Brutal Beauty

Winter 2010 has been rather eventful. We've had plenty of ice and snow, which has translated to a lot of snow days. Seems like since we've moved out to the country the winters have been relentless. We had a solid week and a half without seeing the sun.


These pictures are from the most recent ice storm. Nighttime, in black and white, light supplied by the streetlight in front of the house. I chose to do night photos because the gray light of the sunless day just wasn't doing it for me.

Also, sadly, we've had to say goodbye to many friends and loved ones. We made the trip to say goodbye to my Uncle Bud, and took these photos during that weekend at the house of some other dear relatives.

Been a while . . .

First, some bad news. Poor Speckle, the pet barred rock chicken, met her doom one late summer night. From what we could tell, some varmint sneaked into the barn and messed her up. We are still sad and still miss her.

Otherwise, things have been rolling along as they ever do here. I've been taking some photos, as you can see above. More will follow soon . . .

Taking homemade pizza to the next level . . .

So fun. Today for a late lunch we are having homemade cheese pizza. Using sauce from scratch: home canned tomatoes. Using homemade mozzarella, from our fresh goat milk. I'm also making the crust from scratch.

I'm sorry to report that a big wind came through and destroyed the hummingbird nest. So sad. Yet, I feel so privileged to have seen it.

The garden isn't doing as well as last year, but I have put up some green beans. This summer has been so cool. I don't think we've been past ninety degrees this past July, which seems unreal.
Doesn't seem like summer yet. Usually we have days that melt you the minute you step outside.

Now we are starting to see the barn swallows congregate on the power lines, which has to mean that fall is approaching and school will be starting soon. This past weekend, the kids found this gorgeous luna moth. These moths are my favorite. We looked up what host plant her larvae will enjoy most, and then relocated her to a walnut tree.

Lovey Dovey

We've had a family of Mourning Doves in our front Oak tree. This was the day before the last youngster in the nest fledged. I'm amazed that doves can raise any young, their nests are always so rickety.

For Shahan

We've had a new family move into the neighborhood! I stumbled upon this nest purely by accident. As you can see, Dad keeps watch nearby, and aggressively guards against any other hummingbirds from approaching his family's feeder, which hangs outside my kitchen sink window.

Her nest is not much bigger than half a walnut shell. You can see how well its camouflaged!

The garden is in and growing. Green beans, tomatoes, onions, potatoes, cucumbers, zucchini . . . we wanted to put in spinach and beets, but that might have to wait for a fall planting. Sounds like tomorrow we will have a long day of splitting wood . . .

spring '09

What a nice spring its been so far! Great weather for controlled burns, and here is a shot of our neighbor burning off his set-aside ground. All of our neighbors have burned their set-aside, and we got a really good, clean burn on our little patch of prairie, so I am really looking forward to seeing it green up this year.

We have a total of eight goat kids now, and we think some more are on their way. More pictures coming soon . . .

Hubby and I have the chance to travel to San Diego soon. I'm looking forward to seeing a totally different place than what I'm used to. Should be fun, and to think: four whole days without milking goats, washing dishes, cooking meals, doing laundry . . . whatever will I do?

A couple bucks

Here are the two latest additions to the herd. There were three, one didn't survive. It was also a buck. It didn't go perfectly smoothly for Sissy, but we have learned, and she is doing well. The black one weighed 7#, and the brown one 6#.