Breakfaaaast!

Montana Man LOVES breakfast. And one of the things I am working on is making him breakfast when he is home. Complete with coffee of course. Saturday morning I made him eggs and toast. But this time I used eggs from our own chickens! Friday afternoon I collected our third (successful) egg and was surprised to see it larger than the others so soon. When I cracked that egg in to the pan, much to my delight, it contained TWO yolks! Wow, over achievement girls.

See the two yolks buddying up to each other? Awe... twins!
As a side note, Sunday we finally got a burning permit and we burned all day on the house lot as well as took a few more trees down. My dad walked the lot with Montana Man a few days ago and they have 'positioned' the house with paint so we now have a clear vision of how it will sit on the lot. We have also gotten our quote for building materials and are satisfied with it. Slow going but progress is progress! We should be digging a hole in the next two weeks. THAT will be a big post!!!

'Til next time!

Greenhouse Chronicles: July Growth

Until I recently went back and looked at the picture from this post, I did not fully appreciate how much the tomatoes have grown. They went from this:

To this:

Um, can you say thanks Miracle Gro? I should hasten to add that they're feet are in organic potting soil and also that I did not make boxes deep enough to not feed them. I would like to point out that other that blue dye, Miracle Gro is pretty much just a bunch of minerals. And I also just happen to have a large box of it unused in my barn... Can't win them all! Next year in our raised beds I will be making a more complex mix of soil. This year I needed to plant tomatoes ASAP. And, I am disorganized to the max. The End.

Something I have never done before that I would like to remark on is pruning more than just the 'armpit suckers'. In my search for information on growing tomatoes all the way in a greenhouse, I read an article on pruning. This person who grew tomatoes in an extremely short growing period (Canada) stressed the importance of pruning for maximum fruit. Prune all but three (3) stems below a clump of fruit or flowers and all suckers. *Never the tops because this will halt growth* I have tons of flowers and now some small tomatoes growing... maybe about twenty on each plant at the current time and they keep getting taller and making more! Assuming each fruit reaches about four ounces in weight and the fruit doubles to forty at eighteen plants I am looking at about 180 pounds of fruit. Time will tell I guess!

Here are a few more pictures from the greenhouse to give you an idea of the growth:

Rutgers (heirloom)

Jalapeno

Cayenne Peppers

Updates: It's a big day around here!

Our first EGGS! Oh my goodness, I have been waiting! My dad found these this morning. They are a bit small but honestly I am just impressed their first eggs are fully formed! So two out of the eleven are laying, I'm sure the rest won't be far behind.

The break in this insane heat "dome" we had the last week, gave me some much needed motivation to putter in my farm yard. So I chose to tackle a much needed task... to trim the stallions mane. Now, if you know horses, you might know that Morgans have insanely thick manes. When they are running like the wind and you grasp them for dear life, this comes in handy. When they have grown out and are super long and tangled and you want to brush it, not so much. So I left the kiddos with Daddy, grabbed some scissors and went out hoping I wouldn't screw it up this time. I have *ahem*, 'trimmed' his mane before. It looked like he got in a fight with the weed whacker. Not my best work. I have learned a few things about Morgan manes in the mean time and vowed this time it would look fab. The trick is to cut off the length a few inches shy of your goal and then blend with the scissors almost completely vertical making 'snips'. Then to take out some bulk I combed just under half of his mane to one side and 'razored' it like a barber would do to make layers. This way you don't have an under layer that grows back sticking straight up (been there do that). It takes time, patience and practice but I think I nailed it this time!

Typical stallion pose... moody with a leg stretched back!
Also, if you know anything about horses/ this breed, you might notice he is fat. I haven't weight taped him recently but my rough estimate would be about 975-1000 pounds. Bit hefty for the little fellow! Given that he is on free choice hay I can't blame the poor dude, he needs to be ridden. I need to ride. I am going to clean my saddles. Tonight. Time to reclaim my inner equestrian! You know... this chick.

Me on my first horse at 16.
I think between getting married, having a baby and sorting out the house building plans, I forgot about me. Cliche as it sounds I did what the typical mom does, forgets to still live beyond the diapers and dishes. I am not saying I don't love what I do! 'Cause this mama loves her kids and husband! But recently I kind of stopped and realized, I don't know who the hell I am anymore beyond them. That's scary for me. And, as summer rolls on and my depression has come back, I could really use a distraction and escape. A horse's back is my favorite retreat saddled or bare.

I am also going to try to dedicate more time to this blog. I am not very good with consistency when it comes to my posts. Perhaps I will try once a week and go from there. Writing is also one of my favorite outlets *winky wink*

'Til next time!