Cleaning up, inside and out

After a dry, dusty summer, a Labor Day windstorm, ten days of thick smoke and ash, and an hours-long thunderstorm, things were looking pretty ragged around here. But we've starting to make noticeable headway. Inside I started with vacuuming up dust and cobwebs and wiping off dust and ash. Then I cleaned and rearranged our tiny laundry room to better accommodate a post-surgical puppy's comfort; I replaced her smallish crate with the two big dog beds from the living room to make a cushy den in which she can curl up or stretch out. I also tackled the 'homeschool closet,' removing and sorting years of workbooks, teachers manuals, homework papers, and peripheral detritus into piles to recycle, toss, donate, and offer to others. Doing that was harder emotionally than dropping off Brian at college, drawing a curtain as it did on my son's childhood, but it was time and now I'm fine. Next I'm going to deep-clean Brian's bathroom, which is also the guest bathroom if we have visitors. He picked up most of his clutter and was supposed to clean it before he left, but it's pretty gross.

Outside, Rick mowed the upper and middle pastures, cleaned up the broken prune limb and some too-low English walnut tree branches, and mowed around the fruit trees. I cleaned up the entry, trimming ground cover and sweeping all the concrete. Then I used the riding lawnmower to 'sweep' the arena and driveway of fallen maple leaves, and picked up a pick-up load of twigs and branches from all over to add to the burn pile. Those jobs will need to be repeated as more leaves fall and the wind blows down more twigs and branches, but with more rain in the forecast (which arrived this afternoon), I needed to "get while the getting was dry." The improved 'curb appeal,' even if temporary, is an instant mood elevator!

The harvest from the grafted pear tree in our upper pasture; yummy!

After raking edges; before sweeping

In today's edition of "This is why we can't have nice things," this is the thanks I got for trying to make Poppy's life more comfortable:

She did that while I was outside getting a lesson with Stella (exciting progress; update coming on my horse blog!) and cleaning up branches. She did it a couple more times this afternoon while I was in the house. Poppy is clearly pent-up and bored, and wants to RUN and PLAY. She has left her incision alone, but it did seep for several days and has a little more swelling than I like to see, no doubt because we haven't been able to keep her from leaping on and off the bed, standing vertically to look out the window facing the neighbor's, doing zoomies around the furniture in the great room, and hunting mice in the tack room while we do chores (this morning she jumped up ON a saddle). I guess she needs to be on-leash inside as well as out! We're going to go to agility class tomorrow afternoon; the activity there will be downright sedate compared to what she's managed here.

Tomorrow Rick's sister flies in from Colorado. She's staying with my MIL but we will all be together on Sabbath. I'm just a touch nervous about being around someone who has flown on a commercial airline during a pandemic, so will be keeping my distance. I'm also a touch jealous; oh, how I wish it were safe to fly down to see MY parents!

That's it for now from a tidier . . .

Would you like mustard, too?

Because this is a ketchup post. 😉

Seems like there's nothing to post about and then a machine-gun of 'postables' goes off with no time to sit down and compose my thoughts. When I do sit down, like right now, I feel guilty because of all the other stuff I should be doing. Actually, right now I'm buried under a mountain of melancholy (more about that later) so composing a post might help distract me, so here goes. Lots of catch-up . . . and you may need some Kleenex, too.

First, here's the final shot from the Tour de Fleece showing all that I spun on my horn spindle and miniSpinner for the event:

I am continuing to spin alpaca on my horn spindle, and plan to start plying the Shetland on the miniSpinner soon. I want to get it done so I can spin THIS:

That's an unexpected treat from a friend that arrived just when I was feeling the need for some pink accessories in my wardrobe. In fact, I'd just ordered this:

Obviously my friend is a long-distance mindreader!

On Tuesday, thanks to my friend Kate, I delivered Butler to his new home in Auburn, WA. Here he is after I took his coat off before loading him in the truck:

On our way back, we stopped at the Black Sheep Creamery to buy some sheep milk cheese, and then visited the farm itself:

Kate has been investigating getting a few dairy sheep, and after meeting some of the ladies at Black Sheep, she's sold! She's become quite the knitter in the last year; I foresee spinning in her future, too.

Fortunately for Butler, the weather moderated in time for our trip. It was hot and smoky right up until the day before, making for a weird sunset during my evening ride around the vineyard, and an odd sunrise that morning:

Then we had a couple of pleasantly moderate days followed by two days of cool clouds; it was cool enough this morning to have a big, hairy lapdog,

and it even sprinkled a bit! Not enough to really settle the dust, but enough to make the dust stick better to a certain chunky mustang who likes to roll. 😏

Harvesting in the garden is now a regular, if not overwhelming, occurrence. The other day I picked our first zucchini and more tomatoes,

and this morning I went out to pick the first green beans but ended up burying them under cucumbers and snow peas, plus a few cherry tomatoes and peppers. Not more than I can carry, like this bee,

but enough to make a wilted cucumber salad and a smashed green bean salad (a new recipe a friend let me sample; yum!), along with deviled eggs and a chocolate orange zucchini cake as soon as I post this.

As long as I don't start watching videos again, I should be fine.

Last night Rick showed me a video on Facebook – and suddenly I GOT what my co-worker asked me yesterday! She asked if I was following "Kelley's kids" on America's Got Talent, and I said no, because I rarely have time to turn the TV on in the summer. I didn't realize she was talking about the Humlie kids, whose mother Kelley was a homeschool co-op board member, co-worker and friend until she died way too young from cancer a couple years ago. Her talented trio attended homeschool co-op with my son (I designed Manny's senior yearbook page!), performed locally, and now they are on the national – yea, international stage with songs they've written. These videos break my heart every time I watch them – and I've been watching them a lot since last night . . . because Kelley can't.

The wheels on the bus go round and round

Last week Rick finished a second pear bowl with a rustic bark edge. I've been using the first one he did to hold napkins, but the second one is bigger and prettier, so even better suited to the role. Here it is showcased, and shown with pear #1 and an unfinished hazelnut bowl with a bark edge. I told him he can gift the two smaller ones; see, I don't claim all his work.  ;-)

Rick is gone until early Wednesday morning, so my car and I are really putting on the miles for a few days. Yesterday I drove Brian to a church an hour away where his school choir and handbell choir shared music. (Second time for choir, first time for bells; here are links to most of their pieces if you'd like to listen: One Thing Have I Desired; Down in the River to Pray; The Word Was God; Sing We Now of Christmas; I Vow to Thee, My God; Pat-a-Pan; What Child Is This.) Last night I drove him to his school for open gym. He was supposed to go to basketball practice this afternoon, but said he didn't feel up to it (from a head cold supposedly, but he got up very late and had homework and chores that were prerequisites to playing, so I think he saw the writing on the wall). Tomorrow I have to take him to school, go to work, pick him up from school, drive him to his violin lesson, then drive back to school for a required basketball parents meeting and basketball practice. (His school is 40 minutes away from home, and an hour from where I work and where his violin lesson is.) Tuesday I have to take him to school early because he has high school ensemble practice; school lets out at noon but he wants to stay for an indoor soccer tournament which will give me a little more time to catch my breath. Wednesday morning Brian has dentist and doctor appointments since he is on Thanksgiving break; sometimes I really miss the flexibility of homeschooling!!! Even after Rick returns I'll be racking up the miles because of basketball season. They have begun practice three days a week, and twice-a-week games start December 5. Brian thinks the hassle will make us amenable to letting him get his driver's license at 16 (coming up very soon) and drive himself, but we are not seeing the responsibility and transparency necessary to trust him with a vehicle for which WE pay. Ah, teenagers....

The pause that refreshes (NOT Coca Cola) is a little time with my horse outside on a beautiful day. Thank-you, Lord, for the nice weather and my mental health mustang!

That's it for today from . . .

Cake, Carnegie, and cuddling

The day started out cold and beautiful.

Inside there was baking and cooking for potluck after church tomorrow.

Then I picked up Brian from his half-day of school and took him to his violin lesson. Sadly, on the way I got an answer to a question I asked yesterday. You know; "Don't people READ? Like, BOOKS?" Apparently not. It was reported on OPB today that all libraries in Douglas Co. are closing, including the one in Roseburg, its largest city of ~22,000, because residents have repeatedly declined to fund them. Andrew Carnegie (Brian did a homeschool report on him) must be rolling over in his grave....

Then there was this, to end the day on a sweet note. This capture is today's treasure.  ;-)

That's it for now from . . .

Catching up . . . again

It was wet and cool yesterday; I'll take credit because I worked hard on watering the garden on a warm Wednesday. ;-)  The heat is coming back; we may break records this weekend. The garden should like that, too – the gardener, not so much.

Garden hits and misses so far. The snap peas, onions, and turnips are looking great. My cucurbits are not germinating well; they need more water. The green bush beans I planted later are coming up, but not a single one of the saved purple bush bean seeds has sprouted. :-(  I bought some heirloom bush beans (Black Valentine) and will replant that row. I also bought two 'Purple Beauty' sweet pepper plants, two more tomato plants (Sungold and another Ace), three kinds of basil, a tray of Chioggia beets and a tray of kale. The peppers and tomatoes are planted; once the rest is, I need to take a new photo and label it so I can keep everything straight.

As for fruit, it's going to be a great year for apples and prunes, and a good year for cherries and pears.

Brian officially completed 8th grade – and probably his homeschooling years – this week when he took his last two finals. He's going to work with Rick this summer, along with continuing his violin and getting some tutoring in algebra. I'm looking forward to having more time to utilize and preserve the food we're growing, among other things . . . some of them may even be fun!      ;-)

Our first horse-camping trip of the season was just about perfect – after an automotive scare on the way. I shared a lot of photos already on Instagram and on my horse blog. For this blog I made some collages (which you can click to biggify) so you wouldn't have to wade through a ton of files. Hope you enjoy them!

That's it for now from . . .