Jam = Win

Well this weekend was a wondeful one.  I seem to have fallen into a bad habit of posting only on the weekends, this will stop.  I am going to post during the week even if there is really nothing to say.   I made strawberry jam again, this time with great success.  I am so proud of my row of jelly jars in the cabinet.  Small steps, there are so many small steps, in this journey towards self sufficency.  I used pectin, but I added the full amount of sugar this time, delicious results.  We already plowed through the first jar.  The fruit all kind of floated up to the top, which isn't bad, it doesn't affect the taste one bit, but I want my fruit mixed evenly throughout, so next time I am going to let my jam cool a little bit before putting it in the jars.  I also am going to make sure to add butter the next time, as it was foaming like crazy.  I had a panic moment where I had to grab the pot and hold it over the sink as it threatened to boil over.  I am also going to try to make some apricot preserves so when I make my Brie, I can just grab some jalapenos from my plant, and a jar of preserves from the food pantry.  That will make my heart feel pretty warm and fuzzy.

Rainbow

The above picture is a rainbow that is a perfect circle around the sun.  It was so neat, but hard to see because well, you are staring at the sun.  I messed with the pic a little with one of my Iphone apps and it turned out super cool.  

The piano stool and I had a long overdue rendevouz today.  Ever since I bought it last year from a farm out in Waiamanlo on a rainy night,  I have been itching to get it re-upholstered.  I love the stool and it matches perfectly with my piano.  I finally mustered up the will power to see what was under all of the old ratty fabric.  The fabric had been nailed in place with what felt like hundred nails, all of them rusty and non cooperative.  It seemed that more was better to whoever did the fabric covering.  I took off the fabric only to discover an older fabric underneath, and the remains of a dead bug.  I think the second layer was from the 60's or 70's based on the color.  Pretty ick.  Under that was the foam padding and under that, the original piano stool wood.  The piano stool was made by Greenwood Co. circa 1860.  I love the original wood, but it is partially broken off on one side and replaced with new wood, so I am not sure if I am going to bother to try to restore it or if I am just going to leave it and re-upholster.  More on this will follow.  

The piano stool

Ick! so old

One final thing.  I am going to do a family cook book that will be published for Christmas this year! I am going to be going around and collecting favorite recipes from everyone.  I will be calling or snail mailing, and asking for them in the next couple weeks.  I am going to try to include a couple of recipes from everyone in different categories; main dish, dessert etc.   Aloha Oe

Bake Day


I decided to make some good old fashioned apple pie this weekend.  I have never made apple pie before so this was a fun experience albeit time consuming.  I have one disclaimer to add:  I did not make my own pie crusts, the shame, the horror, I know.  Next time I might get the intestinal fortitude to make my own, but yesterday was not that day.  I like to think I am choosing my battles. 


P.S. I was made aware that people were not able to comment on the blog, so I made some changes in my settings so hopefully everyone can comment now.

Apples ready for slicing

I got a apple peeler/slicer/corer combo from the great Bed Bath and Beyond.  It works so wonderfully!  I can't imagine having to do all of that by hand, talk about time consuming.  This went extremely fast, and I have the scraps to give to the goat, the dogs, and some left over for the compost.  


My new rolling pin

 The actual prepartion of the apples went quickly, you just do the slicing and toss in your flour and sugar, et al......  The part that sucked away my time was the way I decided to make it.  I used a recipe I found on Cold Antler Farm (awesome blog I read).  Instead of using a pie tin you use 1/2 pint mason jars with the wide mouth.  I can never just do something the easy way.  All you have to do is line them with the pie crust and fill with your filling of choice.  I decided to make a lattice top for the pies since that is a look I love.  They turned out so darn cute.  I brought a bunch with me to give away at work, and Jesse also took some to a friend who had helped us change our brakes yesterday.  I don't know what we would do without such great friends. 



Results



The Canines

The dogs and got to hang out and have some quality time this Saturday.  Jesse went on a deep sea fishing trip with some friends.  They didn't actually catch anything, but one of his buddies hooked a 200 lb Mahi, but it got away by breaking the actual hook.  Jesse got super seasick, so that killed some of the fun, but he still managed to rally at the end. 

Khan wanted some of my breakfast so badly, he will put his chin on my let and breath completely through his nose so he sounds all weird.  It cracks me up every time.  I did give him some of my food, so the begging was rewarded (-:

He wanted some toast so bad!

I got some much accomplished on Saturday.  I cleaned out the chicken coop and sanitized the whole thing.  I cleaned all of the dog bowls, and raked up the goat pen.  It doesn't sound like that much stuff but it was pretty tiring.  Marzipan has taken to digging holes.  The poor thing is so bored, I feel awful.  I am trying to find her a goat friend, you just wouldn't believe how hard it is to do on Oahu.  I am starting to think my only option would be to fly one in from one of the other islands.  I have devised a way to keep her occupied for a little while though.  Marzipan goes absolutely nuts for corn.  Her eyes get all big and her pupiles dilate as fixates on the corn.  I think she probably should go to a twelve step program for her corn addiction, but for once it is working to my advantage.  I have the chicks water reservoir which is pretty small, small enough that she can't fit her whole nose in.  I fill it up partially with corn and then she has to play with it to get the corn to fall out.  It occupies her complete attention at least for a little while. 

Get off my lawn you hooligan kids!



Mid morning snooze



Flashback!

Even as a child I liked to pat goats.  These goats here must be African Pygmy goats. 

The Enemy is Neutralized

Drinking the bitter dregs of defeat

She is here looking angry.  I told her I wasn't in this to make friends.  

Our neighbors are so nice here, they brought us some fried wonton like things tonight.  I am really not sure what exactly was in them, but they were delicious.   

The thought that I am going to be living in this neighborhood for a while excites me for several reasons.

 I have moved so many times in the last eight years of my life that I have a really hard time when I have to write down previous addresses.   We are trying really hard to be social and start some relationships with our neighbors but it has been weird for us.  Living for so long in the military lifestyle can jade you a little bit, your neighbors are in and out so fast that you barely get to know them before you look over and someone new is in their yard.  You are always having to start over with friends and co-workers, and after a while it gets hard to make the effort.  I suppose what it really boils down to is that I hate having to say goodbye.  The more you care for someone the harder it is to let go.  

The goat situation is contained

Check out the flowers I haven't killed

Well another weekend passed without much fanfare.  Those two days of sleeping in as much as the goat will allow are wonderful.  I am still questioning my sanity and whether or not I was sane when I bought the goat.  

The chickens are getting so big, and I can't wait for them to start laying eggs.  They all have such distinct personalities it really cracks me up.  If this were highschool, I think Annalise would be the jocky sporty girl who you didn't mess with because she would beat you up, Agnes would be the good girl and kind of the teachers pet, Pearl would be the pretty girl who is a little stuck up, and Camille is the fat girl who is nice to everyone but doesn't stick out during highschool, then she goes to college and loses all the weight and becomes really hot.  My chickens all have storylines.   I don't know how anyone doesn't like chickens.  I would put people who don't like chickens on the same level of meanness as people who kick baby seals. 

 I am going to go completely off topic now. When I was in the Army and attending Combat Medic school we had a cadence we would sing about kicking baby seals, it went something like this, The caller would call it and the company repeats it back.

I kicked a baby seal (cadence caller)


kicked a baby seal (company)

just to hear him squeal (cadence caller)

just to hear him squeal (company)

and then I poked him in the eye with my eye poking stick (cadence caller)


and then I poked him in the eye with my eye poking stick (company)

  It is super catchy right? This cadence went on to sing about different animals, terrible and off topic I know, but it was fun to sing in a large company because everybody liked to call cadence to it, if three hundred people calling cadence doesn't get you excited I don't know what will.

The goat is now contained!  I know, I know, it is nothing short of a miracle.  I oscillated this weekend over whether to eat the expense of getting a dog run for her or to just do what we have been doing, i.e. letting the goat own the yard, and I finally caved.  It is so beautiful, I wish you all could be here to see it, I never knew that chain link fencing and galvanized posts could make me happy enough to bring a tear to my eye.  I now have peace of mind that Marzipan is not going to escape the yard or get eaten by the dogs, and I am also having fun being petty and making fun of her now that she can't escape. I never said I was a big person.  The peace of mind was worth the price,  Ms. Thing however is pretty irritated that she can no longer escape.  We have the roof made of a roofing panel and welded wire, because we discovered she can jump the six feet out of the run if there is not a ceiling stopping her.  I would give her a 8.0 for her jump mostly due to the difficulty, but the landing would definately get a 3.0, there was an incomplete twist, her form was pretty bad, and she didn't stick the landing.

Jesse's raised box garden

Agnes looking good

Did I eat all the candy?... Yes.

I got the above magazines from my mom.  Thanks mom!  

Chickens of Fire

I found this vid on youtube and I thought everyone could use a smile (-:

Marzipan being frisky

Half way to the weekend.

Well, halfway there.  Behold in the picture below I made biscuits. This is the first time I have made biscuits from scratch that didn't out like something you would play hockey with.  These biscuits are soft and delicious and wonderful.  I also made strawberry jam, I tried making with pectin but blech, it turned out awful.  I would try to give it away but I would feel super guilty.  I think it is going to go to the goat.

I bet you want one

Moon Rise

Breaking and Entering

Today was a day, I am pretty sure it was good.  It was good because I get to come home to my house that I love, relax with the husband I love and give snuggles to the animals I love.  It amazes me just how much I look forward to going home, not because I am excited to sit and watch my favorite TV show (We don't even have cable so we almost never use our TV) .  I get excited to come home because I know that the animals are waiting and I get to take care of them.  I swear that even after the most stressful day, I can't be mad once I am home because of the crazy antics of the chicks, the onriness of the goat, or my dogs who vie for my attention.  I am really really blessed to have all this to come home to. 

So update on my wasting stuff resolution.  I really am awful at trying to be conservative, but I have made a conscious effort and I am really trying.  I have been giving scraps to the dogs and goat.  Yesterday evening I gave some strawberry tops to the goat to munch on.  She loved them and totally chowed down.  I am still pretty bad with recycling.  I don't know if it would help to get a different container to put my recycling stuff in or not.  I really hate the idea of having something else cluttering up my house, but I will think on it.  I have been turning off electronics after use.  I also have been wasting less time on the internet.  I think that being mindful of change is half the battle and I will keep on battling.  

I got some herbal dewormer for the goat yesterday.  I am not sure if she has worms, but I heard that goats can actually die from parasite invasions so I figured better be safe than sorry.  The de wormer I got is herbally based which is good, because most dewormers have a milk hold time where you can't drink the milk you got for anywhere from 5 days to a month after worming.  The dewormer I got does not have a milkhold time.  The website said most goats like the taste, so go figure Marzipan refuses to eat it, not even a little bit.  I am going to have to get a drencher (basicaly a syringe with a long tube on it that you shove down the goat's throat so they don't have any choice in the matter).  This should be interesting. 

I am also waiting on some free minerals for her as well.  Apparently goats need a variety of minerals to function at full potential.  I never knew goat ownership was so complicated.  To quote Marzipan, "Meeehehhhhhhhhh"

Breaking and Entering

I have been trying to let the girls out when I get home at work so they can stretch their wing, and stretch their wings they do.  They spend the first few seconds out of the coop flapping their wings and zooming around and top chick speed.  

Girls day out!

Some fine looking ladies

Pearl

I figured a chicken on my arm was about as close as I would ever get to owning a falcon, which was one of my childhood dreams, who am I kidding?  It is still one of my dreams, but chickens do nicely for now (-:

Yup I do look stupid happy because of the chickens

Morning

Breaking the fast with German pancakes made with goat milk.

Uhu

Give her a kiss

Uhu are a slimy fish, they actually sleep at night in a spit bubble, sounds cozy to me. Khan really likes to lick off the slime, sweet sweet slime.

It does the body good

Fresh goat milk from the she beast

Drama

Doesn't he look forlorn?  Approximately four minutes before this picture he had been terrorizing the goat.   I caught him, scolded him and put him in a time out.   The injustice!

Update on the chicks, Annalise, Agnes, and Pearl can all make the jump back into the coop.  Camille cannot.  We may have to get her a ramp, and make the chicken coop handicap accessable.

The dear husband just called and is bringing me an Uhu that he got when spearfishing this morning!  I do love Uhu, I will have to take pics of its preparation and consumption.  I was supposed to go spearfishing this morning, but gosh darn it, I just couldn't quite get up.  The goat even let me sleep in, I think it is because she saw Jesse leaving and assumed I left too.  It was a beautiful morning filled with coffee, goats milk, orange juice ( I like to have a selection of beverages when I enjoy breakfast) and waffles.

This week at work was such a long week even though it was really a short one ( we had Monday off for the the 4th of July).  I did successfully pass the NCLEX-RN so now I am just waiting on getting my license in the mail so I can get a job.  It is looking like I might be able to get a job in the wound care clinic which would be super spiffy since I like to pick and poke at things and have a poor sense of smell, but I don't want to count my chicks before they are hatched.  I feel like I have the right to throw in farmish references now that I actually have some chicks.  

Dinner last night was awesome, we had steak, grilled corn on the cob, artichoke, baked brie, and some Petite Sirah.  I found a copy of Outback's steak seasoning recipe online and used it and it turned out great.  Here is the recipe I used except i left out the coriander since I didn't have some already pre ground:

1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Paprika
1/2 tsp Black pepper
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp Cayenne
1 dash of Coriander
1 dash of Tumeric

Mix all of the above together and season both sides of the meat.  Enjoy!

I am going to go play some fiddle tunes now, have a great weekend!

Drool

Rosey thought my close proximity to her food bowl meat she was going to get fed.

Misery loves company

This is Rosey and Khan after I gave them baths.  They tolerate the bathing process fairly well, and just stand there while I wash them looking miserable.  I usually will tie them both up after because they get the after bath friskies and end up getting each other muddy again by running around the yard and fighting.  Khan especially hates being tied up.  If I put him on a leash he will stay in the exact same position:  sitting with his head hanging down until I come back.   Owning dogs is like having perpetual three year olds, they throw fits, are stubborn, are all obsessed with "mine" and know how to pout.  The lady who sold me the goat also said that goats are like three year olds as well... so I suppose I have three three year olds at home. When one of the girls at work found out about my critter habit she leveled me with a stare and said in a dead serious voice, "you need to start having babies".

View from the front lanai

Another beautiful day!  

Still alive

So yes, Marzipan is still alive.  She is very fond of scratching herself on the fence, and she like to follow me around the yard while I do chores.  I do have to be careful of her though, sometimes when I am doing chores, I can feel the soft whisper of goat breath against the back of my leg and know she is contemplating how best to bite me.  We have a very conflicted relationship.  

My what big teeth you have

I can only imaginge that Rosey is dreaming of how delicious they would taste.  She has worn a dirt track around the chicken coop, because she still thinks there has to be some way she can get to them.  They for the most part just ignore her now.

Annalise

Yup Annalise and Pearl have figured out how to hop up on the roost and into the hen house, they are quite full of themselves with this discoverery and are lording it over Agnes and Camille.  Poor Camille I am not sure if she will ever be able to get up there.  

Pearl

I think Pearl is giving me a reproving look, she already living up to her old lady name.

Thanks Em!!!!!

Gregory the Terrible eater

Yup she is definately trying to get a taste 

Her ears look huge in this picture, they are really not that big in real life.  

Fire it up

Behold the magnificent fire pit.  The rocks we got from under our house, for once it is nice to live somewhere that has a lot of rocks.  Please note the dogs fighting in the back ground.

Visiting the chicks

This is the goat, she hopped up into the coop to check things out.  She really is interested in the chicks, but they are not so interested in her. 

howdy hey

This weekend was fantastic, I didn't do all that much, but some stuff got done. 

The husband built a fire pit in the yard with lava rocks and one of the fire pit bowls that has legs on it, except we left the legs off and just have it on the lava rock ring.  It looks really nice, and we got to enjoy sitting outside by a fire this weekend.   The cool thing is that we didn't accidently burn down anything!  Score for us.  Smores were definately made and enjoyed, nights like that are to be savored: graham crackers, check. gooey marshmallow, check. melting chocolate, check.  Finishing up the list:  a crackling fire, beautiful clear starry sky, a honey to share it with, and a dog to pat.

Spearfishing happened, I didn't kill any fish, I just couldn't bring myself to do it.  The water was absolutely gorgeous and crystal clear and I enjoyed looking at the coral, there are so many different vibrant colors purple, lime green, the blue black of sea anenomes.  Going spearfishing is so relaxing, all you can hear is your breath and the clacking of tiny sea creatures.  It gives you time to reflect and your brain gets a rest.  We saw a spotted eagle ray.  The ray glided along and eyed us with curiosity before vanishing into the blue, they are really the birds of the ocean, just flying along unhurried.   This isn't my picture but this is what they look like.

So darn cute with their little snouts. 

Marzipan

She makes those cute little noises when she wants me to feed her..awwww



There is supposed to be a video here.. don't know what happened to it.