Little Green Men

 So, this morning the local newspaper had an answer to my UFO question.

So now we know!

34

Once again it's been awhile...not too much is happening, but enough to make me feel busy ALL THE TIME.

We took our yearly vacation up to Presque Isle in Erie.  It is usually a pretty relaxing time - we hang out, play games, go to the beach, ride our bikes, etc.  What I DON'T do is cook!  This time we took in the new "Superman" movie on a super hot day (and discount day at the theater...gotta like that!) We also took a sunset cruise on the lake, which ended up being really enjoyable and beautiful.

We decided ahead of time that we would try to find some bulk peaches while we were up there to bring home and can, since I haven't been able to find any for the past 5 years.  We came home with 2 bushels full.

I worked for 3 evenings to can 40 quarts and freeze 3 gallons of sliced peaches.

While we were gone, the pullets and cockerels continued to grow.  I'm disappointed because we ended up with EIGHT young roosters and we only need ONE.

These young ones are proving to be a bit problematic.  I made them a small run so that they could scratch outside, but they didn't seem to like it, and only went as far as the "stoop" directly outside of their door.  While we were away on vacation, they started getting in with the old hens.  They also seemed to forget how to get back inside, and started perching for the night on top of a door on the hens' side.  I have pulled them off for several nights in a row and set them in front of their door to make them go in.  I finally took down the dividing fence to allow the young and old chickens to integrate, and they have done fine, although the young ones still can't manage to get back inside in the evening, although they go in and out all day long.  Sigh...bird brains!

I had some appointments north of us on the 1st Monday that we were home from vacation, and J suggested that I check out a coffee shop at the outlets not far away.  I was pleased to see this display of some of her work for sale! 

We have been working on the purchase of this used pop-up camper for about 6 weeks (the sellers ran into some problems with the paperwork.)  They pulled it down from Pittsburgh and we were able to finalize the sale last week.  I spent most of the day Saturday cleaning it from top to bottom, airing out the cushions, and laundering all of the cushion covers and curtains.  We are looking forward to some camping trips in the near future!

Last night L and I laid out on a blanket to watch the Perseid Meteor Shower.  We saw 7 or 8 in the 40 minutes or so that we were out!  We also witnessed this UFO that no one can explain.  It was too close and quiet and slow moving to be an airplane or helicopter.  Is it a drone?  Any ideas?

JP has worked 4 out of the last 5 days, including our 34th wedding anniversary on Sunday, and he is exhausted.  I have been busy taking the dog and both of my parents to their various appointments lately.  Stella is having a procedure tomorrow to remove a large skin tag from her eyelid, so the running around hasn't ended yet.  One of these days, we need to go shopping for a new car to replace my poor Subaru.  I think the 2 of us should go out for dinner as well, don't you?

In the meantime, the summer has sped by.  Kids are heading back to school soon, and it is amazing to think that this is the first Fall in 12 years that I don't have anyone going back to school!

Making Music

 Well, it's been an eventful couple of weeks!

I'm done harvesting blueberries, so I opened up the enclosure to the birds so that the remaining berries won't go to waste.  I picked enough rhubarb yesterday to make a rhubarb crisp for dessert last night - it is doing extremely well in its new area!  L planted some sunflowers, which were striking even as buds.

The deer have become extremely bold as of last year.  So far this summer, they have eaten off my mint and potted sweet potato vine, which is RIGHT BESIDE THE FRONT DOOR!!  They are also munching on my weeping cherries and hydrangea bush, as well as the balloon flowers and gladiolus in my flower bed.  JP and I made use of an old VCR tape to put up some moving hindrances, which isn't especially attractive.  My flower bed is not especially attractive anymore either, especially since the deer ate off most of the gladiolus buds.  I thought it was working to keep the deer out for about a week, until I saw that they have further decimated my hydrangea.  There have been a set of twin fawns sleeping out in the yard for the past couple of weeks as well.  HUMPH.  I purchased hunting licenses for all 3 of us on Monday...revenge will be MINE!

I spent some time recently taking care of indoor plants as well.  I had several that needed re-potting, as did my mother.  She also lost her spider plant while she was in the hospital as I didn't think about watering her plants, neither did my dad.  L had a lovely spider baby that I potted for her in a little pot that J made.  Isn't it sweet?

L recently spent a few days at the beach with some friends.  As she was packing to leave, she discovered that the case of the accordion that my mother gifted to her last summer, was moldy, and had transferred to the fabric covered trunk that she used at college.  We ended up throwing away the case, since it was moldy inside and out, but I cleaned up the accordion.  I had to bleach the heck out of the trunk before it stopped smelling musty, but despite leaving the accordion opened up out in the sun for several days, I was unable to rid it of the musty odor.  After a couple of YouTube videos, I figured out how to take the instrument apart.  I also found a tip that suggested using carpet cleaning foam on the bellows to help take away musty odors.  What do you know?  It really worked!  I would say that it is about 85% improved.  Thanks, reddit folks!

This morning, I went out to tackle the chicken yard, which had waist high weeds growing in it.  I weed eated everything down, then took the electric fence down section by section to mow underneath it. (I LOVE my little battery powered weed eater - it is so light and easy to use!  I also put these on it instead of string so that it is able to cut small bushes as well.)  After that was finished, I put up some more fencing to create a small outside run for my pullets and cockerels.  They seemed to enjoy scratching around out there for the few minutes that I watched them.

Whew!  It's a hot one today, and after all of that weed eating, I regret not having the pool opened for a luxurious soak.  C'est la vie.

Even though I won't be floating in the pool, I will do a thorough tick check and get a shower.  Both JP and I have seen so many cases of Lyme Disease this summer.  The ticks that carry the offending bacteria are so teeny, that you have to do an extremely careful check to even see them.

I picked these off me last summer...

This classic "bull's eye" rash was
on a patient last week

In other good news, JP will be starting a new job in Nov, close to home - no more driving 45 minutes one way to work!

In other bad news, L had a minor accident in the Subaru the other day.  She is fine, but the car is totaled, I fear.

Growing

Well, it's been another month, and things are continuing to grow!

I finally overcame my fears and ventured into the garden.  Luckily the grass was growing in the STRAW, not in the GROUND, so came out fairly easily, although with SO MUCH of it, it was still time consuming to pull.  I decided to limit what I grow this year, and plant things in hills instead of rows so I didn't have to clear as much.  JP and I put cardboard and then landscape fabric down over the rest of the garden to try to kill anything else attempting to grow there.  Unfortunately, despite all this AND the liberal use of compost, my seeds are not germinating very well.  I do have everything growing that I planted indoors.

The asparagus did even poorer this year than last, so I transplanted the rhubarb out of the asparagus bed BACK into the garden (moved it from a raised bed in the garden into the asparagus bed several years ago.)  We mowed down the asparagus that had seeded and will flatten the bed and continue to mow it with the remainder of the grounds.  It was too intensive of a project to attempt to start it over (see this post about how we did it.)

Meanwhile, the strawberries have ended.  We had a really good harvest this year, although we ate the majority of them fresh.  I did get several pints frozen for later.  Now the blueberries have come on strong!  I already have 6 gallons frozen for later, and another gallon in the kitchen, waiting to be washed and picked through.

The peeps, who are now 6 weeks old, are fully feathered and look like miniature chickens.  Unfortunately, we seem to have hatched a LOT of roosters - at least 7 that I'm pretty sure of, and possibly a couple more!

This cute little hen was the one and only brown peep.

This little guy has the most unusual 
coloring out of anyone.

I'm pretty sure this one is a rooster, 
and possibly full blooded Buff
Orpington.

We ended up losing our young rooster a couple of days after the hen.  At least we had him long enough to get the fertilized eggs!  The hens really picked up their egg laying when the rooster arrived, and except for one super hot day last week, I am routinely getting 5-7 eggs daily.  I had a plethora of eggs last week - over 10 dozen in the fridge, so over the weekend I made a lot of eggy things.  I made 3 quiches on Friday, using 1 1/2 dozen eggs, plus hardboiled and pickled 1 dozen.  I also took an 18 egg carton to my parents.  On Saturday I made a batch of lemon curd, and also a batch of blueberry lemon curd (which disappointingly just tastes like purple lemon curd), using a dozen egg yolks altogether.  I then baked an angel food cake with the 12 egg whites.  I am down to 6 dozen in the fridge!

The grass has been growing like crazy as well, but we've had so many super hot and/or rainy days, that we haven't been able to get it mowed until this past weekend.  I tried to use the lawn sweeper to collect the clippings for on the garden, but it wasn't working right.  I think my Dad and I got it fixed this morning, so I am heading out to finish up that project before it rains again.

In the meantime, J and her friend headed up to Connecticut with some other potters for 10 days.  They participated in a wood fired kiln up there, camping on the farm where the kiln was on some of the hottest days of the year so far!  They were interviewed for the local public radio station while there.  They seemed to have a wonderful time.

L is getting ready to head to the beach with some buddies in a week, but is currently working full time with the summer work program (that she has been a part of for the past 6 years) at the library.

I need to get outside, it is beginning to look cloudy...

Belated Mother's Day

Since everyone in my immediate family was either working, sleeping, or moved out on Mother's Day, I spent most of the day alone.  I did go to the hospital and visit my own mother, who was admitted to our local hospital with significant breathing difficulties the day I posted last.  She was transferred north of here, to a larger hospital 3 days later, where she was seen by the lung specialist.  A week later, she was discharged and was supposed to be sent to a nursing home locally for rehab for a few days.  She was actually sent to one further North of here, but after MANY phone calls, I was able to facilitate a transfer to the local one.  She has been there ever since, and still on supplemental O2.

We decided to celebrate Mother's Day on the following weekend.  J was able to come home from the city, and we had a couple of delicious meals, and made our annual trek to the local nursery to buy plants for my planters, as well as herbs and a few veggies for the garden.  This place is like a little wonderland...besides the beautiful flowers and trees, and greenhouse after greenhouse full of tiny green plants, they have some fauna roaming around.

I have finally managed to get all my flowers and the herbs planted out, along with nursing home visits to see my mother, L's appointments and work.

That same weekend, the eggs that I have been incubating began to hatch!  I woke up to see little pips on a couple of eggs, but the first chick didn't fully hatch until early evening.  The incubator instructions said to leave the chicks inside until they are fully dry and fluffy, and by the time I went to bed, there were 5 peeps in various states of dryness.  I woke around 4 AM to find 11 chicks crowding the remaining eggs, so I took 6 dry ones out to the heat lamp in the barn.

The first egg pips

The first chick to hatch

Second chick on the way out

Starting to get fluffy!

By Monday evening, all the eggs but one had hatched and 15 peeps were all out in the barn.  We left the remaining egg for an additional day, before L did an autopsy.  From its development, it appears that it died about 3 days before the others hatched.  We have 15 very healthy and active chicks of a variety of colors:  black, black with light tummies/butts, yellow, orange, and brown.  This one is the most colorful - it is black with orange on its face, some white on its wings and a light underside.

Today, at a week of age, they are already getting tiny feathers in their wings!

We got these little guys just in time.  JP and I found one of our hens deceased yesterday when we were working in the chicken house.

Meanwhile, my flowers are blooming, including the peonies (and now the rose bush!) and the strawberries are ready in the garden.  I have managed to avoid working in the garden for the most part because I am overwhelmed by all the grass growing in there.  The straw that we use for fertilizer actually seeded the garden. 😢

So cheers to all you hardworking mothers (better late than never!)

Egg-citing Egg-periments

It has been an eventful few weeks!  After all of the theater stuff was over and done, L and I went to an Alice in Wonderland themed Murder Mystery Tea.  Our character was the Mad Hatter, so we dressed the part.

We made a big Easter dinner and had my parents over.  JP smoked a ham, and I tried a new recipe for Melting Potatoes, which DEFINITELY warrants being made again.

My hens are now 2 years old, and although putting a light on in the hen house in the evenings all winter did increase their productivity, we don't usually keep them longer than this.  I am having a hard time finding peeps this spring, so we decided to try to hatch some eggs.  JP brought a rooster that was in need of a new home back from work with him about 2 or 3 weeks ago.  He immediately started doing his thing, and I put 18 eggs in the incubator on April 27th.

J's graduation from Bowling Green was on Saturday.  We found out last spring that all of the hotel rooms and Air BNBs in the area were already booked a year ahead, so we ended up staying just over an hour away with JP's brother.  We drove up from home last Wednesday, stopping first to change a flat on the OH turnpike, and then to have lunch with J at her apartment.

The following day we drove the hour + back to BG and got most of J's stuff in her apartment packed in the truck.  We then drove over an hour West to spend the evening with one of JP's college buddies and his family, before driving back to his brother's place for the night.  We made the trip again Friday to do some more packing and take J out for dinner, then early Sat AM took off for the grad ceremony.

We got a later start than intended and barely made it there in time.  Over 700 students graduated and there were 2 more ceremonies slated for Saturday!!

Today I have been working on laundry, but I also took the time to "candle" the eggs in the incubator.  17 out of 18 of them appear to be growing babies!

The dark spot is the embryo.

It was late and raining when we returned to PA, so even though we still have a truck full of J's stuff that needs to go up to her apartment in Pittsburgh, we didn't take the time to do it last night.  We may be taking it up today, although the Pittsburgh Marathon, a Pirate's game, and University of Pitt graduation are currently jamming up the roads.

SIGH.

The good news is new peeps in about 2 weeks, other than that, life is CRAZY!

March Madness

Let me start off by saying that the Lemon Tiramisu was good, but too much lemon...I think I would prefer lemon bars for the lemon kick and stick with the tried-and-true T's tiramisu going forward.

Spring is nearly here!  We have actually had to replace some of the window screens and open windows for a couple of days because the sun has been shining, and it has been lovely outside.  We did finally get the garden covered with a few leaves and straw just a couple of weeks ago.  I made about 65 newspaper pots and got my seeds started indoors at the beginning of March - a couple of weeks later than typical.  Most everything is sprouted, although I did replant a few seeds this morning.

These are eggplants, cabbage, brussels sprouts,
chard and kale

My Lenten roses and crocuses (croci??) are blooming, although a bit later than last year.

I have been trying to finish up my winter "free time" projects, since before long I will likely be spending many hours outside.

The puzzles were thrifted, and the Starry Night 
legos were a Bday gift from JP

One sunny afternoon, while disposing of old leaves and flower stalks from one of my flower beds down in the woods, I discovered a whole trash pile that I was not aware of.  In addition to the pile of stuff that I dragged up to recycle and dispose of, there were at least 2 dozen tires down there!  It makes me so angry!!

A couple of weeks ago, my friends invited me along to go thrifting.  I did find this fun Armadillo Lamp that is now on my desk at work to make me smile.

J was home 2 weeks ago for Spring Break.  We took an overnight trip to Ohio to the tri-state's largest flea market, and then to the Amish shopping center in Youngstown, where we stocked up on scrapple, lebanon bologna, cheese curds and homemade apple fritters.  We ate dinner at a fun restaurant in Wheeling where they specialize in crepes of all forms and spent the night at Oglebay there.  We played in the pool and jacuzzi before heading to bed.  It was a nice mini-vacay.

She is now back at school and we won't see her again until Grad in May!

Theater season is coming up!  I went to a fund raiser for the HS drama club at the coffee shop in town this AM, they are doing "Legally Blond the Musical" in 2 weeks.  Next weekend the local University is putting on "Percy Jackson the Musical."  The first weekend in April, Chatham is doing "Little Women the Musical" and L would like to go up for that.  Whew!

Big news - L has a job!  She is working part time at the local Library.  She is still doing 2 long appointments a week, so that knocks part of the week out right away.  She is feeling better, and her treatments should be finished by the end of March.

Well, I need to pay the bills today, so I should get a move on.  Enjoy the sunshine!