I am ready for some squirrel dumplings which should be really good with all the scratch feed they have consumed this summer. They are starting on their third 50 pound bag and I have given up trying to put a stop to their antics. They must have heard me load the rifle - they have started hiding from me rather than swishing their bushy tails in my face as they scamper across the yard. They are going in the stew pot, along with that chicken that isn't laying but loves to eat. She is good and fat, too and will be real good with some dumplings. Oh my, I am getting hungry just thinking about it.
Have you ever stopped to really look at a feather. Mr. Rooster lost a tail feather the other day in his prancing around and jumping at the neighbor's rooster. The feather is really beautiful and the colors are outstanding. The soft downy dark grays tipped with rust at the base give way to the shimmering greenish blues all the way to the swirling tip. Amazing! Even the hens rusty feathers are each unique in their colors and shape.
The change in the weather makes me change my cooking style - I must be from the old country. Cooler air means heavier meals. There goes our diets - it is not salad weather. Well, I take that back. I usually don't buy potatoes, but picked up a bag the other day and made potato salad. Yummy! Then I got carried away and made garlic mash potatoes. Believe it or not hubby can have a small serving of potatoes with his diet. Of course you need to use the fat free milk and the Heart Smart butter, but they were still delicious. I think I have finally figured out that I won't have to work so hard in the early spring to get the jelly rolls off if I don't stuff my face so much during those cold days of winter. But oh how I do love food.
I have started diligently working on my yard again. Fall temps do that for me along with the change in my cooking. I have pull out dead limbs and deadheaded all my flowers. Plan to do a light fertilizer today and contemplate where I am going to move some shrubs around. I am also trying to coordinate all my old scattered plants - lamb's ear, four o'clocks, mums, day lilies - and decide where they will be happiest come spring. My hostas did not get enough shade this year and I will be moving them. I have moved my elephant ear as it wasn't getting enough sun and it is doing great. It just needed some loamier ground and more sun. I have some trimming on the agenda also. I have waited too late to move the forsythia and still have it bloom next year, but may fore go the blooms to get them moved.
I have a pomegranate that I plan to move this fall also. It is surrounded with trees and not growing at all. It is from the old homestead that was once on the farm and is now overgrown, not receiving any light and is starved in its present location. The pears will be severely pruned this year as they have become misshapen with many dead limbs caught in the tops. The production was real low this year, but the fruit it produced was large and juicy. These trees were also a gift of the old homestead. I would love to add a couple of apple trees to my collection, but have been advised the cedars would gift them with disease. I will need to do more research on this. I cannot give up all my cedars, fruit or no fruit.
For those who don't know the history of my little farm - my Dad bought this property consisting of 98 +/- acres in 1948. He farmed much of the land until the mid 1980's. There is a wonderful creek and many wet springs on the property. When Dad farmed it, it was mostly pasture and field. It is now mostly wooded as a result of Dad planting pines. When Dad quit farming, he sold most of the land and it now has produced many neighbors and provided homes for some 14 families. Through the years we have been able to purchase surrounding parcels and add to our little farm. We are blessed with good neighbors and a relatively quiet neighborhood.
Till next time - keep smiling and share it with someone.
Belle
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