Schoonover Farm Blog

Tom left Friday to go to our vintage Boles trailer in the mountains.  I wasn’t feeling well enough to go, but I wanted him to go to do some treatments to prevent tick-borne relapsing fever.  I was tested for this last week, and it is seeming less likely that this is what I have.  But it is still a real risk where our trailer is.  So I wanted Tom to fog the two trailers there and do more mouse proofing.  These ticks are particularly nasty as they live up to 20 years and can go for a few years without a blood meal.  And they are tiny and hide in cabins’ crevices.  Plus one of the higher incidences in the country is basically where our “cabin” is.  The tick in our area is the one on the right also called a “soft tick”.

So while Tom got to go to the mountains, I stayed at home. He is not a huge fan of fish so I decided I would cook with my Drifters Fish Copper River Sockeye salmon.  Friday evening I made Wild Salmon with Savory Whipped Cream.   This was really yummy.  And I watched Vanessa Collier on Can’t stop the Blues.

Wild Salmon with Savory Whipped Cream

I was feeling a little better yesterday so spent some time with the chicks again.  Here they are starting to roost.

I am still trying to figure out what I have.  As I mentioned, the four biggest chicks are from our flock, hatched by one of our Leghorn hen.  So here are the four biggest ones (sorry the first and last photos are awful).

The top two appear to be Favorelle crosses, as my guess.  But the bottom two are still puzzling me.  I am starting to wonder if they could be from Henny Penny (below).  She is our presumed Golden Wyandotte that was dumped here almost 5 years ago.  We have never had any chicks from her.

I love these little speckled Sussex chicks.

And the little Brahma ones too.

I am not sure what these ones are.

Here is a nice assortment.

So all this thinking about chicken breeds has got me thinking about breeding with Little Man.  He is our favorite rooster and is getting older.  He was dumped here almost 7 years ago.  And we do not have any offspring that looked like him.

When the chicks are out of their pen, I am thinking about putting Little Man in there with some likely hens to try to recreate him.  It is a risky business, but it is our only chance.  I know a lot about color and pattern genetics in sheep and goats but know nothing about chickens.  So I will need to do some research and see which of our hens might be most useful in this endeavour.

After chores I still felt well enough to venture into the orchard.  On the way, I saw our pink rhody which is the best it has ever looked.  We had cleared some trees out around it so it is getting more light now.  It seems happy.

Here is our orchard from the back.  An orchard is such a lovely and peaceful place.  I just love going there and looking at the trees and watching the bees.

Tom had told me that the trees are loaded with developing apples.  He is excited that we are going to have a huge crop this year.  He is already getting branch supports out.

Leaving the orchard I noticed one of our Golden Chain trees.  And to think I almost missed seeing it this year.

During lunch I watch the H.B.C.U. graduation stream.

I did take it easy in the afternoon.  I finished watching Season 3 of The Crown (which I loved) and knitting.

For dinner I had Oven-Steamed Salmon.  This was surprisingly good despite the lack of spices.  And it is quick and easy.  I will be making this again for sure.

Oven-Steamed Salmon

And I got to watch Mount St. Helens Goes Boom! with Bill Nye with dinner. A win win, for sure!

After dinner I started watching a new show, History of Food.  So far it is interesting except he used baking soda for a supposed 18th century dish.

Today I did the animal chores and played with Steve a little.  One thing I have been enjoying is harvesting lettuce and radishes for my lunchtime salads.

Today I had leftover steamed salmon on it and the Sunday paper to read.  

In the afternoon I actually had the energy to clean the house.  I cleaned the bathroom, dusted, vacuumed and mopped.  Friday I felt ill, but yesterday and today I haven’t, just tired.  Maybe I am finally getting over whatever it is I have.  But every time I think this I get worse again.  I have an echocardiogram on Tuesday and still need endoscopy, but I think it is being delayed by the COVID backlog.  Tom is back home now so I am happy.  We are watching Ben Rice on Can’t Stop the Blues, one of our favorite artists. So everything is just fine.