Today I Give You A Little of This and That:)

So many things happen in a day, sometimes it is hard to decide what to write about.  Today you get a little of this and that.

Our pole beans (part of our 3 sisters garden) are beginning to germinate, I love the first emergence of the sprout, there is something so absolutely amazing about it!

We have a small area off one of the creeks that leads to ours, and it has a small reservoir that houses two (at least) frogs.  I have tried to sneak up on them many times, and finally, today, captured one of the little guys.  They make the funniest squeal if you come upon them, almost like a child yelling a high pitches "eek", before hopping into the water.

While harvesting dandelion for dinner, I came across this lovely beetle...

I macerated fresh strawberries today in preparation for making jam tomorrow, more to share about that as the recipe unfolds!

We had a huge rain storm this afternoon, no longer a surprise as it rains so frequently.  Johny has been working on building a natural drainage ditch, so we got to see it in action.  Still more work to be done, but the row of rocks, though it needs to be widened, is working, as are the drain tubes he put into place...all part of living off the land!  Though there are enough rocks around here to continue building the drain, we are also considering planting some sort of rain loving ground cover just on the outside of the rock line...more to come on this:)

I forgot to mention our rain catchers, though neanderthal, they do the trick for now.  We have four buckets under the eaves to catch the rain, it works! :)  Living off the land, naturally, right?  Keeping it simple...ha ha, rain barrels will be coming:)

After a busy day, dinner had to be easy.  So Mountain Man hunted more mushrooms (he's been keeping some he harvested yesterday in a paper bag in the fridge).  Some we know, some he only learned about today, so he is eating the bowl of 'just learning about' (bowl on the right) and I will eat from only what we know (left bowl)...but they are a pretty bunch, aren't they?

As for the rest of dinner, it was simple.  When you have a busy day, you want an easy dinner.  Chicken breast baked in cream of mushroom soup @ 350 for about 45 minutes.  Cut and roasted potatoes sprinkled with olive oil, black truffle salt and pepper, in the same oven as the chicken but only 30 minutes.  Dandelion salad.  Sauteed fresh mushrooms 'a la chef Mountain Man.

I know the experts say "presentation is everything", but I continue to keep things simple.  Tastes good.  Works for us:)

Thank you for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise