Wheat Grass For Decoration

     Wheat grass -- I can't stand it.  It tastes so green.  Pond sludge, that's what I call it. (I just shuddered thinking about drinking it.)  More power to you guys who can drink it, it is chocked full of vitamins and enzymes.  I prefer to recycle my wheat grass.  I grow it for Easter time because it looks like spring.  I use it as a decoration.  But, when I give my creations a haircut, the ducks and chickens get the greens. (I eat the eggs --- did you follow that recycle bit?)  Buy your whole wheat berries in the health food section of your grocery store, or at your health food store.

Sprinkle wheat berries generously on top of your potting soil.
Leave plenty of room for water -- and it mounds up as it's growing.

Sprinkle a thin layer of potting soil on top and water.
Keep the top layer moist. (don't overdo it though)



By the 2nd day it's getting growing.



...and by day 4 you have a "lawn"

     By day 6 I will be "cutting the lawn" (with a scissors) and giving the clippings to the chickens.  I keep it trimmed to about 3 1/2 inches.  This will scream "spring" for a couple of weeks, looking absolutely beautiful.  Keep it watered, but again, don't get it so soggy you kill it.

     If you want a beautiful (cheap) Easter table decoration, start a new batch on Palm Sunday.  Put some colored eggs in it --- cute.  If you are going somewhere else for Easter dinner, start one for them!

Sunday in Pictures

Go Baby Go!  Grandson Remington started to crawl ........aaahhwww :-)
(All the chiropractors looking at this are saying, "yep, that's a good cross-crawl")





Almost every hen is laying an egg every day - missing one.  Somebody's slackin'
(The 2 bantams haven't started laying yet)



Pile-o-puppies. 




Here you go.....Meet my husband Rick (with his turkey from last spring).
If he won't look at the camera..... I'll just dig out old pictures :-)
As only the wife of a fisherman can say, "he's a keeper".

 



   

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!