Citheronia Regalis Moth

 Found this guy on my bug zapper today.

A week or two ago I found a luna moth on it.

They are attracted to the light,

but fortunately they are too big to fit through the slats.

Healthier Version of Joanna Gaines Scalloped Potatoes

Last week I ordered the Magnolia Table Cookbook by Joanna Gaines (this is her first cookbook, not the one that just came out.)  So far I have just made these scalloped potatoes and her chocolate coco-cola cake (which was amazing.)  But I have noticed most of her recipes are not what you would call low-fat. I mean, look at her.  She doesn't have to worry about it.

So today I made the Scalloped Potatoes, and did some major tweaks to the recipe.  One of the main reasons I made S.P. is because last Friday I bought turnips at the farmers market.  Now, I know I don't like turnips, and I am pretty sure my husband doesn't like turnips -- but the farmer's wife told me to substitute them for potatoes in scalloped potatoes. I wouldn't say this makes turnips delish, but it wasn't bad.  Next time I would just use potatoes.  I remembered seeing a scalloped potato recipe in the cookbook so here goes:

SCALLOPED POTATOS OR TURNIPS

(Joanna's ingredient is on the left, mine in CAPS)

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter -- I USED 3 TABLESOONS OF SALTED BUTTER
6 russet potatoes (about 3 lbs) scrubbed, peeled, and cut into 1/4" slices
     -- I DID THE SAME THING WITH THE TURNIPS
6 garlic cloves, minced -- I USED ABOUT 3 TEASPOONS OF THE MINCED TYPE IN THE JAR
1/2 ONION CHOPPED (she did not have this)
2 Tablespoons flour -- I UPPED IT TO 3 TABLESPOONS
2 cups heavy cream -- I USED 1 CUP HALF AND HALF
1 cup whole milk -- I USED 1 CUP SKIM MILK
1 CUP PLAIN YOGURT (she did not have this)
FRESH PARSLEY (she did not have this)
8 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated -- I USED 4 OUNCES GRATED ITALIAN BLEND
     (8 oz was too much)
1/2 tsp black pepper (I USED 1 TSP MRS DASH TO BOOST THE FLAVOR)
salt to taste
2 Tablespoons minced chives -- I do have these in my herb garden so I actually used them --

 with no substitutions!

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter 9x13" baking dish.
2. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to rolling boil.  Add potatoes and simmer until tender but not falling apart -- about 8 minutes.  Longer for turnips.  Drain thoroughly and set aside.
3. In same pot throw in the chopped onion with a little olive oil, saute until tender.  Add the garlic and butter.  Increase heat to medium and whisk in the flour.  Cook, stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes until lightly browned and fragrant.
4. Whisking constantly, slowly add the half and half, milk and yogurt.  Continue whisking until the sauce is smooth.  Add the parsley, cheese, Mrs. Dash and salt.  Wisk gently, until the cheese is melted.
5.  Arrange the potatoes (or turnips) in the prepared baking dish and pour the sauce over them.  Bake until warmed all the way through and lightly browned on top -- 25-45 minutes.  Top with chives and serve.

Guest Cottage Interior Door Hardware

My contractor was able to locate three old doors for the interior of the guest cottage.
But only this one was sporting old hardware, which meant that we had to come up with working vintage options for the other two doors.

 I sifted through my dwindling stash of vintage hardware

and found two pairs of backplates which helped.

And we found the doorknobs at a favorite antiques store.

Everything came together beautifully.

The crystal knobs grace the bathroom door.

Stonecrest Guest Cottage Gets A Kitchen

We are really reaching an exciting phase in the building of our Guest Cottage.  Things are really taking moving along.  This week the "kitchen" (which is just one end of the big room) started taking shape. They hung the vintage chicken warmer lights -- love.  They built the open shelving.


And the kitchen cabinet went in.  Of course I didn't take a "before" pic.  We picked it up on Facebook Marketplace for $100 -- it was sturdy, had good lines and was a monster (it had another pair of doors).  Way bigger than we needed.  So I gave our contractor carte blanche to do whatever he wanted with it.


With the stipulation that the Ikea farmhouse kitchen sink end up centered under the window.


With some major sawing, and some extra pine boards -- Viola!  Suddenly the kitchen is taking shape.
(Didn't manage to photograph until after I had started some painting). Range will go on the right.

Luna Moth

When I saw this guy on my bug zapper this a.m. I thought 

he had to be dead.  Nope, just resting.  So lovely.

Someone Is Snitching The Chooks Cornbread

A few weeks ago I posted my recipe for chicken cornbread.
No white flour, no sugar, no salt, no dairy, and olive oil instead of butter or vegetable oil.
Then I cut it into little pieces and freeze it.
The chooks get a little frozen piece of it every day as a treat.
I had a helper feeding them yesterday.

 Here he is thinking about how undeserving they are.

 Making his move...

and then finishing the frozen "delight" at his leisure.

And if there were any doubt about who snitched the chooks cornbread...

Colorful Coneflowers

 I've always like coneflowers -- 

the "cone" shaped flowers with long droopy 

pinky purple petals.

 A few years ago I picked up three varieties of white

coneflowers.  Planted together they were lovely,

and survived summer heat so well.  But I had to leave

those at my last house.

 Last summer I planted these gold ones,

which look so great next to the lavender.

And this spring I planted these red ones.

I am not a "red flower person" but these

have knocked my socks off.

New Hen Millie

(Notice the feathers on her feet!)

It is difficult to find adult hens for sale right now.  And doubly tough to find bantam hens.  And almost impossible to find any at a decent price.  So when I found an ad for a black bantie hen for $15 I jumped on it. And such a gorgeous little bird.

Our little "flock" of four, was a little taken aback when they first saw her.  We kept her in a crate for the first couple of days, and then released her into the chicken run while the others free ranged around the property.

Fortunately she is significantly larger than them.  I don't know if she is actually a bantam or if she is just a larger bantam breed than they are.  They just kind of ignore her.  I hope that they will eventually accept her into their little group, but she seems pretty happy just pecking around on her own.  And Millie lays gorgeous light brown eggs.

Water Fun

 

Egg Thief

 My first hint that there was trouble in the henhouse

was when I found part of a snakeskin in one of the nests.

But it seemed small, harmless enough.

Later the same afternoon I went to check for eggs.

Almost every day I get two, and there was none.

Hmmm.

I looked around and found the culprit.

My husband put the black snake (and his egg) in a bucket

and shipped him off to a conservation area.

Even if you don't care for snakes, you have to be impressed

by how wide he had to stretch his little mouth to take in an egg.

Update On Stonecrest Cottage Guest House

 We are making some progress with the guest cottage -- slowly.

The two large lights in the main room (kitchen / living area)

got hung, and I am in love with them.

The shiplap is up and painted in the main room.

I didn't take pics, but I painted the master bedroom (light gray)

and the bathroom (icy teal.)

 And the vinyl plank flooring is down in the main room.

They said it went down harder than any other plank flooring

that they had done. Hopefully the rest of the cottage will have

flooring before the end of the day.

And here is a sneak peek of the next step.

I am so excited.

Lighting is my favorite.