MoonCat Farms is Meandering to a New Home at Red Barn Blue Skies - Join Us!

After quite a bit of deliberation, we've decided to move this blog to a new home at Red Barn Blue Skies.

All of the posts and information from here has been transferred to the new site. We're adding some new and exciting features and look forward to a lot of new fun as well as our old friends. 

This will be the last post at this address so please be sure to bookmark our new one: 

http://www.redbarnblueskies.com

Please join us!

Celebrate Nature and Nation with FREE National Park Admission

This Saturday, September 26th is National Public Lands Day and is the day to visit your local National Park - for FREE!

Go HERE to see which parks are participating and then go out on Saturday and celebrate our great Nation and Nature.

*The next date (and final one for 2015) is November 11th, Veterans Day. 

Yosemite photos 

courtesy of http://www.pachd.com/

**article first posted  at Centsable Couponing

Extra Eggs Recipes - Chile Rellano Casserole

As many of you know, I have chickens. LOTS of chickens. One of the bonuses and sometimes quandaries, that goes along with this is LOTS of eggs! I have been developing quite the collection of egg-heavy recipes to help use up these lovely little presents I'm gifted with daily. This is one of my (and Mr MoonCat's) favorites. We pretty much eat this once a week when the girls are laying in abundance. Enjoy.

Chile Rellano Casserole

1/2 pound hamburger

1/2 pound ground sausage

1 cup chopped onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 cans (40z) whole green chilies, drained, seeded and divided

3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

6-8 large eggs

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

½ tsp Salt

½ tsp Pepper

½ tsp Cumin

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

In a large skillet cook the sausage & hamburger together. Once browned, add the onion and garlic in with the meat. Once onion is soft, drain the fat from the skillet and mix in salt, pepper and cumin. 

Line a deep 13″x9″ baking dish with chilies split in half, save the remaining chiles for later; top with 2 cups cheese. Layer in the meat and top with remaining chilies, chopped up; set aside. 

Beat eggs with flour until smooth. Blend in milk. Pour mixture over meat in the casserole dish. 

Bake uncovered for about 45 minutes until center is done. Sprinkle remaining 1 cup cheese on top. 

Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Makes 6-8 servings.

Sunday Selection

Image courtesy of Keattikorn at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Nothing Gold Can Stay 

by Robert Frost 

Nature's first green is gold, 

Her hardest hue to hold. 

Her early leaf's a flower; 

But only so an hour. 

Then leaf subsides to leaf. 

So Eden sank to grief, 

So dawn goes down to day. 

Nothing gold can stay.

9-11 Never Forget

Our lives will never be the same after this fateful day. Please take a moment to remember the victims and their families, the heroes and the unity felt across our great nation in the aftermath.  We need to find that unity again before it is too late.

Longmire is Back! Season 4 is Available on Netflix NOW!

There is a lot of happy dancing going on around this place tonight. One of our all-time favorite TV series is back! Longmire's long awaited Season 4 is available TODAY on Netflix.

Hubby and I did a marathon viewing of the first 3 episodes last year when we finally got internet service that would stream Netflix. We were hooked on the series after the very first episode, only to find that it had been cancelled.  What the heck is wrong with the idiots at A & E? (This isn't the only series we love that they have cancelled..)

Anyways, Netflix to the rescue! They were smart enough to see the absolute obsessed cult following this show has and did some negotiating to order the 4th season. Whoo hoo, yay Netflix! So today is the day, we are finally getting to have another fix of one our favorite cowboy lawmen and his trusty sidekicks. We are re-watching the last episode of season 3 first to reacquaint ourselves with the happenings and then we're good to go. It's going to be a late night here. Pop that popcorn hubby.

Leisurely Day with No Labor

I hope everyone enjoyed this Labor Day weekend. We had a busy Saturday and Sunday, but today was all about the relaxation. 

Mr. MoonCat and I both belong to a fantasy football league. I've been a team owner since 2005 and this will be the hubby's third year. The league is mostly made up of some of my dearest friends from kindergarten to now! We've always stayed close and connected and look forward to our annual draft party on Labor Day weekend and the Super Bowl party in the winter. It's a fun and very competitive way to keep our lifelong relationships strong. 

The party is usually a weekend long event with a "pre-party" on Friday night, a golf tournament on Saturday and the actual draft/party on Sunday. It is always an extremely fun weekend, but the older I get, the more tired I am come Monday.

I love these guys, but it's probably a good thing we DO only plan these things twice a year!

(That's Mr MoonCat 3rd from the left)

So today, I rested! I spent a large part of my day reading and catching up on my pile of "To Be Read" books. I'm still doing reviews over at One Book Shy of a Full Shelf as well as doing some sensible saving at Centsable Couponing. I'm busy, but it's stuff I love.

How was your weekend? 

~~~~~

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Landmines and Hairballs Oh My!

I'm sitting here tonight going over our monthly and annual budgets. We've been doing pretty good at saving some money wherever we can in our goal to move to Idaho next year. I've slashed our spending in most areas and am surprised at the savings in one.

That one area is our pet food expenses. By pets, I'm not including the poultry, horses or cattle. Strictly dogs and cats - 3 pooches and 7 purrers. We are feeding a higher priced feed to both cats and dogs and have actually been saving quite a bit of money. It all comes down to a better quality feed and the animals eating/needing less while being healthier. 

Even though I am fairly well versed in animal nutrition, I used to be bad about watching sales and using coupons for my cat and dog food. Whatever seemed to be decent food for a decent price AND had coupons, I went for to save a buck. Unfortunately my critters paid for it with poor coats and up/down weight issues. So I went to the other extreme and bought really pricey, overly hyped feeds. I think probably more to assuage my guilt than anything else. This also didn't really benefit my animals or my pocketbook. 

Flash forward to last winter when I went to work part-time for our new Tractor Supply. I chatted with a few of the nutritionists and feed reps to see what they were feeding their own animals. I found it very interesting that most of them were using the TSC brand "4 Health". It's priced pretty much in the middle of the scale and the ingredients seem to be very good. So I gradually switched my crews over to the appropriate formulas and I am thrilled!

Both cats and dogs have all done very well with these feeds. Their coats are thick and glossy, they all maintain steady, healthy weights, fewer hairballs and a large bonus overall is less poop. That may seem funny or trivial to some, but when you have a 125 pound hound, you want smaller landmines and fewer of them. Since there are so many less fillers and more of the good nutrients, the animals utilize the feed better and need less to be happily full. 

So I'm curious what do you feed your furballs? Anyone else use 4 Health? 

Guacamole - It's What's For Dinner

This time of year Mr. Mooncat and I don't really like to eat a heavy dinner. (This also translates to "I" don't like to spend a lot of time in the kitchen when we're dealing with temperatures in the high 90s, low 100s!) We tend to either snack or just have an appetizer instead of an actual main course. 

My favorite guacamole recipe is a bit of a hodgepodge of several I've come across over the years. I play around with it quite a bit, but this one seems to be the hubby's favorite, so we stick to it - the fact that it's easy helps.

image courtesy of Knorr, Inc. 

Makes 4-6 servings.

4 Large Avocados

3 Roma Tomatoes, diced

1 Red Onion, medium - diced

1 Fresh Lime, juiced (lemon can be substituted if desired)

2 TBsp chopped Cilantro, fresh preferred

2-3 large cloves finely chopped fresh garlic
1 pinch sea salt (optional)
1 pinch coarse black pepper (optional)
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil (optional)

In a large bowl, mash avocados and lime juice (& optional salt). Add in the tomatoes, onion, garlic and cilantro. Finally stir in the pepper and (optional olive oil.)

I like to cover this and chill in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours before serving, but it can be served right away if desired. I think the flavors tend to be better blended if you wait though.

Still Kicking and Clucking

It's Alive....

After a way too long hiatus, I'm back. In a way, a lot has changed and nothing has changed - if that makes sense. It will take me some time and many posts to bring you up to snuff. I appreciate you all still being here.

I am looking forward to getting back into the swing of things and sharing our little world again with you lovely people. I've missed you!

Here's a clue on what I'm still doing....

The Defense Rests

In the case of MrMoonCat vs.THE CHICKENS, the defense offers this photographic evidence:  

MrsMoonCat states:  "My husband is very supportive of my chicken obsession.  He helps me out and encourages me in growing our endeavour.  But, he tells the guys that he is just indulging his crazy wife.  He says that he puts up with the feathered fiends to appease me and doesn't have anything to do with any of the birds.  I don't understand why he doesn't want anyone to know that he enjoys being out with them almost as much as I do and has his favorites in the flock."

MrMoonCat replies:  "Uh, no comment.  I need to go feed my chickens."

The defense rests..

Spring is Sprung in the Coop

Nature's Incubator

I initially started raising Giant Cochins with the thought they would be broodies for my Blue Andalusian chicks.  Andalusians just have no interest in taking care of their own kids.  They produce a bajillion of them, then they are just "dead-beat" parents and don't want to take the time to hatch or raise them!  Spring fever has hit hard and they are popping out eggs like crazy in that pen. I was in need of some help to get the blue babies hatched. 

So Cochins to the rescue...or NOT.  I waited and waited for one of my beautiful blue Cochin gals to go broody.  You would think out of 9 hens, one would cooperate?  Nope. Nada.  So I took the plunge and ordered an incubator off of eBay.  Guess what?  The pretty little lady pictured above and below decided she wants to raise some chicks!  The very day after I spent a small fortune on an "alternative" way to get those babies hatched.  

Goofy bird...

"We are NOT amused"

Baby Blues at MoonCat Farms

I'm sure the title of this post had you thinking of something else.  Never fear, we aren't pregnant and we aren't blue at all around here, but our new babies are!

Welcome to our first hatch of the year (from Monday).  24 eggs went into the incubator and exactly 21 days later, these pretty babies made their way into the big wide world outside their shells.  I'm especially happy with these 17 hatchlings because they are the first chicks from my young breeding birds. 

In the first week of incubation, 4 eggs were found to not be fertile while 1 started and died.  The other 19 eggs went the full three weeks.  2 eggs didn't hatch for unknown reasons, but 17 did and 17 out of 24 is still very good.  The fertility and hatch rate should both improve as the breeders get a little older ~ and more experienced :)

The fuzzier chicks are Giant Blue Cochins with the others being my Blue Andalusians.  As you can see in the photo, there are some differently colored birds in the brooder.  Most birds that carry the common blue or "Andalusian" gene have the possibility of producing Blue, Black or Splash chicks. I am pleased with the group of mostly blue babies:  10 blue (5 Cochins/5 Andalusians), 5 black (3 Cochins/2 Andalusians) and 2 Splash Cochins.  Splash chicks will be a whitish based bird with blue or black "splashes" of color.  More about the blue genes later.

More photos and blathering on about my birds to come soon!

Chasing Chickens

Well, it's been so long since I've posted that I pretty much had to learn how to do it all over again!  Life has kept us very busy here at MoonCat Farms since I last checked in many moons ago.  There's too much to cover in one post so I'll just start fresh with one of my favorite and frankly, most time-consuming interests. My chooks...


Mr. MoonCat's parents call them their "grands".  When they come up for a visit, they enjoy helping me with the little feathered fiends.  In fact we're looking forward to a visit next month when I will be enlisting their help in vaccinating the flock and accomplishing a few other chores that seem to need a few willing extra hands.  Plus, we just have fun playing with the birds and spending time outside.  The chickens reward their "grands" by sending them back to Arizona with a bunch of beautiful farm fresh eggs!

Rudy Roo - Barred Plymouth Rock

Rudy Roo is called a Barred Plymouth Rock or just a Barred Rock.  He runs with my laying flock of mostly Rhode Island Red hens and a few girls of questionable parentage.  He's a very gentle bird that takes great care of his girls and is pleasant for us to be around.  (His neck shouldn't look all fuzzy like that, he's been sticking his head through the fence to reach the rosebush and messed up his feathers. I will be putting up more chicken wire soon, as Mr. MoonCat accused me of trying to strangle poor Rudy!)

"I'll Be Back..."   Iowa Blue hen

This little gal giving us all the stink-eye is an Iowa Blue hen.  She's a smallish bird that lays a small creamy colored egg.  They are a personable breed that is enjoyable to be around and as you can tell by the up close and personal photo, very nosy!  (BTW, they aren't blue..just those Iowa people coming up with a name for their birds... :)

Boo - Blue Andalusian rooster

This pretty guy is one of my favorite boys here at MoonCat Farms.  He is Boo, a Blue Andalusian rooster which comes from Andalusia, Spain.  Blue Andalusians actually show up in three color variations:  Blue, Black and Splash.  They are all the same bird, they just carry the blue gene differently.  I will do a post on each of the breeds I am raising and go a little more into the colors then.  

The fluffy butts in the photo above belong to my lovely Giant Blue Cochins.  That is one of the two roosters with his head up while the others were pigging out on a pumpkin. They lay medium-sized brown eggs, but not in large quantities.  In spite of this and in all honesty, because they are so darn cute, they came to MoonCat Farms with a purpose - to sit on and hatch the eggs of the Blue Andalusians.  Andalusians are notorious for NOT sitting on their own eggs while Cochins are notorious for being broody and wanting to spend their time raising chicks - instead of laying eggs!  It's a perfect match :)


If you haven't noticed yet, I have a bit of a theme with the BLUE chickens.  This has become quite the endeavor and I am truly hooked on my birds.  I look forward to sharing more about this journey with you.

Ernestina Hemingway - Our Polydactyl Cat

Just a quick post to introduce you to the baby of the house.  "Ernie" is a polydactyl cat with extra toes on each of her paws.  She actually has little "thumbs" on her front feet which makes her two times the menace of  the other cats ~ she can open drawers and latches like a person!  I'm baby-proofing several cabinets now.  I did try to get a better photo of her feet, but she kept swatting at me so I'll wait until the monster is asleep for that.  You can see a bit of her thumb in the second photo.

As for her name, it obviously stems from a beloved and well-known figure in American history.  What isn't quite as well known is that the Nobel prize-winning author Ernest Hemingway had a his house full of these "abnormal" polydactyl cats.  In fact, even decades after his death his home in Florida is still a haven for the descendants of his original six-toed cat that he received as a gift from a ship's captain.  


These type of cats are said to be much more common on the East Coast than here in the West.  I personally hadn't come across one until we adopted Ernie after someone dumped her at our non-pet friends' house.  At the time we had a hard time telling if she was indeed a girl, so I called her Ernie and Mr. MoonCat was calling her "Hemi".  Got a little confusing since we already have a "Hammy" in the house.  

Happy Father's Day

to all of the Dads out there including

my own dear Daddy!



Pops and Pete



While I've Been Away..

As usual, I can't make any excuses for the severe neglect that this dear little blog of mine has been suffering.  My only excuse is that I've been super busy in the great outdoors.  Mr. MoonCat and I have been working on expanding the chicken runs and temporary coops.  I have great things planned and my hardworking, ever-suffering hubby usually is the one to make them into reality.  Good thing he loves me...

 A few pics to show why I've been preoccupied elsewhere:


My two-day old babies



Are YOU talking to ME?



My baby blue roo



Voracious appetites

When I am inside the house I spend a lot of time:

Saying "Aren't they cute?":

Then acting as referee:



She's MY mommy & I want to lay in her lap
~Notice my normally rotten Porkchop just
ignores them & continues with his nap


And, trying to convince a large hound that I can still see him behind a tiny pillow:

"Maybe she'll think I'm part of the sofa.."

So that's just a tiny peek at what we're doing around here.  I won't make any promises as to when I'll see ya next ~ I'm not very reliable that way lately....

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all,

whether your kids have skin, fur or feathers.

I miss you Mama

Cowboy Up!

We had a fun time out at the ranch today.  After having a lively breakfast, horseback riding was the scheduled event.  The star of course was Rowan!

Our favorite little nephew dude dragged his parents and his Grandma up to visit Aunty Julie, Uncle Mike and Papa Bill.  He was sporting his brand new cowboy boots and told them he just had to go on the long drive to see us.  We weren't fooled though, he really came to see the horses, the chickens and Adolph the dog!  We're all aware of our place in line :)  I think the tractor we call "Greenie" has also moved ahead of us..

Rowan was all dressed up for the occasion

-Uncle Mike, not so much

Rowan on Hailey, Uncle Mike on Ace

"Tickle, tickle Hailey!"

Rowan showing Papa Bill how to drive "Greenie"

He's a natural farmer!

It was a fun way to spend a sunny morning with loved ones who don't live close enough to see as much as we'd like.  We're already looking forward to Ro's next foray into cowboying.  Look out Hailey!

Recipe - Basil Beer Bread

While I do grow most of my basil from seed, I sometimes can't help myself and MUST buy a beautiful plant when I see it.  I recently snagged two gorgeous basil plants while out shopping.  I was pleasantly surprised when one of them had the following recipe included on the plant marker.  Because I had all of the ingredients on hand and just reading the recipe made my mouth water, I tried it.  And I loved it....So here it is...

Basil Beer Bread

3 cups self-rising flour
3 tbsp granulated sugar
12 oz warm beer
1/2 cup chopped basil

In large bowl, mix all ingredients together.  Pour mixture into a well-greased loaf pan or dish.  Put loaf pan into an unheated oven.  Turn the oven on and set at 350 degrees.  Bake for 50 minutes or until lightly browned on top.  Remove from pan and place on a wire rack to cool. 

***I think I would leave it in the oven for a few minutes longer and just keep a close eye on it.  This first loaf didn't get quite as brown as I would have liked.

The basil smell alone was enough to get the hubby wandering into the kitchen to find out what I was up to.  I  sliced it up while still warm and used some of this overly delicious herbal butter that I had made up the day before.  I followed the recipe I found at my idol Nancy aka The Lemon Verbena Lady's blog.  (Be sure to visit her site for great recipes and herbal wisdom.)

It was a huge success as we skipped dessert and opted for another piece of bread instead.  Needless to say, this will be a recipe that we'll use quite a bit in the coming months.  Many thanks to the lovely Nancy for the awesome herb butter recipe :)