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amberfocusWow, what a difference feeling like a normal human being is. Or mostly normal. We went to the after school family swim, got to the pool about 5 minutes to four. It was empty and one little girl came in for a swim lessons a few minutes later, so we basically had the whole pool to ourselves. I got the lap lane and swam 40 laps. I went about ten minutes over an hour, so at five o'clock sent the kids to the locker room and switched to the next lane over when adult lap swim started and finished up there, because I could see someone was waiting for it to be five o'clock right at the bench at the end of the lap lane, which usually means it is reserved for then, so I just swam up until 4:59 and switched over without being asked.
It took me a while to get into the zone today, but I was there around lap 15. Probably better than I've been in quite a while. My breathing just synced up and I was so focused and didn't even lose count on my laps at all. I wore my knee brace again. It keeps me more aware of not kicking too much with that leg, plus adds support. I did a little bit of kicking, just to see what it could take and I think maybe five of the laps I kicked on. I did 34 crawl stroke and 2 back stroke, 2 on my back with both arms in sync, and 2 sidestroke laps. I am putting ice on my knee tonight as a preventative measure, because the doctor said to keep icing it after activity.
Dad ended up getting placed in a nursing home in Issaquah, which is a lot further away than we wanted. Mom is exhausted. She'll be going down there on Tuesday with my eldest sister, and so we'll be on duck and chicken duty while she is gone. They are pretty well trained now. Of the original flock there are only seven chickens and two ducks left. Pecky died a about four weeks back when he got himself trapped under a board and injured his breast bone or ribcage or something trying to get out. Mom eventually found him and pulled him out, but the damage was done. He lived about ten days after that but he was walking funny and spending most of his time in the wading pool floating to take the pressure off his body. We knew he probably would not make it but it was hard seeing him go. We buried him with chip and the three chickens that got half eaten by a coyote or racoon. Mom's a lot more careful these days about getting them into the coop at dusk.
We are getting seven eggs a day from the chickens, so they are all still laying well despite the shorter days and cooler weather. These eggs beat anything I've ever had. They are even better than the free range organic (which they are, too) from the store, because you're eating them the week they are laid, sometimes the day they are laid. So fresh. Nothing can beat that. They are pretty well trained now and usually go into the coop at twilight. The ducks can be more stubborn. Sometimes they go in and sometimes they do not and you have to herd them to the coop and if you've ever tried herding ducks, it's about as successful as say, herding cats.
Mom is talking about getting some fryers this fall. I'm more hesitant on that, because the kids are very attached to the layers. They won't be allowed to name or play with the fryers though. And we so will not be here when she slaughters them. I am too tender hearted and my kids...gah. I'm like, it's probably cheaper to go to one of the organic chicken farms and place an order and get them already done and wrapped and ready to be frozen than to raise them. Plus if she takes on any more right now I think it'll be too much. We'll see how it goes.
P.S. Does anyone know how to make kale? I saw some in the grocery store and it was bright green and just looked so yummy and it smelled good, too, so I bought it on a whim...and now I don't know what to do with it.
It took me a while to get into the zone today, but I was there around lap 15. Probably better than I've been in quite a while. My breathing just synced up and I was so focused and didn't even lose count on my laps at all. I wore my knee brace again. It keeps me more aware of not kicking too much with that leg, plus adds support. I did a little bit of kicking, just to see what it could take and I think maybe five of the laps I kicked on. I did 34 crawl stroke and 2 back stroke, 2 on my back with both arms in sync, and 2 sidestroke laps. I am putting ice on my knee tonight as a preventative measure, because the doctor said to keep icing it after activity.
Dad ended up getting placed in a nursing home in Issaquah, which is a lot further away than we wanted. Mom is exhausted. She'll be going down there on Tuesday with my eldest sister, and so we'll be on duck and chicken duty while she is gone. They are pretty well trained now. Of the original flock there are only seven chickens and two ducks left. Pecky died a about four weeks back when he got himself trapped under a board and injured his breast bone or ribcage or something trying to get out. Mom eventually found him and pulled him out, but the damage was done. He lived about ten days after that but he was walking funny and spending most of his time in the wading pool floating to take the pressure off his body. We knew he probably would not make it but it was hard seeing him go. We buried him with chip and the three chickens that got half eaten by a coyote or racoon. Mom's a lot more careful these days about getting them into the coop at dusk.
We are getting seven eggs a day from the chickens, so they are all still laying well despite the shorter days and cooler weather. These eggs beat anything I've ever had. They are even better than the free range organic (which they are, too) from the store, because you're eating them the week they are laid, sometimes the day they are laid. So fresh. Nothing can beat that. They are pretty well trained now and usually go into the coop at twilight. The ducks can be more stubborn. Sometimes they go in and sometimes they do not and you have to herd them to the coop and if you've ever tried herding ducks, it's about as successful as say, herding cats.
Mom is talking about getting some fryers this fall. I'm more hesitant on that, because the kids are very attached to the layers. They won't be allowed to name or play with the fryers though. And we so will not be here when she slaughters them. I am too tender hearted and my kids...gah. I'm like, it's probably cheaper to go to one of the organic chicken farms and place an order and get them already done and wrapped and ready to be frozen than to raise them. Plus if she takes on any more right now I think it'll be too much. We'll see how it goes.
P.S. Does anyone know how to make kale? I saw some in the grocery store and it was bright green and just looked so yummy and it smelled good, too, so I bought it on a whim...and now I don't know what to do with it.
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no subject
Date: 2010-10-30 03:32 am (UTC)I love kale! It's my favorite veggie. I lightly steam it, enough so that it's hot and slightly wilting but doesn't lose TOO much of its crispness. Season to taste (I like the au-naturel taste personally).
no subject
Date: 2010-10-30 03:39 am (UTC)Or you could use it to make one of my favourite vegetable dishes, colcannon. You don't have to be anything like as fussy with the proportions as this - or any - recipe, and the version I grew up with and still make looks like more like this:
Just make it as if you were cooking mashed potatoes and cabbage as two separate dishes, then chop some onion or scallion into the potatoes, make sure the kale is well-chopped, and then mix the two together.
Traditionally, in Ireland, it would be served with boiled bacon or corned beef (not in my house, as I dislike both! *g)
no subject
Date: 2010-10-30 03:20 pm (UTC)One of our favorite ways of serving it - and a good way to ease kids into it - is to make a soup. You can go all out to make a Portuguese Kale Soup, or you can just ease into it by making a great minestrone that contains potatoes and no pasta, and adding (if desired) some chili/cayenne and chourico sausage (or a combo of sausage meat and bacon if you can't get hold of chourico). Ten minutes before serving you put the (well-cleaned) and shredded kale in the soup, and cover to let it part-steam, part cook.
Totally yummy.
This link is for a decent Portuguese Kale soup but like all soups it requires you just first to understand the mechanics, and then you can modify it however you want to get to the taste you like.
Rachael Ray's Portuguese Kale Soup (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/portuguese-chourico-and-kale-soup-recipe/index.html)
no subject
Date: 2010-10-30 08:25 pm (UTC)http://www.discoverkale.co.uk/
And well done on the swimming :)
no subject
Date: 2010-10-30 09:19 pm (UTC)Swiss Chard is also delicious cooked this way!
Another great use for Kale is in soup - my coworker last year used to make this amazing vegetable based soup with italian sausage (pre cooked) that was absolutely delicious it had sweet potato chunks in it as well which added a bit of sweet and then at the very end she'd add the kale shredded into small pieces - it was absolutely lovely. In fact, now I think I want to buy some Kale myself and make some soup... I hope I can find it here.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-30 09:52 pm (UTC)I, on the other hand, dislocated my little toe last night. Mr put it back in, but the bruising this morning is unreal. Haven't had anything like that since the last operation on my ankle. Oh, and it hurts like a SOB when I walk too! *sigh*
As for the kale, I always thought it was a bit like spinach (silverbeet), so I'd cook it like that. All this talk of soup is making me hungry *grin*
no subject
Date: 2010-10-31 12:18 am (UTC)In the south, or at least when I was growing up in Kentucky, kale was a substitute for spinach. We'd eat it boiled like spinach, with vinegar drizzled on it.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-31 06:19 pm (UTC)I bet your kids think it's cool as hell to get eggs from the source like that, and to learn how to keep chickens. About kale, though: Don't over-spice it. My parents make seasoned kale from the can sometimes, and I can't even eat it. It's gross. This coming from someone who adores spinach.