today is a nice cool day,

so mucking is going to finish i think
i may even do chicken pens today,
i have one tiny area of the babies day pen to do then i have to decide how to reconfigure it
hmmmm
i am still trying to tame those babies down. yesterday afternoon, thumbprint greeted me at the day pen gate with a tail wag and the characteristic muscovy head bobbing........ i was thrilled,
as that one and bigfoot who is definitely a girl.....are both staying.
and the one boy who i know is a boy i am seriously trying to tame
he will replace falstaff (who is older then fossils in duck terms) when the big guy goes
(and i will miss that madly infuriating drake when he does eventually die, although most of the time i want to strangle him myself)

when i get that little boy out of the flock i find them much more tractable. there are three that are really difficult but i think they will come around. one of those three is a boy i believe
and now i am thinking i got two boys and all the rest may possibly be girls.....although thumbprint could go either way but thumbprint is smart....and likes mommy

ok last nights supper was a HUGE success... roasted chicken with creamy leek sauced rice
such a huge success that i am going to make it into a soup or a casserole for the winter
i used pink pepper corns too
i roasted the chicken with a bit of butter (like half a teaspoon! really just to grease the bottom of the enameled cast iron pot), some garlic, salt and pink peppercorns, then took the drippings mixed that with flour to make a roux, then the leeks and a bit of milk, and added leftover cooked rice...
it was simple and fantastic
i also cooked this in an enameled cast iron 'french oven' (this one was from sam's club and is made in china, it's a 3.5 quart one) i heated it on the stove for about 5 minutes, melted that tiny bit of butter in there, put the chicken in, threw some garlic granules and some fresh crushed pink peppercorns, covered it and put it in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes
took it out on a plate while i added flour to the pan drippings and the 'dried' leeks
i used dried leeks reconstituted in about 1/2 cup or so of hot water (these are the last of my home dried leeks)
then added some milk to thin it down, (stirring the whole time with a wooden spoon)
added the rice, stirred again, over low heat.....put the lid back on for like 3 minutes or so

we basically licked the pot.

i am slowly introducing bernie to foods that i haven't had in a while, but that i either have grown or want to start growing, (stuff he wouldn't eat before)
my discussion with him goes something like 'we need to do this, for not only our health, and our money, but also, you know...... this stuff has been revered by cultured gastronomes for thousands of years- and you got it FRESH---- it doesn't GET any better then this, and money CAN'T BUY IT
you have to grow it
hahahaha
it's true though, and it is slowly converting him
he does eat really really well, he always has. ( hey i ain't italian for anything you know.....)
both his sister's have high BP and high cholesterol, he doesn't.
i can only think that the reason he doesn't is that i make sure he eats well
the way my people have eaten for hundreds/thousands of years

and besides that i really like going out the back door and walking back in after 3 minutes with supper in my hands (just like MOM did- i remember her digging dandelions, which i intend on putting in NEXT spring)

oh my the THINGS i get up to
i am still thinking about solar.......(yes dorothy i haven't forgotten, it's always back there in my mind) i am still wondering about a closed sort of hoop house tilapia/salad green thing too...

and no i haven't stopped drawing totally, but i will be doing more closer to winter when i am actually in the house more, as raising ducklings as you can see, is for me a full time job.
but now you all know why lilli and phoebe are so tame, and the babies i imagine will be as well

ok off i got today, it looks to be a nice day so i hope you all have a good time