Author Archives: Greg Thames

Lots of Changes at the Thames Farm

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Yeah, I guess you could call us a mini farm now.  We have been busy, busy these last few weeks.  I will attempt to update on all the fun changes and activities we have been up to.  Here’s the list I can remember so far.  I will expand on some of them later.  We took down (with the help of a professional) a 60 ft fir tree, finished the fencing to keep kids and dog in the back yard, fenced a pig pen with hog panels and electric fencing (they better not get out this year), built a pig house and chicken tractor, fenced off the remaining “animal area” for the sheep, dug a trench to get water to the back of the property, got power to the back, made soap, gone on field trips, and just picked up our meat chicks today.  We still have quite a list on the white board but they it is reducing.  Well maybe not reducing but the list is progressing.  Amazing how new things keep getting on it.  And of course when I say “we” I mostly mean Greg.  He has been working so hard to get things done and I keep getting in trouble for trying to do too much.  It is not in my nature to sit and watch him work on these things but as he says “I don’t want the baby coming out right NOW.”  OK, OK, I get it.  So, we go out there to keep him company, provide moral support and hand him tools.

Apparently that’s all my brain will handle at the moment because it has stopped working (I hope it comes back soon).  But for now I will leave you with some pictures of some darn cute hard working kids.

 

Oliver 1yr

Zeke 2 yrs

Zoe 6 yrs

Confessions of a Hungry Man…..

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Hear ye, Hear ye!!!  I confess to one and all that I need to share how I have selfishly wanted to keep some really great recipes to myself.  And not share them with the world.  Well here is the story…

Our church is now producing a church cookbook and my wonderful, beautiful, kind, sweet, etc. etc. etc (Can you name the movie that used the phrase “etc. etc. etc.?  Hint it’s a classic)  wife wanted to share some of the recipes we have collected over the years.  She had decided on three (3) of our family favorites (which I will share later) .   While she was deciding which three recipes to share she told me and I thought nothing of it.  Until the day that she was transferring them to the form that the church needed three or four days before it was to be turned in .  So I decided to look over her shoulder and noticed that the ones she was sharing where ones that I had found.  I then went on to grab the papers from her fingers and run away like a little girl (sorry to all you little girls out there) and told her matter of factly,  that she couldn’t give THOSE ones (Yes I do know that it was God’s CHURCH.)  I am ashamed to admit that my selfish pride over took the idea that my wife enjoyed those meals and wanted to share them with those whom we love.  So with that said I want to share with all of you those recipes,  (And yes they were given to be put in the Church’s Cookbook).

First up is Cajun Chicken Pasta

Ingredients

  • 4 ounces linguine pasta
  • 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
  • 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 red bell pepper, sliced
  • 1 green bell pepper, sliced
  • 4 fresh mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 green onion, chopped
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

  1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
  2. Place the chicken and the Cajun seasoning in a plastic bag. Shake to coat. In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté the chicken in butter or margarine until almost tender (5 to 7 minutes).
  3. Add the red bell pepper, green bell pepper, mushrooms and green onion. Sauté and stir for 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce heat.
  4. Add the cream, basil, lemon pepper, salt, garlic powder and ground black pepper. Heat through. Add the cooked linguine, toss and heat through. Sprinkle in with grated Parmesan cheese and serve.
This is our hands down favorite meal.  Hey, it’s got two of my favorite food groups Butter,  Heavy Cream.  What more could you ask for (Bacon, and Sugar if you must know).  Oh one other side note is add extra parmesan cheese.
I will share the others at a future time.  You know I have to do this confessing stuff one step at a time.
~ Greg T

Bacon Makin' Day

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It has occurred to me we haven’t updated on the pigs.  Not sure how that got a way from me…oh wait…never mind, I do.  So, our piggies Saucy and Barbie.  WAY back in November we had the butcher come out to do the dirty work and hang them for us for a few days.  Greg really wanted to do the butchering himself so when we got our pigs back they weren’t wrapped in little white packages like the cow was but rather just cut in half.  It was rather odd to see them in the back of the truck but there they were.  Zoe really wanted to go with him to the butcher to pick them up.  When they got home they entertained the boys and I with a song they made up on the way home.  Sung to the tune of this old man:

This fat man

He ate two

He ate saucy and Bar-B-Q

With a mmm, mmm, Yum, yum gi’me another one

This fat man came rolling home.

What a great way to start our butchering day!  Or as Greg called it Bacon Makin’ Day!  It was a busy day but it was great.  Some experienced friends come over in the morning to get us started on the right track.  We had gone to their house when they did their pigs to get in a little practice and see the whole thing in operation but it was such a blessing to have them come out and get us going.  Greg was cutting outside and we were inside wrapping, grinding sausage, labelling and freezing.  We made 2 different types of sausage, breakfast and hot Italian.   Zoe was a total champ on the grinder.  Especially when our helpers had to leave.  She stepped right in and didn’t stop until we were done.

We took our hams in the next day to have them cured and smoked by the butcher.  Let me tell you…the ham was soooo good.  Huge!  And so incredibly tasty.  When all was done our freezer was over 3/4 full of just pork.  I absolutely love having all of it out the freezer ready to be used.  We will be doing pigs again this year.  We learned a lot and will be applying some changes to the whole process but we are excited to give it another go.

Now it must be said that Zoe loved Saucy best out of the two pigs.  She was a lot more active and loved to play in the mud and run around crazy.  I guess Zoe could relate to this.  So, any time we were eating pork (especially in the beginning) she would say we were eating Barbie.  We don’t eat Saucy.

Our Chickens

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It’s been a while since we’ve given an update about the chickens.  I’m not sure there are many of you out there that were wondering but, Sis, this is for you. We have been in a love/hate relationship with our chickens.  I love the eggs we get from them but I hate when they are always getting out.  Just about the time you think you have them contained they figure out some other way to escape.   I mean really their just chickens!     Greg got to the point where he said the next one I see out gets shot.  I was all for it.  Zoe, on the other, hand was not.  She made sure to check the chickens before Daddy to get any back in that may have gotten out.

So another chicken coop was designed and built.  I will say we didn’t like the one we had before, or the one before that, or the one before that.  From all our research it really is just a matter of preference what type you want.  I for one want one we can fully walk into to clean out, gather eggs, and fill food.  The new coop does all that.  It has a wood floor, perches, and perfect laying boxes (milk crates).  Zoe does most of the chicken care and it has been much easier for her to use.  The chickens have a larger pen area that is tall and completely covered (we had a jumper).  Greg still isn’t fully happy with it.  I think it will get a coat of paint this spring (red of course).  Other than that I love it.  It is easy to clean which was the biggest plus for me.  Chickens are dirty.  And one of the best parts of this new coop?  It was all free or recycled from the previous coop (with the exception of screws)  The biggest score was 3 full sheets of plywood on craigslist.

And the chickens?  They love it too.  Look at all those eggs.  I think that was 3 days worth.  They have continued to lay all winter.  Not as much as the spring/summer months mind you but enough that I have not had to buy eggs this winter.  With feeding 13 chickens I refused to buy eggs.  That also means we will have A LOT of eggs this spring.  You know its bad when your kids are excited to eat oatmeal for breakfast.

Wild One

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That’s what my doctor said at my last appointment.  “You’ve got a wild one in there!”  She was trying to get a heart beat and was literally chasing him around my tummy.  Just when she would get the beat we would hear a loud thump and the heart beat was gone.  He was kicking the doppler every time.  Of course this would make me laugh which didn’t help matters either.  I don’t think she ever did get a reading that time around but everything was obviously fine.

Caught!

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Zeke has been snatching the camera a lot lately.  He loves to take pictures.  He just needs to stop using my camera to do it.  Most of the time I catch him in the act but there have been times I have downloaded pictures off my camera to find some interesting shots.  The ones that crack me up the most are the ones of Oliver caught in the act of doing something he shouldn’t.

A Great Student

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One thing that has been quite interesting about having kids close in age is the rate at which the 2nd learns something.  Most of the time they are good things they are learning from their close sibling but other times not so much.  Zoe is 4 years older than Zeke so when he started exploring and getting into things there were certain areas I could tell Zoe NOT to teach him (like how to open some certain cabinets).  She understood and tried to teach him the good things.   I, of course knew the day would come soon enough and was not in a rush.  But Zeke, being only 13 months older than Oliver did not understand this logic and proceeds to teach his brother all sorts of useful things.  Like the cabinets I was talking about and how to use a chair to reach light switches and out of reach table areas to name just a couple.  Oliver has been a great student and applies his new skills often.

It’s outta there!

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Zoe 6

The tooth has finally come out.  Zoe loved having a loose tooth and loved telling everyone about it but I don’t think she was really ready for it to come out at first.  If it hurt at all while she was wiggling it she would stop.  But finally the day came when it was uncomfortable enough in her mouth to just have me pull it out.  I must say, she surprised me.  When I first started to pull it bled a little and I really expected her to want to stop but she just said “Just pull it out.”  So, I did.  She was relieved to have it out and was all smiles.

Gingerbread House

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Hey, I’m a better late then never type of person.  So, we didn’t get our gingerbread house done before Christmas so we did it new years day instead.  And I didn’t get it posted right away but looking back the pictures made me smile and this blog is about recording our memories (no mater how late).

To keep the younger two busy while Zoe and I decorated the house they were each given a gingerbread man with frosting and a pile of candies to put on.  Oliver ate his candies and then licked the frosting off the cookie.  Zeke did actually take the time to put the candies on his cookie and pose for a picture before eating it up.  The difference a year makes.

Zoe and I started in on the house as soon as the boys were busy.  I was squirting on frosting and she was piling on the candies.  Our house was soooo hot this day (yes, Ruth, hotter than normal hot) that the frosting was melting off the gingerbread house and the candies were having a hard time staying put.  We had to open some doors and windows to cool down a bit.  I guess the dripping frosting looked a little like icicles.  Zoe finished up with more frosting and the last of the candy while I put the boys in the bath.