Britesea - Living the good life in rural Oregon

[Britesea]

Got outside early this morning and made sure the beets and rat tail radishes bed was still moist; it was but I gave it an extra sprinkle anyway, just for luck. Weeded the broccoli bed, the kale bed, the cabbages, the favas and the peas. Watered the potted plants, then came in to eat breakfast and see what y'all are up to . I need to go out and harvest some nettles. Once the peas are finished being watered I'll move the hose up to the hazelnuts.
The tomato grow boxes are ready to fill with dirt and then planted; good thing too- there's a couple blossoms starting already. Same with the winter squashes. All night I was dreaming about sifting compost and mixing it with topsoil to fill the boxes!

Making Jambalaya tonight, yum!

 

[hqueen13]

Sounds lovely!

 

[Britesea]

Oh, it was yummy! Got the seasoning just right- hot without taking the top of your head off; I like to still be able to taste the rest of the ingredients, lol.

This weekend we got a lot of work done. All the tomato grow boxes are done, filled with soil; I just need to plant the tomatoes in the last one. I have another bed filled with soil and ready to plant. This one will probably hold green beans; it's too close to the summer squash for me to plant the winter squash in it, and too close to the anaheim chilies to plant the sweet bells.
All the planted beds got watered and weeded, and I spent yesterday cleaning up some of the garbage that had accumulated along the edges (old soaker hose that had too many leaks, crushed and torn starter pots, some plastic bags that had held potting soil once upon a time-- stuff like that) and the whole area is looking much nicer.
We spent some time just sitting in the cool of the evening, drinking iced tea and listening to the trees talk to each other. A chickadee couple has set up housekeeping in the abandoned tree hole from last year's woodpeckers, and it was quiet enough outside to hear the little ones peeping inside.

Speaking of hearing things, saturday night, about 1 in the morning, DH was still awake and heard something strange. He said it sounded like someone was banging wood on wood off in the distance. I teased him and said it was probably a Sasquatch, signalling to his fellows out there in the night. (I have no idea whether to believe in them or not, but I can't help thinking that if the authorities could state that there haven't been any wolves in central Oregon since the 30's, yet OR-7, who left his pack earlier this year to look for a mate, has apparently not only found a mate over here near Fort Klamath, but they have pups... well maybe there could be a humanoid species of which no one can prove the existance.)
Anyway, I said if they are out there, the drought might be driving them down to the river (I know cougar and bear have been spotted lately)... As long as Sasquatch leaves my garden and my ducks alone, we can peacefully coexist. DH laughed and drew a word picture for me:
He imagined our neighbor hearing a shotgun blast and looking out the window to see a Sasquatch booking out of our yard, holding a handful of radishes... with me behind holding a shotgun and shaking my fist at him and yelling "I told you to stay OUTTA my garden!"

Today, I need to pick up one last half-yard of topsoil for my last 2 beds, and 2 more soaker hoses. I thought I'd pick up a few annual flowers to pop into empty spots around the garden, just to make it pretty and encourage the pollinators. Then come home, finish filling those beds and plant them. I also have laundry to do, dishes to wash, and a pile of old mail to sort through and shred most of it.

Dinner will be sesame noodles- a cold asian inspired pasta dish. I don't feel like heating up the kitchen. Maybe I can pick up the ingredients for a coconut pudding while I'm in town

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Yummy - coconut! DH is ok with coconut flavor but NOT coconut itself. I think there's nothing better in life than a coconut pudding/pie...

 

[Denim Deb]

Don't know if we have any Sasquatch sitings around here, but we do have Jersey Devil sitings.

 

[hqueen13]

I think there's plenty of things that we don't know about in this world!

 

[Denim Deb]

Yep, they're constantly finding new plants and animals.

 

[Britesea]

Well, I got the email this evening. I'll be heading up to Holderread's Farm to pick up my 10 Silver Appleyard ducklings and 2 Cayuga ducklings! I'm so excited, and relieved as this was the last chance at getting them this year. I wish I had a friend to accompany me, but C is heading out to Yellowstone at o'dark-thirty, DH has to work, and L is dealing with daughter moving back home for a while.

I finally got all the tomatoes planted, the winter squash as well, and a couple planters of flowers just for pretties (hollyhock, and nasturtiums). DS filled up another bed for me. We have only 2 left to attach hardware cloth to the bottom, then flip them and fill up with topsoil and compost.
I've noticed that the transplants I got from the nursery look really sickly next to the ones I started myself- fewer leaves, and they're paler green. About a week in the garden bed though, and they start greening up very well. The basil especially shows it; their leaves were almost yellow and now the new ones coming in on the top are deep green.

We finally got better internet service. We've been gimping along with the DSL we got about 8 years ago... 1.5 mbps; now we have 30mbps through cable. I'll be able to fly through my forums and email instead of pulling my hair out all evening.

I need to get some laundry washed for DH to hang up tomorrow, or we won't have any underwear! I also have a bunch of dishes to wash, but I'm having trouble getting motivated to do them. Guess I better get off the forum here and force myself.

 

[hqueen13]

Yay for better internet! I'd be stuck with that, but we didn't bother, I just use my smart phone to surf and then I don't have to worry about data caps! It wasn't worth the money to pay for stupid slow internet!

 

[Britesea]

I don't have a smart phone- just a basic tracfone. I hate trying to use a phone pad for typing so I've never got into texting or anything other than talking on it.

Picked up my ducklings today! But I didn't get the Silver Appleyards. Apparently they didn't have enough to fill all the orders ahead of me, and this was the last hatch of the season. I had forgotten that I indicated Golden Cascades as a second choice but apparently I did, so that's what I got. They are a nice duck too, I was just going for the Appleyards partly because they are a rare breed. Mr. Holderread also told me that the 2 Cayugas I got were from his show line even though I only paid for commercial. I don't know if it was by way of apology for the Appleyards or not, but I'm kinda tickled. Maybe I'll show them off at the Fair next year.
I've heard that the Golden Cascades can be sexed by color (the females are lighter than the males) if that's true then it looks like I have a 50-50 mix on them. No way to tell on the Cayugas yet (I don't feel comfortable vent sexing) but I was just hoping to get at least one hen and maybe get an occasional black egg in the mix, lol.

Anyway, I am absolutely wiped out with the drive up and back plus a side trip to pick up some black powder for DH's flintlock. He bought it last year but hasn't been able to shoot it yet because we couldn't find any powder in small enough amounts that we could afford it. He finally found a gun shop that carries it, but it's too far to drive normally, but since I was going past the area I could swing by and pick some up. Maybe now his testosterone poisoning will be alleviated...

Easy meal tonight: Tuna Salad in scooped out Tomatoes, crackers, and Raspberry Jello.