Ducks in a Row

 We got our ducks in a row this week.

We spent some time down by the ponds this week. It all started when the boy and the girl-in-law went down to do some fishing. They were gone for a couple of hours, and we figured they were doing more 'sparking' than fishing. But they came back with tales to amaze about the numbers of fish they caught. So Cupcake wanted to go fishing and see what all the fuss was about. And what Cupcake wants, Cupcake gets.

Cupcake caught dozens of crappie, and hooked a catfish but couldnt get it to the shore. So, the next morning after breakfast, she wanted to go fishing again. See the above about what Cupcake wants.

She actually caught two catfish, but Lawman dropped the first one back in the water before we could get a picture. Cupcake made sure the second one stayed on dry land until we grabbed the camera.

We did a bit of cooking this week, if you can imagine that? First order of business was an apple spice cake.

Cupcake tells the tale of how her grandmother would make 'The Outlaw' one apple spice cake per year and he always looked forward to them. If he wasn't batshit crazy and decided to split the family in two, he could be eating like a king. Who knows, he may still be? We don't know.

Recipe didn't call for it, but Lawman added butterscotch chips

We see why the outlaw loves these things. Unlike him though, we can make these anytime we want to.

We did ribs one night, because Cupcake loves leftover rib meat for gravy and tacos and whatnot.

And our new favorite, dinner rolls.

Cupcake made a couple of jars of herb infused cooking oil this week, because we have herbs coming out of our ears.

And we used up some of our leftover brisket from last week with brisket sammiches on the griddle.

It's almost time to harvest our watermelons. 

Why are you in the garden again?

There's also a ton of pumpkins waiting to turn. Except the white pumpkins, they stay white.

We thought we would end the update with some country folk lore. Lore says for every foggy morning in August, you will have a snow day in December. We've had 18 foggy mornings so far this month, and the month aint over yet.

Another lore tells that the higher the pine cones on the pine tree, the higher the snow will come that winter.

And a bad winter follows spring shrubs that bloom in fall.

We ended the week with a couple of naps and a full belly.

K&K

Dog Days

 We've had quite the garden year this year, maybe you did too? We don't know.

Last year our tomatoes came in around the middle of August, we would pick them by the bushel and then a day or two later, we would can them, make soup, sketti sauce, whatever.

This year, they started coming in around mid July. We would pick a couple of buckets, and the next day we would have a bucket full of tomato goo. We would pick another bucket full, next day, same thing. We got to the point we would have to pick them and can them or soup them the same day or we would lose the majority of them. We thought maybe blight? Turns out, it was the dog days of summer. Cupcake looked it up. Another of the weird things about the dog days is, dogs won't go into water. We noticed Willow, who starts her day off with a swim in the ponds, wouldn't get in the water, even if we threw a stick in for her to chase. Folk lore is funny, but it's also true as it turns out.

Anyway, our garden is about done for the year. We've got several watermelons and pumpkins still on the vine, and we've not harvested our beets yet. We're already dumping duck poop in the gardens for next year. 

Most of this week is food related. We started out by making white peach jelly.

And Lawman whipped up a fresh apple pie

No crazy granny pie crusts for us

We found two briskets at the K-Rogers on the cheap. Lawman seasoned one up and let it chill for a week, then put it in the smoker, because it felt like fall this week and that makes us want to smoke meat.

And what's a smoked brisket without fresh made dinner rolls?

And Cupcake found a recipe for pecan pie brownies that she wanted. And what Cupcake wants, Cupcake gets.

We've had a can of crab meat in the fridge for a couple of weeks, and we wanted to free up some real estate in there, so Lawman whipped up a batch of Maryland crab soup for dinner one night. He's no fan of MCS, but he used fresh tomatoes, peas, corn and some of that Lawman seasoning for seafood. It turned out pretty well.

One non food related thing this week. 

We let the baby guineas and pheasants loose this week. They go back up to the coop each night, but are starting to wander further from the coop each day foraging for food. It's all starting to come together now that we're foxxy free.

We ended the week with chicken wings and naps.

K&K

It's Time

The time has come to decorate for fall. Don't take our word for it, look to mother nature. She gave us our first pumpkin of the season, so Cupcake grabbed all the fall candles and decorations and got busy decorating. 

We also got our white peaches in this week. Lawman loves his peaches crispy just like "The Outlaw" does. It's a shame he's batshit crazy, he could be eating like a king this week.

We are going to make jelly out of most of them, but Lawman cut out enough to make a fresh peach pie.

We made another picking of tomatoes this week, and Lawman canned them in quart jars to save for deer chili and whatnot as the winter approaches. 

Cupcake loves her some fried green tomatoes, and what Cupcake wants, Cupcake gets.

Cupcake also used a few fresh tomatoes, along with fresh carrots, potatoes, corn and peas from the garden to make a veggie beef soup. We had T-bone steaks for dinner one night, and threw the bones in to cook off the leftover meat, along with a pound of Acre harvested deer burger.

While she was working on the soup, Lawman whipped up a batch of yeast rolls to go with. The DT's loved them more than we did, if we read the facial expressions right?

After we ate, we had a lot of soup left over. Lawman put it in pint jars and canned it up, so Cupcake could have it for lunch when she wanted something different than tomato soup. He figures it's the least he can do, since she keeps him in the lifestyle he's grown accustomed to.

Outside farm stuff we did a bit of as well.

We had to mow the cemetery and the yard, so that took a few days. We also added more chicks to the flock. We were at Tractor Supply and saw they had a couple dozen chicks left. The manager said he would sell them cheap if we took them all, so we did. Two dozen added.

We're bird dogs ya know

Then Sunday after church, "The Boy" and "The Girl-in-Law" were at Rural King, and reported they had pullets for fifty cents, so we headed west. We picked up another two dozen chicks, but these were much smaller birds, so they have to spend some time in the heat bin before we can get them down to the coop.

You may be asking yourself "Why buy more birds, when they are losing them to predators?"

This would be a good time to stop reading, if dead chicken killers isn't your thing. You've been warned.

Lawman has been doing a battle of wits with a gray fox this week. The fox was winning, until it wasn't.

Lawman finally got all the shot Friday night, and put an end to the reign of terror on our chickens.

We've still got pictures of a red and a coyote, but they only come around maybe once a month. We don't think they are preying on our birds, but if they start showing up on the regular, Lawman says he can dust off his punisher cap and go do work.

We lost 75ish birds this year, so the four dozen we bought this week won't bring us back up to 100 birds, but we hope to keep what we have alive into next year. Fingers crossed.

We ended the week with a chicken shopping spree, and a nap.

K&K