Give it a shake

/ Re-Farmer / 4 Comments

Ah, what a day!

When I headed into town to pick up prescriptions and allergy medications, it was snowing, but fairly lightly.  It picked up a bit while I was out and about, but not too dramatically.

Then I got a text from my husband.

The power went out at home.

Driving back through our own little hamlet, I could see no lights, anywhere, so I could at least be assured it wasn’t just our place!

Also, it was snowing quite a bit more heavily by then, too!

The power was out for about 2 – 2 1/2 hours in total.  The girls and I were about to head out to town, where we could get a data or WiFi signal, so we could check online to see what was going on.  The power came back on, just as we were putting on our shoes.

So we stayed home, and instead walked around and knocked snow off of the trees.

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I had already knocked the snow off of these lilacs, before I went into town, and it had to be done again, later on.

It was just above freezing, which means it was a wet, sticky and heavy snow.  Since it started off as rain, there was also a layer of ice under the snow.  All the trees that still had their leaves were drooping like crazy.  The girls and I went around shaking trees, or knocking the snow off with a rake or broom, as high as we could reach.

It’s a good thing we did, or there would have been a lot more weight on those branches!

It continued to snow heavily for some time.  I was sitting in my crochet corner when a noise out the window caught my attention.

Then I watched as a piece of tree came tumbling to the ground!

Soon after, I went outside to check on the trees and, right outside our door, this is what greeted me.

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This is from the Chinese elm, outside our kitchen window.  This is also where we park the van, when we drive it into the yard.

Thankfully, it was safely in the garage at the time!

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This is the piece of tree I watched from inside, as it fell.  It took me a while, but I think I found where it fell from.

20181003.fallen.spruce.source

This is the dead spruce whose top we watched fall down in a storm, last winter.

I really look forward to when we can have this tree taken down!

The lilacs by the house were again heavily covered in snow.

20181003.drooping.lilacs

The cherry trees are drooping so much, you can’t even see that they’re there!

The girls had already knocked the snow off of this just a few hours before.  One of the branches was right on the bird feeder platform.  As I tried knocking the snow off, I found that it had broken right off.

I continued around the yard, shaking trees or knocking snow off with a rake, but some things, we just can’t reach.

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You can see the lower branches, where I knocked the snow off, but the upper branches are still a risk.  It doesn’t normally touch the roof there.  Hopefully, no more branches will break, and if they do, they’ll be ones that fall into the yard, not on the roof.

Another reminder that this tree needs to come down. :-(

Also…

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Snow and ice covered willow branches are hanging heavily over the power lines.

And there’s nothing we can do about it right now. :-(

The Re-Farmer

Prep for winter: insulation

/ Re-Farmer / 1 Comment

Well, today was another day of plans changing, or getting switched around.

A trip into town for a medical appointment this morning has been rescheduled.  I will still need to go into town this afternoon to pick up some prescription refills – and antihistamines!  My husband woke up with half his face all swollen, and we don’t know why.  It started with a slight irritation by his eye, so we’re thinking he might have touched something, then rubbed his eye, and reacted.  But what?  We only know of two allergies he’s got, and there’s no way it’s either of them.

As if he needs that, on top of everything else!! Continue reading →

Makin’ Mayo

/ Re-Farmer / 5 Comments

Today, my daughters cracked open a new jar of mayonnaise that we bought just a couple of days ago, and discovered the seal was cracked.

Which means it had been sitting in our cupboard, with the vacuum seal broken.

So, that got thrown out.

Since we weren’t about to drive into town just to buy a jar of mayonnaise, and I happened to have the ingredients, I made a quick batch.

This is an easy mayonnaise recipe from the home economics cookbook I got from when I was in junior high school – a cookbook that is still one of my most used, because it’s filled with basic recipes like this one.

Homemade Mayonnaise

I also have these handy little pint canning jars to use to store it, too. :-)  Since this is an uncooked version, I sterilized them first.

mayonnaise ingredients

The ingredients are pretty basic; dry mustard, salt, paprika (that is the amount in the recipe; when I’ve made it in the past, I usually used just a pinch), a large egg, vinegar and oil.

While you can adjust how much paprika is used, to taste, the quantities of the rest of the ingredients should stay the same.  That doesn’t mean you can’t get creative, though!  I’ve made this using olive oil, and avocado oil can be used as well.  You can use one egg, or two egg yolks.  Instead of white vinegar, try another light vinegar, such as white wine vinegar.  I wouldn’t use a dark vinegar, such as balsamic, as it would be overpowering, but go ahead and try it, if you want.  I’ve even successfully used prepared mustard instead of dry (not the bright yellow kind, but there are a lot of flavourful Dijon mustards out there that will work quite well).

The important thing about making mayonnaise is in creating the emulsion.  The original recipe was written before electric mixers were common, and the instructions say to add the oil, one drop at a time, while beating vigorously until it thickens!  Even with an electric mixer, it’s important to add the oil slowly.  Just a thin drizzle.

The need to thoroughly beat in the oil, as it is slowly being added, requires a bowl that is small and deep.  I used my 4 cup measuring cup, because even the bowl that came with my stand mixer was too big for a single recipe.  If I had doubled it, it would have worked fine.

If you are using a blender, immersion blender or food processor, however, the blades turn so quickly, it emulsifies before you know it!  Just add the oil in a steady stream.

Here is the original recipe, with my modifications added in [brackets].

Mayonnaise

1 tsp dry mustard [can use equal amount of prepared mustard, such as a dijon]
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika [can be reduced to taste, or none at all for an almost white mayonnaise]
1 large egg or 2 yolks
1 cup salad oil [can be any vegetable oil, olive oil, or avocado oil]
2 Tbsp vinegar [white vinegar or any light vinegar of choice]

  1. In a small but deep bowl, mix spices and egg
  2. Add oil one drop at a time, beating constantly until and emulsion forms (mixture thickens). [If using an electric mixer, pour the oil in a steady stream no larger than a pencil.]
  3. Beat in 1 Tbsp vinegar and the remaining oil in larger quantities. [Using an electric mixer, you can add all the vinegar now, or after all the oil has been added.]
  4. Add remaining vinegar and beat vigorously. [Pour into sterilized container.] Refrigerate.

 

Hint: let the egg come to room temperature, first.

Note: if the emulsion refuses to form and “breaks” (one of the reasons buying mayonnaise can be preferred!), it might still be rescued.  Take an egg yolk and beat it in another small, deep bowl.  Then, slowly add the broken mayonnaise, a little bit at a time, while beating vigorously.

If that still doesn’t work… well… there’s always the grocery store! :-D

The Re-Farmer

Something new

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Well, something new to us, anyhow!

One of our errands yesterday was at the international grocery store in the city.  Right at the doorway, their new seasonal fruit or vegetable display table had jackfruit.

We have never tried jackfruit before.

My husband picked up Amazon Prime, since we have all of 2 channels on our Farmer Vision, and they both kinda suck, so he could watch movies or TV.  I tried going through their movies and found next to nothing that interested me, so I went looking through the TV shows and found A Taste of History.  I’ve made it to season four, and have really been enjoying it.  I also happened to watch an episode recently that included jackfruit.

So we decided to buy some.

Not a whole one – those things are massive!  But they did have some in pre-cut chunks.

20181002.jackfruit.piece

After a busy morning that included a dump run and finally moving the rest of the pile of trees from beside the driveway gate, we decided to give the jackfruit a try with lunch.

Thinking of what I saw on the show, I got the pieces cleaned out.

20181002.jackfruit.cleaned

There is a lot for the compost out of that one wedge!

As a taste test, all we did was give it a try, as is.

I admit to come trepidation, as I’ve read of it as being similar to durian.  My older daughter and I tried a durian drink once, long ago, and were pretty horrified.  More by the fleshy texture than the flavour, which we were no fan of, all on its own!

This, however, has a very light pineapple flavour.  No acidity to it, really.  The texture is much denser; almost rubbery. It was the texture that put off my younger daughter.  My older daughter likes it, while my husband flat out refused to try it! :-D

Only after did I look up what to do with jackfruit, and read that I apparently should have worn gloves, or oiled the jackfruit, the cutting knife and cutting surface, because of its sticky sap that’s hard to clean up.

I had no problem cleaning up.

I also read that it makes a good meat substitute.  Particularly as a pulled “pork.”  With the texture of it, I can almost see how that would work.

Nah.  Who am I kidding?  The texture isn’t at all like meat, and it just tastes like pineapple without the acidity.  Maybe that changes with cooking, but I am doubtful.

With this small wedge, we didn’t bother doing anything to it, and my older daughter and I shared it, raw.

From what I’ve read, the seeds can be boiled like potatoes, for about half and hour, and eaten.  There wasn’t enough in the wedge we got to bother trying that.

Final call: 2:2 for and against.  So while we might get a small wedge again some day, we’ll probably never pick up a whole jackfruit.

I’m glad we tried it, though. :-)

The Re-Farmer

Well, that was longer than expected

/ Re-Farmer / 4 Comments

The plan was; head out in the late morning to get the tires torqued, then keep on going for a quick trip to the city.

Seven hours later, we finally get home!

But before I get into that, here’s what we got to come home to.

Continue reading →

Crazy kits and cat strangers

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Just before I headed out to my mother’s to help her with some cooking, my husband starts laughing out loud in the living room, calling us over.

If you’ve seen his previous post, you know why!

I managed to get some photos on the DSLR, too.

Too funny!

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What a handsome boy he is!

While he was going around the platform feeder, birds would start flying over, see him and abruptly change directions.  It looked like they were dive bombing him!

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He so wanted to get onto the hanging feeder, but it kept moving! :-D

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I don’t know what he found to nibble on up there.  We saw him chewing on things a few times.

I probably don’t want to know what he was eating.

He also was standing on his back legs, trying to climb even higher, but I wasn’t able to get photos.

While Corvo was busily entertaining us, Doom Guy and The Outsider also came over and hung out at the bottom of the planter.  We couldn’t get pictures at the time, but my older daughter caught this one.

2018-09-30.TheOutsider

He’s here all the time, now, and seems to have made himself at home.

My daughter also got a photo, a few days ago, of one of the mystery cats that sometimes shows up.

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This is one of two strange adult cats that have been showing up now and then.

He seems pretty chill. :-D

Beyond getting entertained by cats at home, I spent some time with my mother, doing some cooking that will be used by home care when they come by for meal assist later on.  I noticed that another jar of the chili we made for her finally got used.  She told me I should take it home, because it wasn’t “fresh”, and she needs to only eat “fresh” food, for her health.

Well, she eats plenty of stuff that isn’t “fresh” all the time, so I know that’s just something she came up with to excuse not eating the chili.  I explained again to her that the reason I put them up in jars the way I did, was so that it last longer.  It didn’t matter.  Like the chicken my sister-in-law made for her, that ended up going to the cats, she’s simply decided it has gone bad, and that’s that.

So much of the fresh food that was prepared for her ended up being thrown out, because she wouldn’t eat it for some reason, and it actually did go bad.  Such a waste.

I had a chance to show my mother some photos of the clean up I did along the fence line up to the gate, because of a concern she brought up when she phoned to ask me to come over.  It seems “people” have been telling her that I was not just cutting down dead branches, but taking down living trees.  Now, I’ve been keeping my mother in the loop about what I’m doing, including clearing trees from the fence line, because we will need access to it to repair it.  Then she started talking about her lilacs.  She had planted special lilacs by the gate.  I told her on the phone that they’re still there, I just cleaned out the dead stuff and the poplars that were growing in the middle of them.  She seemed taken aback when I mentioned poplars, but she was really upset that I had apparently cut down her special lilacs.  I assured her I hadn’t, then asked who it was that was gossiping about us that she was listening to.  I found out, and was not at all surprised it was the person that is the reason we have to lock our gates.  *sigh*  Ah, well.

So I showed her a picture of the area by the gate I had cleaned up.  Including this one.

20180919.cleanup.sprucegrove.fenceline.1.at.gate.after.a

I don’t know what kind of lilacs those are (I wasn’t sure they were even lilacs; she has the usual purple lilacs on the other side of the gate).

It turns out, this wasn’t the gate she was talking about.  She thought I had cut down her white lilacs.

These ones.

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We cleaned up this area, months ago.

She has seen this area since I’ve cleaned it up, so she knew what I had done with it.  But when she was told I was cutting by the “gate”, she thought of the gate into the yard, not the gate at the driveway.

I’ve made a point of keeping my mother in the loop of what we’ve been doing, showing her photos every chance I get, until she is strong enough to come and see for herself.  Yet, all it takes is one person, who has no clue what we’ve done or what we are doing, to start gossiping, and she starts to panic.

So disappointing.

She saw the pictures, however, and I talked about the repairs to the fences that are needed, and the section with posts that will need to be replaces, and so on.  She was happy with what she saw.  It worked out well in the end. :-)

The Re-Farmer

 

 

Strange bird…

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So one are the things that I’ve noticed lately is that as the temperatures cool the birds seem more and more dependent on assistance for feeding. Now the good news is that the feed we use for deer is essentially widely varied bird seeds. It saves us a bit of money since we can simply buy deer feed and feed both.

So going out to feed them today I assumed that they would come back once I left, as usual… Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who thought this.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Korvo.

Catching up on cats

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Here are some photos from yesterday to entertain you. :-)

20180929.shoulder.cat

As my younger daughter and I were getting ready to head into town to pick up the rest of a prescription refill, we got accosted.  Doom Guy came right over for attention, but when I picked him up, he didn’t want to be held in my arms.  He wanted to perch!

Then my daughter came out, and Beep Beep was just all over her!

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She was rolling all over her shoulder, and pushing herself against my daughter’s head.

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Then kept on twisting and turning.  Until she fell off and landed on my daughter’s purse before we finally got her off so we could leave!

What a face!

While in town, we remembered to swing by a liquor store.  We spotted a beer bread mix which, of course, requires beer.  The company that made the bread mix is also a small brewery, and I even found the exact brand.

I got two cans.  One for baking, one for tasting! :-D

We shall see how it turns out!

The Re-Farmer

New Lights

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I replaced the old Christmas lights on the fence with the new indoor/outdoor LED lights yesterday, and left them on.

Then I waited until full dark before checking on them. :-)

20180930.lights

At first, I didn’t think I’d be able to get any photos, then remembered that I have a “pro” setting on my phone that allows me to adjust ISO and aperture settings.  Well.  The virtual ones, anyhow.  These are the two extremes of what I got, after playing around with the settings.

The strings of lights are slightly longer than the old ones, and they have at least double the number of bulbs.

My brother tells me the lights used to have a timer in the garage.  I know I saw one, but couldn’t find it.  We do have at least one in the house, and I even know where it is, so I will set that up later. :-)

I’m rather happy with them.  According to the box, up to 20 strings can be added together, without causing problems.  I certainly have no plans to do that, but they are inexpensive enough that I might pick up a couple more to extend away from the gate.  As I eventually clean up the fence line in the other direction, it would be nice to have them strung all the way to the corner. :-)

The Re-Farmer