Night Stalkers!

I caught these night visitors on our property about 30 feet from the house! There are quite a few elk that come through our yard every night. Gosh! I love not being in the city! FINALLY!

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Moving!

Yup. If you haven't heard, we're moving to Payson. Actually mostly moved by now.

We finally got our two acres and a mule (Well, he's a horse, of course. A gorgeous paint!)

Here's a few pics to whet your appetite. Sorry for the poor quality cell phone pics. I'll do better ones later.

Front of house


North side


Looking from North toward back of house


Looking toward the shop area from the house


Inside the shop


Horse arena


Cowboy Cody chillin' in the barn (he came with the house!)



North side of barn and corrals


Fire pit


Water well

Aviary

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Added some tunes...

Check my playlist. I added Diane by Material Issue as well as Help I'm Alive and Black Sheep by Metric. Look near the bottom.

You may remember Black Sheep being sung by Brie Larson who played Envy Adams in the movie Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. It starred Michael Cera. If you didn't see it, rent/buy/download/stream it right now! It's fun and different than anything else I've seen. Even though the story is not original (based on a graphic novel) the cinematography is. Highly enjoyable. (DISCLAIMER - Some language and mild references to sexuality and gay culture. Please preview before sharing with your younger children.)

BTW - if you have a listen, please comment. Yeah, I'm that desperate for attention! (Not really, I just like to see where people's musical tastes lie ... so I can use it against them in the future!)

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Makin' the Boudin

Pronounced "Boo-DAN." Biggest batch yet! Hope all you Lake Powell cruisers are ready for a treat!

Fresh Ground Pork. 30lbs of it!


Browning the pork.


Not-so-secret ingredient. This batch took 1-1/2 Cups! Yummy!


Adding the Tabasco


All cooked up and remaining ingredients added.


Stuffing.


Linking.


Finished Product!
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Eraserhead

The other day I went into Charlotte's room to talk to her. I guess she was bored...

Eraserhead
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Where'd they go?

Peggy went out to feed the birds in the aviary yesterday and found our two new canaries were missing! She found this in the nest box;

He didn't want to leave the nest box.

Getting ready to release him.


Free again (and very far from our aviary!)

The circle of life, I guess. We're just wondering why he couldn't eat the birds that we got for free rather than the ones we just bought!

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Fun with Mentos

Our kids finally decided they wanted to try this at home. A short trip to Walmart and 3 bucks of chore money later...

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Experiment in Deliciousness

I've been pondering this one for a while and finally broke down and did it last week. Italian Venison! That's right, an Italian beef sandwich made with venison rather than beef. I just finished having a sandwich from the leftovers and I think it's now my second-favorite way to eat venison.

I made the au jus myself and slow-cooked the sliced venison in it for about 12 hours. In the picture is today's sandwich. Toasted French roll, mayo, mustard, venison, provolone cheese and spicy giardiniera. Just mouth watering! The great thing is, by using low-fat provolone and mayo the whole sandwich is low-fat! The venison had no fat to speak of and I didn't add any.

Click to see all the delicious detail!
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Wild Wild West Con

One of Peggy's birthday presents this year was a trip to the Wild Wild West Con steampunk festival. It was this weekend and we had a great time. The best part was how much time Peggy got to spend talking to her favorite band, Abney Park. (Listen to "Breathe" and "Airship Pirates" in my playlist to hear what they sound like.)

Steampunk is sort of anachronistic of a steam-powered time that never existed. The festival was a lot of fun and the costumes and props were nothing short of amazing. We can't wait to do it again next year!

Peggy and Charlotte with Abney Park


Some well-appointed steampunks


Peggy & Charlotte with The League of S.T.E.A.M.


A strangely happy dead horse thief.


Abney Park on stage.
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Dust Control

I've been considering a dust collector for my shop for a long time, but couldn't justify the expense for occasional use. Recently I ran across this "Dust Deputy" cyclonic separator made by Oneida for under $50. I jumped on it.

I adapted it to a compressed paper drum that I got from work for free. It works like a champ! I can plug my wet/dry vac in on the side and then the dust collection hose into the top. It works just like a bagless vacuum cleaner and prevents 99% of the dust from getting into my wet/dry vac. Now I don't have to clean the air filter in the vac hardly ever! Yay!

Next project: Make a spring-loaded relief valve in the drum in case the collection hose gets clogged. It happened once and the resulting low pressure inside the drum caused the atmospheric pressure to crush it like a soggy paper cup! Still pretty awesome considering the price I paid.

Home made dust collector.
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