Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

[frustratedearthmother]

It's too stinkin hot to do much of anything ourside.... I go out early and I go out late. Does't give me a lot of extra time, but I'm managing to get stuff done, slowly.

We had a brilliant idea today to buy one of those walk behind string/brush trimmers. Went to Tractor Supply and loaded one up, brought it home and absolutely hated it! I can't start it - my arms are too short I guess. I can't get the string pulled all the way out. DH started it for me and I managed to cut down my persimmon twig... I've been babying that persimmon twig for two years now and it was looking great....and I guess I killed it ... poor little twig/tree. So... the string trimmer got loaded back up and taken right back to Tractor Supply.

I picked my first tomatoes today! Whoo hooo! They're not perfect - they still show evidece of stink bugs, even though they're covered up as tightly as I can get 'em. But, at least I'm getting some with just a little damage. If they were't covered I would be tossing all of 'em. I hate stink bugs.

Still picking a few green beans and some limas. Okra is starting to come in and I saw a few good size melons starting too. I hate to even say this - but we could use a little rain.

I need to start the incubator back up. I have a lady who wants 20 Orpington chicks from me. At $5 apiece that'll buy some feed.

Speaking of buying - we ordered 3 outdoor ceiling fans for the back porch today. Money, money, money.... AND, we still need to get the light kits to go on them... mo' money. And, then I need to get some patio furniture... it never ends. On top of all that, I still need a new push mower. Hope DH gts a good bonus this month.

 

[Denim Deb]

You may not have killed it. Is there still a stump left? Last year, hubby cut down my river birch and I thought for sure he'd killed it. It sent up shoots. Many trees will do that, but I'm not sure about the persimmon. There's not a whole lot of them growing around here, and w/out doing a bit of research, I'm not sure. But, I'd mark where it is. Then if it sends up shoots and you don't want it growing as a clump, pick the best shoot and cut the others off.

Just a side note, was this an American persimmon? If so, this is one tree that you need 2 for fruit. There's male and female trees, so if a male, or a female w/no males around, you won't get any fruit.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Deb, I haven't totally given up on the persimmon. There's a tiny little twig left that's about half the size that it was yesterday morning! It was about a foot tall and now it's about, ehhh, 8 inches. But, the top inch or two is not only leafless; it is without bark. Should I cut that off or try to seal it or just leave it alone?

This poor thing was leaf-less most of last year and finally came into some leaves this spring... it's tough so I'm not going to give up on it yet. I have several native persimmons and one fancy cultivar from Japan, so I'm covered on pollination. The Japanese tree has about a dozen baby persimmons on it. I got several off of it last year - and they are oh so good!

DH and I had a 'date' day today. We went to a mexican restaurant for lunch and there was a table of drunk folks next to us. They were loud and obnoxious and kep throwing the "F" word around... DH turned around and looked at them and they didn't like that. At first the guy told his 'date' to watch her language. But then I guess the booze got the best of him and he got all defensive and was saying... turn around again and 'I'd love to kick an old man's a$$'. Gee whiz! We didn't say ONE word to them and they were making a scene. But, thankfully they left immediately because management was heading their way. They left so fast they left their 'doggie boxes' on the table. Oh well...

After that it was a great day! We got a few decorative items for the back porch and picked out a patio dining table. We've sort of picked out a couple of rockers and a side table too - but not 100% sold on them. May still keep looking aroud before I make a final decision on that.

Decorating the back porch is turning into a great adventure. For years DH has been storing an old antique ice box in the garage. I think it will look awesome on the back porch. We're trying to go with a theme that I call 'country elegance.' I think the old ice box will fit in nicely. I found instructions for making oil lamps out of old wine bottles that I can't wait to try. I wish I had Pink's artistic streak!

It's time to separate the baby bucklings. I noticed today that they've grown into the ability to ... ummm... extend themselves. Little guys are born with their "business" sheathed... and now they have outgrown that. Testicular growth is starting also -- so it's time to separate the little guys from the little gals. This is going to make my life more complicated... gee whiz. I'm not really ready to totally wean the little fellas so I'm going to have to do a lot of catch and release of these guys. I've got them in a separate pen, but I still want them to nurse so I'll either put their mothers with them a couple times a day or let them out a couple times a day. UGH....

Also, it's time for me to decide who and how often I'm going to milk. I'm thinking maybe milk them all at least once a day. It's good practice for them and there are good attributes to each of the does. I may even decide to sell one of my milking does, but I can't make that decision without a lot of experience milking her....

Farm living is always exciting!

 

[Denim Deb]

FEM, trim off all the part that doesn't have bark. W/out the bark, that part won't live. I could go into a long explanation of the why and how, but figure you don't need nor want to know all that. (But, if you do, LMK, and I'll explain it all. )

Have fun w/your bucklings. Sounds like your life is really getting busy! And, I HATE to have people around me making a scene like that.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Thanks Deb, that was my thought and that's what I did. Showing no life right now, but I'm keeping it watered and hoping for the best.

Woke up this morning with a sore throat. Ugh. It's fading a little as I'm sipping hot fluids so hopefully it'll pass. I've got too much to do to be sick.

I haven't posted in a few days so I haven't mentioned this. My neighbors brought over a baby bird Monday evening and practically begged me to try to save it. Oh gee whiz... like I need something else to take care of, lol!

Hypothetically (because no one but a licensed rehabber is 'supposed' to attempt to rescue the state bird of Texas) - if I were to have kept this baby mockigbird and tried to keep it alive I would be feeding it catfood, boiled eggs, mealworms and a little applesauce to add moisture. Also I would have to feed it every 1.5 - 2.0 hours except for at night. On top of all that I would have had to bring it to work with me for the past three days... And, baby mockingbirds are not quiet all day, lol. So, to the folks who office around me are amazed at the new 'app' on my phone that makes such realistic bird sounds!

And if, just if I had a baby bird in my office it might look like this:



Need to get caught up on lawn work. We replaced the blade on the lawmower yesterday so hopefully we're back in business. But, as much as I hate a scraggly looking lawn - it's been so dry that I may either put it off in hopes of some rain, or just cut it higher than usual. We're supposed to hit triple digits this weekend... gee whiz! Heat index will be in excess of 110.... that's just too hot.

Guess I better do something...sitting here on my behind isn't getting nuttin' done...

 

[Denim Deb]

Next time your neighbors bring you a baby bird, ask them if they looked for the parents first. Most baby birds that people find don't need to be rescued. Either the bird has fallen out of the nest, and the parents are still watching it, or it's just learning how to fly and can't quite manage it yet. And again, the parents are around. If it's fallen out of the nest, if they can find the nest, they can put it back in. It's an old wives tale that the parents will no longer care for it. But, good luck w/your hypothetical baby bird.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

My neighbors are very experieced birders. They looked for a nest and watched the baby bird on the ground for 7 hours - until dark - no parents. They only finally picked him up so he wouldn't end up as cat food that night! He was pretty hugry/thirsty when I got him.

I even leave the 'hypothetical' bird outside every hour that I am home in hopes that a parent would come looking for him..... nope. He had a bloody nose when we found him, so I wonder if he was rejected for some reason, or injured in the fall and the parents abandoned him.

But, I agree with you - most birds are 'rescued' too early. But in this case - it was the right thing to do.

 

[Denim Deb]

Glad to hear that they tried to find the parents.

I had one several years ago-it was a hawk! It was on the neighbor's porch, and was freaking them out. There was no sign of the parents, so I ended up taking it to someone that knew what they were doing. Other animals, I'll mess with-but not a hawk

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Funny - but I 'rescued' a hawk once also. It was in the 70's and we had a freak snow fall. There were frozen birds all over the ground, it was so sad.

We found the hawk and it was barely alive. This was an adult, not a baby. Not too many babies in the winter, lol. We took it inside, set a laundry basket over it, put a heat lamp on it and prayed! We had it about a week. I was a teenager at the time and had absolutely no fear, lol. I tied a shoelace to it's leg and would take it out of the basket and it would sit on my arm. It was weak so there was no fight in it. We called a rehabber and of course were told we were not supposed to have it - BUT - if we did 'here's what you should do'. My dad was a hunter and we had a leg of venison in the freezer. I would shave off tiny pieces of it and warm them between my fingers and that hawk would actually eat from my hand. Craziest thing! About a week or so later it wasn't quite so friendly and that was my cue to set it free. It was a Cooper's Hawk. They are an absolutely beautiful bird - especially up close.

The little Mocker seems to have an issue with one wing. His right wing seems a little weaker or slightly injured...he does't extend it as far as the other wing and it tends to droop just a little when he's sitting. I don't think it will be a huge issue but it might be another reason he's an orphan. I put him in a persimmon tree today and watched him for about an hour. He had a blast hopping from limb to limb and pecking at the leaves - but never tried to fly.

Still milking the girls about every other day. Not getting a lot because I'm not separating theim from their babies yet. Sometimes I'll put the does out to pasture for a couple hours to increase what I get, but haven't done an overnight separation yet. I'm getting enough milk from the occasional milkings for our use so I'm not in a hurry to tie myself down to twice a day milkings yet.

DH has been keeping track of egg production since June 1st and he's counted 569 eggs from then until yesterday. That doesn't even include the ones that were laid when DH was outta town. I forgot to count them... But still, that's a lotta eggs! They've slowed down considerably though...and I found a dead pullet today. No idea unless it was heat related-and I suspect it was. She was low bird in that pen and I think she got pushed out of the shade... She was perfectly fine when I went out at noon today to give everyone fresh cool water - and she was dead by 6pm. We hit 102 today with a heat idex of 111... absolutely oppressive heat...and obviously dangerous. I've got some black chickens that I think I'll move into another pen. All my pens have shade, but some more than others and the black birds suffer so much more in the heat.

Surprisingly, the garden is still cranking out the goods. Okra is coming in well, picked lots of squash today that I need to process tomorrow. And the FIGS are ripening. I love figs. I get way more than I can eat so I dehydrate them. I don't usually make preserves because of the sugar content, but I might make some this year to give to friends/family. Might make all my Christmas gifts from the farm this year. I gave away lots Cajeta last year, but this year I might expand and include fig preserves also. And, I want to learn to make soap too...

Having popcorn for dinner so I neeeeds to go make some. I'm hungry!

 

[Britesea]

Pan de Higo (Spanish Fig Cake)
by The Gilded Fork on 12/01/2008

Pan de higo is a traditional way to preserve figs for the cold winter months. The artisanal fig cake is a specialty of Jaen in Andalusia, and as it contains no flour, the cake will last a long time. This is such a traditional and amazing recipe we havent given it our usual twist were just presenting it in its delicious simplicity. Pan de higo travels well, and is perfect for a Spanish-themed picnic; pack along with chorizo, manchego or garrotxa cheese, some crusty bread, and a bottle of Spanish wine.
8 servings
Ingredients
1 pound dried figs
cup Marcona almonds
teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
teaspoon anise seeds
Cinnamon, to taste
1 tablespoon honey
Brandy, as needed to bring the mix together

Preparation
Toast the almonds and grind them in the food processor, pulsing gently until the almonds are chopped, but stop before they turn to a paste. They should be of varying sizes.
Clean the dried figs, removing the stems, and mince them in the food processor.
Mix the almonds with the figs, the ground cloves, the sesame seeds, anise seeds and a dash of cinnamon, to taste. Add the honey and just enough brandy to hold the mixture together, mixing well to evenly distribute the seeds and the liquid.
Lightly flour a clean counter and form the cake into a loaf shape or log shape. Place the pan de higo in a container with a weighted plate on top to compress it, and let stand in a cool dry place for several days to dry it out.

Slice the pan de higo and serve with slices of manchego cheese, or serve drizzled with honey. Its also lovely with a glass of sherry.

Our neighbor had a fig tree when we lived in California, but they almost never got any figs-- each year, just as the figs were turning ripe, a horde of blackbirds would descend on it. There was no getting at the fruit. A day or two later they would leave and there wouldn't be a single blessed fig on that tree.