Tuesday, April 30, 2013

I've Got Grandchicks!


I've Got Grandchicks!
As I was driving home I got the call, two hatched!!
We almost gave up after a power outage disrupted our incubation; 
however, we decided to give it a few more days.
We didn't see what we thought we would when we tried to candle the eggs
and figured we had just been cooking them for the past twenty odd days.
But there you have it- at least two made it.


We had a choice of two incubators locally.
We selected the Hova Bator
and our friends tried out another brand with
a dozen or so of our eggs.
Theirs hatched right on time but they were not 
included in the outage. 


We took advantage of the egg turner.

 We added a few eggs since we saw evidence of 
fertility as the buff orpington rooster matured.


We plugged it in the library, the least used room
since the (ham) radio shack moved to the basement.


My husband thought he heard something when he arrived home.
We have one of those bird call clocks- but it wasn't on the hour 
 so he thought there was a bird stuck in the chimney. 
Nope.
Then he remembered the eggs.
Yep !!!
 Two little guys cheeping for someone to come get them.
They were all nice and dry so I guess they hatched earlier 
in the day.  They are a little wobbly when they walk
and already pecking at each other!
They walk around a bit,  run into each other,
and then peck around a little.  It must be exhausting
since, in a blink of an eye, they fall soundly asleep.
Until they hear the next new, strange sound!

What type of chicks are these?
I wonder if we'll see more hatch?
These are supposed to be Buff Orpingtons, 
which is what the majority of the hens are  
but we do have a couple of other breeds.
All the photos of Buff chicks look like the light yellow ones.
Any ideas on the darker one?

Another one hatched!

We'll introduce the new guy to the other two tonight
   


 Linking to Tilly's Nest Down Home Blog Hop
 Country Homemaker Hop



Sunday, April 28, 2013

Shells and Cheese Leftover Bake


Recipe
We had Velveeta Shells and Cheese 
leftover from Taylor's visit, enough that 
we could have it another night; however, shells and cheese
just isn't as good warmed over so I decided to fix it up.


I spread the shells across a Pyrex baking dish,
added some milk and butter for moisture,
crumbled bacon bits, mozzarella cheese,
 crushed seasoned croutons and topped it all 
with a little shredded cheddar cheese .
I baked it at 350 degrees until warm and 
the cheese was melted. 


Not too bad!  The seasoned croutons really added a nice
touch but I wish I would have had cream or something
to give it a little more moisture but it was a spur
of the moment creation so whatever we had would do.
I'll bet it would be good with some sausage or pepperoni 
mixed in too. 

I've been down with another bout of diverticulitis,
eating only soft foods for the last week. 
Today was my day to eat some solids!!!!
      I won't push it but I've been dreaming
about a nice, big salad! 



Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Changes and Some Complaining


Comment Settings 
I am being flooded with Spam 
anything from casino sites to pornography
so I changed my settings to
under Who Can Comment?
I selected Google Accounts 

I hope this is the right choice,
The only other was to enable word verification
which I can't read most times.

I know this may throw out some people,
but I don't see the choice.
If I accidentally select the wrong choice,
there goes all sorts of horrible links on my posts.

  I'm getting pretty tired of people that want to 
 make something bad out of good things.
 My husband's email was hijacked by some 
one in a foreign location and it's sending
out terrible e-mails to people we don't even know.

 Someone hacked into our grocery store's system and 
has accessed debit and credit accounts.
People all over are getting charges to
stores nowhere in the area they live.
 You have to check balances every day or two
to make sure no one has your card,
and it can be six months later when your card is sold
so out of the blue you have charges.
 You're only safe if you pay cash 
and who wants to carry all that cash.
It also would require the stores to keep more cash
on hand and the banks in the stores
to also have more cash.
Another tempting scenario for someone who
selfishly wants what others have earned.

Is it so hard to be good?










Saturday, April 20, 2013

My OrGreeniC Pan Test


I love "As Seen on TV" items.
If you can't figure out a good gift, 
go to Walgreen's TV aisle.
Pick almost anything- 
except exercise stuff.

My husband brought home the OrGreeniC pan
Not necessarily because I need a gift
it's just that our favorite breakfast egg pan is Teflon,
at least part of it still is.  The other part is scratched off somewhere.
 Why not try this one without Teflon. 

 

It worked like a charm.
You have to season it properly first.
  Not a problem, we season
our cast iron too.

My husband did not use any oils or butter with his eggs.
He added a ton of cheese too.
When his eggs were finished they came right out.
He needed a spatula to turn them,
they were a little grabby but nothing stuck to the pan
where if he would have used another pan, 
it would have been burnt on.

I  cooked my eggs but used butter,
for the flavor, not for the non-stickiness.
I  make more of an omelette but without filling.
So it's flat and just sits and cooks- quickly.
Then I flip it over and turn off the heat.

Mine just slid right out of the pan.
I used two eggs so I couldn't "blow" it out
like on the commercials, but I can see that
it could happen.


I have read some terrible reviews about this product
where they had food sticking badly.
I don't know if they didn't season it properly,
used too high of a heat or intentionally let it burn 
but I can't complain about this.

It does take a few more minutes to get as hot as   
my older pans but we're talking less than a minute.

As far as I'm concerned, another great TV product.
It will sit beneath the cabinet that holds my 
Smart Spin containers (another winner in my estimate)
and the Ove Gloves I cannot do without.




Friday, April 19, 2013

Loving The Stoneware- My New Old Dishes



 Plates just like Mom had.
 They may have been a grocery store promotion,
where you gather points for a set of dishes
or  buy a piece for $X.xx when you spent so much money.
Either way, I grew up with these dishes.

Now, I'm a huge stoneware fan, 
nothing fancy, they don't even need to be a perfect match.
I like the older patterns and find them in thrift shops everywhere.
  


 I was at the St. Vincent DePaul thrift shop 
which is next to a quilt shop I was visiting.
I found almost an entire set here plus  extra plates.
I  choose to take the extras and leave the remainder 
of the full set for someone else. 
I don't need 12 more saucers, cups or salad plates.

Dinnerplate $4 at Replacement websites
$1 at St Vincent DePaul Thrift



  My current set was discovered in a thrift shop as well,
an entire set of 12-16 for around $20. 
Now we are down most of the plates and I need to make 
some sort of change.  When I saw the strawberries, 
I knew I'd pick up the plates.  The solitary brown ring around
the remainder of the set is close enough                 
to the pieces from my current set.


This was our first set, 
one I purchased from Dolgen's before we got married.
I've got oodles of family china and more to be handed down
so I didn't want to register for any dishes.  
This is still my all time favorite.
I still have a large round platter but that's about it.
  If I could find a full set somewhere I'd leap at it.
I won't pay the e-bay or replacement company prices.


$8- 10 per plate on line.

 I have another full set stored in the basement.
We were driving down our county road and saw a yard sale
which was held by the family of a couple that had passed away.
I bought all their dishes, bowls, serving pieces, etc.  I would
have pulled them out but they don't match the good 
pieces I still have left- with the brown ring around it.
Someday.

Until then, I'll enjoy dishes from the past.







Monday, April 15, 2013

It Puzzles Me No More


I can only give thanks that 
IT IS FINALLY DONE !
  

I've been working on this thing since the end of February!
It was supposed to be project for the family.
As it turns out, I was left to figure it out myself.
I got only so far and then it came to a halt.


It may not look so bad in the photos
but the tiny pieces don't have much detail.
Many of the colors blend - the wood, the dog fur,
bits of leather and rocks.

The sky was the killer-
I found myself looking at the real sky,
full of wonderful clouds
and thinking of nothing but the puzzle.

I have my dining room table back too!
I will wait until Winter to start the next one.
Pretty soon I'll be fighting too many squash bugs
to have time for puzzles!

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Pile-O-Fish


 We broke away from the near freezing temps of Friday
 to the warming sunshine of Saturday's cloud dappled skies.
 Jackets were an on-again, off-again event as if April 
couldn't make up it's mind.  We are  St. Louis outskirts
so this makes perfectly good sense.  They say if you
don't like the weather, wait about 10 minutes . . . .

This day was an event- chocked full of kid fun
over at our neighbor's place.
Petting goats, playing with dogs, BBQ and fishing
oh, and there's a beach to boot.
 Our granddaughter, Taylor 
(we're not sure if she's Becky Thatcher or Huck Finn),
is showing off her catch, one of many for the day.


 Mr. Goose swam over just to see if there were any
treats that would be thrown his way while
 Mama goose is sitting on her eggs.
Now I want you to notice that there are no leaves on the trees,
not full leaves anyway, it is only mid April which around here
is still iffy for setting out plants, even if they do say
our last freeze is SUPPOSED to be April 15.
They often lie.


The kids; however,  thought they were geese.
Remember,  some of us were wearing jackets.
Kids don't have temperature gauges, they only know FUN.
The little one tripped and fell down, completely soaked.
 After a minute of crying, due mostly to the surprise of falling,
he said Do It Again!  Kids!
Taylor completely denied being cold as dinnertime approached
but we noticed she suddenly disappeared inside the house
only to return wearing our host's sweat shirt and shorts!
Nooo, she wasn't cold at all! LOL




Their lake is overrun with bluegill and sunfish so
the kids were encouraged to catch as many as they could.
They sure had a stringer full, and this isn't even the finale.
There will be a fish fry somewhere today!

I forgot my camera early in the day -
I can't believe I did that.
I wanted to get some shots with Taylor playing
with their boer goats which are guarded by a 
two giant dogs, a mix of Australian Shepherd and Great Pyrenees.
 The male is as tall as I am when he's standing up-
to give me a hug and get a good neck scratch.
Goofy dogs but they love their goats.

Once we returned home, and threw Taylor into a nice hot shower,
it wasn't even an hour and she was asleep on the couch.
Pops, too, was asleep in his recliner.
I think everyone had a pretty good day.



Monday, April 8, 2013

Grow Your Own Cat


 I can't say I remember planting the seeds last fall
but I'm pleased with the results.
Who would have thought you could
Grow Your Own Cat?

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Organic Weed Control- Oh Deer!



Tonight I discovered we have, in our very own yard,
an organic, all natural weed control.
The Three Deer that patrol the grounds
in search of delectable garden delights.
They stopped by the turtle sandbox, which 
without its lid, serves as water cooler 
 for the deer population.
A great place to gather and chat about 
that handsome buck down the way.


Hey- what's that in the background

They had been munching in the side yard,
just below the living room window.
I took some photos -
 Through the screen again (of course).
See the ears starting to stand up?
 They can hear the tone my camera makes
when I turn it on; however, they 
couldn't figure out where it was coming from.
Not to worry, the chickens are still calm, 
things must be OK.


You're sort of crossing the line there, aren't you?


This is serious!
We'll have to set up some barriers.
This is the  spinach/lettuce/radish garden so you know 
things are going to get really tasty, and soon!


Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Mrs Meyer's Clean Day


Honeysuckle Scented! 
  When I was at Whole Foods I picked up a bottle
of Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Honeysuckle Scented Soap.
It's very strongly scented, enough to linger on your hands
  hours later.  Deliciously sweet.
Sometimes I wash my hands just for the scent.

I can't wait to try other scents.
 Some of the selections include 
Basil, Rosemary, Rhubarb and even Radish!

There is hand soap, dish soap, cleaning spray, etc.
 Our house will be blooming as if it were Summer!




Monday, April 1, 2013

Tail Prop



My new Tail Prop Woodpecker Feeder is a success!
The photos are through a screened window because these birds are very aware of any movement so I couldn't go to the glass door.  These feeders are supposed to help them balance as they eat the suet otherwise they swing and dangle due to their large size.  I found one deeply discounted at the nursery where we picked up our seed potatoes.  This  bird is a male -  he has a red stripe on his cheek.



You can see the couple feeding here.  One is on the normal suet feeder (left).  The female bird is actually doing a pretty good job but soon ended up almost upside down. I believe this may be a couple so perhaps we will see babies down the road.  One  is definitely male, the other must be female because she is lacking the red stripe on her cheek.



This one is determining the best approach to the feeder.
She hopped on either side of the feeder looking 
at different angles before leaping onto it.

They are so much fun to watch, and in this case, listen to as they call to each other and drum on tree trucks.  You  can see photos of them plus hear a vocalization at this link