It's Time To Go!

 It snowed again this morning, March 2nd.

This is how much wood we have left to heat the house with the woodburner.

It's time for winter to tuck it's tail and run, I can't take much more of this!!

On the Cusp...

We are on the cusp of Spring.  I don't smell it yet in the air, but my flowers are starting to tentatively show their tips.  The lenten roses have many buds on them right now, not quite blooming in time for the first day of Lent on Friday.

Last weekend I made about 70 newspaper cups and planted seeds for the garden once things are sunny and warm.  Thery are already coming up!

These are cabbages and kale

We had sunshine and weather in the 60's on Friday, so I worked in the garden for a couple of hours and got the blueberry bushes pruned.  Yesterday it was sunny and in the 50's.  JP and I cleared the pile of blueberry bush trimmings and the junk from last fall out of the garden.  We also tried to deer-proof my flower bed by putting in more posts around it and stringing electric fencing wire.  We still need to connect it to a solar battery to electrify it.

Today it is snowing on and off - hard to believe we were working in the sunshine in light jackets just 24 hours ago!   Sigh...we are down to a month of days before the "legal" beginning of Spring!

Febru-Scary

February always FEELS like the longest month of the year, likely because by this time I am longing to see green things growing and sunshine again!  I must say that 2026 has sped by so far, so I am willing to have it slow down for February!

January 19th was Popcorn Day, so I tried out this Popcorn-on-the-cob in the microwave.  It turned out pretty well!  I also ended up making caramel corn TWICE, because the first batch disappeared in about 36 hours.  My baby brother gave me this recipe:

D's Caramel Corn

8 c popped corn        1/4 t salt

3/4 c brown sugar     1/4 t baking soda

3 T corn syrup           1/4 t vanilla

Cover cookie sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.  Spread popcorn on sheet.

In a small saucepan, combine brown sugar, corn syrup and salt and stir until mixture boils, continue to stir and simmer for 5 min, then add soda and vanilla.  Pour caramel over popcorn and toss to cover most of kernels.

Bake at 300* for 15 min, remove and stir.  Turn oven off, but return caramel corn to over for an additional 5-10 min.

JP gave me these fun socks for my birthday, and the day ended with a sunset that looked like fire in the sky.

The weather then turned bitter cold.  I decided to do some baking to help heat up the house, so I made a fancy apple pie (and baked a blackbird in the center!)

Following a few days of cold, we received about 9 inches of snow over the weekend.  Luckily, none of us needed to go to work on Monday, so we were able to spend that day digging out.

It has stayed below freezing, so even though it's been almost 2 weeks since the big snow, most of it is still on the ground.  The sun has been shining brightly for several days, however, and started to melt the snow on the barn roof.  Now we have some pretty amazing icicles!

You can see that the deer have been visiting the barn!

This one is over 4 feet long!

The forecast is calling for another 3-6 inches of snow starting tomorrow. 

Even though the days are dark and cold, L and I enjoyed a salad of fresh, homegrown lettuce this week.  JP got me an AeroGarden for Christmas, and I grew these beauties.  Currently there is some parsley and thyme growing.

I also finished building my Lego Milky Way, including some complimentary lights.  It was an unusual project, using many interestingly shaped and colored blocks.

What have you been doing to pass the long dark nights of January and Scary February?

Keepin' Busy

We are well into winter, with its short daylight hours and long nights.  I start getting more depressed this time of year - especially after the abrupt halt of fun activities leading up to Christmas and the New Year.  One thing that I typically do in the (long, long) evenings this time of year, is puzzles...or if I get a new set for Christmas...Legos.

Luckily, I did get a new Lego set for Christmas, the Himeji Castle.  It is already finished, but it was fun to do and fun to play with the lights now that it is finished.

We have had snow on and off for the past few weeks...about 4.5 inches of snow for New Year's Eve... requiring L's party guests to spend the night.  Following that, we had a big thaw, with temps on Friday topping out in the mid-60's.  Today it is cold and snowing again.  We are getting whiplash around here!  While walking in the snow last week, I found this interesting print in the snow.  It looks to me like a bird of prey (likely a red tailed hawk, as we have lots of them around here) caught a tiny beast in the snow!

The other after Christmas activity that always happens is the Putting-Away-of-Christmas-Gifts, which occasionally requires the Clearing-Out-of-Old-Crap activity.  I had actually done a bunch of the second activity well before Christmas, and stuff had been sitting around in boxes in our storage area for a couple of months, making it difficult to get to the wrapping paper!  In addition, I could no longer close the door to the garage closet where we keep the recycling and burnable trash.  So last week one day became the Getting-Rid-of-All-That-Stuff day.  I took 4 boxes of stuff to Goodwill, and dropped off the recycling on the way, since we no longer have a recycling facility in our area, and also burned the burnable trash in the incinerator.  I put all of the seats in the Highlander down, and the back was completely full!  So.  Much.  More.  Space!

Of course, since I was at Goodwill, I had to look around a bit.  I came home with a complete set of "Planet Earth" DVD's that looks new, a 3 disc set of "Finding Dory", and a brand new puzzle for a grand total of $11.38.

It came in a cute little box that looks like a book!

Currently, I am waiting for JP and J to let me know that they are on their way home from the city so that I can start dinner.  J is coming home to have a combined birthday celebration for L and me.  L slaved all evening yesterday baking a Turtle Cake for the occasion.  

Tomorrow, L heads back to work.  JP and I will take J back to the city, but first will take her and her roommate to pick up a second hand kiln that we will be storing here until they have space/need for it.  We already have J's used pottery wheel in the barn.  They are gradually acquiring the things they will need for their own studio one day.

L and I also put together this puzzle.  It was also thrifted, and was missing a piece.  😞

I'm staying busy enough lately that I haven't yet sunk too far down into the doldrums.  Let's hope it stays that way!

Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal

The above quote is from "Home Alone 2" - the first "Home Alone" movie is in our regular Christmas rotation.  Another favorite of mine is "A Christmas Story."  I just finished reading the book that the movie was based on, In God We Trust:  All Others Pay Cash, by Jean Shepherd.  I was disappointed that the book did not include the famous tongue on the flag pole scene, or the swearing during the tire change scene.

It has been very cold again, temperatures in the teens, and we got 3-4 inches of snow last night.  The chickens are doing fine, although they do not like to go outside in the snow.  They are not particularly filthy animals, but they are pretty dirty.  We get 7 eggs from the 7 hens on most days.  We have these very nice and clean nest boxes that 6 of the hens always lay in, but one lady insists on creating her own nest on the floor!

J was able to come down to help decorate the new Christmas tree the Monday before Christmas.  Stella was obviously NOT in a holiday mood at the time!

My parents and J's friend, P, were here for Christmas dinner, which was delicious.  JP did a strip steak roast in the sous vide and then grilled the outside for a nice crunch, which we devoured with a bit of compound butter, along with melting potatoes, and asparagus with hollandaise sauce.

Shallot and Parsley Butter (Recipe from America's Test Kitchen)

- 4 T unsalted butter, softened                

- 1 small shallot, minced                         

-1 med garlic clove, minced                   

- 1 T finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

- 1/4 t table salt                                        

- 1/4 t ground black pepper                      

Mash all ingredients together with a fork in a small bowl, then dollop onto wax paper and roll tightly into a cylinder and twist the ends closed.  Store in the refrigerator but remove it to soften slightly about 10 min before using.

J had to return to the city the day after Christmas, and JP had to work.  I drove J back to her apartment and then visited the nearby Oriental Grocery where she used to work.  I had a short list of things I needed, but browsed for a while, wondering about some of the more unusual items, such as these:

L's 20th birthday was 2 days after Christmas.  JP was supposed to be off, but got called in for 4 hours as the clinic was super busy.  I made L's favorite cake, Tres Leches Cake, and we had a small celebration so she could open a few of her gifts.  We will have a combo party for she and I when J can come home again later this month.

We have still been in party mode this week, as it is New Year's and work schedules have been a bit more lax for some of us.  L invited several friends over for a New Year's Eve party, and they stayed overnight due to the above mentioned snow.  This made it a good time to stay in and enjoy some of my Christmas gifts:

Cocoa with cookie man

I got these fun glow-in-the-dark plant magnets!

Cozy socks by the fire...

So here is wishing you all a warm and happy New Year!

After All, There's Only 5 More Sleeps Til Christmas

So, Holiday season is upon us.  It has been pretty busy since I last posted...party, party, party.

J came home for Thanksgiving, and we also hosted JP's sister, brother-in-law, and niece.  I decided to make use of the wood stove to bake the sweet potatoes.  The remainder of our feast was prepared in the customary way.

While J was home we had a quiet, little birthday party for her - # 23.

That weekend, L and I went up to the city to see "Les Miserables."  This was part of her birthday gift.  It was great!

Several days later, at my office, I was finishing with my last patient when the fire alarms went off.  We evacuated the remaining patients and staff and waited around for the Fire Department to arrive.  In short order, they determined that a water line had burst in the ceiling of one of the staff offices, and caused an electrical fire in a ceiling light, setting off the alarms.  The water and smoke damage was pretty much limited to that office.  While restoration is ongoing, I am sharing my office with the providers who are currently "homeless."

I attended the retirement party for the Executive Director of the Library last week.  I worked with her for 12 years on the Board of Directors, but have seen her regularly since J was a toddler and we attended Story Time at the library.  L is currently her employee, so she was there as well.

L had her office Christmas party last week and is currently at another Christmas party with her friends.  I had my office Christmas party on Monday.  We did a White Elephant gift exchange, so I made some "Emotional Support Chickens" to exchange.

Last weekend, we got about 7 inches of snow Saturday into Sunday.  It was beautiful but too cold to appreciate!

L and I had tickets to see "The Nutcracker" on Saturday night, but it was postponed to the following evening due to the weather.  JP got our drive cleared, and the Township got our road cleared just in time for us to get there!  It was a very good show.

We decided this year that our old Christmas tree had seen better days and could retire.  We took advantage of a 50% sale at Balsam Hill, and purchased a new pre-lit tree, which arrived this week.  We are waiting to decorate until Monday, when J can come home for the day.

JP has started his new job this month and is enjoying the fact that he can get home in 20 minutes after his shift ends!  He is working his first weekend this weekend.  L and I worked on baking cookies and other Christmas treats today.

I'll leave you with one last picture of a gorgeous sunset that we witnessed this week on Poplar Ridge.  Only 5 days until Christmas, and much to do...

And the Winners Are...

JP and I processed chickens on Monday.  We had 8 healthy roosters from the 15 eggs that hatched this spring and they were causing significant strife amongst the rest of the flock, fighting with each other and terrorizing the hens, especially the old ladies.  We decided to keep 2 roosters (an extra in case one was a dud.)  The winners are...

Rusty - he appears to be full blooded
Buff Orpington

Barnaby - (as in "Listen Barnaby..."from WallE) 
who is big and beautiful

The roasters went in the freezer and the old chickens were canned.  The backs went in the crock pot with some veg and herbs and I canned chicken stock the following day.  I had some major fails when canning the chicken, one jar broke in the canner, and one didn't seal.

I hate the whole processing part, but am always grateful to have the meat available for later.  This is one of the parts of living on a farm that is NOT a barrel full of fun.