Archive for October, 2010

Here’s Lookin’ at You, Kid

Thursday, October 21st, 2010

We let the turkeys and goats out in the yard for a while this afternoon.

turkeys

They were all incredibly interested in the area where Bernie was splitting wood, and his log splitter.

turkeys

Bernie has actually trained the turkeys. He points….

turkeys

And they fly up…..

turkeys

Georgia was totally fascinated with this.

turkeys

Probably because Georgia doesn’t quite understand the concept of “trained”.

turkeys

Bernie gave a piggy back ride or two.

turkeys

And then he and the turkeys contemplated the meaning of life.

turkeys

Hank really enjoys his piggy back rides.

turkeys

I could just kiss the feathers off these turkeys.

turkeys

*sigh* Here’s lookin’ at you, kid.

turkeys

Posted in basic living, goats, turkeys | 11 Comments »

Fall Reminds Me of Tabascos

Sunday, October 17th, 2010

In our garden, the very last things to ripen at the end of summer are tabasco peppers. This morning Bernie reminded me that we’ve gathered ripe tabascos while wearing winter coats in the past. And in 2008 I posted about making tabasco sauce on November 6th. It doesn’t matter when I start the seeds, the last things we harvest in our summer garden are those tabasco peppers. I think they really prefer an area with a little longer growing season, but they still do fairly well up here, even if they cut it dangerously close to our first frost each year.

A couple of weeks ago we picked the first of the ripe tabasco peppers and then dehyrated them. Once dried, we crushed the peppers and put them in a pepper shaker. This morning we picked a few more, and made a nice sized jar of tabasco sauce.

tabasco sauce

I’m hoping to get enough tabascos to can a few jars of sauce to carry us through to next year. The plants are loaded in peppers – I’m hoping enough will ripen before the frost gets here.

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Posted in basic living | 3 Comments »

Sinks, Turkeys, and Pups

Thursday, October 7th, 2010

Have I told you lately that I love my outside sink?

outside sink

It’s so much easier to wash up the goat, chicken, and turkey feeders and waterers now.

outside sink

I’m sure we’re going to regret training the turkeys to fly up on our arms.

turkeys

But right now we’re loving it.

turkeys

They seem to especially like riding piggy back with Bernie.

turkeys

This is always a welcome sight after doing a few chores.

pups

It makes Diesel smile.

pups

It makes me smile, too.

Posted in basic living, outside sink, puppies, turkeys | 9 Comments »

Outside Sink Update

Tuesday, October 5th, 2010

Bernie put a few coats of primer on the sink and moved it outside for me.

outside sink

I just love that he painted it inside and out, and even underneath it. He put a splitter on the hose so I can use the sink, or use the outside hose. The hose that runs to the sink pokes up through it. I need to get a nozzle for it.

outside sink

And when I’m finished for the day with it, he told me to tuck the hose into the drain hole so it will just leak down and into the drain bucket.

outside sink

I am so proud of the really nice job Bernie did! It makes me even happier that it’s mostly made from scraps he had around here. Even the sink basin was free – we found it sitting by the trash can at the dump. As soon as the caulk around it dries I’ll clean the sink up good. I need to paint the cabinet, too. I’m thinking yellow…….

Thank you, my sweet B. I love the sink! And I love you.

Posted in basic living | 6 Comments »

Cheers!

Sunday, October 3rd, 2010

I had a list a mile long of things I wanted to accomplish this weekend. But we awoke to such a beautiful day on Saturday, we decided to do something we haven’t done in a long, long time – take the day off from working around the homestead. We hit a few thrift shops in town and on the way home decided to stop by a local winery that opened last year.

This winery is one of the most unusual and beautiful I’ve ever seen.

Winery

It’s called Crooked Run Cellars.

Winery

It’s an old barn and I just love it. The atmosphere suits Bernie and me perfectly.

Winery

Simple.

Winery

Understated.

Winery

Charming.

Winery

With a lovely deck.

Winery

And a beautiful view.

Winery

And the wine is wonderful! Check them out and be sure to stop by if you find yourself in the area. It would be worth planning a trip there.

Although we didn’t get much accomplished around the homestead yesterday, I made up for some of it today. I made 50 tubes of lip balm and got them ready to be labeled.

Lip Balm

I pickled 4 quarts of the last of our jalapenos with some carrots and onions.

Sweet pickled jalapeno/carrot/onion

I also put the first of the tabasco peppers in the dehydrator, and cooked some homemade chicken noodle soup for lunch.

I always love weekends. This one was especially nice.

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Posted in basic living | 7 Comments »