HALLOWEEN 2021

We hope you all have a frightfully fun Halloween filled with treats and no tricks, ha.

HEADBOARD FOOTBOARD TRASH TO TREASURE

Regular readers know that I have a favorite place to look for bargains...our downstairs trash area!  Our building has trash chutes on every floor and they feed into a separate room, but for boxes and other things that people can't put in the chute, there is an area (indoor) near the loading dock where people can put the things they don't want.  I've found quite a few cool items over the last few years.

Here is one of the latest!

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No, this isn't new fencing for the farm, ha.  We believe these are a headboard and footboard.  They are made of an unfinished wood, we're not sure what kind, perhaps pine or oak?  Unfinished is nice because no sanding will be be required and we can stain/weatherize/paint as desired.

They are long, probably were a queen size bed I would say.  We kind of thought they'd make a nice trellis of some sort in a future planting area.  Or maybe an accent in the garden.  Or maybe a corner fence of sorts to section off a flowerbed.  I was able to hang them in the rafters of the mowing shed on some hooks so they'll be up and out of the way until needed.

Saved from the landfill, repurposed for the farm. 

MORE BANANA PUPS

The larger banana tree on the porch has put on another "pup" or offshoot.  We still haven't put them in the ground, we wanted them to be more substantial and of course now that Winter is coming, they'll have to wait until next Spring to find their new home (and we have to figure out where that will be).

Banana tree with pups

These can be dug up and planted and they will produce a new banana tree.  Indeed, this is how they multiply wherever you plant them.  We dug up the last one a few months ago (just after the "big freeze")...

Potting a banana pup

...here it is after it was first planted... 

Banana growing

...and here it is now.  Getting much bigger and even putting on another new leaf in this picture.

Banana leaves

Speaking of, this new leaf is coming out on the bigger plant.  They are definitely doing well just being on the porch in their containers.  We won't have bananas yet of course but they are surviving.  We just have to find the right spot in the yard for them.  I think 2nd Man is more excited about the potential for the banana leaves to use in his cooking projects.

In many Hispanic dishes, the banana leaf is used to wrap an item while it cooks or roasts, adding another level of flavor.  Tamales, meat, fish, grilling, steaming, all sorts of uses.  You can buy them in some stores but they aren't always easy to find and they certainly aren't "fresh". One thing we're sure of now...even if fruit is not abundant, we'll definitely have an abundance of fresh banana leaves in our future.

IT WAS A RAINY MOW

This was the sky when I got to the farm. I got the mower out and started mowing mere moments after I drove in.  Side note, mower app still not working ugh.  Get with it John Deere, fix the app.  But I digress.  I mowed all of the driveway and part of the front yard and back yard and the rain started coming down.

I headed to the mower shed and parked the wet mower.  By the time I got to the porch...

...this is what it looked like.  A downpour.  It's nice to watch but makes for not much else to do.  I contemplated a nap but instead I went inside, grabbed a book (on chicken keeping, go figure, ha) and came out to the porch to read.

Here was my view while reading.  It started slowing down and after about an hour and a half...

...this is what it looked like!

I checked and for as much as it rained, the ground had either sucked it all up or it just evaporated in the sun.  It was dry enough to mow like normal.  I finished it up.  Hoping that will be it for mowing for the season and this coming weekend will be planting a few things in the garden.

The rain didn't keep the cows away though, they were on the property next door so I stopped to get some pictures of them.  It's always fun to watch them while I'm mowing.  Or wait...are they thinking it's always fun to watch me?  Hmmm...

Oh well it was a good day at the end.

As the old saying goes about Texas weather...don't like it?  Just wait an hour and it will change. 

GOOD FOOD AND HOBART SUNDAY

 Here we go, another week has flown by.  Yesterday was a bit of a washout, more on that tomorrow, but in the end, all was good.  As we have done the past few months, here is some good food and a Hobart picture!

 

Beef Stroganoff 

2nd Man made this egg noodle dish.  It was some chunks of beef, browned with mushrooms and onions and a sauce, poured over cooked noodles, otherwise known as beef stroganoff!  I missed the picture with the sour cream on top.  It was so good. 

Hobart Sunday

And of course, here is Hobart.  He's been back to sleeping on his fuzzy blanket so we guess Winter is coming, or something. He's not spoiled. Nope, not at all. 

Hope you are having a good weekend!

A WATERMELON KNIFE

Got this fun item at the grocery store a couple weeks ago.  They had a special, buy a watermelon and get this special knife...

...a watermelon knife, ha!  It's a long (about 9") serrated knife that is stainless steel but coated in red coloring with black "seeds" on it.  It even comes with a sheath with cutouts that the seeds line up with.

We had been craving watermelon and 2nd Man said to pick one up on the next trip to the market.  They had some that looked really good so I bought one and surprise, we got the free knife.  Probably because it's after the season and they had to get rid of the knives.  It's nice and sharp and worked great, sawing right through the hard melon rind.

It would make a great bread knife because of the serrated edge but hey, we have one of those.  

What we didn't have was a WATERMELON KNIFE, ha.  We'll need to plant watermelon sometime!

HOMEMADE FIRE ANT KILLER

2nd Man was perusing TikTok and found a "recipe" if you want to call it that, for a fire ant killer.  We often get fire ants in the raised beds and of course we can't use a toxic chemical in there.  We get them in both the veggie beds and the fruit tree beds.

THE WEEKEND BEFORE:

Homemade fire ant killer

This was a combination of diatomaceous earth and sugar.  The DE is what kills them, the sugar is what attracts them and makes them take it down into the nest (and hopefully the queen).

Diatomaceous earth and sugar

There were no amounts given so we thought a ratio of 2:1 sounded good.  Two cups diatomaceous earth and one cup sugar.  We just put it in a ziplock baggie...

Fire ant killer

...and shook it up.  Oh and labeled it, ha.

Fire ant mound in raised bed

It might be hard to see it but this is the corner of a raised bed and there is a fire ant nest there.  That's why I can't pull grass or even use the weedeater.  If you've ever been bitten by a fire ant, you'd understand why you don't want to be anywhere near these things.

Killing the fire ant mound

I sprinkled it on, they came out with a vengeance to see what was going on and then I left it alone.

THE WEEKEND AFTER:

LOOK!  They are gone!!!  Dead and gone!

Dead fire ants

I pulled up the clump of grass and there were no live ants.  I looked down deep and there were none in hiding.  I had put on quite a bit and I stirred them up a bit so they'd go ahead and get into it.  Not sure of the amount you're supposed to use but this stuff worked great!  It eliminated the fire ants.

Once we run out of the batch I made, I'll make some more and put it in a mason jar.  We have plenty of those, ha!  Then we'll make sure it is on the shelf with the other garden supplies.

We love a home remedy that works!

COOL WEEKEND FINALLY

It was such a pretty weekend.  So pretty that I lost track of time when I stopped off at some garden centers and got to the farm a bit later than I anticipated.  But that's OK, got a couple of bargains, more on those in upcoming posts.

I got there and the grass was fine, not too much longer but enough that I needed to mow...

It was a picture perfect sky for sure.  Cool breeze and low humidity.  It definitely felt like Fall was finally here.

I mowed, however my mower app is not working.  We got new phones last week and now the app doesn't track my mowing. I need to figure that out, I miss the tracking.  The good thing is I can still manually add a mow and put in the date and time so at least it will keep it in my history.  I emailed the app developer, we shall see if they create an update for it.

You can see in the photo above that I still need to edge around the workshop and shed.  I ran out of trimmer string and since I figured I won't have to mow this coming weekend, I'll buy it this week and do it then.

Look at the low at the farm on Sunday morning!  48 degrees!  Wow.  It was February or March the last time we dipped into the 40's.  This coming weekend should be nice and we hope so because...

...we have our garlic and it's almost ready to plant.  I checked the calendar and the last two times we planted it (and it was successful) was the first weekend in November.  So this coming weekend I'll finish up the garlic raised bed to get it ready for planting turning the soil again and adding compost and topping off with soil.  For now, they are in the fridge at the farm like bulbs, pretending it's gotten cold so they'll get ready to do their thing.  Maybe the weekend after, which is almost November 1st, will be a good planting weekend.

Part of what I was looking for at the garden centers was some collard green starter plants.  It's too late for me to start with seeds but in years past I've always gotten them in October.  This year I can broccoli, cauliflower and things like that but no collards.  I'm going to make some calls this week and see if I can find some.

Hope you had a great weekend!

GOOD FOOD AND HOBART SUNDAY

 Where does the week go?  Here we are, another Sunday is here.  The weather has been so nice.  Today is of course a little warmer for a high than yesterday but we have low humidity and a cool breeze...so nice!

Avocado toast with bacon and egg

2nd Man made some homemade bread again and this morning, I made this for us.  Some toasted bread, spread with avocado, a fried egg and some crumbled bacon on top.  Life is good and so is the food!

Hobart is watching

We can't tell if Hobart was jealous of our delicious lunch or just having a stare down.  We think he'd rather watch for birds out the window and dream of what "could be", ha!  We've noticed that he's getting fluffier, as cats do when the seasons start to change.

Hope you are having a good weekend!

A WONDERFUL BIT OF NOSTALGIA

 We don't know about y'all, but we're both kids at heart around here...and a favorite memory from childhood was the annual airing of the Peanuts holiday shows.

It was a tradition as kids to watch every year (same with The Wizard of Oz, but that's a different story). 

These have been hit and miss in recent years and sometimes they only show one and not any of the others.  The other day, we read that all three are coming back this year on PBS, which probably means commercial free too.  Yes!

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Sunday, October 24 at 7:30pm ET on PBS

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

Sunday, November 21 at 7:30pm ET on PBS

A Charlie Brown Christmas

Sunday, December 19 at 7:30pm ET on PBS

We could all use a bit of the innocence of childhood in these trying times.  We for one, can't wait to welcome back some old friends!

CARDINALS ARE BACK INSPIRATION THURSDAY

Haven't seen many cardinals this year but of course with just once a week visits, we may have just crossed paths with them.  The last couple of weekends though, we've seen more and more of them.

Or just the same one over and over, ha.

They are so pretty and always add pops of color to the yard.  When they sit in trees, they look like ornaments in a Christmas tree.

Bird Feeding Station, image courtesy of Better Homes and Garden, BHG.com

We posted this on one of our Inspiration Thursdays and we wanted to share it again. This is one idea and here is another we found recently...

Bird feeding area, image courtesy of DavesGarden.com

It's a neat idea to give the birds a place to stop off and get some food and water.  In this photo, we like how they incorporated plantings at the bottom (flowers are never a bad thing, ha) and it even has a birdbath for those hot Summer days.

So pretty and we'd definitely have happy birds!

CAPTURED LIGHTNING REALLY CLOSE

So recently, we had some thunderstorms roll through.  I decided to try to catch some lightning.

  

First photo.  Catching lightning is hard because, well, it IS lightning and of course you don't know when it will strike.  It was coming fast and repeatedly so what I usually do is have my shutter on automatic and I just hold down the button for a few seconds at a time and hope I can capture it.  That's what happened here.

Second photo.  Whoa!

Third photo.  OMG!

Fourth photo is blurry because, well, for obvious reasons, I didn't have the steadiest hand at this point! I'm lucky I didn't pee myself, LOL!  Remember, all of these pictures happened in less that 2 seconds.  I wish the final picture had been sharper but I can assure you, it was quite the light show in person!

And loud.

GOOD FOOD AND HOBART SUNDAY AND MONDAY

It's been a good weekend.  Yesterday was beautiful, today looks like it might rain.  More on that tomorrow.  As has become sort of a tradition on Sundays, here is some good food and Hobart!

Homemade carnitas

2nd Man made carnitas.  For those who haven't had them, it is pork shoulder that is fried in all sorts of good ingredients and it gets crispy browned on the outside and is moist and tender and flavorful on the inside.  Cilantro, onions and a squeeze of lime and some tortillas...perfect meal.

Hobart deep in thought

Here is Hobart, pondering the great mysteries of life.  Or maybe the carnitas just smelled good and he was mad that he couldn't have any!

Hope you have had a good weekend full of good food, happy animals & whatever makes you smile.

Update: This will have to be Monday's post too, I'm adding this from my cell phone which isn't the easiest thing.  Hoping internet is working tonight. 

PAINT COLOR OF THE YEAR 2022

 Saw this online the other day...every year, the paint company Behr announces a color that they see trending on various sites and popularity in sales and come up with a new blend that they call "color of the year".

"Breezeway" image courtesy of Behr.com

Sure it's a marketing gimmick but they do have a knack for picking up trends year after year and the colors they come up with do seem to be popular.

Here is the color on a door.  They named the color "Breezeway".  It's a silvery green that the description says was inspired by the sea glass found on beaches around the world.  They wanted a color that was sort of a fresh start to the year with "renewal, restoration and healing" being the feelings they wanted it to convey when you saw it (and we can all use that in 2022).

It is pretty.  We've always been partial to a shade like this (it's kind of a lighter version of jadeite, ha) and seeing this one, it does seem to evoke a sense of calmness.  With a pending remodel of the farmhouse (hopefully) coming next year, we could see this color used in a bathroom or the mudroom or laundry room...seems like it could be a good choice.

Do you like it?

LODGE CAST IRON PIE PAN REVIEW

I've reviewed our other two Lodge additions to our kitchen.  It was the pizza pan reviewed HERE and then the baking pan reviewed HERE.  We love them both and this one will be more of the same Lodge-love, ha.

This is the LODGE cast iron pie pan.  We have used it a few times and it just works as amazingly well as their other products.  The heat conducting ability and even heating all over is just astounding.

Lodge now has a "store" on Amazon.

Here is the link (affiliate):

Lodge Cast Iron Pie Pan

Lodge cast iron pie pan

Recently, he used it to make a chicken pot pie.  You can see the crust cooked evenly and browned beautifully.

Lodge cast iron pie pan handles and edge

There is a nice wavy design molded into the cast iron that can help create a decorative edge to your piecrust. 2nd Man didn't need a guide since his crust for the pot pie needs to be higher up because of the filling.

Chicken Pot Pie in a Lodge cast iron pie pan

Unfortunately, we couldn't turn it upside down to show you the bottom for obvious reasons, ha, but it was even and golden brown.  No soggy bottom!

It has really just been a perfect bake, every time.  He's made a pie in it twice (pecan and pumpkin) but I forgot to get pictures.  Will do that the next time and reference back to this.  As with everything from Lodge that we've ever purchased, it is a great cooking vessel.  And of course, like all cast iron, if you take care of it, it cleans up like a dream.  2nd Man loves it!