Kittens: birth to 6 weeks

Remember on Mother's Day weekend when Stalker became a mom?

May 10

Well, she actually ended up having TWO kits!

May 11

Rose and I have been absolutely enthralled and have been visiting them multiple times per day. It's been so fun to watch them grow. Rose has even started setting her alarm clock so she can visit them with me in the morning before I leave for work.

Here are some of the highlights so far:

May 14 - their eyes are closed and they don't move much

May 16 - 1 week old and all they do is eat :)

May 22 - almost two weeks old and their eyes are open!

May 22 - we are starting to feel comfortable holding them

May 22 - when Stalker isn't around, Bart (adopted dad) watches after the kits

I love that their ears were folded for the first few weeks.

May 24 - Ivy at age 2 weeks

May 24 - Jay at age 2 weeks

May 25

May 25 - the whole family likes to relax together

Click this link to see a cute video of the kittens trying to walk!!

Blogger got an "update" and now I can't figure out how to embed videos any more!  :( 

But the kittens are so cute that I highly recommend watching the little youtube video I made :)

June 2 - Ivy at 3.5 weeks (ears are now unfolded)

June 2 - me and Jay at 3.5 weeks

June 5 - Jay at about 4 weeks old

On June 4 Stalker started bringing her kits the dead birds she had killed. We haven't seen the kits really do anything with the dead animals yet, but it's amazing to me that Stalker has the instinct to start teaching her kits how to eat solids at this time. I'm looking forward to watching her teach them to hunt!

By the middle of June, the kittens started exploring just outside the quonset! They don't go far, but they are starting to peak out. Doug the dog has been very gentle with them.

June 14 - 5 weeks old

Now every time we go in the quonset they are exploring a new area. Rose says they are "explosive" in regards to their curiosity and playfulness.

June 15

They are also pretty affectionate. Or, at least, they put up with the affections we bestow upon them!

June 16

June 17

June 20

The kits are six weeks old now and I just can't get over how much fun it's been to watch them grow! They are both starting to eat a little wet food, and they have gotten so much bigger and more independent. They are almost as big as (tiny) Stalker now!

Happy six weeks old to Ivy and Jay!

52 hike challenge #25

Sometimes when I don't even realize that I'm grumpy, Mike encourages me to go for a walk. Then I come back feeling so much better and I apologize for not even realizing that I wasn't feeling so great earlier!   Today was one of those days. By the time I got back, I was SO much happier and more relaxed. It was enjoyable to watch all the cloud formations of the storm in the distance.

Doug even stuck his head in some of my photos! Apparently he thinks of himself as quite photogenic. 

Now it's time to relax and rejuvenate before a busy week of work!

52 hike challenge 2020
1. 1/1/20 - 2 mi - out and back
2. 1/5/20 - 4.25 mi - neighborhood loop
3. 1/11/20 - 2 mi - out and back
4. 1/19/20 - 4.25 mi - neighborhood loop
5. 1/26/20 - 4.25 mi - neighborhood loop
6. 2/1/20 - 4.25 mi neighborhood loop
7. 2/2/20 - 2 mi - out and back
8. 2/9/20 - 2 mi? - sledding, and to/from the neighbors
9. 2/15/20 - 4.25 mi neighborhood loop
10. 2/22/20 - 1 mi? -  Lincoln Sculpture in the Wild
(there were at least a few more in here that I, alas, forgot to record)
11. 4/5/20 - 2 mi? - up to the highest peak in our neighborhood
12.  4/10/20 - 2 mi? - down a new drainage next door and back around by the gardens
13. 4/12/20 - 2.5 mi - out and back 

14. 4/18/20 - 1 mi? - down an old creek bed and back up
15. 4/22/20 - 1 mi? - down to the parking lot to pick up my car
16. 4/26/20 - 2 mi? - over to "Pride rock" 

17. 5/1/20 - 2 mi? - over to "Pride rock"

18. 5/2/20 - 4.25 mi - neighborhood loop

19. 5/3/20 - 1.5 mi - to the neighbors' horse pen and back

20. 5/10/20 - 2 mi? - Tower Rock State Park

21. 5/16/20 - 3 mi - Mount Helena (prairie trail up, powerline trail down)

22. 5/30/20 -  1 mi? - down an old creek bed and back up

23. 6/7/20 - 2 mi - out and back

24. 6/13/20 - 2 mi - out and back

25. 6/14/20 - 2 mi - out and back 

Layered Rhubarb Cobbler Pie (TYSC #24)

Layered Rhubarb Cobbler Pie

Treat Yo' Self Challenge #24

Pies chapter

How is it possible that I haven't baked anything from my awesome Midwest Made cookbook since April?!? I mean, I've certainly been busy baking these past couple months (heaven forbid that I go a weekend without cranking on the oven!), but apparently I haven't done anything new or challenging. So today I was back at it!

I absolutely love rhubarb in the summer, and I was intrigued by this construction of this recipe. Basically it's a pie crust (parbaked) in a 9x13 pan, a layer of rhubarb filling, another layer of pie crust (with another short parbake while assembled), then a second layer of rhubarb filling with a third layer of pie crust on the top. Interesting...

So I assembled all my ingredients and got to work!

It turns out that it's actually quite hard to roll a pie crust into a 9x13 rectangle. In retrospect I probably should have rolled it too big and then cut to size, but I was worried it would be too thin and I thought it was better to follow the recipe's instructions the first time. Hence my pretty wonky looking "rectangles" of crust!

Here's the second layer of rhubarb going in: 

And here's the molten hot "cobbler pie," fresh out of the oven!

Ugh, the shrinkage on that top crust is just hideous! At this point I was just praying that the taste would make up for the unsightly appearance. Or maybe the trick is to just plate it and not serve from the pan?? Regardless, after an hour of (im)patient waiting for it to cool...

Verdict: Well, it's good. A little tart  -- which is surprising because of how very many CUPS of sugar the recipe called for, AND the fact that I've previously found several of this author's recipes to be a little too sweet for me. But mostly I was just left a little confused. First, I don't know why the middle layer was necessary. Even thought I parbaked it (following the recipe EXACTLY), it still was mushy in the middle. Second, I don't know why this was really any different from a rhubarb pie. Other than cramming in more rhubarb in the 9x13 pan than would have fit in my standard 10" deep pie pans, I wasn't sure why this format was anything special. Third, I don't know why it's called a cobbler pie. To me, a cobbler has a drop biscuit topping (which differentiates it from a crunchy crisp topping), but this was just three layers of pie crust?!  Fourth (and finally), I found the whole thing to be a little one-note. It was just a lot of rhubarb! Even just a little bit of some sort of berries would have rounded out the flavor and given the recipe a little more dimension. So, bottom line, it was good....but next time I would choose an easier construction and would add another flavor dimension to the filling. Or I would just make my beloved rhubarb crisp, or the bluebarb lime crumble I discovered from this book, instead :)

TYSC Reecap:

24. Layered Rhubarb Cobbler Pie

23. Peanut Better Blossoms *

22. Ozark Skillet Cake

21. Chocolate Revel Bars

20. Five Spice Sweet Rolls **

19. Mrs Braun's Oatmeal Cookies

18. Montana Runza

17. Iced Citrus Bundt Cake

16. Chocolate Chip Chip Shortbread

15. Chocolate Chip Marble Bundt Cake *

14. Garlicky, butter-swirled pull-apart rolls

13. English muffin bread **

12. Next Level Rice Krispie Treats

11. Bluebarb Lime Crumble **

10. Banana Bread

9. Buckeye Bars *

8. Monster Cookies

7. Scone-top Blueberry Muffins

6. Cherry Shortcake Squares **

5. Donut Loaf

4. Coffee-caramel Monkey Bread **

3. Scotcharoos *

2. Swedish Flop *

1. Potica

* indicates my favorites 

** indicates recipes I've made at least twice already

52 hike challenge #24

Yesterday I wanted to squeeze a walk in before the day got too hot and before we had to go to town to run our weekly errands. So Doug and I just did our quick neighborhood out-and-back.  I didn't take any photos during the walk, so here is a picture of today's sunrise instead :)

The other excitement of the weekend is that we poured concrete!  We bought all the materials to expand our solar capacity, so our first step was the secure the new solar post into the ground. Mike did all the really hard work of excavating the hole, which was the real first step. Then he and our neighbor worked together to make the pole level. Here is the pre-work that they did before today:

Then today they ran this concrete mixer with bag after bag of concrete:

Then they poured each batch of wet concrete into Mike's wheelbarrow, and then it was my job to "stab" the concrete with my shovel to spread it out and make sure there were no air bubbles:

And here's our finished product!

We have to wait a few days for the concrete to fully set, then hopefully we'll be able to set up the arrays and wire it in. We are really hoping this new set-up will give us the solar capacity we need!

52 hike challenge 2020
1. 1/1/20 - 2 mi - out and back
2. 1/5/20 - 4.25 mi - neighborhood loop
3. 1/11/20 - 2 mi - out and back
4. 1/19/20 - 4.25 mi - neighborhood loop
5. 1/26/20 - 4.25 mi - neighborhood loop
6. 2/1/20 - 4.25 mi neighborhood loop
7. 2/2/20 - 2 mi - out and back
8. 2/9/20 - 2 mi? - sledding, and to/from the neighbors
9. 2/15/20 - 4.25 mi neighborhood loop
10. 2/22/20 - 1 mi? -  Lincoln Sculpture in the Wild
(there were at least a few more in here that I, alas, forgot to record)
11. 4/5/20 - 2 mi? - up to the highest peak in our neighborhood
12.  4/10/20 - 2 mi? - down a new drainage next door and back around by the gardens
13. 4/12/20 - 2.5 mi - out and back 

14. 4/18/20 - 1 mi? - down an old creek bed and back up
15. 4/22/20 - 1 mi? - down to the parking lot to pick up my car
16. 4/26/20 - 2 mi? - over to "Pride rock" 

17. 5/1/20 - 2 mi? - over to "Pride rock"

18. 5/2/20 - 4.25 mi - neighborhood loop

19. 5/3/20 - 1.5 mi - to the neighbors' horse pen and back

20. 5/10/20 - 2 mi? - Tower Rock State Park

21. 5/16/20 - 3 mi - Mount Helena (prairie trail up, powerline trail down)

22. 5/30/20 -  1 mi? - down an old creek bed and back up

23. 6/7/20 - 2 mi - out and back

24. 6/13/20 - 2 mi - out and back

52 hike challenge #23

This weekend has been pretty rainy so I only got one quick walk/hike in, but it was nice to get out there! Doug and I enjoyed my short out-and-back in the neighborhood.

52 hike challenge 2020
1. 1/1/20 - 2 mi - out and back
2. 1/5/20 - 4.25 mi - neighborhood loop
3. 1/11/20 - 2 mi - out and back
4. 1/19/20 - 4.25 mi - neighborhood loop
5. 1/26/20 - 4.25 mi - neighborhood loop
6. 2/1/20 - 4.25 mi neighborhood loop
7. 2/2/20 - 2 mi - out and back
8. 2/9/20 - 2 mi? - sledding, and to/from the neighbors
9. 2/15/20 - 4.25 mi neighborhood loop
10. 2/22/20 - 1 mi? -  Lincoln Sculpture in the Wild
(there were at least a few more in here that I, alas, forgot to record)
11. 4/5/20 - 2 mi? - up to the highest peak in our neighborhood
12.  4/10/20 - 2 mi? - down a new drainage next door and back around by the gardens
13. 4/12/20 - 2.5 mi - out and back 

14. 4/18/20 - 1 mi? - down an old creek bed and back up
15. 4/22/20 - 1 mi? - down to the parking lot to pick up my car
16. 4/26/20 - 2 mi? - over to "Pride rock" 

17. 5/1/20 - 2 mi? - over to "Pride rock"

18. 5/2/20 - 4.25 mi - neighborhood loop

19. 5/3/20 - 1.5 mi - to the neighbors' horse pen and back

20. 5/10/20 - 2 mi? - Tower Rock State Park

21. 5/16/20 - 3 mi - Mount Helena (prairie trail up, powerline trail down)

22. 5/30/20 -  1 mi? - down an old creek bed and back up

23. 6/7/20 - 2 mi - out and back

projects update

It's rare that I get my ENTIRE weekend to-do list done, so I just want to admire this for a minute:

Ahhhh, doesn't that feel good on a Sunday night?!?

So here are the updates on the projects we started recently:

(1) remember how I mentioned that I was searching for a screen door for the greenhouse? Well now I have one! I salvaged the frame, and spent about $10 for the screen material and about $10 on the hardware (hinges, latches, and pulls). It's SO nice to be able to keep the heavy door open at night (to let the fresh air in) without having to worry about bugs coming in!

(2) we also installed an extra vent directly opposite the screen door (above) to help the air flow directly into the room. Hopefully this will keep my room cooler in the hot summer months!

(3) remember how I said that Mike is working on my loft walls? I've been agonizing over doors for weeks - one door vs. two, double doors vs. french doors, side light vs. swinging wall, etc. Well I finally made a decision and placed the order! So once the order arrives we will then be able to finish the framing (which we couldn't do before because we needed the exact size for the opening) and then start sheet rocking! I'm really, really excited about how nice this is going to be eventually. 

It still looks the same as before, 

but we are making progress behind the scenes!

(4) Do you recall my hatred of mirrors there are not solid? Well, I chucked the despised medicine cabinet in my bathroom, replaced it with a fancy mirror, and spray painted the light fixture so it wasn't so shiny. The mirror is a MILLION times better than that hideous tri-fold medicine cabinet. 

BEFORE

AFTER

The light fixture is still off-center (since moving it would be a bigger undertaking than Mike was willing to help me with this afternoon), but I can tolerate it for now. Eventually we'll either move it or buy a new fixture. But it's infinitely better already because that heinous medicine cabinet is gone. 

(5) The other weekends tasks were all small things like catching up on correspondence, blogging, decrystalling some honey, laundry, car tabs, etc. So no photos of those :)

Not only was it a highly productive weekend, but it was also pretty relaxing! I did some baking, started a new book, and got some quality time with Mike and Rose. Hope you had a great weekend too!

52 hike challenge #22

On the weekend of Mike's birthday, my parents made the decision to come for a visit the following week. This was notable for two reasons: one, we are in the middle of a global pandemic so extra precautions had to be made, and two, we are a family of planners so I've never known my parents to do embark on a vacation (or anything, really) with only three days of preparation!

After two long days of driving, they arrived on Thursday night. On Friday my dad and Rose went on a hike to "pride rock." Of Saturday my mom, Rose and I went on a hike down the old creek bed that Rose loves. 

As you can see, we attempted to physically distance during their visit, which was definitely hard to remember to do. We also played lots of "balloon catch" and "balloon monkey in the middle," and we had all sorts of wonderful meals. I loved having people to bake for!

We also went to our friends' house on the river and went fishing for a few hours on Sunday. We did not catch any fish, but I did catch a small shrubbery and also the shoreline. The river, meanwhile, caught my dad's glasses. (The wind suddenly blew, which caught his hat, which tangled in his glasses, and both the hat and the glasses flew into the river. He got the hat back downstream, but the glasses sunk somewhere and it was too deep and fast-flowing to find them.)

As always, their visit felt way too short. But at least we got to see each other!  

52 hike challenge 2020
1. 1/1/20 - 2 mi - out and back
2. 1/5/20 - 4.25 mi - neighborhood loop
3. 1/11/20 - 2 mi - out and back
4. 1/19/20 - 4.25 mi - neighborhood loop
5. 1/26/20 - 4.25 mi - neighborhood loop
6. 2/1/20 - 4.25 mi neighborhood loop
7. 2/2/20 - 2 mi - out and back
8. 2/9/20 - 2 mi? - sledding, and to/from the neighbors
9. 2/15/20 - 4.25 mi neighborhood loop
10. 2/22/20 - 1 mi? -  Lincoln Sculpture in the Wild
(there were at least a few more in here that I, alas, forgot to record)
11. 4/5/20 - 2 mi? - up to the highest peak in our neighborhood
12.  4/10/20 - 2 mi? - down a new drainage next door and back around by the gardens
13. 4/12/20 - 2.5 mi - out and back 

14. 4/18/20 - 1 mi? - down an old creek bed and back up
15. 4/22/20 - 1 mi? - down to the parking lot to pick up my car
16. 4/26/20 - 2 mi? - over to "Pride rock" 

17. 5/1/20 - 2 mi? - over to "Pride rock"

18. 5/2/20 - 4.25 mi - neighborhood loop

19. 5/3/20 - 1.5 mi - to the neighbors' horse pen and back

20. 5/10/20 - 2 mi? - Tower Rock State Park

21. 5/16/20 - 3 mi - Mount Helena (prairie trail up, powerline trail down)

22. 5/30/20 -  1 mi? - down an old creek bed and back up