Life changes

Here is the long short of it about why and what has been the reason for the hiatus.

I had been hired on in our local school district in 2016. I loved the work and my co-worker. I was there for almost 2 years. The job and being a mom and having a home business and all the other activities put the blog to the side. The start of my 2nd year, I noticed my back hurt more than usual and the hurt was different. My leg and toes also started to feel weird. After months of battling with insurance and tests and Dr appointments, I was diagnosed with Degenerative Disk Disease and arthritis. Common, yes, but not so in people so young. Neurology said it very likely could be the result of my connective tissue disorder.  The thing is, back when I was diagnosed with the heritable connective tissue disorder around the age of 12/13, it was considered of no significant impact. In the recent years, it is being researched much more and we are finding out more all the time. We now are recently finding out it can have several other multi-systemic issues that are associated. Learning about it has opened my eyes about all the "odd" things that have I have been experiencing over the past years. Things that have been highly disruptive to my quality of life and the specialist's only answer was "I don't know".  But WHY am I house bound because of bathroom issues, in severe pain, have palpitations all day, pass out when I stand up, get injured by just walking down the hall or washing my hair etc... ? And the list goes on with no answers until now.
Learn more about HSD and Ehlers-Danlos at www.Ehlers-Danlos.com.
I have "successfully" lived with this condition, I believe, because I had great advice from the doctor who diagnosed me all those years ago. I followed that advice and I believe it helped lead me to my degree in human physiology, health and nutrition. That gave me the knowledge to keep me at my best for as long as possible.
I describe this condition as if your body ages at an accelerated rate. Things just can't keep up and break down much faster. For some, it is very early. In summer of 2018 is when it started to really escalate for me and have a big impact on my lifestyle and work. Now, my body just can't take it all anymore.

I just don't know if this will be the last post or not. With the disability, I have very little time anymore.  Travel is pretty much over for me. The time I have is spent just getting the basics of life in and as much local volunteer service as I can manage fit in.

Stay safe, make healthy choices, love each-other and don't take the good times for granted.

Three new Hens

My last post about chickens was when eagle and fluffy and hawk and tulley and nutmeg were still with us back in early 2014.
A lot has happened since.
Nutmeg was the next to go with complications of a heart defect.
All that was left was old Red mama and her hatched chicks.

Hawk declined and was euthanized. She had reproductive tumors.

Tulley fought hard to get over an infection (lash egg) but the complications did her in a few months later and she passed in her sleep one night. Leaving us with Fluffy and Eagle.

So, I needed more chicks and decided to order pure breeds from a NPIP certified hatchery to get the feather colors and patterns I wanted and to get all females. The chicken as pets movement is gaining popularity and there was finally a place or 2 you could order small batches of chicks from.

Awe... just look at them... soooo cute!

The "fantastic 4" arrived in late June 2015 and grew in a brooder in the garage.

Sue (black australorp) was not the strongest and died quickly.

They were slowly introduced to the big girls and were put out in a modified run in the big run.

After months of trying, eagle just would not accept them. I couldn't trust her around them as she would try to attack them every chance.
So sadly, I decided to try and re home her with her sister fluffy (so she would have a friend). Found the perfect match for them luckily.

Now, the flock was soooo much less stressed. It was so quiet and peaceful and red and the new crew get on just fine.

3 years have passed and here is their story so far...

Bennie.

The cutest thing made me just absolutely fall in love with Cochin. She is the bottom of the order. Loud, let's you know it if anything is amiss or if she just wants out. Very vocal! Tough as nails, fearless. Attacks anything that moves. Kills mice with a precision bite to the back of the head and a firm shake. Attacks my feet with the same fervor. She of a bit of a little toot. I think she thinks she is a cat. She will fall asleep on my lap but only when she wants to. She lays more eggs than I was hoping for. She keeps up with the rocks.
She turned out a little darker than I was hoping for but it's a good because she looks allot like tulley and has great markings and lots of fluff. And that fluff makes it tough when the temps get above 80F.
At 3 years old, she is a grumpy old lady.

Johnnie.

Lives up to her namesake as a super fast one. She is athletic, fast. Super scratcher. Sweet but scared of everything! She whines like a little chihuahua. Other than that, she is fairly quiet. She takes forever to lay her eggs. She has had a skin problem with her feet though every since she was chick and I have to check her and treat her with meds often. She hatched some eggs for me (that is another story). Was not the best mom. She comes eagerly when called. Likes to bite legs and feet of others.

Reede.
Oh my reede. <3

 She was top of the order, after Red, of course. Although, sometimes she forgets and it's kinda funny seeing the look on red's face before she retaliates to remind Reede of the order.
She can be a bit of a bully. She loves people and people attention. She literally begs me to hold and pet her. She loves wing and shoulder massages. She talks a lot and trusts her mama and wants to hang out with me. Every few weeks I've got to bathe her because her neck isn't long enough to reach her backside. But, she loves drying time because it means she gets to  sit on my lap and get pet and blown dry with warm air - she just loves it and falls asleep while leaning up on me. Reede feathers have blurry barring and some of the darker bars have brown tint. She took over mothering the chicks that Jonnie hatched, thank goodness. She tried to steal the babies from the moment they were put under Jonnie. She was a great mom! They had no choice to accept her when Jonnie kicked them all out from under her because she was too hot. Reede gladly accepted!
My heart just shattered when I lost my sweet Reede this past summer to internal laying. The vet was awesome and I got to spend some time with her before she was peacefully euthanized. She was a very very special one! She loved her momma, loved to snuggle and seemed to know when I needed a chicken hug most.

Red Chicken died the summer before last. She had heart failure and died on the exam table before the last injection could be administered. She was a pal to me. Never liked being held or pet. But had to be nearby. She just wanted to hang out. She was a perfect chicken. Quiet unless something was wrong. Survivor. Fair and just leader. Great mother. She was a chicken that seemed wise. Laid eggs like a machine until she ran out. Then, enjoyed the retirement she deserved.

New roof!

Another BIG project. 

This time... Just wrote a check. 

A big. fat. check. But... It was so nice to just do that! 

Background. The house was thrown together in 1980. 

We knew we had some projects and a new roof was in the plans when we bought it.
Well... Last year the bathroom skylight started leaking. We patched it up and it held out until a month ago, just as the rainy season started.. Boo. Within the past year, things fell into place for us to be able to finance the much needed major repairs to the house. (The siding is coming up next year).

Needless to say...I have some cosmetic repair to do in the bathroom.

Anyways, I spent a few months looking for a roofer. We decided on a metal roof and a company called Coast Exteriors. The company had a spotless record, glowing reviews and great guarantees. A bonus was that they also could do the gutters! The estimate was in budget and reasonable. The crew were professional and kind. I even noticed that they had some music playing when I got home. It wasn't loud at all and... they actually turned it off shortly after I arrived. I can't say enough about these guys. They got our small roof done in one day. 

It looks GREAT!

We chose the charcoal color for neutrality. But I am so pleased with the fact that is is neutral in color but surprised that it seems to catch the colors of the sky. Just look how great it looks in the bottom photo taken during a beautiful orange and pink sunset!

I was hoping to be able to hear the rain on a classic metal roof sound but... I can't. Because the roof is insulated. Yay. Hopefully, we will see better climate control in the summer. Oh yeah... it comes with a ridge vent. We also have 2 extra downspouts on the east side. Our old gutters were a joke that had only 2 downspouts and were installed with wrong angles and poured over in the rain and collected water in the far ends. Sigh. No longer. Yay!

Time will tell the rest of the story but for now, I'm very pleased!

The photos show a detail of the gutters and standing seam.

Front and back elevations with before (taken in the morning) and after in the morning and evening.

May garden 2016

So it has been a while since I have posted. But that's okay I've been totally busy doing other things and recovering from an injury. Blogging is just not high on my to-do list. It takes a lot of time!

Here we are May 2016. One of my favorite times of year because everything just really starts getting going in the garden and in the forest.
This is when all of the hard work really starts to show. It makes me so happy.
In this post I'll give a pictorial tour of what's been going on outside.

I moved the blueberries from Blueberry Hill into pots & they love it. The hills past life as a gravel storage area made the soil too Rocky and alkaline for blueberries. I transplanted them into pots filled with compost and peat moss... nice and acidic. Now, I just have to keep them watered regularly.

I also moved the raspberries from their ground beds to raised beds. The ground beds were too shallow and we're allowing The Raspberries to spread beyond their borders. They handled the transplant well.

As you can see, the strawberry barrel didn't work out very well. For now, it is being repurposed into a flower planter until I can move it to a different location and decide what to do with it. The new strawberry planters seems to be working well for now. Time will tell. I have a pink flowering variety that I found as well as a variety called flavor fest. The pink is so pretty!

Potatos this year! I've tried bags and straw in the past with no success. Hopefully raised beds will help. Purple, red and yellow varieties.

Carrots seem to be doing well so far. Hopefully they won't get eaten from the inside out like they did last year. Lettuce is doing fabulous!  We'll see how my second harvest of heirloom garlic does this year. Hope it's as great as last year. I tried to plant peas but the birds ate all the seeds before they could germinate.

From top left clockwise. I have one yellow squash and one zucchini and that's all I need. Tomatoes...  I have 8 different tomato plants and one bed looks like my compost was still a little too hot. I bought a rhubarb start this year and it started growing just fine then all the sudden that happened now it's a corpse rhubarb. My asparagus is in its second year so I still have to wait before I can get a good harvest of that.

Now you get to see my mess. The top photo is of the Blueberry Hill. A tree fell on the fence and busted the posts but the deer fence mesh still stands. I have made two spots in the garden for two rain barrels and have a lovely arrangement from our high school FFA on the top of one. A few small hanging baskets are on some posts around the garden to attract the hummingbirds and make it more pretty. And the bottom is a panorama of the garden right now. Please excuse the mess it is still a work in progress and I am still trying to get some more seeds into some of these beds and finish up the pathway. Moles are still a constant battle.

The herb garden surrounds the vegetable garden. There are a little more than herbs in the herb garden. I have a buried clay pot with beautiful spring bulbs. This is also where I have put the baby Douglas fir trees until they grow big enough to not be bothered by the deer and Elk. I love herb!

Lots of flowers!

Now onto the forest...

I tried to propagate cutting last year of the blue raspberry without success. This year I am trying tip rooting. So far so good.

Salmonberry, huckleberry, salal berry, columbine (non native), native Blackberry, Oregon grape, hazelnut, wild strawberry. Didn't have a lot of nettle this year.

The orchard is a mix of good and bad. From top left and down...

The mystery tree that we transplanted from the forest is fruitng. Maybe we will see what it becomes (I think cherry).

Old Apple fruiting well.  Fig transplanted again but is handing it well now that it is safe from the deer. My cherry trees I planted 4 years ago are crap, and the apricot died (I do not recommend rain tree nursery!). 

I bought and planted a comice pear for my daughter... So far so good... Even has fruit this year.

The back 40 forest mystery peachy cherry has fruit too.

Happy gardening!

Summer 2015

A quick review of our family summer trip to the coast.

A visit to Mt. Saint Helens.

Stopping on the way to Astoria.

Time on the beach.

Summer 2015 Beauty and the Beast

Summer Camp 2015

Beauty and the Beast Jr.
ages K-7th

Spring break 2015

Travel has been on the back burner with so many other things that have our finances tied up in knots this year.
My folks were awesome (as usual) and were able to use their travel points to fly us down to Texas for a family visit!

Since we last visited, there have been 3 new additions to the clan!
Three little boys all born within a few months. A set of maternal twin cutie boys to my brother and a handsome little dude to my sister. Making the grand total of grandkids 6 for my folks. And... there is a little gal still cooking up for my sister who is due a few months from now!

We headed down south with a 12 hour day of travel.

The next morning started with a day trip to Brenham to visit my dear Granny and my cousins and their families. It was a super short visit! But, always good to see and be with them!

Then Sunday was Easter with my immediate family.

Monday, my hubby and bro spent some bro time together while my mom, my kid and I  babysat my sister's 2 kids.

Tuesday started with me not feeling 100%. The 3 of us took a morning trip to Mother Neff State Park. It's a cool little park. The 1st State Park in Texas and sporting phase 1 of an over 6 million dollar rehab / addition! It would be cool to overnight camp and walk the trails.  We walked the prairie trail loop. Hiked to the cave, the water hole and the water tower. Checked out the bird blind. Drove around the park. Checked out the new interpretive center. All in under 2 hours (even with me slower than usual).

Enjoyed some Clay Pot!

That afternoon, went to the Waco Mammoth Site (hopefully, soon to be a US National Monument). That place is pretty cool. I don't know why it wasn't listed on my Google "things to do nearby". It is a 45 minutes guided tour of the site. The only place you can visit an active dig site of the largest known mammoths in North America. With 3 different ages of remains. Our guide Jeremy, was very informative and entertaining. Pretty darn cool. Hoping to be able to go back again in a few years and learn more as they keep discovering and learning.

Wednesday, our last day. I started off with a sore throat and not feeling too well. I skipped out on the Mayborn Museum but, my hubby and daughter enjoyed it.

We got to nosh some real tex mex - yum!
That evening was family dinner at my brother's place. I was getting worse by the minute and kept my distance from the kids. I love it when we siblings can get together!

By the time bedtime rolled around I was feeling bad enough for a visit to the urgent clinic. Another strep infection just in time for departure. Boo. Thank goodness I kept from the babies!

Thursday was a 14 hour travel day!
Miss my family.
So good to be home and resting.

Garden in review 2014

It has been so good to garden this year!

I have been slowly adding raised beds as the opportunity arises. I refuse to pay full market price for lumber for garden projects so, I wait till I find a great deal on culled lumber.

Strawberry barrels - they dry out way too fast so I will be re-doing the soil mix and replanting the current one and, will make another. I love harvesting and weeding them. Super EASY!





























Pepper Tires - I think i found my pepper solution in using these tires.

These were GREAT!
A mole screen, compost soil mix, keep them pruned...
my solution for growing great peppers in the PacNW!

















I put the tomato in the raised beds and so far so good. Organic EarlyGirl Bush variety did the best. Still not enough though.



The shelling and snap peas were confused and i ended up just shelling all of them. Ended up with a gallon bag full and am not sure the time and real estate was worth it.

Summer squash were prolific.
I think I will cut down to 1 each for 2015.

Green beans did great. Gonna put those in the new raised beds next year.

Cukes love the containers so long as i keep them watered.




I accidentally ended up with lots more pumpkins than i thought i planted.





Wild berries were good this year.
Last Year, the Blackberries got all molded out by a freak rainspell just before harvest time (I lost my tomatoes to that rain spell too).

Springtime garden

I found all these pinks for under $15 a few days after mothers day!
I got rid of the sedum. It got too ratty looking during the winter.
Planted these and added the rock "mulch".
These smell FABULOUS when in bloom.

Garden in November with new raised beds

Great gardening year that produced about $700 worth of fresh, Organic Produce!

Looking forward to 2015. I think I am starting to get the hang of PNW gardening.

I will be trying corn again. Planting it closer together and a variety with a shorter time.
I have a PNW variety of garlic already in the raised beds and cant wait to try it.
I have found a new love of parsnips! Roast chicken and parsnips is a perfect combo.