Happenings on the Homestead in the Appalachian Mountains

Weekend Coffee Share

Hello there Adventurous Friends & Family, greetings from Georgia.  How you doing this 27th week of 2023?  It's my birthday month.  We got squash out of the garden, cooked some of it & put several bags in the freezer.  We took TC (tiny camper) out for our 1st outing together along with Mickey & Minnie.  We heard crackles & booms from neighbors celebrating the 4th, we made a few of those noises ourselves.  It was my holiday to work so I was up at 4:15 am to get that task done then Daughter's family came over for a picnic.  Grab a coffee or your favorite beverage & we'll talk more, I'll share a little this month about how it was growing up in the mountains, come walk with me...

This is me in the beginning, 6 or 7 months old. 
This is the earliest age picture of me that I've
seen.  My parents ran the auto parts store.  I
went to work with Moma.

My parents in 1958, Harold & Fran.  They
were on a date hanging out with friends.
Moma was in the 10th grade.  About a year
later they were married.

  

This is me now, 56 years later, married
to the same Adventurous Guy for 38
years come September. We have 1
daughter & 9 grandchildren.

*  Kevin made his special biscuit bread.  He usually made the bread in a glass baking dish we had that was about an 8 X 8. He was disappointed to realize we didn't have the dish anymore since the move.  He was scavenging though the cabinets & discovered we now have an actual bread pan that came with the house.  He thought he would give that pan a try.  His 1st loaf of bread in the new loaf pan turned out excellent.  He was very pleased with the results.  He said his biscuit bread always turned out just right.  He said when he makes biscuits it's hit or miss for some reason.  Kevin remembers having biscuit bread at their cabin on Little Snowbird creek when he was growing up.  To make the recipe, he said it was an old family secret.  The way I've seen him make the bread is make the mix like making biscuits, perhaps a little thinner & pour the batter in the pan instead of patting out the dough for biscuits. 

*  About 35 quail hatched in the incubator out of about 48 eggs, so that was a pretty good hatch, considering.  I noticed about mid incubation that it looked like the turner was not working.  These quail hatch in about 17 days, so on about day 6, 7, 8 or so, Kevin did an inspection & sure enough, the turner wasn't working.  He contacted the company & they sent him a new turner & a new incubator.  The new incubator was sent in error, so it was returned unopened along with the faulty egg turner.  We weren't sure if any of the eggs would hatch since they didn't get turned liked they should have.  There were lots of healthy peeps keeping us/me awake a couple nights while they were hatching, though the peeps didn't seem to phase Kevin.  As I age gracefully, my hearing is not as good as it used to be, but I could sure hear that peeping noise loud & clear coming from the other bedroom where the incubator was set up.

Coturnix quail are full grown in 5 to 6 weeks & will start laying eggs at that time. 
We eat some of the eggs & some eggs will be saved for incubation.  Kevin will
dress some of the adult birds & we'll be eating them.  

"Buckhorn"

*  Our neighbor stopped by about supper time one evening, he bellered very loud so we'd be sure to hear him.  He liked the squash end pieces I gave him. 

I cut up squash to freeze while
Kevin cooked up squash & 
deer burgers for supper.

I put the squash pieces on a baking
sheet so they'll freeze individual. 
We cook them still frozen so they 
don't get mushy. 

 

1st bag of squash of the season vacuum 
packed & going into the freezer.

Taking a walk on the
Appalachian Trail. See
the trail marker?

*  We went camping to a nice spot near the Appalachian Trail.  A thunderstorm threatened but didn't produce much except for a little rain about bedtime. The wind blew & the leaves turned backward giving signs that a storm was coming.  Other areas did get some storm damage with trees down & power outages.  We took a jeep ride & walked a piece on the Appalachian Trail.  The woods were beautiful & several wildflowers were in bloom.  Rose randomly barked with the hair raised on her back while looking into the woods.  We had conversation that it was probably bigfoot & that it would be awesome if he run though camp & raised his arm up to say hello.   This 1st outing with TC was kind of trial and error.  Everything worked perfect best we could tell.  I forgot my phone charger & the pork & beans.  My phone's battery went dead for taking pictures, but I had already took enough of everything we had seen & done.  We had plenty of food without the beans.  Kevin mentioned he felt a little cramped sleeping in the camper but that's something we'll have to get used to with having a tiny camper.

  The awning finally arrived & Kevin had got it installed. We didn't even put it up.  

I kept calling it a canopy, but I guess it's supposed to be called an awning. We 

set up camp in a nice spot in the shade beside a branch.  The drinking water 

jug worked perfect bungy corded there on the tongue.  The cooler & water jug

traveled in the back of the jeep with the seat let up.

The woods were beautiful with
the sun shining through in the
morning while I washed up the
breakfast dishes.  The baskets
I got to use for sinks are made
of rubber.  They have handles &
are collapsible for easy storage.

Kevin the Camp Cook getting
ready to cook a one pan squash & 
veggie stir fry along with the biscuit
bread.  I roasted the cheddar dogs
over the fire.

 

The inside front of the camper with a
fun Minnie & Mickey mouse theme.
The headboard/shoe rack/storage unit
that Kevin made worked perfect.  I
came up with the idea & he built it.

The back door on the camper
opens to the pantry & storage
area.  The top has the dishes &
cooking supply stuff.  The
 bottom has tools & the place
the wheel stabilizing stuff is
kept.  The 2 tables go in there.
The chairs travel tied on top of
the spare tire.

*  Nana Grandjoy Camp Run-A-Muk - Grand 

stayed several nights.  We tried out a new pizza 

place, had a triathlon of games, went for an 

after dark jeep ride & there was some Lego

building done.

These are some of the things going 

in my neck of the woods, how has

your week been?

 

The inside back of the camper is a good
place for our food out of sight  of bears. 
It was also a good place to put extra
pillows & Rose's dog bed though
she seemed to find herself more
comfortable in the center of the bed
between us, snoring her very loudest.

A good place for hide & seek.

Grand cutting up more squash
for the freezer.