Live....Laugh....Love

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Ducklings and Garden Update

Ducklings- I 'm amazed how fast they grow. I think the duckling with all black head and the one with all yellow head are both girls. I am unsure what the other is, I am hoping a boy.

It's hard to believe just two weeks ago they used to swim around together in their water bowl.
 
 
 
Garden- So far I have made a few salads and one crock pot dinner with potatoes, zucchini, onions, and green beans which all came from my garden.
 
As you can see my leeks, carrots, bean (right) and potatoes (left) are doing good.
 
 
I have lots of green tomatoes and finally they are starting to turn red!
 
 

My daughter helped me plan some fall crops. We planted kale, red cabbage, and purple cauliflower.
 
What fall crops do you plan?
 
 
 
Rural Thursday Blog Hop
 
 
 

 

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Cherry-Rhubarb Crisp

 When I canned cherry-rhubarb pie filling, there was one jar that didn't fit in the canner. So I put that one in the frig and made cherry-rhubarb crisp with it. Here's the recipe I used.

Cherry-Rhubarb Crisp

1     cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
3/4  cup  Oats
1     cup  Brown Sugar
1/2  cup Melted Butter
1     tsp  Cinnamon
1     qt jar Cherry-Rhubarb Pie Filling (recipe from Simply Canning website)

1. Preheat oven to 350*F.
2. In a medium bowl combine first five ingredients until crumbly.
3. Press half of mixture into a 8" or 9" square pan.


4. Spread pie filling evenly over bottom layer.
5. Top with remaining mixture.


6. Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes or until it is bubbling around the edges and it looks a darker    brown. It won't become crispy until it cools.

You may notice there is a little missing in the left hand corner,
 I had to try it when it cooled to make sure it was good:)


 



 
Rural Thursday Blog Hop

Monday, August 20, 2012

Raspberries, Cherries, Rhubarb Oh My!

Finally all of this seasons raspberries, cherries and rhubarb are gone. I canned until after 10 o'clock last night. Here is what I made.

Raspberry Syrup


Cherry Jam

Cherry-Rhubarb Pie Filling

Sweet Rhubarb



So far I have canned 110 jars of jams, jellies, syrups, and pie filling this summer. My garden is just now getting to the harvesting stage. And later this fall I will have an abundance of apples and pears to process. So far 2012 has been a good canning year.


Bloghoppic

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

1. Forest
This is the forest on our land.

2. Morning Light
The sun waking up.

3. Touch

Winter snow touching summer flowers.

4. Newspaper

The reason I buy the Sunday newspaper.

5. Coffee or Tea
Tea please.



Friday, August 17, 2012

SHHHHH! It's Nap Time.

Nap time at the county fair. 








Would you three PLEASE be quiet,the babies are trying to sleep!




We're Sorry.

 







Farmgirl's favorite part of the fair.







Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Should I Be Worried?

This morning was going as usual. Feed chickens in the chicken tractor first, check for eggs there. I found one nice warm green egg. Next ducklings, I let them out of the carrier and talk to them a little. Then down to the old chicken coop to let the rooster and two mean (mean to other chickens not people) barred rock hens out and feed them. I opened up the coop to see if there were any eggs in the nests. Instead of finding an egg in a nest, I found an egg splatted on the floor below the roost. This is a new one for me. We have had chickens for about 5 years and this is the first time its happened. By the way the hens are about two years old and  not new to laying eggs.

Should I be worried?  Has this happened to anyone else?

Monday, August 13, 2012

Country Garden and Duckling update

My garden is slowing making progress. I have harvested some potatoes, an onion, lettuce, and a couple of carrots.
My onions are getting bigger everyday. I finally have a few green beans. Look that one I can almost pick!

My tomatoes and sunflower keep getting taller and taller. There are lots of green tomatoes, hopefully they will be red soon.  And this sunflowers, you can't tell from the picture, but I am standing on my tip toes with my arm stretched all the way above my head to take this picture. I would say it is way over six feet tall.

The purple potatoes, what can you say about purple potatoes?

Now Ducklings

                          
 Aug. 5th                                            Aug. 9th           


These picture were taken today (8/13). Notice they are almost too big to all fit in the water dish. The were swimming carousel style. When they stand up they are pretty tall. They remind me of The Three Stooges, always bumping into each other and trying to hind behind each other.







Sunday, August 12, 2012

Purple Potato Salad

I have been craving potato salad. So I decided to use the purple potatoes I dug up a few days ago. I also wanted to try putting my pickled eggs in a salad. After washing and inspecting my potatoes, I decided I would peel them first. I really thought they would turn my hands purple but, it did not.

Here are the potatoes peeled and cut up. I put them on the stove to boil with a little salt.  When I went back to check to see if the were done, you will never guess what I saw.

GREEN WATER!! Yes, the purple potatoes turned the water green. How weird is that?

The potatoes lost some of their color but they are still purplish.

After cooling the potatoes in cold water, I put them in a bowl with chopped pickled eggs, pickled peppers, pickles, green onions, and celery. I gently mixed everything together. Next add several big scoops of mayo, some mustard, seasoning salt, garlic powder, and pepper. Again gently mixed. Then I tasted it. I decided it had too much of a vinegar bite so, I added a little sugar. That did the trick.

I think it turned out good. These potatoes seem to be denser than most so they hold up well to mixing. The true test will be what my husband thinks of it tonight at dinner.