One day at a time has been deleted as I said it would be.  I have a lot of good friends out there that understand a little more as to my absence in gatherings and quick appearances requiring my working around the sun.  Now you have my FB link. Even though the situation is hard I appreciate the love and as one person said,.......hey you can blog now and expand your adventures. I am not so sure computer work is for me. I like to move around more. I just simply wanted people who are close to me know a little more in writing than talking. Talking is very hard for me right now. So thank you for doing the read with-in the time line I requested. Keeping in touch! Suzanne

Gophers! That is the topic of my below blog.

Yes it has been awhile. I have not forgotten the blog just got caught up in life, in the flesh. Computer sit down work has been of a different phase. I have helped a few people out with their issues and not really focused on my own wants and desires.

I went to my 40th high school reunion this past summer. That was a reality check! I wondered who invited all the chaperons? 

My Gabion walls have grown and with the cooler weather I might do some more to finish off the design. 

The chickens seem to be holding their own. This year we didn't make enough money to break even. The price of feed have gone up so much that we have to re think the farm, so I am thinking of some other kind of farm status to try. Any ideas? 

Forget the garden! Like the last two years, last year was a total flop! This year I found out about Gophers. I had more devastating trouble with gopher than anything else. Mice had to take a back seat to being the #1 pest. The sneaky jobs the gophers had surpassed any mice attack. I was smiling and dreaming about all the squash, artichokes, bell peppers, tomatoes to eat, only to find them were gone the next day. Just a pile of dirt!  The plants that were planted in raised above gardens were eaten by mice and believe it or not, this year it is the birds! They come along and snap off the stems. Thinking I'll do a winter garden I tried broccoli this year. I was looking out the kitchen window a couple of days ago, hypnotically watching the birds fly in and out of my back yard, only to realize the birds were on my green sprouted broccoli and make nubs out of the stocks! I dashed outside to cover the plants with screening. Now the plants are half gone!, These plants were in  tall barrels to keep out the jumping mice! I have the healthiest rodents on the planet, so I think! Maybe you have had the same issue. Share in how you took care of the problem if you were successful, and without using poisons. 

I will share with you I am a desert raised kid. In all of my 58 years of life I have never experienced an earthquake, and I never expected to either! But last summer one night, I had just started to drifted off to sleep when my standard poodle, Cottonball Jack started barking. I was in that time of, sleep/wake/sleep drift, when the bed vibrated so hard I thought a full grown Saint Bernard dog had jumped onto the bed and shook! I had to grab onto the mattress as it almost rattled me off the bed! Now remember, I was just re waking up and not really understanding what was happening, but I did know I don't have a dog that big and I was straddled almost sideways on the bed. WHY? After the reality sunk in, my thoughts raced to the holes the gophers dug to eat my plants! I thought: The darn gophers dug a hole under my house! They were sucking me under too! BIG GOPHER holes! I put my shoes on and went out the back of the house to check under the house. I opened the trap door and peeked in with a flashlight. A couple of glowing tiny eyes glowed back at me, then disappeared. I went to the front of the house and things looked level. I then went to the deck that over looked at the town below me. I had never seen so many lights on before. I didn't even know there were that many people in the town! I went back into the house wondering if I dreamed the event. What ever it was I was glad it was over and I didn't have to figure out who to call for a house filling hole! I looked at the heavy clock that was on a shelf above the head of the bed. It was slightly sideways from normal sitting. I said to myself I need to move it if I have any more dreams like that! As I drifted off to sleep I thought maybe an earthquake. Naw, couldn't be... I Live in Arizona! Exhaustion from farm work I had no trouble falling asleep. The next day I was waking up to the sound of a rooster and remembering the events of the night. After the animal chores I turned on the computer and looked at the news. YUP an earthquake, just as I sleepily suspected. As I surfed the web for more information a fellow blogger said it was as if a bear had crawled across the roof of his camper, he was camping around the grand Canyon area! 
So that is a little of the highlights of the summer. Now deep into the winter months I am getting ready for what I am hoping is snow. Yes I love the with stuff. It brings water to the much needed aquifers. We have a mine that wants to move into the area. I am apposing the event. There are enough mining accidents and water being one of our most precious resources is in the drought stages here. And this mining company wants to withdraw 2 million four hundred forty eight gallons of water in a twenty four hour period of time. It is a set up for disaster in the aquifer department. And we live in an area where Earth fissures are popping up all around us. I learned I can trap the golfers! The mining company is trapping us!
Where is the responsibility for the people who live in the area. And if you ask me, there are way to many mines starting to destroy our beautiful country side, pollute the air and poison our water! But hey!.. They say it is all in the name of progress. I call it regression! We have learned that these mines have many accidents. It is a matter of time before it fails somewhere. Man is his own worse enemy! Does anyone out there know a way of discouraging the mines? It will be a matter of time befog nobody will have a place to live where it isn't tainted. Share please. 

Farm day

HI! Twice in one week to blog! A record for me!

I hope everyone is enjoying their weather. Here in Az. we are having upper 60's. It is unusually warm for this time of the year. Other parts of the US are going through usually cold. I am very grateful for where I live. 

This morning started out fast paced with a early run out in the mountains with the puppy I am training. She did very well until a huge jack rabbit took her attention. No amount of hollering could call her back. I just had to wait it out. Afterward we came back to the house and got ready for an egg pick up. 

The farm is a busy place with the chickens and all the predators that visit. My other two dogs help keep the coyotes and Cooper's Hawks from attacking the chickens the best they can. When the Hawks attack the chickens they cause the hens to become stressed and we have what I call, 'wonky' eggs. I have a standard poodle who I call the farm foreman. He is fearless behind the fenced in area against the coyotes and birds. Once we came across a badger while checking the fence line! He looked at me as if to ask, is that a short legged coyote!? We don't see many of those around here. We just watched it wiggle off into the brush. I was relived he didn't challenge it.  He knows enough to back off from a snake and when mountain lions are in the area, I don't get any rest. He is absolutely crazy with concern! He paces, barks and goes outside and comes in side. He can't sit still, yet he knows he needs to be careful but he tries his best to protect his territory. One summer night, we had the windows open. I heard him barking wildly, and then I could smell the fragrant smell of a 'stinky kitty'. I just knew he was telling that skunk who was boss. Soon I could hear him running down the hall, to announce his victory. I closed the bedroom door before he could pounce on the bed sharing in the victory. Skunks will eat the heads off the chickens in the dark of night. It was a very busy day cleaning his thick coat.

Today was a good day with cleaning and getting caught back up with the laundry. But mostly I wanted to post the flip sided sign I painted.  

A couple of pointers for the Gabion cages. I uses galvanized fencing and wire. They don't rust, so I read. Also attach a bottom to the basket cage. I know it sound silly to point that out, but if you don't have a bottom to it, your cage shape can be easily distorted. I tried to cut that corner. Didn't work. I do hope you get a chance to look up the Gabion walls on Google. There are some fun shapes out there. 

Until another time. Everyone stay safe!

Gabion wall.

It has been awhile since I have visited my own blog page. I have had company and they came with a puppy that needed training...or I should say the owner needed training! Anyone who knows me, knows I have a natural communication with animals. This puppy was smart and learned faster than the owner did! This company guy visited me six years ago and stayed for two months. He traveled around in his motor home back then. He was traveling past this area so he stopped by to say hi, and to see how things were going! He stayed for two weeks, and just left yesterday. I was happy to have him here as we got a lot of things done here on the farm with his help. I have another friend that says...company is like fish, after a couple of days they start to smell! She has her point. I was happy to see him come by as I wondered what has happened to him over the years. And yes I was happy to get my routine back when he left. This time he didn't have a motor home. He had a truck and stayed inside our little home bunked out on the couch with us. His puppy was in a huge kennel that over took our tiny living room. His puppy didn't need the kennel, he was so well behaved. 

A lot has changed in the last six years for us, and him and it was fun to catch up on his adventures and our farm growth. We now have phone numbers and emails address and modern technology updated ways to keep in touch. I hope his adventures continue to grow more family friends!

So what have I been doing since the last blog? LOTS! 
However, my most recent adventure and interests is those Gabion rock walls! I was walking out to feed the chickens one morning and twisted my ankle, on a rock, again. Here at this location, I seem to grow rocks effortlessly! So I took out a chicken cage that I had stored in the coop area and tossed a few rocks into it, thinking it would keep them out of my path. After a few levels of rock, I thought I should put the cage somewhere it would look nice. Next thing I know, I was out there, collecting rocks and my focus was filling the cage to the top with rocks. This is my first cage, ...after it has been moved twice! It isn't very big, about 10 inches tall by about 36 inches long and about 10 inches wide. 

Well after that one, I got hooked, and looked around for more wired cages and fencing and made my own shapes. I was in a mode of don't mess with me I am on a mission! Tame those rocks! It took a couple of days to gather more rocks for the next bigger basket.  

And it grew from there! 
I learned after the first basket, that it takes a lot of rocks, which I have, I just have to go collect them, which is better to do in the cool weather. 
I learned it takes a lot of time to stack those rocks so that they look somewhat decent. To which I am still practicing. 
It was about the fourth day that something clicked in my process. And I am sure it has something to do with the fact that I had to unload a huge basket twice before I liked it. It was leaning crooked the first time. The second time it was bulging outward like a mushroom at the top. I learned to not push the effort at dark thinking I would get it done and I'd feel good about my project in the morning. Didn't happen. I was not as happy with it in the day light as I was in my pushed night time effort. YES! Every time I did that, I had to undo it the next day. I also learned to stand back to look at the stacking as I go up with a layer of rocks. Looking for holes and weird movement of the cage. 

Needless to say, I am having fun! When I am no longer on this planet, the next person can easily remove the wall, in the meanwhile I am taming those rocks and for some reason can hardly wait to grow more rocks! 

Oh, I need to mention another friend of mine. I emailed  a picture of my craftiness to her to show her what I did when I copped an attitude over a rock. She sent me an idea! Put out a sign that says...

Ring Bell...

If no answer...

Stack Rocks! 

Yup! I did make that sign! I am not happy with it just yet but this is one side of it for now. I have another side of it to practice on.

I will start to work on the other side tonight.

For now, time to go gather the eggs!

Until my next blog! Stay safe! 

Quinoa and buckwheat pancakes.

Today after the duties of the farm and the morning walk,  (we saw a snake sunning itself ), I made Quinoa and buckwheat  pancakes. I enjoy them hot or cold and even frozen. I make a lot at a time so I can freeze them and take them with me when I walk in the mornings or go out on a SAR mission. They are a good hearty pancakes. The recipe is really simple.  I must warn you though, I am writing out the recipe as I do it.

In my dry mix: (I typically have this dry mix in mason jars, so I have about 6 cups of the mix in the jar at all times.)

Dry mix is always ready!

One cup of Quinoa Flour. (I make my own by putting the Quinoa seed in the blender and whip it up into a flour. I found that one cup of dry seed equals about two cups of flour!)
One cup of buckwheat flour.
Two teaspoons of baking soda
A table spoon of cinnamon more if you want, or less.
And salt if you want. About 1/8.
Now if you double that you have four cups of dry stuff. But I typically triple it.

I put recipes together like my grandmother did. Well okay, somebody else's grandmother did it my way. Neither of my grandmothers cooked anything from... "Scratch"!

Understand, this is a very forgiving recipe!

The next part is the wet stuff. The more wet stuff you make, you have more pancakes. This is the part of the recipe that dictates the amount of pancakes I make.

In a large mixing bowl:
I whip up into a thick lather, four eggs.
Add about...(give or take) a tablespoon of Apple cider vinegar. YUP Apple cider vinegar. It seems to make the pancake hold together and not be so dry, but if you don't have any, don't worry. You'll still have something yummy to eat.
About three table spoons of liquid Coconut oil. I use extra virgin cold press.
I add coconut palm sugar to taste into the wet liquid. I like to make my wet mix taste like eggnog. Remember real eggnog?
(Sometimes I add water, about a cup, to the wet mix along with the eggs and coconut oil. It doesn't seem to change the pancake much, maybe makes it a tad bit thinner)

Mix it together and then...
Add the dry mix to the wet mix about 1/4 a cup at a time by shaking in a little at a time out of the jar or what you put your dry mix into. I just tip the mason jar over and start shaking it into the wet mix until I have a thin batter. You can make a thick batter too just by adding more dry stuff, that is if you want a hearty pancake that takes care of the hungries. (I found that out by accident! I shook and tilted the dry mix out and a bunch came out all at once! I looked like a snowman!) 

I found out that if I over beat the dry and wet mix to long together it will be dry also. 

I take my pancakes with me on missions and on the road when I travel. I find it doesn't need to be refrigerated. Sometimes I place it on my dashboard when I am on the run and it tastes as if it were fresh off the grill! Ummmm maybe even better!

They look like this unless my husband makes them. Then they look a little more fluffier. Also he makes them on a cast iron flat heavy skillet on the stove. He can make more at a time than I do on that thing. 
If you like your pancakes sweeter, just add more sweetener to the wet mix.
Well, time to go out a feed the farm animals and collect the eggs! 
Enjoy the weekend! 
Suzanne

Chicken's verses the Coppers Hawk.

Farm life can be very harsh! 

Even more so frustrating when you can't do any protecting of your livestock and lively hood as some predators are protected by law. 

In the last three days I have lost three chickens to the protected Coopers Hawk. (See the picture below...warning, not pretty)They not only kill my chickens, they also scare the flock and this causes stress in the eggs. This causes the egg to change size, thickness of egg shell becomes thin, and they lay rather odd looking shapes. I call them 'wonky' eggs. I try calling in the crows, by getting big bones and putting them all over the yard.  The chickens enjoy the bones too.  The crows seem to keep away the hawks, and for some time, that works. However, the egg production go down as the crows eat the eggs, but on the upside is they don't kill the chickens. My dogs do a good job of chasing after the hawks when they are perched up on a electrical pole. Some hawks just look at the dogs ignoring them, and others fly off. Our chickens have the entire 7 acres of land to roam. They do have a coop to retire to at night but prefer to scratch around for bugs all over the place during the day. Last winter season I lost 23 chickens to the hawks. Typically the white chickens don't survive long out here as they are easily seen when they hide in the bush, but in the last two days, two of the chickens were baby black giants. I decided to try the black giants as to me they look like crows and lay a nice egg. They take longer to start laying eggs, and are not as fast egg producers as some of the other breeds. I have one giant black rooster that is one sweet guy. I can pick him up and carry him around. He stays by me while I am outside doing stuff. Kind of like a puppy that doesn't chase a ball. He just likes to follow me. I call him Buck-a-roo. I typically don't name my birds. I learned a long time ago to not get attached to them. I have had my favorites. 

So today I start the day off early with yard work making my presents known to the hawks. They still seem to have the last laugh and a full belly. The price of seed has tripled in the last two years, I am not even breaking even. So reality is setting in, now I am trying to figure out a different agricultural crop that will be more cost effective and easier to raise in the mid to higher south west rocky desert. I want the green apple trees, figs, and pomegranate bush in the dwarf size. Then I won't need to climb a tall latter as I get older. My husband thinks grapes! I say they are a lot more work, (for me in the long run) reminding him we live on grounds that are mostly rock! The garden crops seem to be a failure year after year here. We have a lot of golfers that eat the roots under ground. I also discovered that leghorn chickens like to fly and they went up and over my garden fencing to enjoy all of my food. I do have a couple of grow barrels that help keep out the underground critters only to lose the fruits to birds and rodents  I just can't seem to win. My neighbor thinks exotic cactus would be a good crop. Sounds a lot easier to me, except that I would like to have something to eat for my efforts too.

So if anyone has ideas, I'd like to hear it. Or what has helped you? 

Thanks! Suzanne

Warning, picture below is not pretty!

Former chicken lost to a Coopers Hawk. The Coopers Hawk is protected by law.