Summertime, and the Livin' is Easy

Jeff's garden

The garden is producing lovely veggies at a very nice pace.  We have had just enough zucchini  for a few suppers and then to make my zucchini relish. I am grateful that we are not being overwhelmed with them.  I also made zucchini brownies which are always yummy.  Put up many green beans for the freezer.  I have a bowl of beets he pulled that I am trying to decide what to do with.  I may try pickling them.  I've never made pickled beets!  It would be an experiment.   We have moved on from raspberries to blueberries.  Yesterday I made my molasses and blueberry cake--a yummy recipe I got from a fellow spinner probably 15 years ago.  Mostly the blueberries get frozen for winter consumption. The lettuce is all done, so Jeff planted some more for the fall.  He put them where the two remaining eggplants were struggling.  I have no idea why they were so pathetic, but they were never growing and it was evident that they would never fruit.  So, goodbye to them and hello to lettuce.

Ladies who want breakfast in bed

In my little chicken world I had a funny thing happen this morning.  Jeff came in to say that two of the hens were still on the roost.  Everyone else had left at least three quarters of an hour before that.  Concerned, as there had been an episode of pre-dawn egg drop this morning, I went out to investigate.  Sure enough, two were sitting on the roost.  They didn't look ailing, so I held up a handful of grain to see if they would eat.  The ladies sidled over to each other and began to nibble out of my hand.  I held up another handful which they gobble right down.  By the third handful I began to see that, really,  what they  wanted was to have breakfast in bed!!! Well, I told them that they had to get up as it was a beautiful morning.
They did, but not until I heard Lil'Roxie giving someone an earful.  I don't think she was happy about something.  I found her ten minutes later in a nest box, looking grumpy.  Yes, chickens can look grumpy.  Hopefully she will lay me an egg and get on with the day.
Besides, I have a lot of spinning I want to do today. Don't want to be fussing with lazy chickens.  I'll bring the wheel outside to keep them company.  That will be fun!

Good Food

Jeff's garden

Ripening raspberries

Jeff's vegetable garden is looking mighty fine!  We got a tad nervous when we saw a deer hoof print at the end of the driveway when we went for our walk this morning, but the garden was untouched.  This time.  Everything is growing like mad after the last bit of rain we had.  This weekend promises heat so I think that I will be overwhelmed with good eating for a bit.  I have to buy some more jam jars as raspberry jam is always a must for us, and I seemed to have used up the last of them with the strawberry rhubarb batch.  The blueberries are mostly eaten fresh and in baking--the rest get frozen for future use.  There is no better time of year than when the berries start ripening as I love to have them fresh in a bowl to throw on my cereal every morning.  And eat right off the bush as I go by....

Early blueberries

I am looking forward to tomorrow.  It is the annual Book Sale at the Poultney Public Library.   This is our once a year fundraiser, and it is huge.  The general price per paperback is $.10 and hardcovers are $.25.  These books are from our weeded collection and, mostly, from donations.  We never know what we will have.  The special price books are ones that are recent editions, or valuable in other ways, but even the special price is only a couple bucks or so.  Of course, as a helper, the perk is knowing if there are any knitting or weaving books to be had.....not to mention favorite authors!

This, I like

June 2, 2011

The weather turned over the course of the night and now it is a most bearable sort of warm.  The humidity dropped, there is a nice breeze, and the temperature is in the 70's, not 80's.  I love this sort of day--Thanks, God!

Jen's rescue rose

The garden is just bursting with color right now.  It really is my best time of year for it.  If I was a conscientious sort of gardener, the place would be spectacular.  As it is, I am a haphazard sort who gardens in fits and starts.  What has worked to my advantage is that I know this, and when I plant I try to pick things that will work well with neglect.  Delphiniums do not work well with neglect, nor Russian sage.  Two plants I have tried to grow many times, but it just doesn't happen.  Roses, now, roses I can do for some reason.  Once Annie and Jesse brought me home 5 bushes they had picked up at the end of the season for ten bucks, and I still have 2 of them left.  And one time my niece Jennifer gave me a poor black spotted rose bush that was being thrown out from the nursery she was working at (so she rescued it), and until this last winter it has been spectacular.  This spring it had a lot of die back, but it looks better now.

A nice gift for someone

In preparation for the weekend Town Wide Yard Sale,  I worked all day yesterday on getting my things uniformly labeled and priced.  Also got my inventory list finished.  I really don't expect to sell anything as the Yard Sale mentality is for bargains, but exposure is a good thing.  One never knows who might be looking for a gift for someone.  

Shawl

Small balls of yarn

I've been wanting to knit a shawl using a pattern that I was introduced to a while back.  The fun part about this pattern is that I knit it using yarns that I wind into balls, using fun, kitchy sorts of yarn.  This one started with my hand painted alpaca.  I wind them into small balls so that I can switch from one to another in a short span of knitting.  It makes such a fun piece of knitting.   The unifying bit about it is my yarn running through the whole shawl. 

Sample of the three runs

First day of spring brought snow and freezing rain.  Jeff boiled again last night.  He is up to five quarts.  Yum.  It sounds like it may be good sugar weather the rest of the week.  At least he can quit any time he wants now, as we will have enough to eat and give away.  Mostly give away, as the grand girls love it.
Still spinning the Cotswold.  I've been distracted, so must get back on task.   Then I still have the dyed batts to do!  I'd better get cracking.  At least some of the seeds have sprouted. I now have tomatoes, broccoli and some onions up, plus zinnia.  I am anxious for the celery, as the celery we were given last year was wonderful. So, I am hopeful.