flood & leftovers

you might remember (or not!) my april 2nd post about a pond and a brook that were in danger of over-flowing... well, flood they did. there are ruins by the bridge from pond to brook, we think that there must have been a mill way back when. there is so much water in the pond that it had to find another way besides the obvious, under the bridge. fortunately, this path isn't the only road to anyone's home







certain someone climbed down a bit to get this shot. the smaller "rapid" on the far right is the flooding part







rumor has it that the big manor (way back when) had russian prisoners of war after WWII, we figured this might have been where they were kept locked in... more likely, this really is part of a mill







this would be the leftovers... there were plenty of moose patties, we had the last today for lunch with whole wheat spaghetti







first hepatica nobilis / common hepatica of the spring







this little ladybug was still rather slow...







i'll be gone until monday as i'm taking a little trip with my brother and nephew. tell you all about when i return...

moose patties & dijon mash

some time ago i helped myself to a bit of ground moose meat from mom's freezer, today i decided to make use of it. started by mixing together 1 dl bread crumbs, one medium size minced onion, 2 dl sour cream, 1 tsp chilli powder, one egg







the dark mince is the moose, added some ground beef as well, total was approx 800 gr of ground meats. threw in some parsley as well







i had thought of making normal size meatballs but i got lazy and made them huge. then decided that they would cook faster if i patted them down a bit. this spoon is perfect size to portion for "huge" meatballs...







first browned the patties on both sides on rather hot pan, then poured in some water and let them cook on low for 15 mins, turned them once







i had browned some button mushrooms earlier, placed those on top and added some 2% cooking cream and black pepper for the sauce







mashed potatoes is my favourite, although i rather eat mom's mash than my own ('cause her's is so much better). today i figured i needed to upgrade my mash and decided that grainy dijon mustard and minced parsley would do the trick, and some cooking cream. to my amazement, this was really nice. not sure where i picked up the dijon but it works!







i would have been fine if i'd only eaten this much...







while i was busy in the kitchen, certain someone attacked one of the apple trees... he chopped away this much







now the old monster looks like this. there is still some to be chopped off, but we'll leave something for next spring (if the tree survives that long...)







took some of the young branches indoors, maybe we'll get apple blossoms (maybe we don't)







ps. yes! i will get rid of the easter decorations, one of these days...

busy day in the garden

there is no food in this entry, it's all about what happened yesterday in the garden at the shack.

this would be my "mexican" patch... hih. you should have figured that out from the pots... this is how it looked after winter and all the snow







all cleaned up







to my amazement, there is some life in there after all. this tree onion seems to have survived fine







elsewhere in the garden... the rhodo seems to have wintered fairly well, as well. summer will tell how well







last summer i busted my butt, and probably the wrist as well, pulling my arch-enemies the rose bushes out, roots and all, at least that's what i thought. the roses seem to be tought little buggers, these have already squirted up!







this is my herb garden, quite sad after winter







the chives in the middle are starting to push up some green, i'm sure the lovage and sage will follow soon







these planters are still frozen solid







snowdrops never fail







that would be certain someone doing what he likes best, tending a fire...







the sun has managed to bring life to my composter as well. it's now going good, it was frozen solid, as well, in the dead of winter







the dog in seeking out the last cooling snow, it did nice and warm in the sun yesterday







though, there are still places in the garden with plenty of snow...







we tried to figure out which hawk this was, and came first to a conclusion that it must be western marsh harrier/circus aeruginosus (ruskosuohaukka in finnish) but now i'm thinking it's northern goshawk/ accipiter gentilis (kanahaukka). anyone care to tell us what it is? please?







coffee-break, with pulla, naturally







certain someone had a different refreshment cooling in the snow...







the very old apple trees... to my knowledge they've never been pruned. it might be a bit too late in the spring to be pruning them now, but the way i see it, doing it now won't be the reason that kills them. and i did promise i'd buy two new apple trees to each one that dies due to pruning







the rabbits... there was so much snow that the rabbits managed to eat branches that are up to my chin now that the snow is gone







i had spent well over an hour pruning with old garden shears (only thing usable with one hand), when certain someone remembers that he bought this handy tool last autumn. the link takes you to fiskars website, they have all sorts of handy tools







all done, and quite bare. i'm hoping to get at least a few more apples than last year







no, fiskars isn't paying me anything... one of certain someone's childhood buddies happens to work for fiskars, and the tools are quite good (which i think is more important)







this old monster gets trimmed next...