More Tomatoes

I took that bucket of tomatoes I picked yesterday, and went out to get some more this morning. 

I've decided to pull up the Super Sauces... they are just too firm and meaty for my liking, and taking forever to ripen... and frankly, I have enough tomato products in our freezer for the winter for just Keith and me. 

 These are a mixture of Gypsy and Abu Rawan, the cracked ones are the Abus... they almost all cracked... and they have the distinctive green "cap", of the one on the right.  

That's a Gypsy second from right in the lower row. 

Sweet tomato goodness... and yes, there are some Super Sauce slices in this bowl. 

As you will note, I do NOT remove my skins.  They go in the blender this way. 

Crummy blender picture, but you get it, I'm sure. 

Those tomatoes became this pot of tomatoey goodness.  

I used Mrs. Wages Italian sauce blend, and a quarter cup of sugar.  Boiled, then simmered for 25 minutes. 

Made this much.... perfect for Keith and me.  I am going to keep using these smaller containers.  You see a larger one on the right... I'll use this sauce first.  The other three are going into the deep freeze this afternoon to be used during the winter.  These little containers hold just the right amount for one dinner helping for us, with no waste.  Perfect! 

Those are some of our pears marching along on the counter behind the sauce. 

Ranger's meds. 

Ubiquitous cords. 

I wish my counters looked like those on Pinterest, but what the hey? 

We live here. 

Gratuitous picture of Lilly Ann, because she is so gorgeous! 

This Year's Crops

Don't think we're getting much corn from our own corn trial this year. 

The goats ate the planting on the other side, in the old horse trough.  There are about four ears here worth picking.  

The weeds you see behind it are growing where the melons are growing.  Keith was afraid to weed-eat too closely to the growing tips. 

Hurry up and grow, Pumpkins!  It's August 20th! 

Despite all attempts to die of wilt, the Abu Radwan tomoatoes are still going strong. 

So are the Super Sauces.  The Gypsies.... not so much. 

And we may even get a few green beans from our plantings.  They have all blossomed, but, so far, no beans have grown.  These were planted way late, since the peas were so late in the cool spring. 

I'm not holding my breath. 

And this guy, friends, is the FIRST SNAKE I've seen in the henspa!  DRAT! 

He had everyone spooked, and I got only two eggs from there yesterday. 

There was MUCH consternation going on, and Fleura, the brown hen, was actually facing OFF against the snake, who was hiding in the end nest. 

Flowers and Goats

This somewhat cloudy view from the front door this morning shows the fog we had last night, and the rabbit that has been visiting the gardens daily.  Lilly has been stalking this rabbit! 

Here is was eating sunflower seeds and other seeds early this morning, along with the wild birds.  The vivid purple flowers in the foreground are in a box on the deck railing, and are volunteers for the fourth year in a row! 

Kody was up early, too, and bounced out to the big rock pile that Hayleigh and Chris made for them last week.  How they love to jump on it! 

Kaycee was not far behind him.  You can see how their little horns are growing now. 

They are much bigger than their Aunt Abby.  

They are also starting to eat more and drink less, and I am stretching out their bottles. 

'

They want to be OUT every time I open the gate, but are still too little to be out unsupervised. 

The pasture has too much high grass where predators can lurk, watching.  I do let Lilly in the pasture in the morning, and this morning, she smelled something near the goat pen, her ruff went up, and she ran off, nose to the ground, following it.  She was down in the high grass for a long, long time. 

We do try to get them out several times a day so that they can run and stretch their little legs. 

This is the hollyhock in the north bed. 

I had totally, totally forgotten it was black!

Closeup of the blooms. 

I had several other hollyhocks, which are biennials, but lost them last year.  

This east-facing bed has just become TOO overrun with aggressive flowers.  I'm going to have to dig and separate this fall, to bring it back to order... and put some good compost in it.  Kathy next door will get the divisions since she wants to increase her perennials.  That's a volunteer sunflower in the front, which I just went ahead and left.  The giant buddleia in the middle... is getting really giant! 

Mondarda "Jacob Cline".... just beautiful.

It's doing so well, but I watered it faithfully in the drought.  It has really rewarded me. 

I love the bright butterfly weed, asclepias tuberosa... it's the first time I've grown it.  Except for the yellow varieties slight desire to lay down, it's lovely. 

It's fun to look back a year ago to see what was blooming... the purple monarda was already blooming... but has not yet, this year.  They were baking in triple digit temps.

And in the south bed, there was a beautiful hydrangea, and a lovely sweetspire bush blooming, but I lost both of those in the drought.  The sunflowers were going gangbusters, but grew SO well that we pulled out the volunteers this year.  

And these two beauties were in our pasture, eating away.  They came when Renee and Brian came to take the llamas home with them.  Aren't they lovely?  They were two Hackney pony mares... and though we wanted another pony, these two were pretty spirited.  They have gone on to a  friend of ours, and are still being worked with, now, a year later. 

It's fun to look back a year later to see how things have changed, and things have stayed the same. 

Here's our dear old boy this morning, keeping me company as I type.  

What a wonderful dog this has been, our Ranger.  Found in the countryside, starving and hurt, he has known only this place his last eight years.  Protector and companion, he is old and arthiritic, but aren't we all.... and the fact that he wants to be by me in the mornings means everything to me. 

For all of you who commented about the families who bought chickens from us last week... they were decent people, and the father who spoke to Keith spoke from the heart.  We felt so sorry for them on one hand... cast out from the country of their birth, but also glad to have them here in the United States with us... because they are the sort of people who built this country up from the wilderness, not to be scorned and belittled, but encouraged for their hard work and steadfastness. 

Off my soapbox, and out to the henyard! 

Something I've Never Seen Before!

Okay, I saw something tonight I have NEVER seen before. 

I have a bunch of red hens, and they all look alike, except that several have longer legs than the others. 

They are all production reds, as far as I know, as Rhodies have darker feathers in my experience. 

So tonight, I'm filling the pool in Swamplandia, and I notice a chicken clumping along oddly, next to me. 

I watched her for a minute, and then took a good look at her feet. 

Can you SEE them? 

Biggify if you need to! 

Each toe was encased in a solid capsule of dried MUD. 

On two of her toes, the capsule was large. 

I caught her (easily) and brought her in the house, over the heads of Ranger and Lilly, and got Keith up to help me. 

I don't have pictures, but here's what we did.  (MY NEW CAMERA... the one bought the week of the reunion... has failed, just like the one before.  Canon will be getting a letter with both cameras this week). 

We held her close to us, and talked to her gently, and soaked her feet in an old bowl of warm water.  Then Keith began to pick at the toes on the left foot, while I held her.  It took almost fifteen minutes to get the capsules loose and be able to pick them off.  Except for one squirm, she was very good, and talked to us while we did it. 

That one big squirm caused a nasty mess in the kitchen, but oh, well. 

I carried her back out to the henhouse, and put her down... and she walked a couple of steps, realized she wasn't encumbered, and ran to the roost happily. 

That's a new one on me, each capsule was round, just like you see above. 

Swamplandia. 

The ducks are moving next week, as soon as Chris comes to help me. 

It was a gorgeous day, notwithstanding this mess... and the catmint is blooming away in the garden. 

As I went by it, I noticed it was teaming with Croation bees.  (Our neighbors, the Spehars, are from Croatia, and keep several hives)

I hope this video will load, because the sight was lovely. 

PS If the cameraperson could keep her camera still while she was shooting a video, it would be a lot easier to see the bees working away, there were probably 50 of them. 

Turn the sound up though, so you can enjoy the birdsong! 

Gardening and Goats

I planted more stuff today, and in an unusual container, one which we discussed moving around the yard.  In the end, I left it where it has sat the last year, since we don't have horses anymore. 

This trough was always a pain to fill and a pain to clean, and I was glad when I could quit using it, finally. 

Not going to tell you what's in it... it's going to be a surprise for you, and for Keith. 

I planted the same seeds in the garden, too. 

I have to pat myself on the back... see the marker?  I've used them all season. 

At least four of the tomatoes are flowering now.  Yayyyy!  I can almost taste them. 

The lettuce bed is going bonkers, and the birds are getting as much as we are.  I'm taking a big bag to my friend Jill tomorrow. 

I cleaned the henspa out and re-bedded it with fresh straw... and everyone was very happy. 

Including everyone outside, because I put fresh straw down there, too.  In the fall I am going to have GREAT compost. 

These guys continue to crack us up.  I spoke with Carol Abramovitz tonight, the lady whose goats I looked at in April.  Her doe that she thought was due May 1st was actually due tomorrow... and I am going to go over and look at those babies, too.  She asked me how many times a day I was feeding these two here, and I told her "three or four"... she gasped.  I just added it up... they are getting fed six times, and have access to fresh hay, a tiny amount of feed, goat minerals, and fresh water.   I'll reassure her when I see her Saturday or Sunday. 

They played for a long time tonight with Aunt Abby, who got worn out. 

I swear she thinks they are dogs. 

Abby proves here that she still has the moves!

And there went my seed packet! 

Mutiny in the Henspa, and the Goats have some Visitors

We had a couple of mutineers get loose today. 

Here's one of them, Splash.  She found nirvana in the spillover from the feeder. 

Suzie, the tiniest of the grown hens, also got out.  She discovered yesterday that she fits right through the gap between the gate and the fence pole in the henspa yard.  She has been going in and out at will. 

I don't know how long Lilly's reserve can last, so today, I blocked the entrance with a bucket.  The SECOND I showed up to move the bucket and go in, Suzie darted out this afternoon, followed by the white mutineer above as I opened the gate to carry a bucket out.   

They are both back in now. 

Do you see the straw in the middle of the picture above?  Those are the German Butterball potatoes I covered up Monday.  Can you see how far they grew in two days? 

I cut the center of the pasture tonight, to keep the weeds from coming up and blooming in the middle, where we need to re-seed this fall.  Troy is going to loan me his aerator at the right time, so I can aerate and then put down new seed.  As you see, parts of the pasture still have good grass. 

This is looking east, towards the Spehar's ponds.  

You can just barely see Mr. Spehar's beautiful vegetable garden, and his new greenhouse on the left. 

Kathy-next-door brought Catherine, Austin and Aaron over to play with the little goats. 

My gosh, the goats were happy! 

Austin and Aaron had a go at feeding them.  Kaycee is there... he likes to kneel down while he is eating. 

The babies LOVE Kathy, every time she comes over they want to be on her. 

As the sun began to set, we all walked over to see if we could convince Splash to go back in. 

We couldn't. 

Kathy loves flowers like I do, so we talked about splitting these iris in the fall, and I'll give her some of each clump.  I'm just so pleased with these, I bought them from a lady here in Leavenworth County a few years ago, she sells them from her yard, unnamed. 

Last night, two people suggested that we have our vet disbud while the babies are being neutered next week. I'm going to talk to her admin tomorrow and find out if that can be done.  

I know someone else also made a comment that they can't believe we're having a vet do the job... I think elastrators are inhumane, that's my reason and I'm sticking to it. 

These little guys have really stolen our hearts! 

Bits and Pieces Thursday

Cold today, 37 when I went out to do chores... and still only 42 at 4:54.  The wind is blowing, and it feels MUCH colder. 

I moved things around in the big henhouse, and put a light on Nugget and her babies. 

They were grateful. 

This is the first of the babies, the strongest.  It is a week old now, and honestly, I don't think the eggs left under her have a hope of  hatching. 

I did make sure all three chicks were alive, and moving around... the third was out and drank and ate a bit.  I'm sure it was very cold.  It felt the heat from the lamp and froze and stood and let the heat beat down on it. 

The henyards are a mess, and it's slick in there, but cold or not, the hens rushed out this morning. 

You can see the pasture has greened up nicely. 

Our mower would not start two days ago, so Keith is going to charge it tonight.  We have not used it since the end of August last year... I may have left the headlamp on or something else stupid, and ran the battery down.  Then again, we may just need a battery.  

It's too wet right now to cut, but I hope to get started in the next few days or we're going to need a Bush Hog in here! 

I'll take the time to rake, too... and give all the grass to both pens of chickens to go through. 

What the hey????

This shot up since Sunday... it's in the pea bed, but could it be a PEA?  That far up in two days? 

Somehow I don't think so. 

The sump pump in our well is working overtime again, since the water table is so high. 

The sump keeps the well house pumped out so that Keith can go down and change the filter for the house water from time to time. 

He still has to wear his wet boots to do it.  

Abby loves to play in the water. 

And that's it for another soggy day at Calamity Acres! 

A Picture Heavy Post

Warning!  This post is going to be picture-heavy!  

I read one yesterday where the blogger wanted to catch up... there were 62 pictures in the post, and they are ALL GOOD. 

I won't do that to you.  

I just have a lot of pictures right now! 

I got out today for the first time in five days.  Keith came home from work, and managed to get the low-slung HHR up the drive.  Wow!  I got out!  

I was starting to go a little cabin-crazy, but not too much, because, you see, I like to be home. 

We went to eat at Red Lobster.  Keith loves Red Lobster, because he loves seafood.  I am not such a seafood lover, but I keep seeing the lobsterfest commercials on tv, and I told Keith... "You need to have some lobster", and since I am not eating meat on Fridays, we picked Red Lobster.  As we came in there, we both looked towards the lobster tank.  We were seated, and Keith said "I don't want lobster now, I looked at the lobsters" and I said "I did TOO!".  We just can't do it. 

He had shrimp scampi with a salad and a side of rice pilaf, and I, who don't usually eat fish, had fish and chips, and it was very good. 

Keith eats at Red Lobster for lunch off and on.  

The poor little girl was swamped, and the assistant manager took our order, and someone else brought the food... and the little girl forgot Keith's drink.  He finally told her he didn't need it, since he had finished.  I brought mine home for the dogs.  (the fish). 

So...where are the pictures???

This is last night in the big henhouse.  Jackson the turkey always roosts on one of the low roosts, and Rosie, the hen turkey, goes up to the rafters.  When I got out there to shut up last night, this is what I found: 

Here he was, up on the closet roof, clearly scoping out a place to roost. 

The two bowls are feed and water for the rafter roosters (bantam hens and roosters) . In the snow, the little bantams don't come down, where they have to compete with the big hens and Rambo for feed... so I feed and water them up top. 

Here is little Bluey, a blue silkie.  She is in a corner of the henspa, and was on ONE egg.  She is holding it tightly.  I took it today, I just don't want any babies this year. 

Here is the vixen last night.  I only saw one possum before her, and we have not seen the coyotes in over a week.  She clearly hears or sees something, because shortly afterward, she went off to the northeast.  

Let me interject here (Cheyenne, if you are reading this)... we suspect that for the whole time we have lived here, we had nightly wild visitors.  It wasn't until we got the camera that we saw what they were.  To our knowledge, coyotes had come into the pasture only twice before.  We lost a couple of geese to predators many years ago, and we got the llamas as protection... and had geese and ducks for a long time afterwards.   We think the fox and coyotes were still coming in, it is just so dark we never saw them.  

The only reason I began putting feed out was to get pictures, to see what was coming in.  Yes, we suffered the loss of a rooster and two hens, and then one more hen that had been locked out a few weeks ago AND, Annabelle and Clarabelle.  

I quit feeding... it was stupid to start... but now, with this heavy snow... the vixen is expecting, we think... and I started a week ago at the first snow to put feed out again.  It's scraps and cheap dog food.  When the snow has melted and things have greened up, we'll slowly stop feeding again, and then stop for good. 

We are taking care to keep the birds locked in the henyards for a while, though they clearly want out in the pasture.  We are going to order some electric fence and fence off the top of the pasture, so that any coyote trying to get in in the daytime will get a big surprise. 

Admit it, you want my chore coat.  What you can't see is that Rosie had just shat upon me and got my whole arm... from the rafters.  Ugh.  She missed my head, thank heavens.  Keith had to kid me; the lens had gotten dirty but you can see I'm a wet mess. (I washed coat and whole ensemble right after this). 

I have nursed this caltha along for almost four years, it was a gift from someone at work.  It is ready to transplant again, but is blooming now, so I know spring is close! 

The Kansas River at DeSoto... you know me, I would have stopped in the middle of the bridge and set up a shot... but Keith zoomed across.  The tiny little black specks are migrating ducks, not geese.  They are also on the pond at the end of our road. 

You can still see the sand flats, but the river is up a lot. 

Farm fields in the river bottoms, it was white as far as you could see. 

Jackson tonight, at 5 PM.  He's a Happy Boy.  

He doesn't know it, but we got his antibiotics, and he starts his treatment tomorrow... funny, the Sulmet must be working because he's not choking and coughing as much. 

Today on the deck... I finally figured out how to put the camera to get a good picture.  There are five blue jays in this picture, and it's feed fortex, water fortex, and then a smaller feed fortex.  

Blue Jay and male Cardinal. 

Just the front of the woodpecker on the left. 

Different woodpecker at the suet bar at 5 PM. 

Bluey STILL indignant with me tonight. 

Abby giving the stink eye to the chickens in the henspa when I said "It's time for the chickens to go to sleep, Abby". 

'

She takes her job seriously, though. 

As you can see, there was a group that was ignoring her. 

The garden this afternoon.  Keith and I talked as we ate... we are going to go ahead and set up a seed-starting area in the big workshop, since it's going to be some weeks before we can get the greenhouse put together.  

Tomorrow, we go to the Johnson County Garden Show.  We did our WalMart grocery run, and our feed store run this afternoon, and now we can get up, chore, and go over and think about fun gardening things.  We're really looking forward to it. 

I want to give a shout out to Leann at The Old Parsonage... I entered a giveaway on her site a few weeks ago, and she notified me on the blog last night that I had won the Martha Stewart Encyclopedia of Crafts, and brand new from the printer edition, to boot!  I have checked this out of the Tongie library several times, so what fun it will be to have a copy here!  Thanks, Leann... and if you don't know her blog, it's a very good one and worth the visit! 

That's it for today from Calamity Acres!