Sights from around Crooked Acres.
These pictures are small so as not to freak out the more sensitive among you. Those are clusters of daddy longlegs-type spiders (I don’t know if they’re actually daddy longlegs – their bodies seem bigger than they ought to be), and the one on the right, I almost put my HAND in that cluster. UGH.
And another creepy one – Fred shot poison at this yellowjacket nest (which is inside the wood shed) and killed all the yellowjackets that were on it, but apparently there were plenty of them out running errands while he was doing it. Guess we need to knock it down rather than leave it hanging. I am skeered to death of yellowjackets. They’re MEAN.
Fred made pineapple-ghost chili hot sauce over the weekend. He tells me it’s hot. There’s a shock, no?
Oreo-stuffed chocolate chip cookie. I made a half-batch over the weekend. They were good the day I made them, but REALLY good after sitting for a day. Recipe is hither. The only problem is that I can’t eat a whole one without feeling ill (and I’m not saying that in that annoying “Oh, I ate a Lifesaver and I’m stuffed!” way. It’s a HUGE cookie.) Next time, I may buy a pack of those mini-Oreos and make much smaller ones.
Dried okra, waiting ’til the cats knock their current okra toys under the stove.
The okra plants are now my height (I’m 5’5″) or taller. We’ve gotten so much okra that the freezer is stuffed with sliced okra. Since I’ve gotten enough okra put away to keep us going ’til next year, we’re currently eating okra with almost every meal. My favorite way to eat it is roasted. It’s REALLY good – put uncut okra pods on a cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, cook at 450ºF for 20 minutes – and not at all slimy.
Ghost chilies, ripening in the garden. I’ve been told that I’m on tap to make a batch of cherry-ghost chili jam. I am not looking forward to this – but at least I won’t be eating any of it!
The butternut and acorn squash plants get wilty in the middle of the day, but perk back up overnight. We thought it might be bugs, but I really think it’s the heat. I’ve gone to watering the entire garden three times a week instead of two, because we haven’t gotten rain in weeks.
Morning Glory, vining up one of the squash plants. Fred hates Morning Glories, but I think they’re pretty and I don’t yank them out of the garden because I like seeing them!
Muscadines (wild grapes).
We’re gonna get a bumper crop this year. Last year I made a batch of Muscadine jam with them. I’m not sure what I’ll be making this year, since I don’t think we ate any of the jam. It’s funny how much jam I make, given that we don’t eat much in the course of a year.
Muscadine vine. I love vines. Is that odd?
“Thanks for watering the garden, lady. I needed a bath!”
Someone ought to prune that pecan tree. (That red shed is the garden shed. This would be an ideal place for a hammock, if we had one.)
There’s just nothing funnier than a running chicken.
The Rock Star (she’s a Golden Polish) is the absolute prettiest chicken we have, if you ask me. I love her colors.
This little rooster’s pretty, too.
She’s also pretty. I guess we have a bunch of pretty chickens.
The rooster counterpart to the hen in the previous picture.
Oh, Gracie. It’s a bale of STRAW. (Fred put it there to block the hole in the fence that the chickens were going through.) I don’t know what was freaking her out – there wasn’t a HOSE there or anything.
Two girl piggies in the waller.
Happy George.
I love vines, but that Wisteria vine, reaching across three feet of space to grab onto the back yard fence? Maybe not so much.
Someone mentioned last week that they’d like to have a “sounds of Crooked Acres” week, where I post videos of, oh, the chickens and the pigs and what have you. I thought about doing that this week, but I never did get outside with my camera to make the videos, so to tide you over ’til I do get that accomplished, I’m posting some older videos.
First, a couple of chicken videos.
Those are both from around 2007 – 2008. This last one was shot in 2008, and is a visit in the chicken yard, and you get to see the pigs, too.
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Harlan keeps an eye on the feather teaser.
These kittens are the standing-up balancingest kittens I’ve ever seen.
“Come HERE, feather teaser.”
Sally’s all “Get it! GET IT!”
Whoa!
So close and yet so far.
“Watch me, ladies. I’ll get it!”
“Oh, right, you got that one, didn’t you? I’m SO impressed.”
“Shut UP, I don’t see YOU getting it either!”
Lucy’s face is cracking me UP. She is clearly SO over me and my shenanigans.
I let Elwood in to meet the Peppers a few days ago. He was unimpressed, as you’ll see.
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Kara, snoozing on the dryer.
“What are you doing out here? You don’t belong outside! Get back inside, it’s safer!”
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Previously
2010: Jake of the l’Unervilles.
2009: “O crystal ball, when will I get my fancy new eyelips?”
2008: I know. I’m an unreasonable monster.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: Morning kisses.
The pictures!!! The movies!!! Thanks!!! Oh, I agree with you about morning glories!!! 🙂
Again Robyn… just put Lucy in a fedex and mail her off to me. LOVE HER!!
-Anita in Denver
Thanks for such a great post. I do feel compelled to say that those first two videos are the reason you have so many chickens!! The things which help with broody hens whose eggs you want are work gloves (esp. the ones with leather backs) and speed!!
I love the video with Elwood and the kittens. Especially ~1:00 – 1:05 — The “Look! There’s a bug!” moment followed by the “Never mind. Go back to staring at Elwood” moment is priceless!
I like the twiny vines too but when they strangle the plant the twine up or crush it down with their weight I get mixed emotions. My yard’s vampire is Star Jasmine.
roasted okra is my absolute FAVE, however, I drizzle some balsamic vinegar on it as well as oil, salt and pepper. well, okay, maybe I drizzle a lot of balsamic vinegar on it. yummyyummyyummy
Oh man. Too many wonderful things to comment about today, so I’ll just say this — COOKIE! *runs out to make recipe*
If you are mailing off kittens already, you can send Molly my way. 🙂 She was so cute in the Elwood video “There’s a new cat in our room. Maybe if I just sit here and look like a cute kitten, he won’t bother me.”
Is that Harlan lying in the cat bed? Bold little kitten, taking a swat at Elwood like that! Elwood’s all “I know you did not just do that, small cat”.
Man, I’d be eating jam every.day. And insane stuffed cookies.
I love the “meercat” kittens! I wish mine hadn’t grown out of that, it’s so cute!
And cherry-ghost chili jam sounds just delicious to me! Pour some of that over a block of cream cheese with crackers…yumm!
HAHAHA, Jake. At the end, he goes to the door and is like “OK, you can let me out now.” (love that there’s Outkast playing in the background)
I love love love the movies and the “bitchy animals” comment. Sassy McGee, oh my. She is PISSED. 8-|
Awww you do have the prettiest loveliest gorgeous-est chickens and piggies!! Yay!
Awwww Elwood all snarly at the Peppers – too cute!!
Take care
x
I swear more and more cats are attempting to become bipeds *grin*
Please pack Lacy up and send her my way! The face!
You might have to rename Crooked Acres “Meercat Manor”; and all those bobbling heads may be the cutest things yet. Am still madly taken with those two tabby babies. Nice to see them side by side. But may I put in a vote for more Joe Bob? Yesterday’s close-up was too, too good. As for Elly Belly, he’s not a terribly relaxed guest star, is he?
Meekcat kittens – that’s what they are! Phew! Thanks SC Amy, I thought they’d had enough and were standing up and walking around just ‘casue they could! “Attention all kittehs: Enough humouring the humans, everyone at ease.” We all know what that means, don’t we?…(think close encounters of the third kind…)that baby Lucy is hilarious, ‘really mama robyn you get that the teaser has no feathers on it, rihgt?’ (she’s a baby, she can’t spell everything right.) And whatever did you do to her when she was little that Sherrif Kara worries so about you being outside?
I love all the Crooked Acres pictures and I’m so jealous of your long growing season. Question, what do George and Gracey protect the chickens from? Racoons? Rats? Also, do they protect the pigs too?