Take Joy!

Cows on the Trail!

This is part of the trail we usually walk, down by the Swannanoa River—it's on the Warren Wilson College property, and connects their two cow pastures. They were moving the cows from the pasture down by the road to the one over the hill—this one:

Isn't that gorgeous? All that lovely green grass—cow heaven! Anyway, we walked a lot longer and further than we should have, since we hadn't been on the trail in months, but if we'd stopped and turned around when we should have, we'd have missed the cows. (In case you're wondering, no, I haven't ever been close to a cow before. They're pretty good-sized.) You have no idea how excited I was when someone came running down the trail, shouting, "Cows coming! Make way!" (or something along those lines) There were about 75 of them, I think.

I took some other pictures (not of cows), but I think they can wait until tomorrow. They aren't nearly as exciting as the cow pictures.

Guess who scored THREE goals in last week's soccer game?

Independence Days Update

For Sharon's Independence Days Challenge.

1. plant something: Not this week.

2. harvest something:  A few hot peppers. Potatoes. A few eggs. Figs, here and there. Raspberry leaves, goldenrod blooms.

3. preserve something: Tinctured goldenrod and raspberry leaves (not together). Dried peppers and figs in the dehydrator.

4. reduce waste: The usual: recycling (plastic, cat food cans, milk jugs). Continuing to use clothesline instead of dryer. Saving cardboard/waste paper for firestarting this winter. Donated the box of Lapidary Journals to the Old Fort Library book sale, and received from Mom a stack of vintage Christmas magazines, a small square Weave-It loom (remember those? I do, barely.), egg cartons to recycle, and a lovely piece of tan faux-suede, which I unfortunately left there. Finally dry enough to do some more weeding, which went to the goats and chickens.

5. preparation and storage: In the process of storing potatoes (in a clothes basket in the living room for now, since that's the coolest place in the house), onions, winter squash. Bought a few more winter squash for storage. Stocked up on dry cat food. Restocked vitamins at Rite-Aid's Buy One Get One Free sale. Unearthed the box with winter hats, scarves, gloves in it.

6. build community food systems: Shared persimmon pudding with Mom.

7. eat the food: Homemade bread. Cubed steak with mushroom gravy and mashed potatoes. Persimmon pudding (frozen persimmons from year before last).

Notes: Another 2.5 inches of rain on Saturday, and then glorious sunshine! All week, apparently—I can get the laundry caught up and some weeding done. Today, though, after weeding enough to feed the chickens and goats, we took off for the river. We haven't been all summer, partly because there are too many people on the trail in the summer, and partly because it's hot and mosquito-y, and I can have both of those at home. Anyway, today we went walking for a couple of hours and came home aching (boy, are we out of shape! I jammed one toe against the end of my boot and it's swollen and hurting. But this will pass.) but refreshed and peaceful. Plus, there were cows on the trail! Very large cows.

I've nearly finished with the doll's wardrobe I'm making for Mom and Daddy's church bazaar—still need to make her a cape and a party dress of some sort, and I'm done. (Then I need to dress her up in everything and take pictures . . . ) Then costumes, then Christmas gifts . . .

I'm sorting through the books, gradually; so far we have four bags and a box to take the used book store, to trade in for winter credit. I think they'll probably take three-quarters of them and the rest can go into their free box. I also have several bags of John's too-big pants to go to Goodwill next time I get down that way. And a stack of old magazines to go to the library. I'm going to have go on a donating trip one of these days.

And look what has bloomed!

We've been attempting to grow moonvines for a couple of years now, and this year we finally succeeded!

This Catnip Is Mine

Even though I tipped the pot over, it's still mine!

Independence Days Update

For Sharon's Independence Days Challenge.

1. plant something: Nothing—it's been raining all week.

2. harvest something:  A few hot peppers. Chestnuts. (Nearly four gallons stored in the freezer.)

3. preserve something: Finally got all the peppers dried, by way of the electric dehydrator . . .

4. reduce waste: The usual: recycling (plastic, cat food cans, milk jugs). Continuing to use clothesline instead of dryer. Saving cardboard/waste paper for firestarting this winter. Sorted through old magazines and have an entire box (several years' worth) of Lapidary Journal to donate to the library. Also have a slew of old Somerset Studios and Cloth Paper Scissors art/craft magazines, but I'm not sure yet what to do with them. I could sell them on eBay, but I really don't want to hassle with it. Maybe I'll talk to the library people about selling them—if they don't want to, maybe the Old Fort library would like to have them; their next sale is in October, I think.

5. preparation and storage: Nothing this week. I've been sorting in the pantry. (I did go to Walmart and buy three plastic fishing tackle storage boxes to sort my embroidery floss and buttons into, but that's about it.)

6. build community food systems: Nothing this week.

7. eat the food: Homemade bread. Shortbread cookies with pecans—good, but need just a little more sugar. Cheese balls. Pinto beans with chili from the freezer. John's great slaw. And this morning we had homemade chicken biscuits.

Notes: I just haven't been very productive this week. It's been raining since Tuesday night, steadily since Saturday. We had 1.75 inches by Friday; the rain gauge now stands at 7.25 inches, and we are under flood and landslide warnings. The chicken lot is a sea of mud, the goats are marooned in their shelter under the big chicken house where it's dry, and anyone who is foolhardy enough to go into the garden is in danger of sinking up to  his or her shoetops. (Remember the Anderson fairy tale of The Red Shoes?) The cats are like a bunch of bored five-year-olds: I'm bored, I'm tired of rain, I want to go outside . . . which they do, and promptly retreat back inside, bringing water and mud and wet leaves with them. Everything is horribly damp. It's too cool to turn on a fan and too warm for a fire. (There. Have I whined enough now? Really, I'm trying very hard to be thankful that we aren't in a drought situation any longer, and that the water table is being replenished, but it's getting difficult!)I see no signs of puddles, either, except in areas where it's runoff from paving, and in the low place in the neighbor's driveway, and a few places where there are heavy drips from the roof—so it's sinking into the ground.

Other than watch it rain and clean up after the cats, I haven't done very much. A little sewing (see: Archie), some cooking, lots of reading, some sorting of various piles of stuff . . .

Maybe next week.

Meet Archie

This is Archibald Morton Edmonds—but he's an informal sort of guy, in spite of the tie (I suspect he only wears it in case someone invites him over for spaghetti, of which he is very fond), and he prefers to be called simply Archie. He was hatched from a thrift-store wool skirt; his wings and feet are ultrasuede scraps, as is his collar. His eyes are vintage buttons, and his tie is a scrap left from a Halloween project several years ago.

And here he is in his natural habitat, guarding the last month or so's reading until I get a chance to post it to my booklist. (The dragon was my birthday gift from Mom. She bought him at Tractor Supply.)

EDIT: I nearly forgot: Archie's pattern is from Lollychops, here. (There's also a Wendy bird pattern on the same page, and a pattern for baby owls here.) And here is the Flickr group where you can see many many owls of all sorts.

This Past Week

I took these the first of last week, before it started raining. Cayennes in the flower bed—I've had to resort to drying them in the dehydrator. It's so damp they just mold if I try to let them dry naturally.

Hickory nuts on the tree in the back—there are none left now, though; the squirrels have cut them all and taken them away. (We shall probably have umpteem little unwanted hickories next spring, too.) There were a good many, but not enough to do anything much with, even if we'd been able to get them first. So we let the squirrels have them, and I got the chestnuts. Three and a half gallons so far, nicely stashed in the freezer, and all it cost me was a little poison ivy and a lot of mosquito bites.

Tuesday morning, I think. Morning glories, a weed of some sort, and a few Jerusalem artichokes.

Since the gauge is empty, this was obviously Monday or Tuesday. Pineapple sage and rain gauge with mantis . . . there are many, many mantises (mantii?) around, some of them very gravid, so we should have plenty of them next spring.

Monday, I think—Ocie and Maggie sunning in the side yard. They love my newly-spread mulch: it holds the heat, which makes it nice for napping.

And here's the south-side bed, with peppers and herbs in pot; the mulch is my planned expansion for next spring. I'm not sure whether it will be plants in the ground or in pots, but this marks My Space.

And in only four or five months, seed catalogs will begin arriving!

Last Saturday

(when it wasn't raining)

This Saturday—it's raining, Emma is at home with a strep throat, and William will have to get his alfalfa cubes from one of us. A poor substitute, at best. (I remember this time last year, William seemed a lot bigger than Emma . . . )

Mr. Poozle Takes Back His Box

This is not my preferred box. Someone is in my box! He must move.
Aaah! This is my proper box!

Even though I don't fit in it very well . . .


It's still MY box!

(Things have altered somewhat since I took these. I have filched the box, since I needed it to store canned corn in, and Mr. Poozle has moved to a marginally larger Amazon box in the bottom shelf of the bookcase in my working corner. We are the only people I know who don't put books in the bottom shelves of any bookcases, because that's where the cats like to sleep.)

Baking Today

(Not, of course, that any of the cats here would do anything like that . . . )