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!

Waste Not, Want Not

Last week and this week, L had her long appointments on Monday and Thursday.  I walked on the indoor track at the Gym that I joined for 2 miles, and swam 1/2-mile one day, and walked and used the rowing machine the other day.  It's a pretty good way to waste time while L is busy and before I take her home.

Today I wanted to make a recipe in Cooks Illustrated for Lemon Tiramisu.  Tiramisu is one of our favorite special desserts - I don't make it too often because it's a lot of work.  I don't actually remember where I found this recipe, possibly from a magazine many years ago, but I've tweaked it a bit over the years.  One of the biggest changes is using Milano cookies instead of lady fingers, since those aren't easy to find around here.

T's Tiramisu

- For the custard, beat 6 egg yolks in a bowl until thick, then beat over a double boiler, gradually adding 1/4 c sugar and 1/4 c Amaretto.  Continue to cook and stir for about 6 minutes until thick.  Remove from heat and continue beating until cool.

- Beat 1 1/2 c Mascarpone until smooth.  In a separate bowl, whip 1 c heavy cream until it forms stiff peaks, then fold into Mascarpone.  Fold this mixture into the custard.

- Mix 1 c strong coffee, cooled, with 3 T Kahlua in a small bowl.  Dunk Chocolate Milanos in this mixture and then make a layer of these on the bottom of an 8" square baking dish.  Spoon half of custard mixture over cookies, then repeat with a layer of dunked cookies and the remaining custard mixture.  (You will need most of 2 bags of Milanos for this recipe.)  Dust with cocoa or chocolate curls.

- Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving, but 4-6 hours is even better.

*******

The Lemon Tiramisu uses lemon curd in place of the custard.  I couldn't find any Lemon Milanos, so I used White Chocolate Coconut ones, and they are dunked in a mixture of Limoncello and lemon juice.  I'll let you know how it tastes!

I made a double recipe of my favorite lemon curd recipe for this, which needed 12 egg yolks altogether, along with the zest and juice from 6 lemons.  

There happened to be a recipe in the most recent Cooks Illustrated for lemon syrup, which is made from the peels of those zested and juiced lemons, cut up and macerated in sugar for 24 hours.  It is currently percolating on the kitchen counter.  Supposedly it is excellent when stirred into iced tea or cocktails. 

And of course, I used 10 of those 12 egg whites to bake an Angel Food Cake, that will go in the freezer for later.

I'm pretty proud of myself for not wasting much in my cooking adventures today.  We have a pint of lemon curd in the fridge, should have a pint of lemon syrup tomorrow, one Angel Food Cake for later, and that Lemon Tiramisu to try tomorrow as well.  

I also have 4 egg whites to use (2 from today and 2 from earlier in the week.)  Any ideas?

Winter Projects

Well, we made it through Christmas.  It was lovely having J home from college for an entire month!  She is back in school for her final semester.

L also celebrated her 19th birthday 2 days after Christmas.

We actually got a bunch of snow this year, followed by really cold weather, so it stuck around.  I think we had a total of around 10 inches from Jan 6th through the present.  The girls and I got a chance to play in the snow together after 2 winters of no snow!

Because there hasn't been much outside stuff to do lately, I have worked on some projects indoors.  I have done a couple of my yearly puzzles:

J got me this Hercule Poirot one for Christmas - 
I have also read 3 Poirot books in the past 11 days.

L brought this one home from The Louvre for me.

This project I did before Christmas - made this picture frame for L out of a cool box that salsa came in:

JP gave me a new Lego set for Christmas, this one came with a lighting set!  So I have built Notre Dame this winter as well.

The fake leather on our cool table/ottoman was peeling and flaking and looking terrible, so I decided to recover it.  Unfortunately all of the fabric stores nearby are closed, so I ordered new fake leather from Amazon.  As you can tell, the true color looks a lot different than the picture on line. 😕  It does look a whole lot better though.

My next project will be on a larger scale, and I think we'll need to call in some professional help.  The hot water valve under JP's sink sprung a leak and ran all night down into L's room.  It messed up her ceiling and 2 of the 4 sides of her window well, as well as the drywall below the window.  The carpet was soaked too.  We moved her into J's bed for a couple of weeks until everything was dried out and cleaned up, but the repairs have not started yet.

In addition to this, I will be picking up some extra work, but most of it can be done remotely - I am covering labs and imaging for a couple of providers at another Family Practice who are out on extended leaves - this should last through the end of February.

I also joined a Gym - can you believe it?  I plan to exercise there twice a week while L is having extended medical visits north of here.

The forecast is calling for more snow tomorrow.  Stay warm and safe, everyone!

Blue Christmas

It seems like a long time since I last posted, and I guess it has been 2 months!  It has been a very stressful time, and I don't feel like I can get into too much detail here, but L withdrew from college for mental health reasons at the end of October and we have been on a journey to get her better since then.  Frustratingly there has been very little forward progress.  On one hand, I'm glad that she is here where I can SEE her, but on the other hand it is heartbreaking to see how miserable she is day in and day out and not be able to do anything about it!

I kind of feel like my entire life has been on an extended pause punctuated by short bursts of panic and small breaks in the clouds every now and again.  At the same time, life is barreling forwards regardless, and Christmas (believe it or not) is in 2 days.  I am going through the motions, but not feeling it this year.

On top of everything, both my practice and JP's have been purchased by another company and so much is still up in the air with that - neither of us really knows what this means for the "bottom line."  Basically it means that both my home life and my work life are pretty stressful at the moment.

Some of the bright spots lately have included:

- carving pumpkins (grown right here on Poplar Ridge) with L.  Hers is Elmo on fire, mine is Elizabeth Bennet (one of my favorite literary characters.)

- hanging out with JP's sister and family for Thanksgiving, including my great-nephew (named Bennet in honor of one of my favorite literary characters) who is a fun little guy.

- making some tiny doll house items from a kit gifted to me by J's roommate/BFF and additional daughter by proxy.

                                        

- being unable to find a cheese advent calendar for J, so making my own.

-seeing the sun rise over the frosted valley on my way to work last week.

This morning I had the chance to meet up with my dear friend for coffee and a catch-up.  That was wonderful!  I do have one batch of Christmas cookies in the fridge before slicing and baking.  L has a long appointment and then is going out with friends this evening.  J is out Christmas shopping.  JP is working.  I should be cleaning, but can't get motivated. 

Let me leave you with a little bit of the Christmas cheer that I've been able to generate: