Feed Me!

Wildlife Abounds

For years some industrious bird has built a nest on the same corner of our carport under the eaves. Several times the nest is built, end of story. Some years the momma gets eaten by a cat leaving lonely eggs. This year, finally, the eggs produced 5 babies. We have watched their progress from eggs to babies. Everyday we have watched the birds fly in and out providing goodies. Two days ago we found bird remnants on the step, curtesy of the cat. Unsure if this was a parent we watched and waited. One bird appeared to continue feeding. The next day we found more bird remnants. Again we waited. We waited all day and didn't see any activity. We heard 5 little beaks complaining all day of their hunger. By dusk we were sure momma and daddy were gone. We scrounged around for worms and even managed to get a few down a throat or two. After awhile we realized the futility of our endeavors. Even if we fed them how would we teach them to fly. We went to bed that night thinking of the poor little birds. Thankfully, momma - or daddy - must have just taken a break as he/she was back yesterday!

Then today, while I was at the greenhouse (Yes! Thankfully, I picked up a few hours of work) the boys were upstairs. They heard a crash downstairs. They went down to see and there was a 4 foot black snake on our kitchen table! They would have gotten a picture but the camera was on the other side of the snake. M went and got two ski poles and carried it out of the house. Later, they were sitting out on the carport. M said he kept feeling there was another snake around. Suddenly the dog started growling. When M turned back towards the house out the door came a second snake! Now my question was if they went in together where was the second snake all that time and what was it doing?!?

Fritters and Thankfulness

I was over visiting my good friend, the Contrary Goddess's blog and saw her recipe for Locust Blossom Fritters. Now I am a great one for eating off the land. We make sure we get our yearly dose of branch lettuce, ramps, morel mushrooms, red bud blossoms and so on tho I had never heard of Locust Blossom Fritters. I was glad to find a new 'of the land' food and glad for the extra knowledge of making do with what one has. You see, I happened on this the same day my husband's company went on strike. Now, one should be prepared for anything however, in this instance we were not. No one expected this strike but when the contract came back it was too bad to sign so as of 11 pm Monday night we have no income and come the first of June no insurance. Yes, we should have prepared better and normally we do. The last little bit tho we had forgotten how tenuous work can be. We were lulled into that idea of safety from a 'sure' paycheck. This is a harsh way to be reminded of what is what but if harsh is needed so be it. We are much better off than most folks tho. Because we garden and raise bees and buy in bulk we have a good deal of food laid by. Because we do save money we have enough set aside to pay the mortgage, the phone, lights for a couple of months. We will have biodeisel to put in the car so we can get to town occassionally. We also don't live the rat race life that most folks do so we can step back from it all and be OK. Several people I have talked to don't know how they will pay next months bills much less the month after that. The last strike was 11 months. No one knows what this one holds. Course the lack of insurance bothers me a bit. We have lived a lot of years off and on without it but I sure was glad we had it a few months ago when M had a $5,000 kidney stone. And if things continue we will have to get work. But for now at least we'll get some extra chores done!

Oh, and we fried up a batch of fritters too!

Mother's Day

I love this day! My boys are very good about telling me they love me and passing out hugs and kisses on a regular basis. However, it sure is nice to get a little extra attention. Their plan was to fix me breakfast in bed. However, with all the packing and moving and doings of getting N on the road to Colorado it seeped over into today. She was completely ready to go last night tho we talked her into starting fresh this morning so she stayed with us last night. Putting off the inevitable a few more hours. She finally headed out around 10 a.m. amoung many tears. I will miss her terribly. She is a great woman and is a great friend. We're already planning a trip to see her next year. So instead of breakfast in bed the boys took me out to lunch at Fatz. There we were in all our moving grubs amoung the church dressed folks. It was great - and good food. Later, the boys were determined to fix me food in bed so for supper G fixed chips and cheese and C fixed me an egg - over easy (this is C's newest food skill, he does it well - and often) along with a good beer - and fed me in bed! They also got me this great mushroom chair for outdoors although at the moment we are dragging it around inside the house as it is so comfortable.

Last night I shot an elephant in my Pajamas...

...and how he got in my pajamas I'll never know.

I have no pictures of the progress of the garden today tho lots of work has been done. As we have so many other chores that need doing around the house I did not put in a full garden this year. We are down to the last few jars of beans so many beds will be devoted to beans this year. The first has been planted. The raspberry patch has been worked in as well as the strawberry patch. I may need to trim some branches over the strawberries as they seem to be getting less sun than in the past. The squash, pumpkin, cabbage and okra is in the ground. I potted up many herbs as the herb garden has slowly been taken over by spreading perennial flowers. Let's see, lots of weeding has been going on. I have the honor of throwing my best friend's bridal shower here so I want those weedy beds to be pretty this year! Only thing left to go in the ground are the tomatoes. Last year we had snow on the ground on May 15th so I will wait a few more days.