012-01-10T04:47:00.000-06:00

25° this morning. Up at 3:30 AM. Made the first pot of coffee and started my day at the computer as always. This is my favorite time of day.

Yesterday was one of those days I actually got done what I planned to do. Milk, cut wood for kindling and make up the apple jelly.

Milking went well; she seemed a bit antsy but gave her normal amount.

Next we cut up a stack of limbs that DH had been accumulating for kindling. It took about an hour to get our tools together and do the actual work. Of course, we had a cat watching our every move.

One pile:

and a second pile. This is all under the overhang of the barn roof so can just stay in place until we need it.

Late in the afternoon, I made the jelly and am happy to report it jelled well. I made this the regular way using Sure Jell. It called for 7 cups of juice so I opened a quart of canned juice from last fall and added to my fresh juice. It may have been the largest batch of jelly I have ever made...used 9 cups of sugar.
I always keep my pantry stocked with lots of sugar just for this kind of thing.

I also squeezed in finishing my 'loaned' Kindle PC book my sis sent. If like historical fiction, this one won't disappoint! It is Just Deceits by Michael Schein and is based on a true event.

2012-01-09T06:03:00.003-06:00

Finally, a better night's sleep (I cheated and took a melatonin tablet!). 5 AM and 28°.

I let our nice weather pass and never did get any outside yard work done.....somehow when winter hits and the trees loose their leaves, I am done outside and it is very hard for me to get motivated to garden again.

I will milk this morning.

Yesterday I made pumpkin bread using my frozen butternut squash from a few years ago. I put raisins and nuts in two loaves and left one plain. My family never wants anything added. This is a recipe I have been using for a very long time and makes three loaves.

Pumpkin Bread

Preheat Over to 350°

(I originally got this recipe from MIL)
3-1/3 cup flour
2 teas. baking soda
1-1/2 teas. salt
1 teas. cinnamon
1 teas. nutmeg
1 cup oil
4 eggs
2/3 cup water
1 can pumpkin
3 cups sugar
1 cup nuts, optional

Sift dry ingredients together, including sugar into mixing bowl. Make a well in center and add other ingredients. Mix well. Add nuts if desired.

Pour into three medium sized, greased and floured loaf pans or two large ones or 5 very small foil pans (for the holidays as gifts).

Bake for l hour or until done. Check with straw or bamboo skewers ( I love these). For the smaller pans I figure about 45 minutes.

Remove from pans and cool on rack.

Note: I rarely sift anything. I just fluff it with a wire whisk and then measure.

I just put all this into the mixing bowl and blend the dry ingredients first then add everything else and just mix until blended....don’t overdo it.

We will be butchering in about a month so I am trying to empty out the meat freezer. I found two very large bread bags filled with Jonathon apple cores and peelings and brought them down to the house. I dumped all in my maslin pan (it filled it to the top and I had to press down to get the lid one) added some water and apple juice (I keep in the freezer for adding to various apple things for extra flavor) and cooked it until soft. I then strained it into a bowl for apple jelly and then ran the rest through my Foley Food Mill and got enough pulp to make 2- 1/2 pints of apple butter. I have a quart of juice for making jelly which I hope to get done today.

Just a note about the maslin pan. If you do a lot of food processing, you will love this pan! I don't know how I got by without it all these years. They are expensive but worth it. I have used it for apples, for cheese making, boiling large amounts of sweet corn, canning tomatoes, cooking down anything. The bottom is very thick and heavy and if I place the pan on my lowest burner, I can simmer all day without anything scorching. I did have to stir the apple butter often because of the sugar content.....it never scorched though.

I hope the Kindle comes today.....I have been using my Kindle PC app and reading at my desk. My sis and daughter have 'loaned' me 3 or 4 books and I have purchased two .99 ones from Amazon. This technology just amazes me!

Note: I had a question about tallow making the soap 'greasy'. No, it does not. I run all ingredients through Soapcalc9 before making.

2012-01-07T07:22:00.000-06:00

We had another mild night. I was up at 3:45AM and it was 39° and today is supposed to be a little cooler than yesterday in the mid 50's. DH will be clipping a pasture so I hope it is mild.

Yesterday was soap-making day for me. I could buy some expensive supplies and make a nicer soap but I do this to use up fats I have, except for buying the generic olive oil and coconut oil. This one was made with olive oil, beef tallow (home rendered), and coconut oil, lye and water. I usually make small batches, but I have given so much away we were almost out so I decided to make a much larger batch. This one was 80 ounces. I was worried how this would trace, but it did very quickly and I didn't see any more difficulty than making the 40 ounce batch. I used the last of my essential oils, lavender and rosemary. I wouldn't have to add fragrances but I do love the smell.
I let this cure overnight in the dark covered with a bath towel and this morning I cut the bars. This is for home use or family so I don't get anal about the accuracy in cutting.

I think I ended up with 25 bars.

It is still a cream color but may change as it cures for 6 weeks. My beef tallow is very yellow.

We had ordered two more cords of wood from a neighbor and he brought part of it yesterday afternoon. The other cord is coming today. Now I need to cut up some limbs for kindling and I found several good spots on my walk to the old farm.

I hope to do some garden cleanup work today....the corn end is still waiting for attention.

2012-01-06T06:35:00.000-06:00

Up at 4 AM, 43°. The weathermen keep talking about how unusual but then they show the highs and lows and guess what? We have had hotter January 6's and much colder too.

I will continue my Tour of the Old Farm this morning. This is a 30 acre parcel we kept when we sold the 40 acre farm to our neighbor girl (the one who watches things for us when we need her). It consists of a hay field of maybe 20 acres and two separate patches of woods, one a fenced 7 acres where I found the llamas yesterday.

This is the entrance to the 7 acres. I told DH he needs to get in there and clip it all down very short before grass starts growing. In very dry years, the locust and cedars sprout thickly and must be removed or you lose the land.

There is about 2 acres of woods in this field.
I saw the largest cedar tree in the edge of the woods, maybe 36 inches diameter.

There was a lot of stockpiled grass in here; I don't know why the cows weren't all over it. DH went back later and moved some into the field. He plans to clip it today.

I found this huge hole something had dug into the middle of the larger field. It was about 24 inches x 36 inches. We have these in several places and have no idea what does it.

2012-01-05T16:06:00.000-06:00

We finally had a really nice day; lots of sunshine and no wind.
I think it finally got up to 64°. This is scary for the fruit trees......again.

I milked this morning. I got my usual 1.5 gallons. She is loosing some hair on her tailhead, a good indication of lice. I will treat her in the morning with a pour-on.

I decided to take a walk back to the west side of the farm, or the 30 acres we retained from our previous place that we now call "the old farm". We are clever with names that way. I didn't plan to walk that far but I could see Bette and Marlene in the farthest northwest corner so Biscuit and I took off with the camera.

It took an hour. Way longer than I was prepared to do but once you get back there, you have to get back!

I took a few pictures of the llamas. I was able to get within maybe 20 feet of them. They stay back there because that farm was their original home and Tom still has llamas over there.

They are looking a little ragged this time of year.

The cows are scattered in several different fields. I think I have finally convinced the helpmeet to run them all together now that we don't have heifers to worry about. All the bulls will have to fight it out and develop a pecking order at some point. I will save those pictures for another day.

I do have to show you Jewel though. I tried to get pictures of her myself but she won't get away from you so it was not successful. I made DH go into the pen this evening so I would shoot while she nibbled on him.

We ended the day by taking the ATV to Bolivar for a new battery...and they put it in while we waited! That was a delightful first.

I have a pot of beans cooked and will be making cole slaw and cornbread this evening. I didn't have them ready by noon so we just had tuna salad sandwiches.

2012-01-02T06:40:00.000-06:00

It is a cold morning, 26° and still windy. We are supposed to warm up toward the end of the week.

I was up at my normal 4 AM this morning so I think my body is finally getting back to normal....I think I just have one more month on Prednisone which is a very good thing.

I don't make New Year's resolutions formally, but in my mind I have general ideas of what I want to do better in the coming year.

I started our New Year this morning (I don't count yesterday with company still with us) with biscuits and eggs. I still haven't perfected my biscuits using coconut oil. I need to cut back the oil even more. I did do a test on something. I have always read and believed that once you add the liquid to a baking powder recipe you should bake it immediately to get the best rise because the baking powder starts acting as soon as the liquid is added.

Well, I have been watching a new cooking show with Chef John Besh from New Orleans and he just said it is best to let your biscuits set at least 15 minutes (30 is better) before baking! I held back two this morning and let them rest 15 minutes before baking.....they rose just fine. How on earth can there be two such opposite directions out there.

All I plan to do today is take down the small tree....and then re-organize my pantry storage shelves. My daughter gave me a set of glass storage dishes and she also brought back a shopping bag of my old containers. I always load them down with food when they go home. I need to find a good way to store all these things.

Now is a good time to talk about one of my first home projects for 2012. I have several but I think we will do (correction:have done!) this one first. I want a shelving system for the back porch from floor to ceiling and the length of the porch which will be about 10 feet taking out the freezer width. This will include building a closet around the electric water heater with room for brooms and with a shelf overhead. The good thing about having electric is I can safely store things around it without fear of fire. I want the shelves to be 15 inches deep and maybe have box like dividers. I will store things like my Foodsaver, the crock pot, the maslin pan, and some other odd size pans and less used utensils where I can just look at open shelves and get what I want. I want them out of pine and I will just clear varnish them, ala, Williams-Sonoma Swedish shelving. I will be drawing up 'to scale' plans before talking to anyone.

I am happy to report the chickens are finally laying pretty well. We are getting 5-7 eggs almost daily. We must have a new chicken laying because we are getting a very dark brown egg and the shell is like cracking iron.

From Fall 2011

We have also lost an old chicken; she just died....a very normal thing with older birds.

This winter we are not using lights in the chicken house to stimulate laying, but we may when the temps drop way down at night. It gives some additional heat to the girls as they roost.

I don't milk while company is here so we are down to just one quart so I will be going to the barn this morning.

Remember my new Jersey heifer I bought this summer? Well she is just a delight. She comes to us for a head scratch and wants to lick us....my SIL and GD were just really surprised. Rodney is just a little intimidated by the cows. He is definitely not a farm boy. He was excited because she let him feed her right at the gate. I have decided to call her Jewel. That is part of the name of the farm where I bought her and because she is just that "a jewel". Her personality is so different from the Angus and Shorthorn cows who keep their distance from you at all times. I hope she stays this way forever. I will try to take some pictures of her this morning. When her horns get about 3 inches long, we will have her dehorned.

I have bought a Kindle! More on that whole topic next time around....

2011-12-31T06:50:00.001-06:00

Saturday morning has arrived. Company is coming and we are doing dinner today.

I spent yesterday cleaning the fridge......a two hour job. I vow to never let it get in that shape again. I dismantled all shelves and supports so I feel I got a good job done.....at last.

I made my overnight refrigerator rolls and they are in the fridge. I will take them out around 10 AM. I also made a requested pecan pie and this morning made an apple pie (also requested). The turkey will go in the oven as soon as the pie comes out.

I put together a large fruit salad this morning too.

I know I said I wouldn't decorate but I couldn't resist this little 3 foot $10 tree pre-lit at Wal Mart yesterday. I had it in the back of my mind but didn't think anything would be left this late. I used my decorations and skirt so it was a simple and inexpensive way to bring a little Christmas back.

The weather continues very mild but very windy....don't like the wind.

I cheated and made some Christmas cookies for Isabel (GD)

I better call this a post and get busy!

2011-12-29T13:02:00.000-06:00

At long last I am ready to end my blogging break.....

Just to catch up. We did go to St. Louis as planned and had a very good visit with the grandkids for three days.
We came home Sunday December 18. Now at this point I had no decorations up for Christmas since we had expected a New Year's visit from our daughter and her family. Two days after getting home DH got very sick with an intestinal virus thing that just knocked him out for two days....just as he was getting a little better, it hit me.....hard! I was sick for 4 days. For 9 days we didn't get off the farm.......about two days ago I began feeling more normal but just a little weak. Today I feel back to my norm. This was the first time we have been sick in probably 30 or more years! I think this is a new virus

I even milked this morning. I am happy to report we had Willow's milk stored for about 10 days and it stayed beautifully sweet and good the entire time. I was pleased about that; it tells me I am being very sanitary processing the milk.

The weather here today is beautiful with a breeze and beautiful sunshine. I think we are supposed to be up to 60° by the weekend.

We still aren't sure about holiday plans. I do know I don't plan to put up decorations for just one day....even though there will be some disappointment I know. I will decorate the dining room and put the gifts on the table and try to make it look somewhat Christmasy. I am hoping I can handle a turkey dinner.....I take rest breaks every hour or so.

I made our favorite pound cake today. I got the recipe from Allrecipes and it is called Gina's Poundcake.
It is unique in the way it is baked starting in a cold oven.

From Blog photos

I will freeze this if no company appears....
I have also made a batch of sugar cookies I will bake at the last minute and decorate .... or freeze.

I also made a batch of Honey Oat Bran Bread. We were out and I like having extra on hand for company.

An unexpected Gift:

I was at my MIL's the other day and I spotted this quilt on top of some discard boxes in her garage. I asked her where she got it.....it is from her MIL and used to be red and white but faded like this when she laundered it. She had it on the trash pick up stuff....she asked if I wanted it and I told her yes! It is 100% hand made. I laid it on the dining room table before putting it away and like the way it looked so....here it now rests.

She told me she has others......I haven't seen them yet.

This is enough catching up. I have been trying to read and respond to everyone's blogs and hope I haven't missed anyone.

Break Time

2011-12-14T06:51:00.000-06:00

I have been taking a blogging break; some things to do for MIL and doing some extra farm things.

Be back soon.

I will leave you with one picture of Willow and her two babies.

Shopping Trip to the Mall

2011-12-08T07:20:00.001-06:00

Yesterday was just a beautiful sunshiny day. It was cold, but no wind and the sun shone all day long which has been rare lately.

It was my planned trip to the Mall with my 93 year-old MIL to pick out a bedspread for our bedroom for my Christmas present. I was dreading it....first I hate shopping and I hate people spending money on me.

We headed into Macy's first because she has a credit card there and lots of coupons for deep discounts. I don't have a Macy's card... We looked at everything and I saw only one that jumped out at me. It was in deep jewel tones...I thought it was way too pricey even on sale so I moved away from it....even though she kept saying what pretty colors it was. Then the saleswoman hit us. I asked for help in selecting one and after a few questions, guess where she took us? Of course right back to that expensive one (I smell commission in here somewhere). I just told them both that I thought it was way too expensive. My MIL said that was what a gift was all about and she wanted me to have the one I wanted.....even insisted so I finally caved and just said Thank You. She said she loves buying things for us and she can afford to. I hope she is right.

I tried to get a good picture of it but the colors didn't turn out as well because of the west sun shining through the blinds but it will give you an idea of it. My garishly yellow walls even seem toned down by the new bedding. I will change them but won't have to be in a rush.

The reverse side is the stripe like the bedskirt. The wonderful thing is we slept under it and it doesn't slip off the bed like previous ones have and it is very light yet warm. I am happy.

We stopped by the store and I bought some baking supplies and we picked up lunch from the deli and went home. After lunch, I was defragmenting her hard drive and we were visiting in the family room. She got up to do something in the kitchen and when she came back somehow she trip coming around the recliner and fell hard and hit her back on the edge of the lamp table. I couldn't catch her in time. It just made me sick. She had to lay there for a bit and then couldn't get up without turning away from the chair and crawling back to the seat....still didn't have the strength to get up so this old farm gal who has hefted 50-lb bags for feed for 40 years clasped her under her arms and joined my hands in front of her chest and lifted her up enough to get her into the chair. It was just about the limit I could lift. She has been talking about getting one of those call button thingies to wear and I told her now is the time. It just made me so sad that our wonderful day had to end that way. I checked with her last night and she was doing OK. She will be so sore this morning.

I told DH that you don't realize how frail (not in size!) that she is until you see her fall and realize she can't get up. It was a shock. She is a like me in that it doesn't take much for her to get off balance and fall. Mine is just a dizziness thing that I have most days so that I watch where I get myself but hers is just a sort of lightness on her feet like she isn't really attached to the ground. I know I have gone on and on here and you may skip this one but I wanted it documented for my kids and me to remember.

Now if this Christmas present wasn't enough for both of us and it was, she called later and said to be here Friday because DH's present was coming.....bless her heart I think she is getting satellite TV for her TV addicted son. We had it once and were both too stingy to keep paying for it for it. It makes me feel slightly ashamed.

I have always know I was blessed in the in-law department and now you know too.

Coconut Oil Biscuits

2011-12-07T06:27:00.001-06:00

Up at 3 AM. It was 20°, it never got above freezing yesterday so some snow is left on the ground. The roads are clear.

I have been anxious to try the coconut flavored and scented new oil. Last night I made buttermilk pancakes and there is a definite very light taste of coconut. We didn't think it was offensive and DH thought if you didn't tell anyone, they would never notice it. I know my two kids.....they would. Our daughter doesn't like anything coconut so I won't be using it when she is visiting. I will be using it for waffles or pancakes for us.

I didn't really want biscuits again this morning but my curiosity got the best of me. I made sausage biscuits. We can taste a faint hint of coconut in them too. Once again not bad. I will probably continue using it for us. It has zero trans fats and zero cholesterol if you follow that nutritional thing. I am not sure I do, but still.....I think of DH's heart attack and do watch the cholesterol thing for him. I made the biscuits larger and one was our limit. I left him watching them while I computed.....they almost got too brown. He is like his mother in cooking, if I tell him so many minutes, then that is what he does. He doesn't check....she doesn't either.

These are just my regular recipe only using 1/2 cup coconut oil (3 cups flour). I think I could cut it to 1/3 cup and will try that next time.

This is shopping day,so I will be doing minimal housekeeping before leaving.

I have been laying out cooking supplies to take to St.Louis with me. They want gingerbread cookies so I am taking my spices. No sense in them buying a bunch of expensive things that they may never use again. I am looking for a small plastic case with a handle to take my chef's supplies with me when I travel. I plan to take cookie cutters, food colorings, and my yeast. I better print off a couple of recipes too. I see beignets in our future.

First Snow

2011-12-05T08:53:00.035-06:00

Monday, December 5, 2011

Well, the cold front has arrived. It is 27° here this morning.

Yesterday (Sunday) we had our roast beef dinner with DH's Mom and it tasted wonderful! We hadn't had beef in some time....I served beef (ala crockpot), cooked potatoes, carrots and onions in a separate pan on the range, seasoned with beef broth, garlic and onion powder. Salad was cranberries (from Thanksgiving and home-made applesauce), roast beef gravy and rolls. We had strawberry shortcake for dessert.

Two things of note: I tried a new recipe from the Kitchen Aid cookbook for a sweet yeast dough for the rolls using 3 eggs. I got enough for a muffin pan of 12 rolls and a pie plate of cinnamon rolls. It is a good recipe.

Second, I will never buy GV (Wal Mart's Brand) of heavy whipping cream again. It has several additives and I had to whip it forever and it still didn't have the consistency that I like.....it was rather slick. I don't think I could have made butter with it if I had whipped it all day long.....I need to check other brands (like Hiland, our local processor) and see what they have added. Drat Willow for keeping her cream.

We sent home a plate of all things for her dinner today.

Tuesday, November 6, 2011

We have our first little snow this morning. The windchill was 11° (and it was milking morning).

This was taken standing on the milk parlor porch,looking to the house.

I milk inside a barn and it really just takes me about 20 minutes to milk so I never suffer from cold and I could turn on a heater or the overhead furnace if I needed to.

Willow was down about 1/2gallon in milk,not surprising with the cold.

The new coconut oil came today and it does smell like coconut and there is a light taste. I will be using it for breakfast in the morning just to see if that carries over into the food...will let you know.

I made pizza for lunch and this time just let the dough for the crust raise about 30 minutes....it was still very crispy which is how we like it. Of course, I baked it on the pizza stone at 500° and it cooked in about 10 minutes.

Tomorrow I am going shopping with my MIL. She wants me to pick out a new spread for our bedroom for Christmas...I am not a shopper and don't do well shopping with others....be interesting to see how that goes. I sound ungrateful but I am not.....I am just shopping challenged!

Biscuits, Cookies and Gardening

2011-12-04T06:49:00.000-06:00

For once the weatherman got it exactly right! He predicted rain early, clearing and sunny and then afternoon rain.
I had cornered DH into helping me pull dead plants from he veggie garden so when the rains stopped I got ready to go out. I saw a truck pull into the driveway....it was the fencing man we have been waiting on for several weeks.....there went my garden help!

I have always gardened unassisted so I headed out. It didn't take much over an hour to pull up all the vegetation on the west side of the garden. I did leave the row of Lutz beets. They love the cool weather and the tops are gorgeous. I pulled a couple to chop for the cow this morning...be interesting to see if she will eat them.

I stacked the dead plants in a sort of windrow on the north side of the garden and will let them compost in situ.
I then used my new ergonomic, arthritis foundation recommended pruners by Fiskar to clean up the 40 foot garden fence. This meant cutting large woody stalks of poke, KMOTGG that look like bamboo stalks, some roses and some volunteer tomatoes. I also pruned about 4 clematis. I am happy to report they worked like a dream! My left wrist stays tender even on the Prednisone and I worried about that.....no problems at all.
I am a happy gardener and they were cheaper than Felcos at around $28.

I still have the east end corn patch to do and will use the loppers (new also) on that area. The first nice, dry day I get, I will till the area. I also need to stick some cloves of garlic in. I am late with that and probably don't even need any but will do it anyway.

Today is roast beef dinner day. I put the roast in the crock pot with a package of onion soup mix *(and yes you can make your own) and it should be ready around noon. I have settled on the hot milk sponge cake and will make rolls later. I love cooking with the crock pot!

This morning I made biscuits again using W-M's coconut oil and once again we like the texture better than lard. Here is how they turned out:

I set another quart of buttermilk since I was down to a cup left in the jar.

Yesterday morning I made Cinnamon Ginger cookies. We both miss having a mid-morning snack with our coffee. I made them with the coconut oil too. They turned out well.

From Food

My sis from Iowa called (her husband was at a gun show) and we had a long talk about books. Our tastes aren't exactly the same but close. She has Kindle and is loving it. I have a local library and am loving it! and mine is cheaper......

The Geese are on the Move

2011-12-03T05:47:00.000-06:00

I woke up at 2 AM to a gently falling rain. We had the window open and there is a metal awning over that back porch. It makes a wonderful sound when it rains. It has been raining off and off ever since. I got up at 4 AM.

I doubt I will get any outside work done today even though it will be our last warm day for a while.....time will tell.
I would like to pull the tomatoes off the strawberry row....my gardening mistake of the year.

The Farmer's Daughter had a wonderful picture yesterday of the geese migrating and it reminded us that we hadn't seen any so far. When DH went out yesterday evening to do chores, he called me and said go outside and look up. There were l00's of geese moving southeast. Some were in formation and others in a straight line. We love to watch them and hear them each year.

It was hard to get a good picture without using the contrast edit because the sky was so dark and cloudy.

Willow

I did milk and she gave me a full 2 gallons and I saw traces on her hips so I do believe she will have a calf approximately 9 months from now, actually around September 9. I will watch her beginning around 20 days from now. We just left the bull in the field with her...

We have been out of beef for some time. I may have mentioned that my dear (greedy) husband did not cut out two for home use when he sold calves last time! Well I found a beautiful rolled chuck roast in the meat freezer yesterday and I almost got giddy. I do miss my beef! I will be having his Mom out for Sunday roast beef dinner. I think Sundays are her loneliest days of the week. I haven't decided on dessert yet. Either my white cake or Ilene's Hot Milk Sponge cake with frozen strawberries.

2011-12-03T04:22:00.000-06:00

38° here this morning. More rain is moving in later. I plan to try to squeeze in some more garden chores...like pull up tomato plants off the strawberry row. I may not have any strawberries left.

I originally wrote this November 30 so I will have to check to see if all is pertinent.

I have been reading my real food book by Nina Planck again and the article about coconut oil jumped out at me again. I have been using Louana's brand from Wal Mart and knew it wouldn't be the best quality. Minor research led me no where on it. I decided to find the best alternative at the cheapest price I could. I ended up on Amazon (how did I live before Amazon?) and found Nutiva Organic Extra-Virgin on sale.
I paid $46.86 for 108 ounces or .433 per oz. It is made from fresh coconut, cold processed and unrefined. The only worrisome thing is it smells and tastes like coconut...don't know how that will be in biscuits....I will soon know. It will be delivered in 6 days.

Bread

I wasn't as happy with the second recipe for Oatmeal Bread. It tastes very good but is a heavier, denser bread. I won't post the recipe. It was in my Joy of Cooking book listed as Oat Bread Cockaigne.

My next test will be Hodgson Mills Oat Bran bread using their hot oat bran cereal...I finally remembered to buy some.

DIY Detergent

I made up a full-size batch of the laundry detergent yesterday. I used the box grater and then decided to see how fine I could get it with the food processor. Here is the result:

I was short the second bar of Fels Naptha so I used an equal amount of my homemade and very strong lye soap and it grates like very fine cornmeal....be interesting to see if it would work as well as FN.

Farm News

Usually I breed Willow back after her second heat after calving but this year I decided to give her more rest and time the calf to be born after the worst heat of summer. I hate the flies of summer.

When I milked day before yesterday, she was way down in her milk and I thought she might be coming into heat. Sure enough I heard her bellowing when I went out to plant the bulbs. DH said the young bull was running the fence next to her area. We walked down and turned him in to her. It is so funny to watch their ritual. Lots of sniffing, her wanting to mount him, him circling her.....I finally got bored and left them to what they do best without an audience.....I am hoping to see signs on her this morning. You cattle people will know what I am referring to.

Here is their first encounter, note his head in sniffing mode:

Check the November 30 Date Post

2011-12-02T08:50:00.000-06:00

I posted this this morning and it kept the November 30th date and I can't figure how to change the date to this morning....I did some follow up things so thought I would let you know where to find the darned thing!

Busy Day

2011-12-01T16:48:00.000-06:00

We are slightly warmer here this morning, 35°.

Yesterday was filled with some necessary errands. These are not my favorite days...

We delayed starting until after lunch. I made a squash soup trying to use up my canned Long Island Cheese Squash. It was very tasty. I just sauteed some onion, yellow and green bell pepper in butter and olive oil. Tossed in a pinch of red pepper flakes, added the quart of pumpkin, a pinch of tumeric, salt and pepper and a couple of cups of chicken stock. At the last I added some heavy cream and heated it all up. DH didn't rave about it, but he did eat a bowl. I may sneak leftovers into a meal too.

I had a return to make way out to the mall; DH needed houseslippers and we wanted to stop by his Mom's to visit a little. We also took her a dozen eggs. We got the slippers on sale at Penneys about half what I had paid for his last pair online....it pays to shop a little which is not my area of expertise. The return went smoothly and I also found a pair of dressy trousers for me for out trip to St. Louis. I will attend a play with the two granddaughters for a night out with mother event and felt my jeans might not be appropriate! Funny how everything is now a discount store! Why don't they just call them that and not show the prices as big sale items.....oh well, the bottom line is what counts for me.

MIL is doing quite well and says she does not mind being alone and told us it is the first time she has been alone on her own since she was about 17 and she is now 93! Secretly I think she is liking having the immaculate house and not having to worry about meals for anyone. Her refrigerator has maybe 4 items in it!
She is living on heating up prepared foods and instant things. No muss, no fuss and very little clean-up.

We had to rehang a mirror for her that had dropped down on a shelf. It was so heavy I can't believe it didn't break.

We were supposed to stop by the local store, but DH was tired and said he would shop when he goes in to exercise this morning......just his banana fix. I may have him pick up a couple of whole fryers that were on sale. Have you noticed everyone has chicken on sale now....wonder how they determine to do that?

I am happy to report I went out this afternoon and planted my bulb order! The soil was so nice and moist the digging was very easy. I filled a whiskey barrel with blue hyacinths and white tulips. Next spring we will move it down to the house with the lift on the tractor. I want it where we can enjoy it sitting on the porch. The rest were alliums, Tete a Tete and Kokopelli jonquils and some white muscari. Should have lots of fragrance around the back porch area with them. It will be fun to see something new next spring.

Lunch doesn't photograph well but we thought it was very tasty. I had turkey broth from the carcass that I hadn't frozen yet so I boiled it down by about half and made egg noodles. I tossed in another vacuum sealed packed of turkey with some sauteed onions and had peas and my favorite winter salad of iceberg lettuce with Miracle Whip (yes, I am a redneck!) Mom always had that and I have rediscovered it lately.

DIY Laundry Detergent - The Winner!

2011-11-29T09:30:00.001-06:00

Good Tuesday morning! and it is a beautiful one, bright sun shining and very crisp and cold.

I did my normal early morning house chores, made the bed, folded some laundry, put fresh sheets on a guest bed, and tidied up the kitchen.

Over Thanksgiving I had laid out an extra pie crust to thaw in case we wanted a different pie....didn't have to use it so I made jam pasties this morning. I never know what to call them, but Cindy over on Chickens in the Road posted her pastie recipe with meat filling and I thought they looked like my little ones with jam....so jam pasties they are!

I had a jar of over-processed peach jam where I had cooked down the sugar and peaches with no added pectin and I overdid it on the cooking. I thought this would be a good use of the jam and it was. I just roll out the crust pretty thin and use a can for the cutter. I put a dollop of jam in the center, brush edges with water, fold over, crimp with a fork and sprinkle the tops with raw sugar. I baked them at 400° for 15 minutes and they were done perfectly.

DIY Laundry Detergent

OK, so the real purpose of this post is to tell you about the laundry detergent. I have thus far tried two or more DIY recipes, one liquid and we were never happy with how our clothes came out. Now you must factor in that we are active farmers and we get some serious dirt both animal and mineral on our clothes and I am a messy cook and wipe my hands frequently on my aprons (but not my pink one!) which leaves greasy spots. These never came out with the other trial soaps.

I found this one on Keeping a Family Cow forum .
It was originally posted by Mountainmama and the founder of the forum had made it and was very pleased with the results.

I had everything already on hand except the Oxyclean from my previous trials.
My husband does our laundry and it the resident expert on all things involved with keeping our clothes clean. I defer to him on all things laundry and he is happy with this one.

Recipe:

2 bars grated Fels-Naptha
2 cups baking soda
3 cups washing soda
3 cups Borax powder
1 cup Oxyclean (buy the generic one; I bought Sun Oxygen cleaner at Wal Mart)

Use 1-1/2 Tablespoons for normal load and 2 Tablespoons for very dirty clothes. We just use the scoop that came in the Oxyclean.

The added plus is the clothes feel like you have used a rinse, very fluffy and they have a nice clean smell. We have very hard water and so far this has worked equally well as Tide w/bleach which is all we would use up to this point.

I just read that Oxyclean is the bleach product in Tide! No wonder it works so well. I think it was the addition of it that made this one DIY one work.

I will give a report on the new Oat Bread Cockaigne that I made yesterday tomorrow...
and using coconut oil.

2011-11-28T05:09:00.001-06:00

We are having a period of colder than normal weather here. It began raining Saturday and drizzled all day; we got another inch which is very good.

Well when I read my previous post, I saw I didn't get done all I had set out to do...no surprise there!
I didn't get the fridge cleaned...I made a small batch of fudge but it was a total disaster; very sugary. If any of you have a "no fail" recipe I will be most grateful! This was so bad, I froze it hoping to find a use for it at some point. I can't make decent brownies either!

Our company left around 3PM Saturday afternoon. I go into a let-down mode and pretty much drop into my easy chair and recuperate for a long while after company and big dinners.

Sunday I was somewhat back to normal mode and vacuum sealed lots of turkey and ham and dressing. I have two quarts of turkey broth to freeze today.

I didn't milk when I said I would but I did yesterday morning. We were completely out of milk and were reduced to drinking some 'store' milk DH's mom brought out left from her dinner. She can't drink regular milk; has lactose intolerance. The minute I have Willow's milk DH won't drink the store milk.....

We are down to a few slices of Oatmeal bread so today I will be baking....

Random Farm Picture

I haven't taken pictures lately... I took this a few weeks ago. It is in a 7-acre pasture that marks the western boundary of the farm. I can see it from the west side of the house.

2011-11-28T05:08:00.000-06:00

Rain has stopped for we have had a few gloomy days with no sun in sight.

I know most of us are busily preparing for Thanksgiving dinner/dinners so I will just jot down some of my doings.

First, I got started reading Nina Planck's book "real food" again and got worked up once again. I keep coconut oil on hand but use it mostly for soaping. I will be changing that after reading about its beneficial qualities in her book. I decided to test it by using it to make biscuits this morning. I used my regular 2 cups of flour recipe and use 1/2 cup of the coconut oil.....perfect biscuits in every way. That will be a new routine . Now I don't order online and get organic, cold milled which may negate all the benefits of my Walmart buy....I don't know.

I have my two pie crusts laid out thawing for making pies for MIL's dinner tomorrow. I made rolls yesterday and will take some also. The rest I will freeze for our Saturday dinner. I have the ham thawed and will cook it Friday since my daughter and family will be here...leftover for the Saturday dinner alon with the turkey.

I cooked two bags of .99 Ocean Spray cranberries for sauce; taking out one pint for whole and running the balance through the Foley's Food Mill for the smooth sauce.

But the big news is I defrosted the upright freezer so I can actually see things again. I took out three bags of sliced apples and cooked them for chunky applesauce for an alternative to the cranberries.

Funny thing about making the rolls so early; I was preparing to make a test batch of the Oat Bran bread and already had the 2 packages of yeast proofing and began looking for the hot oat bran cereal the recipe calls for....not to be found (which led me to the defrosting project!)....I didn't have any. By now the yeast is getting reading to flow over the sides of the measuring cup.....I decided to just make the dinner rolls instead of the bread. I had every additive known to the bread-making world but no hot oat bran cereal!

Today I fully intend to clean out the bottom freezer drawer of the fridge....bet I find the oat bran cereal...maybe. It would hurt to clean the entire refrigerator either.

I will also milk this morning so I won't run out. My kids are big milk drinkers, especially our icy cold raw milk. I raised 'em right!

Sis called yesterday evening around 5:30 PM...she was visiting with her DH and she told him she was going to call and they had a bet I would be in my jammies.......easy money.! Of course I had on my jammies; it was dark outside ergo, I am ready for bed. Well she kept me up until 7:30 so I managed to stay awake until 8:30 PM. The time change is killing me...

I am going to make fudge today. Our granddaughter has asked for it twice now.....this time she is getting it. I will be sending it home with her. I can remember when she wouldn't touch anything chocolate.

to be continued...

Bean Soup and odds and ends - Onion and Garlic Harvest

2011-11-21T06:28:00.000-06:00

We have had some pretty disagreeable weather for a few days, overcast and even got some more rain; about 1/2 inch. They are predicting heavy rains along and south of I-44. We are about 10 miles north of I-44 so we may not be in the heavy zone, but we hope we are. The ground is pretty wet now so that would mean run-off that would refill ponds for farmers.

I just read Ilene's blog about cooking beans and having leftovers and it reminded me of what I did with some leftover beans last week. First I cooked a large pot of white beans with a very meaty ham bone and we enjoyed it with cole slaw and cornbread (I baked this so I would have some leftovers for dressing for Thanksgiving). The next day I didn't want beans again so I modified my Bean Soup recipe that called for stew meat. I cut all the ham off the bone and added it back to the beans pot. Then I diced up 4 potatoes, an onion and some celery, covered with water and cooked it until very soft. I used the potato masher to slush it up some. I then added about half the leftover ham and beans to the potato mixture. I added salt and pepper to taste and brought back to a boil. I used the masher again. I could have used an immersible blender but mine is for soap making....At the last minute I added a large dollop of butter. It was better than the original beans! I still have a small portion of beans left which I will make into baked or barbecued beans today.

I think I will make another oatmeal type bread today and check it against the Grandma's bread recipe. This will be a good bread day....it is cold and having the oven on will be very cozy.

I started a quart of buttermilk yesterday and it still hasn't clabbered. I used store milk for a starter so I don't know what happened; will just leave it out longer.

Pictures of the Day

Candy onions and garlic. I had lots of Super Star white onions but I have used all of them already; they don't keep quite as long as the yellows.

Post No. 2 (optional) How to Fix CD RW Drive

2011-11-18T07:52:00.000-06:00

This one is almost funny but it saved me a lot of time, trouble and money!

You may skip this one if it is of no interest to you. I probably would myself.

I have two computers. They are hooked together so I can access either from the new one. The old computer has two CD/DVD drives, one rewritable. The new computer has only one Multimedia Drive. For some time now the RW drive on the old computer would not open....computer told me everything was working...still couldn't open the drive. I wanted to burn some copies from MP3 disc (the funeral......don't ask me why!)OK,ask.....MIL requested them for other relatives.....I made one from a file I downloaded on my new computer and it took a long time to then burn it to a cd. This would be so easy with the dual file so I was determined to take both computers in and have a second drive installed on the new computer and have the non-working drive fixed or replaced on the old one. I called Office Depot and Staples....one would have to order the drives...I had to go in to order it; they wouldn't take a credit card over the phone....I couldn't wait while they repaired it. The other store had the drive but was a few days behind....couldn't wait for that one either. I didn't want to leave either one in the stores since all my financial data is on them.....

When all else fails, Google! There it was how to repair the old drive. It required a straightened paper clip! Yes, a paper clip....you stick it in the tiny hole in front of the drive; push it in and it releases a locking mechanism and out pops the drive! Amazing. So now, I will just live with the single drive on the new one.

I figure it saved me about $200.

Refinished Cedar Chest

2011-11-18T07:07:00.000-06:00

I finished this yesterday.

I have it in front of the sofa like a coffee table. It looks crowded here but the room is 19 x 16 and it leaves plenty of space.
and here is the real reason I bought it:

This let me get rid of a table in a bedroom that had stacks of bedding on it and empty some zipper bags of blankets out of the closet. There is still room for more in the chest. It is 48 inches long.

We are liking having a coffee table in front of the sofa...haven't had one in years. Now DH has yet another place to stack all his reading material, glass and coffee cup and all the other detritus he seems to surround himself with!

I wanted to report that I made my 6-crust recipe for pies and used the newly rendered lard to test it for taste.
I made a small blackberry cobbler and the crust is wonderful...no piggy taste at all. I am set for Thanksgiving pies now. All are frozen singly so I just take out what I want and let thaw.

Heirloom Petunias - Onion and Garlic Harvest - Pumpkin Sheet Cake

2011-11-17T05:34:00.000-06:00

It is a very cold morning here; our first hard freeze (28° for three hours). We will sink down to around 26 by daylight. I meant to get some rose cuttings...may be too late for that.

So far the heirloom petunias I grow have been improved by the cold....I will see what this does to them when I go out to milk this morning.

This is a little patch that reseeds itself right by the garage door. I just leave them be and we walk around them.
These are growing outside the back porch door among the late lettuce I planted. I just tossed the seeds out during the summer.

They are such a carefree plant...no hybrid ruffly things for me! I love the simpler blooms of all heirlooms the best.

The lettuce is still good too.

If I have shown this picture before, forgive me.....I didn't want to look it up...I did gather all the cured onions and garlic a couple of weeks ago and got it stored in a freeze-free zone (the milk parlor).

The onions will be gone long before winter is over...the garlic might last forever (it will go bad before then).

I made the Pumpkin Sheet Cake as promised and we kept out 4 pieces and the rest is in the freezer for the Holidays.and iced and cut into squares.

PumpkinSheet Cake

1can (16 oz.) pumpkin

2cups sugar

1cup vegetable oil

4eggs lightly beaten

2cups flour

1teaspoon cinnamon

2teaspoon baking soda

1/2teaspoon salt

Beatpumpkin, sugar and oil together. Add eggs and mix well. Combineflour, b. soda, cinnamon and salt. Add to pumpkin mixture, mixwell. Pour and spread over a greased 15x10x1 inch baking pan. Bakeat 350 for 25-30 minutes or done.

Cooland then frost with cream cheese frosting.

Frosting

1pkg cream cheese softened (3oz)

5Table. butter softened

1teas. vanilla

1-3/4cups powdered sugar

3-4teaspoons milk

Choppednuts (optional)

Beatthe cream cheese, butter and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add thesugar and mix well. Add enough milk to get the right spreadingconsistency. Frost cake and sprinkle with nuts.

Yield20-24 servings.

Fall Roses - Lard

2011-11-16T05:16:00.001-06:00

We have been having some wonderful warm weather....if you don't count the wind. However, yesterday was just perfect....with no wind at all.

I have been catching up on some odds and ends of projects.

First, I rendered the last two bags of ground pork fat and got 6 lbs of the wonderful stuff. It renders so quickly on top of the stove in the maslin pot so that is what I always do. I started with this,

and ended with this

From Blog photos

This time of year my roses always look better than any other time of year. I have 4 or so blooming now.

This first one is Paul McCartney which I planted sometime in the early 1990's. That is a very long time for a rose to last in my gardens.

It was so windy the day I took these photos that trying to catch the blooms up close was tricky.
That is my excuse for these being very off center,and this is a single bud that I finally anchored with my hand,
and this last one is called the last rose of summer and it is also the first rose of spring. It is an ancient China rose called Parson's Pink,

I have two others blooming that I will try to photograph before another hard freeze.

I started refinishing the cedar chest I bought.....ended up just sanding off the finish and will do a coat or two of poly to seal it. I sanded the inside to refresh the cedar smell. I hope to bring it in today. I plan to store extra bedding in it. It wasn't in pristine condition.....

2011-11-12T07:32:00.000-06:00

It was another early morning here. 2:45AM! I am thinking reaction to the Prednisone....but my arms and hands are well....
It was much warmer this morning, 50° but will be another windy day. Deer season starts this morning so I will not be outside much...I could hear the neighbors shooting out yesterday afternoon. That always scares me.

I wanted to report that I made the pumpkin cake from Denim's recipe. I love recipes that make small cakes since it is just the two of us. I was very surprised at how light and fluffy the cake was. I thought because of the pumpkin it would be pretty dense but not so. It is all gone but two pieces now.

I have added some really good new recipes from blogging friends which is just another plus from enjoying reading the blogs.

A gardening friend recommended these new toys because of my hand issues. I got them 'free' with points on my credit card which was a real plus! I have just used them a few minutes to test and know I will love them. The loppers cut through some smaller saplings like butter. They are recommened by the Arthritis Foundation.
Bless Amazon's corporate heart, I found them there. They haven't failed me yet! Amazon that is.

Some time ago I mentioned that I made a 'new' DIY laundry soap recommended on my favorite cow blog.
I am still in the testing it mode, but washed a set of flannel sheets yesterday and they came out fluffy and soft and slightly fragrant. We haven't been using a rinse with Tide and the towels have been pretty stiff. DH washed a load with jeans last evening but they weren't really soiled and he liked how they came out. I am tentatively thinking it will be the one we use.....more to come later when I test some really soiled clothes.
I have now tried a liquid and a granular and we didn't like either.....this one may be a keeper recipe. I haven't figured the costs yet but it has to be minimal compared to Tide at $14 a box!

A little fall color:

This is what I call the 'Grace' bed for the smoke tree that is the star. It has two crepe myrtles on the right and a red barberry on the left with a very dark red mum in front. Nothing is spectacular this year because of our hot and dry summer.

Trials on Oatmeal Bread

2011-11-10T05:43:00.000-06:00

Up at 3AM. Rains are gone and it is in the 30's.

Well, I began the trial baking on oatmeal bread yesterday. The first one I did was called Grandma's Oatmeal bread. Here are some various pictures.
It looks beautiful.....until I show you the other side.

As you can see it exploded. Now I would rather I get a nice tall rise than not, but this is overdone! I may not have had the sealed part on the bottom enough. Or maybe the pinch of ginger helped the yeast a bit much.
But we have decided we don't care. It was just an excellent bread, very fine textured and soft and should make for some great sandwiches. We find whole wheat breaks a little to much for good sandwiches, especially after a few days.

This one is well worth trying.

Grandma's Oatmeal Bread

From Blue Ribbon Breads by HodgsonMills

Dough:

2 pkg yeast

½ cup 115° water

1-1/4 cup boiling water

1 cup quick-cooking oatmeal (I havejust chopped up regular in the food processor before)

½ cup light molasses (or honey)

½ vegetable oil

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

6 to 6-1/2 cups unbleached flour (youmay mix with whole wheat- I did)

2 eggs beaten

solid shortening to coat bowl and two9x5x3 loaf pans

Coating:

1 egg white

¼ cup oatmeal

1 T. water

Add yeast to ½ cup warm water and letstand 10 minutes (this is proofing the yeast)

Combine boiling water, oatmeal,molasses or honey, oil and salt. Cool to lukewarm. Stir in 2 cupsflour. Mix well.

Add 2 whole eggs and yeast mixture. Mix well. Add remaining flour to make a soft dough. Knead until thedough is smooth and elastic, 10 minutes by hand or 4 in mixer. Putin a greased bowl, rotate to coat top. Cover with a damp towel andlet rise about 1-1/2 hours. Knead down and let rise a second timeuntil doubled, about l hour.

Divide into two equal portions forminto loaves and place in greased pans and let rise about one hour.

While dough is rising preheat oven to375°.

Brush loaves with the egg white coatingmixture and sprinkle with oatmeal.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes until top isgolden brown. Remove from pans immediately and let cool on racks.

Makes 2 loaves.

Note: I added 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (optional)

I used half honey and half molasses since my molasses was dark

I used half olive oil and half canola oil.

All else exactly the same.

I told you it is hard for me to follow bread directions to the letter!

Random Cat Picture

Our granddaughter took this one. It appeals to me.

Recipe for Chocolate Sheet Cake

2011-11-09T09:28:00.000-06:00

I am still having trouble adjusting to the time change; now getting up around 3 AM. It does give me some nice, quiet reading time...

Today is much cooler and windy. I took a few pictures and was pretty cold by the time I came back in.
I am getting color on my October Glory Maple at last.

and this is the west yard.....I do no ornamental gardening here and I love it.....

My trees are a swamp oak, a white oak, the pin oak and some silver maples....and the red maple. Note: I don't do leaves....might windrow some with the mower later....or not.

I was surprised to see this late lovely yesterday in all the rain. This is the old standby 'Immortality' iris.

I have had some requests for both the oatmeal bread and the sheet cake recipes. Here is the sheet cake, a very simple, no-fail recipe:

Secret Cake

I have been making this cake for solong, probably since 1971 when this local cookbook came out.

It was called Symphony of Cooking,fifth movement published by the Springfield Symphony Orchestrapresented by The Women's Division of the Springfield SymphonyAssociation.

When I make it for the whole family, Itake out half the icing for plain and add the nuts and coconut tothe rest....I then have a half plain iced and half other....we seemto be divided on who wants what!

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

½ Teaspoon salt

l stick butter

½ cup shortening

1 cup water

3-1/2 Tablespoons cocoa

½ cup buttermilk

2 unbeaten eggs

1 Teaspoon vanilla

1 Teaspoon soda

Sift first 3 ingredients together. Bring next 4 ingredients to a boil; pour over sugar mixture and blendwell. Add last 4 ingredients ; mix well. Batter will be thin. Pourinto greased 11x16x1 inch pan. Bake at 400° for around 20 minutes.

Frosting

1 stick butter

3-1/2 Tablespoons cocoa

½ cup buttermilk

1 box powdered sugar

1 Teaspoon vanilla

1 cup black walnuts or nuts of yourchoice

1 cup flaked coconut

Boil first 3 ingredients until slightlythickened. Remove from heat; add rest of ingredients. Leave cake inpan; frost while still hot.

This freezes well.

Yield: 20 large servings or 5 dozenbrownie size.

As for the Oatmeal bread, I had it in the freezer and I have about 3 recipes for oatmeal bread and don't know which one I did. I also notoriously ad lib with various additives. So this morning I am making two loaves of one of the recipes and actually following the recipe (maybe a couple tiny ad libs...) and will test and see if it is my best one. Besides, it gave me a good reason to make bread! More to follow...

Ilene mentioned salt for the mincemeat. I don't think I added any....will add a bit to the package in the fridge. I use vinegar too. I will post me DIY recipe soon.

I am making my Iowa sis a care package this afternoon. She will be getting package of mincemeat, a batch of Goat's Milk soap with lavender and rosemary fragrance, and a package of vanilla beans and my recipe for vanilla. I have almost let it all slip a time or two. I like to surprise her! I want her take on the mincemeat. It isn't for anything special just fun. She does love the soap.

Back At Last - Lots of Rain and other odds and ends

2011-11-08T08:34:00.000-06:00

We have been getting wonderful rains at last. First 1/2 inch and then 2.5 inches and counting with this last system. We are so grateful. Pastures should grow here until the ground freezes hard and stays that way. The cows will be happy!

I have been missing from Blogland for a while now. My FIL passed away last Wednesday and we have been busy with family, services and all that entails. His death was a blessing; he was completely helpless and semi-conscious the last few days. Funerals are usually an anathema to me and I was delighted that we had what I imagine an Irish Wake to be only minus the whiskey and food! The minister had asked for remembrances from all of us and when a story peaked his interest he would ask for more details. One involved Jack letting a new car back into the lake while my very young son was holding the boat by a rope....Jack was afraid the boat would pull Steve into the water so he jumped out to save him, not setting the brake....Steve saw the car backing into the water and yelled at him.....he jumped back in but not before telling Steve to let go the boat. He set the brake and was now sitting in water up to his waist. Steve ran to get help and they were winched out of the lake. He then parked the car and they fished the rest of the day! The audience was laughing before the story was finished. Lots of wonderful memories were shared.

It was the first time I felt better after a funeral than before The vocalist sang some wonderful old hymns and asked the guest to sing along and many did. I looked back over the small crowd and realized most were in their 70's and way beyond. It was mostly their church friends. Jack would have loved it.

Sylvia is doing quite well as I knew she would. She has no regrets and planned the funeral like she knew he would want. Max asked for a military funeral for him. He served in the Navy during WWII. It was very impressive!

We all feel now that life goes on and we are not sad.

I had the immediate family out to the farm and we had sandwiches on my French and Oatmeal Bread. I also had a huge pots of hamburger soup with two kinds of crackers and served that Chocolate Sheet Cake that some call Mississippi Mud Cake.

All company was gone by Sunday morning. I had to take Monday off to rest! I love them all dearly but it takes a little energy to deal with all the food things. The blessing was my hands and arms were finally back to normal. Thank you Prednisone.

I was cleaning out the fridge of leftovers (chickens love that!) and found I had thawed a package of piecrust that needed to be used. I hadn't sampled this year's mincemeat yet so I made tarts. Only two are left; even DH ate them and he isn't a big fan of mincemeat. I didn't think this year's batch was up to snuff but I can't figure out what is missing.

A beautiful Saturday Morning

2011-10-30T10:40:00.000-05:00

We had a very cool 33° night and lots of frost, but no wind and the sun is shining this morning. It is a perfect fall day.

I did a walk around and took a picture or two; nothing spectacular for fall color. I think we will be missing that this year.

I couldn't resist a couple of shots of Willow and babies.

One was the rear end so I skipped posting it!

This may be the most color we get this year in the yard. I usually tear down the Virginia Creeper and I will but I wanted to let it color up first.

The last week has been filled with doctor appointments, in-laws situation and our son's visit to see his Grandad.

Of course that always calls for a vanilla cream pie. I apologize for the color; it was taken under the led lights on the cabinet and I forgot to make adjustments.

This is the first time I have used the new vodka vanilla.....I didn't check to see if it had steeped long enough but I did a taste test and it passed. We all decided it was the best flavored pie I have made. Of course I used several different milk products for the cream.....so it wasn't a true test. The vanilla is quite sweet now. I didn't know the beans were sweet and it has a nice dark color.

Our son who likes to cook was very interested in the vanilla so he asked for and I gave him a packet of 12 vanilla beans I had vacuum sealed. He makes pies, bread, scones, biscuits and most everything.

Both kids were marked by fried chicken! I don't know if I did it a lot or what when they were growing up but they love it, fried the way Mom always did hers. I cut up two chickens to fry. He wanted to do it with me so after his visit with grandpa, we were frying chicken at 7 PM......not my usual time to cook! It was worth it though. He is such an appreciative eater! I just roll the washed an drained pieces in a mix of flour, salt and pepper and this time, paprika. I also fry it in about an inch of canola oil (or peanut or whatever) and I added 1/2 stick of butter for color and flavor. I brown it on high heat; turn down to medium low, put lid on and cook for l hour. Yes, one hour! I almost gag when I watch the TV chefs cooking chicken for 20 minutes on their shows. The chicken will be almost falling off the bone and then I remove lid, turn up heat to crisp it up. That's how Mom did it and it's good enough for all of us.

The requisite sides of mashed potatoes and gravy and buttered peas and fried apple slices were added.

I sent the balance of the chicken home with him.

He is coming back today and bringing the two younger grands,and will just be here overnight. DIL is coming down Sunday with our oldest granddaughter and then they are all going back at the same time. I may have to trail in town to see her....and will if necessary!

Cooking seems impossible to time so I just bought some deli meats and cheeses and chips. I can always do waffles or eggs if need be.

I will be making chocolate cupcakes later this morning.

I am heading to the kitchen to process the peppers and some of the really ripe tomatoes...

October 15-23 A Record for no Posts

2011-10-23T14:27:00.000-05:00

I just haven't felt bloggy.....some family illnesses and other issues that seemed to sap my energies.

First the weather: we finally got a lovely 1 inch rain and it has been pretty cool. We have had three frosts so far, one pretty heavy with a low of 29°.

I did make myself go out and harvest some tomatoes and the peppers. I was surprised at the ripe tomatoes.

Bless the peppers. They finally came through and the cheese peppers were just loaded with tiny little green ones about an inch or less across.

I have had to mow again....hopefully the last time. The trees are loosing leaves rapidly now.

I ran across a real bargain a few days ago. We had stopped at a local Farm Supply store for something else and I saw the boxes of Muck Boots stacked outside marked $20 (I gave over $80 for my winter ones.) These were all the low tops, just perfect to step into to do yard and garden work in hotter weather. I can just hose them off. I was delighted to find my size.

Note the dirty rug. We are either the dirtiest people on earth or our farm is! We track in more dirt...We are now practicing the Japanese tradition of removing shoes by the back door. Ilene, pay attention now: You cannot walk into a chicken yard or chicken house without stepping in something! You may need some of these!

But gathering the eggs make it worth it!

I tried to capture a picture of the heavy frost but it wasn't too successful.

I made my annual batch of mincemeat and candied some citrus peel. More about that in the next post.

Catch Up Time Again

2011-10-14T05:24:00.000-05:00

We are still dry here even though the county directly south, Christin Co., got nearly 2 inches.

Mostly just routine farm stuff happening. the new chickens are still trying to figure where to lay their eggs. I have had two broken so far. I had to put a wide board up for them to roost on. We don't think they even had a roost in their previous home. The minute I did that they were lined up on it the next morning. Some are still sitting on top of the next box.....pooping of course!

We sold calves Wednesday and glad to see prices are still very good. Of course this means the store prices will be very high too.

We had to go to town one day and dismantle FIL's bed for a hospital bed. He isn't doing well at all and I see a nursing home in the future. She is 93 and just can't care for him. She doesn't take advice at all so she will just have to figure that out on her own.

I had a small cheat on the no dessert routine and made an apple tart. I thought well , just one crust! So it is really diet food, right?

From Blog photos

I made this one with Golden Delicious apples and they were so sweet I added very little sugar to the tart.
I mixed maybe two tablespoons of sugar, some cinnamon and 2 tablespoons of flour with the apples before dumping them on the crust. Then I drizzled a little boiled cider over them with a few pinches of butter added.

After baking I brushed maybe a tablespoons of softened apple jelly for a glaze.

Today's cooking project will be hamburger and hot dog buns. I vow to master shaping these rascals the size I want! No more baby buns...

I am playing with design again......bear with me, please. I do this by experimenting; I have no idea how to do most of it.

Video?

2011-10-11T05:40:00.003-05:00

Well, it didn't play for me??? I may have to skip that feature. My wireless is just 512 kbps but I can play others videos. Wonder what I missed doing? Help?

Wyandottes and Black Sex Links

2011-10-11T05:31:00.000-05:00

We finally found some young pullets and just-starting-to-lay pullets fairly near. We drove up around the Stockton Lake area to get them Sunday. He was a poultry jackpot! He had banties, several kinds of young chickens and I saw a pen with ducks. Of course, I wanted one of each.....but settled on 6 Black Sex Links and 4 Golden Laced Wyandottes. The Blacks are already laying.

They are the singingest chickens we have ever had. We both just stood around them listening yesterday.

The blacks are more gentle than the Wyandottes and both are more so than the
Americaunas.

I discovered it is two Buff Orpingtons that are still laying.

I spent about an hour getting the pens fitted out and cleaning up for winter. We are keeping them separated for a while before tossing them all in together.

I found ut from the poultry man that probably the reason my setting hens didn't work was for the eggs to be fertile, you should have one rooster for every 5 or so birds.....I am at 1 to 15 birds. He also said I should get rid of my rooster first because the new rooster would fight to the death with him. He is such a nice bird, DH is very attached to him so we will just continue to buy birds every couple of years or until he ends his days
with us naturally. Not very practical, I know.

I hope you can hear them on the video (Nell made me do it!). After enjoying her butterfly videos, I had to try one. I may have made it too long; it took forever to embed. I made one calling the chickens....after listening, I decided to do a new one! I need Nell's lovely southern voice to do voice overs. I sounded like a mule driver!

Kieffer Pears and other kitchen doings - Milking Routine

2011-10-09T06:24:00.000-05:00

We are still having nice weather, but a little too warm and too dry.

I have been keeping up with routine daily farm chores of chickens , Willow and the calves and DH does the beef herd.

I decided I better do some processing of apples before loosing them. Yesterday was the day.

First was the Kieffer pears. I planted it knowing it has a bad rep for anything but canning or jam, but it is very resistant to fireblight to I chose it deliberately. This is the first year to get anything and that was just 12 pears. You don't allow them to ripen on the tree, in fact, I am not sure they will ripen on the tree! I waited until there was a rosy blush on one side and just a beginning of yellow . I stored them in the milk parlor for about a month checking daily for softness. I decided they were ready when they had an even yellow color and a slight softness. I don't think their reputation is deserved. I ate one and thought it was very good and juicy. I am happy I planted it. I had enough to make a very small batch of Pear Honey. I think I cooked it a little too long but it tastes delicious.

Next, I picked all the Golden Delicious that were the ripest and had some faults (remember, I bought seconds), just cored and diced. I cooked them with enough apple cider to get them started using the favored Maslin Pan. When soft I ran them through the Foley Food Mill. I processed them in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes. They were so sweet, I didn't add any additional sugar.

Milking

Willow refused to let her milk down......again....... So, I enticed baby Jersey up the ramp into the barn. She was able to stick her head through and begin nursing. Voila! down came the milk. I milked out three quarters very easily.

This solves two problems for me. One, I get the milk without waiting an hour and I am breaking the future milk cow to the ramp and barn. When she gets too old to put her head through, I will just run her into the stall in front of Willow and feed her grain ration while I am milking.

We looked for a calf halter at two stores but they didn't have any. I have two that are a little too large for her now, but I will just wait until they do fit.

Willow has another grandcalf

2011-10-05T09:33:00.000-05:00

Another beautiful day in the Ozarks! I had a bad night so when I finally did go to sleep, I slept in. 5 AM for me is about 1.5 hours of oversleep.

I was still in my pj's when DH popped his head in the back door and said "Annabelle calved". He could see her from the barn lot. Annabelle is Willows' daughter. We bought her with Willow when she was 7 months old. This is her second calf and it is another bull. I grabbed the camera and walked down to see them. I arranged the collage showing a calf's actions when disturbed. First it is laying enjoying the morning sun, mother and baby ignoring me and Biscuit. Then Biscuit wanders near to check it out, up comes the head and before you know it, it is up and moving to Mama. They always nurse when worried or upset. Annabelle still paid no attention. She knows both of us well.

I have very few pretty flowers left blooming. Of course, the roses are an exception since they always look best in the cool of fall. Finally the pink hyacinth bean vine is making seeds, but they are very small.

Eyesore Removed! and other routine things

2011-10-02T13:07:00.000-05:00

Weather continues perfect for fall. I would like another rain....I am greedy.

Here is the first thing that caught my eye a couple of mornings ago. I walked out on the porch very early and looked across the road to the field. Normally there were piles of brush stacked here and there and several weeds. It has taken the neighbor three years in short spurts of work but finally he finished the job! He even burned the brush piles. It looks so nice now.

If we weren't so close to the road, I wouldn't have paid any attention to it...but we are.

I mowed yesterday probably for the last time. I was surprised by how much dirt and dust it kicked up. Of course the yard being overrun with moles doesn't help. I hope they are gorging on Japanese Beetle grubs!

I milked yesterday, Friday. I am trying a new routine to encourage her to let down her milk, DH goes out early and turns her in to the holding pen. See can look over the new half door and see the babies. I leave her there for at least 30 minutes, hoping. I got more milk than usual so maybe it is working. It is no more work to do it this way so we will continue.

I just made a pan of rolled type apple dumplings; hope they turn out super. I want to take some to my MIL and FIL today. Apple Dumplings are her favorite dessert, but the old, whole apple type.
I wasn't wholly impressed with the rolls, so I made just three of the regular kind with pie crust I had in the freezer.

A day or so ago I baked a small turkey and made a regular turkey dinner of mashed potatoes, peas, gravy, and turkey. I made the large recipe of 24-hour refrigerator rolls too. There was a method to all my madness in cooking this much food. I took enough for two meals up to the In-Laws. I still had enough turkey left to make a large pot of turkey tetrazzini today (Sunday 10/2/11). There will be enough to freeze and DH can take some to them mid-week. FIL isn't doing so well after his last radiation treatment. He is very weak and couldn't keep his eyes open while we were there. We are hoping his strength will improve over the next two weeks.

The chickens are on a laying break big time! 1 or 2 eggs a day. They may be starting to moult. I hate when that happens but it always does each year.

Our neighbor had hung a new gate between us so we dropped by yesterday and paid our half.

That wraps up another week.

I can hardly believe it is October! What happened to September?

Storing Vanilla Beans - Apple Jelly and butter

2011-09-27T06:53:00.000-05:00

It is much warmer here this morning, 54° compared to 43° yesterday. The high is supposed to be around 70°.

Yesterday turned out to be a very long day.

First I researched and found that the vanilla beans store the longest in an air-tight container in a cool, dark place.

I realized that the came in a vacuum sealed bag so I did the same thing. I used the Food Saver and froze 12 beans to a pack. I bought so many because of the price break and the fact that I had points on my Amazon credit card that paid for the entire order. I didn't even know I was accumulating points....what fun!

The question now is what on earth was I thinking........way too many beans.

After cooking the cores and peelings until they were soft, I drained all the juice from them using my hands to gently press in the colander. I ended up with 7 cups of juice, exactly what the jelly recipe calls for.
I did use some old pectin just because I had it, but I don't think I would have needed it. It sure speeds up the process though.

I pressed the remaining mass through my food mill and got 48 oz. of nice sauce or pulp. I used an equal amount of sugar and added some cinnamon and cloves and began cooking it down in the much used maslin pan. I probably reduced it by half.

I decided to make the jelly even though it was getting pretty late in the day.

Here is what I ended up with from the 'waste' of the peels apples:

Right in the middle of the jelly-making, our new neighbor stopped by to see if a stray cat that had wandered to their place and stayed was one of ours.We invited her in and she followed me into the kitchen. I wish you could have seen the mess! If you have ever canned or make jelly, you know what I mean.

She sat down and stayed for two hours....she's a talker and so am I and sometimes DH, so we enjoyed it.

I didn't even care about me mess but it was distracting trying to finish the jelly! I ened up with not sealing a few jars and will store it in the extra fridge.

It was 8 PM when she left. Her husband actually drove up looking for her! She is maybe a little younger than our daughter and has the charm of the South. I didn't notice an accent though. Maybe not far enough south.

They are from Raleigh, NC. but she grew up in Maryland.

I did a cursory cleanup and quit for the day.

Pinto Beans - Apple cores and Peels - nectar for Bees

2011-09-27T06:17:00.000-05:00

Another perfect fall day but I am inside. The kitchen is a 'beehive' of activity (pun intended)!
Ever since Sharon told me about feeding the honeybees nectar this time of year and after a very bad summer, I have been in a frenzy putting out containers.....4 up to this point. Now my back door has become a danger zone! I must move them away from the house tonight after the sun goes down. I also upped the nectar to a 1:1 ration. I hope I have understood the bee sites about that.

I also belatedly have started processing the Jonathon apples. I have them spread out in standard plant flats in my light stand on the back porch. I have done one and have three more to go. I can't stand much longer or my sacroiliac begin complaining loudly. I hope to do another in the afternoon.

I also put the peelings and cores from this mornings apples plus a bag from the freezer in my maslin pan along with maybe a quart of cider to get them started. I also added some water. I will strain and maybe press then for juice for apple jelly.

Since I have to be inside, I added a pot of pintos to the mix. I am happiest when I get way too many irons in the fire...

From Blog photos

The foil package in front of the oven is a loaf of whole wheat bread thawing for lunch.

Vanilla

2011-09-26T04:39:00.000-05:00

We got a little shower during the early morning. We sleep with the bedroom window partially open and there is a metal awning over it. We love to listen to rain hitting it. It reminds me of sleeping upstairs at Grandma's. There was no insulation or attic over the bedrooms upstairs and you could hear the rain hitting the roof. I love that sound.
Tonight is supposed to be down to 43°. Fall is truly here.

Right after breakfast, scrambled eggs and toast and (for me only) salsa, I got my vanilla project going. I have wanted to do this for a long time but finally ordered the vanilla beans and bought the vodka. It is so simple.

All you need is:

1 750 ml bottle of good vodka
12-15 vanilla beans (I ordered mine through Amazon)

You slice through the beans with either a knife or kitchen scissors up to within 1 inch of stem end. Drop into the bottle, put on lid. Simple wasn't it? I will shake it a couple of times a day for a week or so and then store in the cabinet for a couple of months. You can even replace the used vanilla with either more vodka or rum for a while. I think rum would add another flavor.

and here is the bottle with all the beans added,

I have enough beans left for more vanilla. I probably should just buy more vodka and get it started. I know the beans have to be stored in a particular way, not frozen. I tried to keep some once and they completely dried out. They are expensive so I don't want to loose any!

The vanilla is already getting a darker color and smells like vanilla.

It is now the next morning, September 26, the weatherman was right. It will be 43° by sunrise.

New Used Buy - Bees

2011-09-25T06:59:00.000-05:00

When we were at the local hardware store getting supplies for cutting off the doors (new carpet), I "suggested" we stop in the used furniture store next door. It was mostly very unimpressive stuff but this caught my eye.

It is solid cedar and has wooden rollers, the top shelf is missing, but I will use it for extra blanket and bedding storage so that is good.

I plan to use Formby's refinisher to clean it up and will post a picture when I have finished. I will re-sand the interior to bring the cedar scent back to life.

So, back to the store for the refinisher and some Tung Oil.

The bees are swarming the feeders again. I need to spray it with Pam and see if that works.

Yogurt, Buttermilk and Leibster Award

2011-09-24T16:19:00.003-05:00

The weather remains just perfect.

I just milk when we get down to one jar (1/2 gallon) of milk which is usually every three days. I milked Friday and brought one warm bottle down to the house. I was almost out of yogurt and was getting very low on buttermilk.Willow actually gave me almost a quart over my normal amount so I brought that down for buttermilk. I just added 1 cup of my own buttermilk from the remaining amount in the fridge, stirred it, placed the lid on loosely and set it back out of the way. Usually 24 hours is all it takes for a good, thick buttermilk.

I usually stir it up to be sure it is clabbered enough and this time it held the spatula upright. It was ready...

Making the yogurt isn't much more difficult, just a few more steps. Here it is on a heating pad covered to ripen and make for 7 hours.

and the resulting beautiful and tasty product,

I heat 1/2 gallon of milk in a stainless steel pot to l85°, then plunge it into the sink full of icy water and cool down to 110°. This is the perfect temperature for the yogurt culture to work. I take it out of the cold water and stir in the starter which is around 2-3 T., cover it and place on the heating pad set on medium. Cover with a towel and wait. When finished, the curd will separate from the sides of the pot and the whey surrounding it will be greenish which is as it should be. I then stir it and put it into containers. I am using some plain cultured yogurt as a starter. I froze some in ice cube trays and put in a ziploc baggie. I use 3 cubes thawed as a starter. When I get a perfect batch, I will save some of it to start the next batch. I have never equaled the first batch I made! Curious. It is all good but that one was perfect.

Carolyn at Krazo Acres awarded me the Leibster Award. Thank you so much; I don't really do awards but wanted to tell you all how much fun her blog is! She is another Ozark gal living in the country with lots of critters and she has a definite way with words! She tells all about the award on her last blog.

Doors - More Rain - a new plant

2011-09-22T15:51:00.001-05:00

The morning started out cool and misty and it then turned into a light rain that dropped 1/4 inch more here. Very nice.

The sun is out now but it is still very cool.

Yesterday I checked out the garden center at Lowes looking for a small tree to plant in the stump bed....no luck there but they did have the most indcredibly blue caryopteris and was simply covered with flying things. I couldn't resist. It is called First Choice and is a much deeper more vibrant blue than the one I used to have.

Can you see the bees and something that looks like a lightening bug but isn't?

I am putting it just to the front and left of the pink rose Aloha by the back door.

We got the three doors shortened so they won't hit the new carpet and now I have to stain and varnish. What I really want to do is to replace them! They are hollow-core doors and really not very attractive.

More Good News! You know our last handyman and helper turned out to be not so dependable....well, we were shopping in our local Ace Hardware which is a small store and lumberyard in a very small town. DH told them what we really needed was someone to hang some new doors. The owner spoke up and said, see that tall man standing behind you? He's the man for the job. Turns out he is a carpenter, jack-of-all-trades. I asked for a card and saw it stated finish carpenter, architectural specialties....I told him my humble work might not be anything he would be interested in, but he said no, he did everything. He is booked up to January. He did say if he couldn't do something he would know someone who could.
The owner's son told us privately that this man had done all the finish work on his home. I am hopeful once again. We would really like to get the Milk Parlor painted before winter. It is really an eyesore right now.

Then I want the porch or porches enclosed; DH wants a different door on the back porch, I need shelving on the back porch for canned goods and odd utensils.
I want a 4-ft wide walk from the door straight out to the drive that would lead people right to the door we use as the front door instead of the back porch. Oh I forgot, I want a new entrance door....and the list does one.

But I can wait on the house things, the milk parlor has first priority for me now.

I bought another small thing...at a used furniture store next to the hardware...
more later about that.

2011-09-21T09:40:00.000-05:00

Blogging begins again.

Up at 3 AM. Nothing to read so I caught up with all my Blog reading.

The last few days have been filled with normal life on the farm.

I milked a couple of times, made peanut butter cookies, ran errands and did the normal things I do each day,

Did I mention we got rain, glorious ran, a total of 4 inches, so I am feeling much more optimistic about gardening and farming. I might even have to mow again. It is funny how the yard can green up almost overnight after a soaking rain.

We have water standing in the lane that runs through the farm again! Haven't seen that in a long time, plus it has been much cooler. The cows are enjoying it as much as we are.

It has been too wet outside to do any work, but I can now begin to clean up the kitchen garden.

I will leave the tomatoes and peppers. Ilene's cheese peppers are hanging full and I have picked several beautiful deep red ones and a few yellow. My other peppers seem to be at a standstill. I am anxious to do a walk-about and check on everything. I did notice another first; the miscanthus grass didn't make the plumes this year, not a single one.

I have a good friend from high school who retired to Panama and she was in this week. Her schedule didn't allow for a visit but we did have a nice phone visit. She was an oceanographer and explained to me our weather as related to La Nina and El Nino. She said her experience over the years led to a simple description of how they affect our weather:

La Nina (last longer) Cause hot weather to be hotter and cold weather to be colder. I have already heard people predicting a bad winter.

El Nino cause the reverse: Colds warmer and hots cooler.

Next year may be another bad one; let's hope not quite so bad.

The other exciting news for me is we finally had new carpet installed in the living room and our bedroom. It is the new shag that they are calling frieze. The fibers are twisted. It is a tweedy carpet in brown tones. It doesn't photograph well. I was so worried that my flowery furniture would be horrible next to it, but I can live with the look for a while. It feels so spongy that I almost loose my balance on it. The other one had been down since 1973 and had flattened just a tad!

I will have to take off about ½ inch from the bottom of three doors this morning so they will not graze the carpet. I am not looking forward to that but I have done it before.

I may even drag my financier out to look at furniture soon... You may hear loud screaming from the farm if I do.

I remind him often that we are raising the cattle for this very reason!

I did do a walk-about this morning. It is just a perfect, cool and sunny day.

When the weather starts cooling off I notice the things that are still blooming get a more vibrant color, the roses perk up again. Here is Yvonne's Salvia and salvia farinacea (self-seeded),

and this is a lavender and an unknown variety of sedum,

I could hear the calves DH has up to wean for sale so I wandered back there to take a look, but the babies caught my eye instead,

They are to the point that we just turn the cow in to her grain and don't have to tie her up for the babies to nurse.

Last, I made one of our favorite 'down-home' meals, Mom's goulash, salad and cornbread (the sweet kind).

Rain! and Cream Cheese Danish

2011-09-15T06:30:00.000-05:00

Those aren't blobs on the camera lens; that is rain! We finally got nearly 1/2 inch yesterday afternoon. What a delightful treat. The temperatures never got past 70° and this morning it is 46°! Wonderful; wonderful!

I took advantage of the cooler temperatures to make our favorite Cream Cheese Danish. I got the recipe from Thibault's Table blog. I have quite a few of her posted recipes that have now become regulars for me. I think I have already posted the recipe. This one is so easy. I never remember to make the dough the night before so I do the wait a few hours method.

We have thoroughly tested one of them....

While the rain was coming down, we watched True Grit from Netflix. We both loved the movie. Of course, we like all westerns and hope this one is setting a new trend for movies. We opened the back door so we could enjoy seeing the rain coming off the awning.

Inside and Outside

2011-09-14T06:33:00.001-05:00

We missed a good opportunity for rain yesterday morning; the breeze got up and it was pretty dark south...alas, it missed us again.

Inside

I just puttered yesterday. I re-varnished the trim above the sink where the water splashes. I used the new miracle re-finisher recommended by the cabinet maker (a local shop). It is called Good Stuff and it is. It is in jelly form and you apply with a soft cloth. I put on two coats, buffing between both. We also refinished DH's step dad's old cane. He did the sanding, I put on two coats of Good Stuff. While I was on a run, I put another coat on the top of the kitchen table. I scrub this so often, the finish begins to wash away.

Outside

I walked out into the kitchen garden, the first time in a few days, and was delighted to find a cherry-type self-seeded tomato hanging full of ripe ones. I had given up on any more tomatoes this year. I remembered when it first began ripening I practically ignored the lowly thing waiting for a 'real' tomato. Funny how time changes things (words to a song?). They are very sweet this time of year and taste wonderful. I picked a small bowl full and now will be watching it closely.

I see some green tomatoes on the regular vines, but I doubt they will have time to ripen.

I need to plant some garlic this week. I hope to do it after a rain...

The Orchard

2011-09-13T05:03:00.001-05:00

This is supposed to be our last hot day; then down cooler than normal and with a tantalizing promise of rain. I only get excited when I hear it hitting the awnings!

I hope I have mowed and watered the orchard/garden area for the last time. I do hope to till it before the ground freezes.

We have 8 fruit trees back there: Liberty apple, Gloria Peach, Madison Peach, Shiro plum, a Santa Rosa type plum, Stanley plum, a nectarine, and another apricot. If the weather permits, we could get a few peaches next year. I may order three more trees, dwarf this time. These are semi-dwarf. I want an Arkansas Black apple, a crabapple (they can be great pollinators), and another sour cherry tree.

and this is our winter supply of hay. It is just south of the orchard.

and this is the gate between the two area that opens into the whole 20-acre field.
We have these two areas fenced off with hot wire.

This is taken looking west to the barn with the new doors, the holding pen where the babies are and Willow who now has access to the hay storage area that has lots of grass, dried I might add, for her to graze....or she can attack the hay. We keep a stock tank of water inside the barn lot to the left of the picture.

I have plans to do some mowing around the house where the grass has been growing because of the water it gets when I water the foundation beds.

Farm Time

2011-09-10T09:30:00.000-05:00

I have taken a little break from blogging for a few days.

It is still nice weather here, high's in the 80's; lows, 50's. Still no rain.

Since I blogged last, I visited my Sis in the Nursing Home which is enough to make you want to go into a dark room and shut the door for several days. Nothing to be done about the situation though.

Farm Life

I took a break from some spot mowing a couple of days ago to snap a few pictures of the cows in the West Lot who had come to the fence to watch me.

The first is Annabelle, Willow's (the milk cow) calf that we bought when we bought her. She has already calved and the calf has been sold.

This is the young bull we bought a year or so ago.

The sun caused some flare out but I like how it shows his muscling so I kept it.

Milking

I milk in a unique way; I stand up and bend over. Our old dairy barn is the platform style where the cows walk up an outside ramp and the milker stands on the floor where you attach the milking unit. Since I don't use the milker I am not in a good position to milk by hand standing up because I have to hold my arms up....which is very tiring after about 15 minutes. I stand on a stool and bend over her, works very well and also puts my head way out of danger range. It works for me.

DH was taking my camera to the field to take pics of the cows and snapped this on his way.

and this is how Grandma fed her chickens corn.

Note: Grandma never had a double chin and she never ever wore jeans! She did wear an apron daily and so do I! We would go out behind the barn to her corn crib, she would gather up the corners of her apron and fill it with 3-4 ears of corn and then we would go to the chicken yard which was her entire yard, but there was some bare ground near the chicken house door. Then she would take an ear at a time and shell the whole kernels onto the ground and they would come running.

I raised some Reid's Yellow Dent corn two years ago and never stored it properly and this spring I saw it was filled with weevils. So I decided to try Grandma's method and it works like a charm. DH had fed chops the night before so they weren't quite as thrilled with corn this morning.

I thought it might be hard to shell, but it was not.

Coffe Cake for Sunday

2011-09-05T05:43:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was our first cooler day in a very long time. We had just a few drops of rain.

I milked. Willow is way down in production. I think it is due to the extreme heat and dry conditions. Most cows will not graze out in the sun and I don't buy alfalfa to feed her when we have grass even though it isn't the best forage right now. The name of this game, is to have good,raw milk without it costing us more than store milk.

I made one of our favorite coffee cakes. This recipe is found on King Arthur's website and I have made it several times. I don't use a tube pan but I do use my spring-form pan. That means you have to increase the baking time by about 10 minutes. I always test with a toothpick first.

Cake
1/2 cup shortening*
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream

Topping
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Cream shortening, sugar and eggs. Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream.

Grease and flour a regular-sized tube pan**. Spread half the batter in the pan, and sprinkle with half the topping mixture. Repeat with remaining batter and topping.

Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until cake tests done. Cool 10 to 15 minutes, and remove cake from pan. Place cake right-side-up (topping up) on a plate to serve.

*I usually use a butter-flavored shortening, or margarine.

**I make this in a 9 x13-inch pan if it's for family, and just serve it right from the pan in squares.

Note: This coffeecake is also delicious made with plain or vanilla yogurt, or buttermilk. If you bake it early in the morning, you can carry it outside for an al fresco breakfast before work!

If you make this in a 9 x 13-inch pan -- a handy, stable size for transporting to picnics or potlucks -- be aware that you'll have to spread the batter quite thinly to cover the bottom of the pan. Spoon half into the pan, using a rubber spatula to spread batter out evenly; sprinkle on half the topping; then drop the remaining batter, in spoonfuls, on top. Don't bother to try to spread it around; just sprinkle with the rest of the topping. Cake will puff up and look fine by the time it's done.
Nutrition information per serving (1/20 of recipe, 51 g): 188 cal, 9 g fat, 2 g protein, 10 g complex carbohydrates, 14 g sugar, 1 g dietary fiber, 31 mg cholesterol, 137 mg sodium, 45 mg potassium, 1 mg iron, 52 mg calcium, 41 mg phosphorus. Note: using lowfat yogurt or lowfat buttermilk in place of sour cream will lower fat to 7 g.

My Note: I always use butter when it calls for shortening.

We have decided this is the year to replace our l970's era carpet in the living room and bedroom. DH wants the new shag which will always be the 'old' shag to me.
We had it in our first house! Nothing is new under the sun.......
We are going for a darker, blended color tweedy thing so DH's coffee dribbles won't drive me insane. It is hard for me to make decisions so I will probably just let him select it. It will make our old living room furniture look so bad....I am hoping to replace most of it next year. "Lord willing and the creek don't rise" as Mom used to say.

We have nothing planned for the holiday. I really should do some real housecleaning for a change.

My kudzu - Plants good for hot and dry weather

2011-09-03T04:32:00.002-05:00

When I took the trash out this morning I looked across the road at the front ditch.....this is my kudzu! Grandpa Otts and a blue morning glory run amok! This is why I never plant them anymore. I did this deliberately in the ditch and I hope it runs willy nilly along it.

Did you ever see anything so lush....ditch with no additional anything.

And this is why I never plant a morning glory anywhere on the farm anymore.

I planted my leftover lavender vinca by the back porch door. Then some of my favorite petunias came up beside it. I love the colors together. There is also a self-seeded Jewel of Opar on the left. This is where I planted lettuce seeds a week or so ago. The only one that came up was the old standby Black Seeded Simpson.

I wish more of the darkest petunias had been open this morning. They are the ones that look so good with the lavender color of the vinca.

These three annuals are very good ones for hot and dry weather. I grow the vinca from seeds and the others reseed them selves annually so, in essence, are considered perennials by me. I wouldn't be without either.

I originally wrote this August 30...it is still hot and dry but is supposed to be out last really hot day for a while. I hope it is true. Still no rain.

Note: I knew this would happen. The country road crew came by and mowed right up to the mailbox! Oh well.................
.

Hot Days

2011-09-02T05:11:00.000-05:00

We have had some very hot days this week and today and tomorrow are supposed to be the same, near or past l00°. I have practically been housebound for the last three of them.....only going out in the early morning to either milk or take care of the calves and Willow.

I milked yesterday morning and once again, she was slow to let down her milk but I persevered! I think it was already 80° by the time I went out. Even our nights are not cooling down. Still no rain here.

I did nothing significant in the house.

I am posting some random picture taken by our 16-year old granddaughter on her last visit. She loves taking pictures and has a real talent for it.

Everywhere you look outside, you can find a cat!

or part of one,
or the dog. He follows the grands every step they take,

Note: she is wearing my new Muck boots!

New bread - cleaned the freezer at last!

2011-08-31T18:01:00.001-05:00

I told you how sometimes plans don't work out, especially where animals are concerned.

I planned to milk this morning; first I noticed Willow was bellowing....she absoutely would not let her milk down. For the uninitiated, a milk cow can come into the barn with a flat, deflated udder sometimes, but when you wash her udder and massage it and strip out some milk usually her udder will fill up and become very engorged. Well Willow has always tried to hold back her milk, I think for her calves, but generally lets down after a couple of minutes prepping her. This morning, nada! So I turned her in with the calves, udder filled right up and they nurses happily. She also could have been in heat. I am marking the calendar for 21 days ahead to check.

Now I had absolutely no excuse to not tackle that bottom freezer compartment of the trio fridge. How I hate that job. To make it more fun, I decided to make Flower Lady's Oatmeal Bread that she recently blogged about. I reasoned it would be something to look forward to after the awful cleaning job and it was.

She makes hers in a bread machine but I am happy to report I made it the traditional way and it turned out beautifully. I didn't have all the herbs so made some substitutions. I used fennel seed instead of caraway, no marjoram-used rosemary. We liked it very much. I was afraid the herbs and spices would be too strong, but they are not. I am looking forward to trying some as toast or with soup.
She has a link to the recipe on her Blog
I was able to bake it in the counter-top oven which was a plus. I did have to cover the top with foil and I almost waited too late!

I followed Granny's Place method of listing all the things in the drawer and will put it on a spread sheet soon. I couldn't believe how much I had crammed in there. I found lunch which was a plus. We had spaghettil cheese bake and a slice of Oatmeal bread and a small cupcake for dessert. I had frozen three in a ziploc bag; found a container of cream cheese icing. They were banana so that worked out well.

I also put all frozen bread in the bottom of the drawer and moved heavy things to the upright freezer on the back porch. The hardest part of the whole ordeal is taking out the drawer and getting it back on the tracks again. You have to do that in order to wash the bottom of the freezer which always is a mess. Actually defrosting the upright is much easier. I want to do it soon and make a listing of the items.

It was 100° today, a good day to be working inside.

Daily Chores - Flower Beds

2011-08-31T04:29:00.000-05:00

I did the morning chores that DH does unless I have to milk.

He wanted to get an early start on brush hogging so I turned out the chickens and did Willow and the calves. She never wants to come in the barn if she sees me; she knows I will steal the milk! I locked the calves in the barn, opened the gate to her field and to the holding pen......and she trotted in to see where the calves were.
While they were nursing I watered the clematis by the ramp.

Next turned the chickens out for the day. Then I started my flower bed clean-up. I finished the Hummingbird Bed by the drive and turned on the sprinkler. then I moved to the DR porch bed and worked it over.

This is the north side of the HB bed that I did yesterday.
and this is the south side, east end after I have cut down the lychnis and shastas,

This is the west end of the south side that had already been tidied up. The poor anemone 'Robustissima' isn't going to do much this year. It is right behind and to the left of the phlox. It is usually 5 feet tall.

On to the DR Porch bed

This is filled with ribbon grass! a serious mistake. I have some nice daylilies and Siberian iris in here that are being choked out. It has to go.

and the corner bed foundation bed,

I am feeling very pleased with myself. These are jobs I usually wait until spring to do,but things just looked so awful because of the weather I couldn't stand it any longer.....and then there was that Florida incentive!

I need all the incentive I can get these days.

Bread - Gardening Cleanup

2011-08-30T09:36:00.000-05:00

It was 73° here this morning and it bodes to be another very hot day.

Yesterday was milking day. It takes her a very long time to let down her milk for just me, but I persevered!

Flowerlady has inspired me to stay with my yard clean-up project. She has made remarkable inroads in her lush tropical growth in Florida and she has all that humidity to deal with.

Gardening

I began the Hummingbird Bed outside the kitchen after I milked. I watered part of it while I worked. I cut down and pulled morning glory vines in the side next to the drive, cut off most of the phlox and cut a few seedling trees. I think for now I will leave the Golden Rain tree. It is too near the sassafras seedling tree but I am not ready to make a decision about it.

This morning, I plan to finish the bed. I stay plan because living on the farm, things have a way of changing quickly.

I also spot mowed part of the west yard.

I am still finding the odd Japanese Beetle on the roses.

We made another library run so I am good for another week. I tried to watch some television, but gave up. Nothing on it interest me.

Cooking

We were very low on bread. I wanted to test the machine again and go for 4 loaves.
I basically doubled KA's white bread recipe from the book that came with the mixer.
I was worried about doubling the yeast from 2 to 4 packages but did anyway. I rose like gangbusters! I think I should have cut back on the yeast considerably and just let it raise longer. It worked up beautifully, pulled off the bowl and dough hook, was smooth and satiny and very springy! I made three loaves of bread and one of hot dog buns. This bread is the closest to being store bread in texture and taste. This is not a goal! but this is what it turned out to be. I don't know why I am so enamored of white bread these days. I will make some good old hearty whole wheat soon.

This is slices from a small test bun. We always have to test it first out of the oven.....that is required!

A baby sitting Weekend

2011-08-28T14:09:00.000-05:00

Kittens that is.

My neighbor girl asked me to take care of her three baby kittens this weekend. It was a new experience for me. Bottle feeding baby kittens. They have been no bother; they are still at the sleep-most-of-the-day stage.

Not much else going on except they did deliver the rest of the hay. The hay man wants us to lime and fertilize and let him custom cut our hay next year for $18 a bale. I need to check into fertilizer and lime costs. We have about 80 acres we could cut for hay.....need to really put pencil to paper on this.
We are currently paying $30 a bale but the quality isn't top notch.

Weeding - The Babies

2011-08-27T05:54:00.000-05:00

I made a few changes in my daily plans.....I took care of Willow and the calves this morning. While they were nursing, I cut the weeds growing out of the concrete in the holding pen (calves home). When I turned her out, I couldn't resist taking a few pictures of them in the cool morning. They are shaded by the apricot tree. I took so many I decided to do a collage. If you look closely you can see the wet noses and them looking to their left watching Momma walk away.

Instead of coming straight in and starting the freezer drawer, I decided to get the mower and trailer out. I want to spray some fence rows and ditches so I loaded the 25-gallon sprayer and had DH load the battery so I could check it out before mixing the spray. All is running, so in the morning I will be ready to go early.

I always keep my tools ready in the trailer, so I grabbed the loppers and cut some tall weeds out of the Ramp bed. The clematis paniculata (yes, I know they don't call it that anymore, but I do!) is starting to open and it smells heavenly. It has received very little extra watering so it does very well in the heat and dry. I always have to cut it away from the gate. The Kieffer pear has a few but I don't know when to pick them. I know I do it while they are still hard and let them ripen inside, but when?

That is the calf pen in the background.

Cutting those weeds felt so good, I did an early attack on the poor bedraggled Driveway Bed. I haven't watered it once this year and you can certainly tell it.
I pulled most of the weeds here but did do some seedling trees and milk weed with the loppers. I am feeling very good about this. It is something I normally don't do until fall because things are still blooming.....not this year. I still have the west side of the bed to do.

Now I am inside and DH tells me he is out of chicken for the dog....and Tide! I need my Merle Norman makeup, so the freezer may have to wait.

I think I may be deliberately putting it off............

Here is another good drought plant and it comes up in lots of places all over the yard.

2011-08-26T06:49:00.000-05:00

4:30 AM, 61 °, high 80's for the day.

In celebration of the cooler temperatures, I made sausage gravy and biscuits for breakfast. I didn't really need an excuse. We just get hungry for a country breakfast now and then.

Just the biscuits, the gravy just doesn't look nearly as good as it tastes.

I haven't been doing much lately.

Wednesday, 8/24/11:

Helped finish up Willow and the calves so DH could check the cows earlier.

Harvested parsley seeds.

Watered the calves and the Kieffer pear and the two nearby clematis.

I was back inside by 8:10 AM.

I did make a new batch of soap. This time I used Willow's milk and left out oatmeal.
I made a 32 oz.(weight of the oils) batch. Making soap is like making bread; no batch turns out exactly as the batch before!

This is one batch of the same soap. The only difference is the larger, darker bars were poured into my wooden mold lined with an old shirt tail. Mom always did this but she used a cardboard box of some kind. The lighter bars were poured into a quart milk box and lined with plastic wrap. Be interesting to see if when aged, they are the same.

This is the two bars up close and personal,

I only use a mix of lavender and rosemary essential oils and so the whole house smells lovely while the bars are curing.

Gardening

I called the local orchard hoping to find peaches and some apples. I wasn't really surprised when they told me they just had a few apples this year and very few peaches. I won't bother to buy any. It has been a very strange year. My trees didn't bloom much and what did just dropped.

Thursday, 8/25/11

The washing machine was delivered yesterday afternoon. Like all new products, the government has put their busy little hand in.....the lid goes into lock-down when you start the machine. What an annoyance. I lift the lid quite often during the process. I can still do it, but have to push a button and if you hold the button down too long, it cancels the thing and you have to start over! I may just leave the whole thing to my in-house laundry expert and never look at it again.

Farm

The tractor was finally delivered on Wednesday. DH called the hay man and he will be bringing our 100 large round bales on Saturday. We have some carry-over from last year so should be good, especially if our normal fall rains come. Fescue will do regrowth with rain and cooler weather and will grow until mid-December.

The plan for today is to clean out the bottom freezer on the refrigerator....I must do this!

Just another day in the life......

2011-08-24T06:11:00.001-05:00

It is overcast this morning but no rain so far. It is very iffy for us to get any. At least the clouds help with the temperature.

Helpmeet did the cow and calves this morning which was very nice because I was able to get out in the garden early.

I finally got turnips planted and am watering them as I type.
I harvested the okra again and two tomatoes. I found three more tomato horn worms. What voracious things they are!
'
My piggy back eggplant must be the hybrid eggplant 'Fairy Tale'. Mine isn't quite as striped as the catalog pictures and I see I picked some a little too short. They recommend two to four inches. Mine fall within that range but it seems four would be a better length. I plan to cook some for lunch and will let you know what we think.

The dwarf plant is hanging full,

God love okra. It thrives in this hot, dry weather. The tomatoes are almost non-existent. I finally found one for lunch and it has a bad spot on one side.

I tackled a few cleaning projects in the kitchen. The glass insets in the cabinet doors were past time of cleaning so I did them. My kitchen sink window is always bad so I did both the inside and the outside. I finally got smart and just hid a step stool behind a bush under the window so I can clean without dragging one from wherever I might have to go to find it.

I had to order a new washing machine yesterday......I have been waiting for the other shoe to drop after having all the farm machinery repairs. I told DH something in the house would quit .... and it did. The machine has been a workhorse for us for over 10 years. DH does laundry daily. He may have a nervous breakdown without a machine until Thursday or Friday! I just ordered sight unseen another stripped down model Whirlpool. I had the serviceman tell me the minimum to have on it. They tried to talk me into a Whirlpool owned brand that they had on the floor....repairman shook his head "NO" when I repeated that aloud. Whirlpool is the brand I try to stick with on washers and dryers and DW until I don't. Then I am always unhappy.

Early the next morning

We ended up with a very light shower and the the sun came out and it got pretty hot again.

Cooked the new eggplant. I thought it had a bitter whang. Of course, with our weather no plant will be its normal self. I don't think I will grow it again. I still can't find where I ordered the seeds....maybe a stray from Pine Tree?

Pound Cake for company

2011-08-23T05:02:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was another very hot day.

The new calf routine is going smoother than I had hoped. By the time I got outside yesterday morning, Max had Willow in the barn and she and the babies were nearly finished. All went well. We turned her into the east lot where there is a lot more grass for her. I had to use a sturdy plastic trash can for temporary water. We need to buy a small, portable stock tank next time we are in town.

I decided to do a little trimming around the back yard and by 9 AM gave it up! I was drenched and drained. I also watered a little. Today is supposed to be near 100°.

Before company arrived, I made our favorite pound cake. I reserve this recipe for company because it makes a huge cake and everyone really enjoys it. I also like to send what's left home with them.

I found the original recipe on Allrecipes. It was submitted by Gina and what she says was true for me, once I made it, I didn't use any other recipe for pound cake.
It is a very moist cake and you must follow all the instructions about baking to the letter to get that.

Gina’s Pound Cake (allrecipes)

This is the best and last pound cake recipe you will ever use. etc.

Ingredients:

3 cups white sugar
1 cup butter
1 (8 )ounce package cream cheese, softened
6 eggs
3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1/2 teaspoon orange extract

Directions:

Do not preheat oven. Spray a 10 inch Bundt pan with vegetable oil

Sift together flour, soda and salt and set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Pour the flour mixture into batter and gently fold in with a spatula. Stir in the flavorings. Batter will be very thick.
Pour batter into prepared pan. Place cake in oven and set thermostat to 350°F. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes or until the top is golden brown and turn the oven off.
Let the cake sit in the oven for an additional 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool in pan for 15 minutes. Turn cake over onto a cake plate and allow to cool while still covered with pan.

A Piggyback Plant - Random Farm Pictures

2011-08-22T05:31:00.001-05:00

Another cool morning. Oh how I love them! It is 70° which is a little warmer but at least it isn't 80°. Still no further rain.

I tilled part of the garden yesterday and it is still fairly moist down 6 inches or so. I should have to water for a few days.

I didn't get any trimming done. I hope to tackle that today. I am not milking.

I think I have talked DH into buying a baby Jersey heifer to put on Willow...if the farm has any. I am calling or e-mailing today. They are the cheese company farm that the state of Missouri visited with guns drawn ordering them to shut down a 30-year raw milk cheese company and they were ordered to sell all inventory! The litigation is ongoing. There had never been a complaint against the company in all those years. I will let you know how the baby calf situation goes. It seems wasteful to me not to let Willow raise a second calf.

I have mentioned before that I can't bear to toss out good plants....even though I should sometimes. Well when I moved a pot of salvia to the stump bed, I noticed a strange plant in with it....it wasn't any weed I was familiar with so I left it and planted the entire pot. It was an eggplant. I am not sure what variety.

Now I remember, the salvia was a piggyback too. The pot was for the Golden Jubilee agastache.

I don't really need anymore eggplant. I don't know what to do with what I have!
I do want to try this one though.

Random Farm Pictures

When the Grands are here I give them my camera and they snap away to their heart's content.....they go places I don't!

This is Willow and this year's baby.

and this is Willow's 2-year old daughter with her new baby, a bull calf. I hadn't seen it until this photo,

The above post is a week old now, but is workable as today's post. I still have not tried the new eggplant.

What's new is the weather has warmed up again and no rain. I am watering a few things.........again.

New Jersey Heifer for Willow

2011-08-21T10:25:00.000-05:00

I had another couple of posts ready but yesterday we took a trip way down to Mt. View, Mo. and bought a new baby for Willow.

She was born August 3. Willow's heifer baby was born July 29 so there isn't much difference in age but she is almost twice the weight and size. Of course she is half Black Angus and has been on full feed (Momma's milk) since birth. We think the new baby is a little lean but very healthy and latched on to
Willow with some guidance. Willow was not too bad with the whole set up. I definitely need to be present during feeding time with a switch and to tie Willow up.
It won't take too long. She has accepted other babies in the same manner.

I am feeling very pleased. Now I can just milk when I want to and Willow can raise two calves for me. I have always wanted a Jersey milk cow and now I can have one...........if two years down the road, I still want to milk and I see no reason to change, health permitting. I have taken several picture this morning so if anyone wants to see more they are welcome.

She will look very different in a few weeks.

Another Catch up Post - Honey Wheat Bread - Random Farm Picture

2011-08-18T05:04:00.000-05:00

We have entered another warm few days and I started watering a few things again.

I haven't done anything in the garden since I tilled it, not even to check tomatoes.

It was been a busy few days.

We decided to sell some calves again so that took up one morning. Prices are still very good, thankfully.

Then we dropped the trailer off to have the lights fixed before we get a ticket for not having them.

I can't be in town without stopping at a store or two, bought milk filters, and a few grocery items. Back home and put things away. After shopping, I am through for the day.

Except, I did make bread very late yesterday afternoon. This time I made another family favorite, Honey and Wheat. It makes three loaves; I made one up into burger buns. Our KC family called and are coming down tomorrow to spend a couple of days before school starts. Our daughter really likes this bread toasted.....so she will have bread!

Finally this dough came together like I thought it should.

Here is how it looked in the mixer after kneading for 6 minutes. I still am not happy with the size of the buns, I weigh them and that is correct but I want the bigger around....may have to resort to a cutter. Suggestions will be appreciated.

and right out of the oven,

Honey Oat and Wheat Bread

from Hodgson Mill Bread Book

2 pkgs yeast
1/2 cup warm water (105°)

2-1/2 cups warm water
1-1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups Oat Bran Hot Cereal
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup margarine (I use butter)
6 cups Hodgson Mill 50/50 flour
1 egg
2 cups Hodgson Mill best for bread flour
shortening to coat bowl and 3 bread pans.

My Change:
1 cup hot oat bran cereal
1/2 cup cracked wheat
Soaked in the 2-1/2 cups of hot water
Increase salt to 2 teaspoons

This replaced the 1-1/2 cups Oat Bran Cereal

Add yeast to half cup warm water. Let stand 10 minutes.

Combine lukewarm water, oat bran cereal, honey, melted margarine. Here is where I bring water to a boil to soak my 7-grain and cracked wheat. Let stand until cool.

Add 2 cups 50/50 flour and mix well (you may use mixer). To this mixture add the egg and softened yeast, mix well. Add remaining flours to make a soft dough. Turn onto a lightly floured board and knead 10 minutes or use dough hook on mixer for 4 minutes . Put in greased bowl turning once to coat top. cover with a damp cloth and allow to rise in a warm draft-free lace until doubled about l hour.

Knead down. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Diving into three equal portions and let rest for 10 minutes. Shape into loaves and place in greased loaf pans, let raise for about 1 hour until dough reaches tops of pans.

Preheat over during this time to 375°. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Remove bread from pans immediately and let cool on wire racks.

Random Farm Picture

We have had Willow long enough that she now has a grandcalf, actually two, since Annabelle, had calved earlier. We bought Annabelle along with Willow when she was ready to wean. This is the first one from her first baby born on the farm. The mother is Ginger (out of our Black Angus bull) and her first baby, a bull calf from our new bull.

2011-08-15T08:46:00.000-05:00

Another delightfully cool morning here. I milked (skipped yesterday morning). Had great plans to start the yard immediately but DH said the grass was too wet. In a little while after my second go round of coffee, I will till the bare part of the garden again. The weeds have responded to the little rain showers!

Well, our company left about 5:30 yesterday evening. Had a wonderful visit. We are very happy with the way our grands are developing. They have wonderful manners and thank you for everything you do for them. They also are big milk drinkers and very good eaters and, the best part of all, is they love Gram's food! I bask in warm praises all weekend which is very nice.

They did the ziplining thing and really enjoyed it. DIL took lots of pictures and a video of the long run. It sounded and looked very exciting. I wish I could figure some way for you all to see the video. It was after 7 pm when they finished and she gave them the option of eating out or coming back to the farm. They chose Gram who had a hot pizza waiting.

I sent them home loaded down with 6 dozen eggs, okra (the 16-year old loves it)from the garden, several jars of jams and jellies (requested by the above,which is why I make so many of them), the leftover chocolate sheet cake,the cookies, and a loaf of the French Bread. They/we had eaten the other two loaves already.

This is such an exciting time of their lives. Our grandson had finally grown 3 inches since we saw him earlier this summer.....of course, his younger sister had grown 3.5 inches! I have been telling them since birth that you are what you eat...I think it took. I was delighted to see how much milk they drink...and they love the 'cow' milk. They have it with all meals and for snacks in between times.

The one thing we didn't get done was try the beignets filled with whipped cream and raspberries and drizzled with ganache. We did have beignets for breakfast. That's a given when the come here. I made them promise to try New Orleans beignets when they take the next cruise that leaves from there. I want them to try the chicory coffee too (the grown-ups).

We had some dough left and I am going to try that just for us! Bad, I know but so be it.

Here are the two older ones:

Yes, that is cow poop splattered on their legs!

and this is the youngest on the hay,

and this is Gramps after he got the ATV ready for them,

Hope I settled on the layout!

2011-08-13T08:58:00.000-05:00

I have the search feature on the right sidebar. I will try to remember to label the posts with recipes. So you just type in the name of the recipe and it should take you to the post featuring that particular recipe.

Now if I could just figure how to make the header picture the width of the entire blog................

Post Script

2011-08-13T04:46:00.000-05:00

Oh lordy. I have messed with the design so much I have lost my recipes! I need to take a class in blogging. I need to try to figure this one out now. Great.............

A Little Rain - Self Seeded Trees - Real Workout with the Queen

2011-08-13T04:38:00.001-05:00

It is truly a good morning. It is 68° and we got .33 inches of rain around 2 AM. It was barely more than a shower but we are very happy to get it! The top soil was still moist from the previous rain. Maybe the long, hot, dry spell is truly broken.

Ilene has been talking about planting trees at her new home on her blog, The Rock Whisperer. I wanted her to see the self seeded Golden Rain Trees I have thanks to the black seeds inside the cute little lanterns. It is a good small tree. I used to have a very large one, but either an ice storm or the tornado took it down. What I do have each year are little seedlings still coming up! It is amazing.

These came up in a planter out front where there used to be a huge spruce tree (downed by strong straight line winds). I have let this clump grow together.

They have never been watered or sprayed. The Japanese Beetles do eat them but they are not the top choice for them!

This is the sassafras tree right outside the kitchen window. I have wanted one for years and the birds gifted this to me a couple of years ago. I hope it isn't too close to the house.

This next one was a mystery tree, but I think I have identified it this year by the tiny bell shaped little blooms hanging from the underside of outer branches. I believe it is our native persimmon tree. There are several growing on the farm and a grove of them west of the house where the big pond it. As it grew I thought it was a pretty, healthy tree with interesting bark so I let it be. It is just behind the double pink rose of sharon next to the lawnmower shed. They are small trees so I think it will be fine left here.

Once again, no watering during this drought.

There is an 18" one growing right by the back steps that I think is another persimmon.....I am keeping my eye on it.

Another very hardy tree for drought is our native redbud. I planted three seedlings dug from the yard a few years ago and they have done really well. I also have some growing out of my lily patch....not a good thing. That is the only things about self-seeders. They don't always sprout in good places. I am trying to kill one out of my 20 year old Parson's Pink China rose but am not having much luck.

The St. Louis grands are coming down this weekend so I had a good excuse to put the mixer through the paces. I made my French Bread recipe that calls for almost 11 cups of flour. The mixer was barely warm. The bread seemed awfully soft like my potato bread but I added no extra flour. I am curious about that. It turned out great.
I made up one loaf in my bread pan.

I sliced one loaf and the texture was nice but more holey than usual.

They all love the cookie recipe I got from Flower Lady's Blog. It's called Creaet-a-Cookie. We love it. This time I added 1/2 cup of wheat germ and used the chocolate chips. DH doesn't like them , but the grands do so guess who won out?

It makes a large stiff batter. Once again the mixer did great.

I was worried about all the talk about needing to order a special paddle with plastic extenders on the side because the original paddle doesn't scrape the bowl well. That hasn't been a problem for me. I resent having to buy something extra to make this expensive a mixer work! So I didn't do it.

I think both recipes are listed on my side bar or they were. I will check later.

The Raccoon - Freezing Okra - Trial Pickles

2011-08-12T08:00:00.001-05:00

We are still in our cooler mode; high yesterday was just in the 80's. Still no more rain for us. Most of it went south to our Arkansas friends and they needed it too.

First things first. We finally caught the blasted raccoon ..... after he or they got my sweet corn.

He just looks evil!

The funny thing is we had baited the trap with peanut butter, canned cat food, corn and marshmallows at various times. No raccoon. So I finally just forgot about the whole thing.

Two days ago when I went to the garden to harvest a few things, I was within a few feet of the trap and didn't even see the rascal! Later I looked through the garden gate and there he was....just looking at me. I was stunned. I know he was there earlier because you normally don't see them active in the daytime. This was with no bait at all except dried up leftovers of a cob. I plan to toss another dried ear of corn in the trap because where there is one, there are more.

Trial Jars of Pickles

I know this isn't really much of a test but, so far, I am not overly impressed with Pickle Crisp. All I did was a small jar of my regular garlic and dill where you mix equal parts of water and vinegar and some canning salt and pour it boiling over your cucumbers packed in jar with whatever you want to use, dill, garlic, red pepper flakes, etc. They seem a little crisper but I would have to open another regular jar to test and haven't done that yet.

The others were a sort of bread and butter using up the leftover relish syrup, I had a quart of that which I brought to a boil, dumped in a quart of sliced cucumbers, brought it back to the boil. Then I packed them into a quart jar. I have left them on the counter top. The b & b seem tough to me, could have been the cucumbers. They aren't as crisp as the ones I soaked overnight in the lime solution. I am putting them all in the refrigerator today and see what that does.

I added 1/8 tsp to the small jar and 1/4 tsp to the quart.

Freezing Okra

This couldn't be easier. I pick the okra small. Wash and dry it. Slice off tips and stem ends. Slice in 1/2 inch or so pieces. I lay out equal pods and slice several at once. Place in bowl with some cornmeal; toss. Then lay them out on a cookie sheet to freeze individually. Next I bag in a gallon size bag. I add to the bag until it is full. I can then just pour out the amount I want to cook. I don't thaw before using.

Flowers

I finally got a picture of the 4 0'clocks open. I should have put them in another location because they aren't too attractive during the day. Another thing to add to my "to do" list.

Cool, but no more rain - A couple of roses - Random thoughts

2011-08-11T07:12:00.000-05:00

Let's get the weather out of the way. It is much cooler this week but, so far, no more rain. We are down 5 inches so far.

I milked yesterday and Willow is limping again. Usually one shot of LA 200 takes care of foot problems. I just had Oxy-tet 100 (half the strength) so gave her another shot. I think we need to make a town run and get the stronger solution....or load her and take her to the vet.

We neither have allergies to oxytetracycline so I won't hesitate to use her milk, but I don't think it will clabber with the antibiotic. I will try a quart to see....be interesting.

I checked the garden after milking and picked okra again and a few other things. I am appalled at the tomatoes. Lots of damage from the stink bugs (white scarring under the skins) but I am canning them anyway.

The cherry tomatoes are all volunteers from years past. The little pear shaped ones are from the yellow tub tomatoes I get at the local market. They are very sweet. The black cherries are from a tomato a neighbor gave me and the larger pink ones may be pink ping pong from last year.

The large tomato needs to ripen more. It is Anais Noire/Black Pineapple, a greenish black marbled tomato, very tasty. The cucumbers were still good. I did a couple of jars to put in the fridge just to test the Pickle Crisp. I wonder how long I need to let them set to detect the crispness?

Roses

This rose, Belinda's Dream, is a very good one for me. She has survived the onslaught of the killer J. Beetles and is returning to bloom. Actually she has been in bloom all summer. Now I must tell you she is planted at the base of a compost pile (behind the fence). There were still 1 or 2 beetles on the blooms.

and a single bloom up close,

The two tricky heirloom roses are bouncing back too. There was one perfect bloom on Baronne Prevost,

Random Thoughts

Yesterday morning was the first morning in a while that I stayed outside to do some gardening. I did weed the corner bed by the back door, trimmed back the spent hesperis and hoed up the bare ground.....thinking it might be a good spot to plant some fall lettuce.....right by the back door.

I didn't work long but realized that I finished feeling invigorated physically and mentally. That is what gardening does for me........so I am not quitting. I just need to get things to a manageable size. That will be the hard part. I feel so good when I complete a little project like that one. It has to be good for you.

I have several things I want to talk about, but this is way too long. I will list them to remind myself.

The two jars of trial Pickle Crisp Pickles
The Aloha Rose
The raccoon
Freezing okra
my self seeded trees (for Ilene to see)
My piggyback eggplant
Maybe the little backdoor area for lettuce??

The Queen has arrived! Test Bread

2011-08-10T06:47:00.002-05:00

We had another fairly decent day yesterday, but I didn't feel like doing anything outside, even milking; so, I didn't! Being a retired old person has its privileges....

She arrived in all her Styrofoam packed glory. I dropped everything and unpacked her and put her in her place of honor in the kitchen, the bake and work center, actually corner.

I love that I am familiar with everything but there is a slight learning curve involved....maybe....and I may just use it exactly like my old one.

I needed to make bread and tried my Sis's favorite recipe that uses mashed potatoes.
It was a very wet dough but I restrained myself from adding too much extra flour. I need to start weighing ingredients instead just measuring. The bread turned out great but wasn't a real test since it just made two loaves. I need to do a 12 cup recipe soon.

I read most of the afternoon.

This morning I will get back to my regular schedule. I definitely need to weed the area beside the back door and milk.

More rain is promised today and another 80° day. Oh joy!!

A Foggy Morn

2011-08-09T07:06:00.000-05:00

After our lovely rain and cool day, here is how our morning looks,

These were taken from the porch on the east side of the house, like yesterday's rainy shots.

Yesterday was a busy morning. I milked as usual. Brought the tomatoes down from the barn that were ripening and canned them, just 3 pints. I also rendered a package of the ground fat from the hogs we ordered. It goes so fast on top of the range that I can't imagine doing it all day in a crock pot.

I got a little over half a coffee can. The partial jar is what was left after I re-rendered the cracklings. I kept it separate because it will have a slightly stronger taste than the first rendering.

While the fat was rendering, I made a pumpkin pie from Long Island Cheese pumpkin that I canned two years ago. I wanted to try a nutrient dense pie so I added an extra egg and 1/2 cup of heavy cream (thank you, Willow). I used the recipe in my favorite new cook book Joy of Cooking. I like the blend of spices and the combination of brown and white sugar. I had the pie crust in the freezer so it was easy to do.

The reason I was looking for more calories is my FIL has been diagnosed with esophageal cancer and begins radiation this Wednesday. After a few treatments, his esophagus may be very tender and the food will have to be mild and probably soft.
I will make them one today or tomorrow and we will take it in to them. The doctor cautioned him to keep eating and not just skip because of discomfort. I am thinking egg custards, puddings, etc. but we will just see how things develop.

The new mixer didn't come yesterday; supposed to be here today. I need to make bread but want to wait and do it with the new mixer. I read somewhere bread is softer made by hand..........drat! I hope they are wrong. People selling the mixers sure don't say that.

Rain, Assessing Gardening

2011-08-08T19:29:00.000-05:00

First let me assure you that I did not do all that work from the previous post on one day! I often let two or three days go by before I post. Sometimes I don't list what I do on each day which I know is confusing.
If I want it to be a daily journal for my use, I really should do it that way. I will try to remember.

I have been taking assessment of my gardening life.....this awful year will make you do that. My husband thinks I should take a year off and do zero gardening. I am seriously considering it. My 'older' sis in Iowa says that will never happen....she is probably right.

But here is what I am considering:

No cole crops of any kind. How many cabbages can you eat. Also they draw thousands of cabbage butterflies which means I have to dust them often. I loved the kale but so did something else. Each morning I find it eaten to the stems. How often do we eat broccoli?

another option would be to design a very small covered bed for just dwarf blue kale and broccoli......see, Sis is probably right!

Just 10 tomato plants.

Definitely peppers No disease or insects!

No cucumbers for pickles...I have enough pickles to last several years.

No summer squash....I always loose them about the time they start to produce to either squash bugs or borers.

Do grow sweet corn, but only in new garden by the orchard where I can electrify a fence around it. That garden is already surrounded by an electric fence. Be easy to tie on to it.

Do plant everything where I can access it from all sides with lawn mower, tiller and trimmer.

Plant pole beans....pray for a decent season.

This was a bad year in so many ways. We had too much rain early to plant in a timely manner. I hadn't readied the garden in the fall. I had issues with hips....
Therefore, I have plans (best laid, etc.) to have the kitchen garden all tilled, trimmed and ready to go by winter. I can pick a lovely, cool fall day to do it.

I also plan to have the tomato patch with t-posts in the ground just waiting for those 10 (I said 10!) plants next May.

Here is an interesting observance about the tomatoes this year: No disease anywhere! I didn't get them staked and have lost a few to rot, but not many. I would rather have them staked though. Now if disease is tied to rain and the soil and splashing up on the plants as the experts say...I did get mulch around them very early. No rain, but I watered regularly. I don't really know what the answer is, but I have only had two years with no disease, that was last year when they were planted in new ground....no mulch and this year in drought, mulched and watered with well water.

OK, a couple more days have passed with very little activity out of me. I did milk each day and we made another Walmart run. Milk is piling up in the extra fridge.

My new mixer is due tomorrow....I am hoping for today. I am getting excited.

The best new is we woke up to another 1/2 inch of rain and a cool morning. This is supposed to be our last really hot day for at least 7 days.

Added late in the day of 8/8/11

I took these late in the day, after a lovely day of 70° temperature and an l.25 inches of rain, blessed rain.

2011-08-05T14:34:00.001-05:00

Well, we have had some early morning relief in the weather. Yesterday we got a little shower before daylight and it was overcast until noon; same today except we got 1/2 inch of rain! Sun is out now and it will be a hot one but not as bad as previous days.

I have had a busy few days.

Milking as usual each morning.

I made 14 oz. of butter from a quart of cream from two milkings,

I made mozzarella from l gallon of milk. I do the 30-minute microwave version.
It turned out great but next time I will let the milk age overnight or longer for a sharper flavor.

I made the two rustic shaped loaves of bread:

and canned 2 quarts of tomato juice.

The next day I decided to really clean the kitchen. Remember the sugar fiasco? I knew there would still be some behind things on the counter-top. First I took everything off the counter and cleaned it really good, even using a formica polish after. Then I swept and mopped the floor. I decided to remove the throw rugs and leave the wood floors bare. We both like it better that way. Maybe if I could find some bright kitchen rugs without rubber backing........I hate the backing. I was happy to find the ceiling fan was nice and clean. I am being much better with cleaning all of them on a regular basis and it wasn't due.

I skipped one day checking the garden and this morning found what I think are striped blister beetles all over two tomato plants and the peppers. I sprayed with Sevin. I wouldn't have known what they were if I hadn't seen them on a blog recently. Of course, it then rained right after I sprayed so I will hit them again this evening late. This is a first for me to have these beasties. I couldn't believe how much damage they had done overnight!

I picked the okra and enough tomatoes that I canned some. I have the rest in the barn to ripen a little more. They certainly aren't premium tomatoes but will be great this winter in soups, sauces and stews. I will freeze the okra. There were several that were too large and tough. I chopped them and tossed them in the food processor for the chickens.

That's a quart of milk that I have added some cultured store buttermilk to. I can now keep it going with just my milk for a starter.

In between some of that kitchen work, I also canned 5 pints of sauerkraut. I never did see it 'working' like they say it should, but it tasted sour so after three weeks I wanted it out of my way and canned it. It looks a little dark in the jars.

We got the tractor back from the shop and DH has mowed the east 20. The grass fires were worrying us; this morning he mowed the calf lot. They picked up the other tractor to work on the brakes.

All from my neck of the woods. We are looking forward to some cooler weather next week!

2011-08-02T14:49:00.000-05:00

It was 105° here yesterday and is supposed to be close to 110° today! This may be the hottest August ever recorded here.

Well my new milking routine was a bust. It just took me twice as long to milk this morning. The baby just can't take all her milk. I guess I could still just milk every other day but with the heat I think I would rather do it daily in half the time.
The baby followed her up the ramp again and I just let her find her way back down. It worked out fine.

The weather is becoming very depressing. I think about just giving up on the garden but keep hoping the weather will break and maybe things will set fruit again. I am watering the tomatoes today and the melons. Heat doesn't seem to affect okra but everything else suffers.

They are warning people to get to air conditioned space in this kind of heat. I am so thankful that we have central air. I called my elderly aunt who is "frugal" (stingy in the extreme) I hope she is running her two window units but I bet she isn't dong it full time. At least she is up and about and was going to the store later.

I was reading Debbie's blog Life at Swampbilly Ranch and she mentioned fried bologna sandwiches. I had forgotten all about them. We love them too so that is what we had for lunch. Dessert was the Banana Cake we like so much. I didn't want to waste the two over-ripe bananas.
My Sis reminded me I could just put them in the freezer. I told her I wanted to bake that cake! I will freeze most of it later today.

We decided to bring the dog in because of the extreme heat. Now he is a large dog, maybe 75 lbs and he has some kind of skin allergy so he has lost a lot of hair. I clipped him (not a professional job by any means) and we gave him a bath using my homemade laundry soap under the garden hose. He is now laying on the back porch on the tile floor. He seems very content. He barked once and scared me to death. You can imagine that large a dog's bark. It was loud. I won't let him have free run of the house.....not an indoor dog person, but he minds very well and stays on the back porch. We have tried everything for the allergy but nothing seems to work.
When hot weather hits he gets it and has it until cold weather comes back. No fleas, just scratching and loosing hair. After DH toweled him dry, I gave him a full mineral oil body rub.

There will be no lovely garden pictures in the foreseeable future. Here is one I took a few weeks ago when the phlox were at their peak.

I may have shown it before.

Ilene's Blog has encouraged me to be more politically active. I just emailed President Obama at his website and I emailed our Congressman earlier before they settled the budget debacle.

A Lucille Ball Kind of Day

2011-08-01T06:13:00.002-05:00

Sunday 7/31/2011

I set the sprinkler for the front of the porch and went to the barn to milk.

I bottled yesterday's milk and skimmed a cup of cream and bottled it separately.

Milked Willow. The calf followed her up the ramp into the barn!....we reversed him back down the ramp. If there was room for him in the stanchion, it might be a good idea for letdown. I might move him forward into the next stanchion. Interesting thought. Of course, she(the baby) will never come up the ramp again

I checked the garden and cut a few more tall weeds from the driveway bed. The melons are growing rapidly.

This is the Green Nutmeg. Still keeping my fingers crossed the borers don't find it.

There were a few beetles on the okra so I sprayed. I also harvested enough to finally fry some. I will do that tomorrow. Pulled some over-ripe cucumbers off the vines. Still no raccoon caught.

I checked over the onions curing in the shed and found 3 or 4 that were beginning to go bad so I brought them in the house. After cleaning them off, I decided to saute them with some garlic and make a small batch of spaghetti sauce. I added a little hamburger and about ¼ pound of sausage, browned it and added some tomatoes and seasonings. I let it simmer in my electric sauce pot while I made Ilene's Hot Milk Sponge Cake.

I made a new salad of cucumbers, tomatoes and onions with poppy seed dressing. I got the idea and recipe for the dressing from Carolyn at Krazo Acres

It was delicious and so simple.

Dessert was the cake with some of my blackberry topping I made for the yogurt.

What I didn't tell you was that I had one of those days...............a sort of Lucille Ball day.

First, while making the cake the metal (note: metal is key here) measuring cup slipped out of my hand in fell into the batter. It slung the remaining sugar all over that corner of the kitchen! Second and the worst thing was the cup lodged between the mixer blade and the bowl. I turned it off immediately but it was too late. I must have bent the shaft because now it turns but makes a noise. So, I will be ordering a new mixer sooner rather than later. This was Mom's very old KA mixer that only had two speeds left, very slow and high. I have made too many batches of bread with it. I have all her attachments so I will get the KA Pro 600 series. I just cringe when I buy anything new these days.

Event No. 2.

I decided to freeze all those blueberries. I knocked a full pint off the counter top and those little lids that are so darned hard to open, flew open and spilled the berries all across the floor. Needless to say they rolled like B B's . I had DH help me pick them up one at a time. The only good thing was I had just cleaned the floor.

No. 3.

I have coffee in one hand and my dish of dessert in the other on my way to the computer (yes, I eat at my desk often), and the sweeper cord just grabbed my foot and I almost fell forward on my face.
I missed that one thankfully. DH was sitting at the table and he just shook his head and looked at me.

I have these kinds of days once in a while and should just quit and go back to bed when they start.

At the end of the day, I called my Sis. I knew she would understand. She has these days too! Maybe it runs in the family. She is my go-to person for sympathy and understanding plus she just bought the KA Pro 600 and I wanted to see how she liked it. She does.

Catch Up Post

2011-07-31T06:34:00.001-05:00

I have no real excuse for not posting but laziness!

I am updating from my written daily journal.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Hot and Dry.

Milked
We went to nearby town for DH's haircut and I went across to the store and bought blueberries that were on sale. I think I got all they had!

I made my first blueberry pie and we thought it was very good.

I will freeze the rest of the blue berries.

I boiled a chicken for later meals.

I watered the orchard deeply at each tree. I lifted the flakes of hay mulch and was pleased to see there was still some moisture showing. DH did a better job than I had thought! Maybe he is learning gardening at long last.

Friday, July 29, 2011

Hot and dry today

I watered my pathetic little bed of zinnias and the Limelight hydrangea area at the end of the porch. The poor thing was wilted at 7 AM.

After setting the sprinkler, I went to the barn and milked.

I cut two rows of sweet corn and tossed to Willow.

I finally cut the patch of head-high poke and lamb quarter in the New Bed and at the west end of the Kitchen garden. Watered by hand the melon hills.
One squash plant was wilted. I guess the squash bugs or borers found it. I have been checking so carefully......

I harvested a few items.

The Strawberry Fields gomphrena doesn't quite look like Park's catalog photo! Surprise, surprise! I do like the longer stems. I have two clumps hung to dry. I hope the color holds well.

P.S. I made chicken pot pie with biscuits using part of the chicken I boiled and still have all the white meat left for another dish. Probably fettuccine Alfredo with chicken chunks and maybe the rest with yellow rice. We are really enjoying the spicy yellow rice. I cooked the last in chicken broth and tossed in some sauteed onion and red pepper flakes for a side dish. DH even ate a dish for his supper....a true endorsement over his peanut butter.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Hot and dry.

Milked

Watered the Indian Giver bed

Tilled the garden and made a small herb bed next to the path. It wasn't my first choice but I realized I was going to loose the plants if I didn't get them in the ground asap. I kept waiting for a rain and cooler weather that never came. They are pretty sorry looking now. I will watch them closely and keep my fingers crossed.

I weeded the west end of the Kitchen Garden around the aster that still hasn't been moved. It was mostly lambs quarter and was as tall as my shoulders.

I did the same with the New Bed outside the kitchen. When that poke rears its stubborn head again, I am brushing it with diesel fuel. That will kill anything.

Whew! Caught up again.

Sunday looms ahead. Hot and dry.

Yogurt - Our First taste of real milk and other things from the farm

2011-07-27T08:29:00.000-05:00

Hot and dry; another 100° day predicted with 82% humidity.

I am milking each morning these days. DH is going to bring his fan from the garage over to the milk barn. The exhaust fan in the barn window isn't working. He will get another cheapie for him. This is a big floor fan that we used when we were operating the dairy.

Willow is slowly coming around. I suspect she is holding up her milk....I am not getting much.

I brought one half gallon down this morning and set yogurt. I never liked it much until I began making mine from my milk. I had to laugh.....I expected this. We have two gallons of store milk in the fridge but DH asked if I had any chilled from Willow....I did and we both had our first glass, nectar of the Gods. He is as bad as I am about it. We feel so fortunate that we can have our cow and I can milk and enjoy the bounty.

I am actually watering a young tree this morning. I could see heat stress on my Red Maple and I sure don't want to loose it. I am using my favorite little cast round sprinkler. I have two now and I use them more than the large one.

Butterflies

I saw this Pipe-vine Swallowtail on a rose bush (note how bad the rose looks; thank you Japanese Beetles). It was so still after taking the picture, I touched it and was happy to see it fly off. The host plant is, of course, the pipe-vine. I don't grow one but it is a native Missouri vine called Woolly Pipe-vine(aristolochia tomentosa) so I am assuming there are some in the fields around the house area.

Milking, Sweet Pickle Relish

2011-07-26T10:13:00.000-05:00

Well still hot and very dry here.

My first day of milking was yesterday. All was going smoothly until she decided to step forward out of the stanchion! Of course, she can't do that, but she tried. Knocked the milk over and I lost all but 1/2 gallon. This morning she didn't do that, but she refused to drink water all night. I guess she was afraid to come into the lot where the water was. She does have her little quirks! We will get into a nice easy routine soon. I don't think I will look for another calf. I think with the heat and the sorry grass and hay, her production won't be so much that the calf and I can handle it. Then there are all the cats...........they will enjoy it too.

I kept the calf up in the barn this morning but she can still see her...so far, she hasn't left the nearby tree..... This may take a while.

Not all milk cows are created equal.

After milking, I finished processing the sweet relish I started yesterday. The first step was to chop the veggies and cover with a brine solution and leave overnight.
This morning I drained and rinsed it twice then mixed up the syrup solution, added the chopped veggies and slightly cooked it before canning. I almost forgot my wonderful maslin pan....but got it out at the last minute dumped everything in it.
I think the relish tastes much like the bread and butter pickles. I should have had a red bell pepper for color....didn't. I also added a pinch of red pepper flakes. I wish I had the cute little 1/2 pint jars....but used what I had. It called for Pickle Crisp which I have never used. I can't decide about using it or not. I may try some soon.

We had to buy a new hummingbird feeder and they simple love this new one! I put it right outside the kitchen window and we are enjoying them enjoying it.

Surprise - Gardening - Harvesting

2011-07-23T10:28:00.002-05:00

Do you see what I see?
I was all set to begin a week of showing Willow advancing toward calving. I got her up yesterday to give her a shot because she was limping and saw she was bagging up and there were no other signs at all. That would include a discharge, a swollen vulva and possibly leaking milk but Mother Nature has her own timetable. I didn't really know for sure when she would calve; I never saw her in heat, but our new bull was in the pen with her once. I counted from that date.

Willow did it again...well, with the assistance of the new bull from Nixa, Mo.
DH went out at dark to check the live trap and came in to tell me (I was already in bed) that she had calved and all was well. We just let them be until this morning.

Of course she did like she always does with new babies, she leads them off away from the evil people who feed and milk her! I always get a rear view:

I finally caught baby with the zoom:

This means next week I will be milking again! This is the first year we haven't had an orphan baby to put on her so I am in the market for one. I don't want to milk twice a day.......

The last couple of days have been spent just doing routine gardening: watering, spraying the odd beetle infestation and harvesting.

I said I was though with the cucumbers but then I read about freezer cole slaw and sweet cucumber relish, so I think I will do one of each.

I also am beginning to pull the corn ears. They are past being ready. So much for the label's days to maturity!

I tied up the Ananas Noire/Black Pineapple tomatoes on the fence by the corn this morning. They are looking very promising with lots of nice-size tomatoes.

Gotcha! More Watering and other Routine Chores - Tomatoes!

2011-07-20T05:02:00.000-05:00

Weather continues the same...hot and dry! We have quit listening to the depressing weathermen. How they do love severe weather of any kind and can wax eloquent for way too long!

Good news this morning. Look what I found when I checked the live trap by the corn patch.

Maybe it has been him instead of a raccoon all along. DH reset the trap without new bait. So I don't expect to find anything in the trap this morning! A friend suggested a tin of salmon cat food as bait for raccoons. I have added that to my shopping list.

I did my last beetle trap emptying (maybe) yesterday morning. I got so that I dreaded that so much....the smell was horrific. I just took the second one down.
I stored the baits in a small jar and kept the rest of the trap apparatus too.

Now I will check all the plants each morning and see if they are landing on them instead of the baited traps. I had to do some spot spraying of okra and beans in the garden. Oh yes, they love the large okra leaves! A few were on the hibiscus too. This will be a test period to see how things go without the traps.

I set up the sprinkler to water the main tomato patch and saw four ripe tomatoes....well one almost ripe. I brought those to the house along with a few other harvest items.

After checking the squash daily, I still missed one that got past prime. See that warty one? Probably will become chicken feed.

The eggplant was supposed to be Slim Jim; obviously, it wasn't. That makes me so mad when that happens. The tomatoes are Heinz Classic, a canner and my favorite Granny Cantrell.

When I finished outside, I came in and had my favorite summer garden snack: sliced tomato with a dollop of Miracle Whip! It was delicious. The Heinz Classic must have a high acid content because it has some zing...very good flavor.

We had our very first summer veggies with lunch. I sliced onion, squash and bell pepper into the end of the electric skillet (I had hamburger steaks/patties cooking on one end). with some garlic flavored olive oil. Just before they were ready, I added the diced almost ripe Heinz tomato. We sprinkled grated parmesan cheese over the top at the table. Salad was a slicing cucumber tossed with some white dressing and salt and pepper. I must say we did enjoy it all.

I took a picture, but it really doesn't do it justice so I am not posting it.

Farming

Another tractor bit the dust; we are hoping it is just a wheel bearing costing a few hundred; not some other $4,000 thing that they mentioned. We may start looking at tractors.........not a good thing.