The chicken coop

On By stefrobrtsIn chickensLeave a comment


We spent all day Sunday turning one end of our garden shed into a chicken coop. I have wanted chickens for years, and we just finally got around to it. Plus it took a long time to wear Dave down to the idea. He even came out and helped build it.


I set cleared away the stuff from one wall of the shed, and set up the coops end walls and supports. Then we cut a hole for a window and another for a door. The coop opens out into the orchard.

Here is the completed coop. It is four foot high in the front, and six foot long.

There are two nest boxes on one end, and a roost on the other end. The bottom has two rabbit cage trays for easy cleaning. The lower front opens up so I can slide the trays out into the shed for cleaning.

I love my Cobb Grill

On By stefrobrtsIn foodLeave a comment

I think these should be more popular. I asked for mine for Christmas a few years ago, and the hubby obliged. I love to cook outdoors, but the regular grill is a bit big for cooking for two. So I saw this and decided it was just what I wanted.

I guess the thing I love most about it is that it can cook a meal for two with a ridiculously small amount of charcoal, and that it has a plastic ‘cool touch’ exterior so if necessary you can move it around. Also you are unlikely to get burned while using it, and it’s safe if dogs decide to stick their nose against it. It’s very stable too. Not at all rickety like the mini BBQ we used to have which always felt like it’s little metal legs were on the verge of collapsing.

So this evening after our unsuccessful fishing expedition I decided to smoke a piece of salmon I had in the fridge. Would have been happier with trout, but it’s not the first time I came home with an empty hook! So I put a few mesquite charcoal chunks in the Cobb (I took the whole bag when I first got it and broke all the big chunks into roughly briquette sized pieces) and started them with the firestarter sticks. That little bit of charcoal was enough to roast a squash, an ear of corn, and a red pepper (for tomorrows soup), followed by the salmon (with a bit of wet mesquite chips thrown on the coals for more smoke – as pictured above), and then after I pulled the salmon I set an apple with raisins and cinnamon on there to cook and by the time I was done eating dinner it was perfect.

Now when the coals cool off I can clean it up and tuck it away in it’s bag until next time. This is about our third year with it, and I never use the big grill anymore unless we’re having friends over. This little guy is all the grill we need. It even travels easily. And I prefer using a few briquettes of charcoal to having to tote around a little bottle of propane. I’m just really happy with our little Cobb!

Gone fishing

On By stefrobrtsIn barclay, petsLeave a comment

Barclay went with me to the lake to go fishing this afternoon – his first time! He did great, and hung out quietly with me, then started playing in the water, wading around and picking up junk and bringing it back to shore, carrying sticks and twigs around, and just paddling through the weeds and blowing bubbles by sticking his face underwater. Great fun!

So dirty…


So tired…

Splint day!

On By stefrobrtsIn barclay, farm, petsLeave a comment


When Indy was born the vet came out and put a splint on his broken leg. Then last week I took him to her office and she re-splinted it – but it cost $100! Well, it did take time, materials, and three people to hold him down. But she showed me how to do it so this week was our turn. Dave held him down while I removed the old splint and put on a new one. We did it on the packing table in the shop. He was really good (Indy AND Dave) and we got it done pretty quick, then let him and Marian out in the pasture with Mom for a few minutes while we cleaned the stall and paddock.

Barclay helped clean the stall – ewwwww!

I hate my lawnmower!

On By stefrobrtsIn lawnmowerLeave a comment


This is the bane of my existence. A 2000 MTD Yard machine lawn mower. I admit we have not given it an easy life. It could have ended up at some fancy house where it just went out and mowed a civilized little flat yard and spent the rest of it’s time in a heated garage, but instead we got it. We have flogged that poor thing, making it mow 3 acres of pastures, ditches, the edges of the gravel driveway, occasionally running over brush and large twigs, and just to really give it a workout, tow a little dump trailer. Then we park it in an open shed and tell it it should be happy it’s not being directly rained on. So life isn’t easy, but does it have to be rebuilt EVERY YEAR?! Really? I have had the engine apart so many times I could put it back together in my sleep. We regularly have to replace the belts and pull off the deck. Every year it needs a new battery.

This year it needed a new battery, and even though it was the same brand and size we always buy, the poles were reversed, and I didn’t notice before I had hooked it up backwards and caused some electrical damage. I replaced the starter, and the red battery cable. I found the fuses and replaced those. I replaced the battery, because it wouldn’t hold a charge after that. I still couldn’t get it to start. Finally I pulled a plug and grounded it to the engine and cranked it over – there was a weak spark. So I replaced the plugs and tah-dah – it started up! What a relief! It had already been out of commission so long we’d had to have a friend come over and brush-hog the fields.

But Dave drove it out to the field and took it for a test cut, and when he put the blades down he was enveloped in blue clouds of smoke! So it came back in the garage and I discovered the blades would not turn, the bearings were rusted solid. I just replaced those last year. The original equipment had made it 8 years but these rusted up in a winter! So I pulled the deck, cleaned it, applied some Kroil, then beat the blades with a hammer until they started spinning again. Luckily they weren’t too stuck, else it probably would have been time for a new mower – I’m not rebuilding that deck again!

So we fought with putting the deck back on, wrestling and swearing and pinching our fingers until we had everything lined up, all the cotter pins back in, and Dave started it up – and I realized we hadn’t put the belt back on. A sailor would have blushed to hear the names we called that lawnmower! Then we took the deck off and put the belt on. Then he took it out and mowed the front yard like nothing had ever happened.

Man I hate that lawn mower…

Horse trailer

On By stefrobrtsIn farmLeave a comment



I have been wanting to get a horse trailer for hauling llamas in (it’s a bear getting them in the back of the van – it works, but it’s not easy). I could also think of a lot of other uses for it, like hauling brush to the recycling place, or taking the mower to the shop. Our llama friends had an extra they offered to sell us. It needs new paint, but it seems to be solid. And it has cool old car fenders on it. First order of business is to hook up working lights.

Garden update

On By stefrobrtsIn gardenLeave a comment


The tomatoes are planted, and safely under cloches. It’s warm one day and cold the next, so it was a little questionable as to if I should plant them or not, but they were getting rootbound in the little containers, so I decided to go for it. The stem on my main season tomato snapped while planting it, so I went and found a replacement at the garden center. It’s a ‘Willamette’. So from right to left, I have one of each variety – ultra early, extra early, early, main season, and cherry tomato. The rest of the extra tomatoes are in pots on the patio.


The slugs have been winning the battle, so I resorted to putting down slug bait. I hated to do it, but the stuff says it’s safe for pets and wildlife (none of which should be in my garden anyway). This picture shows my carrots – they’re in those empty squares. The slugs have been gobbling up the greens as soon as they appear. I planted them the same time as the chard in the squares above them. I don’t know if the carrots can recover.


Then I planted my peppers and put homemade cloches over them. The peppers are mini red bell peppers. We use a lot of bell peppers so I hope I can get those two plants to produce well. There’s also a third plant in a pot on the patio.

What’s for dinner? How about Hot Dish?

On By stefrobrtsIn foodLeave a comment


I don’t usually post recipes, but I made a particularly good hot dish last night, and I don’t want to forget the recipe, since it’s a mix of recipes I’ve been trying for a while. It’s nothing fancy, it’s just plain old good food like Grandma used to make.

1 lb lean ground beef
1 medium onion
1 small can of mushrooms, drained
1 small can of corn, drained
a little butter and olive oil
crispy crown frozen tater tots
cream of mushroom soup
half a soup can of milk

Slice up the onions and saute them in a little butter and olive oil until they are soft and browned. Add the mushrooms, and cook until they start to brown, then the corn, and cook until the corn is browned. Move them into a bowl.

Brown the ground beef, adding a little chipotle tabasco sauce as it cooks. Drain off fat if necessary. Add onion mixture back to pan and heat through.

In a separate bowl mix soup and milk.

In a 9×12 glass baking dish put down a layer of tater tots on the bottom. Put ground beef mixture over it, smoothing it out. Now pour on the soup, spread it out a bit to get it even, then give the pan a few little shakes and jiggles to make it sink down into the meat. Put another layer of tater tots on top.

Cook for 45 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Take it out and let it set for 5 minutes on the counter.

This is delicious! Browning the ingredients first adds a lot of flavor, as does the little hit of chipotle. Yum! You end up with a nice strata of browned potatoes on top, meat, onion, mushrooms and corn, and broken up potatoes on the bottom, all connected by the soupy goodness. So Good! It also reheats well for lunch the next day.