Homemade Suet...Winter Birds Love It

A suet cage from the store...my suet

A plastic mesh bag from oranges

This week we made some suet at home. It is really simple and the birds that stay through the winter really need the fat. Birds convert the fat that they get when they eat various seeds into heat to help them survive the cold winter days. The other night it was -21 degrees that is very cold; but some birds were created to not only survive, but to thrive, in this temperature. God gave them a super efficient furnace to keep them going.

Already this morning I have seen Goldfinches, Pine Siskens, and Chickadees all out eating from our feeders; these are all relatively small birds so they really need the heat. There have also been Cardinals and Woodpeckers out there. they are a little larger and need more food to keep a larger body warm. I do not understand it all. I know that some birds are able to lower their body temperatures in the winter to survive; amazing.

But equally important to food, especially fatty foods like suet, birds need water. That is why we have a large flower pot tray filled with water and a small heater to keep the water from freezing up.

A jumbo turkey bag tied up

Homemade Suet

1          cup          Lard or Shortening (I use lard)
1          cup          Peanut Butter (I use chunky, but any kind will work)
(melt the fats together over medium heat)

2          cups        Corn Meal
1          cup          Oatmeal (I use the quick cooking)
1          cup          Bird Food
(stir together until a coarse batter forms)

(optional stuff)
you can add some raisins, or old peanuts, cranberries or other stuff you think the birds might like for an added suet treat.

A homemade suet holder...thanks Aaliyah

You can line a cake pan with aluminum foil and pour the in the suet. Place in the freezer or outside in the cold until it is hard; cut them into squares the size that will fit into your suet holder. You can also place some suet onto a sheet of foil and make a ball shaped suet treat. This would be a great school project. Have Fun!

Cold Weather Calico Beans

As long as we were snowed in and had a whole day at home I decided to cook something that I have never cooked before. I first ate Calico Beans at the hospital where I used to work, one of the cooks assured me that if I liked BBQ's and baked beans that I would like calico (funeral) beans, and she was right. So here is the recipe, it is pretty simple and does not require much preparation. You just gotta love a simple recipe.

Calico beans must be the ultimate "comfort" food, they are served a funerals all of the time.

Calico Beans
1     pound Ground Beef
6     oz        Bacon   (sliced into 1/4 inch slices)
1/2              Large Onion    (diced)
1     tsp       Garlic    (I used prepared garlic from a jar)
          (cook until beef is done)

1     can     Kidney Beans 15 oz
1     can     Baked Beans   15 oz
1     can     Butter Beans   15 oz    (I drained some of the liquid from the beans)
1/2  cup    Catsup or Chili Sauce
1     Tbsp   Cider Vinegar
1     Tbsp   Dry Mustard
1/2  Cup   Br. Sugar
   (place all ingredients into frying pan and cook until blended and warm)
Salt and pepper to taste

Place in a bean pot or cake pan and bake for  40 mins at 350.
(I covered my pan with foil for the first 20 mins. (no bean pot) and uncovered for final 20 mins).

Silas's BBQ Sauce...I Like It

There will be little garlic and onion bits 

My grandson Silas was diagnosed with seizure disorder over a year ago. He began having severe seizures about a year ago which was likely one of the most difficult situations we have ever had to deal with, it was heart breaking. After chasing down neurologists and conventional meds, seemingly with no positive results, Christal sought out a diagnosis from a nutritionist; the results were amazing. Silas has been seizure free for almost 10 full months...I think. I thank God for the way that He holds us when our days are darkest.

Silas cannot have a number of foods that you and I eat everyday. No wheat, no corn, nothing with corn syrup, or corn starch, no fermented cheeses, and a number of other things. I asked Christal if Silas had any BBQ sauces that he ate and she said that all of the sauces had high fructose corn syrup in them so no he did not eat BBQ sauce when he eats his specially coated chicken strips (fried at home or grandpas house). So I set out to make him a BBQ sauce that he could eat and here is what I came up with.

Silas's BBQ Sauce

2     Tbsp     Butter
1/8  of a large Onion minced (or about an 1/8 cup)
2     tsp        Prepared Garlic
(saute' onions and garlic in the butter and soften well to avoid a lumpy sauce).
1     cup       Organic Catsup (no corn syrup)
2     Tbsp     White Sugar
1/2  cup       Lemon Juice
1     Tbsp      Cider Vinegar
1/2  tsp        Paprika
1     tsp         Dry Mustard
2     Tbsp     Molasses
1     Tbsp      Olive Brine
(the juice from a jar of green olives, or canned black olives)
Salt and pepper to taste
(I used the molasses, paprika, and brine as a means of "deepening" the flavor, instead of something like worchestershire sauce which has both corn and wheat).

Simmer for about 20 mins over low heat, stirring often
(test the flavor you may like the flavor of extra molasses,  a little hot sauce for a kick, or horseradish)

Winter Blizzard 2010...Woolly Caterpillar Revisited

Remember how that the woolly caterpillar predicted a severe winter that would last 4 1/2 months?
http://franklin-notsofrankly.blogspot.com/2010/10/wooly-bear-catepillar.html

Well this blizzard has been our fourth snowfall. The first snow of winter happened back before November 15th. An official (woolly caterpillar) snowfall is enough snow to track a cat in (not that woolly caterpillars often track cats), so anything greater than a half of an inch would be enough I guess. So, why a cat? I am not sure, but they are light on there feet and hate the snow and cold I guess...just like me. Wind chills and low temps are expected to be around -12 below, with strong winds over the next couple of days; I would say that is harsh (severe) enough to count.

Any way here are some photos of our snowfall; we had 12 to 14 inches (I think). We did not go to church today, services were still held for the ones who could get out, and into to town, and up the hill to get to church.

The platform feeder right outside our front window

Our walkway lights

Our house...where is that roof rake?

Our road, no plows out yet

Oh by the way I did see the male Cardinal this morning and a pair of House Finches; here they are as well.

Winter Blizzard 2010...Birds

It started to snow last night and we have a forecast for a lot of snow; up to 16 inches or so. I fed the birds this morning and they have been around all day. As of sundown we have 12 inches of snow on the ground; when is Spring? Any way I have documented some of our bird visitors today and here they are.

Blue Jay

Downey Woodpecker

Downey Woodpecker

Female Cardinal...never saw the male all day

Goldfinch

Junco

Piliated Woodpecker

Pine Siskin...Christmas light in back...(not a ghost)

Tufted Titmouse

Turkeys...2 of about 20

White Breasted Nuthatch

Red Squirrel

Everybody

This was too cute not to post. My son Avery sent it too me.

Alrightnowyoutellme 4 (reveal) The Cicada

This Cicada was found in our front yard

Yes it is a cicada. These stout and broad faced bugs with almost transparent wings, spend years underground. Large numbers of them will emerge from the ground within just a few days of each other to begin the breeding process. How do they all know when to simultaneously emerge? No one really knows, but they truly are a wonder of creation. There could be thousands of them in a small area of land once they emerge from the soil. Cicadas are best known for for their buzzing (males) and clicking (females) which are actually the calls of the male and females for breeding purposes.

There are over 2500 species of cicada around the world. The most common type in North America is the Magicicada, which has a very long life cycle and emerge from the ground after 13 to 17 years. An amazing noisy bug.

Good Job.

Vulpes Vulpes; A Crafty Beast

I am certain that most all of us have heard of the, "sly old fox". When I was describing the fox snake it never occurred to me that my grandson might not "get" the clue, because we do not often read or talk about how sly and sneaky that the fox really is. The Fox is a tremendous hunter, this photo was taken on Hwy 51 just south of Hazelhurst, WI; we never left the car. My brother-in-law David, loves this part of Wisconsin and would like to live there someday...I hope he does.


This is from Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources website; EEK for Kids. http://dnr.wi.gov/org/caer/ce/eek/critter/mammal/redfox.htm

"You can find foxes all over Wisconsin, especially in the southern, central and western parts of the state. Fox families each have their own clearly marked home ranges that they defend from intruders, but they don’t usually fight. A group chase or a “threat display”—charging, growling, etc.—will generally do the trick. A fox family has a hunting range of about 150-400 acres, but in less diverse habitats, like farmland, one family might need up to 2-3 square miles. Can you think of reasons why this might be?

Red foxes don’t live in dens most of the year, but do set up nurseries in abandoned badger or woodchuck burrows when it’s time to have babies. Male and female foxes breed in mid-January and have 5 or 6 pups in mid-March. Young foxes are called kits. They start hunting with their parents when they’re 3 months old, and are ready to strike out on their own after only 7-8 months."

A couple of years ago we were in a small town in south western Wisconsin near LaCrosse called Cashton. In this area there are beautiful rolling hills and very deep valleys caused by the glaciers during the Ice Age...(no comment). The area is beautiful and near the Cashton area is an Amish community, and in this community there are families that sell things like furniture, bakery, baskets and quilts. It was a very interesting day. But as we were driving we came across a small Red Fox that must have rolled down the hill and landed in the mud. It was raining, the road was very curvy, as we rounded a corner we found this little guy shaking and weaving in the middle of the road. It was sort of sad but we did not want to take any chances, so we left him as we found him.


What a cute little "Crafty Beast".

Fox hunting (Hazelhurst, WI)

This fox was hurt (Hazelhurst, WI)

My Crandon Breakfast (a tribute to Grandma and Grandpa Kincaid)

My Grandma and Grandpa Kincaid lived in Crandon Wisconsin; what sweet people and wonderful memories.

I did something this morning I hardly ever do; I pan fried bacon. It is not that I never do it it just happens so seldom around here, generally my wife who loves bacon, will fry some or microwave some and eat but we usually don't buy it. My daughter in law Leah works at Nueskes and will gift us some every once in a while. Bacon is sort of a Mary thing, don't get me wrong I like it but not enough to buy very much of it.

Love Birds

Last week I was making some meat loaf for some older friends from church who are not well, and I bought bacon. I checked the freezer and we had some in a small bag but I thought I might need more to wrap around the loaf with, so bought a package of bacon, and never used it. Well this morning I found the bacon and fried up the package, and when I was done the pan had bacon grease and some bacon scraps in the pan so I thought I would fry some eggs. As I am frying them I thought of Grandma and Grandpa Kincaid and all of those mornings she would fry up bacon and then fry up some eggs for me. We would go up on weekends and stay at the Jennie house; it was a house that my parents bought from Al Gish (??? or Greskusky???, I am sure I got that wrong) Jenny (his mom???) used to live there and I think she died there as well; there are a lot of ghost stories about that house. Well anyway I was always up first, so I would walk across the yard between the two houses. As a pre-teen it was exciting to get grandma and grandpa all to myself; it would be very exciting now to spend time with them...someday on a beautiful heavenly morning.

Grandmas and Grandpas house in Crandon...it's gone now.

Grandma would fry the bacon, and then, fry the eggs, that way you would get eggs that were sort of dirty looking. It seemed they just tasted better that way. Grandpa would start talking about politics and religion; the two things that got him most fired up. The bad guys were the Republicans and the Pope. Too funny, I can almost hear it all as I write. Any way my Crandon breakfast consisted of bacon, dirty bacon grease eggs (with just a little crusty brown ring around the edges because the pan was too hot...just like grandma), coffee, and toast. Some of the toast for sopping up the yolk and some for the open faced toasted egg sandwich (because egg whites all by themselves are sort of boring) and one more slice for toast and jelly as dessert. It was awesome.

Alrightnowyoutellme 4

A photo from a trip through Oklahoma

Alrightnowyoutellme. This is a bug that we saw in Oklahoma. We have them here in Wisconsin but this one was quite large and very noisy. I remember hearing them when I was a kid walking to the swimming pool, and for some reason I thought it was the buzz of the power lines. What can you tell me about this little fella? I can tell you that he spends up to 17 years underground before he sees the light of day.

A photo taken in our front yard

I AM NOT A LOSER!

So I just watched the ending of "The Kid" for the 50th time, I never get tired of it. The premise of the movie is that a very successful image consultant is having a 40th birthday, this guy has everything that he could want but he has no one to share it with. Very successful yes, but a lonely none the less. A younger version of himself comes from the past, (1968) to help him out, but neither one knows what to do. At the end of the movie a future version of himself comes from the future to help them both see that the troubles and emptiness is not forever, things do get better. At the end of the movie Bruce Willis screams, "I am not a loser."

The movie sounds and is a little far fetched at first, but it was recommended by someone I trust as a reliable judge of safe entertainment; my daughter. She kept telling me that I would like the movie, and that "The Kid" sort of reminded her of me. Well now I gotta see myself in movies, so I watched. What a great movie, good family entertainment.

This may be personal, but I can look back and remember what it was like to be an innocent kid with lots of flaws and not a lot of friends. I can also see where I am now and desire more in my life, but being cognizant of mistakes and shortcomings in my past, get a little stuck, not knowing if I should move ahead or stay put. Take a risk or play it safe. I can name a few times where I really thought "this" was what I was going to do, and not have it pan out. So I could very easily be "gun shy" about life.

What I would like is for me to come back from the future, and tell me (in the present) that everything turns out great. Or that staying put, is a big mistake and as a matter of fact actually shortened my life. Yeah what I need are some guarantees that my life will turn out great. Yes, some guarantees. The problem is, and herein lies the rub; there are no guarantees. But I do have assurances. The Word of God.

The Bible tells us to, Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not to your own understanding, in all of your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path. The Lord knows my shortcomings and my flaws and still has a place for me in His service. If I trust Him, He will lead me. I do not mean to sound pretentious but if you would trust the Lord with your life, you will have a life that is full. Jesus came to give us life, and life more abundantly.

I have read the same book numerous times; "The Tale Of Three Kings". It caused me to soul search, and at the same time help me understand the Lord a little better. I was talking to a friend who had read the same book but did not like it because it did not give enough of the answers that he would have liked, to which I reply, that is what walking by faith is. We do not have all of the answers God does not always tell us what He is thinking or doing. I do not get to have an old me from the future come to assure me everything is going to be alright, you and I must walk by faith and trust the Lord with each and every day of our lives. He will take care of us.

If we do, we will be able to say, "I do not understand everything", but we will most assuredly be able to say," I AM NOT A LOSER!"

Not Loving Me Back

Here it is the day after Thanksgiving the day I love best (pretty much), but it is not loving me back...ugh. Honest, I did not go crazy, just a little stupid. I woke up in the night, and popped some Tums and drank some aloe juice and went back to bed; Thanksgiving was not loving me back. But I did totally enjoy "Turkey Whatchmacallit" for lunch...yum. I am grateful and thankful for feeling better...yes, yes I am.

I Am Thankful For Everything

Thanksgiving is my favorite day of the year, yes maybe even better than Christmas. Don't get me wrong Christmas is a wonderful day and the holiday season is really all about Jesus. But we have twisted and turned and made Christmas about us, so things get a little tense sometimes. Thanksgiving is most certainly about Jesus as well, I am truly thankful to God for everything that he has allowed into my life. My relationship with Him, my wife, my children, and my grandchildren. My mom, (is special, I have always been thankful for both of my parents), and the influence that my dad has had on my life, (I miss him now that he is gone, even though I see traces of him when I look at myself in the mirror), my brother and sisters and there families, I am thankful for a good church, and wonderful friends. Too many things to mention.

I think too often I have not always been thankful for the hard times, the times when I have felt most alone or a time of deepest need. If I trust God, and am thankful for the good times can I somehow separate Him from the difficult times? I do not consider myself old, I am middle aged I guess, but I wish that I would have known how to be thankful in hard times back when I was younger. Every difficult period of my life has afforded me a very special opportunity; to draw closer to the Lord. I did not know that difficult times were so precious and rare. I am drawn into a private place with Jesus and He shuts the door and helps me understand things. Things about myself and things about others that I need to understand and ways that I need to change. Sometimes our visits together take weeks and months, sometimes years. In the end, always precious and humbling.

Black Friday (tomorrow) is the day that some shoppers wait for all season to get the best deals, some will stand in line in cold weather just to be the first in the door. I am not one of those, although I do love a good deal. No one stands in line for a chance at difficulty or trial; things like loneliness, or betrayal, poverty or unemployment, but the benefits and rewards are eternal. But we must be willing for the Lord to change us and be willing to change. If I am not moving forward, after awhile I will be moving backward.

The Bible tells says; Don't think it is strange when a trial comes your way. In another place we are told that all of this difficulty works patience in us, patience works experience, and experience gives us hope. Hope is what I am truly thankful for. I am glad for every trial, and every experience that I have had in my walk with God, but I am very very thankful for the hope they have worked in me. I have a hope of eternity with Jesus. You know being a Christian is not about being blessed here because of Jesus. Being a Christian is about waking up, to the hope of eternity with the Lord. Blessings here are wonderful, but eternity will be much, much, much, better than that.

I say with John in Revelation, Even so come quickly Lord Jesus.

Erethizon Dorsatum...The Misunderstood Rodant

I know we have seen pictures or heard stories about the dogs that have taken on the porcupine and lost, the poor animal has a muzzle full of quills and will no doubt be yelping until the quills are extracted. Many times the porcupine is branded as a cruel monster, but in reality they are pretty quiet and mind there own business.


Anyone who takes on the porcupine in a tussle loses, from bears to berry bushes everyone comes up a loser, except one; the fisher (no it is not a man with tackle box). A fisher is a fairly large weasel who is able to attack the nose and face of the porcupine and inflict fatal damage. If a porcupine ever finds himself needing to defend himself, he will remain still and turn his back and tail toward the danger the enemy poses. He will raise up his bristles and his quill studded tail to protect himself and his tender belly and underside with up to 30,000 barbed quills. Now that is a lot of pain; poor puppy...(i'll bet you never do that again). One morning my dad and I were bird hunting near Sugar Bush Hill in Forest County and came across a porcupine, and he did exactly what I described; we ran up to him and the quills began to spread and raise. My dad then touched his tail and back with the gun barrel and you could really see how the blanket of quills on his back would rise and fall in each area that the gun barrel touched as he was trying to defend himself. Truly a wonder of creation. 


This photo was taken in Forest County just west of Crandon. This porcupine was foraging for food in the fall and did not seem to be alarmed or threatened by me taking his picture. Porcupines like most other rodents are vegetarian so they eat bark, bushes, needles and buds They are sloppy eaters so if you are ever walking in the woods and see chips and shavings under a tree it could be that a porcupine was upstairs having lunch. 


With winter upon us the places that they live in are easy to find. Porcupines live in small caves and hollow trees and logs, they always travel the same trail, so there will be a path in the snow, and the scat will smell like concentrated urine. 


Happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful for porcupines, and the fact that I have I have never had a face full of quills.