Hello Dolly!

I promise it isn't dead!

Which usually is the case for critters around this farm that get named!

And this one has been named...

...She is aptly named Dolly.

And if she really hated being packed around like a rag doll,

I would think she would take the first opportunity she had to run away from her overbearing, smothering little mommy!

Dewberries

Dewberry: As Blackberry, except stems trail or sprawl, tips root.  Rose Family.

Habitat:  Rocky open areas, thickets, prairies, roadsides, railroads.

Uses:  Same as Blackberry.

The Dewberry crop is pretty big this year.  The berries are mammoth in size!

It doesn't take much to fill up a bucket.

We enjoyed picking and eating.

Her royal highness enjoyed force feeding the dog with bottle caps.

She later joined us to help eat berries.

Mmmm!  He must've found a big one!

How did we get so lucky to have such wonderful wild berries show up along our fence lines?!?

Mama Wren

I happened by this bird house today and was curious if it had an occupant or not.  The bird house just a little further north in the orchard from this one is in need of repair and it was vacant.  My curiosity won out and I opened it up to take a peak. 

I was very suprised to find this little clutch of eggs.  Mama Wren must have stepped out for lunch for a few minutes, so I quickly snapped this photo and closed up her crooked little house in case she didn't want company today!

Sick Crop

This is what about 80% of our crop looks like.  It is likely a higher loss, but we are trying really hard to be optimistic.

Gala in the Avery Section

Foliage isn't looking great either, however this is pretty minor compared to other areas.

Noticed some cankering in this tree, but wasn't able to find cankers in other trees.

Still the same Gala tree.  Fruit is pretty small in size.  Trees are not heavily loaded and plenty of rain this year so these variables shouldn't be an issue as far as fruit size goes.

Another canker in the same tree.  Again, while inspecting the other trees, this was the only tree that had obvious cankers.

Jonagold in Avery Section.

Foliage in the Jonagold tree.

Braeburn foliage.  Fruit looks awful as well.

Close-up of leaf in the same Braeburn tree.

Gala north of the windbreak.

Granny Smith Foliage.

Fruit size in the Gala section.

I hear there is money in apple wood...

What Happens to Naughty Roosters...

Naughty roosters go to the stew pot at Joe and Fanny's house.

When we got over to Joe's I stepped down off the golf cart, but I guess I should have been watching myself because the rooster bit my little toe as I stepped down!

Now look who's king of the coop!

And he can be king for as long as he wants, as long as he doesn't get all cocky!

Cause when that happens, its a guaranteed ride over to Joe and Fanny's!

 

Berry Thief

My fabulous neighbors are picking berries on shares.  Here is this morning's share!  I've been straining out a good portion of the seeds and making berry syrup.  It is sooo yummy on pancakes and ice cream!

There is one of many in my home that LOVE berries.  This one in particular will go to any lengths to get some, as you can see!!

Bread 101

A couple of weeks ago, my good friend Debbie comes over for a visit.  During the course the day she mentions that she'd like to know how to make bread.  I look at her with a twinkle in my eye and ask her if she is SURE she wants to know how.  She says she is.  I warned her how terribly addictive homemade bread is.  She seemed OK with that!  So today was the day!  Bread 101.

We planned a repeat menu for lunch and the first thing on our list was to make the french bread for our sub sandwiches.  Since I was out of cornmeal to dust our baking sheet with, we started of by grinding some popcorn in my lean mean flour making machine!

Nice!

This dough goes together really quickly.  We don't have to knead it much since it is a more rustic bread and we don't have to let it rise before shaping our loaves.

  We simply mix, knead, shape loaves, rise and bake!

You can see that we kneaded it enough to get the glutens to start forming, but it isn't a satin smooth dough.  That is where the 'rustic' comes in.

Debbie is shaping her very first loaf of bread!  You go girl! 

Two rustic loaves of bread waiting to rise so they can go into the oven!  It needs to hurry.  The children are starting to circle like hungry sharks...

No pictures of rustic bread coming out of the oven because we cut them up and made them into sandwiches for a bunch of hungry little monkeys and two hungry mommies!

And then we got all chatty and forgot to take pictures of our next batch of dough that we mixed up in the bosch.  We wound up with 5 loaves of bread and this lovely pan of cinnamon rolls.  Yummmy!

And what a fun and productive afternoon!!  Thanks for coming over Debbie!!  I had a blast!

Now its time for the ultimate test.  Baby Jesse gets a piece of bread...

She's not dumb!  She is gonna see if her Mommy keels over before she takes a bite for herself...

Mmmm!  Mommy must have survived! 

I think she gives it her stamp of approval!