Cows All Around

Papa helped Colter round up all the cows on the ranch in January.  Along with several of Colter's relatives (Dad, Uncles, Grandfather...) they separated the calves to be weaned from the mother cows.  After pregnancy checking, they separated them further, mother cows that stay on the ranch, steers and heifers to be sold, and they sold the mother cows that were not pregnant right away.  They held back 53 first year heifers, to grow on the ranch for another several months until ready for breeding.  All the steer calves and some of the heifers were sold to a beef company in Minnesota in early March.

The 53 first year heifers are in the pasture nearest our house.  There are also 19 new to the ranch, mother cows in the Buck Knob pasture, near our house.  We see cows every time we look out the window or go on a hike.  We have cows all around!

Good Morning

While having coffee this morning, we were greeted by a herd of deer.  I took photos from the back of the sofa.  The deer were curious, coming up to the porch, within 14 feet of me.  There was a really nice buck in the herd.  Love mornings like this!

Ranunculus

I often buy flowers for our living room on the ranch.  I bought ranunculus this week.  They are delicate and colorful. Whitney carried a bouquet of ranunculus at her wedding.  

Courbe'

After building and selling five houses rather quickly in 2006-2007, I purchased a 28 acre parcel, worked on plans, and started a new spec house in early 2008.  I named the house Courbe' because of the big curve in the roofline.  The house is two story, has 2356 square feet, with wood floors, three bedrooms, two and a half baths plus a half bath in the detached two car garage.  The house is energy efficient, has over 800 square feet of deck with views of several mountain ranges... My timing couldn't have been worse!  I had a quick offer that drug on for months before the "buyer" eventually admitted they didn't have the funds to close.  In the meantime, the economy got worse and worse and the politics of Arizona didn't help sell real estate in the southern part of the state, with Cochise County losing the highest percentage of its population of any county in the US.  So here I am in 2012, and Courbe is still for sale!  Papa and I spent a couple of hours there today and 

enjoyed a picnic on the front porch.

Windmills

There were several old windmill towers on the ranch when we bought it in 2003.  There was only one windmill still left on it's tower, but the tower was leaning precariously, so we had the windmill taken down.  We don't use windmills for power, as we primarily use solar with diesel generators as backup.  Still I love the parts of the windmills still standing.  These photos are of the one at the corral 

on the west end of the ranch. 

Yucca

We have a blooming yucca in the backyard of our Tucson house.  The leaves of the yucca are sharp and prickly, but the flowers look like creamy puffs.  Just beautiful!

Latest Sewing Project

I have spent much of the past two days sewing for Whitney.  I made ten zippered pillows and a double sided coverlet for Toby's bed.  Some of the pillows are made from remnants from other projects, such as the brown batik print and brown velvet from Emerson's nursery.  The cream fabric was left over from throws I made as Christmas gifts.  The blue fabric was too heavy for it's intended project.  The stripe fabric was left over from a Roman shade I'm making for one of Whitney's bathrooms.  The coverlet is made from fabric that I reused from Toby's nursery in Manhattan, a blue and navy stripe that is indestructible.  He'll probably take something from that same fabric to college!

Javelina Encounter

On a walk in the neighborhood yesterday, I had a javelina encounter.  Javelina don't see very well, and that was obvious as a lone javelina walked about 10' in front of me.  He heard me as I gasped and turned toward me, but continued on his slow amble across the road.  Javelina are ugly!

Favorite Books

When our girls were young, we read to them every day.  Now that they have their own children, I've shopped for books numerous times.  I bought several books to mail to Emerson today.  It seems so many of those characters of long ago are now old friends.  Favorites are Frederick, Ferdinand, Spot, Frances, Arthur, Max, Corduroy, Angelina Ballerina, Madeline, Babar, and so many more. 

Flowers and Buds

On a walk in our Tucson neighborhood this afternoon, I enjoyed seeing flowers and buds 

on various cacti and other plants.  The freshness of the flower petals juxtaposed with 

the thorns of so many desert plants is beautiful.  I love spring!

Marbleized Easter Eggs

Colter dropped Madilyn at our house at 9 this morning.  We were busy, making coconut cupcakes, cutting out and framing handprints from magazines, and we dyed Easter eggs.  We did two batches of eggs, dying each egg of the first batch in a different color:  purple, turquoise, red, yellow, blue, and green.  Then I mixed a tablespoon of olive oil into each color.  We again dipped each of the eggs into various colors.  The egg first dipped in yellow marbleized the prettiest.  

We had fun marbleizing Easter eggs!

Thank You Dinner

Last Friday, Colter and his Dad helped Papa install steel "eyebrows" on several of our windows.  We are hopeful the eyebrows will help keep the windows from leaking when we get rain and wind over 50 mph.

I spent much of today making dinner for Carly and Colter and Colter's parents, as a "thank you."  I prepared Mansion on Turtle Creek Beef (flavored with garlic, chilies, lime juice, and cilantro), macaroni and cheese, squash souffle, cornbread, and derby pie.  The squash souffle recipe is a favorite recipe from Aunt Rhea.
It makes any meal special. 

Squash Souffle

3 cups cooked butternut squash (or sweet potatoes)
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Topping:  (optional)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 tablespoons softened butter
1/2 - 1 cup crushed cereal (I use Honey Bunches of Oats)
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Bake squash at 400 until soft enough to split.  Then lay cut sides down and bake until soft, 1 to 1.5 hours total.  Scoop out seeds and strings and discard.  Scoop squash pulp into a mixing bowl.

Combine squash, sugar, butter, eggs, salt, milk, and vanilla.  Mix well.  Spoon into greased 2 quart casserole.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and add topping.

Topping:  Mix ingredients together until crumbly.  Pour on top of squash.  Bake an additional 15-20 minutes or until firm and lightly browned.  Enjoy! 

Snow Day

As predicted we had a lot of wind overnight, a bit of rain in the morning, then snow started falling.  By 10 this morning, we lost electric power.  The temperature hovered around 32, so Papa put some of our food outside in a cooler.  We were without power for five hours, as snow continued to fall.  We are grateful for the precipitation!  More grass, more wildflowers, and happy cows!

Poppies

Mary is visiting us at the ranch this weekend.  We took the Jeep to the west end of the ranch this morning to hike.  Poppies are blooming!  They are delicate, bright, sunny little flowers.

First Spring Wildflowers

Papa and I hiked this afternoon and saw some of this spring's first wildflowers.

Most Exciting Thing

For much of Audrey's life, she has said, "the most exciting thing happened..."  What follows 

can be a variety of things.  As in most families, we mimic Audrey at times, in a fun way.

The most exciting thing really happened to Papa and me this morning while on a video call with Claire and Emerson.  Emerson came over and sat on Claire's lap after she saw Papa sit next to me.  She started saying "Papa, Papa, Papa."  Then she said spontaneously, "I wooo Papa.  I wooo WuWu."  Translated, "I love you Papa.  I love you Lulu."  She melted our hearts!  The most exciting thing!

Going to the Mailbox

Our mailbox is 10 miles from our house.  It is at the crossroads, where Airport Road meets Muleshoe Road and Cascabel Road.  Given the distance, one of us goes to the mailbox once every 7-10 days, on our way to or from another destination. 

Apple Tarte Tatin

Papa and I are still enjoying leftovers from our dinner on Friday night.  We particularly love the Apple Tarte Tatin.  I used a recipe from Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics cookbook.  Even the author, Ina Garten, says "this just might be my all-time favorite dessert."

For the pastry:  (or use defrosted frozen puff pastry)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 cup ice water

For the apples:
4 Granny Smith apples
1/2 cup sugar
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, small diced
1/2 cup apricot jelly or warm sieved apricot jam
2 tablespoons Calvados or water

For the pastry, place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade.  Pulse for a few seconds to combine.  Add the butter and pulse 10 to 12 times, until the butter is in small bits the size of peas.  With the motor running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse just until the dough starts to come together.  Dump onto a floured board and knead quickly in a ball.  Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. 

Roll the dough slightly larger than 10x14 inches.  Trim the edges.  Place the dough on the prepared sheet pan and refrigerate while you prepare the apples.  For a faster apple tart, use one sheet of frozen puff pastry, defrosted.  Roll out to 10x10 inches and then proceed with the apples. 

Peel the apples and cut them in half through the stem.  Remove the stems and cores with a sharp knife and melon baller.  Slice the apples crosswise in 1/4 inch thick slices.  Place overlapping slices of apples diagonally down the middle of the tart and continue making diagonal rows on both sides of the first row until the pastry is covered with apple slices.  Sprinkle with 1/2 cup sugar and dot with butter.

Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the pastry is browned and the edges of the apples start to brown.  Rotate the pan once during cooking.  When the tart's done, heat the apricot jelly together with the Calvados or water and brush the apples and the pastry completely with the jelly mixture.  Loosen the tart with a metal spatula so it doesn't stick to the paper.  Allow to cool and serve warm or at room temperature. 

Delicious! 

Close to a Saguaro

The saguaro is associated with Tucson and the southwest, probably more than any other plant.  We have several saguaros in our Tucson yard.  I had fun taking several close up photos.  The thought of getting too close and falling into the saguaro is quite painful.  Such a beautiful and majestic cactus.