Some Things Should Never Change....

We are getting ready for our first event at The Brown Barn! We have having a New Years Eve Day party. We have been working on moving our stuff out of the main areas, setting up a gameroom for the kids, and shopping  for some new holiday decorations. One of the decorations we found today was this....

Now the reason we thought this was so special is that Randie had this....

Some things should never change. Traditions are a good thing. We hope to keep a the traditions alive when we make The Brown Barn our own. Caring for injured wildlife, giving as much hospitality as possible, and of course the garden party will still be held every year!!

Dividing Rooms

It has been quite a while since I posted. I have been busy getting the new house ready for a move this spring. I went to The Brown Barn today and was greeted by a small doe...

The reason I came out today was to finish the downstairs bedroom. I am splitting it into two, one side for Fernando and the other for our domestic birds. (Sorry about the bedroom Gabe!).

The view from the stairs...

New pine door....

New closet....

With shelving and new green handles....

Birds room.....

Back of the new closet.. 

Finally, a Tom....

I had been seeing a lot of groups of hens lately, but finally found a tom and some jakes.

All puffed up... sucked in gut....

Turkey Butt!!

And finally another random barn picture that I want to use for a blog or twitter background.....

Maybe I'll make my own Barn Charm Badge.

I am also sharing this post with This or that Thursday.

Using the fruits...

It is a good feeling to work hard and see the results at the end of your toil. Today, I used some of the fruits of our labor in the garden to put together a quick and simple dinner. The first item I cooked, was a beautiful acorn squash we grew at our community garden plot. To this I added butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, and three marshmallows per half. I wrapped this in foil and threw it on the grill for about an hour. After that was going, I put together a chicken in foil for the grill. This is what it looked like before cooking.

Now a little closer....

Now this was quite easy to throw together:

2 Medium chicken breasts

2 Tbs. Olive oil

2 Tbs. Salsa starter blend (from a packet)

2 Tbs. Recipe Secrets Savory Herb with Garlic Blend (another packet)

3 Medium Red tomatoes

3 Medium Green tomatoes

1. Combine the olive oil and seasonings in a ziploc bag.

2. Add chicken and shake well to coat.

3. Put chicken on aluminum foil.

4. Quarter the red a green tomatoes and place on top of the chicken.

5. Salt and pepper to taste.

6. Add three sprigs parsley.

7. Wrap tightly in the foil and grill until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 160° F as measured with a  tip sensitive digital thermometer. (Sorry, I am a food safety microbiologist!)

8. Serve and enjoy!

It was very fun to put this together as the tomatoes and parsley were fresh from my garden. Hope you all get a chance to try this out!!

I am sharing this post with Ruby Tuesday.

Back to the pumpkin patch...

Just a couple of random shots I took out at Cuff Farms tonight.....

Short post...

I have been concentrating on my other two photo journals and have neglected this one for a week. Just a few quick shares.....

Red-Tail Hawk Takeoff. I was happy to see the "fingers" after I got this one on the computer.

I love old rusted farm implements! I hope to have a few @thebrownbarn when we move out there!

Dear Turkey,

Actually deer / turkey. We went out @thebrownbarn today so the ladies could tie up some IWRC details. I spent the day cleaning and arranging the shed in between rain showers. I did get a lot of stuff cleaned up! It was getting late and I needed to get my barn, so I headed out for a little ride. What I actually found was a nice doe.

While I was shooting this out the drivers window, I saw this down the road. 

@Windshieldphoto

Bunch of hens. I did get a little closer and took this, not the best, but not bad considering the light. I had to throw on the 50mm and crank it down to 1.8 (makes focusing in the brush really fun!).

More Tomatoes!!

Today was a busy day. First, down the street to get some paver base to finish the patio. Patio done, check... (pictures to come shortly!)

 Next, pick some tomatoes.

I can't believe all of the tomatoes we have harvested this year!!

Then off to thebrownbarn to dump off the rest of the paver base and pick up some wood pellets, check, done. Take some random pictures, and a barn,, check done!

Milkweed pod I.

Milkweed pod II. 

Lydia is staying the night and we will go pick her up Sunday. She loves staying out there with Randie!!

Eggplant...

Well, time to get in another fall harvest. Eggplant this time. Twenty-six eggplants to be exact.

So, if anyone in the area needs any, let me know. I have already given away four, grilled two, and have plans for the rest. Good eating this week. Here is what I do to grill some eggplant...

1. Rinse eggplant.

2. Peel eggplant.

3. Slice into thin slices (1/4" to 3/8")

4. Cover with olive oil. If it seems that the olive oil disappears, put some more on.

5. Season with sea or garlic salt.

6. Grill with medium heat on a non-stick grilling pan.

7. Flip when oil starts to sizzle.

8. Cook until brown and reaches at least 145°F.

9. sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

10 Enjoy!!

We also enjoy eggplant parmesan, and are going to try to cook and freeze a few batches to see if it will re-constitute well.

Historic Day

Today was a great day with the kids, we went over to the Grignon Mansion, Thousand Islands Nature Center, Heckrodt Nature Center, and ended up at Fratello's for dinner.

The mansion was closed, but we still took a few pictures.

The mansion was built in the last 1830's on land that was bought from the Menominee Indians in 1790. This sign tells a little of the story.

Nice price for almost 1300 acres. The real reason I came here was this.....

An outhouse. One of my friends asked me to take a picture of one, and they are few and far between.

Across the street from the mansion, there was an enormous slice of spruce. I would have loved to be alive to see a tree of this girth alive. I guess I will have to go see the redwoods someday.

It is sad that one of the entries on the sign is board feet. This tree was worth more than the 123, 922 board feet that was taken out of it.....

We went for lunch and headed over to Thousand Islands. This is the place where Aurora was hatched and lost her eye.

This was her nest.

I am surprised that the nest was still in the tree. We saw a lot of downed trees from the numerous wind storms we have had this summer. 

This one was making a tunnel across one of the trails. We went quite a ways and ended up at Old Ferry Road. It was an early portage on the Fox River, that was later used as a ferry point for freight.

The best tree of the day goes to the yep, yep, yep tree. (If you have ever watched the Muppets, you will get it!)

Our next stop was Heckrodt. The IWRC was holding a training conference, and we thought we would stop and check it out. The kids got to climb into an eagle nest replica.

After we all cleaned up and loaded the gear, we headed to Fratello's. I had a great dinner of Chicken and Spinach Gnocchi with a nice cream sauce. It was great to sit and relax after a busy weekend.

Beat....

Well, today was a life experience. I have never before picked up, transported and re-stacked a hundred bales of hay in a day, and don't want to do it again anytime soon. The hay is for Windy, I thought as long as I am posting I should share a few pictures of her.

When we move out to the brown barn, Windy is going to be moving in with us. Hopefully, we will also move out a Belgian to be a friend. Negotiations are in progress. 

The place that I picking up the hay from is Mulroy Irish Acres. The farm has been in the family since 1864. I also posted these pictures to my Barn Blog. I have been wanting to take an upshot of a silo, today was the day. I love that the vines have climbed all the way to the top....

Plus the other thing that really broke up the monotony of he day was this gem...

Now that is funny shit. I guess that I now know one thing about hay... I don't know anything......

But, I am sure I will learn pretty quickly......

Fun Weekend and a Little Backtracking....

Siblings, friends, enemies, playmates, son, daughter. I had a great day Saturday with the kids. First we went over to the park to try some pictures in the great fall colors.

Then we took a ride over to get some ice cream. After that we ran into a fire/police saftey event. The kids got to put out a "fire".

We eventually made it out to the pumpkin patch....





It was a beautiful day! After I told the owner of the farm about my barn project, he told me I should go check out his other barn and abandoned farmhouse. Wow! I could spend a few hours inside, but only stayed a little while.

The barn.

This is a great stove that is in the kitchen of the house.

This is a veiw of the barn through a broken window in an upstairs bedroom.

And now for the backtracking. In my previous post about missing September, I neglected to say anything about the second "final" harvest of the garden.

We got quite a few nice eggplants, a ton of cherry tomatoes, cukes, green, jalapeno, and tabasco peppers, onions, and garlic. It was a good season, and we are still harvesting tomatoes and eggplant.

And one day while out looking for barns, I ran into a bunch of turkeys. No toms, or jakes, just a bunch of squacking hens....