"This is it boys, this is war!"

The war with the Japanese Beetles is ON, this year. I ordered a carton of Milky Spore, and plan to treat the garden soil with it. Over the next few years, the grub population in my soil should dwindle down significantly. Grubs are Japanese Beetle larvae. No larvae = no beetles. At least that's what I hope. What is Milky Spore? It's an organic insecticide for natural pest control. Honestly, the buggies in Ar are so awful, that I sort of don't give a rip about being all natural, organic, blah blah blah, but other than the grubs, my soil is awesome and full of good organisms, too, and I don't want to load it with pesticides that will kill those off, so I'm going to try a more organic route.

Milky Spore can be applied spring, summer and fall and doesn't harm earthworms, birds, bees, fish, other animals, or plants. It works by attacking the larvae stage of the Japanese beetle known as grubs. Once treated, the plant roots absorb the spores which these grubs then eat, ingesting a natural occurring bacterium known as Bacillus popilliae. The bacteria are lethal only to Japanese beetle grubs, and cause the grub to die. Its color changes to a milky white during the process, thus the name Milky Spore. These grubs then decay and release billions of bacteria spores back into the soil, restarting the entire process. Another cool thing I learned is that because of the way the spores multiply and cycle back into the soil, one treatment will continue working for 5, 10, even 20 years. Like.

I know. Since when do I care about being organic? I guess since I started putting so much work into having healthy dirt for my plants. If I load it with toxins, all that work is wasted. So we're going to try this approach, first. Either way, the grubs/beetles have GOT to go. The chicks are growing like crazy. Evey morning we wake up, and peek in on them in their little cage, and swear they grew an inch overnight. Every afternoon, when Reese gets home, we take them outside where they can roam freely and eat as many bugs from the yard as they wish. Last night, I found a tick on me. Bugs are gross. There is certainly no shortage of bugs in my backyard. I'm pretty sure we'll have some fat little hens very soon.

We're Busy

Preparing:

On Saturday, I came home from running a half marathon and shoveled and entire trailer full of compost into the wheelbarrow and hauled it into the garden load by load by load by load. I woke up on Sunday morning and could barely move. My legs felt fine, but my back and arms ached for days.

Opening:

The kids and I surprised Aaron with a guitar (he's been wanting one for about 6 months), tuner, and lessons for his birthday. His first lesson is tonight. He's pretty stoked. We're going to surprise him again tonight after his lesson, with dinner and the hard case we got for him.

Teaching:

See that face? I love my job!

Watching:

We enjoyed another semi-annual General Conference over the weekend. Click here to watch/listen to any of the talks given.

Exploring: We went to Tanyard Creek with some friends and enjoyed an afternoon of hiking, collecting, picnicing, and red rovering. It was an excellent day.

Laughing:

This kid is freaking hilarious.

Eating:

Roasted hot dogs and s'mores one night, cheesecake another night, and a bread and pasta carb load another night. Homemade butter, Strawberry "tall"cakes, and our favorite summertime apple berry salad...the Willys have been eating well.

Celebrating:

Aaron turned 35 yesterday! We've been celebrating since Saturday, and the festivities will continue through this weekend as well, 'cuz that's how we roll. Birthdays are just too much fun to keep them contained to just one day.

Running:

2nd Annual Bentonville Half Marathon. My time? 2hrs 17 minutes, baby!

Oz Marathon is in 9 days. Bring it.

Learning:

My latest assignment for my Comm class was to give a speech for a special occasion.

I gave a Eulogy for my beloved dead hair dryer. It was pretty funny, especially after everyone had sat through a dozen serious/boring graduation speeches and wedding/anniversary toasts.

It's ok. You can say it. I know. I rock that afro.

Building:

Our chickies need a coop! I'm going all out and fashioning an awesome lil' sorority house for the ladies.

Thanks Dad, for last year's birthday present. I had no idea how much easier life would be with a set of 4 foot pipe clamps. You were right, I totally needed them.

Something Nice: Steel Cut Oats

I don't know why this is posting as all one paragraph. Blogger doesn't like me right now. Sorry. I am not a morning person. You know that. Everyone knows that. (well, everyone that's ever been around me before 9am, knows that.) One of the things I really admire about Aaron is how happy he is when he wakes up in the morning. Like, when the alarm goes of at 4:45 or 5 am, he doesn't have a natural urge to throw it agains the wall, then throw a lamp at it, to make sure that it actually broke and will never bother me again. He is NICE when he wakes up. Me? Not so much. I do try to be nice...and some days, I feel like I am getting better. I've always been such a night owl, and it's pretty impossible to be both. I knew that Aaron had a busy day at work today so last night I decided to try something new. Around 11:30pm, I put 1 cup of steel cut oats and 4 cups of water in our tiny (I think it's about 1 1/2 quart size) crockpot and turned it on Low. At 5:30, Aaron filled a bowl with fresh, piping hot steel cut oatmeal to eat on his way out the door. We changed the setting to Keep Warm, and I had a bowl at 6:30. Listen guys (gals), they were cooked to PERFECTION. Seriously, perfection, I tell ya. Cook some. Soon. Tonight! I LOVE a recipe that makes me look like an awesome wifey that makes hot breakfast for my family in the morning. Uh, especially when it took less than 1 minute to prepare. Forget 30 minutes on the stove top! Even quick oats take 1 minute to nuke, and these were sooooo much better. Wonderful consistency. I've heard that using a large crockpot results in burned edges, over cooked, dry oatmeal, and a fat mess to clean. Using the tiny crockpot was the perfect size, because this left NO mess whatsoever. I emptied the leftovers into a tupperware to nuke for tomorrow's breakfast, and the crockpot was so easy to clean, I could have rinsed it clean with cold water. Yeah! That easy to clean. So if you have a tiny crock pot, don't be afraid to try this recipe out...and say goodbye to the assumption that just because you use your crock pot means you'll be soaking and scrubbing it for an hour later. Not so! Just be sure to use STEEL CUT oats for this recipe. Not rolled or quick oats. Steel cut oats look like little pellets, rather than a flat flake. You'll end up with mush if you use the other kind for this. If want to let them cook longer (because you sleep longer, but still want breakfast ready when you wake up), try setting the cooker on low for 1 hr before you go to bed, then on Warm for 8 hrs. FYI-fresh oatmeal is delicious with dried or fresh fruit (mmm or frozen berries), nuts, maple syrup, brown sugar, honey (blech...I hate honey, but the rest of my family loves it), milk, fruit syrup, cinnamon, vanilla, whatevah! So many options! Give it a shot. Non-"instant" breakfast that IS ready in an instant? Maybe I can be a morning person.

Expanding Our Nest

I bought five baby chicks on Friday. They live in a cardboard box in our dining room. I know, how appropriate. They sleep in a big heap on top of one another, and sometimes, they fall asleep while standing and their little heads flop over as they nod off. It's pretty funny stuff. They are 1 week old, today, and they arereally really cute.

Let's meet the ladies:

Eleanor (Reese's hen. Named Eleanor because she looks more like one of the Chipettes than a chickie)

We aren't certain, but we think she is an Ameraucana. I hope so, because she will give us blue and green eggs if she is. But, really, we aren't even sure if Eleanor even IS a chicken. There is a very good chance that she's actually a tiny squirrel. I mean, really...look at those cheeks!

Goldilicious (Quincy's hen)

Our Golden Sex Link. Goldie is almost a week older than the other chicks, and they are all aware of it.

If any of our chicks are going to end up being a rooster, I'll bet good money that it's this one. She is naughty. She pecks the other chicks, knocks the water tray, scratched all the food out of the feeder, and this afternoon, was found proudly standing up on top of the feeder. Either we have a rooster, or Goldie is one diva hen.

Henny Penny (Corbin's Hen, but thanks to Quincy, we are now just calling her "Money")

Our Production Red.

She is tiny and timid and loves to be held.

Nugget (as in "chicken nugget", not Denver Nugget)

Our Production Black.

From the photos we have seen online, she will be a very beautiful hen, or a very very ugly one. We'll love her either way, but lil' Nugget might end up looking sort of...special.

and finally, my favorite, Scout (Why yes, as a matter of fact, I am reading To Kill a Mockingbird right now.)

the Barred Rock

(she is totally my fave...I am quite certain Scoutie will be our prize hen)

The girls are still in the newlywed phase and are loving pet owner heaven. Every story that Reese has written for the past 5 days has been about the chicks. Both girls rush to check on them when they wake up in the morning, call them by name, say good night to them, love showing them off to their friends, and are surprisingly diligent about washing their hands after every time they go near the box.

It is impossible to keep this guy away from them.

Today, he gave them a handful of goldfish crackers, a sippy cup, a grape, a Little People, and a toy pillow. He also shouted, "Hot! Hot! NoNo, that's hot!" after he knocked their heat lamp over on top of them. Poor chicks. The box gets moved to our master bathroom to give the chicks a break when Corbin gets a little too Lennie Small on them. I'm counting on Corbin's brute affection to keep the chicks from getting mean.

I cannot wait to show them to my preschoolers.

Anyway, yeah, I have chickens, now.

I'm a chicken farmer.

A Poulterer.

A Poulterette, if you will.

Hopefully, in 20-22 weeks, we'll be collecting eggs. Maybe I should stick one of those lilypie gadgets on my sidebar. Anyone know how to do that?

Man's Best Friend

"Gimme a sister/Can't resist her/ Red Beans and Rice didn't miss her..."

Meet Carolina (and baby Rebekah)Carolina is from El Salvador.
She is also an excellent cook.
And do you know what I do when someone does something well? I ask them to come over and share their talents. So, today, Carolina came over to teach the Willy's how to make red beans and dirty rice.
Wowza! It was good. Really good. And so simple.
We like simple.
We like inexpensive food.
We like da beans.
And since we like you, dear readers of this blog, we will share her wisdom. Start with the beans. If you are smart, you'll prepare these the day before you plan to eat them.

Red Beans a la Carolina

You will need:
a big fat cooking pot
water
1 lb dry
small red beans
salt
that's it.
Amazing.

1) sort, rinse, and drain beans. Put in large pot and cover with water (fill pot about halfway)

2)Boil on HI

3)after about 30 minutes, reduce heat, but make sure the pot is still in a constant rolling boil. Cover, but leave the lid slightly tipped to vent the steam

4) Let the beans continue to boil for another 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Stir occasionally, and check to make sure that the beans are always covered in water. If they get too dry, just add more. We probably added another 2 cups over the next hour of cooking. That will be plenty of extra water if you plan to just make the beans, but if you are going to make the dirty rice, add at least another 2-3 cups of water while the beans are boiling. When the beans are soft and ready to eat, add about 2 tsp salt.

Note: if you want even better tasting beans, put them in the fridge (with liquid, covered) and use them the next day. Yum. Save as much of the broth from the beans as you can so you can make the dirty rice.

Next, the Dirty Rice

Brace yourselves. This is some hardcore goodness.
You will need:
2 cups Jasmine rice
1/2 green bell pepper
1 tomato (this is a great way to use up a tomato that's been in the fridge a little too long and is starting to get a little soft)
1/3 white onion
2 TBS Caldo de Pollo (can be found in Mexican Food section of Walmart)
2 TBS vegetable oil
about 4 1/2 cups water (or if you made the beans, use the liquid from the pot

1)heat oil in a large sauce pan or stock pot.

2) cut pepper and tomato in large chunks, and onions very small, add to oil and sautee for a few minutes 3 add rice and continue to sautee for another 3-4 minutes (rice will be sort of crispy and start to change color...do NOT cook for so long that it browns) Carolina says it is worth mentioning that you should not rinse your rice (I never do that anyway, but apparently people do? who knew?)

3) add 4 1/2 cups of water, 2 TBS caldo, 2 tsp salt, and bring rice to a hard boil.

IMPORTANT: To REALLY make a perfect pot of dirty rice, instead of water, use 4 1/2 cups of broth from the red beans. Oh. MY. Carolina, I heart you. 4)after 1-2 min at a good boil, cover the rice and cut the heat to low. after 10-12 minutes peek at your rice. It should look like this.

see how the liquid is pooling on top of the rice? Here's Carolina's secret....do NOT stir the rice. That's how you end up with mushy, sticky rice. Instead, use your large spoon to create 4 little holes in the rice. This will allow the liquid to sing down to the bottom of the pan, and give you the perfect evenly cooked pot of rice. Cover and cook another 3-5 minutes.

If the rice looks almost done, keep covered, but move off of the heat source. Your rice is done when it is tender and fluffy. It should not stick to the sides of the pan at all. If it does, you have cooked too long, too hot, or stirred too much. You can eat it plain, or add beans, cilantro, corn, or even scrambled eggs. So many options.

Enjoy the goodness.

Thanks, Carolina!

Approaching the Finish Line

See these faces?

We had those smiles for 20 miles.

We ran in freezing pouring rain, against 25mph gusty wind, we braved the thunder and lightening and mud and and... it was awesomesauce.

20 miles done! And I must say, not a shabby time for a training run, especially considering we were soaked to the bones and our toes were prunes by mile 5.

Next week = 2nd Annual Bentonville Half Marathon with a bunch of fun friends.
April 16th = the Big Race.

I'm feeling much more confident about the marathon after today's run.

Conditions were tough.

Wet. Soggy. Windy. More Windy. Muddy. Cold.

Yet (<---that's for my Green Bay friends) we still felt fantastic at 20 miles...and most definitely could have kept on running. The last few weeks of training have been difficult for me. I hit some kind of wall and felt a significant loss of strength, motivation, and overall joy in training. I've heard that this happens pretty often. People train hard, get burnt out, lose steam, and find themselves wondering,

"What the crap am I doing?! What made me think I could do this?! WHY am I doing this?!"

I have asked myself all of the above many many times lately...especially since the excruciating 18 miler two weeks ago, where my body basically fell apart on me.

Today, I embraced the crazy conditions, took my sweet time, enjoyed time with my best friend, and fell in love with distance running all over again.

With all the madness that keeps me running around here (among the typical things, I've had marathon training, sickies to nurture, there are 6+ weeks of my speech class to finish and I'm starting a 5 week online course to get my last credit from BSU so I can graduate in May...then there's graduation process, my preschool, the garden, the chickens---oh yeah, did I mention that I bought 5 chickens yesterday?) I feel like I am sprinting as fast as I can toward some kind of finish line.

I know I know I know, there is no "finish line" in life. But the next 6 weeks will be very busy for us, and then one by one, unnecessary demands in my life will disappear with the season as our busy springtime changes course and melts into lazy summertime.

The first to go will be the 2-4 hour long runs on eaaaaarly Saturday mornings! I will continue to run to stay healthy (and because I love it) but not for 13, 15, 16, 18, 20 miles. I am tired. And no wonder, I've basically been running the distance of a half marathon or longer every saturday for the last several months. These long runs are necessary for the marathon, but not for life. Saturdays will shrink back to quick 5 or 6 mile runs after April 16, and I can't wait to have more time for other, more important things like my family.

The finish line is on the horizon. Until I get there, I'm going to soak up the satisfaction that comes from making it past every hurdle on my track, whether I'm crawling or soaring over them.

Today I remembered how to fly.