Firewood and Hay, Pullet eggs

Last weekend the boys came down from Boise to go help Scott get the first load of firewood. They brought home about four cord for one days work. We use about eight cord of wood in the winter to heat the house.

We got our hay for the coming winter the other day. Pat and Larry came over to help Scott and The Boy got pick it up. Leo grows the best grass/alfalfa blend hay around here. I love his hay. He charges a reasonable price for the area and he is so nice about letting us pay it off a little at a time, and storing it for us until we have it all payed for. The guys take the big trailer over, load it, and bring it home and stack it. It takes about two ton or so per horse to feed through the winter until the grass starts growing and we can turn them out to pasture. 

And now for some gratuitous chicken pictures. 

This little hen likes to eat out of my hand

White Plymouth Rock Rooster

The new Sagitta pullets that we raised up from chicks have started laying their first eggs this week. They are about half the size of the older hen's eggs, but I was ever so excited to see them. I started locking everyone up during the day just to see if they were laying yet, and hiding them from me. On day three I had one tiny, perfect egg in with the big girl eggs. The bigger egg in this pic is actually a smaller egg for the older girls. 

Suasage balls, getting ready for the winter, calves are back, potato soup

I really like this picture. I'm not sure what appeals to me so much about it, but it does. It was taken quite a bit ago. I found it hiding on my camera. The camera has officially died. I'm so hard on them. I'm a clumsy clumsy girl, and I drop things. A lot. This is the camera Scott got for me two years ago for Christmas. It finally won't focus anymore. For a while it had a lens error show up on the screen, but if I turned it on and off a few times, it would resolve itself. No more. /sigh.  I'm stuck taking crappy pics with my phone for a while. I have a few to post today, and a recipe.


The title for this recipe is Sausage Balls. I didn't make it up. It's what they came with.
I pound any flavor you like sausage. I used the mild stuff from our Tasty Pig I had in the freezer
4 cups grated cheddar cheese
3 cups bisquick
2 shakes of red pepper flakes
2 shakes garlic salt

Preheat oven to 350
Smosh and mash cheese and sausage together with your hands. Add the a half cup or so of the Bisquick, the garlic salt, and the red pepper flakes and mash some more. Keep adding the Bisquick a half a cup or so at a time. Adding any more will make it a pain to mix in. As is, it's already tough to work in as you get to the last of the Bisquick. Once the ingredients are all mashed together well, spray a cookie sheet lightly with cooking spray. Roll the mixture in your hands to form a ball a little smaller than a golf ball. I made mine a little bigger than that, but next time I would make them smaller.

Bake in the oven at 350 for 10 mins. My oven cooks a little hotter, so I set them at 340. Take the pan out and flip the balls over. They should have browned on the bottom by now. Back in the oven and bake for 15 more mins.

Tadda

I liked them. Scott liked them. Next time I would not add garlic salt, and instead add just a clove or two of crushed garlic. They were salty enough without adding any. Scott says they are a keeper recipe.

These two shots were taken Oct 31st when Scott and I went up above Princess mine to go looking for a deer on the last day of hunting season. Mostly it was just to go for a ride, and see if the horses would behave while firing a big gun by them.

 Scott took a few days a little while back and on his days off, tore apart my, and his saddle, and gave them a deep, thorough cleaning. They both needed it terribly. 

The calves are back over and Andrea's next door. They spent some time over at BJ's mom's out on pasture, and just were over at our friend's, husband's, dad's pasture getting fat on grass. They are still little buggers, but they are Jersey steer, and those are dairy cows. They grow a lot slower, and have a lighter frame, and less meat than a beef cow. 

We had Lucas with us over the last weekend. We put a huge dent in the wood that needed to be cut, split, and stacked. The pile is a little over eight feet wide, a little over four foot tall, and I'm going to guess twelve foot long -ish. There is the two bottom shelves on the metal shelves by the back door in the garage filled as well. BJ next door let us use the wood splitter he had, and that made it go so much faster.  Lucas would put the eight foot logs up on the jig stand Scott built, Scott would wield the chainsaw cutting them into two foot lengths, and then I ran the splitter and threw them into the back of the bed. The guys stacked them while I pushed the pile out of the bed of the truck.

We fixed the plug on Andrea's trailer when we took the splitter back. The part that plugs into the back of the truck to power the lights on the trailer separated.  "We," meaning Scott.

 

After all that was done we finally took Uncle Mikes trailer back to him. We've had it all summer. It hauled two trips worth of wood, the tractor back and forth, our supply of hay for the horses for the winter, and my truck when the alternator went out. 

Hay all stacked and tarped for the winter.

 Today I'm making Potato Soup. Instead if using chicken stock I'm using turkey stock. I took the carcass from Thanksgiving's Day turkey, simmered it on the stove for 27 hours and used my pressure canner to make canned turkey stock for the first time.

Saddles, and hay, and trusses, oh my

So I've missed a few days. So much has gone on. The big tree in the pasture had to come down. The horses had ate the heck out of the bark anyhow, but Idaho Power said it was going to be in the way.

Hauled all the branches off to the dump, and cut up all the usable wood to burn in the fireplace once it sits and seasons for a year. Youcan see in the backround the walls going up on the house. They poured the cement slab for the garage and have been hauling ass ever since.

Yesterday the trusses started rolling

Garage with the bonus room over head

Out back digging the septic

Tuesday evening we got 4 tonof hay delivered. Grass alfalfa mix. We brought it out and stacked it up and everything. Well it was on a squeeze truck, so it was already stacked, but yay, we didn't have to haul it.

Scott got one of the nicest saddles I've seen in a while. It's a Billy Cook Wade Tree. It's beautiful. He went down to the little saddle and boot place there in Jerome by where we work. I groomed their dogs just a couple of weeks back. He called me and wanted it. I just wondered why he didn't already have it bought.

The palamino is gonna be mine!!!!!!!!!