RIP PAUL PRUDHOMME

Paul Prudhomme

The culinary world lost a pioneer.  Many of you may not know him by name, but you may have eaten or at least heard of his creations.  Renowned chef Paul Prudhomme passed away yesterday after a brief illness.

He invented "Blackened Redfish" a dish that became so popular in home kitchens and restaurants, Redfish harvesting was temporarily halted to allow their stock to replenish.

He also popularized "Turducken" to American audiences.  For those who haven't heard of that, it is a deboned chicken stuffed into a deboned duck which is then stuffed into a deboned turkey!  Yep!  If you've never had one, trust us when we say, you are missing out on an amazing culinary experience.

The cajun chef authored 9 cookbooks and hosted a wonderful PBS show that showcased his Southern/Cajun/Creole cooking.  He also created a line of cajun and creole seasonings that have been used worldwide for years.

2nd Man and I hope to take a culinary trip to New Orleans next year and his restaurant will be on our list for sure.

PORCH FLOWERS, INSPIRATION THURSDAY

Image courtesy of Southernliving.com

OK, this is probably outside the realm of possibility, at least while we aren't at the farm full time, because I'm guessing this has to be watered CONSTANTLY to stay looking this nice.  But STILL, it's so pretty.  Maybe it's just the Fall and we're starting to miss the bright colors of Spring and early Summer but whatever, they are beautiful for sure.  

I'm not even sure what flowers they all are.  Oh and how I bet the bees would love something like this, ha.  

Be inspired! 

FOUR MILLION PAGE VIEWS

Sometime yesterday, our little corner of the Internet reached a milestone...

When I started our blog a few years ago, this counter was ZERO.   

I still remember when the little counter flipped over to 1 and 2 for the first time.  I told 2nd Man "LOOK!  Someone visited the blog!".  

Then there were 100 and 1,000 and 10,000 and 100,000.  No way we could ever do much better than that, or so we thought.  

Then it was 1,000,000...

And then 2,000,000...

Just last February, we reached 3,000,000!

And now, not quite 8 months later, we have added another million!  That means we are currently averaging 125,000 page views per month.

You cannot even begin to understand what it means to us.  We get a lot of comments from you, some post them here, some email directly to us and of course, many visitors just come, stay a bit, read, and leave.  But you all keep coming back.  

We started this blog as a way to keep track of what we were doing at the farm, starting from scratch.  Thought it might be fun to share with friends and whoever else might want to come along for the ride.  Yet, here we are, four years later, well on our way toward getting to the farm full time.  Along the way, we've shared laughs, we've made friends (so many of you have touched us with personal emails and even surprise gifts that mean SO very much to us), we've shared dreams and hopes, failures and plan changes, even the loss of my Grandfather and our beloved cat Sydney.  We've changed jobs, bought more land, built buildings and fences, cleared new areas and raised vegetables and started beekeeping...and now we're about to move to an apartment downtown, the last step on our journey to the country!

It's been a great ride with so much more to come, we hope you'll hop into the passenger seat (it's a BIG car, LOL!) and stick around for the rest of the journey. 

We do believe it will be time for a giveaway soon in honor of this milestone!  Stay tuned!

SCORED SOME FRUIT TREES

Along one side of the fence in the backyard in town, our realtor told us to get a few plants with some height and put them in a few large clay pots we had.  I'm guessing she was thinking tall evergreens but she never said, so you know me...

...I stumbled onto some fruit tree bargains!  SCORE!  

That counts as tall and sorta green right?

A local garden center had a scattering of plants on "end of summer" clearance.  Most were nothing that we wanted, but as I dug around in the jumble of random bushes and trees, I found these:

Ein Shemer apple tree

One "Ein Shemer" apple tree...a variety that is on our list of trees for our area of Texas.  it's a yellow apple (red varieties just don't grow well here).  We already have one apple tree in the ground, so this will be a second on the property.  The other one has struggled a bit but we're willing to try other varieties and see what works best for us.  It was $5.00.

Plum Trees

Then two plum trees!  They are two of the only three that the county agriculture office recommends for our county.  One "Methley" and one "Santa Rosa".

Also $5.00 each.  

And lastly, I found at another location, a peach tree!  "Texstar" variety, another for our area.  (sorry no pic).

$20.00 for four fruit trees, each about 7 feet tall!

I can't plant them yet of course, that will have to wait, so I placed them in the clay pots and covered the tops with Spanish Moss so they "look" planted.  Hey, a few more fruit trees were on our list of things to do this year so that counts for something.  Win win!  Now I just need to keep my eye out for more.  

Is there such a thing as too MANY fruit trees?  I think in about ten years, we'll probably say "NOPE!", ha! 

WE LOST A HIVE

We knew this was a possibility when we started beekeeping.  Things don't always work out though.  Sadly, we lost one of our hives.

This is "Persephone" hive...I noticed there was no activity around the entrance...NOT a good sign.  So I took the top off...

Empty, abandoned hive

...and found this.  It looks almost like a new hive.  It might as well be because they never even moved up into this "super".  Just a few random bugs that decided an empty hive made a good new home.  

Below is the lower section, called the "brood box"...

Dead hive

...you can see where they built out honeycomb but it was all for nothing.  I tried to do a post mortem on the hive but there was nothing to find.  There were no hive beetles, no invading pests that I could find.

 The hive next to it, "Ariadne" is just fine.

Beehive

Lots of bees going in and out (always a good sign)...

Bee with pollen basket

And here is a lovely lady coming in laden down with pollen doing what she (and the others) are supposed to be doing.  You can stand next to it and literally hear it buzzing with activity.  

So, we're not sure what happened.  The empty hive was just that, empty, abandoned.  A few dead bees in the bottom but not the hundreds you'd expect to find. It is not unlike the description of CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder) that is affecting beekeepers around the world.  This hive has been weak from early on.  It could be a weak queen who died before they could create a new one?  Or perhaps they swarmed when we weren't around to see it?  

So, a bit of a bummer BUT we still have another strong hive that we need to see through the Winter and help it start the Spring healthy and strong so we can get our first honey next year.  

Now I just have to take apart the empty hive, clean it, and store it away.  I'll have details on that when I do it.  There are special instructions (thank you JM!) on how to do that the best way for future use.  Oh, and we need to order another bee package for next year.

For now, it's onward and upward!

SOUR CREAM CAKE AND ICE CREAM WEEKEND UPDATE

Got the property mowed today, but alas that was all I got done.  It took a long time because I haven't mowed in a few weeks.  I have a feeling though this might just be the last time this season.  I mowed it pretty short, so we'll see what happens over the next few weeks.

Sour cream cake with ice cream

But when I got home, we had dinner and then this for a fabulously delicious dessert...sour cream cake and vanilla ice cream.  

YUM!

Hope you had a great weekend!

WOMENS LAND ARMY, VINTAGE POSTER SUNDAY

Most every Sunday, we try to post an image of old posters that we find during online surfing.  We enjoy the ones that reflect farming, gardening and/or food preservation and rationing.  We enjoy them because we often wonder if anyone today would heed the kind of advice they gave back then...enjoy!

Join the Women's Land Army, image courtesy of Wikicommons

During WWII, when it was a male only army of course, women were tasked with keeping things going at home.  Britain and other allied countries (this one comes from the UK) started the "Women's Land Army" to have women work in the farming industry to replace the jobs and responsibilities of the men that left to go to war...because as this poster says, FOOD COMES FIRST!

I dare say they probably did a better job!

Off to the farm this morning, not sure what all I'll get done, not sure what will need to be done, but with this cool weather, I'll do whatever I can.

NATURES BOUQUET OF FLOWERS

I saw this clump of 'weeds' in an area of tall grass because the color caught my eye when I was walking past it. 

Together, they formed the prettiest "natural bouquet' I've seen yet.  2nd Man said it looked like something a bride would be carrying down the aisle.

Natures flower bouquet

I agree, it was just beautiful to see in person.  I wanted to cut it and put it into a vase just like that but alas, we know how that would have ended.  

Off to run "open house" errands in town, then Sunday will be off to the farm to see what I can get done out there.  Our weather today feels like the first real, true day of Fall.  It's GORGEOUS!

Hope your weekend is off to a great start!

THE BLOOD MOON

Picture via a relative that lives a bit Northwest of us.  They were free of the clouds we had all over our area that prevented us from seeing it.  Well, we did catch a glimpse of it behind the clouds, a sort of reddish glow.

Blood Moon

Of course most all the pictures I've seen this week look pretty much the same, ha.  Is it Mars?  Or the moon?  It's the moon of course.  Very pretty!  Astronomy stuff is so awesome.

Did you get to see it?

POTTING BENCH GARDENING STATION, INSPIRATION THURSDAY

So I thought I'd share of picture of our backyard in town from a few years ago.    With our house on the market and this a distant memory, (this was prior to having the farm), I thought it fit for today.

Potting Station, image courtesy of me

It is my potting bench / gardening station that I set up in the backyard.  2nd Man got the bench for me as a birthday gift and I put shelves above and around it and filled all the spots with plants and flowers.  As you can see, I've had "the bug" for awhile.  It's sort of my own inspiration for Inspiration Thursday because I see it and it reminds me of what I like to do and of course that I'd like to set up something 'similar' at the farm.

I guess that is one of the issues at the farm, how does one create something small and filled like this with so much space?  I seem to do well in small spaces like this but with so much wide open space, it seems more daunting to create a setting like this.  A potting bench in the middle of a big empty area seems odd.  But hey, we'll figure it out, that's half the fun!


Be inspired!

BREAKFAST TACOS RECIPE

Here is a favorite of ours, and with our recent gift of fresh eggs from our wonderful realtor, it's a great way to use a few.  Breakfast tacos. Or if you roll them up, breakfast burritos, ha. 

Start with diced potatoes (hash brown style) and breakfast sausage links.  We put the sausage in the pan with the potatoes and forgot to dice it.  Oops.  We pulled them out and diced them up and put them all back in.

Sauté until potatoes start to brown and sausage is cooked.  Then add 4 eggs. (love those yellow yolks). Stir to combine.  

While that is cooking, heat up some flour tortillas.  We have a gas stove (for now!) and like to flip them over an open flame a few times.  You can warm them up however you like, they should be warm so they are more flexible. 

Once the eggs are cooked, they are ready to put together.

Take your flour tortilla and spoon some into it.  At this point you can put in cheese, salsa or whatever you'd like to add to the taco.  

Breakfast Tacos with sausage and egg

Fold them in half (or roll up) and enjoy...we like to put them in foil to keep them warm and take them to work...if they last that long, ha.  Simple, quick, easy and best of all, yummy!

Enjoy!

BABY CHICKS

Got these pictures in my email box a couple of days ago.

2nd Family got some new chicks for their coop a few months back that I blogged about HERE.  Among them was an odd little chick that looked kind of like a black bird that somehow got mixed in.  She was smaller than all the others.  

There was also one that turned out to be a rooster.  A TINY rooster.  I've never see such a small rooster.  He has all the attitude but none of the aggression, oh and did I mention he's tiny?  All of the hens are bigger than him by at least two times the size.

Anyway, "birdy" as they named the odd little black chicken, sort of stayed to herself.  In their chicken yard, she made her own nest away from the other hens.  They didn't notice that she had laid some eggs in a hidden spot.  

Hen and chicks 

And then they went out the other morning and saw little fluffy black things running around in the yard.  Baby chicks!

Baby chicks

Yep, they now have five more baby chicks.  They, along with mama, have since been moved to the safety of the enclosed coop to give them their own space and "R" is building a new, larger coop using reclaimed wood (I'll have to get some pics next time we're out).  

I told them that with the tiny black hen and the tiny rooster, creating tiny chicks, maybe they have created a new variety of miniature chickens, LOL!  Can't wait to see what size egg they end up laying.  

My guess would be "small".  Very small.

PURPLE BALL CANNING JARS

We're so excited (well, me probably more so than 2nd Man, ha).  I was at a local grocery store the other day, Kroger, and saw these.  They are this year's limited edition Ball canning jars in purple.  I've been seeing them since they came out a couple of months ago and they were on my wish list...but at about $12 per case, I figured I'd wait, no hurry.  

So when I saw them in the CLEARANCE section, I thought, "hmm, I wonder how much?"  Then I saw a price tag on the bottom one.  $7.79.

Since they were bundled together (the box of pint jars was glued onto the box of quart jars), the price was $7.79...FOR BOTH!  If only they had more but alas, this was the only set.  The funny thing is, we saw them yesterday at another Kroger...full regular price!?!  I guess maybe the store I found them at was clearing out inventory?  Whatever the reason, their clearance is our gain.

The last three years, the Ball company has come out with special edition colored glass jars.  The first year was blue (but for some reason they only had pint size).  Last year was "spring green".  For the green ones, Ball (Jardin Brands) offered a giveaway on our blog.  I contacted them this year but haven't heard back.  Short of that, be sure and get them while you can.  Once they are gone, they will not make them anymore.  As you can see above, they are a gorgeous shade of purple.  

Ball Purple Pint Jars from Amazon

and

Ball Purple Quart Jars from Amazon

Ball Heritage Jars on Amazon

Even if not used for canning, the are beautiful just used for flowers or as storage jars for pens, craft supplies, or even pantry staples like nuts, dried fruit or pasta.  I haven't heard if they are coming out with more, I am hoping for an amber/yellow...or maybe rose/pink.

Have you bought any yet?  What colors would you like to see?

MORE FRESH EGGS

We came home from a house showing last night and our amazing realtor had left us a dozen fresh eggs from her hens at their farm! 

A variety of sizes and colors from a variety of chickens!

Farm Fresh Eggs

She and her husband have a farm outside of Houston and of course they have chickens.  She said she wasn't sure if we'd like them.  Um, yeah, she knew us way better than she realized, ha.  Gotta love fresh eggs!  Between our realtor sharing her eggs and 2nd Family sharing theirs, we get the fresh eggs experience without having the chickens (for now!).

Hope you are having a good weekend.  We are dodging rain showers today...and it looks like some heavy rain is heading this way later.  We made a run to the farm to take a few things and check the house but are back in town now.

More later!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALISON

One of our dearest and oldest (oldest as in known for a long time, LOL) is Alison.  She comments on the blog often and is just one of the neatest people you'd ever want to meet.  She also has a job where, while I can't go into details about it here, she helps people who are in some of their darkest times, with seemingly no where else to turn, start a new and better life.  

She loves sunflowers and so we just had to post this while we wished her the happiest of birthdays today!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALISON, 1st and 2nd Man luv ya!

HAVE AN AMAZING DAY

Off to run errands.  The house is showing twice today, so we have to leave while that's going on.  We're heading to the apartment (the previous tenant has moved out now and so we can see our actual unit).

Tomorrow I'll probably head to the farm to mow and edge...and take a few more things out there.  Seems a lot of stuff is finding it's way from in town to the farm.  But hey, we have the big barn and it is still empty...for now, ha. 

Our weather is slightly cooler, though even with the arrival of "Fall" a few days ago, it's not feeling much like it but hey, cooler weather is coming eventually.

Hope you have a great weekend and make today ridiculously amazing!

FELINE FRIDAY

Here's a random cat photo...this is Hobart, looking at me on this particular day like he's thinking "um, why are you taking my picture?"

He's just a big goofball and best of all, good natured.

Oh yeah, and he's solid black.  He's our very own...

  

Halloween Kitty!

IRISES FOR YOU, INSPIRATION THURSDAY

UPDATE:  Going to leave this up for a bit this morning to give anyone else a chance, she still has some left.

Last Spring, one of our Friends of the Farm, Colleen, sent us these pictures of her beautiful Iris beds.  She has quite the collection! 

The pictures were so pretty, I asked her if I could use them for an inspiration Thursday post and I did.  I'm reposting them again today...

Iris beds

...because she has an offer!  

She wrote to let us know that she is thinning and dividing the beds, moving things around and has an offer of free iris rhizomes (divisions) for those who want them!

• She will perform the manual/heavy labor and dig them up for free
• She will provide the divisions themselves for free
• All you will pay is the postage to ship the full boxes
• Serious inquiries only (it's a lot of work on her end)
• Cash or money order only

Send me an email by clicking the button over on the side bar or just use "houstonray@gmail.com" and let me know you are interested.  I will get you in contact with her and let y'all work out the details.

This offer is "while supplies last" of course since there are limited amounts she can dig up so act fast before they're all gone! (we've already got a box coming!)

Thank you dear Colleen!  You are awesome!

DUCKS COME TO VISIT

Noticed some new (albeit temporary?) residents on a neighbor's property...

At first I just saw some white movement in the distance and wasn't sure what it was.  Then with the camera zoom (above) I was able to see ducks!

Ducks

I swapped out the telephoto lens and zoomed way in and captured them in all their beauty.  There were only three of them but they hung around together everywhere they went.

Ducks on water

I noticed that there is a little pond back there and I'm sure that is why they were hanging around.  I asked 2nd Family if they knew if these neighbors had ducks and they didn't think so.  We're not sure if they were just passing through, I'll see if they are back again next time we're out there.  Makes me wonder if someday, after we have a pond dug, will we get our own ducks?

Anyone ever have temporary duck visitors like this?

MOVING ON UP

Wait?  
What?   

No, we aren't moving to the farm (darn it), but we will be moving out of the house we've lived in for 16 years!  That's the reason not a lot has transpired at the farm lately (well, that and of course it's been 157 degrees most every day this Summer).  I take that back, a lot has been happening because we've been taking several carloads of stuff out there as we pare down (downsize?) the things we have in town.

So what are we doing?

We're moving to an apartment in downtown Houston...more than 10 floors up in the building (hence 'moving on up", LOL).  This is the last move we will make before ending up at the farm.  We decided a few months ago to start looking for a new place to live, we call it our "in-between spot" where we could downsize a bit and get ready to move to the farm.  

We had to decide if we wanted another house in town?  After much thought we realized what would that gain?  We'd just still have a mortgage, we'd still have high property taxes and we'd still have the responsibilities of a house while still having the farm to work on!  It would really just be a lateral move.  Since we both work near downtown, we decided to investigate apartments.  We finally found a beautiful high-rise apartment that we loved the moment we saw it and so we decided to put our house on the market.

We can't, at this time, just move to the farm...we always knew this is going to be a longer term process and we're hoping to only take a few more years.  Selling the house in town will finally give us back some of our hard earned years of equity and that, in turn, will allow us to do more things at the farm to get the house and property even more ready for eventual retirement out there. 

Better to do all the infrastructure and "sweat equity" manual labor now while we're younger and have it all paid for by the time we're ready!  

Then when the time is right, we can enjoy the day to day managing of it.

Porch rockers ready and waiting

I'm here to tell you though, and many of you probably know this all too well, packing up and sorting through 16+ years worth of closets and cabinets and drawers and attic space and junk under the beds can be daunting (and very stressful at times).  Oh, and we now have to have the house 'ready' for showings which means we have to clean up and sort through things and then put it all back so it looks nice and neat!  Much easier said than done!  SO...that's what we're doing currently and why our runs to the farm have been quick while having other stuff to do in town.  

On the upside, we've found so many wonderful things (some we've forgotten about over the years) to take to the farm which now, unfortunately, looks like we just moved in for the first time.  There are other things we will be able to take out there later and not move to the apartment.  Also, as part of "staging" the house for showings, the realtor asked us to purchase random things (rugs in front of the sink and stove for example) and so I buy things that I can move to the farm (in that same example, found some great rugs, one with red cherries and one with red apples that will look awesome in the kitchen at the farm).

Next month comes the moving...