Sunday, October 31, 2010
Happy Halloween!
Guess what? The internet has worked most of the day! Crazyness! I thought I would take this time to wish everyone a safe and Happy Halloween. David and I went to my dad's house to help him give out candy to all the little trick-or-treaters that he had. He lives in town, and always has lots more than us. Tonight he had....... are you ready?? Tonight my dad had....... nine trick-or-treaters. Are you laughing? Yes, I know, but that's nine more than we had tonight. I know this because my hubby stayed home on the off chance that someone would lose their way in the darkness, perhaps following the raccoons, and come upon our house. Not that we've ever given out any Halloween candy before. Ever. In 23 years. Secretly, I think he just wanted to stay home and watch the game. And eat Halloween candy that he bought just in case we had a little goblin knocking on the door.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Soon, But Not Yet!
We live outside of a small town. Just a couple miles. Not far, but far enough. Unfortunately, our internet connection is currently quite fickle, due to us being too far from town, among other things. The whole, "no internet" thing has been getting old, so we had DigitalPath come out to see if we could get a connection from them. A very nice guy climbed our t.v. tower in the hopes we could get decent reception up that high. Just look at him up there. What a guy! Much braver than I am. Nice looking antennae, huh? It also doubles as a roost for the Great Horned Owls that live by us.
Uh, that's way too high for this girl!!
On a side note, I found out that trees weren't the only things my kids climbed around here. Which really surprised me, since neither one was real big on climbing things. Who knows, maybe that's why? Pretty funny now! Anyway, you know what we found out? We can get reception! At least, after we take out a few trees that are in the way.
This one needs to come out, too.
And this one.
And these.
So until we cut down a bunch of trees, we're still dealing with our fickle internet.
Uh, that's way too high for this girl!!
On a side note, I found out that trees weren't the only things my kids climbed around here. Which really surprised me, since neither one was real big on climbing things. Who knows, maybe that's why? Pretty funny now! Anyway, you know what we found out? We can get reception! At least, after we take out a few trees that are in the way.
This one needs to come out, too.
And this one.
And these.
So until we cut down a bunch of trees, we're still dealing with our fickle internet.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
I'm Going To Be A Grandma!!!
My oldest son, Michael, is going to be getting a puppy next weekend. He's a black lab, and his name is Hank. Here he is, six weeks ago, when he was one week old. I might be biased, but he's pretty darned cute, don't you think?
Here he is with all his brothers and sisters. He's the cute little black one with the big belly, laying down. See him?
Here he is with all his brothers and sisters. He's the cute little black one with the big belly, laying down. See him?
Lawn Boy!
I have a lawn boy. He usually mows once every few weeks. Here he is, mowing in front of the newest hill.
He finished the front of the hill, now he's moved on to the backside of the new hill. Oh, he's pretty fast!
Looks like the hill and the rest of the North side is done, and now he's going to the South side of our not-yet-finished cross fence. That's what will keep my goats in the front part of the property. Uh, that is, when I get goats. They're imaginary now.
He's gotten pretty good, so now it doesn't take him that long, usually less than an hour. Unless he spends lots of time under the deck, untangling what he ran over! I guess that's what he gets paid the big bucks for.
He finished the front of the hill, now he's moved on to the backside of the new hill. Oh, he's pretty fast!
Looks like the hill and the rest of the North side is done, and now he's going to the South side of our not-yet-finished cross fence. That's what will keep my goats in the front part of the property. Uh, that is, when I get goats. They're imaginary now.
He's gotten pretty good, so now it doesn't take him that long, usually less than an hour. Unless he spends lots of time under the deck, untangling what he ran over! I guess that's what he gets paid the big bucks for.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Birch Seeds
Here are my birch trees. Beautiful, aren't they?
This is the first thing I see when I look out my kitchen window, or walk out my kitchen door.
Years ago, we started out with three, but now, thanks to Mother Nature, we have five. And we've transplanted another 5. We've also dug up, pulled up, sprayed, burned and stomped on a multitude of others besides these. Don't get me wrong, I love my birch trees. But the reason we have more now, is simply this:
This pile is made up of a quadzillion birch tree seeds. Yes, I counted them. I had nothing else to do, so I counted them, and came up with a quadzillion seeds. I'm quite good at math, so you can trust me on that number. Anyway, it's that time of year when my birch trees start dropping their seeds. The pile of a quadzillion seeds that I swept up today is what has fallen in three days, right outside my kitchen door. That wouldn't be so bad, except we track them into the house. They tend to stick onto the bottom of shoes. So every few days, we track about a trillion of these things into the house.
Even the cat brings them in. I haven't yet figured out how to keep the seeds out. Until I do, I will keep sweeping every few days. Mother Nature is working overtime. Anybody want some birch seeds?
This is the first thing I see when I look out my kitchen window, or walk out my kitchen door.
Years ago, we started out with three, but now, thanks to Mother Nature, we have five. And we've transplanted another 5. We've also dug up, pulled up, sprayed, burned and stomped on a multitude of others besides these. Don't get me wrong, I love my birch trees. But the reason we have more now, is simply this:
This pile is made up of a quadzillion birch tree seeds. Yes, I counted them. I had nothing else to do, so I counted them, and came up with a quadzillion seeds. I'm quite good at math, so you can trust me on that number. Anyway, it's that time of year when my birch trees start dropping their seeds. The pile of a quadzillion seeds that I swept up today is what has fallen in three days, right outside my kitchen door. That wouldn't be so bad, except we track them into the house. They tend to stick onto the bottom of shoes. So every few days, we track about a trillion of these things into the house.
Even the cat brings them in. I haven't yet figured out how to keep the seeds out. Until I do, I will keep sweeping every few days. Mother Nature is working overtime. Anybody want some birch seeds?
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Winner, Winner!
It's time to pick a winner for my Blog's Birthday present. I wrote 3 names on 3 different pieces of paper, and drew one out of a hat. Well, actually, it was a mixing bowl. Annie's Granny! Congrats! With the small number of comments, I'd like to send all my "commenters" another birthday present. Please send me an email ( lkauffma at jps dot net ) with your snail mail address, and I will get them out to you. Thanks for playing!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Harvest Monday, August 23, 2010
It's Harvest Monday again! Harvest Monday is a day to show off your harvests, how you are saving your harvest, or how you are using your harvest. Thanks, Daphne, for putting this on.
Oh, what a week! The big producer this week has been the apples. I've made applesauce, and then more applesauce. I turned my back for a few minutes, and burned applesauce while it was reheating on the outside stove! That was when I decided to make tomato juice. I also picked enough zucchini to either make some more relish, or try out another few recipes. It will need to wait for a few days until I can do it after work, since school is starting, and duty calls. I still have basil that needs to be picked and made into pesto. It was on my list of things to do Sunday, but the day wasn't long enough! I got my first "real" cantaloupe. It was good with Sunday morning breakfast, and the chickens enjoyed the seeds and the rind. My cucumbers are still producing at a steady rate, and we enjoy them with almost every dinner. My beans, planted way too late, have finally flowered. The aphids discovered them, and I found myself waging war on them one morning with the soapy water in the, "No-Clog Feeder!" I checked on the status this morning, and it has done the trick, so far! Hopefully they'll stay away.
This week's pictures... just one of the many loads of apples I brought in!
Sunday's canning - 7 quarts each of applesauce and tomato juice, cooling outside by the canner.
This week's total: 127.025 lbs.
Tomatoes: 33.4 lbs.
Squash: 8 lbs.
Peppers 1.125 lbs.
Herbs: .125 lbs.
Cucumbers: 6.375 lbs.
Apples: 73.625 lbs.
Melon: 2.375 lbs.
Gourds: 2 lbs.
Oh, what a week! The big producer this week has been the apples. I've made applesauce, and then more applesauce. I turned my back for a few minutes, and burned applesauce while it was reheating on the outside stove! That was when I decided to make tomato juice. I also picked enough zucchini to either make some more relish, or try out another few recipes. It will need to wait for a few days until I can do it after work, since school is starting, and duty calls. I still have basil that needs to be picked and made into pesto. It was on my list of things to do Sunday, but the day wasn't long enough! I got my first "real" cantaloupe. It was good with Sunday morning breakfast, and the chickens enjoyed the seeds and the rind. My cucumbers are still producing at a steady rate, and we enjoy them with almost every dinner. My beans, planted way too late, have finally flowered. The aphids discovered them, and I found myself waging war on them one morning with the soapy water in the, "No-Clog Feeder!" I checked on the status this morning, and it has done the trick, so far! Hopefully they'll stay away.
This week's pictures... just one of the many loads of apples I brought in!
Sunday's canning - 7 quarts each of applesauce and tomato juice, cooling outside by the canner.
This week's total: 127.025 lbs.
Tomatoes: 33.4 lbs.
Squash: 8 lbs.
Peppers 1.125 lbs.
Herbs: .125 lbs.
Cucumbers: 6.375 lbs.
Apples: 73.625 lbs.
Melon: 2.375 lbs.
Gourds: 2 lbs.
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