2 Things Challenge: Blue/Fresh

These images are from last night at the Red Rocks Amphitheater, we heard The Avett Brothers.  The weather was PERFECT.

I just came across these singers on the radio, Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer.  Beautiful song and musicians.

I was born in a forked-tongued story,
raised up by merchants and drugstore liars.
Now I walk on the paths of glory,
one foot in ice, one in fire.

I see the mountain, the mountain comes to me,
I see the mountain and that is all I see.

Some poor prophet comes, some find solace,
some lay him down in a junkyard bay.
Some will chase us and some will call us,
gone, gone, gone in a day.

gone to the mountain, the mountain comes to me,
i see the mountain and that is all I see.

Miller take me and miller grind me,
scatter by bones on the wild green tide.
Maybe some roving bird will find me,
over the water we'll ride.

over the mountain, the mountain comes to me,
I see the mountain and that is all I see.

Some build temples and some find altars,
some come in tall hats and robes spun fine.
Some in rags, some in gemstone halters,
some push the pegs back in line.

I see the mountain, the mountain comes to me,
I see the mountain and that is all I see.

Baby Bunny Butt Cheeks

We've all had days like this.

More photos to come of the bunny babies born on May 19th!

This Year's Apartment Garden

These photos were taken on June 15th.  The spinach I'm going to have to feed to bunnies, it just isn't doing well.  I think I'm going to transplant a few basil plants into this window pot.

The basil seeds were several years old, I wasn't sure they'd sprout so I planted a bunch.  Whoops.  They've done great, now I'm going to have to give some away.

And I set aside a few organic fuji apple seeds to dry a few months ago.  The day after I took these photos, there were two seedlings in this pot.  But here's the first one with the pot all to itself.

The Portrait of a Lady

I loved this novel, but I love the movie as well.  I had the biggest crush on Martin Donovan after watching this movie in high school.  I love this tune so much, I taught myself how to play it on my flute.  Queen of the Nerds, right here.

Martin Donovan, as Ralph.

2 Things Challenge: Wooden/Word

Wooden/Word: My mother-in-law has a friend that does wood carving.  She brought me this when they visited last November.

In the Hoophouse

My parents have a fantastic hoop house for growing vegetables year round.

There were a lot of praying mantises...manti?  They were so small, I had a heck of a time getting them into focus.

A young grasshopper on the left, a very young mantis on the right, enjoying the good weather in the spinach patch.

This is a praying mantis egg case.  The mantis is a carnivore, my parents introduced them to keep the veggie eating bug population down.  Unfortunately, they ate a lot of each other up as well.  A full grown mantis will even take on a scorpion!  Not that we have those in Ohio...

Other insects get into the hoop house as well and need help getting out...

                                              

                                              ...which is when this comes in handy.

Puppy Romps

Romeo and Teddy romp and go for a dip.

Wheee!

Wheeeeeeee!

What was that?

I like to think I'm a good influence on my step-dog.  I love to see him having fun.

Pele the Precocious

Eight month old Pele is the newest feline edition to Blackberry Farm.

He is very bright and full of energy, and named after a soccer player because he spends a lot of his time slapping toys around the house...

until he plays so hard that he falls asleep...

while reaching for one of his toys under the furniture.

Everything needs to be checked out and pounced on,

until he gets distracted by something even more interesting.

Here he is exploring the pasture fenceline.  A farm is a great place for curious cats.

And here he is being the little kid he is.  Isn't he just the definition of feline?

Teriyaki and Your Protein of Choice

Homemade stir-fry is probably one of my favorite meals.  Yummy, healthy, versatile to any diet, and so easy to make!  You just take your protein (chicken, tofu, etc.), your veggies, a good teriyaki sauce (that can be gluten-free if you prefer), and serve it over a good old bowl of brown rice.  Very tasty and satisfying.

                                       

This particular batch was made with locally raised Boulder Natural chicken, broccoli, an onion, shredded carrot, a few finely chopped garlic cloves, a couple spoonfuls of minced ginger, and San-J brand teriyaki sauce.  I got the rice cooking, then I put the bite size chopped chicken in a covered cast iron pan with a cup of water on medium heat to poach it.  When the chicken was no longer pink, I drained the pan and put it back on the stove to steam a moment.  When the water had steamed away, I added some olive oil, the veggies and ginger, and stirred to coat everything.  I steamed the broccoli in a separate pan for a few minutes beforehand so that it wasn't too crunchy.

If you're like me, you've spent years trying to figure out what you're doing wrong when cooking a pot of brown rice.  I've tried using a rice cooker, a dutch oven, and a copper bottomed pot and always followed the recipe exactly according to the package directions.  Never turned out well and I'd always resort to white basmati or jasmine rice, which honestly I really only like with curry.  But I came across a gem of a recipe HERE.  I've used it several times so far and it comes out juuust right every time.  Thanks Saveur!

2 Things Challenge: Peaceful/Then

Peaceful in the pasture.  These photos were taken early last month, May 4th.