Weekend Reading

This was a good one.  "Rurally Screwed" by Jessie Knadler -- check out her funny and informative blog Here.  The title is a little misleading, in that she doesn't live "off the grid" in the common idea of the phrase.  As in, she has electricity and running water, etc.  (Though not always enough heat!) But for a girl from Montana who was looking for something else, so moved to the big smoke, New York City, and then gave it all up to live a country life with her sweetheart, I'm sure she originally felt like she was off the grid.  Especially since her sweetheart is on the army reserve and when he gets called out, it's not just for a few days, and she's got to go it alone with the help of some very interesting neighbors.  Then add a child in there! It's a true-to-life (though edited), funny story of her trials and tribulations of getting back to the land.  I laughed out loud, and shed a couple of tears, too.  This book is for anyone who enjoys a good read, and especially for those of us who have given up a lot of the fancy stuff (i.e.: nice clothes, manis/pedis, clubs, generally being entertained and being able to satisfy any whim, within reason, at the drop of a hat) for a simpler existence.  It's not always easy, but there's almost always a story to tell afterwards.  As my daughter has said, "if you're going to laugh about it later, you might as well laugh about it now."

Wherever you go, whatever you do, Have a fabulous weekend!

It's OK to Play With Your Food

Sometimes it's a challenge to get veggies into the mouths of little people.  So you gotta make it FUN.  And Fun sometimes means playing with your food.  I'm OK with that, as long as they EAT the food they play with (and that their little grubby hands are clean)!

Usually, throughout the day, the daughter is very good at eating a variety of healthy things (she wasn't always that way).  The boy, on the other hand, is a worry.  Like, a whole day on just bread, pasta, and cheese.  Yeesh.  So, when I realize come dinner, that he hasn't really got much goodness into him that day, I often opt for a Face.  That being, a veggie burger (processed, unfortunately), with some funky hair and additional interesting body parts, which all come with a commentary.  Yes, I speak for the Face.  For example: little boy hand reaches for the "tongue" (a cherry) and pops it into his mouth, and my monologue will go something like, "Hmmm.  What a nice boy this is, looking at me all cute and smiley.  Wait a minute, what is he doing.  WHAT is he DOING??  Hey, that's my thon.  You canth eath thab!!"  At which time, little boy erupts into giggles and conspires which next body part to eat next.

Hey, we do what we can, right?

When Life Hands You Cherries...

You make

Cherry Jam!
And cherry pie, dried cherries, cherry ice cream, cherry popsicles, cherry sauce, cherry marinade...

The kids were so impressed with all the yummy things we can make with cherries, they went out and picked another 50 lbs.   I'm not kidding!  All by themselves!!

Happy Cherry Season everyone!

Musings

"I'm so busy" is a comment lament I hear from friends, family, overheard conversations.  Then, often in the very next breath, I hear these same people chat about the game they watched on TV, or what they saw in the mall.  A guy I was listening to today, listed no less than 3 sports games on TV he had watched in the last 2 days.  Really??  How can one say they are busy if they watch THAT much television?

We did away with cable about 4 years ago, and the set completely 3 years ago.  Haven't missed it.  Our days are so full, I can't imagine wasting a moment in front of  "the idiot box."  Granted, I do love the show "Grey's Anatomy" and watch it over the internet during the season.  So, 1 hour per week from October to May, and not while we are away in Mexico (often for 2 months in the winter), but I certainly wouldn't ever complain I was too busy, especially if I spend any time at all with my eyes on a screen.

If a person is wondering how to get more hours out of his/her day, have a look at how much time is spent with the TV.

Just sayin'.

Weekend Reading

OK, so it's not a book, it's another magazine.  A favorite in our house.  Mother Earth News is a wonderful read for anyone wanting to know anything about getting back to basics.  Whether it's gardening, preserving foods, keeping livestock, building stuff, eco-homes and all kinds of tips and ideas, Mother Earth News is the place to get it.  Yes, it's an American publication, but the advice is sound and the subscriptions are inexpensive.

Wherever you are, wherever you go, Have a wonderful weekend!

Turkey Trials and Tribulations... OR Turkey Math

I wouldn't say I'm out of my element.  I've raised turkeys before.  But, I've never had breeder turkeys who are hatching and raising their own babies.  This part is entirely new to me.

When we received this generous gift of birds, there was 1 mom with 3 babes, 1 mom with 12 babes, another mom with 4 babes and then an orphaned babe called Sydney.  The mom with 4 babes ("Alexa") was traumatized during the 5 hour hot road trip and we were worried that she would abandon her little ones, so we put them in a brooder with little Sydney.  We also decided that the runty one of the 12 babes would do better in the brooder too.  So that made 3+11 poults outside with moms and 6 in the brooder.  The other night there was some commotion outside, we heard Big Wally go off a few times, and then nothing.  Upon waking and doing the ritual head-count, we discovered that mom with 3 babes ("Milly") was down to 2 and there was a raven circling.  (Why can't these birds just focus on eating dead things instead of baby things??)

Friday we came home after a few hours at the beach with some friends, and "Violet" (mom with 11 babes)   could only account for 8.  Sigh.  Then Saturday we came home and we could only find 7 of those babes and they were scattered all over the place, some even as far as the neighbor's yard.  After rounding these little ones up not once, not twice, but FOUR times this afternoon, we decided that this momma turkey can't handle the responsibility of raising so many, even with Auntie Alexa's help.  So the kids started rounded them up.  We thought that perhaps she could manage 2, so we left her with 2 and put the other 5 in the brooder.  Um. Ok, letsee, that's 11 in the brooder now, and 4 outside.  Ooops, wait a minute!  There's another one!  But this one was soaking wet, like it had fallen in the pond.  We warmed it with a hairdryer and then carried it around under our shirts for an hour or so, then put it into the brooder.  12 in the brooder, 4 outside.

Coming back to check on everyone that night, one of the little ones in the brooder (I can only assume that it was the chilled poult from this afternoon) didn't look so great.  So brought it in the house and tried to warm it, but alas.  Too late.  The sweet little creature died in my hands.  *Heavy Sigh.*  At least it wasn't alone.  In hindsight, we should have carried it around under our shirts for the rest of the day.  Turkey math: 11 in the brooder and 4 outside.

Sunday morning, my son came in to announce there was another dead one in the brooder.  Whew.  Removed it, said a few apologies to the little creature and buried it in the compost pile.  A few hours later, we check again, and 3 MORE had passed.  Gosh!  What the hell was going on???  I lowered the heat lamp, checked temperatures, changed their food, added ACV to their water (was only adding it sporadically before) and crossed my fingers.  Updated turkey math: 7 in the brooder, still 4 outside.  I can only assume now that the one we warmed actually survived and the ones we rounded up were the ones we lost.  Maybe they got too stressed being separated from their mom several times that one day, then permanently.  Maybe they got chilled in that time. I'll never know.

It's now Tuesday night and since that last catastrophe, we haven't lost any others.  Turkey math at 4 outside and 7 in the brooder still stands.

Will post more pics soon.

Weekend Reading

"52 Loaves" by William Alexander.
I didn't plan to read this book; I really wanted to read his other book, "The $64 Tomato", but our library doesn't carry it (yet), so I opted for this one.  Quite entertaining and informative, despite what you might think about a book that is about a guy on a quest to make the perfect loaf of bread, and takes it on, every week, for 1 year.  It's amazing the lengths he went thru to achieve this!  And the way the sections of the book are arranged doesn't become clear until the very end.  Very interesting. It's not just a quest for bread.  It's a spiritual quest as well.

Whatever you do, where ever you are, have a fantastic weekend!