Well another week has come and gone. I have been trying to find moments of sanity amidst the busy, barking, messy-boy-filled kennel. We have been busy/full for about a month now couple that with the record breaking heat, it’s really taking a toll. So needless to say sitting in a chair and sorting, editing photos is not high on my priority list. I have been shooting still on occasion and I have wanted to share the little adventures but if I can’t find the time right after shooting they just go in the archives. Anyway, hopefully things will settle down soon… seems I am always saying that.
On to the pictures food first!
I made hamburger buns from scratch, though they are not the prettiest to look at (oven hot spots much) they were miiiighty fine.
Especially when paired with the BBQ we made (okay Costco helped). The Mr. wanted me to make these again so he can put jam and butter on them, guess that means they were good in his book too.
Chris also made up a smore over our gas oven. These were supposed to be made on our camping trip, but we never had a chance to do so. Story on that one is still to come.
We finally had a chance to use the fire wires I bought at William Sonoma. Basically it’s a kabob wire that allows flexibility with placement to utilize the grill space. Verdict is that this is a great invention. Worked beautifully, even if it was the only thing on the grill.
You all know how much I love to share wild fruits with you. So I have to tell you about the latest happenings in the woods. These are Paw Paw fruit, they are the largest native growing fruit in the area (maybe even US).
They are most easily located by the big oblong leaves, and when they are in full swing the woods around here sometimes even smell like their fruit. So far they are only about 2 or 3 inches long, and have been about that since the 4th. Their ripe size is about 6-8 inches, so we have a ways to go yet. I really hope our vacation does not fall in the ripe time period, I am hoping to pick these this year and make some Paw Paw ice cream…. speaking of ice cream.
The long overdue share of the Earl Grey Ice cream I made. Served up in a new mug my friends upstairs got me from Oregon. This is not a cone type of ice cream, so when I thought of sharing it in the new mug I knew it was a perfect idea. This was a very interesting ice cream, and if you are not an earl grey tea lover you probably would not like it, as after every bite the flavor lingered. Good stuff, not a good evening ice cream though as 15 grams of loose leaf tea was used to make it.
It is high time I introduce some of the goats to you more officially… and what better goat to start with than the apparent heard matriarch, Capone (as in Al Capone… because she is a mobster/bully of all the other goats (except her kids)) to be honest she kind of irritates me with this behavior, and when I can I try and step in a bit.
And second in command to her (sort of) is Miss Piggy. Yes I have reason for that name, she is the first to climb up on the gate to get handouts and has yet to really turn anything down. She can be uncalled-for-bossy too, what is it with these full Boar goats?
Way down on the pecking order is this girl, who I am officially calling Nubby. She has teeny horn nubs that are the result of a less than thorough dis-budding as a kid. She is not overly into affection either, so she has been hard to win over.
And last but not least this is Chewy, as you can probably see she has a bit of an underbite. She occasionally will let me give her some love, but her sister is much more compliant. And there you have it, 4 of our 10 goats. I really should spend more time with them as I always found it relaxing, but I don’t know if these big goats will have the same effect as my smaller less bossy goats did.
And that’s where I’ll leave you for the night. I hope you all had a great weekend, hopefully things can get back to normal soon.
AKG Inspiration 
gah. that ice cream looks amazing! i’ll need to find a recipe…
Now, of course, I am starving. My leftover lunch did not fill me up quite enough to match the level of your gorgeous photos!
I am so glad you have shared some of the goat photos. They are all just so cute. I’d love to be able to have some myself eventually. If the man will ever give in. They look like so much fun, though I am sure looking after them is not easy.
It is definitely time for some smores, I think.
No worries, there will be plenty more goat photos eventually to continue to wear him down. They are pretty easy keepers, the hardest part is the fencing but I have seen people keep goats in some pretty crappy fencing with no problem. They prefer weeds/prickers/trees to grass which is nice, and they become as friendly as dogs. My bottle fed 2 used to try and lay in my lap, wish I had some pictures of that. Go for a smaller breed like the Pygmy or my favorite the Nigerian Dwarf, MUCH more manageable. Outside of having a tight fence they just need water and food like anything else outside, oh and they hate the rain but do very well in hot weather and in winter they grow a second coat. So long as they have somewhere dry and relatively draft free they will be just fine.
I’ve never heard of Paw Paws before! Your post made me realize that I’m downright ignorant on my wild fruits. Gorgeous, warm photos of those goats, as well:)
gorgeous photos, really. can you give me a heads up when it’s paw paw time? we always somehow miss it, and we have been wanting to head up to the harpers ferry area to pick some for years now. do you have it near your place too?
Thanks, and yes I will try and keep you posted. I need to get to my brother’s and hike along the river there to see what the status is on that crop, they tend to go a little earlier sometimes. Those couple I took a picture of are at a public hunting chunk of land about 10 minutes from me… but the real motherload is at my brothers which is about 20-30 minutes away, but it’s fun because I can take the dogs there to run and explore as it too is public but kinda secluded. There is also a PYO farm in berryville that says they grow Paw Paws… I have wanted to check them out too. http://www.mackintoshfruitfarm.com/retail_pyo.html just have not made it out yet, but that may be worth a shot too as they say they have a variety with less/smaller seeds which would be NICE.
Beautiful goats! (Ice cream looks nice, too!) Never heard of Paw Paw fruit — would be interested to hear more about that. Hope things settle down for you a bit!
Anna the food looks awesome and I love the pictures of the goats! I am a big fan of goats, hope to be able to have some myself someday.
Thanks 🙂 yeah it’s nice to have goats again, even if they are not mine… still kinda leaning towards smaller ones if I ever have any again. Soooo much more manageable.