Scrappy Lap quilt

I am really happy with my latest scrappy lap quilt.  I did this one "just because".  I did not show you all the stars on the back of the quilt because it doesn't show up in photos but it is really cool the way I outlined all the stars on the front and the design repeats on the back.  The green background fabric is all I had to purchase; as all the other pieces are scraps from various projects throughout the years

Chicken Update

Missy the injured chicken has continued to heal well.  The scab on her head is even starting to flake away. Unfortunately, the other chickens in the flock are still not taking kindly to her.  We have tried to reintroduce her into the flock numerous times and they continue to attack her.  Thus we started investigating alternate living situations for her since we do not have the time or resources to have 2 chicken coops. Patrick and I both were distressed with the option to put her in the crock-pot because she is still a very productive chicken, giving us 5 eggs last week alone.  She seems to be in the prime of her life but just needs to be in a more protected environment.  We spoke with a co-worker here at the center and she indicated she would love to have her.  She has a few small chickens at home and a young son who loves animals.  So on Tuesday morning we crated Missy up and delivered her to the horse barn where Chasity works. Chasity took her home last night.  We hope she had a good night. Thus far it is a happy ending.

Asparagus

First cutting out of the garden..........by the end of the week we should have enough for a meal.

Meet Hazel

We would like to introduce you to our newest family member.........Hazel. She doesn't do windows or dishes but boy is is she a wiz on the floors.

Roomba the iRobot (otherwise known as Hazel) is here to keeps all the floors in the house clean.  She listens to commands really well via the little tower you see to the right.  We can put that anywhere we don't want her to go. So we can put her in the living room with the little tower in the kitchen opening and she will just stay in the living room.  We can put her in the bedroom and close the door and she will clean until we come retrieve her or she runs out of energy.  She is really smart.  She recognizes the differences between wood and tile, carpet and throw rugs and when she gets near a wall she slows down, taps the wall and turns around.
She came with great references from Amy so we bit the bullet and adopted her. I can't believe we did this. But let me tell you........she has only been here for a few days and I couldn't imagine life without her.  Amy said she would weasel her way into our hearts pretty quickly and she was right.

Injured Chicken

We have an injured chicken.  Unfortunately, when chickens molt it is not uncommon for the others in the flock to attack the exposed skin.  Last Friday night I went to collect eggs after work and only counted 5 chickens.  Patrick knew there were 6 in the morning so we started looking around.  We found her high up on the top roost bar tucked in the corner protecting herself.  We were both greatly disturbed with what we saw.  We brought her out into the grass by herself, gave her fresh water and some food as she was severely dehydrated.  Patrick went to the drug store and Tractor Supply and bought chicken first aid supplies and a mid-sized dog crate.  We have been nursing her back to health and prayed that she survived thru the first 24 hours. She has been staying in the crate in the garage at night and we place her under the deck while we are at work.  Both Saturday and Sunday she got to work in the garden with us. She tired easily but enjoyed getting lots of worms as we dug around in the garden beds. She actually follows us around and we think we have become her new flock as she doesn't wander far from us. So far she has survived and today the wound actually looks a bit better.  We let her out with the other girls tonight after work and she is very skittish of them, isolating herself and not joining in with the other chickens.   It will likely take a while before we try to introduce her back into the general flock.  I think she has a name now as I keep referring to her as Missy.  We will keep you posted on her progress.

Trip to New Mexico

Our trip to NM was eventful.  Since Carrie and Travis had only moved into their new rental house 1 week prior to our arrival, there were quite a few things for us to do.  In between all the do list items we did a lot of activities with the kids.  Their new house is very convenient to stuff in their town.  Texico, NM is a small town with about 1100 residents.  They live 2 blocks from the towns school district.  On that block is the elementary, middle and high school with a combined cafeteria that services all of the schools. Attached to the elementary school is the most fabulous playground we have ever seen.  There are three sections for all levels so Carrie is able to walk with the kids and play any time she wants. The kids love it and are able to wear themselves out daily. The town pool is 2 blocks away also.  Shopping in Clovis is about 10 minutes away. The Texas border is on the edge of the neighborhood (the only neighborhood in town), about three blocks from their house.  We will attempt to capture a few pics here to represent our trip.

On the way to the playgound. Wyatt is a good bike rider and Bayleigh loves her wagon. Notice the cool spaceship shirt that Meme made for Wyatt. 

In the firetruck which rocks and bounces, especially when Travis is jumping around on it. The kids love it.

Wyatt loves to push his own pint sized cart around at the grocery store.

Of course we had to dye Easter eggs.  

Bayleigh attempted to blow bubbles with the egg wand.  She wasn't too impressed with dying eggs and only did one. 

The final product......interesting colors when you start off with brown eggs. 

We made cookies and Wyatt had fun trying out several of the different discs that go in the press. 

Bayleigh loved looking at cookies in the oven. And of course they both loved the finished product. 

Easter morning

Papa and Wyatt had matching plaid pastel shirts.

Sleeping baby. At 4 in the morning, Carrie had been awake long enough and brought Bayleigh to us.  She promptly went to sleep and did not awake until 7:30.  She is a bed hog and Papa got up and snapped this picture first thing in the morning. 

Lollygagging in Lisa's Larder- March

Well I am a few days behind but that is what happens when you are in NM and return to work within 11 hours of your arrival home.  So here I will post the few food stuff items I have for the month and later this weekend I will post pics of our trip.

Baked chicken, homemade stuffing and fresh asparagus.....  I wish I could say this is ours but this is just plain ole chicken and asparagus from the grocery store with some fresh stuffing I made from some of the leftover bread cubes from christmas.  It was delicious.

Frittata with fresh sausage we got from our doctor. The pig was raised by the family and acorn fed. The nutrition content is drastically different from traditionally raised pork.

Sausage and cheese quiche with the flakiest pie crust I have ever made in my life. You will understand why in a few moments.

Making  bacon.....We seasoned the slab that we received in our pork package, let them sit for a week and then smoked it on the new smoker.  After  it chilled we sliced it up using a slicer from a friend at church. Finally we packaged it up and froze it.We did a taste test along the process. Tastes like bacon!!!

Making lard from our pigs fat........now honestly, which one of you readers would have ever thought your family dietitian would be making lard! I sure didn't.  I left the fat in the freezer for several months before I felt confident doing this.  I did a lot of research before I was convinced that I wanted anything to do with this. Acorn fed, locally raised pork is supposed to be very different nutritionally  so I took the plunge and broke out a few packages and rendered the lard one afternoon.  It really wasn't very hard. A side benefit is my iron skillets are very well seasoned after this event.  I still have 2 more packages in the freezer to do.  I got about 5 cups from this rendering and will likely get another 2 or 3 cups from the next batch. All I did was dice the fat into 1/2 inch size pieces, heat it on low until it melted and as it melted I strained it into sterile jars.  All told it took maybe 2 hours as I puttered in the kitchen. I threw all the "cracklings" away. Some people save it but I am drawing the line folks. There are some things I just can't do. So what do I use this lard for........well thus far I have made biscuits and a pie crust; both of which I was shocked at the difference in the end product. I can now say that the ole timey things from long ago probably did taste different.

Orange bundt cake.....something healthier????? I had a few oranges that were not at their prime any more so I squeezed the juice and made this bundt cake. It was a little dry but a glass of milk on the side fixes it.

So that is all for March. I anticipate new growth items in the next month as I am planting most of my seedlings tomorrow. Cookin', sewin', gardenin', workin'.  ........we stay busy.  Come join us, we can find something for you to do.