Sunday, July 29, 2012

Indigo Plants ... finally growing!

What a great week we've had.  On Thursday we went to the Double J Dog Ranch a few miles west of us.  This is a private home on lots of acreage above a beautiful lake.  They rescue special-needs dogs.  Mostly 'lethal' white Aussies, which are blind or deaf white Australian Shepherds.  Lethal meaning they usually are killed because of their perceived 'problems'.  Fortunately for these dogs Christine found out about them before that happened.  We can't imagine that happening to these loving animals.  After being with them just a few minutes you forget all about their disabilities and we had to keep asking which ones were deaf and which were blind.


These are such wonderful dogs!  They are playful, affectionate, active ... and Christine the owner does such a fantastic job.  These dogs are clean, well-fed and somehow are great watch dogs.  Here are some pix we took while we were there.

The German Shepherd has what's called 'straight leg', which is apparently a little known syndrome in only that particular breed.  He isn't able to bend his hind legs like normal dogs do.  But he is able to play and almost run for a short time by making a hopping motion with both legs at once.  And talk about a sweetie!  Such a nice boy.

About half these dogs are up for adoption, or even fostering.  Since this is a private rescue they are always happy to get donations of money, dog food, toys, dog beds ... just about anything.  They are a 501-c3 non-profit rescue.

Just FYI, they are having a Mutt Strut for some of the doggies at Pawpular Companions Boutique: 21950 E. Country Vista Dr,  Liberty Lake WA if anyone would like to see these little guys.

Here is their website link:   http://www.doublejdogranch.org/        Lots more pictures there and information on adoptions etc.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Even with all the rainy days we've had this has been a beautiful summer.   The hard rain at least a couple times every week has kept everywhere around here so green and beautiful.  I've only had to water the front yard one time so far this summer.  We feel very blessed to have this with the rest of the country in a terrible drought.

The weeds in our garden have outpaced the veggies growing there.  Daughter has been out for the past 2-3 days pulling those pesky weeds.  Since we've had so much rain she reports they are like butter to pull.  Only problem is they are nearly knee-high.  Rain one day, 90's the next couple, then more rain.  Just the right combination for lots of growing.

We ate our very first yellow globe zucchini this week.  She sliced it fairly thin and since we were eating lasagne that night pulled out the noodles and inserted the squash instead.  It was delicious.  I've used green zucchini before instead of noodles but this is our first taste of the yellow globes.  So sweet.

My indigo plants are actually surviving and doing very well.  No thanks to me I'm sure.  My thumb continues to turn browner and browner any more.  I put the pots out in the garden so they would get watered with the veggies.  Seems to be a good solution.  Those clay pots dry out very quickly.

We've only got blueberries on one plant again this year.  I can't figure out what the problem is, but one bush is full, the rest don't have any.  A neighbor said the strong winds we had at the beginning of summer blew all the blossoms off her blueberry plants.  Same thing in the orchard, one apple tree has tons of apples, the rest are very sparse.  We want to dry as many as we can for use later this winter so I guess we will have to be buying some at Costco. 

Another fire just up the hill from us.  Actually several fires on two different days.  We had a very strong lightening and thunder show the night before with lightening strikes almost on the property.  Fortunately it was wet and green enough that it didn't spread quickly.   It is a good thing because the area is nearly inaccessible to the firetrucks.  They finally had to call in the water-dropping helicopter from about 60 miles away.  We've got a number of small lakes around here so there was no problem for them to find water to drop.  Still a little scary as our farm is at the bottom of the hill where the fire started.

Just had to post one other picture ... I'd ordered some spinning supplies I found on Ebay.  The seller is in India.  When I got the package, I was surprised to see it was in a small plastic box wrapped with lots of bubble wrap and a handsewn cotton envelope.  Can't imagine sending every item in anything handmade.  Had to save that wrapping it was so unusual and beautiful in an old-fashioned way.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

What a beautiful Fourth of July.  We had a gorgeous sunny (albeit cool 70's) day after a week of on and off rain.  Yesterday we went to the parade and craft fair in the park in the next small town over from us.  It was such an inspiration to see so many local folks decked out in their patriotic red, white and blues.  Little kids waving American flags (yes, actually American! flags), large American flags on nearly every vehicle in the parade. 

People stood and clapped, or hands over their hearts when Old Glory passed by.  The only thing I was disappointed to see was hardly anyone removed their hats for our flag.  But all in all it was very old fashioned 4th with lots of patriotism showing.  It put tears in my eyes.  This is a drum corp that played together about 35 years ago and got together just for this year.  Amazing what they can do with just the drums.

We finally got a few nice-sized plants planted up near our pool and three in our front yard garden.  The yard is just beginning to look like I want it to.  This photo is of the wild campanula flowers that grow all over our property.  They are large plants that grow very tall and are extremely prolific.  Love them!

Sunny today as well, the rest of the week looks warm and sunny.  We are so blessed to have this weather when the rest of the country is sweltering.  Our summers are beautiful but they don't generally begin until after the 4th.  So WooHoo, here it is -- finally.

Maybe even a little pool time is in store.