Catching Up

September starts next Tuesday and I have no clue where August went. I know I've been busy, and having a wonderful time being busy, but man, August has sped by. Last night and last Thursday I went to Safeco Field to see the Mariner's play. Last night David and I went with Frank and John and had a great time. Our seats were about 20 rows up from the field looking straight down the first base line. Mariners WON!. Thursday night I went to Stitch n' Pitch with Bob and Kelley Petkun of Knit Picks. What lovely people, and I loved visiting with Kelley while we knit during the game. Mariner's lost.

The garden at Edgar's Acres is really prolific. We've harvested all of the onions now, and where we had the onions planted, David built three more raised beds. We've added compost, dirt and covered it with straw and they will be ready for next spring.

The brussel sprouts are being picked, and growing. I have one that is full of those damned aphids, but the other plant is beautiful. Once we have a hard frost the damned aphids will be gone, and the brussel sprouts will be ours. We lost one plant to a wind storm so Susan harvested the sprouts off the plant before to dug up the roots.

The yellow plum tree was FULL so we picked them. What a luscious color, and so good!

Susan and I have dried some for use later on.

While we were in Sequim, we celebrated Leslie's birthday with dinner. Look at the colors in the shishkobobs. The red onion was SWEET, and the flavor of the baby squash was amazing.

We now have enough onions until next year. Fortunately we have old refrigerators for cold storage.

There has to be something special about the soil at Edgar's Acres, because the produce is so sweet, especially the carrots and beets.

The other night I cooked up some brussel sprouts, leeks, yellow squash and tomatoes for dinner. I added a touch of curry, and WOW. The squash really soaks up the curry flavor.

So, as you can see, I've been busy gardening. I love gardening. It is hard work, but relaxing at the same time. I love reaping the harvest from the sweat equity we put into the garden. God is good to us by providing us such sweet soil (which is rock free and FLAT), good weather, and good friends to work with and to share with.

I've also been knitting. Baby blankets. There is a baby boom going on. I really can't post any pictures until the blankies are delivered because I don't want surprises spoiled. We had a baby shower for Jenn and I gave her this blankie.
It's just the log cabin pattern. I used Encore Multis worsted weight in "Baby Boy."


It's knit in a garter stitch on size 9 needles. While I was knitting the blankie, Jenn sent out an email with the colors for the baby's nursery. The colors in the blankie are the exact colors she is using for her nursery. While I was finishing up, a horrible heat wave hit our area. In order to finish the knitting, we went to shopping malls (where there was air conditioning), I knit in the car while David had the air conditioning on full blast, and got up to knit in the early morning, where the temperature was in the 70s. It got to be pretty funny, but the blankie got done in time.

Jenn was thrilled. Jenn is a knitter, and she knows a lot of love and prayer went into the blankie for her baby. I had so much fun knitting it.

I got two more done, and am working on two, and will be starting another here soon. Like I said, there is a definite baby boom going on.

Well, off to work on another blankie, and harvest some lettuce and tomatoes for tonight's dinner.

TTFN

Sue

Communications

Does anyone write a letter anymore, put it in an envelope, seal it, put a stamp on it, and then ... drop it into a mailbox? I was trying to remember the last time I received a hand written letter and can't. I do remember writing a letter to Debbie about 8 years ago. I don't hand write letters because my handwriting has become bad. Between taking notes at work for years, and getting bonked on the head a few years back, half the time I can't read my writing.

Over the weekend my sons talked me into signing up for Facebook. Fun. I got to thinking, however, how may ways people now communicate with each other. It's too much. We have the lan line house phone, primarly used by the "police guild" and politicians, and by India trying to get you to buy something. It's also a backup for the computer if the power goes out.

Then there is the cell phone, which most people use now since the police guilds, politicians and India don't (at this time) have access to that number.

Text messaging on the cell phone is evident everywhere. I am amazed at the number of people so involved in texting on their phones that they just keep walking while texting. This can be a dangerous way to communicate. Texting while walking in front of traffic seems to be a common practice, as well as texting while entering or exiting an elevator (which freaks me out each time I see someone doing that, but that is another story).

Email, good old fashion email.

Then there are blogs, which is one of my personal favorites. Twitter, for twittering.

IM (instant messaging).

Ravelry for those who are into the passtime called knitting.

And then there is Facebook.

My question is how can I get anything done if I'm busy sitting at my computer checking my emails, blog, Facebook, and oh yes, my remote access.

Off to knit and get ready for more gardening.

When I have time, I'll have to bring you all up to date on what's been happening. I just need to figure out which communication venue to use.

TTFN

Sue

From Heat to Fleece

Yesterday afternoon we left the hot Seattle area to come over to Edgar's Acres. When we left yesterday it was hot, humid, smoggy, and loud with the sound of the Blue Angles flying overhead. When we crossed over the Olympic Mountains, it was much cooler, drier, clearer, and quieter. Last night we sat on the deck watching the sun go down wearing our fleece jackets because it was cold after sweating at 10:00 pm the night before. I got a great night sleep too because it was cool enough to sleep. It is also good knitting weather!!!

The hot weather has given us some rewards, however.

In a matter of four days we have green beans to eat.

On Sunday these beans were just about 2 inches long, and so immature. Yesterday, I picked about 2 pounds. Yum. I grow Blue Lake Beans, both the bush bean variety, and the pole bean. These are the bush beans. As I was picking the beans I was thinking of the reason the bush bean variety was developed. When I was growing up in the Willamette Valley, each August bus loads of kids would go out to the bean fields and pick beans, the pole bean variety. Well, between the migrant workers complaining about these kids taking work away from them, and the good people concerned about child labor, these bus load of kids no longer could go out to the fields to pick. Well, without a bunch of kids willing to pick beans in the hot August weather, they developed the bush bean variety to be picked by machines. Yep, by machines. As I was picking and touching these beautiful plants I was thinking about how horrible it must be for these plants to work so hard to grow beautifully, produce such beautiful beans, just to be chopped down in one afternoon by a machine. Poor bushes, they still have more beans for us.

I told Susan to be sure to pick again on Sunday, there will be more for her.

On Sunday, I sowed my pole beans, and the little plants are sprouting already. Ready short germination time, but with the soil being so nice and warm, and our keeping the soil most, we've got baby bean plants.

This is the pole bean bed. The trellis is made out of the remains of our old patio umbrella that was destroyed last fall in a wind storm. We are hoping this works. It's a lot easier to put up, and why not use it if we can.

Guess what we're having for dinner tonight.

This morning I am wandering around in my summer nightgown with my fleece jacket on, hugging a hot cup of coffee. What a wonderful life.

Well, off to get the laundry started, and then think about harvesting Walla Walla onions.

TTFN

Sue