The Fall Garden....

Mercy, it's been a long time since I've written. My apologies...

I love the fall garden. The harvest is in, or most of it. There's only a few green tomatoes left on vines. The herbs are still doing well, of course. Also still plenty of carrots. I'll leave them in the ground and pull them as we need them.

Yesterday and today I gathered seed from fennel and dill and also bean pods that I had left on the vines a long time ago. I'll try planting them next spring. I'll also have a small harvest of cilantro seed, aka coriander. Of course there are many little tomatoes on the ground that will produce volunteers for me next spring.

My best tasting tomatoes this year came from Cherry Sweeties which I had planted last year and they reseeded. (I allowed one or two plants to grow and produce this year.) I will allow some to grow next year also.

I also got Chocolate Cherry volunteers. I confirmed my opinion from last year, I don't care for them. So when I pulled the vines a week ago I scrupulously picked up all fallen chocolate cherry tomatoes.

I also got some interesting volunteers from seed drops of a heritage tomato which is very popular but I can't remember the name. The leaves look like potato leaves. The tomatoes on it this year were smaller than from the original plant last year. Strange for a heritage plant. I thought they were supposed to reproduce true from seed. But there were a lot of them and they ripened well. They were about twice the size of cherry tomatoes, two bite cherries. Quite tasty, but the skins were rather tough and later in the season they all started to split even before ripening.

I started some tomato plants from seed again. Yellow Pear cherry tomatoes which are a favorite of a good friend of mine where an easy choice. I won't grow them again. I thought they were rather tasteless, but they were very pretty in a salad and were huge producers. Also started seeds for Park Slicer and a couple other Park varieties. They were unremarkable and started ripening late.

I also started plants of cabbage, one yellow banana pepper (had one seed left from last year), 3-4 green peppers, brussel sprouts, Walla Walla onions, and Texas Sweet onions. I tried direct sewing scallion seed, and toy bok choi seed which I grew last year and we loved. It's better to start bok choi plants inside and transplant later.

Our favorite produce was GARLIC!!!!

Last fall (a year ago) I planted spinach, radishes and three types of garlic which I bought from The Garlic Store online. We also planted some buds from grocery store garlic. The spinach and the radishes sprouted before the ground froze. The radishes made it through the winter and grew for an early crop in the spring. The spinach did not make it. The grocery store garlic sprouted and held through the winter and we harvested mid summer.

The three special garlics were Kettle River Giants, California Late, and Inchelin Red. I planted all garlic about October 15, 2009. All sprouted and held through the winter. Then in the spring they leaped out of the ground. The tops got to be over three feet tall. The tops started dying off mid summer, as I recall, signaling the approach of harvest time. Each of the three types finished at slightly different times allowing me to harvest one type before having to get the rest out of the ground. I let them cure a bit (a week) before cleaning off all remaining soil and dead outer paper. Then I braided them. They looked wonderful.

Unfortunately, for all my care in keeping the three types separated while planting and harvesting and braiding. I did not keep track of which one we liked the best for cooking and eating.

The one we liked least was the grocery store brand. All three of the others produced more and larger bulbs.

Hubby David says he likes the one that were sort of purplish. Are these the Inchelin Red? I think so. All of them produced a variety of sizes of bulbs but the three specials were larger in general. The braiding went well but the Kettle River Giants were easiest to braid even if they were not the largest over all.

This year I have ordered two quantities of the Inchelin Red, one of Rocambole and one of Morado Gigante. I'll try to keep better records for this planting for next year.

I still have lots of herbs to gather and dry: sage (which I love), oregano, and chives.

So, there is a little bit left of the garden work/fun. And also a bit left to do in the front flower gardens, but soon everything will be resting for the winter.

Newest Victory

CH Ashwood Kenric's Cat Scratch Club, aka Christine, aka Chrissie has just had her newest victory.

She CAUGHT A BIRD!!

Chrissie was on the front porch/deck. I heard a scramble and a tiny "chirk!"

I went to the door, Chrissie was there with a bird foot sticking out of her mouth!!!

I was too appalled to tell David to grab the camera. I grabbed her mouth and pried it open and pulled out a sparrow...small...probably very young and not a good flier yet.

Poor little thing. I felt horrible. Chrissie felt proud, but I did not let her revel in her glory. I ignored the whole thing. Can't scold her for following her instincts but I felt really bad.

Aaaaccckkkkkk!

First Year They Sleep...

Many of you know the old saying about Perennials.....

First year they sleep,
Second year they creep,
Third year they leap.

...referring to planting new perennials in your flower beds.

Well, my perennials, and in fact the whole bed, are in their second year and they're leaping already. So I need to expand. (Twist my arm)

This is the north bed in June 2009.


Here it is today.



Here's the south bed June 2009.


Here it is today, 11 months later.


You can see what the problem is....

Proposed expansion solution for the north bed:


Proposed expansion solution for the south bed:


Now I just need to get my landscaper friends (they have a company, Shaffer's Lawn Care)here to lift the sod and plant the edging for me.

I'll show "after" photos when they're done and I have it all planted.

Ever Teach a Child Something, then Wish You Hadn't?

Well, that happened to us with Chrissie...

We've always hung a noise device on the inside of the back door of our houses at just the right height for a cairn. The first one we used with Murdo was a cookie sheet hung just beside the door (didn't have a bell). David taught Murdo to paw at it with his front feet. As soon as Murdo hit the cookie sheet, we'd open the door and let him out.

At about the same time we also installed a doggie door in the storm door of the back door. David also taught Murdo to use the doggie door.

Ring bell/hit cookie sheet, inside door opens and doggie door becomes available. (Our back yard was fully fenced.) Doggies could come and go as they pleased. I always had my mother's internal clock running and if he was out too long I'd go check.

When Geordie came, Murdo was the teacher. It was amazing to watch and it worked very well. Although it was a great conversation starter, we replaced the cookie sheet with a string of sleigh bells.

So, now comes Chrissie. The bells are hung. The doggie door is installed. We both are acting as teachers. We'd take her front paws in our hands and hit the bells with them, then quickly open the doors. After about three days, she got the hang of the bells. All too soon, she was ringing the bell every five minutes because she wanted to be outside just for the sake of being out. She learned the trick too well. :-) So we had to come to terms.

Now that it's warm we have the inner door mostly open when we are nearby so she comes and goes. If we are working and not in the same room, we close the inner door. Chrissie is very athletic and I'm taking no chances by letting her be outside too long alone.

You may be asking why Chrissie wanted to go outside every five minutes... Surely just being outside is not THAT great. Well, I discovered the cause celebre. Chrissie loves to hunt earthworms!! She locates them slithering up out of their holes and along the ground. She stands nearby, head cocked, ears forward, and pounces just as though they were a mouse! I'm guessing that she hears them but I suppose she may see them as they move. Whatever, it surely holds her attention.

A couple nights ago, she had gone out through "her" door and immediately set up a huge ruckus! I ran out after her and saw her barking furiously at something on the other side of the back fence. It was a possum!! Boy do they have big teeth! Thank Little Doggie Gods it was on the other side of the fence. It stopped its lumbering gait, turned around to stare at my flashlight, growled and snarled and then lumbered off. Chrissie was still furious... But I called her off and she was very proud of herself.

Yesterday, I had to go run some errands, so Chrissie was at home alone with David. He said she was kind of morose and quiet. When I got home... WOW!!! I've never had such a welcome home...ever. She was thrilled that I was back home. I was as happy at her reaction as she was to see me. I finally have MY best fur friend.

Well, I've rambled on for long enough. I'll be talking to you again in not too long.

Very Special First Day of Spring...

One the first day of Spring, 2010, our family grew by one person and 4 legs. A new little cairn terrier came to live with us! She is a little girl, five years old and a retired show dog (American Champion) and retired mommy.



Here's a couple photos taken when she was being shown by her breeder and first daddy, Joe Vernuccio.





As you can see, she is much darker now. This is not unusual.

She is the dearest, sweetest, gentlest little cairn I have even known. She was immediately at home in our home and she made it her own.

Her favorite toy is anything that squeeks...especially Mr. Green Dog.

Mr. Green Dog has FIVE squeekers in it and it's great for playing tug-of-war with Daddy.

Finally, we have a fur friend who is partial to me. She follows me everywhere. I'm so happy to finally have found "my" doggy pal. Here we are going for a walk.

(That's me with the very short blonde hair.)

She takes us for 2-3 walks everyday which is great for all of us.

Welcome home, little Chrissie. We love you already.

Just So You Know....

that I haven't complete forgotten my blog, here's a
photo from last summer.



Snow is all gone from my yard except one small patch in the back where it is always in shadow from the neighbor's garage.

After my first inspection I found the following are all showing a presence: tulips, daffodils, pulmonaria, daisies, sedums, lobelia, lily.

These never died out completely: thyme, some grasses, heuchera, bubblegum plant, and pansies!

Still to show: roses, gaura, and some others.

I've kept a few piles of leaves to toss back onto the garden if it gets really cold again.

I'm so happy to have dirt under my nails again...

I Remember Mema...

Mema was my maternal grandmother. I named her that sometime way long ago before I can remember... She's always been Mema.

My first memories of Mema were when she kept a rooming house for Ohio State students in Columbus, OH. I must have been about 4 years old. We, Mother, Daddy and I, had recently moved back to Ohio from North Carolina.

Mema was great for cuddles and for telling stories. She would always start her stories, "Once upon a time when I was a little boy..." I would squeal and tell her, "You were never a little boy". We'd laugh and she'd go on with her story.

Another thing she used to do for me was to allow me to pop out her lower denture. I'd press on her chin and she'd pop out the denture. More squealing and laughter.

She had a tree right next to an upper story window where a squirrel would come and beg for treats...which she had plenty ready. That was a thrill for me.

She used a real ice box, and I can remember the ice man coming with deliveries of huge blocks of ice to put in the top of it.

She spent her later years living 6 months a year with us and 6 months with her other daughter, my aunt, in Pensylvania.

Remember back when I was writing about painting the bedroom in our house? Well, it's been completed for a while but I finally got some art hung. It's all photos that I took while living on Whidbey Island. They and others actually hung in a couple shows there.

So the bedroom has my photography, but better than that it has a lot of Mema's things in it too.



Mema made the quilt for me about 1962. Her plan had been to make one for each of use 4 grandkids, but I was the only one who got one. After that, it was beyond her. It's a Double Wedding Ring pattern. I chose the pattern, and the blue and purple centers but she cut out each of the tiny little pieces and sewed them together all by hand. Mother then took the "top" to a local church where the ladies quilted it also all by hand. I just started using it in this room. Why keep a thing of beauty "saved" and hidden?

The little rocking chair was Mema's as was the pillow on it which she also made. I have many memories of Mema in her later years sitting on that chair (it was white then) beside a square table which I also have, sewing, sewing, sewing. She sewed my quilt top while sitting on that chair.

The three pillows on the bed were embroidered by Mother. That was the only "fancy work" Mother liked to do, Crewel embroidery.

Hope you enjoy my memory room...

Restarting an Old Hobby/Craft

Howdy All,

In honor of fast approaching spring (positive thinking) I have changed colors.

Sorry to have been MIA except for a few delurkings. One excuse I have is that I have been restarting an old hobby or craft of mine.

About 32 years ago (appox 1978) I bought an Ashford Traditional (Saxony) spinning wheel. I took lessons for about 1 year with a lady who raised sheep and lived on a farm about 35 miles from my house. I really enjoyed it, but life intervened as it so often does.

I never sold my wheel though. I kept it through my divorce, moving seven times and ending up on Whidbey Island 22 years later. My Ashford wheel made it through all that (and so did I along with living with a cousin, living alone, meeting my true love and getting remarried). Ashford makes good wheels. :-)

After a couple years, I found a spinning group on Whidbey and joined them during a period of unemployment. When I got a new job, I had to stop the spinning group because it was held mid-day. I took up weaving for a short time which I also really enjoyed. I went with a girlfriend to a west coast gathering of lovers of fibers and without previous planning I traded my Ashford wheel (I had it with me because everyone brought their wheels with them) for a brand new Lendrum Spinning Wheel. I said goodbye to old dependable but cranky and said hello to my new walnut pal. It just loved to spin and wasn't cranky at all. But another new job intervened again,
and I had to set my wheel aside.

After 4 more moves (the last of which was back to Ohio) and 9 more years I am now spinning again. Yes, it was a lot of time spent changing addresses and packing and unpacking (I have thrown away all my moving storage boxes now). Happily, I am tenacious about keeping in touch with old friends from everywhere and thanks to several of them, I picked up where I left off with my spinning.

So here's some photos to document this tale. Sadly I don't have any of my original wheel.

Here is my Lendrum wheel plus some of my show photography on the wall.


Now, I have spun a bobbinful (new word) of dark brown wool and a bobbinful of turquoise blue. They are on my Lazy Kate which is a device to hold the bobbins while plying the two colors.


We call my "singles" (unplied yard) Novelty Yard because of the bumps and thin spots. :-)

Now you can see the wheel with the Lazy Kate positioned, ready to start plying.


Another view of the same...


The two bobbins of singles have been plied and removed from the third bobbin onto a Niddy Noddy which holds the plied yard and also makes it easy to count length. I got 92 yards of plied yarn.


The yard has been removed from the Niddy Noddy and is hanging. The straighter the "hang" the better the spinning... supposedly.


A close up view of the hanging yarn. I call it Denim.


And finally the skein displayed in a traditional fashion for viewing.


So there you have it and I'm sticking to my story. :-)

P.S. Thanks to Brittanygirl, here is a link to a photo of my first wheel. It's the second one down on the left.

Craggy Meets Snow

Yes, we're still getting snow. But it's fine with me. This is the time of year we are supposed to get snow. And it provides a blacket, literally, to cover all of my perennials and the "winter garden" that I planted last October.

We are snug and warm in our little Cape Cod style house, you saw it in the last post. I'm painting one of the bedrooms this weekend. Both bedrooms, the hallway and the living room were painted some kind of drab tan. It wasn't even a pretty tan. The paint was in good shape but it's just not my color. The problem with painting in the winter is that the air is so dry. I'm using Sherwin Williams low VOC paint which has very little odor at all and that dissipates in about an hour. The problem is that the air is so dry paint in my tray also dries very fast and I was getting chunks of rubbery gunk on the roller from of the sides and/or bottom of the tray. But I'm managing.

But I didn't intend to talk about painting today. I was to show off our snow.

Here's a photo of Craggy our cement garden-art Cairn Terrier, taken last summer.


This one was taken January 3... my birthday.


And finally, here he is (or isn't) again yesterday.


I do realize that this snow is nothing compared to folks who live in Minnesota or New Hampshire or most of Canada, but this is the first time I've lived in a locale that gets this much snow since I was in the third grade and I'm loving it.

New Year, New Birthday, Hidden Gardens

Happiness is having a birthday on a sunny, snowy day with a snug, warm, cozy house to live in and a husband who loves me!!! I'm a lucky girl!

Here's the house as it looks today.


A bit different from last summer. I was going to put a link here to the house last summer, but I can't find one. :-(

Here's my front north garden today.

Compare it to last summer.


Here is my front south bed today.

And same bed last summer.


I really love the changing of the seasons. Now I can hardly wait for the first little new green things to start appearing. No, I'm not wishing my life away... certainly not at my age. I just love life and I love watching it!