Vacation time

We just came back from a great time over on the coast in Reedsport Oregon. We stayed at the Discovery Point where all the sand dunes are. This is a pic of the ocean across from our camp site. The weather was perfect and the fun of riding quads all over the dunes and up and down the beach was awesome. Had a few bumps to go over but had a blast. I did run out of gas at one point, hubby forgot to fill me up, but siphoned from his quad into mine and finally found our way back to where we parked. After three hours of that it was back to camp and a nice cold drink.

On one day we went to yard sales and antique stores where we always manage to find something. I found another book on how to save seeds. We also had to put some of our money into the local motocross stores as well. We managed to eat very well and had plenty of the spirits to go along with it.

I once again tried my hand at fishing, but as usual never got a bite. Which is really okay considering the size of some of those suckers being caught out of the ocean. I would probably end up letting the fish have my bait and pole to go along with it.

Did see our friendly clan of seals. At one point we had five within the little cove area where we stayed. Watched them play with a fish they caught and the birds trying to take it away. Then we saw the local hawks just dropping down into the water, catching a fish, and do you know they even adjust the darn thing to fly under them lenghwise. It's quite a site to see. Sometimes they loose it but most times they fly right up into the trees over our campsite and munch down.

After a perfect week of relaxation and catching up with family and friends, it was back on the road to home where it then takes two days to unload the motorhome, clean it all up, do all the laundry and put everything back in its place. Then I'm ready to finally relax and breathe for a short minute, then off to check the mail, pay the bills, pick up the house, check on all my animals, get the garden ready for winter sleep. I could go on and on but you all get the picture.
And now I still have one more vacation to Star, Idaho and then I'll be settling in for the winter after that.
So it's time to go and pack for Idaho and will post again when I get back home.

Fishing Day

Me and my daughter and sister in law went out to Fish Lake yesterday and it was beautiful there. Spent the better part of the day on the lake enjoying fishing, eating, reading and just relaxing. The weather was perfect, low 70's and it was so peaceful. A much needed restful day for me as I have been busy sanding and staining our back door and an antique table I had picked up a while back.

I managed to catch two small fish, which I thru back in. My daughter caught one small that she released. Nothing to take home for dinner but what a great time we all had.

Battle at Moore Park

My husband and I went to see the Civil War reenactments at the park last weekend. He wanted to know if I got any pics of when the big cannon went off. I said sure, of the sky or ground. That thing was so loud, and you could just feel the burst of it against you. Wow! I did manage to get a few pics of gun fire. I just love when people dress in costume and live the era. It is such a great history lesson to all. What I did learn from this one was, in order to be accepted as a soldier, you had to have two good front teeth, in order to open the gun powder cap, and you had to have a trigger finger. That was the only thing for their physical exam.

Yard Sale Busy

I've been busy these past few days getting ready for a yard sale here at the house. There is just so much stuff we have collected. Once you live in a small home you find yourself putting winter clothes and things away into containers and you forget what you own when you go to needing it. So what's a person to do, but go and buy more. Anyway, we have so many items that I only hope most of them sell so I won't have to hall too much into town. I know the homeless shelter is always glad to take things, I'm just not looking forward to having to load too much up.

I was looking through my email this morning and found this cute pic of this cat. He looks just like my Taz kitty, so I wanted to post it here. I have'nt learned how to put different things on my blog like I see so many have. There are really cute things on some I have looked at, but I don't know where to get them or how to place them on here. Guess I better call in the expert, my granddaughter. I think kids nowadays were born to gadget and computer knowledge. Thing is, so many don't even know where paper comes from. Times have changed. Guess that means I'm really getting old.

You Must Be A Farmgirl If.............

the first thing you find when you wake up in the morning is that you've trapped a skunk in your cage meant for the stray cat someone had dumped off. Yep, I did, and I had to some how get a cover over the cage without being sprayed and then attach a rope to it to haul it up onto a trailer hooked up to my quad. Then, still in pj's, I start hauling it down the road, gagging and spitting as I go, to as far away as I dare, looking like I did and all. Finally get to a location where I then have to turn the cage around, open the door and pray it leaves. After a few moments of encouragement ( ha), it finally takes the leap and runs off into the bushes. As I start to leave, I look back and see the darn thing coming back in the direction of me. So boogie on home I went quickly to shed myself of all my clothing and hop into a nice hot soaking bath. Then I had my cup of tea.

Charity starts at home

Today I went and did the co op garden and harvested veggies for about an hour then did all the weeding which took a little over an hour. This is one tuckered woman.

The bush beans are going nuts. With all the produce ripe, I must have collected 45 pounds of beans, squash, onion, chard, peppers and tomatoe. I was just overwhelmed by how much there was to harvest and way too tired to take it all home to freeze, so instead I gave it all away. Boy do those men at hubby's work love to see me coming on garden day. I'm just truely grateful that someone appreciates all the work I have put into this garden. I know most of these guys have large families to feed, so it all went to a good cause.

Next harvest I will probably start making some salsa so long as all those tomatoes start to ripen.
For now its time to finish cleaning house and getting things ready for a yard sale.

Birthday Wishes

Today was my granddaughters 18th birthday. Oh, how fast the times go by. I still want her to be my baby girl and teach her so much more, but its now time for her to spread her wings and find herself in ways she never even imagined. She's learning how to drive, gonna be moving away from home in late Sept., starting her journey by taking courses on hairstyling and then on to bigger adventures wherever life leads her.

My wish for her is to always find happiness in everything she does. Kylie, be strong and never give up on your dreams, even if they change, go with it until you find where your heart tells you you belong. Trust in yourself to make the right decisions and know we all make mistakes, but learn from them. Know that no matter what you do or where you are, you will always have your family by your side. Even if your decisions are'nt what we would choose for you, just do the best you can to be the person you really want to be. You have a good head on your shoulders and a kind, loving heart. You will do great at anything you set your mind to doing.

But, most of all, remember Gramma loves you, Peaches. Happy Birthday, baby.

Evening Sky

We had weather like we were to get a big storm but it blew over and this is the sunset it left us with the other evening. It is so beautiful. I just love when I can step out on my deck and see this for all its glory. This is what makes me smile and feel blessed to be living where I am today. Just being out in the country and not having the city lights block out the stars and everything God has given us .

Canning Jams

My dear sweet husband saw I had purchased canning jars to make jams, so he brought me home some peaches and strawberries. Last night I made some peach jam and today I made the strawberry jam. He says I look like susie home maker doing the things women are suppose to do. ha! He knows I did this because I love my jams. lol

Boy, I know its been well over 20 years since I've done any canning and my back today is telling me so. I only hope they all turn out well as the fruit sure smells good.

Triplets

This morning when I went out and fed the chickens, I started up the hill to feed the dogs and right at my watering bucket was three fawns and mama nearby feeding. She has been coming around the yard the last few weeks, but I had only seen two of her fawns on the property next door. By the time I ran back in to get my camera they were heading out. They are sure cute when they are small but can do some good damage to my bushes. None the less, I love looking at the little babies.

More pics of Co-op Garden

The soil out here is so nice. Makes me want to keep planting.

This is where all the lettuce and onions and beets were. Then here is a pic of our bush beans, squash and corn. And the two hills of pumpkin which want to take over the garden. This has truely been a good experiment for me. Used only organic and heirloom plants and seeds. There are no bugs on anything. The only bugs I find on the plants are ladybugs, good bugs, sent from heaven.

Harvest time

Went to the co op this am and did my usual weeding. The tomatoes are looking good, but not ripe for picking yet. Hot peppers are starting along. And the pumpking patch is going nuts. Had to harvest the walla walla onions, green onion, chard and bush beans today. I did plant my bush beans too close to the squash. It was a bit tight to get into them for picking. Good thing I'm taking lots of pics so I'll plan better next year. All in all, it took me about an hour and a half to get it back into shape. The corn has got to be over 5 ft tall now. I blanched and froze what chard I picked today, put the onions up and fixing the rest.

Tonights dinner is an ol' okey meal my first husband's gramma use to fix. Fresh picked green beans, new potatoes and bacon cooked altogether in one pot. Yummy..... By the way, I married another okey boy this time around to.

Plans changed

This week my granddaughter and I were gonna do some camping by the lake but she was not able to do that after all. So instead I made a list of all the things I need to get done around the house. To start, I finished my compost bin and have started on my garden gate. Tomorrow I will finish the gate post with cement and attach the gate, then its off to make a new area inside my coop for my banties and their babies. The temporary one is a bit hard to manuver in to keep it tidy. After that I have a lot of outdoor furniture to put a good coating of urethane on. I must say, I will definetly need to do some more fishing after all of this. Here is a pic of the gate, it took me 4 hours to build, and here is one of my compost bin in which I used pallets and attached them with L brackets.

New Baby Indy

This is my first time ever where one of my hens hatched a baby. I called her (hope) Indy for Independence Day since that's the weekend she came about. She is so cute and her mama is really good and very protective. I hope to have more baby bantees in the future.

My First Barter on the Palouse

I had never bartered before and this was such a great deal. Our first stop on the Palouse was at the Freeman Store where I was able to swap my Singer treadle machine for this beautiful hand stitched quilt, embroidered pillow shams and this quaint little ladder. I think I did awesome. What do you think?

Here's a pic of me and the two sisters who bartered with me. They have such a nice little place. Girls, I'll hope to be seeing you next year.

Finished touches

Today I pretty much finished the trailer. Had a little painting and cleaning to do. Just need to clean out the ice box, mop floor and put all my dishes and things back inside. Have a new faucet pump on order but everything else is up and working great. Now to start planning my first get away for a girls weekend. Ooops, the BBB is first, then my second getaway to plan. So here are my pics of what I have accomplished.

Gone Fishing

Yesterday was a day of relaxing. Cheryl, her husband Clay and I went out to Fish Lake and spent the morning bringing in a few nice Rainbow trout. We had a wonderful time even though the weather was on the cool side and it did come in choppy water and some rain. We must do that more often as I really enjoy being out on the lake with all the beautiful scenery around. And it is always nice to catch a fish or to for dinner, which by the way turned out really good. Thanks Cheryl for the recipe.

Let it rain

I so love waking up to the wonderful smell of fresh air and pine and sage brush. I rode my quad to the mailbox this morning at 7:30 and it was so refreshing. Looks like we will have more rain for next couple of days. The fishing ought to be real good.

Here's the view out in my garden and, as you can see it needs a lot of work still. I think I'm seriously gonna have to consider raised beds. After all this rain we had rivers going right down the driveway and pathway. No wonder my garden soil never seems to improve enough. It all gets washed away when we have such tremendous storms as of lately. Really must start building up where the soil will be better protected. Hopefully the wild flowers will pop up everywhere though. Looks like today I will be doing inside cleaning, yuk. I even have the fireplace going as it is on the chilly side in here this morning.

Aprons in Public

The Klamath Falls Charming Chicks wore aprons in public! Had our monthly lunch again today at the Nibbley's Cafe and had our waitress take pics of us in our aprons. We discussed all the upcoming crafts we would like to do and progress on our co-op garden. Had a good visit with everyone. And yes the chickens are upside down on the aprons as I must have been cross-eyed the day I cut them out. This is what happens when you have'nt sewn in quite awhile.

Trailer Progress

Hubby and I have been getting little things done on my trailer. Everything is in working order and lubed and tightened down. I had him take out the bunk bed as I won't be crawling up there and we put a shelf across where I can place baskets of necessary items. I've finished all the interior paint and am in the process of making curtains all around. Will have the cushions reupholstered as foam has gotten ridiculously expensive.

Went yard sales today and found some things I can use in the trailer. Won't be much longer where I can take it out on the road. Just need a few more girlie touches, don't you think?