Ode to August

We have been so busy cutting hay, fertilizing peanuts, planting fall crops, milking cows and just in general meeting ourselves coming and going that I have had a hard time making it to a desk and a computer to blog.

Fortunately for me I have some help....

I have some "guest" bloggers that are willing and able to fill in. They are so fantastic that you may prefer them and never want to hear from me again!

Their photography is exceptional. It was hard to narrow the pictures down to a handful but below are some very special photos. Special because they were taken through the unique lens of a child's eye...

photos by:

Rosy Red Princess

the Littlest Princess

and

Robot Boy with super powers extraordinaire!


Runaway heifer...she broke through the fence and has been living wild and free around the farm. That needs to stop soon, meanwhile she is enjoying herself very much.



equipment that works



equipment being worked on



grass needs mowed



no words needed:







shoes to fill someday



summer skies




We got a special treat when Robot Boy decided to make us all a snack of his own creation.

The Robot Boy Special
hot dog bun
two saltine crackers laid carefully on the bun
a slice of American cheese ripped in half
and his secret ingredient...
a thick line of whipping cream from a can sprayed down the center.
close the bun.eat. enjoy.

Thanks Robot Boy!



Special thanks also to our star photographers in this "self" photo"

Rosy Red Princess and her sidekick, the littlest princess


~ stay cool everyone, fall is almost here!

A Morning Nap

Ever wake up so early that by 10:00 a.m. you are exhausted?

Yesterday was a little like that.

I was up late the night before (being "lady liberty") and the funny thing about staying up late on a farm is that it does not necessarily translate into sleeping in the next morning!

I have one inside dog, the rest sleep outside. This inside dog Emmie, cannot make herself rest past dawn though. She is a canine alarm clock and somewhere between 6 and 6:30 she shoves her nose against mine (or sits and whines loudly) until I stumble to my feet and open the door for her. Opening the door then makes me curious about the weather ( you obsess about weather on a farm) and I stand there rubbing my face and looking at a fog covered world and wonder about the weather that will be for that day. This thought makes me pick up the remote and flip on the TV weather.....which all in all means I am pretty much up at this point.

What that leads to is sometimes being a little tired and needing a nap or a doughnut or coffee or something around 10:00am.

Today however, at 10:00 I was in high gear. Two of our trucks were broken down. One had a leaky radiator the other was/is a fuel pump(?)

A flurry of phone calls and ordering parts added to the days normal routine.

That did not mean that naps were not being had though...

As I happened to pass by a door I saw this:





break time in the poultry world....

my usually taciturn and remote rooster, dozing right by the door! That never happens.

He looks dead doesnt he?




and just inside the door the same thing was happening in "canine" world

only this always happens....



Emmie does her "doggie yoga" each morning come what may...



This is her "upward facing dog" pose (she likes to live outside the lines)




Here is her "downward goddess" pose




Her "go away you are annoying" pose...



But the rooster was what really intrigued me. He wont let you get close to him. He is a very cautious fellow that way. So to see him lay right on the beaten path so to speak was a first. I went out the front door and crept around to the side of the house where he was taking his fiesta cuddled against the lemon tree...

in the time it took to walk out the front door and around to the side of the house, he had shifted his position and moved even closer to "danger" (the door).



I wished I could get a close enough shot to see his 3 eyelids, they look like membranes. One is clear and goes from side to side, one goes down and the other closes up. Pretty fascinating stuff but every time the camera clicked - he opened them.



You know what just dawned on me? "Roo" has no eyelashes! None at all, nadda. Thereby eliminating all need to ever buy mascara, which is good since he doesnt drive, so how would he go get his mascara in the first place? And even if he did have eyelashes and he did drive to get his own mascara, then what? Would he have to sing on American Idol, change his name to Adam, move to California and become a rocker? Where would this lead poor little "Roo" in his life?

No. He is better off nappping in the sun at 10:00 am on my deck. Sometimes nature really does know best.

911 In a Pasture, Lady Liberty & the Pursuit of History

I have a few heifers (young female cows) living amongst my "Lost Boys" (steers - beef cows; males who are "fixed")

Due to lots of time spent haying and just being busy, I didn't pay attention like I should have...

they found some Nightshade (deadly poison) and some of them nibbled it.

As a result I have over the last two days:

one dead heifer,
two very sick heifers
two slightly sick steers.


One little heifer has responded to treatment. I took her all the way back to ground zero (fed her colostrum) and she has rebounded.

The two steers seem fine with being allowed to run free and eat whatever they want. That leaves just one little heifer....

she is losing ground each day on her own so today in addition to colostrum, she got a shot of antibiotic and an IV of glucose along with a bolus of vitamins.

SO at the end of a very long day which included losing our power in a storm, I got to stand in a damp grassy field using the lights from the truck




to hold a bottle of glucose hoisted over my head while it infused into my little patient




looking up at the stars on a very dark night



and started reciting as much of the words engraved on the Statue of Liberty as I could remember


"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free...hmmm...

the IV bottle gurgled while I tried to remember...


establish justice, insure domestic tranquility? no, that is the Preamble to the Constitution -

I didn't watch School House Rock for nothing!

I ran through a few other nuggets from old history classes

"Two if by land and one if by sea? no....

"Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness?" no,

being the statue of Liberty isn't very easy...

my nose was itching and the blood had drained out of my arm...

that's it! something about her arm!...

She lifts her lamp by the golden shore....or door..or something like that.

The last of the life giving fluid gurgled down the tube and I gratefully lowered my lady liberty arm, climbed over the fence and came home.

I had to Google it....

Its all coming back to me now!


On the pedestal below her, it says,

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of you teaming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

This poem is called the New Colossus and it was written by Emma Lazarus.

Monday Minutes

The view outside my window



One more hayfield harvested, several more to go...

Life Is Like A Bowl Of

The last of the summer cherries...

Ever made Clafoutis?

Thats French for pancake batter!

Seriously!

You end up with a delicious dessert that is custardy if you serve it warm and more crepe-like if you let it cool. The beauty of it is you need to only have 3 cups of cherries (or any other summer fruit, really) and the basics: milk, eggs,a bit of flour to make this.


Clafoutis



1 tablespoon Butter
1 tablespoon Vanilla extract
1 teaspoon Almond extract*
6 Eggs
6 tablespoon Sugar
1 and 1/4 cups Milk
Pinch Salt
3⁄4 cup All-purpose flour
3 cups black cherries, pitted or unpitted*
Confectioners' sugar (optional)

*(Some people dont pit the cherries, the pits add a lot of almond flavor.I add the almond extract and pit the cherries instead) Preheat oven to 425° and generously butter a 9" cast-iron skillet or baking dish. Combine vanilla extract, eggs, sugar, milk and salt. Whisk till blended, then add flour and blend until smooth, about 1 minute.

Pour batter into buttered skillet and evenly spread cherries over top. Bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from center. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving. Dust with confectioners' sugar or a spoon of whipped cream if desired.

"Life On A Farm Is Kinda Laid Back"...

and kinda not...

I have to believe John Denver thought he was right when he penned that thought in his song, or maybe he was high ( but only on the Rocky Mountains I'm sure- I kid! I kid!) when he dreamed that line up.

Whichever is the case, I'm scratching my head and trying to remember the last time life on the farm felt even remotely "laid back".

Facts are facts and the facts are,
there is no good ole summer time when the livin is easy on a farm in Florida.

Since I seem to be doing an awful lot of phrase and song quoting today I should probably through in the one that best applies here:

Make Hay While the Sun Shines!
{insert your own sound of whips cracking here}

The problem with using the sunshine to "make hay" is that most other chores are commonly done in the sunshine, or at least the daytime, also. So if the day is now solely devoted to haymaking where do those other things fit in?

Well thank you for asking...

they fit into the pre day and post day you slackers!
(ahem, I mean me, I'm the slacker - not you)

It just makes sense!

or at least it seems to make sense when the grass is growing an inch a day and you know you have at least 600 bales to put up before it quits growing so there is enough to feed all winter.

No one has figured a way to get the horses to understand they dont need attention, or gotten the cows to milk each other, or told all the young stock to worm and vaccinate themselves.

No.

Instead, they all stand around like a bunch of losers waiting for us to do it!

Its probably our fault for not training them better when they were little but they just act like they are on summer vacation lounging around chewing their cud while we race around like crazy people trying to fit all the normal chores into the day.

Actually, now that I read that sentence, I think maybe they are on to something and we really are crazy!

Be that as it may I took my camera with me yesterday to record a day in the life of above mentioned said crazy people....

Day begins:

6:15 throw on clothes, grab a pot of coffee and a box of doughnuts (otherwise known as moral builders) and try not to be the last one to show up in the barnyard ( I wasnt - I was the second one there - hooray!)

6:45 Up before the sun has made much of a dent and I can barely see the cows heads in the mist. I will call this picture

"Cowrillas In the Mist"




These young heifers are not used to seeing humans cavorting in their pasture in the predawn mist and so naturally are a little suspicious but food must be the universal language of come hither (see doughnuts above)because the mere sound of the grain cart rumbling towards their feed trough is enough to win them over and make them through caution to the wind



after a few tasty mouthfuls they are herded into a corral where they are put one by one into a chute. Even though they are young (thus the worming and vaccinating) they still weigh about 400 - 500 hundred pounds so we restrain their heads for our safety. each one gets wormed and vaccinated




along with a reassuring pat that its all gonna be over in a minute...



10:45
After the heifers are happily munching the rest of their grain, free of our "interference" with their daily routine, it is time to for tractors to be fueled up and time to hit the hay fields.

This will continue in shifts all the live long day.

Lunch will figure in there somewhere eaten beside tractors idling in wait



on and on, under the sun



8:45PM This picture was taken on my last shift as "water boy" 8:45 PM




8:50 The sun is sinking fast,




the field is done being raked and the baler can go on into the night since it has headlights and the air is hot and dry and wont put any moisture on the ground until after midnight.

9:00 Time to go do the night milking for the final chore of the day.

Only a 14 hour day....

and we got everything scheduled for this day done, not bad!

A Weekend - In Food, More Or Less

One of my oldest friends,
oops! she wouldn't like that- I'd better rephrase...

one of my bestest, most long standing friends from when we were both teens,
that's much better!

came to town to help celebrate an award that another friend of ours was receiving on Friday at a banquet.

The banquet was awesome, a beautiful restored historic building, great music, wonderful food and a lot of interesting people.

The dessert was a molten lava dark chocolate confection with a crispy chocolate crust.



The "after party" Martinis where I entertained myself with trying to catch the "glow" in the martini glass using a small table candle as back lighting.




Did you know that warm pomegranate martini s are not tasty?

All in all (warm martinis aside) it was a richly elegant evening and a wonderful experience.


The next morning was more my speed however. The local 50's diner. Clinking of heavy china, the heady aroma of brewing coffee, a grill turning out such delicacies as bacon, hasbrowns, and don't forget, pancakes.

And grits!

And raisin toast!

Even the air in this place is practically edible.

It is one of those breakfast anytime of day places where you can stay as long as you want - and we did. 3 hours actually! After the late night that had come before, it was fun to sit, relax and talk about anything and everything from college bound kids to those among us who are college bound ourselves!

Since my friend doesn't visit often and since she has a lot of roots in this community and is in pretty hot demand when she does visit...I was very glad we got to squeeze in one last bit of time together on Sunday, the following morning.

We met at what my son calls the "Hippie Cafe" but really it is a delightfully "artsy" cafe (there are several artists involved in the business actually) with an emphasis on wholesome and delicious foods.

Things like steel cut oats cooked long and slow the old fashioned way. Every fresh seasonal fruit imaginable and oh yes!

A waffle station where you get your waffle to order. On this day it happened to be ginger bread waffles served with bananas, walnuts and a dollop of heavy cream.

Although they are wonderful for a lazy Sunday brunch, they are especially known for their to-die-for from scratch dessert pies cakes and breads, some of which you can see in the dessert case in the picture above.

Maybe it is because of that, this place always smells like frosting.

Cakes baking,

warm sugar and vanilla.

That is the appeal of this place...

oh!

and all the art work -which is everywhere- is original and for sale.

Feast for the eyes, feast for the soul.

I don't know when I will see my friend again. We both seem to be getting busier rather than slowing down. I do know that when we do finally get together, it will be like it always is...an instant reconnection and the easy familiarity that is the identifying mark of true friendships.


"I do not wish to treat friendships daintily, but with the roughest courage. When they are real, they are not glass threads or frost-work, but the solidest thing we know."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Presto Pesto!

You know how one day you can look at your garden and say I really need to harvest that basil soon and then the next day you say that again and before you know it a week has gone by and basil is threatening to take over the planet?

Ok, maybe not the planet, but definitely your deck and most certainly the container that it is growing in?

Yesterday was that day. I had grandiose plans to dry the basil. I even had some wonderful little spice jars to put the dried basil in, thinking of what great gifts that would make this winter.

Only thing is, it is not winter...it is summer and the hay must feel it is in serious competition with the basil because it is growing equally as fast - or faster if that's possible.

They hay can not,will not,wait. That means the hay wins - the basil loses...

its head that is...

yes,

I grabbed the scissors and lopped off the tops of the basil and in 15 minutes had turned it into pesto!

Pesto is easy and fast. I love to make things that sound exotic and hint of faraway places and actually take less than a half hour of my time!

There are very few ingredients in pesto:

Basil, olive oil, Parmesan, pine nuts, garlic, lemon~




NOTE* It is better to use grated fresh Parmesan if you have it, which I didn't, the canned works in a pinch.

Wash the basil and take most of the stems off, just using the leaves.

For every 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed down you will add:

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese (or canned will work)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts (or walnuts will work)
3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
1 TBS. fresh lemon juice

Combine the basil with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor or a blender. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.

Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add lemon and taste. Adjust ingredients by adding a touch more olive oil, lemon or salt if you dont thing the cheese has added enough salt.

It doesn't work well to leave it for long periods of time in the fridge so I freeze mine (an ice cube tray works great but I don't have one so I made dollops of pesto and froze them and put them in a Ziploc bag in the freezer. If you freeze the "dollops separately - they wont stick together in the same bag.

Interestingly ugly isnt it?



Ahh..but when you throw it in hot pasta it is beautiful indeed!~

It's A Small World

Welcome to the liquid wonderland home of "Bubbles" and "Pearl."









They are a couple of optimists.



I know this because they never see the glass as half empty.


No.


To them, life is rich and full and satisfying.





Some may see them as living in a watering trough.



They love it that they don't live in someones home in a fishtank. That they can look up and see the open sky above them anytime they want.

It's true, that no one gives them nice tasty fish food once a day but they have visitors...

visitors that eat grain and grass and lets just say they are a tad sloppy when they are slurping!

Bubbles and Pearl enjoy the visit as well as the "groceries" that fall out of the visitors mouth.

Speaking of visitors, they get lots of them...

That's the way it is when you have a waterfront home....

you are very popular with guests!

Pearl knows this so she cleans a lot! She likes a nice presentable home for her visitors. Who knows? They might even bring their camera and take pictures. So Pearl cleans while Bubbles watches...



They are just your average stereotypical type that way.

Average is their idea of perfect. They are happy living on what some would call the cutting edge of mediocrity. They dont travel much and dont enjoy long walks or any airborne sports.

No, they are happy in their rich little ecosystem that gives them everything they need. In the little quarter inch space of their heads, where their minds reside, they are busy, productive and content.

Just hanging out
lovin life
and going for a nice swim each day.

Hey Laaadee

Lady is a horse.

She is a most trend conscious, fashion setting horse. Her halter always is the right shade to match her mood.

She recently got a fantastic pedicure.

I haven't had a pedicure or even a haircut all summer. She looks all très chic, while I look like a lost sheepdog.

I say that to say this...

shes obviously my go to person to get advice on getting my hair done next week.

So Lady can I talk to you a minute?

Lady - Oh its you again....did you bring me an apple?

Me - Oh, um no, I forgot the apple - I will go get one in a sec- right now I have a question to ask you...how do you get your hair to look so good all the time?

Lady - Well I think its important to develop your own style. I had this style till I read some chic named Rihanna started copying it...



so I had to move on to this,




the difference is subtle but powerful, no?

Me - No...I mean....yes! Its very powerfully subtle!

I also like your highlights.



Lady - You really don't know much about this do you? This is a blend of high AND low lights - that's all part of my "customized" look.

Me - Ah yes, when I run my hands through it I see the low lights - you are sooo right on about that Lady!



Me - So you have been a LOT of help. I am going to ask for something artfully tapered and perhaps a slightly windblown look....and highlights AND lowlights for sure. Thanks Lady. You're the best!

Lady - Yes I am. Not to change the subject....but about that apple we discussed a few minutes ago???

Me - Yes! Of course! Be right back!

Lady - Ok, Ill just wait right here...