Introducing Broody Bertha

When I head out to the chicken coop I always seem to count one ... two ... three ... four ... five ... six ... seven ... and then say to myself "where's number eight?" Next I open the door into the hen house and discover number eight sitting quite comfortably in the nest box. She's not laying an egg, she's just nestled down like she's ready to take a long nap. I've decided she must be "Bertha" and now has the nickname of "Broody Bertha" . . . she's been at this game for several days now. When Ken gathers the eggs he just puts his hand down under her body and gathers three or four eggs, all the while Broody Bertha is chatting at him with her soft "brrr...brr....brrrr" sounds — never has she pecked at him — just lets him know that she knows what he's up to.

Most days we gather four to five eggs with a weekly average of 30 eggs.  

Such givers these girls are.

Life is good!

Surprise visit from new feathered friends . . .

We absolutely love living in the country! This morning, while we were eating our cereal, I noticed movement in my peripheral vision. I looked out the window and there it was . . . 

. . . a wild turkey strolling up the hill! We haven't seen a turkey since we moved here a year ago and she seemed to have not a care in the world. She was alone . . . she must have been lost because it seems they normally travel in flocks of a half-dozen or so.

Then, later on in the day, Ken and I were sitting in the living room chatting and out of the blue we heard a "tap-tap-tap" . . . we both turned toward the sliding glass door and noticed . . .

. . . a Road Runner looking at its reflection on the glass door. Hanging from its mouth dangled a freshly caught lizard that he seemed mighty proud of. He flew up to the deck railing where Ken snapped this picture. But the funniest thing about this little guy is that he came back about four times during the next couple hours, with the lizard in his mouth and notifying us of his arrival with the same "tap-tap-tap!"

Life is good!

The Beginning of Our Summer Garden

We wanted to get an earlier start in planting our tomatoes this year. Last year we didn't get them in until June so we're excited that this year we'll have an abundant crop of nice juicy RED tomatoes this year!

Because we still may get a frost in the next couple of weeks we wanted to protect our tomatoes and keep them toasty warm . . . tomatoes like heat and this will help them get a good start. These funny looking blue things are actually made of a series of plastic tubes filled with water that absorb the heat of the sun during the day and release the heat at night to keep the plants warm.

They seem to also be a good deterrent to protect the plants from the chipmunks and ground squirrels. We just harvested several beautiful lettuce plants that were protected and saved from those four legged culprits.

 Life is good!

Pear Galette

The stormy weather today has been chilly and seemed to be calling me to bake. Today I had some pears that were perfect in ripeness to make a Galette. I had no idea what a Galette was until my sister introduced me to one a couple of years ago. Since then I've made a few from apples and pears. I can't wait for summer to make one from peaches or apricots.

A Galette is described as a "free-form rustic tart" and can be savory or sweet. You only need enough pie dough for a one-crust pie. After I placed it on the parchment paper-lined cookie sheet, I smeared my homemade apricot jam (a few tablespoons) on the dough leaving a 2" border all around, and arranged the sliced pear in a circle, remembering to leave the border of dough. Then the dough is carefully folded up and over the fruit, crimping it to make it snug up around the pear. I dotted the fruit with a tablespoon of butter, brushed the dough with an egg wash before sprinkling the whole Galette with a little turbinado sugar. Then it was baked for 45 minutes at 350°. Needless to say we enjoyed a sliced topped with a bit of whipped cream for dessert tonight!

Life is good!

Boys and their toys? No way!

This post is dedicated to Ken who has been working hard the last few days. If you look hard you'll notice he does have a smile on his face. That could be because he's either on his  tractor or using his new log splitter!

With all the rain we've had this winter and the few weeks of sunshine lately, the wildflowers (aka weeds) are blooming profusely. And living in California with our strict fire laws the weeds need to be kept trimmed away from the house. I love the look of the wildflowers and I wish they weren't such a fire hazard.

Before the Fire Marshall's deadline of June 1, Ken will have to do this chore a few more times— which, by the way, he really doesn't mind doing.

We have quite a few dead trees that need to come down which means there is a need for a log splitter. Ken's been anxious to try this machine out and today was the perfect day to do just that. He had a bunch of logs in our wood pile that needed splitting—allowing them to burn better in our wood stove.

He was delighted it started right up and it seemed to be a piece of cake splitting the small logs. It will be fun to see how it does when the big ones are ready.

Sure beats using an axe!

Ready for the wood stove, nice job Ken.

Life is good!

A Childhood Memory . . .

I'm not sure what brought this memory into mind. However I do think of my Auntie Mabel often. Every family must have a favorite aunt and it is my feeling that Auntie Mabel was just that person in mine. She was my mom's older sister and was just a whole lot of fun to be with. Auntie Mabel could do anything (in my child's eye) and it was she who made my dream wedding dress from a drawing I gave her, using a pattern she created herself.

And it was Auntie Mabel who made an apple pie using Ritz crackers. Ken and I remember, as teenagers, eating her Mock Apple Pie and being amazed there was not even one apple in it. And it was that memory that brought me thinking about how much I enjoyed my Auntie Mabel.

I followed the recipe precisely and was pleased with its appearance as I removed it from the oven . . .

When I served it up for dessert Ken and I were anxious to see if our memory served us right . . . I'm afraid it did not! This Mock Apple Pie was delicious, however it tasted more like a lemon pie. The recipe calls for two tablespoons lemon juice and the zest of one lemon. I'm wondering if our lemons today are larger than those of the 1950s. Sadly it didn't taste like we remembered Auntie Mabel's tasting, however we did enjoy it. And it was fun to bake it honoring my favorite aunt!

Life is good!