... And I'm back

I decided to take a break from the Interwebs for the holiday and thoroughly enjoy my long weekend.

The weekend was good.  Not all of it went as anticipated, but it's all right.

Last week we did a whole mess of blueberry picking. All said and done we had about four gallons of berries.  I made my first jam of the season. I wound up with 20 pints. Not sure if we will be going out to pick more blueberries.  The local strawberry patch is open for berry picking. As soon as strawberries are picked I can make strawberry jam and strawberry-rhubard jam.  Mmm, I'm smiling just thinking about it. 

 

This weekend we processed five of our guineas. They dressed out at more than three pounds each, which is really good. We had our first one for dinner yesterday. Tasty. Though I guess we have been cooking them too long by using the crockpot.  So we went looking for recipes and I guess they will be strictly a weekend meal.

On Sunday we moved the baby chicks from the brooder tote in the house out to the brooder coop.  So far so good.  They love it out there.

They spend a lot of time in their little coop.  More than anything I think they like that they can run in there and "hide."

Later in the afternoon I thought I was hearing phantom chirps. Turns out eggs in the incubator were hatching.  I didn't even have a full day of no babies in the house.  Oh well, they are adorable.

There are a still quite a few eggs left in the 'bator. 

Meanwhile, Elvis' second batch of babies have been moved over to the guinea/turkey coop.  It was a hard few days for them and we had to catch them the last two days to put them to bed.  They are feisty little buggers. 

Tonite they have it figured out.  They went to bed before everyone else. They also got the best spots.

Everyone else in the barnyard is doing fabulous.  I love how the Americaunas and the turkeys hang out together.

The white turkey likes to have her space. 

In the coop, Grandma is still in her box and Buck sleeps just above her. I'm sure you can guess that Buck really isn't welcomed up on the roost. He's still being a piece of work and trying to get with the ladies.  He also still has his sights set on my son, I think.  No attacks yet, but he keeps an eye on him and runs behind my son, all sneaky like a cat.  My son turns around and puts his dukes up and Buck doesn't get close.

Brewster is keeping Buck in line, and keeping the girls *safe* from Buck's advances.

I think some of the girls secretly like Buck's advances. *Shh* don't tell Brewster.

One of the babies that was born back in February has spent a lot of time in the nesting box today.  When I reached in to see who it was she acted a bit funny so I'm wondering if she is getting ready to lay her first egg.

 

The garden is coming along, even though I don't spent nearly as much time as I should in there. 

 

 

I harvested my first lettuce and it's so yummy with the balsamic vinaigrette that I've made.

Look! The first sugar snap peas.

The utility company has come through and started their work in laying new power lines, and making a mild mess of my yard.

Could be worse, they ran right through the woods of my neighbor's property.  I'd hate to be staring at that kind of mess. I just have tracks in my yard.

I've been doing some crafting.  It's not any of my usual hobbies.  I purchased a latch hook kit and my son has been helping here and there with it.  Not much progress made on it but I'm pleased with it so far. I love being able to just pick it up and leave it and not wonder where I am in a pattern. I can see at a glance. 

I have a feeling that my blog posts are going to not be nearly as frequent for the next month or so.  Canning season is officially here and things seem to be busier than usual around the homestead. I'm enjoying it, but something has to give.  Right now I think I will have to go easy on myself and move the blog lower on the list.  I hope everyone understands. 

Daily 5 things of the day that made me happy

1. Seeing the facial expressions my son makes when he thinks no one can see him. 

2. Fresh baby chicks. 

3. Watching the original Star Trek with the family. 

4. Smoothies

5. How fresh the air smells tonite. 

Welcome July!

Seriously, where did June go?  I thought May went quick, but June ... I blinked and you were gone.

I feel like the school year just ended, yet the summer is one-third over.  Oh the humanity!

Okay, maybe not that dramatic, but the summer does seem to be flying by.  Possibly because my area finally started having summer-like weather. Now the weather has changed and it's windy and a bit dreary again.

For as busy as I've been, I still feel like such a slacker. I thought I'd be doing all kinds of reading and listening to audio books in the car. So far there has been no audiobooks and my son has read more than me. I'm so proud of him. He is reading "Guardians of Ga'Hoole" He is pretty into the series and is on book nine, I think.  As soon as one is done he asks me to pick up the next one from the library.  Yay for kids that read!

But we have been out and about exploring the area and it has been great. 

Tonite we went out and scouted the wild berry situation. I gotta say, we were looking in the WRONG direction last year.

It was a beautiful evening and the temps were just right.

We found a few places that look promising. 

There so so many side roads and field roads in my area. I bet it would take at least five years go explore it all. 

We hit a mini jackpot in a couple spots and got some blueberries.  I have to keep reminding myself that this is just the start of it.  I'll be picking raspberries and blackberries in a few weeks, too. 

Quite a few spots in the area have been logged out which is a bit of a bummer when you want to go out and see the beauty. 

This spot was just thick with blueberry bushes. 

After getting back from exploring I whipped myself up a batch of granola.  This batch turned out even better than the last one.

Daily 5 things of the day that made me happy

1. How good my granola turned out.

2. My son's cough is better.

3. Elvis seems to be out of her broodiness.

4. I found a great deal on bug spray.

5. Catching up on podcasts. 

Pseudo-lazy Sunday

After doing our bi-monthly trip to a town about an hour away this morning we decided to trek out and check out the blueberry bushes out and about. We are still looking for berry spots.

So we wandered up and down this road and that. 

The sky was a perfect blue and the clouds were so pretty.  Even the darker ones. 

While we were looking there was a quick rain storm. It lasted only minutes.  Big fat raindrops. 

We pulled over on one road and hopped out of the car to take a look.

There were *some* berries but not much. Soon, though, very soon, there will be plenty.

We picked and kept about half a cup of berries.  I know my son was eating them as soon as he was picking them. If I was nice, I could make blueberry pancakes to celebrate the first pick of the season. 

On one of the other roads there were wild roses growing in the ditch.

I haven't seen wild roses in years. 

In knitting news, I'm all done with the shawl I was working on. I cast off this morning and weaved the ends in tonite. It's currently all folded up and tucked away.  It is the Splendid Triangle Shawl by LionBrand. I used HomeSpun yarn.  I love this yarn for comfy shawls.

Now to pick out the next project.

Daily 5 things of the day that made me happy

1. Getting lots of groceries without breaking the bank.

2. Watermelon for dessert.

3. Going out on an "adventure" with the family.

4.  How well all the chickens put themselves to bed each night.  I may have said this one before but it really does make the evening easier.

5. First really good corn on the cob of the season.  Mmm, when it's good, it's good!

I have a new front deck!

Today was a great day for building a front "stoop." Maybe ... the temps ended up higher than anticipated. However, it didn't stop my guy!

At about 7 a.m. he went out and started working.  Once I got some coffee in me and some food I followed and starting clearing out concrete chunks.  Sometime around 8 a.m. he had to pull the jackhammer out again and break up some chunks that were still in the way.

About 9:30 I had to go make my son something to eat.  I came back outside to this.

Not too long after that we got this. I helped a *wee* bit with screwing the deck boards down. 

This was how far along it was before lunch time.  We decided to have lunch in town and pick up some supplies. Unfortunately a trip to town usually takes three hours.  I'm drawing a blank on what time we got back.

Once we got back he put the rest of the posts up and  started working on the risers for the stairs.

You have to really know your math to get the risers just right. Luckily for me, he's wicked smart in that department!

When the stairs were completed I was the first one to use them.  Solid as can be!

After a few hours of work we stopped to eat. Then he went back out to wrap things up and I cleaned up the kitchen.

Then suddenly, it was done!

It looks so purdy!

I think it really dresses up the front of the house. 

Woo hoo! All done! This is a thousand times better than what was there before.  Now everything is perfect!

Meanwhile, my son is still coughing and couldn't help too much with the stoop building so he hung out in the back yard, with the chickens, and read.

He has read more this month than I have.  I'm so proud of him!

The construction and clean up got done just in time.  A storm literally blew in. The sky went dark very quickly and the wind picked up.  The guineas spooked and ran out of their coop.  So then the youngest babies decided it was all right to freak and run out of their coop. I guess storms get Buck's little motor going ... 

The boys came out of the house and we guided all the birds back into their coops.  Then it started raining. I've been hearing rumbling for the last half hour or so.

Daily 5 things of the day that made me happy

1. The front deck is all done and that it all fell into place so quickly.

2. Bug spray!

3.  How good my bed will feel tonite.

4. The little barking sounds the turkeys make.

5. I made time for knitting today.

Starting the day with surprise visitors

This morning I was up and doing my usual routine which involves sitting in the living room and chatting with my guy. He sits in front of the main window. As I was looking over at him a black bear entered my view.

Course, by the time I got my camera she turned.

Then my guy exclaimed "Look!" and pointed over to the right of the front yard.  There was a "baby."

Baby came trotting over to mom and they meandered over to the side yard. 

I ran to my bedroom and saw them hanging by the side yard. The littlest chickens in the nursery coop were all alert and pointing in the direction of the bears.  So I opened the window and started yelling at the bears and they went running off into the Jack pines.

I'm so not happy about this.  Last year I saw bears maybe three times over the whole season.

That was the start of my day and nothing topped it.  I can promise that.

Went to work. Work was very quiet. I left early, ran some errands and went to day camp and picked my son up early.

When we got home he parked himself on the floor in the living room and rested while I took care of some house things. This afternoon I was able to get some knitting time in, take a cat nap and try a new recipe. It's called Creamy Bow Tie Pasta.  The recipe was a bit putzy and I can certainly see why the boxed pasta side dishes are so popular.  I enjoyed the final product.  I would add more garlic and spice if I make it again.

Remember back in March or April when I was ALL ABOUT having herbs growing in the tin cans?  Yeah ... I started some seeds indoors but those fell by the wayside once we got more baby chicks in the house. The cans still aren't spray painted. It's either been too cold or too damp out to try and spray painting anything. This afternoon I planted a bunch of herb seeds and my fingers are crossed these will thrive. 

We got rain this evening.  It wasn't a cold rain but I didn't want to be out in it.  The guineas were squawking up a storm because they were getting wet.  They were going to make a dash to their coop but the other chickens were in there and eating their food.

After the rain eased up a bit my DH went out and jack-hammered the front stoop for a little bit while  I  used the wheelbarrow to haul the broken concrete. I'm bummed that even with the wheelbarrow I can't haul too much more than if I had used the red wagon. I guess I'm just a weakling that way.

Last night after I published my blog entry I realized I hadn't done a daily 5.  I was more tired than I thought.  Unfortunately I'm going through a bout of insomnia and it may be starting to catch up to me.  I'm not forgetting tonite!


Daily 5 things of the day that made me happy

1. Walking into my house and smelling supper cooking in the oven. 

2. Elvis' eye is looking better.

3.  Finally getting herb seeds planted.

4. Spending time in my craft room knitting.

5. My son is on the mend. Hallelujah!