I'll have my girl call your girl

The tulip arrangement from my boss' garden for Secretary's Day last week - so pretty

steppa inna babylon

In the 1970s, Famolare shoes were very trendy and in style - I had a pair much like the ones in this ad, and thought they were the coolest shoes I'd ever worn.  Famolares had a signature rippled sole that varied in height, and had really weird names like the "Dance There", the "Hi Up" and the "Get There".

I was delighted to find this pair of "Hi There" sandals at the Goodwill

Modeling my new shoes with Max, who is sporting his own "Bark There" footwear

more pyro pepper fun

More crates of peppers for pennies at the vegetable store.  I roasted three boxes of them - it's work to roast and peel peppers, but what tastes better?

vegan Ethiopian

I bought some Soy Curls when I was in Portland last month - I had read about them in cook books but never saw them in stores - they really do taste kinda like chicken

Some injera flatbread - a fermented, teff flour batter that's like an Ethiopian crepe

The meal: lentil puree, bean and brown rice patties, sauteed mushrooms, and soy curls with potato - mmm-mmm yälagä

they love car rides

Cozy

Max

I’m a happy dog in a car
Zooming down miles of tar
Sniffing around everywhere
I know where we are by scents in the air
I’m a happy dog in a car 

- Flying Lemming

fruity animals

Rabbit with apples

Goldie, Tiny & Whitey

Chicken with cantaloupe

new chick digs

The chicks' new double-wide

2 weeks old!  They already outgrew their original box

Owl, one of the Araucana chicks - these are the blue egg layers

baby Barred Rock - it looks like I'm holding a cute gun

Kinda foodie meeting #6: fresh mozzarella cheese

I taught a small group of peeps how to make fresh mozzarella cheese at Margaret's house last week

Megan and Margaret stirring the curds and whey

Margaret had a juice bar set up for us - so yummy!

She lives on the Mission Peninsula, where the first of this year's black morel mushrooms are popping up - she found these in her back yard - I have mushroom envy

Thunderbolt, the whey drip licking beagle

The finished cheese - we sprinkled some with herbs, pepper and olive oil

sleepy pups

sky study #63

Sunset over the West pasture, Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Alpine cheese style

I found this cabinet at a thrift shop in Traverse City - on the back it says "Thomasville Furniture, 1968", and we hung it in the hallway of the cheese workshop.  I think it adds vintage Scandinavian style to the lab, and will undoubtedly make my Swiss cheese taste much more authentic.

I can relate

click to enlarge

H is for Hops

My new 10-foot hops trellis, the centerpiece of the herb garden, compliments of Reeber Woodworking. Mom & Cozy in the oregano patch in the background.

Bip the Bunny

My hen Bip spends a lot of time with the rabbits.  I find her most days cuddled up next to Blackie, eating with them and generally behaving like a bunny.  I thought it was food based, but she doesn't eat alfalfa pellets, so I think it may be inter-species love.  It's really, really cute.

The Building of Boss Mouse, Part 16: the works

One side of the Boss Mouse utility room- water heater, pressure tank, and a maze of plumbing.  This is what you'll be looking at when you use the bathroom at Boss Mouse, which is on the opposite side of the room.

Max & Cozy's Day Out - Saturday, April 14

Cozy eats half a huge pan of oven fries off of the kitchen counter: $3.00

Killing neighbors chickens: $30

Terrorizing cattle and explaining situation to the county Sheriff: price yet undetermined

Max & Cozy getting loose and running amok all over Kingsley for 4 hours: PRICELESS

the den

I found a large animal den out in the middle of the East pasture this week while walking the dogs.  It is dug into a large mound in the field - Cozy can get her head and shoulders inside the entrance.  I did some research, and it looks like the home of a badger.    

my peeps

My new chicks arrived Wednesday and are settled in their brooder box out in the Boss Mouse barn.  The 15 chicks are healthy and cute as can be.  I am amazed at how capable baby chicks are - at 2 days old, they walk, eat, preen themselves, stretch and behave much like adult chickens.

A new Whitey!  I got 2 or 3 of all of the breeds I started with when I first moved here, before the fox massacres.  On the outside of the box they arrived in, there are printed directions from the hatchery instructing you "not to kiss or nuzzle your chick or duckling."  I know it's unsanitary, but they're so irresistible, all you want to do is kiss them and rub them all over your face.

Peep!

scallop me, bake me, hash brown me, mash me

The same place I got the huge box of bell peppers from last week had this box of potatoes for sale for $2.00

no finer dogs

Maxin' relaxin'

This is a picture of Cozy I took from inside the hen yard - Cozy is still learning that she is the protector of the chickens, not the hunter - she reminds me a lot of Pucci

the bottom feeders

Look closely...a trio of wild turkeys under the bird feeders in the side garden eating up all the fallen seed - wild turkeys are so huge and beautiful - I am always happy when they pass through the farm

Easter feaster 2012

Orange chocolate chip scones for breakfast

Paella for Easter dinner

Easter at the farm

Easter eggs 2012

my dyed fingertips!

I gave the chickens some flowers for Easter breakfast - look at Goldie's head - she was in a blurry-hurry to eat that chrysanthemum!

a banana chip for Blackie

Easter macarons

I baked up a pile of French macaron cookies for Easter

8 flavors

I mailed them with a bubble-wrap bumper so they wouldn't get crushed in the mail.

Top row: dulce de leche, rose, blueberry cheese cake, green tea.

Bottom row: anise, espresso, lemon, strawberry

woodland creatures

I had to cut down some cedar trees that were damaged in the big blizzard last month, and I put the whole trees inside the bunny area in the big barn.  They love scampering around them, and will slowly chew their way through the entire tree.