December 2016 - Livin' The 10

Repurposing a Laundry Bin

We found these old laundry bins through SlapSale.com, an online auction house that deals in distressed merchandise liquidations. SlapSale handles a lot of hospitals and universities in Texas, and in some other areas as well.

These laundry bins came from a hospital in or around San Marcos, and we’re using them as a raised-bed solution for our side yard project. The bottoms are wooden pallets, so drainage won’t be an issue. Several came with laundry bags, which will make a good permeable barrier. Now to find some rocks and twigs for the bottom, and some fill dirt… I foresee more loader and grapple fun in the near future.

Chili Sauce

This is our first batch of pepper sauce from the Chile Pequin’s that grow wild on our property. We dried them in the smoker, and they picked up some of that smokey goodness that’s always lingering in there. Next, we packed them with some onion chunks and garlic cloves in pint jars, then filled them with vinegar. Finally, to speed up the infusion, we added some “starter” to the jars.

That “starter” – holy cow – it was HOT. Basically, we took 1/4 cup of dried Chile Pequins with 1 cup vinegar and threw them in the Vitamix on the smoothie setting. It came out looking (and almost tasting) like Cholula…but highly concentrated. Nearly burned a hole in my lungs when I popped the top off the Vitamix and took a whiff. A little dab’ll do ya….

These jars will get a dip in the canner, then sit for a few weeks to infuse. Should be mighty tasty when they’re done.

Chicken on a Stick

These are our 3rd batch of chickens, if memory serves. Michael and Sue Laprise gave us our first batch. My Dad (who has delighted our kids by taking them to the feed store and buying birds, rabbits and other critters) furnished the second batch…and this third batch.

It’s interesting to me how the different age groups hang out together. They all get along, and they’re fine together when they’re all in the coop at night. But during the day, when they’re foraging, they wind up splitting into groups that seem to be formed around relative age.

That Thar’s a Swale Pond

We’ve been having fun with the tractor. Here’s one example of that – beginning in on the pond. Right now, it’s only a few inches deep, as we’re digging the outline. When we had a deluge the other day, those “few inches” filled up rather quickly and became an effective swale, catching the water rather than letting it run off the property. Didn’t really think about that until it happened…and now I’m itching to trench in some more swales “upstream” on the property.

Duck, Duck, Rain

We had a good drenching the other day, and the Muscovy’s loved it. Usually, they just have one or two little pools to drink from as they forage throughout the day. But today, they were prancing around in the rain, siphoning and filtering through the muck and mud. I don’t now that I’ve ever seen them this happy.

Reflections

Chronologically, these are way out-of-order. We took these months before we started this blog. But they’re part of our story, so here they are.

When we first moved onto the property, there was a tree limb on the fence with our back neighbor…and their cows regularly came to visit our back pasture for breakfast. I’ll never forget sitting down at the breakfast table, looking out the window, and seeing a huge cow staring back at me from the other side of the glass.

Once the kids realized “we got cows,” Iain wanted to “pet” one. So, while this calf was enjoying a respite in the grass, Iain slowly walked up to him. He got pretty close before the calf got up and ran to mama.

As soon as we announced that we won the bid on the property, Mike and Sue Laprise bought us six baby chicks…and here they are on our first days on the property. Unfortunately, only two of the original six remain. But the good news is that we learned a lot about raising chickens from these gals, and the two that survived it all are now the “mother hens” of our ever-growing flock.

This is Max, the day Dad brought him to us. Cute little stinker.

This is Max and Opal a few days after Max arrived. Back then, Opal – even as small as he was – was the dominant personality in their friendship, mostly because Max was so pudgy that he could barely walk straight, let alone climb the stairs.

Beans TNG

These are some of the pinto beans Ms. Dorothy gave us. We let these to dry on the vine (mostly). We’re continuing to dry them for planting next year, so these are our “next generation” of beans. Free food…doesn’t get much better than that!

The Grappler

It took a nearly a month, but the grapple finally arrived! Ewald did a great job of installing it for us, turning it around in just under a day. Now to take care of that brush pile….

Open wide…

…aaaaaand it looks like we’re going to need some practice here.

The massive old fence posts were much easier, though.

Repurposing an Old Boot

Iain “outgrew” (literally) his boots. They were too far gone for Goodwill, so we pondered a bit on how we might use them around the property. Then, we had an idea…nail them to the porch, fill them with soil, and use them as planters. I think Iain planted garlic in this one – and there’s something else in there, too. Whatever is in there, one thing’s for sure – they smell better now.

We Got Stairs!

Another day project on the outdoor kitchen. Finally got tired enough of hearing my bones creek every time I lurched up onto (or down from) the deck. First time I’ve ever built stairs, and I’m sure if you peered in from the other side, you’d be aghast at what you saw. But, hey, they hold my 300+ pounds without any shimmying or shaking, and that’s good enough for me.