Spring Chicken Order

                On our snow day Michael and I sat around talking about what we need to do to get ready for spring/summer and some of our garden and animal goals.  One thing we have spent a lot of time debating is what chickens to add to our flock.  We went through the catalog and each marked the breeds we wanted.  We then combined our lists and found out that we selected 18 breeds.  That is a little much considering we already have about 30 chickens at home!  We worked to narrow down our list and finally made our order yesterday.  Maybe making the order after snow-ritas (see “snow day” post below) wasn’t the best idea.  We sort of threw the narrowed down list out the window and ended up ordering A LOT of chickens.  We ended up with about 60 on our order.  There are still 3 breeds that weren’t available for the delivery date we wanted so we will still be making another order.  My goodness we are going to have a lot of chickens! 

                When deciding on which ones we wanted to order we used some strategy.  I am pretty darn crazy about spreadsheets, in fact, I love them.  I assembled a sheet that broke down the breeds into categories.  This allowed us to have a good overview of what our overall flock will be like.  Our categories are: ornamental, layers and meat birds.  Our ornamental list is probably the most fun.  We won’t rely on them to lay eggs and may have to keep them separate from our established group due to the picking order, etc.  We picked three kinds of bantams and a few varieties of top-hatters in addition to some that are just crazy looking.  They will have no major purpose except being fun to watch!  For the layers I ordered a lot more araucanas because they lay the beautiful green/blue eggs and I am down to one layer in my current flock.  I want to increase my colored egg production so this will aide in that.  We also selected some other hardy varieties that will be consistent layers.  As far as the meat group I don’t believe that there is much explanation needed there.  We also selected a few breeds of ducks which I am excited about because I have never had ducks before.  We have selected some that will be grown for food and some that are good layers/setters.  I can’t wait!

                The worst part about ordering was that I got all excited to get them and see what they will look like but they won’t arrive in the mail until the last week of April! I am just not sure how I will ever wait that long!  I have no choice but to wait so this will be a great practice in patience, and also give me time to build a bigger coop and run because I am going to need it!

Snow Day!

Yesterday we had a snow day and it may just go down as the best.day.ever.  With my new job it actually allows for snow days.  I got the call at about 5:30 AM that school was cancelled so I turned over and went right back to sleep.  Fabulous!  I woke up about 8:00 AM to a winter wonderland.  We were one of the least hit areas but still got a good dusting of snow.  The wind really kicked things up so it turned into whiteout conditions.  Thankfully we had gotten all the animals taken care of and ready for the storm on Sunday afternoon so all we had to do is break ice.  By “we” I mean Michael.  He went and fed hay and broke water while I made waffles, bacon and eggs.  By the time he got home breakfast was ready and the relaxing began.  Because we didn’t have to be anywhere or do anything all day we took full advantage of the situation.  

After breakfast we figured the next best step was to make drinks.  Michael went out and grabbed a bunch of snow and made “snow-ritas.”  That’s right, margaritas made with snow instead of blended or on the rocks.  How perfect for a snow day!  There were different flavors that we tried like pomegranate, raspberry and classic margaritas.  All were delicious.  This led to more beverage inventing and cleaning of the liquor cabinet.  There were definitely some bottles finished.  We spent the rest of the day watching movies, laying on the couches and playing with the dogs.

Our dogs usually stay outside and only come in for an evening here and there.  With the snow and wind we decided they deserved a day inside as well.  Let me tell you, those animals got lazy!  We built a monster fire that kept the living room at a live 80-85 degrees and they lounged around all day like it was their job.  They were funny to watch as they would switch from place to place and only get up occasionally to beg for a treat or snack here and there.  I think they were just as appreciative for the day off as I was!

It is so rare that we get to have a day at home.  Actually, we never have had one while we have been together and it was the best thing ever.  I feel rejuvenated and refreshed.  Vacation days are so valuable that I have never taken any to just stay at home.  They are always used to travel or go see family.  I feel as though they have to be made “worth it” by doing something extreme but after yesterday I may need to reevaluate future usage of vacation days.  I have also learned that working in agriculture these days are far and few between.  Animals always need to be fed, watered and cared for.  There is always work to be done and things to be taken care of.  With that being said I cannot express my appreciation and joy for the day that we had yesterday. 

 

Here are some pictures of our day inside!

Pomegranite snow-rita complete with umbrella

 

Watching the snow from the lime tree

The Animals actually up and awake!  Checking out the tractor making sure it was bringing more wood to keep the house warm.

Like I said, they moved from one spot to another.  Here Sadie has taken over the cat bed.

 

If you know Honcho then you know you have just witnessed a miracle.  Living cats don't get this close to Honcho!

 

This was Honcho's stakeout for the day.  The picture on the left was one of the few I got of him awake.

Mao gave up in the plant area once it got dark and retreated to the couch.  This is one lazy cat.

Chicken Alfredo

                With all the milk we have passing through our doors now we also have a large supply of cream.  I was looking for a different way to use it besides making butter and decided to try a new recipe for Alfredo sauce last night.  It turned out delicious! It wasn’t the usual butter, cream and cheese recipe I had used in the past but served to be just as tasty.  Of course, things didn’t fall into place like I had planned and hoped they would but I did the best I could with what I had!  When I got home I realized I had a big problem, I was out of parmesan cheese.  Pretty sure all rule books say you must use parmesan cheese for Alfredo sauce but I was not about to go out in the nasty, cold windy weather so I had to figure out a way around it.  I had bought a block of cheddar/gruyere (yes, a block of both cheeses combined) a few weeks back so I shredded that and also emptied a few bags of whatever was in the cheese drawer.  Those various cheeses combined with fresh milk, cream cheese, butter and black pepper worked out really well.  I sliced and sautéed some chicken breasts, added sundried tomatoes and put it all over spinach and chive linguine and it turned into a delicious meal!  The best part was that it was quick to prepare.  Michael made a roaring fire in the fire place that we enjoyed as we ate our quick and hardy meal.  I usually forget about making my own sauce but tonight was a reminder of how easy and yummy it can be!

 

Some Basic Math:

 

 +

 +

 

 

 

= Yummy!

 

An Update on the Twins

The twins that were both Jan. 8^th are doing great.  We have named them Dolly and Star (Can you guess their future occupation?)  They are growing like weeds!  Blue is also the happiest cow alive!  In a traditional dairy situation she would have her calf and then they would be separated so the cow can milk.  It is like Blue knows she is lucky to have her babies arouund and she is so happy to be able to be a full-fledged mom!  She produces more milk than her calves can handle so we purchased additional baby calves so they are also nurse and benefit from her massive milk supply. 

We also have gone back to cheese making and milk drinking.  I don’t drink the milk because it can pack on the pounds like crazy due to it being so rich but Michael goes to town on it.  He claims that I shouldn’t worry about because he skims the cream off the top once it settles thus making it skimmed milk.  I’m not falling for it!  Tonight I look forward to using some of the cream and milk to make a homemade alfredo sauce!  Pictures of supper to follow but for now some shots of the babies! 

Momma Blue

Star taking a rest in the middle of the hay ring.

Star is a wild girl!

Bedding down for the night.

Honcho at attention, ready to work.

One of the calves we bought - checking out what goods Hooker has to offer.

Dolly ready to play.

Three Stranded Bracelet

In my free time I love to craft – anything and everything.  I go in spurts on what I like to work on.  This week it has been sewing but the last few weeks I have been working on jewelry.  My parents live in Abu Dhabi and have great access to buy raw materials at markets in Dubai.  The access to materials like turquoise, red coral, pearls and any other stones you can possibly imagine is unreal.  So are the prices.  Over the past 4 or 5 years that they have lived there I have built up a great inventory of stones and jewelry materials.  Living in the southwest the turquoise is very popular so the style of jewelry I have been making works well in my environment.  I had been making some heavy pieces but wanted to try something on the lighter side.  I also wanted to experiment with multi-strand items. 

Below are a few pictures of my first attempt at a multi strand bracelet.  It is very light and comfortable to wear.  It also doesn’t take over my arm by being heavy or bulky.  This pink themed piece features fresh water pearls and silver accents from Dubai and various shades of glass beads.  I added the heart clasp to keep it delicate.  I strung it on silk to give it extra strength since I can be pretty rough with my jewelry.  Here is how it turned out.

I can’t wait to give a try at another multi-stranded piece! I purchased some purples to go with the LWML (Lutheran Women’s Missionary League) color to wear at our events.  I also started collecting some yellow and gray tinted turquoise pieces for future assembly.  I completed a multi—strand bracelet of rough cut white (buffalo) turquoise (2 strands) with one strand of traditional blue turquoise in round beads.  The variance in texture and color really made for a nice piece.  I wore it around the house for about thirty minutes before I had some assembly malfunctions.  I had experimented with a new stringing material and found that it did not take the heavy beads and movement of the wrist well.  One of the white turquoise strands broke.  At least it happened in the house and I was able to recover all of the beads!  I will reassemble that piece the next time I have some time.  I will also use double stranded silk to make sure it has all the strength needed. 

I love getting new ideas for what jewelry to make through catalogs I get in the mail.  I am amazed at how high some of the jewelry is for how simple it is to make!  There are also some great opportunities in this region to go to wholesalers and stores that carry raw materials for artisan production.  I recently picked up a new beading magazine that had some great tips and ideas that I look forward to trying soon! 

2013 Quilt - The First Two Blocks

My day off yesterday was so productive in the morning that I actually had time to work on some sewing in the afternoon/evening! I am in a quilt guild that meets one time per month and selects a few blocks to work on each month.  It is fun because although it is technically a “block of the month” group our instructor is slightly against the idea of blocks of the month because who wants to have a quilt that is just like everyone else’s?!?  With that being said we are always presented with different variations for blocks and ways to alter our pieces.  It is also fun because they present new sewing techniques and opportunities to help with areas that may be difficult to you.  I am not an expert at all and still need lots of help so it is a good group!  I was 4 blocks behind and being that I just picked up the blocks yesterday I picked the two that looked like they would be the easiest to start on.  I haven’t pieced in over a year so it took me a little bit to get back in the groove.  As you will see in the pictures below my work is not perfect but it is done and I like how it all turned out! 

The theme for this quilt is stars and log cabins.  I have never done a quilt with a dark background so I picked a solid black base color to mix things up.  The rest of the quilt will be done with bright colors, as many as I can find.  I picked up a few fat quarters last week when I was traveling in Albuquerque, NM and that is where I also found the black for the base.  I was trying to decide if I should go with a black that has some pattern to it but I decided to stick with the solid.  Because I am a novice at all of this I knew for sure that I didn’t want something that had any direction to the print which could accentuate my many mistakes.  I need all the help I can get to hide mess ups so non-directional print is almost always what I go with!  I had never been to the quilt store that I bought the black and a few colors at and I loved it, I will be visiting again soon on my next trip through Albuquerque! 

 

The first block I did, hanging in the window of my car at work today.  All of these fabrics were new ones that I bought last week. 

This is the second block that I did and I had a few issues with it.  The center piece is from some fabric my mom sent me from Abu Dhabi and I LOVE this fabric!  The fabric is very light and stretches easily and was difficult to work with though so it was a good thing I loved the pattern, if I didn't I would have given up!  Also, the circle was not printed perfectly round so fussy cutting was not as easy as I had hoped it would be.  Did I mention this was my first time ever fussy cutting anything?  I hoped the outer colors could be brought together as they are all the same print, just different colors.  I could pick apart the issues all day but we have quilt guild tonight so hopefully I can get some advice on how to avoid some of the issues that I had next time!  Bottom line, I finished two blocks and overall liked how they turned out!

A Weekend Away

          This weekend Michael and I got a wild hair and decided to get a way for a couple of nights. I have been traveling for work for 5 weeks straight (during the week, home on the weekends and a few nights a week if I am lucky) so we wanted to get some quality time together. Friday morning we decided that San Antonio would be a good place to aim for. I got off work a few hours early and came home, repacked (which was easy because I hadn’t unpacked from the week yet) and we got in the car and headed out! We made it about an hour and forty five minutes out of San Antonio before stopping for the night.

Saturday we headed the rest of the way into San Antonio. I had never been to San Antonio so we figured our first stop should be the Alamo. After visiting the Alamo I would now equate the Alamo with Mecca for Texans. They are just plain crazy about it. I understand the historical significance and what it stands for as a Texan but WOW they proud of it. Did you know that thefamous curved front façade of the Alamo actually wasn’t added on to until 1850 when the U.S. Army was rebuilding it to turn it into a warehouse? Maybe you already knew that but it was a new fact for me! I enjoyed getting to learn more about the Alamo and its role in U.S. history. It was also because Michael is a born and raised New Mexican and he likes to constantly share the differences in history that Texans like to share and New Mexicans like to share. Apparently some historians like to leave out some facts and make maps that are slightly different from the truth, at least according to some New Mexicans. I am no historian, this is just me repeating what I have heard, enough said about that before I get in big trouble with my Texan friends!

After the Alamo we went to the River Walk and moseyed around for the afternoon. The weather was a fantastic sunny 70⁰ and perfect for relaxing outside. We ate lunch along the River Walk and enjoyed people watching. Saturday night we ate at a fantastic Mediterranean restaurant and we both over indulged. It was a packed house which made for a fun atmosphere. It was a very enjoyable meal! Sunday we spent the day at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo. Once again the weather was perfect! We got to the grounds mid morning so we didn’t have to fight with the crowds, which there turned out to be a lot of later on. We got to check out different animals, eat some quality fair food and meander through the many different vendors. It was the perfect way to spend a day. By the time we were getting tired the crowds really started to pick up so we headed back on the road towards home. We did the drive straight through and it took about 9 hours so we were tired by the time we got home!

It was a quick trip that could have easily been extended another few days but I was so tired from being gone so much I was ready to come home. Due to it being President’s day I have the day off work. I have finally been able to catch up on laundry and get some of the house cleaned. It is so relaxing to be able to be at home without an agenda a mile long! It has been a whirlwind weekend but a very enjoyable and memorable one!

Michael and I at the Alamo - 2/16/13

 

Very old Live Oak at the Alamo

 

Our view from lunch down the River Walk

 

My favorite!

 

Due to the bright sun you can't detect my extreme excitement for the "Hot Beef Sundae" I was about to dig into. - San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo -

 

A close up of one of my new favorite fair foods!