Winner!

Well, actually two.  Rhiannon can’t seem to pick just one.

I’d post a picture of the scientific method, but as Rhiannon has been in “I can’t stand to have clothes on” kick, I didn’t think it appropriate for the blog.  Although it would have made a great blackmail picture when she got to be a teenager.

There were a total of thirty entries from the Krazo Acres blog, Homesteading Today and my Facebook page.  The first name drawn was Susan from the blog, the second was Natural Beauty Farm from HT.

So gals, send me your mailing address (carolynrenee@centurytel.net) and I’ll get you the Girlie Washcloth and hockey-puck looking bar of goat milk soap.  Although I’ll have to start another washcloth this afternoon so give me a day or so to get your prizes to the post office

Thanks for playing and Happy Sudsing!

Mice is a Four-Letter Word

Susan over at e-i-e-i-omg! just posted about her vehicle / mouse problems.  “Lucky” for her, it turned out to have a somewhat happy ending (if you consider forking over $75 for the removal of a tiny rodent from your station wagon good fortune).

Since she was brave enough to share with us all the fact that she had a rodent setting up housekeeping in her vehicle, I figured I could copy her idea (and relieve me from the task of trying to think of a blog post for the day).

I hate mice - no wait - I loathe mice.  I think just about everyone has the same feelings.

Although I didn’t always hate the furry, beady-eyed creatures.  I recall one instance in my youth that we had a mouse in the pantry.  My Dad got one of those new sticky-traps (they were new back then) and put it in the cupboard.  When I opened the door to get my morning Lucky Charms, I saw the cute little creature stuck to the sticky board; and it was still alive.  Looking at me with those little black eyes.  Twitching his little pink nose.  Trying in vain to wrench himself from the evil stickiness.  We did this.  We put this mouse-torturing device in our house and now he was doomed.

So I did what any other little animal-loving city girl would do.  I picked the sticky board up and tried to feed the mouse.  Tried to give it water out of a spoon.  Tried to peel its little rodent body off the sticky board.  All, of course, to no avail.  Not exactly sure what happened to him, although I’m assuming my Dad found out what I was doing and put an end to it.

Fast forward twenty (or so) years. 

Most of the words I utter when finding a mouse around our house consist of only four letters.  I am constantly battling the mice in the barn.  I’ve tried to coax a feral cat to take up residence in the barn, but no luck.  I try to make sure I sweep the barn floors of the spilled goat food, but it just ends up right outside the barn anyhow.  I’ve been trying to keep mouse-house-building-stuff out of the barn, but they always seem to pull something into the barn to nest in.   The sticky traps don’t work very well in the barn.  Not sure why.  One trap that does work is the water-filled-bucket kind’a trap.  (Remind me to post a picture of that soon).  But for some reason we haven’t had it in the barn for over a year.  (And remind me to put it back in the barn.)

When I do manage to do a good cleaning out of the goat barn, I usually end up squashing a half dozen or more little mice and tossing them to the chickens.  Chickens just love eating mice.  Weird, hugh? 

About two weeks ago, I was driving into town and turned the A/C on.  And heard a horrible thump-thump-thump-WACK noise coming from the air vents.  So I quickly turned the air off.  Waited several minutes and tried again.  Thump-thump-thump-whirrrrrrrr…..then nothing.  Just cool air conditioning.  Unfortunately, I knew exactly what was happening as the same thing occurred a few years ago.  But, even more unfortunate was the fact that after Paul pulled the dashboard apart this time to get to the blower and squirrel cage fan thingy (funny how they call it squirrel cage, hugh?), he did NOT find the mouse in the fan and couldn’t really tear much more of the dashboard apart without compromising the air bag.

So, can you guess what my car smells like?  Let me remind you that it’s been in the upper 90’s and humid for the past several weeks.  My original theory was that I would park the car in a sunny spot with the windows rolled up for a few days and cook the critter to a crispy, non-stinky corpse and we’d just live with the fact that we had a mouse-mummy lodged somewhere in the ventilation system of the vehicle.

Well, it didn’t work.  The smell has subsided (or I’m just getting used to it).  I’ve also put an air freshener in the car, but it still doesn’t smell very nice.  I wonder if they have one of those pine tree shaped air fresheners that have “anti-rotting-rodent” smell?

In the meantime, my car smells like Coconut a’la Decomposing-Rodent.

Think I can market that fragrance combo to Yankee Candle?

*** Don’t forget to enter the Girlie Giveaway!  Click HERE ***

Clean Getaway - I mean - Giveaway!

Gardening season, as poor as it may seem around here, is well underway.  And my hands and feet are looking like I’m a genuine hillbilly.  It doesn’t help that I have a knack for walking around outside barefoot.

Dirty finger and toenails, calluses on the soles of my feet, sweating in the heat of the afternoon sun.  Doesn’t that just sound wonderful?

But since most of us aren’t going to don rubber gloves and Tyvek suits to do our gardening and barn chores, we have to really, really scrub up when we want to get clean.

I took Rhiannon to the city pool yesterday and I was embarrassed at how unkempt my feet were.  It’s not like I didn’t scrub them up real well before going out in public; heak, I even shaved my legs (like you really needed / wanted to know that).  But after seeing all those other fancy painted toenails and feet adorned with pretty shiny anklets, it made me want to, well, feel girlie like everyone else.

So this evening, after my weed-pulling and barn chores are finished, I’m going to treat myself to an at-home spa using my new homemade cotton washcloth and homemade soap, slather on some good smelling lotion and embellish my toenails with some brightly colored enamel.

“Come on already Carolyn, what’s all this talk about you have to do with free stuff for us?” you ask? 

Well, I’ve been in a crocheting mood lately and have been whipping out little washcloths and dishcloths in my down time (i.e. in the middle of the day when it’s a million degrees outside). 

I made a few washcloths for Rhiannon and figured that I was deserving enough to have my own.  Even though it’s just a stupid washcloth, it was mine and I made it and my simple “jump in the scalding water to scrub all that dirt off” shower was somehow made more special.

“No, really Carolyn, what does this have to do with US?”

Ok, ok. 

For your sudsing and washing pleasure, I present to you the following:

One handmade (by yours truly) girlie looking washcloth and one bar of goat milk soap (with help from Nettie & the gals in the barn).

You get not one, but two chances to win!  First entry is that you simply make a comment that you want to enter the contest.  Second entry I’ll make you work for……if you have a blog, link to this page on your blog & let me know you did so in another comment. 

Contest closes sometime on Monday (whenever I get around to sorting out entries).

Good luck!

PS – for those men that follow my blog and don’t want to enter the “Girlie Washcloth Contest”  because they feel their masculinity will be challenged, enter anyhow and say “It’s for my wife / girlfriend / daughter” and none of us will make fun of you for entering the contest.  Well, not in front of you at least.

Quiche for Breakfast. And Lunch. And Supper

The chickens are popping out eggs even through this unseasonably hot weather.  And I’m now milking four goats.

So, what does one do with an abundance of eggs and milk?  Make a Quiche of course!  For like every household in the county.

I make an easy oil-based pie crust and smoosh it into the pie plate (I’m too lazy to roll it out), bake it at 400 degrees for ten minutes.

Two cups of milk, five eggs, goat cheese, chives, onions, S&P get mixed together and poured into the pie crust.  Back in the oven at 375 degrees for just under an hour and it’s done. 

I guess my recipe isn’t a traditional quiche as the recipes I found usually call for fewer eggs and even cream instead of milk.  I could never get mine to set up properly when using fewer than five eggs, so this recipe is more “egg-y” than “custard-y”, but that’s fine with me.

Speaking of chickens and eggs, one of my Barred Rock hens has gone broody.  She’s been in one of the nest boxes for three or four days now and gets pretty ticked when you schooch her over to gather eggs.  Why do they pick the hottest part of the year to do this?  The coop isn’t the most comfortable place in the summer.  Maybe I can get Paul make a window in one of the back coop doors to provide some ventilation (as if he doesn’t have anything better to do).

We’re down to only thirteen or fourteen laying hens now, so I suppose it’s time to start the next batch of our omelet producers.  I started collecting nice eggs for her to set on so I’ll keep shoving them under her until there are a dozen or so.  Last year I had two hens go broody on me during the summer and out of twenty or so eggs only five hatched.  And I only have one hen to show for it now.  The rest of the eggs were either rotten or were broken by time the incubation period was over.  Not sure if it was because of the heat or that they just weren’t careful with their clutch.

On a totally different note, I’ve got another Give-Away coming up!  Check in tomorrow to see what the prize is!  Don’t hold your breath; it’s not that exciting.  But hey, who doesn’t like to win a prize??

 P.S. - Tom S., you still need to email me (carolynrenee@centurytel.net)  your mailing address so I can send you Hen and the Art of Chicken Maintenance!  It’s starting to collect dust (again) on my desk.

First (meager) Harvest

Today was our first official harvest from the garden.  Well, technically I’ve been given two very un-ripe Roma tomatoes from Rhiannon before this; she has a knack for picking not-quite-ready produce from the gardens (and stepping on squash plants, ripping up tomato seedlings, etc.).

I sowed four 4’ sections of Early Gray Peas directly into the ground earlier this spring.  Most of them survived the deluge we received last month & were just starting to show signs of heat-exhaustion (or whatever you want to call it) from the heat wave we’ve had the past three weeks.  If I had to guess, I’d say there forty plants that survived.  The plants on the southernmost raised beds did the best while the ones on the opposite side didn’t do half as well.  Not sure if it’s because the southern bed received more sun or what.

I actually have no idea if it was time to pick the peas (being a first-time pea-picker), but the leaves on the vines were starting to turn yellow in some spots and some of the larger pods were just starting to take on a yellow-greenish tinge as opposed to the bright green pods.  We also sampled many of them as we walked by lately and the larger ones weren’t as sweet and even starting to taste a bit starchy.  So I figured now was good enough. 

From the sixty or so plants I started, here’s what we got:

Two & a half cups of shelled peas.  That’s like one side dish for four people.  For one meal. 

Now don’t get me wrong…..I was happy to get them.  And I’m also painfully aware that we didn’t do much in the garden this year so I didn’t even harbor the slightest hope of having enough peas to put in the freezer.  But it was a painful realization for me.  We are so very, very lacking in the garden department. 

Rhiannon "helping" shell peas.

Can you imagine how many rows of peas you’d have to plant and keep alive until harvest to provide your family with enough to eat during harvest season as well as putting some up for the winter?  I suppose peas aren’t the best example as I’m not sure how well peas can, but you get my drift.

I know that there are many people who do manage to grow enough to get their family through a year, but in general I suspect that there are many, many more that are only providing a small part of their vegetable / fruit needs from their own garden.

I’m not knocking those that don’t have the time, money or labor (or even urge) to grow a year’s worth of food for their families as I believe any little bit helps.  Even if it’s just a few buckets of tomatoes or peppers on your patio you’re still providing more than if you did nothing.  It’s just that now my mind is reeling with the amount of effort required to attain such a garden that I wouldn’t have to buy canned stuff at the grocery.

If you've read The Little House on the Prairie books, do you remember when Laura’s teacher brought an orange for each student to take home for Christmas?  Do you remember how utterly ecstatic she was to receive such an exotic gift?  And to think it really wasn’t that long ago.

For those of us not living in Florida or California, can you imagine going to the supermarket and not being able to get bananas, oranges or grapefruits?

Or how about the fact that we can get those same fruits, or even native fruits in the dead of winter?

I’m starting to ramble on now.  But I suppose my point is that we are so very, very lucky to be able to have a grocery store that can provide us with items we would not only be unable to grow on our own land, but also be able to get those items in the middle of February.

So what happens when that ever-so-delicate web of food logistics gets a snag?  Just look at the stores during a hurricane or blizzard warning; the lines, the mobs, the empty shelves.  And that’s what happens when there is a day or two warning and the supply lines are still functioning. 

I’m not suggesting that TEOTWAWKI is imminent (although I’m not NOT suggesting it won’t happen), but I think it would be cheap insurance to sharpen up those gardening skills and keep your pantry stocked.  You have home, auto and life insurance don’t you?  So why don’t more people have pantry “insurance”?

Time to rip those pea vines out and replace them with something else.

Fish (guts) 'N Chips

Paul went fishing yesterday and brought home a nice sized catfish!

He doesn’t get on the lake or river very often, so it’s a treat when he comes home with supper in the cooler.

Catfish nuggets...

                                                 

                                                        And what's left of the chips (fries).

We’re fortunate to have the lake and river just a short drive (or even a walk) away, not only for cooling off in the summer heat, but for a source of fresh fish. The water is one of the reasons we moved here.

So, do you have any ponds, lakes or rivers near you that you can utilize as both recreation and a food source?  Don’t overlook your local park districts and state parks; just make sure that the water isn’t polluted to the point that you’d be putting icky fish on your dinner plates. 

Even if you’re not lucky enough to have real SEA-food (you know….shrimp, scallops, lobster, $$$) there are plenty of other delicious fresh water fish.  My two favorites are Walleye and Catfish, although I wouldn’t turn away a plate full of battered and fried panfish like Bluegill or Sunfish.

Now that I have your mouth watering, let’s talk fish guts!

If you’re even the most novice of novice, gardeners, I’m sure you’ve at least heard of fish emulsion.  So what better use of a container of fresh fish skin, bones and guts than to make some homemade fish emulsion for our garden?

I read somewhere online that it’s as simple as taking a 5-gallon bucket, filling it half-way with vegetable material, sawdust or leaves, 2 tablespoons of Epsom Salt and the fish guts.  Finish filling the bucket ¾ of the way with water & leave it out in the sun.  Stir once a day for two weeks and voilà – Fish Emulsion!

So now I’m off to find a suitable (i.e. not cracked) 5-gallon bucket (and a place where the cats, dogs, chickens, opossums, raccoons, etc. won't get to it) and start our homemade kick-butt fertilizer. 

Heavenly Halitosis

Another oven-less day!  Made a huge salad yesterday and topped it off with chunks of garlic-seasoned chicken breast and homemade garlic & onion salad dressing.  Side of huge croutons (made from the herb bread cooked in the grill) and a glass of sweet tea and call it a Supper!

I’ve been lazy lately (let’s face it, I’ve always been kind’a lazy) and our salads have been topped with…….store-bought dressing!  Oh, the horror!

I know, I know!  What kind of homesteading-wanna-be am I that I purchase that crummy mass-produced, frankenfood dressing at the supermarket??  Well I’m glad to say that I no longer have any bottled salad dressing in the house and will be (hopefully) making my own dressings from now on.

Not only is it like waaaaaayyyy cheaper - and better tasting - but you can mess with it until it’s to your liking!  I suppose the real drawback is that it doesn’t keep for more than a few days.  But then again, that’s usually the drawback for any type of homemade foodstuff.

We are garlic and onion lovers here at Krazo Acres.  I have the morning Dragon Breath to prove it.  I just feel sorry for little Rhiannon because she’s also taken a liking to garlic and onions……who wants to kiss a baby-powdered, soft-skinned, cutie-pie toddler with garlic breath??  Double time on the teeth brushing!

Here’s the recipe if you wann’a try it:

1 cup Mayonnaise (Click HERE for homemade recipe)
½ cup Sour Cream (or Greek-style yogurt….which is basically really thick yogurt)
1 Tbsp. White Vinegar
1 Tbsp. Sugar
1 Small Onion, chopped
½ tsp. Salt
1 Clove Garlic, minced or through garlic press (or ½ tsp. garlic powder)
1 Tbsp. Chives (or parsley, gives it nice green specks of color)
Milk – Optional, to make it thinner

Chuck all of the above into blender, zip until onions are chopped up fine.  Chill in fridge before using.