Osprey in Green Lake Wisconsin

I'm not going to write a lot of information about the beautiful Osprey.  The internet has all that, but seeing them in person is amazing.  One of our neighboring communities has an Osprey nest on top of one of the spotlights on their baseball diamond.  It is a big nest, and this is the third year they have nested in this spot.  Apparently the lights of the ball diamond doesn't bother them.   We stopped by this week, but I didn't see the bird.  It was a dreary rainy day so the bird was either snuggled down in the nest or out looking for food. This is a link for the Osprey cam.   http://www.greenlakeassociation.com/glaw/index.php/what-we-do/watershed-education/green-lake-osprey-cam/

They also have a Facebook page.  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Green-Lake-Conservancy/211577598900997

This is the nest we saw on April 14, 2014,  but there was no Osprey in sight.

This photo was taken by a member of the Green Lake Conservancy this Spring.

We have seen Osprey in the trees outside our windows but they are pretty illusive, and I haven't gotten a good photo yet.  A year ago I blogged a picture and that is as good as I can get so far.  Click on the link below to see the April 8, 2013 blog post.

http://www.thecabincountess.com/2013/04/is-it-osprey.html

The "400"

I wasn't sure what to write today.  It is Throwback Thursday, it would have been my Mom's 90th birthday today and it is my 400th blogpost.  I decided to incorporate all of them.

Our family picture from 1951.  Mom and Dad are 27 years old.
Dad is holding my baby sister and I'm in front of mom.

My mom was born on April 17, 1924.  She was the ninth of ten children.  Her mother died when she was only thirteen years old.  Most of her siblings had gone off on their own so that left her younger brother and herself to run the household and help take care of her grandmother.  Her father worked on the railroad and would be gone from dawn to dusk.  When she was ready to attend high school there was no high school nearby.  They had to rent a room in town, and she would live there all week.  She would go home on the weekend.  No wonder she grew up to be such a strong person and very protective of her family.  When she graduated from high school, she worked until until she met my dad and got married.

Mom with her mom in 1926.  They died on the same day 74 years apart.

 
This being my 400th blog it reminded me that Mom worked in Milwaukee for a while and lived with a friend.  She also had a sister and a brother who lived there.  To get to Milwaukee they took the train.  The passenger train they took was called the "400".  The train was named the 400 because it could travel the 400 miles from Chicago to Minneapolis/St. Paul via Milwaukee in 400 minutes.  I heard about them taking this train a lot when I was growing up.  To make the trip so quickly, the train had very few scheduled stops.  This was before the interstate system and a car trip from Central Wisconsin to Milwaukee was a major trip.  The train was a major form of transportation.

The railroad track is abandoned now.  A bike trail has been constructed along the old railroad bed.  It is called the 400 bike trail and runs from Reedsburg, Wisconsin to Elroy, Wisconsin.   It is a wonderful place to hike or bike.  We need to return soon.  It's been five years since we have been there.

This was Mother's Day 2009.  It was so cold that day that  we had to bundle up.

 

Northern Shoveler's and Ring-necked Ducks On Our Pond

We had two different duck breeds show up after the snow on Sunday night.  I saw them earlier this Spring but they were too far away to get a photo.  One was a Northern Shoveler and the other a Ring-necked Duck.  Each are very pretty ducks.  We have another breed out there today but I haven't identified it yet.

The pair on the right are a male and female Northern Shoveler and the others are Ring-necked Ducks.

Male Northern Shoveler photo came from the Cornell Lab site.

These are the Northern Shoveler ducks.  Notice the wider bill which looks like a shovel.

Ring-necked Duck photo also came from Cornell Lab of Ornithology

I took a video of the ducks.  I need some practice with videos.  My jerky motions have to be controlled better, and the sound is so sensitive that any little sound is heard.  I also should be editing out some of the video with much nothing going on.  Hopefully my next video will turn out better.

In addition to the ducks, more birds are returning to their springtime stomping ground.  This is a Rufous-sided Towhee.

Rufous Sided Towhee

And then there is the Mourning Dove.  They stay all winter but must also think it is time for Spring.   This one has some nesting material in it's beak and is getting ready to build a nest.

Mourning Dove

Chicken Pot Pie

It's Tuesday and it's recipe day.  I won't be posting any recipe with rain, snow or cold in the title.  We have had enough of that this week.  I wasn't sure what recipe to choose, but then I remembered an easy Pot Pie I made last week.

It isn't pretty but tastes good.  My pie crust was in the freezer so long it was
brittle.  I just pieced it together, and it worked out fine.

Chicken Pot Pie

2 frozen pie crusts
1 pound boneless chicken breasts, cut in small pieces
2 cups of frozen mixed vegetables
1 tub of Philadelphia garlic cooking creme

Cook the chicken pieces until the chicken is done and slightly browned.
Add the frozen mixed vegetables and cook for another two minutes until they are unthawed and heated.
Stir in the cooking creme.

Spoon the mixture into a one of the crusts (to save calories you can spoon into a pie pan without a bottom crust).

Cover with a top crust.  Crimp edges and cut slits in the crust to vent the steam.  Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

You can use 3 cups of cut up rotisserie chicken mixed with mixed vegetables and cooking creme to make it even easier.

April Snow

Yesterday's blog posed a question

What Do April Showers Bring?

The Answer is:

SNOW 

Enough said

   

 

What Do April Showers Bring?

If April showers bring May flowers then we should have a boatload of beautiful flowers in a month.  I know, you expected me to say "and then what do Mayflowers bring?  Pilgrims".  I have grandchildren, and I know some of those riddles.  Seriously, we have had a lot of rain in the last two days.  Nobody seems to mind.  I even saw a guy mowing the lawn in the rain.  I saw people raking and acting like it wasn't even raining.  I think people are so grateful that it isn't snowing, and it is washing all the remnants of winter away.  We even had thunder and lightning.  That is a sure sign of a spring/summer storm.  We had two summers without any rain in our rain barrels.  Hopefully this year will be different and the drought will be over.  Of course, we had Spring flooding before and very little rain all summer.

We are having some minor flooding this year but not near as much as other years.

The ducks and birds don't even notice the rain.  They just go about their business just like the people I saw today who were raking, biking and mowing.

Even a rainy day is pretty in it's own way.

It's still raining tonight, but tomorrow it's supposed to clear up.

More Sandhill Cranes

I hope anyone who reads my blogs will forgive me for writing another post on the Sandhill Crane.  We are very fortunate to live in an area that has a lot of Sandhill Cranes.  I feel fortunate, but others don't like them at all.  They are very loud with a trumpeting sound that starts early in the morning and can go late into the night.  They hang out in marshes and wetlands, but they also hang out in farmers cornfields.  They eat all the corn that was left behind during the previous years picking.   In the Spring before planting season that is fine, but sometimes they eat the corn after it has been planted.  The farmers have measures to scare them off, but it doesn't always work.  When they gather in huge groups they can do major damage.  Despite all the complaints, I think they are beautiful and elegant.  Of course, I don't make a living growing crops.  I may feel different then.

Sandhill Cranes are usually a grayish color but they rub sand on their feathers for more camouflage.  

Today were traveling down a country road near our home.  In fact, it goes right past the area where the team of Operation Migration sets up their camp.  For those who aren't familiar with Operation Migration, I wrote about it a few times.  It is the group who trains and helps young Whooping Cranes migrate with the help of ultralight aircraft.

http://www.thecabincountess.com/2013/03/operation-migration.html
http://www.thecabincountess.com/2013/07/operation-migration-class-of-2013.html
http://www.thecabincountess.com/2013/09/whooping-crane-class-of-2013-are.html
http://www.thecabincountess.com/2013/11/crane-migration.html

The eight young Whooping Cranes who were raised here in 2013 and wintered in Florida are on their way back.  Hopefully they will return to the same area they were raised in.  I also hope that I can see them at some point, if only from a distance.  People are encouraged not to approach these beautiful birds at any time.  In the meantime, I am posting some photos of the Sandhill Cranes I took today.  I have blogged about the Sandhill Cranes many times, but I get a thrill every time I see them.

Life Is Not Always Smooth Sailing

The full moon isn't until next week, but you wouldn't know it around here.  We live in this old log cabin with a wonderful setting, but everything doesn't always run smoothly.  We have a septic system which requires having a sump pump in our lower level.  Any water used downstairs goes into a storage tank, and it is pumped up and out to the septic tank.  Last weekend we heard a terrible noise.   We thought it was our dishwasher, but then followed the noise downstairs.  It was the sump pump.  We called our plumber, but he was on vacation.  He suggested that we could call someone else, but we have not had good luck with a few workers we have hired in the past.  We decided to wait for the plumber to return.  As a result, we can't use any water downstairs.  That means I can't do laundry for the week, and we only have one bathroom for the three of us.  Hopefully, when he returns, it will be an easy repair.

Then Tuesday night, I got a call from my daughter.  Our youngest grandson had a 103 degree fever and a cough.  She wondered if I could stay with him Wednesday.  That wasn't a problem.  I arrived at 8:00 am.  Ewan was feeling a little better, but the dog had diarrhea.  Oh goody, goody.  I was worried, but the day went well.  The only incident happened when I was trying to get Ewan to take a nap.  Piper had an accident in the living room which gave me the opportunity to get a stool sample for the vet.  See, everything happens for a reason.  I collected the sample, and put it outside on the back porch.

Spiderman Ewan with dress shoes on.

While upstairs, Ewan didn't want to sleep.  He just turned four and he insists that he never ever gets tired and doesn't need to nap.  As I was laying down with him, he got up to go to the bathroom.  I waited for him and after a while I heard the toilet flush and the water in the sink run.  When he came back, he went directly into his closet.  He pulled out his black dress shoes.  He put them on (on the wrong foot), and I asked him if he was going to tie them.  He said "I just learned how to wipe my own butt, but I haven't learned to tie my shoes yet."

Being with a four year old is so much fun.  They say the cutest things.  Earlier Ewan was telling me all about Gorilla's.  He said that the Daddy Gorilla had metal on his back.  He meant that he was a silverback gorilla.  To him silver equals metal.  I hate to see all these little ones grow up.

As far as the puppy, she has a bacterial infection.  After my daughter got home, she took the sample I collected out to the vet.  That wasn't as easy as it sounded either.  Apparently the baggie of doo doo blew off the back porch, and my daughter couldn't find it.  Then she spotted it in the driveway.  It had blown off the porch, and she had run over it with the car.  So she had to put the broken bag in another bag.   Yucky as it was, she managed to get it tested.

Today everything was back to normal.  I woke up with a headache because I hadn't had enough coffee yesterday, but as soon as I had my first cup, the headache went away.  Ok, I'm addicted and I know it.  Hopefully when the full moon actually does appear, we won't have any more minor problems to deal with. 

Tapioca Pudding

A couple days ago I asked my Dad if there was anything he was hungry for.  He said he didn't get hungry at his age.  Of course he doesn't.  He grazes all day long.  It is amazing that he doesn't weigh a lot more than he does.  He told me that I hadn't made rice pudding or tapioca pudding for a long time.  I used to make him rice pudding every week.  I told him that he got sick of eating the rice pudding, but in reality it was me who got sick of making it.  Even though the pressure cooker recipe couldn't be easier. I blogged that recipe  Rice Pudding.

If you are interested, I made another pressure cooker version recently and it was even easier.

You just melt 2 tablespoons of butter in the pressure cooker and add 3 cups of milk.  Set it to Brown and let the milk come to a boil.  Then stir in 1 cup of long grain uncooked rice.  Cover and set the pressure cooker on low for 15 minutes.  Let the pressure release naturally.  It usually takes about 15 minutes.  Remove the cover and stir in 1/3 to 1/2 cup of sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla.  You can add raisins if you choose.  No more cooking, just stir and serve.

 I don't think I ever made tapioca pudding for Dad.  My husband can't stand the thought of it.  He told me when we first got married that tapioca pudding was the pudding with those little fish eyes in it.  As a result of that statement, I never tried to make it.  I remembered that I had a bag of small pearl tapioca that I purchased at a local discount grocery store.  It was $1.00 and I was going to grind it up to use in a gluten free recipe.  I took the bag from the cupboard and the directions said to soak it overnight.  The rest of the recipe required a lot of monkeying around.  It had to be cooked and then egg whites had to be whipped and folded in.  I looked around and found a much easier method.  It actually turned out wonderful for my first attempt.

Tapioca Pudding

3 cups of whole milk
1/2 cup small pearl tapioca (soaked overnight in a cup of water) or 1/2 cup quick cooking tapioca
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Drain the water off the tapioca that has been soaked and stir together with the milk, sugar and salt in a saucepan.  Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly.  Reduce the heat to low and stir for five more minutes.

Gradually add a cup or so of the hot mixture to the two beaten eggs.  To do this, you have to slowly stir in a couple tablespoons of the hot mixture at a time.  This warms up the eggs gradually without cooking them.  When it is incorporated, then stir back into the rest of the tapioca and mix well.  Bring the mixture back to a simmer and cook for two more minutes.  The mixture will become thick.  Remove from the heat and add the vanilla.

Pour it into individual dishes or a bowl and put it into the refrigerator.  I put plastic wrap on top to keep a skin from forming.  When I served it, it was a little thick from the refrigerator so I warmed it for 30 seconds in the microwave.  It would be a perfect consistency if served at room temperature.

Cleaning Up The Trumpet Vines

Last summer I wrote about how our Trumpet Vine had taken over the yard.  It is a beautiful plant if it is confined, but it can be very invasive if let to grow uncontrolled.  The Invasive Trumpet Vine

As part of our Spring cleanup, we dug out many many trumpet vine plants from our perennial flower garden.  It was easier to do it now rather than during the active growing season.  After we burned off the garden, it was easy to see the trumpet plants.  The burned off area charred the plants, but the fire wasn't hot enough to eliminate the plants.

The plants had gotten quite large.

You can see how these plants can take over.  These are the roots.  They are very large and strong.

Now that we have eliminated all the trumpet shoots, we will be able to control their growth this summer.  Hopefully that will give the other plants more room to grow.

Beautiful Trumpet Vine

*Update:  It's been two years since we did this cleanup.  Digging out the roots does not work.  The Trumpet plants continued to grow and have almost taken over.  They are beautiful plants and the hummingbirds love the flowers, but I suggest planting them alone in an open area.  This way the new shoots can be mowed off and kept under control. 

Great Day To Clean Up The Sunflower Seed Hulls

The Pussy willows at my daughter's house.

Today was the warmest day since I don't remember when.  I imagine it was some time last November.  Being a person who likes cooler weather, it wouldn't have to get much warmer for me to be content.  Because it was so nice and here in Wisconsin you never know what the next day will bring, we decided to continue with some more yard cleanup projects.  For anyone who reads this blog, you know we feed the birds an unbelievable amount of seed.  We feed all year long, but over the winter months the shells from the sunflower seeds accumulate.

The ground under the bird feeders are solid shells from the eaten sunflower seeds.

Today they were all thawed out and dry, so it was time to remove them.  Usually my husband just takes a rake and a shovel to get the job done.  This year he had a bright idea.  Why not take the shop vacuum and vacuum them up.  So he did.

He started out raking.

Then out came the shop vac.

Now lets make it even easier, why not sit down and vacuum.

Was it working?

Dad the supervisor had to come over to check if there was a problem.

A wheelbarrow full of hulls.

The vacuum had to be emptied quite often and was taking quite a while.  Finally my husband got up off his chair, put away the vacuum and finished the job the normal way.  He used a snow shovel and a rake. When the snow is gone, the snow shovel is still useful to use as a dust pan.  It works great.

A snow shovel and a rake makes the job go fast.

Now the only thing left is to dump the pile of sunflower hulls in the woods.  There is still some good eating in there for the birds and the squirrels.  Nothing goes to waste.  Then it will slowly compost into some nice soil.

Big pile of sunflower hulls sitting in the woods.

April 6, 2014, it is 63 degrees at 2:00pm.