Photos/what's been going on around here

There were so many pictures clogging up my cell phone that the poor thing was barely working.  I moved them all over to the laptop today so it's a good chance to share some of the things that have been going on.

We are STILL getting alpine strawberries! 

It was really hot last weekend, around 80 degrees.  We went to a corn maze/farm park with friends. It was a lot of fun, though a bit pricey; $14 admission for a 2 year old, seriously. You had to admire the ingenuity of the people that owned the place though.  There were so many things for kids to do.

The maze.

The weather turned colder for a couple of days. We had our first frost, a light one, during that time. Now it's warmed up again.

Elyse has been doing this to both the refrigerator and the dish washer.  Bless her adorable soul, she is useful for exactly one thing around here but it's a very important one: telling me about mice/bugs/snakes in the house. (Yes, snakes.  That actually happened once, no idea how it got in.) Elyse was afraid of everything when we got her from the shelter including her own reflection so this is a huge show of bravery. She must have been some kind of pointer in a previous life but I've learned never to ignore her when she's "telling" me about something. Traps were set and one mouse has been killed so far. A massively pregnant one. I felt terrible. 

There was one day this week when I went into the chicken yard and almost stepped on a duck egg.  We haven't had duck eggs since most of them got killed in the spring (possibly a fox) so my female Pekin must have started laying.  Spent the day making fresh pasta with that egg and a chicken egg.  Just flour, the eggs and a bit of olive oil.  We had some leftover roast potatoes and winter squash from the night before so I pureed those and made tortellini.

They looked clumsy but tasted delicious and I learned a lot about filling and shaping them.

After I ran out of filling I made some noodles with lemon zest and thyme and put them in the dehydrator.

These little plain squares were cut out of scraps.  They're the size of postage stamps and they'll be used in soup this winter.

What else went on.... we sent 12 Cornish Cross chickens to the butcher and I butchered 4 chickens myself along with 10 quail.   Been doing a little bit of crafting, not much but trying to get back into things.  There are some projects I've started that it would be nice to finish this winter.  Thinking about reading. Looking forward to slower days as it gets cooler.