What the Duck?

 A lot of duck related stuff going on this week.

Last week we had a brief warm-up, maybe you did too? We don't know. Anyway, we spent a couple of evenings after work doing a little cat fishing. Our plan was to move a couple of catfish from the small pond to the larger pond, in hopes the catfish would help eat down the algae. We didn't catch any fish, but we did witness a whole bunch of married ducks. We've heard about large groups having dignified relations with each other, but we have never partaken. But the thing about ducks having sex is, they should be laying eggs. The problem is, these ducks have gone feral and wont go up in the coop at night, they stay on the ponds at night and come up to the house when they hear the breakfast bell.

So, we walked the hills and valleys around the ponds, looking for duck eggs. We found "no joy" and gave up. The next morning, there was duck eggs all around the house. We found eggs in the wood pile, under the porch, ten eggs all together. Lawman figured they needed a central location, so he took one of our nest boxes out of the coop and put it along the duck trail at the pond.

So far, the feral ducks have yet to use it, and we haven't gotten any more eggs around the house. We're going to wait a while longer, because they are starting to help out in other ways.

A couple of weeks ago, Lawman started dropping dye into the ponds to beat down a sudden algae bloom. It stopped (we think) any more from growing, but the stuff we already had was still there. Two days ago we noticed the feral ducks started staying down in the big pond at night, and they were eating the algae. Problem solved for now. And to think, we almost had duck under glass for dinner.

There had to be at least one food update this week, and we have one. Cupcake wanted another loaf of wheat bread, and as we all know, what Cupcake wants, Cupcake gets.

Later that evening we had hamburgers thawed out to make at home rather than schlep to town. Then we realized we didn't have any hamburger buns, and thought we might have to break down and make the drive, until we hit on the idea of slicing the fresh wheat bread thick and using toasted slices as the buns. It was a great idea.

We threw on some homemade sweet pickles and had a fine meal. 

And we made an attempt to get a snap of Venus/Jupiter/Moon that lined up in the sky this week. It's not Alphageek or brother Kevin quality, but for the cheap camera we use, it didn't turn out bad. 

We ended the week like we always do, with a couple of naps and a full belly. 

K&K

We've got nothing

 There wasn't much to report from The Acre this week. Rain and mud kept us inside most of the week. The one highlight was from the Dudley Twins. Chief Walters caught a call after breakfast Sunday morning, and that means the DT's will be wound up. They cheer him on as soon as he pulls out of the driveway in his county vehicle.

Being stuck inside, we did a little baking. Cupcake whipped up another batch of trail mix.

She found a recipe for simple wheat bread that she wanted to try. And what Cupcake wants, Cupcake gets.

Lawman says this was the easiest bread he's ever made, and it was pretty too. This recipe is a keeper.

The last thing we had to share this week is angel biscuits again. We had a little extra time this weekend, so Lawman took time to fold the dough over several times. That made these flaky and layer-ey. They also hold up a lot better than buttermilk biscuits for egg/bacon biscuits.

We ended the week with chicken wings, and several naps.

K&K

Hasenpfeffer and Super Bowls

 We celebrated the big sporting event that happened this week, but we didn't watch it. It's our family tradition to eat like we tailgating, but with no mention of any sporting events. So we did again this year. Cupcake "tore the bone out" with her homemade nacho chips.

We shredded block cheese, and she made her own cheese spread. She also boiled a pot of pinto beans and made homemade refried beans to go on it as well.

Chief Walters requested sausage balls. So she made her soon to be world famous sausage balls.

And while she was in a home made kind of mood, she made a little heart in Lawman's oatmeal one morning.

She also knows exactly how to ring in Valentimes day for her man. 

She also picked up an ink stamp for our future egg sales.

Earlier in the week, we noticed that we needed to start dying the ponds again. 

Just a few weeks ago the ponds were covered with six inches of ice, so we stopped with the dye, because how could algae grow under six inches of ice, right?

We're still learning about pond care.

For our followers who are squimish about eating meat that doesn't come from a plastic wrapper in Wal-Mart, stop reading now. You've been warned.

Chief Walters grew tired of shooting clay pigeons, and took a stroll around The Acre. Much like Jed Clampett, he was "shootin at some food" but unlike Jed, he killed the food. 

He cleaned it and we gave it a good salt soak.

Then he put a shine on his shootin iron.

We put it in the stock pot and let it simmer overnight with some veggies.

Lawman picked it clean and we used some of the meat for Sunday morning gravy on our biscuits.

And all our readers (both of y'all) know we hate to waste anything, so we canned up the broth and look forward to rabbit broth in our food soon. It also used up every empty canning jar in the house to save the broth. We either need to eat more, or shop for jars. 

We ended the week with tailgate food and naps.

K&K

Princess Layah

 We have a hen that does her own thing around The Acre. She wont keep with the flock and she runs off to hide her eggs every day. It's like an Easter egg hunt every day, her eggs are even blue. We're not sure if she's run 'afowl' (see what we did there?) or just a lone rider?

Cupcake has named her "Princess Layah" her nurd transformation is nearly complete.

And keeping with everything is crazy on The Acre, we give you one of our smarter ducks.

Other goings on this week. Chief Walters came off some of his fortune and bought himself a skeet shooting shotgun. We're sure he can use it for other stuff too? Anyway, he's got the hang of it already.

Lawman tossed a few clay pigeons, and he popped them all. 

On food related stuff this week, we started the week out with a recipe Cupcake wanted to try for carrot cake muffins.

We're going to be keeping these around too.

Later in the week, we had to drive down to BJs in Roanoke to cancel our membership there, so we decided to move over to Sam's Club again. They don't sell diesel fuel, but had some pretty good deals on stuff we buy in bulk. One thing that caught Cupcake's eye was 'cowboy steaks.'

We still have a box full of gifted meat from our neighbors, but we've never seen steaks like these so we decided to give them a whirl.

They fried up really well on the Blackstone. We were pleased with the results, but they are kind of spendy, so we're going to limit them to caught on sale or special occasions in the future.

In the spirit not wasting anything, we took the bones and slow boiled them in our water bath canner all weekend along with some carrots, onions and celery, then canned up the bone broth Sunday after breakfast.

And while we're talking about Sunday breakfast, Lawman whipped up another batch of angel biscuits over the week and cut them out Sunday morning. This week he rolled them out, then folded the dough over a couple of times before he cut them out, that gave them layers. Just like those "crazy granny" canned biscuits. 

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

K&K