Sunset before the storm

 The gorgeous sunset was shining brightly on Big Red mixing a wash of golden glaze with the red paint.

A day later we had a blizzard that lasted 2 days with howling winds and sideways (?) snow falling.

We were able to remove the snow off the driveways during the 1 day of cold clear sunshine. Then another all day snow, this time without the wind.

We have a stack of seed catalogs and the schedule of the Mennonite plant auction to dream through, while we firm up the designs for the new garden pond we have planned for this summer. Just need to get Dear Hubby excited about helping build it. If he and his side kick, son Fred, balk at the project, I will just have to brush up on my driving farm equipment and bring the tractor and backhoe over to the desired location. Bet they will come running before I make a much bigger hole then they want me to have.

Just a little reminder of what we had on the patio last summer gives me a little boost during this gray month of February.

Big Boy Now

 

The Cochin hen and Polish rooster filled the chicken mansion with 10 cookies and cream chicks this past summer. A bit weird looking and odd colors, but absolutely adorable. 

 

Not sure how many are roosters and how many hens. As they have grown up they are 'different', and fly almost as much as they walk... but are still adorable.  When the sun is shining on them, they show a blaze of color. 

 

 This Big Boy is absolutely stunning, and was perching on the big chicken coop fence. We let them mingle with all the chickens during the day, but they march back to the chicken mansion when it starts getting dusk.

 

Too bad the sun wasn't brightly shining when he posed for this photo.

 

What a January 

Cooking Krautburgers today

It has been so cold that I feel the need for some comfort food that will stick to your ribs. First start by to fry about a pound of hamburger in a large skillet, add shredded cabbage, and onions (I like lots of onion and use about 3 or 4 per head of cabbage). Salt to taste, and add about a tablespoon of black pepper. Fry till the cabbage is getting good and brown on the bottom Stirring and turning it abour every 15 minutes or so..  Make a yeast dough (or take a short cut and buy frozen ready to bake loaves like my sister in law Virginia does) and roll it out pretty thin. Place the cabbage mixture in the center of dough squares.

Bring up the sides and pinch them shut. Place on greased baking pan with the pinched sides down.

 

 

Ta Da!!! Come and Get it.

Almost spring

Although it is only 4 days to the first day of spring, our yard looks like the middle of winter. If only it were at least above freezing, those 30-40 mph winds would do some good in getting rid of all that dirty snow. Just too depressing to include any photos of the flowers that have not emerged today.

The frame of the green house withstood all the winter storms, and the door that was installed is intact.. but... still waiting for DH to put the panels on the roof and side walls. This is the 3rd year since the project was begun. After all these years living with this kind man, I would think I would get used to his procrastination.  Maybe, just Maybe.. we can move the potting bench into the green house this spring. It is stored in the garage and I heard talk about needing the garage for the '65 ElCamino. Yup, they will have completed the restoration of that pickup this spring... and it CAN NOT sit out in the weather when it is completed (so they say).

Our goose and gander have done an excellent job of protecting the chickens. Racoons have moved into our farmstead by the dozen. When we are late shutting the chicken coop door, those 2 geese are sitting on the step filling the door opening. Nothing can get past them.

We've had to trap the racoons to get remove them from the outbuildings. Now we have bald eagles visiting every day to see if we have provided dinner.  Wish our guys would serve the dinner a bit further from the chicken pen.  At least 150 yards out from the chickens, please.  I'm afraid the bald eagles will think chicken would be pretty tasty.

Mma Potokawne's bribery fruit cake

Recipe time

The cold weather has been almost unbearable this winter in our area. Not just wind chill but actual temperatures 25-30 below zero. Then have a brisk (read hard) wind blowing at the same time, it caused us to want to crawl under the blankets and .... read. 

My choice of a book was NO. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith. It was set in a small country in South Africa. Just reading about the hot dusty dessert helped to make me feel a bit warmer.  The book is like a potato chip, you can't read just 1. There is a series of 14 .. and thanks to Paper Back Swap on the internet, I will soon have them all. Waiting for the last one to arrive in a couple days.

One of the characters bakes a fruit cake that she uses to bribe workers to fix things at the orphanage. I became curious about that cake. Finally I used duckduckgo.com to find a recipe for it. Aha!! There it was.  The first cake was so good I baked a second one before going to bed. It is NOT like the fruit cakes you receive near Christmas.  More of what we would call a coffee cake but different. It really goes better with tea. And- Red Bush Tea is the choice in the book. I checked the Frontier Herb catalog and they have it!! In many varieties. I am ordering the plain red bush tea in the morning. 

Hope you enjoy the cake as much as we do... and don't skimp. When it calls for butter, use butter!! Not margarine. Calories are the same in butter and margarine, but there is a BIG difference in texture and taste.

Mma Potokawne's Fruit cake

Long Cold Winter

Barn Cats 

Our outdoor cats have made their home in the horse barn this winter. Unfortunately wild animals have discovered their food dish in that barn. If only... DH would finish putting on the doors ... and building the tack room ... and ... well, you get the idea.His little hiatus to get his new hip installed this winter has put everything off schedule. He should be released to quit using the walker in March. THEN he will have at least one hand free to work on some of those jobs that never got completed.  However it will probably result in me spending time looking for where he left his cane.

Looks like Half and Half and Buttermilk are enjoying one of our rare sunshine days. We have had more then 35 days of below 0 temperatures. It might get up to 10 above 0 today.  Looking for my swim suit!!!

Surprise Surprise Surprise

Sure didn't expect to find a guest for dinner at the feed pan for the cats.  Opened the door to the horse barn to check on the cats during this stormy time, and there sat a possum in the middle of the feed pan with the cats back aways but surrounding the pan of food, watching.

The possum was as surprised as we were and ran right into the biggest cat in the bunch when it jumped out of the pan to get away.  No wonder the cat food was going down fast, and the cats always seemed to be hungry.

Since our experience a few years ago with rabies, we prefer wild animals to NOT live in our our buildings. We make sure all our outside cats have rabies shots, but because cats are nomads, there will be a feral show up now and then at the dish.  If it stays it gets caught and hauled in for a vaccination.   We've had some interesting adventures trying to catch wild cats and feel very fortunate the vet is willing to work with them to get the shots.

Snow!! Lots of it!!!

Cold!! Snow!! Wind!!  I am ready to be done with winter.  Another blizzard is on the way this afternoon. We get plenty of warning with all the weather channels, and it started in Western Iowa last night.. and here comes the wind... full of snow... with a promise of 16 below 0 for tonight with winds up to 50 mph. Only thing to be thankful for, all that furniture on the patio that we neglected to get put away will not get blown away. It is buried in snow and can not move. Boy! are we going to have a clean-up job in the spring.

Report from the sickroom

 

 Don is doing well after the new hip installation in December. Donya and I thought he was not walking as much as doctor ordered, so slipped the FitBit in his jeans pocket one night. It is so tiny he did not notice it. About noon the next day we told him about it cause we wanted to check how he was doing. First he was mad, a guy has no privacy at all!!  Then he started to like it and checks it himself. If there are not enough steps logged on for the day, he actually gets up and walks to bring it up. That little piece of equipment sends the data to Donya's computer, then resets it's self for the next day. Great little tool.

Chocolate cake with Red Beets

My family is not eating vegetables as much as I would like to see them eat. They'll eat plenty of dessert, though. So.. I feel they need to eat more red beets. I froze lots and need to move them into the 'eat now' category.  I found this recipe for cake. heh heh heh   Let them eat cake!!!

Ingredients

• 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup butter, softened, divided
• 1-1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups pureed cooked beets
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Confectioners' sugar

Directions

• In a microwave, melt chocolate and 1/4 cup butter; stir until smooth.
• Cool slightly. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, cream the remaining
• butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs.
• 
  
• In a small bowl, combine the chocolate mixture, beets and vanilla.
• 
  
• Beat into creamed mixture (mixture will appear separated). Combine
• flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture.
• 
  
• Pour into a greased and floured 10-in. fluted tube pan. Bake at
• 375° for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the
• center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to a
• wire rack to cool completely. Before serving, dust with
• confectioners' sugar. Yield: 16-20 servings.
• 
  

© Taste of Home 2014

Frozen@ Ionia

Holy cow it's cold

If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all!!!  5 days with the temperature (real) 20-25 below 0. Add the wind with gusts to 30 mph and the wind chill temperature is 50-60 below 0.

That cold wind found a tiny opening in the siding between the kitchen and silo room. Did I tell you that DH hasn't gotten around to finishing off the silo room to make it into a mud/laundry room? The silo is like a huge open chimney from that room. If there was any heat in that room it would soon be pulled out through that huge hole.  Anyway, over the door to that room the old barn siding let a tiny sliver of cold air find the hot water pipe going across the door. The wind let up just long enough one night to let it warm up enough for the water pressure to shatter that pipe... at 3 AM. We have 60 pounds constant pressure from our well, so all 10 showers can be used at one time without dropping the pressure.  It didn't take long to move LOTS of water through the ceiling. Lucky for us that Don and I had taken up residence in the 2 handicap rooms on the first floor, and I was sleeping lightly while listening for him to need some help since he was just a few days out of the hospital. The water sounded like Niagara Falls coming through the ceiling and out every opening it could find. Light fixtures, furnace duct, and down each side of the old barn beams that look so good holding up the second floor.

 Ladies, make sure you know where the switch is to turn off the water for your whole house. I did not. I opened the door to the mechanical room and was confronted with lots of switches and knobs. I had to wake DH to ask, and he was still so out of it from his recent surgery that time was wasted repeating my request several times.  I will be getting a new kitchen ceiling as soon weather permits a trip to the lumber yard and Fred is available. Dear Hubby will be NO help.

  

This bench near the front door will not be very welcoming to come and sit a spell for a while. One of my favorite spots to take a break from working in the flowers in the spring.

 

Alfie had very little interest to go outside in the cold. Today the cold spell finally broke and we got up to 28 degrees. It is a heat wave!! Donya took Alfie with her to see how the pine trees and arborvitae are doing. We are all getting cabin fever. Way too cold to even think about doing anything in the green house... but we can dream.

Long Hard winter

Winter came early this fall. Frost in early October and then got cold.. and colder.. and coldest. No Indian summer.  Garden was not worked to be ready for spring. Plants on the patio not attended to. Chairs and tables left where we used them last.   Not a happy state of affairs.

DH was suffering terribly with his hip and unable to help. BUT!! he gave in and we set the date and ordered his new hip.  The replacement was scheduled for January 17.  On Dec 19 the surgeon called and asked if he could come in early Dec 20 instead. Wow!! No time to fret and worry. He had it done with the Mayo team in Rochester MN.  He is one tough farmer. The nurses and Doctors at the hospital said he was their star patient. I had a cot put in his room and stayed the 3 days he was there. Nurses liked it because I took care of little things, like fetching something he may drop on the floor. Help him get a drink. Nothing technical, but enough to let the nurses attend to more important things.  He is doing very well since coming home 2 weeks ago. I stay nearby in case he needs anything, but as soon as he can climb the 2 sets of stairs to get to his room on the 3rd floor, I will go back to work at the upholstery shop.

Fred put together a hay bale shelter for the geese we bought last fall. It is open to the South, guess which way the wind is coming from today!!  I want to put another bale in front to give them a place to hunker down when the wind blows from the South. Maybe tomorrow we will get that done.

We added a goose and a gander, a runner duck, a mallard duck, a polish rooster, and red silky rooster and hen to our flock this past Fall.  We had a guest at the barn that gave us lots of advice on poultry. He advised us to get a gander to protect our chickens from predators. Hawks were one of our worries. It works. I watched a couple hawks fly right on by when they were searching for dinner. That gander stretched his wings out and started flapping when he saw those hawks. He runs at the fence and hisses if he thinks our dog, Alfie, is too close.  A bonus is the goose has started laying eggs. They are huge.. one goose egg equals 3 large hen eggs.

I must write on this blog more often, so I will remember how to get in to write on it. Lots of fun things going on, but I forget how to work the blog. So this is it for this time, and will try to do it more often just to keep the memory of how to do it.

Things in the Fall

 

Breakfast after our visit to the orchards. Yum!!

Such a rainy spring and summer. It was hard to get anything planted in the garden, then harder yet to wade in the mud to get the weeds out.  Oh well, there is next spring... it is bound to be better we hope.

Just as the trees were starting to turn their brilliant colors for Fall, I took a photo from the 3rd floor. Today the wind is blowing and those colors are ending on the ground. I love the crunch of dried leaves under foot.

My memories of tree ripened peaches from the orchards on the Western slopes of the Rocky Mountains were haunting me. We decided to make the trip to Palisade Colorado at peach ripening time to 'get me some' of those juicy tree ripened fruit. I contacted a couple family operated orchards and chose Peach Fork Orchard as my main stopping place. The peaches were excellent. Higher priced due to the shorter peach crop, but worth every cent they cost. Darn that late spring frost the region had suffered this year.

I bought 5 boxes that I knew would need to be canned within a few days. I had taken clean jars, my canner, and the business part of my turkey cooker as I knew tree ripened ment they would not travel well for very long. The remaining boxes I purchased were packed with dividers for the peaches and they would travel just fine as long as I did not leave them in the heat for very long.

Fortunately we had family visiting from Ohio and New Mexico the same weekend we planned to stay at the old family homestead. They all pitched in and we had those peaches canned before the day was done.

Bless Charlie's heart, he scalded all those boxes of peaches so Virginia could peal and pit them.

 My job was putting them in the jars and loading the canner racks. We had the rest of the crew sitting around the turkey burner with the canner full of jars... timing it and unloading the jars so the next batch could be loaded.  Thanks to all you guys for helping me.

 

We harvested our grapes this week, so grape juice and jelly is the next thing on our agenda.  Fall is such a glorious time of year.

 

Beautiful snow

Memories from 2011... We do not have this much snow this year. Plenty of wind though.

We left during the start of this blizzard in December, to meet some friends in Branson Mo. A good thing we had 3 people left behind in charge of any chaos this storm might cause.
The aftermath was absolutely beautiful. Our 3 caretakers did call us with a bit of whining about how cold it was. Hey! It was not all that warm in Branson, either.
I can't think of anything more beautiful then the sun shining on snow covered branches.
I am thankful Michelle, Fred and Donya kept the home fires burning while we were gone.

This was just the start of the snow season in December. We have had many more snow storms, wind blowing and drifting the snow, and way more below 0 days this winter then I care to remember. I'm very anxious to see a January thaw... just 1 week left for it to appear. The garden catalogs have arrived !!! yea !!! Spring must be on it's way.

Dog Days of February

Dog days of February?!!!

 We usually try to visit our grandchildren during February... but not this year. Repairs and improvements to the barn have been keeping us busy. It feels like we hardly get one thing repaired and something else decides to break down. Today the heating element to the oven had to be replaced. Horrors!! no cookies or home made bread when you have no oven. 

I found the funniest very short video on the internet and will put a link for your entertainment.

Christmas 2012, already!!!!

                                                                   Christmas 2012 
                                                                       Horse barn


Another Christmas!!!  Already!!!  What makes them come so fast?  We are scurrying around at the barn trying to get it all decorated nice and pretty.  I just love those new LED lights. They are so bright and use so little power.... we can leave then on all night. It is a little tricky to get photos, though. I'll try to get a photo of the 'new' chicken coop we built this year (yea!!)... and decorated for the season.

I've finally perfected a tomato soup made from scratch. I love it so much, if there is any left from supper I warm it up and have it for breakfast. yum!!! 

Creamy Tomato Soup
4 Tblspoon Olive Oil
2 Lrg Onions
8 Cloves Garlic
2 Teasp Thyme, dried
2 Qrt Tomatos (home canned)
4 Tblspoon Balsamic Vinegar
1 Teasp Soda
2 cups Milk
Pepper
Salt
Chop onions and saute in olive oil until tender. About 4 minutes. Add minced garlic and thyme and saute about 2 more minutes. Add crushed tomatoes and balsamic vinegar and heat on simmer. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup in the saucepan. Or put through blender in small amounts and return to the saucepan. Add soda and stir throughly. Add milk and bring to simmer but do not let boil.

It is official... 

Thanksgiving Dinner is over, Christmas season is starting.

The fall decorations are coming down, the pumpkin was hauled out to the chickens. Our pet silky chickens (yep, they each have been named) are not sure what we expect them to do with that big ole pumpkin. It has started getting soft after sitting all season in the sun by our front door. It shouldn't take them long to figure it out, after Donya made a start hole for them.

This past season has given us some unexpected surprises and excitement with our dear little pets. Don found a skunk in the little chicken tractor we were keeping 5 of the gray silkies in near the garden. We were using the chicks to help clean up the unharvested tomatoes until the unwelcome visitor was discovered. It had killed one of the little gray hens, grrrrr. So Don shut the exit door with the dead bird and skunk inside the hut. The remaining hens and rooster were in the attached fence. After shooting the skunk (and making a bullet hole in the hut floor) we decided it was time to move all the flocks to the newly built chicken house.. including those that were housed in the horse barn, temporarily. The chicken tractor will need all winter to air out!!!

Now, let the Christmas decorating begin!!!!!

 

Early Frost

Well, I was hoping for a later frost this year. The garden just sat there during the dry spell. We watered it enough to keep it alive, but there was no production during the hot, hot months. When we started to have cooler nights, the garden got in gear with production. However, that made for late ripe and the early frost was NOT welcome.

The rains have returned to our corner of the world, and the Mandevilla blossoms were drooping when we took this photo. It is such a happy vine with it's blooms pointing toward the sun when the clouds clear. I will trim the vine to release it from the arbor and bring it indoors for the winter. DH (Dear Hubby) is not all that happy to be sharing indoors with my many plants. He COULD assemble the greenhouse he gave me for my birthday last April... but alas, it is still in the box on the edge of the patio.

First day of Fall, Already?!!!

The sweet potato vine that tried to take over the patio

Donya has become our resident patio gardener and filled many containers with flowers, vegetables and vines. One of the sweet potato vines went crazy this year. It shares a container with several other blooming plants, with a gnome statue residing IN the barrel next to the baby vine. Within 3 weeks we could not see the gnome, so he was but on the cement in front of the planter... a couple more weeks and he had to be moved forward.. then forward again. Soon he was 6 feet in front of the crazily growing vine.  Yup, he is still in there, somewhere. That is just one vine. I wonder if cuttings could be taken to use as starts for the next year patio plantings.  

Hot and dry summer

The Bluebells were beautiful early this spring, when there was plenty of moisture. And they did bloom earlier then usual.   Now... we are in a rather dry time and wishing for rain.


Donya, our resident baker, decided to get a booth for the summer at the farmer's market in New Hampton. Wednesdays and Thursdays the baked goodies smells coming from our kitchens kick starts appetites. The guys at the barn are hoping she will not sell everything in the 2 hours she sets up her tables. Last week she brought back very little along with a list of items to bake the next day for locale customers that can't get over to the market. She had ran out of flour baking for the quilt retreat so I had to make a trip to the Mennonite store to buy another 100 pounds of unbleached flour.


We can visit many Mennonite stores near the barn. Lots of green houses, a dry goods store and of course.. our favorite... the grocery store. I have not visited the furniture makers, but Don has made a few trips to their hardware stores.


A lot of the Mennonite families use horse and buggy, but there are some 'driving' Mennonites. 


It is hot and muggy, with clouds.  Please please ... rain !!

Arbor and other summer work

The arbor is almost completed.  Swinging gates, shingles, and add some potted flowers... hooray.. it is even better then the photo we had saved so many years ago!!

The gardens are finally planted, we can hardly wait for the first produce to harvest. Rhubarb has been super and we have enjoyed rhubarb muffins, coffee cake, torte, and of course.. pie.  No home garden strawberries this year, but great plans for a new strawberry bed to get planted this summer.

Donya, our chicken wrangeler, has managed to hatch out 4 batches of 'silky' babies. Mostly because we did not gather the eggs for her while she was on vacation, and 4 of her hens sat on a clutch of eggs. Thank you very much, she said to us... because you can not eat anything you name. You guessed it, she names everything.

Life is good, down on the farm.....

Indian Summer

It is that time of year again... Indian summer arrived after an September frost. A bit early for the first frost this year.  The combines are sooo big, it takes no time at all to harvest the fields. I am enjoying the return of my countryside view from the kitchen windows. 

Corn was the crop grown next to our yard this year. It was fun feeling all cozy tucked behind the corn for the summer. It is true that on a hot summer night you can hear the corn growing. It squeaks and pops as it works it's way skyward. Very entertaining experience for our city guests. Sitting on the patio, talking on their cell phones to those back home "What are you doing?" the person on the other end of the phone must be asking, "Sitting on the patio listening to the corn grow" they answer.

I had forgotten how closed in I was feeling, until I looked out this morning and could almost see New Hampton, 7 miles east of my kitchen.

Just when I thought I could no longer breath, a nice rain came along and washed all the harvesting dust out of the air. 

Life is good.

Frost! the start of Fall 2011

 Ready or not, it is here. Fall came a bit early for this part of Iowa. We had our first frost Sept 15!!  Donya saw the frost and hit the deck running to get the entrance to the patio decorated for the season. This is her favorite season, although she does it up pretty good when spring comes calling.


                                                   
We picked up the windfall apples for a treat for our horses, Dude, Skipper, Red and Bud. The horses will soon be moving into their newly repaired barn. The wind had almost destroyed it so the horses have been lounging in the old cattle shed while the repairs were under way.
                                                        
   Yum! apple pie will soon be on the menu for our guests.