Birthday, Beds, Omelettes, Peas, Raspberries & Beans!

Greetings!

It's Friday!  Where has this week gone and what happened to the first week of August!?

The week started off with a family outing at an outdoor pool/splash park and a wienie roast for our wonderful Daughter-in-Law's birthday.  I can't believe those kids, and our poor son, spent over 4 hours splashing and running and laughing at this awesome outdoor play/water park.  Papa, DIL and I got to watch the shenanigans pool side, in our lawn chairs, in the shade.  The three youngest ones had sun screen on and fared very well, the oldest kid, our son, - got burned to a crisp!  They had a riot! 

We drove around for quite a while looking for a day use area for our wiener roast after we left the water park, then finally ended up coming back to our place in the end.  I remember many day use areas from when I was a kid for such impulse occurrences.  Apparently this isn't as popular any more.  No worries, though.  We have our own fire pit, complete with indoor plumbing and running water.  It's all good!

Tea Towels I make for our DIL's birthday present

This week found us with a young house guest.  Our middle grand child is a delightful young man.  Full of mischief, stories and lots of fun!  He was on a mission this week.  As it happens, his family is moving later this summer to a house on the lake.  His mom thought it would be cool if his bed could be raised so he can see out his bedroom window from his bed, to enjoy his new lake view.  Papa, of course, is always happy to accommodate, especially for a grand buddy.  A plan was formulated.  A color was chosen and the two men set about their project.  Anyone who knows Papa, knows that he is extremely efficient with his time and can accomplish just about anything he sets his mind to. 

The new bed base is full of cubby holes which will run down both sides of the bed for easy access.  It is designed in two halves, for weight, "movability" and to potentially accommodate a larger bed in the future, should the need arise.  The young one chose to paint it red.  The Reddest Red paint we could get at the paint store.  Perhaps Gremlynn should make him a new quilt to go with it?  Papa still has a ways to go yet, but our house guest was very happy to assist with it's construction and painting.  It will be amazing when it is complete.   

First section being sanded

A Great Red!  Good Color Choice!

These two halves will be given another coat of paint
Then the cubby holes will be on either side of the bed
The mattress and box spring will sit on top
There will also be a ladder and a toe kick added

The first morning he was here, he informed me that he is really good at making omelettes.  That sounds good!  What kind do you make?  Any kind you like, says he!  So, go ahead and make me one.  Have you ever used a cast iron frying pan, says I?  No?  Then there's no time like the present to learn how to use one.  

Our young chef made the perfect omelette, in the cast iron pan.  This kid's got skills!

Wrist action to incorporate the yolks and whites completely
Only a tablespoon of water and S & P at this stage

Ham and left over Pico de Gallo and some mozzarella
cheese added when the eggs began to set up

Not quite the perfect "flip", but it was amazing!

Thursday found us in the garden.  All. Day.  

The other day I told Papa that when we finally get some heat, everything is going to need to be dealt with on the same day. Thursday, was that day.

It all started innocently enough, in the raspberry patch. 13 1/4 lbs later, on to the beans. Two five gallon pails full, then filled with cold water to be dealt with later. On to the peas.

Our young house guest picked the snow peas, while Papa and I got into the pea patch. Two fully heaping 5 gallon pails of peas later, the two men set about to shucking them, while I continued to pick. We ended up with over 9 lbs of shelled peas for the freezer. And 5.5 lbs of snow peas, picked, blanched and frozen.

Time for a late lunch! It was 2:30 by the time we got in, for our first break. Toasted tomato and bacon sandwiches on homemade sourdough bread with homemade Mayo. Recharged, we set about to snap beans. 

Papa then spent 2 hours on the lawnmower, while I worked on the beans. By 4:30 I had two onions and four colored peppers to made up four batches of seasoned green beans. By 7:30, the 24 pints of beans are put up. Time for a late supper. Sausage and eggs for three at 8 pm.

During supper, I mentioned to Papa that he might want to check the onions. The two I pulled were soft. He went out to check while I tidied the kitchen and got the laundry in. Papa decided to pull the 300+ onions. The men started tying them up while I went to check on the neighbor's place then watered the deck pots.

By 9:45 we were all in and hitting the showers. We all slept like rocks!  Even the Furry one!

Over 13 lbs of freshly picked raspberries
Papa needs 15 for a batch of wine, so he'll
have to top it up - just a bit

24 jars of seasoned green beans

About 300 onions harvested.  Whew!

Our house guest decided that he wanted pasta for supper one evening.  What kind of Pasta, asks I?  Any kind, says he.  That isn't helping.  What kind of Pasta do you want?  He says Alfredo.  Is Chicken Alfredo, okay?  Sounds wonderful, says he.  

We had to go to town anyways, so I picked up a pint of cream, but didn't check the Fettuccine noodle situation before we left.  Come supper time, I put the water on for the noodles and set about to make the sauce, when I discovered that we didn't have any Fettuccine noodles.  Did you want Spaghetti or Shells, instead?  He chose the shells.  Good thing since I really didn't feel like making homemade noodles that late in the day.  It turned out great and he was a happy camper - but then again, he always is!

Chicken Alfredo with Shells
Homemade sourdough garlic bread and
cucumbers from the greenhouse

When I asked earlier in the day what he might like for a dessert, he chose "one of those roll up cakes".  Like a Jelly Roll?  No, this one doesn't have Jelly in it, he says.  It has cream or icing or some other filling in the roll up part. I can work with that.  One chocolate Jelly Roll, sans the jelly, with chocolate cream filling and chocolate glaze.  Oh, and fresh raspberries so it has some nutritional value!  Hee hee!

Chocolate Jelly Roll

We had set up a Monopoly game the first night he arrived.  We got so busy with life, bed building, cake baking, gardening and preserving that we didn't get back to it until this morning.  And then his Mom came to pick him up, so we didn't get to finish it anyways.  No worries, says I.  You can always come back another time and we'll set it up again.  He readily agreed.  I guess we have another date set for later this summer then.  Wink, wink.   

It's always fun when one of the Little's come for a visit!  They really are the Jewels in the Crown of Life.

Enjoy your weekend!

Gremlynn

 

Quiet Moments, Flying Geese and Russell Crow(e)

Greetings Fellow Earth Dwellers:

July was an absolute blur for us out here at No Regrets.  So, I'm not going to lie that when I saw that the last week of the month and the first few days of August had nothing, seriously nothing, written in my day timer, I smiled a little smile and mouthed a quiet "thank you". 

Don't get me wrong!  We Absolutely LOVE having company - after all, when we built this house, we designed it specifically for entertaining!  We both LOVE having folks come out, the deck parties and catching up with everyone!  But when it literally comes in waves, one day on top of the next, with only a moment to do a load of laundry and plan another meal, it can get a bit overwhelming.  We were both happy for a few days of just us two.  I am also happy to report that this weekend and next week will be back to the usual social activities for us.  I am looking forward to spending time with the next arrivals and catching up with all the news. 

So, what have we accomplished during these quiet moments?  I actually got some serious Studio Time in, while Papa got caught up with his weeding and yard work.

I am working on couple of secret projects for two loved ones.  It has given me moments to really remember times shared and the deep bonds we have, although we are literally separated by a continent.  I will share that the first one has 216 red flying geese on a cream colored sky background.  This involved starting with 216, 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" red rectangles and 432, 2 1/2" cream squares.  These first blocks are complete and have been joined into strips. Now for the next step.  I will post more when I am able to, without giving too much away. 

Red Flying Geese on a Cream Sky

We have had some heat recently, so the garden is really starting to pop!  I swear that the corn literally grew 12" yesterday, from when I first walked by in the morning, to later in the evening when I dumped the final wheel barrow of weeds.  I actually did a double take, it was that dramatic!

We have been checking daily the progress of the peas, cherries, raspberries and beans for signs of readiness to be harvested.  Still patiently - perhaps not so patiently - waiting.  The peas are filling.  The cherries are ripening by the day.  The beans are getting longer.  And when those raspberries finally start to really ripen, I predict that we will soon be overrun with them!  It just might be a super busy couple of weeks as I am anticipating that everything is going to be ready all at the same time!

Peas filling nicely!

Apples getting bigger every day!

When we were at a local greenhouse earlier this spring, we spied a couple of Blueberry Bushes specifically hybrid for Alberta's challenging growing conditions.  The test plants were developed and grown in Northern Alberta.  They get more summer sun than us, but their winters are longer, darker and colder.  We deduced that if these are thriving up there, we should have similar success here.  So we bought 2 of each plant offered and are hoping for the best!

So far I have harvested a few berries - and yes, I did share with Papa! - they taste amazing!  

Papa, being a Prairie Boy, only ever really knew Saskatoon's, sort of a Blueberry cousin, but not really.  The taste and texture is definitely its own.  

Me, being from the Maritime's, prefers Blueberries.  Hand's Down.  No Contest.  As a child, I remember picking buckets of wild blueberries in the bushes not far from our home.  

When I first tasted Saskatoon's, I didn't get the love of this berry.  To be honest, I still don't.  The mouth feel isn't right for me.  I know I shouldn't compare them - like comparing raspberries and blackberries - two totally different berries.  They work for me in a pie, or muffin or a crumble, but to just eat them, not my favorite.  The Blueberry/Saskatoon debate has been ongoing in our house for decades.  So when I picked 2 of each berry and offered Papa a chance to taste test them, side by side, I was shocked to hear him say that he definitely preferred the Blueberry!  Score One for Me!  We have a row of young Saskatoon's in our orchard, but I am thrilled to have these Blueberries as well.  Hopefully they survive our winter.

Blueberries!

The overview of the 2019 Garden

Earlier this spring, we transplanted 100's if not 1000's of Sunflower seedlings from the garden, to a dirt pile in the back pasture.  Our hopes was that it would be covered with assorted sunflowers later this summer.  It appears our experiment is a success!  It is just covered with sunflowers in all different sizes and colors!  It is going to be absolutely striking when they all finally bloom!  I'll be sure to take pictures when the colors pop!  I am so excited over this!

One of the Sunny's reaching for the Sky!

Dirt pile with transplanted Sunflower seedlings

We have begun to harvest some of the garden.  I got 7 quarts of stewed tomatoes done the other day.  This is the beginning of the restocking of our cold cellar.  We have several bags of snow peas blanched and frozen now too.  We had stuffed green peppers the other night for supper, then decided to start bringing in the ripe sweet peppers to be cut up and frozen. I need to check on the strawberries again and have done three batches of strawberry jam so far.  The rest will probably just be topped and frozen for winter use.  It is nice to start to fill up the veggie freezer again.

The chickens are all doing well.  Our new little girls are starting to lay a bit more now.  Russell Crow, our new little rooster, is sure getting big already.  He is a handsome boy.  He has been crowing so much lately, duelling with the older rooster in the other pen! They are hilarious to listen to.  Russell Crow has already taken the guardian position of his girls.  When we go out to put the chickens in at night, he stands between us and his women, just to make sure we know he's watching us and ready to defend them.  He and Papa have already had the discussion as to who exactly is the Head Rooster around here.  Russell wasn't too excited to have this discussion, but they are on speaking terms again.  It will probably be two more weeks before we harvest Russell's brothers, so it will become a lot quieter in the hen house.  He is going to be a good rooster for our girls.  I'll have to remember to take a picture of him to share.  

Other than that, we have been enjoying evenings on our deck listening to the pond running.  We have had many suppers out there as well.  I have been working on my EPP project in the evenings, often out on the deck.  It has been a nice, quiet summer week for us here.  We are officially recharged and ready to take on our next week's adventures!

Enjoy your weekend.

Gremlynn

Lazy Country Walks, Old Friends and New Eggs

Good Afternoon!

It's been another 7 planetary rotations since my last post.  Where do the weeks go?!  This past week has brought many happy activities and many more wonderful visitors to our little oasis in the country.

We hosted our Dinner Party Group last Saturday night.  It wasn't our turn in the rotation, but circumstances arose for us to take over the hosting duties that evening.  One of the couple's in our group had been patiently awaiting the delivery of their new home.  It had finally just arrived a few days before our scheduled dinner date.  As life sometimes has it, best laid plans can go awry.  All has since been resolved, delivered and hooked up.   They are finally the proud owners of their new home.  I can't wait to see it next month!  Meanwhile, we enjoyed a wonderful evening on our front deck, overlooking the pond.  We always have a wonderful time together.

Sunday brought our kids, grand kids and the Bee Happy folks out for a visit.  Our Bee Keepers did some hive maintenance and discovered that one of the two hives was without their Queen.  Emergency actions were put into place and a new Queen was ordered that afternoon - can you believe you can order a Queen Bee on line?  I never would have guessed!  Mr. Bee came back on Tuesday with the new Queen and a few of her attendants to which he then installed into appropriate hive.  Fingers crossed that they all play nice together!

While the Bee Keepers did their maintenance on Sunday, my DIL and I took the little girls for a walk to see the horses at the end of our lane.  It was a beautiful afternoon.  Perfect for a leisurely stroll.  Along the way, we discovered a frog on the road, a Painted Lady butterfly and a white spider.  The mares and colts had already dispersed by the time we had reached the paddock, but there were still a few other horses to see.  I don't thing anyone really minded.  It was a lovely afternoon for a quiet walk down a lazy country road.

Our littlest grand baby picked "Amma" a bouquet of wild flowers as she stopped to see the rocks, bugs and anything else that caught her attention.  We arrived back in time to prepare our snack and have a sit on the deck.

A slow stroll down a country road on a sleepy
Sunday afternoon

The littlest one with her bouquet checking out
what's on the road

"Amma's" bouquet of wildflowers in a beautiful
antique vase

While doing his morning rounds, Papa discovered some eggs in the pullet's quarters.  Our little girls are beginning to lay!  It is so exciting when the new hens start to lay eggs.  The top egg in the photo is a regular sized egg for comparison.  Imagine my delight when I went to crack the new pullet eggs the next day to discover not one or two but all three were double yolkers!  They are just so cute!

New production Team gearing up!

New production team are making double yolked eggs!
Aren't they just the cutest things ever!

And the best news is, is that the new little Roo is doing his job.  If you look at the picture of the egg yolks with the arrows, you will see a "Bull's Eye".  This is potentially a chick cell.  If given proper incubation conditions, it might have potentially formed a chick and hatched.  It is still absolutely safe to eat, which we did!  The other egg in the picture, is from our current production team. This one shows no egg cell or germinal disc, which means it is not fertilized.  So, either our Senior Rooster is "done" or he doesn't like this hen.  Great news for the new guy, bad news for him.

We never did try to incubate any of our older flock's eggs, as they are hybrid birds.  There is no guarantee as to what we would have ended up with for chicks.  Our new flock is a heritage breed, Plymouth Barred Rock chickens.  We will hopefully be able to hatch and grow our own chicks from here forward.  Time will tell.

Our new little Roo is doing his job 

Every now and again, we have to wash the big windows on the upper story of our living/great room.  This is a rather large undertaking at our house.  An undertaking that definitely involves scaffolding!  It's a job we try to do once a year.  It actually takes longer to set up and take down the scaffolding than it does to wash the windows.  But, I am pleased to report that we should be good for at least another year.  It is going to get to a point where we are going to have to hire someone to do this job.  But it sure looks great after it is done!

Papa washing the inside, upper windows of the great room

I washed all of the vintage jars on the transom window while
Papa washed the windows

And our visitors kept right on coming throughout this week!  

On Tuesday, a dear friend, whom we haven't seen in over 12 years, was passing thru our area on their way to Eastern Canada.  She very recently contacted me, to see if we were up to a visit?  Of course we absolutely were!  She, her partner, 2 cats, a senior dog, an SUV, and a truck & trailer camped over night in our driveway.  Oh, the catching up, reminiscing and a wonderful evening we shared!  It was the warmest day we have had all year, so dinner was again planned for the front deck. We visited late into the evening and enjoyed the cool breeze with a glass of wine, before calling it a night.

The next morning Papa made fresh waffles to be served with our strawberries, maple syrup and whipped cream.  We cooked up some sausage, had our eggs scrambled with green onions and enjoyed freshly perked coffee - made in two old Pyrex stove top peculators.  I was so sorry to see them go, but continue on their journey they must.  

Life has a way of bringing people together, then pulling them apart.  What remains is hopefully beautiful memories of time shared.  And we are richer for having had the opportunity to enjoy the time together.  I know they will have many wonderful adventures in their new home province.  How lucky we are to live in such a large and diverse country that we are free to live where we choose, as we choose.  Bon Voyage to you both!

My Wednesday then took a bit of an unexpected U-turn.  I had planned to spend the day with a fellow quilter as she manned her space to showcase her own small quilts display.  We had planned a day of coffee, hand stitching and a good visit.  Unfortunately, shortly after she set up, she wasn't feeling well and realized that a migraine was settling in.  I arrived in time to help her pack up her things and get her sent home to sleep it off.  My heart broke for her; not only for her sudden illness, but for all the hours and hours of work she invested into this day.  So, after seeing her off, I went home again myself.  I then spent several hours weeding the garden with Papa.  Not exactly what I had planned to do that day, but it was a good job done. We shall reschedule a stitching visit for another day.

Thursday had me busy in the kitchen, waiting for a friend to stop by later that morning for coffee.  It was her 75th birthday the day before.  Not wanting to let it pass with just coffee and a card, I decided a special cake was in order.  She, being lactose intolerant, can make baking a bit of a challenge for me.  I always seem to add milk and butter to everything I make! 

I searched and found this recipe for an old fashioned jelly roll.  Perfect!  No dairy in this one!  I got it made up and into the oven.  Now, what type of filling?  Down to the cellar where I found the gooseberry jam I made up last year.  This jam set up so well, it is impossible to spread on toast - but it tastes so amazing that I have been using it as a glaze for ham, among other things.  I grabbed a couple of jars and proceeded to heat it up while the cake cooled a bit.  It would become a delicious filling.  I squeezed a lemon, then mixed in some icing sugar to make a glaze.  Since this was a birthday visit, I got some china mugs out for our coffee.  These pansy mugs reminded me that I have pansies in pots in full bloom on the deck!  Bonus!  Pansies on the cake, pansy mugs and then I remembered I have pansy napkins as well.  A theme suddenly presented itself.  The cake was delicious and we had a lovely visit as well!

A Jelly Roll Birthday Cake for my dear friend
Filled with homemade gooseberry jam and a
lemon glaze, embellished with fresh pansies

The Crab Spider is apparently a reclusive and rare being.  I had seen a few pictures recently posted on a gardening group that I belong to on Facebook.  It appears they are not quite as uncommon as it's been reported.  Personally, I have had two sightings, in two different locations, in the same week!  The first sighting was during our Sunday Stroll.  It was discovered when we were closer examining a Fox Tail Grass in the ditch. 

White Crab Spider on Fox Tail Grass

The second white spider hitched a ride in a flower bouquet that I was gathering on Thursday morning.  I was quite surprised to see this little guy/gal on the lily leaf.  I quickly took its picture then carefully returned him/her back outside to let it get on with its day.  These spiders walk like crabs and aren't harmful to humans or pets, but will turn the insides of a wasp to liquid as they devour their prey.  Good on ya, little buddy!  Keep up the good work!

Crab Spider on a lily leaf

This morning, Papa decided that we should have a look at the raspberry patch to see if there's enough ripe yet to start picking.  We managed to get a small bowl full, but nothing that would require much of our attention at this point in time.  During the next few weeks however, we are predicting a huge flush of the red berries as the bushes are full!  We called it done.  He went to work on his pondscaping for a bit and I processed the first batch of stewed tomatoes.  And, with that, the canning season is officially under way.

I hope this finds you all well.  I am looking forward to a quiet weekend, but time will certainly tell on that one!

Enjoy your weekend.  

Until next time,

Gremlynn

  

Being Present, Snail Mail & Grand Daughter Time

Good Afternoon,

I don't know about yours, but my email account is divided into three Inboxes or folders.  The first is the Primary Inbox.  This is for actual emails, sent to me, to my email address.  The second Inbox is marked Social.  This is for Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and other Social Media contacts. These emails are directed to me, via a a Social outlet, basically to let me know that I have been contacted thru one of these social methods.  And the third Inbox is called Promotions.  This is where the surplus emails go.  Many are unwanted.  Most are unsolicited.  Much is spam.  Almost of these are quickly deleted.

I really like this method of keeping my emails sorted.  The only problem comes when something important ends up in the wrong Inbox.  Then I don't find it for a while.  Or it inadvertently ends up being delivered directly to the Spam folder.  Then you get another message, which also ends up in the Spam folder, wondering why you didn't answer the first email! 

Email is a quick and effective method to send information and a great way to keep in touch.  The problem becomes when you have 262 unread messages and you have to waste an hour sorting thru them all! 

Perhaps the Snail Mail method, although rather pokey, is more efficient?  It certainly is a lot more personal and you have to be totally present to open it to read it.  If you become distracted, you can put it down, then physically pick it up again to continue perusing the message.  Perhaps today is a good day to send someone you love a hand written note to let them know that you are thinking of them.  Something lovely to hold on to and enjoy at a leisure pace, in a quiet moment.  Something to Savour, to keep for a while.  Something not quickly discarded or deleted!

We live our lives at No Regrets Ranch very much in the moment.  Actually, truth be told, we live in the Slow Lane.  Not much gets rushed through, except in extraordinary circumstances. We learned a while back, that you actually get more accomplished when you go at a steady pace.  We also learned that none of us is going to get out of this alive, so you might as well enjoy the journey.  Stop and smell the flowers.  Enjoy the ice cream.  Have a good laugh.  When you realize that it's okay to just Be, you suddenly become more aware of your surroundings and become present.  It's a nice place to be.

We enjoyed the pleasure of our eldest granddaughter's company over these past few days.  We baked, laughed, chatted, drank tea, ate brownies fresh from the oven with homemade Strawberry Cookies and Cream Ice Cream.  We played board games and basically just hung out together.  

She got to learn how to make strawberry jam from berries she helped pick.  We made sourdough bread, which she kneaded by hand, by herself.  She helped in the garden and greenhouse and even helped Papa lay some bricks.  We went for a drive to keep an appointment and had a lovely stop in a coffee shop where I stitched on my hexi English Paper Piecing quilt and she enjoyed Jasmine tea and a chocolate Rocky Road treat.

Stitching English Paper Pieced Hexies at the
Timber Coffee Shop

We gathered Lavender and made Lavender Wands together.  We collected more garlic scapes and chopped them up to be dehydrated.  She even helped me strip the Lemon Thyme leaves off the stems after they came out of the dehydrator.  We made popcorn and watched a movie together.  We went to the Farmer's Market and The Tin Chicken Antique Mall and Mercantile to check out what was new.

Not once, in four days did she long for nor look for an electronic device.  She went to bed tired and woke up refreshed with a huge appetite for breakfast.  She even planned and helped create a special meal for her family, for when they came to pick her up.  As happy as she was to see her parents and little sister, she has asked when she might come back again this summer, to spend a few more days with Gremlynn and Papa. Special and happy memories for us all. 

Lavender Wands ready to be gifted

She quickly caught onto the craft! 
They are all so beautiful!

Working the flour into the sourdough starter/water mixture

The flowers in the gardens are enjoying the surplus rain and cooler weather this year.  Many that would otherwise have been spent this year are hanging on, long after they normally would.  The Delphiniums are 8 feet tall and the blooms are absolutely Huge this year!  Such a treat!  The Peonies should be long gone by now, are still dancing with their heavy and fragrant heads.  Everything is so lush and beautiful.  The irises are finishing up their show and the day lilies are beginning theirs now.  

Delphinium and Huge Ball Allium.

This Allium looks like fireworks!

We checked on the root veggies the other day and scored enough carrots, baby potatoes and a large enough onion for a wonderful treat.  Everything tastes so fresh and earthly. 

Onions are doing well, baby carrots and new potatoes
made for a delicious supper

Papa's Pond is really taking shape and looking amazing.  He can only work at it in short spurts, but they say slow and steady wins the race.  I admitted to him the other day that I am finally at peace with his pond project, after these 10 years.  I love the oasis that it is becoming as he progresses with it.  He is working on a two person bench for the seating area for at the top of the walk way.  We will begin to transplant perennials at some point.  It will have to wait at it is rather mucky out there with all the lovely rain we've enjoyed this summer. I am very glad he got the retaining wall finished, before this last big rain fall. We could have had a bit of a mud slide!  I can hardly wait to see how it will look, when it is full of plants. 

Not only can she make jam and bake bread, she is
also an accomplished brick layer.
That is My kind of Girl!

Taking a much deserved break after a busy day.
Mr Wilbur is helping to enjoy her treat!

Our neighbours, who we have Saturday Morning Coffee with, have sold their property and are moving to the lake.  As much as we are sad to see them go, we are happy for them as they begin this new chapter in their lives.  Papa and I have often joked that we will be using the pine box exit when we leave this property.  Both of us, with having been blessed to be born into military families, are very familiar with the gypsy lifestyle.  All he and I have ever wanted was roots.  A permanent place to call home.  I hope our Coffee friends will have found their forever home this time and we trust that our new neighbour's will enjoy their lovely home as they begin their own next chapter as well.

The only thing certain in this life is change.  Happy is the person who can embrace the day and be completely at peace in the moment.

Take care all.  Enjoy your weekend.

Until next time,

Gremlynn

 

Studio, Scapes, Celery & Cilantro

Greetings All,

For those of you who didn't already know, besides having our busy little funny farm, I also have a small quilt shop on the property that I open by Appointment. I don't keep regular hours with all we have going on out here.  Having said that, I usually only need a quick text or Facebook Messenger head's up that you want to come out and I will happily open the studio for you if I'm around. If I don't know you're coming, there's a good chance that the gate at the property entrance will be closed - or if I am in the yard, the studio will be locked and I would miss you altogether and we'd both be sad.  

After we closed the quilt shop in town, I knew I wasn't ready to be completely out of the industry yet, so we renovated Papa's workshop to become my new studio/retail space.  This is housed in the first and largest bay of our garage.  We put in a separate entrance, installed lots of great lighting and large windows.  We renamed it Prairie Points Quilt Shop & Quilters Studio as it is where I have all my personal equipment, as well as the small retail shop. 

Although I don't have the selection I had when we were in town, I do carry a great selecton of the basic basics.  Since most shops focus on collections and lines, I knew those bases were already very well covered and decided to focus on the "etc" items.  And since I am around 99% of the time, customers have taken advantage with being able to come out in the evening or on a Sunday afternoon.  If you run out of red thread at 8 pm while piecing, a quick text and I can be out in the studio in moments and you can happily carry on with your project that evening.  It has been working very well for us and our customers are happy with having the convenience of being able to shop when they need to.  Win/win. 

I offer an amazing collection of basics blenders which includes the entire line of Northcott's Canvas.  I have some awesome tone on tone whites, true black, a great selection of Fireside Minkee - the beautiful 60" wide polyester fabric that makes awesome backing, a great selection of 108" wide 100% cotton wide backing by Northcott, a selection of notions - which includes scissors, snips, replacement blades, rulers, mats, marking pens/chalks, Breezy Color Catcher Sheets, sewing machine needles, etc. I brought in the complete line of Sue Spargo 100% Australian Merino Wool fat quarters and co-ordinating 8 wt perle cotton threads.  We also have Signature threads in variegated and the complete line of Wonderfil 50 wt threads in solid and variegated colors.  I also have Hobbs 80/20 batting in fusible and non-fusible 96" wide, as well as an incredible selection of interfacings and fusible webbings.  

I am no longer offering classes as it became apparent very quickly that most students preferred lessons tapered to their particular skill set.  These may also be arranged by appointment and tailored to the student's schedule and needs - instead of the other way around.  

108" wide 100% cotton wide backing, sample quilts & patterns

Sue Spargo Wool quarters, coordinating 8 wt perle cotton thread,
Signature Threads,
Prairie Points Patterns, Wonderfil 50 wt solid & variegated threads

Selection of Blenders, Flannels, Whites, some notions and Fireside Minkee

Complete line of Canvas by Northcott

New Blenders

I sew enjoy my time spent out in the Studio.  I am surrounded by color and texture and a beautiful view to give me inspiration to fuel my creative juices.  Since I don't have to keep a schedule any more, I can work at my own pace and just create, for the sake of creating. 

This little quilt is made up of surplus fabric from a previous project.  My focus for the past couple of years has been scrappy.  I haven't even begun to make a dent in my scrap collection, but I love the freedom it affords me to not have to showcase a specific line or design.  I am free to simply create, at my own pace and in my own time.

Latest project - 24" square embellished quilt

One perk of being at home, is to have the time enjoy a pet again.  We adopted Wilbur our Studio Dog over 2 years ago.  We didn't know we had a Wilbur sized hole in our hearts until he came to live with us.  He has brought us more joy than we ever could have imagined!

Mr Wilbur after his bath

I have been busy harvesting herbs lately.  These are the first flush of Garlic Scapes that I chopped up and dehydrated.  These can be used like green onions - giving a hint of garlic in soups, stews, stir frys, etc. 

Garlic Scapes

The onion blossom stems needed to come off the spring onions, so I collected and chopped these up to be dehydrated as well.

Spring Onion Stems, ready to be chopped up

With the price of celery in the grocery store as of late, I am so happy to have our own celery again this year.  We grow enough to enjoy fresh until about Christmas.  I dehydrate the tops for celery flakes and chop up and freeze the surplus.  This is great in soups, stews and even chicken and salmon salads.  The taste is nothing like the taste of the commercially grown celery.  I was joking with Papa that he has about $1000 retail worth of celery in the garden at today's prices.  He just shakes his head at me!

First Celery harvested of the season

After a busy day in the garden, I felt like a wiener roast one evening.  I had baked buns earlier that day and made up some hot dog buns while I was at it.  We lit the first fire of the season, opened a beer, picked the few ripe cherry tomatoes and proceeded to spend a quiet moment in the fire pit area.  It didn't last long as the dark clouds in the background of the picture soon turned to rain clouds.  The wind picked up and we called it a night.  It was fun while it lasted though. And those tomatoes!  Pure Candy!

First Cherry Tomatoes of the season
With a Cold brew and freshly baked hot dog buns . . .

. . . for our first wiener roast of the season!

Papa has been working on his pond-scaping lately.  He wanted to eliminate the grass between the upper pond and the east flower bed as it is a bear to mow.  He decided to put in another raised flower bed.  When he called me to offer an opinion, I felt I wanted a walk way from the lower patio up to the upper pond.  He has since decided to make a sitting area at the top of the walkway.  I think it is going to look amazing when he's done!

Pond progress is looking good!

The other day I was out harvesting the spinach and cilantro.  The smell of Cilantro just about drove me to absolute distraction.  All I could think about was Pico de Gallo - Fresh Salsa.  So, I checked the greenhouse for a few ingredients, picked some onions and set about to make a batch.  Wow!  Incredibly fresh flavor.  Just what we needed.  A real Summertime treat.  

Cilantro washed and a batch of Pico de Gallo

Spinach wilting, Romaine lettuce cut up and washed,
Cilantro harvested, peppers, onions and tomatoes

To make this summer treat you will need:

One onion finely diced

One garlic clove, crushed (I used finely chopped garlic scapes)

One sweet green pepper, finely diced

Two or three ripe red tomatoes, chopped

About 1/4 cup chopped cilantro

A squirt of Real Lime juice or the juice of half a fresh lime

Pinch of salt

Mix ingredients together and serve with Tortilla chips.  

Be prepared to make another batch.  This won't last long!

It is safe to say it has been a cool, damp summer thus far.  Although certain crops are loving it - I still have lettuce and the spinach hasn't bolted, we could certainly use some heat.  Two years ago I was harvesting cherries by now and the peas were podding.  This year, the cherries are green as can be and the peas are just beginning to flower.  All the heat loving plants are struggling and many have simply perished from too much moisture.  Isn't it odd how one year can be so very different from another?  Regardless, the flowers are loving it.  We are not watering all the pots daily.  The peonies are still in bloom as are the irises, which would both be long gone by now.  The delphiniums have never looked so good, but the potatoes are just beginning to bloom.  A gardener's life is never the same from year to the next.  But garden we do.  It is an innate need.  We need to be in the soil.  We need to plant.  We need to nurture.  We need to try again and again.  Because, for every plant that doesn't grow properly or produce, another will reward us with more than we have ever hoped for.  

2019's garden view

Hey, there good looking!

And with that, I bid you adieu.   Have a wonderful weekend.

Warmest Regards,

Gremlynn