The Great Escape

GREETINGS!

The other evening we were sitting out on the back porch and I looked over to where the chicken coop is.  I said to Ronnie, that chick looks like she's outside of the coop; and he said, she is!  Well luckily the dogs hadn't spotted her yet so I put a leash on Salli and we got her and Patch contained, but they sure were watching!

Then we had to sit and wait for the other three still inside to go in and roost and hope the escapee would roost also, so Ronnie could catch her and put her back in the coop.  Finally, as twilight came, they went inside and roosted.  Little Houdini kept walking around the outside of the coop, like she wanted back in.  So Ronnie snuck up and opened the coop door and lo and behold, she walked right in and went to bed!

But I want to tell you, while she was out, she thought she was the queen out on a Holiday!  She was strutting around, pecking at everything, scratching up grass and it and the dirt was flying!!  Was so comical to watch.  I thought that Sallie had dug a hole in the back corner of the pen and the chick had escaped there.  Well, she had escaped there, but Ronnie says the pile of dirt was inside, so one of them dug the hole themselves!  Made Sallie happy to not be blamed!  :)

Eight days ago we bought some more wire to make their pen area bigger - 10' x 10' - so they wouldn't be so crowded.  It is still laying on the back porch.  My husband is not one to rush in to a project -- especially when it's one he doesn't care about!  Such is life.

That's all I know for now.  Until next time, take care and God bless you and yours.

A Woman's Work is Never Done

GREETINGS!

Today is forcast for only 96, which it is right now.  Kind of warm to be doing this:

Another bushel of sweet corn = another 16 pints of canned corn, with a few ears held out for a supper or two.  I guess I should be thankful I'm doing it today instead of tomorrow when it's forcase to be 102 degrees!   So now I have a total of 32 pints for the winter - if they last that long!  :)   I think I'm grateful that the sweet corn season is over...............

Also started another batch of refrigerator pickles.  Brother says the cukes are about done so probably can't do any more pickles after this.  Ronnie picked our first tomato today; it was not quite ripe but is sitting in the window and will be ready soon.  He picked it because is was growing in to the stalk!
He also planted me some bush type string beans today.  Seems to be the only way I'll get any fresh beans.

That all I know for now.  Until next time take care and God bless you and yours.

Baking Time

GREETINGS!

I still have trouble adjusting to the fact that gardens and berry bushes produce and yield so early in the summer.  I'm still used to Washington weather, where you are lucky to have garden stuff by August!  So, that said, I've been busy this week baking and freezing the bounty of blackberries and zucchini!

This is/was a blackberry cobbler I made after Ronnie came home with a 3 gallon bucket full of berries!  I see there is a corner of it missing. Hmmmmmmmmmm

This is one of the 3 gallon bags of berries that we froze for future cobblers.  And he says he's going back out picking the first of next week.  He tends to go a little overboard..........

And this is my batch of zucchini bread, made this morning.  I love it, but Ronnie won't eat it because he doesn't like zucchini; so, I baked it in 4 mini loaf tins and one medium loaf tin instead of the 2 regular size tins that the recipe makes, thinking I wouldn't eat as much!  HA!  I just won't eat as much all at one time...........  I've already cut in to one of the little loaves and had about 3 pieces!  Nothing like warm zucchini bread with butter - wash it down with some sweet tea.  My girls would use a gallon of milk probably!!  Sorry you're not here to enjoy it with me girls.

I've frozen enough zucchini for 2 more batches of bread, and I have 2 cups set aside for a chocolate zucchini cake.  Will do that either later today or tomorrow. 

So I hope most of you are now enjoying the garden and field bounty too.  Living in the Oklahoma hills does have its advantages!  :)

That's all I know for now.  Until next time, take care and God bless you and yours.  Here's a thought:
The Holy Spirit is your body guard!  Love it.

Pickles

GREETINGS!

Since my brother supplies me with cucumbers - 3 or 4 every morning - I decided I had to make pickles!  I only know how to make one kind of pickles, and that is Refrigerator Pickles.   The recipe was given to me by a lady in Troy, Missouri, and they are without a doubt the best pickles ever!

These are white cucumbers and green pickling cucumbers.

I had about 2 qts of sliced cukes and added 2 good sized onions, sliced.

Once I add the sliced onions, I sprinkle with kosher/canning salt and put in fridge for 24 hrs.  Then after the 24 hrs.  you rinse the salt off.  This may take a couple rinsings in the sink or a big bowl.
Then you add the sugar and vinegar and let set in fridge for another 24 hours and then they are ready to eat!  YUMMY

The finished product.  Ronnie loves them.  We eat a bowl like this at supper every night.  The lady who gave me the recipe used to freeze hers in small containers, and they were still good.  I have not done that, but I have had them in the fridge for close to a year, in the brine, and they were still excellent.  It's amazing to me because there is no alum or anything to keep them crispy, yet they stay crispy quite well!  Must be the salt.

I'm sure I'll be making another batch, as the cukes keep coming every morning!  :)

That's all I know for now.  Until next time, take care and God bless you and yours.  Oh, and don't forget to pray tonight, because God didn't forget to wake you up this morning!

The Occupants

GREETINGS!

At about 7:30 a.m. this morning my chickens arrived.  Chicken George, aka Bill, brought them up in a box, so I quickly donned my duster over my nightgown and went outside; after waking Ronnie up!
In the box were 4 of the cutest chicks you've ever seen.  He said they were about 6 weeks old, and I should keep them in the coop for another 4 - 6 weeks before letting them out to range.  He also said he took them away from their mother and they were mad, and squawking like crazy!

It's hard to get a good picture through the wire, and bending down to their level!  But you get the idea.  Their coloring reminds me of a pheasant; one of the has almost a completely white head and her name is Blondy; another has a partial white head and her name is Maddy; then there is one with kind of a reddish brown head and her name is Lucy; and the last one is Ethel!  I can tell this is going to be fun!  Be sure to double click on pics and maybe get a better look.

I asked Bill if they were Banty's and he said what?  I said are they Banty's and he says, no they are fighting chickens!  I know that he raises fighting roosters and gets big money for them (over $1000 each), and for a good hen he gets $400.  Now, I don't think he gave me four $400 hen chicks, but they are nice.  Cock fighting is illegal here in Oklahoma, so he mails them to The Phillipines and Kentucky and other places.  Amazing.  Supposedly these will lay eggs at some point, but they are very small.  And boy, do they drink a lot of water!

Oh, I almost forgot...............the dogs.  Patch just lays and watches the chicks; Salli sits right up next to the coop and her whole body shakes and quivers, she wants to get at them so bad!  But she is getting better as the day progresses.  Will take a few days I'm sure to get her trained.

That's all I know.  Until next time, take care and God bless you and yours

For Rent

GREETINGS!

Gee, it's only been 2 days since I posted!   It doesn't mean I'm getting better, it just means there's something to bend your ear about!  :)

We went to the city yesterday and of course you always have to buy something when you go there.....
and I've been wanting to do this for quite some time, so here's the purchase!

I got the food......

The house.........

The bedding.........

The finished product.....

Now all I need are some occupants!  :)  I should have put a "for rent" sign in the window!   BUT,
hopefully tomorrow I will get some tenants.  "Chicken George" , my neighbor down in the holler, has a bunch of little chickens that free range and he said I could have some.  He will try to catch 2 or 3 tonight when they roost.   They do lay eggs, but the eggs are really small, but I don't really care.  I mainly want to see them running around the yard hunting and pecking and eating bugs!!

The tricky part will be training Salli and Patch to leave them alone!  Hopefully Patch will remember the Guineas and be gentle.  Salli, who knows!!  I still have the feeding and watering stuff from the Guineas so that will be nice.  This thing is supposed to hold up to 4 chickens, but it's awfully small so I'm going for 2 or 3 banty type chickens.  I have to have a place for them to go at night because of the coyotes, hawks and owls, who would love to have them for supper.  Major training session coming!!

So stayed tuned for pictures of the "renters" and further chicken tales!  I'll take any advice you want to offer!! Take care and God bless you and yours and your chickens too (if you have any). 

The May "Outing"

GREETINGS!

Looks like I'm lagging behind again!  Part of the problem is my camera; the on/off button sticks and sometimes I can't get it to go off, so I haven't taken many pictures.  This one is not very old either!  I may have to break down and buy another one.................

Anyway, on the last day of May - the 31st - GF Judy and I went on our monthly outing.  What a trip it was!  Here is a picture of my first purchase ..............

Here's the story.  It was kind of a cloudy day, and supposed to be only in the 70's; so I decided to wear my jeans, with tennis shoes and socks.  What a mistake that was!  After stopping in a wee, little town at a resale/gift shop, we got to a bigger town and went to one of our favorite shops looking around, then walked up the street to a "community" resale store.  By this time, it was at least in the 80's and humid, and I was sweating; I was soooo hot and miserable!  We scrounged around looking for shorts or capri's to fit me without any luck, but did find this pair of flip flops so I could shed the socks and tennies.

Finally, we made it to another resale shop where I found a pair of pink, cotton capri's, bought them and put them on then and there!  And wouldn't you know, they matched my shirt and flops!   I was finally somewhat comfortable.  So the day was kind of fun, looking through all kinds of clothes and resale shops and gift shops, etc. once I cooled off.

After that we had lunch at Reubens - an authentic Mexican restaurant - and enjoyed a nice meal.  I had a Chimichanga that was really good, with excellent guacamole and sour cream.

I think I'll dress more appropriately this month, and trust my intuition instead of the weather man.
Hope you all are having a good month - Summer will be here soon, so enjoy it.  Until next time, take care and God bless you and yours.