Once in a blue moon

So, we shall begin with tomatoes and end with the moon!

This is what 50 pounds of tomatoes look like.  I turned these into sauce, and now my freezer is happily holding 10 family sized portions of sauce that I can use in the future.  I am not done, though, because my own garden is now starting to produce tomatoes, and I have about a dozen sitting on my counter.  The tomatoes themselves were so delicious that I added nothing to the sauce while I cooked it down.  Then just before freezing, I sauteed a lot of garlic from my garden, as well as some green peppers, and then threw those into the tomatoes, and then pureed the lot.  I want to believe that adding something adds a layer of flavor, but truthfully, you could hardly tell the difference.  When I defrost the sauce to use I will add caramelized onions.  I was adding them beforehand, but have decided they get kind of lost.

In chicken news, we unfortunately lost one to a fox.

In this moving shot, you can see Henry, the rooster, seeming to be in a hurry.  They were not under attack in this photo, just doing their normal thing.  Right now they are under house (coop) arrest, and I am really bummed about it.  I love having them wandering around the yard, and I am sure that they do too.  But they go near the road, and that is where the fox nabbed one.  He didn't have to work very hard, all he had to do was cross the road and open up his mouth.  The one he got, one of the yellows, never knew he was coming.  The others were going ballistic, making such a hullaballoo that I heard them from upstairs and managed to make it to the window in time to see the fox make off with the chicken in his mouth.  I guess I am glad I saw it so I know what happened, but it was a bit of a bummer.  Charlie and I ran out and managed to corrall the panting (they were seriously freaked out) chickens into their run.   And now we need a gun.

Okay, so how do I REALLY feel about that?  I would have easily have shot that fox that day, I was infuriated that my yard was violated and my chicken taken.  MY chicken!  But of course, the fox wasn't doing it for sport, the fox was either sharing it with his family, or gorging on it himself (I have clearly decided the fox was male!)  I have been told to use a chicken as bait (specifically the rooster, as no one seems to have a fondness for the male birds!) and then sit there with my gun and shoot the fox as it comes to take the bait.  My neighbor has shot many coyotes and several fox, so there is no doubt that once I travel down this path, I will become an animal killer.  I have very mixed feelings about it, but I also want free range birds.  I mean, I REALLY want them.  And while I considered just letting them back out, the reality is, the fox will come back and that leaves me roughly two weeks of having birds at all before the fox will use up the supply.

That doesn't make much sense.  I also have a lot invested in these birds, not only in food, but in time as I really wanted a friendly flock.  Henry thus far has never been rude to me, in fact, I don't find him intimidating at all.  He is huge though ... and when they peck now it actually hurts, so I have to keep something in hand to swing at them as I visit, because they don't peck in a vicious manner, they peck because that is what they do!  Then I wonder, by having the dogs around them and people as well, did I domesticate them to the point that they couldn't defend themselves?  Or that they didn't recognize a predator until the final moment?  I don't know.  I really don't know what I know or feel about the whole chicken thing!  I love having them, and I love them clucking about the yard.  They look pretty out there, they have fun running and flying around.  I do know it would be nice to have them around long enough to get some eggs!  I am sooooooo looking forward to the eggs.  But I want them to be FREE RANGE eggs!  And after the latest fox debacle, it truly makes me wonder if such a thing actually exists.  I know guidelines are sketchy, but for me, the chickens in the pen are not free range, not at all.  So I guess this means we get a gun?

Last night was the blue moon and I was determined to enjoy it on the lake.  No problem, of course, and we sat on the dock with Neil and Liz and watched the sunset, which was pretty fabulous despite a few pesky clouds.

After we enjoyed this fabulous sight, and this one too ...

 

We went out on the boat to have dinner, and alas, saw the big moon up in the sky.  It was amazing, and I had even brought my good camera for the event.  But I couldn't capture it for the life of me.  I did get this rather bizarre shot in Sunapee Harbor, as the boat was coming back to roost.  And while it is hard to picture, the moon in reality was very round!!

 

 Oh well!  The rest of the boat ride back held no moon as it was behind clouds, leaving me no further opportunities to try to get it round!  But it was an amazing summer night, the warm breeze stuck around and we didn't even need sweatshirts on the boat.  I love that.  But I hate that summer is on its way out, I really do.  I love summer.  Love it.