Pets

Boomer and his pet chicken. Even pets have pets I guess.

PMS Special!

Have you ever had an undeniable craving? Of course you have, particularly at "that time of the month". Although I'm past that age I still love my goodies. I just don't have anything to blame them on anymore. This is one of my own creations. If you like Reese's candy, you're gonna love this!

Toasted Reese's Sandwich
This sounds strange but, trust me, it's divine. Spread one slice of bread with peanut butter. Then generously sprinkle chocolate chips over it. Place the other slice of bread on top. Lightly butter the outsides, brown in frypan just like you would if you were making toasted cheese sandwiches. Enjoy with a nice cold glass of milk. Another variation is to use chocolate chips and marshmallow for a Smores sandwich.

Now before you begin thinking about your waistline and empty calories, I have to tell you that this sandwich is very healthy. Peanut butter is good for you right? Chocolate is loaded with antioxidants, and just to add to the health benefit I use whole grain bread. Right.... And if you believe all that I have a bridge to sell you.

Let me know how you like this sandwich.

Yuck! Pig Mud!

Today I was remembering an experience I had last summer. We had rain, rain, rain, and mud that was knee deep in some places.

The electric wire for the pig enclosure was sagging and needed to be stretched tighter. I fed the pigs so they'd be occupied and stay out of my way, then went into their area to restring the wire. I got a little more than half way around when my left boot got stuck in the mud while the rest of me just kept moving forward. After a bit of arm flailing to try to keep my balance (picture the flag guy who directs the airplane on the ground, only on speed), I finally lost the battle with gravity and ended up flat on my back in the mud. Now, you may ask, "How did you end up on your back if you were moving forward?" It was a tricky move but I managed somehow to accomplish it. When I realized my boot was stuck I overcompensated in trying to stop my forward motion and ended up going backward instead.

Of course you know what else was in that mud! The only thing worse than the stench of pig manure is when you realize that you are now covered in that stench.

While I was trying to figure out how to get upright without getting more of me muddy, the pigs had finished their meal and decided to see if I might have more food. I felt it was more important to get up quickly than to be stampeded by nine half-grown pigs, so I pushed up with my hands and righted myself, now getting the mud up my arms as well. By this time the pigs figured out the fence was completely down and decided to go on a walkabout. "Well, that's good," I thought. "Now I can restring the fence without being bothered at least." I got the fence working, then got some more grain to lure the unsuspecting swine back into their enclosure.

When all was done, I headed back to the house with mud squishing out of my boots, running down my backside and dripping from my long hair, which had also gotten mud on my face when I bent over, the mud then running down the front of my neck. I yelled into the house for everyone to close their eyes, took off all my clothes outside and walked naked to the shower. I had left all sense of modesty in the pig pen.

After 3 soap-ups I could still smell it on my hands so I used my teenage boy's Mennen body wash, which at least covered up the odor. Hey, I figured if it could cover up the smell of a young teenage male just brimming over with testosterone it could handle pig manure. I hosed off my clothes outside then washed them a number of times. I thought I had gotten them clean until my gloves got wet and I realized that this is the smell that keeps on giving. A bleach wash of everything finally got them smelling sweet again.

And what of the boots that were filled with mud? Well, they were getting kind of old and I'd wanted a new pair anyway.

Only 1 Day Left!

Only 1 day left till the Tax Day Tea Party - you can read more about it here. Remember to email or fax your senators, congressmen, state and local representatives, and even President Obama. Send a picture of a tea bag in protest over government spending and failing policies. Pass the word to your friends. Let's join together and make this a huge statement BY THE PEOPLE that we want our country back and to remind them that they work for us!

Ziplock Omelets

A friend sent me this recipe and I think it's just the most fantastic idea. Loads of fun and each person can have their omelet just the way they like it. And just so you don't worry, Ziploc and Saran are both plasticizer free, which means they won't leak dioxins into your food.

This is good for when all your family is together. The best part is that no one has to wait for their special omelet! Have each person write their name on a quart-size Ziploc freezer bag with permanent marker. Crack 2 eggs (large or extra-large) into the bag (not more than 2), shake to combine them. Put out a variety of ingredients such as: cheeses, ham, onion, green pepper, tomato, hash browns, salsa, etc. Each guest adds prepared ingredients of choice to their bag and shake. Make sure to get the air out of the bag and zip it up. Place the bags into rolling, boiling water for exactly 13 minutes. You can usually cook 6-8 omelets in a large pot. For more, make another pot of boiling water. Open the bags and the omelet will roll out easily. Be prepared for everyone to be amazed. Nice to serve with fresh fruit and coffee cake; everyone gets involved in the process and it's a great conversation piece.

Honey-Do List

It's nice to see the sun this morning after days of rain. I'm hoping the temperatures will be a little more springlike as well. I'm just itching to get outside and work on the "honey-do" list. That's our to-do list of things that need to be accomplished. Here in the Great North Woods our summer season is so short we have to really hustle to get everything done that needs to be during the better weather. Spring and fall are our crunch times. Winter is just too cold and snowy to get much done and summer is too hot, muggy and buggy. So during the two mild seasons we crunch everything in, then relax during the heat of summer, or hunker down to wait out the winter. While fall is filled with projects like getting the firewood split and stacked, and buttoning up the house and barn in preparation for snow and cold, spring is packed with clean-up from the winter, garden preparation and yard work. Some of the bigger projects that are planned for this year are:

1) Clear more land and seed for pasture. Areas that were fenced last year had the undergrowth cleared by goats and pigs last summer. Now it's time to cut out the big stuff, use what we can for firewood and drag the rest to burn piles, then seed the newly cleared areas. The sheep then keep it cleared. (See this before and after for an example.)

2) Fence another few acres to repeat the process of goats and pigs clearing out the undergrowth. Then repeat above next year.

3) Put in raised bed gardens and build a small greenhouse to extend our short growing season. I've yet to get tomatoes to ripen here on the mountain. They just begin to turn red about the time we get our first frost. This year they'll be inside a portable greenhouse made from a section of a 12x20 round roof portable garage that once served as an animal shelter before we got some of the new barn completed. The canvas cover has long since disintegrated but we'll take a section of it and cover it with heavy clear plastic to serve as protection in May and Sept. The other section of that frame will receive a new cover and become the new chicken coop. Hey, recycle is my middle name.

4) Build the 3rd and final section of the barn. We got the 2nd section done last year just before winter set in. We were way behind schedule and fortunately hard winter held off till we got it done. In fact the heavy snow began that same night. This year we'll connect the roof and remove the temporary interior walls so we'll have one big open area. See the blog on building the barn to get an idea of what I'm talking about.

Now I'd like to hear from you. What projects are you planning for this year? Let me know what your "honey-do" list looks like.

Spring Cleaning

I've been spring cleaning. You know, it's that time of year to look through the closets at things that are seldom used and hold a yard sale on Ebay. One of the things I don't use much is my old Canon T90 35mm film camera. In fact, I haven't used it in over 15 years. So before I listed it on Ebay I decided to run a small roll of film though it just to make sure it's in good working order. I just took some random pictures, not really planning anything. As the camera clicked and whirred, Roxie, our English Shepherd was following every sound with her eyes, not wanting to miss any of the goings on. After all, this camera just might have to be herded somewhere and put in it's place if it decided to run amuck.

What really struck me was just how beautiful that fuzzy little pup from last summer has become. She was so small when we first brought her home she fit in my grandson's lap with room to spare and barely reached our Pyr's knees. Now she rules the roost. Nothing escapes her ever watchful attention and she stands ready to make sure every other critter obeys the rules. But, of course, the rules are not meant for her. Queen Roxie is above all that.

Need More Ear Tags!

On March 24th I wrote about being thankful for ear tags on the lambs so I could tell them apart. This past weekend one of our grandsons visited and, as I'm sure all parents/grandparents have done, I couldn't think of his name when I wanted to get his attention. I went down the list of several names before I finally said "Oh, whoever you are, come here!" My husband commented that we should put ear tags on the grandkids. Now before you poo-poo the idea, just think: Never again would I be confused as to who I'm talking to. Never again would I have to run down the list of names until I finally get it right, or give up in frustration. And never again would I forget which one is which in the case of twins. Of course, outfitting them with ear tags wouldn't be practical. But.... we could issue name tags when they walk through the door. That way if I have a senior moment I could just read their names off the tags pinned to their shirts. Now where did I put my glasses so I can see the tag?

"Here's to You Mr. Jefferson"

Always liked this song, I like it even better now.

Large Double Meat Pizza?

I'm generally not a fan of the ACLU but this pizza-ordering-in-the-future video is pretty eye opening.

The Future of Food

This video is rather long but if you're interested in genetically engineered food, Monsanto, and how our nation's food is being genetically modified this is well worth the time. Very educational!

The Future of Food: What Every Person Should Know with Deborah Garcia

What should every person know about the food they ingest? The documentary "The Future of Food" changed the way we think about food (and continues to do so) by answering this very question. But, just how has food actually changed? Do we need to worry about genetically modified foods? What about artificial foods? Learn all this and more as Kurt Olson, host of the Educational Forum, sits down with Deborah Garcia the award winning creator of "The Future of Food."