Rainy days and birthdays

Rainy days and birthdays usually get me down, but we need this rain and there's nothing I can do about the birthday! So, I'm puttering around the house with the boys. The little guy is in a good mood, listening to music on his Kindle Fire, that he purchased with money he earned. Mr. Caprini is watching Ebay auctions to see how much he's made on some obscure Cadillac part he's had for 20 years, despite never owning a Cadillac, not planning to ever own one! It's got a $100 bid on it and I believe he's hoping for a sniping war near the end. 7 minutes to go.
The plan had been to head to the shore for lobster and then to the beach after dinner but the rain is not making the second part of that plan very appealing. I still want lobster though! We had lobster for our anniversary and it was not good at all. Tough, probably over cooked, with very little flavor. I think this time I'm just going to order a hot lobster roll and not eat the bun.
So as I enter the 50th year of my life, having made it through 49 of them so far, I realize I'm completing a half century of life. Most people might not mark this milestone until they actually reach 50. I've got a year to go. Guess I just want to make this one count. I plan to do that by working to improve my health, changing the way I eat more thoroughly, and basically just feeling better.
My birthday present so far has been the installation of a light in the pantry that comes on automatically when I open the door. It is really very cool! After 23 years of searching in there with a flashlight I can now see every dusty, grimy nook and cranny! It's okay though. I'm going to do a thorough cleaning in there (starting tomorrow......) and reclaim it! I might even feel motivated to PAINT in there. I saw this cute idea to use a vintage potato masher, hung upside down, as a hook to hang things from. I though it would look nice in the pantry to hang shopping bags or aprons from. I'll have to keep my eyes open for one!
That's all I've got for now because I want to get out and enjoy this beautiful rainy day. We had been needed rain so badly, like much of the country, that I can't get upset about it. The sound of the rain on the trees is so pretty and restful. We're going to head for the shore and a late lunch and see where we end up with no agenda other than buying toilet paper. And maybe a new Pyrex glass measuring cup because I learned on America's Test Kitchen yesterday that they've changed the design. I have no idea where my old one ended up, but I've been using "read from the top" Pampered Chef ones I got talked into buying and I'm not fond of them at all. Time to go back to the classic. Amazon has them but I want to look locally first.
Update-no sniping war. The part sold for $100, which is nothing to sneeze at, I suppose!

canning!

So far this summer I've made strawberry jam, raspberry jam, all from berries we picked locally, plus strawberry vodka, strawberry vinegar and raspberry vinegar. I've also got a batch of limoncello started. Today we picked cherries. 16.5 pounds of cherries. I've made one batch of jam, a couple of jars of Black Forest sauce, and several pints of sour cherries in light syrup. I've barely made a dent! Back to pitting. I think I'll be pitting cherries for days....

But no, we're off to Mystic Monday for an overnight anniversary trip. Today is our actual anniversary. 22 years! Hard to believe. It won't be long before I've been married to James for more than half my life! Now that's a milestone.

The Plan

Here goes!

The Summer Plan  2012

Inside

Kitchen

1.   Paint cabinets

2.   Clean and organize all cabinets

3.   Clean under sink and get rid of toxic cleansers

4.   Staple oil cloth to kitchen table

5.   Repaint table legs

6.   Store microwave as test

7.   Get rid of all aluminum cookware

8.   Get new stainless cookware and more cast iron

Bathroom

1.   Clean out closet

2.   Fix shower faucet and head

3.   Paint over toilet shelves

4.   New curtain for window and shelves

5.   Fix window or replace

6.   Paint doors white

Master Bedroom

1.   Paint walls and trim

2.   Clean windows and sills

3.   New curtains

4.   Purge clothes in dressers and closets

5.   Find storage for yarn elsewhere

Alex’s Bedroom

1.   Paint walls and trim (Camp Washington week)

2.   Purge clothes from dresser and closet

3.   Sort and organize toys. Purge.

Computer Room

1.   Organize by category.

2.   Purge junk

3.   Clean

Living Room

1.   Clean closet

2.   Summer drapes?

3.   Redecorate mantle for summer

Outside

Fencing

1.   Repair all existing perimeter fencing

2.   Expand goat pen

3.   New chicken pen

4.   Fence garden behind garage

5.   Fence future strawberry corner

Barn and coop

1.   New coop for chickens only?

2.   Duck house underneath?

3.   Expand duck condo?

4.   Interior redo of barn for three rooms for goats

5.   Insulate ceiling

6.   Screen windows for summer

Garden Shed

1.   Purge and organize

2.   Get hay into hoop shed

Gardens

1.   Plant strawberries

2.   Two more raised beds in square garden

3.   Garden near back fence next to neighbors’ yard

4.   Shade garden next to driveway

5.   Clean out front gardens

6.   Cut down hydrangea

7.   Move lilacs?

Deck

1.   Build gates for both staircases

2.   Repair all floor boards

3.   Stain

4.   New table and chairs

5.   Milk can side table for porch swing

6.   Containers of flowers, herbs and vegetables

Summer plans

Ha! I'm going to attempt a plan of what I hope to accomplish this summer....  I keep putting it off. I think I may want to create it elsewhere, tweak it, and post in the future! Everytime I try I end rabbit trailing all over the place. New plan! I will plan to plan out a plan,THEN I'll blog about it!
One more day of 4th grade. I've had every day off this week, but because of special events at school and food allergies, I've had to go in to bring treats. Tomorrow will be no different. After putting him on the bus I will go back home to make GF pizza for him then bring it in at 11:00 since his teacher is treating them "all" to a pizza party. At noon we are DONE! Poor James finishes with students tomorrow but then has three professional days to make up after this fall's lousy weather caused 10 "snow days" before Thanksgiving! Another late start to our family summer!

SUMMER!

In many ways, it's not my favorite seasons. I really dislike the heat, humidity, bugs, snakes...  however, as much as I love my job, I do love my summers off! Especially with a fun 10 year old to enjoy them with. My husband is also off this summer, meaning we'll be stretching his balloon check through August, and won't be taking big, exciting vacations. The trade-offs are totally worth it.
Today was the last day for students in my schools. We have to go in tomorrow for an all day in-service and then I'm off until late August. I will spend some time soon making a list of what I hope to do this summer. Soon. Not tonight. I can barely keep my eyes open!
The little guy and husband are in school through next Wednesday so I will have three mornings to myself. There is a pedicure in my future! Okay, not very frugal, but one at the beginning of the summer will get me through and I don't do them all year. In fact I've only ever had three in total!

On a sad note, we found one of the ducks dead in the barn this morning. It was one of the runner/Blue Swedish crosses. Not a friendly bunch but I hate losing one of my animals, especially mysteriously. My mom saw a hawk in the area this morning but this duck had no visible wounds or injuries and was inside. No feathers indicating an attack and later death. We'll keep an eye on everyone else closely.

Really looking forward to days for cleaning, organizing, simplifying and cooking!

Almost summer

I have less than 2 weeks left to my school year. I'm feeling very motivated to turn this house upside down. So many thoughts and plans swirling in my head. I'm so thankful to my online and real life friends who inspire me with these ideas!
We were lucky enough to make it to the Coventry Regional Farmers' Market for opening day on Sunday. There we met author Kate Payne and I've been spending many spare moments reading her book The Hip Girl's Guide to Homemaking and her blog http://hipgirlshome.com/ . I'm currently in the mode of wanting to DO IT ALL NOW! I want to start a new batch of limoncello and kombucha and make fresh limeade and can something! Last weekend we went to the flea market and there I found a cute little wooden cabinet with hears cut out of the door. It's a nice size for storing jelly jars! We haven't quite worked out a permanent home for it. Right now it's resting on the floor next to the cabinets. It's not all that stable so something will have to be done to make it permanent. I kind of want it on the wall at eye level, but wall space in our kitchen is hard to come by. The one free wall has display shelves that would have to be altered to make room. It could be done. Not sure yet though. The only other option is to the right of the cookbook shelves. (Yes, shelves, plural, I don't have a problem, really, I don't!) That would involve moving the phone jack. Also doable. Basically I have to make a decision so we can go ahead and do something.
At Kate's table at the market she had coupons for canning jars and one for a small batch canning kit from Ball. We went right to Big Y afterwards and got it! It was only $9.99 and the coupon was for $3 off. It holds three jars and works in a regular stockpot. I already love it and I'm craving time to use it soon. Brandied cherries are high on my list of must can soon items! I also got more pint jars. Don't know what it is about that size. I just love them.
Here is the new berry patch in progress:

The pillow beckons. Tomorrow will be a busy day since the little guy starts fencing lessons. My farming friends all think that's awesome, and while it would be a handy skill, he will actually be taking up a foil or epee or whatever. So en guarde!

The girls say hello! And do you have any sunflower seeds or raisins?

Raspberry bushes

On Saturday we saw an ad in the local free weekly paper for raspberry bushes. A woman one town north of us had lots of overgrown bushes was looking for people to come dig bushes that had overgrown the path through her huge raspberry patch. So we got 16 free red raspberry bushes and she got her paths back! Most of the larger bushes look to be surviving transplanting. I'm not so sure about the smaller ones.
James cut 4 of the large, leafy, oak branches that were overhanging the yard. We now have a bit more sunshine in the vegetable garden and the spot where the apple trees are going in. I hope to have those planted tonight! The sugar snap peas are trellised and have a number of blossoms. The tomatoes are staked or caged. I did a bit of weeding. It was a hot, humid, and pollen heavy weekend so I couldn't get too carried away out there. Can't complain about a three day weekend though.
Friday was a sad day. We had our almost 15 year old labrador/doberman, Kobi, put to sleep. He was getting very weak and his kidneys were beginning to fail. Rather than prolong an unhappy few months we decided to let him go now, as hard as it was to say goodbye. He will be missed very very much. He came to us as a 2 year old, unwanted pup, in the back seat of a coworker's son's Jetta. Seems this guy was recently single and Kobi wasn't fitting into his life style.  The new home he had lined up for Kobi fell through but the guy was moving to a no pets apartment and his mom didn't want to take him in. So she called me and asked if we could keep him at our house until her son found another home. Kobi took one sniff around the backyard and made it quite clear to all that he WAS home.
Tomorrow we all head back to school for a short but busy week. I have 13 days left and the guys get out 4 school days after me. James' big hovercraft race is June 9 so he is busy planning that. Alex starts fencing lessons on June 5 so we will have a couple of really busy Tuesdays.
And then summer will be here and we can breathe a little bit. Just a little. There's LOTS to do!

It looks like this blog will pretty much be updated no more than monthly! At least until school lets out. I have 18 days left to this year.
Today was sunny and warm, but not hot and humid, so managed to plant everything I bought last weekend in the square picket fence garden we added last year. It's now got not only garlic and sugar snap peas, but Brandywine and Lemon Boy tomatoes, and 6 Roma tomatoes, bell peppers and banana peppers (for pickling!) and Swiss chard, dill, parsley and basil. I'm out of room! I got the elderberries I ordered planted. I still need to get the gooseberries and apple trees in. This weather should hold and I'll get them done tomorrow after church.
Today marks a big occasion! 10 year old Alex helped James mow the lawn for the first time. There was much supervision, and sneezing. I'm not sure that was a good idea.....  
We ran some errands this afternoon and I came home with a pattern for a vintage apron, full and LONG so it will cover long skirts when I'm cooking up a storm. I don't have fabric for it yet. I'm thinking gingham feels right, because if I try to do it in a tradition white I'll trash it the first time I wear it!
We have plans to make...   we need to sit on the deck swing with clipboard and paper and make sure we're all headed in the same direction. I think we are. But there are thoughts swirling in my head that don't always make it out my mouth and then I'm surprised when James is caught off guard by some comment I make. "I didn't know we were planning to do that..." Tonight seems like it might be a good evening to do that. Stay tuned!

They are here! We picked up Rose and Clover on Saturday morning and brought them home to join Daisy at Caprini Hill. They bonded to Daisy very quickly, crying whenever she is out of sight. She has been putting them in their places, bashing them around a bit, but I suppose it is to be expected since she has been an only goat for about 6 months. It will all work out although I think poor little Rose will always be at the bottom of the herd pecking order. Daisy does seem more content and is much quieter than she had been so she must be revelling in her new role as herd queen. Rose is warming up to her new humans a little faster than Clover. They are letting us pet them as of today, as long as they are eating a few sun flower seeds or other little treats.
Each morning Rose has been very loud. We think she is crying for her mother, Opi, looking for her morning milk. I give her a small amount of grain and after a little while she settles down and goes to eat her hay with the big girls. Clover is very quiet most of the time, letting out a little bah only once in a while.
Alex is spending more and more time with them now that they aren't running in fear from him. He has been giving them lessons on how to use their seesaw, with Daisy's help. He obviously did a good job teaching her two years ago when she was a kid!
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The peas are beginning to pop out and so far the chickens and ducks have not found them. I have also discover the blueberry and currant bushes that never got planted last year and are still in their pots are all still alive! I need to decide whether to plant them in the fenced garden or behind the garage. If they go back there they will need to be fenced in to keep the chickens away.  
Today we worked on the fence in preparation for the doelings coming home. Three more weeks! Thomas, Daisy's twin brother, had gotten his head stuck a few times and I'd had to snip the wire to free him and that left large holes that were patched. James took down one side of the fence and put up nice new fencing. No more holes that little bits could wiggle through! Looks a lot nicer too. It made me miss Thomas though. There's still more to be done on the other side, but that is mostly to remove chicken wire that was put up to prevent him from putting his head through. It is now mashed up from goat hooves pulling on it.
We also started to clean out the barn today, the BIG spring clean, right down to bare floors. I started but it was soon apparent that it was more job than I could handle. James finished and I got the more pleasant job of spreading fresh bedding down. We didn't finish the chicken side. That will have to wait until tomorrow.

Goat pictures and an arrival date, more or less!

                                         

                                         Hay! I'm Clover!!

                                         Little Miss Rose says "Hay!" too.

It looks like we will be bring the doelings home at the beginning of our April break from school! Perfect time to be able to keep an eye on them and make sure everyone is getting along. We've begun barn and fence upkeep, added a hay rack and mineral feeders (So Rosy can continue her tricks....) We will need to raise the height of the fence in the front I think. Eventually this summer I would like to expand the goat pen. The ground is currently too hard, although with the temperatures we've experienced this week it won't be long. I should be able to plant some peas in the raised beds tomorrow. Granpa always planted peas on St. Patrick's Day!

Spring cleaning and getting ready for doelings!

I have a huge bag of clothes that we handed down by my hair dresser. I will be sitting watching "Up" with Alex while going through them. That will make a big dent in the pile in his room. Since he wears school uniforms I don't put a whole lot of effort into his other clothes I'm afraid! There are play clothes that probably didn't fit him a year ago.....  
Tonight I gave Daisy her CD/T vaccine. We'll need to do a thorough barn cleaning and fence repairs before we bring the doelings home next month. It's been too cold this week but this weekend is looking promising. We're hoping to visit Aspen Creek Farm and the babies this weekend. We'll also be caring for the sheep and rabbit at Sheepfold Farm. It is supposed to be 62 degrees on Thursday. I hope it still is by this weekend!

This week I will be purging the kiddo's room as part of Spring cleaning. There are far too many clothes in there that he can no longer wear. It's easy to ignore them, since as long as he has a clean school uniform, he's pretty much set. It is time! I have a huge bag of handy-me-downs to go through. And the toys, oh, the toys! He has made a dent but there are still far too many of those as well...

I know that spring is around the corner. I heard a red winged blackbird today while visiting another farm with the 4-H group!

Leaps of Faith

February 29, 2012


Caprini means goats in Italian. We are currently a one goat farmlet, with an Italian American farm husband, on a hill. 14 hens of various breeds, one silkie rooster who rules the roost, 9 whacked out ducks, and Daisy, a "Saanerhasli", yet to be bred. We will become Caprini once again at the end of April when we bring home our two new doelings from Aspen Creek Farm. Rose is a pygmy/Nigerian Dwarf cross and Clover is a "Snubian", a Saanen/Nubian cross. This will be another milkless year since we have no plans to purchase a goat in milk. That does not mean that I'm not constantly checking Craigslist however!



 Caprini Hill's  Pat and Leo Campbell and Edna, who successfully hatched two ducklings last spring.



Moonstone (duck) and Petunia (drake-yup, Drake!)



Daisy at the Blessing of the Animals October 2011

New beginnings

Our goats-to-be:


Clover-Aspen Creek Farm's picture

 

Rose and Alex