Britesea - Living the good life in rural Oregon

hqueen13

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Omg your menu sounds amazing!
I need to keep collecting seasoning recipes. I do my own taco seasoning but that's about it right now.
 

Britesea

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Well, I got Some of my mixtures done yesterday- I made a big double batch of dried onion soup mix, some more taco seasoning, and some cajun seasoning. DH had to work, so I had to pick up his morning chores as well as my own so that cut into my available time. Then I had to stop early to start working on dinner; I was trying something new that required quite a bit of prep time so I wanted to make sure I got done in time. The Moroccan Chicken started with a bed of grated cauliflower; which I had to do by hand since I don't own a food processor. That took almost an hour- of course that was because I had the ducklings outside in a corral and every time I heard any especially loud peeping I had to run out to check on them. Then I had to slice peppers and carrots, mince onions, garlic, ginger and cilantro, measure out a baker's dozen of spices and herbs and finally I could start browning chicken, sauteeing vegetables, etc. When it was all done though--- *smacks lips*

This morning something cute happened: Normally, I feed and water the ducks and gather eggs, but keep them inside their yard for a little while- DH lets them out when he picks up the newspaper and runs the dog. Yesterday I let the ducks out of their coop earlier than usual, to save a little time. This morning when I went out to feed and water them, they took a quick drink of water and then lined up in front of the gate expectantly- so I let them out again. When DH came outside to run the dog and pick up the paper the ducks saw him and made a beeline for their yard. He went over to the yard and did his little ritual of inviting them to come outside (this involves head bobbing and quacking on both sides) and then he turned around and marched out of the duck yard with all of them in lockstep following him :lol:

Baking day today, since DH had to work yesterday, and I have a lot of kitchen work to do (was too tired to do more than put away the foods that need refrigerating). Plus I need to fix breakfast.
 

Denim Deb

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I would love to see a video of that! :lol:
 

Britesea

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I didn't have my phone outside or I might have been able to video it.

So happy! My Blood Sugar was 124 this morning; it's down from 178 2 days ago:weeeI've gotten back onto a low carb diet and it's making a huge difference. So far today I had cottage cheese with a bit of pineapple, and salmon salad on tomato and 3 saltines; tonight we are having grilled steak and yellow squash with a green salad and leftover watermelon for dessert. I felt hungry yesterday, but not so bad today. I told DH that I simply won't be eating very much of his bread, so we need to slice it and freeze it so it won't go stale on him. Hopefully as I lose weight also the strain on my back, hips and knees will lessen and I'll be able to do more before the pain sends me back to the chair.

The ducklings have grown so much! They are 3 weeks old, and as tall as the Khakis now, though thinner. They are just starting to get feathers- their tails look kind of silly right now- long skinny stems with a little burst of feather at the end. The weather has been so warm that I think I might be able to send them to the coop in the next week or two, depending on how fast they feather out. DH was warned by a friend at work that Golden Cascades can be bullies- almost as bad as Muscovies. But the Cayugas seem to be holding their own, even though they are a good third smaller than the Goldens (they will be the same size as adults, but they grow slower); I saw one of the Cayugas get tired of the bigger ducks crowding her out of the tray feeder and she yanked the tail of one of the Goldens. Big squawk and the Cayuga quietly slipped in and started eating.

We had some friends come over so the 3yr old could see the ducklings; she brought a bag of Cheerios for them and I brought out some frozen peas as well. Homemade lemonade and sitting in the shade watching her trying to coax them to come to her like the ducks at the park do, lol. We had something extra cool happen in the empty field next door while they were there-- the very pregnant doe blacktail that's been hanging around dropped a baby- we realized what had happened when we saw that she was eating the afterbirth. Got to watch the baby struggle to his feet for the first time. She dropped a second one that we didn't see until dusk when she moved back around from behind a fallen tree. She's small too, looks like a yearling. I hope she's able to raise both of them to maturity.
 

Denim Deb

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That would have been so cool to see.
 

Britesea

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Well I finally have a few minutes to tell y'all what happened. I had gone to L's to exchange duck eggs for chicken eggs for DS who turns out to be allergic to duck eggs. We were sharing iced tea and gossiping a bit when I get a call on my cell phone. The voice on the other end confirms who I am and then says "Your husband has been in an accident on his motorcycle and is in the ER if you want to come be with him".
I dropped everything and zoomed down to the hospital. Turns out he didn't have any serious injuries but he does have 2 broken fingers on his dominant hand and a broken ankle, as well as road rash all over legs and arms. I don't know WHY he did it, but he rode down to the dump to check on hours, wearing a Tshirt, shorts and slip on shoes. Luckily he also wore his full face helmet- after looking at the gouges in it I know he might have lost an eye. It seems a deer jumped out in front of him; they tangled and the deer won. We didn't get home until 2am, then I had to set the time for 6 to wake him up and check his eyes and confusion because of the concussion. Then I had to call and make follow up visits with 2 different doctors, let his work know he's not going to be there for the whole of this week AT LEAST, go into town to pick up his prescriptions and cash for the impound, come home and find a second strong manly type to help DS and me get the motorcycle loaded up from impound where the tow operator kindly informed me there were no brake lights on our truck (!). Feed the two young men. Then come home and collapse in bed because I never slept last night for fear I would move and inadvertently brush against his wounds. We just finished soaking off all the blood-stained bandages and got dry ones on and DH is broiling the steak that was going to be grilled last night so we can throw a little protein down the gullet. All I've had time to eat today is some cottage cheese, and then I grabbed a hot dog at the mini-mart when I got the car gassed up.

Tomorrow we have the two doctor appointments, hopefully we'll find out just how long he will have to be off work. As a heavy equipment mechanic he really can't work with two finger splints on his dominant hand and a walking boot on his ankle. Oh, and I need to replenish our supply of gauze, and the insurance on the bike can be cancelled as it's going to take a while to get it back to riding condition.

I'm also trying to help him tough out the pain as best he can. The hospital gave him oxycodone, but that is highly addictive and I don't want us to have to deal with THAT as well. He took one this evening because we knew getting the bandages off was going to be a severe trial, but so far he's been managing with the vicodin they gave him before we left the hospital. I also insisted that they give him an antibiotic. I don't like taking them, but he's got abrasions and contusions all up and down both legs and arms and across his chest. I KNOW they weren't able to get all the road dirt out of those. Having nearly lost my right foot 10 years ago to an infection caused by a few stray wood splinters left in a wound from falling through a floor (the ER that time didn't give me any antibiotic), I wasn't going to run that risk for him.

Anyway, time to feed him and me some chunks of beef and crudites, and hit the sack. Talk to you tomorrow!
 

frustratedearthmother

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Oh no... I feel so bad for him. My DH rides a bike too and thankfully, he never goes on a ride without pants, boots, a padded jacket and a full-face helmet. My son, on the other hand, doesn't wear any protection at all and it drives me crazy.

DH and I went down on a bike about 10 years ago and I can sympathize with how your DH feels... I ended up with 10 stitches in my knee from a cut that went through my blue jeans... crazy stuff!

I hope he heals and recovers quickly! Take care of him and yourself too because it can be tough being a caretaker!
 
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