The Next Generation....

Now, as you can imagine, a farm is a nice little microcosm of the world at large. Genetic diversity is important, for the long-term health and well-being of all of the creatures living there...And so, in view of that fact, we've just put in an order for "Chickens: The Next Generation" ...With only 4 hens of brooding age, and only one inclined at all in the past to do so, well, I'm pretty sure we won't be hatching out many babies this year on our own.

And, to make it easier to mark which hens were born in which years, we got something completely different from our previous year's Buff Orpingtons, Black Australorps/Stars, and one Silver Laced Wyandotte...Here is what the hens will look like, full grown...

These are Barred Rocks. Beautiful hens, gentle, they lay very nice brown eggs. They are a good mixed-purpose breed, which means that they are good for meat as well as for eggs, although for our family, we will be strictly using them for eggs (as we ordered females only...).

Since I know that the "AWWWWW!!!!" factor is high with little chicks...here's a picture of the wee ones--this is about the way our new babies will look like when they get here...

Cute, aren't they? We will likely be buying some more from a local supplier, once the temps warm up a bit...but the less time I have to have a brooding lamp on, the better! Our chicks won't be delivered until mid April, so we'll be having a bit of a wait until then...but now you know...We're getting a dozen of these, and 25 of the large, hulking Jumbo Cornish cross chickens (cockerels) to raise for the freezer/canning. Those crosses eat a TON, and so they will be, once past the age of brooding lamp, sheltered in their own, segregated chicken tractors. The pullets/hens will be able to roam with the rest of the avian population.

I'd post a picture of the crosses, but while they are cute chicks, they quickly morph into lumbering dinosaurs..huge..ungainly..they gain a ton of weight very quickly. This is what makes them so great for the freezer/etc....short turn around time. Pump a lot of food into them in a short period of time (8-9 wks, generally), and then, they are freezer bait. Or, more likely, "canner bait". :-) I wonder how many whole birds I can cook down in my large stock pots? Hmmmm...remind me to update you about that, come mid-late June! ;-)

I almost ordered some ducklings as well, but I think I will wait until we've gotten these chicks out of the brooder, and into the GenPop, before adding any more feathered friends...

The rainy weather here is seriously, seriously, annoying. We were supposed to get snow. 1-4 inches. Nope. Trace, and lots of rain. Rain, I might add, that we really did not need right now. And more is predicted for Sunday/Monday. ARRRGHHHHH!!! I want to let things dry out, Lord! PLEASE?! The potatoes and onions need to be going into the ground SOON. Very soon. I need to get these things into the ground, I need to get them growing. I want to see those potatoes coming up before the beetles get going fullforce, and that means that it needs to be gotten started as soon as possible.

I don't imagine that the good Lord is listening to me on this. Maybe, however, if enough of us said a "2 wk moratorium on rain in Rachel's area, Lord...please?" He'd listen? I don't know, but it is worth a try, right? Please? :-)

Now, if any of you are having beautiful, wonderful 'getting the ground ready to garden' weather--STOP. Do not tell me how blue the skies are...how nice and tillable your ground is...how your sweaters are being packed up even as you type, and how much you are looking forward to eating some fresh garden lettuce.

Just pray for me. I'm trying to give up 'garden envy' for Lent... ;-) (JoAnn, if you are reading this, you know *you* are the one I am talking about! ;-) ).

Whew...

Well, after we got our schoolwork done today, and made it through the not one, but TWO visits from El Husbando during the day, we were able to get down to some serious yard work....that has been put off for nearly a month...

We had an ice storm the end of January, and while we personally were not out of power long, there were those out of power for a week or more, and in some areas of the state, they may have only very recently gotten it back (almost a month later). Limbs and trees were down everywhere.

We were fortunate enough to only lose some branches, but they were quite numerous, and some were thick enough to require the use of a chainsaw (we were also blessed that we have *no* trees near enough to the house to do damage, unless winds drive them through a window--not from falling). So today the oldest three and I got out there and did a bit of cleanup. We've had so much rain, that it has been hard to get out there and do it, with the grounds as soft as they are...but some went into the "season for next year's firewood" and the rest is being put onto our largeish branch pile in the pasture. If nothing else, it gives the rabbits a place to shelter!

So a small pile of smallish bits of firewood is already accumulating (thank you, Lord!), and hopefully it will make for good "starter" kindling.

After we got that done, and the mail came, I was able to get a decent dinner on the table (Garlic-Lime Chicken, rice, and corn, with homemade, not-from-a-mix brownies for dessert after the twins go to bed...). It appears to have been a successful dinner. Thank you "Mom", for the recipe! :-) Nothing like calling a friend while you are doing yard work, and saying "I need a good chicken recipe! Fast!" and have her whip out a good one in between screaming fits from a wee one, interruptions from the not-so-wee, and filling each other in about the other, more interesting details of life...

Hopefully, I will be able to get some pictures of Peep tomorrow. Sorry--got caught up doing the limb removal from the yard, and didn't get to it!

Spring time...come on, spring time....

Seriously. We've had so much rain in the last year, well, it boggles the mind...the creek that I didn't even know existed on my back neighbor's property (its a gazillion acres, so sue me), was overflowing and then some yesterday. It has calmed down today, but mercy Maud...I looked at the ten day forecast for my zip code...Rain every third/fourth day for the next week and a half. Now, that may not be bad, if I didn't desperately need to get to tilling/plowing out there in the garden patches. But nooOOOOooooOOOOO.

I think rain catchment systems are in order. Which will require gutters. Drat. Need to get on that, too, doggone it. Anyone know anyone in my area with leftover guttering they want to get rid of? And some 55 gallon drums to put underneath? Please?

Okay, okay. Probably not. Figured it was a long-shot (I'll check Home Depot and see how much $$ we're looking at here). But you never know! Besides, that water could come in very very handy in August....not to mention July and September!

We've already plotted out what is going to be planted where...and started putting in our orders for this, that, and the other. Last year's planting of 72 Roma Tomato plants was a success *and* a failure. Success in that they grew, blossomed, and fruited very well. Fruits per plant were a nice, respectable number. But the fruits themselves were so small (length of my thumb) that I didn't get nearly the amount of finished "product" (ketchup, spaghetti sauce, salsa, tomato vegetable soup) put up as I would have liked. This year, I am considering going with heirloom Oxheart types. Bigger, meatier, and good for canning/processing, sauces, and salsas. As well as good for the occasional slicing. More jalapeno plants this year, as well as some sweet bells, bananas, etc. Got to have a little variety. We're planning on doing a much smaller potato patch this year, mixing the potatoes in with peanuts, doing a sweet/dent (field) corn patch as well, and breaking new ground that we will (please God!) get some pigs on...they will till it up, eat the weeds, and fertilize it all at the same time...Now...to get the fencing (at least $300)...etc...ugh.

I really need to get some serious feed bins. We're talking about tonnage here, not just the occasional bag of stuff. Of course, for prudent preparations, I also need to stock up on dog food, as well, and chicken feed, but hey, one thing at a time! LOL.

We're going to be buying some more chicks for raising as laying hens. El Husbando wants (and I agree) that we need to make sure we have some genetic diversity, and by getting a few more "girls" now, from another source, we'll be introducing some good, new genetics. Hopefully, we can get a few more chicks hatched out from under "Big Momma", once things warm up a bit...

Speaking of chicks...I will have to update all of you about Peep, and the adventures thereof. There's been an all-nighter, a total disregard for curfew, etc. But that will wait til tomorrow. :-) Got to have sunlight for good pictures. JoAnn, if you are reading this, tell your boys that Peep was an excellent name, because this doggone chick was SO LOUD, until just recently...it was really ridiculous. Fortunately, the very loud peeping has finally ceased...thank goodness. Considering that Peep is now...let's see...almost 4 mos old, well, it is high time things got quieted down a bit...

For now, folks, what is going on in your neck of the woods? Are you eagerly anticipating spring? Enjoying the wet grayness of late winter? Hoping, like I am, that the rains lay off for a little while...give me a 2 week window, Lord, just so I can get things dried out, El Husbando onto the tractor and behind the tiller, and the work DONE. PLEASE?!?!?

Regardless of where you are, and what you're doing, have a safe night. Sit someplace warm, sip something comforting (be it hot tea with honey, a glass of iced tea, some nice Maker's Mark Kentucky Bourbon, or a couple of fingers of homemade brandy)...and enjoy these 'do little' days of February...

I figured it out...

After all my searching, I remembered that the recipe wasn't a recipe. It was a suggestion for how to revamp the recipe on the back of the syrup bottle. LOL.

So, grabbing my Karo syrup bottle (I know, I know--HFCS...), I made two lovely pecan pies...with dark Karo syrup, brown sugar instead of white, and maple flavoring instead of the vanilla called for. Definitely a great tasting pie. I'd post a picture except for the fact that they are both GONE. ALL gone.

We had company this weekend--friends from west of OKC, and from OKC itself. We were due to have some friends in from TX, but a health related issue kept them home (please, if you would, pray for a speedy recovery for G, and patience for M as he heals, lol). Hopefully, though, they will be able to come up soon. Some friends brought smoked pork butts, and we had garlic parsley potatoes, and broiled green beans with brown butter sauce...another meal was homemade potato soup..nummmmmmmm. We had more pork today (home raised and butchered pork loin, our last from the pigs we raised/butchered last fall), with mashed potatoes, and onion gravy, and homemade bread...oh me oh my....

And this next week, we are going to be starting to work on baking some really serious bread. El Husbando, who probably should have been either an old-school miller, or baker, has been growing some serious home sourdough starter...not just any sourdough starter though. A real old-school Desem starter, with fresh ground whole wheat flour. Yes, I finallllllly pulled out the $200+ Nutrimill grinder I bought probably 5 years ago, and used it. By the way, wheat, whole wheat, *will* keep for a very long time. At the same time as purchasing the mill, I also bought myself some wheat. Hard red, soft white, and also got a bucket of oats. Used some of the red, but not much, and so we've carted it from GA (where I bought it), to NC, and now, to OK...where I am finally getting around to using it. Hopefully, we will have a good supply of wheat, soon, as T & S will be bringing some of their home-grown wheat to share with us. We sent them home with some starter and fresh ground wheat flour to feed it with, until she is ready to make bread. A good trade off, I think.

We are hoping to build ourselves a wood-fired brick oven at some point in the next year, year and a half. It is not a terribly cheap endeavor, so we will be purchasing the supplies as finances allow...But once it is done, it will be the focal point of an outdoor kitchen...which will be wonderful for summertime canning (no heating up the house!), pizza parties, and BBQs. Eventually we want to put in a churrasco style spit/bbq, so that will be niiiiiiccccceeeee....a nice, shaded by a pergola patio of concrete with salvaged brick scattered around and set into it...some crape myrtles (I love crape myrtles, and they should grow well here)...yep. I'd be one happpppy momma/wifely-type. :-)

We were blessed to receive probably another 3-4 inches of rain overnight. This is a wonderful thing, in part. However, we really do need to be able to get into the garden patches and get those tilled up...which means the ground has to be dry. It was just beginning to dry out after the ice and snows we have been having since late December...and thunderclouds rolled in...lol. We ended last year at least a foot over the average. And so this year is following right along with the program...I only hope the rains spread out just a bit more than they did last year--as it made cultivating and weeding, harvesting, and doing "pest patrols" a bit more than impossible...

Of course, now it makes getting any of our preliminary work done in the garden areas, and makes doing any basic yardwork a challenge. We still have branches and limbs and such from the ice and snow storms last month to clean up. El Husbando thankfully was able to get out there and move things and cut them into chunks, but the children and I have had a harder time getting out there and removing the debris, and stacking the larger bits for seasoning this year...

Hopefully, you are having a blessed start to the Lenten season...

I will post more this week, hopefully, as we 'recover' from having company in, and get back into the swing of things around here...

I'm sorry, sooo sorry...

It has been a long break. I'm sorry about that.

Unfortunately, some "irl" friends--well, now former friends--that we were involved with, in a larger organization, decided that, well, they didn't want to be friends anymore. But it just took several weeks for things to come to a head. And it exploded, this last weekend, and now there is no going back...for better, or for worse.

But El Husbando and I spent the last several weeks dealing with those sorts of inter-personal issues, and now that they are at least somewhat settled, well, life will hopefully get back onto an even keel. If you would, however, pray for El Husbando, myself, and our family...as well as some of other friends...they are kind of "in the middle" of it all, which is most unfortunate...

In better news...speech therapy is working out pretty well for the boys. As well as the girls, but the boys seem to have really taken to their therapist (thank you Lord! Talk about answered prayers!). They are vocalizing a bit more, and while they are nowhere near where they should be, still, they are well on their way, thanks be to God..

The older children are still doing their thing. We're gearing up for gardening, for spring animals being brought onto the place, and generally, just trying to make it through the last of this nasty winter weather, and into the vibrant blue and green-ness of spring...

Of course, we need to do a preliminary tilling of the garden plots, but the ground is just now really drying out for the first time since Christmas. And we're supposed to get rain (well, according to the forecast I looked at a few days back, lol) again this weekend. No time for El Husbando to get out there and do it before the rains come in again, unfortunately.

Also, in better news, some of our friends who have not fled our presence screaming of our vileness, have decided to come in an visit this weekend. It will be a good balm for our souls, to be sure. Some of them have been as affected in all of this as we were, so it will be good for us to kind of "huddle together", lick our proverbial wounds, and move on together. Besides, any excuse for a good party-like get-together, right? :-)

Anyway, I came online to search for the pecan pie recipe I used at Thanksgiving, as it was quite obviously the best pecan pie El Husbando had ever had. LOL. And I would really like to replicate it, if I could. In duplicate. Nummy pie.

Please, if you would, pray for us. And I'll be checking in more frequently now that things have calmed down a bit around here...