Britesea - Living the good life in rural Oregon

[Britesea]

I got stung AGAIN! this was on Wednesday, and it was right on my funny bone- which was NOT funny. Ran through the same routine again. This time, the elbow still itches a little today, but not more than a mosquito bite would- so I can ignore it mostly. Luckily on Thursday, my friend's son came over and helped DH get rid of the wasp nest which was inside a box of vents for the greenhouse (stored in the greenhouse, which explains why I kept getting stung when I went in).

I have to share a story the friend told me:
She was just moving into Navy housing and they found a hornet's nest inside the pantry so she called the housing folks and they said they would send someone right out. When the doorbell rang she answered, expecting to find someone(s) in all kind of protective gear and sprays and stuff. What she got was one burly Marine in fatigues with the sleeves rolled up and carrying a rolled up telephone book. "Ma'am, you called because you have hornets; could you show me where?" She meekly pointed at the pantry. He thanked her, went inside and shut the door. In a few moments, she heard numerous Whacks and Wams coming from inside. Eventually he came out and tipped his hat and said "Ma'am, I believe I got them all, but if you see any more don't hesitate to call." "o-ok" in a tiny voice. And he strode off into the afternoon sun....

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Yep - gotta call in the Marines for the important stuff!

 

[baymule]

That is funny. I don’t know if hat is put in their food, but once a Marine always a Marine. My brother was a Marine until the day he died. Then all his Marine veteran buddies told his wife not to worry about anything, WE GOT THIS. And they did. They threw him a funeral.

 

[sumi]

That's a great story!

 

[NH Homesteader]

My marine friend would love that story!

 

[baymule]

I got up to speak about my brother, I told them, “Guys, I knew Scotty BEFORE he was a Marine!”

That turned the tears into laughter. I miss my brother.

 

[Britesea]

So, we are finishing the roof on DH's workshop today... we have the roofing felt up there, so today we just need to put on the metal roofing. Thank goodness, because we have a 30% chance of rain tomorrow...
It looks like we finally got the wasps out of the greenhouse-- haven't seen anymore in there after DH got the small number that was hanging around the next morning after the Massacre... I think they were hoping to re-establish the nest.

I started seedlings for my winter greenhouse garden -- got Italian Dandelion, Buckthorn, Curly Scotch Kale, Winterwunder Lettuce, Frisee Endive, Sugarloaf Chicory, some "Wild Chicory" (no idea what that will turn out to be, just curious), and spinach. I've ordered some Mache and Claytonia so I'll start some of them when they get here. I have a couple of "window box" type planters that I think will be good for carrots and radishes too. Hopefully, I'll get enough out of these to give us some fresh salads through the winter-- I'm trying for plants that will make it in an unheated greenhouse. We do have a small radiator-style oil heater that we can use if this turns out to be one of those winters with temps at 0 or below, but I don't want to use it unless I have to.

Planning Brazilian Shrimp Stew tonight, with Lime Cauli-Rice. I'm not sure what to make for dessert-- maybe Chocolate Pots de Creme or something pudding-ey like that.

 

[Mini Horses]

I had a "massacre" day this weekend. Had noticed some huge nests...early one AM, while they were all together, hit them with the spray. Went one by one to all 4 of them! One must have had 75 on it. Dead now.

Wish I had a green house. One day.

 

[baymule]

Where do you find your recipes? Even just the name sounds scrumptious!

 

[Britesea]

Lol, @baymule I just spend a LOT more time than I should on the internet and reading magazines. I love to cook and I'm always looking for new recipes. This one I think was emailed to me from one of the sites I follow. I could put the recipe up in the kitchen thread? It's really quite fast and easy- got a bit of heat in it but not so much that you can't taste the shrimp!

I need to spend more time in the garden, getting things wound up. We can expect our first frost of the season at the end of this month- only 2 weeks away! I still need to finish the second compost bin done, and turn the compost and cover it for winter. I also haven't finished putting the wood chips down in the paths, and I want to top up the raised beds before I cover them up for the winter. We have a bunch of green tomatoes and green peppers and my little crop of 3 winter squashes- I want to cover them all with frost cloth so they have a bit more time on the plant to ripen. After that, I'll let the chickens come into the garden to see what they can find.

THEN, there's cleaning and putting away the tools, washing and sterilizing the pots, and just going around the property picking up stuff that might still be sitting around.

I'm hoping to have enough money to buy some fiberglass panels to attach along the northern fence to cut down on cold winter winds whistling through. According to my calculations, it should increase the temps inside the garden by at least 5 degrees, which could add maybe as much as a week at each end of my growing season. It would be better to have a masonry wall, because that would act as a heat sink too. But who has that kind of money, these days? Even 2 extra weeks could make a huge difference with some of the more marginal crops.

I'm not going to get a big enough tomato harvest to preserve, so I guess I'll buy a bunch at the Farmer's Market.