Bagel time

Our cooler weather has arrived and because of all the moisture we are under a fog warning.

We can't even catch a hint of  the red barn behind the Elm tree that we usually see.

I haven't  made bagels in a long  time.  My Sis was talking  about eating a bagel for breakfast yesterday......so this morning I have a batch on the rise!
I did make our favorite Hodgson Mills Honey Wheat bread recipe day before yesterday. It makes  enough for three loaves.  This time I  made two and buns.

 

Max is the cat whisperer here.  They follow him chore to  chore.  He is also the person who feeds and pets them (when allowed).  This is our senior gray  cat sitting patiently by the back door waiting for his lord and master to appear.

Not much left in the flowers, still loving the intense blue the salvia 'Victoria' gets with cooler weather.  She will soon be gone.  This grouping has white petunias (ss), sedum and two roses that are out of bloom now.  Tomato cages near tree, pruned clump  of Herbstonne rudbeckia,  The remaining green is oenothera speciosa which somehow ended up here from the front  ditch.  I plan to let it take over as a  ground cover.

Blue Skies and Bagels

Not a cloud in the sky!  and it is very cool.  The grass is very wet.

Overnight these popped up:



We have had a new development in the varmint issue.  Yesterday morning vultures were landing just in front of the trailer right outside the back door.


DH found a very dead armadillo in front of the trailer  next to the garden.  No idea then what killed it.  Later on he saw a large groundhog near the carcass!  He shot several times but it got away.  We now think he is the guilty party.  I saw it again this morning in the garden but by the time we got the gun, it was gone.  We don't know now who dug the huge hole under the propane tank, the armadillo or the ground hog.  Either one is not welcome here!

Food

While the grass is  drying, I think I will make bagels.  I have been out for some time and tried the store  version and was not happy with them.  The only negative is they are very messy to make and the kitchen will be a disaster area when finished.
Just finished and was pleasantly surprised at the lack of  mess......maybe I am getting more  organized????



This recipe is from Thibault's Table blog.  Every recipe of hers that I have done has turned out well......except I cannot make the French bread.  I have given up on that one.  I do a version but it is not the authentic very coarse holey one.

The Sale Barn Again - a Rainy Day-Clematis and Lilies

Day before yesterday we got another 1/2 inch of rain.....on my recently tilled and dry garden.  A wonderful gift.

That meant yesterday was too wet to work outside in the garden so I made bagels....it doesn't take much to get me  cooking.  I am having two small ones with cream cheese with my coffee  right now.

From Blog May 2012

I was right at the stage of putting the dough in the bucket to raise when DH popped in the back door slightly wet from the showers and asked if I was  ready to go....Go where?  He had loaded a cow we wanted to sell and was sitting in the drive to go to the sale barn.  He always wants me to go with him. At first I thought I couldn't and then decided we could get  there and back in about an hour....the rise time.

Well, we almost made it.  The dough was just pushing the lid off the bucket  when we got back. It didn't hurt a thing.

Part of farm life is getting rid of animals that don't pay their way.....this heifer calved last year and we had to have the vet  with her.  He suggested then that she was probably damaged by the difficult delivery and we should move her on.....we did.  Mondays are Cow and Bull sale  day so off we went.  Next project will be rounding up more calves.

This is the first day of our 'cool down' and the high is supposed to be 70°.  A perfect day to work outside.
DH has promised to put up cattle panels in the new garden/orchard area and I will put the tomatoes back there.

I have all of the backyard garden tilled and will put peppers there.  I will also put pole beans and sweet corn  out....not all on one day!  but hopefully, this week.

I need to harvest the self-seeded cilantro and freeze for later salsa.  I also found several self-seeded basil plants and tomato plants.  That saves me some work.

Colorado Potato  Beetles showed up overnight on the potatoes.....I resorted to Sevin dust.  I suppose it is all washed off....I need to keep a close eye on that.  They can strip the plants quickly.  I wish I felt safe going completely au naturel, but certain pests are more than I know how to handle.

I am still fighting fireblight....cutting more limbs off the two trees most affected.   Now I see some of the papaver somniferums(poppies, annual) are curling over and turning black....looks exactly the same as the trees.  I am leaning heavily toward the idea of cutting down the pear tree that is so bad.

Flowers

The first of the lilies are blooming.  This one was recently rescued from being surrounded by weeds in the driveway bed.  It is Dani Arifin.



I see I missed a little cheet (on the right with the seed heads).

and the clematis, Harlow Carr,



This is a wonderful, vigorous clem.  The picture was taken on the garden side of the fence.  Most of the flowers on the garden fence bloom the most on the north side of the fence , the garden side, because the sun comes up and hits the fence first.  At first, I fought it and tried to tie various things to the other side, but it was a losing battle...then I thought OK, I can just enjoy the fence when I am gardening and sometimes that is a pretty long time.  I get to see dark pink roses and white and purple clems and soon white lilies while working which is very nice.  I think there are also two pink clems. 


Blog

I am trying to restructure the blog so finding things will be easier.  Bear with me while I do some trial and error working on this thing. 

Kris Made me Do It! and Rain

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.