Winter Came Early

It snowed here on Saturday.  My guess is that we got about 2 inches.  The trees were flocked and every surface was coated with the white stuff but the roads are free and clear.  I think the asphalt must have been just a little too warm when it started around 1 PM Saturday afternoon so it did not shut everything down.  So anyway, it is beautiful here.

When we moved into this house we knew that the house needed insulation.  For some reason no one every thought to insulate this house in over a hundred years.  Maybe they ran into the same fiduciary restrains we have been running into of late.  I digress.  Evelyn had her last pottery sale of the year on Saturday morning so I drove here down there and then over to The Big Box Hardware Store to buy enough bats of insulation for the job.

The job started really easy and it looked great.  Over course, I wore a paper mask while I worked but I was not into the second package when I notice it was getting hard to breath.  Finally, I figured out that I had been sweating and the mask was soaked through, essentially suffocating me every time I inhaled.  So I swapped out the water logged mask for Evelyn’s respirator and got back at it.

By the time I finished I was bushed.  My knees hurt from crawling around the attic, and my hands, the same hands that gave me such fits earlier in the year were sore and achy.  Serves me right.  But the job was done and now the house warms up as quick as you can expect a heat pump to warm it up.  And its a good thing too because come Monday we had problems.

But on Sunday, we had a ball.  Evelyn, Gertrude, and I took a walk in the woods in morning.  We bundled up, put plastic bag on our feet (under our boots) and headed out into the snow.  I thought I had seen a stream running through the woods behind our house on the Google Earth photos of the properties around here and I wanted to explore the woods when I knew nobody would be out there with a fire arm.  We did find a big creek back there and Gertie jump right in a little part that was about chest deep.  It must have been freezing.  What a silly dog.  But that’s our McGurk.

When we got back we fixed some eggs, bacon, and potatoes.  Then settled in on the couch to watch the Godfather and maybe take a nap.  I learned that you can not take a nap during the Godfather.

So, the high on Monday was 28 degrees.  Yes, 28 degrees.  IN NORTH CAROLINA!  Or at least that is what Evelyn claims.  But It was chilly.  So then we go to bed.  The next morning I went into the kitchen to make the coffee and what do I find?  The pipes froze over night.  Ugh.  Maybe I will put this in the book I might write one day, “So, You Think You Want To Live In The Country?”  Anyway, I put a space heater under the house and one in the well house before I left for school today and Evelyn said the water started running again around 10 AM.  When I got out of school I ran by The Other Big Box Hardware Store and picked up some rubber wraps for the pipes.  When I got home, I crawled under the house to wrap ‘em up.

Speaking of wrapping it up.  I’m outta here.

A First for Us

A couple of weeks ago, our friends asked if we'd like to come over and help slaughter their chickens. We'd talked about this a lot and wanted to see the process in person so Aaron went over to help and learn.  I didn't expect it but he came home with a freshly killed chicken in a freezer bag. Thanks Eli and Carolyn!

I wanted to make a special meal from this chicken, so I simmered the whole bird for about 4-5 hours with some pot veggies. When the bird was tender I took about half of the meat and made a chicken pot pie. We ate it last night and it was delicious, great for a chilly night. I'm going to make soup from the remaining meat and broth. 

Here's a photo:

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 3 cups cooked chicken, chopped

• 1 cups chicken broth

• 1 purchased or homemade pie crust

• 1/4 cup butter

• 1 medium onion, chopped

• 1 large sliced celery stalk

• 3 carrots

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 cup half-and-half

• 1/2 cup frozen peas

• 1 egg, beaten

Preparation: In a large saucepan, melt butter. Add onion, celery and carrots. Cook for about 3 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Stir in flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt (less if using salty broth) and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add the broth and milk; cook and stir until thickened and bubbling. Stir in chicken and peas; pour into a round casserole dish. Brush the edges of the casserole with beaten egg to help the pie crust adhere. Place pie crust over the mixture; cut to fit and crimp edges all around. Cut steam vents in top. If desired, re-roll and cut excess pastry into strips or decorative shapes and lay over the crust. Brush chicken pot pie with remaining beaten egg. Bake at 400° for 30 to 40 minutes, or until crust is browned.

The Last of the Fall Garden

This week I went out and gathered up what I could from what remains in the garden. We're supposed to get several nights in the 20's. There are still some carrots, beets and onions in the ground but they should do okay with the weather. We were surprised how big the carrots got so fast, I think it's because I planted them where the potatoes were so there was a lot of loose dirt for them to grow in. Here's a photo:

This week I'm catching up around the house. I've been so busy with getting ready for my Fall shows, everything else has taken a back seat. Yesterday I cleaned out the attic so that Aaron can put insulation up there this weekend. There's absolutely no insulation in this house and we feel like we've been wasting a bunch of money in heat that's going right through the ceiling.