From the other side....

I'm making this post because i felt it should be heard... its a letter to a Father, from a Son.....

R.I.P

a good man who made some bad choices.
he was always there for me when i needed it
I knew he cared. and he always made sure i knew it
but sometimes people dig a hole they never really make it out of.

he died so young. with so much left to see in the world.
like his son and daughter grow into adults.
and become parents

it feels weird to think. that ill never see that smile again.
i wont hear your voice,
or laugh at your jokes when your being dumb.

there was so much left i wanted to tell you and do with you.
and now i never will.

i want more than anything to be with you right now. and see you that last time.
hear you tell me that everythings gonna be alright.
because that the one thing you always had.
hope that things would get better eventually.

and you were right. things are alot better now
your in a better place. somewhere where you can escape your addiction. and be yourself again. the man i lost to drugs years ago.

i will see you again someday dad. i dont know where or when/.
but ive still got some things left to do down here.
so until than, i will be thinking of you.
everyday

because no matter what happens. your still my dad. and i still love you

Happy birthday dad. i hope wherever you are, your enjoying it.


the young man who wrote that letter was just turning 16, when the father was murdered, and in the news reports was just a 'homeless man'..... they forgot to mention he was also a father and loved...
the young man posted this on Facebook on the anniversary and birthday of his father...i asked him if he minded if i posted it on my blog, and he said he wanted people to read it, to understand he wasn't just a homeless man...

i see 'homeless' folks often these days, for whatever reason they are on the streets, all of them have a history, a story, a life..

sometimes we forget....

Balconies and Beets...

My friend Lori has only a balcony garden and it is very lovely!! On that balcony she has/had a very large tomato!! The variety only gets orange, never red, and she made daughter and I sandwiches with her cucumbers and the orange tomatoes.. yummmm!! Tomatoes are her specialty but she also had a very large basil plant which she generously gave me some and a few herbs... a few very healthy blueberry bushes but mostly a lot of chairs, a few tables... and an awesome view of Lake Cowichan...

the tomato weighed in at a 21 Oz... no Guiness World record.. but not too shabby either!!

the tomato guardian...

the 'other' use for a toilet....

on our return trip daughter showed me a place that has quite a few Blue Elderberry bushes, so we might go and pick some later this week... my last few days have been filled with beets and more beets..... and did i mention Pickled Beets.... i'm truly a glutton for punishment, i canned 20lbs or 13 quarts of sliced pickled beets and went and got another 10 lbs of them this afternoon... daughter said 'can never get enough Pickled Beets'... soooo

my Pickled Beet recipe was from Great Grandma Wilson... so i was hesitant to give it out.. but then again.. we should share more so here it is...

for 5 lbs (approx) of beets

Clean and simmer beets for approx 30 minutes (till just fork tender on the outside)

put in cold water (will help the skins to come off) rub or push the skin off with your fingers, they 'should' come pretty clean...

if the beets are small ( size of a large marble) i usually will can whole, and if bigger will slice them up...

combine the following and boil for 5 mins

2 cups cider vinegar

2 cups water

2 cups sugar

1 Tbsp. of salt

i put the sliced or whole beets in sterilized jars, pour in the boiling syrup, put the lids on and process... either water bath or pressure cooker according to manufacturer.. for myself, i have a presto canner and it's 5lbs for 5 mins...

in other recipes people will put in cloves or cinnamon or pickling spices but we like them 'plain jane' the best....

Dinglehopper and Hunte Corporation...

this is more a rant than a ramble!! I just watched a CBC documentary (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for those who might not know) How Not to Buy a Puppy on purchasing purebred puppies in 'reputable' pet stores.. the pet stores maybe reputable but the Hunte Corporation where they purchase the puppies from is a company who is nothing more than a puppy warehouse, they collect puppies and ship them out to petstores... i'm hoping my american readers will be able to see the link.. i've found when i'm south of the border (in America) i can't get most Canadian t.v. links, and vice versa when i'm north of the border! ( so much for freedom of the internet) Dinglehopper is a Pomeranian who was featured in the documentary and has two Blogs... The Life of Dinglehopper the Pomeranian and Dinglehopper

Anyways thats my rant for the week ;) ...as i watch my 2 'heinz 57' 4 legged children romp and play, i thank my lucky stars that i'm with them and that they now are healthy and happy....my charges were both 'rescues'... one as a young puppy, who'd had surgery but an infection (came home as a foster 'child')... mmm 3 1/2 yrs ago! and the other who'd been removed from his home because of a broken 'unfixed' leg and was slated to have it amputated....also came home as a foster 'child' at 10 months..... fortunately a Veterinarian Specialist from Victoria B.C. was able to repair it with a rod.. and today 2 yrs later, he runs and plays with 4 legs :D life is good!!!

Home again, home again....

the puppies are both happy happy, freedom again, i'm listening to the neighbour's rooster crowing and the ravens welcomed me back with a caw and a fly over... back to reality!

Our last couple of dinners in Yachats were delicious!! All the veggies our friends shared with us were chopped up and nothing went to waste... daughter and i made a delicious stirfry of zucchini, beans, beet greens, peppers.. we baked all the little squash and roasted the beets with rosemary, thyme and a bit of olive oil... and the best..... i made a huge container of Salsa with the tomatoes, tomatillos and onion.. unfortunately i did need to buy the cilantro and a couple of limes ... we snacked on salsa and chips all the way home...

a long 14 hr day... 9 on the road, 2 waiting for the ferry and almost 3 on the ferry....and only 1 semi serious mishap.. not bad for 4 people, 2 dogs and 2 cars! My daughter's car got beaten up on the freeway, by a piece of particle board... i was ahead of her, saw the board, couldn't avoid it, and i gather that after i drove over it, the wind caught it and lifted it... right into her bumper... at in rush hour traffic at 70 mphs there is no avoiding objects.... anyways.. the angels were with her and only the bumper was seriously injured... off to the insurance adjusters today... sighhhh

waiting for the ferry to leave!!

My garden.... oh dear... it's amazing what almost 2 weeks away can do... even with watering, there's been no substantial rainfall and everything is looking very dry and yesss... fallish... where does the time go, just seems like i planted a few weeks ago... i'm sooo not ready for fall! after making an 'inspection' of the garden... the pole beans that had taken forever to grow, finally a few beans, the purple bush beans are stalled and the beans don't look much bigger than when i left, the swiss chard looks like it's just waiting for the rainy season, the scarlet runners have a LOT of beans.... mmm what shall i make! the tomatoes did very well but look terrible... our season just isn't long enough!! the peppers are turning red and the cilantro has gone to seed!!! my little 'reemay greenhouse' is looking very sad... there must have been a good wind while i was gone, it's askew , ripped and looking very bedraggled!

i forgot to take a picture of all my tomatoes that i picked this morning! there are more in the freezer at daughter's house (next batch)! am making tomato paste... mmm tomorrow it should be ready for canning!

Up River.......

soooooo pretty!!!! i have friends that live up the Yachats River... it's a delightful place, often sunny and warm when by the sea, its raining or drizzling!! Quite a different climate than down river on the coast, not so foggy, not so grey, much warmer in the summer, colder in the winter, and sometimes even some snow! The garden/greenhouse is much different than at the coast.. up river they can grow corn and squashes, there are fruit and nut trees and they grow mushrooms, as well as picking wild ones!

their greenhouse has no raised beds, but to keep the weeds down they have used a plentiful supply of cardboard with straw over top..

turtle heaven!! this little fellow needs the extra heat and security of indoors...

these turtles live in the greenhouse, they have their own garden.. nothing like fresh produce!!

Hops!!!! mmmmbeer... not that i drink it, but i've heard that my friend makes very good beer....



the chicken coop is beautiful!! unfortunately due to the number of predators they need to be contained..

note the stained glass window!!! luxury for chicks!!

Chess anyone??

tomato chess that is!!! The players are arranged, the spectators piled on the sides...and OH NO... a salt shaker to the right... waiting for unsuspecting spectators or one of the losing chess tomatoes....

i went back to visit the community greenhouse and had a tour by one of the hosts...

this Rhubarb (inside the greenhouse) and the Rhubarb in the picture below(outside the greenhouse) , were both grown by seed, this year... i've never tried growing Rhubarb by seed, but it definately is interesting and i might let one of my Rhubarb plants go to seed next year...

my kindly host gave me one of these beans to sample.. mmmgood! i'm not sure of the variety, but it looks much like a Scarlet Runner, but has white flowers and the bean didn't have a 'fuzzy' coating like the Scarlet Runner has....

the fall crop of Choi is just starting, beets to the left and in the far left is kale... because of the mild climate, rarely snow and not a whole lot of frost the fall crops should do quite well ... the cold weather crops do quite well in the Oregon coastal climate, the sun days are short, a lot of fog or rain or just grey days...the 'field' behind the garden is their 'poor man's golf/driving range course!! soooo fun!!!

nothing like 'organic' means of insect control! a lovely little Skink stayed still long enough for a picture...

an alligator lizard was sitting on another raised bed... one of my hosts felt she was pregnant.. apparently she's very friendly and comes out when people come into garden...

all in all, the community greenhouse has a wonderful 'organic' feel, no wonder the plants were doing so well... as one of my hosts explained... we learn more from our mistakes and 'failures' than when the crops all do well.. they had a bumper crop of tomatoes this year, next year the plan is to have less tomatoes so there is more room for other types of veggies... the squashes didn't like being outside, too cool and damp, and did much better in the greenhouse... the newly transplanted raspberries had been munched on by the elk but with better fencing should do well next year.. the hosts request dogs to come visit, more dog scent, less likely the elk will come and raid the gardens... and surrounding the gardens were lots of huckleberry bushes, blue and red, and lots of salal bushes... how lucky can they be!!!

thanks to my hosts for the tour, and thanks for the bag of tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini!!

Community Gardens....

are very prevalent in the small community of Yachats Oregon.. there are several of them actually, quite a feat for a village of approximately 600-700 people...there is a beginnings of a Master Gardener teaching centre, a very nice greenhouse which is located 4 miles out of town, and a city lot sized Community Garden and all of them had their start this year... the climate here on the immediate coast is good for acidic loving cool weather plants who don't mind a dusting of salt air and a lot of mist or fog, further inland (a mile or less) is considerably different, the temperatures are higher in the summer, cooler in winter, not as misty or windy, and generally more conducive to more varieties of plants... i have friends that live approximately 10 miles inland from the coast and they get very warm in the summer, some snow and much colder in the winter.. and did i mention ... RAIN!! a LOT of rain in the winter!

The community garden is doing very well, in February just before i left, the garden was a buzz with 'tenants' who were just making raised beds, planting cold weather crops and generally turning a vacant (donated) lot into a wonderful four letter word - FOOD -!!!



note the Cloches around the corn!

The greenhouse 4 miles away was the concept of a different group of folks, who banded together, built a sizable greenhouse and have built raised beds and are continuing to build more beds which will surround the greenhouse... and they have a created a very prolific array of veggies!!







the seeds looked like some kind of brassicas but not sure..








this next set of 3 pictures is because i couldn't fit all of the 'lean-to' in one picture.. but it was built a few years ago, and was the original 'greenhouse', it's a delightful area filled with herbs and veggies... very warm and inviting... i just wish that i could have shown what it really is like!







the real Master!!

The Master Gardener - Demonstration and & Community Garden is something that hadn't been started before i left and i'm not sure of the details... i just know that there are a lot of potatoes and different kinds, and it seems different growing techniques...