Good morning, luvs! The storm clouds have rolled in again after a positively gorgeous couple of days. How I have loved wandering around the property, watching the goats and horses nibbling their way through the yard and trying to guess what sort of ducks are bobbing along the pond.

The other day I spotted this lime green pod and thought it looked so cool! Any ideas as to what it might be?

The sunshine has been wonderful, perfect for hanging laundry on the line, building new fences, and squelching the amorous advances of the goats.

The males have been getting mighty frisky the last few days, and since we don’t want pregnant mamas and their babies struggling to thrive in the cold winter months, we’re working hard to get the Bachelor’s Quarters ready so the menfolk are removed from temptation.

They’ve been enjoying their last few days of freedom with their girlfriends, basking in sunshine atop their favorite hill and wandering through the trees finding tasty weeds to munch on.

In addition to building fences, it’s also time for drenching the goats. When I first heard this term, I pictured us dunking animals in a large vat of something. Kind of like that dunking game at the fair where a brave soul perches on a diving board over a pool of water whilst eager customers take turns hurling balls at a target hoping to send him into the icy depths.

Alas, it’s nothing quite that exciting. Drenching is simply giving goats an oral dose of medicine to get rid of worms. They enjoy it about as much as I loved getting spoonfuls of cod liver oil as a kid.

It’s definitely a tw0-person job unless you have a docile patient like Bossy Boots, below. Bear holds the goats between his knees, one hand holding the horns and the other their chin. I’m stationed at the business end of each goat where I fill the syringe with the proper dosage, slip it in the side of their mouths where there’s no teeth to hamper my efforts, and empty the plunger. They sputter and fuss, but feel so much better afterwards.

Soon they’re off gallivanting again, exploring where they oughtn’t and having a marvelous time.

They make me grin.

Recently I used up the last of our kangaroo mince to make a delectably homey dish that’s so simple I hesitate calling it a recipe. I learned about it many years ago when I was a nanny in Portugal from the mom of the kids I was looking after.

It’s a “poor man’s roast” using ground beef, pork, or – if you have a lot of kangaroo on hand – kangaroo.

Simply mix the ground meat with lots of freshly ground black pepper, a bit of salt and a spoonful of minced garlic. Shape it into a loaf and place it in a foil-lined bread pan. Mix together cream of mushroom soup, onion soup mix and more black pepper and pour the lot over the meat. Seal the foil and bake for a little over an hour.

The result is a savory meatloaf with its own gravy, perfect over rice or boiled potatoes.

It’s nothing fancy, just good, comfort food.

What chores have you been tackling this week?

Kangaroo Mince Roast

Ingredients:

1 pound kangaroo mince (or ground beef)
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp hot red chili flakes
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 envelope onion soup mix
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F
2. Line bread pan with large piece of aluminum foil. Set aside.
3. In medium bowl mix kangaroo mince with pepper, salt, garlic and chili flakes. Shape into loaf size and place in bread pan, leaving room along sides and ends.
4. In separate bowl mix soup mixes and pepper together until well-blended. Pour over meat loaf.
5. Fold foil over meat loaf and seal.
6. Bake for 60-90 minutes until meat is cooked through.
7. Slice meat and cover with gravy. Serve with rice or mashed potatoes.