Christmas dinner

We had goose for dinner. Husband did all the work. His goose was cooked (perfectly). And dinner was pretty good too.

Merry Birdie Christmas!

I am baling on the real Christmas cards this year. If I get the cards tomorrow, I MIGHT mail a few to my local friends, otherwise y’all are gonna have to wait until next year.

This year’s offering is my little tufted titmouse, all dried off after the rain the other day, and dressed for the holidays by my magic BirdBuddy.

Our sincere wishes to friends and family that you all have a happy holiday!

Snow, rain, and a Toulouse goose (or 2)

We had about a foot of snow until yesterday when it warmed up to 50 degrees with plenty of sunshine. Today I can see green grass for the first time in a month, if not longer…

Then a wicked rainstorm blew through this morning and got my little tufted titmouse soaked.

I still haven’t gotten the Christmas cards back from the printer, so don’t count on seeing yours until after Christmas. And since the printer is a fair distance from here and very close to our favorite tree farm, we don’t have a tree yet either. It would be my first year without a tree if we don’t get one. I don’t want to break that tradition, but it could happen this year. 

And we are having our second year of a new tradition—Husband cooking a goose for Christmas Day. We bought our Thanksgiving turkey from a nice lady whose 4H kids raise these animals for the holidays. Tomorrow I am picking up 2 Toulouse geese, a heritage French breed, one for the freezer, one for next week. She charges half of what we paid a local butcher last year, so we had to get 2!

And now it’s snowing again. Goodbye grass.

Enjoy!

 

Art, dog, chickens

These are the 3 projects that have been keeping me busy.

Art: I should have spent a lot more time in the garden during those weeks of perfect sunny weather, but no, I was having too much fun working on a collage of everything Lester’s Flat. I had to put it back in the frame yesterday to prevent me from pasting over the already pasted over parts trying to make it perfect. 

Dog: In the last 2 weeks Jessie has been increasing her in-house time so much that I thought this was real progress. She spent an entire day snoozing in the house except for a few pee breaks. On the last outing, she decided that she didn’t need to come back in, even though it was freezing, pouring rain, and extremely windy. I couldn’t get her in until my final try at 4:30 am.

Everyone including the vet is saying just leave her outside. She has a bed on the porch where she can stay out of the rain, but they don’t see her staring at me, soaked and shivering, as if I am punishing her. This pic was at 8:30 pm.

Chickens: To add to the fun, we had a chicken massacre. Mink in the chicken house. A few days of patching up all the holes in the big coop only to have him break through a new hole and kill 5 at once. 

I am retiring the big coop. I can’t bear to see any more dead chickens. My little Omlet plastic coop with 5 chickens is going to have to be enough. 

Wall art and visitors

This very bizarre and intriguing reflection appeared on my wall the other day, coming from the sun through the windows early in the morning. The vase shape is from the lamp, but no matter how hard I tried, I could not figure out where the disc was coming from. By the time I found a metal lid on the bench in the foyer, the sun had changed directions. Maybe. Who knows?

Tim's sister and her hub came to visit from Pennsy last weekend. Cousin Greg came to join the festivities. 

Peters men don't smile for photos.

 

Bees, a butterfly, and working cats

We have had at least a week of unusually beautiful weather, mostly wasted by me working inside on an art project. The weather might be wasted, but I am totally enjoying my "big collage" project. 

I'll share when I have something to share.

Summer ended this week with a good frost killing off what was left of the tomatoes and flowers, except for a few in protected areas in the backyard. But now the sun and some warmth are back.

This goldenrod was populated by 4 bumblebees, 1 honey bee, 1 wasp of some sort, and a fly all at the same time. It is growing up in the middle of the firepit that I intended to weed and fire up today, but all the bugs were so happy. And so was I, just watching them.

The monarchs used to come around all the time and enjoy our very weedy acres. Lately I have seen very few, although I did steal some more milkweed seeds from my neighbor and start spreading them for next year.

Today was my first monarch sighting in quite awhile.

And the last pic is Martin and Monkey playing upstairs in my recently repainted "studio". the ladder was set up for the electrician to install some new light fixtures to replace the Ikea versions that I quickly purchased when the builder needed things I did not have.

Light fixtures and paint colors were very quickly chosen. Most were OK. I am just getting around to changing some of the ones I was never happy with.

 

The back 40 and the Great Flying Martini

I have been taking a lot of photos of the back 40 (more like 20 but who's counting) for a collage I am working on. I finally decided to be creative after (how many?) years of being retired. Of course I get started on this project just as the weather has turned to my perfect combination—mostly sunny days in the 60s and 70s and nice cool nights perfect for sleeping.

It is also the perfect time for finding something to do with an abundance of fall fruits like the elderberries, apples, and tomatoes—but no, I think I will go upstairs and play at being a real artist for the first time in too many years of being a real graphic artist. It is too much fun and very addictive.

And speaking of addictive behaviors: After so many purchases of cat toys that no cat is interested in, I found the Kong wand toy is the way to turn an energetic kitten into the Great Flying Martini. We have to hide the toy inside the desk so that he doesn't drag it around the house trying to get someone to play with him.

 

Fog and the star kitty

Changing weather means lots of fog—and I love fog!

The second foggy photo shows the redone porch. We had all the bad trim on the house replaced last August,  including all the railings on the back porch, but that meant that my plant shelf disappeared too. So our friend Tom kindly replaced it with one of his refurbished pallets. Cousin Chris donated the basil plants.

There's that little kitten who showed up at the Coffee House on Saturday night, totally stealing the show. Thankfully she found a home other than ours!

Oneida Lake friends and peacocks

We took a little road trip on a beautiful day yesterday to visit some friends on Oneida Lake. They built this amazing log house themselves, overlooking the lake. Somehow they ended up with peacocks as tenants. 

While we were having lunch on the porch, this old lady came to visit. At the same time down by the lake, there was a bald eagle in the trees supervising two of its youngsters flying overhead.

Mother Nature was putting on a show for us, while Mr Pea was putting on his own show out front by our car.

Jersey weather

Hazy hot and humid—the triple H threat in New Jersey. They told us when we built the house up here that we did not need air conditioning. It's probably just as well that we didn't ask for it then since technology has improved. Radiant floor heat is a beautiful thing, but it means no ducts.

One little Mitsubishi mini-split on the first floor is enough to tackle the hot and humid days we have had recently. The hazy part most likely comes from Canadian wildfires, but there is not much we can do about that.

Cyrus and Martin have discovered the beauty of sleeping in the sun indoors with the AC on. Jessie has yet to understand that inside is a better place to be.

At least she appears to be happy out there. She only has 3 dog beds to choose from. Poor girl!

 

Broody Mama and another sunset

I am not sure if this is the same hen that went broody a month or so ago. We have 4 black (and 2 red) hens in the little coop, and it is hard to tell the black ladies apart. One of them started sitting on all the eggs that the others were laying, but since we don't have a rooster, none of the eggs were fertile. When I bought some eggs from a neighbor and went to grab her—she had already given up and left the nest box.

This second time I was able to catch her and put her in the dog crate in the garage with a dozen new eggs. Just yesterday, on day 21, she hatched all 12. Considering there were some very hot and humid days that were even hotter in the garage, she did an amazing job. One of the hatchlings died the same day, maybe because it was too crowded under her, but the 11 survivors all seem very healthy.

Mama with 11 new babies is the main pic of the day, but this sunset with blooming elderberries is stunning as well. This will be our first year with such a huge crop of berries. Cousin Chris is interested in picking some to make elderberry wine. Not sure if I get to participate in the making, or just supply the fruit and enjoy the wine.

The little cherry tree in front had a great crop of cherries this year, but the birds ate all but one before they got ripe. I think even if the birds get to the elderberries, we should still have enough left for the humans.

Beggars and posers

I scream, you scream, we all beg for ice cream. Except for Martin, he was busy sleeping.

Jessie is getting better about coming in the house, but not so good at staying in, even when it is hot and sticky outside with the AC on inside. It feels like Jersey weather—I'm thinking we can blame it on this week's visitors from Florida and New Jersey!

Here is the perfect little lady posing with her cookie bones. She allows Cyrus to eat the cookies sticking out, and then she steals both of bones and won't let him touch them. He doesn't care.

The 2 cat boys are good posers as well. Here they are trying to catch a breeze in the un-air-conditioned bedroom. Most of the time it gets cooler at night. This week—not so much.

My first mow

Scarface with Cyrus by the door

Using a push mower is easy. Fill with gas and oil, pull the cord to start it up, and mow mow mow. 

I have been using the push mower up here in NY to do around the edges after The Husband mows my domain, inside the back fence. He mows the rest of the property however he pleases, or not, mostly paths thru the weeds.

Considering I still have no idea what the throttle and the choke are supposed to do, I think I did a pretty good job.

Feeling pretty confident that I knew what I was doing, I tried doing a bit more outside the fence under the apple trees. It became obvious that Hub was not mowing this area because the ground is not level. At one point when I was leaning a little too far to my left, I reacted by putting my foot out to correct that. Duh! This is how serious accidents occur—people feeling confident when they have no idea what they are doing. Had I tipped over, that would have been my last mow.

I will do better now that I have been granted the opportunity for a second mow.

Tonight I am trying to roast some of my homegrown garlic scapes to serve with chicken mozzarella tortellini (not homegrown, store-bought frozen). I’ll let you know how they come out.

https://katykeck.com/garlic-scapes-maple-achers/Farm Fresh Garlic Scapes - Behind the Scenes @ Maple Achers | Katy Keck

Health and happiness

The Husband was finally allowed to mow the jungle that was our backyard so that we could find Jessie again. In fact we are due for another mow, but this time I offered to do it after a little instruction on the John Deere. KP is great with a push mower, no clue how to use those magical riding mowers.

My skin has finally recovered from the poison ivy, and I took the last of the prednisone earlier this week. It would not allow me to sleep, and I have been on it for over a month. I need a switch to shut off my brain at night! My sleep habits are just starting to recover.

Jessie only had a donut head for less than a day, and she has recovered as well. Now I call her Scarface. I hope the hair grows back over the scars, but I'm not sure that it will.

Panoramic photos taken with the iPhone give a twisted view, but this one shows the full glory of our beautiful backyard. I told Husband a few weeks ago that I am perfectly happy here. We ended up in my happy place. I don't ever want to leave.

No mow May

You might have to hunt for the Jessie in this jungle. We mostly held off on mowing until after the daffodils were done blooming, and for all the other good reasons not to mow in May. This left us with quite the lush greenery given all the recent rain.

Poor Jessie had her own painful/itchy experience in the last few days—she must have angered a wasp or 10—and was stung several times on the top of her head, both ears, and either in her mouth or on her snout. 

I was able to treat her with my recent favorite Benadryl pills and cream, but didn't notice how bad her nose was until after she scratched the heck out of it.

Thus the big blue donut yesterday. She was NOT happy. She would not eat. Would not sleep. Would not talk to me for the almost full day that I made her suffer so.

I left in the afternoon to go to a concert with Tara, and came home bout 3 hours later to see she had removed the collar (I don't know how but she did). Thankfully it was on just long enough for the itchy nose to heal, at least to heal enough that she stopped trying to take off all her skin. 

After some heavy doses of prednisone for me, and one dose of donut-head for Jessie, we are both done with all the itchiness that was cast upon us.

Yay for that.

How not to spend your birthday

Posting the pretty picture instead of the ugly ones I have been sending to the nurse/doctor.

On a quick trip to New Jersey about 2 weeks ago, I managed to pull all the English ivy off of one of my sister's oak trees out front. I threw all the vines around the base of the tree and picked them up when I finished.

I noticed one little 3-leaf sprig of poison ivy under the big pile after I picked it up. I was not wearing gloves, but had long-sleeve jacket and long pants, so I figured I would be okay.

Came inside and washed my hands for a very long time and thought I was good.

It all went downhill from there. Apparently there was plenty of poison oil on the jacket and pants that I did not realize. Put pants in the suitcase and wore the jacket after I got home. Duh.

Since May 19 I have been fighting what started as a little rash on my arms only. I did a video visit (twice) with a Prime Care nurse who gave me a script for several things, including prednisone. She recommended Sarna lotion to stop the itch.

What I didn't think about, since the rash didn't start until the day after I got home, was that I also slept in my bed, and still had the jacket and pants unwashed, like me until the day after.

It's over 2 weeks since I was there. Once I realized what was going on, again I thought I was doing everything right. But no. Sarna lotion felt so good that I used it too often and burned my arms but good. Stopped the lotion and continued with Benadryl, and was doing really well until I accidentally wore that pair of pants yesterday. Not sure if they had been washed once with the jacket, but even so now I have spread this over my body. At least my legs are clear. Yay!

I would like to say I learned a lesson, but I didn't really. I did wash the sheets and affected clothing 4 or 5 times today. Not sure that that's a lesson.

Happy birthday to me.

A break and returns

We have had a break in the rain (finally) and a return visit from Bonnie, a sweetheart belonging to the Drs H. A disruption in Jessie's routine always seems to be a good thing, especially when the current routine is waking me up at 5:38 every morning.

Jessie returned to Breezy Acres kennel a weekend ago, while I made a quick return to New Jersey to visit with Little Sister, and Uncle J&E, AND about a dozen old volleyball friends.

My job for today was putting together a Gorilla Cart (smaller wheel barrow) that I gifted myself for an upcoming birthday.

It was too easy, so I also prepped the dog crate (that has never been used for dogs) for some chicks I am hoping to hatch. 

More on that later.

Rainy May day

Monkey sleeping (or trying to), Martin bird-watching, Jessie looking sad and pathetic outside on the porch—this is how we spend a rainy Sunday here in Upstate NY.

Jessie spent most of the morning indoors and shared some pancakes for breakfast with us, but she still cannot overcome her desire to be outdoors, even on rainy days. No matter how many times we ask her to come in, she stays out almost every day until dinner time.

I was bragging about my Eglu chicken coop in Friday's post, and then today when I was moving it, the nest box crashed to the ground with a chicken and 5 good eggs going with it. I succeeded in getting it back together, but all the Humpty Dumpties turned into chicken breakfast.

The Eglu is still worth every penny—yesterday I saw either the biggest fox ever, or a young coyote darting across the backyard in the middle of the day. The girls might not be thrilled with their living quarters, but at least they are alive.

Mostly pics

Farm next door

Bird bath

I couldn't decide which of the pics to make big, so I did them both. It was a beautiful day today, at least while the sun was shining and it wasn't raining. It did some raining while the sun was shining too, but I didn't catch any rainbows.

My 6 remaining chickens are still alive only because they are housed in the Omlet Eglu. I am sure they would be much happier roaming free, like we have always done with our chickens, but the red fox is still coming here checking out the situation all the time. We may never have free chickens again...

Dry Martin(i)

My apologies... The young man just loves to help out with the laundry. He especially likes to spin the drum of the washing machine when there are clothes in there. I know enough to do a full search before turning it on.

Martin also spends a fair amount of time helping with washing the dishes. He just loves playing in water! In the sink, in the shower, taking his toy mousies for a swim in the dogs' water bowl—any water will do.

Blooming daffodils must mean that spring is on the way. It is supposed to go up to 61° today, but at 1 p.m. it's still cloudy and windy and too cold to play in the dirt!

Spring moons and triplets

The moon always looks better in daytime photos. This almost full moon in an almost cloudless sky was captured at 7 a.m.

Earlier that same day I woke up and saw it peeking through the clouds at 4 a.m. There was no focusing my iPhone (no glasses on), Hub's big head was kinda in the way (at the bottom), but I do think it looks pretty cool.

You can see that spring is doing it's best to show up—the snow is gone, grass is turning green, some of the trees are starting to show their leaves. The goldfinches are shedding their brown feathers and going back to being gold.

We are hoping this is the end of temps in the 40°s, which is what the high was today. Next week we get some high 50°s and even high 60°s.

And the last photo is Miss Lizzie offering a comment on what it's like raising triplets. We had a total of 14 kids this year, from 10 does. They are so cute when they're little and bouncy (even if Lizzie doesn't think so!)

 

Sleepy sunny day with guest

Shout out from our guest, Miss Bonnie, to her mom, Miss Julie: 

"We know you had a lot of fun in Maine, but why did you have to tell them about my affinity for horse dookie? I love you anyway. And I miss you. Happy Birthday Mom! Pooch smooches, Miss B."

The Peters and their sleepy pets wish you a big happy as well.