I know it has been forever since I have posted anything, a lot has been going on. Since Christmas, we have taken a trip down to my Mom’s in Georgia, I’ve been laid off from work, and I’ve joined Tupperware. How has all this affected my blogging?
We made a quick trip to Mom’s just after Christmas, and returned on Dec 30. We picked up a few things that she wanted to get rid of. Like a small chest freezer that now sits on my front porch so I don’t have to go all the way to the barn every night. We also got a wood chipper that will come in handy when we go to clean up our woods out back, allowing us to make our own mulch for the garden. And a few more pieces of family history, that I am really looking forward to digging into.
We took Boo Boo with us, because we thought she would get along great with Mom’s dog, Winston, and that Winston would like the company. That didn’t work out like planned. While we were able to have both dogs in the house at the same time, we couldn’t really trust them. They are both dominate dogs, and both wanted to own the place. Boo Boo was protective of me and Nathan and didn’t like Winston around us. So, they never really got to run around together and play. We just didn’t want to take any chances. Luckily, Mom has her whole 5 acres fenced in with the back yard to the house also enclosed with fencing. So, any outdoors time was spent in separate areas.
Boo Boo And Winston
Even though it was the end of December when we were there, Mom has some wonderful flowers blooming. So, grabbing my camera, I shot these, just because I want learn what my new camera can do.
On the way home, we found a nice store that had an area to walk your pets. Boo Boo went totally crazy when she saw the dog statues by the entrance arch, but quickly checked them out and then went about her business. There were picnic tables for us to enjoy our lunch, a chain to tie her to, and even a dog house she could go in. I wasn’t really too keen on the dog house, since it looked like it had not been cleaned in a while, and you never know if the animals before you had any diseases such as Parvo or anything else. But, it was a good place to rest, let Boo Boo strectch her legs, and us too!
It was an uneventful trip home, and I, for one, was glad to get back home and start the new year.
Story Continues in next post.
It’s that time again when we start planning our Christmas Dinner. Since we had ham for Thanksgiving, we will be doing a turkey for Christmas. Along with Cranberry Sauce, stuffing, sweet potatoes, cushaw bread, and pumpkin pie. Everything but the Cranberry Sauce and the stuffing will be made from scratch, including our turkey that Nathan just got in our back yard Friday morning!
He’s a beauty too!
Easily a 20 pound bird! Nathan was off work last week, and spent three of the coldest mornings out in the field. The first day, the birds came in behind him, and he didn’t see them. The second day, he didn’t see them at all. So, he decided he was going to set up a separate blind, and see what that would bring. As you can see, it brought him his prize! Now, Nathan is NOT one to send any text messages on his phone, but he was so excited he just had to text me at work! He wants to take the tail, wings and beard and get them mounted. Which is fine with me, but I have no idea where he will put them once they are mounted. I’m sure he will figure something out though.
We also got 4 more hens over the week he was home. But I didn’t get my coop extended yet. So, it is a little tricky introducing the two flocks. I have had the new chickens inside a large dog crate for the past couple of days, so the two flocks could get introduced. Today, I let my original flock out of the coop, and opened the crate up so the ones in there could get some roaming time. The trick will come tonight when it is time to put the originals up for the night. I’m debating about leaving them out for the night. But then I have to worry about them finding another laying spot. And I just got them trained to go back into the coop during the day and using the nesting boxes inside the house. So, we will see how things go tonight.
The days have been gorgeous around here, and the nights are cold. We have had a couple of nights down in the 20′s this past week. The horses have their full winter coats in and are looking good as we head into winter. The dogs are back in the house at night. Grayson’s hip is giving some trouble this season. I only hope it does not get any worse then what I have seen so far. He’s getting ibuprofen at night to help relieve the pain.
If you will remember, I started talking about our Black Walnuts back in October, when we got our first harvest of nuts off the ground. Since then, we have laid them out in the driveway to break the outside hull off, and have been drying those out. We ended up with three carts of unhulled nuts at that point!
One cart load of Black Walnuts before being hulled
We then picked up the hulled shells from the drive, and put them in old milk crates and laundry bags to let the shells dry. We now have three laundry bags (about 1/3 full each) and 8 milk crates of nuts dried and ready to finish the process. Nathan has rigged me a turn barrel to help clean the shells off before cracking and bringing into the house to get the meat of the nuts.
Adding the finishing touches to the drum
Once the shells are dried and spun in the barrel, I then crack them with a vice, and leave any shell parts up at the barn in our bucket. While the shells with the meats, or the meat alone (if I’m lucky enough to have them crack so graciously), go into a can to be brought down to the house. Where I sit and shell them at night while watching TV.
The way I have it figured, I can do about 8 ozs of nuts in a couple of hours (more if I can get Nathan to help). I have way more then I will ever use, and will be offering them for sale.
Now, I need to make some labels. For the time being, the nuts are in my canning jars that I have available. Visit our Gift Shop to order yours today.
I started back to John Deere last week, full time, for the season. The first thing I plan on getting is a new camera, since I miss mine so bad, and am already getting tired of using my phone camera. While the phone camera is good for on the go, it’s not so good for photos around here. Then an LED TV, probably a 42″ screen, since my eyes are getting bad, and I can’t even read a football score on our 32″ screens anymore. It’s sad getting older!
In the past week, we have celebrated both mine and my sons birthdays, and I finally got Nathan to make that lasagna he has been bragging about for almost 6 years! I have to admit, it was really good (sorry, I was too hungry to think about pictures). I have taken the left overs and put them in small containers to take to work with me. I also have all kinds of ham left from Thanksgiving that will make some excellent sandwiches for work.
Zac had his first Thanksgiving dinner here at the house yesterday. He is just starting to crawl, he should be going strong by next weekend, and I hope to get some video of him then to share with you all! He’s such a good little guy, his mom is pretty lucky.
For his first Thanksgiving Dinner, Zac enjoyed Brown Sugar Ham, Pumpkin Bread, Green Beans, Whipped Potatoes (home made), cranberry sauce, mac and cheese and for desert, he tried some Cushaw Pie.
What is Cushaw? You might be asking yourself. That is okay, I thought the same thing when I heard it. Cushaw is a type of squash, very similiar in shape to the Yellow Squash, with a two tone green striped skin that is thin. The meat of the vegetable is a yellowish orange, and it is sweeter then pumpkin.
Nathan brought these home from one of the women he works with at the hospital. I’m saving the seeds this time, instead of roasting them like I did the store bought pumpkin, to use for planting next season. I’m pretty excited to be starting my own seed collection!
Cushaw Pie
I’ve had others tell me that this is better then pumpkin pie, but I have to admit, I like my pumpkin pie better. While it was a sweeter pie then pumpkin, it was not the same. It did have a nuttier taste then pumpkin which does set it apart. I honestly think it will make a better bread, which will be my next recipe with the Cushaw!
What is your favorite Thanksgiving Desert?
