Summertime, and the eating is easy

Oh, I do love breaking out my favorite zucchini and other garden produce recipes, like Potato Zucchini Bake, tabbouli, pasta salad, chocolate zucchini muffins, zucchini chocolate orange cake, caramelized onion pasta, raw beet salad, Scarpaccia, Greek Salad, black bean zucchini burgers, zucchini brownies, etc., etc. I need to pick and use parsley – I sense another big batch of tabbouli – and basil – pesto, obviously. 😋 Yep, it's summertime, and the eating (well, at least the menu planning) is easy. On top of that, the prunes are ripening; every morning I pick a couple handfuls for Rick's lunch and my breakfast but very soon I'll need to 'pick a peck of prunes' and load our big hydrator a few times. After that it will be time to start on applesauce....

Last night's lunar eclipse was fun; it started while I was in Costco visiting with my cousin after shopping and continued well past the time I got home and could stand out on our deck enjoying it.

The Oregon State Fair officially opened today, but Rick's duties as fair veterinarian started yesterday. Twelve days of getting up early and getting home late take much of the joy out of it for him, but I am looking forward to my visits. You know I'll take photos to share. But in the meantime, here are some recent photos from around the 'farm:'

'tis the season; the Western Gray squirrels are busy putting up hazelnuts and walnuts

Bernadette and her flashy daughter Broadway

Broadway 'playing dead,' with Bernice, one of her twin daughters, looking on

a pretty start here the same day of the horrific flash flooding in Nepal/Tibet😢

The next couple months are starting to develop a travel theme. The last time I visited my mom was last September near her birthday, and I am feeling the need to visit her again soon. I'd get to see my sister and her family plus my friends in the Lincoln, NE area, too, adding to the draw. Next, a dear friend of mine who lives in Kauai has long urged me/us to visit. I was hoping we could make that happen back in June for our 42nd wedding anniversary, but there was hemming and hawing at this end (Rick seemed inclined to take our adult son along), then our friends put their house on the market, and I thought our window of opportunity to use their ahana unit had closed. Turns out we might yet be able to make that happen! It would be the first true vacation (with no continuing education or family obligations attached) Rick and I will have taken since our honeymoon, and the thought makes me a bit breathless. Then, at the end of October an Israeli acquaintance is traveling here to see the sights and attend the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival. The weather has usually turned at least somewhat wet by then but we are going to get in some hikes through Oregon's natural beauty regardless; I am looking forward to the cross-cultural experience. Goodness, after that we'll be well into the lead-up to the holiday season!

Speaking of a fiber festival, I continue to play with fiber here. I liked the yarns I shared in my last post so much that I flick-carded some washed colored merino locks someone gave me so I could ply it with my remaining blue silk singles:

That's it for now from . . .

Fiber and fishing

I've been pretty good about posting 4-5 times a month, about once a week, but as I said in my last post, summertime is hectic. Still, last Sunday we took family time to smell the roses river. I took my tiniest spindle to spin up the last of the blue silk while my guys tried and failed to catch but one fish; still, we all enjoyed the peaceful setting and perfect weather. A scolding kingfisher followed us along the way, and I managed to capture one decent photo of it (along with all the other shots).

In other fiber news, I have skeined, washed and measured more handspun – the two blue-silk-plied yarns I spun up earlier this year. I think I'll use them in a two-color Buggiflooer Beanie, after considering the FFSSA Sheep and Spindle Fair Isle Hat.

Yesterday was apparently Tiny Snake Tuesday. The first of the two I saw, up by the garage, was shockingly aggressive for being the size of an earthworm – it coiled up and repeatedly struck at the toe of my boot!

I have been considering the qualities of my ewes as I ponder the possibility of breeding a few this fall. In recent years I have selected for typier tails; only Bridget, whose only offspring has an excellent tail, and Bitsy, who I don't intend to ever breed, aren't quite up to snuff. Bernadette has the best earset; the rest are closer to horizontal. The fleece quality in my flock is good-to-excellent but I will always strive for better if/when I breed. As for the "if," that depends on the results of the mid-term elections....

Bernie and her "uppy ears"

I'll close with recent sky shows, always good for perspective.

First August fog?

Sara says August fogs predict summer snows!

this morning's cloudscape

That's it for now from . . .

Summertime, and the living is hectic

'Tis the season for gardening and hay hauling and firewood acquisition and spinning along with the Tour de Fleece. It is hot and very dry and sometimes smoky. The days are growing noticeably shorter and fall is on its way, but there is much to do before then. So I'll throw a bunch of photos at you and get back to work!

our bright dining room light fixture after replacing all the bulbs

our entry light fixture with old bulbs; yes, there is THAT much difference!

getting the last of our hay

that should do us; the bit at the far right is all that remains of last year's

the morning of August 3

the evening of August 3

the morning of August 4

approximately half our fig harvest, my breakfast one morning

the morning of August 5

the evening of August 5, showing the first bit of improvement

my finished TdF yarn

enough contrast for Murano squares?

the morning of August 7

second planting of beets and beans coming up

oak to cut and split, but not dry enough for this winter

back to normal air quality and "the long view"

zooming in  so you can see the hot air balloons with Mt. Adams between

8g of silk singles on my wee Bee Hummingbird spindle 

two paintings given to us by the artist, a friend of ours

doggy yin and yang

That's it for now from . . .