Help Aaron get to Disneyland!!!!
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Someone please tell me how it is that this child right here:
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is now legally able to drive? He passed his driving test yesterday and is now a licensed driver. How is that possible? He’s still a BABY! Someone please stop the movement of time, would you?
Congratulations, Brian!!!!!!!!!! (
Note: It’s actually not his birthday – he got his license yesterday!!!)
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I forgot to link this in yesterday’s entry –
this is the jalapeno jelly recipe I used. I thought about using
Elise’s recipe (GOD I love that site. I printed out roughly 60,000 recipes from it last week), but I didn’t want to go out and buy apples to make the stuff, since I was really only making it to use up jalapenos and green peppers.
As a side note, though the recipe doesn’t call for it, I think that next time I make a batch, I’ll skim the foamy stuff off the top before I add the pectin.
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Fred mentioned in my comments yesterday that we’d tried selling eggs over the weekend. We had about three dozen, and since that’s more than we’d use in a few days, (and the chickens are producing at a pretty steady pace at this point), he said “We should try to sell eggs!” and I said “Go for it, just make it so I don’t have to deal with strangers knocking on the door. I got shit to do.”
So he put a “fresh eggs” sign out, put two cartons of eggs in a cooler (with ice) and a coffee can with a sign on it, saying “Fresh eggs, two dollars per dozen, please leave money in the can (honor system). Enjoy the eggs!”, and put them both on chairs in the front yard, not far from the “fresh eggs” sign.
A couple of hours later, just as I accidentally squeezed tomato guts all over the front of my shirt, the doorbell rang. Cursing under my breath, I went to the front door.
When I opened the door, the man standing there asked, “Do you have any eggs left?”
“If there are any in the cooler, we do,” I said, and pointed at the cooler. “If there aren’t any there, then we’re all out.”
He looked at the chairs in the front yard, shifted back and forth, and said “I… do I pay someone?”
“Just leave the money in the can,” I said, and pointed to the can.
He went off across the front yard, and his wife got out of the car parked in the driveway. They stood and regarded the fancy folding-chairs cooler-and-coffee-can setup, and I called Fred, who was out working on the shed.
“I think someone’s buying eggs,” I said, retreating into the house a little so they wouldn’t see me watching them.
“Are they buying both dozen?” Fred asked excitedly.
“No, just one.”
“Well, it’s a start.”
No one stopped to buy any more eggs that day, so Fred brought them in and took the sign down. Early Sunday morning, sure that he’d catch the eye of local churchgoers, he put the sign out, and set the cooler and coffee can up in front of the front door. He also put two dozen eggs out there, since the girls had produced enough eggs to make another complete dozen.
Not one single person stopped to buy eggs that day.
Fred’s father thinks that no one’s interested in buying the eggs because the people who live around here think that’s too much to pay. I think he might be right, and I think in addition since we don’t get a lot of through traffic on our road – that is, not a lot of people who don’t live in the area pass down our road – the only people who see our signs are locals.
That’s okay, though – I’ll freeze a dozen eggs, and tonight we’re having scrambled eggs. Later this week, we’ll have quiche. If it comes right down to it, we can cook the eggs and feed them back to the chickens.
Strangely enough, they think scrambled eggs are the shit.
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Speaking of the chickens, remember Frick? Who Fred was dead certain was a rooster? He’s not. In fact, he lays a lovely light-blue egg. So far as we can tell at this point, they’re all girls.
I still refer to Frick as “he”, though, because that’s a hard habit to break.
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I also forgot to write, yesterday, about the fact that we visited the dump Saturday. Well, I say “dump”, but it’s actually a “transfer station.” For those of you who don’t know what a transfer station is, it’s apparently a place where you show up, dump all your trash in a pile on the ground, and big trucks scoop it up and
transfer it to a landfill somewhere.
Anyway, Fred had a lot of stuff to get rid of – stuff that couldn’t go in the compost pile or in the trash for regular pickup – so he loaded up the bed of the truck and we went to the transfer station.
Imagine if a very industrious person took all the milk in the world, put it in one location, and let it spoil. That’s exactly what the transfer station smelled like. It was worse for Fred, I imagine, since he had to actually get out and breathe the stank, whereas I stayed in the truck (only the driver of the vehicle was allowed to get out, according to the signs) and breathed a filtered version of the stank.
I don’t know that that’s particularly a trip I want to make again, but it’s good to know where it is and how it works if we need to go again, I suppose.
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Look who’s back!
At the pet store yesterday morning, I noticed that Billy Bumbler and Susannah had diarrhea. Since they’d been around the brown tabbies so much before they went to the pet store, I figured that chances were really good that they were struggling with giardia, too. Also, Billy’s eyes seemed to be getting red again, so he probably needed more eye ointment.
I called the shelter manager (who is suffering from shingles, poor woman!) and let her know I was bringing them home, then boxed them up and did so.
So far the brown tabbies seem to be accepting them, except for Roland, who keeps hissing at them. I imagine he’ll get over that in a few days.
As soon as I got home, I started Susannah and Billy on metronidazole. If nothing else, I’m learning how to pill a cat on my own instead of having to wait ’til I have help. Don’t get me wrong – it’s easier with another person to hold the kitten, but if I have to, I can do it on my own. With these sweet little kittens, anyway. I have a feeling that I’d have more trouble with a more feral kitten (HELLEW, Stinkerbelle).
With these two kittens and the three brown tabbies, it’s like a circus up in that room right now. They’re all just brimming over with energy, and if you’re in the front room you can hear them racing around up there. I’m not sure they ever sleep.
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“I ain’t skeered of you chickens.”
Previously
2006: I blushed, even though he couldn’t see me, and no doubt as a GI he’s elbow-deep in shit the majority of the time.
2005: No entry.
2004: No entry.
2003: I’m sure my tendencies toward dumbassery has something to do with it.
2002: Sometimes when I’ve just finished doing my Firm tape, I feel like my brain is leaking out my ears.
2001: Maybe I should just shave my head.
2000: No entry.]]>
I don’t think I’ve ever been the first to reply before. Don’t have much to say, other than love the pics – especially of Brian. He’s grown up quite nicely. Happy birthday, Brian! Have a great day, Robyn.
Good day for b-days!
It’s my b-day, too…
That is, it would be had I not passed the point of having b-days. 😉
If you need another use for the eggs, angel food cake is very tasty and you could easily use a dozen whites in a single reciepe.
Just curious if Brian reads your page?
Sure wished Alabama was closer to NY…. I’d buy up your eggs in a heartbeat. Thanks to Fred’s entries back awhile on the chicken farms (plus a quick read of that book, “Skinny Bitch”), I am now a vegetarian, one full month tomorrow!! Yay! And I have turned from eating eggs unless they are organic/cage free or from home farms like yours (um, I mean home back forty…um home chicken coop…um. errr…. Crooked Acres!) The grocery stores around here are beginning to offer certified humane eggs, but they sell for $2.99 a dozen, on sale.
In retrospect, maybe my cunning plan with the churchgoers backfired, since it DEMONstrated we were (a) not in church, and (b) conducting business on the Lord’s Day.
I once read somewhere that if you have a flock of chickens without a rooster, often times one of the hens will take on the role of a rooster, sometimes even stopping laying eggs. Do you think Frick might be doing the acting-rooster thing (except for the egg laying part)?
I love reading your journal, Robyn! Especially the chicken parts. Heh.
I was going to post this comment anonymously because I’m in no mood for any snide holier than thou bullshit, but anonymous comments, to me, are cowardly. Plus, if I’m going to step over that line of thou-ness, I surely should be able to take it if flung my way.
After reading months ago how guilt ridden you were (after watching Blood Diamond) for living in such an advanced society, for having not to fret over clean water, or shelter, or any of the other things we take for granted not living in the third world, I find it disturbing that you’d rather pull up your cuke plants (i.e. dispose of them) than donate the produce to the hungry in your area. I mentioned once before donating to food banks when you were lamenting on your tomato harvest getting out of hand–half of your response was to the tune that they’d turn you away because they had too many. Yeah, right. I’ve had the misfortune of having to go to the food bank a time or two and the one thing they’re lacking is fresh produce. (Meat and diary are catch as catch can as well.)
Here’s some info for you:
http://www.alfoodbanks.org/huntsville/index.htm
http://www.interfaithmissionservice.org/programs.html
http://www.secondharvest.org/zip_code.jsp?zipcode=&state=AL
http://www.mannafoodbank.org/onetoone/onetoone.html#madison
You drive all over BFE and back for shopping and auctions and what not, what’s an extra mile or two to appease that Blood Diamond misery?
So, if you or any of your fans want to get all pissy to defend your honor against someone that dares to defy, go right ahead. Knock your selves out.
Well, that seems a bit out of left field, Raging Lunatic. Just because Robyn and Fred may not write about everything good they do, doesn’t mean that they aren’t doing good. Why in the world leave such a comment? It was uncalled for.
And Robbyn- fresh farm eggs around here (and we are in the country, essentially!) go for anywhere from $1.50 – $ 5.00 for a dozen!
If the kittens were strays to begin with they could have any number of viruses or bacteria that cause conjunctivitis, which is contagious. Antibiotic injections may be in order. Just a heads up – If you use the same eye ointment for all your cats, you could be cross-contaminating them 🙁 (unless you use a swab to apply the ointment, in which case you should be fine as long as you don’t reuse the swab).
Albon alone probably won’t solve your giardia problems. Usually the treatment involves daily administrations of metrinodozale for at least two weeks. Even then you are just treating the flare-up because there isn’t a really proven way to eliminate the protozoan that causes it.
I know the kitties have probably been vaccinated by the shelter, but were they ever tested for viruses? If the kitties were strays or the mother was unvaccinated, a virus could be the source of your woes.
I hope the kitties feel better soon!
Raging Lunatic, I do sincerely apologize for the fact that I’m not living my life as you see fit. Back when you suggested that I take my tomatoes to a nearby food bank, my exact response was We’re not even close to the point where we need to get rid of the tomatoes yet, woman! We only have ten quarts of canned tomatoes and one quart of frozen tomato sauce. I still need to make a bunch of salsa to can, Fred wants more canned tomatoes, I want to give making ketchup a try, and I want to make a bunch more tomato sauce, too. Then I’m going to dehydrate a ton of tomatoes and freeze them, and then – MAYBE – I’ll start thinking about donating them. By that point, no doubt, everyone else with a garden will be donating and the shelters will be saying “Tomatoes? Um, NO THANKS. All full up!” As we still haven’t gone over the “too much” line and our tomato plants stopped producing, I guess donating tomatoes is a moot point.
The truth here is that I simply cannot be bothered to go out to my garden, gather up all three of the two-inch cucumber that have grown since Saturday, and drive them to the local food bank before they go bad. It’s easier to put them on the compost heap or feed them to the chickens, like we do with all our garden excess. If that bothers you, then I suggest you learn to live with the pain.
Rebekah: They’re actually on metronidazole for the giardia – and I don’t use swabs to apply the eye medication, but I have a separate tube for each cat. Their eyes seem to be responding to the ointment, but of course if they don’t get better, I’ll take them to the vet. With orange kittens, it’s hard sometimes to tell what’s their pigment and what’s swollen, since they tend toward pink inner eyelids, anyway. Before any kittens enter a foster home, they’re tested for all sorts of things – I’m not sure if they’re tested for viruses, though. That’s something I should probably ask the shelter manager.
Fred – “DEMON”strate. Hah!
Robyn, if you’re lucky, you will have pissed off Raging Lunatic enough with your flagrant disregard for the poor’s need for a big bowl of cucumbers (one cup of cucumbers=13 calories: way to stave off malnutrition) that she will make a big statement on her little blog about how she’s not going to read you anymore. It was a delicious calorie-laden day for me when that happened.
That right there is funny, I don’t care who ya are.
So, are you and Fred going to keep tryin’ for a rooster?!
Pacer, we’re thinking about it. It would certainly be cheaper to raise meat chickens from our existing flock. The buffs and barred rocks (speckles) are called dual-purpose birds, because they’re good for both eggs and meat.
Roosters are awfully annoying, though. There’s one near us and he crows all the time. It’s not loud, but it would be if it was in our backyard. 🙂
Alright, Robyn just called and explained the joke in Pacer’s comment. Sorry for being such a guy and taking it all literal-like. 😉
The chickens are closing in!!! They’re gonna have him surrounded in a moment.
Last kitty pic: EEEEEEEEEEEEvil are the eyes. ::shudder::
I would happily pay $2 for a dozen eggs!! Your neighbours are crazy not to snap them up (if they don’t have chickens of their own).
Damn! Those are some beautiful fat chickens. I’m not surprised that the cat looks nervous.
You could always can some pickled eggs! Hot habanero butt burner eggs! You should be just about out of unused canning jars by now…
Robyn, I know RL’s comment won’t have bothered you, but just in case: People who are hellbent on taking other peoples’ inventories are usually turning a blind eye to the catastrophes they have created in their own lives. It really must suck to be her.
So here’s my favorite egg recipe (apart from meringues, which…YOM YOM). It’s a crustless quiche and make it all the time – it’s so damned easy and adaptable, and none of the amounts really matter. It is impossible to mess up. You can eat it hot or cold. And it’s healthful!
Eggs (however many you have)
Non-fat cottage cheese (however much you’ve got – use more if you have fewer eggs, and vice versa)
Chopped onion
Sliced mushrooms
Shredded cheese
Salt and pepper, herbs to taste
Combine all ingredients. Dump into greased brownie or cake pan. Bake at 425 for 25 minutes or until firm and golden on top. Serve hot or cold. Add a salad and you’ve got a meal.
I make different variations on this based on what I have to hand. One of my favorite versions has peas, mint, and feta instead of the vegetables listed above. It’s to DIE for. Good party food, too.
I’m in for the eggs; how far is the drive from South Florida to Alabama? Of course, I’d risk a mortal sin by missing church on Sunday….hmmm 😉 and since I’m now paying almost $5.00 for eggs from free roaming chickens because of the enlightenment of Fred’s entry on why they have chickens, $2.00 is a bargain, excepting, of course, all the gas! As to RL; Robyn and Fred do an awful lot of good in their lives and yes, I think all of us who are truly grateful for what we have sometimes feel angst at the disparity in the world (and our “trivial” first world problems), but we go on and do what we can, when we can, even if 3 cucumbers go to feed chickens and not to the local needy. I’d hardly be as motivated as Robyn is to actually use and can/preserve/dry everything she did so far and actually feed her family through winter…..our bounty of carrots was split amongst neighbors and we ate our 3 okras and that was about enough for me, I tells ya. Only Mister Boogers can hets (with love in his heart o’course), so spread the love! Love the urng-e kittehs!
Is feeding eggs to chickens promoting cannibalism? haha
I’m such a dork. I’m still giggling about 13 cal. fending off malnutrition and Fred’s “DEMONstrate.” 🙂
You know what that orange kitten is saying in the first picture, don’t you? In his best British accent: “Please, sir. May I have some more?”
MMMmmmm…. pickled eggs….Amys comment made me gleek ! I used to make 5 dozen pickled eggs at a time (store bought mass produced, but thanks Fred- not any more).After “curing” they make a great quick egg salad, tasty with beer, and can last weeks in the fridge(mine never did!). You can even throw in cauliflower florets and lil carrots too.
Hi Robyn
Just wanted to mention that my aunt makes a very similar pepper jelly and she takes a small jar of it and pours it over a brick of cream cheese and then we spread it on Triscuits (or whatever your favorite cracker is) it’s yummy!