The Not-So-Lazy Crazy Daze of Summer on the Farm!

 ARGHHHHHHHHH!  Do  you see these bald spots on my head and the handfuls of hair I hold???  That's because my old computer died and the new one DOES NOT LIKE ME.  I couldn't sign into this blog because my old (and well-loved, I might add) computer remembered things for me.  This one's head is empty and when I depend upon it to know my huge collections of passwords, it fails!  Now how would I know what my password is???  Remember, I said the computer's head is empty...

 I had to eat three slices of fresh zucchini bread and a snickerdoodle before I could come back and try it again.  Hmmm.  Wonder if a cup of coffee would have helped even more?

Here's my garden again.  Things have grown nicely because we've had our generator down in the valley (750' or so, the way the crow flies) pumping water up from the creek.  Tonight my hubby has told me that the pump is now seized and it may mean the end of the extra water for the season.

 Sigh.  Seems like things just can't run smoothly!

My pie cherry tree had enough fruit for a couple of double batches of cherry jam.  OH MAN.  Just like eating pie!  I made a batch of biscuits to go with dinner the other night and we tried the first jar.  Delicious.  Don't know why I've never made it before, and let me tell you I am no novice at canning!  Wonder what other delectables I've been unaware of?

 The bright pink dessert below really WAS that bright.  It's a Rhubarb Dump Cake.  Very easy.  Very tasty.  Very sweet.  I changed the recipe and lessened the amount of sugar, but if I were to make it again, I'd add even less sugar.

 We've been plagued with a family of big black crows this summer.  Mom and Pop hatched out a healthy trio of demanding, noisy cry-baby crow-babies.  They get up at the crack of dawn and caw & gargle in the yard under my bedroom window.  When they're pretty sure I'm awake, they move on to harass the livestock.  They've been clinging to the rabbit feeders and pecking the food out as well.  I think we're about to declare open season on crows.....

 The weather has been cooler and just slightly damp here the last couple of days.  It actually feels like it's much later in the season than it really is.  Get's me to thinking about Fall, my ABSOLUTELY FAVORITE TIME OF YEAR!!!!!   I started making Fall primitives, like the squirrel & acorns--------------->

We've done most of the prize shopping for our county's Southwest Washington Fair coming up in August.  My two daughters and I will be working as assistant superintendents in the Living Arts building once again from August 12th until August 23rd as we work our way from entering, judging, decorating, setting up and then do the Fair itself.

 My oldest daughter now sells fabric on Ebay & Etsy, including some scrumptious wool - 33 or 34 different patterned wools for applique & what-have-you, so of course I've had to have samples to play with.  I made this pinkeep from a pattern by Buttermilk Basin.  It was fun & quick to put together.  You can look at my daughter's beautiful stuff here:
http://www.ebay.com/usr/rebeccas_rabbitry
https://www.etsy.com/shop/RebeccasRabbitry

 I usually make five loaves of bread at a time.  It keeps well in the freezer and then I don't have to make it so often.  With my KitchenAid mixer, it's just as easy to make and knead 5 as it is one, so there you have it.  My grandmother had 8 children and she always told me that she made 8 loaves of bread every other day.

My mother said that they ate lard & sugar on it.  I think I'll stick to cherry jam!

 A sweet little friend of ours is having a baby soon, so we made her a Frog and Toad set - quilt with flannel backing, matching pillow & picture,  Frog and Toad storybook.....and of course, a frog and a toad to read with!

 This is Ransom.  She's a youngster English Lop and she's what's known as a 'charlie' Black-Orange Tri Color.  The term 'charlie' means that both her parents were 'broken' (spotted) patterned rabbits so she got double broken genes and has very little color on her white coat.  Charlies cannot be show animals as they do not meet the requirements of color.

I went to the dentist recently for the first time in about 10 or so years.  Three cavities were my punishment.  Two have been repaired now and I've one more appointment to go.  I am amazed at how dental practices have changed since I was a child.  When I told my kids that when I was young the dentist worked for a bit, then every few minutes you had to sit up and spit in a sink, they were horrified.  I can't say that I enjoy it any more than when I was a child, even with all the amazing new technology.  Of course, one filling cost around $248 and when I was a kid, it was $12.  I must be old.  Wow. 

So, we come to the end of the blog for today.  Here is my chihuahua, Maddie, who has finally worn herself out playing with rubber ducks and hedgehogs.  She simply MUST sit on my lap.  Usually she feels the need to stand up with two feet on the desk to be sure that I cannot see the computer screen.

There's most likely more life to be lived tomorrow, so, until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand!

I WON!

INSPIRATION!  I'm going to have a lot of fun with this wonderful box of goodies sent to me by Vicky from Paintspots and Splinters! 

She had a lovely give-away on her blog and I was the lucky winner!

Thanks so very  much, Vicky, for the absolutely HUGE box of wonderful wood crafting supplies!  I LOVE it!  I'm going off to play with it now!



You can find Vicky's blog at Vicky-myart.blogspot.com or visit her cool Etsy store at
 www.etsy.com/shop/PaintspotsnSplinters

Bee Swarms, Hay in the Barn, Lyme Disease and Caregiving....Oh my!

 Fort Stevens was once the primary military defense installation in the three-fort, Harbor Defense System at the mouth of the Columbia River (Forts Canby and Columbia in Washington were the other two). The fort was in service for 84 years, beginning during the Civil War and closing at the end of World War II.

That is your history lesson for today!  We camped at Ft Stevens for two nights so we could attend a rabbit show in Astoria Oregon.

 Ft Stevens is an AWESOME place to explore as there are many ruins and lots to see and think about.

It was a nice escape from our everyday life.

Life on the farm has been BUSY!  Our weather has been unseasonably warm & dry for Western Washington which has accelerated everything!  My husband caught 4 honey bee swarms to add to our colony which is now going GREAT GUNS! 

 Our barn is already FULL of the hay we'll need for the winter for our goats & steers.  We're still milking two goats (Paxton, the herd boss and MaryAnne, the sweetie pie).  I just dried off Shiloh (the dingbat) because she's a hard milker and it wasn't doing my arthritis/carpal tunnel problems any favors.  I can't bear to sell her, so she's off in pasture land until next milking season.

 My mom (remember, she lives with us) is undergoing another round of cancer treatments.  Her protein levels were rising quickly, so back on treatment she is.  We've done two rounds of 5 days on (oral treatments) and 4 weeks off.  This time her appetite & energy levels just dropped off completely.  She's at about 97 pounds and frail, but she's still feisty!  She has just informed me that before her appointment at the cancer clinic tomorrow I MUST trim her hair.  She has already had my daughter iron her jeans (?) in preparation! 

There are lighthearted moments, always blessings too, but so many hard things when your loved ones battle a monster like CANCER.

 I get up between 5:30 and 6am every morning.  After enough coffee to get me motivated, I discuss the weather, her health and other topics of interest with Mom & my hubby.  Let the dog out, get out to feed & water rabbits, then down to the barn to milk.  This morning one daughter and I picked about 8 cups of pie cherries and I came in and canned a batch of Sour Cherry Jam. 

 The temperatures are supposed to hit 100* this weekend, so we worked on outfitting enough outdoor cages for my English Lop and Netherland Dwarf rabbits as it will be too warm in their building.  Rabbits can tolerate a lot of cold weather, but don't do well in the heat.

Weeded the green pepper and tomato patch, watered them, the raspberries and the strawberry plants.  Watered all the porch plants.

Did I mention that I have Lyme Disease and everything hurts?  Well, never mind.  Take some Ibuprofen and keep on working!

 My daughter (same farm, different house...) had a mutual friend and her four precious kids over for coffee late this afternoon, so I went down and visited with them.  They are SO sweet and I just love them all!  A little more coffee is always good, right?

After they left, we meandered back towards the 'big house' and just as we got up the driveway, the UPS truck stopped at my daughter's house and left packages!  She has a fabric/quilt shoppe on Ebay and Etsy and new fabric had just arrived!  BACK down the driveway to inspect, ooh and aahhhh over lovely bolts of new fabric!!  And, yes, of course I came home with samples ;-)

 Dinner tonight was oven roasted potatoes, teriyaki hamburger patties and oven roasted broccoli.  Have you ever eaten oven roasted broccoli??  

OH MAN.  You'll never boil broccoli again!  You just drop your broccoli florets in a glass baking dish.  Drizzle with olive oil, salt & pepper to taste and roast!  I did mine at about 400* for 30 minutes.  TO DIE FOR! 

 One of the parts of Ft Stevens that I enjoyed the most (call me weird) was the Guard House (jail).  The prisoners had to do their own laundry in these two sinks!  As it should be!
The solitary cells (below) each had only a bunk hinged to fold up to the wall.  Prisoners were not allowed to lie on the bunk during the day, but were required to stand or sit on the floor!  They spent the day at hard labor, walked to a nearby building in cuffs for meals, had no privacy for restroom/showers.  They were actually being punished!

 As much as I enjoyed the Fort (and not so much the rabbit show!), it's much easier to be home.  I'm not a very good traveler and the daughter I left home with Nanny hasn't felt well for a long time.  I always feel guilty if I'm not here trying to make life easier for us all.

 My Ebay & Etsy stores hit a slow period during the last of April, lasting through May and into the first part of June.  Now it's suddenly picking up again so when I'm not outside working with the garden, yard & animals, I can be found upstairs in my sewing/crafting studio inventing new primitives!

Housework?  What's that?

 Patriotic primitives are popular at this time of the year, but I should already be working on Fall/Autumn items.

I made and painted a couple of foxes.  One daughter snatched one of them up.  The other fox just sold on Ebay, so it's back to work I go!

Thanks for joining me on this whirlwind blog post!  I just turned around and it has been over a month since I posted! 

I leave you with a verse that I try to apply to my life.....

1 Thessalonians 4:11 (NAS) and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you.
May God bless you until we meet again!  Pam

Breads, Pies and Big Cat Tracks

 Sourdough bread.  Can you smell the different kinds I made?  Onion Mustard......Italian Herbs & Cheese......Tomato Basil?

You missed our annual Baw Faw Spring Festival at the grange in the valley!  Too bad for you, as we took 18 loaves of sourdough bread and 18 homemade pies, too.  My daughters and I had a table and sold our bread, pies & plants.  We chatted with others from our small community & ate chili dogs, too.

If you're curious, it took me about 3 1/2 hours to make 18 loaves, though I got my sourdough out and working about 5 days previous.

 I'm still making primitives, of course.  Some patriotic raggedy stars...

 Vintage button adorned homespun hearts.....

 Sunflowers and a bee!

 Spring is in full swing and the goats are enjoying all the new growth.  Preston, the buck, looks on with interest as Shiloh checks out the delicacies to be had in the plum tree.

 The early end of the garden is looking good.  Hubby planted broccoli, onions & garlic and they're growing nicely.  Tiny apples are forming on the trees in the background.

 Here's a wider view of the garden.  He has since tilled it, but now it's raining again, so we won't plant until it clears a bit.  Of course, it would have been ideal weather for those lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower & extra broccoli starts, but I didn't feel like working in the mud!

 A hysteria of wisteria and an aromatic lilac on the corner of the porch.  Everything has been blooming fabulously.  Our weather has been drier and warmer overall than usual.  We haven't had a fire in the stove in weeks.  Some years we build fires clear up until the first of June.  This year has been odd and the woodshed is still more than half full.  Less wood to chop for next winter, I guess!

 We took time to go for a walk down in our valley a few days back.  Our house is on top of our hill and we have a long road going down to the creek in our valley.  Surrounded by forest, we have about 10 or 15 acres of pasture down there, too.

Found this track on the bank of the creek.  Can you say.....BIG CAT? 

 That will explain why hubby carries a weapon while walking.  Just...in...case!

 One of the wilder spots on the creek.

 Stunning old trees.

 Remnants of years gone by.

It was a lovely walk on a lovely day.  I'm grateful and thankful to God every day for the opportunity to live on this glorious piece of His earthly paradise!

Hope you enjoyed a bit of Springtime here on the Hilltop.  I keep putting off blogging and then time gets away, so thought I'd just dump a bunch of pictures on you today ;-)

Last one....here are most of the pies my daughter made for the Spring Festival last Saturday.  In case you're wondering, they are Marionberry, Apple and Apple Mincemeat. 

We came home with no bread and no pies, but if you stop in for coffee we can whip out another one!

We've gone Clampetting and I've Got Bird Legs!

 

In all our....must be almost 35 years of marriage now, we've never gone clamming before this year and suddenly that seems to be all we do. I know my family tends to compulsive-disorder-obsessive (yes, I know that's not how most people say it, but this way it's in alphabetical order.....). We find something we like at the moment and then that's our focus until we find something else to tickle our fancy.

 

We've gone camping at the beach each month this year in order to be there for clam digging. I don't even like clams, but the adventure has been fun. There's a new style of glamor camping called Glamping, made popular by MaryJane Butters of MaryJane's Farm (magazine, books, etc.) but we definitely don't fit into the glamor category. Actually, after thinking about it, we most resemble the Clampetts (think Beverly Hillbillies), so now we figure we go Clampetting. It does make choosing clothes to pack easier!

 

Anyone who thinks camping, even in a camp trailer, is some kind of vacation should think again. Between the searching online, choosing & reserving a site, right down to the packing of clothes and planning of meals, camping is an arduous affair. We don't seem to be able to live without at least 5 changes of clothes (even for just overnight). Must bring the laptop computer, even though there's no internet connection. Husband's tv & headphones: check. Breakfast, lunch & dinner, too (nothing else will do...) : check. Favorite pillows & extra blankets, drinking water, dog bed, dog food & dog biscuits.

 Oh, and don't forget shampooing the dog before we leave. Prescription meds, supplements, milk for coffee and, of course, coffee: check. Extra shoes, coats & hats for beach weather : check. Firewood & kindling, clamming gun, bag & buckets: check. We usually forget something – this time hubby forgot his jammy pants.......again.......

 

We do all our farm chores before we leave, double up on water bottles for bunnies. Younger daughter stayed home with Nanny and took care of meals and milking chores.

 All that work for.........this.   A little divot in the sand.

 

Just before we left, I had a second HUGE primitives order to finish and we had a ladies get-together. Grocery shopped the day before we left and even though we got back yesterday, I haven't even unpacked everything yet. Can you say.......Lyme Disease? Chronic illness is something you figure out how to live with, but that still doesn't make it much fun. I've obviously been overdoing, and now I'm feeling puny. I guess it's a good excuse to slow down and take some time to read & craft....and blog.... Slowly.....

The bunnies above are just one small part of the order I worked on.  The bowl in front of my coffee is paint, NOT chocolate, FYI.

Have you got bird legs?   I do!

 Kwanzan Cherry tree in my yard, blooming its heart out.  Yesterday the temperature was 82* on my porch.  Today most of these blossoms are lying on my driveway - blasted off by the wind & light showers, high temperature around 51* today.  That's Spring for you, I guess.

 The chickies are growing fast!  They are nearly all feathered out.  Soon they'll be moving to a bigger pen.

 I'm all about comfort today, so I made a turkey pot pie for dinner.  This is the inside.  I put a pie crust on top and baked it, alongside a little pan of applesauce.  Applesauce is a gazillion times better eaten hot.  Try it if you don't believe me.

 If you're feeling a little fat, stand next to a big tree.  You'll look much smaller.

 Here's my greenhouse/bunny house.  We've been putting siding on it and will paint it one sunny, dry day.

We've clammed at both Grayland Beach and Long Beach the last couple of months.

 These beautiful buildings are the lightkeeper cottages at North Head Lighthouse. The smaller buildings below are the original barns & chicken house.

Dinner's over, the dog is fed and the evening chores are done.  I'm hoping to feel better tomorrow as Nanny has an appointment at the Cancer Clinic at 10 a.m. and I'm her designated driver, so I'm going to take it easy and rest for the evening.  And maybe do a little more sewing & crafting ;-)

Until next time.....God bless!