STAYCATION DAYS 5-6 (HOT AND HAZY)

Tuesday afternoon smoke rose from a nearby controlled stubble fire. That’s just one reason the sky stays hazy. The other is local and regional wildfires.

The black hawthorn jelly I made Tuesday tastes fine but crystallized. I guess a lot of things can go wrong in the jelly-making process, but I believe I should have heated the juice to boiling before adding the sugar and then then cooked it more rapidly. The addition of lemon juice might also have helped. It was an experiment, and I’ll try again.  Sometimes we understand the process better as a result of failure.

As we walked Wednesday morning, I could hear what sounded like a logging truck coming closer and closer. Nellie wondered about it, too. Finally we could see the dust coming our way, and then they turned onto our road – two white pick-ups and a big, loud sprayer.

As they approached, they slowed to allow me to control the dogs. The beauty of walking the dogs here is that I don’t have to worry about “traffic,” but it was clear that we were the ones who would have to give place. I stepped into the field with Nellie obediently at my side, but Bess was curious and it took a second or two to get her attention.They sprayed the CRP ground at Plank's place and also on June's.

 

When I’m on staycation while others are vacationing, I don’t much think I should have to work, but on the other hand, there are always things to be done – like the dishes and the garden duties. I’ve kept up pretty well with the activities of daily living, but the last several days I’ve worked from a list in order to accomplish a few goals – like cleaning off the bed in the sewing room.

And so Wednesday – a day that quickly became hot – found me ironing my mother’s vintage tablecloths used at our picnic last summer. I had washed them and then left them on the bed in the sewing room to be ironed at a time when it wasn’t hot. But when the weather cooled, we didn’t spend much time at the farm. So here I was -- a whole year later, ironing on a hot day. I finished clearing the bed, too, because it must double as work space and storage, which means it will be cluttered again soon.

It was still 80 at 9:30 last night. The dogs didn’t want to go to bed and I couldn’t blame them. I found it hard to sleep myself. I decided it was time to return to town. KW

[Nellie and Bess both love apples. If you're a dog, once you bite your apple and pieces drop to the ground, you are duty-bound to share it. The other pictures are of Bess. She does point but doesn't hold very long. I'm sure they are going to enjoy working her in the field beginning next month.] 

STAYCATION DAYS 4-5 (SUDDENLY QUIET)

Yesterday’s unofficial high was 92. Beautiful cloud formations developed in the afternoon and evening but brought us no moisture. The lightning play to the north last night was rather spectacular. My day began at 6:30 today and the temp was 64.

It seems to me we played host to many birds this season. In fact, one pair of tiny sparrow-like birds took up residence in the soffit at the end of the kitchen porch where the hole made by the flicker allowed them egress. (Note to Mike: Patch that hole.) They were a friendly couple, one or the other often sitting on the fencing to visit with me as I watered the raspberries. Their young were extremely gregarious and demanding, chirping and chittering from morning until night. Sometimes I felt as though I could scarcely hear myself think. And other noisy bird families lived here, too.

It all changed yesterday. Apparently it was time for the chicks to say their farewells and head off in their separate directions. It seems like everyone left at once.

And now – it’s so quiet. Only a few hummingbirds still visit the feeders, battling aggressive yellow jackets to do so.

Notes from my Kitchen

Today I made jelly of the “haw” juice. Since the haws are actually tiny apples, they have a lot of natural pectin. I tried to make the jelly with no added pectin, and I don’t think it will set up. I probably used too much water when I cooked the berries. And I probably should have added the three teaspoons of liquid pectin. But – nothing is lost – it’s excellent syrup. I cooked the jelly with a whole cinnamon stick and three whole cloves. The flavor is really quite good. I’ll make notes in my kitchen diary and try again next year.

Garden notes:

Every day I pick strawberries and now I have three cups of sugared crushed strawberries in the freezer. I think yellow jackets live under the rim of that tire, and they don’t much care for my presence.

After picking strawberries today, I went on to pull carrots (first time) and pick leaf lettuce from the other bed. As I worked I could hear this slurp-slurp licking sound, and when I investigated, Nellie was trying to get a strawberry hanging over the edge of the tire. I picked it and gave it to her, and she ate it greedily.

It’s time to remove the peas, but I may leave the ones at the end of the bed as the vines seem to shade the beans. I surely hope I get some nice green beans before the frost comes. That’s one advantage of the location on the south side of the house. It’s hot in summer but somewhat protected in the fall.

Project update:

I have enjoyed crocheting while I “watch” tv. Here’s a little duffle bag for an American Girl doll. I wonder – what does a doll carry in her duffel bag? And I started a doll’s Christmas outfit reading the instructions from my iPad.

The Christmas outfit went well until I got to the pattern row. Then I had problems. I must have worked that row five times before I got it right. I thought of my mother who used to take my work and the pattern and figure out where I had gone wrong. I think she liked to do that. I was less methodical -- just kept trying until I finally came out right at the end of the row. KW

STAYCATION DAYS 3-4 (COPING)

We had a ferocious windstorm at bedtime last night. The bathroom door slammed. Papers flew. I got up, closed windows and put books in front of doors. As suddenly as the storm had come, it was all over, and the air was still, quiet, and heavy. Mike would have re-opened windows, but I decided I’d had enough of that game.

“I am the winds of change,” the wind howled. “You can’t fight me.”

 

I thought it might be cooler today, but it was 64 degrees as usual. We were a little late with our mailbox walk, and we all noticed the sun’s warmth. The breeze whispered what we know: “Change is coming – not today, not tomorrow – but soon. I carry autumn in my wings. I will shoo away the doves before the season opens.”

The farmers harvested grain yesterday on the fields that surround “Mailbox Corner,” and they will surely finish there today. They amble in at 9:00 or 10:00 a.m. and work late into the day if need be – so different from the harvest of yesteryear which began early and ended not later than dusk.

I didn’t pick hawthorn berries this morning. To tell you the truth, I’m a little tired of that, though the remaining berries do call my name. Yesterday I mashed and cooked the “haws” on hand and then strained for juice. My first batch was too dry, so I recooked with more water. I’m feeling my way along with the help of whatever advice I can find, and that’s not much. I have a plan for making the jelly, which is on the list for tomorrow.

Today is a work day. I washed two loads of clothes and ran the dishwasher. I re-made the guest bed – and transferred my projects from the sewing room to the guest room for re-organization.

Dog Update:

Keeping the dogs has been a little more challenging than I had hoped. Checking the woodshed (not my favorite place), I discovered that Bess had made a mess. The insulation and tarp that Mike placed over the doghouse had been pulled down and bits of insulation were everywhere. I also saw “little bits of black whatever” that made me think the monster had returned and was even bigger! However, it turned out that Bess had torn into Mike’s supply of clean wood shavings stored in a garbage sack. I cleaned it up.

Checking again last night (someone has to do it) I discovered that Bess had done it again. This time I put the shavings and the doghouse insulation where she couldn’t get to them (I hope). Then I realized that she probably wanted to be in the woodshed with Nellie but there isn’t room for her in the barrel. So, I carried her crate to the shed and left it open so that she has her own “space” if she wants it. No one whined at the door during the storm, so they must have been happy.

Checking on Bess after our walk this morning, I found her sleeping in the barrel. Mike’s will rearrange their accommodations soon.

[Photo 1) The farmhouse this morning, Aug. 12. 2) Looking across recently cut grain field; Central Ridge in distance. 3, 4, 5) Harvest photos. 6) Bess -- she's an angel when she's asleep.] 

STAYCATION DAYS 2-3

August – That’s when the hummingbirds leave and the yellowjackets and grasshoppers come. I decided to fill one of the hummingbird feeders and discovered that a few are still here, so today I renewed the nectar in both feeders. But the yellowjackets are quite bad. We haven’t seen many grasshoppers. Perhaps it’s still early.

No vacations or staycations for the farmers in August. It’s time to work. On this morning’s walk, we confirmed that grain harvest has begun, although our crops are garbs that won’t be harvested until October. I miss having the machines here.

Someone asked if I would have a sew-a-thon during my staycation. I had thought so, but I haven’t started yet. However, I have identified the reason for my reticence: the vintage sewing room is a mess. So now I’ve developed a plan and the great clean-up will commence tomorrow. (I need another cupboard or two and another bookcase or two and . . .)

I suppose you’re wondering how I will reward myself for staying behind to take care of the dogs, the left-over problems, and the usual stuff. Is there another sewing machine in my future? No, I don’t think so – not this year. Instead, I’ve indulged my whim to buy patterns and pattern downloads. And in the process, I’ve learned to save them onto my iPad, which is TOTALLY COOL!! In fact, I am so affirmed by the process that I just want to keep ordering and downloading and saving to my iPad. It’s just great to think that this little device, rather than a voluminous notebook of paper, is going to hold my instructions. I admit to a little nervousness about dropping the hard copy, especially for those patterns I have purchased, but -- those instructions just pop on the iPad screen.

And – Hallie says it’s time to replace my phone. Seems like three years is about max for one’s electronic gizmos, and I suppose it’s been that for my Samsung “Combat.” If it’s time to have a new phone, then the only way to go is an iPhone.

It's muggy right now and the air feels heavy. Another thunderstorm is building. Some rain to clear the air of the smoke and dust would be all right with me, but I’m not sure the farmers would appreciate it just now. Ahhhhh! A breeze has come up and that's heavenly. 

 [Photo 1) A westerly shot over the garbs behind the house at sunset.  2) Nearby harvest operation from "mailbox corner." 3) Nellie romps in the garbs with Central Ridge in the background. 4) A storm sky to the west over the north field.] KW