THREE FREE TREE SAPLINGS

Our nearby Master Gardener program had a free tree giveaway.  Well, saplings, but hey, saplings become trees someday!

They did it in conjunction with Texas A&M University AG program.  There were a choice of six trees, each household could only get three.  And you couldn't get all the same.  We wanted three pecan trees but since we couldn't do that, we did our research and chose a Nuttall Oak, a Shumard Oak and the Pecan.

I asked them about the pecan variety, they said it was just a native Texas variety but weren't sure.

They had (as always) a well oiled process to keep things organized and running smoothly.  In about 15 minutes, I was on my way home with our three saplings.

Here they are.  They suggested soaking them in water overnight to rehydrate the roots and then getting them into some soil.  I did that and then the next day, I headed to the garden center to get some soil.

I got the soil and found this.  I figured it would be fun to try out.

And sure enough it worked great for scooping soil from the bags into the clay pots.

Here they are, planted and watered and ready to watch for tiny new leaves (stay tuned for that).  They said we can let them grow in these large pots until the Fall when it's best to plant them (if not planting now).  I asked them about this because I figured if I stuck these in the ground like this now, they'd struggle and risk being eaten by a wild animal or mowed over by me, ha.  One of the Master Gardeners told me to just let them grow in these until Fall, when they should be a good size to get them in the ground.

Now we wait to watch their progress.  We don't know where we will plant them yet but with all these acres, we have plenty of choices.  One of our goals this year is to get a lot, if not all, of our property professionally cleaned up.  Then we can find the perfect spot for these "forever trees", away from the house.

Someday! 

GOOD FOOD AND OUTDOOR CAT SUNDAY

It's been a productive weekend.  Saturday was errand running day, bought some things we needed.  Then Sunday, we got more stuff out of storage, including our dining room table from the old farmhouse so we can use it on the screened in porch.  I have to put the legs back on it and get it all cleaned up but it should be fun to start working on that space.  

In the meantime, time for some good food and a kitty picture!

2bd Man made some piccadillo, a dish using ground turkey and lots of veggies, sautéed/simmered in a tomato based sauce.  Served with some cilantro lime rice.  It was delicious!

We have a ring doorbell and it sends us alerts.  It uses AI to see what is in the image and then sends an alert.  How is this for a specific alert?  So what was there when we looked out the window?

A brown cat sitting in the chair!  HA!

This is babygirl just relaxing in a chair on the porch.  Side note, that's one of our trash to treasure finds from the apartment recycling area.  We knew we'd use it for something but didn't know it would be a spot for our farmhouse kitty!

#catdistributionsystem

WE HAVE QUAIL

 Well, in our newly acquired hobby of birdwatching, we are now seeing a lot of quail coming to visit.

Saw these in the back yard.  At first we were like "what are those birds?" and then I looked and told 2nd Man "I think those are quail".   I went out there and zoomed in to get a closer up picture...

The color is a bit off than what they were.  They were more of a brown color, but it was early in the day and they had moved over to a shaded area but sure enough, we have quail.

  

Image courtesy of Wikicommons

Here is a great photo of the common quail in our part of Texas, it is called the Northern Bobwhite quail.  It was fun to watch them.

We would love to attract more of them to our property.  From what we've read, they are mostly a ground dwelling type of bird.

Anyone have any quail advice?

PUTTING UP SMOKED TURKEY

Forgot to post this.  After the holidays, I found some smoked turkey legs on clearance.  We like using the meat in a pot of beans, as it's a much healthier option than ham.  They are precooked since they are smoked but we like to boil them for a couple of hours.  It lets us skim off any fat and makes the meat fall apart tender.

Though they had the wings, we like the legs, seem to get a bit more meat for your money.

The pot filler comes in handy!

After they have boiled for a couple of hours, we pour out the water.  It's literally falling off the bone tender. 

Took about 10 minutes to get all the meat off the bones (those tendons are a pain, ha).

We ended up with 6 cups, divided into 2 cup packages, vacuum sealed and put in the freezer for future use (three big pots of bean soup).

FARM TRUCK ANNIVERSARY

Five years ago today, we bought the farm truck!

For those that don't know or are new to the blog, it's a 2006 Chevrolet Colorado work truck model.  No extended cab or anything fancy and extra, it even has the old school handles to "roll down" the windows (young people don't have a clue about that, ha!)

I work in insurance and one of our clients called one day to say they had a truck for sale and asked if we knew anyone who might want it.  It had 224,000 miles on it but was well taken care of (mechanically, a few dents and dings outside and the interior was definitely "lived in", ha).  It was only one owner from 2006 when he bought it.  The price was too good to pass up, $1000...I came home and told 2nd Man about it and he and I looked at each other and said, "yep that could come in handy!"

We bought it, put some new tires on it, took it to a mechanic and had the urgent stuff worked on (surprisingly, not that much was needed) and it joined the family.  We call it "Bill", named after the owner who, sadly, passed away a few months later. 

I've trimmed limbs and bushes and used it to haul it to a compost pile...

I've driven it to the well to get water...

...then driven the water to the plants that needed it.

We used it for boxes and moving supplies.

We moved stuff to storage during construction.

And now we are moving the same stuff back into the new house.

I picked up the plants that we bought at the master gardener sale.  I've also been to garden centers for soil and mulch...

...that I can then just drive around to get the supplies to where I need them. When I was picking up the plants recently, there were people loading wet trees and bushes into the backend of high-end SUV's. We don't have to worry about that now.

We've put about 2000 miles on it in the last five years.

It ain't a looker, that's for sure, but it sure was worth it! I like this picture that I made to look kind of old.  It fits in out here on the farm perfectly.  I tell 2nd Man all the time that this was the best money we ever spent!

We love it. Everyone needs an old truck, ha!

RED WHITE AND BLUE POTATOES

 Regular readers know that I like to take random pics of fruits and vegetables because sometimes, well, they just look so cool.

Saw these recently at the store and took the picture.  Red, white and blue fingerling potatoes.  Whoever organized these did a great job, ha.

Side note, we have always loved these smaller, fingerling potatoes, they cook quickly and add lots of interest to the plate or dish you are preparing.

I've often wondered if they are easy to grow or if it's just better to buy them at the store, ha.  

Anyone ever try growing these types of heirlooms?

SPECIAL CABINETS FOR CUTTING BOARDS AND SHEET PANS

 You may remember me mentioning I helped to create a dream kitchen for 2nd Man.  Part of having a dream kitchen is to make sure you have easy access to your stored cooking items.

Since we designed our island, we planned for these.

There are two cabinets, one on each end.  Normally, there is an inset on the end of the island that either occupies these spaces or it's dead space or some people put in a bookshelf or something.  We will have plenty of bookcase space elsewhere so we decided to let them put slender cabinets on each side because we knew exactly how they would be used.  

The island is, of course, conveniently located right behind the stove/cooktop/ovens.  

This the end closest to the sink.  

Of course, the cabinets come with two shelves.  In this case, I removed one of them and put the other up at the top and created a place for all of our cutting boards!  The tall ones fit nicely in the bottom and then the top shelf can hold the smaller ones just stacked on top of each other.  This gives us quick access, it's right below the island countertop so we can quickly pull them out to use them, it's opposite the knife drawer (more on that coming soon) and lastly, it's also next to the sink so we can wash veggies etc before cutting.

Here is the other end, directly across from the ovens which makes it convenient for...

...sheet pans!  Just like the other cabinet above, it had two shelves but in this case I removed both because, well, baking sheets are large. 2nd Man likes to have all three sizes, full, half and quarter.  He also keeps the cooling/roasting racks (that fit the sheet pans) in here as well.  Once again, its convenient location puts it right by the ovens and under the island countertop so it it super easy to get a sheet pan out, put one some foil or parchment paper and things are ready for the oven behind you.

More things coming soon!

GOOD FOOD AND OUTDOOR CAT SUNDAY (FIRST CONTACT)

 Yep, we're going to start a new post on Sundays, since we have several outside cats coming and going now, ha.

First up some good food.

I always love when 2nd Man makes a frittata.

We went to a Farmer's Market a week or so ago and got some peppers.  They are always so pretty chopped up, ha.  Like a sunset.

Mixed it with onions, mostly egg whites (to keep it healthier) with a couple of whole eggs, a few other herbs and seasonings and then some low fat cheddar that we love to use.  Put it all together...

...and out comes a wonderful, filling dish!  Breakfast, lunch OR dinner, it's always good!

But here's what you all really want to see:

Look!  I was able to not only get this close for a picture of baby girl (yeah, we need a better name, ha)...

...but we are able to TOUCH her!

It's brief, she's still a little skittish, but she's just the softest, sweetest little kitty.  She's starting to trust us and that's a good thing!

Stay tuned for further updates!

#firstcontact