We Lost Pru

Pru on the Left

We Lost Pru-
I had a pretty stressful week this week going back to work full-time after my hand surgery but I survived. It's frustrating mousing on the computer with your left hand when you're a righty! I had kind of a weird experience leaving my work building today which I won't get into here, but pretty odd. I went out to dinner by myself since Dave had to work late, really relaxed and had a nice meal.  I went home and was giving Anya the cat some love and looked out the back yard window. My black hen was in the yard laying down. Sometimes they take dust baths and kind of doze off or just hang out. From what I could see she was not moving at all, not a good sign. I hustled out and my beautiful Pru was cold and very dead. She was quite a bit bigger than in the photo above, pretty well full grown and a beautiful black Australorp. The only thing I could see was that her neck appeared to be broken, and she had a pretty major wound on her side. I suspect it was a hawk attack. That's kind of odd if it was a hawk, that it didn't eat more? I'm not sure if there's a possibility that the four hens drove off a hawk or maybe it was an immature hawk? I don't know, which is a little frustrating but regardless we lost her. One less hen but what can you do? Sigh...

Fog and Inversion, The Kestrel's Back, Dark Days Meal, Blogger Glitch- Faded A's?

Looking down into Boise, from Bogus Basin ski area

Fog and Inversion-

It's been a busy week, sorry for not posting more. I hate this time of year. We get an inversion over the valley, with bad air and fog. It's sunny up in the foothills, oh joy! A couple of weeks ago we had a 44 car pileup due to unusually dense, rolling fog on the freeway Multiple Crashes Police indicated citations would be given for texting, tailgating, and speeding in bad conditions. Really? You have to wonder.... There's a man who survived the crash in his Subaru Outback, amazing. Yes, that's a car next to the log truck-

Not much car left, but he was in there, laid across the front seat, WOW!

The freeway was closed for hours

The Kestrel's Back-

I went out this morning (off work today) to give the girls a treat, and found this-

Looks like he got a ground dove early this morning. Ew...

Dark Days Meal-

Yesterday I took a bag of home-grown, frozen plum tomatoes out of the freezer. I made a nice batch of hearty pasta sauce with mushrooms and sausage. I used homegrown herbs too. Along with the local artisan bread (found at the Grocery Outlet), we had a feast! I used this pasta, great for a heavier sauce-

Sorry, no pics of the sauce

Blogger Glitch- Faded A's?

I have no idea why all the A's in the text seem to be faded! Working on it... If you know, please let me know!

UPDATE- I fixed the faded A's, for some reason it was because it was BOLD. Go figure!

Happy Yule, Independence Days Challenge, He's Back.... Decking The Halls @ Our Little Homestead

Happy Yule!

If you live on a farm, don't forget to put out some porridge in the barn for the Tomtens

1. Plant Something- Paper white narcissus, for inside

2. Harvest Something- Just eggs for now

3. Preserve/Store Something- Making Gravlax later today, simple and tasty. This will be for later in the week. 

Recipe for gravlax- 

1 lb. salmon (I buy wild caught frozen, pretty cheap), 4 TBL. sea salt (or kosher), 6 TBL. sugar (can use brown), 1 bunch fresh dill. Mix dry ingredients, pack onto both sides of the salmon (skin can be left on), sprinkle 1/2 the chopped dill on both sides, wrap tightly and put in baking dish. Drain the dish as needed for 3 days, turning daily. Unwrap, rinse, pat dry, slice thin, and enjoy! I serve with rye bread or crackers, lemon slices and mustard sauce. 

Recipe for Mustard Sauce- 3 TBL. of the following- light brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, 1TBL. vegetable oil, 1 TBL. sour cream, 1-2 TBL fresh chopped dill. Whisk, and enjoy! 

4. Manage Reserves- Get a Good Deal/Barter/Stock Up/Prep- Winter baking stuff on sale, Christmas lights and new snowman on sale for outside our front door. The old one was falling apart. LED lights are so much brighter and use a LOT less energy. They also last forever! Getting some breads and salmon today at the grocery outlet.

5. Eat the Food- Try New Foods/Recipe- Making a duck for Christmas dinner, with a new Lingon berry sauce recipe I'm inventing!

6. Build Community Food Systems- Buying local when I can. We ate out at a local, family owned restaurant last week, with scratch made pastas, yum!

7. Recycle/Re-Use- Donated a lot of winter decor, we're downsizing. I try to scale down more every year. I don't like the cluttered look. It's also stuff to store, when we're not using it! Got rid of our BIG Christmas tree that ate up way too much space. Donated it. We bought a brand new display one at a thrift store. A local nursery had gone out of business, and donated a lot of leftovers. It's tall, slim and fits much better in our small living room. A whopping $10.00! I fluffed it and will decorate today.

 8. Skill Up- I figured out I could use my little tea pot to brew a pot with the new Keurig machine. I used the Luzianne iced tea cup 3 times, and it came out nice and strong. Cheap and effective! It's so fast too, compared to heating up the kettle on the stove. I made Irish Breakfast tea this morning- emptied the tea into the new My K Cup filter, ran thru 2 times, nice and strong. You really can brew almost anything with this!  

 9. Regenerate What is Lost/Salvage Something- I will be re-covering 2 free chairs Dave brought home from work, that were headed for the dumpster. I bought fabric that is poultry related:)  Will post pics when done...

He's Back....

I looked out 2 days ago, after the snow, and saw our little Kestrel was back. After he left I looked at the picked clean leftovers. It looks like he took down a ground dove. Surprised me as he's not that much bigger, just a LOT faster! Since we have so many city birds here, this doesn't bother me like it might some other people. Sparrows, finches, etc., have lots of young every year. We'd be overrun, or they'd starve, if a predator didn't bring some down. 

Decking The Halls @ Our Little Homestead

Another peek at our stuff-

Hand carved wood barred rock ornament from Cost Plus, love it!

 

Scandinavian wood carving also from Cost Plus, $9.00. I loved it too much to not bring it home :)

My old favorite paper snowflake lantern

My 2 thrifted snowmen that always make me smile

In the dining room, another way to display cards

Anya dozing, thanking abut warmer days?

 I raked out a spot so the girls could come out

The snow's melting today, it's above 40!

New Neighbor- The Swainson's Hawk, Independence Days Challenge, Cookbooks & The Digital Age, Crow Wreath For Fall

My new neighbor, a juvenile Swainson's

New Neighbor- The Swainson's Hawk-

We have some Sharp-Shinned hawks in our area, but recently saw this much bigger hawk across the street. A couple of days ago it was up in our backyard tree screeching. I spent quite a bit of time shooting photos until I got a couple of clear shots. I emailed them to the head person at the Birds Of Prey Center to see if she could I.D. it. It came back that it was a young Swainson's Hawk. They mostly eat insects, tiny birds and rodents. That's good! No chicken dinner! Gorgeous bird. 

From Dave's Every Things In Photos blog

My Hubby's photo, he had a better telephoto lens and open viewing

1. Plant Something-

Nope, not til next year. Too hot (90's) and once it freezes we're done. We may get a small greenhouse next year and move the veggie bed out another 4'-6' to be able to plant more. I like this one- 6'-x-4'-Greenhouse Starter Kit  This smaller size would fit our veggie garden about right. I think it would hold up well with the winds and storms. With this we could grow more earlier and later.

 2. Harvest Something-

Several kinds of peppers, tomatoes (mostly the little yellow ones), eggplants, blackberries, kale, collard greens, and herbs. Basil is finally big enough to make some pesto to freeze. My Italian parsley is finally perking up! Compost and eggs.

3. Preserve/Store Something-

Made more pickled red onions. Will can the choke cherry jelly soon. Bought more whole grain/teff rolls as .99 cents a bag at the outlet. Really wonderful flavor. Teff is an African grain that's getting popular. I heard about thru our refugee families. Teff- Bob's Red Mill

 4. Manage Reserves- Get a Good Deal/Barter/Stock Up/Prep-

I can't remember if I posted this before or not- I found 3 brand new Eddie Bauer women's cotton long sleeve tops, vee and round neck, at our Grocery Outlet. $5.00 each! Of all places, who knew? I knew they sold cheap, odd clothes but not a more name brand! I love EB stuff since it usually lasts forever! I got a beautiful periwinkle blue, buttercup yellow, and white. They list on their website at about $25.00 each. Ha! I'm set for fall, since I can use these alone, with vests, or sweaters. 

Dave and I found some nice, new 11 x 14" frames at Ross for his photography prints. Hard to find used ones in that size. He's also getting some old, never used free LED bulbs from a pal for the house. Dave had a good idea to start swapping LED into the house- every paycheck he buys one and installs it. Over time the whole house (except the 3 way bulbs) will be replaced. Much cleaner light and they last forever!!!

5. Eat the Food- Try New Foods/Recipe-

Took all my garden veggies and made a frittata, yummy! I'm cutting back on eating and starting to lost some weight. I'm happy I only gained about 5 lbs. during foot surgery recovery, but I need to get back on track. Working on more protein, lean meats, much less grains and sugar. Kind of Primal/Paleo, but with more chocolate!

I finally bought some Orange Blossom Water at Cost Plus, since I'd heard it's a really great beverage drink and cooking ingredient. I found this and may try it: A Cool Drink  I rarely drink alcohol so this sounds great! This may be the best set of ideas: 10 Things to Do With Orange Blossom Water I've seen so far! Ooh on fruit salad!

 6. Build Community Food Systems- 

Bought local produce last week, berries and corn, awesome! Need to harvest some rhubarb, but I keep forgetting. Will sell eggs when I go back to school.

7. Recycle/Re-Use- 

Dave got 2 free end tables from a co-worker's house, they matched Dave's desk perfect. Same style, like new. :) I bought a cute, new knob from Cost Plus for the one that will go into the living room soon. Cleaning out book case for donations. Getting into storing those pages digitally (more below). 

 8. Skill Up- Learned how to spot oven-proof skillets, vs. not.

9. Regenerate What is Lost/Salvage Something-

Furniture above. 

One of my favorite cookbooks and he's so dang cute!

Cookbooks & The Digital Age-
Recently I found four cookbooks at the local library. I was going to copy and print the pages I needed, then I had a second thought- why not save the paper and ink and save them as a digital file? Bearing in mind, I do have a computer in the kitchen/dining area. The kitchen area came with a desk already built in so it's perfect. I also started going thru cookbooks on my book case and went into the same mode- I will scan what I will actually use, then donate the books to a charity. Or maybe sell them on eBay? Or save them for a giveaway! Why not? Less paper, and the pages won't get dirty!

Crow Wreath For Fall-
I saw this online ($69.00 ouch!) and thought it was too cute for fall! I think I'll make one :) From Williams Sonoma  I've never shopped there but found a great deal for an oven-proof skillet (with lid) that doesn't weigh a ton, good deal! Calphalon Covered Fry Pan  Shhhh, don't tell anybody, shipping's free! I normally don't go for non-stick, but I may this time. I'll look at it in the store.

Nature Winding Down, Falconry, & Baseball

Nature is Winding Down- The days are so short now, the leaves finally starting to fall and winter is in the air. 60-ish today, but it's not going to last. High in the 50's then low 40's by Friday, with lows in the 20's. BRRR. Our tree in front of our house finally changed colors! It took a while, and 3 days later all the leaves are on the ground. We put all our backyard stuff in the shed prepping for the weather change. Kind of battening down the hatches. After seeing the big October snow storm back east the last two days, makes me glad I pay attention and watch the weather. Some people just don't. Sometimes they pay for that. I have been cleaning and filling my oil lamps for winter too. I like to keep them in case of outages and they add a nice ambiance-

I inherited one of the little oil lamps from my beloved aunt, and found an exact match (except for the chimney) on eBay! They're from the victorian era.

Next weekend we will get the chicken sun room set up and the girls tucked in, weather permitting. It will be fun to see how they use their new digs. Only one laying still, I think the other two may wait til spring. Time will tell...

Falconry Display Today- Every year the internationally famous Peregrine Fund World Center For Birds of Prey does an "October Flights" display. My husband is a regular volunteer there, and I have "bird sat" some of the birds for public display, and cleaned cages. Today was a great way to see the birds out flying on a beautiful fall day-

All the birds flown are unable to be in the wild, due to imprinting on people. Many were found abandoned or were part of a breeding program, and would not survive in the wild. Here's a nice shot in their garden pond area- 

World Series Baseball-  I'm not a big sports fan, with too much commercialism, a general lack of ethics and the "tits sell beer" mentality. And don't ask me about the BSU Broncos- I am SO sick of the team. Being in the wrong league, it's win, win, win. Give them some bigger teams, well it wouldn't be pretty. BUT I do follow the World Series every year, just the finals. It's great to watch the two best baseball best teams in the U.S. play each other! When I watched last Thursday's Game 6, well, it was the best game I ever saw. Ever. Sheer perfection, edge of seat tension til the last second. Wow!

Congrats to the Cardinals!!!