Fresh Maple Syrup Coming Up

     Today my husband tapped about 50 maple trees.  It's cold, cloudy, windy, and snowed this morning. :-(    Next week's forecast is highs in the 40's, and freezing at night.  Perfect for maple syrup season.  The sap should run like crazy.  He will be busy.  (This is something to keep him busy in between fishing perch and turkey season :-)  I will stoke the fire when he is at work, but that's about it :-)



Drilling the holes.  Oh, .....meet my husband Rick.  I'll
get a picture of him looking at the camera sometime
during maple syrup season :-)



Tapping in the spout.

They're dripping!

Color in the drab woods!

Sister Wins -- Robin Sighted

     It seems we do it every spring.  Compete to see who sees the first robin of the year.  The competition heated up this year ---  it had to be proven with a picture.  I admit it, my sister won.........But, she lives an hour south of me, so I'm sure I'll see one tomorrow :-)

     For those of you reading from far away places (I know you are there), robins migrate back to our area in the early spring.  Seeing one gives us hope that winter won't go on for ever :-)

This is what she e-mailed me.  The orange belly gives it away.  You win Roxey :-) ........next year.

Slip Sliding Away.....

     This morning my husband took the garbage to the road.  (drove my truck ---  we have a really long driveway.)  The driveway was almost drifted shut at 9:00 a.m.  After dropping off the garbage at the road, he tried to Y turn the truck back around and ended up slipping down the hill --- sideways!  Our driveway is in the middle of a steep hill, and that steep hill has very deep ditches.  So, sliding sideways down the hill is a little scary -- even for him!  All turned out well, of course the big joke was,  "why didn't you just let it go into the ditch!"  -- I have 163,000 miles on that truck and it just won't die! ---- he says I have to drive it till 200,000 miles.  Ughh!



Our road at 2:00 this afternoon.


     About a month ago, a neighbor was driving down the hill, did a cheerio right at our driveway and wiped out the mailbox.  No digging a hole now.  It is now in a pot of Quik Crete, working out just fine.  She went into the "not quite so deep ditch", popped a tire and had to be pulled out.  Country driving in Northeast Wisconsin  -- we just go with the flow.

     We are expecting 4-6" of snow through tonight, and we are trying to keep a smile on our face.  I went looking for any kind of color out there.



The dogwood is getting bright, bright, red. 
Against all that "grey" --  it makes me smile.



Salmon Patties

.

Even a colorful dish towel won't make a jar of canned salmon look good :-)

     After looking at that aren't you all just watering at the mouth to try this recipe?  Heads up though, if someone offers you a jar of canned salmon, even if it looks like this (it will), gladly accept it!  We are talking good eating!

     This is the first year I have canned all the excess salmon from my husband's summer fishing.  He fishes Lake Michigan aboard his boat the "Salmon Slayer".  He got his captain license last spring, and takes people out on charter fishing trips over the summer.  Fishing and hunting, his two passions......we eat it all.



Son-in-law Jason, & son Tyler, with a catch of salmon last summer.
http://www.slaythesalmon.com/


     My kids and I have found out how easy a meal can be by opening a jar of salmon, usually using it just like tuna.  But, this is one of my favorite recipes. 

Salmon Patties

1 pint jar of canned salmon (or 1 can from the store)
1 egg
1/3 cup onion, minced
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp. seasoned salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 cups oil (or lard) for frying.

Drain the salmon, save 2 TBL. of liquid in a small bowl

Mix together the salmon, egg, and minced onions till sticky.

Stir in the flour and seasoned salt (which I forgot in the picture - just
                                                                   pretend it's there)

Stir baking powder into the saved salmon juice. Then stir into salmon mixture.

Form into 4 patties.  Fry until golden brown



Crispy, crunchy yummy.

 .....dr momi

Wood Pile Woes



This is all that's left!


     Winter is getting v-e-r-y long around here.  You know it's long, when this is all the wood that's left.  We have a furnace, but prefer to heat with wood.  It's a lot more economical, and a house warmed with wood is just plain cozy.  We started out with 15 cords of wood, and we are down to about 3/4 of a cord.  (A cord is 18" logs, stacked 5' high, and 8' long --- no, I couldn't remember that, I had to ask
:-) We have lots of wood on our hunting land, but, because of all the snow we can't get it out.
      Spring, we are waiting.......(there have been robin sightings ....always a good sign.)




This wood burning stove (fireplace insert) heats the whole house.
And yes...it's messy, but still worth it .

 

Sunday in Pictures



Remember that "dead" looking geranium?



Violas are doing great.








Butsch's ears are up :-)  Looking a little big for his head
and they cross a lot yet :-) His eyes are really not that
scary.  He just takes really bad pictures....... (that's a joke people
I need to fix my off-camera flash :-)

 



"I think Mom is really mad at me for chewing up the
tissues in the garbage, I better hide"






I have 15 sweet potatoes started from this "mama". 
She thinks life as a houseplant is great!

 



Vixen Alert

     Just when I thought I could let down my guard concerning fox, what do I see this morning in broad daylight?  A fox, trotting the whole 40 acre field fence line (there is no fence just some brush) along the side of our house.  Broad daylight!  Guess that's a sign that spring is.........here/coming.  It was awful small, probably a yearling vixen (a female fox that was born last year), running away from Mr. Fox who wanted to breed her.  The birds are "twittering" in the woods, guess that's a sign that spring is here/coming too.
 
    Billy the watch dog, barked early this morning when I let him out.  In the shadows I could see something running in the field, I wonder if it was the fox.     .......Good Dog



I'm just figuring out my chick order for this year. 
 Guess I'm still on fox alert.

 P.S.  I'm adding this on ......this evening about 5:30 didn't that vixen go right back the same way she came!  Thought for sure we'd see Mr. Fox.  Nothing, until 6:30.  Here he comes, following her path through the field.  Not knowing he was putting a show on for us, we watched as he started to jump into the air!  We realized he was hunting mice.  Jumping high into the air and stomping down hard to try to spook up the mouse.  It was all very exciting to watch.  Two grandsons and all of us adults totally enjoyed the show.............uuhhhh, but I'm still on fox alert.

Duck Escapees

     I think the ducks have "Cabin Fever".  I just did the morning chores late. (it's middle afternoon -- my bad)  I left the duck coop door open a bit like I always do when I bring the food and water, and instead of waiting for me to be done, they all made a mad dash for the open door!  Uhhggg!  Now, they are happily going from dog poo pile to dog poo pile chowing down!!!!  My husband said, "what Lucky Ducks!"  All I can think of is whether I want to eat tomorrows eggs!

     It is not going to be easy getting them back in.  First of all they don't want to go in, and second of all there are 4 foot drifts out there that they are walking on top of and I will sink in! 

Eggshells & Coffee Grounds

     I've already started saving eggshells.  Not for Easter --- for the slugs.  :-)  The coffee grounds I'll wait for just a bit.  I started using the eggshells and coffee grounds last year, the second year that I ever planted cabbage. 

     The first year I planted cabbage, the heads were demolished -- it seemed like overnight!  Last year my organic cabbage was beautiful!!  ...and did I have a lot of it.  For what ever reason I started 1/2 flat of cabbage seed in the house last year, and every single one took.  (I had to plant them) That's a lot of sauerkraut and cabbage salad, when I am the one mostly eating it.  ---- I have got to get the rest of the family eating sauerkraut, it's so-o-o-o good.  I donated a lot of cabbage to the food pantry last summer. I didn't really expect all that cabbage to get to the full head stage.  They did, only because I sprinkled crushed eggshells (sharp on a slugs' little soft belly) and coffee grounds (I don't know why -- but it works) around every plant, and kept it up till harvest.  Lots of times I didn't have enough eggshells ready to go, that's why I'm starting early to save them.

     We will be making sauerkraut together this summer.......maybe you want to plant some cabbage too?

I always let the eggshells dry out for a day before crushing them.

Ordering Trees/Bushes

     Rick (my husband) and I have been getting our order together from the Menominee Conservation District in Upper Michigan. We ordered from them last year.  The trees and bushes were absolutely beautiful!  So strong and healthy.  We learned the lesson of not ordering more than we can plant in the next day or two from when we get them.  Rick and his brother ordered 200 Norway spruce and some apples last year.    ..........let's just say the chiropractor could have used a chiropractor :-) They are ordering 100 Norway spruce this year and some wild apple trees for their hunting land.  Hopefully they spread it out over two days.  They won't get any help from me :-) 

     I will be planting what I buy for the homestead.  Last year what I bought from them was; 5 elderberries,  5 sand cherries,  5 nannyberries, 5 highbush cranberries, a Wolf River apple tree, and a flowering crab apple.  Everything is alive and well.

     This year I'm buying 5 nankin cherries, 5 more highbush cranberries (part of a windbreak), a Lodi apple tree, 5 hazelnut trees,  10 forsythia bushes, a Stanley plum, and a Victory plum.  That's about all the holes I can dig.  Actually, I will have most of the holes dug and ready before they come.

     Why such an array?  Am I really interested in feeding the turkeys and deer?     uuhhhh No.  I'm sure they will take their share though.  Everything being planted has a reason.  It's either food for our table, with any extra going to the pigs, ducks, and chickens, or, I am specifically planting it for winter feeding of the chickens.  (all those small fruits I will dry).  The forsythias are for early feeding of my bees (and because I love them blooming so early in the spring too :-)........and I might make some sand cherry wine this year. :-)