What Season is THIS?

 Over the weekend it was in the 90's.

Monday was 78.

Tuesday - back to high 80's.

Friday they are predicting the 60's!!!!

FLORIDA!

PICK A SEASON!!!!!

The garden doesn't seem to be suffering though.

(Kyle is... he's building our new cattle facility

and it was supposed to be nice and cool this week!

HA!)

Slenderette green beans

(with a couple tomatoes at the end of the bed...)

And a bed of lavender behind that.

The slenderettes are covered in flowers and even some

little tiny baby beans! YEA!!!

The flower garden is full of zinnias of all different colors.

And some volunteer sunflowers that are getting 

REALLY tall!

Look Dad!

Carrots!!!

These are a 55 day variety.

It's already been 65 and they "might" be ready to harvest

in another ... 60? LOL

Clearly we don't have the carrot gene.

The rattlesnake beans are doing a good job of climbing

their cattle panel trellis. They have flowers too...

This is a row of mish mash.

There are purple potatoes,

some okra and then Kyle planted some

corn just for fun.

(he is weeding the squash bed...)

The lettuce has bolted, but I just feed it to the rabbits anyway.

The rest of that bed is another jumble of stuff.

Zucchini, yellow squash, watermelon, spaghetti squash.

We'll leave the hardiest, heathiest and pull the rest.

Oh, and cucumbers and sweet potatoes to climb the trellis,

but they aren't doing stellar.

Anyhow.

There's your garden update.

And now I need to make breakfast,

do my CFM study and get ready for work.

I'm still covering for Denine while she has the flu.

Late

 My post is late today...

I tried to get on this morning but the whole world was down!

I couldn't get into my bank,

my blog,

my zoom account,

NOTHING!

But about then, I got a phone call from my

co-worker at the Town.

She just got tested positive for the flu and

could I cover for her?

I had a full day planned...

So Kyle and I jumped in the car and headed

up to Cocoa (30 miles north) to deliver

some decals Rod made for our one remaining

client who just won't accept we are closed.

(grin)

He turns EIGHTY next week!

And then we came back to town and went to

Northern Tool for a couple of things Kyle

needed for his trailer and then to Tractor 

Supply (basically across the street) for some

beet pulp pellets for the big animals and some

Simple Green and some grease for Kyle.

Then to WalMart to pick up a few things I forgot

when I was there over the weekend.

(And some things Kyle needed...)

And then we headed to the house (2:45) and

popped a frozen pizza in the oven.

While that was cooking, I jumped in my truck

and headed to the feed store and got a roll of

hay and then down to Town Hall to make sure

the building official had his inspections lined

up for this afternoon.

Home to eat a piece of pizza and then out

into the pasture to put out the hay for the boys.

And then I sat down to read for a bit.

And probably took a little nap.

No pictures today.

Even though I spent some time in the garden.

The beans are looking AMAZING!

We even have some little baby beans on the

Slenderette green beans.

The rattlesnake beans are climbing the trellis

and looking really good.

We even have some baby corn plants Kyle

stuck in the garden just for fun.

I'll try to remember to take a picture before

I head into the town in the morning.

But for now, Rod is home, so I'm heading

back into the living room to visit with him.

Typical Monday.

HA!

Wow

 These weeks when I teach every day are BUSY!

And unfortunately I just found out I'm 

scheduled to teach the week I'm in Tucson.

And nobody will trade with me.

It will be ok though,

because the time difference is 3 hours.

I will need to teach from 3 - 7 on Monday and

Wednesday afternoons.

And from 4-6 on Tuesday.

But I don't have to do anything on

Thursday, Friday, Sat or Sun when

the whole family is together!!!

I figure by Monday, we'll be ready for 

everybody to take a good long afternoon nap.

So I'll lock myself in a bedroom somewhere and work.

LOL.

(This is me making the best of a situation...)

Anyhow.

Its has been a BUSY week.

I had planned to spend yesterday catching up on

everything I let slide during the past week(s).

But ended up going on a job with Kyle instead.

It was a medium sized job.

They have a large yard(?), about 2 acres.

Most of it was cleared, but there were random clumps

that were originally just a palm tree but grew up around

it with vines and palmettos and pepper trees and junk.

So he took all that down and cleaned it up.

They also had this pond that was completely surrounded

you couldn't even tell where the edges were.

He cleaned that all up and they were surprised

(and pleased) to see they have a couple of beaches!

And lots more land they didn't know they had.

They thought the pond was MUCH bigger.

Now they just have to get their little boat out there

and clean out all the cat tails.

It took 4 hours.

I stood out there and talked with the woman.

A new move-in to the other ward.

She has no friends and her husband is in the

Reserves and currently in Colorado.

So she was LONELY.

So we talked.

For 4 hours.

I was EXHAUSTED when we got home!

LOL.

(And then I had to teach last night til 10...)

I'm teaching again tonight.

And then I'm done for the month except for my

usual Tuesday and Thursday nights, but those

are only 2 hours and no big deal.

But now I have to run to do the shopping.

And return some shirts I bought.

And then come home and cook food for my

poor husband.

Pickin's were slim last week.

Have a GREAT WEEKEND!

The Count Down has begun!!!

English Muffins

 I finished up making my English Muffins yesterday.

I used some sprouted whole wheat flour

with some added vital wheat gluten.

I made a dozen this time, but some were

already in the pan...

(I love my kitchen tea-towel!)

They cook in a frying pan instead of the oven.

(A pot of lentil stew in the background.)

And the finished product.

They are...

whole wheat.

I think I like the white flour ones better,

although these are healthier...

This morning I made a McMuffin using regular

deli ham (because I ran out of Canadian Bacon)

and it was good...

I had a full day at the office and just finished

teaching my Tuesday evening Orientation.

And now I'm going to read my book for a bit

and then head off to bed.

Nite!

Monday, Monday

 I feel like I didn't do anything over the weekend.

But actually we were fairly busy.

Saturday was CHILLY!

And we had our annual Town Spring Fest.

Our town manager took a picture of our booth for us.

Kyle brought his machine down and we

talked to lots of folks,

gave out a bunch of cards.

We interrupt this post for a quick rescue run...

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

I'm back.

Kyle is out doing a job for the Town - mulching

a property line.

And he ran into some fence and it got wrapped

up around his mulcher head.

He called me to run to Lowe's and get him

a set of bolt cutters.

Once I got there, I found them and them called

him on a video chat so he could make sure I

got what he needed.

But by then another crew was out cutting

some trees and they had an angle grinder...

so they helped him out.

Whew!

I picked up a gallon of fish emulsion I needed

and now I'm back.

So....

Anyhow.

Saturday was the Springfest.

Then he and Rod went out to do a quote on a job

and then picked up all the boards and posts Kyle

needs to finish up our cattle facility this week.

Sunday was Branch Conference at a little town

2 hours away, so Rod and I drove over there in his

little car so I could meet with their Primary Presidency.

Nice little branch.

AND they provided us lunch!

So that was nice.

Sunday afternoon (after we drove home) I took a NAP.

Rod and Kyle did... something... I was sleeping.

This morning I got up and had a gazillion things

on my list to do today.

I'm making a dent.

1. Laundry.

2. Make a load of egg salad.

3. Hard boil the duck eggs for the dogs.

4. Get some dough started for some English Muffins.

5. Roast the last of the potatoes and make breakfast bowls for Rod.

6. Thaw some sausage and make a mess of lentil stew for Rod.

7. Another load of laundry.

8. Weed a bunch of decals for a client.

9. Get the English Muffins made.

10. Get ready to teach a review at 5:30.

So the laundry is about half done.

I made the egg salad.

I hard boiled and peeled the duck eggs.(A PAIN in the neck!)

The bread dough is started.

Luckily I hadn't started making the muffins when 

Kyle called cuz it's not a process you can interrupt.

They are on the counter, formed and rising now for 20 minutes.

So I'd better type faster.

The lentil stew is just finishing up.

I'm letting it simmer for a bit longer to dry it out

a little bit more.

Rod doesn't like "wet" lunches.

They sometimes leak in his lunch box and

NOBODY needs THAT nonsense!

Lentil / sweet potato / sausage stew.

(earlier in the process...)

HELP!

I got eggs in my eyes!

Hahahaha

Breakfast bowls are all done.

It's roasted potatoes with scrambled eggs and 

bacon and cheese on the top.

Quick and easy "grab and go" kind of breakfast.

I didn't get very many of the decals weeded yet,

but I'll work on them a little later.

If I have time.

First I need to eat something.

It's 4:00.

I've had a slice of banana bread.

Oops.

Oh yeah,

yesterday I made some banana bread.

First in a LONG time.

Right out of the oven.

It must be good because there is only one slice left.

Ok, the dinger went off.

Time to go finish the English Muffins!

Whew!

Not Much

 There's not much to tell

other than I have been super busy this week.

Between working at the Town

and teaching Zoom every day...

Kyle's truck is in the shop getting a new

transmission. They wanted him to come

pick it up today, load up his tractor and

bring it back so they could so some tests,

but they road tested it and decided it needed

heavier springs anyway, so they ordered them

and hopefully will be able to finish up tomorrow.

He is scheduled to bring his Tractor to our town

"Springfest" in the park on Saturday morning.

It will be a bit challenging to get it there 

without his truck.

Although Rod said my truck can pull it...

And he could always just drive it over...

it's less than a mile.

But hopefully he will have his truck with a

brand new transmission

and it will all be moot anyway.

Just a little reminder.

Regardless of what is going on...

it never hurts to laugh.

BooBoo

 Kyle has been working on the gates.

And the other day he accidentally

CRUSHED his finger under one.

Turns out they are HEAVY!

It has been quite painful.

But is  S L O W L Y  getting better.

He's awfully glad.

It kept him awake all night!

He had BIG plans for this week.

He was going to work on his tractor.

Clean it up,

sharpen the teeth...

that sort of thing.

Because his truck is getting a transmission rebuild.

So he can't go anywhere.

(Well, he still has a car...)

But his finger was so sore!

Just thinking about bumping it wasn't fun.

Today it is feeling better.

He painted the gates a BRIGHT 

"safety yellow".

I forgot to take a picture.

I'll try to get one tomorrow.

(The battery is charging on my phone...)

Poor guy!

English Muffins

 So.

I was watching a YouTube yesterday and the guy

was making English Muffins.

But not with like 9,987,457 steps.

And I have all the stuff.

So I decided to give it a try.

Rod is out of food for the week,

so I was actually looking for ideas

of things to make for him.

I made a couple batches of corn muffins.

And a couple batches of blueberry muffins.

(Don't be TOO impressed, I used a Jiffy Box... lol)

And I made 10 English muffins!

Of course, then I had to TRY them.

So.

Plain white flour with only yeast and salt makes

for a really bland bread.

I added more salt...

but still a bit bland.

But fun.

And, of course, I had to EAT one.

I made it into a classic "Egg McMuffin".

And it was GOOD!

So I made a couple for Rod and I for breakfast.

This time I put some butter on them and toasted them.

It improved the flavor dramatically.

And now I'm heading into the kitchen to turn

the rest of them into breakfast sandwiches,

wrap them in wax paper, 

and toss them in the freezer

for a quick "heat and eat" breakfast.

It's going to be another busy week for me.

I teach Mon, Wed and Fri mornings from 9-1.

Then I work at the Town on Tues and Thurs.

And, of course, I teach my regular Tues & Thurs

evening orientation workshop.

Which means I'd best get in the kitchen

and start cooking.

(Yesterday I also made egg salad - which it turns

out we didn't need, so I fed it to the dogs 

for their breakfast this morning...)

and... something else... but I don't remember what.

And then I had to teach, so I called it quits

about 4 so I could rest up before class.

The guys were out on a job all day.

OH!

And I have a chuck roast in the pressure cooker,

but another one my YouTube ladies said she cooks

her roast in the Pressure Cooker for 60 minutes

(90 if its frozen solid) and then leaves it on

"keep warm" pretty well all day.

Kind of like using the slow cooker, but it

infuses the flavors better and doesn't make

the meat as mushy as the slow cooker does.

So I'm giving that a try with my LAST 

chuck roast.

(Looking a little sparse in my freezer....

I'm eyeing the cows.....)

ANOTHER Kyle Project

 That man NEVER just sits around.

And since his jobs are mainly on the

weekends, he has lots of time during

the week to think up and do projects.

His latest....

The guys have been re-vamping the cattle

facility to accommodate the new scales.

Originally we were just going to slide a

4x4 in front and behind the cow while they

stood on the scales.

But then they decided to do slider gates.

The ones Linda has at the ranch are really

nice to use - but the quality isn't really great.

Of course, Kyle knew he could do it better.

And WAAAAY less expensively.

So...

$300 and several days later, he built two

slider gates.

Today, while Rod and I were at work,

he installed them.

OPEN.

CLOSED.

Unlike Linda's, Kyle's have rollers on the top

(like those fancy barn doors everybody is 

putting in their houses these days...)

and they work GREAT!

I'm excited to finish up the facility and

run some cows through there!

(He only had one set installed when he sent

me these pictures... but now both are in

and working great!)

He is amazing.

He's going to paint them black.

But paint the overhead thingie like

PINK or something because otherwise I

see myself bumping my head.

(Or maybe wrap it in pool noodles?)

LOL

Fisher"man"

 I was at work today.

Our Town Hall is just across the road from the river.

We had a visitor!

See waaaaay up there at the top of the pole?

That's an Osprey holding a BIG fish!

Look how big that thing is!

It's bigger than the bird!

And they are big birds!

He sat up there and ate the whole darn thing.

I guess there were some scraps that fell,

there was an opportunistic black bird who 

hung around the bottom of the pole and grabbed

the little left overs.

But he ate EVERY bit!

And then he flew away.

I thought he might need to waddle.

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

In other news, I'm feeling better.

Did ok at work today but came home about 4

and went to bed for an hour nap.

Cooked a sheet pan dinner of peppers, onions and

mild Italian Sausage for dinner and then

into the Zoom Room for the Orientation.

Did ok until the last 5 minutes of class when I had

a coughing fit. I ran out of anything to drink, so I

just muted my microphone, moved out of the screen,

coughed my head off, and then finished the class

with tears streaming down my face. 

LOL.

But at least we got it done!

And now?

BED!

Better!

 I caught a cold.

Just an ordinary, garden variety, spring cold.

But it was ANNOYING!

Thursday night I thought it was Kyle's 

diffuser that was making my throat sore.

But I woke up in the morning with a RAW throat.

And a runny nose.

Luckily Rod took the day off to work with Kyle.

So he took care of all the farm chores.

I lazed on the couch.

Took LOTS of oil of oregano.

And blew my nose.

And ate chicken soup.

Saturday was a repeat.

Although my throat wasn't sore anymore.

But my nose was doing its best impersonation of

the Niagara Falls.

I cleaned out THREE semi-used boxes of Puffs Plus.

And ate chicken soup.

Sunday.... less nose running, more tight chest.

Actually, I woke up in the night with the WORST

headache I ever remember.

My TEETH hurt!

And my pillow felt like a boulder!

But I was in too much pain to get up and do anything

about it! (Including wake Rod...)

I eventually went back to sleep.

The guys had a job they could only do that day,

so I was home alone most of the day.

Which was PERFECT.

I lazed on the couch in my jammies.

ALL DAY.

And ate chicken soup.

Kyle made us fajitas for dinner and I actually

felt good enough to eat!

(And then I made a yummy, naughty, little treat

for everybody to celebrate I was getting better!)

(I love chicken soup, but I was out of noodles...)

This morning... I'm 90% better!

A bit of a nagging cough now and again.

But for the most part... I'm good.

Phew!

And since I didn't leave the house since Thursday,

I was anxious to check on my babies!

Eyes are barely open.

Wiggly little critter!

I was afraid he was going to hop right

off my hand!

(Turned his head just as I took the picture...

he is turning brown and has a white belly and

the insides of his ears are white... the others seem

to be staying black...)

There are only 3 left of the original 5,

but Ethel is doing a good job of keeping

them fed and warm in a nest.

She moved them deeper in to the hutch

since the wind has been whipping around about

30 mph for the past 2 days.

It was a chilly night last night,

but they did just fine.

Ethel is enjoying the fresh lettuce from the garden.

Turns out I'm not a big fan.

But I'm happy to share.

New Book!

 Look what came in the mail!!!!!

It's beautiful!

I sat right down and started reading.

What a GREAT JOB!

It's well written, captivating, and all around amazing!

I'm enjoying reading it.

It's a toss up.

Do I sit and inhale it right away?

Or space it out and enjoy a small snippet each day?

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Whichever I decide, I know I'll enjoy it!

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

In other news...

The garden is growing.

There is now something in EVERY bed.

Whew!

We just pulled and ate our first "Watermelon Radish".

It's BEAUTIFUL.

(And HOT!)

Gotta teach tonight, so this is a short one.

Weirdly Satisfying

 Yesterday was a day off.

And it felt WONDERFUL!

No talks.

No students.

No Zoom.

So..... I did stuff.

I ran out of my Oolong/Chai.

I have a bunch of boxes, but it’s annoying

to have to open a bunch of boxes all the time.

So I organize them.

And it IS strangely satisfying to see them all neatly lined up.

One Chai to two Oolong.

Yes, its strange.

And then I tore the dishwasher apart and cleaned it.

And it was DISGUSTING!

But now its not.

Meanwhile Kyle was outside grinding his teeth.

(Sharpening...)

He did a couple of jobs over the weekend and they were

looking a little dull-ish.

OH! 

And I made BREAD!

It’s called No Knead Crusty Bread.

Only 4 ingredients.

I did it wrong.

But it was still good.

And it will be better when I do it right next time...

But I felt SO accomplished!

And it WAS weirdly satisfying.

Birth Announcement

 Yes.

This IS a Birth Announcement.

I have had my doubts about Bob and Ethel.

In fact, I've been considering sending them

to "freezer camp" and buying a new pair.

They just didn't seem to get the "breed like rabbits" memo.

We brought them home from Rural King 

back on APRIL 1, 2020!

But FINALLY!!!!!

Rod came in Saturday morning after feeding

the animals and announced 

WE HAVE BABIES!

I immediately went out to check on them and

although she pulled fur, I was a bit worried

because nobody had full bellies and one was

already dead.

I went into the house and thawed some of my 

kitten starter and grabbed my tiny baby bottle

and headed back outside to feed them if necessary.

But by then she had built them a nice little nest,

fed everybody and was resting.

Good job Mama Ethel!

She is a Silver Fox, Bob is... brown.

All 4 of the surviving babies are black.

And CUTE as baby bunnies.

ALERT...

Expect lots of baby bunny photos

in the coming days.

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

In other news,

my talk went well yesterday.

Thanks everybody for popping in!

And ALL the big things on my calendar have now

been checked OFF.

Today....

I have NOTHING!

I have already done all the paperwork for last week's

classes, emailed all my students,

done my blog (nearly)

and now I'm going to figure out what we need

at the grocery store and maybe Kyle and I will

go to the beach!

He has a property to go look at and give an estimate

this afternoon around 4:30 - I'll go with him to that.

He had an AMAZING month in February!!!

The first part of the month was a bit freaky for him.

He is used to WORKING all the time.

He was pretty busy the first couple of days of the month,

but then it dried up.

NOTHING.

For nearly 3 weeks.

But WHAM! The last few days he 

DOUBLED his income and actually almost 

made double what he made working at the ranch!

(And she paid him well!!!)

More on that tomorrow.

Maybe.