Foodstuffs

Even though my only 'garden' this year is just three plants in a pot (which have grown noticeably since the last photo I shared!), I've been getting a few cucumbers from the starts I tucked into the neighbor's garden plot, along with abundant extra summer squash from their plants.

Then I got a mess of cucumbers – from the friend who gave me the starts! I stopped by so Poppy could play with her sister, and she asked if I wanted some. She also shared her pickle recipe/technique, so I loaded up four quart jars. A few days later, she sent me home with more – a LOT more. Now there are 16 quarts of dill pickles fermenting on my counter!

The same day I started fermenting the first four quarts of pickles, I baked my second batch of sourdough bread. In between the two batches of bread, I've also made Sourdough Ginger Spice Cookies and Sourdough Lemon Poppyseed Muffins – recipes I'll definitely be repeating.

The seven remaining hens are still providing enough eggs for us and a coworker who buys from me. One day this week I got six – not bad considering that three of my hens are five years old and one is six!

Our hay supply is still holding up, although I'm on my last bale of third cutting. I've been feeding that to Bridget and her young son and also to Spot; after it's gone, they'll have to eat the coarser first cutting like everyone else. The pastures are pretty well spent, so I'm having to feed hay to the horses now, too. I am praying our hay guy calls soon!

Speaking of hay, I decided today would be Boop's turn to get cleaned up and coated to keep as much hay out of her fleece as possible. Even though she has been haltered before, she was a drama queen and a flopper, making my job exponentially harder.

While cleaning her up, I took a look to see if Boop's fleece color is fading like Bling's. Nope; it's still rich, dark brown – and wonderfully crimpy.

Good-looking girl!

I put a coat on Boop, but it looked pretty snug – as did her mother's. So I changed out both their coats for the next size up, and it turns out they wear the same size! Yep, except for her head, five-month-old Boop is about the same size as her dam; amazing.

D coats looking stuffed

E coats looking roomy

That's it for now from . . .

Happy August!

I don't know what the rest of August will bring, but this morning brought cooler temperatures and pretty clouds, most welcome relief from what the meteorologists are saying was our longest heat wave on record. Ugh, good riddance; I think I've been in 'heat hibernation' mode. We endured it, including all the critters; I just haven't had much motivation (this posted was started weeks ago and just couldn't get off the ground). Poppy and Chuckie seemed least affected; do cats ever get too hot? They just sprawl about, seeming to enjoy it. Chuckie discovered some volunteer catnip in a deck pot; can you spot which one?

Speaking of deck pots, my wee garden flourished in the heat.

June 7

August 1

I've harvested some of the basil which really made the plant fill out; the bell pepper is getting bigger and heavier, and there's a nice little tomato coming along. I've also harvested half a dozen tasty cucumbers from the plants I tucked into the neighbors' garden, plus a couple summer squash and some rhubarb they said I could pick. In other harvesting news, Rick and I picked 73# of blueberries last Thursday morning, 70# of which are now in the freezer for our year's supply. No photos; no energy to bother with that after three and a half hours out in the sun. 😳

I also braved the morning sun when I could stand it to ride Stella. She is coming along nicely in her arena work, and is an awesome 'trail' horse.

As I mentioned before, I also 'rode' in the Tour de fleece last month (it extended through the whole month because of the women's race immediately following the Tour de France this year). I exceeded my goals, for which I am very happy (I'm both goal-oriented and process-driven, so these kinds of events are up my alley). Pictured with my yellow "jersey" are  237g of Jacob 3-ply (singles spun years ago), 91g of chain-plied BamHuey, 25g of chain-plied cotton, and 15g of singles spun from a Woodland Pixies batt (fiber and spindle acquired at Black Sheep Gathering):

Now for fiber growers. All the lambs are thriving, from Boop to Boomer. Just for fun, I tried to get similar shots of all of Spot's kids (including yearling Berlin), plus their dad, loving their chin rubs. (Boop's photo isn't great because she's so dark and so is the barn.) I also got some fiber shots, even though dark fleeces are notoriously hard to photograph accurately. Spot has passed on his fabulous fleece as well as his sweet personality!

Spot

Berlin

Boop

Broadway

Bling

Boomer, showing the character that he is!

Boop

Broadway

Bling

Unless he's castrated, Boomer can't stay here as he's related to all my ewes but Blaise. In order to advertise him, I needed some decent photos, so yesterday I jury-rigged my smallest halter and took him out for a photo shoot. Considering this was his first time away from mom and first haltering lesson, he did very well; Poppy helped by giving him something to focus on besides his distress. Yes, there was jumping around, but no throwing himself on the ground or playing dead as often happens when halter-training lambs, so Boomer gets an 'A.'

Poppy would love to play with all the lambs, and horses, and chickens, and, of course, Chuckie. The problem with a terrier's play is that someone is likely to get hurt, so the only live creatures she gets to play with totally unsupervised are prey. Oh, and Spot, because he doesn't play; they are just friends.

It is entertaining to watch 'Poppy the hunter;" I do wish she'd would kill what she catches quickly, though. 😕

When I wouldn't let her play too much with Bling this morning, she grabbed a honkin' big stick. This could actually be quite helpful IF she'd leave it at the firewood pile (she didn't)!

Finally, the orchid buds in my last post have started to open; party on the pie safe!

focused on the African violets

focused on the mini-orchid

focused on the newest bloomer

That's it for now from . . .

Right on cue

The summer equinox is tomorrow, and it looks like summer weather is going to arrive right on cue. Yesterday was the last cool, gray day in the forecast, so I did a weeding marathon while the 'pulling' was good. Not that most people will notice, because I worked in the arena. And not that I made a huge difference in the arena, but I'm hoping I made difference enough that Rick won't be tempted to spray poison in my 'sandbox.'

I finished weeding down the boards on three sides

Progress before yesterday's work is visible from the house

I've also pulled thistle and tansy in all pastures...

and found these sweet wild garlic blooms

The garden is a neglected jungle beyond my sole abilities...

so I put a 'garden' in a pot.

The weeding marathon came between making a nice breakfast for Rick and me, and making supper and a four-loaf batch of bread for our larder. Today was my first Fathers Day without a father to see or call. Rick's dad has been gone over 30 years, and he still feels the loss. (Having a less than appreciative son doesn't help; hopefully that will change some day.)

The white flags are blooming now –

which reminds me that I never showed 'the blog' something special. Several years ago we went to Crystal Springs Rhododendron Gardens for Mothers Day. Afterwards we wandered through the plant sale outside the entrance. An intriguing tag above tiny pots with slender stalks of green caught my eye, and Brian bought me one for my Mothers Day gift.

This year they bloomed for the first time!  And yes, they DO smell like fresh, sweet plums!

Bridget is starting to give me some hope that she'll lamb before July. Still little udder development, but there are other signs. Now that I've gotten four solid (non-greying) lambs from Spot (counting Berlin from last year), I am hoping Bridget gives me an Ag grey ewe lamb to keep. No, I don't plan to keep all my lambs forever. But I have learned that selling really stunning lambs with the idea that I can always breed more since I have the parents who produced them doesn't always work out. Sometimes the genes don't combine in the same fortuitous ways . . . and sometimes the parents don't live to produce again.

Gratuitous photos of cute companions alert. I've been letting Bing out by himself to graze the driveway verges because he needs the extra calories and doesn't go up into the yard. (The ElectroNet fencing I need to contain the ewes is backordered.) Poppy wants to play with the old gent, but he doesn't engage much. Yesterday morning she was trying yet again and I scolded her for hassling him. "Who, me; chase sheep? I'm just companionably grazing with one!"

Don't let her fool you; Poppy is all terrier outside. Inside, though, she is a fine companion! 

That's it for spring from . . .