Whatcha Up To???

[w_r_ranch]

It's been a few days...

One of our pups, 'Harley', hasn't been doing too well lately, so we took him to the vet on the 23rd where he was diagnosed w/diabetes & an infection. He has to take antibiotics & insulin 2X a day, plus his 'special food' (which is quite expensive at $75 a bag), but what the he77 can we do... he's family. Upon arriving home, his hindquarters were so weak he could hardly walk & he was hyperventilating. I truly believed I was going to have to put him down. I've spent a lot of time on the floor so that he is not alone. He seems somewhat better now, so I trying to stay optimistic but only time will tell.

Other than that, I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas,

 

[w_r_ranch]

The women were detailed to dog sitting today so I could prune all the Crape Myrtles back & feed the cattle.

Harley seems to be doing better walking & he's eating again, which is a good thing. One day at a time...

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[Mr_Yan]

Pulled in my garden tools and started to rehab the wooden handles. All of them have been striped down using a spoke shave. Later this afternoon I'll put one the first coat of boiled linseed oil. I'll cut the linseed oil with turpinetine if I have some still.

 

[w_r_ranch]

The weather has been darn warm for this time of year... it was 74 degrees this morning on the back porch!!! But then it changed... the temperature dropped to 50 in about 1 hour & it has been raining hard as well.

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Since there is nothing else to do, I'm teaching 'Kee-Kee' to bake bread & she got to clean up, LOL!!! Then I made a batch of Cuccidati (Sicilian Christmas Cookies) & she just observed the 'process'. Needless to say, I had to do the dishes myself after that 'lesson'...

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[w_r_ranch]

We ended up with 1.94" of rain yesterday (it certainly seemed like we received more than that based on the amount of run-off). It only hit a high of 46 degrees here today & still windy...

Today I cleaned & lubricated the moving parts of the weather station & refilled the bird feeders. I started cleaning the asparagus bed, but got cold & quit for the day.

 

[Mike]

I don't know about you guys but I'm done with this month when it comes to weather. One day it's in the 40's and the next in the 70's on top of the 6" of rain we've received so far this month and of course it's STILL raining outside now.

 

[Mr_Yan]

Yesterday we got between 4 and 6 inches of, mostly, sleet. There may have been some snow mixed in but this stuff was painful when you were hit by it. My inlaws stopped laughing at my Indiana Jones style felt fedora - this full brim is great for days like that.

Today I went to shovel it and found that my kids moved my only snow shovel to somewhere on the lawn which is now under the sleet / snow. I am thinking I will pay them a $1 to find it.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Took Harley to the vet again yesterday (this time for an eye problem).

Today, it was raining again when I got up (0.16"), so I made Italian bread & got a pot of navy bean soup going.

I replaced the temperature sensor in the greenhouse,

Put out hay for the cattle.

 

[Mr_Yan]

I just bought myself a Veritas dovetail saw - ordered it but don't know when to expect it at the door. Nothing like getting home from looking at a computer all day and working with real hand tools. Usually my kids are next to me at the bench too.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Watered everything in the greenhouse & then picked up/burned the 'trash' from pruning the crape myrtles in the back yard (I'll do the front yard tomorrow if the weather cooperates).

Soaking the black-eyed peas overnight for tomorrow's supper... I doubt that Kee-Kee will like them, but there'll be rice, collard greens, homemade sauerkraut & cornbread... We'll explain the significance of this once-a-year meal to her as she's eating it.

 

[wolffman]

Happy New Years everyone! Drink up, hahaha.

 

[Mr_Yan]

Yesterday I took the kids out and cleared some of the ice / snow / glacier from the sidewalk. This crap is slow going and only a square garden shovel is sharp enough and strong enough to break it up. I still can't find my snow shovel and am starting to think that I left it outside my fence and someone else thought they needed it more than I did.

After clearing the sidewalk we went in and played in the basement wood shop.

• Oiled the wooden handles of my garden tool - first coat of many
• rough cut and started the glue up for a tool chest
• cut a set of dovetails as practice again

I get crap for doing all this with hand tools but here's why:

Who would have a 5 year old help with a powered router and table saw? And do this under the room where a 6 month old is sleeping?

Here's the results.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Very nicely done!!! You cant beat a well executed dovetail joint for both strength & beauty!!!

 

[w_r_ranch]

Cold & drizzly here the last couple of days (0.51" total) so we just hunkered down. Did a little bit of cooking (pasta sauce, then a baked ziti for supper).

Today I made an Italian focaccia to go with the leftovers from last night. Also harvested more lettuce & a bunch of radishes for a salad to go with it.

Harley continues to improve, although he has a difficult time chewing this special dog food (Mrs. Ranch has even tried grinding it up in her Cuisinart & she said it's harder than a rock). So today I went to town & bought some chicken thighs & some frozen peas/carrots to make him some 'stew'. I hope it helps him...

Started perusing the 2016 seed catalogs & making my selections for the Spring Garden.

Fed the cattle & put out more hay.

 

[whistech]

Mr. Ranch, have you started your tomato and pepper plants?

 

[w_r_ranch]

Not yet, I'll do the tomatoes, eggplant & peppers at the end of this month...

It looks like most of my seeds will be ordered from Jung's & R.H. Shumway this year as they both have the best prices on the varieties I like to grow. Burpees & Gurneys both jumped their prices (in some cases they are now 2X the cost as other places for the exact same varieties). S&H is high everywhere considering they all use USPS...

BTW, the artichokes that I started Dec.15 got their first real leaves.

 

[Mike]

Pretty laid back weekend for me. Checked all the gutters and down spouts. Stocked up on ice melt in case we did get any winter weather this year and also replaced most of my CFL bulbs with LEDs last night.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Refilled the chlorine tank on the septic system.

Harvested some more red & green lettuce, Swiss chard & spinach for tonight's salad.

Finished cutting back the asparagus bed. I'll fine clean it & apply fertilizer in a couple of days.

Finished picking up & burning the 'trash' in the front yard from when I pruned the crape myrtles.

Refilled the bird feeders.

Packaged up daily servings of the dog's chicken stew that I made yesterday & froze it. I'm going to make some beef stew for them this week as well.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Ordered my spring garden seed (and flower seed too).

 

[wolffman]

Dug some of the potatoes today. Not going to be a great harvest, it was too wet again. Maybe we'll get enough to last us until Spring harvest.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Great minds think alike!!! I harvested about a third of the potatoes this morning, along with another broccoli & cauliflower (to go along with tonight's supper).

Also made a loaf of rolled-wheat bread.

Started pruning the fruit trees. before the rains get here.

 

[whistech]

Mr Ranch, that is a beautiful, big head of broccoli. What variety is that? Can't beat fresh dug potatoes.

 

[w_r_ranch]

The broccoli is 'Pàckman'. The cauliflower is 'Snow King' & the potatoes are 'Red Pontiacs'.

 

[whistech]

Thank You Mr. Ranch.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Total rain yesterday was 0.84"... The wind broke a fair sized branch off of one of the live oaks in the back yard (pretty noticeable but it will fill in in a few years).

I guess today will be our shopping day as it is too wet to do anything else.

Made a pot of pinto beans.