Brain Block and a Walk

Greetings Earthlings:

I was contemplating on what to write about today since I haven't done an entry in a while.  

Some days topics come quite easily.  Other days, not so much. Today was one of the Other Days.  

My cure for the Brain Block is to grab my camera and take a stroll around the property.  

Sunflowers always make me Happy!

Since I have spent much of the past couple of months focusing on the garden harvest and preservation, I really haven't had much time to think about much else.  

The hour I spent walking around the property today reminded me why we live the life we do.  And how blessed we are to be living it.

Lavender Bouquet in a Porcelain Cream Pitcher

My first stop was out to the Chicken Coop to collect the first flush of eggs.

Listening to the chickens go about their day and all their Chicken trials and tribulations, always gives me something to laugh about.  They are such funny creatures and quite a source of amusement.  It's always fun to watch them.  

There is definitely a hierarchy among them and this can result in some hilarious antics!  You can't help but laugh at them as they rush about to see what's going on.  It could be Big News and you sure don't want to be the last one to find out what's going on!  They are Nosy Nelly's for sure!

The Girls have been loving all the garden scraps as of late.  In fact, when they see me go out the back door, someone sounds the alarm.  I swear they keep a Sentinel on Duty for just this purpose!  

The 17 older layers come running to the fence to see what treats I am bringing out to them.  The new Little Girls have taken notice of this activity.  They can't see me open the back door, but they can see all the commotion and hear the alarm being sounded.  This prompts them to also congregate in their foyer to see what the lady is bringing out.  It's wonderful to have such a captive and attentive audience!

If I don't have any scraps, I always throw them some grain to scratch up.  This gets them out of the coop and into the yard, so I can collect the eggs without an audience.  

When a few of the Older Girls see me "stealing" their eggs, they can make quite the fuss, which brings the rooster in, to see what the issue is.  

I prefer the sneak attack method of egg collection, thus the diversion.  Thankfully their stomachs overrule their heads and they fall for it every time.  Makes collection very easy when they are all locked outside and I can explore the nests, without being harassed.  

The New Little Girls aren't bothered by my being in their coop, so collecting their eggs is a much easier task. They do get their grain when I am done though. 

Russel Crow and His Ladies are in the first pen.
The New layers have the second entrance to their own 
section of the coop.

As I walked around the yard, I took in all the beautiful Fall colors and late blooming flowers.  The Amur Maples have all turned red and the Green Ash trees are suddenly yellow.  In the orchard, a lot of the fruit trees and bushes are also changing color.  It's amazing how quickly it happens.  

Amur Maples in Full Red Dress

Green Ash have all turned bright yellow

Upon writing this (Sept 24, 2020) we haven't had a frost yet, which is highly unusual for us.  Every warm day is a bonus right now.  Considering how long it took our flower pots and baskets to fill this year, I feel it is certainly our due for our patience.  

Most years, our potted flowers are full and lush by mid July.  To be honest, I had given up on them by that point this year as they were wind whipped, water logged and dismal looking.  

Papa, however, picked up the torch and continued to nurture them.  His perseverance was rewarded by a flush of blooms in Mid August.  Had we had our normal frost in early September, we would have literally had 2 weeks of blossoms, but instead, we have enjoyed them for over 6 weeks now.  

Pink Geranium started from our own collected seed.
I honestly didn't think we'd see a bloom this year.

I went out to try to harvest some of the seeds from these plants last week, and they really aren't setting any seed yet.  What a year!

One side of our front door step. 
Normally the Snap Dragons would be sharing seed with me,
But this year, nothing yet.

Even the Hydrangea, which normally blooms in early August is only just blooming now.  I honestly didn't think it would bloom at all this year.  Such a pleasant and wonderful surprise.

Very unexpected blooms on the Hydrangea!

Since all the song birds have suddenly vanished, I decided to take down the Hummingbird feeders for the year.  As I cleaned them though, I realized that we really haven't seen many flocks of geese yet - a few small ones, but nothing significant.  So instead of putting all the feeders away, I refilled one to hang back outside - just in case the little ones are late in moving on as well.  

 

Feeder refilled one last time for the season

We had such an amazing Hummingbird season this summer, even though they got off to a late start.  Normally, I clean and refill our three feeders every couple of weeks, mostly to keep the nectar fresh.  This year, I was refilling them all, every week as they were always all but empty!  

I know we had more than two hummers regularly visiting, as it wasn't uncommon to see one come in as another was leaving.  That was a complete first for us.  We obviously had more than what were seeing, with having to refill the feeders as often as I did!

One of our regular visitors this summer

Another thing I noticed in the yard today was how many flowers were blooming out of season!  This, and how many are coming up as volunteers.  Lupines should not be blooming right now.  Their time is late June, early July.  

You can see the large seed pods on the left side from the first flowering
of this Lupine plant. 
The second flowering in the purple stalk to the right.  Highly unusual.

We also have several little petunias coming up in the oddest of places, where they have no business being, and yet they are.  And thriving.  If this isn't a testament to bloom where you are planted, I don't know what is!

This little Petunia self seeded in the row of carrots.

And this little Petunia self seeded in the gravel, beside the shed.

The garden was also unusual, in a good way, this summer.  The High Tunnel/Hoop House we built earlier this spring, exceeded our expectations!  We got more squash, cantaloupe, honeydews and watermelon than we could have dreamed about.  Still no pumpkins, but you can't have everything.  Papa has pretty much cleaned it out for the season, but we learned a lot for next year.

The High Tunnel/Hoop House is pretty much cleaned out.
All that is left are Hubbard Squash and sweet melons.
A very productive year for sure!

It's hard to believe that Strawberries are still coming as well!  I don't think we have ever had as many as we have had this year!  They started in June and are still thriving.  This photo was taken today - one ripe and one on deck.  I have made Jam, Syrup and frozen as much as possible.  We have been enjoying them fresh every chance we get.  It has been a real treat!

Strawberries are still coming!

The greenhouse is still producing peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers.  

Usually by this time of the year, we have had to have to have some auxiliary heat, but not yet.  

Once we get a few cold nights, we are going to clean it out for the season.  It has been so wonderful to have it producing as long as it has. 

Purple peppers - taste like green, but so pretty!

Papa checked on the grapes again last night.  They are in a protected area in the yard, so they can take a frost or two.  Usually by now, we are hoping they are going to ripen before the frost.  This year's crop looks amazing.  All the extra moisture was greatly appreciated by the plants.  The grapes look lush and plump.

Valiant Grapes still on the vine.  We'll see what we have enough for soon.  
These are not a table grape, but they make excellent Jelly.  
One day maybe, we'll have enough to do a batch of wine.

Canning season is also coming to an end.  

Normally by now, I am sick of seeing produce come into the house.  

This year, because things have been staggered so nicely, there hasn't been an overwhelming amount of anything coming in at any one time.  

Yes, there have been some 12 hour days where I am tired and ready for bed, but, for the most part, these days haven't been one on top of the next.  

When you get a break between sessions, it is quite manageable.  I am almost sad to see it coming to an end.  Almost.

A miniature Sunflower by the pond

Like every other summer, the only time I get out to the studio is when it's raining, extremely hot or windy.  I have had a good balance of that this summer.  Enough studio days to feel like I have had a break from the canning/gardening routine.  I even managed to get a couple of quilts done, so that always makes me feel extra good.  

This Little Baby Quilt went to our Bee Keeper's new little arrival.  We didn't know a gender, so I decided that it had to be Bee themed in gender neutral colors.  I found the little Bees and Hive with a Google Coloring Page search.  

This is my own design and was a fun applique project.  Had Little Arthur been a girl, I would have added Yellow RicRak in the binding to make it more feminine.  As is it is, it is the perfect little boy quilt.  The little family is doing wonderfully and the newest addition is absolutely adorable.  

Baby Arthur's Baby Quilt

Speaking of the Bees, it has been reported that the hives are doing very well this year.  This is great news since they had a complete hive collapse last winter.  

Alex has taken a different approach this year and is happy with the results thus far.  Hopefully the bees winter well and there will be honey available for purchase next summer.  

We had a small sample when he did hive maintenance recently and I have to report that I have never tasted honey as good as this.  Finger's crossed for continued success!

Alex tending to his Bee Hives

 Yesterday, I put up the last of the beets into pickles and had a bit of brine left over, so I did another pint of Dilled Garlic Pickled Carrots for my grand daughter.  

The last of the beets have been canned up.

The only thing left in the garden is some Swiss Chard, Carrots and herbs.  

We will be planting next year's garlic soon. 

The Garden is all but empty for the 2020 growing season.

Not much else is going on right now.  

Once the last of the garden is in, Papa and I can officially enter Winter Coasting Mode!  As if!  

Enjoy your day and thank for stopping by.

Until Next Time,

Gremlynn

  

  

 

August Daze

 Greetings Earthlings!

August is quickly coming to a close.  Where does the summer go?  It seems that July takes so long to come, but when the calendar changes to August, the next few weeks are a blur.  Perhaps, for us, it has more to do with the garden and kitchen work and not having the time to catch our breath?  Regardless, it already feels like Fall.  Which, I am not going to lie, is my favorite season!

What have we been up to at No Regrets?  I can honestly say that every single day has involved some sort of harvest and some sort of kitchen activity.  It is not uncommon to have a 12 hour work day this time of the year.  While many are spending their time at the lake or camping, we are harvesting and bringing in the fruits of our labor.  August is the end of the peas and beans, raspberries, spinach and lettuces.  It is the beginning of the potato, carrot, pickling cucumbers and squash harvests.  Tomatoes continue to ripen for us in the greenhouse.  They begin in June and continue until October.  As they ripen, I can up Stewed Tomatoes, Tomato Sauce and Salsa.  If I have enough, I would like to attempt ketchup this year.  Time will tell on that one.

Sweet Summer Peas shelled on the back deck.

August is a time of steam juicing raspberries for jelly and syrups and for making raspberry wine.  I pick almost daily Snap Peas to be steam blanched, then frozen.  The herbs have all had their first harvests and may offer a second flush if the weather cooperates.  Onions have been pulled to be chopped to be either frozen or dehydrated.  For some reason, we are no longer able to store our onions for any length of time.  So dehydrating and freezing is the best way for us to keep them.  Garlic has also been harvested and hung to dry.  We are able to store the bulbs, but still opt to dehydrate many of them, which will be ground into garlic powder at a later date.  

Another picking of Raspberries from our patch.  
Ready to be juiced to become syrup.

The early bearing strawberries have given way to the ever-bearing ones.  The first ones become jam and the following ones are collected, washed and frozen.  Some years we get quite a few.  Other years, not so much.  

The High Tunnel has proven to be a great addition for us.  (If you check an earlier post, you can read how it came to be and why we decided to build it.)  As cold and wet as June and July were, I am happy to report that we have squash this year.  We only planted a couple of zucchini plants as they can quickly overtake your pantry with their daily offering.  Papa brings several weekly to work to share with those who want them.  We will be getting Spaghetti Squash this year as there are several growing out there as I write.  

We ate our very first Canta-dew yesterday.  What is a Canta-dew you ask?  Is is the sister of the Honey-loupe, of course!  When you plant Cantaloupe and Honeydew plants reasonably close to each other, it is quite common to get a cross pollinated fruit.  The one we ate looked very much like a Cantaloupe on the outside.  When we sliced into it, we obviously expected to see orange flesh, but were greeted with green.  It had the texture of a Cantaloupe, the color of a Honeydew and a taste more leaning former, but slightly like the latter.  I am excited to see what other mystery fruit shows up at my breakfast table as these little gems ripen and fall off their vines!  

The one and only baby Watermelon in the High Tunnel

August is when the new pullets begin to lay eggs for the first time.  And when we harvest the roosters of the chicks we hatched earlier this spring.  We will cull the old layers later this month, or perhaps next month, when the new pullets come into full swing.  We only keep our layers for 2 years before we dispatch them to become chicken stock or canned chicken.  They are a generous creature and feed our family twice - once with their eggs, then with their meat.  

The flower pots on the deck and around the yard are finally starting to fill in!  We have never had such a late season with our flowers.  June was so cold and windy, many baskets and pots were bedraggled.  July was wet and cool so many never really began to grow.  We have finally had some heat and they are starting to fill in just now.  With the way this growing season is going, it wouldn't surprise me to have an early frost and lose them sooner than later.  2020 has been a challenging gardening year in many respects.

Petunias from seed we saved from last year's flowers are finally filling out their baskets.

Many of our fruit trees that appeared to be dead, have finally leafed out.  Most didn't produce any fruit, but at least they survived.  Hopefully better luck next year.

Due to the Cherry trees not producing anything more than a snack this year, when our friend B asked if we wanted anything from BC, we crazily said, Sure!  Cherries, please!  Two cases or 40 lbs of cherries showed up that suddenly needed to be picked thru, de-stemmed and pitted.  It was a very long day, but netted some beautiful Cherry Pie Filling and a batch of Cherry wine for our efforts.  Sure glad I didn't ask for any peaches!

Sour Cherries on one of the two trees that actually produced any fruit this year at all!

We have had an amazing song bird season this year!  I swear we have never seen as many juvenile Gold Finches as we have this year.  It is not uncommon to see 50 or more of the little guys at the bird feeder.  Their little wings are almost too small for their bodies and they appear to be inebriated when they fly off.  Hopefully they have a safe journey south and return next year to hatch more babies!  

The other day, I saw 6 Robins out in the back yard, all bopping along the lawn.  Most were juvenile as well.  They were so cute!  

Juvenile Gold Finches at the feeder.

And we have a clutch of 6 Blue Bird babies who all travel together.  They often sit on top of the weather vane and survey the property.  Our yard is alive with little song birds.

Not sure who these are, but I am suspecting they are Blue Birds.

We have also noticed more hummingbirds than usual.  In a normal year, I might go thru a liter of nectar every 2-3 weeks.  This year, I am totally refilling the feeders every week.  We have seen more than one at a time vying for time at the three feeders we have throughout the yard.  We have a couple that we see every day.  It's pretty cool!  When we purchased this property, there were only two trees on it and no birds.  Since being here, we have planted and transplanted over 1000 trees and the birds have come to enjoy the yard.

One of the many Hummers who have been visiting our feeders this year.

The bees are doing well this year.  Our bee keepers, with a full year of experience under their belts, have taken more of a laise faire attitude towards them this year.  They have learned that hives need to be left alone to thrive.  None of us knew anything about bee keeping last year so although they produced a lot of honey, the bees didn't make the winter and never really grew in numbers.  

This year, with a new plan, the hives have almost tripled in colonies and are happily doing their thing.  Papa improved the hive area and they are now protected and shaded by sunflowers and a wind break.  The bees seem to be thriving and will hopefully fare better this winter than last.  If things go well, there should be honey available for purchase next summer from our Bee Keeping Friends.

Doing a little hive maintenance.

Our Littles have been out for a few sleepovers.  It is always fun for Papa and myself to have them to entertain and to entertain us.  During one visit, we picked and shelled peas for several hours, made an Angel Food Cake with surplus eggs, picked strawberries and raspberries, baked some buns, hung out some laundry and collected eggs.  She commented that Papa and I do work very hard out here, but it is very rewarding work.  We spent a lot of time just talking as we completed our tasks and solved all the world's problems!  It's amazing what you will chat about as you spend a couple of hours shelling peas.  Wonderful memories for me.  Hopefully the same for her.  She went to bed very tired that night and slept until 9:30 the next morning.  The second day wasn't quite so taxing as we took in a bit of studio time to work on her hand stitched doll.

My Pea Picking and Shelling Assistant

The only time I get out in the studio is when it's too hot, too windy or raining.  I was very happy for a few rainy, then very hot days to work on my Scrappy Stripes Quilt.  It ended up a lot bigger than I had planned, but the best laid plans often go awry.  I guess when you have scraps, upon scraps, upon scraps, it's pretty easy to get a bit carried away!  I am very happy with the result, though.  It ended up fitting nicely on top the Queen Sized Bed in my Guest room for someone to enjoy at a later date.

Scrappy Stripes, quilted, bound, labelled and washed. 
Hanging out to dry before it's laid out in the Guest Room.  
Ended up being 86" x 94".

As August comes to a close, it has been wonderful deciding what is for supper by what is ready to be picked in the garden.  Lots of fresh raw veggies have been filling our plates.  As long and tiresome as this month is for us, it is wonderful to enjoy the fresh bounty of our labors.  Nothing tastes as good as a freshly picked cucumber or broccoli, an ear of sweet corn or a cherry tomato.  Soon the frost will come and the garden will begin to be put to bed for another year.  It is a bittersweet time of the year.

I didn't take a picture, but I can share my recipe for Zucchini Rounds.  I had a 3-4" diameter, by about 12" long  zucchini on the counter and I needed a side for the pork chops we were having for supper.  Washed the zucchini, then sliced it into 1" round disks.  The seeds were still small, barely noticeable, so they didn't need to be removed.  I put my pan over medium heat and added a couple table spoons of our home rendered lard (you could use cooking oil for sure).  In one bowl, I beat an egg.  In a second bowl, I added about 1 cup of Panko crumbs and 1/2 tsp each of Salt, Pepper and Garlic Powder, then mixed them together.  I dipped each round into the egg, then dredged it in the crumb mixture.  Fried one side for about 3 minutes, until golden brown, then flipped over and browned the other side, also about 3 minutes.  Before removing, I poked the round to see if it was tender - not mushy, not hard.  Removed from pan and served as a side, with Ranch Dressing.  OMGosh!  They were amazing!  A definite Do Over for sure!

The days are noticeably shorter and the mornings considerably cooler already.  We even noticed some leaves are beginning to turn.  Enjoy the rest of your August as long as the days last.

Until next time,

Gremlynn

No Regrets Ranch

Greetings Earthlings:

PSA:  Did you know that Facebook can create a Page for your business, blog or address and call it a Community Page?  I only just discovered this recently.

As you are aware, we have called our property No Regrets Ranch and I will tag my personal page with this name when I have something to share of farm/lifestyle interest.

I also have an Instagram page under @Gremlynn1 that I use #noregretsranch and #ppqsponoka, to sort thru entries for our farm and my quilt shop.

It was clicking on the location tag of No Regrets Ranch, on my personal Facebook, that I made the discovery that Facebook set up a Community Page for No Regrets Ranch.  They choose the photos and content for that page.  I couldn't edit anything until I became an Admin for it.  Thankfully, I was able to claim the page they created for me and am now the sole Administrator for it.  Apparently it has been active for well over a year.  I had no idea.

To check out the Official No Regrets Ranch Facebook page you can go to:  https://www.facebook.com/No-Regrets-Ranch-101287754988105/
Here is where I add my content for the page.  It is the Official Page  Copy/paste if it won't take you there.

You can still click on or copy/paste:
https://www.facebook.com/No-Regrets-Ranch-370506267134051/?__tn__=kC-R&eid=ARDrrcbFWu-U5Fx_KE0PAlqi6vtJFqYLeysbuVEotCIC5TViWcaHyYBt1WC2Hkwp79d1sp60cj3W3M0v&hc_ref=ARR6ws-V_AvoUi3gz-CKyWN1JAL1v4d1aVnKTjBD64izhEoW0Dh6ZJdlyYYj8lapW8U&ref=nf_target&fref=tag&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARBffM6UdjoMiDroNCxhadZ5R2UpvTWk3C2oDlPxcPpv27N8XqJrR1f3vby5tl6IWm-y_RFcdRDm4hBpjjxfbe7JEPiObwg4jtOVzJrt23pvJonbMLXGMneoKLOBcJTMCCVxfHm-rwnqvhIPbsnkg0cUiW14-Rby5-PiwBTD3KpnQC-iZywdGZCrrRJz6S035qjRtrYhaAc4UoFe9-W6Ssjpsy5PyLjXRCkmR7jLZIw2jrS3Qa59P3FvS4PallQE9im332MCoW7w_E4DhxFtQpfMdqLbbG8   to get to the Community Page.

Sure glad I was able to get this sorted out.  I am still trying to figure out a way to merge the two.  Stay tuned on that one!

Things have been rather busy here at our little funny farm lately.  Summer is time the time when the rest of the world heads to the lake or golf course and when we head to the garden and yard.

Main Garden view from the back deck

I enjoy this time of the year immensely but it often difficult for those who don't live a lifestyle such as ours, to fully appreciate that we just can't drop what we're doing for the weekend and get away.  It takes a lot of planning on our part to find help that understands and is able to do what is required out here to maintain the greenhouse.  It can quickly cook up in the extreme heat, if not monitored. 

We have simply come to the realization that we Can get away from October to April, but not from April to October.  And we're good with that.  We do take the occasional day away, but never an over night.  There is simply just too many things that need care and attention and it's a lot of responsibility to leave to someone else to manage.  And it is worse yet to return home to less than ideal circumstances.  Thankfully we love our summers on the farm and are quite happy and content to spend our summer days here.

The garden and greenhouse are both in full production.  Already I have canned up 2 dozen quarts of stewed tomatoes, a canner full of tomato sauce and our first batch of Salsa of the season. This is only the beginning of the tomatoes yet to come.

First batch of Salsa of the season

Jams and jellies are being replenished as berries ripen. 

Strawberry Jam!

Raspberry Jelly

Snow Pea pods are being picked, blanched and frozen and we had our first picking of shelling peas the other day.  Soon there will be evenings spent out on the deck, sitting in the shade, shelling peas and chatting about our day.

Peas to be shelled as the raspberries are being steam juiced for jelly

Baby Peas!  Aren't they just the cutest!?

The raspberries are beginning to flush.  The apples are getting big.  We are enjoying the zucchini on almost a daily basis.  Tomatoes that aren't being canned have been made into Pico de Gallo, Bruschetta and toasted tomato sandwiches. There is sincerely nothing like vine ripened tomatoes!

Bruschetta and garlic oil brushed and toasted sourdough bread for lunch!

The first flush of sweet peppers have been chopped and frozen or dehydrated.  Having both on hand is a great convenience for me for winter meals.

Sweet Peppers ready to be processed

Sweet peppers diced up and ready to be frozen or dehydrated

The herb jars are getting replenished with the newly dehydrated herbs.

Lemon Thyme ready to be dehydrated

First picking of parsley ready to be washed,
cut up and dehydrated

Last night I put Lavender stems and Calendula into the dehydrator to prepare them to be infused into a neutral oil.  This will be added to my homemade tallow soaps, later this fall or winter.

Lavender and Calendula ready for the dehydrator 

Our steers are doing well.  Today I was hanging out the wash when I noticed all three, laid out on the shady side of the wind fence.  It's a rough life with a full belly of all the grass you can eat!  They are looking great!  Obviously very content. 

2020 Boys of Summer:  Quar, Ann, and Tine as named by Maeva

I heard a kerfuffle over in the chicken coop this morning.  The not so little meat birds are beginning to find their voices and were mimicking Russel Crowe, our rooster in the laying flock.  Apparently Himself Did Not like this and tried to assert his dominance by standing between His girls and the chain link fence which divides the two flocks.  When one of the little Roos walks by, he rushes the fence to challenge the interloper.  I guess he's just protecting his interests, but it's cute listening to the new little men assert their voices.  Sadly, their final days will soon be upon us as their harvest date looms closer.

Russel Crowe and his girls.  The meat birds, in behind and to the left,
are the ones we hatched out earlier this spring. 
These are all Russel's offspring.

Our flower pots are sure lack lustre this year.  It has been so cold and damp that they are lacking the heat they need to thrive.  I had a memory come up on facebook and it really drove this point home for us.  I knew they were pretty sad, I just didn't realize just how bad!  We will be composting many of them right away as they are just too depressing to look at any more.  What is normally spilling out of the pots onto the deck and ground by this time of the year, have barely begun to bloom.  It is a sad state for sure. 

Most of the perennials have come back though and they have all bloomed, albeit it late this year.

 Several of our fruit trees are still in a sad state.  Many of last year's super producers are almost completely without leaves this year.  It appears that this has been a common theme for more people than not.  I am to understand that the trees never had a chance to store up for winter during the colder and wetter weather we had last fall.  Then they broke dormancy during the January chinook, followed by 6 weeks of sub arctic weather and a very cold spring.  They all appear to be pliable, which indicates that they are still very much alive, but many are only partly leafed out, even this late in the season.  We'll leave them for this year and hope they reset their internal clocks for next year.  

Isn't this just the saddest Cherry tree ever?

Or this one!  It was a top producer last year. 
This year it won't even leaf out!

The Herbs have been lovely this year.  I made a batch of herbed butter and liked it so much that I had to make another batch.  It is in the freezer in individual pats.  OMGosh!  It is truly amazing!

I gathered and chopped up Garlic scapes, chives, basil, oregano and parsley.

Sauted it all in a tablespoon of grapeseed oil until just bright, not browned.

In the food processor, 1 lb of butter, softened and chopped to tablespoon sized pieces.

Add the cooled herbs to the butter and process until smooth.

Using a small scoop, I scooped individual portions onto parchment paper
 to be frozen, then stored in a large ziplock bag.

I haven't been spending much time in the studio lately, but I have been knitting a bit in the evening.  Things will slow down in the garden in a month or two and I will get all the studio time I am wanting, come winter! 

I did get a day or two out here a while ago when we had a big rain and worked on my scrappy string strips blocks.  I added the side pieces to make them into squares.  This will be another project to be completed at a later date - or when we get a few days of rain!

Scrappy Strips getting side strips.  Will give this a bit of cohesiveness when it's done.

I guess that is all for this entry.  I hope this finds you well.  If you are looking for me, I'll be in the garden or the kitchen!  Enjoy your weekend!

Regards,

Gremlynn