A large harvest from the jungle and the mooches....

Panda and I ventured through the jungle this morning, in search of ripe edibles. What a bounty we found! A few pumpkins were rotten and showed signs of a possible chicken attack- only there are no longer poultry in the fenced garden...

I have been away for most of the last 2 weeks and have neglected my blog horribly. I will tighten down my ventures and stay more on the home front...hopefully.
Setting up the harvest for picture taking with Panda's digital camera, the chickens and ducks surrounded the table with hungry eyes and did make off with a few tomatoes and sunflowers.

Elvis may have feathers blocking her vision, but not blocking view of food...

Chris, my local group member, brought me a bucket of peaches from his weekend picking. Peach cobbler tonight along with fried green tomatoes, stuffed sausage and rice in red striped tomatoes, and some of the delicata squash!
I've got to do some errands so off we go...again..
Sweet dreams,
~Tammie

Contemplating extra curricular activities...

(Camera battery charger has gone AWOL. No pics untill it turns up or a certain child fesses to where it is...)

Panda and I are seriously considering some Belly Dance classes. I have found a local place which has adult classes PLUS belly dance for kids ages 4 and up. Doing the videos is one thing, but I just can't seem to stay entertained by them. Maybe a class environment will hold my attention better.
Panda has shown great interest in the Middle eastern dance and even has her cousins doing some hip & belly rolls.
The price is very reasonable. $65 for 8 classes ( her 4 plus my 4) per month. If I can talk Tuesday into it and her budget allows, I will ask for Country girl to take it with Panda in the kid class. Maybe even talk Danny boy into letting CoCo come down for classes too.
The Captain will not be hosting a party this year for his birthday. Instead it will be a guy night around the bonfire. I prefer costume/theme parties but have not been up to hosting anything lately. I have this hunger for road trips and alone time instead. So who knows where that week will take me.
We are drying up Fernie. I have an abundance of milk and want to make sure she is in top shape for breeding this fall. She needs some more pounds on her before she has any kids growing.
Chia, we believe, has CAE. Her knees are popping so loud now with every step. Some days are better then others. She will not be bred.
No eggs as of yet, but that should change in the next few weeks.
The Tomatoes have given just a handful of ripened ones, which is disappointing, especially with this freak cooler weather already. My Cilantro has become coriander already. I so desired fresh garden salsa...Oh well. That happens.
Not much was put out by the Rattlesnake pole beans this year. I did leave a decent amount on the vines to dry for next years garden seed. A few pie pumpkins are almost ripe. We have a few Moon and Star watermelons, a good amount of winter squashes, some French (chanteray or something like that) melons (not impressed with the taste by the way), a ton of Cannelini beans.
A few corns, some kind of Millet or whatever sprouted up from chicken scratch (and will be saved for the ladies later on) and No cukes for pickles- Nada. Zip. Not one..
I have lettuce to reseed and the greens patch needs cleaned out and feed to the animals.
Not to mention I need to find some straw and get the Goat cabin cleaned out. Oh and guess who went broody AGAIN!
Right along with Banty at her side, Mrs. Frizzle is determined to hatch something out of nothing. I have tried pulling both of the empty nest but they go kicking and screaming right back to the nest they have made. Ach Vey! Silly chickens.
I have my muscles to work out on before I nod off. so...
Sweet dreams,
~Tammie

Butcher weekend at the Cabin**Some graphic pics**

All the meat birds are now in Freezer camp. I have to say it is not as messy like some have made it out to be. Truly not what we feared. We had fun and the new experience made for a memorable weekend at the cabin.
Feathers came off easily:A trick learned on how to get the hairs off after plucking all the feathers:The butchering was easy and we all took turns:
We decided to leave our younger 2 children (Frog and Lil' Man) with their granparents for the event. Panda came up with us and played with her oldest cousin "Country Girl"(Tuesday's oldest daughter) and Danny Boy's daughter "CoCo". The girls played in the creek bed catching craw-dad's and Salamanders, with Zeus and his buddy Buster tagging along:Those 2 animals are just so freaking cute how they are so inseparable:The Captain shot skeet for the first time and seemed to enjoy it. He left by noon the next day while Panda and I stayed for another night. Danny boy had some friends over and we continued to shoot skeet into the night. He had his brother over too and a nice big bonfire was made by the guys.
There is an apple tree by the bonfire which became "apple bombs" by the guys and the war began. The hammock was turned over by the girls and used as a shield while jumping up to throw out a bomb to their target as the guys ran behind trees surrounding the fire. Wrestling around, laughter, and such fun filled the night air. We were sad to leave the next morning but knew there would be more great weekends ahead. I wish I had taken more pictures but being I am the only one who takes them, I was too entertained with shooting and good times to think of it.
Danny Boy is going to have the 12 gauge Stoeger customized to me. He will teach me the in and outs of my gun. It will remain at the cabin but he has given me a wonderful gift of the Stoeger. i shot a few different guns this weekend and still favor the Stoeger, which neither he or his his son care for. So it's mine and stays at the cabin.
This has become such a wonderful Summer for me. I have learned so much and experienced things I have always wanted to do. Summer 2008 will forever be one of those great seasons I look back upon with fondness. Forever a great memory.
Sweet dreams,
~Tammie