This summer has been busy but lately it’s also been terribly hot. Although I lived in Florida for almost twenty years as well as in the sweltering tropics during my childhood…I just can’t take the heat anymore. I think I’m happiest in 55-80 degree weather. At least early summer provided a ton of rain and made my property green and lush:
The blueberry “plant” – that was really just a stick – planted 3 years ago, finally produced it’s first fruit…THREE berries. All the effort I’ve put into this little bush made the flavor of those 3 little berries all the sweeter. Not to mention gave me great appreciation, yet again, for farmers. This is one of my prized berries:
Speaking of gardening, my dream of a huge tomato garden was ended by the goats and my lack of fencing…I’m keeping the dream alive for next growing season. Fortunately, some awesome people who buy my eggs donated a ton of yummy tomatoes to my cause. I felt like I’d hit the lotto with this harvest:
There were plenty of animal ventures too this summer. My awesome big brother came to visit and help me around the farm and decided he wanted to repopulate my little turkey flock and gift me poults. What more could a girl ask for than a gift of feather babies?! Baby turkeys remind me of little bird unicorns. It’s hard to tell from this picture, but trust me, their tiny snoods stand on their heads like little horns. I think they’re adorable!
Probably the biggest animal news is that after much stress over whether or not to get more goats now that Maybelle has healed I finally pulled the trigger and invested in a sweet Nigerian Dwarf buckling. I was so worried Maybelle would reject him since she can be very mean to other goats. Instead, after a year of being by herself recovering from the attack, she immediately loved her new baby, Chauncey. Chauncey has continued to get cuter and hopefully he will be a daddy by Spring. Fingers crossed! I’ve missed having baby goats around. Look at this sweetness:
Another big animal thing: I was contacted about taking in rescue ducklings from South Florida. Apparently the city of Pompano Beach has been hiring trappers to kill the Muscovy ducks, leaving the ducklings to die. Since my pond is only populated by my three geese I was more than happy to take in these little guys. I raised them until after a few weeks Lucian, my male goose, started showing interest in the ducklings. Very quickly Lucian decided they were his babies and his mate and daughter would adopt them. And so they did. It was fascinating watching the two species learn to communicate with each other. It makes me so happy seeing the ducklings loved and protected by their new family.
Despite all the animal happenings I still found a little time to be in the kitchen. The hens laid between 8 and 15 eggs a day which helped me pump out plenty of egg dishes. Can an egg platter ever be TOO large? I don’t think so. 
And I found plenty of ways to enjoy my tea. I decided to attempt to make tea cookies, also called wedding cookies. They’re too good. I ate them all and wish I hadn’t gotten that wild hair…but sometimes the kitchen calls, even when it’s 99 degrees out.
All summer long a volunteer gourd vine that grows from my bonfire pit produced these beautiful gourds. One vine has produced around 70 gourds of varying shapes, sizes and colors. Had it rained more late summer I think it would have produced a lot more. Either way, I’m well-equipped for fall with these natural beauties:
Speaking of fall…my favorite season…I’ve been trying to motivate the cooler temps to arrive by decorating for the season. The mums lasted about a day before the goats discovered and destroyed them. Fortunately, the goats couldn’t wreck my new favorite fall treat, pumpkin cheesecake mousse. I love that it’s light and not super sweet…not to mention it’s a great compliment to my favorite pottery pieces.
2019 has flown by. Soon these scorching temps will be a thing of the past and I’ll finally be able to reignite my relationship with my beloved fireplace. <3
