Chrismas morning

Hi everyone.
Hope you all had a great Christmas!
I got off work at 0715 and on the drive home, I stoped to see the Donkey that I posted about earlier and I tried the new camera and took some pictures!

And here he is! he was out playing with his favorite toy and he just laid it on the ground to come over to the fence to say "Good Morning".

And here he is up-close and personal. Sorry the pictures aren't any better! but that's what I have for right now!

I love his markings! Do any of you know what type of Donkey he is? I really need to talk to his owner's and find out what his name is. I call him "Moose" for right now.

Just look at that face! I'll have to bring him a carrot next time.

That was my Christmas morning. And because Mark and Terri are out of town for the holidays, I'm taking care of their two dogs along with Daisy and Luke. So after getting home and feeding them and taking them outside for an hour, I went to bed to sleep until 1600.
I had a 12 hour shift last night. But we (security) were the only people in the building! So it was pretty boring. But I can use the extra $$$!

This time last year we had 12 - 18 inches of snow on the ground. But not this year. Back to normal for us. Day time temps in the high 50's and clear blue skies.
So, I though you might like to see the pictures.
Talk to you latter.
Tom

Three in a Row

Hey every one, I have recovered from my sugar high.
Today is the first of 12 straight days at work and so far there is 24 hours of overtime in there too. Christmas Day is already a 12 hr. day.
Mark and Terri will be leaving town this evening for a week to spend the holidays with his family and Gerry (My son) will be with his Mother.
So with  work and the round trips, I do not know how much I will get Posted, But I will still be reading your posts each day and commenting as I can.

I want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!! Looking forward to a new growing season and to see what you have on your list to do this next year!

Short, but hart felt!
TOM

One of my favorite things!

OK, two posts in two days! has to be a record!
To nights post is about "One of my Favorite Things"
FOOD!
As you know, I like to cook and bake and all that! And this being my day off, I'm normally at Terri's house helping to cook dinner. Tonight Mark and Terri are at a Christmas Party. So that left me up to my own devices. Could of had a bowl of ice cream and be done with it!. But not tonight! I made up a meal right from my own head! Want to guess what it was?

                                                      Well?


                                                    Got it yet?

I'll give you a hint. It involved Bread, Eggs, Milk, Peanut butter, Cinnamon, Apple sauce  and a deep fryer!

                                                      OK, here it is.

                                                       Waite for it!



                                                       Just a little more!


                                                       Peanut Butter and Apple sauce stuffed French Toast!

Say that 3 times real fast! But it was so good with a little whip cream on top! Had my dinner and desert all at the same time! With a couple eggs on the side!
I know, I know, That's not very healthy and a lot of fat. But BOY O BOY, YUM!!!!

So do you want to know how I did it?

OK,
First take 2 heaping spoon fulls of Peanut Butter (I used chunky) and 2 heaping spoon fulls of apple sauce and mix them well in a small bowl.

Take 3 eggs and separate out the yoke's. Place them in a bowl and the White's in another bowl. Whip the egg white till stiff peaks form and add a little sugar.

To the yoke's, add a little milk, sugar and cinnamon. Whisk until well combined and then fold in the egg White's.

Take 4 slices of bread (I used farm house white) and make two Peanut butter and Apple sauce sandwiches.
Cut them on the diagonal and then place the half sandwich into the batter, letting it soak for 15 - 20 seconds each side.

I have a "Fry Daddy" and its the right size for me alone. I make sure it is good and hot. Place the first half in the fryer and cook until golden, flip and brown the other side. When I take it out of the fryer, I drain it on a clean dish cloth (No paper towels for this guy!)
Continue to cook until all halfs are done.

Plate it up. Top it with a little whip cream and maybe a little chocolate sauce!
I'm so full!

You know, I think I could write a cook book!
How's this for a title?

                                   Things you should eat, Only once a year! (If That!).

Think I'm going to be sick (HIC).
Excuse me!

Hybernation

Hello everyone,
I got an e-mail from Susan over at e-i-ei-omg, telling me that she though that I had gone Hibernating from the Blog world because of the fact that I have not posted for a while (a long while!). I have been doing some sleeping, and a lot of overtime at work (with more to come!). But that is no excuse! I also dislike to post and not have some pictures to add to it!
As you may remember I dropped my camera and the replacement one is really bad (What did I expect for $20.00!?) But there is a post that I have been wanting to write and I told the story to Susan and she loved it, So get something hot to drink and sit back, because this one could get to be a long one!

MORNING DONKEY! (Picture this all in your head!)

Each morning I leave work just as the sun is coming up and have a 57 mile drive home. After a 8 - 12 hour shift, that can be a long drive!
But there is this house that I pass each day on one of the back roads I take and along side this house is a paddock where a Donkey lives. Not sure what type of Donkey he (She?) is and I want to stop some morning and talk to his owner's to see if I can get his name and learn a little about him and get some pictures!

But here is the reason I have taken to stopping and watching this guy!
On most mornings he is out side his shelter and he is playing with an old rug that he runs around shaking his head with the rug in his mouth! He will toss it in the air and catch it and run around like he is just enjoying life! This just makes me smile and makes the rest of the drive home that much more easier!

I had to stop the other morning and watch him play his game and as I stood at the fence he stopped ruining and just stood there staring at me. He walk up to the fence right in front of me and just stood there with the rug hanging from his mouth. Then he tossed his head into the air and let go of the rug.
IT LANDED ON MY HEAD! AND HE STOOD THERE LAUGHING AT ME!!

AS I pulled it off and tried to brush the dirt off, He started running around, baying (Is that what you call it?) for all he was worth! He came back to the fence and looked at me as if to say"Well are you going to toss it back?" So I did and I timed it just right because it landed on his head and he stood stock still. I guess this had not happened to him before and he was not sure what to do
So I reached over the fence and pulled it off and it was like someone had turned a light on, He grabbed the rug and took off! Running, shaking his head and tossing that rug up into the air, Letting the world know "IT IS GOOD TO BE A LIVE"!
I laughed until I cryed and as I got back into the truck to leave, his baying changed. From laughter to something less joyfull! As if to say "What? Where are you going? We are not done playing yet!"

This guy really changes my out look on the rest of the day! And makes the rest of the drive home easier! Now each day, as I get close, I slow down to see if he is out yet and if he is I stop to say "Good Morning" and he always has that rug with him.

Its funny that he can remind me that it is indeed "GOOD TO BE A LIVE!" Animal's are so much smatter than we are!
Remember, I told you it would be better with pictures!
Tom

Another Two scores

Good morning all,
Wednesday is the first day off work for me and normally I come home and go to bed. But not this time! I went by and picked up a truck load of "Cotton Dirt" and came home to work on the "Lasagna Garden"

The following photos were taken with the new (cheep!) camera I got to replace the one I dropped! Still trying to understand how it works!

This is the garden area I hope to get covered. Its pretty Baron right now!

This is the area I got covered! First a layer of cardboard, Then a layer of leaves (collected at curb side) and then the "Cotton Dirt" I have been told that the PH levels are a little high, 7 - 7.2. So I will have to add lime and egg shells to bring in back down to the natural level. But it is dark and rich with organic material. Now all it has to do is break down over the next few months and I will plant right through it come spring!  I will continue to add layers as I can find more material and compost and Worm Casts will be part of the mix!

 

 

And this is the Garlic I planted a few weeks ago. the bed was top dressed with Worm Casts before I planted. I need to mulch it soon and Wait for spring! 

And I made another score yesterday as well!
 I read Blog posts from people who forage for what ever they can find growing wild in the woods around their homesteads. Well I found a source of "PECANS"!
I was running around in town yesterday and spotted several "PECAN" trees along side one of the Fast Food joints. So I pulled into the parking lot and found that the planter on the edge of the parking lot was covered with nuts! There were a lot of nuts that had been ran over by cars and were no good. But I was able to pick up about 6 lbs in less then an hour!
With the price of "PECANS" at $6.99 a pound here, That's $41.94 That I do not need to spend! The nuts are a little wet and I have them lay ed out to dry and will roast them later. I may even plant some of them in pots to see if I can get them to sprout and plant them out next spring or fall!
Does this Qualify as Foraging? I mean I did not go into the woods and the nuts were just there! I got a lot of looks from people as I was picking them up. And because they were in the planter, there wasn't a lot of leave litter to deal with and they were pretty clean.
So what do you think? Pretty cool?
Talk to you latter.
Tom

Worm stories

Sorry everyone that it has been so long since my last post.
The weather has been so nice, that I have been out working on the garden area with as much material as I can. With no trees on the place, I have been picking up bagged leaves at curb side. The night time temps. have been in the 40's and 50'. And only one night did we get a hard freeze (27 for a low!). Each day has seemed like an early spring day, with temps in the 60' or 70's and very little rain.
The main reason for this post is a couple of posts that are on RWC. As you my have noticed, My main focus is on the Worms and how I might be able to optimize the output of Worm casts?

 Well the first article that I read was about the largest Vermacomposing operation in the Northern Hemisphere! "Worm Power". They operate on a dairy farm in New York state and they have an estamated 52 MILLION WORMS working for them! And as you might guess the main food source is cow manure. They extracted the liquid waste and then pre-compost the solid waste. This gets the tempreture up to +160 degrees, to kill patogenes and weed seeds.
"worm Power" has some interesting videos at their webb site!

And the second post is an interview with a Worm Farmer "Down Under" This is a full time operation and as it is summer down there, They are is full swing!

Well, I know that this is not much of a post, but I have the next two days off work and will try to get something posted that may intrest you
Talk to you then