Mid August

 

What a lovely summer its been. Just the right kind. Not too many 110 days, just a normal summer.
The garden is tired, and I am tired of it. Its still so nice to go out in the early morning. I sit in my chair under the trees. My hens get as close as they can and preen and doze and I love the peace of the early morning. There are hummingbirds everywhere in the garden this time of morning and I watch them as they fly about the flowers and the squash blossoms. My sunflowers are starting to get tired, but the finches are so happy and you can hear them chatting to each other as they sway from the tops of the sunflowers as they harvest sunflower seeds. My little Jack be Little's are ready to be harvested but I keep putting it off, so maybe they will last lots longer if I harvest in September.

I have just loved seeing these little bees just covered in pollen and so loaded down, I wonder how they fly.
I would say this last week as been like the opening lines in Tale of Two Cities," It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."
The best of times, is that Peter got a job back in our town. Yay, he starts in September. He will be moving back and I am so happy. I will be back to having two boys at home for awhile still yet.

The worst of times this week, is that while we were sleeping someone came in our backyard and went through our garage bathroom and into our garage and went though our cars. They went through the cabinets in the garage. They went through my shed outside. We still wonder what they were looking for as it seems so odd the things that were stolen. A very old BB gun, some blueberries and blackberries I had in the fridge. They took Ron's change he had in his car, but dropped it all over the porch. They broke in our truck outside, but left a dollar on the ground. They dropped the charger block they would use to charge their devices. They stole Ron's case for his glasses. They stole paint cans from my craft cupboard, but left them sitting on our trash cans in the back. It still feels like someone invaded though. They turned the light on in the outside bathroom, which shines in our bedroom which woke up Ron so he may have scared them off. Who knows. We will of course, be on guard. The funny thing was I had strawberries and raspberries in the back fridge but they didn't take them. Odd isn't it?

 

I am working on a fall rug. I even dyed wool this week. September is around the corner. We also lost one of our kitties last week. She was 20 years old. She died quietly in her box. I knew it was coming and I wasn't prepared how upset I got. She grew up with all of the kids and she was still hunting for mice in my chicken house until last week. She always acted more like a dog, than a cat. She came when you called and she followed me out or Ron out when ever we were outside. I am so glad she didn't suffer and I am so glad I didn't have to take her to be put to sleep.

I am so thankful though, that that person or persons didn't make it in the house. I am glad they only got stuff that doesn't matter. But the police say, they will be back. They were looking around. So it will be that we have to be even more on our game. The first thing though that came to my mind was this:
 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matt. 6:19-21)

 

Its not the things I worry about but people. So that was my week. Good and bad, but all learning experiences. My heart sings in spite of it all because Peter is coming home. Ben and Megan are good, the Arizona people are good, all of the people who live here are good. Lots of challenges all of the time but God is always good, all of the time.

I send you blessings upon blessings from my house to yours,

~Kim~

"Keep looking up...the secret to life---Snoopy"

Hello August!

 

Good Morning! Happy August! Most the time in August, I am so tired of summer. I think this is the first time in years and years, I am so happy to see August. This has been more of the weather that I remember as a child. Warm, yet not weeks and weeks of over 105 or higher. I have thoroughly enjoyed this garden.


It has I think far exceeded my expectations.

Its so hard to get a good photo of all of the work I have stored in jars. I am like Silas Marner, in that I look in here and chuckle to myself at all of this food we have grown in our garden. I think I will have to relocate the stuff on the top shelf, if I can anything else. Most of the time, by August the bugs and heat have completely decimated our plants. I have not been completely organic this year. That food grade sulpher has been such a lifesaver. Not to mention having things growing on the arches rather than on the ground. I have so many little pumpkins growing this year.

This year we planted brown onions. I have to say it has been to my favorite thing. I have used them so much and walking out and getting a onion when I need it has been awesome. I have used so many and this is the last of the crop. I will be planting this again.

 I had to share this picture of the gang that now lives in North Carolina. I totally loved seeing them like this and it brings back so many memories of how when ours were all home at that age how we would spend summer days. I think being outside in a hammock is so cool.

 

I love these arches so much.  There is just something about going inside a tunnel. I sit and watch hummingbirds and finches that love this area. In fact the other day when I was picking food, I think I was being dive bombed by a hummer.

I know when I sat down here I had a million things I wanted to talk to you about. I just wanted to say hi and I can't believe we are into August now. You know what that means right? Fall is around the corner. I will enjoy August, but knowing that the promise of fall is waiting in the winds just makes me so happy.
Have a wonderful week,

"August rushes by like desert rainfall,
A flood of frenzied upheaval,
Expected,
But still catching me unprepared.
Like a matchflame
Bursting on the scene,
Heat and haze of crimson sunsets.
Like a dream
Of moon and dark barely recalled,
A moment,
Shadows caught in a blink.
Like a quick kiss;
One wishes for more
But it suddenly turns to leave,
Dragging summer away."
-  Elizabeth Maua Taylor

Crazy, Busy Summer!

 

I thought I would do a small update post.  Its still rocking and rolling in Ridgecrest. We don't feel the earthquakes unless they are five or greater. Which hasn't been the case recently. All of my canning is still in the pantry floor. I have continued to can produce from the garden. This morning I picked a bushel and a half of peaches. I have to do something with them. I did make a yummy cobbler. The peaches are cling so they are so nice to work with.

 

On July 12th, we started painting the inside of the house. We have painted so far, our bedroom, our bathroom, the office and the guest bathroom. We are painting the master closet today. It looks so pretty and clean. I have been de-cluttering as I go along. I cannot believe how much stuff I have hung onto and now it seems silly that it meant so much to me. One of the things that bugs me is the hundreds of notebook/diary's that I have. I was looking through one today from 2004, gosh I was such a crazy busy woman. I read my entry to Ron which I have no memory of at all. Just as an aside,
I say, " The washing machine caught on fire today." What? How can it be I can't remember that at all.
You would think I would remember that. I also noticed how much I took the kids to the dentist. Oh and piano lessons.

 

I was going through photo albums. I can't do that too much as I really get sad. Time just seems to go by so fast. I am going to continue going through each closet one by one until I can get the house in shape. In the spring when I got rid of all of the clutter out there in my shed that was wonderful. Now it feels just as nice getting the house cleaned. There are times when I hesitate about throwing something away, and I make myself say, " It doesn't love you." Then I can do that.

 

We should hit 109 tomorrow, It will pretty much finish off my flowers. My poor garden just looks so sad and wilty with this kind of heat.  It has though pretty much been a nice summer. We have had such a cool summer compared to summers past.

I just wanted to give you an update. Things are good and since we are told to live one day at a time. I am trying to do that. With so many earthquakes it really narrows my vision.

I hope all of you are  okay, and I send you my love,

~Kim~

I read this quote when I was reading a book. I have thought and thought about it. I would say it really shook me to the core.

Men marry women with the hope they will never change. Women marry men with the hope they will change. Invariably they are both disappointed.”
– Albert Einstein

Summer Days

 

I just wanted to send you a greeting of the rock and roll capitol. On July 4th we had a 6.4 earthquake. The largest I have ever been in before. Then on the next day, we had a 7.1 Again, bigger than anything I have been in my life. Ron and I were out in the garden with the second big one hit. So surreal sitting in the pasture watching the peaceful evening as the sun sets, and then to suddenly be aware of being very dizzy, and realize that the ground is moving and so is all of the trees. Ron jumped up to go see the swimming pool, and all of its tidal waves, I ran in the house to make sure that all of this canning I have been storing like a chipmunk was okay.

 

All of it is on the floor in the pantry. Its going to stay there for awhile I think. My earthquake tracker says we are having earthquakes about every minute still. Small they maybe be but every four hours will be a 4 or larger and when there is a five we feel it here. We are 122 miles from the epicenter.
My house looks sad with everything down and put away. I was surprised nothing fell when we had the 7.1

Yesterday, Ron got the cars filled with gas. The propane tanks filled with propane and all of the other things they tell you to do in case of an emergency. I did mental checklists all day. I think we can survive a few months now just in case. My brother has a water well next door, I am sure we could figure out how to get it to run on a generator if we had to. So much stuff to think of, but I forgot the garden, and today I had to pick it. Here is goes:

Potatoes-russet and red

cucumbers and cantaloupe and some giant zucchini

Some more zucchini, dill, and a Tigger Melon

I can't wait to taste that.

My Chamomile, I need to harvest its flowers for tea.

Peter came home and he wants pesto. Bell Peppers

Some of my tomatoes.

I can tell you the thought of canning right now strikes fear into my heart. There is a 3 percent chance we can have a bigger earthquake than 7.1 and the thought of doing all of this work and having it broken really does make me sad. It will be time to break out my pressure canner. I am thinking I will start making vegetable soup.

Now for the outside pictures of this beautiful garden we have this year. I have taken so many pictures but I haven't wrote that many blogs.

Growing everything on these cattle panels has been so incredible. I am really enjoying this vertical gardening. The banana squash has taken over and has grown up one side and down the other. Its so easy to keep track of how things are growing and I think it has kept the squash beetles at bay. That and food grade sulfur. It has even kept the white flies from destroying my garden this year. I have lost so many gardens in the past to those pests. I was about to just give up. I am so glad we gave it one more try.

Even my pumpkins love growing up the cattle panels.

So this is today. July so far has been interesting. Keep those poor people in Ridgecrest which is at the epicenter of this in your prayers. I know how tired I was last night, I just can't imagine how exhausted they are because they are having constant earthquakes.

This is how many earthquakes it has been in the last few days.

Have a wonderful day,
~Kim~

 "If it could be like this always---always summer, always alone, the fruit always ripe..."
---Evelyn Waugh

Happy Summer

 

Hello there! I thought I would stop in for a fast post. Is that an Oxy Moron? I have been gardening, and canning and picking and cleaning and those kinds of things that seem to take over my life in the summer. Today its going to be 104 so I have to get outside to water before the sun comes up and it seems that sitting becomes impossible this time of year. All of that to say, not many posts.

I could not be happier with the vertical growing this year. I love how it looks as it climbs upward. But note to self, next year put them lots further apart. I also love my seeds I bought from Baker Creek Seeds. They have exceeded my expectations. When Ben and Megan got back from here to North Carolina, she had a ten pound box of seeds from Baker Creek waiting for her. Isn't that a wonderful welcome home gift?

I have so many spaghetti squash growing now. The last picture is of the runner beans. I just love how they have grown to the top. I am sure that they are starting down the other side now. I took these pictures yesterday. I can't wait until all of the sunflowers begin to bloom. I have to just come out here so much during the day. It really is a wonderful place this year.

The big foot had to come out to protect my tomatoes. I am having a fight with the birds over my ripe tomatoes. I thought maybe if I put him out here he would be kind of a scarecrow. Gosh he makes me laugh.

This was what I picked yesterday. One of the goals I set for myself was to not go to the grocery store and to feed us with what we grew. I am also canning something a bit every day. That has been a challenge but it is doable. I made stuffed bell pepper and green beans for dinner last night. Yesterday I made zucchini relish. I also used my beet juice to make boiled eggs.
 We just love those kind of boiled eggs. It always reminds me of my grandparents and opening the fridge when I was a kid and seeing them in there. My grandpa must have put them in his lunch. He always took his lunch in this lunch pail that my brother has now. Every time I see it I think about how in the summer we would come in hungry from outside and eat the cookies he would take in his lunch. He never complained even once. Gardens remind me of them, because they always ate out of the garden too. I feel very rich having all of this food at my finger tips.

This is a tiny butternut squash. I just love baby vegetables. I can't wait until the melons are ripe.
I have also been hooking. I hook a bit in the early morning because we have so many skunks about right now, that I wait for them to go to bed before I go outside to take care of everything.

This was the first rug I sold. I decided that since its my pattern, I could make another. I really love hooking chickens. I am doing the background now so its pretty mindless.

Its a fun little rug to hook and not as big as my whale rug, which is so hot to have on my lap. I really need to hook more.

I hope you are enjoying your summer. We are almost to solstice. Its so nice to have those long summer nights isn't it?

Have a wonderful day,
~Kim~

Author Unknown

How good it is to let our memory wander
And travel back across the fruitful years
To count how many miles we've walked together!
On pinnacle of dreams, through vales of tears,
Along the level ground of every day
We've made our way.
In sickness and in health, in joy and sadness,
Together, side by side, sunshine or shade,
We've worked toward common goals, found
satisfaction
In all the hours of which our years are made.
All things were possible because we shared,
Because we cared.
After many years, we still hold dearest
Of all life's blessings anywhere on earth
The trust and honor that we give each other,
The love that gave our other blessings birth.
Praise be that I am yours by plan divine,
That you are mine!

Welcome June!

 

I love that today finally feels like summer. Today the skies are blue, the wind chimes are singing softly to itself. The yard is green and my flowers are spectacular. We won't talk about the weeds, that really enjoyed the rain we had in May. I have always been thankful for spring, but this year I am happily looking forward to summer. My beets are ready to pick and get packed in jars. That will be next week's project. We had moved our berries this winter and I knew we wouldn't get very much, but I thought maybe enough for at least one cobbler. Nope, something went out there and ate every single berry. Every one. It was kind of startling to go out and not even a single red one left.

We have these strange foxes that have moved in so maybe its them. They don't have fuzzy tales like a fox, more like a dog/fox hybrid. We were working in the garden and it was noon and I had my chicken out with us and it wanted a chickens so bad it was willing to take the chance with us there. Even Sasha spotted it. I haven't lost any chickens so that's good.

Here are a few of the garden pictures I took.

Our first bell peppers.  I don't think we have ever grown bell peppers that looked like this, and I know we have never had them this early.

The plums are getting ripe. We just haven't had many warm days yet. I wanted them to be ripe with Ben and his family were here and I would check to see if any were ripe but they never were.

 

I can't ever seem to get the whole garden in one shot with my camera. Its becoming such an oasis to me to be out here in the early morning. There is always something to see. I couldn't go out last evening and this morning when I went out I was surprised at how much things had grown in the night.

I planted 18 tomatoes from seed this year. All eighteen are loaded with tomatoes. I am going to have my hands full when they start to get ripe.

I think the cattle panel arches are my favorite thing in the whole world. What a easy thing to have for arches. I can't wait until all of them are covered in vines.

These are called Tigger melons. They are kind of a personal melon. I think they like really warm weather and I think next week when we start flirting with 100 degree temps these will finally take off.

I planted pumpkins just one row and in the hole I also planted sunflowers. I am hoping the pumpkins will climb the sunflowers. I tried it one year and it worked pretty well. The pumpkins were good because they weren't on the ground and the squash borers didn't go up on the vines off the ground. That is why I am doing vertical gardening this year. I have dug and read and watched videos of the different things people have tried to keep their vines safe. Only in one place did I see where someone said, that "an old timer mentioned he used sulfur around the base of the plant." We found food grade sulfur on Amazon and I hope it will do the trick. I am desperate to not have the bugs win.

This year I decided I wanted Elderberry trees. At our first house we had a very nice one, but since I was a very new wife, mother and gardener. I told the kids to not eat the berries. So they called it poison berries. Years later, when I was learning about herbology. I came across one of the best things to have in your garden is an elderberry tree. Everything on a elderberry is good for food and medicine, the bark, leaves and fruit and even the roots. In one of my herb books  was a picture of the poison berry tree we had had in our back yard. Boy, did I kick myself. I decided this was the year I was going to put some in and I bought four different kinds. They really like it back here. I am so happy to see them growing like they are and hopefully someday I will get berries to make syrup.

Welcome June! I am so glad that you are here and the weather will hopefully settle down.
Thank you so much for stopping by today,

~Kim~

It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside.

---Maud Hart Loveless