I Shouldn't Be Allowed To Own Animals

I have a reoccurring nightmare that I come home from a trip to find that I have animals that I have forgotten about and didn't arrange for anyone to give them food or water while I was gone.  They are dying and I am struggling to get them some food and water before they die.  They usually make it but just barely.  Well.....my dream has become my reality.  It happened like this....

A couple of days ago I clipped the ducks wings because some of them were getting too much air.  When I do this I always herd all the ducks into the inner hutch so I can catch them easier and shut the little trap door.  As I clip their wings I lift the door up and let them out one by one.

I always have trouble remembering to tie the trap door open when I'm done, but I usually remember within 24 hours.  The last couple of evenings when I locked the ducks in and added food to their feeder I was surprised at the amount of food left in the feeder....it was like they weren't eating any of it....wait a minute, they aren't eating any of the food....why not?  Why are they GOBBLING down the spent grain I throw out for them in the mornings?  Why are they quacking SO loud to get out in the mornings?  Hold it....the trap door is shut!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

I felt SO bad!!!!  I've been feeding them in the evenings and all they could do was just look at the food through the fencing.  I felt horrible for a long time, but then I told myself to get over it and just try to do better.  They all made it...they are all still plump and happy. 

But really?   SHEESH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I Don't Want To!

My day was productive, but it seemed as if I was busy doing things I wanted done but did not want to do...
First, Lucy's barking woke me up at 4:00 am.  She would not quit so I brought her in to our bedroom again.  That would have been fine, but she would NOT stay in her bed, so I didn't get very much sleep.  Then I did laundry and vacuumed the house.  Then I worked on Christmas cards, which are coming along nicely by the way.  Then I took Lucy for a walk.  Then Dale and I met Levi at the school wood shop where Levi helped us get set up to work on the paneling some more.

 Once we were home we dug all the slivers out of our hands (we forgot to take gloves with us).  Then I helped Levi and his friends make some cake and cookies for their Shakespeare class party tomorrow. 

Yes, they are using black frosting....

Now, I think I will do something I DO want to do.....sit in my chair and crochet for awhile by the fire....

Kitty looks annoyed....

Scottish Egg

Last Saturday we had breakfast at the Dock Shack Cafe and I tried something new.....a Scottish Egg...

A hard boiled egg surrounded with ground sausage that is rolled in bread crumbs and fried in oil.  It's garnished with a spicy mustard sauce and served on a bed of spinach and lettuce. 

The Scottish Egg was very good...in fact everything there was delicious and although the egg plate was small the other breakfast dishes were very large servings.

I'm Mad At The Dog

When Lucy was younger she was an excellent guard dog.  She hardly ever barked and if she did it was for a reason, and we could usually tell what she was barking about by the way she was barking.  One bark ofr a bear, one bark for a deer, one bark for a garden customer that had arrived on their bike and another bark for anything strange like ducks outside the fence.  Now that she is older she barks more often and we can't always tell why she's barking.

photo courtesy of Ben Adams Photography

This morning....early, early in the morning I might add.....she started to bark and wouldn't stop no matter how many times we told her to stop.  We didn't want the neighbors to get mad so we brought her into the house, in our bedroom.  But that wasn't enough....she kept "woofing" off and on for some time after that. Eventually she settled down and we were able to go back to sleep.  

Today she was still worked up about something and would have barking spells.  She escaped by slipping out of her collar TWICE!!  Fortunately I found out both times before she took off.  And then, when I took her for a walk later this afternoon she kept pushing against me while we were walking.....what is her problem!?!?!  Is there really a bear out there in the woods or is she just getting senile?

Sometimes

Sometimes crochet projects go well and sometimes they don't....

You can't be afraid to rip things out when they aren't turning out the way you want....

It was worth it....

Bear Protection

A couple of weeks ago I bought my first gun, a .45 caliber Ruger Vaquero....

I've been wanting something to carry with me when I pick berries and to have in my night stand when Dale is away.  There have always been guns in the house with plenty of ammo, but I am not familiar with any of them and wouldn't know what to grab.  I decided I needed one of my own.  Today Mr. Adams and I headed out to the shooting range with our good friends, Kelly and Kelly Jean Warren to try it out.

There have been a lot of bullets shot here over the years.....

First Mr. Adams showed us how it's done...

Then he gave me few pointers....

I was a little nervous, but we were shooting some fairly light loads so the kick wasn't too bad.

I found out that I move, or "flinch" when I squeeze the trigger.

The guys say it just takes a lot of practice.  That can be expensive...have you checked the price of bullets lately?   Sheesh!

Next it was Kelly Jeans' turn...

She looked much cooler shooting then I did!

Thanks for taking us to the range today, Mr. Adams!

New Light Fixtures

A couple of the light fixtures in our house were hopelessly outdated, so I recently purchased some new ones form Cabelas and installed them.  Here the old one that was hanging over our living room table...

And this is the new one...

Here is the old one that hung by the door to the sunroom....

Ooooh. it's dusty.....Oh well, here is the new one...

These are beautiful light fixtures, but they kind of glare in your eyes.  We'll have to explore different light blub options, or maybe frosted globes.  Oh well, it's an improvement over the old ones, that's for sure!

Stuffed

Well, the wind blew but the electricity stayed on and our Thanksgiving Day was filled with food, fellowship and fun....it was a good day.  Here are a few shots from my kitchen this morning...

Every good cook knows that every great dish begins with butter...right?

Just ask the Pioneer Woman, she knows it's true.  The butter was for the stuffing.

Here's a Thanksgiving Day joke for you:  How can you tell if it's stuffing, dressing or filling?  Well, the first helping is dressing, the second helping is filling and the third helping is stuffing!  Very true!

Yams, purple potatoes, Yukon Gold potatoes and onions with lots of black pepper, roasted in the oven...

Bog cranberry sauce and Lingonberry sauce for a taste test.....

They taste very, very similar but  I would describe the lingonberries as having a "high/sharp/clear" flavor with a bright color and the bog cranberries as having a slightly "mellow/low" flavor with a deep color.  They taste  so similar that I see no reason to keep them separated in the future. 

2 cups berries...

Just as much sugar as berries...

A 1/4 cup water...

 Bring to a boil and boil for 10-15 minutes....

Absolutely beautiful!

It sets up as it sits...

It was worth every hour I spent on my knees in the muskeg....

And blackberry cobbler made from the blackberries picked in Oregon this summer...

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything thy goodness sends.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson
 

Oh, The Weather Outside Is (Going To Be) Frightful...

Check out our weather forecast for Thanksgiving....

When the wind blows the ducks like to stand on their tippy-toes and flap their wings like crazy...

I, on the other hand, like to sit in my recliner by the fire and crochet.   I recently saw this baby sweater on a blog called, Posie Gets Cozy, (thanks Erika!) and got inspired....

How cute is that?!?!?!  Of course I need to make one.  I don't happen to have an off white yarn like that at the moment so I am making mine with a bit more color, for a boy...

So, let the wind blow!!