Another One of My Favorite Things

Creamed corn has always been a summer staple in my house. My Papa used to grow Silver Queen corn, which I helped plant. After it was picked I remember my parents spending what seemed like a lot of time creaming the corn. A lot of people cut their corn kernels off of the ear to make creamed corn. My family has always used this nifty old fashioned contraption. If you ever find one, snatch it up! They are hard to find. Here are my hands making the yummy goodness.

I forgot to take a photo of the corn after I cooked it. It has to be cooked slowly so that it doesn't burn and I usually have to add some water. Lots of people actually add milk or cream and butter. We like it with just the corn and a touch of water. Have you had your creamed corn this summer?

One of My Favorite Things

I love okra. I love the way it smells. I love how it gets slimy after it is cut.

I love how it makes a wagon wheel shape when it is cut. Sometimes it looks like a snowflake or a star. I think it is one of the coolest vegetables around.

And of course, it is the most delicious fried. I love the bounty that summer brings! I hope that you are enjoying it!

My Boys

I thought that I should introduce you to two of my boys.

First meet Trace. He is a handsome fella.

And here is Elroy. He really has grown a lot!

These boys have to find new homes. I hate to give them away. I know that I can't keep roosters, so I am starting the process of finding them a new forever family. Cheesy, I know!

I even fed them some of my delicious creamed corn. That is what is in the white bowl. They only got some because it started to spoil. They seem to love slightly spoiled food.

We love the boys and really enjoy watching them strut their stuff. I will try to keep you posted on the outcome!

I Can't Have Her Feeling Neglected

Lleulu has been feeling a bit left out. So here she is in all of her splendor.

She was walking toward the oven because she smelled banana bread baking. No lie. It is her favorite treat in the whole wide world.

Yes, the banana bread will be out soon my love! Rest assured, she did get some.

We still love you Lleulu!

If your cat or your family loves banana bread, or you just need a good recipe, try this:

My mom's banana bread recipe

3 plus really ripe bananas mashed up( I often use four or five and add a bit more sugar and flour)

1 cup plus or minus sugar(depends on banana ripeness and how sweet you like it)

1 egg

around 1/4 cup of oil (more oil= more dense and moist)

1 cup of self rising flour (add more flour for a more cake like bread)

I start with the banana. Add the sugar, egg and oil. Then the flour. Pour it into preferred oiled baking dish and bake at 325 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. cover with foil for a very moist bread, leave out to cool for a crunchy crust.

If you follow the recipe as is it makes a fairly dense, moist bread. Yummy!

Enjoy!

A little entertainment

Today I happened to have my camera outside to catch a little chicken action. Elroy and Xena decided to start a fight. I keep trying to believe that Xena is a girl. Lakenvelder hens can have fairly long tails compared to other breeds. This sort of behavior, however, leads me to lean towards rooster. We'll still have to wait and see.

The quality is a bit low, due to me zooming in.

For your viewing entertainment.... drum roll please!

2 weeks...

My summer is over in two weeks. Where did it go? I haven't accomplished half of the things that I had hoped to this summer. Things that really I can to anytime, summer just seemed like a good time to do them.

We did a bit of travel to see family and friends. I enjoyed it very much. It does seem like every time that we go away I am relieved to get back home. I am learning more and more about myself. Most of it that I love to be home. I do want my career to be a homemaker, so I guess that makes sense.

I have raised my chickens successfully so far. We have 10 and are still trying to figure out our rooster situation. I do believe that half are boys. Golly gee! The coop is very close to being finished. Hopefully this weekend's forecasted cooler weather will help us accomplish the last bits and pieces. Then you will see pictures of it. Dave has made me hold off on my photos. He wants you all to be surprised.

I have spent some good time with great friends having tea, painting with them, studying God's word and simply hanging out. I love my friends. They lift me up and encourage me. Most have known me for so long that they are like cool water to my soul. My new friends have been a true blessing too. My friendships are so rich. I am very blessed. I only wish that I had more time to spend with you all this summer.

I applied for my dream job this summer and didn't get it. The drive was far but the job sounded perfect for me. I am trusting God in it all. I am a bit disappointed. It would have melded my plant knowledge, chicken passion and working with kids. I am going to figure out how I can meld them all around here. Some teachers at my school are wanting to hatch chickens this year. I am very excited to help them. And believe it or not, I am looking forward to seeing some of my students. I am ready to get back into the normal routine, get a bit more out of myself and am going to try to truly enjoy every minute of it.

On another note, have I mentioned that my chickens are really smart and really dumb sometimes? One day this week I was watching them out the back door. Trace had managed to get himself on the other side of their temporary run. (I had opened it so that they could get out.) Everyone else was watching him and running from one side to the other trying to figure out how he had gotten over there. The opening was behind them. Then yesterday I thought that I had lost them all. I could not find them anywhere. Where could they be? I called Dave out frantically looking for them. They were all huddled inside of the Mahonia bush. I could not see them or hear them. They came out for him. Whew. They scared me to death. I am very glad that they have a good and safe hiding place from predators. But don't scare your mom like that!

Alright I have to go let the girls out. Thanks for listening to my thoughts today. I know that it was a mishmash of things. I will have more chicken pictures up tomorrow. I am going to enjoy the rest of my summer. Come on over and hang out with me....

Let Them Eat Cake!

The chickens love being outside. They are starting to really explore the yard. Here is Trace followed by Edith, Xena, Hunca Munca, Daisy, Elroy, and Hyacinth.

Jemima and Trace pecking away. This is the good life!

I fought to keep them out of my tomatoes for a long time. One day I decided to let them have their cake and eat it too. They seem to be addicted and strangely attracted to my tomato plants. I have a hard time keeping them away. It is mostly because of these two instigators~ Elroy and Trace. Here they are having almost eaten a whole green tomato.

Here is the view from above. Another fellow has joined them. Mind you, they have to jump up and down to reach this tomato. They don't mind. Bring on the challenge! After devouring this one they have been jumping trying to get one that is even higher up the vine. Oh, my! What have I done?

Most everyone sticks together. These girls and boys are hanging out eating my squash and enjoying the shade from their leaves.

What naughty chickens! I still shoo them away. I try anyway. I can't blame them for liking the good stuff. I might have to fence in my veggies. I don't want to. We'll see how long I can take it.

Stay tuned..... they move into the coop soon!

Our Week Away: Part 4 The wedding

Dave's cousin Vicki got married on Sunday of our week away. Saturday night they had a big rehearsal dinner and one of her friends brought these great desserts. I just had to share. "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" anyone? George, Vicki's now husband, is Greek. Let us say that they love being Greek. Who wouldn't?

I didn't get many pictures from the wedding. I did manage to get this great one of the bridal party outside after the ceremony.

The reception was a blast. The food was great and watching the Greek dancing was highly entertaining. Dave participated a bit, but I chose to be the observer. We had a great time, stayed till the end and headed back to the hotel. We stayed up way too late visiting with relatives. The next day was spent driving home.

Whew. That was a busy week. Now back to the chickens....

Our Week Away: Part 3 The USS Cod

We had a little bit of time to do some sight seeing while in Cleveland. We thought that we would go to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, or maybe a baseball game. Instead, we ended up at the USS Cod, a US Navy Submarine. It was so cool and well worth the low admission cost. The engines still run and it is a hands on museum. Here is a fraction of our photos.

That's me in the dining hall.

Dave on his way down below.

Shiny missile launchers.

The sub was full of cool gauges and knobs. A small sampling is below.

The boys taking a rest. I can't imagine living in those quarters!

An emblem on the sub of a missile going through a skull. This may have actually been painted on a missile.

Dave and Dan manning the guns.

My turn to take a peek.

I'm on a boat! Oh wait, a sub!

We highly recommend a visit to the USS Cod if you are ever in Cleveland. It is really cool to see and touch so much stuff and get a little view of a slice of history. We will definitely be going when we visit Cleveland again. Next up- the Greek wedding festivities begin!

Our Week Away: Part 2 Now Entering Cleveland

When we found out that we were going to Cleveland for Dave's cousin's wedding I asked for suggestions from friends on what we should do and where to go. One of the suggestions that I got was to eat at Melt. We decided to check it out.

Here we are after eating. Check out our to go boxes.

These were our appetizers-perogies. Did I spell that right? They were delicious! I am glad that we got an appetizer too! It was a wait for our food. We had already waited a half hour to be seated. Anyway, our appetizer held us over.

Then our food came. Holy Moly! Look at the size of these sandwiches! The wait was worth it.

This is cousin Dan's choice. I think that it has ham and pepperoni, maybe a bit of pastrami thrown in for good measure. The picture only shows half of the sandwich!

Here's my half eaten chipotle barbecue sandwich. It was delicious. The fries were truly amazing!

Dave got the walleye sandwich. It was huge. Here is a mere half of it.

Thanks Hank and Marissa for the suggestion to eat at Melt. If you are in Cleveland you need to stop here! Supposedly they are going to be on the Food Network soon. Keep your eyes open! Oh how our bellies were full! It didn't stop us from our afternoon plans... stay tuned!

Our Week Away: Part 1

We recently were away for whole week! We never go away for a whole week. I thought that I should give you a glimpse of our time away.

Our first stop was in North Carolina. We spent the night with Dave's sister Katherine and her family. We also celebrated Karen's birthday. She is my mother-in-law. Here is a shot of Karen Dave and our niece Olivia.

Katherine was the first person that I knew to own chickens. Here is her current brood. Aren't they pretty?

The necklace fairy (aka Auntie Kara) left Olivia some necklaces overnight. She liked to call them balls. I guess that technically she is right. Here she is showing them off.

We can't leave out baby Walter. Remember how tiny he was? Not anymore. Here is the little chunkster. What a cutie!

I couldn't resist a shot of him crying. He doesn't cry often, but even his crying is cute. What a sweet little guy.

We left North Carolina and headed for Pittsburgh. It was a long drive to spend the night with friends. We stayed up late into the night catching up. Their boys woke us up, we got ready and headed out on the town. We were so tired and busy that I forgot to take pictures.

After lunch we headed to Cleveland. Stay tuned...

What I am Digging Into Today

I have a few things that I have to do for my own sanity today. First on my list is digging into my summer Bible study book. I haven't even started it. So bad. I hope to make some progress today.

Dave will tell you that I have a hard time slowing down. There is always something to do. Like today. I need to finish folding and putting away the laundry, make some food, pack a lunch or two for the week, check on the chickens-they are outside in the rain, and finish up tidying the house. Oh yeah, I am going out to dinner with some girlfriends tonight and have friends coming over for dinner a couple of nights this week. I forgot to mention that I am working at Dave's school all week too. This is our life. I am glad that it is full.

For this moment however I am going to sit back with my now cold cup of tea, listen to the rain falling outside my front door and dive into this Bible study. Happy Sunday and a belated Happy Independence Day.

The Move Begins

The chicky babies aren't babies anymore. They are full blown teenagers! We went to Ohio for a week and came back to chickens with full feathers and personalities to boot! We lost one while we were gone. Gertrude was lost to a snake. The snake didn't make it however. Thanks Sharon for watching my babies!

When we brought them home we moved them into the backyard during the day and indoors by night. This is still our routine.

Here they are exploring the yard.

This is their temporary setup. It seems to be working pretty well. They love to hang out by the tree trunk, my little tree huggers.

Here they are eating.

Down on their level.

And the beginnings of the coop. Dave has brought it a long way. It is going to be a chicken mansion. They will be so happy!

I'll have more to post soon. We are working on the coop all weekend. Stay tuned...