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

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! 

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?

Blogger settings link

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.

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.

Linking to Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop

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.

Our Puzzle Post

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!

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.

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?

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!

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!

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.