Cold but Sunny...41º

The "fall" days of summer have arrived in Wallowa County, this is the main reason that we have to work so hard to have a producing garden...We complain about the 95º days but the garden grows like crazy, then we get a cold snap for a few days and everything skids to a stop!..Our zucchinis are about 3 inches long and skinny, good for a bite or two...Looks like we have a few warmer days in the forecast and things will start to grow again...Have to be thankful for what we get.

The last few days have been restful for us, because when it is cooler, there is less watering to be done and even the weeds slow down a bit...I think Herb has lawn mowing on his agenda today, after changing the filter and oil in the mower, the blinking red light has turned off...That made him sigh with relief.

I should spend some time decluttering our house, tends to get that way when I would rather be outside or if inside, making bread is much more fun, than cleaning...I will try to post a photo this morning, internet is working, now if blogger.com will let me do what I want...Hugs to All...OWAV)

I love begonias but have never had much luck, this year i'm getting a few blooms.

 

Pickle bread, needs more pickle...41º

Yesterday was cooler and it felt good, but a bit worried about the low of 41º at our house, last night...It was colder at the official site...We have come to expect these cooler temps in August but it sure slows down the vegetable garden...Nothing we can do about it so I soon had the sourdough bubbling, flour in the big tupperware bowl, let it work for awhile before adding whole wheat flour, butter, egg, molasses, chopped pickles, pickle juice and garlic...Bread is a slow process, so it gives me time to work outside or inside and knead the dough occasionally until I shape it and let it raise one last time before it goes in the oven.

The loaves rose beautifully in the oven and we waited until they were done to eat our dinner of leftovers and fresh baked bread...I definitely need to add more dill and more pickle to get the flavor of the bread that was given to us...Hugs to All...OWAV:)

PS...Had trouble with the internet this morning, lost half of the original blog, so this is a shortened version...😜 and it still won't post the photos. GRRRRRR

Summer Rain Storm...57º

Thunder and lightning on the mountains of our valley last night...Really hard rain for a few minutes and a brief shower again this morning....Supposed to clear off and be in the 70's today...Seems like a good day to bake more bread...I made a 10# batch on Tuesday using sour dough for leavening but added whole grains, a little molasses, eggs and butter to get a softer loaf, that slices well for toast, sandwiches and also freezes well...We each had a warm slice and shared a couple of loaves with friends.

I mentioned last week that the Methodist ladies needed dill and garlic for the pickles they make and sell...Since we don't take money for our garden produce, they brought me a loaf of "pickle bread," in trade...A local gal has started selling several kinds of bread from her home this summer and "pickle bread" is a best seller...Herb enjoyed the loaf and it made good tuna sandwiches for our dinner on a very hot day...Since today is a cooler day, I'm again in the baking mood...So I've fed the sourdough this morning, looked on line to see just what they put in "pickle bread," and think a basic bread dough, using dill pickle juice for the liquid, add in chopped garlic and pickles and see what I come up with...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Tuesdays Loaves

Sweet Peas

Memory...55º

I've written about my friend Margaret several times, she was my boss, my mentor, my friend...She passed away a little over a year ago, just short of her 95th birthday...When I stopped to visit with the family, as they moved her belongings out of her apartment at the Alpine House, her granddaughter asked if I would like her Christmas Cactus..."Of course" I said not mentioning the fact that I've killed every cactus that I have owned...The following link is from last October, about the "Christmas Cactus," read it to catch up on the story...  link   https://omanumber1.blogspot.com/2020/01/more-memories25.html

I managed to keep the cactus alive during the winter months, repotted it, then watered it too much and thought for sure that it was on its last legs...But in May we moved it to the front porch with the other house plants and the yearly geraniums, to spend the summer...Would you believe that "Maggie" sprouted buds and is now in full bloom as we near Margarets August birthday...I'm surprised and amazed but like Margaret, this cactus is resilient and stubborn as it blooms with abandon, kind of like Margaret lived her life...What a great memory of a dear friend....Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Loving the cooler air this morning...52º

Yesterday morning found Herb and I outside early, rearranging the wood pile, so it will be easier to stack...We both worked up a sweat, then it was back in the house for breakfast of sausage, eggs, toast and fruit, before we tackled the rest of the day.

I always seem to be thinking up things to add more work to our day and yesterday was no exception...My mom always grew "Cromfrey," which in the old days was a medicinal herb, but has since fallen out of favor...Read all about it at the link...I still have two plants, grown from starts that I brought home from her house in Elgin, OR., many years ago...A few years ago I read that it was "the best" soil amendment.

I copied and pasted the following from the internet..."When using comfrey as a green manure, add chopped comfrey to garden soil in the fall. Gently mix it into the top layers of the soil using a digging fork. By spring, it will have mostly decomposed and enriched the soil. Comfrey cuttings and compost soil are added to beds in the fall as a green manure soil amendment."

For my faithful readers, you know that we just harvested our garlic crop and something has to be done to the empty bed to amend it for next year...My plan is: I've saved a bag of maple leaves from last fall, and now I have comfrey that is 3 to 4 feet tall, just waiting to be used..While Herb was mowing the lawn, I cut both cromfrey plants down, carefully laid tham out in a row...He finished mowing the lawn, then mowed over the comfrey plants...All went well until the "big tube" on the mower plugged up with soggy/green comfrey leaves/stalks and he had to dismantle the tube to unplug it!! Damn...We continued on with our day, of watering, laundry, pulling weeds and deadheading...We sure slept good last night.

The chopped cromfrey is waiting this morning for me to get moving...I will layer leaves, comfrey, alfalfa pellets, straw and aged manure in this 8x8 foot bed, keep it well watered and over the fall and winter it will compost into lovely friable soil, no tilling needed, ready for a new crop...Probably carrots...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

The following photos are for your enjoyment, as it is difficult to take photos of a plugged up mower, while holding tools and doing the heavy looking on while Herb is reattaching the tube, using only a few swear words...😀

Front Porch

Lots of blooms.

Hot, Hot, Hot!..57º

I suppose if you grow up in a hot climate, you get used to it...Guess I will never know, but I do know that the heat of the last few days, is really hard on us...A little cooler for the next few days is a nice respite...It cooled off last night and our house is below 70º this morning...Herb and I have our handy lap quilts covering us this morning until we get up and get moving for the day...Actually Herb has a load of wash started, (sheets so they can line dry and go back on our bed tonight)...Luxury at its' best...I have a chuck roast ready to go in the crockpot this morning.

We are planning to get outside this morning and work in the yard while it is still cool...Keeping everything watered is a chore...The veggie garden has really taken off with this heat, tiny zucchinis grow by inches each day, blooms on the cucumbers and cherry tomatoes, snap peas are blooming and setting on, potatoes are blooming...We will have raspberries to pick again today and another huge bouquet of sweet peas that bloom on the garden fence.

I see our garden visitor almost daily, a small garter snake, as he slithers just ahead of my steps...I snapped a photo of one of the larger snakes as he lay in the rocks on the south side of the garage, warming up for the day...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

What's on the menu?..61º

Dinner salads, such as taco on Tuesday, when Pam joined us on the deck, and yesterday Herb and I had a chicken salad, that we ate inside because it was about 95º on our deck...We topped it off, a bit later in the day, with ice cream covered with fresh raspberries from our garden and didn't feel a bit guilty!..It finally started to cool down at 7:30 just before the sunset behind Ruby Peak (I think)...We are in for another hot one today and I will check the raspberries early this morning, maybe another raspberry sundae today? 😇...Sounds good to me or maybe a raspberry milkshake..

I harvested another bunch of dill last night and parted with a few heads of garlic, all donated to the Methodist Church Ladies for their money raising project...They jar and sell several kinds of pickles, that have been a hit in recent years...I think we will get to sample some of their pickles this year...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

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