In the Garden :: June and July

June and July in the garden isn't very exciting because it's all about growing.  You end up weeding and watering and waiting.  But when you finally do see the first bit of produce show up all of the work that went into it seems to disappear. 

Baby chickies arrived in late June after we got back from the cabin.  They are always so cute and entertaining.  Fluffy and sweet for two weeks before they start to get scraggly as their real feathers start to come in.  Then it's out to the coop for more room to run until they get as big as the adults.  By the fall they'll be all mixed in and you won't be able to tell babies from adults.

Beans were the first to be harvested.  We had so many bags of string beans that there was no way were we going to eat all them even if they were part of every breakfast, lunch and dinner. A few years ago before Mom retired, she bought a pressure canner so that we could preserve the excess beans but never had the time to use it.  This year we got to can some of those yummy beans for later.

Zucchini are always early as well and as you know from a previous post we've been trying to stay ahead of those too.  Some got too big and went to the chickens and I took a few with me when we visited Nicole.  No sense in not sharing the bounty!

We had planted the potatoes in April and it was time to pull them out of the ground.  The tops were starting to die back and that was a good sign that they were ready to harvest.  Mom had a good morning doing that and even remembered to take pictures!

There were portions of a bed that I didn't have any plans for this year, so we ended up sowing a crop of oats.  I had done some research on crops to grow to as cover crops for years when I didn't have plans for all of the beds.  Oats will keep the soil from eroding and adds organic matter to the soil.  We can harvest the heads and try making our own rolled oats, or just give them to the chickens as oat hay by cutting the entire head off.  In truth they are so pretty I may plant them every year!

Other than that all the other fruits and veggies are coming along.  The tomatoes are still green...

The pumpkins are starting to turn orange...

Watermelons are small, but coming along...

And the peppers are getting bigger.

We also have produce growing in the orchard and vineyard.  Make no mistake, our "vineyard" is only five grape plants planted along our fence line, but as they grow they should provide enough for what we want.  They are all Concord grapes for making juice and jelly.  This year we only had a couple of bunches, but we are keeping the birds from them.  We'll see if they just end up straight in our bellies.

And the apple trees we planted a few years ago are starting to produce as well.  I think this may be the tree that provides cider apples...

Beyond all that we got a cow.

Okay, it's not really our cow.

But we feel like we've adopted her.  Whenever Mom goes out to work in the yard or mow she will come to the fence and ask for the weeds pulled or the grass mowed.  Her name is Love Game, but we call her Lovey.  One day when Mom was pulling weeds around the grapevines by the fence she heard a loud snuff, looked up and was eye to eye with the cow.  Now Lovey comes to the fence to watch us in the yard and walk along waiting for nummies.

I feel like overall I abandoned the garden this year.  The weeds grew overmuch, the plants weren't watered well enough and I didn't pay enough attention to it.  I'm really hoping to put bricks down between the beds in the fenced in area to reduce the amount of weeds in there and I am also looking into watering options for next year.  This year we put in a lot of new soaker hoses, but they seemed to get clogged up and not provide enough water early on.  It was also very hot in June, 100 degrees and over for two weeks straight, and I think that affected everything.  All the fruits and vegetables seem small and spare.  There's still plenty of growing time left, however, and a garden can surprise you!

Off to Medford!

This last weekend Mom and I drove down to Medford, OR to see my best friend Nicole and her family.  Every other year one of us drives up or down to visit and this was my year to go down.  I am doing my second round of IVF, so I had an appointment on Friday morning and then we drove all the way from Seattle to Medford.  Our original plan was to drive to Salem and stay the night and then finish the drive, but the doctor's appointment interrupted that plan.  We did keep to the plan to drive the 205 around Portland, because two years ago we got stuck going through, and it slowed down but never stopped.  It was still a long hard drive as always; our butts were sore, our minds fried from driving and the dogs ready to never see the inside of the car again.  I am currently reading Voyager, the third book in the Outlander series, and the audiobook kept us company for many, many miles.  We made it in around 9 and I had to run over to the Fred Meyer right across from the hotel to get isopropyl alcohol and gauze pads for my injections, which were starting the next day, as well as a plastic container to keep the sharps in because the pharmacy didn't give me one and only two alcohol pads.  :/  Nicole came over after she got off work and we hugged and talked and made plans for the next day.


On Saturday, Nicole had to go to work at noon so Mom and I got up and ready and headed over to her house to visit before she had to go.  Emily came running out as soon as we got there and Nicole had told me she was asking when we'd show up for weeks before hand.  Tony and Matthew were also there and we all hung out and chatted for a bit.  Emily knew that Mom and I were going to take her to Ashland for the day to go shopping and then meet up with Nicole for her dinner break, so she was anxious to go.  Finally it was time for Nicole to go, so we all packed up and headed out.  Emily, Mom and I all followed Nicole to Ashland, where she works for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in their IT department.  She had a little time before work so we headed down to the Unicorn Gifts & Toy Shop first.  Emily had five dollars from her birthday and I gave both her and Matthew twenty dollars, as I'd missed their birthdays in July.  I was excited to help her learn how to use money and we spent a lot of time in the store figuring out how much she could get with her twenty five dollars.  At first she was going to use it all, but then she wanted to save some for the candy store to, in her words, "buy candy for everyone."  She finally settled on a Playmobile fairy, which cost half her money, and she even gave the clerk the money all by herself.  Then we went across to Zoey's for ice cream as both Mom and I were famished.  Emily opened up her toy and put it all together and we took pictures of it how she wanted with the fairy against the green foliage out the window so it looked like she was outside and flying.

Next we headed down to the Sew Creative fabric store for Mom and I saw something in Paddington Station, the store right before it, so Emily and I stopped in there while Mom went on.  I ended up getting one of those Home T-shirts (in Washington State, of course!) and then we went around to the other side of two stores.  This side had all sorts of stuff!!  Upstairs there were tons of kitchen items, teapots, kettles (I wanted the turquoise one), and cute homewares.  On the main floor there was a whole section of Doctor Who items, scarves, bags, slippers and...toys.  Emily found a stuffed Ty Unicorn and wanted it really bad.  I told her it would cost her half of what she had left and she felt that there would still be enough for candy for her and Matthew.  I'd told her that she didn't need to buy candy for everyone and that Mom and I were going to buy our own.  I helped her count out the amount she needed and then had her give the clerk the money again.  Since she didn't need a bag she even got an extra 10 cents back.  Downstairs in the store there were Christmas ornaments, wooden signs and the clearance area.  There I saw a fine art picture of the TARDIS and took a picture to show Nicole and Tony.  It would go great in their bathroom.

There was also a Frozen glitter tattoo kit that had been reduced to almost nothing, so I bought that for Emily and I to do later that night.  Emily told me that she needed to ask her Mom before she got a tattoo and I said that was a good idea to do at any time in her life.  We met up with Mom and then meandered over to the yarn store, Websters.  The last time we were there I had let Emily pick out some yarn and then I made her a cloak.  This time we couldn't really decide what to make but I told her I'd thought of making some arm warmers for her and she added the idea of leg warmers too.  We found some nice pink yarn and then Mom showed me that they had the small skeins of yarn we use to make hats out of.  The yarn is by Madelintosh and is called Unicorn Tails because they are little cute twisted skeins in a rainbow of colors.  I chose out two groups of four and Emily loved one of the color sets, so I will be making a hat as well.  Finally we went over to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate factory.  Both Mom and I knew that we wanted chocolate covered toffee when we got in there, but Emily was overwhelmed with the choices of chocolate.  Finally I found out that she was just looking for plain chocolate and we picked out a bar.  Then she wanted some gummies and saw some gummy bears, which she said Matthew would like too (though I don't think he saw a single one).  She poured out two scoops and I said that was probably all her money.  I was prepared to add some to it if she was over but when the lady weighed it out it ended up costing $5.15, which was exactly what Emily had.  Happy all around with her purchases we sat outside and ate some chocolate.  Then, with the sugar pumping through her system, Emily said she needed to go run it off in the park. I told her I didn't think that it had a playground or anything, but we went anyway. Lithia Park is so beautiful!  It had a waterfall that filled a duck pond and lots of trees and lawns.  There was a man playing a cello with a small group of people around him and lots of people just lounging.  Mom and I sat in the shade and Emily ran to a tree and back, having us time her.  Then she started doing handstands and I asked her if she could to a cartwheel.  She tried a couple of times and I said she needed to kick her feet more over her head.  She said she didn't know how.  I said I think I might still be able to do one, so I got up and ya know what?!  I can still do a cartwheel!  So we did a couple of those and we played around a bit running back and forth.  Finally it was too hot to do anymore, so we walked up behind the Shakespeare Festival buildings to the car where we sat in the air conditioning for a bit.  Tony and Matthew happened to show up at that time and so we all walked back down to the Standing Stone Brewery for lunch/dinner.  Nicole had texted her order to me so we got our table and ordered so that she could show up and not go over on her break.

I ordered a Margherita pizza and a house-made root beer (no beer beer for me on IVF drugs).  Mom got a burger and we split our meals.  Nicole and Tony got sandwiches and Matthew and Emily got cheese quesadillas.  Emily wasn't very happy with her meal and I asked her if she wanted a bite of burger instead.  Making a face only she could she said, "That's even worse!"  I need a kid just for the entertaining commentary.  After Nicole went back to work, the rest of us headed back to the house.  Emily got chocolate chip pancakes made by her dad to make up for her lack of dinner, while Matthew watched videos...

Mom knit, Tony and his brother fixed the air conditioner and Emily and I played.  First we played with her Playmobile house.  Then we colored.  Then she played in the pool, while Tony and I watched and talked.  Then we did tattoos and dressed up and had a tea party (while I talked in an English accent, of course!).  As it was getting late we started reading books and eventually Nicole made it home.  We all sat and talked some more and I remembered the zucchini I had grabbed from our garden to bring to her.  And finally it was time for bed.  I was pooped.


On Sunday we had the whole day together.  Mom and I slept in and then headed over to see what we wanted to do.  It had been pretty smokey in Medford, but that day it was relatively clear.  Nicole mentioned the Oregon Vortex and Mystery House as something to do and I knew that would be right up Mom's alley.  She loves crazy phenomena.  So we all loaded up in my car and headed out.  It was a blast!  It turns out its a whole area where heights are distorted and a lot of other weird things happen.  On the tour there was a lot of changing heights and in the house weird things happen like bottles rolling up hill.  Inside there is a platform that is completely level and when you stand on it you get very dizzy.  Mom ended up buying the book of the man who did the most research on it and is currently obsessed.

After that fun we drove back to Medford and on the way I saw a sign for the Rogue Creamery.  If there is one thing that Oregon does really well, it's cheese.  We got some classic sharp cheddar and their special Chocolate Stout Cheddar, which was a really smooth delicious cheddar.  We went back to their house and had a little cheese platter with crackers and apples for a small lunch and then hung out.  That night Nicole had gotten free tickets for us to go see The Count of Monte Cristo.  Because she works for OSF she gets a certain number of tickets to see their plays.  We went to dinner at the Black Bear Diner, dropped Emily off at a baby sitter's and then headed off for an adult's night out.  We got to Ashland early enough to watch the Green Show on the lawn and watch a pretty strung out guy do some interpretive dancing.  Then it was time for the show!  This one was showing in the Elizabethan open air theatre and it was amazing!  Not only was the play excellent, you got to slowly watch the sunset and the stars come out.  It was so beautiful!  And after an awesome night and great conversation in the car (sorry about the critique of your driving Nicole!) we picked up the kiddo and all passed out in our respective beds.


Monday was the day we were leaving, but I wanted to meet Nicole and Emily for breakfast before we headed out.  We met them at their house and ended up eating at the Palms Cafe which had huge breakfasts for low prices.  Emily had said she wanted to eat at a breakfast place before we left, but she doesn't eat much in the mornings, so the three of us ate and she colored and snacked on bacon.  Then it was time to say our goodbyes.  It seems like so long and no time at all between visits!  Mom and I started on our way back up to Seattle (because I had another doctor appointment on Tuesday) and ended up stopping in Eugene at Voodoo Doughnuts.  Neither of us went for any crazy flavors but man they were so good!

Eugene, however, is not my kind of town.  Lots of liberal crazy people.  On our way over to the donut shop there was an overweight lady walking around bare foot in a belly shirt and short skirt carrying a small cat on a leash, then there was a shirtless kilt-wearing-dreadlock-toteing dude and it seemed like no woman there wore a bra.  And that was just on our way to the store!  Yeah, no.  That was our only major stop on our way up and we got into Seattle around 9:30.  We were glad to be free to move around and not sit on our keisters anymore.  Nicole also texted me on our way up to Seattle that we'd forgotten to take any pictures together!  I was SO sad!  Some of our selfies are my favorite pictures that I have.  Guess we'll have to figure a way to see each other just to take a picture! ;)

Recipe Tuesday :: Chocolate Orange Cupcakes

Well, that was quite a break!  Sorry about the radio silence for the past 3 weeks, but life got busy and complicated and I just felt like curling up into a ball and sleeping the stress away instead of blogging.  But I'm back!  And there will be a life post soon, but since it is Tuesday, a recipe blog was required.  It gets me back into the swing of things too.

My Aunt Carla follows my blog and has to endure the torture of seeing all the cupcake blogs I post, but never getting to taste them.  (I'm sure she's part of a large group out there...and by large I mean all 30 of you that read my blog.)  But she put in a special request for her birthday, Chocolate Orange cupcakes.  I've known that this is one of her favorite flavor combinations and I had all sorts of ideas of a chocolate cupcake with orangey essence in it, maybe an orange curd inside and a chocolate ganache on top.  The time I had didn't allow for curd making however, so off to Pinterest I went and came back with Dark Chocolate Orange Cupcakes by Bake for Coffee.

Now I tweaked the recipe (of course!), trading out the milk in the cupcakes for buttermilk and trading out the milk in the frosting for heavy cream.  The buttermilk trick was from my favorite chocolate cupcake recipe which was almost identical to this one without it.  And the heavy cream was to make the frosting creamier, obviously.

They turned out really good and I topped the cupcakes with pieces of Lindt Intense Orange dark chocolate bar.  They went over great, though Carla said that buttercream wasn't her favorite frosting.  We both agreed that next year it should be chocolate ganache!