The State of the Garden

Mia having some outdoor time.

This sums it up...a lot of weeds :-).  I just can't seem to get ahead of it. Even with this dry spell we are having, the weeds continue to grow.  The veggies are still growing. It's just hard to find some of them. I have almost totally lost the leeks. I found the row, but there aren't very many there. I think I pulled some as weeds. Carrots are also a problem. A few weeks ago, I weeded a partial row, the rest are lost in there somewhere. It all started by going on vacation for a week followed by an intense garlic harvesting. The weeds just got out of control. You know, if you get them while they are little, it is easy to chop them with a hoe. When they are a foot tall, you need a machete :-). So I have been pulling & chopping away every day, making some headway. I can now see the cabbage, tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, spinach, chard, kale, basil, oregano, pinapple sage & parsley. Some of the corn is visible along with the potatoes & squash.  Speaking of potatoes & squash, I have had bug problems. First was the potato bugs. Lots of them. Then the squash started wilting & the leaves turned yellow on a few hills. That was caused by the vine borer. I dug them up & put them in a plastic garbage bag to cook in the sun. Hopefully, the rest of the plants will be okay.  I do have three cantaloupe on a vine which is a first. I have never grown it before. I hope the lack of moisture doesn't affect it. We have harvested a few potatoes (there is nothing like fresh hash browns for breakfast), lots of cherry tomatoes (red & yellow), about 6 large tomatoes (they are just starting to come in), a dozen or so peppers, peas, cilantro, basil, oregano, thyme, chocolate mint, orange mint, only a few cucumbers & zucchinis (not sure what's up with that), a few summer squash, lettuce, spinach, radishes, onions and of course, the garlic. On my list this week to pick is beets. I have never canned beets before, so I intend to learn how. I also need to buy some sweet corn from the Amish down the road to freeze. I am growing corn but not enough to do anything with.
On the fruit front, I have picked loads of strawberries and Nanking cherries, a fair amount of blueberries. A smaller amount of raspberries & about a cup full of jostaberries. Almost ready to pick are the blackberries & elderberries. Apples will be next after that, then the rose hips.

I have purring kitten on my lap now. He has been such a joy to have around. That's what we think, not Mia. She is having a terrible time adjusting. I know it takes a while. I have never heard such a low growl out of her before. Growls & hisses every time Tigger is near.  She is camping out in the bathroom now with her water, food & litter box.

Tigger playing in the window.

Tigger out hunting bugs :-)

Vinnie & Brutus (neighbor's dog) got into a big fight today in the basement. We have a bank barn so you just enter the basement through the garage doors. Well Brutus wanted a drink from Vinnie's bowl & Vinnie showed his teeth & barked. Brutus didn't back down so they were biting each other. Steve broke them up & sent Brutus home. The problem is (I think) is that they are both alpha dogs. Not knowing the history of Vinnie, we can only guess at why he is the way he is with Brutus. Vinnie guards the house & his bowls from other dogs. People are fine.

Vinnie in front of the garlic bed.

Besides the animal disharmony, we had a nice weekend. It was my birthday on Saturday. Steve took me out to eat Friday night & I gardened on Saturday while he shingled the chicken coop. We ordered pizza & made a strawberry-chocolate malt for desert. Yum. Then we sat in the lawn chairs and watched the sunset while Vinnie, Mia & Tigger played outside. 

Sunday, putting the hardware cloth around the bottom of coop.

Today we put the hardware cloth around the bottom of the coop. The screens made of hardware cloth & chicken wire for the run are laying on the ground in front of the coop. That is next week's project. We might finish it yet.
Steve brought up the last cabinet for the kitchen. My favorite cabinet. Worth waiting for...

The new "hutch" cabinet

It is a beautiful piece of furniture. I love the three small drawers. As you can see, I have already started to fill it up :-).
This week I'll be in the garden for more weeding chores & am starting on the wood flooring. It all needs to be scrubbed & dried then stacked in the house to be installed this fall or winter. I am still working on a garlic description & price list for sales coming up. I did sell another 15 pounds to the restaurant in town on Friday.

Another awesome Driftless sunset!

Time to get to bed..have a great week!

"Feel Good" Tuesday

Good news always makes us feel better. With all the bad news about the economy, I thought I would write about something happy.

We are so proud of our kids. Sometimes you wonder when they are younger if you are doing the right thing, teaching them good values, work ethic, etc. Our kids have shown us that even if you have made some screw ups, they turn out great. In the last week we have found out that daughter Kristin has gotten a promotion at work. She is a physical therapist at a major hospital in central Illinois. She is now the Rehabilitation Unit Manager. She, like all of the kids, is a hard worker. Daughter Amy just had a great performance review. She handles IT for the business she works for. She also entered a photo contest & is a finalist. Her picture will be on display at the Chicago Flower & Garden Show. Son Shane's news is on a personal level. He and his girlfriend are moving in together at the end of this month. Her name is Kristi & she is a really great person. Her dog Keyla is joining them so we have another "grand-doggie" in the family. As you can see, Shane has already bonded with Keyla!
Photo By Kristi

Another good thing is my brother-in-laws birthday was Sunday. He turned sixty. We are going out to eat for his birthday celebration tomorrow night.

We have a lot to be thankful for. Even in times like these. Count your blessings. I know everyone can come up with a few.

Our Weekend With Amy

We had a lot of fun this weekend. Our daughter Amy & her dog Hero came up for a visit on Saturday. We worked on some inside projects. It was great to have Amy there helping us! Steve built three more walls to put up around the stairs. Doing this in sections made it much easier to handle.

Hero was helping us too!

Amy was in charge of putting all the screws in the drywall & did a great job.

The next step was to put up the walls. With a little heavy lifting, it was done. The hole in the wall is head room for the stairs to the basement. The area in front of it will be made into a workbench of sorts in the shop area.

Here is the view from the top of the basement steps.
And here is the wall from the "up the stairs" view.

When our work was finished at the farm, we went to a nearby town to see a ski-jumping competition. It was sponsored by the Snowflake Ski Club in Westby. This competition has been going on since the 1920's.
Here is Steve & Amy in front of the main ski jump.
The people you see on the slope are grooming the area for the next competition. This is an Olympic size jump used for US & international competitions. After the jumps we went to the rod and gun club to see a band and have a couple beers. (Except me. I'm the designated driver :-)
Sunday, Amy & I went to town to shop at the food co-op & an antique-junk store. She found an autographed book from the 40's about flower arranging & we saw a toboggan to tell Steve about. Went we got back to the farm, we all took a walk in the woods. Hero had a great time running around.

We showed Amy the tree that fell last year in a storm. It is a huge oak that
split down the middle & is stuck into another tree. Would love
to get it down to use in the house for the floor or cabinets.

Before going back in the barn, we stopped in the garden & found the brussel sprouts that were buried in the snow. Still green & a beautiful sight in the middle of winter.

Can't wait to get started in the garden....

Crafts & Dogs

Last night I got started knitting a dishcloth. I had to watch YouTube videos & read & re-read instructions but I figured it out. So now I have half a dishcloth & I finished crocheting a scarf out of angora yarn. When I saw angora yarn in the store I had to buy it. You see I am thinking of raising angora rabbits when we move to the farm. Alpaca yarn is great too but Steve says "No alpacas". I guess I'll stick to the smaller breed animals for now. So chickens & rabbits & our cat & maybe a couple dogs. We found a website on skijoring. It's the sport where dogs pull you while on cross country skis. It would be so much fun to do that! So maybe a sled dog like the ones we saw in Alaska a few years ago...This was taken after a sled dog ride in Alyeska.

These are sled dogs at the Iditarod race waiting their turn to get out & race.
They're in a truck made especially for hauling them.

This is a video of Steve driving the sled while I am the passenger filming. As you can see, it didn't last long. The others are the trainer in the red jacket & 2 women in front of us.

In Memory of Ginger

Ginger was our little baby. She was adopted at around 8 weeks old from a veterinary clinic. Someone had found her on the street. How could anyone do that to a cute little puppy like her?

She had the sweetest face.

Her best friend was our dog Mollie. As big as Mollie was, Ginger was still the boss.She liked to get into things, even the dishwasher!Ginger had surgery to remove her eye due to glaucoma. She was already blind due to cataracts and she was also deaf. At least she didn't have to get used to being blind after the surgery. Six months later, the other eye was removed for the same reason. She was a trooper though. She healed well & went on with her life.We took her to the farm with us. She liked taking walks with Steve. She never was as comfortable there as she was at home. I think all the strange smells of the farm bothered her.

This is her Christmas picture last year. We would put on her sweater when going for walks. She was getting thinner as time went by.

Sleeping up at the farm.

Ginger's last visit to the farm. As long as she was near us, she was happy.
The last picture we took in June of this year. Seventeen years old. She was so thin, not eating much & her back legs had lost strength. We knew it was time. The vet came to our house so she would be comfortable.

I'm sure she is in "doggie heaven" now running around with Mollie & chasing squirrels.