Sending 2011 Out with a Bang

While at the store yesterday, Rex asks if I will buy him two bottles of water. Of course I replied that we all have Klean Kanteens and that I despise the idea of buying plastic bottles. But then he tells me this isn't for drinking. This is in the name of science. He says he's got this idea for putting vinegar in the bottles and filling a paper towel wick with baking soda to make a bomb. I think, "Gee, the whole vinegar and baking soda volcano obsession has been going on for years! Getting a lot of mileage. Okay."

So, what I didn't realize was that this was going to be a full blown bomb with a blast that would clean your ears out like you were at a shooting range.



I wish the audio carried the sound of the explosion as well as we heard it. Imagine a sonic boom.

Happy New Year.

Christmas Video

Here is a little silly Christmas video that Michael made.

Quotes that will live on ... because I write them down!

While listening to a re-make of Somewhere Over the Rainbow I was reminded of a memorial video Michael put together for a friend whose sister passed away. I really like the song, but each time I hear it, I'm reminded of the loss of my friend's sister. Michael has the same problem with another song involving rainbows. I declared at breakfast that morning while hearing the song that I wanted a song that basically couldn't be ruined played at my memorial. Amira chimed in, "I know! How about Poker Face by Lady Gaga?"



Last week as we walked up the front path to my in-laws Michael said, "Okay, is everyone carrying something? Rex, you have the pie. Valerie, you have the yams. Amira has treats for Oscar. Tiffany, you have the wine. Good. Let's see ... what I am carrying? Oh, yeah, the mortgage."



Last night we went out to dinner and enjoyed some Indian food. As we sat round the big family table Amira declared, "Okay, I'm Carrie (from Little House on the prairie series). Valerie, you're Laura." Then she looks across at Rex with a wicked grin and says, "... and you're MARY!" Valerie chimed in, "Yeah. Mary's blind." Poor Rex didn't even have come back for that one.



Funny, I can actually see the resemblance to the kids there ... really.

It's not so much as a quote as a car story that involves me turning a corner (probably a little too quickly) and Amira shouting from the backseat, "Great! Now there is soup EVERYWHERE!" I looked in the rear view mirror to see her face covered with tomato soup. I mean, who brings soup in the car?

I think she just Mommed My Ride.

Autumn at the Rancho

Ah, autumn has arrived. And so has my super cool rooster mail box that I special ordered from some place in Florida two months ago. Totally worth the wait! My good chaps, Rex and Michael installed this thing lickety split! Our mail carrier loves it so much she was taking photos of it the other day. I must say, it does brighten up our as yet to be landscaped front yard.



In other news: Valerie is official ten years old. Yes, that really puts things into perspective for the rest of us, doesn't it? Gluten free pumpkin muffins, veggie chili and licorice and peppermint flavored ice cream for everyone. MMMmmm! Such a proud non-conformist.



We took a visit to the Book Family farm. Rex just had to hold a chicken since there were no roosters around to defend the poor girls. Really, he just can't do that at the Rancho anymore without risking the loss of an eye or something. That Mr. Johnson has a "hands off" policy for us with regard to his harem.



And while most of us carved pumpkins the traditional way, Rex showed us how it really ought to be done:







Finally, in other news, the kids had a recital this last weekend. They took turns looking like moody musicians. And we were all proud of the performances. How cool is this?










Oh, and on an unrelated note, the cod wasn't so bad. I mean, nobody barfed. But it really didn't need to be flour coated or anything. I think next time I shall simply broil with a little lemon butter. I'm sorry to say that my review of this dish could never live up to the dramatic review in that last post.

Baked Cod Recipe

Okay, we have been eating pretty well around here late. We've had everything from roasted chicken to beef bourguignon to soups and chili. Well, I decided I wanted something a little lighter and easier to fix for dinner tonight. I was thinking about salmon. But all the local store had was farmed salmon. So, I opted for the (alleged) wild caught cod.

I decided to troll the internet for recipes (which I love to do!) Anyhow, I make it a point to read the reviews now too. (I learned I should have done that after making a Paula Dean version of a pumpkin pie that turned out a lot more like a pumpkin cheesecake. I mean, it was Paula Dean, am I surprised?)

Anyhow, I wanted to share the most hysterical review I've read in a while. This was on a recipe for baked cod. The reviewer (not me! I only wish I could take credit for such a fantastic review) gave 4 1/2 stars out of 5 along with this:

"I thought this was a delicious, easy recipe. However my three children thought differently. My oldest child sat at the table with tears streaming down his face, my middle son was throwing up at the trash can, and my daughter sat with her arms drawn inside of her shirt saying she will not try anything on her plate. So I think I'll be making this recipe again next Friday. Thanks for a new way to torment my kids."

And, in case you were wondering, here is the recipe. I might just have to try it based on the review:




LEMON BAKED COD

1 lb cod fish fillet
1/4 cup butter or 1/4 cup margarine, melted
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
paprika

Directions:


If fish fillets are large, cut into serving pieces.

Mix butter and lemon juice.

In another bowl, mix flour, salt and white pepper.

Dip fish into butter mixture; coat fish with flour mixture.

Place fish in ungreased square baking dish, 8x8x2 inches.

Pour remaining butter mixture over fish; sprinkle with paprika.

Cook uncovered in 350 degree oven until fish flakes easily with fork, 25-30 minutes. Garnish with parsley sprigs and lemon slices if desired.

Good information to have!

Arbor Day Has Arrived!

So, Arbor Day Eve at the Rancho was the big excitement around here. Michael was so stoked to drive the backhoe up the driveway. After he had a lot of time moving earth around he let the kids go for a ride.



Valerie did her part in the orchard too on Arbor Eve.



Alas, Sunrise over the partially prepared site of our future orchard!



Alligator came over to help put in the plants. Here we are taking a break from digging holes for the grape vines. I believe this one is a Chardonnay vine.



I tell you, he's a real farmer that Gator!





























So, here's the progress during the day. Very satisfying to see trees in what was just yesterday a barren patch of weeds. Now there is a promise of shade and fruit and birds and bees back there!



Here are the long shadows at the end of the day looking back toward chicken land. We got 11 trees in. We'll finish the rest on Sunday as I'll be on farm tour tomorrow. I'll be sampling the best wine/cheese/olive oil this valley has to offer ... who knows how it will inspire the direction of our future yard?

From Amira

Oh, that Michael and his iPad ... techno genious and oh so popular with the kids! I don't know exactly what he and Amira were up to this morning, but I did receive this in my e-mail this morning. Maybe I'm a little less Joan Crawford-like today? Must be the baby chicks and trees.

Arbor Day Eve

Nothing says Arbor Day Eve like a backhoe delivered to your house! I said to Rex, how cool is this house? We can have a rooster, hatch out baby chicks and drive backhoes around the backyard!!!

Now, you and daddy get cracking! I need 28 holes for trees pronto.

What the hail?!

Okay, Michael gets credit for that headline.

So, shortly after the discovery of our little hatchling we observed some crazy dark clouds rolling in from the North West heading at a pretty good clip toward, well, us. On the edge of the dark band of the sky was a swirling mass of gray clouds that had almost a conical look to it. I said CONICAL, not comical. And, not funnel either. Anyhow, it was pretty ominous looking as huge lightening strikes belted out of the sky heading our way.

It was about this time that I discovered my rice cooker went C4 on me. What's C4? If anyone knows, please e-mail me!!!! I had the time set to cook up some brown rice and it had been pleasantly counting down all day. When it started to cook it reached this error code and all the lights started blinking and it ceased to operate. Then I also discovered that the meat I was thawing was still a brick. I looked back out the windows. Did I really want to go out to eat? Man, I was hungry.

So, we piled everyone in the car and headed down to SOL (our new neighborhood tacqueria). Anyhow, while we were dining the winds really whipped up, the sky got dark and we were treated to a half hour long shower of hail and thunderous booms. And this wasn't little pea size hail either.



We waited for the worst of it to pass and then decided we could head back home. We had to drive slowly as the roads were covered in gravelly ice. It looked as if it had snowed. And all the deciduous trees that hadn't had the chance to change color for autumn were stripped of half their leaves. In fact, what struck me as we left the restaurant was a very fragrant aroma that I realized was crushed rosemary. The hail gave it a good pounding.



Anyhow, upon arrival at home we saw the devastation in the garden. Lettuce, chard, kale, brussels, broccoli, cauliflower, etc all decimated. I have a small garden and it has its issues anyway. My heart really went out to all the farmers who depend on this growing food for their livelihood.



Of course, the kids had a blast playing out with the iceballs. And the following morning there was still a layer of ice on the yard as it had chilled down so rapidly.

FAT MAMMA!

So, after I brought the kids home from school today, I decided to check in on our broody mom. I pushed up her breast feathers and only saw one egg. In a panic I looked all over for a chick and didn't see one. Then I saw the broken shell next to her.

I wondered, did another hen eat the chick? Had the egg just broken? Is there going to be a fuzzy little body around here? I was so sad.

But then I lifted up Fat's feather duster bottom and saw this:





Awwwwwwe!!!

And now we wait for the other egg to hatch! (And I'm still tempted to grab a chick or two from C Bar D. But we'll see. That's not half as exciting as the "spontaneous generation" going on in our coop.

Autumn at Rancho Wilhelm

In case you were wondering, the rats are still providing lots of entertainment.



It's been a couple of months of soaking up those solar rays and billing them back to the power company. I have to say it's been very satisfying. And now it looks like the weather is moving into Autumn mode. I notice it is still dark when I wake. And now it's dark and rainy. It puts me in the mood for soups, tea and possibly knitting.

As my knitting is packed up in storage still (as well as many of my books) there will be little of that sitting around. In fact, the rain reminds me that I have a HUGE Bermuda grass issue in the new garden. I wanted the Garden of Eatin' and instead I have the Garden of Weedin'. Dang! I have plans to trench around the garden and do some serious sheet mulching. I've still got cardboard boxes left over from the move and I'm entertaining the idea of bringing in a truck load of municipal compost and wood chips.

In the mean time, I do have a garden planted! It gives me great joy to look out the back (beyond the weeds and last of the goat droppings across the barren landscape) and see onions, lettuces, chard, kale, brussels, mums, pansies and lots of bermuda grass. Well, it doesn't give me great pleasure to see the bermuda grass. But the fact that my veggies are thriving in spite of the invader, I'm stoked.



Friday this week is "Arbor Day" at the Rancho. See the bare weedy space behind the garden above? That is the site of our future orchard! We have 28 fruit trees being delivered! Barren landscape no more!!! Here's what's coming (along with a back hoe to dig all those holes!!):

FUJI APPLE
GALA APPLE
PINK LADY APPLE
2 YELLOW NEWTOWN PIPPIN APPLES (for cider!)
BING CHERRY
LAMBERT CHERRY
MONMORENCY SOUR CHERRY
VAN CHERRY
BLACK MISSION FIG
JANICE SEED-LESS KADOTA FIG
ACRCTIC STAR WHITE NECTARINE
FANTASIA NECTARINE
OH HENRY PEACH
FAIRTIME PEACH
GOLD DUST PEACH
MUIR PEACH
BARTLETT PEAR
20TH CENTURY ASIAN PEAR
SHINKO PEAR
SANTA ROSA PLUM
STSUMA PLUM
EMERALD DROP PLUOT
DAPPLE DANDY PLUOT
AMBROSIA POMEGRANATE
EVERSWEEET POMEGRANATE
FUYU PERSIMMON
MEXICALI AVOCADO

Along with all those guys we're getting four grape vines too.

In the meantime, I have fenced off the chickens (so that none of them gets squished by the backhoe) into an area under the fruitless mulberry giant tree in the back. They seem pretty happy over there. I haven't electrified the fence yet. But I do have a solar hook up should the need arise.



In other news in Chicken-Land, our little Buff Orpington dubbed "FAT" by the kids (really? Fat?? She is so not fat!) has settled on a couple of eggs. I'm guessing it's been about two weeks for her. In about a week to ten days I'm thinking those guys might hatch. And if they don't, the guy at the feed store says I can put some day old chicks under her in the middle of the night and she might think she hatched them. Now, that sounds like fun! Here's a pic of our broody girl. She'll make a good mom I think.



Out front we are in the process of killing our lawn. We were taking advantage of the high temps and really trying to burn out the grass and go with some lower maintenance landscaping. I should see the concept for the front yard later this week. Our friend Eve is putting it together for us. I'm excited!

Now all I need are several more hours in each day so I can get all this work done!

So long, Goats!

Hey, good news! We found the camera. And it looks like some kid took a picture of the goats before they left. That's right, it was time to go. They did an awesome job of eating those weeds and turning them into fertilizer. They even took out a bunch of privet on the side of the yard (good goats!) But then those two little ones started getting really squirrely. They were jumping the newly installed fence into the chicken area and chowing down on that organic chicken feed like it was potato chips. Then they got into the shed and ate an entire 50lb back of rabbit food. The last resort was when I came home from dropping the kids at school one day last week and found the back screen door had been nosed open. All three of the varmints were standing in my living room looking very surprised that I happened to be there. Fortunately, they hadn't been in there long enough to eat anything. But they did drop a load by which to remember them on the carpet.

So, last Saturday I prepped the van for a trip back up the hill to return the goats from whence they came. I put a tarp down and some cardboard and gave them some alfalfa hay and carrots to make the ride easier for all of us. They did a pretty good job. But in the last 90 seconds of the trip all three of them decided to let loose and my van officially smells like a zoo. Well, I cleaned it out very well when I got home. It was smelling better. But then a skunk came by the other night. I'm not sure at what it was aiming, but it definitely nailed the van. Kids/Goats/Skunks. Dang. It's stanky!

Once I sent the goats back home I was able to really till up the yard and prep my garden for a winter planting. I put in a variety of lettuce starts, pansies, kale, red chard, Egyptian walking onions (thanks, Elizabeth!), parsley, lemon grass, dill and a bunch of seeds for carrots and other winter greens. Oh, I put in a couple brussel sprouts (much to Michael's chagrin) and then I got some purple cauliflower and broccoli starts. I left room for garlic, potatoes and peas. Also, I put some nice mums on the bed heads and ends of the garden. I have 10 rows each about 28 feet long. (I know it sounds a little ambitious ... especially considering all the bermuda grass surrounding it). I'm going to invest in a decent hoe.

Kids are back in school and doing well. Girls start piano lessons today. Valerie will continue in her third season and Amira will start. Poor Amira just realized that by taking piano on Wednesdays, she won't be able to play cello in the orchestra this year. Valerie swore she didn't want to do orchestra and piano this year. And just so she could do both, the orchestra teacher let her move to the "advanced" orchestra that meets on Mondays.

Okay, next post will put up some of those pix that are on the camera of the house in progress. And I will also put in some pix of the chix and garden.

Next big project will be the back yard, AKA: the Dustbowl!

Before and After (Finally!)

Okay, it has been a long time coming. And I still haven't unpacked the camera. But Michael and his trusty iPhone have gone through some of the house to give a few indications from where we have come. So, I would like to first introduce to you the before and after shots of our kitchen:





Still a few details to attend here ... a shelf over the window and some outlet issues, a hood over the stove and, clearly, some dishes I need to do! Look at that, messing it up already. Notice we've removed the laminate floor and put in a hickory wood floor and some tile in the kitchen. Here is a close up:



Okay, now the next shot is the dining room before and after:





Okay, and not the same angle, but perhaps you get the idea and can see a corner of the vanity we replaced and the paint, light, etc. But here are before/after shots of the kids' bathroom:






And Michael really spent some time building out our closets. I painted our entire room and the door and trim which you won't be able to see in the after shots I'll get a better shot later, but here are the closets before with the old unpainted doors and old floor that we replaced with that beautiful hickory (not pictured in the after shots yet!)







This just really shows off Michael's craftsmanship (all from scratch!) and the utility we are getting from this space now versus a single rod. We're so busy admiring this handy work that we don't actually have doors on the closet yet. Please note: NO WIRE HANGARS -- EVER!! (To quote Joan).

And just to take us out onto the land, I share with you this picture of Spot and Stripe (the two goat kids we are borrowing. Momma Starlight is pictured below her boys). Anyhow, these two kids have been officially fenced out of the poultry/orchard area as they are carb addicts! They can go through a bin of organic chicken feed like it's nobody's business. And they love to climb. Here you see them perched atop of the nesting boxes Michael built onto the "Chicken Palace" out back.



Okay, more pix and stories later. I still have boxes to unpack!