168 - An Indoor Day

Lunch. I love salad. It's got the perfect blend of veggies, goodie, and dressing. I will never go back to using packets of ranch, the homemade stuff is so much better. And once I get the herb garden going it will be so easy peasy. With chickens it will be easy peasier because I can make my own mayo from the eggs. And with a cow it would be the easy peasiest because I'd have milk and buttermilk and sour cream. All I'd need to buy is Worchestershire, vinegar, and lemons (for the mayo). But we'll take this in stages - I'd be happy with the herb garden.

So today I went to the kitchen to finish up a few projects I've been putting off. Namely the juicing. I love my juicer, but the pulp means it's a pretty tedious process because I have to clean the reservoir out. It takes quite a few lemons or grapefruit to make enough juice worth celebrating. Not sure it's cost effective either as far as grapefruit go, so we may just buy grapefruit juice from now on. Lemons are fine, we can keep buying those, although I eventually want a lemon tree.

The juicer does a good job though. You can't get much more juice out of a lemon than this.

Last night I finally got around to shelling the peanuts so that I could make homemade peanut butter.

I started it out in the blender. My Blendtec is a powerful machine and I thought it would work. I love it and over the past year I have appreciated its capabilities. So glad I bought it before I quit my job... I miss having money.

Unfortunately, the Blendtec was not cut out for peanut butter. It finally occurred to me that the recipe I found used a food processor, and maybe the extra girth of a food processor helped keep things moving rather than forming a big clump around the edges.

So I decided to give it a try and found that was indeed the case.

Voila! Homemade peanut butter using roasted peanuts, honey and a dash of salt.

I have to say, the taste is far superior to what you get from the store. The texture... in your mouth it's like silk, but it's still a little powdery so I'm not sure how it would hold up to a sandwich. It could be that I didn't let it go long enough, but there was smoke coming from my food processor so I decided enough was enough.

And in today's wildlife encounter... turkeys! In the front yard! Shut the front door! I love this place!

167 - Nature Calls

I didn't go to the creek today. Fridays and Saturdays are busier than weekdays and I don't really want anyone else to get the same idea I have. So I'll resume my walks on Sunday afternoon.

I made my own bleach gel. I read a blog called One Good Thing by Jillee and the woman is amazing. It's where I got my homemade laundry detergent recipe, and it works wonderfully and smells amazing. So I decided this was cheaper and I had water, cornstarch and bleach right here at the house. I needed something that would stick to the grout and not run because there is a lot of mold/mildew and it's gross. We'll see how it goes.

And when I went to check on how it was going I saw something that made me smile.

A fawn.

Wish I could have gotten better pics but it moved just as I snapped.

And then when I went out on the balcony to see if I could find it and get better pics outside the constraints of the windows, I saw its mom. We stared each other down for a bit before she got spooked.

Tried to embed a video but that didn't work, so you'll have to follow the link: http://youtu.be/0PiXL6Y-LRg

I also saw a hummingbird this morning. Saw one in the back yard yesterday. Can't wait to get the hummingbird feeder up and have the money to buy some more bird feeders. They come around anyway, it's just cool to bring them closer.

166 - A Day

Spent all day working on Concrete Angel stuff. First off, I got a bid to compare the new tool to. Found out quickly that a lot of information was lacking and questions needed to be answered. And changes to be made on the fly. Oh well, it's a work in progress and that is how it goes. All in all I think it is working pretty well so far. At least for me.

Then I finished up the website. When I first created it, there were maybe half a dozen pictures and Jason was so happy to have a website that all he wanted me to do was keep adding pictures. Over time the portfolio has expanded several times over and it was becoming a jumbled mess. I think Jason was still happy with it, but I knew I could do better. So, here is the new version, broken into categories:

http://theconcreteangel.weebly.com/

There are still a few changes I would like to make but I have to figure out how to do it without tearing the whole thing down and starting over... which I absolutely don't want to do... The most tedious part is done, which was putting The Concrete Angel on the photos themselves and organizing the files, choosing the best pics. But still, it was a lot of work and took about a day and a half of continuous work. I'm kind of obsessive about finishing something I start. Rather, if I don't hurry up and finish, I risk losing my momentum and not finishing at all...

So guess what else I did today?

It's creek time!

So in today's episode of The Creek Diaries, Kristy got smart and brought a bag.

Made it sooooo much easier to carry the jars and the rocks and the camera and the Kel-Tec, because it's a wine bag so it has six little compartments there, perfect to carry cylindrical objects like jars. Two quart-sized Masons and one little pint for sand. I needed sand for my carrots. Long story, but if you remember an earlier blog about food storage, that's what the sand is for.

I found all the butterflies. They were hanging out in the creek bed. This is about half of them.

Why do butterflies like trash so much??? I'd rather grow flowers but geez Louise they like trash! I'm tempted to bring a garbage bag and clean this shit up, but at the same time... I don't know where my rubber gloves are.

I know. They're probably all moths.

Our neighbor's paddock. Just looks peaceful. If we had a lawnmower I'm sure our lawn would look exactly like this. Cow might help, too.

Today's haul. The bag was AWESOME!

I still almost died.

A petrified donut. Blueberry I think.

Mike found a few of these the first time we went to the creek, but his were totally cylindrical. They're strange. I wonder what they are but haven't figured it out yet. The one I found today was part of a rock so I'm more confused than ever. Maybe they're petrified bumblebees. If they're valuable please let me know.

The space under the stairs is filling up... part of the space under the stairs... there's more directly under the stairs.

P.S. After I empty my cache, I climb the stairs. The punishment never ends.

Dinner. Pioneer Woman's Cheesy Olive Bread. She acts like it's a side, I decided it was pizza. I had french bread that was about to become moldy, and some green onion to use up, so I sacrificed myself for the greater good. I'm a giver. But I had a salad for lunch and no breakfast.

I should really always bring a camera with me. Even on my trip to town yesterday I found a cool thing I'd never seen before. I was just too lazy to hook my phone up to the computer and download the pic.

The moths around here are hella cool!

165 - Homey

So today, you guessed it, another trek to the creek. My life is nothing if not spontaneous and exciting - you just never know what time I might take that walk. I like to switch it up and keep it interesting...

I wish I could get better pics but if I get too close, they fly away and I get bupkis. So here we have... another bird on a fence post. A red one this time, in case you're color blind.

Ah those lazy summer days... Gracie has found a new perch. She likes the back of the couch and her step stool by the window. Last night she cautiously watched the cows graze across the road but most of the time she watches birds and bunnies and bugs. It will be interesting to see what she does when we get a dog. Especially if we get a Great Dane. But... baby steps, we're still looking.

Flowers and a tiny bee-like insect that I didn't want to kill. It's just bumblebees and wasps that I hate.

Bunny!!! I was probably about 10 yards from him and I kept creeping closer and he stood stock still... until a rock crunched underfoot... then he was off to the races.

This is "our" bunny. I call him ours because he lives under our magnolia tree

Today's haul.

You guessed it.

Almost died.

Today's gravel status.

Dandelion babies.

Our apple crop. Somewhat small and deformed, but I think when I can trim the tree and start supplementing whatever nutrients it's lacking, the tree will get healthier. I have to do some research but I am determined to have apples. Baby Boom is one of my favorite movies and I WILL have homemade applesauce! Yeee-ehp.

So my grill came today. In pieces. Loooooots of pieces.

I had me a project.

And I got an A-. Got it all together, there is one screw I need Mike to tackle, and I overtightened a nut, which broke the handle for the ash receptacle. It's not a catastrophe, but it kinda sucks that it happened... it's new ya know. It has a temperature gauge on one side of the lid and a vent on the other. And wheels on the back so I can push it around the balcony to amuse myself.

A pizza stone was included. Oh yes. I'm fancy-schmancy now. And there is a grip for the included charcoal chimney. I already love this grill. Maybe tomorrow I'll actually grill something.

So sad... the handle is not supposed to hang like that. :( Regardless, it's shaping up to the coolest grill EVER.

So after that, I made the trek to town. I needed produce. And I decided I was going to grow some of it myself.

This is not the produce, but when I was on the cusp of the garden section I saw these fellas. They were on clearance for $1.38 each. Little orphan plants that needed a home. And I think plants make a house feel cozy, so I put them in the cart.

And I bought herbs. I figure instead of paying for those little plastic boxes of them, I can snip what I need, and more will grow. More efficient, and pretty.

Kept the bottoms of the green and red leaf lettuce and put the root ends in water. We'll see if it works. Going on the same premise as the celery and green onions, I will change out the water every couple of days, and make sure it doesn't dry out. Fingers crossed.

Flat leaf parsley. It's a little droopy at the moment, but I think a day in the sun will perk it up. It's been in the produce section for a while and will need to adjust.

Ditto for the cilantro. Cilantro is so pretty.

Purple basil. Gosh it's purdy. And it smells so good.

Basil babies! The mini-greenhouse seems to be working. Now I just have to figure out where I'm going to transplant them to before they get to that point.

Lemon Thyme and Mr. Stripey tomatoes. My lady statue's base got broken during the move, one of the few things that seem to have been damaged, and I was going to throw her away... but I couldn't bring myself to do it, so she's a garden decoration now.

I'm not a hoarder, I'm not! I repurpose!

I need more potting soil, but this is another variety of tomato, and yellow bell pepper. I think I'll also start some lettuce, arugula, water cress and mache seeds. Arugula is hands down my favorite, but mache is a close second. They use it as a garnish in Ireland and I love the flavor, in fact, I can eat it on its own.

Me and my shadow. She's like a head rest that purrs.

So that's that. It's 7:30 and I've been awake since 7:30. I thought about a second trek to the creek, but I'm not feelin' it. Maybe tomorrow.

P.S. Whatcha doin' mister?

164 - Mystery Rodent

Methinks we have... a ground hog. It is much too big to be a squirrel and lacks the tail of a beaver or the extruded teeth of a gopher. So that's my conclusion. That and a brief DuckDuckGo search that seemed to confirm my suspicion. So now I've seen turkey, deer, rabbit, several varieties of bird, a bouncing white cat, squirrels, cows and... a groundhog.

Butterflies seem to love our windowsills.

Another trip to the creek and along the way I found this guy.

And these.

And this.

And then I was near the creek.

Where some dumbass tossed their trash. But... two butterflies... how cool is that? Maybe they're moths. Who cares? They're pretty and there's two of them. But they're still not as pretty as that bird...

Today's haul almost killed me. I think six rocks was overly ambitious, especially the one next to the jars, it's pretty thick. This time I really thought I was gonna die. I know I meant it when I said it yesterday, but I didn't know until today... and I really, really mean it this time.

I may go back again this evening. :)

But for now, this is where I'm at with the gravel/fireplace project.

How crazy is this? The onions are shooting up like no one's business!

And the celery is still chugging along.

Even the fig cuttings are starting to sprout roots (the little white dots). Grabbed three from my grandma's fig tree when we were there. Mike loves figs, and I love the idea of an heirloom fig tree. And figs. I'm excited about the figs, too.

Next time I buy lettuce I will try again. I think maybe the water was up too high and it caused the leaves to rot. But free lettuce would be awesome, and my garden is nowhere near to becoming reality at the moment. I would be happy just to be able to mow the grass, so I'm not worried about much beyond that. But I am dying to get things into the ground, so this water project is helping (somewhat) to satisfy that urge.

Talked to a recruiter today. I wasn't selected to apply for the job they initially called me about, but he did offer me something interesting... an idea. We were talking about what I would get excited about if I had to do my old job over again. I told him I liked the challenge of creating a spreadsheet that could answer any question that was thrown at me; it was like a puzzle. And as a manager I liked the fun side of management... interacting with employees, being able to bump their pay up, interviewing, even reviews. He told me he was going to throw me a major curveball, so keep an open mind, and asked if I had ever considered recruiting, because that's what recruiters do. He doesn't have anything he can put me in, but said he'd be willing to sit down with me and help me tweak my resume, give me some names that might be closer to where we live and give me some pointers about how to move forward with it if I decide I want to pursue it. I used to do a little HR and wanted to go that route but ended up being pushed into purchasing, which turned out great, but I enjoyed HR because I was interacting with people and part of me has wanted to get back to that.

Since I need to take my car to Nashville to get the struts replaced (insurance should cover it since it stems from the accident I had a couple of years ago), I am going to call and see if Mini has a loaner car and if they do I'll take him up on it. I'm still going forward with The Concrete Angel, but there may be room for both, and frankly I need to maximize my income. Everyone out here diversifies, and I'm not above attempting it myself as long as it's realistic.

Speaking of attempts...

I decided to go back. I'm ambitious. I'm not a quitter. I may also be a little on the dense side.

My friend came back.

This however... this is NOT my friend. He's lucky I was wearing Crocs and was too scared to step on him, or he'd be a dead bumble.

And this is not THE blue bird, but it is A blue bird.

My shadow never sweats. I sure do. I'm surprised you can't see rivulets of it streaming down the road.

I wish I had been prepared, but this blue heron(?) surprised me. As I approached the creek he took off and I was lucky to get a pic at all. Big bird. BIG.

And I came back with this. Not sure it was any less ambitious than my last haul since that slab is pretty heavy, but it was less cumbersome to carry and I made it all the way up the hill this time. By the skin of my teeth. And I had to have that rock. It's perfect for a fireplace.

And now we're seeing some progress... If I cheated and took the car down there I could fill the whole thing up... and believe me, I have considered it... but this is not just about the gravel... it's about exploring and getting into shape. So that someday, when zombies are chasing me, I can run up that hill! :)

So for comparison, this was earlier:

And this is now:

See how I had to pan out?

...because the diameter of the pile has increased?

This is where you go oooooh and aaaah and praise me for my tenacity.

Don't worry. I'll wait.

...

This is me waiting.

...

Okay you're just not getting it. That's okay. Some people are slower on the uptake than others. I'm sure you have your special skills, we just need to suss them out. I'll give you more time. We'll revisit this tomorrow. In the meantime, go find one of those picture comparison games and we'll see how you do tomorrow.