Friends and Family

Last week and through this week will be for friends and family.  We had been invited to join friends ( eight tenths of The Slow Book Club ) in Regina for Dimensions, Bazzart and visiting. On the Tuesday I decided that it was time for a break.  Friday after work we were on our way. Renovation dust billowing behind us.  After a short stop at Home Depot we met part of our group at the hotel and surprised the other two at the restaurant where we planned to meet.  We had a great visit at La Bodega catching up with everyone's news over beer/wine and tapas.  The next stop was the opening reception for Dimensions a juried craft show where our friend Trent was one of the award recipients.  On Saturday Trent and Cathy carried on with their journey and the remaining six took in Bazzart  ( an annual art and craft fair in Regina). After a little look in one fabric shop and one yarn shop we had a very nice lunch at 13th Ave Coffee shop. We had a great time!

Saturday Pat's youngest brother and family arrived from California and Sunday we entertained and fed a crew of 16.  The numbers had me looking through my stack of boxes for more dishes.  I have only a few out ( the fewer to dust drywall dust off the better).  The weather was okay no rain but the lbbf  ( little black bugger flies ) kept us in the veranda.  You will note that I mention the veranda  a lot.  It is my favourite place.  

Back to family we had a wonderful evening.  Maureen had all her children home as well as some daughter-in-laws, grandchildren and her brother and sister-in-law.  Ian will come today, he missed the big event but will be here most of the week. 

Our garden is up and was mostly successful.  A few empty potato spots but perhaps they will show up yet.  I will thrill you with photos when there is more to see.

The pantry is moving along.  The flooring is in and we spent Thursday afternoon making shelves.  They need paint which will happen later today (I hope).  I should be filling them by the end of next week. 

The opening you see in the top photo is the doorway to the hidey hole, cave or fort depending on your needs.  Our nephews made good use of it yesterday. Affirmation that is was worth getting a crick in my neck painting the ceiling in "the fort".

We have had lots of rain and the countryside is lush and green.  The cattle are happy grazing in the ravine,they are the little specks you see in the centre of the photo.

Bread

I spent part of yesterday afternoon in the veranda, hand quilting and listening to a book tape. The very best part was when it started to rain. Rain on a metal roof, thunder, the smell of rain through open windows and a latte with a little chocolate.  Could it get any better?  You will note I started the sentence with I.  Where was Pat?  He was sanding the pantry. An unpleasant job, I didn't get a picture but he went straight from the pantry to the shower when he was finished.  He did make it into the veranda for the rain.  Today we will prime.  Tomorrow, install the red marmoleum floor?

 The rain we had yesterday afternoon and evening will be great for the garden.  A shadow of green in the lettuce bathtub.  The tomatoes, parsley and basil all seemed to have survived being whipped around in the wind.  A different gardening environment here.  We have never seen deer in the yard, rarely in our quarter so we are hopeful they won't be a problem.  I am a little concerned about the egg eating squirrel that we frequently see.  We are hoping row cover material will keep him out. 

I love Robins.  This fellow sat high in this oak tree one evening and sang his heart out for the longest time.  Long enough for me to enjoy him, figure out where he was, (he was at  the very top of a forty foot oak swinging in the breeze.) Then I went to get the camera and took many pictures. Necessary because he was at the end of the telephoto range and swinging.  I was pleased to get a picture that was not blurry and his beak open for singing.  He was still singing when I left.

I have gotten used to bread from Earthbound or Il Secundo for my breakfast toast.  My frozen supply is about gone.  We have purchased and tried bread from local sources and Superstore.  They are not what I am used to for a number of reasons.  On a Yorkton Superstore stop we bought some rye and sourdough from their bakery. The rye tasted tangy/salty. But my great thirst after eating their products had me checking the sodium content. Wow! A 50 gram serving had three times more sodium than the equivalent size serving of nachos. And honestly if I am looking for salt I would rather eat nachos.  Interestingly enough I came across an article about 10 foods with the highest salt content.  Bread and rolls were there.  I don't know the sodium content in the breads from the local bakeries but the taste is certainly different, the tang in the Superstore rye was from salt. It would be interesting for everyone to check the sodium in their bread.
The great long paragraph is leading up to this.

   
In the past I have ventured down the bread making path with varying degrees of success. Generally falling back on the expertise of the local bakeries.  With that option gone it was time to try again.  I found this no knead recipe that is very simple and I must say successful.  I forgot to slash the top before baking,and did it after consequently the odd looking slash. I am quite excited to try different flours and additives.  If anyone is interested I searched no knead bread and found a few options. I also found a site called The Fresh Loaf.  They describe themselves as a news and information site for amateur bakers and artisan bread enthusiasts. They have a lot of interesting sounding recipes and an online handbook which looks very useful.  I will keep you posted.

Friday was another important day!  I was invited to the first meeting of a quilt group.  Similar to my Saskatoon groups.  Seven women who will get together for sharing, visiting and a little nibble.  I didn't get a chance to find out if any of them knit.  A group of quilters with some who also knit, perfect.

We have taken walks in the ravine it hasn't been all work.

I still haven't had a latte at the beaver dam.  We now have very small black flies that are present in swarms. They don't bite they just hover around your head and crawl on your face. I was in the veranda yesterday for more than one reason. The locals tell me they only last a few days. 
The ravine is lush and green and the oaks finally have their leaves.

    

A Tomato Plant or Two

 I believe I have commented to a few people that we weren't going to have a garden this year.  Too much other work and where would we put it.  First I bought a bag of seed potatoes to just "stick in the ground", new potatoes are like candy and can be expensive.  I had talked about a tomato plant or two in a pot, also some basil. Basil plants were sold out at the local Co-op but I am going to Yorkton tomorrow, not just for basil there is a bathroom vanity involved in the trip.
Not to digress any more. On Saturday we decided we needed gardening space.  

  Give a man tool and he is able to do a lot.  We borrowed Bruce's front end loader!
The cows we pasture provided some dry pies for a little organic material.  While one person drives the loader, the other gets to break the "pie" into smaller pieces.  I think I should learn how to drive such equipment!

By the end of the day Saturday, this is what we had.

Sunday we planted potatoes, beans, carrots, parsnips, beets, two cucumber plants and moved the garlic Pat had planted last fall.  Where are the tomatoes?  They are still going into pots along with some peppers and one planter worth of flowers.  The yellow bathtub is awaiting lettuce seed.The garden soil is a bit heavy for the pots and bathtub so will need the addition of peat moss.  We are off to Esterhazy today for a special farmer's market and barbecue. We will take the opportunity to buy peat moss.  Maybe someone will have basil plants!  Oh yeah, there is also a bed big enough to bury me on the left side of the photo for rhubarb plants.  It is hard to do small with a loader, so with a loader  sitting waiting to be used  why would you use a shovel. 

We had company Sunday.  Believe it not I have never seen a Thirteen Line Ground Squirrel before.

  
She made me laugh while I was snapping the standing photos, she just stood there like this and watched me the whole time.  Now, I do admit there is a huge advantage to having a good telephoto lens.

Remember the field of crocuses, this is what it they look like now they have started going to seed.  I  am not sure which I prefer, the flower field or the seed head field.

The last image I will leave you with is the view from a log bench down by the pond.  I have dreams of taking a morning latte there for breakfast.  To date I am not sure if it has been 10 degrees at that time of day.  Pat saw frost in the ravine yesterday morning.  I am hoping for a window between frost and mosquitos.

The Weekend Was Long 1

I have chosen to include a number with this title because  I believe I may want to use this title again.  More about that later.
It has been quite windy here this week.  We were out in the yard doing some tidying and organizing and I found a robin's egg on the ground, no nest in site.  I'm not sure where it blew from.  Later I found a lovely little nest, perhaps a belonging to a finch.  I know they don't belong together but they looked great in this little dish sitting on my window ledge.

The trees in the ravine continue to leaf out.  We have had misty mornings for the last few days. 

The days have remained misty, but no rain.  This morning I was out walking in the soft moist air, with the smell of the forest all around me, it was wonderful. I wish I could capture the scent and include it here for you.

Now the reason for the title.  I think this last weekend was one of many weekends that will be long.  I am a person ( as the expression goes ) who has a place for everything and likes everything in it's place.  Well that is not the case right now and I am struggling.  Our plan for the weekend involved working in the pantry but I decided that it was time to have storage in the garage.  We have that on the list but it was farther down.  Actually there are a least a dozen jobs that I would like done yesterday.  Thankfully Pat went along with the priority change and we went to the garage.  The garage has high ceilings (think Tractor).  We knew that a platform or mezzanine would work well.  A plan was formulated and off to Esterhazy for supplies.  At the end of two 10-11 hour days we had this. 

I was so glad to be done for many reasons.  Not just the storage.  We built the platforms in three sections but they were still incredibly heavy and awkward.  We got them up with no harm coming to neither Pat or me.  I had a very sore left arm at the end of Saturday, but that came from a large bit, a big drill and the whole thing being whipped out of my hand trying to drill a hole bigger.  I am smiling in the middle picture looking at a 100 square feet of storage!  We will now move the stuff out of the veranda and into the garage.  Plus we have given some excess stuff to a family in Esterhazy, the Lutheran church is having a garage sale Saturday and the Esterhazy library a sale.  Items on their way to both of them.

Throughout the weekend we had a friend providing a beat to keep us working.  I finally managed to get a picture of this (we think) Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker Sunday.  Again we think she (no red under the neck) loved the different frequency the outhouse made.  If we are mistaken with identification we welcome correction.

This is getting a bit long but another job at the top of the list involved water management on the south side of the house.  This morning's rain had Pat doing some interim work.  It was running towards the house instead of away.

And So We Begin

I had planned to sit down and do a quick post. But, there remain computer skills that are not in my long term automatic memory yet.  So 30 minutes later I begin.

Today is Pat's first day of work.  As some of you know the plan is for him to work half time from Twin Oaks using the internet with occasional trips to Saskatoon to be present in the office.  One of our goals was to get the lower level in usable condition as that is to be Pat's office.  We did that, but this morning the young men from R Thompson Construction are making their joyful noise so we relocated Pat to the veranda.  Please note the lovely curtain, the veranda faces east and is very bright in the morning and the blanket on his knees it was also a little nippy at 8:00 am this morning.

Thinking

Thinking or resting?

 The two photos were taken moments apart so I assure all that he is thinking in both photos. 

The weekend work schedule was focused on the pantry.  It doesn't look like much yet but a lot of work does go on behind the drywall.  It is going to be BIG by my standards and will include a little hidey hole for small children to play in.

The hide hole is under the stairs in the lower right corner of the photo.

When I posted on the 13th I included a photo showing the faintest tint of green in the ravine.  I had intended to take a photo last night to show the difference a week makes. I was too tired so opted for a week and 12 hours.  This is the ravine around 9 this morning.

The aspen leaves are brilliant and green and tender. And I brought some in to enjoy inside.

I had hoped to cast on a pair of socks for a 65th birthday gift before I return to my carpenter assistant role so I best get to it. 

I have a name

My little friend is an Eastern Phoebe. I know there are negatives to the internet but the positives are awesome.  I took the bird's picture with a digital camera, transferred it to my photos, zoomed and cropped and then posted it on the blog.  A friend saw the pic forwarded it to someone she knew who knows birds and he identified it.  As I was reading the email telling me this one's name, there was a bird calling just outside at the same time.  I had searched Eastern Phoebe and there was a you-tube video of it's call.  So I was listening to the you-tube video and hearing the same call just outside the veranda. Double confirmation.
Now another story about this little bird.  A couple nights ago we were sitting in the veranda eating dinner.  All of a sudden there is a squirrel climbing up the oak log that supports the overhang.  Our first thought, " how cute" until he raced all the way up the log and over to the nest that was in the eve.  There was a flurry of birds and squirrel. Looking for eggs?  We did discuss interfering and finding something to keep the squirrel out of the nest but decided we should remain observers.  At that point we thought that it was a barn swallows nest although from what we saw of the bird it didn't seem right. ( we are far from expert birders)  Now it seems the nest might be that of an Eastern Phoebe.  I just saw some coming and going from the nest, so I hope they weren't too traumatized by the squirrel and will raise a family there.  I would love have Pat get on a ladder to look but I don't want to chase them away.  They are flycatchers and some of you will know that flies have at times been the bane of my existence here. 

Progress

We feel we have made some progress this week.  We have been installing flooring. We put a product called marmoleum in the front entrance and the bathroom. I chose 12" tiles in a checker board pattern.  I am very happy with the final look.  The colour in the picture of the hallway is a little off.  It is a charcoal grey with the other colour a brown, it is called camel.  The walls are only primed so far, painting is on the list for this weekend but we may wait until more work is completed upstairs.  Also the hallway is long but not as long as it looks in this picture.

Baseboards yet to come

We were out for an early morning walk yesterday to view the crocuses! The hills on the other side of our ravine were thick with them.  A little short height wise this year but is it any wonder.

We walked carefully, it was hard not to step on them.

I couldn't resist digging out a clump and bringing it home.  Past experience has taught they don't do well as a cut flower



Below is a a little friend who sat on the back of this chair for a very long time.  At times I am sure he/she was watching me.  He is not in the small bird book we have here and my field guide is packed who knows where.  Does anyone know my name?

A trip to the big city tomorrow (Regina), we need to look at bathroom vanities and tops.  

I ordered the bathtub for upstairs from Home Depot .ca.  It is to be delivered to Whitewood with delivery included in the price.  I will let you know how that turns out.  We have started on the pantry.  We have told ourselves it has to be finished before we start taking apart the kitchen.