August 2024

We had our family gathering on August 10. All of Ron's boys and their families came for the weekend, and most of the 23 cousins enjoyed playing in the lake, camping, hiking, playing badminton and volleyball, and more. 

Cash, home from ranger training in the Army resting and recuperating. 

Martin, the youngest grandchild loving the fairytale book.

It was a strange month weather-wise...beautiful - even hot for 10 days, then we had a big storm. Fierce wind took down one tree and left debris covering everything. Then unseasonable cold and relentless rain for a couple of days.

But with rain in summer, we sometimes get a bounty of Chantrelle mushrooms. And harvest begins in earnest.

Cabbage did well this year, so a crock of saurkraut is fermenting away. I realized that we don't actually use much applesauce, so I've been making apple butter for the past couple of years.  This year, I decided to make apples into something we really use: apples for smoothies. We make smoothies nearly every day, so why not cut the apples up and freeze them to be ready? If I get more fruit and berries ready for smoothies and dedicate a shelf in the freezer to them, it will be easy to send Ron out to the freezer for smoothy fruit without him having to look for it.

So now I have nectarines, cherries, berries, apples, and peaches ready in quart size bags. Organizing a freezer is much like everything else...life is easier when you know where things are!

It's also fig harvest time, so I have a dehydrator working on figs, and some fig preserves on the pantry shelf. 

 

Chili Relleno Casserole

 Well, I have to say they don't look like much - but my sister, Mona, says they are really yummy, and she's a great cook of all things Mexican, so I took her word for it and picked up a tray of the freshly roasted Hatch peppers at the local IGA.  It's Show n Shine weekend here in our little town, so IGA has a pepper roast outside the store. Mona assures me it's hard to find freshly roasted peppers, and I've not seen them before.

I forgot some of the details, so I'm stumbling along to make the chili relleno casserole. I do love chili rellenos, but hate deep frying anything, so the casserole sounded good. Wasn't sure if I was supposed to remove the seeds (I did). It's kind of a lasagna kind of approach - layering chilis with queso 

I understand that only the proper cheese will work 

I had enough peppers for the bottom layer and a smaller layer on top of the first layer of cheese.

Topped with 4 eggs slightly beaten with salt and pepper (I used Johnny's Seasoning). And a layer of shredded cheddar. Then, since it's going to be 90 degrees today and we don't have A/C, I covered it well and froze it to bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes on the first day we get a break in this heat. Off to look at land boats with my car obsessed husband. Update on the casserole later!

July 2024

Even at 80 years old, we're always looking for new things to do. Our son is a very inventive guy, and he designed what he calls a "molenator" - Using an old lawn mower, he welded a pipe to where the muffler used to be and connected a hose to that to focus the carbon dioxide from the engine into the mole warren. We managed to burn up a couple of hoses until he found a stainless steel radiator hose on Ebay, and modified the design. So this may not sit well with all the people who relocate a mouse or a slug rather than kill it, but it does take a serious toll on the mole population in a small area.  For years I've been trying to establish boundaries in the tiny areas we cultivate. The majority of our acreage is a wildlife refuge for the wild critters that have been displaced all around us. Mostly we deal with fencing, but that doesn't work at all for moles and slugs, and not particularly well for deer, raccoons, bear, squirrels and rabbits.

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I have a fence within the fences surrounding cabbage, carrots, and some corn. I plant Marigolds with nearly everything, as they are supposed to keep bugs and slugs and rabbits at bay. But for the record, I've found a slug coiled around a Marigold plant, so I can't vouch for the effectiveness.

It's been a good year for onions. 

Raspberries have been pathetic. Between the extreme temperature changes, birds, and mostly, deer, it's been a struggle. Finally getting a few of the yellow raspberries that I just planted this year.

 

Lots of flowers and lots of bees, even though I've seen where lots of folks have been missing bees this year.

A couple of grandkids came for a couple of days to give us a preview of our family gathering in August.

 

June 2024

 

A tub of water, a sunny day, and a bunch of children! We all enjoyed watching the great grandkids' antics on our visit to the Tonasket family.

Uncle Jesse pulling a wagonful of children. 

When you've just been dunked, nothing better than a grandma lap for comfort.

Stopped by the fruit warehouse in Pateros on our way home and picked up a couple of boxes of cherries. We ate a bunch fresh - so fun to find abundant cherries in season. Then home and the canning began. I pitted 6 quarts and froze for smoothies in the winter, and canned 14 quarts for the pantry.

The deer are keeping the peas pruned, but I do spot a few pods they missed. Deer favorite food: peas, beans, cabbage, raspberry and blackberry vines, and all ornamentals. We have a doe with two spotted fawns, and a doe with a single baby that are pretty much residents here.

 This little guy came by to sample the bird feeder offering.

In spite of all the wild residents, I still have hope of having cucumbers for pickles, onions, raspberries, blackberries, apples, pears, figs, cabbage, lettuce, corn, kohlrabi, potatoes, celery, tomatoes, and peppers for our use.

 

Lots of flowers for fragrance, beauty and bees. Why I love this time of year!

May 2024

We started the month working on our new building. While the sheetrockers were working on the inside, Ron and I finished painting the exterior and cleaning up all the construction debris and tools. 

On May 11, we hosted the 2nd Annual plant exchange for the Granite Falls Gardeners Club.

So many plants and such a nice gathering of people! Exchanging ideas as well as plants! After everyone had all the plant starts they wanted, we still had a tableful of plants to donate to a local teacher. A good time was had by all and we're looking forward to a flower exchange of iris, dahlia, and other perineal plants in the fall.

May 12 found us on the way to visit family. First stop, Salt Lake City. When we don't see grandkids for a year, they grow a lot bigger than we expected!

While in Salt Lake, we spent a day visiting the Young Living farm in Mona, Utah, viewing the gorgeous grounds and amazing horses. Too bad we weren't there for one of the days they were doing jousting.

We took a tour through the distillery where they make essential oils. Currently working on huge vats of Juniper. They also grow other crops for oil at the farm. Everything, including the barns, is super clean and open to the public. A ride in the horse drawn cart

 throughout the farm, followed by lunch at the restaurant facility completes the tour.

On to Iowa and a visit for Ron with his two remaining siblings, and the whole Iowa family.

Then a blitz trip home - back to reality and work around our farm. We spent the first day back regrouping, then painted the interior of the new building. On to flooring....

April 2024

We've had a busy month here at the lake. Our storage building is really taking shape now. 

Tony came and created walls to make our little storage building useful! Before he left, we had siding, walls, windows, and doors, and the work really begins for Ron and I. My brother-in-law, Scott told me when we were building houses in Georgia that there were 100,000 details in building a house. This at about the 30,000 mark.  

 I don't think the 100,000 details even includes all the shopping you have to do....finding the proper material for the batts on the siding took a full day, and figuring out how to haul it home, changing vehicles to do that, loading, and unloading...and then cutting each length and nailing it up, caulking each nail hole before painting - all tasks that take time.  

Meanwhile, inside insulating every crack and crevice. I did everything I could from a 3 step ladder (all I'm qualified for) and then Ron and I worked together to do the ceiling and high areas. Minimizing ups and downs on ladders as much as possible. We'll probably be coughing up fiberglas for a month, and probably shortened our lives by a couple of years, but we got it done!

On to sheetrocking inside. Fortunately we have an amazing contractor for that. I don't think our old bodies would be up to a sheetrock project.

Sometimes when you're working hard and have a nice day, you just have to take time to stop and enjoy your world. I didn't catch any fish, but I did catch some rays.

To catch fish, you need a real fisherman to give you some instruction.

The proof is in the pudding...we all shared these two they kept. The rule around here is "If you keep it, you eat it." No fish goes to waste.