The fall frost has hit us once again.  We waited just a little too long to cover what's left of our garden a couple nights ago.  TV weather girl suggested our area might be below freezing but of course, I forgot until it was already dark.  Considering how warm the days have been we just blew it off.  Darn!  Check out the two pictures only a few days apart.  :-(

In the midst of trying to dry and store the rest of our produce - pears, apples, plums, the rest of the globe zucchini (yummy!), and the tomatoes that are big and green we decided to clean out our pantry.  It is rather large and a great place to put stuff when you don't know where else to put it.  That's always a big mistake.

We bought a 50# bag of dry anasazi beans as well as another 20# bag of brown rice so needed to find a place where it wouldn't get dusty or bugs in it ... so pantry, here it comes.  Oops, running out of room.  And we still need to find places for other long term items.  We haven't cleaned or cleared out the pantry since I moved here in 2006 so I guess its time.  (Yes, I do sweep the floor.)  So far it has taken us three days and we are still pulling stuff out.

Lots of old containers and dishes are headed for the Goodwill, moving our canned veggies etc to the side where the bowls and other containers are located, and what's left of them is going where the food was.  We don't have upper kitchen cabinets (don't ask) so most of the things normally in those cabinets are in the pantry.  Makes the kitchen look nice but sure hard to find places out of sight.

Hope to finish up this job today.

I just had to post this remarkable invention.  It appeared on a web magazine I subscribe to.  This is an incredible feat considering his warp is more even than mine usually are.  The interview is in French but there's nothing to understand other than watch this in motion.  I Want One!   Lego Mechanical Loom

Our weather is very cool at night now (low 40's) but the rest of this week is going to be in the mid- to upper-90's.  WooHoo!  Love it.

Garden is growing well, weeds even better.  Just keeping up with both of those is keeping us very busy.  Out to mow the front yard today, daughter is cleaning house :-)  then pool time.  We had very strong winds the last couple days and our pool is full of bugs and pine needles so a cleaning is in order before any swimming.

Warm weather always brings out the critter (can you say spider?) hoards.  We found this quarter sized mama spider full of eggs in her abdomen the other night.  We both are so afraid of spiders we couldn't get close enough for a good picture, but you get the idea anyway.

Update 08/19 ... we found two more of these on our front porch.  Guess I need to get out the killer spray before these hatch their millions of babies in my house.  They are all making their homes under the roof but in between the metal roofing and whatever goes under that.  All I can say is Eeeeuuuuuooooooommmmmm  Yikes!

For some reason I just can't quit taking pictures of our garden produce!   We've only got a few plants out there but they are doing so well.  After we had the garden area rototilled and fenced, we hauled over several tractor buckets of alpaca manure from the pasture.  These are dry pellets we've scraped out of the stalls, piled in the middle of the pasture for several years.  Then we scrape the ground because its not just in the stalls.  So our big pile now is perfect compost with the added grass clippings and leaves from our yard, and dirt from being scraped off the ground in the pasture.

As a result the produce is growing wildly.  Every day we pick, day after day there's more and more.  Thank you Jesus for your blessings.  I decided to try and dry some squash this year.  So far I have two large freezer bags filling up quickly.  Some of the crookneck squash I sliced and lightly salted, left it in the colander for about half an hour, then patted dry and put on the trays.  I tried some this morning.  Whoa!  Is that stuff salty.  More like very salty squash chips.

The others I simply sliced and dried to be used in soup or lasagne later this winter.  We use large thin slices of zucchini instead of noodles.  Its really good and no gluten.

In the 90's here, we been trying to spend some time every day up at the pool.  We get so busy in the mornings we forget until its late in the afternoon, then we are too tired.  The weeds continue to grow everywhere.  Trying to keep 2-1/2 acres weeded around the house is a nearly impossible task.  The pasture looks very unkempt since its grown so much even though I did do some mowing over there early this summer.  Its also 2-1/2 acres but with gas prices so high that's not going to happen again for quite a while.  But we are sure enjoying this summer.


Almost forgot ... our orchard is producing apples, purple and yellow plums, pears and cherries.  This picture is of the yellow plums that are almost ready for picking.  We eat them right off the trees or even better we like to dry them for eating in the winter time.  Sort of reminds of how much we love summer when its hovering around zero degrees.  And they are very sweet and juicy.

With temps in the 90's lately, we have had to weed the garden more frequently.  Today we were trying to keep up with it all but only succeeded in weeding between the rows of zucchini, potatoes, green onions, hot peppers,  eggplant and tomatoes.  I know it sounds like a lot.  Not so.  Our rows are very short with only about three of each type of vegetable.  These are blueberries (check the size of these beauties!) and the other picture is globe green and yellow zucchini, along with some crookneck squash.  They are all very delicious, and right out of the garden makes them even better.

When I went up to turn off the pool filter I found this poor guy and fished him out with the little skimmer.  Some kind of a tree beetle, they seem to live in just about every state from Idaho down to New Mexico.  Good thing he was already dead, I don't do things that crawl or fly.  He was nearly 3" long with those antennae stretched out.

Dexter, our puppy is now about eight months old.  If he doesn't stop dragging my planted flower pots all over the yard and chewing them up, he may not make it to nine months.  He is such a playful pup.  But the 'destroyer' as we call him is getting in more trouble than he needs.  He attacked some mailing boxes I had stacked with my spinning supplies.  Grrrrrrr.

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.

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.

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.

Finally!  I have been locked out of my blog ever since the last posting.  Today after spending over two hours trying to find the solution, I had to change emails and now it works.  Thank goodness, I'm not much on that geeky-techie stuff.

We have had rain nearly every day or night in June.  Our garden is looking good, but the weeds and grass are growing fast also.  Sunny today so it may be possible to get out there and do some work.  Since the new fence was put up the sweet little doggies haven't been able to get in there and dig those elephant size holes they are so fond of.  What a great job those folks did for us.

Yesterday was daughter's birthday, she went to Montana to visit some friends.  Lots of rain going over but she got there safely to spend a few days.  Hopefully I am going to have time to spin and weave a little while she's gone.  That 'autumn' scarf on the loom is calling me as well as the beautiful brown alpaca I received from Serano Alpacas.  The darker brown is spun up, now the lighter colored one and it will be plied with the darker for a nice heathered look.  My favorite colors are always a mix of different hues.  Don't you just love the color of the lighter one!

I finally am back in physical therapy for my shoulder and really hoping I will be back to weaving very shortly.  I'd sure like to get that scarf done in time for the Fair, but that's only a couple months away and I've got two more to go.  It was a three scarf warp, one is done.  If I work every day I know it will be finished but the back / neck / shoulder pain really gets to me.

We had our TV disconnected this week.   We were paying nearly a hundred $ per month and figured out we weren't watching it.  Everything is getting so expensive - groceries, gas, eating out (pizza and hotdogs) as well as everything else, we decided to forgo TV for the summer.  We have the option of turning it back on anytime we want, so maybe this winter when we spend so much time inside.  But with the trash on the tube any more, that will be a hard decision.  We are both readers and have enjoyed the quietness that affords.  We've got windows open most of the time so birds singing, the wind in the trees, an occasional dog bark, mostly silence, this is the best.  If you've never tried it, do!

 More rain in our forecast.  But that's ok ... we finally got a fence around our new garden area.  This year we are going to have a garden!  Finally.  After six years of not having one I decided to pay to have a fence put up.  What a beautiful job these folks did.  Much better than we would / could have done.  He's even building me a garden arch for the gate.  I'm so blessed to have found such a nice, hardworking couple to do this. 

Today if it doesn't rain too hard we're rototilling our garden for the second time this year.  Then I've got all kinds of seeds ready to plant.  Also flowers to brighten up the garden around the sides.  In my mind it is beautiful.  I hope it turns out like I imagine.

Finally, this pic is the only evidence we had some kind of animal in our yard the night before last.  Bella our great pyrenees was barking like I've not heard her do before.  I got up to see what it was (2:30am?) when I heard another animal growling while she was barking.  I never did see the animal but did see a paw take a swipe at her when she cornered it on our porch.  Finally it escaped out the big doggy door and apparently went up our willow.  Next morning I was shocked to see all these branches down.  At least 6 or 7 that were about an inch or more in diameter.

We have a new baby!  Wednesday we traveled to Baker OR to look at a little border collie X.  He is so sweet and so cute.  Since our older border died a few weeks ago we have missed her so much and feel we need another dog.  We like to have an indoor dog as well as an outdoor dog, both to guard the property.  His name was Bernie but I think we have renamed him Dexter.  He responds very well to Dex and always comes when called.  After our Great Pyr, who is very aloof, he seems so smart and quick.  At only 3-5 months old, he is going to be a great asset here.

I took some alpaca fiber over to a farm to get it 'blown' out in her big tumbler.  It really did a nice job getting the VM out along with a lot of the shorter fibers.  Now I can either send it to the mill or wash and card it myself.  I don't have a de-hairing machine and its too tedious by hand, so it probably will end up at the mill.

I'm spinning some of the fiber my good friend Judi from Serano Alpacas sent me a couple weeks ago.  It is just incredibly soft.  I'm just about finished with four oz of Jasper/Alex, which is a dark burnished auburn.  I may just make something for myself with this!

Rain rain rain rain ... and cold.  We've seen snow in the low hills around here, none at our farm but its cold enough.   73° by Tuesday however.  Sounds really good to me!

We had our garden tilled this week.  Then more rain, so I haven't been able to get over there and finish the weeding part.  I have seeds to go in asap ... corn, onions, cherry tomatoes, eggplant, sweet basil, cukes and zucchini.  And I'm still babying my indigo in the starter tray in the house.   Hopefully it will warm up a bit and stay warm.

We've got wildflowers to plant, sweet pea and an old fashioned mixture ... just finding a spot for these beauties is a problem.  They are weeds for the most part and sometimes hard to get rid of in the following years if they are in the wrong spot.

We went down to the river last week to see how high it was with all the rain and snow melt.  We've not seen it this high before.  Usually you can just see it below the road.  It looks level with it from where we were.  What a beautiful sky!

A good friend sent me some of her alpaca for spinning.  It is from two of her animals that are both the most beautiful color ... dark brown / auburn.  I've wanted to spin this color for so long.  It spins like butter.  I'm thinking it will be a nice scarf, maybe a 5/2 rayon warp in black, using the alpaca for the weft.  Let me know if any of you want to buy some and I can give you her number.

Also the autumn-colored scarf on the loom is about 1/3 complete.  I finished enough for one of the three scarves yesterday.  With such a long warp, it may be a while.  But I'm anxious to keep at it, they will be soft and colorful and I may enter one of them in the fair in August this year.

Just realized I forgot to post a picture of the indigo plants.  This was taken outside last week when the weather was so nice.  Those little guys sure liked the sun.  They look like they grew several inches in the two days I set them out there.  They love warm soil, so it will be a couple more weeks before I transplant them.  We have had snow the first part of July a couple of times in years gone past.  Maybe Memorial Day will be a good planting time.