2008 Revisited

2008 ... the summer I moved from Akron, Ohio to the Kansas Oklahoma border.  These are some of my favorite photos from my early days here on the prairie. These photos were taken with my old Fujifilm Finepix camera, before I received my Nikon in December 2008.  :-)

 blue skies with fluffy clouds... famous in Kansas!

lone winter tree by pond

Ringo our chocolate lab and the late Boogie

a cicada sheds its outer skin

barn swallows enjoy front porch livin'

even Ringo prefers the front porch

Ringo and Boogie chillin' together

sunflowers... a welcome sight in Kansas

a slimmer, trimmer Ringo

(mom has him on a diet plan now)

clouds cast shadows over a pasture

old pasture gate, wiped out by 2009 pasture fire

just the first of many beautiful sunsets

Happy Guineas

It took over a week for them to finally go outside... everything new scares these guineas!  They are so skittish!  A guinea trait, I'm finding out. But now they love being outside.

Hubby built this quick run so they could get outside - we can move it between the two coop doors.  If he encloses the end next to the coop, we could eventually use it as a chicken tractor and move it around the property.  We will have a larger fenced coop area but we may not get that done before winter.  Definitely by next spring, when I hope to get my first chickens.

I'm hoping by next spring the guineas can free-range during the day.  By then, they should be big enough to hold their own against the cats* and dogs.  I hope.  Fingers crossed.  The cats haven't even discovered them yet, at least to my knowledge.  The dogs definitely want to "get 'em".  Not good.

*Barack killed a juvenile pheasant a month ago. They are not small. I was quite surprised. But he IS a big cat.

Good Eats - Fresh Spinach and Apple Pie

Ok, I don't mean eating spinach and apple pie together on the same plate.  Ewwww.

But a salad with baby spinach fresh-picked from my experimental spinach garden sure is yummy!  Look at the perfect lil leaves on this spinach - this is the 3rd salad I've made since last week.  I'm so happy with my little experiment, and its been fun too.

'Course I have babied my spinach... kept it watered every other day, covered at night with the plastic row cover,  uncovered during our good sunny days, and lately I've been adding some old flannel sheets and towels on top of the row cover at night, to protect the spinach from the colder temps we've been getting.  Tomorrow night will be a true test, as we're supposed to get our first hard freeze. We'll see how long my spinach can last!!

I made a sour cream apple pie this afternoon from 3 giant Honeycrisp apples I've had for several weeks now.  I ate one apple when I first got them and oh my was it delicious.  But the remaining 3 were getting old... I was going to make applesauce, but then decided since they were so BIG, I could easily make a pie, which would be so much yummier!

And so I did.  Here's a link to the recipe if you're itching to try it - I made my own crust.  I'm eating a warm piece right now as I type this... and it's deelish!!  I don't think I've ever made a sour cream apple pie before... I've only made traditional apple pies.  But I'm lovin' this sour cream version.  Wonderful with a glass of cold milk.  Matter of fact, it's serving as my dinner tonight.

Oh, the salad??  That's for hubby when he gets home from work later tonight.  ;-)

My Spinach Garden Experiment

The two week update ... it's been 17 days since I planted the spinach and put a row cover over it for protection from the night cold.  So far, I'm pleased with the results.

I started reading my book by Eliot Coleman yesterday - The Winter Harvest Handbook.  Fascinating.  I mean, seriously, I'm really enjoying this book.  

His intro chapters give a history on winter planting - this is nothing new even though it may sound revolutionary to us.  Through the ages, in some form or another, mankind has sown and harvested garden vegetables throughout the winter.  Between 1850 and 1900, there were multitudes of "market gardens" in Paris, France.   

"Hotbeds heated with decomposing horse manure and covered with glass frames allowed the growers to defy the cold and produce fresh salads in January and early cucumbers and melons in May and June."

This horse manure, mixed with straw, came from the city stables and thus helped create a sustainable garden by composting a by-product.

Heck, we can do that.  We got lots of horse manure here.  :-)

Did you know that spinach is one of the top cold-hardy plants? It actually prefers cooler weather.  I didn't know that!

My spinach should be ready to harvest near Day 42 which would be about November 7.  Our days will shorten to less than 10 hours of daylight around November 27-29.  We'll start extending beyond 10 hours about January 13.  During that period, seeds would have difficulty germinating, and already established plants would slow down growth.  They need 10 hours or more of daylight to continue a standard growth pattern.

I'm anxiously checking on my lil green babies every day!

Chicken Coop Progress

Next up.... the roof!

I've been working on the first coat of paint and trim color since last week.  Just finished the person door today.... and made some of my coconut cookies too... and some cheesy dog treats... need to throw some laundry together yet... and do dishes a 2nd time... but not before I crack a Thirsty Dog Raspberry Ale.  Yummmmm!   

My hat's off to Thirsty Dog Brewing Company for their delicious craft brewed beers - they hail from my hometown, Akron, Ohio. But I digress....

7 weeks old today

We've decided the pearl guinea (brown/black one) is Nater.

That was the guy's name at Quicken Loans who recently refinanced our home... I mean, seriously, Nater??! (Does that give you a clue how smoothly the refi went??!  If you're guessing it didn't go all that smooth, then you'd be right.)

"Vote for Leah" Winner and Guineas In New Home

Ok, I made a list of everyone who voted for Leah in the Gerber Baby Contest last month, and plugged the numbers into Randomizer.org and the winner is...... Maura of Lilac Lane Cottage!  I think it's pretty cool that she won, because she's a fellow Kansan, and she has a wonderful country living blog with great photos that you just have to check out!  

Congrats Maura... please be patient with me as I pull everything together.  With my crazy work schedule, it might take me a few weeks to find adequate time to whip up the cookies and the dog treats and get everything to you!!

The guinea keets were 6 weeks old yesterday, and aptly befitting their age milestone, they were moved from the brooder on the back porch to their newly renovated chicken coop.  So far, they haven't really checked out their spacious new mansion -- as of yesterday afternoon and even this morning, they are perched on the edges of their brooder.  

I hope they decide to explore more today, so we can take the brooder out and get it all cleaned up - the brooder is QUITE a mess. I cleaned it every single day, but the last few days, even that didn't seem to be enough.  Lesson to the wise -- have your chicken coop ready before you buy your birds!  :-)

Four lavender guineas and one pearl guinea survey their new home

The chicken coop isn't entirely done yet. (Hubby has rebuilt this coop from the ground up!)  The roof needs redone and there is trim work for the inside and a roosting rack yet, and of course, we need to put up the fencing on the outside, and finally, paint the coop to match the house.  I'm hoping we can get all that done before winter, esp the painting!  But worse case, we did get the whole thing primed Sunday morning, and just in time too... we were blessed with several heavy rainstorms that afternoon along with 2 episodes of hail!

The new chicken coop front boasts TWO coop doors and one salvaged window from the homestead.  The two coop doors will allow us to section off the inside if we ever need to (new chicks or chickens/keets, sick birds, etc.) so each side will still have outside access.

The way the front looked before hubby started his renovation (above & below)... you may remember that fateful pasture burn of spring 2009?  You can see the old coop door in the above photo, bottom left of the coop.

Check out hubby's newly crafted, handmade person door

on the side of the coop!

Here's the old door.  A tad "ugh", huh?

Like I mentioned above, there's plenty more work to finish up the coop.  I'm excited to get it painted to match the house... I'm just hoping I can get it done before the temps take a plunge.  Starting Thursday, I have a 6-day stretch of work (blech) so I might have to cram a little bit of painting into each morning before work.  I hate doing it that way -- cleaning my brushes/rollers every single time I paint takes so much time!  But if that's what it takes, then oh well.

 

Winter will be here soon!!!

Ok, I promise to stop with the chicken coop photos, I'm sure I've bored everyone to death by now.  There will be only one future photo ..... once I've painted it to match the house!

Hubby is getting sooooooo good at destructo/constructo projects around here this year --  the front porch railing, the garage, and now the chicken coop.  

Hmmmmm, methinks I'm beginning to build a rather ambitious building list for him.  *wink*

Why I Don't Mind Washing Dishes... By Hand

No buildings in sight... just our tree break and prairie grass beyond!

This is the view out my window above the kitchen sink.  While washing dishes, I often plan my day or simply zone out, while gazing at the view and any wildlife (most often pheasant) that may prance by.  

I have never owned a dishwasher, and quite honestly, don't desire one.  I love how sparkly clean my dishes and glasses are... and frankly, I don't think there's an electric dishwasher around that can beat a good old fashioned hand-washing!

My Winter Garden Experiment

A butterfly zipped by right as I snapped this photo.

I left my bedraggled marigolds and pepper plants alone for now.

They escaped the wrath of my hoe.

After reading a short review of the book "The Winter Harvest Handbook" in Mother Earth News, I've decided all is not lost... I may not have planted my fall veggies in late August/early September, but there's still a chance I can do this!  I mean, c'mon, Eliot Coleman lives in MAINE, and he gardens in cold weather, so heck, I should be able to do it more easily than he, since I live in south Kansas.  Right?  RIGHT??!  We're still having 70-80 degree days here with nights dipping into the 50s... except for last night, which got down to a numbing 41 degrees.  Yikes!

{On a side note, yes, I did order Eliot's book from Amazon yesterday.}

So yesterday I tore out the sad, neglected remains of our summer garden, fortified a short row with some cotton burr compost, and planted some spinach.  I put a tunnel row cover over the seeds, and we'll see if they sprout in 7-10 days as indicated by the Burpee seed packet. The row cover is 18 feet long, so yes, that's extra row cover laying on the ground in the photo.

That's my gramma's old wheelbarrow in the background.... 

a rather retro looking 50s-style wheelbarrow, don't you think?

And just in case you weren't sure, cleaning a garden and digging in compost using a shovel, rake and hoe is the most excellent yet muscle-draining exercise.  Just so we're clear that it's not as easy as my photo makes it look.  My body keeps reminding me lately.... you're going to be 50 before the end of the year girl!!!  Ugh.

I'll give y'all a spinach update in 2 weeks.  I've got my fingers crossed.  :-)

Later this week:  a post showcasing our chicken coop renovation, guinea keets who are growing into rebellious juveniles, beautiful Leah in Ohio, and a blog winner for the "vote for Leah" contest on Gerber's website last month!

I Am Sad... Where Does the Time Go?!

*sigh*

I did not get my fall garden planted.

*sigh*

Too many hours spent working at the turnpike and not enough time to spend on so many things at home.

Ah well, I have seeds to plant in the spring now.

And let me just say something about poo.

*sigh*

I'm beginning to think that is my primary job here.  Cleaning poo.  Especially cat litter boxes and specifically, my precious little guinea keets.  My goodness, they are quite the little poo machines!!!

Getting big - 3 weeks old on Monday 

They're flying around their brooder and roosting on top

of the food and water jars.... next on our agenda, 

getting the chicken coop ready for them!

I'm not saying I MIND, because I really don't mind

taking care of our little menagerie.  

Jes sayin' it's certainly not my favorite job. Ugh.

New Baby Leah Photos

O.M.G.  I just about died when I saw baby Leah's newest batch of baby photos. She's already 3 months old!

My son and his wife took her to a photography studio last week, and wow-oh-wow, did they do a fantastic job. 

Of course, I think the subject matter

contributed A LOT to the gorgeous photos.

 Gotta love that funny lil face!

There's more great shots from Leah's first professional modeling session on my daughter-in-law's blog..... I'm going to Ohio in another 10 days and just can't wait to see the whole crew again! :-)

Don't forget to vote for Leah in Gerber's Baby Contest ~ you can vote every single day in the month of September, if you want to!  And THANKS to all who have already voted.  I appreciate you guys so much!!!

Next blog post:  Update on Guinea Keets aka Poop Machines 

Update on Votes for Leah

Just a reminder to all my friends and family to please vote for Leah during the month of September in the Gerber Baby Contest.

Everyone who votes and leaves a comment here on my blog indicating they voted will be entered into a drawing for the prizes as noted in my previous blog post. This drawing will be held in early October, once I can tally up all the votes made in September.

My previous blog post stipulated whoever voted the most would win the prize package. To be fair to all who take the time to vote for Leah, I am changing that condition to anyone who votes. Period. Everyone will be entered into the drawing and have a fair chance at winning the prizes! :-)

Leah has 127 votes as of today, but she sure needs more, so please do take a minute to click one of the links in this post and vote!!  You can vote once a day during the month of September.

Thanks a million!!!