Thanksgiving Surprise

WISHING ALL A FRUITFUL AND JOY FILLED

THANKSGIVING!

I'm very lucky...the last two years my daughter-in-law and youngest son have hosted Thanksgiving.  I will be bringing mashed potatoes, deviled eggs and "pumpkin" (butternut squash) pie.  I'm looking forward to this afternoon's dinner and being with my immediate family and my daughter-in-law's family, too.

This morning, as I was putting the finishing touches on the deviled eggs I noticed one of my black Wyandottes had a couple small dark sparrows dogging her...I'd never seen that before...so I put on my glasses and stepped out on the deck to get a closer look...by golly...my hen had two tiny little chicks!  Several weeks ago I noticed one of my hens was missing. I forgot to shut the gate the night before and I figured a coyote or feral cat got a hold of her and she was chicken dinner...I really wanted to kick myself.  She was one of the ten new hens I'd raised from chicks and I really didn't want to lose her.  Well, surprise! surprise! surprise!  Two new chicks to add to the flock!  Gosh I hope they are not roosters!

Surprise!!

Mommy and Tiny Babies

I've been way too busy at work. Thank goodness it's slowed down in the garden and the *home-front*.  I have plenty of canned goods, meats, and food storage to get us through the winter..I don't have time for grocery shopping.  I've been organizing the inventory at the school's kitchen, doing an accounts audit, and some major deep cleaning.  I have not been hired as the Head Cook...I am still the substitute assistant cook...they have not posted the Head Cook job availability as of yet...but they will, and I plan on applying.  In the meantime, we have discovered a number of things had not been taken care of for a very long time...so we've rolled up our sleeves and are getting to work.  I for one am very grateful for the extra few days off for the Thanksgiving holiday...I'm beat.  I'm working on a new inventory control computer program that is easy for each of us to work with.  I'm using the Microsoft Office Access Program and so far it looks pretty good...just takes up too much of my time at home.  The program should save us quite a bit of time in the kitchen...the record keeping is overwhelming...I don't get to spend much time in the kitchen cooking.  I have implemented a mini self-serve salad bar and a mini self-serve fresh salsa and nacho bar.  We are incorporating more local fresh fruits and veggies and soon we'll be doing more scratch cooking...baby steps, but we're on our way.

Friday I plan on devoting my day to the garden, planting my new citrus trees (lemon, lime and tangerines), moving my apiary to the southern end of the walnut orchard.  I plan on planting several trays of transplants, too...lettuces, onions, kale and celery.



Broccoli, Cauliflower and Lettuces Fenced
to Keep Out The Feral Cats!



The Last of the Zinnias and Tomatoes
Waiting Four Our First Hard Frost!