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.

March 2024

 With Spring and better weather, we've been fully into our spring cleaning and landscaping mode. Ron started with the excavator and was able to remove the top layer of blackberry brush, but there was still a lot of hand work to make the slope ready for more acceptable plants.

Since the ground under the blackberry vines consists of huge boulders and pit run, there was a lot of handpicking of rocks involved. Every hole we dug to place a plant involved bringing in some good dirt from elsewhere to give the plants a decent chance of survival.

Spring cleaning around here involves removing one last bank full of 100 year old blackberry bushes. Unfortunately, when we removed the blackberries, it left our propane tank standing out like an ugly sore thumb. This is what it looked like after Ron had taken the power washer to it. We've leased the same tank from Enviro Propane for about 35 years, so I decided I would risk their wrath and paint it.

While I was looking for paint in Home Depot, another customer walked by and saw the cans of spray paint in my basket and snarkly asked, "Planning on doing some tagging?" So I guess that's what you'd call painting an old propane tank that doesn't belong to you. If I was really into artwork, I'd have called my sister, Molly, who's an accomplished artist to help me. 

Meanwhile, my obsessive nature has me planting, potting, replanting, and repotting in the greenhouse. It's so wonderful to hang out there in the warmth watching things grow. I probably am overwatering but can't seem to stop myself.  

The other day, someone asked me what I thought we could expect in our screwed up world in 2024. I said "I think there'll be flowers!" They looked at me in dismay and said, "How can you say that when everything is so messed up?" My answer: "Because I'm planting flowers." 

Mid-March Cooking

A few days ago, one of the people I follow on Facebook mentioned that she was canning vegetable beef soup for her elderly (my age - yikes) parents. She had asked her Mom what they were having for dinner, and the Mom said "An egg sandwich". 

"Didn't you have that yesterday?" 

"Maybe - I don't remember." 

The daughter then said she was worried they were eating just egg sandwiches because either they weren't up to cooking, or they couldn't think of anything different to eat each day.  Well, this hit way too close to home. I absolutely do get tired of finding something new to cook each day, and there are only two of us, so the big meals I used to make when we had teenagers at home don't make much sense.  When I told this story to Ron, his response was "Egg sandwich - That sounds good." So part of my problem is I don't get much culinary creative help. This sent me scurrying back through my box of recipes, and I remembered when this dish was a big favorite, but I haven't made it for years. So here's hoping it gives someone else inspiration for dinner!

Taco Casserole 

Just a few simple ingredients:  A pound of hamburger, fried with onions and garlic. Add a can of cream of chicken soup and half a bottle of green taco sauce.  Crumble tortilla chips on the bottom of a casserole dish and then pour the hamburger mixture on and top with shredded cheese and bake for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

And since there are just the two of us, I used two small casserole dishes and baked one and froze the other one for when we get home late from a job and need a quick meal.

And since I'm cooking today, made a batch of Indian fry bread:

2 cups flour, 1 tsp salt, 1 tablespoon baking powder, and 2 tablespoons of powdered milk solids. Stir together, then make a dent in the center and add 1 tablespoon of oil and 1 cup of water. Knead and let rest for a few minutes, then roll out to about 1/4" thickness and cut into squares and fry at medium high in oil until golden brown.

February 2024

 

Early February brought signs of Spring - the Forsythia in bloom always gives us hope that the winter is receding and we can start thinking about gardening, mowing, planting and all things Spring.

In the greenhouse, I've started veggies and flowers and they are starting to look really good. I even put some cabbage and broccoli plants outside. The peas I planted outside on December 31, actually survived the very cold time we had in January, and are popping out of the ground.

Ron and I spent a couple of days raking and leveling and getting ready for the final touches by our excellent cement guy, Steve.

The slab in the tool shed is done! Most of the land work around the building is looking good, and I've been planting flowers around the edges. The sunshine days in February are so wonderful and we spent several days outside renewing our Vitamin D and K levels.

Then....this happened! As part of the two steps forward, one step back of Spring, we endured a couple of days of wet snow at the end of February. The picture is of my brave peas coming up through the snow.