Anne Frank and Saturday Ups and Downs

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After a lovely Friday of work, school, and more work, we went to town to try to get in as much office cleaning as we could before heading off to meet friends and see The Diary of Anne Frank, in which several of our friends are performing.

They did a fabulous job!  It was even better than the one we saw a couple of years ago, and had cool audience participation as though we were in a prison camp - with guards all around us.  They nabbed Josh, drug him out and shot him.   However, in his next life, he also became a prison guard for the rest of the play.   Lots of sniffles in the audience.   It is heart wrenching, knowing what evil man does to one another, but I was determined not to run any mascara, and I was thoroughly successful - lots of focus on chewing my delicious, if rubbery, mint chewing gum, during particularly touching moments.

My dashing young man and I went to Taco Bell afterwards, had a great time chowing down on a 12 pack of tacos and talking about the evening. 

Today was a day of ups and downs!

I was all set to break myself into posting pics again, but I actually broke my camera today. Yes, I had a good cry over it, too. Boohoo!

This was the first day Michael and I have stayed home all day in - I have no idea how long. It was strange, but just a bit like Heaven. The weather was wonderful. I baked and glazed a ham that had been oinking at me every time I opened the fridge.

And about the time we got around to doing anything else, I went outside with my board, my borrowed wood burner and a nice glass of iced tea and proceeded to torture the Bible verse plaque I mentioned.

Out on the front porch in a comfy rocking chair with birds singing madly all around.

Opening the kit...

Perusing the selection of tips...

Cool!  It has a soldering tip as well.  That will come in handy later, while working on Michael's Airsoft gun modifications.  I actually decide that the soldering tip will work the best for my lettering as well.

It's been a long time since I did any wood burning.  The reasons it has been a long time came flooding back.  Either I always have low-performance tools, or it takes a maddeningly longer time than I have the patience for.   But I was determined.  One letter, two letters...

And, in my exuberance, I flipped that board around - knocking my camera right off the table. In hind sight, if I'd just never gotten up to go check it, and just pretended it never happened, I'd have been a lot happier.

Michael arrived within moments to see what his mother was sobbing about and did his best to take the lens apart and fix it, but it was pretty munched.

No way around it, if the body of the camera is OK, I've got to get a new lens.  After this point, most of the photos are going to a bit poorer in quality, as my good camera is now merely collecting dust.

Anyhow, we had a great day despite that little tragedy.

We planted 3 blueberry bushes that I took with me when we left the farm, as well as some blackberry plants in pots I'd brought along.  Here are some of the first photos of our current digs.   Speaking of digs...  If at all possible, you must enlist help to dig into the red clay.

Here's the sweet little picket gate that is the passageway between the garden area and the yard.  Is this not adorable?   Not sure what that shrub is, but it's going to be some sort of fruit.  And the peonies smell wonderful.

Yes, the man child is hard at work as I bring out supplies and another shovel.  That's a very old apple tree on the other side of the fence, along the road.

I cried "Uncle!" and finally forked over for peat moss.  I think I have a tendency to  expect things from plants they are not ready to give.  "You have dirt, sun, rain, darn it.  I am not going to dump another 5 dollars because you want more than that!"   But after quite a few failed blueberries... I bought the bag.  This was about 10 bucks and will probably do about 5 bushes.  I've heard of people using an entire bag in a really big hole, and even planting bushes directly INTO the bags, but I asked a professional blueberry guy what he did, which was mix about half and half.  So that's what we are doing.

Right there in the hole with our stirrer.

OK, this one was not mixed well enough.  Plant was removed, earth mixed up, and plant replaced.

Then we mulched the three bushes and sat down, imagining sweet, juicy blueberries, which we will probably not get to eat, unless we dig them back up again, as this is not our home.  However, SOMEone SOMEday will have some nice berries.

We put in some tomato plants, Grape, Roma, and a Better Boy or something similar (lost the tag).

The owner, unbeknownst to us, also gave permission to another person to run some cattle on the nine acres and will be just beyond this fence.   He put in some electric fencing to keep them back but, in the interest of tomato safety, we will probably move the wires just a little bit further away from our succulent tomatoes.

I don't want to put much in the ground, as we don't know how long we'll be here, but I had no where else to put them and I can always dig them up again. All our friends are already overflowing with plants we gave away.

We had a great time cleaning out the loft in the barn, getting it ready for a hangout place and workout area for the guys.

Lovely view, lovely day.   Looking toward the mountains on the walk from the house to the barn.

The whole bottom of the barn is about like this.  Difficult to navigate.  Nothing of value, just stuff.  We hope to sort it, stack it neatly, and be able to utilize some space here and there.

Heading up to the old hay loft.

This is to be Michael's indoor hangout area and workout room.  But it needs some CPR first.   First thing is to remove all the poles that are stretching across the rafters, so we can get some head room.  They mostly used this for drying tobacco, many years ago, so they are all over the place.  I have no idea how old this hay is.

Looking down through the maze of rafters and tobacco poles.

I've already been moving some of the bales that could still be grasped.  Michael is putting off going and getting the rake and broom, surveying his domain.  Remember Mikka?  We had to send her away to a friend for a couple of months, but she's back with us.

That side over there is rotted through, as the roof is missing in a few places, but when clear, we'll know exactly where NOT to step.  Plus it will dry out more quickly and rot more slowly.

Boy, I wish I could move like a cat!

Handing tools up through the hay loft door.  Of course he jumps out.  Using the barn stairs and regular door would be so boring.

Coon poo?   It's everywhere.

That's better!

We can use this old hay for mulch when we need it, so we're keeping it near the loft door for now.  When it's gone, he'll have another 100 square feet of space to use.

One rotted area, and one broken rafter over here, means not a lot of use unless we decide to repair it.  there is enough old spare scrap wood laying around that we could do it, but the roof hole remains, so it would only be a temporary fix.  It would last beyond our stay here, however.

At this point my head is stuffy, I'm sneezing... what's going on????

Great Scott, Batman! I think I might be getting allergic to something. I could not believe how badly my sinus passages behaved while we worked in the barn! This is just not right. I don't DO allergies!

After enjoying the sound of a short rain on the metal roof of the barn, we headed back up to the house. Michael tried his hand at wood burning and worked on one of his Airsoft guns, getting ready for his next team outing.

I cut my first bouquet of peonies here, they smell amazing!

Grateful for ports in storms,

~ Faith

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Here Comes the Sun, doot-n-doo-doo

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It's another gorgeous morning.

I'm sure anyone reading this will fall off of their chair in shock, but the list from yesterday was not completed.

We got to go get straw bales right away yesterday morning, after a call to see if they were available at the barns. The man who owns the farm met us. What a lovely old man of 80. He said, "Follow me!" and proceeded to lead us to the place we needed to load at approximately .097 miles per hour. It was a great day for a drive!

He was so sweet, and had tons of stories. As one of the best ways you can bless someone is to listen to them, we did. For about an hour in one of the hay barns we heard about his family, his farm, his business dealings, his children. It was a real treat to listen to him and I don't regret a moment of it.

We arrived back home and I immediately got to work on the list, but after distributing the bales at their various sites, mulching the gooseberries, repairing the barbed wire fence, harvesting cow manure from the pastures, and a hiccup start on mulching the strawberries - the raspberries arrived.

These were such a good deal, ordered before I knew the car needed repair. "Strange how that happens," she said dryly. I got 36 Heritage and Black Jewel raspberries for a dollar each. But now I had to get them in the ground. Michael was able to help me by then, and we have such a good time working outside.

So the rest of the day was spent doing all but 9 of them before we had to do chores and leave for office cleaning. We were really pleased at the condition of the soil. When we had planted raspberries in that location 8 years ago, the soil had not been very good. But I think the Lord waved his hand, because we had brown soil there.

Each rootling got a hole, a plop of black gold on each side, and a six inch dressing of straw. These went in a row, about 2.5 feet apart, under a wire trellis system that was already there from before. We are hoping for summer raspberries next year.

So today I need to finish the raspberries, and then work on the figs, the greenhouse, and figure out the strawberries.

I've never actually mulched strawberries before. But I think that one reason they did not do so well in this last planting was that I had black fabric down that they were planted through. We had a very warm summer, and they may have simply been too hot. So I wanted to try mulching with straw.

Makes sense, straw-berries, right? Not so much. Everywhere you go, people are blogging about how they mulch their berries with straw. But no one still has green berry plants when they mulch them. As a matter of fact, if I recall correctly, my berries never actually completely stop being green in winter. So I am thinking that if I cover a bunch of green plants with straw, the inevitable is going to happen, right? Green plants, cover with material, dead plants. I do this with weeds all year.

So I tried mulching around them. Well, I have these tiny little newbie plants that are so small and too close together for that to be done with any success at all. I am currently stumped on how to approach this one, so that will be last on my list today.

I made yesterday what Michael judged to be my best 100% whole wheat loaf yet. It was my third attempt this week. I am determined to not buy another loaf until I figure out how to make our own. Personal goal. Still only four inches high. Actually, with the braided top, this one made it to about 5.5 inches. But they taste utterly fantastic.

This one used potato flakes or flour. I'm thinking, "I always have a box of potato flakes in my pantry." I often get a craving for quickie mashed potatoes. Nope, no flakes. So I juiced a potato in my juicer and used some of it for the required starch the recipe wanted from the potato flakes.

All this in the middle of outdoor work, means I've still got potato in my juicer. Blech.

Time for KP duty.

~Faith

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List for today.

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After a $400.00+ day at the repair shop and helping my mom and dad all day long on their front yard project and dinner with freshly baked (and flattish) 100% whole wheat bread (very long run on sentence) in which we were so happy to be a blessing to my folks for the day and in which, despite being faithful to my juicing I ended up eating too much leftover Halloween candy from stressing out over the unplanned repairs on the van, we will continue to enjoy a week in which most of our regular activities were canceled.

So it's a work day here at home for me, and for Michael, when his school work is done. I have a wish list in front of me. Maybe I should add "Clean off desk" to it.... Nah.

1. Drive about 10 beautiful country miles to a farm and buy as many bales of straw as will fit into the back of the minivan. I might fit 10 or 12. Good deal, but no delivery.

2. Mulch the freshly manured gooseberry plantings with 2 bales of straw.

3. Repair the barbed wire fence that the neighbor's cows keep busting up. They did not come through yet, but it's torn down again. Probably the long-horn crosses. They really learn how to use those horns as tearing tools.

4. While back there making repairs, also pick up a wheelbarrow-sized load of manure for the raspberries.

5. Spread the manure in preparation for the rootings which should be here soon.

6. Leave 5 bales of straw next to raspberry row.

7. Neatly stack and cover the free lumber we got from my dad with the the $5.00 doors we found at the thrift store. These are for the future tables in the greenhouse.

8. Fasten the side base boards to the greenhouse hoops in preparation for walls. Wear black-widow smashing shoes. WooHoo! That stack next to my driveway for years will finally be gone.

9. Draw out a plan for building the ends, now that I have the storm doors (5 dollars at the thrift store) and locate the lumber from the wood pile. Hope there is enough there that has not rotted.

10. Cover 6 figs in straw (whatever is left) build cages or use rope to contain them, and cover with tarps.

11. Try to get some rest before doing an office cleaning tonight. :o)

I am glad that I have 3 good days of sun, in case I can't finish this as I hope to.

5:45 am. Time to clean house, juice, cook breakfast, pray, and load my iPod with Bible study lessons for the day.

Awaiting a beautiful sunrise,

~Faith

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A picure is worth a thousand dollars.

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At least that's about how much a nice new camera costs. I'd been hoping to get mine repaired but, instead, any money we've been squeezing out has been going to things like vet bills for our lovable-yet-useless canine (do you have any idea how much time and money it takes to care for an aging and uncertainly diagnosed dog? I do now; $350.00 and I hope that's it, because that is his limit, sadly.) and feeding a hungry automobile a balanced diet of things like tires and bearings. However, the change to cool weather has been a blessing in the car department. We no longer are roasting in our A/C free and broken window environment. It's cold, and we have a heater that works. Life is good.

We have been blessed with really great weather, for the most part. So that I am able to work outside most days. I've been moving gooseberry bushes which were declining every year. They are now in a new and improved location and awaiting mulch, which I hope to obtain tomorrow - right after a visit to the car repair shop.

The man-child, Michael, is growing out of clothes faster than I can find them. I buy shoes two sizes too big, and he's outgrown them in 8 months. Every time I look at him, I swear he's taller. He'll outgrow me in a very short amount of time. We hit thrift stores again this week, hoping to find him a winter jacket. We found some working coats, but nothing for casual town wear.

However, he was absolutely thrilled to get a trench coat and two casual suit jackets today, tweed and corduroy. The thrift store was selling all their coats for half price, two dollars and fifty cents each, and these are classics that will not go out of style. We bought them big.... here's hoping they last.

It took a lot of straw, but all the veggie and herb beds are thoroughly mulched. We have some experimental winter crops growing out there; peas and Swiss chard. I want to see how long I can keep them growing by just covering them on cold nights. I dug up some of the pepper plants and potted them, bringing them indoors at night.

I am also growing lots of things in the house. It looks a bit like a greenhouse in here, but that's kind of fun. We hope to get the real greenhouse going soon. I've been saving up, here and there, and I think I have enough to do it, if I can find the time in between everything else.

We are getting some raspberry rootings this week, and I'm so excited that we'll have raspberries again. So I've got a 90 foot row to dig, fertilize, and mulch when they arrive. I found a great deal on some new strawberry plants on eBay to replace the ones that did not make it for some reason. I hope the soil is fine. But two of the varieties I had planted gave up the ghost very early. We got 50 strawberry plants for only 12 dollars. I'm so glad to have put them in the ground, so we have a better chance at a good berry harvest next year.

I found a place that I can order grapevines from next spring at only 3 dollars each. That's an amazing price. If I am able, I will rip out all 112 vines that are out there now, and replace them with only 28 Mars cultivars. Mars vines have the greatest resistance to black rot, so it would cut down significantly on the amount of slaving away in comparison to actual ingestion of grapes. Ratios. This is why I studied Algebra.

I'm rooting blackberries for sharing and replanting next spring. Having another go at rooting figs. Oh, that reminds me, I still need to cover them for winter. Yiketh already.

And lady bugs wars are on. With the warmer sunny days in the 60's, it's prime breeding weather. Today we finally succumbed and sprayed all around the doors with Raid - garden fresh scent, of course. So you can lie to yourself all the way to your death bed. It could not be helped. I was spending an hour a day, just trying to keep up on vacuuming them up.

OK, Lots more going on, but without photos, it's just no fun to write about them, and harder still to illustrate how we are doing things, so I'll leave it with this:

Thanksgiving - 17 days
Days begin to get longer - 41 days
Christmas - 47 days
Get out your seed catalogs - 57 days
Average daily temp begins to level and climb - 60
Order your seeds - 71 days

Not long at all until those crocus are pushing up.

~Faith

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Camera Broken, How Sad

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And such a gorgeous time of year, too!

I have been photographing a little bit with my son's camera, but it really lacks that VROOM of my SLR.

Usually as fall and winter come in, I am glad for the break in work. I tend to let things all go. But this year is different. Vive la différence! We do not want to be buried in work in the spring and summer the way we have been for the last couple of years, so while Michael does his school work, I am planning on and hoping to work outside every day on some sort of major project so that they are all done and ready to go in the spring.

The weather has been so beautiful lately, and he is often able to do his school work outdoors, making it easier for me to help him with tough spots. And late in the day, it is not uncommon for Michael to come and help me with things I've not been able to finish.

We've gotten quite a few things done so far. We are just getting the gardens weeded and mulched thickly. It's been a little odd, as the weather has stayed warm. But the beds are nearly empty of growth, so they are getting blanket anyhow. A few things are still growing, so some leftover bales of straw are standing by.

We really scrimped and saved to invest in 110 bales. It was a lot of green, rectangular papers with presidents for us, but when we compared it to the work we would save next year, we decided it was worth it. See ya' Andrew Jackson!

We've been doing a lot of practice with cuttings and rootings. Many failures mean we are that much closer to figuring it all out. We are learning all the ways NOT to do things. (Fist pump and tap dancing. Odd looking... but cheery.)

The next two huge projects are resetting the pool, which ended up being slightly oval in shape; and building the greenhouse. I truly hope to accomplish these two things in the next few weeks. We have free wood from a friend's scrap pile and trimmings from the neighbor's mill, so we are very excited about getting the greenhouse going.

Michael's hard work has paid off greatly. He finished an entire school year in 5 months, working double hours right through summer. He has graduated his freshmen year and is moving on to his sophomore year this week. No break from Algebra 1 to Algebra 2, but then again, sometimes it's better to not let your mind go mush in between.

Looks like we are going to have peak color, right around the end of the month. It came so late this year.

It's going to be a really nice winter!

~Faith

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Gardening Day - August 13, 2010

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Finally, a day to do some catch up work outside.

Aren't these melons pretty! I wish I could remember what they are.









Picking more eggplant.





Here's a funny one.





Not my favorite kind - a lot of tough skin per inch of tender flesh, but it was all they had at the garden center when I needed to buy them; Japanese variety. They are producing really well, though, and withstanding the ferocious onslaught of flea beetles.





I just had to make sure they were about a foot tall before I planted them.





This was yet another really hot day, just like they've all been since April. I cleaned up around the back of the house, where the tree had fallen, so that looks a bit better.





We used some scrap left over from building this back porch to make more storage shelving underneath. I could not believe I didn't think of doing that for two years.





We wore our swim suits as we worked, so we could jump in whenever we couldn't stand things any more. This feels GREAT!





Time to go pick more peppers.





Bell





Jalepeno





The lettuce still bolted, despite the shade cloth. This summer was just too hot.





YAY, more Swiss chard!





Tomatoes had a really bleak year with all the heat.





The Bright Lights chard never really recovered from the grasshopper invasion, though the plain chard did. I know what I will plant from now on.





I had a terrific start on my beloved Brussel sprouts, but not keeping up on spraying allowed the moths to decimate the entire crop. This smells really bad!









Here are some beds we never got around to planting. The mulch worked well, the paths are weedy, but that can be easily taken care of. Just so long as the plants are isolated from the weeds, I'm very happy.





Here is our pepper patch. Why do these things come in packs of six?





Next year, go in with friends.

~Faith

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