So Much to Say

Wow, where has the time gone!  Lots to share.  First, someone told me to go fly a kite, so I found this very cool one shaped like an eagle, and Stevie and I flew it when she was visiting.

That kite is up so high you can't even see it!

Then more food preserving classes, which are still just fabulous fun.  Who knew?

My classroom cabbage failed. This batch is happily fermenting away at home.

We're preserving things I wouldn't even eat (grapefruit here) - all in the name of knowledge.

Then off to Tara's for some beer soap, and a look at her new babies....

Stevie spent one night with us last week, and we went to the Bend Spring Festival.

But first she had to be sure to lick the bowl on some cupcakes!

A protegee in the making?

Some pipers piping.

I couldn't get all of them in the picture - they were on stilts.

A beautiful walk at Shevlin Park - this is the kids' fishing pond.

Tumalo Creek

And finally, this afternoon was spent helping out at the Master Gardeners' Spring Seminar.

I managed to actually win a silent auction item (my very own composting worm bin, complete with worms), and of course bought a few more plants.  It's an addiction.  ;-)

Oh, and I was also elected the first woman member of our HOA board.

Whew!

I've been doing it wrong all my life....

That was the thought that ran through my head pretty much throughout my first food safety/preservation course last week.  But let's begin at the beginning.

It was a cold, snowy April day here in Central Oregon on my first day of class,

and the OSU extension office parking lot was no different.

Ironically, this was the song playing on my iPod as I pulled into the lot:

There are seven of us in class (and I have no more pictures of that day because we were busy, busy, busy), and everyone was quite  nice and funny.  Here are some things I learned:

• I've been washing my hands incorrectly all my life.  We had a cool little ultra-violet thing which lit up the bacteria on our hands like the lights on the Strip.  We looked at our unwashed hands first, then washed our hands in our usual way, then looked at them again.  My cuticles were still glowing with bacteria - ugh!  Then I washed my hands the  CORRECT way, and voila!  No more neon!  (The correct way is to wet your hands, shake off the excess water, soap up and massage the soap into your hands and over your fingers for twenty full seconds, by the way.  I've been singing the days of the week in Spanish to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star in order to get my twenty seconds in.)  Naturally, I've been washing my hands like a freak since then.

• I haven't been sanitizing my cooking surfaces correctly.  Oh, I clean like the dickens, but it's not the same.  A solution of one teaspoon of Clorox to one quart of water put in a spray bottle (and used, of course) is the way to go.  I'm happy I haven't poisoned anyone in the past, but I'm taking better care in the future.

• There are some things one can actually refreeze after they've partially thawed, without ill effect.

• There are some things one can actually cut the mold off and still eat without ill effect.

• Tasting something you think is bad is bad.

We prepared some sauerkraut, froze some veggies and fish, and made some jam.  It was 6 hours of fun and activity and learning, and I loved every minute of it (the program director seems to care a bit about her volunteers, too; unlike some master gardening people who shall remain nameless).  This week we're learning about canning fruits (and will make some pie filling) and making effective presentations to the pubic.  This is a blast!

Now I must wash my hands.  ♫Lunes, Martes, Miercoles..... ♫


P.S.  I'm down a total of 21 lbs since Valentine's Day.  With the ten I lost in November, I'm 31 lbs lighter!  Yay me!

Hey! It's Spring in Central Oregon!

A HUGE windstorm yesterday, and today this:

These babies are glad to be in the garage, I'll bet....

Just as these babies are glad to be in the house!

Babysitting Molly....

Have a great March 31st, all!

It's That Time Again

Time to start seeds, woo hoo!

Last year you may recall I exercised amazing restraint in ordering seeds for our place, and for the front of the subdivision (for a review, see this).

Well, this year, I was even more restrained!

Isn't Salpiglossis a great word?

That cherry punch is a 48 day tomato, friends and neighbors!

I decided against these carrots - they take too long.

Yes, no garden-envy issues here, folks.

I was also unceremoniously moved from one bay of the garage to  another,

nor will I be booby-trapping the mechanical room.  I'll hang my grow lights from the shelves (above) and go from there.

Things I've learned from last time:  Give it time;  seedlings that looked like crap when I put them out, grew into spectacular flowers last year  (like this).    Don't listen when someone says a plant won't grow here - try it out for myself, because you know who knows everything about gardening?  No one.

Things I've learned already this time:  Don't start snapdragons from seed, because those seeds are too damned tiny!  Smaller than lettuce seeds!  No kidding!

Things I've learned in general recently:  I only have to recertify as a master gardener in Oregon if I want to work in the plant clinic or teach.  Otherwise, I can call myself a master gardener forever, even if I never learn another thing.  Unless they change this, I suppose.  Weird, huh?

One more thing.  Even when a kid only weighs a minute, hauling her piggyback a few miles down the Monkey Face trail at Smith Rock will give you a sore back the next day.

I love this kid.

March Catch-Up

Things are just staying busy, busy, busy here on the property, despite the fact that it (finally) snowed several times, keeping us indoors. I've been doing a lot with the Master Gardeners here, preparing for spring, and of course, just keeping up with the everyday stuff!

We've taken a few trips to Portland, though, and I thought I'd share some pictures of the lovely hotel we stayed in on the river.

Living room fireplace

View from the living room picture window

Balcony view

As you can see, we were right on the River Walk, and the weather was remarkably beautiful for our entire stay.  It's not a bad drive up there at all, as long as one takes care going over Mt. Hood - which can be treacherous even when it's not snowing.

Otherwise, we haven't been getting out all that much - mainly because I've been dieting hard.  In November, I lost 15 lbs on the HCG Diet, and now I'm working the Medifast Plan (Ted was supposed to start with me, but has put it off until he heals up from a recent minor surgery).  All told, I'm down nearly 35 pounds since January of 2011.  I wasn't going to put up any before and during pictures, but my niece Jessica inspired me (again - she also inspired me to create this blog) so here goes:

This is me eclipsing my granddaughter Megan in the Summer of 2010, at about 220 lbs:

Here I am at 203:

And today at 192:

Go Ducks!

One fifty, here I come!

Earlier this week, Ted and I attended the Living on a Few Acres Conference, put on by the OSU Extension Service/4H.  Ted attended classes on pond management and water rights, and I went to the sessions on Honeybees 101 and Fruit Orchards in Central Oregon.

Tara and Shannon's Bantam Lane Farms booth - a great business with wonderful products, now specializing in beer soap!

I've determined that honeybees are a bit more than I care to tackle right now - mainly because our speaker told us to get used to being stung!  Not me, ha ha!  I also learned that for fruit trees, I'm pretty  much stuck with apple and cherry.  I love apples and cherries, but I miss my little orchard at the Vegas house, which had peach, nectarine, almond, fig and pomegranate.  Oh well.

Last but certainly not least, yesterday was my 29th wedding anniversary.  Here's a pic of the lovely Red Intuition roses my sweetheart bought for me:

I love the variegation - even better than the Fire and Ice roses he would  buy me in Vegas.  I love you sweetheart <3

Finally, I have bought all the seeds I wanted for the front of the subdivision this year, and for our own place - I'm just a little slow getting the seedling pots made.  Since I can't put them out until late June, I'm not in that great a rush....

2011 Missions: Accomplished

Built raised beds and grew a bunch of good stuff,

got the chicken coop to end all chicken coops (thanks, honey),

changed out the lights over the breakfast bar,

and kitchen table (thanks, Bill),

ripped out the lousy living room carpet that came with the house and installed travertine,

baked a pile of Christmas cookies with Stevie and Andi (whose move up here with Bill wasn't a goal of  mine, but is a bonus),

certified as a master gardener in Oregon,

and lost weight.  Twenty-two pounds to be exact.

We had some fabulous visits with good friends, we've seen some wonderful concerts, and I've discovered that the longer I live here, the happier I am.  A belated happy new year to everyone!