Seriously, Travis has the longest face ever. I’m not sure how he functions without his bottom lip dragging on the ground all of the time! He’s using all but one hole on his bridle…
This is his worried face. He makes it any time he’s not sure what’s happening or how he should react. We call him Spazzy McSpazerson when he’s being tweaky about the world around him. Oh the stories we could tell about Travis and his tweakiness, but those are best saved for another day.
He’s really a pocket pony. Like Cody, he always has to come and see what’s happening. Unlike Cody, he’s always happy to see us and never pins his ears when we say hello.
And that whispy forelock. It’s always almost in one eye or the other. Not only is it quite stylish, but it’s the only part of his mane that’s red. The rest, all the way up to just behind his ears, is white!
And then there’s Whiskey. He’s turned into quite the treat beggar as we’ve been using them to train Travis to be less tweaky. I, as a certified softy, can rarely resist giving Whiskey one as well. Which is really unfortunate considering how FAT he’s gotten with almost no riding this spring. Luckily he’s going back into light riding (with vet approval) starting this weekend. Hopefully we can turn all that poofiness back into muscle!
Anyhoo, here’s Whiskey wondering if he can convince me to give him a treat. Then making faces at me as I resist and take pictures. And finally pricking his ears when he realizes that he’s probably going to get lucky…
This really has been the strangest spring. It rained and rained and rained all through June, leaving us berryless from our own garden and even from the farmstand. The rain has finally stopped and even though we lost the earliest berries to mold, it seems that we’re finally going to get a crop.
We don’t grow enough for jams or freezing, just enough to keep us in berries for our ice cream and breakfasts. Tonight I picked almost 2 quarts after work, the first time we’ve gotten more than a handful at a time.
Shortly after taking the photo, this one went straight into my mouth.
As previously mentioned, I’m in MN visiting my family. I decided to take a mini-vacation here (sans Mike) before the garden and horses got into full swing. Seemed that as long as summer really wasn’t going to arrive in Seattle before the end of June I might as well come here and enjoy a bit of it early.
It’s been a very relaxing time and I’m be putting up photos of the gardens and farmers markets as my “end of life” laptop battery will allow
First up, farm photos!
Above are a few of my mom’s laying hens. She lost half her flock to a fox in early May and the ladies have now been moved to the yard of my grandparents’ home (my Uncle now lives there) and have taken up residence in the old playhouse. She’s got 11 hens, 3 pullets and a young cockerel. There are also 24 five-week-old pullet chicks in the barn. They won’t be keeping them all, but will add to their flock and sell the pullets later this summer (if you’re in MN and interested in a few, drop me a note).
This is our old playhouse, now hen house. The front opens into the yard, the back butts up to the old duck pond.
There are 19 sheep, a mix of ewes and lambs, in residence. They’ve been sheared and are ready for the summer heat. Thankfully, this year, there is enough grass stocked in the pastures to keep them going until fall.
They are quite friendly and always willing to pose for a pic.
Nemo, the only black/horned sheep on the farm, is a former bottle lamb that was raised by my cousin/god son Derek. Nemo is pretty sure he’s a dog.
My mom and her siblings (and my cousins) still maintain my grandfather’s gardens. They’re smaller than they were when he was here and dedicated to them full time, but still supply everyone with strawberries, onions, squash, tomatoes, etc. This view really hasn’t changed that much in the 29 years my parents have lived in their house.
This is the upper pond that we swam in all summer when I was a child. Eventually my parents put in a pool (we’ve been enjoying it all weekend!) and we were able to stop swimming in the muck. Strangely though, I still sometimes miss swimming out there.
And this shot? This one was just for me. I liked the way the grass heads looked bending over in the pre-storm breeze and the late afternoon sunlight.
We had sun last Sunday and in honor of the occasion I let the boys onto the lowest pasture (we put up cross fencing early this spring) and let them tromp around in the wet to eat some long grass. I went out in the afternoon to try to get some garden pictures and got sidetracked with the two of them napping in the long grass. Travis firmly believes that sometimes the only thing better than a nap is a roll and then a scratch. Gosh, we’re really starting to love him (tweaky quirks and all).
Elise’s post earlier today reminded me of a flank steak recipe that I love, but haven’t made in years. At first I was thinking that my version was much more a winter dish, but then I realized that it isn’t when you’ve got green garlic and scallions coming out your ears!
This is a seriously simple recipe, and the biggest thing to be aware of is how salty the soy glaze is – there’s no need to salt the steak or the rice or you’ll just put yourself in a world of hurt for a glass of water…
We enjoyed ours (pardon the crappy photo) with a bit of steamed California organic long grain rice and salad fresh from the garden. Give this one a try, it’s now firmly back in rotation around here.
*****
Springtime Soy Glazed Flank Steak serves 3-4, or 2 with lunch the next day
Flank steak, 1.5 pounds
Green garlic (or scapes), 1 tbs minced
Soy sauce, 1/2 cup
Brown sugar, 1/4 cup
Fresh ginger, 1/2 tsp grated (optional)
Scallions, 8 greens
Mix the green garlic, soy sauce, ginger and brown sugar together in a saute pan. Add the flank steak, turning several times to coat well. Leave to marinate for 20 minutes at room temperature while you get the grill hot. Put the steak on a hot grill and cook until medium-rare (about 4 minutes per side). While the steak cooks, put the saute pan over medium-high heat and bring the reserved marinade to a boil. Add the scallion greens and cook until it thickens to a glaze. Once cooked, let the steak rest for 5 minutes and then slice across the grain into 1/4″ strips. Lightly drizzle with glaze and enjoy with rice — remember, the glaze is quite salty and a bit goes a long way!
We’re breakfast people around here. Or perhaps it’s more brunch by the time we get to it most lazy weekend days. If we’ve no where particular to be and nothing urgent to do, we like to laze around for a bit with coffee and then make a big breakfast to fuel the rest of our day.
Last year, we had part of our pig smoked into hams. We picked up the meat from the butcher in October and we’ve slowly eaten our way through most of it. Last week I suddenly realized that in all that eating we hadn’t touched even a single ham, not a one. How the heck did we forget we had ham? Anyway, after remembering we pulled one out and decided to give it a try. Oh my word, we have been missing out!
After simply warming it in the oven we ate it in thick slices with horseradish, roasted potatoes and steamed broccoli. Then we made it into sandwiches thick with swiss cheese and homemade pickles. This morning? We turned some of it into breakfast with fried red potatoes, gently poached eggs and fresh cut chives.
Wow. Now that’s how you should start your day! We’re already plotting how we’re going to enjoy the rest of the hams in the freezer (each about 3 pounds). Next year I have a feeling we may run out of ham even before we run out of bacon!
They're delivering our new washer/dryer today. Ironically our old dryer has started working again so we're just going to store them for now.
about 6 hours ago
from Twitter for iPhone
Recent Comments