Decorating the Blog with Diversity

I struggle to keep this blog ag, K-State and rodeo centered. Because I like random things like decorating and cooking (sometimes) and I always love clothes and would love to be able to do what Sheridan does over on Stitches Without Riches but I don't want to deter from my real purpose for the blog. So while I will probably start to put more random domesticated blogs in here, never fear because K-State, ag and rodeo will always reign supreme.

See how I put decorating in the title? I bet you didn't know this was going to be about decorating. I tricked ya.

I have put a lot of time into decorating our trailer house for fall, especially since it's the first house we've had room to decorate in since we've been married. So, today you're getting a splash of fall decorating in and around our trailer casa and also some excitement of DIY. Very domesticated I have become (that was Yoda speaking). Oy, marrying a nerd is rubbing off on me.

Ok let's kick start this with some DIY excitement - I have a lot of jewelry and nowhere to put it all so I can choose what to wear.

See this right here? That's a jewelry board with cool vintage-y knobs from Hob Lob that I made using a piece of barnwood from the old barn across the road. Total cost: $8 - I saw one on ebay selling for $40. I am such a saver.

And this?

Oh, just a burlap monogram letter of the family name. No biggie - knocked that DIY project out in one night. Easy peasy.

And this lampshade?

Purple spray paint is the bomb.

I made those things, folks. With my two hands. And some power tools. and a flame torch.  Also, I did some fall decorating on that table with the wooden duck and a pumpkin candle. Ba-zing.


And now for the decorating portion of today's random blog post:

 

This is in our living room - I found the barnwood shelf/cabinet on Craigslist and the framed copy of A Tribute to the Stockman by W.H. Mumford is a gift from my sister-in-law, Hallie. The wooden dish is made from eucalyptus wood that we bought it in Australia. Glammed up pumpkins are from Michaels, as is the hurricane jar and candle. Wine corks were already on hand ;)

Next up the mantel top of the entertainment center

 I don't like to buy a lot of things to decorate, because I'm cheap. So I use whatever I can find in our house or stuff we have purchased on different trips. I like to incorporate items from our international travels - like that bowl (which needs to be dusted) with the colorful orbs and string. Both the bowl and the orbs are from South Africa and so is the pronghorn horn. See the homemade monogram sign up there? Forgot to mention that cost me all of $3.50 to make since I only had to buy the spray paint. Which I also used to spray paint the lamp shade and a small ceramic dish that is hiding elsewhere in the house.

Oh and check out my friend Ernie, perched atop some fall colored books - all but two of the books are from international trips we have taken.

 These fall flowers are actually kind of recycled - I bought the orange and red one but the ceramic vase with raffia and the yellow flower are from my sweet friend Lindsay. In the spring, the whole thing is full of the yellow flowers that she gave me for my birthday a few years ago.

We live in a trailer modular home with an open floor plan so there isn't a lot of designated space for a big kitchen table or other shelves but this woven bowl from South Africa filled with gourds is doing a great job of looking fall-ish on table that we rarely eat at.

 And now we've come to the outdoors portion of the tour - from left to right: our front door with pumpkins, gourds and some corn stalks; close up of pumpkins (purchased from East Side Market); the porch at the back door (aren't my yellow mums pretty?). 

And if, for some reason, you all like this kind of stuff  please let me know. Maybe I'll do a 'house tour' or something. Or recipes I am going to use in my new crockpot that I finally got from Hyatt. Show me some comment love!

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

Backyard Animals - South African Style

So, I know I promised you a post on the wildlife of South Africa. Here it is.  In Kansas we tend to see backyard wildlife that are similar to this:

  

In South Africa, it's not uncommon to see animals like these ostriches roaming through your backyard:

If you live in the northern part of South Africa, you can visit the Kruger National Park and see hundreds of different species of wildlife and plants in just one day.  While in Kruger (from 6:30 am - 5 pm) we saw the following (short list):

Wild dog (rare), hyena (very rare), giraffes, lions, cape buffalo, black rhino, elephants (the previous 4 are 4/5 of the Big Five) wildebeest, zebras, baboons, kudu (antelope, the hide of one which now resides on our floor), crocodiles, monkeys, hippos and so much more.  It was straight out of The Lion King!

It was absolutely amazing to see, up close, all the animals which I had only seen on Animal Planet or in the zoo before.  One night we were at our hotel, Hippo Hollow Resort, and the sign on the lawn read:

At that same hotel, this guy was sitting on our balcony and his friends were running around on our roof. 

We made sure not to leave the windows or doors open that night. The last thing I wanted was to wake up to a monkey rummaging through my stuff or sitting on my bed!  We did see a hippo that night but thankfully no crocodiles came and made a tasty snack out of it.  We did see some action while there:

This mama elephant was not happy that we were in close proximity to her babies and she trumpeted at our convoy and half charged! We left promptly.

It was an amazing trip and I hope that each and every one of you travels abroad at some point in your life.  You'll never forget it and you'll certainly never regret it.

Until next time,

~Buzzard~

Tastes So Good

Well I’m back in the States and extremely glad that I won’t be on a plane for at least another month. Twenty hours one way is just too much. While I was quite nervous about the trip and the food I would encounter, I was pleasantly surprised at many of the meals we were served. Some of my favorites were:

• Springbok medallions
• Ostrich meatballs
• Steak from a Bonsmara – can’t travel abroad without sampling a steak!
• A dessert called Ellis Pudding
• Snoek – a fish native to the Western Cape
• Impala jerky
• Pop – not to be confused with soda. This is ground maize boiled and then mixed with salt. They call it porridge or ‘pop’ and I call it delicious. 

There is also a great liquer there called Amarula which is very similar to Bailey’s Irish Crème. Tastes great poured over some ice!

 

While I enjoyed many of the local and traditional dishes, there are some dishes I just couldn’t bring myself to enjoy – those of you who know me well will be able to distinguish why these dishes passed the Buzzard palate test:

• Pancakes filled with mincemeat – bobotie
• Shredded fish with rice, carrots, curry and some unrecognizable things
• Mopani worm (pictured above) – the name should tip you off on why. I tried really hard to swallow that little devil but just couldn’t do it and subsequently spit it out. 

And lastly, there are the things that we have in the U.S. but have a slight twist in South Africa:

• Instead of ham and scrambled eggs – hotdogs and scrambled eggs
• Ham steaks transformed into bacon
• Tomato sauce instead of tomato ketchup  

The whole trip was thrilling but it’s really great to be back in the States – time to get back to thesis writing, research and baking those 30 angel food cakes (see “Angel Food Cake = Figi).  It's also great to get back to real ketchup, homemade gravy, marbled beef and Dr. Pepper.

 

Until next time,
~Buzzard~

 

Hello from Cape Town, South Africa!

“Goeie More” or Hello from South Africa! For the past 5 days I explored and adventured abroad in the Cape Town countryside learning about foreign agriculture and animal science. My first day in Cape Town I strolled the streets of Stellenbosch, did some shopping, wine tasting and visited a Hereford farm. Unlike the U.S., very few Angus were raised in this area. The farmers consider them too wild, therefore there are thousands of Herefords and indigenous breeds roaming the African plains. Lamb and wool production are also quite prevalent here. However, farmers don’t choose to produce only one of the commodities. They raise a breed called Dohne-Merino which is a dual-purpose breed for the production of high quality wool and meat.

Days 2-5 consisted of viewing Nguni cattle (pictured above), going on a springbok hunt, climbing Table Mountain and getting soaked by the waves on the shores of the Cape of Good Hope. All of these experiences have been priceless but being ]in Cape Town has also opened my eyes to the blessings we have as American citizens. I won’t ramble on and on but I will briefly summarize some disadvantages of being a farmer in South Africa:

•South African farmers receive absolutely no subsidies – regardless of crop or specie produced. This aspect leaves them without a cushion and unprotected from volatile markets.

•On a good year South African farmers are able to produce almost enough food to feed their country. This is a country that is 2x the size of Texas but has only 12% arable land for crop production. They very rarely have any surplus to export unlike the United States which exports foodstuffs to almost every country in the world.

•The average rainfall in South Africa is only 492 mm (19.62 inches). However, parts of the Western Cape receive less than 10 inches per year. Compare that to an average rainfall of 17 inches in western KS and 40 inches in southeast Kansas and you have an idea of what South African farmers are dealing with.

•A new practice being put into place by the government is redistribution of farmland from large farms to inexperienced farmers to help them become productive members of the industry. This process is similar to eminent domain in the U.S. however, the land being redistributed (40% of each farm) is not being purchased at a fair price. This government action has caused several farmers to move to the northern countries of Africa or to sell their farms completely to avoid having 40% purchased for meager prices.

These are daily tribulations that farmers in South Africa must endure to feed their families and stay in business. It’s important to look at other agricultural situations so that we don’t lose sight of the fact that we are the most agriculturally productive country in the world.

Until next time
~Buzzard~