farm adventures...sunny....55*

Well our last kidding has occurred and amazingly it happened during the daylight hours. A. Wyse had 2 bucks and we are calling them Threadrick and Notion. They are strong and active and here are the pictures.

Farm adventures...........sunny and 50's

              Thanks for all who voted on our FB page to help us choose the newest babies names :)

Farm adventures....cloudy.... 45*

 

While we wait for A. Wyse to reveal her contents, by the way she has moved into the overdue category, here are Pearl and Gale doing their goat gymnastics. Our newest babies, names to be disclosed soon, ventured out of their birth place yesterday to see their big wide world!

Farm Adventures...cloudy ...48*

Stop by our Fb page and help us name the newest babies!
www.facebook.com/jonquiljunction

Sunday Quotes....cloudy.... 50's

There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:
   a time to be born ...............................

Thimby's twins one girl, one boy

Healthy Granola.....sunny and warmer...but very windy!

Making granola at home is easier than you might think, this recipe cuts out a lot of the fat you find in store bought (and a lot of homemade recipes too) with out loosing any of the flavor, and the really good part is you can adjust the taste to suit your family, the fruit, nuts, cinnamon, vanilla are all just guidelines here, use the flavors your family likes, maple instead of vanilla, dried cranberries instead of raisins, almonds instead of peanuts.....you get the picture....... Makes a great snack 'by the handful' or served with milk!

                                                           Healthy Granola

 

8 cups old-fashioned rolled oats *** SEE NOTE

1/4 cup ground flax meal

1 cup raisins

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup EACH dried pineapple, dried papaya, dried banana chips,

  dried apples, dried cranberries or your favorite dried fruit  to equal 1-1 1/2 cups of fruit

1/4 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup peanuts or nuts of your choice

Mix all together in a very large pan

 

in a sauce pan combine the following:

3/4 cup brown sugar   

1/4 cup canola oil 

1/4 cup honey 

3/4 cup water

bring to a boil, immediately reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes then add

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. vanilla

 

Stir well, then pour over oat mixture stir very well, till well coated, spread on two large cookie sheets and bake in pre-heated 350* oven for 20 minutes stirring twice, allow to cool completely and store in large covered jar, best if eaten with in a week.

 

**NOTE: for variety reduce oats to 6 cups and add

1 cup coarsely crushed graham crackers &

1 cup crispy rice cereal

 

 

 

 

Farm Adventures....cloudy...cool....

 Even though Pearl’s momma Flossie and daddy Riley have "Elf" ears ( or the lack there of) Flossie’s daddy was Oberhasli and  had  a full set of ears , so we were pleasantly surprised that Pearl was born with full ears (though her twin sister is earless like her Grandma A. Wyse)  After years of raising Lamancha and Mini-Lamancha goats we’ve been enjoying all the ‘goatitude’ Pearl's ears add to her expressions!!!!

 

Farm adventures......cloudy...chilly 47* and windy

In no time at all Pearl mastered the milking stand (poor Flossie hasn't any place to call her own), Gale can't get up there so she's using a different approach.

Spring Special.....cloudy...50's

Spring special~~ANY order placed between today and the last day of April will get a free handmade  surprise gift included. So if your looking for a gift or have been considering buying something for yourself, now would be a good time to buy....Just sayin' :)

The items we offer are as varied as the weather in these hills!Hand-hammered copper jewelry,  biscuit and rag quilts, denim purses, quilted mug rug, unique tin can clocks, and more....... SHOP NOW!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/Jonquiljunction?ref=hdr_shop_menu
https://www.facebook.com/jonquiljunction?ref=tn_tnmn
Our   Beautiful Copper jewelry comes from our resident jewelry maker here at Jonquil Junction.

 A bit about the process:

Richard already had  years of experience with  precise woodworking  and working with the springs, gears, and  metals in his clock-making business.  When  a customer asked him to make a copper chain for a pocket watch, he used his knowledge of "work hardening" metal  to design and craft a chain for the watch.  That experience  soon led to a  line of copper jewelry, with a focus on earrings. He designs each piece in his head first then makes an individual ‘jig’ to bend and hammer the piece into the shape he desires. This time consuming process results in a unique and beautiful piece that you will never see in a mass-produced jewelry store.

 

All parts of his earrings, except the ear-wire, are handmade and hammered, from the hammered body of  the earring right down to each individual , intricate and  tiny piece . 

He makes many designs, but only a few of each, and some designs are not repeated.
All Jewelry  is clear-coated to prevent tarnish.



https://www.etsy.com/listing/207023375/hand-hammered-copper-earrings-hammered?ref=shop_home_active_19

https://www.etsy.com/listing/230014420/rag-purse-denim-purse-handmade-purse?

https://www.etsy.com/listing/230134588/rag-purse-denim-purse-handmade-purse?ref=listing-shop-header-1

 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/208834705/hand-hammered-copper-earring-intricate?ref=shop_home_feat_2

https://www.etsy.com/listing/208834185/hand-hammered-copper-earrings-two?ref=shop_home_active_10

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1144577655568500.1073741842.810022969023972&type=3






 

 

A tale of six kitties....clear and CHILLY!

 This past weekend,we were having a pleasant Saturday evening sitting in the living room, watching Lawrence Welk (thanks, P.B.S. for allowing us to cross generations) while visiting with the grandchildren. When I looked over and noticed Sophie had joined us and curled up against my stack of winter reading I never quite got to, so of course I snapped this picture.

Do you have a favorite book, you could read over and over again??

Adventures of Valerie & Grace sunny....windy....40

Valerie and Grace with their new family!

Here's a picture from the new owners of Valerie and Grace. They look all settled, don't they? I'm so happy that they are finally in bigger accommodations, and out of the pen they had to stay in all winter. I wish my pasture was closer to the barn so everyone could get out more. Yesterday I put Bandit & Riley out in the pasture, then ran an errand, perhaps 45 minutes, came home to find them gone back to the barn. As A. Wyse points out in her forthcoming book, "fences fall into the weakest link category".

(Maybe if I wasn't always chasing goats, I'd get the book written!!)

More kids coming this week. Stay viewed.

Sunday Quotes...cloudy..shower to come

Now the noisy winds are still; April's coming up the hill! All the spring is in her train, Led by shining ranks of rain; Pit, pat, patter, clatter, Sudden sun and clatter patter! . . . . All things ready with a will, April's coming up the hill!
                                                                         Mary Mapes Dodge    

             

Salmon pie....partly cloudy...with showers likely

                                                      Marge's Salmon Pie (makes 2)

 

This recipe comes from one of my favorite persons. Sad to say she's already been gone 16 years. She was a wonderful wife and mother of 10 children. She told me once when she'd been married for a few months with no child on the way, she thought she'd never have a family. And her husband said he thought 1 child would be nice!!!!!

 

5 large potatoes, cut up and boiled

1 med. onion, chopped

1 can, 15 oz. salmon and juice, remove any large bones

 

Combine these 3 with salt, pepper, to taste and 1/4 cup margarine and little milk.

Beat with mixer, should resemble mashed potatoes, add more only  milk if needed.

Make pie crust for  2 pies and put in filling.

Bake 375  until crust is done, about 45 minutes.

Farm adventure...cloudy..showers on the way

 



Here's A.Wyse in all her "hurry and let's get this done."
She's due next week already.......  Just a few more days now, the barn is filling up!
 

Thimbelina is due the same day, but as this is her first she is not nearly as big

Pearl and Gale are spoken for and will have a new home when weaned. It makes me happy to have them adopted together, just like Valerie and Grace. Next week I'll show y'all  Val & Gracie  in their new home.
Now if only it would stop raining, before these babies are due!!!!!!!

Snippets and Snatches....partly cloudy....warmer

Continued from our Tuesday post HERE ,

here are the rest of  the  "Computer Terms for Country Folks"

 

SCREEN              What you need for black fly  season

BYTE                   What black flies do

CHIP                    What to munch on

MICRO CHIP         What's left in the bag when the chips are gone

INFRARED            Where the leftovers go when Fred's around

MODEM                What you did to the hay fields

DOT MATRIX         Farmer Matrix's wife

LAP TOP               Where the kids feel comfy

KEYBOARD           Where you hang your keys by the door

SOFTWARE           Plastic eating utensils

MOUSE                  What eats the chicken grain in the barn

MAIN FRAME         The part of the barn that holds the roof up

PORT                     Fancy wine

ENTER                   Ya'll come on in

RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY --You can't remember  just how much that rifle cost

                                               

Pigeon project/ farm adventures ..rain...50's

                                                                        Amarillo's Adventure

 

When you get pigeons that have been hatched somewhere else they are called prisoners. If let loose they will always return to their former home. On Thursday our mama Amarillo "flew the coop" literally. We never saw her again despite frequent trips outside to peer through the tree branches. All day we kept the cats and Walter inside, and despite the increasing winds hoped she'd return to her babies. We also notified her former owner in case she made it home (600 miles away). By evening we had a very strong storm, wind, rain and hail. No sign of Amarillo. We concluded we had seen the last of her. All day Friday and Saturday I worked in the yard and never saw her (more important didn't hear her, pigeons are noisy flappers). Then half way through Sunday I found her walking near the vegetable garden, with 2  cats nearby.  We feel she left and decided to return to our home instead of her former home.  After much coaxing she went into the loft where she received quite a welcome from Hollywood, her mate. While she was gone, he did his part to keep those babies fed!!! 

This picture shows her following her caregiver to the loft.

 

Snippets & Snatches...cloudy and showers...cold/windy

 Computer Terms for Country Folks

 

Here's a Snippet for all of us that make up Rural America. It's raining today and is supposed to continue all week - soooooooooooo I'm back to sorting through all my snippets and snatches that have been saved for way too long. And this is one I found  -  Part 1 today, Part 2 on Thursday

(You can guess how long I've saved it - floppy disk, really!!)

 

LOG ON           Making the wood stove hotter

LOG OFF         Don't add any more wood

MONITOR         Keep an eye on the wood stove

DOWNLOAD     Getting the firewood off the truck

MEGA HERTZ   When your not careful downloading

FLOPPY DISK   What you get from piling too much wood

RAM                 The Hydraulic thingy that makes the woodsplitter work

HARD DRIVE     Getting home in mud season

PROMPT           What you wish the mail was in mud season

WINDOWS        What you cover with plastic every winter

Roommate agreement...part two..showers and 60's

Do you remember last summer when we tried to get Bandit and Riley to come to a roommate agreement? You can read about it HERE
After living all fall and winter next to each other  with a common fence between them, we put them out to enjoy the first spring grass. This is how they celebrated!

 

 

Sunday Quotes....sunny...70's

In spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather inside of four and twenty hours   ~Mark Twain

Snippets & Snatches and a recipe...sunny...70

This is a delicious recipe my Mom always made. I don't know where it originated but I do know it's over 60 years old. She always served it warm and sometimes instead of topping we just let butter melt on it. I can still smell it!

                         Gingerbread and Orange Sauce

1/2 cup lard ( I use margarine)

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup molasses (you can use sorghum for a lighter taste, but mom always used Molasses) 

2 1/2 cups flour ( sift w/spices & soda)

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. powdered cloves

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ginger

1 cup hot water

Cream lard & sugar, beat in egg. Stir in molasses. Add dry alternately with hot water. Pour in buttered 9" square pan and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes or until knife tests clean. For sauce, cream 3 oz. cream cheese with 1/3 cup powdered sugar. Add a little orange juice concentrate (undiluted) until consistency to pour. Put spoonful on top of each square of cake as you serve it.

 

Spring.........Sunny 40's

We're almost as busy as the bees!

Farm adventures ...windy..sunny.. 70's

Finally got to put Flossie and babies out on pasture. We've been in a spell of thunderstorms for 2 weeks now. So between that and all the other spring activities going on, this was their first outing in the pasture. 

Here they are at  2 weeks old today!

.


After a brief examination of the grass they decided, grass is nice but milk is best!

Pigeon project...growing

Amarillo and Hollywood's newest babies have hatched
and this time we knew to get the bands on in time!

And look  what we have here! finally the other two (here since last Oct.) have decided to nest.
The loft is filling up.

Spring has sprung!

Spring has finally sprung in our neck of the woods. And although the Jonquils are done, many other wild things are coming along. The wild fruit trees are beautiful, these are wild plum blossoms. They grow all over the mountains here, and only make a fruit the size of a nickel. But cooked and strained they make a delicious, TART, jelly or pancake syrup. The May Apples emerged this week and grew 4 inches in one day. REALLY! Redbud is out too . And most dreaded for allergy sufferers,  Maple blossoms. And of course farm babies are a Springtime event.

The adventures of Valerie And Grace...cloudy cool

I gave Valerie and Grace a pedicure before their leaving for their new home. Since this is a job much easier done on the milking stand (easier on the human back, that is) I let them play there afterwards.



                                                 
And these are their final pictures, loaded in their new accommodations for their trip to Missouri. Notice each one is checking on the whereabouts of her sister.