A Few Pictures from Recent Months

First there was pie baking!

Then a wedding!

(Showing off my custom boots that were made for the wedding. More about that later!)

 

Followed by an amazing reception in our backyard (the orchard)

Off for a honemeymoon!  Into Seattle and...

Down the coast we went!

Back to the grind with one of our many harvests.



Chickens getting so big!

And a double yolker to boot, what productive girls!

A happy dog in his new house!

 

 

Bottle babies no longer on bottles, just growing like weeds!

My first ever trip to balloon fiesta!

An amazing experience!

What in the world has been going on?!?

To say that things have been busy would be the understatement of the century.  I am well aware it has been MONTHS since I have written but I haven’t forgot!  If I posted as much as I think about posting this would be filled with updates multiple times a day!  So, shall I begin with a brief summary of life as of late?

1.        I got married!  The wedding was the most fabulous and best day of my life.  Everything went perfect (in my eyes at least).  We were married in the small country church that we attend and had the reception in our backyard.  Which also happens to be in the middle of the pecan orchard.  We had a massive tent in which we sat 250 of our closest friends, a dance floor and food that was fit for a king.  It was very important to us to contribute and make the wedding something of our own.  We both feel we succeed in that.  We served rib-eyes that came from cattle I help produce, squash from our garden, potatoes that one of the groomsmen grew, rolls that some of the ladies from church made from scratch, different flavors of roasted pecans from the orchard, cake made from a wonderful friend and pecan pies made by my family and the ladies from our church and the area.  The food was to die for.  With me being from so far away I had expected that the turnout of my friends and family might be lacking due to the expenses and hassles of travel.  WOW am I a blessed gal!  We had friends and family from all areas of the country!  If I remember correct we had 10+ states represented at the wedding.  The outpouring of love from our friends and family was overwhelming.  We are loving married life and having fun joining our lives together!

2.       Big gardens produce LOTS of food.  We have been overrun with produce from our garden all summer and it is wonderful!  While the hubs and I were on our honeymoon my parents stayed out the house to look after all the animals, etc.  They stayed busy by putting up corn.  They put up (prepared and froze) almost 200 bags of corn.  The measured out each bag in different amounts so if we need 1 cup, 2 cups, etc. to cook with we can just grab it from the freezer!  The best part of it?  They wrote notes to us on almost all the bags.  Besides corn we had an extreme over abundance of squash/zucchini for a long time.  Then it moved into the pepper stage.  We are still harvesting peppers as a matter of fact.  We planted from seed directly into the garden and it turned out to work great.  Maybe even to great.  We eat peppers in everything now.  The one thing I want to have more of next year is onions.  I still had to buy a lot of onions so I would like to remedy that.

3.       Flowers worked!  I planted a row of different kinds of flowers in the garden and they grew and made me so happy!  We had a large variety of sunflowers, xenias and a few varieties of marigolds to help keep bugs away.  I am usually not a fan of marigolds but we had multiple varieties that were so joyous!  Some grew as tall as 3 feet and had blooms the size of baseballs!  They bloomed ALL summer and most of the fall and were one of my favorite things we had.  Another success I had was I got a few blue bonnets to come up!  It was kind of a joke planting them but it worked!   If I had done better in the weed control department it would have gone a lot better but now I know for next year!

4.       The chickens are laying!  We had a few chicken casualties but our numbers are still strong and they are really getting down to business laying eggs.  They started slow with just 3 or 4 eggs a day but production is in full swing and I am now getting at least a dozen and a half a day.  We are being overrun with eggs!  I can only make so many angel food cakes from scratch (which take a dozen egg whites) and the dogs are starting to run away when I bring out the eggs because they don’t want to eat anymore either. 

5.       Moving is a hassle.  Combining 2 houses is not easy.  This has probably been one of the biggest consumers of time.  I have moved in with the hubs into his new (2011) but established house with all my “treasures” and making it all go together is a task.  We are slowly making progress and everyday it gets better and better!

So really a list of 5 things is a pretty sorry excuse for why we have been busy but let me tell you it has been insane.  Combine the above with working 80+ hours, involvement in the community, taking on new work endeavors, traveling for various events/functions and trying to live life makes for a busy time!  I am confident that things are going to continue to settle and life will take more of a regular tone.  I can’t wait to post more about what we have been up to!

Did I Forget to Mention?

Did I forget to mention that I bring baby calves home in my car?  They like to look out the windows and watch the world go by.  Diesel is way to high to drive my truck to take home these little cherubs.

This little gal was especially curious.

Did I also forget to mention that I am getting married to this guy in less than 2 months?  I am just a teeny weeny bit excited!



Honcho the Unlucky Dog

I have a Jack Russell Terrier named Honcho.  He is a chubby mess and I love him to pieces.  Honcho has had some unlucky moments in the last few months.  The poor guy just can’t seem to catch a break.  A few months ago Honcho had a sudden disappearance.  We could not find him anywhere.  He has been staying down at the orchard with Michael so he can run and play and be a dog all day long.  Michael called and said he couldn’t find him.  I went down and looked and couldn’t find him anywhere either.  We looked everywhere.  And then we looked some more.  He was still nowhere to be found.  The next day he still had not been discovered and I was going hoarse from calling for him so much.  I continued my search to no avail.  Michael has a hill built up around his water pressure tank for his house so I thought I would crawl to the top so I could have a lookout point in search of my 10 inch tall white dog.  I climbed to the top and realized that the lid was open on the access door.  For some odd reason I looked in and wouldn’t you know, there was Honcho staring up at me wondering where I have been!  He was within 30 feet of the front door of the house the entire time!  He must have barked so much when he first fell in that he couldn’t bark anymore for us to find him.  Thank goodness we found the sweet little guy!

                This past weekend Honcho went missing again.  He had been spending lots of time out with Blue and the babies so we thought he may have been out there.  We looked all afternoon and evening on Saturday to no avail.  I was getting nervous.  With the disappearance of two other dogs of the family I had the worst in the back of my mind.  Sunday the search continued.  Michael decided it was time to start thinking like the dog – what space could he possibly get stuck in?  That’s what always happens with him so why would this time be any different?  He checked the water tank house and no Honcho.  Suddenly it dawned on Michael – we had been moving around and unloading the trailer Saturday afternoon and he kept running in and out of it.  Off Michael went to the trailer parked by Blue and the horses.  He peeked in and what did he find looking up at him innocently? Honcho!  How this dog is so unlucky to get trapped everywhere I do not know.  I am thinking I need to get an orange bike flag like little kids get and tie it to him so we can always keep track of him.  This little guy is going to get into some serious trouble his he doesn’t start watching out for himself!  Thank goodness he was found because I am not sure I could take losing another dog!

Cheese Making

We sold all of our baby calves on Saturday so we have had Blue (the milk cow) giving us lots of milk with no babies for it to go to.  I have started drinking it like it is going out of style but there is no way I could ever keep up.  I finally got to give a go at cheese making and I had a blast!  Saturday I made one batch of mozzarella and it was good although I forgot to add the salt and it desperately needed it.  I got to try it again on Sunday and made two batches and they were like heaven in the form of cheese!  They were simply amazing!  With the whey from the mozzarella I also made ricotta.  Another delicious and creamy treat!  With the extra whey we have been able to feed it back to the dogs and the horses.  It is a wonderful source of protein so it is a big addition to their diet!

For a mother’s day treat for Michael’s mom we made a special supper for her.  I have never been able to make a supper like this and am proud to say it was pulled off well.  I used the fresh mozzarella and ricotta in lasagna.  The lasagna had both ground pork and ground beef in it so I was able to use beef that I got from work, another fresh product!  The lasagna turned out to be the best lasagna ever.  I cannot put into words that flavors that erupted from this dish.  The cheese truly and honestly made a difference in the entire dish.  We had a green salad with leaf lettuce from our garden and topped in with pecans that Michael had grown.  We slipped in canned pineapple and garlic bread that was not sources from us but it was necessary to compliment out the meal.  For dessert Michael got out peaches that he had froze last year and we drizzled them with fresh cream from Blue.  Once again, words can’t describe these flavors.  We were so proud of our meal and it was even more special because it was truly appreciated by all that shared the table.  I have 8 more gallons of fresh milk waiting for me at home tonight so I better get to some more cheese making!

                                             The table set and ready for everyone to "sit up"

The amazing lasagna - I can't wait to make it again!

The Milk Cow

We got a milk cow.  She is fabulous.  She is a beautiful Holstein.  She doesn’t have a name yet but I am working around the clock to come up with the perfect name that fits her just right.  I have never milked a cow before but in the 9 days we have owned her I am getting plenty of lessons.  We got her so we can use her milk to feed the baby calves.  So far it has worked well.  The babies have taken a hard hit.  We brought one in that brought some kind of sickness and it spread to the others.  They seem to be over the sickness but are now dealing with the weather change.  It was 100 degrees last week and the week before and now this week it hasn’t even reached 70 degrees.  The temperature changes are very hard for these babies to handle since they are so fragile.  Hopefully they all pull through this.  We have been getting lots of extra milk and so the dogs have been benefiting greatly.  They each get a bowl of fresh milk every morning and every evening.  Their condition is rapidly improving, even though it wasn’t poor in the first place.  We are also going to be drinking some of it.  Michael has tried it but I have not yet.  Michael grew up with his family owning a milk cow so he is used to this process and also drinking fresh milk.  He says it has a very different taste.  I can’t wait to try it!  I also plan to make a go at cheese making.  I am going to start with mozzarella.  There are so many great adventures ahead!

                Yesterday I did our first lettuce harvest.  I was so nervous I would pick it all (it’s leaf lettuce) but when I got done I couldn’t even tell I had picked any!  I made a balsamic vinaigrette from scratch and added pomegranate crasins and walnuts to the salad.  It was delicious!  I had never made my own salad dressing before but I loved it!  My recipe was:

                ½ cup balsamic vinegar

                ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

                A spoonful of canned chopped garlic

                2 Teaspoons white sugar

                Some Salt

                Some Fresh Ground black peppers

I put it in a jar, sealed it tight, shook it like crazy and drizzled it over the salad.  I love it paired with the crasins and walnuts.  I can’t wait to eat more for lunch today!  I paired the salad with fresh grilled asparagus (prob. The last harvest of the year), rice pilaf and grilled chicken that I marinated in Italian salad dressing.  It was a light supper but oh so filling!

Enjoy some pictures of our new milk cow!

Three of the babies milking with Honcho the dog watching very close.

Look at that stud working those udders like a champ!

A Lesson Learned

Although posts have been limited activity on the funny farm has remained elevated.  Yesterday I learned a good lesson.  I was trying to clean up my house because with all the activity lately it has not gotten hardly any attention.  I had been gone over the weekend and had left Yellow Cat at my house to fend for herself and mouse around.  Since she has been feeling better she has really started mousing so I didn’t want to interrupt her hunting schedule by taking her somewhere while I was fone.  Anyway, in my cleaning process I cleaned out the litter box and was excited that it wasn’t very dirty or smelly!  I really hate that job!  Anyway, basking in light litter glory I continued to clean. When I got to the fireplace I noticed an odd smell.  I started to look around for it and realized there was an ashy white powder on the floor and on the hearth.  I thought this was sort of weird.  The more I studied I realized that this was truly coming from the fireplace.  I haven’t had a fire in there since January or February so there should have been no reason to have any ash activity.  Boy was I wrong!  After further investigation I found that Yellow Cat really made herself feel at home and decided that the fireplace, with all that lovely soft ash, would make a great litter box.  HOW GROSS!  I hadn’t been in a rush to clean out the ashes in there because…. Well, there was no reason to at that point!  So, I had planned for a good hearted attempt yesterday to clean the house and I ended up having to totally clean out the fire place due to Yellow Cat’s confusion.  How is it that all these weird things happen to me?  Why can’t I just get a normal pet that does normal pet things!??!  Anyway, I suppose I learned my lesson, always clean out the fireplace after your last fire of the year!