Ya gotta drive and drive to get anywhere

Today was mostly spent in getting from one place to another.  I went to Clinton to pick up our supplies for the green team adopt a highway program.  That was 35 miles northeast.  Then I had to go to Wilmington to pick up some wine supplies, a hose and an anniversary present (28 years).  That was 65 miles South.  Then home, that was 55 miles northwest.

When I got home, I noticed that one of my squashes was really wilted.  Don't know whether it is a bug or a disease.  I may have to pull it up tomorrow.  I did get another squash from another plant.  The garden is so dry.  Even with irrigation, the sun makes the leaves droop.  I also noticed that the wax beans and green beans are starting to come in.  In about 3-4 days, I will be up to my elbows in beans.  Woo Hoo.

I unthawed my strawberries and mixed the wine fixings, except the yeast, which goes in tomorrow.  I got another washtub and another primary fermenter.  So I can have two batches going at the same time.

I did do walkies in the heat and the yellow flies.  Got bug art pics and that's about all.

big mouth frog

I'm thinkin ghost

parrot on a swing

I REALLY would like to know what kind of bug makes these.  It has to be pretty big and heavy to show such deep indentations.  One of the mysteries of life I'll never know I guess.

That's it for today.

bak bak

It's all about the Food

Happy Memorial Day, everbody.

Had a busy day today.

I started out, after the cockers of course, by picking 20 lbs of strawberries before it got too hot this morning.  Our neighborhood organic farmer released the field for culling.  I culled 1/2 and left 1/2 for others.  I may go back in a few days to see if I can get some more for jam.  The ones I got today were for wine.

Had a bit of a dilemma.  I only have one primary fermenter, but we found a substitute.  However, I only have one mesh bag left as my backup got destroyed.

So, I processed the berries and froze them until I can get to Wilmington to get more bags.  Freezing won't hurt.

My blueberry wine is coming along fine.  I think the temperature regulation is the trick.  My SG is at 1.06 after two days.  Nice and slow.

Then I pulled three peaches off one of the peach trees.  The first was over ready and the wasps had gotten to it, so I gave it to the cockers who were fighting over it.  The second two are just about ready.  I have about 5 left on the tree, but can't reach them and they are still a little green, I think.  I had Jim water the trees today as they were looking droopy since we have had just a little rain.

pair of payches from the paych tree.

We had also received a couple of containers of cherry tomatoes from our neighborhood organic farmer:

from grafted plants

I then thinned out 1/4 of my bull's blood beets.  I have not been checking them and they really were ready to be thinned.

middlin to large

small to middlin

I cooked them up, peeled them and froze them.  I will have to do more when I get time this week.

Here is a pic of the squash I got yesterday.

waiting for some mates.

After all that, walkies.  It was hot and dry, but I did get some bug art.

Oops, this is bird art

I'm thinkin hummingbird

Definite pelican

After I got home, and after I removed two unattached ticks (its tick and yellowfly season), I opened my email and got a message that one of the wineries of which I am a member is having a whine contest.  In fifty words or less, you must present your case to get a case, i.e.  the winner gets a case of wine.  It was too good to resist, so here is my entry:

Mother's crazy

Husband's lazy

Garden's dry

Cloudless sky

Daughter's broke

Pay's a joke

Hens won't lay

TV don't play

Car won't run

Engine's done

Eat too much

Food's a crutch

Clothes won't fit

Flies don't git

Porch is hot

Boyfriend's not

But I'll be fine

Just need wine.

It's not strictly true.  The TV works, the car works and I don't have a boyfriend, but the rest is pretty accurate.  Hope I win.

bak bak

And on the last, she rested

Sunday.  What can I say.  My day of rest.  Made garden pea salad and potato salad for church.  We had a new (for me) preacher named May.  Picture someone who looks like Dolly Parton and talks like Paula Dean.  She was really great!  We didn't have our piano player so we sang all of our hymns aaaakkk apella. None of us can carry a tune in a bucket, but we managed.  Thank goodness all the hymns were ones we knew.

We had a good dinner afterward.  Lots of fresh stuff from everyone's gardens.

I got my first zuchini squash today.  Not a borer in sight.  The toilet paper rolls did the trick.

I stirred the wine primary once in the morning, once in the afternoon.

I stirred the compost tea once in the morning and once in the afternoon.

I watered my crepe myrtle real good.  I had forgotten about it and it was so sad and droopy, but I think I didn't kill it.

I also went to get cuttings from the verigated bay tree.  I don't know if any will take, but at least I'm trying

bays bays

I irrigated a bit and did walkies.  It was so hot that nothing was out to take a picture of, not even any bug art.  

I have been falling off on walkies lately so am determined to get back in the routine.

that's really all for today.

bless our hearts.

bak bak

Rain Rain

Rain Rain

Don't go away

We need you so

Oh rain, please stay

I did stuff today.  I went to Etown to get more straw, milk and sugar, fly ribbon, money at the bank and stuff to hang my stained glass a la Nathan.

It's so unbalanced.  I need another one

Nathan, I need a magnolia blossom on the other side.   PLEEEEEEZE.

When I got home, I strained some of my compost tea to put in my inline irrigation system for the toms in the back garden.  I also put some on the volunteer toms in the front garden.  We'll see how it works.

Then I set up my poor man's temperature control for my blueberry wine batch.

the goal is 72 degrees constant.

I added the yeast when the temp read 71 degrees.  We'll see how long I can maintain a relatively stable temperature.  I may run out of ice.

We started walkies at 1 but had to turn back when it started thundering.  I did get far enough to get a shot of the verigated bay tree I found.

just a touch

in three trees

There were three trees in a bunch and the verigation was just spotty in the trees.  Have you seen it naturally in bay trees, Daughter Daughter?

We got home just in time for the rain.  We ended up with 1/4 inch.

While it rained, I made a garden pea salad for church tomorrow then one of the aunties stopped by.  We visited for a couple hours, drank wine, ate cheese and veggies and had a good ole time.

That brings me up to now.  I need to shut the cockers up and the day is done.

bak bak

Huckleberry Heaven

Well.

Today, I have news.

When I went out at 6 am to let the cockers out, it was 64 degrees.  LOVE it.  When I let the baybays out, they lost no time in exiting their pen for the great beyond.  Very brave at less than 5 weeks.

After a quick breakfast, I had to get to the garden as it was so cool.   I turned on the irrigation, since there is no rain in the forecast.  Very disappointing as Raleigh is getting hammered and we have nothing.

BUT.

Hurricane season is days away.  Be careful what you wish for.

Anyway, I pulled up a lot of lettuce that had gone bitter (directly onto the compost pile, except some to the cockers), and some grass around the collards.  Where I pulled lettuce, I planted some volunteer tomatoes.  Then I ran two surface irrigation lines to the last two rows of corn as it looked like it wasn't getting enough water.  I had to search for my punch and my hammer as the tool devils sneak in and move things on a regular basis.  After this, I went to the back garden and pinched suckers from the tomatoes.  Some looked good, but my heirloom brandywines looked BAD.  I think this is the last time I try these.   They just don't like this soil.  My melons looked great.

After that, I gave a quick stir to my compost tea.  I think it is ready tomorrow and I will place on plants as far as I can.

Not oolong, but ooh boy

Then Jim came home with a BUNCH of garden peas from our organic farmer.  He had brought them home for market cause they all didn't sell.  Gmar and I spent 3 1/2 hours each shelling same.  I LOVE shelling peas and beans.  I could do it for hours (obviously).  We froze what we shelled for yummy dishes this winter.

Just as I shelled the last pea, Jim walked in with a 50 gallon cooler two thirds full of cull blueberries from our neighbor's blueberry pack house.

OMG, gotta LOVE the country.

This is 240 pints, just for scale.  I took 20 pounds off the top for my first batch of wine for the year.  The rest we bagged and froze.  And the season has just begun.  I cannot express to you how GREAT rural life is.  So.  Processing this bounty took me the rest of the evening.

Chickens up, baybays up, dogs up.

Time for porch, wine and fireflies.

Bak Bak

Speechless

I've literally have nothing even remotely unique to say.  Played bridge in Wilmington with Mom's old group today.  And that is it.  Did do small walkies but not even any bug art.

Last night was the first time the baybays spent with out MB2 and they did fine once I herded them into their brooder house.  It was like herding cats.  The same tonight.  By the time I got them in, the fireflies had started.  Yes, we do have fire flies here.

I will try to have a more interesting day tomorrow with pics.

bak (yawn) bak

afternoon adendum

Not much to add.  It was 105 in the sun today.  No rain.  Much irrigation.

I finished the front garden, except for the collards and peas, today.  But since I am pulling up the collards soon to freeze and the peas are all but dead, I will weed the rows when I transplant the tomatoes that have come up, volunteer, in my cold frame.

I think I need to add above ground irrigation to my last two rows of corn.  The water doesn't seem to be getting to them and they look very dry.

I also set up a compost tea bucket today, the steeped kind, that you don't have to do anything to but stir.  I hope it works.

My cockers are very hot and the baybays are foraging on their own now.  Still worried about hawks.

Played bridge as usual and shopped as usual.  That's all for today.

bak bak

90+

Well, we have had our first over 90 degree day for this year.  Hot and no rain in sight.  Sound like Texas?

OK not quite this bad...

I spent the morning making blueberry/pepper jam.  By popular demand, pepper was the spice of choice.  Not really hot but flavorful.  I had enough for 5 1/2 pints and only used 1/2 of my berries.  I used New Mexico Peppers which are medium hot and some allspice.  The jam turned out really good.  You can taste the peppers but not the hot.  Good for around here where too much hot spice is not for everyone.

Jam on paper

side view

This was the point that I lost my blog, so I'm having trouble remembering what I did.  Oh, I finished all but the fence side of the cukes as far as weeding and papering and strawing.

almost done...

It was so hot that I had to keep running in and out of doors.  I guess I've been away from Texas so long that I can't stand the heat as I used to.

The last thing is that I received my birthday present from one of my friends in Texas who is now doing stained glass.  He is a true artist at it and I'm having trouble deciding where to hang it.

so real you can almost smell the gardenia...

bak bak

 

Dirt Face

Not so much to say today either.  I lost 2/3 of my day in Wilmington having an eye appointment and picking up some straw, pyrethrin, nested bowls, sturdy wine glasses, diatomatious earth, fanny pack and a small first aid kit.

When I got back, I spent the rest of the day in the garden.  I turned the water on and weeded, papered and strawed the pole beans and one side of the wax beans.  I also applied some pyrethrin to try to get rid of the beetles on the amaranth and wax beans.  my poor wax beans are about eaten up and I didn't notice cause they were buried in grass.  I think one more day of weeding and the big garden will be done.  Then on to the back garden.  Groan.  When I got inside, my face was pretty black with dirt from the weeds.

well, that's what it felt like...

The baybays seem to be taking to the outside world but they still stick close to mom.  She is starting to peck at them when they get in her way so I think that she will soon leave them on their own.  The nights have been warm since saturday, so I am not too worried.  I am still a little worried about critters, snakes and hawks, but que sera sera.

I had no time for pictures today and no time for walkies and no time to make blueberry jam.  My neighbor lady brought me a partial flat yesterday they had left over from market.  There are 7 pints.  We are about out of jam, so tomorrow, when it gets hot, I will make some.  I am trying to decide what to flavor it with.  I like to play around with adding spice to my jam.  Any suggestions?

That's all for today.

bak bak

No News

Didn't do much today.  I made a blueberry cobbler, cold cucumber soup and ginger collards for church.

You can tell that people's gardens are starting to come in.  There were two garden pea dishes, some snow peas and three blueberry dishes, including fresh blueberries straight off the vine.  I think I ate most of these.  I am a glutton when it comes to fresh grown fruit.

After church, the green team met for our lesson about God's reconciliation of the cosmos to His original plan, i.e. all creation living in harmony.  Sigh, we have such a long way to go, but every little thing helps.  Grow your own or buy local.  Set up a rain barrel system for collecting water when it does rain.  Use cloth grocery bags instead of plastic.  Simple things.

After that, I came home and did a lot of nothing.  I sat with the cockers and the baybays for a while.  I have decided to let the baybays out of the fence with their momma since they are crawling under the fence anyway.

foraging in the wild

Also got bath time with JW in the picture.

communal bathing

And a shot of a dragon fly.  We have so many, I hope to get a collection of pictures of all of them.

yeah, I got racing stripes...

Lastly, a picture of bag nest number 2.  There are three eggs so far.

second time around.

Oops, not the last.  I am including a picture of the fly paper.  It works after all...

RIP  Rest In Paper

bak bak

Another False Alarm

Well, I'm still here.  No end of the world, unless this IS the end of the world and has been for a while and we are all living in armegeddon and don't know it.

OOOH, way too metaphysical.

Sorry the blog is late today, but my hand is still hurting from JW's latest attack.  I was just trying to fill the water tray and he came up and hit me with his legs and wings.  I thought for a while he may have broken one of my bones it hurt so bad.  First tears to him.

I threw water on him.

It just rolled right off.

It's all so unfair.
 
Today was mainly a garden day.  I weeded, papered and hayed another two rows.  I need more straw.

Hay, Soy Beans

Hay, Corn

Corn is as high as a Labrador's eye

I still have to tackle the weeds in the collards and the pole beans and cucumbers.

I got a shot of a butterfly in the roses.

action shot

Also, one of what came out of the cocoon.  The focus is not good and before I could get another shot, it flew away so I don't know what it was like with open wings.  It was about 8 pm when I got the picture and the light was bad.

It's alive!!!

I put some collards on the stove for church tomorrow.  I'm trying a new recipe called ginger collards.  

Made with ginger.

And collards.

Am also thawing out some blueberries for some kind of dessert.

Am also thawing out some cucumber soup from last year as tomorrow promises to be warm, like today.

I will leave you with a shot of MB2 and baybays.

afternoon siesta

bak bak

How Do You Know It's Friday When You Don't Get the Paycheck?

TGIF.  It's a thing of the past for me.  Every day is a work day, except Sunday, when I know I'm due somewhere..

Well, OK, our church is not St. Peters, but still...

the same Son shines on us.

So, forth I went to E-town to reduce my todo list.  No that's not right, my toget list.  I got 10 more tomato cages (40 so far), a vinyl table cloth to line the back of Mom's car (the other one pissadeared), some fly paper (more later), a steamer basket, some picture stands, 6 green flower pots (more later), and two blue mop buckets (more later).

When I got to the checkout lane, the girl who rang me up told me that I had the most oddly assorted items she had seen in quite a while, but not in those words.  More like "honey, this stuff AIN'T gonta go together.  What er you doon?"

I then stopped at the feed store and got two bales of hay, a wash tub (more later) and a bag of scratch.  But before they put the hay in, I put the above purchased table cloth down to keep hay from getting all over.  It worked, kinda.

On the way home, I stopped at my neighbor lady's yard sale.  We mostly yaked since her sister was visiting from Florida.  She had some stuff I needed three weeks ago, but had since bought, but I did purchase a 12 cup Hamilton Beech brew station for 10 bucks since our small coffee maker quit working yesterday.

After I got home, I put out three of the four fly paper rolls.

Yes they still make fly paper...

And it still doesn't work.  The flies were landing everywhere but on the paper.  Every once in a while, one would fly into it by accident.  Will we never learn that flies are smarter than we are?

I put Mom's birthday plates from Sister Sister on the mantle using the stands that I bought.  I put the steamer basket in the kitchen gadgets drawer since I didn't have one (the steamer, not the drawer; sorry, bad english).  

Then I put one of the blue buckets by the garden for a gathering bucket.  All my other ones seem to have been appropriated for other purposes.  I filled the other one with water and, along with the green flower pots, walked out to my peach trees.  I have it on good authority (my local organic farmer) that if put water inside a green bucket (in my case, flower pot) and place them near my peach trees, it will draw the japanese beetles away from the peaches.  Hey, I'll try anything.  But if I find out that he is messing with me, I'm going to hard boil the next dozen eggs that he gets from me.

The hay goes in the garden, the scratch goes into the chickens and the wash tub is for a low cost experiment that I read about online to keep my wine cool as it is fermenting.  I hope to start a batch of strawberry wine as soon as the organic farmer finishes with his field.  Hmm, maybe I should hold off on the boiled egg thing.

I cleaned the coffee pot with coffee pot cleaner and it seemed to work well.

Then time for walkies

This year's wild muscadines should be a good harvest

Just another moth

Muskett in noo bamboo

a yellar flower

Field of ferns

bug art.  you decide.

gotta eat my greens

Shut the chickens up and the evening is mine.  ZZZZZZZZZZ

bak bak

Is It English?

Verily, I arose this morn with the rising of our wonderous celestial orb of fire.

Descending the stairs, I made my way to yon house of fair fowl.  Releasing the flock to the day's toil, I retreated to the sanctuary of the privy, to make my toilette.

After breaking my fast with bread made of the finest wheaten flour and with coffee from the orient, I girded myself to do battle with the villeinous, thrice cursed weeds which falsely inhabit my garden of cullenary delights.  I then bedded the virtuous plants with cloth of black and copious hay.

Feeling the hunger one receives from doing the task of the just, I repasted upon white grain and black beans and fermented wheat and hops.

As the celestial orb had passed the midday, I initiated the innundation of the roots of my fair crop.  When to mine ears came the cackle of one of my fair fowl.  Hastening to the spot forthwith, I beheld my little mother's production of her first obligate sphere since the entrance of her brood into the world.

Replete with joy, I attempted my next undertaking with much trepidation.  The four legged beasts residing in my dwelling, offended the nostrils of God.  It was thus incumbent upon me to rectify this unseemly state.

And I made it so.

As a reward for stalwart attention to commands, these sweet-smelling beasts were led on an expedition into the wilds of the hinterland.

Images were collected upon the journey

What is it, Sister Sister?

This dragonfly flutters like a butterfly when it flies

just a moth

Alas, a dead beetle.  John or George?

either a butterfly or pince-nez

an unripe razzberry

what is it Daughter Daughter?

The constitutional was finished anon and I retired from my labors of the day.

bak bak