And then there were 79

We had the missionaries over for dinner

on Wednesday night.

There was some discussion about the

current number of chickens.

Kyle thinks 56 - 60.

Rod thinks about 70.

I think about 82.

So when I went outside to close

up their coops for the evening,

I took a quick head count.

I came up with 80

spread over 3 coops.

And then yesterday.

Rod went out to feed the cows

while I was feeding the chickens.

He came back into the barn to

finish feeding the horses

and I walked next door to get paid

for this week's eggs.

During the 5 minutes our backs

were turned...

THIS happened.

Darn bobcat!

He popped over the fence,

nabbed a chicken,

leaving only a giant pile of feathers

and was gone again.

GRRRRRRRRR

And then there were 79.

Silly Silly Sir

It was kind of a crazy couple of minutes

right when I got home from work yesterday.

I drove into my driveway.

Glanced up and noticed Sir Loin

standing in his pasture next to 

the big hay pile.

Hi Sir!

Got out of my truck to open the gate

and noticed a kid that looked a LOT

like Kyle wandering around in Brock's

cow pasture next door.

Except I knew it wasn't Kyle

because I was currently texting him

and he was at work.

So as I pulled into the yard, I kind

of had my eye on him.

Noticed both their big swing gates

were open.

(They usually only open one of them

except on Thursdays when a bunch

of city people come by... lol)

Parked my truck and got out.

The kid was walking around in the pasture

looking at the ground like he lost something.

I started walking toward the back

when I heard a loud crack like a rifle.

Brock's cows took off and so did the kid!

The kid ran to the end of the pasture,

hopped the fence and got into a 

blue pickup driven by somebody else,

they sat there for a moment and then

drove down the driveway.

Brock's truck was there, so I wasn't TOO

worried, it was just a little strange.

About that time I glanced over my 

shoulder to the front of our property and

there was a big white semi turning into 

MY driveway!

NO!!!!

(We have a pretty skinny driveway, and although

ROD can get his semi down it, it's a challenge

what with our electricity wires hanging a little low

across it - requires fancy driving and a long pole.)

So I started up that way to have a word

with the driver.  He was actually looking for 

Brock's place, which is probably why both

gates were open.

I got him headed in the correct direction

and headed back to my pasture,

when I looked through the barn and noticed

Sir was now in the HORSE pasture right behind

the chicken yard.

(We keep the gate closed on that pasture

during the day and only let the horses in there

at night so they don't over graze it.)

WHAT?????

Meanwhile, I glanced back into Brock's

cow pasture where the cows were all settled 

down again, but there was a LARGE hawk

standing on the ground about where the kid

was originally.

Weird!

So...

back to figuring out what was going on with Sir.

Moon Pie was on the correct side.

Sir Loin was on the WRONG side.

And there was a big ol' hole in our fence.

(You can't see it, but there is a strand of barbed wire

just below the fence rail - if you look close you can

see many many strands of Buddy's hair hanging off the

barbs - cuz he's a doof.)

THIS is supposed to be part of our fence!

And YOU, yes YOU broke it!

Speaking of doofs!

I put the horses in their stalls with their feed

so I didn't have to worry about them.

Closed all the gates and was getting

ready to get a bucket of feed to lead

Sir out of the "green pasture" across the

"dirt pasture" and into the "cow pasture".

My neighbor Kris and her dog Dixie

were across the pasture in her yard

watching the fun.

When about that time,

Sir just hopped back over the wire.

Sigh.

Meanwhile,

Rod pulled into the yard,

so we put up a replacement board

and finished our regular chores.

Because the Elders were coming for dinner!

And I hadn't even been IN the house yet!

LOL

Dinner was really delicious chili.

Chili can take HOURS to simmer on the stove.

But if you have a pressure cooker,

you can go from fixing a fence

to serving dinner in about 30 minutes!

SCORE!

Grandma Hanna

Today is January 25.

My Grandma Hanna's birthday.

I can't remember half my family's birthdays.

Despite the fact that I usually do a blog

post to celebrate my family members births.

Ok, I can remember MY family's birthdays.

And I know that Rod's entire family is

born in February.

(Except Scott and Rod.)

(And Scott ALMOST made it...)

But I have no idea WHICH day in February

belongs to George, Cille, Tim...

(And is Scott the 30th?  or the 31st?  I'm thinking 30...)

(But I could be wrong.)

Anyhow.

For some reason, I KNOW Grandma's birthday.

Maybe because I tell a (made up) story based

around her birthday in my lecture each month?

Anyhow.

Today is January 25.

And it's my Grandma Hanna's birthday.

Thankfully I have an awesome cousin

(Burke)

who has a HUGE file of great pictures 

on his Facebook page.

Actually, when I went there this morning

to swipe a picture of Grandma,

I noticed he had already posted a birthday greeting

to her on his page.

Quick Draw McGraw!

(He was also the ONLY human on earth who

was permitted to call her Granny.)

(I'm pretty sure it was a phase...)

I have a gazillion memories of Grandma.

But my favorite (don't judge)

is from the summer I spent living with her in 

her mobile home (she called it a trailer, hahahaha 

SO unpretentious!) in Gladstone.

She was working at House of Fabrics.

She helped me pick out some fabric and I was

making an outfit while she was at work.

She came home to find me struggling

with the darts in the top.

She busted out with the following:

"You gotta get the boob sockets right!"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I have called them Boob Sockets (quietly and usually

in my head) ever since.

LOVE YOU GRANDMA!

MAKE it a great weekend!

Just a thought to leave you with

for the weekend.

What's Up?

Howdy!

I've been busy lately.

Welcome to a new year, eh?

I didn't really make any resolutions.

(I couldn't even remember the word

for a minute there!)

I just wanted to continue to improve.

HA!

Rather than setting grandiose plans

(that often fail)

I've been most successful with "mini goals".

Some of them I'm doing really well on.

Some of them I haven't even thought about

since setting them.

But that's the cool thing about mini goals.

The world doesn't stop turning if life steps

in the way and you don't get a chance to

work on something specific YET.

Anyhow.

One thing I've been working on is adding

variety to my family's healthy meals.

Adding some cool new toys has obviously helped.

We invited the Sister Missionaries over for

dinner last night.

They don't have the car (they have to share with

the Elders - so they each get it for a week at a time)

so I have to pick them up on my way home from work.

Which means I THEN have to start making dinner.

(When we have the Elders over, Rod picks them up

which means dinner is on the table by the time they arrive...)

I stopped at the grocery store on the way 

to get them.  Grabbed a tray of chicken legs,

some already sliced mini tri-colored peppers

(who knew that was a thing?)

some sliced mushrooms and grape tomatoes.

(And an instant meat thermometer - can't 

be serving people under-cooked chicken!) ** (see note)

When we got home, the girls headed to the barn

to "help" Rod feed the animals and then came

in to sit on the couch and watch something on their

iPad.  (I was going to have them help prepare

dinner, but they are a brand new companionship

and were giggling away and having such a good

time I just left them alone...)

Tossed the legs into the air fryer with

some oil spray (my Misto is still leaking, so I'm

back to chemical filled Pam), and some

seasonings Kyle picked out at Sams the other day.

Set that at 370 for 12 minutes.

Cut up a couple of heads of romaine lettuce,

added the extras I had purchased,

opened the air fryer and flipped the meat,

and then Rod and I made a double batch of

Pay Day Candies.  (Our favorite!)

Remembered - VEGGIE!

Ran to the big freezer (in the tack room)

to grab a bag of frozen broccoli,

tossed that in to steam,

and dinner was served!

The chicken legs were done to perfection

and DELICIOUS!

Nice crispy skin,

moist and delicious on the inside.

Rod and I both brought some today for lunch.

We had a good dinner, a good visit, 

they shared a good message

(Alma 37: 35 - 36)

and then I drove them to their appointment

while Rod returned to the airport to work on

some paperwork necessary to get his plane 

finished by the end of the month.

And no, I didn't take any pictures.

LOL

** NOTE:

A person on Instagram mentioned she 

made some medium rare chicken and OH!

It was SOOO good!  Why haven't I tried this before???

Someone else commented...

"You are SO going to get salmonella!"  

To which she replied - "uh, NO.  This is 

CHICKEN, not SALMON.  DUH."

Head slap.

Air Fryer, WHO KNEW?????

This year for Christmas, Jim gave us an 

Air Fryer.

What is an Air Fryer, you ask?

It kind of looks like an egg.

Rod says is looks like R2D2.

It's about the same size as 

my new Pressure Cooker.

That's it on the far left.

(Ice Cream maker in the middle,

Instant Pot pressure cooker on the right)

We have used it to make lots of

french fries.

Both regular potato and sweet.

Monday night I branched out and made

chicken nuggets breaded in pork rinds

and parmesan cheese.

They were yummy.

Then I joined a FB group devoted to Air Fryers.

And the things they make!!!!!

Last night Kyle got it out and made

himself a BIG batch of really yummy

fried potatoes.  (He's quite talented when

it comes to seasonings...)

When he was done,

I pulled a nice thick steak out of the fridge.

Plopped it in the air fryer basket,

ground some pink salt and black pepper on it

and set it to 390 degrees for 12 minutes.

At the 6 minute mark (give or take)

I flipped the meat over and added more

salt and pepper.

When it beeped at the 12 minute mark...

OH MY GOODNESS!

It was moist,

browned to perfection

medium rare in the center

and there was NO GREASE splattered

all over my stove that needed cleaning.

I doubt I will ever cook a steak

on the stove ever again!

(And we almost never grill... 

our gas grill died and charcoal is a PAIN)

Tonight we are having the Sisters 

over to the house for dinner.

I'm thinking either chicken drumsticks

or pork chops.

We'll see...

But I know for sure we'll be using the Air Fryer!

************************

In other news...

I guess I was tired this morning.

I made a big batch of steel cut oats in my 

pressure cooker Monday morning.

(steel cut oats in under 10 minutes!!!!! SCORE!)

This morning I put some in a little tub

to take to work.

Then I grabbed some frozen blueberries

to pour over the top.

Except I poured them into our

Hot Chocolate.

Oops!

End of an Era

Ok, maybe not an ERA...

About 3 or 4 years ago (time flies...)

we bought four little rabbits.

Three females and one male.

Through the years, 

Bob and Ethel have been my

base breeder pair.

We've been through several versions

of Mabel and Gertrude,

but none of them were up to 

Ethel's "Mom" qualities.

Over the past couple of months

our hutch system has started to show it's age.

And I'm less inclined to butcher rabbits.

I love the meat when it's ground and frozen.

It's lean and goes well in nearly any recipe.

But I'm kind of over it.

So over Christmas we cut our herd in half.

Then on Saturday a friend came and

picked up Bob and Ethel to see if they

could start their own breeding program.

(Bob and Ethel are getting a little 

long in the tooth, but the next generation

will likely work just fine...)

They also bought 4 of the remaining

juveniles to either breed or pop

in the freezer.

That left us with 2.

TWO.

We have another busy week this week.

Monday night Rod did Plasma.

Tuesday night (tonight) he has Home Teaching

and I have Night Relief Society.

Wednesday night we have the Sisters coming for dinner

(and I have to wash and deliver this week's eggs)

Thursday night is our first "free" evening.

I didn't want to wait.

So last night between the time Rod got home

and the time the sun set, we finished the other 2.

And now we are

Rabbit-less.

Hope I won't miss them!

***************

In other news...

The people who bought the others are REAL

cowboy people - they looked at our cows,

recommended putting another 100# on Sir

and said Moon Pie is either ready to butcher

or breed.  He really liked both of them!

***********************

In even OTHER news,

after we finished with the rabbits, Kyle called

and we met him at Sam's to do some grocery shopping.

When we got home,

he fried up a steak, made some veggies & white rice

for his dinner.

I chopped up some skinless, boneless chicken breasts

into medium sized nuggets.

Ground a bag of pork rinds in my food processor,

added some Parmesan cheese and pepper,

dipped them in egg white and then breaded

the chicken in the crumbs

and put them in my new Air Fryer for about 15

minutes.

They were delicious!

Friday the 13th and NEW email

Happy Friday the 13th!

So far it's been a pretty good morning.

(madly knocking wood over here!)

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha

It's been a busy week.

Tuesday night I had a Trails committee meeting.

Those usually run from 6 til ... whenever

we can get everybody to stop talking.

But luckily one of the members had to

leave just before 8:00, so when he left

we wrapped it up quick and left too.

(I've never made a motion to adjourn and

had it seconded (is that a word?) so FAST!)

Anyhow.

We got lots accomplished.

And it's always fascinating to sit and listen

to these guys and learn the history of our town.

We are building a "storm shelter" out in the 

woods behind our house.

I think it will be nice.

a 12 x 12 deck with a 16 x 16 metal roof

so you have somewhere to stop and sit

and drink some of your water

and look at the scenery

and hide if there's a sudden rain storm.

Might even make a nice destination.

Bring a book!

The group put up the frame in December

while I was away teaching.

Tomorrow morning we are putting on the deck

and figuring out the stairs / ramp.

They were talking about putting stairs on one

side and a ramp directly across.

Uh, can anybody say BIKE JUMP?????

So we changed the design.

LOL

Anyhow.

Then last night Rod had High Council down in Vero

and I had another Trails Committee meeting,

this time with our next-door-neighbor town

who is trying to gear up their own committee.

We are working on connecting the two towns

with a trail system.

(There is a US Trail Greenway that will eventually

go from Maine to Key West.  Eventually.)

Towns all along the way are bumping off that to

become a "destination" for people "doing" the trail.

The greenway is primarily paved, but there are

lots of sections (like ours) that also have a natural

component that encourages equine use as well.

We have a nice set of well built stalls at our

trail head so you can pull in, unload your horses,

sit at our fancy pavilion and have lunch, use our

brand new bathroom (that we worked FIVE YEARS to get)

and then head out.

Nancy came to visit and Rod, Nancy and I rode our

horses from our house to the Trail Head (no bathroom

in those days...) and the boys drove over and met us

with a nice picnic lunch.

It gets lots of use!

Anyhow, it was a good meeting.

Our town, their town, a County rep, and a 

Transportation Planning Organization rep.

I'm meeting-ed out!

********************************************

In other news!

I sent everybody an email, but in case you forgot

or you didn't notice it 

or whatever.

My work email is changing on Monday.

It is now:

Collette.Buffaloe@health-first.org

My old MIMA address won't work anymore.

Gone is the last vestige of our old company.

Out with the old, in with the new.

I guess...

Almost....

That darn bobcat!

Rod was pretty sure it was next door.

When he let the dogs out,

Shadow raced to the fence, barking.

But Rod didn't see anything.

(The grass is REALLY tall.)

After walking around out there for awhile

and feeding the cows,

he headed inside to feed the dogs 

and get ready to go Home Teaching.

It was a lovely evening

after a COLD weekend.

So I was sitting quietly in a chair

at the back of the barn

waiting for the horses to finish eating.

When suddenly the bobcat

exploded over the fence

grabbed a chicken with a flurry of feathers

and squawking.

I yelled.

The cat leaped for the fence.

But MISSED making it over the top.

Dropped the chicken.

(Who RAN)

The bobcat leaped onto the top of a fence post

and sat there making angry eyes at me.

As I walked closer,

it hopped down to the other side

of the fence and then just sat there,

tail twitching angrily.

I called Rod on my cell phone to bring his rifle.

But about that time, Sir, the guard steer

noticed the bobcat.

He came SCREAMING across the pasture

at full tilt with his head lowered and his

horns ready to do battle.

The cat isn't THAT brave,

so it took off.

Unfortunately, I found the chicken

hiding in some tall weeds up by the barn.

The cat had done some severe damage.

Puncturing it's lunge and leaving it

in some significant pain.

So I had to dispatch it.

I briefly thought about butchering it out,

but who knows what sort of germs

the bobcat has in its saliva.

So once it was dead, 

over the fence it went.

Tonight we are mowing the grass.

(It's on the neighbor's property, but her retina

detached and although she keeps promising

to mow it, I think she's worried about hurting 

her eye - TOTALLY understandable...)

So Rod will mow the grass.

And then he will teach me to shoot the pistol.

I doubt I can handle the rifle.

And I'm not willing to carry it around

all the time like he does.

(it's heavy)

But I'm ok with wearing a pistol on my belt.

Especially since this one has a laser site

and would help me actually hit what I'm aiming at.

He is getting braver

and bolder

and fatter.

His days are numbered.

(I hope)

Busy But Not

We have been busy.

But not busy.

Know what I mean?

LOL

Basically we have been busy doing

the stuff that we are always doing.

Or stuff I don't normally talk about much.

Like last Saturday we butchered 

8 rabbits.

Ewwww.

Nice to have 13 pounds of ground

rabbit meat in the freezer though!

We have 8 more that need to join them.

But it's supposed to RAIN all day tomorrow.

And then there is a Florida "cold" front

blowing through.

So I won't be butchering this weekend.

Kyle is off next weekend.

And so am I.

So maybe....

I'd like to be done with rabbits.

Instead of finishing my farm chores tomorrow

we have decided to go to the temple and do

George's work.

Rod found a female relative's name

(I think she is a Great Great Aunt) for me to 

take to the temple.

We haven't been in over a year.

(And probably closer to 2!)

That's what happens with I work

every. single. day. of the week.

We had the missionaries over for dinner this week.

We have a brand new set.

We are used to big, loud(ish/er) guys who are

a little older and closer to heading home.

This team are both really young and really new.

And REALLY quiet.

We had a new recipe, Chicken Bacon Caesar Casserole.

And golden potatoes made in the air fryer.

And strawberry Cottage Berry Whip for desert.

It was good.

It was BETTER the next day for lunch.

(grin)

Ok, that's all the news that's fit to print.

But I'll leave you with a GORGEOUS sunset!