vintage book love

the yin/yang of cat/dog

napping together

farewell Roosty Jr.

My friends Jack & Joelle have 6 hens, and had a very mean/aggressive rooster, who they got rid of.  I offered to relocate one of my two gentlemen Roosty Junior's  to them.  I hear he has acclimated very well, and is happy in his new home with his new ladies.  Three roosters was too many at my farm, so it worked out well all around.

Happy Thanksgiving!

this Winter's tenant

There are many seasonal occupants taking shelter from the weather out in my big barn, the cutest being my friend Amy's UK-made 1967 Sunbeam Minx - classiest little classic ever.

chicken scratch

'

When I feed the chickens, sometimes the rabbits camp out underneath the feed table, because they LOVE chicken scratch, a mix of corn and other coarsely chopped grains. Here's my bun Blackie, happily parked underneath the chicken table at feeding time (the chickens don't mind her at all), eating her fill, with chicken feed all over her head.

Thanksgiving bartering: a series

serious trading happening at the Saturday farmers market this week: above, carrots and more carrots, frisee lettuce, brussel sprout staff, hot & spicy Smelt City Pickles from Boyne City

Spinach, spinach, spinach, and chard

Beets, beets, and purple kale

a nice squash, fingerling potatoes, and fancy dried mushrooms (honeys and hedgehogs)

sky study #138

No filter at all on this fully purple sunrise Monday, November 16th, 2015

for the weird egg file

Thick, wrinkled shell on an egg collected this week - sometimes they have a few pleats, but I've never seen one like this

inspector Buffy

Cheese room renovation update: concrete footings approved, plumbing approved, insulating foam board down - next up: concrete floor being poured.  Buffy the hen approves!

sky study #137

another beautiful sky from my favorite intersection M113 and Summit City Roads in Kingsley

mouse guard

an image from the comic book series Mouse Guard

lattice-top love

the red coat

Great vintage red coat with big gold snowflake buttons and hand-embroidered "AR" at the neck.  Salvation Army on Airport road, Traverse City.   Perhaps it belonged to Ayn Rand? Al Roker?  It cost $6.50 and it's mine now

Frank forever

best denim jacket back patch - at the first indoor Farmer's Market last Saturday

eating greens

The garden got tilled over for the winter and I fed what was left of the collard green plants to the buns

Trevor goes in for the brussel sprout attack

Willow with brussels

sky study #136

Sunset over the big barn Tuesday, November 10th, 2015

preppy forever

Church thrift shop score November 11th: original Bass red canvas boat shoe, suede laces, clean $2.50 

and of course, customized the laces, as demonstrated here:

cute slouchy beanie as modeled by Cozy $2.00

curly napper

who is a cuter cat napper than Mabel?  This is every night on my lap

saving the berries

When I moved to the farm 5½ years ago, my good friend Raquel sent me tiny root stock starts of raspberry and blackberry bushes.  They grew and prospered and have supplied me with fresh berries every Summer for years.  With the construction of the cheese barn underway, we will be plowing down the area where the berries are now, so I took advantage of the warm Indian Summer temperatures this week and cut them all down for the Winter, and next Spring will dig them up and move them somewhere new to grow once again.  Here is the pile of trimmings 

and here the bases of the bushes, ready to be under a winter blanket of snow for the next several months

the original

Laurel's Kitchen is one of the original old school vegetarian cookbooks to come out in the 1970s when people really began to follow the diet - my copy is from 1976

older vegetarian cookbooks have a lot of recipes that try to mimic traditional "meat and potatoes" types of meals - I made both of these recipes

and they were pretty good - a delicious, mushy meatless-loaf and little brown rice and potato croquettes that I ate with A1 sauce!

fall funghi

Blossoms of some type of mushroom sprouting up in the grass all over the farm

girlscouty good

Tried these the other day and love them - they're very much like a thin mint Girlscout cookie

I never get enough

that face

garage full of dirt

Construction has begun on the cheese barn renovation - so far, they've dug out the old concrete floor of the barn in preparation for pouring the new one.  It's a huge mess, and so exciting!

the best

Nobody I know does better Halloween costumes every year than my bestie David

salty sweet

I got some cream from Moomers this week, so made a little batch of salted caramel sauce

death of a supermodel

I found my hen Brahma dead in one of the troughs in the coop yesterday - she just laid down and died.  She was one of the most beautiful chickens I have ever had and seemed robust and healthy.  Sometimes they drop dead, just like people.  I placed her body out in the West pasture, and by this morning she was gone, back into the circle of nature.  I miss her.

crispy

Been making the BEST gluten & sugar free apple crisp this Fall - here is the easy recipe:

Oven to 375 degrees

FILLING - mix together 4 cups chopped apples

2 teaspoons lemon juice

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 Tablespoon maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

Spray a baking dish with non-stick spray and pile the filling in

CRUMBLE TOPPING

½ cup almond flour

⅓ date or coconut sugar (or brown sugar)

½ cup oats

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1½ Tablespoons maple syrup

⅓ cup melted coconut oil

¼ teaspoon salt

Bake 20-40 minutes - perfect!