EARLY AUTUMN YARD REPORT

Mike and I came to the farm Monday morning, bringing enough supplies for a night or two. It’s just a quick trip to take care of some fall clean-up. Fall colors have begun to appear, and the trip up the Clearwater was beautiful. In fact, Monday was a beautiful day here with a high in the mid-70s and a pleasant 72 in the house. It's just a few degrees cooler today.

No mice in traps but obvious rodent activity in the yard. 

We stayed in town several weeks, and I was worried about the produce ripening here at the farm. However, for the little we actually get, I told myself that it just didn’t matter, so I was elated to see that apples still hung on the three young trees in our little orchard / meadow behind the house. I picked as follows:

·      7 Empire (the tree closest to the house) – no worms (Yay!)

·      5 Freedom – quite wormy

·      Honey Crisp – 3 beautiful medium-sized apples; 4 small; half a dozen culls; and a bunch that succumbed to the worms.

It seems that the dormant spray has helped, so we’ll keep that up. Each tree is protected by fencing, or the deer would have eaten the apples by now – maybe even the trees! In fact, the country trees are barren of fruit now. Existing apples have disappeared, but some trees did not set fruit this year. I used most of the apples I picked to make a pint of applesauce.

It hasn’t frozen here yet. The zucchini plant still looked good but had only one very overgrown squash and a couple that were misshapen. The tomato vine was dying, but I picked plenty of red and green tomatoes. The strawberries didn’t do a thing this year, so while we were pulling out the zucchini and tomato plants, we ripped out the strawberries, too. Then Mike spread manure over the beds and tilled them. I don’t think we’ve ever done such a good job of putting the garden to bed.

We also put away the solar lights and ornaments. I love solar lights. Mike said the orchard looked like a carnival this year.

Son Murray, who gardens in town, reported that his tomato plant set on late in the season. He had his first BLT just last week. He called it “August in October.” And we discussed what we could do with the green tomatoes. I believe I have enough to make green tomato mincemeat.

In other kitchen work here, I used some frozen serviceberry and apple juice to make a batch of jelly. It took a long time for it to cook (I think the burners need adjustment) and turned out syrupy but delicious.

I believe a change in the weather is imminent, but I can’t tell you how many times I have washed and put away my lighter-weight clothes – especially nightwear – only to dig them out again.

Speaking of temperatures, I’m listening to The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown in which he mentions a record high in my hometown of Orofino, Idaho, on July 28,1934 – 118 degrees. It was 117 in Lewiston and Lapwai. I verified this online, where it also said this temp is still the highest recorded in Idaho. KW

EARLY AUTUMN MUSINGS

 

Purple Ash

The forecast is for several days of highs in the 80s. Typical of autumn in the Pacific Inland Northwest, mornings and evenings are cool. It takes longer to reach the day’s high temp, and it doesn’t last as long. To some extent, it depends on what you’re doing. At 9:30 this morning, Mike and Bess returned from hunting, complaining that it was hot on that hillside while I’m wearing my hoodie over a long-sleeved shirt.

Moving on to today’s musings, say what you will about Amazon, it’s nice to be able to order something you want / need and see it in the mailbox or on the doorstep in two days.

While Mike was gone over the weekend of Sept. 27, I happened to come across a pattern I’d saved for a Halloween spiderweb project in crochet. Inspired, I found the yarn on sale at a famous online retail outlet and ordered it. Meanwhile, I continued to work on the current crochet project, a “scrap” afghan in the wattle stitch, in order to make as much progress as possible before I put it away. I do like to work on seasonal projects when it’s the season, and a seasonal project trumps the non-seasonal.

After five days or so, I started watching for the ordered yarn, anticipating that it could be delivered at any time. However, a week to the day after submitting the order, I received notice that it had just shipped. And now, through the magic of the internet, I see that it isn’t due here until this coming Friday, two weeks after I placed the order. It’s now traveling slowly from Michigan to Washington state, currently in Illinois.

So, I’m just sayin’ – two-day delivery is wonderful. It just doesn’t always happen. And I’m spoiled.

Oh! And as I moved through Albertson’s yesterday, I came upon fruitcake fixings and grabbed the classic mix of candied fruit. I usually order it from Amazon because I can't find it locally. “Good for you,” exclaimed the cashier. “You have to buy this early. Wait until later in the season, and it will be gone.” How well I know! (Frankly, I just thought they never stocked it.) KW

PERSONAL EFFECTS

“You are welcome to use anything that is mine,” said son Milo when I told him Mike had hung his cool wall clock in the den at the farmhouse and I had taken over his wonderful lap board. I promised we would return them when he was ready, but now he won’t ever be back.

So, today was the day that we sorted through Milo’s stuff. We agreed that we needed to get it done while the weather is decent. It was a family effort. Sons Murray and Clint arrived at the town house at 8:00 this morning. Clint set up some folding tables in the garage, and we commenced to go through storage bins, boxes, and bags, loading items for donation into Clint’s pick-up.

“I could use this,” one of us would say from time to time, and that was nice. No one wanted what someone else could use, and that was nice, too.

It was a lovely morning. We worked steadily and were finished by noon. Well, I say we were finished, but Clint would still have to sort through the stuff in the bed of his pick-up, keeping some things and taking others to the thrift store.

After lunch, Murray and Clint left, and Mike and I worked along at clean-up until about 1:30 when a dust storm commenced. I was so glad we had finished. KW

[There is no pictorial record of this event. I didn't want one.]

WELCOME OCTOBER!

What happened to September?

Maybe autumn is here after all. Gradually both the high and low temps are lower, though still up and down. The last couple of nights, my winter PJs and one blanket haven’t been quite enough, so I topped our bed with my Halloween quilt.

“This is a decorative quilt. It shouldn’t be used,” said son Milo a couple of years ago. I meant for it to be used, though. I think quilts should be used. But – whatever Milo said, I will think of it now. He was not without observations and perceptions.

Mike is home now from his excellent motorcycle adventure. The only thing he lost on this trip was his hot water bottle, which he left behind at a motel. I found a replacement on Amazon at half price – $8.00. No point in worrying about the one he left behind. It’s cheaper to replace it.

And now onto the autumnal fun. Well, except for those pesky October gnats which are already making an appearance. They breed on ash trees, and unfortunately, we have one.

Through the magic of the internet, Mike, Hallie, and I attended court in Ada County this morning. I just can’t keep saying “Milo’s murderer,” so I’ll call him by his name – “James.” James pled “not guilty,” and I guess we think that’s a ploy – a bargaining chip, as it were. The trial was set for February 2025, with a projected duration of two weeks. To me, a lay person, this seems ridiculous, but the clerk was ordered to set dates and times and no one laughed or so much as cracked a knowing smile. Clearly, a protocol must be followed, and I consider myself a reasonably patient person, but I would not be cut out for this work.

Oh well. A lot can happen between now and February. KW

YET ANOTHER SHORT STAYCATION

Yes, all right. I got it wrong. My prediction that autumn had arrived with cooler temps and no more heat-related alerts was totally wrong. In the Valley, afternoon temps this past week soared into the high 80s or even the 90s. I had to get my summer pajamas and shorts back out and leave the blanket folded at the foot of the bed. And this weekend, the weather service alerted us to the fire danger. But I really do think that it will be cooler this next week. We’ll see.

Bess and I are together again while Mike is off on another adventure. Bess mopes, and I don’t say I like it, but I make use of the “alone” time to spread my projects out all over the house. I will have to clear away the clutter before Mike gets home so that he has a place to sit.

I have had two Daisy Kingdom Christmas border prints in my stash for 25 years. I bought them to make dresses for granddaughter Annie, who is now 28. I really wanted to make those dresses, too, but when it came right down to it, I realized I couldn’t overcome the difficulties. My sewing time was limited, and Annie lived a thousand miles away. Still, I love that fabric, and when we downsized 20 years ago, I retained it.

fussy cuts -- apron bib and pockets

So, yesterday I cut a bibbed apron with a full skirt out of that fabric. I did some fussy cutting (cutting specific designs from the fabric as decorative elements for the apron), which isn’t optimum use of the fabric, but I figure its value has depreciated anyway. Even so, I think I have enough fabric left over to make another apron. And that’s just from the first fabric.

And I crocheted on the latest scrap afghan, did some reading, went to Walmart, had phone conversations with family members, etc., etc., etc. Tomorrow: clear the clutter and fix a nutritious supper complete with an apple / pear / blueberry pie. KW 

HAPPY FALL

Get out your flannel PJs. Turn on the electric blanket. Fall is here and with it the autumnal temps – cool mornings and warm afternoons. Gone are the excessive heat and smoke warnings, and now we have a respite before we’re alerted to freezes and excessive cold.

Just another week and October will be here and we will segue into Halloween, then Thanksgiving and on to Christmas and New Years. For me, it will have its downside as we work through our first year without Milo, but we will weather through. We always do. We must!

The garden here at the farm is still “viable,” to use Mike’s word. I picked 17 tomatoes and 8 zucchini following a week’s absence and two more zucchini today. Some of the zucchini went into the compost bin. I don’t know how much grated zucchini I need to store in the freezer. On the other hand, perhaps there won’t be so many game birds this year and the zucchini will keep us from starving. (LOL)

Times are changing. It’s just inevitable. Sadly, Mike’s hunting partner had to have his dog put down. Besides losing his pet, this is a dilemma because he wants to keep hunting, but his own age is a factor. He’s been searching for a settled, trained older dog with a few good hunting years. It’s a nice idea, but no such dog has stepped forward to serve.

At 11, Bess is still an active, happy hunter, but Mike says when she gives it up, he will, too, and adds, “If not sooner.” If he had successful hunts, it would make a difference, but good places to hunt are scarce and growing scarcer, along with the game birds.

Here at the farm, we see quail, doves, Hungarian partridge, pigeons, chukars, and the occasional pheasant – just not in profusion. And as I always say, they aren’t stupid. They hear a few shots, and they are gone. At least, that’s the way it seems. It’s probably just the time of year.

While Mike was hunting on Saturday, he came upon better elderberries than he found last week, so he picked another six cups or so and I made more juice. Sunday I made jelly – four batches: black hawthorn berry; elderberry; a wild berry mix of haw, elder, and serviceberry; and elderberry / apple. I have 18 jelly jars in all plus partials for immediate consumption. And I’m tired, but I kept at it because once I had organized all the paraphernalia, I just wanted to keep going and get finished. KW

PROJECT MUSINGS

Cheerful sunflowers on the bank

“Start searching for a new project today,” messaged one of my favorite project retailers. That’s one thing I don’t need to do. We’re in town this week, so it’s an opportunity to clean and reorganize my sewing room, an activity that always brings me face to face with my many ideas and works in progress. (Do I sound like a broken record?) Well, it can be discouraging, but I’ve concluded that at this point in my life, it’s the process that matters, not the finish. Maybe I want to see how a pattern lays out, or on a given day, maybe I just want to cut into fabric. But if the project doesn’t continue to inspire, I give myself permission to let it go.

Last year I made a scrap afghan – gray with colored stripes in the wattle stitch. The bright colors pop against the gray, and a family member admired it several times, so I’m making one for him. (Shhhh – It’s a surprise.) It’s repetitive work, perhaps even boring, but I love it because I can just pick it up anytime and add a row or two. It’s such a relief not to have to read a pattern.

Through the magic of video, we attended court in Ada County today for the arraignment of Milo’s cellmate. Hallie went in person. As I predicted, he did not enter a plea. This will be a slow process, and it doesn’t matter. Life goes on. 

Mopey Bess

Autumn is upon us, and now it’s really time to get with the plan for sure. The cooler temps are invigorating. I note that Bess is energized, and so am I. Speaking of Bess, she refused to lick my cereal bowl this morning. “What’s wrong, Bess,” I inquired. “She’s moping because she isn’t going hunting today,” responded Mike on her behalf. Oh yeah – I forgot that she mopes. KW