Today, our son is 6 months old!!

So hard to believe that time has passed so fast.  It really seems like just yesterday we brought this little squish home.  We didn't think he was so little at the time, born at a whopping 9 pounds 1 ounce, but looking back he WAS tiny (at least compared to now)!  We are guessing he's around 20 pounds these days (his 6 month check up is next week).

Barely 1 day old.

A little about his personality:
He still isn't a big fan of tummy time even though he's always been able to hold his head up really well.  He'll lay there and play and look around quite a bit and then starts to fuss.  He's rolled over from tummy to back several times (a few weeks ago) but hasn't seemed to realize he can do it whenever he wants to.  He can sit up by himself and only tumbles backwards occasionally now.  He is such a happy, easy-going baby.  Always full of giggles and has a big smile on his face.  He sleeps awesome, typically 7 pm - 7 am every night and a couple short naps during the day!  No teeth yet, but we keep thinking they'll show up any day - he constantly drools and spits and sputters.

His namesakes: We chose the name Theodore after our 26th President, Theodore Roosevelt.  Roosevelt was a naturalist and did great things for this country in the way of conservation which is important to Dave and I.  He gets his middle name, Chester, from Dave's grandfather.

Theo and Dave's grandfather, Chester!

Everyday is a new adventure with this little guy, and we're so excited for his future and to watch him grow.   There really is no love like this love.  Even on the hard days, you can't help but smile at this face.  We love you, Theo!


With a full heart,
Missy

(Oh my, I forgot to hit "Publish" last week!!  I'm still learning!)

This week's topic a very cool falcon.  I won't rehash the life history of the bird, you can find that info here.  The American Kestrel (AMKE) is in decline throughout most of its range due to habitat loss.  One of the things we can do to help the AMKE is provide suitable nestboxes in high quality habitat to encourage successful breeding.  Providing new nestboxes and monitoring the AMKE is one of the projects I am starting on the farm where I work.  Last year, we had a bird attempt to nest in an old, broken down nestbox that was put up about 20 years ago.  The box ended up getting taken over by starlings and I am unsure of the fate of the nest.

This is a (horrible) picture of an AMKE with eggs in our old nestbox.

This winter, the guys at the farm have been working to build 3 new AMKE boxes.  I was able to catch up with someone I went to grad school with who now works in Ohio and has been apart of an initiative to put up AMKE boxes to help the population.  She pointed me in the right direction for some good information.




We may do some trapping and banding of the resident AMKEs on the farm and I'll also be monitoring these 3 boxes throughout the summer.  Stay tuned for updates on these awesome birds!

Happy birding,
Missy

Dave and I are avid hunters and typically freeze many cuts of meat each year.  Because of how much meat we store, we have a stand up freezer in addition to our regular fridge/freezer.  Freezing so much of our stockpile is slightly risky because if something were to happen to the freezer or power for too long, we'd lose it all.  My brother is also an avid hunter and introduced us to canning meat to have another storage option.

The downfall to canning meat is it does not have as much versatility when it comes to cooking but it is still very delicious.  Canned meat does not really hold the cube shape so it can't be skewered or stir-fried in the way frozen cubed meat can.  The meat is fully cooked in the can and ends up being very tender and more like a shredded meat.  Regardless, we still find plenty of good uses for canned meat - pasta, chili, casseroles, stews, sauteed with some onions, etc.

Here's how we do it:

First, cut the meat into about 1 inch cubes.

Then, sterilize the lids and jars in boiling water.


After everything is prepped, stuff the jars with the cubed meat.  You should really pack the meat tightly to minimize how much empty space there is. 

Hubs packing jars, he's so dreamy ;-)

This is how the jars should look once packed.   We found that approximately 2 lbs of cubed venison will fit in a quart jar.

Once the jars are packed, put a lid on each one and into the pressure canner!  Following the directions on the pressure canner, vent steam and then bring the pressure up to 10-15 lbs and keep it there for 90 minutes.



 




After the 90 minutes, allow the canner to cool off and the pressure to release.  Remove the jars (carefully, don't tip them!), and allow them to cool on the counter.  Listen and then check for each jar's seal to pop.  If a seal does not pop, store the meat in the refrigerator and use within a week.  Otherwise, store in a pantry!

Finished product

Happy canning!
Missy

The themed-day-of-the-week post seems to a common blog thing, so I'm going to try it out!  I'm calling this series Wildlife Wednesdays.  I'll do my best each Wednesday to bring you some bit of information about wildlife or something nature-y.  Not only is this a topic that I love and consider a hobby, but it's also my career.  I received my M.S. in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Delaware and I currently work on restoring habitat on a privately owned farm.  Feel free to comment with questions or suggestions for topics that you might want to learn more about!


In honor of the cold weather, let's talk about a very common misconception about polar bears and penguins.  Although the wintertime pictures of polar bears and penguins together are adorable, the truth is they live on opposite ends of the Earth and would never naturally cross paths!



Polar bears are restricted to the cold climate in the Arctic; they are found in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Norway, and Russia.  They rely on the Arctic sea ice to hunt seals.  See a range map and read more about polar bears here.

Photo taken by me during study abroad trip to Antarctica.

Penguins are only found in the southern hemisphere.  Unlike polar bears, penguins are not limited to cold climates.  Some species of penguin live in Antarctica while others live in warmer climates such as those found in parts of Africa, South America, Australia, and New Zealand.  See a range map and read more about penguins here.








Happy hump day!
Missy

I'm blessed with a husband who can cook, and chili is one of his specialties that he has taught me! We love to make this chili, especially during the fall and winter.

So, I don't really ever call this "Choose Your Own Adventure Chili", but as I was making it the other day I realized that you really can make this recipe in so many ways, it may as well be choose your own adventure!  I'm sharing the recipe as I made it recently and along the way I'll let you know where you can change it up (which is pretty much everywhere)!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground venison (or less. or more. or shredded. or cubed. or beef. or chicken. or turkey. or none. you get the point.
• 1 onion (or none. or 2. whatever)
• any combination of any peppers you like, this time I used:
• 1 green bell pepper
• 2 anaheim peppers 
• 1 jalapeno pepper

1 can (14-15 oz.) of each:

• diced tomatoes
• sliced stewed tomatoes
• red kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
• black eyed peas (drained and rinsed)
• black beans (drained and rinsed)
• chili beans
• small can tomato paste (and I usually only use half of it)

The number of cans of tomatoes and beans is totally up to you.  Sometimes I use baked beans, butter beans, pinto beans, whatevvvvvvv.  I just use what we have on hand or what's on sale.  I typically stick with 2-3 cans of tomatoes (diced or stewed), and 4-6 cans of beans.

Spices - you can alter the amounts of all of these, but I really think the combination of them is what gives that good chili flavor.  So, even if you don't like it spicy, a dash of cayenne isn't going to hurt anyone.  I gave a mild suggestion for measurements.

• Salt (1 tsp)
• Pepper (1/2 tsp)
• Cayenne (1/2 tsp)
• Cumin (2 tsp)
• Oregano (1 tsp)
• Chili powder (1 tbsp)
• Garlic powder (1 tsp)

Chop the onion and peppers, toss into a skillet with some olive oil, salt and pepper.
(or don't. I'd suggest chopping them, but you don't have to cook them first if you don't want.)

Brown the meat, Open (and drain/rinse if necessary) all cans of tomatoes and beans (except the paste!), dump them all into a crock pot.

Add the onion, peppers, and meat to the crock pot.  Add the spices.  Stir.
Crock pot for 4-12 hours.  I try to do 6 hours on high.  If it's going to cook longer than 8 hours I put it on low.

I add half of the tomato paste about 4 hours in (or whenever is convenient), give it a good stir and taste.  Then I add more spices if I want.


And for some reason I don't have a picture of the final product...so I'll add that later!


Happy cooking!
Missy