CONSTRUCTION JOURNAL: Look Ma, No Hands!

The basement guys have been doing amazing things with large equipment.  

 We will be sleeping in this house tonight. No jumping on the bed for us! Most of the posts were still intact. Only  the ones on the outside edges were rotting…which are the ones left. Hope the guys who will jack up the house get here before it rains again!  

 This is the blue tarp Michael and I put over the insulation in the floor 18 years ago. Still looks pretty good. We are working on what we can while our access to outside electricity is limited. More photos later. 

CONSTRUCTION JOURNAL: Let the Games Begin!

We have been preparing the front yard to become an addition since early April. Today it went from looking like this: 

to looking like this:

 Exhilarating in a fingernail biting kinda way. Michael and I have a lot of learning ahead of us, and a lot of physical labor. 

The addition hopefully will provide a number of benefits. 

  • Irene will have an in-law apartment that is closer to ground level, eliminating as many stairs and narrow doorways from her life as possible. 
  • We will have storage space indoors so that we can bring our belongings in from the pole barn. 
  • We will empty the pole barn so we can use it as work space. 
  • We will have room to have visitors!  
  • We can have family over for holiday dinners and seat them all in one room. 
  • I’ll have room for spinning wheels, looms, and related equipment. 

This may take us several years to complete, but it is exciting finally to begin. 

GARDEN JOURNAL: Currents, Red and Black

The currants remind me that July’s gem is ruby.  

Black currants probably should be called spineless gooseberries, but then who would try them? 

 We picked both in the sun and heat of yesterday, saving jelly making for the cool of our rainy today.  Red currants have pits and so must be made into jelly. Black currants have tiny seeds and make a velvety jam. Basic ratio is one to one, juice or fruit to sugar. Both have natural pectin and jell wonderfully. Ah, we are jelly rich!

GARDEN JOURNAL: The Great 'Scape

Beginning of July and the garlic begins to ripen. The soft neck varieties put out “scapes” or seed heads when they are thinking of becoming adults.  

 They can be sautéed or grilled or chopped fine and added to anything, and add a subdued garlic flavor. The scapes should be removed so the plant energy goes into making bulbs. Another month and I will be braiding garlic full time. One of the best times of year!  I’m hoping we have a basement constructed by then. Wish us luck and dry weather. 

LIVESTOCK JOURNAL: Chicks Eat Oats and Ducks Eat Oats

Went to the local feed mill today. Michael assured me that it looks exactly the same as it did 40 years ago. Bought 50 lbs of oats for $9.50. Came home and spread them around my chicken-viewing chair. The friendly chicken hopped right up, knowing I’d have a treat waiting on my knee. The skitterish chicken was so distracted by this unexpected delicacy that I managed to pick her up and get a close-up. 

No idea yet what breed of chicken this is, although I am pretty sure we have Wyandottes and Light Brahmas. They all approved of the oats:

We have 26 chickens and 15 ducks. Although the ducks are 1 week younger than the chickens, they are significantly larger:

So have a nice day and duck! 

CULINARY JOURNAL: Herb Omelettes

I love digging in the dirt, as well as the side benefits such as fresh herbs. Walked out and gathered a handful for breakfast omelettes:

Recipe:

Mix together 2 eggs, a tablespoon (or more) minced scallion, parsley and basil, salt and pepper to taste.  Heat omelette pan to very hot, add a shy tablespoon of butter. If the pan it hot, it should foam. When butter is melted, add egg mixture. Rotate pan and shake pan  to allow egg to have maximum contact with metal. Once egg is partly cooked, it will start to roll on itself when you jerk your pan towards you. Add a little flip at the end and it will turn over. Turn  onto plate. Sprinkle with cheese of your choice. Bon appetite!

PS: that is Michael’s fresh bread and yes, I did share the toast with him! 

GARDEN JOURNAL: Gophers Begone!

Webought another set of gopher traps from our local feed store after the gophers ate my first set. Michael obtained a bunch of ground staples for fencing out predators from the fowl pasture, and I adopted a couple to discourage my new traps from walking off.  This worked!  

 Gophers have incredibly soft, lovely fur…despite being destructive rodents. My township still provides a bounty for them. I wonder if I will ever recoup the cost of my traps?  I’m a sense, I hope not!  At least, not as long as my garden  remains unmolested.  Another peaceful day in the country. V

GARDEN JOURNAL: Worse Than Cutworms

We have a lovely garden. We battled cut worms earlier this year, digging them up as they feasted on our baby pea plants. Just recently we have vermin worse than cut worms:  pocket gophers. They burrow underground and eat huge swathes of plants in a blink. Argh. We bought a set of traps. I watched a YouTube tutorial and set them. I checked them. THEY ATE MY TRAPS!!!  Both of them. We will be buying more traps tomorrow. No photos. Nothing to show. Sigh. 

FISHING JOURNAL: Wolf Lake - Polk County, Wisconsin

Monday.  We visited with Aunt Harriette this morning after taking care of some of things for her.  (Harriette is Michael’s auntie, who is 96 and appreciates being sprung from the Old Folks Home every now and again). We took her out to lunch at the Kozy…they really do have good hamburgers and will fry the onions if you ask them.  On the way back to The Land we took a detour through Fish Lake Wildlife Reserve to check on the swans who had been nesting within sight of the road.  They were off their nest and escorting a clutch of four cygnets through the cattails.  Now Michael is making dinner for us here (Irene has to eat between 3-4 pm due to health issues), and then, since our day is pretty much schmeised anyway, WE GET TO GO FISHING!!!!

Having found nothing but wee ones at Atlas Mill Pond ten days ago (the last time we had a rain day from construction and garden duties), we are going to explore Wolf Lake.  Don’t know if there are fish in there, but we are willing to find out.  There is no regular boat access, so we will be throwing our canoe in from HWY 87 (there is a place to pull off where Wolf Creek crosses under the road) and paddling up the creek to the lake.  If we have luck, I’ll let you know.  If we don’t, well, I won’t be bragging that one up…unless, as is usual, even if we don’t catch fish, just being on the water is worth sharing.  Ten days ago the blue flag started to peek out at shore’s edge, the water lilies began to carpet the surface of the shallows, and blue herons hung about being great.  Eager to see Wolf Lake.  V