The Barnyard

Pears

2011-09-20T14:03:00.000-07:00

I brought the tall ladder down from the barn

this morning to pick pears.

The sun was shining warmly and the dew

was sparkling in the orchard grass.

The cats, Harley and Cricket, joined me

in tree climbing and chasing after

wayward fallen fruit!

Of course, the best ones are at the top of the branches!

Ripe for the picking!

Golden sweet and blushing from the sun!

The perfect pair!

(Farmers' Daughter #1 was married in the month of October,

several years ago, now.

At each place setting at the reception was a beautiful

pear with a ribbon attached that read ~

~M****** and C****~

A perfect pair.

She was married out of doors and a

pear tree stood on either side of the

head of the isle.

So romantic, don't you think?)

I will can most of these pears to add to

the jars filling up the pantry.

Today, I shall make some Pear Honey~

delicious on hot biscuits, toast or waffles!

It amazingly does taste a bit like honey,

though there is not a drop in it!

~Pear Honey~

Yields 12-16 half pint jars

8 cups (about 3 pounds) peeled, cored, and chopped pears

1 20-oz. can crushed pineapple with syrup

10 cups sugar

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Mix all ingredients and cook until pears are tender and mixture thickens, approximately 30 minutes. Place in sterilized jars and seal while still not.

(I got this recipe from Kelli at There is No Place Like Home a few years ago.)

This one will be my lunch!.

How perfect!

~*~

Joining Amy for Barn Hop #28

Jami for Tuesday Garden Party

Tracie for Cottage Flora Thursday

and Deborah Jean for Farmgirl Friday

Prepared for Winter!

2011-08-20T14:42:00.000-07:00

Winter's coming so Gentleman Farmer has been a busy boy cutting firewood for our winter heat. We burn about 5 cord of wood each winter. It is our sole source of heat and our wood stove can be used for cooking when the power goes out.

(A standard cord of wood measures 4'X4'X8'. Or the way we stack it 2'X4'X16'.)

The newest wood rick.
One side of Five cord rows of wood behind the barn.

We are sure to stay toasty warm this winter thanks to all of Gentleman Farmer's hard work!

~*~

Joining Amy for Preparedness Challenge #22

The Marauders!

2011-07-09T10:00:00.000-07:00

Maraud', To rove in quest of plunder; to make an excursion for booty; to plunder.

Marauder, n. A rover in quest of booty or plunder.

Meet my 'Marauders'!

(Shown above, plundering a bowl of oatmeal!)

Always on a quest for booty!

A Little Facelift for the Happy Hens Haus

2011-05-16T17:02:00.000-07:00

Joining Amy and the gang

over at the Homestead Revival Barn Hop.

The winter rains and snow had nearly scoured

all of the paint off of the Chicken Coop.

We had one nice sunny day last weekend

so we got out the paintbrushes and went to work!

I have some of my plants hardening off
on racks over the compost bin...

and on crates next to the coop.
It was looking pretty sad
:~{

But now it is looking fresh and new!
It matches the color of the trim on our house.

We aren't finished with it yet;

we are painting window boxes,

making some little white shutters,

and I have a painting that I hang

above the door every summer.

I am wanting to plant some

deer proof perennials on either

side of the door.

I have had roses, lillies and some

herbs there and the deer
have throughouly enjoyed them.

Do you have any suggestions?

I will be back with more photos when

it is all finished!

Won't you take a peek at what is happening

at the other Homesteads? There is sure to be

something that will strike your fancy! ;~P

Homestead Barn Hop

2011-02-21T16:47:00.001-08:00

Are you tired of this ceaseless, dreary weather?

Do you need a spark of color to brighten your ho-hum day?

But where does one find THAT on these boring washed out Winter White

or dismal Northwest Gray afternoons?

Why, right outside your window!

There may not be anything blooming in the garden

right now, but the shrubs and trees are full of

color nonetheless!

A careful glance past the bird feeder, I spot

a flash of azure with a velvet black hood

dancing in the buddleia bush!

A moment later, this little fellow joins him

wearing his finest little red bib and tucker!

Another softly colored guest zips in for a helping of

seeds to carry off to the higher branches of the

fruit trees to devour in a moment of solitude.

This little crowned beauty patiently awaits the

shower of seeds provided by the greedy

diners on the feeders above.

This plump fellow surveys the merriment of his

comrades from a nearby post. His turn is coming.

His shy demeanor soon dissipates

as he joins in the banqueting

sporting his fine rusty red knickers and

black and white spotted jacket.

While this little miss isn't bright in color,

the lovely muted stripes and white edging on her

feathers remind me of a beautifully

variegated leaf.

Another golden adorned sparrow has come to dine.

This fellow is so fat! And he is wearing a

lovely ascott of gold at his throat!

Else where on the farm, there are even more

splashes of color....

like this yellow tommy kitten

hunting for mice.

One has to focus to notice the silver plumage of this Heron

as he stands perfectly still, awaiting an inattentive

frog or small fish on the boggy tidelands of the bay.

Color is out there, we just have to take the time to

stop and look and enjoy!

~*~

Joining Amy @ Homestead Revival for the first

Won't you *hop* on over and see what's happening

at all the other places?

What Happened?

2010-09-15T15:28:00.001-07:00

Earlier this spring I bought 6 pullets (young girl chicks).

2 were given to the grand babies for Easter

and I kept 4.

I thought I had two Cuckoo Maran pullets

and two Americauna pullets.

Two parlicular birds went from this below

(center and right.)

to this...

Fly ~~~~~~~~~~ Taz

~*~

Teenager Fly

Fully grown male

He is a Cuckoo Maran

(the females supposedly lay dark chocolate

brown colored eggs. The Maran pullet has just

started laying and the eggs

aren't really very dark. Maybe she just needs

to mature a bit for them to get really chocolaty!)

Teenager Taz

(Hard to believe this is the little silver colored chick

in the first photo!)

Fully grown.

He is a beautiful Americauna Rooster

(He reminds me so of an Amish man with his

beard under his chin!)

Americauna hens lay green/blue eggs.

(His little mate hasn't started laying yet!)

I have never gotten roosters when I

have paid for pullets before!

While these guys are quite handsome

and crow faithfully and loudly

each and every morning

(and afternoon and evening!)

and are good providers

(they are forever finding bugs, etc. and calling

excitedly for all the girls to come and get it!)

And send out the alarm if anything seems amiss

on the farm...

I really was hoping for a few more layers!

I hope these guys don't get mean

like most of the roosters I have had.

If they do, the next photo you will see of them

will be like this...

;~P

Joining Susan for

Outdoor Wednesday!

Cleaning up the "Happy Hens Haus"

2010-08-03T15:24:00.000-07:00

Quite afew years ago, the Gentleman Farmer built me the

cutest little Hen House. It is a 1/7 scale of our Barn.

When it was finished, I stenciled different 'kinds' of eggs

onto the front of each nest.

We had a 'Chicken House Warming' party and invited

our (strange kindred spirits) friends from church and

our (then) Pastor and his family. We had a potluck style meal

were everyone brought an appropriate 'chicken/egg' dish

and the Pastor "blessed" the chicken house!

(He actually just prayed for happy, healthy hens to lay

lots of eggs, and for the 'Palace d'Poulet' to provide

protection for our little flock.)

What can I say ~ we are just simple country folk who

find fun where we can! We will use anything for an

excuse to get together and party!

~*~

Today was the day to clean the coop. The fresh grass hay

in the nest boxes definately improved the 'aroma'

after shoveling out the 'well used litter' which will

benefit the garden soil.

Below are the 12 nest boxes and their

assigned egg name!

"FARM FRESH"

"SUNNYSIDE UP"

"BOILED"

"CODDLED"

"FLORENTINE"

"EASTER"

"OMELET"

"DEVILED"

"OVER EASY"

"FRIED"

"SCRAMBLED"

"POACHED"

OCCUPIED!

Outdoor Wednesday

2010-06-29T20:37:00.000-07:00

The neighbors up the road apiece recently welcomed a

new babe into their family!

Not an everyday occurance on your average farm!

Joining Susan @ A Southern Daydreamer
for Outdoor Wednesday.

My, how they've grown!

2010-06-02T08:52:00.000-07:00

Thank you for coming out to The Barnyard for

Outdoor Wednesday

hosted by Susan @ A Southern Daydreamer.

In just a few short weeks, the new flock has gone from this...

...to this!

Two babies have taken up new residence

with my two granddaughters who love

eggs!

Spring Chick(en)s!

2010-04-23T20:03:00.000-07:00

They are just the cutest little things!

Three Americaunas ~ they lay blue/green eggs.

Three Cuckoo Marans ~ they lay chocolate colored eggs!

(I was wishing they were chocolate eggs! :~P )

Poor little girls ~ this is their first meal and drink!

(The striped ones, above, are two of the Americaunas

and the other is a Maran.)

The two above are both Americaunas ~ different coloring.

The Marans are hard to tell apart, but the Americauna in the center

I think will grow to be a silver color.

One of each is a late Easter present for the Granddaughters

but this little gal, above, is going to stay with me!

White (board fence) Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday

2009-10-14T06:03:00.000-07:00

Joining Susan at A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday and

Kathleen at Faded Charm today for

White Wednesday.

The fence that surrounds Cove Cottage was in desperate need of a lick of paint!

And time was running out! Our dry weather would soon be coming to

an end and we just couldn't leave the fence unpainted for another winter.

It was Now or Never! Painting by hand would have taken far too long so

Gentleman Farmer borrowed a paint sprayer. It makes a bit of a mess

of the grass and plants near the fence, but speeds the process along

greatly. The 'white' grass will disappear after a mowing or two.

After much hard prep work of scraping and rolling on a

mildewcide, and 11 gallons of primer and 11 gallons of white paint,

here is the finished product!

(Gentleman Farmer built all the fence and gates that surround Cove Cottage.)

One of the frequent visitors to Cove Cottage wanted to be in the

above photo ~ can you spot her?

Hopefully, next summer there will be a beautiful arbor and a gazebo to

go to through this new white gate!

Pear in a bottle

2009-08-31T11:51:00.001-07:00

Early this spring, when the fruit trees were just setting out their little fruits, Gentleman Farmer and I chose a very small pear growing near the end of a branch. We slipped a clean glass bottle over the little pear and wired it to the branch. And then we waited... and waited... and

finally the day arrived to pick our pear which had grown full size inside the bottle!

I had to gently clean inside the bottle with a dampened paper towel on the end of a wooden skewer (like a long swab) as there was some dried leaves and bark stuck in the bottom.

Then, after a cool water rinse, covered the pear with Cherry Brandy (the only alchohol I had in the house ~ I had it for a recipe, honest! ;~}

The Brandy, or Vodka is to preserve the pear.)

This was quite the conversation piece when we brought it to church,

especially amongst the young people.

This can be done with a variety of fruits and vegetables. I read that you can grow a squash or watermelon inside a clean milk or juice carton and when it is larger, peal away the carton to reveal a 'square' melon!

Oh, the fun you can have on a farm! ;~P

I hope you will try this next year ~ and be sure to show us the pictures!

Wild Black Caps

2009-07-17T14:42:00.000-07:00

I have been guarding them for two years.

Gentleman Farmer has wanted to "remove" them

so he could build a woodshed there.

They grow against the back wall of the barn

and they are hemmed in at the front by the

rows of firewood, protected from the deer

who love them as much as I do!

Patience has paid off ~ this year there is enough

to make a batch of sweet Black Cap Jam.

And I did!

(Recipe can be found in The Pantry.)

The Secret

2009-06-07T00:00:00.000-07:00

We have a secret, just we three,

The robin, and I, and the sweet cherry tree;

The bird told the tree, and the tree told me,

And nobody knows it but just we three.

But of course, the robin knows best,

Because he built the - I shan't tell the rest;

And laid the four little - something - in it.

I'm afraid I shall tell it every minute.

But if the tree and the robin don't peep,

I'll try my best the secret to keep;

Though I know when the little birds fly about,

Then the whole secret will be out!

(author unknown)

Welcome Spring!

2009-03-20T13:19:00.001-07:00