It has been so long....

So much has happened in the last month +.  There is no way to catch up other than a list! (because you know we love a list around here almost as much as Starr Hill Girl.)

1. A week after the snapping turtle got one of the brown ducks, a fox got Aretha.  Aretha was one of the original flock and was the only reliable layer left.  Our other old girl, Josaphine, lays eggs but they have very thin shells and are often broken.  And they go bad quickly since they don't seem to have much coating on them (a waxy stuff that is deposited on the eggs as they are laid so that they don't dehydrate).  It was a bummer.  We think she got snatched on evening at dusk.  We didn't even realize she was gone until the next day.  We never found any sign of her, no feathers, no carnage, no nothin'.  That is why we think it was a fox.

2. I paid $5 for a small container of homegrown tomatoes at the market.  It made me want to go home and fertilize my tomatoes.  But I am not sorry I did it.  I am just sorry everyone else likes tomatoes as much as I do.

3. I got a call from a friend at work that they were incubating some duck eggs and did we want some more ducks.  I consulted with the SB.  Why YES, thanks, we would like some more ducks!!

4.  We took receipt of three adorable baby ducks.  Two runner/khaki crosses and one pure runner.  They would adorably follow me around the garden and play in the water while I was hosing down the plants.

5. I dug my potatoes.  One of my favorite jobs.  I looked into planting fall potatoes.  I doubt it will work but giving it a shot.

6. We lost the little runner to what appears to be a snake attack.  It was crushingly sad as these little critters are so personable.  And I had to tell the folks that gave them to us.  It is really hard when this happens as you really feel as if you have just failed miserably.  Failed the ducks, failed the family, failed at farming.  It always makes me wonder if this is just the way it goes or if we are particularly bad at this.  I think the SB is getting PTSD.

7.  We still have two very cute ducklings.  They are just catching on to the fact that we are not ducks and they are not people.  But they are still quite personable and too small to leave alone with the big ducks.  So when they are out, they hang out with me in the garden or swim in the creek.  They are excellent company.

8. The February flock is starting to lay.  Today I got 5 tiny "pullet" eggs.  Hal a freakin luja.

9. And finally, at the request of my friend Meghan, to whom I owe the privilege of owning goats (she made it legal in the city), I have started a new blog.  We'll be discussing goat ownership in the city.  I am sure there will be cross links as clearly, I am not finding a ton of time to write on THIS blog, much less another.

Cheers!

It's Wild Freakin' Kingdom Out There

I got the dreaded call at work from the SB.  "I have some bad news"  Uh oh.  We had lost one of the ducks.  Apparently to drowning.  I have heard that this can happen when the males are mating and push the head of the female into the water.  Though the water in the creek isn't really that deep.  Plus the SB said he had to pull the duck's bill out of the water, it had gotten stuck somehow.

He called again about half an hour later.  There was a unknown factor.  The duck had a hole in its bill where something had penetrated.  That would be some force to get through a bill.  Not simply a snag.   The SB also saw some movement in the creek.  Some bubbles.  We had seen a relatively large water snake in the creek several weeks ago, but it wasn't the nasty sort.  We also have turtles.

I was on my way home since the Governor gave us a couple extra hours off.  When I got home the SB informed me that we had a pretty big snapping turtle in the creek.  We went out and excavated it from the creek and moved it down to the river.  The thing was indeed big.  Not the largest I have ever seen, but given the size of the creek, it was impressive.  And it was big enough to have held a duck's bill underwater for too long.  I buried her in the duck graveyard.

A day in the life....

Yesterday I came home from work and was pleased to find that the rain, nay the deluge, had ceased. The SB was leaving as I was arriving.. one of those evenings. Too wet to work on the milking cottage or really anything else, so I opted to take the goats out in the yard for a stroll. Their current favorite food is sycamore leaves. They look pretty silly munching down some dinner plate sized leaves. The sky was still overcast and we got one of those weird situations where the sunlight is bouncing off the bottom of the clouds as the sun goes down and everything turns all goldy-green. As I was marveling at the odd light I realized the backyard was full of dragonflies. There was a huge swarm of the swirling around. I didn't get a close enough look to identify them. I wondered if they were supposed to be migrating at this time or if they are all running late.

Then it started to pour buckets. I hung out under the paw paw tree with the goats hoping the rain would slow. The goats hate getting wet more than me, but.... We ended up making a run for it. That is one of the things that I like about the goats. If you run, they will always follow. So they got tucked into their snug little house. Me, by the time I locked up the gate, dumped the wheelbarrow full of discarded goat hay and made it into the house, I was drenched. Happy but totally drenched.

"Tis the season...

Tonight was a summer supper. After doing some yard work and playing around with the goats, I harvested some fingerling potatoes, parsley, cukes, basil and summer squash from the garden.

For dinner we had: boiled fingerling potatoes (flavored only with a little salt in the cooking water). Squash sauteed with Urban Farm parsley, garlic and onions, some smoked salmon sent by the SB's sister (who rocks), and a salad of tomatoes, cukes, basil, goat cheese and kalmata olives. Oh, and garnished with chard stem pickles (because I didn't have capers for the salmon). Simple fast and oh so fresh. THIS is what I like about summer.

I have decided not to horde the potatoes this year.... I am harvesting early and often. Before tonight, I made some fabu potato salad. My goal is to use them all up by the end of November, since they don't really store any longer than that. In past, we have just ended up with WAY too many seed potatoes.... With the summer squash, I am trying to pick it early. I mean, really, there is only so much summer squash you can eat right.

Last evening we had a large black snake in the duck house (again). This time he was in the process of eating one of the eggs. Imagine being disturbed while you are about 1/3 of the way through getting your mouth around a watermelon, and you will have a good idea of the state we found him in. Being lovers of a good meal, we left the snake to do what it would with the egg. At that point we were dubious of the outcome. When we returned from our own dinner, we found that the snake had not only gotten down the egg he was working on, but went on to a second as well.

Just shows me why I need to be a little quicker on the draw with the egg collecting.

Birdies

When I came home from work last night I found the SB working outside despite the dark. He told me that he was trying to tighten up the building materials we are collecting for the goat barn and garden pavilion because the little birdies were predicting snow. Of course, he meant it literally. He is convinced that the flying patterns of the small birds changes when snow is imminent. They fly low to the ground and flit from grassy clump to seedy stalk. I told the SB that the weather did not call for snow.

Later we went out to our local theater for a show and a few drinks at one of our favorite restaurants post show. (It was like old home week there and we ran into about 8 people we knew - the benefits of a relatively small town.) When we got home around 1AM, the SB said to me, "I guess the birdies were wrong." Except that they weren't cuz I woke up this morning to a light dusting of the white stuff.

Break

I think this is the longest break from work I have taken in years... Off a half day on the 22nd, back to work on the 3rd and only a half day in the office in between. Sheer freakin' bliss.

On the 28th I made cheese with my neighbor. She had The Cheese Kit. I had done this with the food crafting girls a while back, but since it was a while ago, it was like starting all over. Except that I also tried some cheddar. You inoculate the slightly warmed milk the night before with some yogurt or buttermilk and let it sit at room temp. By morning it was certainly thicker than regular milk. I walked it over to the neighbors as we were doing this in her fabulous kitchen. Then you add the rennet and let the milk sit for an hour. Which we did. Only we used my rennet which had apparently lost its kick. So the first 30 minutes nothing happened. We added new rennet and 60 minutes later we had a lovely curd - lesson learned, keep your rennet in the freezer. (We were doing other things along the way, making mozzarella, drinking tea and eating home made toast). The curds were cut into tiny squares, then stirred gently for 15 minutes while the whole thing was held between 90-100 degrees. The whey was drained off, and the curds were put into a clean cloth fitted into a clean tomato can with both ends cut out. I then took this home and placed one of the can ends on the top of the cheese which was on top of my cooling rack. On top of the can I put a smaller can (tuna, full and unopened) and and a couple of fat cookbooks (the Joy, and 1000 Chinese Recipes). We pressed it overnight on the counter and then wrapped it in fresh cloth and stuck it in the fridge where it will hang for a week or two until it forms a rind (which appears to be happening) then I am supposed to put cheese wax on it. But I will probably eat it instead.

We went to dinner at our other neighbors house. Cold roast beef, roasted potatoes and Brussels sprouts and Christmas pudding with hard sauce. Yum.

I went shopping with Cho to the new fabric store. All I could do was think that those lovely upholstery fabrics would look great in the garden pavilion. Or the goat barn.

I walked to the Tea House with my chummy and had a pot of tea.

I made goat stew from the Frugal Gourmet. I messed with the recipe.

I made no knead bread. And messed with the recipe (adding 1/2 cup oatmeal and a bit of wheat germ to tone down all the whiteness) and had success.

I got a comment on my blog from the MENews people regarding my dissing of the garden planner. I was corrected.

I moved heavy things.

I saw an owl fly through our backyard.

We worked on the garden pavilion and goat barn plans. We made a model of the goat barn in cardboard.

See how much fun I am when I don't work? Someone should buy me out so I can be a stay-at-home homesteader and blog about it.

Birds

This morning is spectacularly gorgeous. Bright and clear with a definite bite of cold. There are birds everywhere out there. I don't just mean the ducks who are splashing happily in the creek and exploring the property next door. Song birds are everywhere. They are flying around with purpose, but somehow also seem excitable. I am speculating that they are all doing errands for the imminent trip south for winter.

I am sure we had frost in the swale last night where the garden is. Good thing I harvested the peppers and what was left of the basil. Everything else out there can stand a nip of frost. I also brought in the green tomatoes. It was a remarkable harvest. Mostly for being so completely unexpected. It must be close to 2 gallons of peppers and at least that of tomatoes mostly green but some ripe-ish and some that will probably turn red with some stern words and warm sunlight. I am planning at least one and likely two batches of Farm Girl Susan's No Sugar Green Tomato Relish. I'll let you know how it goes. I may even end up canning some of it as the freezer is absurdly full.

This week I made my chicken tomatillo crock pot thing, and a big batch of beef stew. I have been craving warm sloppy stew-ish type things these days. Soon, it will be chicken soup. One of my favorite things on earth. When the real cold hits, I put the chicken on in the morning with all the stock bits that I have put in the freezer during the week, onion ends, parsley stems, etc. and cook the chicken until just done. I pull that out and let it cool. Then the I pick the chicken an throw the bones, skin, etc back in the stock and continue to add veggie bits as I go about whatever other cooking I am doing during the day. Then the stock gets strained and I throw in some fresh veggies (onion/carrot/celery) depending on the stock flavors, and maybe a few potato bits. Toss the dark meat back in, season with salt and pepper and ladle over wide egg noodles. The SB prefers the tiny thin noodles but he is often out voted on this.

I may even start some bread this weekend. Having the oven on would take the chill off. Too early for heat.

Summer

What ever happened to the carefree days of summer? This is not a rhetorical question. I remember getting bored in the summer. Granted, that was 30 years ago, but still. I would like a little of that back please.

With the weather, we have been running around watering and trying to keep the garden alive. No real rain in weeks. None in the forecast. And temps predicted to be around 100 this weekend. It stinks. Big time.

We are getting lots of tomatoes, the Principe Borghese - the drying tomatoes.... We are doing a couple batches a week. And using the extra space in the dryer for summer squash. I am glad to make use of the dryer I bought at a yard sale ($3), but it does heat the house up.

I have started the fall cole crops and some onions. Some of it may be too late, but you can't win them all. I need to do some direct seeding in the garden this weekend. Beets, carrots, kale, chard, etc. Seems absurd with the heat, but there you go.

Watch these guys. Making headway on the sustainability/coolness front here in C'ville. Don't get too excited, but the SB actually brought up the idea of having a goat on The Urban Farm. And actually, since goats are herd animals, a couple of goats. So I am thinking about Nigerian Dwarfs. They can be milked you know. Quart of milk a day, anyone? This is definitely on the longer range plan. First we need a tool shed. We need to finish the duck house roof. We need more garden architecture. And to fix the porch. When that is done we can start thinking about a goat house/milking area/fencing.

A picture of the garden in summer
And of the bean trellis by the duck house
And the snake that visited the duck house a couple weeks ago
Just f yer i, this is not a feed bag. It is one of those bags you buy stuff by the pound in... just so you don't think we have a python in the area or something.

Winging it

So we (i.e. the SB) decided that it actually is too hot to work in the yard. Even at 8:30 in the evening. The benefits of 100 degree heat. I knew there had to be some. So I caught up on a little blog reading and decided to do another post. Two in the same week. You can thank me later, cuz I know this stuff is R.I.V.E.T.I.N.G.

As you may know, I love to grow some potatoes. As you also may know, seed potatoes are absurdly expensive. So for the past few years, I have been saving my own. Yay me. Last year, in addition to the spuds I had saved for seed, a bunch of our La Ratte spuds sprouted in storage. For the record, they don't really store for crap in less than ideal circumstances. So we had LOTS for planting. So many, that I had leftovers even after giving away a bunch to SHG (for her excellent housemate) and Tay of Tuesday fame. Rilly, I mean a LOT. The long and the short of it was that we didn't get a chance to plant them all. The leftovers have more or less been sitting around in the way since, oh, maybe April. I was going to throw them out, but the SB insisted we try to plant them. So we hastily dug a "bed" where one of the future garden beds will be, added a little compost and fertilizer and some very dehydrated, very unrecognizable potatoes. Today (though we did the digging yesterday. When it was just about as hot.) In case you aren't a gardener, this is totally non standard practice. Potatoes are planted on St. Patrick's Day. Or as close to there as possible. We are not very close to St. Patrick's Day. But if we get anything at all, perhaps we will be that much ahead since we had to dig that bit anyway. We shall see. The moral of the story is don't hoard your potatoes. Eat them early while they are still firm and delicious.

We are eating tons of them. Cold boiled potatoes with smoked salmon. Tonight maybe with some tuna/white bean salad and green beans and boiled duck eggs. A sort of modified salad nicoise.

Edited to add:
OK, dinner was delicious.

On the unorthodox subject, I also played fast and loose with the bees. I checked on them a couple weekends ago and they had totally filled their honey super (woot!) and so I decided to put another on. Of course, because I was in a rush, I didn't put new starters in 4 of the frames. I left the edges where I had cut out the comb over a year ago, which had been totally cleaned, and then alternated the starter and non starter frames in hopes that the bees would do some mind reading and fill in the frames instead of building comb willy nilly all over the place. I'll keep you posted on that. I am pretty much the laziest beekeeper ever. Whatever happens, I can deal, even if it means just yanking it all out and melting it down. I suspect what is going to happen is that with this dry hot weather, honey production is going to come to a screeching halt so there likely won't be any issue at all. I do need to pop out there and check though and see what is going on. To be honest, I don't really like this hive. I think that my last hive spoiled me with their docile personality. These are a little more, well, impatient. Not so much what you need as a beginning keeper.

I have become a fan of the asparagus bean. These babies take a while to get rolling (75 days as opposed to 50-60), and you definitely need something for them to grow up, but I am right now getting about a half a pound of beans a day. No sign of slowing down, despite the heat. We trellised them up a bamboo grid we put against the duck yard in hopes of providing shade for the ducks during the hottest part of the day. It doesn't provide as much shade as I was hoping for, but it is definitely giving it a go. It being right outside the door, the ducks have paid a little attention to the beans, but luckily after they got established, so no harm done with a few lost leaves. We lost much more to the munching rabbit than the nibbling ducks.

Sweltering

We are in the midst of a(nother) sweltering week. We had a delightful 3 day respite a few days ago where I actually had a chance to wear a long sleeved shirt (woot!) one evening. Now it is predicted to be in the upper nineties for another 5 days or so. Which would be fine, except that there is no rain predicted to go along with the heat, so it means we will be racing around watering things to try to keep them going until someone does something about the weather. Just sayin'. The SB is taking matters into his own hands and is making a watering grid for the garden. At some point, we will have a grid for each of our beds and we will be able to just turn the water on, grab a beer and not have to mess with hoses, etc. That will be very close to heaven.

Have I mentioned that my fall garden was SO. MUCH. BETTER. than my summer one? I did get the first teeny tomato. Hal a freakin luja. Only one cuke so far, and there is NO excuse for that. No zucchini....WTF? Lots of yard long beans. A bunny has been eating the beans in the Three Sisters quadrant of the garden. Cute, but so bad. I pulled the rest of the teeny beets and made borscht. I just yanked the mustard as it wasn't going anywhere good. Dug some more potatoes, but only what we need over the next week or so. Yes, you can pat me on the head for not doing them all. Cuz then where would I put them? That was the problem last year. Don't say you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

In exciting farm news.... we had a black snake in the duck house Saturday. Hopefully the removal of the snake from the duck house was scary enough for the snake to deter him from trying that again. It sure didn't do much for the SB. I feel lucky that I noticed him in there cuz if I hadn't, I might have locked everyone in together by accident. It would have been a looooong night.

I thought one of the ducks was getting broody. She was hanging out on a nest and making nesting motions (pulling straw up around her, etc.) But as soon as it got hot she abandoned the task and went swimming. Youth. Maybe next year she will have more of an attention span. It would be nice to have a duck to raise ducklings. Kind of a pain to DIY that project.

Remarkably, it is time to start the fall crops. Hard to think about in this heat, but time none the less. I think I am going to wait for this weekend to put the stuff directly in the ground (carrots, beets, etc) and hopefully this week sometime get the inside stuff started, broccoli, fennel, brussels sprouts, leeks, etc. With luck the dry spell will break and we can get started on this fall thing.

Things I miss about winter.
1. turning on the oven.
2. wearing long sleeves
3. not getting sun stroke
4. no bugs
5. sleeping under blankets
6. you get the idea.

The benefit of summer
1. Tomatoes
2. Peaches
3. cold beer on the porch after hot work
4. The Market
5. A whole host of other things I will remember when it gets cold.

Still Waiting

So I came home mid day yesterday to meet my friend H. She is trained as a vet tech and she met me to discuss the duck foot issue. The duck was no better. After a thorough exam, she found a thorn in the joint above the foot. The joint was swollen and warm. The diagnosis, joint infection. The remedy, 1/2 ml of Tylosin (an antibiotic safe for birds) twice a day. Lots of water and treats, special time in the garden doing things she likes and warm compresses twice a day. I love that part of the treatment plan includes "special time". The good news is that it isn't a slipped tendon, which could have been REALLY bad news. The duck, I am pretty sure now that it is Louisa, just got her second dose of antibiotics. No change as of yet, but hopefully we will see the swelling go down soon. Have you ever tried to give antibiotics to a duck? No? Apparently neither has anyone else as there is very little about the logistics of getting liquid into a duck. With cats, you can brave teeth and claws and pry the mouth open, or at least you can start there. Or better yet, bury a pill in a treat. With ducks, the lower bill fits snugly inside the upper bill. I tried Open Sesame, but that didn't work. The other complicating factor is that you don't want to shoot liquid into the mouth b/c it can get into the lungs, which is very bad indeed. Birds don't do well with liquid in their lungs. Even antibiotics. So, although I am relieved to have some idea what is going on (and eternally completely and totally grateful to H for coming to our rescue), it is hardly the end of the anxiety. I did manage to dose this morning on my own, and remarkably, the duck doesn't seem to hold a grudge. I am putting the liquid in her mouth at the front of the bill so that she can swallow it. I think that is the right thing to do, though I am still concerned I might get the liquid down the lungs. And, I am afraid that too much time has passed and getting her to use the leg again is going to be difficult. Hoping that when she feels better she will give it a try again. We may still need the physical therapist.

In other news, I put my spring seeds in this week. Broccoli raab, mustard, lettuce, spinach, beets, chard, kale, turnips and parsley. I may need to water today. It has been so sunny and the weather SO delightful. Truly, it is the perfect time to be in C'ville. The flowers are making up for lost time and blooming without regard to standard timing. We have the earliest of crocuses still blooming with the daffodils.

The bees are flying. They don't seem to be taking any of the syrup I have left for them though. This is an independent lot, I must say. I think I may need to re-queen this fall ... That is going to take some research and a little hand holding I am sure. Have you ever tried to find the queen

We have a large project of rock moving happening this weekend, so I expect I will be pretty much incapacitated for the majority of next week. Oof. The SB has been moving lots of things around to get ready for the installation of some gabion walls that are coming via "the network". Seems like we find salamanders under just about everything. Which is nice. I don't know where they have been hiding in the last years of drought, but we have seen more in the last 6 months than we have in the previous 5 years. We loves us some salamanders here at the Urban Farm. The first two on this page is mostly what we see....

This time of year, especially, I think of the goats. I think of what an excellent thing it would be to have a dairy goat. I don't know that it will ever happen, but I dream on. Right now, I think that chickens might be the next step. The ducks don't do that well with kitchen scraps, and it would be nice to pass those along to some chickens. Though I guess we could get into some worms. They are definitely not as cute as some exotic chickens though. I have entered a couple of drawings for free chicken coops. I figure, if I win, it will be A Sign. I don't know what we will do with more bird poop though. Truly, a garden can hold only so much... Any interest in a load of poopy straw, just email me.

Awesomeness

So I woke up yesterday to the simultaneous sounds of the cat wanting in, and the ducks wanting out. It was not yet 7AM and it was pouring, hence the enthusiasm for the cat to be in and the ducks to be out. No rest for the weary.

Thursday night was the first night of the spring peeper chorus. One of my favorite sounds forever and always bar none. This morning I saw a hawk eating something in the yard next door. I was glad it wasn't one of the ducks.

Thursday night was also the first night of the Latina speakeasy take out restaurant. Order ahead, pick up at the specified time. Pay what you will. Amazing. Delicious, and oh so nice to eat homemade food without having to shop cook or clean up. Plus it was a delightful surprise as we had no idea what we were having. Turned out to be fried plantains, stewed chicken and a citrus salad-y thing. Oh my.

Yesterday we drove out to the Valley for a pick up of duck food and pork. We managed to run into Maynard who totally hooked us up with a 10# pork belly, some unsliced hog jowls and a few other things.... pork tenderloin, ground pork, and a HUGE bag of chicken backs for stock. My freezer is bustin' at the seams. This makes me happy.

The ducks are in high form. We went from 4 eggs a day at the beginning of the week to 8 this morning. I am going to try to make some pasta. Today or tomorrow. Really, I know that I keep saying this but the situation will be desperate soon, so I do need to get on it ... Plus, who doesn't love fresh pasta. I found a simple and delightful sounding recipe in a book that I have that is basically a green olive and mint pesto. YUM.

We also need to eat some serious squash. We have two milk crates full in the basement that need to be used. I think we will roast some with our pork tenderloin and I hope to make some soup with the chicken stock from the Valley chicken. If you have good squash recipes, send me to them via the comments section.

Which brings me to the comments section.... Thanks to those of you who have left comments. I am going to have to remove the anonymous option as I think it will prevent some of the spammers from posting bogus crap. It is so demoralizing to see that there is a comment and then realize that it is someone's advertising spam.

Rejoice, for it is spring.

Signs of Spring

1. The snow is melting, though the garden beds are still covered.
2. Monday there was no ice on the duck water. And I say three daffodils blooming on the hospital campus.
3. Tuesday I got two eggs!
4. Wednesday I got no eggs.
5. Thursday it was damp bone chilly and windy.
6. Saturday we got 6 eggs and the bluebirds were flying around the yard with some serious intent, of what I know not. The daffodil fronds are starting to come up.
7. Today I collected 4 eggs and shall feed the bees and watch the sun shine. I am encouraged that the bees are still taking short flights in the warm weather, though I know this is the most vulnerable time for them. I will keep stuffing them with sugar water and hope for the best. Last year I bought a bag of "pollen substitute" whatever that is. Apparently you made up little cakes of it for the bees and it provides extra protein for them while they increase the brood. Now would probably be the time to get rolling on that as April is when things start blooming and I think it takes about a month to raise a bee. Cross your fingers for the little ladies. Not only is it a big setback to start all over again honey-wise, it is freakin' expensive at $65/3# box. They need all the help they can get right now. Especially since I am still in the steep learning curve of beekeeping.

Did I Mention?

No, I don't think I did....

When the SB was home on Saturday and we were trying to tie up a bunch of garden chores, we moved some rocks (that had been a highly illegal fire ring in the upper lawn) to allow for easier mowing. Under those rocks we found THREE salamanders and TWO teeny tiny northern brown snakes. All were relocated to similar places in the yard. Hopefully we didn't disrupt things too much.

Also, I am chitting my potatoes - at least I think that is the term....They are sitting in an egg carton on the dining table soaking up some diffuse rays and sprouting eyes.

There are three kinds, La Ratte (fingerlings saved from last year and sprouting like crazy after being in the basement since fall) Early rose, and another yellow type for storing. I have about three pounds .... plenty for the space we have available.

Just waiting for things to dry out to put in some of the early stuff. The parsley is looking quite fine, as are the lettuces.

And because the weather was yucky and the SB wasn't around to haul my ass out into the yard regardless, I stayed in and did some cooking. Ricotta dumplings in a roasted red pepper sauce. It needed some pasta to call it a meal, but it was pretty tasty if labor intensive.

So this is what I will be eating for the next 8 days, provided they last that long. I don't think cheese thaws so well or I would freeze some. I also made dill bread. And brownies. By the state of the kitchen afterwards, you would have thought I had just prepared dinner for Napoleon's army, but no, just lil' ol' me.

And on another note, this is my 125th post. Woo hoo.

Nadda

Remember that wool I was dying? Me neither, until I went on the back porch and remembered it has been out there. It is definitely getting darker, but not the deep chocolate brown I was looking for. I exchanged the walnuts for some new ones in hopes of deepening the color. Luckily I had put a whole bunch aside in the event that my friend wanted them, but since she didn't, I just popped the lid on the crate and dug in. The squirrels have been making pretty short work of the ones out there. I was watching them today scrabbling around for them. Then getting distracted and chasing each other all over the place. I couldn't blame them. It is pretty much what I did all day - eat and run around in circles....

No quiche made. Went to the local bagel shop with the family, went to work for a while to get set up for the impending interview season, came home and shuffled around a lot, shopped for small jars for honey and other jars for dry goods for the pantry. Selected frames of honey to process, processed one frame. Went to a friends for snacks and chatter. Came home and read about bees. It is way too early for bed, so I feel obligated to stay up even though my eyelids are drooping...

Fine, Fine Weather

It is so totally fall today. So spectacularly fall in C'ville. I went to the market with Mama this morning. Stocked up on apples and squash. And bacon. Came home and took a bath which is a real treat. Then made some cottage cheese dill bread and while it was rising I went to the garden and planted my three types of garlic. Because I planned ahead, the bed was ready and I just needed to rake out the tiny weeds and plant, then I layered cut grass and straw on top. I probably need a few more layers, but I got distracted and dug the rest of the potatoes. I did some general garden maintenance and planned for the duck house. I need to have a couple of options for the SB to see. I was also trying to plan next year's garden to some extent. Where are the raspberries going to go? They need to be able to spread because there is no such thing as too many raspberries.

We have what I think is a red shouldered hawk hanging around the yard today. He is lovely and quite large. I have also seen a LOT of bees out today. I have no idea what that means. I am going in tomorrow to see if anything needs to be rearranged before it gets too cold to mess around in there.

And I found an ad for this in my inbox this morning. The irony of spending $500 to disguise your chicken house as a trash can is not lost on me....

So Long Summer

This morning I was out watering my chard before the bus came and I heard this little peeping noise. I turned slowly, expecting to see a maimed animal on my porch, compliments of my exceedingly bad cat. But it turns out, I had just rousted a hummingbird from the nasturtiums. It flew up above the flower pot and about 3 feet away and hovered there peeping at me for 30 seconds or so. I asked it what it was still doing here and encouraged it to head south with all due haste to keep ahead of winter. When it turned and headed off it was going west. Which is pretty much par for the course with my advice.

I don't know if it was one of the birds we had seen all summer or if it was just passing through and stopping off for a snack on the way. It was either a female or a young male as it didn't show the ruby throat of the mature males. I realize as I type the LB recently had a similar experience. You gotta wonder what is going on in the bird brain.

Not Dead.

The SB is up in Maryland working on projects with our friend H. The weekend is planned to be 4 guys out at a cabin carving a giant crocodile out of wood and drinking beer. I will not compare this with my more regular like 8-5 government type job, but suffice to say, it ain't like that. I get weekends off, dammit. So there.

In the several weeks he was home he worked like a dog. Unfortunately, that meant I worked like a dog as well. We started his time at home by buying some expensive and useful tools. A chop saw. And a screw gun. Then we went to work on the basement. We crammed stuff into corners and cubbies to reveal wall space and eventually hung two metal cabinets that have been in the way for about 8 years. We then crammed them full of stuff. That took care of about 1/42nd of the junk in the basement. But it is a start.

He also cleared one of the property lines of brush and weeds and has created a new bed for fall planting. The SB, ever vigilant, was able to stop the tree butchers from "trimming" our trees while they were in the 'hood, and even talked them into giving us some of the chopped tree refuse. We now have about 9 cubic yards of mulch piled up. Some of it now spread on the new bed to keep weeds down and add organic matter so the new plantings will have a good go of it.

Next we started to finish the wall around the basement bathroom. Oddly, our basement came with a toilet in it. No sink and no real walls, more like what you would find inside a bathroom... little stall walls with a curtain across the front. Those are all long gone and we found a pedestal sink and put that in. Half of the framing for the wall has been done for about 2 years. The SB put in more framing and hung the door. So now we have an unsheathed wall but we definitely have a door. Which is awesome since it get something else out of the way. More to do on that project, but progress.

Finally, last weekend, we put in half a patio. Under the porch we have always wanted to lay some paving bricks that we bought about 6 years ago. Over the course of 2 days we moved a lot of dirt and 3/4 ton of gravel and about a billion bricks (most of it more than once) and we are the proud owners of about 100 square feet of patio. We ate pizza on it to christen it last Sunday. Now it is covered in junk, but I am sure we will see it again someday.

I have done almost nothing in the weeks the SB has been home but work on the house, cook and babysit. My apologies to the LB, to whom I still owe a dress. Which I am working on today.

In the success column, yeah Mother Nature, who has been providing me with plenty of blackberries to go in my breakfast yogurt.

Thank the heavens that groundhogs are short, because I have managed to pick about 6 or 7 pounds of peaches from our tree this year. Most of them have a small critter in residence, so I definitely have to cut around them, but it is exciting. They are quite tasty and considering that I don't think I sprayed them AT ALL this spring, I think they have done remarkably well. I'll try to do better next year, but I think you don't get good peaches going the completely organic route. I'll have to do more research. I made peach ice cream yesterday. It turned out to be very good vanilla ice cream with chunks of peach in it. Oh well. Maybe next time I will follow the recipe and crush up the peaches. But actually, I think the beauty of a peach is sort of quashed when it is frozen. The flavor is better when they are warm from the sun. Last year I remember having my last summer peaches chopped up and mixed into hot oatmeal on one of the cooler fall mornings and it was pretty much like heaven. I am now considering a chest freezer and an ice cream maker as my next major purchases.

I planted more kale and chard and beets and some beans. The groundhogs don't seem to be in the garden right now. The potatoes are coming along. I have some teeny weeny watermelons. And I harvested quite a few small onions. Like the SB says. Good thing we aren't subsistence farmers. I pickled exactly one quart of okra pickles yesterday. I suspect some of them will be quite woody, but I thought I would give it a go anyway. If they taste good, I'll plant more okra next year. The groundhogs left it completely alone.

I harvested my first two crimson carmello tomatoes yesterday. To find that they really weren't quite done. But they were fine. I used them to make baked eggs. You cut off the top of the tomato and scoop out the inside and then put a little butter inside the tomato and crack a small egg and fill the center. Sprinkle it with salt and pepper and bake in the oven (or in my case the toaster oven) at 400 for about 30 minutes. I cooked mine too long, but they were still edible. I used the innards of the tomato to make a little salsa-y thing with red onion and vinegar and basil and put that on top with some fresh goat cheese from the market.

I have been dreaming of chickens and ducks lately. I went so far as to go here and fill out an order form for ducks (knowing full well I wouldn't submit it). I have to order 10 ducks though. Which seems like a lot. But, well, I am getting more ambitious. I think I could do 10 ducks - knowing that I would lose a few one way or the other and probably end up with 6. And now I am thinking I need about 6 chickens. I don't want to order chicks though. I just want chickens. Ducklings are another story. I really want me some ducklings. So I may have to wait until spring. The SB hopes to get a chicken house in for me before the end of summer, but I suspect that it will have to wait until winter break for him. He has so much else to do. I already have people lined up to buy eggs from me from chickens I don't even have.

I have lost my battery charger in the current chaos, so no photos. Which stinks, b/c I wanted to show you the patio and the peach tree and the baby watermelons. And I would have loved to show you a picture of the blacksnake we found on Fourth of July. The birds pointed him out as he was trying to climb the tree for the nests, but decided against it when all the attention came down on him. We saw him later crossing the giant field of just laid mulch in the new bed and shooed him into the brush pile to keep him from heading to our neighbors picnic where we didn't expect he would get much of a welcome.

I am going out to check on the bees soon. I haven't seen them in more than a month. I am sure they miss me.

GAH!

So hours after the daring rescue of the blue bird, it showed up as a present on my porch. Thanks, Kitty. GAH! He is a good enough hunter, I just wish he would challenge himself more. You know. Ground hogs. Deer. But nooooooo, he always finds something small and helpless like a little bird or a frog or a snake. Or a mouse, but rodents don't really count. Cats are supposed to eat them. That's why there are still cats in this world. They certainly wouldn't have made it this long on their merit as pets alone.

The SB is on his way home. Tomorrow we drive to the burg and pack up his apartment and bring him home. He'll be here for all of a couple days before he heads to our friends in Maryland to work on a project to earn real live money. Woo hoo. We love us some income.

I am excited that I get to have my bee mentor come again on Sunday. I have done my homework and I am ready for instruction! It is SO exciting. The bees are working like crazy. I put another super (small box) on top of the hive on Wednesday. My Papa drove all the way to Shipman to pick it up for me and dropped it on my doorstep. That is some SERVICE - and he paid for it! Gotta love the parental support of the hobby! It'll be interesting to see how far they have come on it by Sunday. There are so many of them now, I expect things will be rolling right along out there. Maybe I will try to take some pictures of the hive while I am out there. It seems less daunting with a mentor.... Technically, honey flow goes through June 15 or so. Since they are working so fast, maybe they will fill up some of my box and I can have a wee bit of homegrown honey without having to wait until next May. That is a wild and unreasonable hope, I know... It is right up there with actually having home grown tomatoes this year.... Maybe one or the other will come true!

More Critters

So the rain this afternoon put the kibosh on my mowing. The poor SB is going to be stuck with it when he comes home, I fear. I did go out and check the garden. I brought in the last (almost) of the strawberries and the first of the broccoli. While I was inspecting the blueberries (coming along nicely thankyouverymuch), I noticed a bird huddled in the corner of the bed. Its eyes were closed though it was upright. I thought it might be dead anyway - struck by one of those mysterious illnesses that seem to periodically affect the wild and fragile. Luckily, I had already closed the garden by the time the cat came out to join me. He prowled the edges of the garden fence for a while - somehow he knew the bird was there, though it seemed hidden in the bed. I went in the house and from the porch saw the cat getting more frantic. Then I saw the bird flying around inside the garden fence. I made tracks for the garden at that point and scooped up kitty kins just as he was making to pounce on the bird, which had managed to get itself over the fence by this time. He was so close to being a scooby snack. Hope he makes good on his added life. I think it was a juvenile bluebird. No parents to be seen anywhere. He probably took the car keys without asking.