An Autumn Sunday

It was warm enough today to hang the sheets on the line, but I didn't get into that. We had some kids swing by Saturday night and bash our mailbox in, along with a couple dozen others in the neighborhood, but other than that it was a pleasant Sunday. So what did I do, well, a few things. I finished painting the chicken pen, as it is framed up now. Andrew still has some framing to do, then some special features that will make this pen a cut above the rest, and of course there is still the chicken wire to put up but here is where we are at now.

The goldies ranged about in the grapes, bathing in the dirt and scratching around for bugs. I caught a giant grasshopper and fed it to them. That smartie Goldie, whenever I crouch down and call the hens, she always races over. I think she remembers the cutworm treats of earlier. Here are some goldie pictures, they are still molting. You can see here around pretty goldie's neck, where there are gaps in the feathers, that is where she is molting.

Molt is important because is allows chickens to grow new, fluffy feathers that help keep them warm for the winter. Here you can see where some of the wing feathers are patchy on Goldie.

I finished cleaning out the vegetable beds today, pulling out the last of the peppers and tomatillos, and as soon as I put them on the compost, the Goldies came over to investigate, plucking at the pepper plant leaves and scratching around for bugs.

And here is smartie goldie, looking for another grasshopper.

Speaking of cleaning out the garden, here are the last of the peppers.

And here is the herb garden in fall:

From left to right we have rosemary, lavender, parsley, and oregano. The parsley is doing especially well, and will need cut and dried soon. Below are the blooms from the garlic chives. The bees have been paying more attention to these than the lavender.

Overseeing my work in the garden were Molly and Maxwell, taking turns sunning themselves in the late afternoon sun. Maxwell

And Molly here, lounging.

Once the gardening was done, I went out and about to look for some deer, and I found some!

I'll keep you updated on the chicken pen and when I get back into the cookies. See answers to submitted questions below and you can always ask a question in the comments.

You're Q and A answered...all two of 'em

Time, time, time. Yeah, everyone asks me that all the time. There are a lot of factors. 1) longer days mean more daylight = more energy and feeling like I have time. I think I'm pretty much solar powered. I can already feel myself slowing down, watching a little more tv, and delegating things to do over a couple/three days. It's good, we all need to rest, but don't worry I'll still post my baking experiments, news on the chicken front, and of course maybe some photos from the archives this winter. 2) I don't watch a lot of tv. I think I've watched more tv (the presidential debates) in the last three weeks than I have since April. I listen to a lot of audiobooks and I listen to NPR and music of course, but with the exception of the Amazing Race on Sunday nights and watching dvds when I am sick, that's pretty much it. 3) I do what I am in the mood for. Honest to God, I think I've only made one batch of basic chocolate chip cookies in the last month. When I get in a mood to do something, I do a lot of it, until something else comes around. It makes for some variety. Speaking of cookies, I just got the best cookie book ever at the library so stay tuned. 4) Andrew does a lot of stuff too. All of the canning this summer was done by Andrew, I just post it. A big home project by Andrew is coming soon...it may have to do with the chickens. 5) This is the biggie. We don't have kids. No games to go to, to parent's nights to schlep in at 7 p.m. no dinner for three or four to cook and way less to do in the way of, well everything when you have little folks in the house. It also means peace and quiet to putter about and a flexible schedule. 6) Even though I have a pretty flexible routine at home, it is still a routine so when I come home from work, my night is set up basically by three factors: the weather and my blood sugar and is Andrew home and what is he doing? Do I need to eat dinner now or can it wait an hour or two hours? Do I still need to take care of chickens for the day? Does the weather dictate I stay inside or would I be a fool not to be outside when it's so beautiful out? I mean, if it's 98 degrees outside, why not stay inside and make a lemon bundt cake right? Sometimes when Andrew is home he has a delicious food network recipe'd dinner waiting for me, sometimes he's chin deep in his own projects. It just depends. And you know, there's things I want to do that I haven't gotten to. I have two refinishing projects in the garage that will have to wait till spring. I still haven't tried out my jam maker I got for my birthday and that's high on my list. But that's okay, having things like that don't overwhelm me, they give me something to look forward too. That's the upside of being hyper, I am rarely ever bored!

Favorite Herb?

Okay Wendy, thanks for writing in. I'm pretty sure you mean, "what's your favorite herb other than lavender? And I would say...rosemary of course. I love the smell, I love the shape, I love how potentially you can topiary a little rosemary plant into a tree. I love rosemary in shampoo and soap products. Rosemary is especially great for sore muscles and I always keep some rosemary salt scrub in the fridge. I love all the little rosemary plants M gave me this year for the garden. And I am trying, with very mixed results, to keep some of them over the winter. It seems like I'm always over watering one and under watering the other at best.

I'm hoping next year I can get an adorable white windowed built cold frame from Andrew's handy skills. Rosemary when protected (or in a warmer climate) can grow well over 5 feet tall and what a delight they are. A short hedge of Rosemary would be a lot of fun, but not doable here. Rosemary is like lavender, another strongly scented herb. Whenever I try rosemary in something (like rosemary peach lemonade) I'm never disappointed whereas lavender, and you know how much I love lavender, does nothing for my in the edible department.

It's a Country Q & A

Hi, while I gather some more material (lots going on, just need a chance to get it together) I thought if any of you out there had some questions, about chickens, foxes, lavender, herbs, gardening, or country life in general, please drop me line through the comments. If I don't know the answer, I'll make something up, you won't know the difference anyway right? More news next week, Jules PS Someone delivered egg cartons to my place at work. Whoever it was, thanks, they are great!

Rules for the Country Living Fair

Rule Number 1 Do not wear a pink tutu over your jeans. You are not whimsical. You just look crazy. Rule Number 2 Do not wear thigh high, thousand dollar english leather riding boots. You are not in England, you are not riding, you are not Martha Stewart, and you at the County Living Fair...in Ohio. Rule Number 3 If you are over 40 and you break either rule number 1 or rule number two, you should be banned from the country living fair. Rule Number 3 Do not haggle at the Country Living Fair on Friday morning. If it is 3 o clock on Sunday, haggle away, the vendor does not want to lug unsold item back home. But on Friday morning? Look, these vendors come from all over the country, they have highly reputable stores and galleries. They have paid a hefty, hefty fee to get in, and there are people from all over the country here to buy, buy buy. You want to haggle, do it at your local antique shop/auction. Okay, now, on with the fun report with pictures! So this year Andrew was off and he went to the Country Living Fair with me and my friend M. Andrew loves crowds and is continually baffled by how at this one event crowds and the heat do not bother me. He sees a hardiness in me that cannot be replicated at the state fair, the columbus arts festival, the yellow springs street fair. So what's the difference? A purpose! It's not just that I'm shopping, it's that I'm shopping for my favorite kinds of things. AND I know where all the vendors are that I like AND I know what I am looking for and it's all very targeted. The weather was breezy and cool this year, and I think it was more crowded than I have ever seen it. My big find was a couple very reasonable priced galvanized tubs. Remember the spring project where I spray painted tubs for herbs (see May, Spring Project Number One in the sidebar?) Well I found a square one (don't know if I will paint it as square ones are kinda rare) and a nice big round one that I can plant more herbs in next year. I also bought something else along those lines, but you will have to wait to see it when it's in action for this idea I have. Anyway... Andrew made two notable finds...carboys for his wine making.

The one on the right is especially interesting as it holds 8 gallons, has a slight aqua color. I've never bought a lot of big stuff at the Country Living Fair, stuff I couldn't carry around in our little two wheeled grocery cart (like the use in the city) but we used the bag/check porter service a lot this year. M and I found those garden tripods we liked so much last year and picked up one each and then I found the usual smattering of smaller objects I like.

From left to right: A large, clear wiretop jar without marking that I'm going to make into a special gift-giving project this holiday season, so you'll have to see. The brown milk bottle with stopper is in impeccable condition. It has a detailed relief of a dairy cow being milked and it says "absolutely pure milk, Thatcher's Dairy Bottle Patent 1884." Then on the bottom it says, "Crawford China Company 1965 Bottle made in Italy." It is just so cool, I can't wait to use it. On the far right is some skin toner bottles in a little carrier, easy to take to work and share. The tablecloth was another find.

Collecting ironstone can be addicting, but I was a sucker for the delicate pink lines of these set of 4 Homer Laughlin cups. I've been using them for fruit cups at home.

And here is Maxwell modeling a tablecloth. And it wouldn't be the Country Living Fair without stopping at the 200 Acres Homestead Bakery from Arthur Illinois. My God that bread is good. A loaf of honey wheat and a loaf of dill went home with us and both got eaten pretty quickly. Lazy Bee Studio (excellent, excellent soap) made and appearance this year and I stocked up. Pictured below is two baskets I bought at the Rural Society show in May. Another M friend, made the linings for me out of a French ticking style stripe. One is a the oval one is a laundry basket, we can never seem to have enough around here, and the one with handles holds my yoga props in the family room. I'm so lucky to know some good sewing folks. The book is Randy Florke's "Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle." This is only his second book which is a shame, every page is a delight to look at. We need less Shabby Chic books (Sorry Rachel Ashwell, but really, they are all the same.) And more Randy Florke.

I hope to have a chicken update soon, and I've got some new recipes lined up and I may have some fun fox pictures so stay tuned...!

Brown County for Our 9th Anniversay

Two weeks ago we were in Brown County Indiana. The weather was fine and the food was good and the bed and breakfast we stayed at, Oak Haven was a delight. I was able to do yoga on the back deck under the stars, breakfast was good and our room was comfortable. With Bloomington only 16 miles a way, we had a good mix of things to do. So what's so special about Brown County? It is just a nice mix of beautiful scenery, art galleries and antiques, good independent restaurants and misc activity. We went to four wineries, including Oliver, and you might recognize that from the grocery store. Their best wines though were from their independent label. Their tasting room was bright, airy, lots of woodwork and wonderfully landscaped. Below are some pictures of their chambourcin grapes, right before picking. We were allowed to stop, take pictures and sample a few.

Beautiful countryside, whether it's Ashville North Carolina or the west coast of Michigan, attracts artists. We saw a lot of great art and visited the permanent gallery of the work of Marie Goth and Veraldo Giuseppe Cariani. Google Maris Goth and learn more about here. I loved both styles of paintings, but loved her story. She went to a local technical school (we are talking 1915-ish and won an art scholarship to a New York. Her parents didn't want her to go, they wanted her to marry a local boy, but she went and there she met Veraldo or "VJ" they became great friends but then he enlisted to serve in World War I. He saw a lot of action and came back to New York with such severe PTSD (shell shock back then) that Marie persuaded him to come back with her to Brown County Indian, where they, her sister and brother and law basically hung out in the quiet wooded hills and painted and painted. They never married, in fact, it sounds like we aren't sure how their relationship was defined, but they remained lifelong friends, living into their nineties. I'm so bad at posting links that work, just google Marie Goth, I think she was a woman before her time. If you go to Brown County I recommend eating at the Hobnob Restaurant in Nashville and Farm in Bloomington. It's just called Farm, not "the farm." And we did a bit of hiking. Brown County State Park is the largest in Indiana, and only has four venomous snake species, so you know, super...

We heard lots of woodpeckers and saw lots of holes, but none of the big pileated ones revealed themselves to us.

I had never seen so many chipmunks in my life, which is handy for the eastern timber rattlesnake that snacks on them. The eastern timber lays it's head and...neck, or first half of its body across the many fallen trees on the forest floor as both chipmunks and squirrels use these logs as express lanes. The rattler blends into the bark and uses the vibration on the log to judge when to strike.

We did see a handful of deer, but the real fine was made by Andrew, who spotted this "five line skink" on a tree.

http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/five-lined_skink.htm We hiked to this lake, and I thought it was a good idea. I forgot that with the lack of rain that the lake might be, um, less than impressive and it was a long trail to get there...going downhill on the way there of course so it meant uphill on the way back. It was a bit deserted and reminded me, of a lake that lost hikers would come across, you know, before the axe murderer comes out. But I got a picture of these little ducks, they aren't mallards but I haven't had time to identify them.

When we hiked around the far side of the lake, there was this jumble of limbs and brush along the bank and Andrew said he thought it was the work of a beaver and I blew it off, then twenty feet down the trail we found this.

...and I had to eat a little crow. Can you find the little toad in this picture?

We went to the Nature Center and it was pretty cool. They had lots of lovely displays including a transparent honeybee hive (we couldn't find the queen) a live turtle and a live timber rattler (that scared the beejeesus out of me when I turned around from the turtle he was slithering up his case at near eye level to me) and an awesome, awesome bird feeding area outside. We sat on benches in the center surrounded by identification posters and watched the activity. It was mesmerizing. Here are some shots.

All in all it was a great trip! Speaking of trips, the Country Living Fair post will be next so stay tuned.

Misc Industry

Most of the activity below happened before Labor Day and I am just now getting around to posting. We harvested the grapes before Labor Day as everything is early this year. This is the first year that we had enough wine grapes and after de-stemming them and washing them we froze them until Andrew can get everything ready. Let me tell you, I did not like de-stemming. It was tedious and OMG the spiders in these grapes. You can buy a small mechanical de-stemmer and I can tell you we'll be investing in one of those next year. Pictured below are the Vignole grapes that we had the most of all the varieties, about 6 bags.

But the real bumper crop this year was the Concords, the variety Andrew first planted. I love, love, love concord grapes. They are like candy and I don't mind the seeds. Here is the majority of what I picked, and the half gallon milk jug is for scale.

Andrew pressed the juice from all of these grapes while I de-stemmed the wine grapes and then we let the juice settle in cans. This picture is before we put them in the fridge for two days to let the sediment settle, restrain, them can. It really looked like we had canned Barney (you know, the dinosaur.)

My Grandma Perdue loved concord grapes too and I can remember her making juice, and jelly and grape "fry pies." No wonder too as there are too many to eat at once...even for me! Our sugar baby watermelons ripened up and I made some watermelon toner. I definitely like it better for the face than cucumber, but for hot days, the cucumber is better for an all around after bath splash. This recipe is basically watermelon juice, vodka and distilled water. Andrew came in as I was pouring the vodka in and pointed out that I was essentially making a cocktail. I invited him to taste and he admitted it was pretty good. I also mixed some with some white cosmetic clay for a mask and that left my skin feeling wonderful.

I haven't done much baking yet, and I'm thinking more about cookies and quick breads than frozen treats. I did make muffins a couple weeks ago. I took the blueberry muffin recipe from the Williams-Sonoma muffin book but I added cranberries and chocolate chips and made a double batch.

I'm finding that I am using a scale to weigh dry ingredients for baking (at least the flour and especially if I am doubling the recipe) I guess this is a subtle sign that I am turning a little more serious about baking, but with this scale it's so easy as the top is removable and so easy to wash.

The jar on the right is a "Triomphe" jar, a french canister jar. I found three of them that were my Grandma Perdue's and a couple of etsy purchases rounded out a set that I keep all my dry baking ingredients in. Remember that with muffins, you want the batter to rest a few minutes so it can rise a little. Another standard tip is using an ice cream scoop with the little lever to pop out nicely rounded balls of batter. It helps measure and cut down on mess.

Yum! I wouldn't add the chocolate chips again though, it just made it a little too busy. I'm behind on blogging. The next posts will have pictures of our trip to Brown County Indiana and (drumroll please) the Country Living Fair.

Fall Conditioning Time

With the weather cooling off, and deer season not yet started, now is the time of year that is the sweet spot to get the hunting (pheasant) dogs conditioned which just means walking them in the mornings and evenings around the hunting property to get them back into the swing. It's easy for them to overheat even in upper 60 degree weather, so they haven't been out much over the summer. The ticks have died off but the bees and butterflies are still out and about. It's so nice to take the camera, take a dog, and amble about the varied terrain to see what we can see. Two Sundays ago I took out Deke, the larges English/American black Labrador retriever. I think he is particularly handsome, but it is impossible to get a picture of him because every time he stops in a nice, natural pose and I raise the camera up...he thinks it is a gun and starts running toward me. So this picture is the best I can do. Remember the camera adds ten pounds...both for me and Deke. The walking is helping me too.

And yes, his tongue is hanging out as this is an "after walk" picture. Don't worry he gets plenty of access to water on the walk. And no, I'm not paying attention to what I wear when I go out, hence the color circus. We came across this doe and was able to turn around and not spook her completely out of her hang out.

Not five minutes later, we did flush this doe and fawn out of their grazing spot.

But they didn't go far. Notice the doe on the left, how her leg is raised up, it's a classic move to decide fight or flight. Often when deciding what they are going to do, the deer will stamp this leg on the ground...it's a sign you are pretty much made if you are in a tree or blind. The picture may be too far away for you to tell, so you will just have to take my word for it.

Since they didn't move off right away I tried to "call" them in for grins, making a bleating noise does use. And lo and behold, the big doe came right back over to where they were so quick I was astonished. I probably called her over about 30 yards.

I don't know how close they would have come in, because Deke started jumping around and then they were gone for good. When I got home and told Dad about it and then replicated the sound I made, thinking it was a pretty good imitation of a doe, he just laughed and said that they came closer just to see what the heck was making that noise...ah well it was still effective in bringing them closer!