Friends in Low Places

After I typed this title, I realized that it sounds bad, but I mean it in the best way possible.  These friends are the ones who get down in the leaf debris in the woods to search out morel mushrooms, and then share them with us.  For dinner tonight, we enjoyed a dozen or more morels, dipped in egg wash, rolled in Ritz cracker crumbs and Parmesan cheese, then browned in butter.  DEEEE-lightful!

Following our dinner, I visited my other friends in low places in the garden - the asparagus, which is popping up all over.  I will need to cut some tomorrow, before it gets too big!

They are several inches taller than they were on Saturday, when I spent hours and hours in low places, getting more and more discouraged.  I sat in the dirt and dug out miles and miles of sorrel and their blasted tentacle like roots.  I ran out of steam with about 50 square feet to go.  Since then, the rain has softened things up, so maybe it will go easier in the next day or two (if I can eke out some time!)



While I was digging this weekend, the girls practiced riding bikes.  We are thinking of going to the beach again this summer, and would like to take our bikes along this time.  L, however, was still using training wheels...mostly because we hadn't taken the time to really work with her without them.  JP spent a lot of time running after her, and holding on to the back of her seat while she wobbled around on the concrete. 

What really worked, and worked as well with J 2 years ago, was sending her down the slope in the yard on the bicycle without training wheels.  The momentum she gained going fast down the hill allowed her to learn to balance, and the grass was a nice, soft place to land when she had trouble stopping.  It only took a couple of trips down the hill before she was zipping around like a pro on her bike.

All the biking this weekend convinced us of 3 things:  1)  J is too big for her bike,  2) L is too big for her bike, and 3)  When JP's bike fell down out of the barn rafters last summer, the wheels got bent out of shape and they no longer go around.  After assessing all the options, we decided that JP and J need new bikes.  L will graduate to J's bike.  Mine is still ok.  Bike shuffling all around is in order.

What better way to usher in a new season of sunshine and warm weather, than on our bikes.  I hope we can ride a lot this summer!

Bedtime Stories

For Christmas, the girls received the entire collection of books by Roald Dahl (probably best known for "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory").  We have been reading through them before bedtime since the first of the year, and just finished up "Danny the Champion of the World."

In the story, one of the characters speaks about their fondness for "toad in the hole" at tea time.  Being unfamiliar with this British specialty, we researched it on-line.  It turns out to be a dish similar to a Yorkshire pudding or a savory Swedish pancake, but with sausages nestled in it.

(What exactly a Yorkshire pudding is proves to be a bit more difficult to describe.  I ate it at home as a child, when my mother would fix it with drippings from a roast beef.  Basically you bake a thin batter made of flour, milk, and eggs at high heat until it puffs up in the middle and the edges get crispy, then you serve it with gravy.  Sounds yummy, right?)

We decided that it was something we needed to try at least once, so I whipped up a "toad in the hole" for dinner tonight.  It was delicious!

Here's the recipe, should you care to try it.  I adapted it from one I found on Allrecipes.

Toad in the Hole

12 oz. breakfast sausage links

4 1/2 t oil (I used bacon fat)

6 eggs

3 c flour

2 c milk

salt & pepper to taste

Melt fat in large cast iron skillet or 9 x 13 metal baking dish under the broiler.  Add sausages and broil for 1-2 minutes until spotty browned.  Meanwhile, whip eggs, then add remaining ingredients and mix well.  Pour batter into pan with oil and sausages, turn oven down to 400*, and bake for about 20 minutes or until the center is puffy and the edges are browned.  Serves 6.

Sorrel Sorrows

Now that we've mostly tamed the unruly and nasty multiflora roses up here (only the ones on the ridge, mind you...there are still huge ones in the woods and across the road by the creek), I've discovered my next most hated weed:  Sheep Sorrel (Rumex acetosella). 

Photo courtesy of WildFoods.info

Last summer I weeded, fertilized and mulched around most of the trees we have planted, the nine ornamental pears along the drive, the blueberries in the garden, and over half of the orchard fruit trees.  As soon as I did that, the Sheep Sorrel took over around each of them.

Today I had planned to tackle weeding the stretch of garden down towards the bottom.  There is a section of about 10 feet by 50 feet between the asparagus bed and the last row of raised beds that hasn't been attended.  Once I got started, I realized that it is coming up almost solid with Sheep Sorrel. 

I used to enjoy this plant as a child.  It is an easily identifiable edible weed with a vinegary flavor.  We would frequently add leaves of sorrel to our salads when I was young.  Now, I am waging war with this obnoxious plant.  It not only spreads by seed (and I'm positive that no sorrel went to seed in my garden last year,) but by rhizomes as well.  I worked for a couple of hours digging those suckers out today, and several times followed root systems that went on for 2-3 feet, with little plants every few inches.  Needless to say, I did not get very far in my weeding!

I finally gave up and came inside to educate myself on the eradication of Sheep Sorrel on the Internet.  What I discovered was quite interesting, and fairly encouraging!  It seems that sorrel grows well in poor soil - no surprise there...that part of the garden has never really been amended.  In fact, some farmers see its growth as a sign that they need to lime the soil.  These plants enjoy acidic, low nitrogen environments.  So, amending the soil with fertilizer and lime, along with diligence on my part with weeding, should eventually eradicate the sorrel, or at least get it to a manageable level.  I was going to plant tomatoes down there this year, but perhaps I should plant my beans there instead?

After my discouraging morning in the garden, we spent some time across the road by the creek this afternoon.  This area of our property has been neglected for decades, and is unfortunately down stream from several families who see fit to throw all their trash out in their back yards.  A couple of years ago, we found some hardy apple trees down there, overgrown amongst grape vines and multiflora roses, some of which are 10 feet tall (the roses, that is!)  They need a lot of TLC, but there is so much potential down there.

A couple of years ago, the land around the creek was extremely marshy and muddy.  My Dad spent a day pulling a bunch of trash, including old tires and fallen trees, out of the creek.  Since then, it is running better and flooding less.  The land has dried out.  Today, for the first time, I got a picture of that area as it could be:  a meadow, dotted with apple trees, and nary a broken bucket or pop can to be seen. 

We have been doing our part to get it that way!  We hauled a 55 gallon trash bag and a large bin full of trash out of there today, along with a 5 gallon bucket full of broken glass and what appears to be the shattered tank of a toilet.  UGH!  We have also been trying for a couple of years, to get a neighbor to clear the area with his bulldozer. 

Perhaps 2013 is the year of the Wisecarver Run Reclamation Project.  We'll see what we can get accomplished!

Gone But Not Forgotten

Lately I've been feeling a bit lonely and forgotten up here on the ridge.  I've been aching for a good chat with my friends, and it hasn't worked out because we are all so freakin busy.

Half-way through the week, JP (who is such a good man) suggested that we invite everyone out for a cook out this weekend.  At first I was resistant.  I wanted to hang out and be lazy this weekend...it's been a long week for me too.  I gradually warmed to the idea, and...ta da...

We pulled it off:  another successful cook out on the ridge.  I think everyone had a good time, with the possible exception of little W, who had an earache.  We all picked up where we left off, chatted, joked, told stories on our kids, and ate entirely too much.  In the meantime the kiddos all ran around outside collecting bugs, climbing up and down out of the tree house, playing ball and swinging.

I keep being reminded of what a good bunch of people we have the fortune of having a community with.  It is a bitter sweet feeling, knowing that the group used to be so much BIGGER, and missing the company of those who have moved on. 

Hey all you good people in IN and WA, we missed you this afternoon!  Please know that you are loved by a whole bunch of wonderful people in the Burg.

I'm So Ronery

I can't believe how quiet it is in the house!  All I can hear are the birds singing through the open windows, and the dogs' toenails clicking on the floor.

Both the girls are at school today, so I have a flitting preview of what it could be like next year, should L finally make up her mind to go to school.  

The dogs and I have already taken a long walk, and I put together a little cold frame of my Mom's so that I can put my seedlings outside.  I have a million and one other things I could be doing, but I was hoping that I could FINALLY get together with my girlfriends today...it has literally been 2 months since I've seen any of them for more than a minute or two. 

Unfortunately, they are busy with a million and one other things of their own, so after feeling sorry for myself briefly, I watched this clip from the movie "Team America."  It cheered me immensely. 

Now I am prioritizing my much coveted free time like this:

1.  Drink coffee outside on porch swing and read book

2.  Take shower

3.  Decide what to do next

It's pretty hard core and strenuous, but I think I'm up to it.

"Aha" Moment

What is it about Mondays?  Four days in a row with no yelling, and it all went to pieces this afternoon.

I did have a moment this morning where I was talking myself down from a mighty yell.  This is my one Monday morning a month that I have to work, and L was to ride with me to the office to be picked up there by my parents, so I was pushing her to get a move on.  She sat on the day bed with her arms crossed and a frown on her face, and started screaming.  "I don't WANT to go to your office!  I HATE your office!"  (Not true...she begs to go there.)

L:  I'm NOT going!  I WON'T get ready!

Me (calm at this point):  You always ask to come to my office...here's your chance!

L:  Uh-uh.  I don't want to go.

Me (getting slightly irritated):  There is no other option.  No one else will be here.  Please help me out and get ready.

L (tear sliding down her cheek):  NO!

Me (counting to 10 under my breath):  I don't have time for this!

Then the light bulb went on above my head.  Walking away and setting the timer, counting, threatening, yelling...NONE of it was going to work.  And ALL of those options were going to take time that I didn't feel like I had to spare.  What she needed right then was empathy.

So, I sat down beside her, and finally was able to determine that she didn't want to go because she was embarrassed about her haircut, she thought it looked "ugly"!  So I promised her that it looked very nice, it just was very different.  Since she went for 7 years without bangs, the change would take some getting used to for all of us.  I told her that the people who would see her loved her anyway, and no hair cut would change that.

That worked!  She dried her tears, came upstairs and got dressed.  This doesn't mean that she didn't take 4 or 5 breaks to play with the dogs, and she was still 15 or more minutes late starting school work.

Now if I could just figure out how to get her ready in an hour's time every morning...THAT would save a lot of frustration and near-yelling incidents too!

Tree House Take II

A month or so ago, JP noticed that the beam supporting the tree house was bowed.

The bowed supporting beam

It worried him significantly, so he removed the ladder, and put the tree house off limits until further notice.

After some internet searching, he found a used, steel I-Beam listed on Craig's List about 45 minutes North.  The price was right, so a couple of weeks ago, we headed off on a Saturday afternoon, pulling the trailer with JP's truck.  It took 4 men to load the 18 foot beast into the trailer (which is only 12 feet long.)

The following day, JP drove it to our Handyman friend's farm, where they cut it into a 12 foot length.

The girls used it for a balance beam to do gymnastics under the garage lean-to for about a week.  Last week, I scrubbed the heck out of it with a wire brush, spray painted the entire thing with Rust Stop, then painted it with Rustoleum Enamel.

Shiny new paint job!

This afternoon, JP and my Dad jacked the tree house up off the supporting beam, and ever-so-carefully replaced it with the I-Beam.

I-Beam in place under the tree house

 

As soon as the ladder was replaced, the girls scurried up there with an armful of baby dolls each, and haven't been seen since.

Notice L's "bangs", which she
cut herself this afternoon!



Tree house B&B:  back in service.