Big Bird Voices

I wanted to pop by and give you a quick update on the baby birds. They they aren't babies any longer, my kids are growing up. (sad pouty face) I wish they would stay cutesy babies forever! It seemed only yesturday that they could fit in the palm of my hand. Compaired to that they are huge now and have almost all of their big feathers.

Remember how I told you we got runner ducks, well man are thye fast! When I let them out in the morning they make a b-line to their kiddie pool, wathcing their legs go that fast cracks me up. Have you ever seen the episode of the Big Bang Theory where Sheldon is dressed up as the flash and "running" around the appartment, yeah think of that but a duck doing it. These aren't our runners, but this video shows their supper fast moves. The ducks are also starting to quack, all but a handful have lost their baby peeps. While they sounded so adorable as babies it is awesome sitting on the pourch listening to them quack. With fifteen of them I have a feeling it could get quite loud on the acres!

Thelma rules the flock right now, she is the biggest by far. Like the ducks she has most of her big girl feathers. Mr. B said she is going through the phase where she isn't peeping but it's not quite a honk just yet. I haven't noticed. I know, I know I'm a horrible mother! The Toulouse geese were born a little later than everyone esle they are still fuzzy wuzzy and still have their supper cute babiness to them. Which makes this mama happy that she still has wittle wones to snuggle. 

Sorry for the lack of picutres. My camera isn't that great, it's older so there is a delay and the zoom is worthless. The birds are still skitsh outside and don't like us to get that close. I will try and see if I can brib them with food in the next few days to get some good pictures. 

Hummingbird Moth

We were haning out on the back pourch Monday with some friends and one of them pointed out this crazy bug at my flowers. At first we thought it was a huge bee, but after closer examination Mr. B proclaimed it was a hummingbird moth. We figured Mr. B just made that up, but it did look like the love child of a bird and a moth. Hey what happens in Mexico stays in Mexico, or in this case makes its way to my back pourch in rural Wisconsin.

 

I did looked it up, it's for real there are hummingbird moths and they aren't secret love children.

Umm...Margaret

You know it's never going to be good when Mr. B starts a sentence with those two words. This time was no exception. He took the pot outside to dump the greasy brat water, yes we preboil our brats in beer. He must of gotten carried away with the flinging, the handle snapped right off. 

So sad too, I like that pot. It has been with me ever since I moved out on my own. I cooked allot of Kraft mac n' cheese in that pot those first years. In our time together it has seen some nasties caked on the bottom and cooked some amazing yummieness. But now I think it is time to retire this old girl. 

Not to worry though, I have another one exactly like her.

The Goose (and duck) Coop

Last year, when we first started with three geese, Mr. B converted part of our shed into the goose coop/run. There was a section on the shed the we think was a corn crib. It is a little over four feet wide by about twenty-two feet long, with a concrete floor. Concrete floor means no critters can dig their way it. It has a people door from the outside and because it was a corn crib there is space between the boards so there would be enough ventilation in the summer time. It would make a perfect spot for the coop. All that we needed to do was bust out the saw and cut in a door. Mr. B was in charge of that. He also built the step out of a reclaimed pallet, the door was a tad too high for little goosie legs.

We put plywood on the bottom half of the walls last winter to keep out the draft. Geese and ducks are very hardy birds, they have a built in down jacket. As long as they can get out of the wind they are just fine, so no need to go all the way up with the plywood or insulate. We decided to leave the boards up for the summer as they keep out allot of the water when we get a nasty rain and there still is enough ventilation on the top so nobody gets too hot. Before the new batch of babies moved outside Mr. B added the hardware cloth to the top of the walls and across the ceiling. We lost a duck last fall because something, a mink or weasel, was able to get into the coop.

I also wanted a run attached to the coop. A place to corral the birds while are gone. Mr. B really stepped up on this one and built a nice sturdy fence. As an added bonus we have two crab apple trees growing in that space. It helps keep the little ones safe from the hawks without the use of poultry netting. When the apples drop they make a nice snack. Last fall Patty and Bernie's beaks were stained red for a week from all the apples!

It is not as elaborate and beautiful as some of the coops you see at back yard chickens. You really need to check that sight out. I am totally envious of some peoples chickens. But then again they all don't have this totally awesome sign!

Gus

 He celebrated his fourth birthday last month, man has the time flown. You know what they say about dogs, three years a puppy, three years a good dog, and three years and old dog. We are in our three years of good dog, well except when he gets in the trash! But don't worry Gus and I discussed it and he is going to live forever.

Check out that lip!! He has the best expressions for photos! You should see his under-bite-tong-hanging-out-on-the-side grin.

Garden Guest

We found this little guy hanging in the drive way. Mr. B rescued him from the threat of being run over by a car and placed him safely in my garden. I think he makes a nice addition. Check out the antennae on this moth!! Not sure what he is but he is huge and  neat to look at. 

New Arrivals

With Bernie's elopement and Patty's disappearance it was down to just Thelma in our gaggle. Now Thelma probably would have been content just hanging with the ducks and ruling the flock. Not this mama goose! As I told Mr. B, we can't just have one. 
Craig's List is an amazing place. I was able to find someone an hour away selling Toulouse goslings. We took a drive on Saturday and pick up five more. Let me telling you I was glad it was nice out and we were able to have the window rolled down. Nothing like five goslings in the back of the Jeep to stank things up. 
We did think about ordering them from the hatchery again, but it would have been expensive with the shipping cost and then you have to order a minimum of ten birds. I would have been happy having ten more geese to run around the acres but Mr. B had to put the kabosh on that. 
It seems like everyone is adjusting nicely to the new additions. They are a week or two younger than the birds we have so smaller than Thelma and about the size of the ducks. The pecking order is still being established. It is kinda humorous watching the ducks try and boss the geese around. Little do they know that it won't be long and they will be way bigger than them, and bigger than Thelma. A Toulouse goose is one of the heavier breeds of geese, we are talking between 13 and 20 pounds of goose! When we picked them up you should have seen the gander on their farm. Ginormous!! 
We are not sure on names just yet. Mr. B has decided that we need a Bruce, Bruce the Toulouse goose. And I think we need an Olga. We shall see. 

The Disappearance of Patty

Patrice is gone. Unlike Bernie I don't think that she meet some nice gander and ran away with him. This time I know for sure it was murder. She was taken off her nest sometime in the night. There were signs of a struggle, feathers on the ground near her nest. These feathers weren't the fluffy down that she has been using to keep her "egg" warm, but her big flight feathers. Further down the yard there were more piles of feathers as she was dragged off into the woods.

I am thinking from the lack of a body and the trail of feathers that she was taken by a fox. This mama goose is not happy. I hope that Mr. B and I are able to take care of this problem before he has a chance to take any of the little one. I do feel better knowing the babies are locked up at night, but we have had a fox come in broad daylight and take ducks before. 

It will be sad pulling into the driveway tonight. No silly geese to sass the car as I pull up the drive and waddle to the car to greet me. I will miss Patty and Bernie's silly antics. The way the "help" in the garden, how they would ninja up to Gus to get him, and how they would surround visitors cars. My poor silly birdie wordies are no more.  

Bernice Eloped

Bernice has been missing since last night. We were gone all day and she didn't come and great the car as usual when we got home. I was a bit worried but figured she was around and would be back in the morning. Still nothing when I left for work this morning. When I got home I walked the yard hoping that she was just late to build a nest and was hunkered down some were. Nothing. Called the neighbors, nothing. I am going to give it a few more days but my heart is telling me she is not coming home. I would like to believe that she met a nice gander and they entered a whirlwind romance and she decided to elope with him. Most likely  her fate was far worse than that. I had distanced myself all last fall and winter and was just starting to let my self bond. She was starting to let me pick her up and put her on my lap. We live in the country and let our geese free range so things like this are inevitable, but it still sucks every time. 

A Quilt Showcase

A few years ago I made a quilt for one of Mr. B's cousin's baby. We were still living in the apartment and I was looking for something to do. I wanted to give the baby a nice present that was meaningful for her baptism. I've known how to sew since I was in middle school and had finished one quilt that my grandmother had started. A hand made quilt would be a perfect present for a new baby. Ever since then I have been making a quilt for all the new additions to the families of our friends and relatives.

This particular quilt I started with no one particular in mind. Just wanted to make a bright quilt and try this tutorial, Amanda Jean over at Crazy Mom Quilts is my hero. Seriously, this woman is amazing! The tutorial was supper easy to follow; I made some size modifications. But making a zig-zag quilt with out piecing oodles of half square triangles was pure awesomeness. Like I do with most of my baby quilts this puppy was hand quilted. I mirrored the zig-zag only in the white fabric.

 This quilt represents my first attempt at machine quilting. I was not brave enough to try any free motion quilting,instead i opted to quilt a quarter inch from the seams, making a grid. There are a few wavy spots, but over all it turned out fabulous and I will be using that quilting technique again.

The last one I made using purely fabric I had on hand. I found the cute animal print on mega clearance and Joanne's months ago and just had to snatch it up. I would be perfect in a baby quilt. I went back to hand quilting on this one, you can see some of the detail in the second picture. (Also the one spot were my corners did not match up, please ignore that)

These beauties will be going to their new homes in the next few weeks. It seems that the babies come in spurts, this time around four boys!! I am currently finishing the fourth one, pictures of that to come soon.

Shady Acres Take Out

Living in the sticks like we do our restaurant selections is rather limited, just a handful in a 15 mile radius of the house. The majority of those would be supper clubs, you know steak, chicken, and Friday night fish. We live in a very much meat and potatoes area. And out of these handful of restaurants not one delivers to us. No movie night with delivery pizza. No lazy Sunday afternoons watching old movies with Chinese take out.

We had to get creative. One area we have been working on is pizza. Frozen Digiorno, meh, it's alright. But remember that Mr. B and I are trying to make more of our food from scratch. That way we have more of a say as to what goes in it. We are getting there with our pizza. Still room for improvement but defiantly yummy! We found this crust recipe. Simple, easy, delicious, and freezes well. We are still tweaking the sauce part but its getting there. When we have it down I promise to share.

When Mr. B was in high school he worked at a mom and pop's pizza place. We have that working to our advantage. This is one meal were he takes over the cooking, he can be a perfectionist some times. I guess I don't spread the sauce quite right. Oh well we all can't be perfect at everything.

Growing Up

The kiddos are growing up fast. Everyone is starting to get their big boy/girl feathers. The duckas are almost as tall as Thelma and their wittle heads are close to the top of their brooder boxes.

The kiddos were three weeks old on Wednesday. The weather has been wonderful and they have been outside every night from the time I get home till it gets dark. We plan on making some modifications to the coop this weekend so they can be outside full time. I love these little guys, they are just so darn cute, but it is time for this mama goose to reclaim her dinning room. You thought wet dog smells bad, try living with wet duck!

Seedlings

These little ones will be making their way to the garden in the next week or so. Mr. B and I decided to start our own plants this year. Last year we bought them from the garden shop. We figured we had the time and the space to try our hand at starting them ourselves this year. It also saved some money. We paid a few dollars per seed bag and got over eight of those type of vegetable verse a few dollars per plant. We have different varieties of tomatoes and peppers, some cucumbers, and some cauliflower. The other varieties will go directly into the garden. 

I'm sure you have been seeing all over the Internet how you can regrow green onions. I thought I would give it a chance. Check it out after a week these things are awesome and read to be put in something delicious. Gus is being sneaky and got into the photo. 

Chocolate Cake with Hazelnut Buttercream Frosting

It's been rainy out lately. No yard work being done here. And it has been too gloomy and dark to do any decent painting. The stairs are almost done, can't wait to show you! I got quite a pile of sewing done this weekend. Tonight I thought I would give the machine a break tonight and bake a cake. After all my coworker's birthday is tomorrow. 

I decided to go with a simple chocolate cake and fancy it up with hazelnut frosting. Really cake, in my opinion is mainly about the frosting, that's what makes it divine. Now Mr. B, he would scrap all that gooey sugary deliciousness every time. I know, I married a man who DISLIKES frosting!! The horror! 

I used the old stand by chocolate cake, the never fail me Better Homes and Gardens recipe. Now for the frosting I made the usual butter cream with a secret ingredient. 

Yup, that's right hazelnut creamer.

 I discovered this on accident one day when I was making frosting and there was NO milk, cream, or half and half to be had. It turned out delicious and it goes fabulous with chocolate cake. Sprinkle a few chocolate shavings on top and call her a day. Now off to do all those dishes.

Thursday Night Suprise

Mr. B and I made dinner last night, chicken enchilada pasta. Delicious by the way. Will defiantly be making that one again. We then cleaned up the kitchen and decided to go to church. When we got home this was waiting for us when we walked in the door. 

NOT what I wanted to deal with when I got home last night. Gus was no where to be found. You know where he was hiding? Behind the bed. He knew that he was naughty but he still did it any way. There were several of those foam trays from chicken in there and that's what he was after, along with the Arby's bag at the bottom. Those meat trays are like crak to him. He knows it's wrong but he needs to have them any way. Hopefully there are no tummy aches from his adventure. 

In Memory

Charlie

Today Shady Acres lost a tiny member of our community. We might not always understand why things happen, mother nature can be cruel. We can be reassured that they happen for a reason, and we know that life must go on. Your time here may have been brief little Charles, but you will be missed.

Chocolate Chip Banana Cake

Because it's Wednesday and the first 80 degree day this year and I can finally open my kitchen window (the new ones were installed today!!), I decided to bake a cake. It was either that or get my bum kick by Jillian Michaels. I chose the obvious decision. Cake. Really, who would want to work out when they could make delicious cake and perform all the necessary quality checks. 


I had bananas sitting on the counter. It was only a matter of time before they attracted fruit flies. Banana cake it was, with chocolate chips. There were some hanging in the cupboard,I had meant to make Mr. B chocolate chip cookies weeks ago. Now for frosting. No cream cheese to be had in this house. My usual frosting for banana cake. What goes well with bananas...Peanut Butter!! Peanut butter honey frosting it was. 


The combination is amazing. Bananas, peanut butter, honey, and chocolate oh my! Even Mr. B who is NOT a desert person approved.

Banana Cake


1/2 cup butter softened
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3ish bananas
(half bag of chocolate chips optional)


Cream together butter and sugar. Add sour cream, eggs, and vanilla. In a separate bowl mix flour, sugar, and baking soda. Alternately add mashed bananas and dry ingredients. If adding chocolate chips mix them in at this time. Pour batter into a 11x17 jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes. 
Let cool completely.


Peanut Butter Honey Frosting


1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 tbsp. honey
2 tbsp. water
2 cups powdered sugar


Cream together butter, peanut butter, and honey. Add vanilla and water. Add sugar mix until well blended. 

The First Outting

Just shy of two weeks old, we took the babies outside for the first time . They were adorable frolicking in the grass and sploosh in the water. The best part they could make as big of a mess as they wanted. Patty and Bernice were leery at first, but started to warm up to the little ones. 

The Three Amigos, Thelma, Charile, and Shadow, enjoyed tromping in my garden. They were so cutsie I didn't even mind that they were snacking on the flower.

The ducks were drawn to the water like a pigs to mud. It was adorable watching them take a bath for the first time and flap their little wingies to dry off.

It was a successful adventure. Unfortunately it is supposed to rain for the next three days. The babies will have to stay inside for a while. In a bout two weeks they will be ready to be outside full time, and I will be able to reclaim the dinning room.