kappydell

On 4/21/2023 at 6:39 PM, snapshotmiki said:

@kappydell, I bought a  pair of  berry picking  gloves for my blackberries. They are a thicker  rubber? glove and now I am much faster and  not  torn up. 

 Like heavy cleaning gloves? hazmat (LOL) gloves?  I have to get me a pair of those.  Oh yes, I forgot the prunella vulgaris or "heal all" patch near the apple trees.  Pretty little thing, too.  I tried potting some up but it did not like being moved, so it just roams free now.  

One of the ways I am spending my "spare" time is by researching the weeds in my "meadow" lawn and their medicinal or food uses.  I knew them all in Wisconsin but they are all different here in the southland.  I have finally found info on the majority of the unknown (to me) weeds and their uses....goose

grass or cleavers, wild geranium, lyreleaf sage, orange trumpet vine...all have medicinal uses, so I will have to save a wild area so they can live there just in case.  Even blue-eyed grass has uses.  Not to mention the patches of plantain and the blackberry bushes so prolific in my yard.  So I am beginning to figure out the local survival plants - for each one I find a wild patch of I need not plant seeds to cover those particular medicinals. I'm very pleased to find so many useful wild medicinals in my yard!

I have planted a few herbs, sage, oregano, thyme an mint and I have an ongoing perennial lemon balm plant.  I guess I am going to have to order my tea tree however, as none of the local plant sources will order one for me, in fact they dont even know what I am talking about.  (Hmmmf.  Some "experts" they are....) I guess nobody learns the latin names for cultivars any more.  

We weeded the strawberries and onions and garlic yesterday.  All are looking good except the bunching onion seeds did not come up.  Oh well, I have lots of walking onions, around 50 regular onion sets and 50 garlic plants coming up nicely.  Strawberries are looking great, blooming away, and the apple trees are getting nice and big.  I am impatiently waiting for them to start bearing, but they take years to do so, so all I can do is wait until they decide they are ready.  Blueberries are getting bigger, too, and starting to bear some fruits.  But the wild blakberries are still the most prolific...and thorny....

Its a good thing the leaves and roots are medicinal, it kind of makes keeping those thorny things a little more worthwhile.  I think I'll do tinctures this year, they last longer, and are a good way to preserve their medicinal value.

Well!  We are still here, wierd weather and all.  Tornadoes missed us, one hit a nearby town.  A :'little' one, mostly trees & signs down.  So grateful, it hit the less affluent end of town, and for someone living on the edge of financial disaster, the last thing they need is a roof torn off!  But God was good and answered my request for protection for our little homestead.  We were battened down for wind, so had little damage.  Lots of rain tho.  Garden is doing well - I have romaine lettuce to pick and eat and give away.

We have been sharing eggs with church choir members for a while now, as the hens are kicking out bout 1 1/2 dozen a week.  Everyone raves about how much better the fresh eggs are than the store eggs...I cant imagine how long those store eggs have been stored before they get to the store. Our goats are all outside, well mostly.  The littlest one still gets pushed away at feeding time and insists on coming inside to sleep in his dog crate with us, after he sits on my lap.  He is so cute...he follows Mary everywhere, just like the nursery rhyme,  Im glad we busted our butts to get the garden planted, because now the docs are most of my social life.  My eye surgery went well in the first eye, except for the aggravation of getting up at 3AM to drive 2 1/2 (we sped) hours to Augusta because the surgical scheduler insisted on making my surgery arrival time 5:00 AM.  My doc was not amused when I told him I had to dig up someone to drive me in at 4 AM.  i talked to the scheduling folks and asked for an 11AM or later time for surgery for the other eye.  We shall see what they do.  Meanwhile, after all the complaining I did about my back not being right since the last hip replacement, and all the painful PT, and all the assurances that everything was just fine....my neuro doc ordered a special spine x-ray and found the rods in by back are cracked, and the screws are coming loose.  Part of me things "see, I TOLD yu something was wrong" and the other part says "how the heck do you crack a titanium rod?!?"  I do more CTs tomorrow so they can think up a treatment plan.  I suspect that new technique of putting the new hip in from the side cracked the rods, as you have to pound in part of the prosthesis to seat it properly and it was right after the surgery that I found I could no longer stand up straight and everything started getting worse and worse.  Considering legal action.  That back surgery was painful and long, recovery also, and now it appears it was undone and I might have to do it all over again.  UGH.  Meanwhile, we keep on taking care of our garden and critters.  

Well!  We are still here, wierd weather and all.  Tornadoes missed us, one hit a nearby town.  A :'little' one, mostly trees & signs down.  So grateful, it hit the less affluent end of town, and for someone living on the edge of financial disaster, the last thing they need is a roof torn off!  But God was good and answered my request for protection for our little homestead.  We were battened down for wind, so had little damage.  Lots of rain tho.  Garden is doing well - I have romaine lettuce to pick and eat and give away.

We have been sharing eggs with church choir members for a while now, as the hens are kicking out bout 1 1/2 dozen a week.  Everyone raves about how much better the fresh eggs are than the store eggs...I cant imagine how long those store eggs have been stored before they get to the store. Our goats are all outside, well mostly.  The littlest one still gets pushed away at feeding time and insists on coming inside to sleep in his dog crate with us, after he sits on my lap.  He is so cute...he follows Mary everywhere, just like the nursery rhyme,  Im glad we busted our butts to get the garden planted, because now the docs are most of my social life.  My eye surgery went well in the first eye, except for the aggravation of getting up at 3AM to drive 2 1/2 (we sped) hours to Augusta because the surgical scheduler insisted on making my surgery arrival time 5:00 AM.  My doc was not amused when I told him I had to dig up someone to drive me in at 4 AM.  i talked to the scheduling folks and asked for an 11AM or later time for surgery for the other eye.  We shall see what they do.  Meanwhile, after all the complaining I did about my back not being right since the last hip replacement, and all the painful PT, and all the assurances that everything was just fine....my neuro doc ordered a special spine x-ray and found the rods in by back are cracked, and the screws are coming loose.  Part of me things "see, I TOLD yu something was wrong" and the other part says "how the heck do you crack a titanium rod?!?"  I do more CTs tomorrow so they can think up a treatment plan.  I suspect that new technique of putting the new hip in from the side cracked the rods, as you have to pound in part of the prosthesis to seat it properly and it was right after the surgery that I found I could no longer stand up straight and everything started getting worse and worse.  Considering legal action.  That back surgery was painful and long, recovery also, and now it appears it was undone and I might have to do it all over again.  UGH.  Meanwhile, we keep on taking care of our garden and critters.  

 i love those babies!  My new batch is due in June, but thats OK.  Gives us more tie to get the chicken palace ready.  And bathtub brooders rock!

 i love those babies!  My new batch is due in June, but thats OK.  Gives us more time to get the chicken palace ready.  And bathtub brooders rock!

Jeepewrs I laughed out loud when yoj commented about "this place looks like a pill factory"....Me toop!  Only mine is eye drops right not.  Been going to docs to get all the "checkups" they all want...the cardiology surgeon, the spine doc, the eye docs (especially him, he is doing my upcoming eye surgery).  I have written out my "list all surgeries" list and :"list all meds" list so many times I finally just made xerox copies and write "see attached".  My running joke is that I have more spare parts in me than a 65 Toyota.

But it will be nice to have everything done under the hood so to speak for another year.  I do wish the docs would share into though.  It would cut down on paperwork for all of us.  My eye drops are my biggest item now...I put in drops 6 times a day, and take pills 3 times, all for the eyes.  Im hoping once the surgery is done we can cut some of this stuff out, the co-pays are really piling up. 

I had Mary take a pic of our new garden greenhouses in progress too.  If you look close (or make it bigger) on the un-covered (so far) greenhouse you can see the fencing trellis we put up over the entire thing...both walls, and the ceiling, too.  Trellis goes on inside the framing, wall cover outside to avoid punctures.  Our cucumbers loved ilast years trellis so much, and they were very pretty, nice & straight, no blemishes, all from trellising, and NO VINE BORERS!!!  Since zucchini is the thing we have the most vine borers problems with, this year I found seeds for a climbing zucchini and we will trellis it.  Hopefully it will work as well as the cucucmbers did.  We eill have three greenhouses total on the raised bed this year. 

Snails we conquered with copper tape, but it did not weather well, so I got some copper mesh to staple around the entire garden perimeter which will work just as well, plus will allow water to drain away.  The only garden pest we have to prepare for is the tomato hornworms (also called tobacco hornworms) but a quick trip to pick up some black light flashlights at Harbor Freight will allow us to take care of those with some hand picking.  The chickens should love them.  I have to trap or shoot a possum that keeps getting into the cat food for the outside kitties.  Supposedly they do not bother cats, but we have found where food is involved they will fight them and they generally win.  Messily.  Ditto for chickens.  Possum posse patrol a night or two should work.  I wish they would not go after the animals food...they eat ticks, and are otherwise harmless.  Oh well.  

I ordered mine from Hoover Hatchery.  They have a nice downloadable catalog.  Mine were under $6 each vacinnated and sexed.  I ordered Buff Orpingtons, Plymouth Bar Rocks, and Cinnamon Queens.  Minimum is 15 birds, 5 of each breed.  They call when they ship so you can pick up at post office promptly and will replace any dead birds cheerfully  Some people have reported getting extra birds in their batches. https://www.hoovershatchery.com

Great selection, beautiful color photos of birds in catalog.  They also carry ducks, turkeys, geese, pheasants, quail, etc.  

One of my favorite use it up meals is fried rice.  I often eat it for breakfast with just egg as the protein, but it will take any leftover meat or veggies, or even the stuff getting old in the crisper.

SIMPLE FRIED RICE

1-2 cups left over rice, either refrigerated or room temperature per person

some cooking fat - I have used bacon grease, margarine, oil...whatever you have enough to saute everything.  Usually 2-3 TB per person

1 egg per diner, 2 if no additional meat is being used

leftover veggies, aboujt 1 cup per person.  If no leftovers, frozen peas and carrots or mixed veggies are my go-tos.  I also use up any soft celery, green pepper, or carrots that might need using up. Chopped green peppers add nice color and flavor

any kind of onions you have on hand....green ones use the green part too, cut in 1 inch pieces, chop big ones, onion powder if no fresh available

any leftover meats, diced.  Mixed makes it more interesting. For breakfast, bacon, bacon bits, or ham goes nice with the eggs.

optional: I like to shred some kind of greens, either a collard leaf or the outer leaves of cabbage, broccoli or other brassica, or foraged greens for a little extra color.  I have shredded up a wilted radish or two which surprised me by its mildness.  

soy sauce

sugar

vinegar 

hot sauce

Saute onions if using in fat.  Add any fresh vegetables to get them softened up.  Separately scramble egg, cook and chop fine; if you like a creamier fried rice, just scramble it and set aside.  Throw if frozen veggies, if using, then leftovers/precooked meats and veggies to warm them through.  When everything is cooked the way you like it, toss in the rice and the eggs.  Precooked and chopped eggs make a drier fried rice, if you add the raw scrambled eggs with the rice keep stirring until the egg ccoats the rice.  This makes a moister dish.  Season using equal parts of sugar and vinegar (1 TB) for a sweet sour base, then add soy sauce to taste, and hot sauce if you want it spicy.  Stir to mix everything well.  The combination makes it taste more like carry out.  When everything is heated through, and egg is set, pile it on a plate and dig in.

I like this with eggs for breakfast or for a lenten meatless dish.  The meat version is a tasty way to use smaller pieces of meats, separately or in combination.  Vegetables can be easily varied to fit what you have on hand, be they fresh, cooked, foraged, or ???  I do not add more salt, as the soy sauce (I use a low sodium version, and dilte it further with a little water to get the sodium DOWN) has enough salt for me.  If you need more salt, use bouillion powder or crush up a cube, so you get more flavor than just "salty", OK?  Other optional seasonings: garlic powder, ginger, hot peppers if you like it hot.  

On 3/3/2023 at 9:39 PM, Becca_Anne said:

 

I ordered some grow lights to get my seedlings started and those should arrive Sunday so super excited to start my tomato and pepper plants. I have never tried to use grow lights just seedlings in the window which almost always die so curious to see how these go. Mostly i direct seed but wanted to try this out to see if I can extend our growing season a bit.

 

 I have grown excellent transplants under regular shop lights with regular flourescent bulbs.  I just raised the pot trays up to about 6 inches from the light  and dropped them down lower and lower as they grew.  They turned out nicer than the store's transplants.  I had them in an unheated room, so it was slightly cool for them which made them grow slower, but stockier.  I love starting from seeds, I can grow things they stores do not carry.  Special tomatoes, bred for Texas heat, for example, to handle our triple digit summer days.  This years experiment is vining/climbing zucchini, which we will put in the greenhouse we are trellising floor to ceiling.  One side for cucumbers, one for zucchini.  Hoping that will fool the vine borers. It should be a spectaclar sight but best of all productive.  Our parish priest hunts & fishes and supplies several poor families with meat...he said he would take all the excess veggies we had and give them away too.  So we hope to grow a lot, now that we know they will not be wasted.  We will also give him eggs to distribute if those 15 chickens we ordered get too frisky.  We would rather give to someone in need than sell surplus.  I do have to ask my fellow choir members to start saving egg cartons for me though, LOL.

Bantam house, outside.  a 10x10 greenhouse, fitted with fending inside to make it a free range chicken greenhoiuse.  They like it in there, ample windows for ventilation.  Banties are now giving usd 1 1/2 doz eggs a week from 5 girls.  Next photo please...inside, showing fencing and very curious birdies.

Newer, bigger "chicken Palace" for the 15 full size chickens we have coming.  Notice the 6 foot tall livestock welded wire fencing reinforcement on sides for predator control.  It is also buried down 6 inches.  Top will be tarped to provide out of sight, out of mind protection from airborn predators, as well as shade.  One end will be enclosed on 3 sides, with a raised floor to get out of rain.  Mary is making nest boxes, and we are looking for a source of coarse sand (not that polymer crap that clumps, we want ample drainage) for flooring in the banty house, as they have water issues when it rains.  I have seen modified kitty litter type scoops made from lawn rakes and hardware cloth (LOL) to scoop chicken poop to keep the sand nice and clean.  

           Here is hoping you can download these....  Next photos are of the pygmy goats playing around in their digs.  Lots of fencing all put in by hand.  Not bad for two ladies pushing 70, LOL.

      Our current spring project (Dishes sure aint never going to get done at this rate, LOL)  Is replacing the greenhouses over the raised bed gardens on one side.  The one we had there tore, and it was cheaper to buy 4 new ones than re cover the old.  Nonetheless, we are keeping the nice sturdy old greenhouse frames.  We can always cover with fencing and use to contain critters, or tarp it over to keep things dry.  AND OUT OF SIGHT....we are getting more and more new neighbors fleeing Atlanta that bring their problems with them.  Yesterday we caught a neighbor traipsing thru the yard, and when asked if we could help him he said...."I just wanted to take you ladies out to lunch". Oh, "No Thanks, we are trying to get some outside work done before it rains again"".   Nope.  More like he was "shopping"  Not that I mind him not having the proverbial pot to pee in,or even being a drunk, BUT he kept asking us for "loans" and rides and such in the past, and Im sure he was dying to see what was behind the covered fence at the front of the house or maybe see what is in our covered greenhouses.  Not that Im suspicious or nuthin'....Dogs barking alerted us.  And he disappeared real fast when we mentioned work, LOL.  We thought he had moved when his landlord died but no luck, he just changed landlords and instead of being next door is now down the road a couple blocks. 

Spring is in the air.  At least when it rains tomorrow I can (maybe) get some dishes washed at long last.  Eating off paper plates is getting old.  Mary is working on trying to get her doc to write her a disability letter so she does not have to do jury duty...she has multiple disabilities, including PTSD, and she is my chauffer for my eye surgeries and such, and jury duty would certainly complicate things.  Eye surgery cant  be posponed....I was told I had to get it or I would be blind in 6 months.  Now that would truly be "a bummer".  I already have more replacement parts in me than a '65 Toyota and I dont need more "issues",.  Wouldnt you know it, the jury duty is to start 1 week before she turns 70 - at 70 she is exempt from it.   Strange kind of karma around here lately.  Cue the "Twilight Zone" music...da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da.....

Have not been on here for a while.  very busy putting up new larger chicken run and quarters. we are planning on 12 full size cluckers to add to our egg harvests, especially as we know several others who will purchase our extra eggs to offset feed costs.  The banties are now laying 6 eggs a week, which is very good for 6 ladies.  The roosters are going along for the ride, except one has taken a dislike to Mary. He pecks at her if she tries to touch him. She wants to set him free.  I tell her that is not fair, he will just be coyote bait and we do not want coyotes looking at our place as a restaurant.  So whe gives him a wide berth when she gathers eggs.  They are delicious and just a nice size to fry up and fit on a hamburger bun nicely for breakfast.  I like breakfast sandwiches.  They also make really cute devilled eggs...one-bite size, even for smaller folks.

The new hens will be full size though, but we will handle them more as chicks, to get them gentled down some.  Also they are breeds that are more docile and calm.

The chicken coop is going up...

 

   

  Its a BIG walk in coop.  We are currently stretching chicken wire to enclose the entire thing, then will reinforce with predator proof fencing around the walls, and a tarp for shade up top.   When we are not working on that we are working on expanding the goat house to hold the two new goats...Mario and Luigi are starting to like being in their side enclosure outdoors, cavorting around as only baby goats can cavort.

 

Yesterday we took a day off to go all the way to Augusta to the University of Augusta Medical School.  They have glaucoma specialists there.  My eye pressure will not stay down, and if it not brought down I will go blind.  So apparently surgery is in my immediate future, to create a drain to allow the pressure in my eyes to be released.   Mary asked if I was nervous ab out the surgery.  LOL...I told her if it failed I was no worse off (blind) than I would be without doing it, so what the heck, I go for it.  Being blind would be trying. I always hated memorizing things, and I would have to do that to keep singing in the church choir.  And to keep playing my music.  And I would have to figure out how to write down the music without being able to see what I was doing.  Ugh.  Hoping for the best. We'll see what happens.  Augusta is a looong drive from here though, a 2 hour trip.  It beats trying to drive in Atlanta traffic though, as its all interstate.  Mary is being a good sport driving me around.  She likes the doctor - he is German - and he likes that she loved being in Germany for 3 years.  He says she speaks excellent German...no accent!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SUGAR FREE, no less????  Im sooo there!

I was at International House of Pancakes a day or two ago, and reminiscing about how they used to have at least 4 different syrup flavors available for pancakes.  No more.  One flavor.  Faux maple.  So when I ran across a batch of flavored syrup recipes on the internet I copied them into the pancake section of my recipe collection.  I found out there are also many other uses for the syrups (and how shockingly expensive they are to purchase).  Here is a batch I found on a site "wearenotmartha.com"

First, "HOW TO USE THIS OR ANY SIMPLE SYRUP"

Now that I have this syrup in my life, I can't imagine how I ever lived without it! Dare I say, it's my favorite simple syrup I've ever made??

There are so many ways you can use it, but I had so many tastes of it right out of the jar as I couldn't get over how perfectly flavored it was.

That said, here are my favorite ways to use it:

Coffee Flavoring: The most obvious way to use this syrup is for caramel flavored coffee! This is great for adding to hot or iced coffee and also makes wonderful lattes, macchiatos, and Frappuccinos.

Tea Flavoring: This caramel syrup is also delicious for adding sweetness and flavor to teas, both hot and cold.

Cocktail Ingredient: Caramel can make for super fun dessert cocktails. But instead of using a thick and creamy caramel sauce or an ingredient like caramel schnapps, this syrup will easily blend right into drinks and add tons of caramel flavor. Use it in white Russians, mudslides, vodka sodas, and so much more!

Cocktail Rimmer: I always keep simple syrup in my fridge to use when I'm garnishing my cocktail rims. Brush a little bit of this syrup on the rim of a cocktail glass and you can easily adhere sugar to the rim for all kinds of fun cocktails.

Homemade Caramel Soda: If you want a fun mocktail or drink for kids, just add a little of this to a glass of soda water and you'll have instant caramel soda!

Hot Chocolate: Stir some of this syrup into hot chocolate for a caramel hot chocolate.

Ice Cream Topping: I love drizzling caramel sauce over ice cream, but this syrup also make an amazing topping!

Pancake, Waffle, or French Toast Topping: Instead of maple syrup, try topping your breakfast treats with caramel syrup!

Oatmeal or Yogurt Topping: Add a little sweetness to your healthy breakfasts by drizzling some of this on top.

Cake Moistener: Lots of bakers brush their cakes with simple syrups to make them moister and to add some sweetness. Using this syrup will also add caramel flavor! I think it would be delicious on either vanilla or chocolate cake.

Baking Ingredient: Add this to any recipe you want to add a little extra sweetness and caramel flavor to.

CARAMEL SYRUP

Caramel sauce has a lot of uses, but this homemade Caramel Syrup has even more! It's perfect when you want to add a touch of caramel sweetness to your coffee, tea, or cocktails and makes for a delicious drizzle over pancakes, oatmeal, and so much more!

1 cup granulated sugar                                                                       1 cup water, divided

1 tsp vanilla extract

Put sugar and ½ cup water in a medium saucepan and bring mixture to a boil while stirring occasionally.

Once sugar has dissolved, let mixture continue boiling without stirring. Watch closely for mixture to turn a light amber color. It usually takes about 8-10 minutes for me, but it can go from light amber to being burnt very quickly, so be sure to watch closely.

Once mixture is light amber, immediately remove from heat and slowly and carefully pour remaining ½ cup water in. It will likely splatter and steam up, so stand back while pouring. Add vanilla and stir well to combine.

Pour syrup into a heat-proof bowl or mason jar and place in fridge to cool completely. Syrup will continue to thicken as it cools.

NOTE: VARIATIONS ON RECIPE AND SUBSTITUTES

Once you know how to make this easy caramel syrup, there are all kinds of things you can do with it to switch things up! Here are a few ideas:

If you don't have vanilla extract, you can leave it out, but it does add a little more depth to the flavor.

If you want salted caramel syrup, stir in a little bit of salt when you take the syrup off the heat.

Combine this recipe with my apple syrup recipe to make a caramel apple syrup.

Stir in some cocoa powder or chopped chocolate for a caramel chocolate syrup.

Stir in some pumpkin puree for a yummy pumpkin caramel syrup.

STRAWBERRY SIMPLE SYRUP

If you love strawberries, you'll want to have a jar of this Strawberry Simple Syrup in your fridge at all times! This pretty syrup has so many uses, from making cocktails or mocktails to using as pancake syrup to drizzling over ice cream. It's easy to make and will become a spring and summertime staple for you.

1 cup water                                                                                           1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup hulled and sliced strawberries                                              

Combine water and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil.  Lower to a simmer and add strawberries to saucepan. Stir to combine.  Let simmer until sugar is dissolved and syrup begins to thicken, about 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and strain syrup through a fine mesh sieve into a heatproof container like a bowl or a mason jar. Press down on strawberries with a wooden spoon to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard strawberries or use them for something else (they make a delicious ice cream topping!)

Place bowl or jar in fridge to cool completely before using. Syrup will continue to thicken as it cools.

BLUEBERRY SIMPLE SYRIUP

1 cup water                                                                                           1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup fresh blueberries                                                                     

Put sugar, water, and blueberries in a medium-size saucepan and bring mixture to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat and let simmer for about 10-15 minutes, until blueberries have burst and mixture has thickened.

Strain mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl, being sure to press down on the berries to extract as much juice as possible. Keep syrup in bowl or pour into a mason jar and place in fridge to cool completely before using.

Notes

When stored properly in an airtight container, blueberry syrup should stay fresh for about a month.

MINT SIMPLE SYRUP

Want to add fresh mint flavor to your cocktails without muddling a bunch of mint leaves? This Mint Simple Syrup adds a delicious minty sweetness to drinks, baked goods, and more!

Time: 20 minutes    Makes: 1 ¼ cups simple syrup   Author: Sues

1 cup water                                                                                           1 cup granulated sugar

12 fresh mint leaves

Put water, sugar, and mint leaves in a medium saucepan, stir, and bring to a boil.

Lower to a simmer and let mixture simmer for about 10 minutes, until syrup has thickened.

Remove from heat and pour mixture through a fine mesh sieve to strain mint leaves out and into a heat-proof bowl or mason jar. Place bowl or jar in fridge to cool completely before using. Syrup will continue to thicken as it cools.

APPLE SIMPLE SYRUP

Once fall hits, we want apple flavored everything! This easy-to-make homemade Apple Simple Syrup is made with fresh apples and brown sugar and can be used to flavor everything from cocktails and soda to oatmeal, ice cream, cakes, and more.

Total Time: 25 minutes      Makes: 1 ¼ cup    Author: Sues

1 cup water                                                                                           1 cup packed brown sugar (I recommend dark for

2 apples, sliced (about 2 cups)                                                               more caramel flavor, but you can use light too )

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

Put sugar, water, sliced apples, and cinnamon in a medium saucepan and bring mixture to a boil.

Once boiling, lower heat and let simmer for about 15-20 minutes, until mixture has thickened and apples have softened.  Strain mixture into a bowl, being sure to press down on the apples with a wooden spoon or spatula to extract as much juice as possible.  Keep syrup in bowl or pour into a mason jar and place in fridge to cool completely before using. Syrup will continue to thicken as it cools.

PEACH SIMPLE SYRUP

Wish you could bottle those fresh summer peaches up and enjoy them a little bit longer? With this homemade Peach Simple Syrup, you can! This fruity syrup is easy to make and can be used in everything from drinks to meat marinades.  Makes: 1 ¼ cups Author: Sues

1 cup water                                                                                           ¾ cup granulated sugar

1 large peach, sliced (about 1 cup)

Combine water, sugar, and sliced peaches in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil.

Once boiling, lower heat and let simmer for about 15 minutes, until mixture has thickened and peaches have softened.  Strain mixture into a bowl, being sure to press down on the peaches to extract as much juice as possible.

Keep syrup in bowl or pour into a mason jar and place in fridge to cool completely before using. Syrup will continue to thicken as it cools.

PUMPKIN SPICE SYRUP

This simple syrup is packed with lots of real pumpkin flavor and seasonal fall spices. You can use Pumpkin Spice Syrup in cocktails, coffee, and soda, and over ice cream, oatmeal, and so much more!

Time: 20 minutes      Makes: 1 ½ cups      Author: Sues

1 cup water                                                                                           1 cup granulated sugar

½ cup pumpkin puree                                                                         1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp ground cinnamon                                                                       ½ tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp ground cloves                                                                            ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg

Put all ingredients in a medium saucepan, stir, and bring to a boil.

Once boiling, lower heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes, until sugar is completely dissolved and mixture has thickened.  Pour syrup in a heat-proof bowl or mason jar and place in fridge to cool completely before using. Syrup will continue to thicken as it cools.

CRANBERRY SIMPLE SYRUP 

If you can't get enough cranberries during the holiday season, this Cranberry Simple Syrup is for you! Use the syrup to add cranberry flavor to cocktails and mocktails or top yogurt, oatmeal, ice cream and so much more with it!

Total Time: 20 minutes      Makes: 1 ¼ cup      Author: Sues

1 cup water                                                                                           1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup fresh cranberries

Put water, sugar, and cranberries in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.

Once boiling, lower heat and let mixture simmer for about 10 minutes until cranberries have burst and mixture has thickened.  Strain mixture into a bowl, pressing down on the cranberries with a wooden spoon or spatula to extract as much juice as possible.  Keep syrup in bowl or pour into a mason jar and place in fridge to cool completely before using. Syrup will continue to thicken as it cools.

CANDY CANE SYRUP

This Candy Cane Syrup allows you to transform almost any food or drink into a festive holiday treat! It makes delicious cocktails and soda and is so fun to drizzle over ice cream, in coffee, and so much more.

Time: 20 minutes      Makes: 1 ¼ cups      Author: Sues

1 cup water                                                                                           1 cup granulated sugar

4 standard-size candy canes, broken into pieces

Put all the ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring mixture to a boil.

Once boiling, lower heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes, until candy canes have completely dissolved and mixture has thickened a bit.  Pour syrup into a mason jar or bowl and place in fridge to cool completely before using. Syrup will continue to thicken as it cools.

RASPBERRY SIMPLE SYRUP

1 cup granulated sugar                                                                       1 cup water

1 cup fresh raspberries

Put sugar, water, and raspberries in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.  Once mixture comes to a boil, lower to a simmer and let simmer for about 10 minutes, until it thickens.  Press syrup through a mesh sieve placed over a heat-proof bowl, making sure to press down on raspberries to extract as much juice as possible. Keep syrup in bowl or put in a jar or other airtight container and pace in fridge to cool completely.

RHUBARB SIMPLE SYRUP

1 cup granulated sugar                                                                       1 cup water

1 cups chopped rhubarb

In a medium saucepan, bring sugar, water, and chopped rhubarb to a boil.  Lower heat and let mixture simmer for about 10 minutes, until sugar is dissolved and mixture has thickened a bit.  Remove saucepan from heat and strain the syrup into a heat-proof bowl. Press down on the mushy rhubarb to extract as much liquid as possible from it. Dispose of rhubarb mush or eat it like applesauce! Put syrup in the fridge to let it cool completely.

HOLIDAY SPICED SIMPLE SYRUP                      

1 ½ cups light brown sugar                                                                1 ½ cups water

1 cinnamon stick                                                                                  8 cloves

1 star anise                                                                                            ¼ tsp ground ginger

Combine all ingredients into a small saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil.

Lower heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes, until sugar is completely dissolved and syrup thickens.

Strain syrup into a jar or bowl to let cool completely. Store simple syrup in refrigerator. Leave cinnamon sticks and anise in the mixture, if desired, to continue to develop the flavor.

VANILLA SYRUP  

This simple Vanilla Syrup is one of the most versatile simple syrups and can be used in so many drinks, desserts, and more! It's easy to make and once you try it, you'll be sure to always have a jar of it in your fridge.

Time: 20 minutes      Makes: 1 ¼ cups      Author: Sues

1 cup water                                                                                           1 cup granulated sugar

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

Put water and sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat and let mixture simmer for about 10 minutes until sugar is completely dissolved and mixture has thickened a bit.

Pour syrup into a heat-proof jar or container. Scrape out some of the seeds from the sliced open vanilla pod with a sharp knife* and add them and the vanilla bean into the syrup.

Place syrup in fridge and let steep for at least 6 hours. Syrup will thicken more as it cools. If you want a more intense vanilla flavor, you can leave the bean in after 6 hours.*

When vanilla syrup is stored in an airtight container in the fridge, it should stay good for about a month.

Notes

*If you are in a rush and don't want to wait 6 hours for syrup to infuse, let it cool and shake jar vigorously to infuse vanilla flavor faster. Taste before using.

Scraping out the seeds and adding them to the mixture will give the syrup that flecked vanilla look and will also intensify the flavor of the syrup faster.

If you remove your vanilla bean from the syrup, you can rinse and dry it and store to use again.

I like to keep my vanilla bean in my syrup... The longer it's in, the more intense the vanilla flavor will be.

JALAPENO SIMPLE SYRUP

Time: 1 hour 20 minutes      Makes: 1 ¼ cups      Author: Sues

1 cup water                                                                                           1 cup granulated sugar

⅓ cup sliced jalapeño (from 1-2 jalapeño peppers)

Put water and sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Add sliced jalapeños.  Lower heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes, until syrup has thickened.   Pour mixture into a heat-proof bowl or mason jar (strain peppers out if you want to keep the spiciness level down). Place bowl or jar in fridge to cool completely before using.

PISTACHIO SYRUP

If you're crazy about pistachios and want to add the flavor to everything, make this pistachio syrup! The easy-to-make simple syrup is flavored with real pistachio nuts and can be used for everything from lattes to cocktails to an ice cream topping!

Time: 20 minutes      Makes: 1 ¼ cups      Author: Sues

1 cup water                                                                                           1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup chopped pistachios (can be salted or unsalted)                  ⅛ tsp salt (if using unsalted pistachios)

Put water, sugar, and chopped pistachios in a medium saucepan and bring mixture to a boil.

Once boiling, lower heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes, until mixture has thickened a bit. Remove from heat and stir in salt if you used unsalted pistachios.

Strain the mixture into a bowl, leaving behind the pistachios (I recommend saving them for snacking or topping ice cream with!). Keep mixture in bowl or transfer into a mason jar and place in fridge to cool completely. Syrup will continue to thicken as it cools.

I can only find directions for canning fruit syrups.  I have seen walnut syrup in the Ball Blue Book, but I cant find any of the other flavors.  Wpould thay can like jellies?  I dont know.  

I cant imagine why they wouldnt, but I cant confirm it anywhere.  But they all freeze, and all of them say they will last refrigerated for 2 weeks....if they are around that long, LOL.  

And, of course, CHOCOLATE SYRUP....Cant forget that.....

HOMEMADE CHOCOLATE SYRUP

1 cup cocoa                                                   1 1/2 cups hot water

2 to 2 1/2 cups sugar                                    1/4 tsps salt

1 tsp vanilla

Bring cocoa, hot water, sugar and salt to a boil in a large saucepan;  boil ab out 4 minutes.  Remove from heat and add vanilla.  Use anywhere you would use the squeeze bottle store  bought stuff...chocolate milk, cocoa, ice cream, etc...  It also flavors up nonfat yogurt and is decadent drizzed over strawberry crepes.

Certainly not low calories, but at least no corn syrup in these....Im trying to NOT eat that stuff since I saw some research that implicated corn syrup consumption with altzheimers.

  So no koolade infused corn syrup flavored sweet syrups for me (slthough that could make some interesting flavors, LOL.)

Luigi likes laps.

Today we finished up some supply gathering.  Got the list of when the various breeds of chickens are available at the Smith Feed store...their prices and selection are soooo much better than Tractor Supply!  15 chicken breeds, turkeys, guineas, 3 kinds of ducks.  The lady clerk talked about her chickens with Mary, and now we will be getting a dozen....4 New Hampshire reds, 4 Buff orpingtons, and 4 Anericaunas.....eggs of every color!   We gave our surplus small chicken coop to a neighbor who had captured the chickens abandoned by folks who moved.  He is a good neighbor, and mechanically inclined, and never asks for money when he helps us out with some electrical something-or-other that is having fits.  So we were glad to save him the $250 that that size coop costs around here.  We are ordering a very large fenced chicken run (with roof and partially covered) for the new flock.  We figure 12 hens should supplement our egg supply nicely (we eat a LOT of eggs) with a few extras to share with friends.  Dont want too many though, we do not want to have to spend b ig bucks for an agriculture permit.  So 12 is our limit.

We went out to IHOP for my birthday, and Mary got me 2 nice comfy t shirt style lounging/sleeping gowns.  I fooled around surfing the net for Starbucks copy cat recipes to see if I could find one to duplicate our friends' favorite drink (I did), then went off on a tangent with flavored syrup recipes.  Remember when IHOP had several flavors of syrup?  No more.  Heck, that was half the fun, eating an "exotic" flavored syrup.  Found a great big batch of them.  I will post them over with the recipes.  They should make pancake day much more fun, LOL.  

mario and luigi

     <<<< This is Mario.  He is 4 days older, already climbing all over 

        <<<<<<<<<<<  This is Luigi. A little younger, a little shyer

Both are 1 week old, sit on our laps to bottle feed and live in a doggie kennel inside til they get a little size on them.  We have discovered that doggie pee pads work great for lining kennel and spreading over laps at bottle time.  The dark spots on their heads are where they were disbudded.

Mary wanted one more (so that we would have a total of four) but our seller offered two for one pricing.  He has 40 young males to sell, all kinds of colors.  All Nigerian dwarf males.  He keeps the females as he sells goat milk.  He showed me how to disbud, and next week he will band the others he sold us several months back and teach us how to trim hooves.  He's quite a nice guy.  

Chicken coops have not arrived yet, but we located a source to purchase the additional birds we want without having to ship them.  Planning on cross barred and buff orpingtons.  4 more of each.  Then that is ENOUGH already, we will have to start working up the garden soil for spring planting.  Winter garden was a wash out (literally, lol).  

Miki you need to try sprouts!   Alfalfa are quite easy, and they are a popular stand in for fresh lettuce on sandwiches and all.  I keep alfalfa seeds on hand, as well as mung beans to sprout.  They are a little harder, but ever so much tastier than any frozen or canned ones.  I got hooked on them at a Chinese restaurant my husband and I used to go to...they had them on the salad bar....Mmmmmmm!  I like them sauteed too, and mixed with mayo like coleslaw.  They have a nice crunch raw, and are tough enough to stand up to cooking.

Still canning meat beign rotated out of freezer.  Hope to get the last of the first freezers' done today.  After all the trimming was done, I figure to get around 20 quarts or so of chunks in broth and some hamburger in broth (most versatile for our purposes).

Im slower than I used to be.

SURPRISE!  Our first cackleberries from the banties!  Still warm (talk about fresh, LOL).....

   The banties are 7 months old...they are right on schedule.  

Eggs are store size "small".  Pretty beige.  And into the fridge they go!  We have 6 ladies, so more may be forthcoming.  Finding those made our day.  Now,  back to work canning, LOL

I'm tired, but it is a good tired....I got a lot of stuff done in exchange for my energy.  I cut up 50 lbs of assorted meats from the freezer in preparation for canning it up.  We needed to rotate our frozen meats, and Mary has trouble with digesting legumes, so canned meats are an important protein source for her.  Me, I can eat beans 3 times a day, no problems.  We also need to make room in the freezers for more stuff....now that Christmas is over and garden prep is still at a low level, we will be going fishing, and I have a recipe for canning fish in a teriyaki sauce that I want to try with catfish.  I was watching the "homestead heart" videos on U tube and I was impressed when she rolled salmon fillets to pack her canning jars.  That looks so much easier than cutting and smooshing the fish in tightly, and it looked nicer after she took it out from the canner.  I also found my three recipes for canning pickled eggs, and various cool convenience food recipes for canning.  After all, if I am canning meat anyway, why not can "teriyaki steak bites", "italian steak bites",  "bourbon chicken" and "barbecued pulled pork" and make up some canned meatballs (3 ways - asian, tomato sauce, and mushroom sauce) while Im at it.  Not to mention the "teriyaki catfish".  (Can you tell I like asian food??)  Im hoping to have enough energy to finish off by canning up the sweet potatoes I have left.  

Oh yes, btw, we picked out what kind of additional chickens we want to get.  We wanted a heat tolerant but docile and quiet full size set of hens, so we will order six barred rock hens for eggs, and some Buff Orpington bantams, because Mary said she wanted some additional "pretty" chickens.  She wanted another color than black, white, or black and white. Banties do not lay many eggs, but they make great mothers, so a combination pet and egg flock should suit us just fine.  Mary found some full size chicken coops on sale for an unbelieveably low price and ordered two.  I ordered the nicotiana seeds she wanted along with some stumpy 'oxheart' and 'royal chantenay carrot seeds to try in our tending to be heavy soil.  AAAAND I have plotted out where the compost heaps will be going, and the goats now have a three-paddock area...the house and feed area, and two graze areas on either side of the housing area.  After all, they give us such nice compost materials...not hot, already mixed carbon and nitrogen materials, and no smell.  We already have several folks asking us if we are going to put in more sweet potatoes this year (yes) and one of my choir member friends has offered to purchase any "extra" eggs we may want to sell.  I am thinking barter, not sales....no agriculture permit is required if the  hens are primarily "pets" that just happen to lay eggs....

Wed evening Chainsaw Mary got a phone call from our prepper friends over near the lake at Possum Point.  Her husband had been watching a TB news analysys show and had seen coverage about things predicted to become very hard to find (if at all) in the coming months.  (Maybe due to CA truck regs, maybe gas prices, he didnt say).  Anyway, it was a very ODD list, but it got Chainsaw Mary all fired up on adding to our food preps.  She had been rather laid back before, believing (hoping) things would not get worse.  She is more of an optomist than I am.  First things first...the list of items that will reportedly be in short/nonexistant supply:

popcorn, potato chiops, beef, frozen fruit, nuts, grains, legumes, starchy foods, peaches, amoxicillin, chicken wings, imported foods & beverages, frozen fried chicken, pickles, plant based vegetarian meat replacements, tyleNol (especially childrens tylenol), fish sticks, cookware and cooking utensils.

What an odd list....b ut then again our prior shortages have been very hit and miss, too.  Anyway, Mary got all fired uo abd wanted to fill in more prep holes.  She even wanted to get ANOTHER FREEZER (this after I had kidded her about getting one for each kind of meat which she had said absolutely not to).  So off to Lowes which said on their website had a 5 cu ft freezer at a good price, three available in store for pickup.

Nope.  Not only none there, but the second choice we asked for from the models on the floor they would not sell us, as they don't sell display models.  Grrr.  Off to the manager to complain about false advertising.  Actually Mary went, she was much nicer than I would have been.  Supposedly there would  be punishment forthcoming for the ones responsi ble to keep the webside consistent to the inventory, BUT I am skeptical, because in her next breath the manager said they could not get anyone to work.  "Everyone wants to stay home and get paid for it".  So much for the "we will fiure you and get someone else" threat....

We were the 5th set of people that day coming in for that particular freezer...

OK, off to our favorite Walmart.  Picked up quite a bit of stuff we wanted, plus a chain and padlocks (to secure generators and fence gates) and another solar powered motion detection yard light.  Sticker shock at the checkout....prices had shot up just in the last 4 days, as expected.  Fortunately there were a few really good buys...totes....popcorn in tins ("only get the ones with reusable tops, the tins alone are worth the price") for $1.50 each.  Boy that popcorn was flying into carts as we watched, LOL.  Then off to our newly favorite grocery store (best meats in town and locally grown produce) where NY strip steaks were on sale along with pork chops, chips (2 for 1 sale), and we found the big bags of dog food there that neither one of our Walmarts seemed to be able to keep in stock  and at $4 less per bag, no less (SCORE!!)  

We filled the SUV.  We had specifically cleared out the back expecting to have a freezer in there, too.

We schlepped it all in and I played yet another round of "refrigerator & freezer TETRIS while I made room for it.  Our 3 freezers are already full, so guess what...time to rotate that meat and start up the canner.  Thank goodness I have cases and cases of canning jars.  So many that Mary had started rolliing her eyes every time I spotted a canning jar sale for the last 3 years.  They will come in handy though, so will those totes ($6 each).  

Good news is, we do not have to spend another cent on food for quite a while.  I also ordered the copper mesh to put on the garden beds for pest control, and we picked up that blacklight.  We are already planning a garden, and Mary agreed we need some more chickens for eggs.  They are nearly $5 a dozen here so Mary has agreed miore chickens might be a good idea.  We can always sell or trade extras.... 

It is now New Years Eve.  We made it thru the cold snap fine...just lost water for a couple days because someone else in neighborhood broke a pipe and what with multiple broken pipes the water company just shut the whole area off until they could find and fix.  I will demand a pro-rate discount on my next water bill (just to keep them on their toes).  All the critters did fine too...everbody seemed to like their reinforced digs, the chickens loved the heat lamp (I think it reminded them of being chicks under that same lamp when we first got them).  Or maybe they just appreciated the heat and not having to bunch up to keep warm.   Not everyone fared so well.  One of the ladies at Tractor Supply lost some of her chickens to the cold.  Never having lived in snow/cold/ice berg country she did not know how to insulate and warm the coop.  

As soon as things warmed up one of our neighbors children took their part-pit-bull dog for a walk, and as soon as they got by our property he lost control, the dog broke loose and started chasing cats.  He nipped one, too, and when the young lad tried to catch the dog he got bit.  Finally he grabbed it and dragged it away.  Cat is limping some, but does not seem to be vet-hurt.  The other neighbor came by to see if we got hurt, and told us his children were afraid to play outside because they let that dog run free.  Hopefully getting a ticket will deter that...we have seen him around late at night...maybe not anymore.  

Then I got my social security check, and we laid in quite a few supplies, as there were genuinely good sales on canned veggies (half price), hams (spiral sliced, we got three), bulk pack chicken thighs or drumsticks (30 percent off), and several staples we use regularly.  If the stores follow their usual pattern all the "sales" will disappear in January, and prices will go up.  So we stocked up on things we regularly use.  Today we packed meat...we cut those three hams into slices sized for our ziplock bags, in meal size portions.  Same with the 30 lbs of chicken drumsticks and thighs we bought.  Mary and I are both bone-tired...Lots of housework needed catching up on after our water was off and being out shopping.  Weather was on-again, off-again rain, so the critters had to be fed indoors.  And, of course, we had to do the meat  because the refrigerator was FULL after all that stocking up.  It's worth it though even if it does give our arthritis reason to act up.  (I had been looking for a canned veggie sale this fall, as the "old" stock was  sold off to make room for the new.  Last year they did not do it so we were needing to build up our pantry again.)

Our garden is waiting for the weather to moderate a bit more.  Then we will be prepping the soil and planting "winter" crops.  Hopefully.  

Happy New Year to all, and may your new year be rich in things the world does not understand and does not give...peace, serenity, joy, and most of all love.  I doubt if the "worldly world" will improve in the coming year. I hope I'm wrong 

Wow does this post mentioning hiding places bring back memories.  I have used the kick-space (below counters) to hide things.  Some other places I have discovered (but not always used because I was renting at the time...)

That space above the cupboards that is closed in is often empty space.  Sometimes it holds heating ducts, but other times you can cut a small hole in the front of one, hide things inside atop the cupboards, and close it with a heating duct screen (slid into the hole to hide it, but easily removed by either prying off or removing a couple screws).  A real heating duct is an old hidey hole idea for many years, once accessed thru the little screen thingy that the air comes thru.  A fake one works just as well.  (Not recommended you cut holes in a rental unit, but easy to do in your own.) 

Have stairs with closed treads?  The toe kick there can be turned into a hinged door....some so called hoarders during world war 2 used to hide their sugar stash just in case the county case worker (or nosy neighbor) dropped by to see if they had been cheating with their food stamps and had "too much" sugar, or white flour in their cupboards.  They had a box made to fit in the space under the step with a hinged front where the toe-kick used to be.  A bigger set of stairs could hide an awful lot of stuff, LOL.

Got small stuff?  Put it in the shower curtain rod.  Or closet rod.  Take off 1 end, slide your stuff in, replace end and put rod back up.  LOTS of ammo, cash, silver coins, etc can be hidden in shower curtain rods...or regular curtain rods if you get the fat ones.

Old end tables with doors used to be used for storage; just remove the shelves, make them narrower, and slip in a piece of wood painted black or brown (or to match the shelves) behind them.  You now have a void to hide things behind the shelves.  Remember those huge old stereo speakers?  Nothing more than big boxes with a speaker and a few wires...easily converted to hiding large things.

Put your bed on a platform...one with a loose plywood top.  Lots of room under there, discreetly hidden.  Lots of folks are wise to this one though, so a search would reveal it quickly.  But fine to avoid "casual disclosure" of your stuff.

If you own your home you can do more interesting stuff...

One old favorite....medicine chests are often self contained units slid into a hole in the wall.  Behind them there is access between the walls.  You hide things there (easier to retrieve if you put them in bags (or long socks) and hang them from nails put in the studs behind the cabinet, LOL).  Just slide that old medicine chest back in place. 

Behind wall mounted mirrors is a similar large void.  Just make sure the fasteners under the mirror on the wall make it easy to slide it sideways (and make sure it is not too heavy to handle) and you can stash tall skinny stuff between the studs in the wall.  Moving a mirror is considered a big job, sinced most are permanently fixed and quite heavy.  But you can get lighter (non-glass) ones now, just put a fancy-schmancy frame around it to make it look like a heavy custom glass one one.   Many wall safes are nothing more than boxes fitted into the studs with a fancy front,  I have installed them in the back of my closets several times.    

Another old fave is the "Franciscan Footlocker" which is a fake drain in the utility room floor, that hides a pipe with a bottom which holds your goodies.  Put in a hole cut to fit, top with a nice looking drain, and slide it in place.  

Those toe spaces under cabinets are good hides in rental units, as they are easily refastened when you decide to move on.  So is checking the false ceilings, and hiding lightweight stuff in the overhead area, replacing the tile.  In the air ducts, if you have a register cover in the wall;  and yes, in the shower rod.   In the furniture (boxed in bed frames, under upholstered furniture next in the space under the springs, in false bottom or false backed furniture pieces, or in speakers and end tables with closed supports)  

The hiding part is easy...just make sure you can get back in easily just in case you need to access your stuff.  

And yes, I have even played with hiding stuff inside my walker frame and in my metal cane.   and no I have never used or hidden illegal drugs but in the police academy the search classes were a hoot.  If you think a house has hidey holes, you should see all the places in vehicles, LOL

Becca Ann I agree with you.  More and more of these "new" diseases are coming along, but those "universal precautions" always seem to work...wash your hands often, stay away from crowds, stay home if you are sick, etc, etc.  Not sure how well the masks work, but they certainly cant hurt and are a courtesy to those around you.  Getting enough sleep is becoming more and more touted to keep the immune system in working condition so now we all have an excuse to sleep in more often, LOL.  

Cold weather but warm wishes to all for a Merry Christmas! 

Chainsaw Mary and I survived our Christmas display marathon (3 weeks of putting up, running electricity, and etc and we have 60 lit displays, a full set of roof & fence lights which are set to music and blink on and off in time to the tune playing.  Whew!  Then on to the cookies (another 2 weeks) but we got all the cookie trays out and delivered by the day before yesterday, when we switched over to hardening the critter quarters for the coming arctic cold snap.  Oh excuse me, the SIBERIAN cold snap....

We insulated the goat shed, and windproofed it with a huge blue tarp folded over and around (like a giant Christmas present) and secured it, with one corner farthest away from the winds, opening up to a vestibule to let them in.  They were so curious, following us around like little kids (lol, now I know where that name for children came from) and had no problem learning how to get in and out happily.  We filled the bed up with nice fresh soft straw, and the eating annex with nice fresh hay to munch on if they did not feel like going out to the hay rack.  We checked it this morning, and it is much warmer inside than it was.  Mission accomplished there....l

The chicken house we reinforced by adding extra insulation and a wind break layer along the bottom where the greenhouse meets the ground to stop any wind coming in there.  We put in a large, wood box with low sides (an old cornhole game flipped over was just the right size) filled with nice new wood shavings, to insulate them from the cold ground, filled the next boxes with fresh straw, and, last but certainly not least, dug out the heat lamp and suspended it from the greenhouse frame, makin sure if it did swing around some it would not cause a fire   When I checked it at midnight tonight, it was a good 10 degrees warmer than outside, and more importantly no wind was getting in.  Chickens were making happy chicken noises, and nestled together in their ground box.  It was nice to warm up my hands after feeding my clowder of cats, plus one visitor who decided to stay, dubbed So-Jo (short for "Sojourner"). 

I am supplementing wet cat food feedings with warm buttered rice which they seem to enjoy for extra calories to help with the colder weather.  We made sure there were plenty of cat shelters in our various sheds, carports, and some outdoor ones we made by moving around items to form windbreaks with roofs for the more outdoorsy kitties.  Weare bringing the outside dog in for the cold nights, he has no house built yet, but is happy to sit in a crate in the warm living room.  Usually he loves to sleep outdoors, watching over the goats and chickens (and he takes his job  VERY SERIOUSLY, too) but when it storms or is this cold, everybody goes in their houses, so he comes in too.  And yes, we have the water trickling...down here in the South they do NOT bury the water pipes very deeply at all so we insulated them and keep a trickle going which keeps the pipes from freezing.  Gennys are full of gas and batteries are charged.  So we are ready as we can be.

BTW, we delivered the genny we bought to our friends for Christmas a little early in light of the pending storm. 

Both are disabled, and neither one could use a pull starter (even if their grown children had not borrowed their generator and returned it broken)  So when we spotted a sale we got them a genny that comes with wheels and a handle for easy moving, and a remote controlled electric starter, so they do not have to go outside except to plug things in.  Its big enought to run their heat, fridge, freezers, and stove, as well as a few lights and TV so the sale was a no brainer (price was $500 reduced)

The look on their faces when we delivered it was worth all the effort (we got the last one they had; and that baby was HEAVY!!!)  The husband had the time of his life helping us put it together, set it up and calibrate the starter, and doing a test run.  We stayed for dinner that night, and had a very good time with our old friends.

The armadillo that keeps tearing up our yard is our new years project....we have a trap with his name on it....

I offered to cook it, they are supposed to taste like pork, but Chainaw Mary declined.  She says vultures need to eat, too.  They are bad this year.  She just wants it GONE.    

We are both looking forward to January, when we can put up our feet and catch up on some inside stuff.  Mary wants to learn how to knit...fortunately I learned to knit left handed...perfect, as she is a lefty. 

Im going to try to teach her how.  It should be interesting, as I might be a good teacher, but I hate knitting, LOL.  (I just learned in case I needed to make socks and mittens one day.) Crochet or tatting are more interesting to me.  Small projects.

So Merry Christmas to everybody, and lets see what the new year brings.  

Our odd weather year is basically over, at least for summer.  Zucchini succumbed to vine borers, tomatoes were not as productive as desired due to tomato hornworms.  BUT we dug 5 bushels of sweet potatoes from the 6 plants we put in. Enough to give away, plus I bake them with whatever is in the oven for dinner at least twice a week.  They make a healthy side dish just buttered and sprinkle with some dehydrated orange peel and sugar-cinnamon.  And we picked peppers, and peppers, and PEPPERS both green bell, red bell, cayenne (green and red) and a few tabasco peppers.  My mother commented years ago that either you pick tomatoes like crazy or peppers like crazy but never both the same year.  I guess it was a pepper year.  The walking onions I planted grew nicely, and are now wintering over.  The walking (topset) garlic came in the autumn so I need to get it in its place.  We put in some fall crops, then had a heat wave so everything bolted.  Now things are more normal, so I will put in some seeds.  Lettuce, radishes and collards are my 

"musts" for winter.  Some cabbages but will have to be short season types now.  The potatoes we saved for seed are starting to sprout, but no matter since around here the time to plant is January...