Today/This Week

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Here is our pie!  It was made by the girls. We used the canned apple pie filling from a few months ago. I hear that it wasn't as tasty as Grandma Dora's, but it was still an apple pie!  You can never go wrong with an apple pie! 

It had a tad bit of a jelly texture. I'm not sure if it was after cooling or if it was because of the way I processed the filling. Any suggestions? 

Andy's "turkey" is stuffed and ready for the oven!

Here's the "turkey" dressed and ready to eat! Believe it or not everyone who wanted a piece was able to get one! It looked and tasted just as yummy as the real one! 

Andy has decided to make some "poor man" geese decoys out of cardboard. They're not ready just yet, but they are looking good so far! 

It's never too early...

....to learn how to sort Papa Bear's birdshot! 

Also- we are still taking photos, but they have been on Andy's iPod. Unfortunately, there isn't a wifi connection needed to email those photos!  We'll get them sent soon! 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Catching up

Here is a bag of furs. I do not exactly know what Andy's plan is with them at this point. I'm sure I'll find out soon. (Andy likes to take blurry photos.)

Look who decided to come outside today!  First time in weeks! Makes my heart warm. Now, how to get them laying again? Jen suggested supplements in their food.  My response to that was they they will be supplementing my food if they don't get their act together quick! 

Stolen berry picker from the Smiths. It's awesome!  Andy is a sneaky one! 

First frost!

It's getting cold outside, so don't forget to zip up!

What a bunch of chickens!

My poor Donnas have yet to leave their coop since the coyote sneak attack. I'm worried they won't make it through the winter if they refuse to get some vitamin d. Their wattles and combs are fading in color, but I'm not exactly sure that's related to it or not. Still no eggs. :( 

This week in photos

Thank you to those who contacted me about not receiving pictures this week.  I love you too!  My excuse...I am lazy. My phone was full and I needed to upload the photos. The computer was dead, so it needed to be plugged in. I was lazy, and didn't do either until about Saturday night. I've also been really busy. We had a great volleyball tourney on Saturday (2nd place finish, go Dolphins!), taught at church Sunday, Seahawks game Sunday, and youth symphony Sunday (thank you Danielle!).  It's been crazy!  I'm ready for some turkey and a nap! 🍗😴

Anyway, I hope you are all doing well, and enjoy the photos from last week!

Bri'Anna 

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Here are three nice sized salmon from fishing with Steve. We baked one whole fish. I used a brown sugar rub on one half and a jerk rub on the other. The girls passed on the sweet and gobbled down the savory. They also drank about a gallon of milk to offset the spicy flavor too! Hahaha 

The rabbit hides hanging to dry in the shed. I think he set up a gear lamp to speed it up since the stench was awful and would probably attract unwanted critters. 

Here is what was left of the apples. I meant to make apple sauce, but decided on cider instead. This made about 1.5 quarts. No much, but I can't complain about free apples! 

They are back in the house tonight to finish drying (not sure why they are still hanging since I thought they were already dried. I do know Andy stretched them. He 'hulked' a few in half as he stretched them out, and I was asked to mend them back in one piece once they were all done. 

I'm still mourning the loss of my Donna. :( 

Follow our urban farm at: westseattlehomesteaders.blogspot.com

Mittens in the making.

Andy and Evan have been working hard to preserve the rabbit hides. Today, Evan pulled them from the tanning solution, rinsed them, wrung them out, and hung them all to dry. 

It looks like quite a bit of fur if they turn out. Andy needs to scrape the meat and fat off a little better and also work the leather after they're dry. 

It's a long process, but worth the work if they turn out. 

Evan has called the first pillow and the first pair of mittens...mismatched of course! 

Crab Feed

Steve Kesling (Adventure Charters) took Andy out charter fishing and crabbing this weekend. Andy was grateful for the time out with him and for the time spent on the water. He brought home three large salmon and 11 crabs from one day out!  We feasted today while watching the Seahawks win. The kids loved whacking the crabs and digging into its leg with its own claw. All of this seafood was such a treat. After talking with my dad, I plan to make some crab cakes (wish me luck!) and possibly some crab Mac & Cheese!  There is no way we are letting Andy's bounty go to waste! 

Sneaky Rabbit

I like to sneak rabbit meat into our meals. This time I added it to our bean soup and no one was the wiser. Unfortunately for me, the kids don't care if it's beef, chicken, or rabbit so my efforts are in vain. I suppose it's a great thing they aren't picky about their meats. It doesn't stop me from pretending they'd be grossed out if they knew the truth. ;) 

More sadness

Here is a picture of Adam and Eve. I didn't have the heart to send another picture of dead kits. Five more didn't make it. :( We still don't know what exactly we are doing wrong.

Ugh...

Five more dead bunnies. 

Don't know what we're doing wrong. 

Makes me sad. 

Freakin' Tina 0 - Evan 1

I have NO words to truly describe how crazy this is. 

Evan went outside to close the coop door and whacked this giant rat with a stick. Seriously.  She is stealthy and mighty!  Who needs a cat when you have an 11 year old farm kid with ACTUAL catlike reflexes?! Hahaha 

This weekend.

I've been under the weather this weekend, so I've been a bit behind on the photos. 

We have decided to repurpose the wood from the chicken tractor. We'll find a good use for it I'm sure. 

Here's Matilde helping to cleanup the neighborhood with Papa and Chacha. She suggested we find one of these things in her size! 

Here's Evan having WAY too much fun with her Papa's leaf blower! 

Salmon fishing in the Yakima River.

Success!  

Andy and Tim enjoyed a beautiful weekend fishing together along (and in) the Yakima River.

If you want to know where to get a pair of those irresistibly sexy waders, just shoot me an email. ;)

Apple pie in a can.

Thought I would listen to Granmo when she suggested I can apple pie filling. I thought it sounded way too good to be true- pour, heat, and serve! Too tasty and delicious to be healthy that's for sure! Can't wait to try it out. Thank you Granmo!