Adapting . . . .

So, we had to move our daughter's shed (8' x 10'), after just building it. The real estate person who manages the house does not seem to communicate well or says whatever sounds good at the time without the owner's knowledge.  Anyway, the building had to be moved from one side of the house to the other side.  E rented a big piece of equipment with four foot tines to slide under the building.  Now that was another fiasco of communication of telling the 6 - 8 feet NOT 4 feet. We positioned 2x4's over the tines to extend their reach, they helped a little.  What is it with the world out there that cannot listen and customer service taking a continuous dive lower and lower!  After deciding it was not possible because the tines did not reach with a true 4 feet; they needed to be under the middle railroad tie . . .  yes. we tried again.  E and I stood on the floor of the building (the edge) the keep it from rocking back off the tines while my husband drove it around to it's new lacation.   How I wish we had an extra someone to take a video and pictures of how not to do it!  We were desparate though and it worked AND the shed did not fall apart.  Yeah for us!

NW Tea Festival

I went to the Tea festival with my daughter and son's girlfriend in downtown Seattle today.  Oh my, some excellent teas were tasted.  I bought a Genmai Cha tea with toasted brown rice and matcha.  Not only did it taste good but seemed like a warm and cozy drink, I'm looking forward to winter morning tea and a book. Mostly we visited vendors booths and tried may types of tea and looked at products.  I saw some beautiful crockery bowls for sipping tea but couln't justify buying any. We also listened to a lecture on medicinal herbs which was very good, I believe in herbs and have used them already in a small way.  I know some are questionable but if care is taken they can be safe, quite frankly most of the drugs out there on the market are very dangerous (in my opinion).  We participated in a small tea ceremony and talk about green, oolong and white tea, OMG they were so good! Oolong was very floral and the second brew of it was even more full bodied. The white was the best, so delicate.  I've made white before and thought it was bad, I'm sure it was an inferior, cheap wanna be.  My grandaughter went too, she is 6 yrs.  She didn't fuss or say I'm bored and had her own tasting cup and tried a lot of tea.  Most she didn't like but a few were approved of.  She was a pleasure to have along, such a little lady! We had a very nice day out.

Ladies, I had a great day out! Thank you.

Our summer bounty, Blackberries!

We went to our daughter's house to make jam.  After collecting and freezing large quantities of blackberries, we picked today to use up her stockpile.  I prepared juice last night to take to make a batch of jelly for our pantry.  So we made 6 batches:  jelly, 1 low surgar jam and 4 regular jams.  It was quite a marathon of canning.  E also canned up 4 pints of tomato sauce and baked 2 pumpkins to puree and freeze.  Definitely good stuff, the grandkids got to lick a spoon and they approved.  I must make a batch of jam in the morning and use the solids from the jelly drip, I'll sieve it because seedless jam is my preference.  We are very tired but satisfied and I am grateful for my husbands help, he watched the 2 grandkids (ages 3 and 6). We would never have been able to work for HOURS with them underfoot.  Thank you hunny.

Blackberries . . . .

I have been out picking blackberries, again.  14 cups!  They have all been going into the freezer till I can get to them, plus hopefully to juice up better.  My family has not been too cooperative these couple year, my rule has always been:  you pick, I make it.  The blackberries and so big and beautiful and juicy this year with a lack of sun and rain, go figure.  Anyway, my goal is a batch each of jam, jelly and syrup (to die for on vanilla ice cream).  Yes, they have been out there BUT NOT enough!  And with hundreds of pounds of berries, hmmm . . . . wasteful!  One year when my kids were little I made  80 jars of good stuff with plums, apples, pears and blackberries.  And yes, the whole family was involved.  Not too sustainable of us, either.

One of the Best Dinners!

My husband and son went grouse hunting last week.  My son bagged 5 grouse.  Last night he made dinner with a few hints here and there.  He found a recipe on line for the breast with orange wrapped in bacon (they didn't have the cooking time right . . . 20 min., I told him 45 to 60 min).  Served with wild and rice mix. OMG!  so good!  The meat was enhanced perfectly and not overpowered by the bacon.  He did a good job even though dinner was 2 hours late, it was worth it.  I made a blackberry pie for dinner which was a perfect end with wild game.  I like to add 2 extra cups of berries to my pies with the sugar not changed.  I think the fruit flavors come thru better and it's not so cloyingly sweet.  Our daughter came for dinner with the girls and his girl friend.  It was a great evening!

Summer Weather Update

I looked up the August weather for our area: half a degree below normal and only 10 sunny days.  Strange!  Because I have yet to go to bed, tossing and turning from the hot summer days, in fact the comforter is still on my bed.  I know we have way more sunny days than ten!  Summer gardens have already been in fall mode and yet produced very little. Half corn crops around here are not in tassel which means the roadside stands will not have a good profit. Another reason for worsening economy . . .  weather!

I will be starting on my preparedness plans.  Food, first aid, flashlights will be this month. Creating space will also be a challenge but not impossible.

Soil Health

I have been reading a lot about old/ancient methods of amending the soil. Two that interest me the most right now involve wood: Mycelium and Biochar. This brings in the micro-organiasm's needed to support healthy soil over the long term. I found a site that keeps it simple and to the point.
Greensparrow Gardens: Should we be adding charcoal to our soil?