IS WINTER BACK?

It is 66 degrees according to weather.com but I can promise you it is more likely in the 50's out. What happened to summer? Ok I have to admit last night was miserable. I was tempted to turn on the ac just long enough to cool off the house. This is nice but I know it will be hot again soon and we just can't get used to it this way.

I went out to pick up eggs this morning because I wanted them for breakfast and I had boiled all of mine for pickled eggs yesterday. There were two hens in nest boxes. An auracana and the little yellow mutt with the fancy hair. I hated to bother them but I could see eggs sticking out. So I very slowly moved to them and reached first under the mutt. Ok Peggy, she would have made Killer proud. She growled pecked and then grabbed me and didn't let go and kept twisting back and forth. Well I got my eggs anyway. The auracana didn't blink when I took hers. I came in with 6 pretty eggs. Some went in the frig, some in the fry pan....and a bandaid on the hand!

I was very blessed today. Last night the owner of the farm where I keep my horse called to tell me to bring a bucket when I come because her peach tree was full and getting ripe and I could have all I wanted.

Most were still hard but I picked everyone that was slightly soft. Tomorrow afternoon I will find my water bath canner and I will finish my pickled eggs and also will peel and can the peaches.

The next batch I hope to have a new vacume sealer and will freeze them. If there are any more, I will make a batch of peach jalepano relish that is very good on any kind of meat.

COOL HUMID SATURDAY MORNING

I woke this morning to the sound of a Wren who was sitting on a branch outside my window. If anyone has ever heard a Wren, you know they are a big song in a little package. There would be no sleeping in today.

I made coffee and forgot to put the pot under it until about half way through so I got to clean that up. I did the dishes and grabbed the broom to chase the chickens out of the front flowerbed again. In my pj's. Yep I think the neighbors are keeping track of the crazy chicken lady.

I am listening to Lew Rockwell's show. He is interviewing Jack Spirko who does The Survival Podcast which I listen to every day.

I have to go to work today. I have to feed horses and I have to pull the peas up, work the soil in that bed and replant it. I may need to treat the squash and pumpkins so I don't get stink bugs. I need to work on my weedeater. The motor is running good but I need to pull the line and clean that, put new line on and see if I can get it to feed better.

COOL THING: I candled my eggs last night!!! You would not believe how cool it is to see that little embryo floating around in the fluid of the egg. I can't wait to show my grandkids.

This weekend I am going to fill in the fire pit. Every time it rains it fills up and doesn't drain. This prevents us from having a fire to sit around or cook on. Therefore I am filling it in and then will add flat stones and then put back the perimeter stones. Then we will be able to have a fire and cook after a rain. I will have to clean it out more often but that is ok.

gotta get after it....burning daylight.

LONG MOWING EVENING

I got home at 4:30pm. Threw on work clothes, filled up the mower and started to mow. It is now 9pm and I walked in the door 15 min ago. I can't feel my hiney.

Dinner is blackberries, walnuts and grape juice.

I am so excited. I will be going to Austin for a few days in October for a conference having to do with work. I took off an extra day to just do touristy stuff since I have only been there a couple of times. I want to look up online and find stuff I would like to see. I have heard it is a really cool town. And I will be eating at County Line BBQ. Their beef ribs are to die for.

The chickens were all in my front flower bed when I got home. My neighbors think I am nuts anway but now they know I am....chasing chickens around the front yard yelling at them....the rooster growling at me the whole time.

Meat beaties are getting really big. And lazy. They hate the heat. It got to 90 today but is supposed to be highs of 70's this weekend.

Ok I know it is Friday night but I am going to check my email and call my daughter in law and then hit the hay. Neighbors are having a shootin party. Only in the south can not have a field party unless there are multiple weapons all being fired at the same time. I think I may be turning on the a/c tonight.

LAMBS QUARTERS

Ok the emergency fence is working great around the garden. The chickens are very happy being able to be loose and eat grass, bugs etc. Sure wish they ate fire ants though.

The peas will be pulled this weekend. It was a bad pea year. Big plants and stunted peas.

But growing in and around the peas are lambs quarters. If I had not just read an article on these weeds, I would have pulled them up. But because of the article with good photos I knew it was a very edible wild plant. So I reached down and plucked a leaf and ate it. Pesticide free. And it was actually as good or better than spinach.

So I left them growing. Here are some facts about lambs quarters:

1. they can be eaten raw or cooked
2. foliage that is white looking is young
3. it grows in places that I have struggled to get something to grow

Therefore I will try to gather seeds and will intentionally cultivate this plant for the purpose of freezing and stocking up.

Do your research and try it. Make sure of what you are eating before you eat it. It is very tasty.

Here are some photos.

Also, while I was reading info on lambs quarters, I found a note on Yarrow. I believe I might have this in my orchard. As I was running over it with my lawnmower I thought to myself...gee that is really pretty. Maybe I will transplant that into some pots and see how it grows. I have pots, and I have potting soil. As soon as it drys out a little and before I mow again...I am going out to dig up some plants.

I also have plantain which is not only edible but the seeds when ground can be used as a substitue for eggs (don't know yet how this is done but will find out) but also the root can be toasted and ground into a coffee substitute.

I have cleavers which has medicinal value, I have cactus which is edible raw or cooked. It is a pain to remove the spines though. Burning them off sounds easy but trust me it is not. I will try to grill them over a flame to see if this works. I also want to try to freeze them.

I also believe I have mullein; I will have to research this to make sure there are no look alike poison plants and I can't see how something that fuzzy could taste good either but it is there.

I believe I am living on a gold mine. I will be gathering dandelion seeds before I mow also. I will intentionally plant these in my garden. Leaves, roots and flowers are all edible. I really want to make some homemade dandelion wine also.

Time to buy a new vacume sealer though. Mine bit the dust. And I use it way too much these days.

WON'T THE RAIN EVER END?

I got home with a few hours of daylight, said hi to the daughter and raced to get some mowing done. The field is really high and it is supposed to rain again tomorrow.

Well I had to fight to not get stuck. It looks like I drank a whole bottle of wine before I mowed because I had to mow around the huge puddles. You remember I have a drainage problem right?

Well I had mowed about 30-45 minutes and was way back behind the pond...not paying attention to my surroundings....when a rain drop hit me on the nose! I looked up and saw a huge black cloud. Instantly I was in the middle of a downpour.

Off went the blades, on went high gear and I raced for the house cussing the whole way. Too late though as the cold rain drenched me. Into the shed I sped, off went the mower....I was shivering now. And as soon as I stepped to the entrance of the shed, the rain stopped. Hmmmm someone is messing with me.

I decided I was too drenched to continue and so was the grass, walked past the hen house and noticed everyone standing around the door not going in.

I am sorry...I tried to get a picture but couldn't....they acted like something was wrong in there. I peeked in to find Flash..the white cat...curled up asleep in a nest box! When I came running back with the camera he had gotten out and was sitting to the side like nothing happened. I looked in the box and saw that he had been laying on 5 eggs!!!

So now he thinks he's a chicken.

VISIT FROM THE GRAND KIDS!!

What a great day. 4 grandkids visiting. Last night only two were here and we went out to look at the flooding in between storms. The neighbors got hit pretty bad. Water was rushing over the road into their field. We had to walk into the rushing water. It was quite an adventure for two boys who had hard holds on their Nanna's hand. We also found a crawdad.

I found one of my missing hubcaps!

Today the other two came over. They are in town for the next 5 weeks!!

They love their cousins so much.

KK loves to give her big cousin JJ big hugs...he is tough though. He can take it.

They all shared happy meals together.

Here they are showing off...as you can see KK wants to see what is cooking.

KK loves playing with Aunt He He.

Then almost all of them wanted to help put the eggs in the incubator.

There are 17 green eggs, 11 brown/pink eggs ( I can't tell the difference), and one odd ball white egg that I really hope hatches. 5/24/09 is hatching day, 5/11/09 and 5/17/09 are candling days.

5/24/09 seens like such a long time away. Are they done yet?

PROGRESS OF A TORNADO

I had just gotten home...just ahead of the rain...or I thought it was just rain....changed clothes and was just inspecting the eggs getting ready to go in the incubator when the phone rang.

^
It was dad...I could hear in his voice that this weather report was different than other. "There is a tornado on the ground between you and Rockwall"....yep that was sure different. I turned on the TV and watched long enough to hear the weather man say the same. Daughter and boys were snuggled up asleep.







I stuck my head in and told her to get the boys to the storm room...laundry room at the center of the house.


They took it in stride as you can see. Jayden continued the nap....


Dakota read....




Then they both decided it was a good place to camp....




Then something funny happened. The bubble where the Cowboy rookies were practicing collapsed...so did any of the new stations continue to report on the tornado? Nope. So we were on our own.


So daughter and I did what any responsible adults would do....we went outside to watch the storm. And I believe we came within 4 miles...maybe closer. Out back was black...out front was black....raining buckets. But no hail and no shingles flying around.



I am getting batteries in the hand held NOAA radio.

****UPDATE*****

DINNER:

MESQUITE GRILLED CHICKEN (YES THE ONES I JUST BUTCHERED)
SLICED BUTTERED SEASONED BAKED POTATOS
SEASONED RICE
PINOT GRIGIO

3RD WAVE OF THE STORM IS MOVING THROUGH...ABOUT 5" OF RAIN SO FAR