Nature Preserve

The natural scenery on the farm is always uplifting for me, and there is always something that draws my attention.  Sometimes it in an unexpected bloom, or the expansive sky, or an animal encounter. I'm always excited to discover something new and I don't think that will ever change.

Case in point, I was walking around the big pond recently and spotted this lone wildflower sprouting in the middle of the path.  Let's not talk about what contortions were necessary to get this picture!

Looking down the big pond

Some encounters are more exciting than others, such as when I met this new friend by the barn.  I didn't mind finding him there because they say if you have rat snakes you won't have venomous snakes. I don't know if that is true, but I'd like it to be.  The problem was that later I didn't see him hanging around - but I didn't know if he'd left or was lurking in the barn.  Hmmm....

Look, I caught a Rattata!
Pokemon reference for the nerds - you know who you are.

Apparently it was snake day on the farm, because later that afternoon Craig started waving me over. I immediately grabbed my camera (aka my phone) because I figured he had spotted a new critter. This time it was a large bird that he'd seen land in one of the tall pines near the front pond.  He took off as soon as we got close, but we got enough of a look to identify him as a snake bird (or water turkey; the official name is Anhinga). That was the first time we'd ever seen one so it was a thrilling moment.  Their name refers to their appearance rather than their diet, unfortunately.  

Not my picture (thanks, Google!)

Tilt your head to the side and squint really hard.  Can you see the resemblance? 

In addition to the elusive cat, numerous lizards, and now possibly a rat snake, we have a zipper spider in residence in the barn.  Her coloring is quite striking and fortunately her web is easy to spot.  She moves around every few days, leaving her old webs to decorate the corners.  I hope she doesn't start leaving notes telling us not to eat the pig.  That would be really weird, especially since we don't even have a pig.

Hello, Charlotte.

Or maybe I should call her Beetlejuice?

I can be blase about Charlotte because she tends to build her nests in out of the way spots that I can't unknowingly blunder into, like I did with one of her cousins.  I was the exact opposite of blase when I looked down and spotted her sitting on my chest.  Impromptu dance party:  raise your hands in the air and wave them like you really, really care!

Our most recent encounter was with this guy, who was a bit early for Halloween.  Once again I have to thank Google for knowing just what I meant when I searched for "big green worm with spikes". This is apparently a Hickory Horned Devil caterpillar, and appearances to the contrary, he's harmless. I didn't know that when I got his close-up though, so I should get some cred for my bravery in wildlife photography.

He sure doesn't look harmless!

Craig already knew he was harmless and therefore
doesn't get any bravery points

After the photo session, Craig very helpfully put Mr. Devil up the trunk of the pecan tree we found him at the base of.  It wasn't until later we realized he was heading to the ground to dig a burrow. Oops!  This devil turns into a Regal or Royal Walnut moth, which can get up to 6 inches across.  I really hope we encounter him again after his transformation.

See you next spring!

It isn't always critters and creepy crawlies.  Sometimes it is just catching the trees at just the right angle that makes me take a moment to appreciate all that we are fortunate enough to have on the farm.

Pine tree cathedral

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

We've wanted to wait on an update about the house until we had more to show you than just painted walls.  We're pretty happy with our paint choices, don't get us wrong, but we thought that a blog entry of just wall pictures showing colors like "Sea Salt", "Honeydew", "Tidewater", "Meander" and "Sand Dollar" might not be as colorful to you as it is to us.  With that being said, we'll at least show you a few samples, such as the front door:

This is called "Butter Up".

And the porch ceiling:

"Meander" - Our version of "Haint Blue"

As you can see from the picture above the leftover 2x4s are still there providing support for the porch and carport.  When choosing columns for around the house we went through Neta's Pinterest account to see other houses that she'd pinned.  Almost all of them had natural wood columns instead of painted.  Our choices were cedar or cypress.  Cypress was the far more economical option and it matched other cypress that we used for our accent wall inside.  It was an easy choice.

8x8 posts. Cut from the heart of the tree.

Of course I took it at an angle that put a column right in front of the door.  DOH!
(The one in front of the door has another board leaning against it telling the painters not to paint the posts.)

If your first reaction is "Oh no!  There are too many and they're too big!", join the club.  Neta and I each saw it at separate times and we felt the same way upon first gaze.  Then we walked around.  We went inside and looked out the windows.  We went back outside and looked at it from the perspective of how they lined up on the porch, then how they lined up with the dormers above and in just a few minutes it began to grow on us.  Now we love it!

We can't wait to finally get the front yard cleaned up.

As the trim is being finished up inside, we'd asked for window seats in the dormers of the two upstairs bedrooms.

By the way, the wall color is "Sea Salt".

This wall color is "Honeydew" (Emily's choice for her room).

The tile folks started on Monday and began to layout the showers for both downstairs bathrooms.

Guest Bath - Awaiting concrete floor and tile

The entrance to the shower in the Master Bath.  The floor is poured.

Master Bath

Those are the most recent changes.  The tile should be finished this week.  Our contractor is also working to get the permanent power turned on as we'll need to have the AC on and running before they can install flooring and cabinets.  We'll keep you posted!

Lulu Belle - One month and counting

We're at the one month mark with Lulu Belle and since some of you have been asking, we figured it was time to give you an update.

Who couldn't love that face?

Since her arrival she and Sammie have formed a bond.  When they go out, they usually bound out into the yard side by side, though Sammie almost always pushes out the door first with Lulu Belle catching up.  It can be a bit strained sometimes though.  When Lulu Belle wants to be left alone, she lets Sammie know in no uncertain terms with a grumpy growl.  Otherwise, they get along like old pals.  Sammie grooms her face for her sometimes and Lulu Belle just sits there quietly.  If one of them decides they don't want to stay outside any longer, when they come in they lay and wait by the door for the other one.  When they're outside, they usually lay down in the pine straw a couple of feet from each other.

Sammie requested equal time in this blog entry, though she's probably
disappointed that her picture wasn't first.

Lulu Belle has also been gaining some much needed weight, with a ravenous appetite.  We believe that she'd eat constantly if we let her.  We weighed her last week and she'd put on about 4 1/2 pounds.  If her bowl is empty, she'll immediately check Sammie's bowl to see if there is anything left to scavenge.  Sammie's approach to eating has gotten a lot less leisurely since Lulu Belle came on the scene.  She knows if you snooze, you lose.  Not that Sammie hasn't poached a kibble or two from Lulu when she wasn't looking.

You can barely see my ribs now!  Take that runway models!

Her fur is slowly growing back in.  It's not lush and she won't be doing any commercials for L'Oreal or Paul Mitchel, but it's progress.  Her skin is getting better as well.  It isn't putting out as much oil for protection so she smells better...somewhat.  She's still a bit doggy smelling, but it's more of a natural dog smell instead of a dirty, abandoned dog smell.  I've given her a few wipe downs using water with some apple cider vinegar and that really does the trick.  Not only does it kill the smell for quite a few days, it also helps her skin and fur get its pH balance back...or so I've read.

Here's are before and after photos:

Before (08/17).  The poster child for The Hair Club for Dogs.

After (09/16).  Much better!
The kids at school no longer call me "baboon butt"!

Is Lulu Belle spoiled?  Hmmm...

Lulu Belle spoiled?  Ask Sammie as she glares from the hardwood floor.

Actually she's not...well...not any more than Sammie.  We had to initially work to keep her off the furniture, piling boxes, dining room chairs, pillows and blankets on everything to keep her off. As you can see, she has taken a liking to my office chair.  I don't object and Sammie has no interest.

Lulu Belle and Sammie, while sharing many similarities such as fur, a wagging tail, a penchant for treats, etc., they are very different dogs.  Sammie always pushes to the front for everything and you can watch her body language as she'll hip check Lulu Belle out of the way.  Especially when it comes to attention.

Yin and Yang

Lulu Belle "sometimes" answers to her name.  Sammie answers to any spoken word now that another dog is in the mix.  If you talk to or start to pet Lulu Belle, prepare for Sammie to crash the party.  Sammie can be boisterous and playful at times.  Lulu Belle is more quiet and relaxed.  Both dogs are very sweet and loving, seeing themselves as lapdogs if given the opportunity.

Both dogs are also very imprinted on Neta, Lulu Belle especially.  She follows Neta everywhere she goes in the house.  She'll even sit outside the bathroom door.  Neta hands out the treats most of the time.  I guess that's the price you pay for unconditional love/worship.  Lulu "likes" me.  She ADORES Neta!

"Oh...it's just you.  Where's that lady with the hot dog slices?"

"Maybe she's over there.  Getting me a chunk of hot dog."

That's it for the latest on Lulu Belle...

Ahh...togetherness...

HOUSE UPDATE:  We'll have blog entry shortly.  There's been some paint, some trim work, some rustic touches and other things, but we didn't want to show you pictures of painted walls, only to show similar pictures again in a few weeks when the tile, the floors and the cabinets go in.

More to come...

Life with Pecan Trees

I'm not a big lover of pecans (proper pronunciation is PEE-cans not pe-CONS).  I'll eat a candied pecan or enjoy an occasional slice of pecan pie, but I'd rather have the "praline" part of the pecan praline, truth be told.  I do, however, love our pecan trees on the farm.  They provide so much shade...and so much DANGER!!!

For those of you not well versed in pecan tree knowledge (I'm a novice), if you learn nothing else, remember this:  Pecan trees are hell-bent on killing you and destroying your property...if you let them.  They drop limbs at any time.  Don't plant them close to structures.  Don't park under them.  Don't even stand under them for too long and certainly don't take a nap under one.  You might never wake up!  I kid...somewhat.  They are notorious for dropping limbs of all sizes, even on a clear day or night.

Nice try, Pecan Tree!

A couple of weeks ago, on a calm night, a "branch" decided it was time to fall.  I use the word "branch" loosely as this would qualify as a medium to large tree in any other scenario.  The base of it is over 19 inches in diameter.  It could take out a small village.

Makes you wonder what other parts are ready to drop from such a large tree...

It had no reason to drop from the tree other than just being mean or mischievous or...well...mostly rotten on the inside.  Rotten having double meaning here as doing damage to our barn would have been a rotten thing to do.  It barely clipped the roof, turning up an edge, but otherwise left the barn unscathed.

Just barely missed.

As it's been so hot, I have been waiting until the evenings to start cutting it up and carrying the pieces over to one of our ever-growing piles of debris.  I spent a couple of evenings, an hour or so each, cutting and dragging the pieces off.

This past Saturday, with most of the grass cut, I decided I'd get the rest of the small, leafy limbs cut off so I could work on the larger trunks of it.  I was carrying my last few pieces over to the pile when I felt a bug land on the back of my neck.  I brushed it away and walked back to the tree.

Normally bugs don't bother me.  I'm so used to grasshoppers, flies, mosquitoes, spiders, beetles and many other things landing on me as I cut grass or weeds or just walk through low-hanging branches and vines.  This was nothing new.  Or so I thought...  I felt it on the back of my neck again.

I brushed it away again.  This time I was a bit peeved that it hadn't taken the hint the first time.  I saw it land on the ground.  Good news...it was off of me.  More good news...it looked like just a grasshopper.  Then it didn't.  It looked like a piece of bark.  Weird.  Then it moved in the grass.  I took a closer look...

A mantis.  Why did it have to be a mantis?

EEEeeeeeewwwwwwww!

Bugs don't bother me.  Did I mention that?  But I DO NOT LIKE Praying Mantises.  I don't kill them, I just don't want them on me.  This one turned out to be a Florida or Grizzled Bark Mantis, which made it somewhat interesting as it was something I hadn't seen before, but did it have to land on me?  Especially on the back of my neck?

Those eyes say, "I will eat you alive!!!"

I coaxed it onto a piece of freshly cut wood and took it across the yard to show Neta, hence the pictures of it.  I turned it loose into the pile of debris figuring that it's going to be months before we burn it and there will be plenty of other bugs in there for it to eat before cold weather comes.

Ready to pounce.  This time he's going for my jugular!!!

These are just some of the hazards you face with pecan trees.

To demonstrate the multitude of bugs we regularly encounter, I'll round out this entry with a few other pictures that Neta has taken recently.

Neta found this guy on a sawhorse we were using to paint our porch swing.

A Walking Stick on one of our patio chairs that we use for picnic lunches.

We pulled up to check the mail and this guy beat us to it.

Smokra, ya'll

Smokra = Pickled, smoky okra. It is also a trademarked brand name so here's hoping I don't get sued for using the name!  I saw a jar of it in the grocery store and a light bulb went off over my head: I have okra, I like to pickle things, and I don't like paying $8 for a jar of vegetables and vinegar. Therefore I should make my own smokra, so I did.

Spoiler alert - this is as pretty as they are going to get.

I took note of the ingredients on the jar in the store, then turned to the trusty internet for some recipes. Then I tweaked them to come up with own interpretation.  Here's what I did, in case you'd like to try it, too. Plus writing it down means I might actually be able to make it again sometime (I'm notorious for one-off dishes because I can't remember what I've done previously and didn't write down).

First the okra:  I grew my own and had plenty of it so that was no problem.  Actually, the problem was I had a surplus, which led to the pickling idea in the first place.  I had about a gallon ziploc bag full, in various sizes.  I started out by wiping each one down with a paper towel and trimming the stem (leave the caps on), then sorting them into small, medium and large groups.  I say large but I really just mean in relation to the others - large okra are usually inedible because they get woody and tough. If you ever cut into fresh okra and it is tough, do yourself a favor and throw it out!

Okra is tasty and pretty - what's not to love?
Except for the itchy, prickly little spines all over the plant!

Once I had the okra sorted, I put each pile in a jar.  You want to pack the jars as full as possible otherwise the jars will seem half full once you pour the liquid in.  The small are just layered in, the bigger ones are standing on end.  For the medium I put in two layers - the first stem down, and the top stems up, so they fit in tightly.

That's when it occurred to me I'd probably want to blog about this and would need pictures!  As you can see I am growing 2 varieties of okra this year, one green and one red.  They taste the same, but the red tends to be a slimmer pod and they do look very pretty mixed in the jar like that.  I was congratulating myself on how well that worked out right up until the end (you'll see why).

Okra in the jars - check.  Next I added 2 cloves of garlic to each jar, plus about 1/2 teaspoon each of mustard seeds and peppercorns.  All the recipes I saw called for white peppercorns, which I don't have.  Therefore I used peppercorn melange which sounds fancier and is therefore obviously superior. I also substituted ground jalapeno for the differing peppers (cayenne, chili, chipotle) that various recipes called for.  I had all of those, but I'm a rebel.  I paid the price for it though - the plastic shaker inside was ridiculously difficult to remove, resulting in jalapeno powder all over my hands.  I immediately washed my hands VERY thoroughly, all the while chanting "don't touch your eyes, don't touch your eyes!"  I managed to avoid self-inflicted chemical warfare but I did have an epic sneezing fit.

I'd like to thank Emily for her (involuntary, unknowing) donation of the smoked paprika.

I mixed up apple cider vinegar and the rest of the spices, plus sugar and pickling salt, in a pot and brought it to a boil.  As soon as it boiled I turned the heat off and stirred it well to dissolve everything, then let it cool off for a few minutes.

Once it cooled a bit, I poured the mixture into a measuring cup for ease of pouring into the jars.  As you can see, it looks like I'm making bloody mary okra but at least it smelled really good.

Hmmm...bloody mary okra...

I divided the vinegar mix between the 3 jars, which filled them about 3/4 of the way.  Then I topped them off with water.  Put the lids on and shake well to make sure it is all distributed well.  Now the hard part - pop them in the fridge and wait for a week before eating!

Pretty red okra really doesn't work so well in red sauce.  Neither does green, really.
At least it tastes good!

Neta's Interpretation of Smokra

Approximately 1 gallon bag full of okra (enough to fill 3 quart jars)
2 cups apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp kosher salt
2 tbsp smoked paprika
6 cloves garlic
1 1/2 tsp mustard seed
1 1/ tsp peppercorns
1/2 tsp ground jalapeno
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp curry powder

I was taught you never wash okra or else it gets slimier, so I just wipe the okra off with a paper towel to clean it.  Pack 3 jars full, wedging the pods in, and add to each jar: 2 garlic cloves, 1/2 tsp each mustard seed and peppercorns.  Mix the vinegar, salt, sugar and the rest of the spices in a non-reactive pot and bring to a boil.  Turn off the heat and stir until everything is dissolved.  Let cool slightly then pour the vinegar over the okra in the jars, dividing it up evenly.  Top the jars off with water.  Put the lids on and shake gently.  Refrigerate and wait one week to eat.