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Monday, August 8, 2016

Two out of three ain't bad.

Well, it certainly wasn't a boring weekend.   I'd give it an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10 - one being *snore* and ten being *AAAIIIIIRRRGH!*  I will admit to having a V&T for medicinal reasons last night.  My nerves, you know.

I tried three new recipes - two were amazing and one was downright awful.   Friday night, I made a pizza.  With a sweet potato crust.  What the..? you say?  It was m.a.r.v.e.l.o.u.s.  And the half inch of melted cheese on top was totally offset by the nutritious crust.  Really.  I'm sure that's written down somewhere.  I would be sharing a pic of this marvelous invention, but I et it all up.  In my defense, it was not a large pizza. 

Next out of the kitchen - while I was on the sweet potato kick - were healthy creamsicles.  The "healthy" should have flashed red warning lights but I chose to ignore the alarm bells in my head and carried on.  They were, in a word, gawdawful.  Three ingredients - whole coconut milk, sweet potato, oranges.  Pateeeuwwwi.  I'm not even going to link to the recipe so that I can protect your taste buds.  You're welcome.

Lastly, as my weekend ran down into Sunday evening, I made a fresh corn and zucchini pie.  OMG.  Even with an 'oops' (as in when will I learn that I NEED to wear my glasses), it was awesome-sauce.

It took a great deal of willpower
to stop eating this.
Mine was sort of a rectangular pie, as I was too tired to dig out my pie plate from the back of the bottom cupboard.  Easy clean-up when you line it with parchment paper!

Lots of berries at the top!
Saturday morning, it poured rain.  This did not bode well for my planned birthday blueberry picking with my sister.  However, the clouds parted and the day progressed into a bright, sunny day.  It was so bright and sunny that my sister and I took to hiding from it in the bushes.  I picked under my all-time best of 15#, but did get an admirable 11#.  Then, Sunday morning, I was up at the top of our plateau picking more!  Another beautiful morning with only birdsong, breezes and the occasional car.  It was a beautiful way to start the day.  Had I known what lay ahead, I would have hidden in the bushes until the snow fell.

A nice way to spend a morning
I made up for (and exceeded) my personal best.  Total for two days:  20#.  I am set for winter.

The light at the end of the tunnel.
Not being satisfied with having to freeze 20# of blueberries, I picked up a bag of (supposedly) 55 ears of sweet corn.  Sunday was filled with shucking and de-cobbing, bagging and freezing.  I was disappointed in the corn, though.  It was from a farm stand known for their wonderful corn - however, there were only 53 ears in the bag and there was a LOT of worm damage.  A message to the farm did not bring satisfactory answers.  Still, I am set for a couple of years.  I only do corn every other year.

Heaps o' corn!
There was also work in the garden - garlic, shallots and a few onions were pulled and put in the barn to cure.  The garlic was fair-to-good.  The only disappointing heads were due to the lack of rain and idiocy of the gardener.  She neglected to cut off all the scapes.  Shallots and onions were also small, due to the dry weather.  A lot of weeding was done.  Floors were washed.  And washed again.
 
Because Scrappy (Mr. Pee Me A River) seems to be struggling with some incontinence.  This is a dog that doesn't just pee a puddle - OH no.  He must move through ROOMs peeing.  Given his age - 16, and the fact that he rarely commits this faux pas, I started thinking diabetes.  He has been drinking a lot of water.  Of course, it's also summer and a hot, dry one at that, so it's hard to tell.  Then, this morning, as I velcroed on the Cummerbund of Shame, a dim light bulb flickered.  I had been feeding them a raw diet, but it was too expensive to continue with three dogs.  I had switched them back to kibble and I think that might be the culprit.  It's a high-end ($$$) food and I supplement it with eggs and broth, but it might be affecting my old boy.  I'm going to ease him back into a raw diet and see if that makes a difference.
 
Just so I could start my Monday off in style, there was Duck Drama.  I have, as you may know, if you're following the lunacy, sixteen ducks in three different age groups.  The Anconas (large, white with black markings, rare breed) are the oldest; the Cayugas (black from head to flappy foot) are the middles; and the Cayuga/Blue Swedish Crosses (or KY Babes) are the youngest.  The KY Babes include a little fellow with a club foot.  I did not, as Good Goose Mama Pea did, catch the deformity and put a little brace on when it was young.  It gets along okay, but it is obviously challenged.  One of the others seems to have 'Angel Wings' - a deformity wherein the wings stick out at a 45-degree angle.  Trying to make a long story short (ha), today I decided that they have all seen each other and everything seems to be copacetic, so I would let the Babes out to enjoy the yard and the little pool.  I am on the other side of the fence doing something or other, when I hear frantic peeping and lots of noise.  I hot-footed it through the gate and found all four of the Anconas on top of little Hopalong, pecking it~!  It seems the Anconas will continue to be a rare breed, as the four I have are now moved to the top of the processing list.  The Cayugas do not bother them at all and have intermixed with the Babes with no signs of violence or aggression.  The Babes got the safety and room of both runs today and I will have to come up with a Plan X to make sure they get space and get it safely.
 
I was glad to get to the office where the only violence occurs over the last cup of Dark Magic coffee.








15 comments:

kymber said...

dear jeesh - where to even start with this comment???? first off - what the heck is a V&T? is it some kind of drink? second off - a big NO THANKS to the sweet potatoe crust pizza - bleck. i have never been a big fan of sweet potatoes but to make them into a pizza crust - that's just pure blasphemy! thank you very much for not sharing the creamsicle recipe - it sounds delightfully gawd-awful!!! but i would love the recipe for the zuc and corn dish - it looks deelish!

as for your dog peeing....can you take him to the vet and have him checked for failing kidneys. i hate to say it but i have had one older dog and one older cat who were constantly drinking and peeing and it turned out that both had failing kidneys. i'm not trying to worry you...

and good luck with all of that duck drama - bahahahahah!

sending much love! your friend,
kymber

Susan said...

Kymber, dear heart, a V&T is a vodka and tonic. I seldom go for anything harder than a glass of wine, but... What? No sweet potatoes!?! I love you anyway. There should be a link to the zuc corn pie - if not, email me and I will send it. I did think that his kidneys may be failing but I am in total denial when it comes to Scrappy - who must live another 20 years. Seriously, I am going to try the raw food while I try to get a vet appointment with the only vet I will let touch him. It may take a week, so ergo the diet. Duck will be on the menu this fall... xoxo

Michelle said...

Oh dear – to a whole lotta things! Glad you were around to rescue Hopalong, and I hope the vet can do something to keep Scrappy hopping along for awhile longer. I'm making roasted onion quiche (no cheese!) and curried butternut bisque for supper, since it is a cooler than normal day; we even got a touch of rain!

ElaineChicago said...

Take good care of Precious Baby Duck and make a pet of him... he needs your loving care!!

Sandy Livesay said...

Susan,

Hey Girlie.....the healthy creamsicles with whole coconut milk, sweet potato, and oranges doesn't sound good. I would lean more toward a sweet potato pie :-)
Your corn and zucchini pie looks really good. Is there other ingredients besides the corn and zucchini?

Diet changes will cause doggie issues, I hope the gradual change will help the little one.

Sue said...

I think the corn and zucchini pie sounds marvelous! That creamsicles recipe-yes, thank you for NOT sharing. Ugh.
And poor baby duck. I'd have been kicking some Ancona butt all around the ranch.......................

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

I'm am dreaming of the day I only have to freeze corn every two years. I told my older kids they need to get their "plan" in order and start moving out (lol!). I would love to only can certain things (or freeze) every so often. The corn and zucchini pie looks wonderful!

Susan said...

Michelle - That quiche sounds divine! I am hoping for a cooler day, but our near future forecast has words like "tropical" "heat index" in it.

Susan said...

Elaine - I will!

Susan said...

Hey, Sandy! The pie is easy - sliced zukes, corn off two cobs, mushrooms, and onions. Then cheese and 4 eggs, with some dried herbs. Yummo!

Susan said...

Sue - The KY babes are so traumatized now that they refuse to come out in the morning. Sigh. This adds another 15 minutes that I don't have to my morning schedule. Oh, yes. I am rethinking the Anconas.

Susan said...

Kristina - It helps that I am the only one in the household that eats it. I'm sure the dogs would love to help me, but NOT.

Nancy In Boise said...

Happy Birthday! That zucchini pie looks fab, I will try that. Scrappy, Mr. Pee Me A River LOL! Poor guy, I hope he's ok...

Mama Pea said...

There's not much that upsets me more than when animals are cruel to each other. Oh, I know it's all just "survival of the fittest" but I don't like it. You're not thrilled with your Anconas and I'm not thrilled with our Cayugas! The males are absolutely AWFUL (I won't go into detail here so we stay PG rated) to our one adult Muscovy female duck.

Sure hope Scrappy is feeling better by now. I'm having a bit of the same problem but I know it's because I'm sweating so much that I'm drinking water like a maniac so I don't get dehydrated, shrivel up and die!

petey said...

"Anconas will continue to be a rare breed" OMG, that made me truly LOL!! Ducks can be such turds. I've had two different drakes that kill babies. I am hoping that the Muscovies I am planning to get are better parents!