A rainy day....

the last Iris in my water barrel

this also was in the water barrel, not sure what it was, will have to go have a visit in pond nursery :D ahhh what an excuse ;)

the endive from last year is blooming and i'm going to let it go to seed... and yes it is a member of the chicory family

Dyers Chamomile, which is used for dying fabrics and wools... i had other varieties of chamomile but this one is the most hardy and i can find it almost anywhere in my garden, the others didn't make it through last years harsh winter...

as much as i hate it.. i'm glad it's still raining.. 2 days of it.. our poor momma earth was thirsty! it's been a very dry spring and early summer... i made the decision to water my garden even tho it's costing me a pretty penny, but on the up side, i think that i'm still going to come out on the 'profit' side... the cost of water and seeds/plants is still going to be less than if i bought the veggies and fruits and i know that not a lick of chemicals has been absorbed by my plants... eating a 'real' veggie is worth it all :D...

it's my birthday today.. 59 yrs and 7 months i've been on this earth... all i can say is that i hope i've done it okay and not destroyed too many things in my path...we humans are a destructive bunch in general... anyways.. nothing planned for today.. i think only the immediate family know it's my birthday and we're going to go see Harry Potter next week instead of doing something today... my childhood love of the big screen will be satisfied for a while :D

my neighbours are on my extremely bad list today... daughter told me that their dogs (which they let loose) killed our fawn that we had in the lower field... i can't blame the dogs, i blame the owners who are irresponsible and don't give a damn that they've caused the deaths of several animals... my kids and i have always loved to see the animals in the fields and made this a safe haven.... well just to be called nutty... i just looked out the window and lo and behold are 2 deer... may they live in peace :D

woohoo... the little buck came back and i got this picture... don't know where the doe went but i'm sure not far behind.... what a nice b'day present :D

July.......

Veggies from my garden!! Made a couple of zucchini loaves, a couple of stir frys... life is good!



my daughter's garden is small but lovely.. full of roses and foxgloves, sedums and other pretty flowers i wasn't sure of...

and where have I been? well........... life has definately had it's ups and downs... so slugging along..
i'm back to me and the dogs.. daughter and kids moved to a very nice suite, close to town, bus routes, schools and other trappings of a city... makes me very happy to be where i am, far enough away to have some quiet, close enough to run into town when i need to...
i got my garden going and have several more small raised beds...my neighbour came and did an awesome job of building them... and yes, they are full up already!
had my softball season which was wonderful as usual... but alas, is done for the year... to short for me, but such is life!

my garden is growing like a weed... i've been eating a lot of it.. stirfry, salad, and my oh so favorite way... as dessert... wandering around checking on all my little green friends, nibbling on peas, raspberries, strawberries... not a bad dessert huh!
had a bear visiting awhile ago and nibbling on grass.. not my garden!! YAY for mr bear.... had the dogs going crazy tho..
been doing a bit of sewing again, made some little dresses for grandbrat #3... found a desk that i can sew on, space and counter space is a great shortage here... if i cleaned out my wonderful shed/studio welllllll i'd have some room!! been gathering snippets of tiles for my 'someday' mosaic... when the mood strikes me i guess!! am a tad slow at things!

i've been reading a lot of blogs and admiring their creative writings, photos, crafts and whathaveus... some pretty amazing folks out there... i'm especially inspired by the self sustaining folks.. back to basics for the most part.

I'm back........

blogging again... not sure for how long or how much... i guess it depends on what events stir my pot for a mind...seems i've been a sloth lately, not doing a whole lot... i wrecked my knee awhile ago and apparently the knee and brain are connected because i lamed out in the thinking department too....

soooooo enough on that ....... am in oregon, have been for awhile... you might ask... doing what?... welllll evidently not much, since i've not written about it :D
after i wrecked myself, i've had to lay low, not do a lot of walking and exploring... altho i wandered to Florence a couple of times and up to Lincoln City and many short excursions to Newport....

i'm going to try and keep a diary again.. as a lot of things have transpired and i don't rightly remember exact dates, times and what alls... i just know that i've done stuff....

this week was the 'great adventure' of Poppy the Boston Terrier..... fortunately it ended well, just several nights of despair on the part of her 'parents' and friends.... she was found by a couple of hikers... at the top of Cape Perpetua... if only she could tell us what happened.. would be quite the story i'll bet....

WHEEEEEE... the rollercoaster......

is dipping and diving... the financial rollercoaster that is.... am hanging on tight, hoping that the bottom doesn't fall out... we shall see i suppose... i was hoping that the american govt would come to some sort of agreement in 'financial aid'... mortgage wise anyways... perhaps a cap on housing prices, a few years back, would have been prudent.... as for the common folk... gosh.. spend what ya got, not what you don't have!!! think i'm sounding a bit old fashioned but my parents were depression era and struggled and starved right along with others.... i think i learned some valuable lessons from them... frugality being one of them.... i did have a time where it was fun to purchase new and exciting things... but most of them were 'things' and just 'things'... back to the old ways, shopping for sale items, canning and preserving, utilizing items already in my cupboards or sheds ;) ....
anyways, enough rantings.... the weather is about to change ... brrrr and wet... my tomatoes are still ripening and i'm thinking maybe i need to rip them up and hang them upside down in the garden shed.... but first i have to organize it.... another couple of hrs and i should have a fully fledged garden shed.. been putting things in my big studio/shed... but trying to keep it to a dull roar... and yes utilizing my bits and pieces of things.. like wood, cupboards etc., i've been collecting tiles... a LOT of tiles... but am noticing that the supply is starting to dry up... a reflection of the economy i suspect... anyways... should have enough to tile the bathroom tub surround.... that will be my spring project... the tubsurround is starting to decay and becoming a serious problem... sooooo trying to dry it out and do a patch job until then....
anyways....... garden has been lovely... here's a pic of one of the residents....





just looked, been awhile since i last posted... have been busy going back and forth to Youbou, its very pretty at this time of the year... but spent much of my time, doing computer work for a friend... was fun.... she's the most wonderful hostess... mmm i'm sure i gained another 10bs.. sigh
see this fellow... he's gonna fix my friend's old Pontiac....
Ed, the fixer.. who won an award in 2003 (i believe) for a Hot Rod that he'd restored...

the pontiac.... will show pics of what it used to look like.... so sad to see it being hauled away like this... was once a fine tuned vehicle!!

an end of an Era... Ted Leroy Trucking and Logging company.... another victim of the 'recession'? or bad wheeling and dealing and one very horrible accident... this was at the Chemainus Richie Bros., auction... was sad to see, as it's just a sample of some of the bigger companies that couldn't weather the financial storm of the lumber industry....

The look of........

fall...... its arrived.. not so slowly but here, nonetheless... the leaves are changing, crinkling on the edges, turning red for some, fall already for others... the tomatoes are ripening and the new crop of fall peas are about 3 inches high...
a couple of days ago i got a treat... the most wonderful one in awhile... at the living room window the dogs started growling and watching carefully, at first i thought it was the neighbour's dog.. i looked out....... WOW is all i can say... a rare glimpse of an Elk... i say rare because there's never one been reported out this way... they are usually deep in the mountains in the centre of the island... not sure why he/she was here, but a more beautiful site i've not seen in awhile... sad to say... BOTH cameras were in my car.... so just a memory .... and hopefully creator will make it so it doesn't end up in someone's freezer...

yesterday we had a forest fire relatively close to here... arson again.. someone has been busy setting fires in the area.. if they only knew the damage and destruction they are creating... not only for the humans, but enviromentally... i hope they are caught soon, the forests are dry and crackling....

today is Sian's birthday... the ripe old age of 9, will take some pictures at her dinner tonight.. a family affair.. she didn't want any of her school friends.. so family it is... hotdogs and pizza and cake on the menu..

'THE' election....

is driving me NUTS!!! blah blah blah... half told truths, half hidden lies... thats my opinion on it.. and i'm seeing a country bamboozled by beauty and newness... sort of similar to a new chocolate bar... mmm good to the eye, bad for the tummy.... not everything in the chocolate bar is listed.. a burp is coming .... my opinion of course...

here's an article by Gloria Steinhem... well written and thought out.. i was never a feminist but i thank them for the inroads they made into society, and the importance of their work....
anyways... Palin: wrong woman, wrong message .... i do worry that there is a reversal of the breakthroughs of the 60's, the freedom movements, the feminist movements... somethings i'm in agreement that they weren't all good things.. but personally, i'm not in favour of going back to the 'good old days, of mama in the kitchen, keeping her mouth shut, producing babies at a bunny rate'... if your interested, at the bottom of Ms. Steinhem's article is a link to the comments... YIKES is all i have to say...

speaking of the kitchen.... i'm in there because i want to be, because i love to cook....
so we canned our hearts out again... managed to accidently fall into some very cheap pears, plums and nectarines and corn on the cob ... we got 21 quarts of pears and daughter froze the plums and nectarines until we're ready to make jam or jelly... mmmgood... thank goodness for the feed store that gets 'deals on fruits and veggies..... as for the corn... today i scraped the cobs and made a pretty interesting casserole...
corn, zucchini, kale, swiss chard, peppers, garlic and onion, all sauteed then i sliced tomatoes and grated some mixed cheeses and baked till golden brown and bubbling....

i took a small 'holiday' .. to Youbou... spent the evening and sunday at my friend's house, she cooked, i cleaned..... her puter.. was great!!! had a lovely visit with her and another friend... and when i went to leave... she gave me a huge piece of spring salmon... mmmm Candied Salmon here we come!!! perhaps tomorrow we'll start on it.. takes a bit of prep work, the smoker and a great recipe!!!

Kitchen mornings......

are great... at least i think so... this morning i made yogurt and am trying out a new recipe... it's from Gluten-Free Vegan and is a gluten free bread recipe, it's in the oven and smelling delicious as it's cooking... so will update later... it was easy to mix, but i'm terrible for 'rearranging' to suit.. since i didn't have all the ingredients... i've added a few 'extras' such as coconut flour and a dash of millet flour, some quinoa flour and a bit of nutritional yeast... it didn't call for any eggs, but i'm thinking i might try an egg next time for better binding... then it should be easier to slice...it's all cooked and cooled.. had a slice... it's got an excellent flavour, i think it's one worth repeating, including my 'extras'...

this recipe also calls for it to be in the freezer or fridge after cooking... does that mean i have to actually CLEAN OUT the fridge??? yikes!!! i know there are green monsters lurking in corners.....

this morning is lovely and peaceful... the sun is out, the dogs are outside, the t.v. is off... ahhh silence except for the quiet tapping of keys... and slurping of a leftover morning coffee...

not bad for a hump day :D