OUT IN THE BARN

It's Baby Bunny time out in the barn.  Three of the rabbits have had their babies.  This picture shows a litter of 11.  They are just three days old.  The other two litters haven't been uncovered yet.  They need to stay buried in the loose rabbit fur their Moms provided for them to nest in for a few days.

This is John Deere, the lucky Buck.  Look at those huge feet!

Outside we have the young laying hens in their chicken tractors.  They get moved to fresh pasture every day.  There will be 6 of these, each housing 75 chickens.

These are the Freedom Rangers.  They will be moved to a tractor in a couple of weeks.  They gain weight so fast, they are ready to be butchered in 8-10 weeks.

Here is Little Bit, missing her friend Mama Nanny.  Mama was in poor health when she was rescued, and quite old.  She died on Monday.  Anyone have a free goat?  Little Bit needs companionship.

As I left the barn, I was startled to see this pheasant!  I have NEVER seen a pheasant on this land, so this was a real thrill.

And, to switch topics, I am making a quilt for my niece who is getting married in Hawaii the end of May.  I will be "obligated" to attend the wedding, hahahaha.  Below are the flannels I am going to use to make their wedding gift.  No, it will not be done by the wedding date.

OUCH

I've really done it this time.  In my constant attempts at defying growing older, I spent a couple of weeks working my booty off in the yard.  Sigh.  This has resulted in strained ribs.  Very painful.  Now I'm on pain pills and quite loopy, but it is keeping me quiet and resting.  This could be a long process to heal from.

 Speaking of healing, my brain is still in adjustment mode, and I'm still not able to read your blogs.  I'm so sorry, I miss you all.  The surgeon says I'm very close.  I'm getting very impatient.  Ha, what an understatement.

So here is a little bite of what I have been up to.  I harvested some nettles the other day.  I read that they are best when they are small and tender.  I had the great idea of dehydrating them, but then read that you have to blanche them to destroy the stingers.  So here they are in the ice bath.

I drove my Ladybug lawnmower out past the sloughs with a load of yardwaste for the burn pile, pulling my JennyMac 2000 wagon.  What a gorgeous day it was!  After dumping my load and turning around, I discovered one of the wheels had come off the wagon!  Had to go back to the shop to find a cotter pin to repair it.

The farmers who rent my land were busy planting onions and carrots. 

This fell out of one of the big Douglas Firs the other day.  I don't know if this is a birds nest or a squirrel's, but isn't it beautiful?  I'm so glad they appreciate all of the colorful bits of fiber that get loose when I'm dying.

Well, so far I have planted 4 kinds of potatoes, Jeruselem Artichokes, cabbage, cauliflower, peas, romaine, lettuce, and pac choi.  Nothing has germinated yet, but we are going to have five days of warmth coming up, so I am hopeful.

A Walking Adventure

My son and his family live in an eclectic neighborhood they call Ballmont.  That is because it is equal distance from the communities of Ballard and Freemont, located in Seattle.  It is a beautiful day today, so I decided to take my camera and some money and head out for a walk.

Above is in the garden, next to the sidewalk, just down the street from the kids.  I did NOT open the Treasure Chest.

Nearby is this substation.  I know, what an odd picture to take, but the use of pastels really appeals to my artistic sense.

As I neared the Burke Gilman Trail, I spotted this mural on the side of a building.

I think this picture is self explanatory.

I stopped in a grocery store and purchased a small salad for my picnic lunch, and then continued on until I found this perfect ledge by the ship canal.

It made a nice seat for me to rest on and eat my lunch.

These Mallards were hopeful that I might have some treats for them, but not this time.

This was my view.  If you look really hard, you can see the Olympic Mountains in the distance.

On my way back, I spotted this mural by the same artist as the first one.  And then I saw what the business was:  Emerald City Gardens!!!  Oh,My.  I had to check this out!!

OMG!  I had to find out what this was, and went inside.  That was it, I was totally taken with the beauty and uniqueness of this nursery.  The above plant is a South African Honey Bush, and they have put me on their Wish List for next time they come in.

I was walking, and couldn't buy all the plants I wanted, but I did buy these potato starts:

These are Ozettes.  They were brought from Peru by the Spaniards and left in the Neah Bay area, home of the Makah Indians.  They have grown there for years, and were just recently discovered and recognized as a delicious fingerling potato.  These will be added to my garden with the German Butterballs and Yukon Golds.

Tomorrow, I think I will have to follow the trail in to Ballard.

THE DAILY FLASH

 All of you "60 somthings, or getting close, does this picture take you back?  It sure rings true to my late teens and early 20's.  This poster is for a band Terry has been following for years, "The Daily Flash".

Oh, yes, by the way, Terry and I are back together and having a great time.  Saturday night we went to see this band perform in a little sandwich shop North of Seattle.  They were amazing!!!  Favorite rendition by far was of "Louie Louie".  All of you from Washington, do you remember when the move was on to make that song the official song of Washington?  Back in the day, that song was always played as the last song at any dance.  "Louie Louie, oh, yeah, We gotta go"

Here they are performing at an outdoor concert.

It was a great time, and I look forward to seeing them perform again.  I found myself looking around the room, and noticed we were mostly in the 60 age range.  You know what?  We were looking GOOD~!!.

Grinders is the name of the sandwich shop where they perform.  Just a little hole in the wall, it has some of the best food in the Seattle area.

This was our dessert, a yummy cinnamon bread pudding smothered in whiskey sauce.   Mmmmm,  mmmm.  Terry and I could not finish it.  I wish I had pictures of some of the sandwiches.  They were amazing.

As the evening progressed, the owner's mother, who helps serve there, was seen to be dancing and getting down to the music.  It was great.

Earlier in the day, I had an appointment at a new yarn shop in Fairhaven, a part of Bellingham.  The yarn shop is Mrs. Hudson's Yarn and Tea.  They loved my yarns and have agreed to buy them!!!!  Whoooo hoooo, I am so pleased.

Easter Sunday we all went to my cousin's house on Camano for a lovely meal and visit.  My baby Grandson was the guest of honor.  Oh, my, is he a beautiful baby~ Born 5 weeks early, he had alot of catching up to do, and he is doing quite well.  I will be staying with him and his folks this week until I see my eyes surgeon on Thursday.

Isn't he sweet?  Of course, he's asleep, LOL.

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A bit here, and a little bit there.

I know, it's been so long since I have posted.  I've been busy, but had a setback with my eyes, and I'm a bit discouraged.  I will be seeing the surgeon on the 12th, so I will just take one day at a time until then.  He's the best in the State, so worth waiting for.

I just returned from a visit with high school friends at Hood Canal in Allyn, Washington.  Oh, it is so beautiful there.

This is the view from the deck.  They are rebuilding the bridge over to Treasure Island.  The weather was so completely nasty, we didn't get any time on the beach this trip.  But, the girls will be back in June, and watch out world.  They will be spending some time here at the farm with me, too.

One of our favorite hangout's there is Myra's Fancy Image Yarns in Shelton.  She hand dyes all of these yarns, and makes kits and patterns, and we have a wonderful time there.  The store was closed the two days we were there, but she let us come, and we took lunch in to share with her.

Here is Myra winding some yarn I bought to make a sweater for my Grandson, Cadel.

Here are Kris and Lynne preparing a very healthy dinner for us.

I had taken a short nap to get over the whirlies caused by my eyes.  When I got up, I went to pour myself a glass of wine and this is what I found:

A corkscrew was not to be found, so they used a potatoe peeler.  Very resourceful, I think.

After Lynne and Chris headed home to Laramie and Denver, I spent the night at my friend Kris' house in Olympia.  Kris lived 4 houses from me growing up on Mercer Island, and we also shared an apartment in college.  She is a great friend and so much fun to be with.

From her place I took the train to Seattle, where Terry picked me up.  Then he drove me home.  I'm so lucky to have so many friends who help me out during these times when I can't drive.

Now that I am home, I am enjoying having the organic farmers here.  I spend a couple of hours a day talking and sharing with them.  Hopefully, I provide them with a good deal of animal husbandry experience, which they are just learning.  They do a lot of research, but nothing beats hands on.

One Sunday they brought over two nanny goats they had rescued, and I taught them how to milk.  Poor little girls had not been milked in days and were in pretty bad shape.  They are enjoying life now, getting milked daily and having nice green fields to eat and play in.

AND THEN

A friend of one of the farmers had been looking for a plot to lease to raise his heritage vegetables.  He found out I needed someone to prune my ancient, huge apple and pear trees, and offered to do the job in exchange for some land.  I honestly cannot afford to pay someone to do this work, and he grew up working in orchards, so this is a great arrangement.  Plus, he is giving me vegetable starts for my own garden.

Now, I don't want to sound old, because you know I am not, but God has really blessed me by bringing these young people to me.  I enjoy having them here so much, and we are all benefiting from the relationship.

I've been busy spinning, so stay tuned.  I will have my new creations on my next blog.