Gratuitous Baby Poultry Pic.

There is just something so compelling about turkey poults.  Their feet : body ratio is out of whack.  They have BIG dark eyes (that look very intelligent, IMHO).  They have small heads.  They have that funny, fleshy blob on top of their beaks.  Their wing feathers grow straight out at an awkward angle.  And yet, and yet....

I just want to give them a little squeeze and a smooch on their pin heads.  Neither of which they appreciate.

I need to get out more.

Norman

Did I lie?  Blond.  Curly hair.  Sweet disposition.  Obviously, a sense of style.  And, no, he's not a smoker.  We caught him mid-breakfast...

Norman is a one year-old Cormo cross wether.  And he is almost mine.

Monday Musings or Where have I been?

And I don't just mean since last week - I know where I've been.  Mostly.  Who am I?  I mean that I had no idea that Google Reader was due to disappear today.  I read a LOT of blogs and that was my go-to way to keep track of them, making sure I was not missing anything important.  A friend told me last night and, of course, I panicked.  Luckily, another site I followed sent a very helpful post and I was able to switch my entire blog list over to Bloglovin.  AND, just to show you how hip/hep/cool/rad/whatever I am, I also downloaded their app so that I can check on all of you during the weekend, while I remain computer-less.

I think that this all has to do with my priorities.  Which seem to be all over the map recently.  I am being diligent at counting my pennies (I think, personally, that we should do away with pennies - they just get in the way), using up what I have, applying frugality (word?) to all aspects of my life and...then...

Norman and the Poults.

I had an interesting weekend - Saturday morning found me covering two states within an hour and a half.  (I always love to say that - it sounds so much MORE than it really is, seeing as I live 20 minutes from both Massachusetts and Vermont.)  I rediscovered someone that I knew in my previous life who has developed a fairly lucrative poultry business.  On her tiny farm she has created a neat, tidy, clean patchwork of geese, ducks, chickens and rabbits.  I had been looking for Bourbon Red turkey poults and had not had much luck locally.  I had no intention of getting 10, so I had almost given up until I discovered Barbara's business.  And it's just down the road from my haircutter's place.  Woot!  She had hatched a large batch of poults for someone and had a few extra.  I zipped over after picking up feed in Mass., stopping at my favorite local berry grower for two quarts of their amazing strawberries - to sustain me for the drive back to NY - and picked up four gangly BR poults.  I had a nice visit, zipped back home and set up the brooder in the laundry room.  There is something about turkey poults that I love more than any other baby fowl.  They have huge feet, great big eyes, little heads with a little fleshy bump on their 'foreheads', and their wing feathers grow straight out at the beginning.  Adorable.  They seem to be thriving, thank goodness.  They always seem so fragile.  Of course, our power went out for three hours - attributed to a squirrel vs. transformer.  The squirrel lost, but not without taking us down for  awhile.  Damn squirrels.  Damn chipmunks.  Damn rabbits.  Damn....never mind.

Sunday was hot.  And humid.  At about 3 o'clock, Bernice started to pace around the house, panting more than usual.  I was beginning to think she was going around the bend.  I should have known better.  A little later, black clouds rolled in, thunder, lightning and a downpour.  Hurray!  I didn't have to water the garden!  Or clean out the goat barn!  Of course, there was the matter of my laundry hanging on the line to dry.  I thought I would just leave it there and let it dry whenever.  That was until I found out that 'whenever' was at some point later this week.  I don't fancy wearing mold.  So it's strung out through the house.

It's funny how perceptions go.  I have been raising six chickens for my neighbor.  She was going to have a coop built, then diddled around and finally ordered one to be shipped.  Now, mind you, she knew how many chickens I was raising for her (6) and she knew what the breeds were (2 Jersey Giants/2 Austerlorps/2 Buff Orpingtons).  Finally, three months later, all was ready and I was to bring the girls over to their new home.  I hefted the carrier out of my car, staggered around the corner to find.... a TINY coop with a TINY run.  I would guess that it was large enough - maybe - for four bantam hens.  Sigh.  But she was thrilled to get them (they are just beautiful - 2 white, 2 black and 2 butterscotch) and we had a talk about size of coop, size of run, etc.  She is getting a larger coop toot-sweet (as they say in French).  My little banties were thrilled to lose their giant roommates.

Here is how I am rationalizing rationally figuring out how all this shifting around is balancing the number of dependents on the LLF.  Six big chickens gone.  Four tiny poults arrive.  Down two.  Sage (maybe Willo) going.  Norman coming.  Either an even trade or one down.

Norman, you ask?
Picture to come.
I'm such a tease.

Welcome to Panama, NY.

I don't know if there is actually a Panama, NY, but I feel as if I have been transported to sub-tropical-ness.  True to the calendar, summer arrived on schedule and we went from cool wetness to hot wetness.  Every day has brought high temperatures and high humidity, which culminate in strong thunderstorms.  This brings LOTS of rain, which cools us down to damp fog, which burns off when we repeat the process.  This has been every day for the past five or so days, to be continued into .... ? 

To get the full effect, biggify.

While my garden seems to love it, I am having a hard time keeping a running tie with the weeds.  And poor Bernice!  She was such a mess this morning, that she wouldn't eat breakfast, wouldn't take a treat, wouldn't even look at a dish of yogurt (her favorite - Greek).  I had to practically drag her out of the house this morning to prove that there were no looming Boomers.  She slunk down the road, tail wrapped up under her belly.  I imagine that anyone driving by thought I had beaten her.  Sigh.  Scrappy can barely go two steps without trying to eat the numerous deer flies that attack us.  We are not a happy crowd of three, straggling down the road.

My home computer is pretty much dead and my work computer contracted a virus.  Ergo the silence.  I finally decided to put the Blogger app on my phone so I will be able to post if desperate.  Don't expect Melville when I have to tap it all out with my fat finger.

With the weather we've had, every thing is in super-blossom mode.  My peonies are more abundant and beautiful than they have been in the seven years I've lived here.  I rescued this bunch after they were knocked flat by another downpour.  They remind me of exotic, feathered birds.

I hope to have more pix soon - if the rains ever stop long enough for me to focus.  And, yes, I wish I could send most of this wetness to those of you suffering through drought.  I dream of a time when everyone gets just enough of everything they want and need.  Wouldn't that be loverly?

Monday Musings.

I have come to realize that I approach knitting  the same way I approach my life - only loosely configured around the pattern, full-steam ahead, almost always with mistakes at the start.  I then consider the mistakes good learning experiences, but don't fix them.  In knitting, it's usually too far to go back; in life it's too late.

I'm finding more and more people on the road who seem to be navigating through short bursts of consciousness -- "OH, right.  I'm driving a car!"  No doubt texting.  That's when I realize how different I am from a, say, 20 y/o.  If I were to text while driving I would a) have to find my glasses; b) slip my iPhone out of its knitted case; c) try to only hit one key with my fat finger; d) you get the picture.  It's not happening.  As my friend, Marty, used to say -- "I may be nuts, but I'm not crazy."

Roadside monuments that commemorate the sites where loved ones have lost their lives, tend to say so much about the person.  Kay's is so beautiful, I can't stop yet, as it makes me cry when I see it.  Then there are the young men whose monuments show tattooed visages, draped with beer cans and notes.  I don't know that it's a great idea to memorialize death by drunk driving.  The utility truck driver who lost his life at the bottom of the mountain near me has a large, hand-made wooden cross with his name burned into it.  It is not temporary - it's an installation.  He must have been a pretty great guy. 

The older I get, the less interested I am in rekindling links with distant relatives (distant in both the figurative and literal sense).  This could have something to do with the fact that their visits are usually on weekends, which, as most of you will agree, are sacred.  I am so far behind, I can see myself coming and going.  It's getting to the point where the only reason I would leave the homestead on a Saturday/Sunday is if Raul Julia came back just to see me.  Hubba hubba.  I believe I'm safe there.

I'm having a terrible time making up my mind about the goats.  I do NOT want four goats.  I will gladly usher Sage to a new home (bon voyage and good luck - don't let the barn door hit you in the ass on the way out).  I was going to include Willo in the package, leaving a more manageable number of two - Uncle Chickie and Apple.  But then, yesterday morning, I went out to feed everyone and there were Willo and Apple, lying side by side, their tiny mouths working their tiny cuds.  So, now I'm back to just Sage hitting the exit door.

This year I am fussing with my garden much more than any previous year.  And I'm not sure why.  I circle it every morning and every evening, plucking weeds, giving encouragement to the potatoes and squash.  Cursing the chipmunks and the slugs (which I think are responsible for my sweet potato damage).  I feel that my garden is more important than it ever was before.  It helps me focus and makes me happy when I see things growing (could it be any more of a miracle - the amount of biomass in one tiny seed?)  I love my garden.

The Muffins.

Here's the recipe, based on the Cappuccino Chocolate Chip Muffin recipe from Cooking Free.  It has, as always, been made 'mine'.

INGREDIENTS

1-1/4 Cups Flour Blend*/**
1 Cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
2/3 Cup packed light brown sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin powder (I have left this out in the past with no ill effects)
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules or espresso powder (ditto)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 Cup 2% milk (cow, rice or soy) - I used whole, raw cow's milk
1/2 Cup warm brewed coffee (110 degrees) - you could just use water;
              there is so much cocoa in this that you can hardly taste the coffee anyway...
1/4 Cup canola oil
2 large eggs (or 1/2 Cup silken tofu for vegan version)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 Cup dark chocolate chips
1/4 Cup finely chopped nuts of your choice
             (I did not add nuts.  I am weird about nuts.  I only like them by themselves.)

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Grease 12-cup muffin pan (or use paper liners or, as I did, finally find a use for the silicone muffin liners that have been languishing, forgotten in your pantry.)

In a large bowl, combine flour, cocoa, sugar, xanthan gum, gelatin, coffee granules, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda.  Add milk, coffee, oil, eggs, and vanilla and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until thoroughly blended.  Gently stir in chips.

Divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (is this really possible?  I think not.)  Bake for 20-25 minutes until tops of muffins are very firm.  Remove from oven.  Cool out of pan so bottoms don't get soggy.  There is nothing worse than a soggy bottom.  Serve slightly warm.  Since these are gluten free, they have a very limited shelf life.  I hold out two - one for me and one to grow on - and cool, wrap and freeze the rest.

*Her flour mix is:  1.5 Cups sorghum flour; 1.5 Cups potato starch; 1 Cup tapioca flour; 1/2 Cup corn flour, almond flour, bean flour or chestnut flour.

**I use Gluten Free Mama's Almond Flour Mix or Coconut Flour Mix.  You could also use any other GF flour mix (Bob's) or, if you're not 'special' just use flour.

Comfort food that's kind to you.

Like most of us, I start searching the cupboards when I'm under stress.  In my life BGI (before gluten intolerance), I would head for the Mac 'n Cheese, or a Big Mac, or anything that included an unhealthy amount of fat, salt, cheese, and carbs.  It may not have eased the stress, but MAN oh MAN, it was tasty!  Now that I am trying to be kinder to myself - not to mention trying to maintain my weight loss - it's a little more frustrating to come up with something that will soothe my soul and tickle my tastebuds.  Good gawd.  That sounds like sappy advertising drivel. 

I have found two such sources of comfort+food.  I had found a great cookbook used online - Cooking Free by Carol Fenster - that contains gluten free recipes that are good.  I mean, really, really good!  One of those recipes is for chocolate muffins.  These muffins were easy to throw together, contained limited sugar (brown sugar) and were ultra-chocolaty (a full cup of cocoa powder).  I had originally made them for the barn crew, then tried one to make sure I wasn't going to poison them.  OMG.  I took half of the muffins off their plate and put them in the freezer.  I am glad I did.  I have needed the comfort.

The other wonderful comfort+food I found was through a great cooking blog - The Kitchn .  I have made many of their featured recipes.  This one, however, has become one of my favorites - the 3 ingredient energy bars.  It is so simple even I can do it.  One cup pitted dates + One cup dried fruit + One cup nuts.  The bar you see in the photo was dates+dried cranberries+almonds.  Everything goes in the food processor, where it is processed until it clumps into a ball(ish).  Then it's spread on waxed paper or plastic wrap, patted into a square, wrapped and refrigerated 2 hours or overnight.  Take it out, cut into bars and refrigerate or freeze.  Wonderfully comforting.  The trick is not to get TOO comfortable, if you know what I mean....