Soil Testing and Cousins

It has been nasty windy for the last two days. Too windy to plant anything, really. The garden is ready and waiting, but we've had a cold Spring so far. The peas are up finally and they love cold weather so you can guess how cold the soil has been. Barring planting I decided to do a soil test using the "Mosser Lee Master Soil Testing Kit" that I purchased last year and never got around to using. I felt like I needed a lab coat - it was very cool. It seems that our soil is pretty nice provided that these home test kits are at all close to accuracy. I always fret about soil amendment and whether we've done enough - and Jerry always tells me that we have. "That garden soil is PERfect, Suzan!" I need proof.

Memorial weekend has been oh so fine because all our lovely daughters came to visit. I made gathering bags for the grandkids the week before. I can't say they were an extreme hit but there was some gathering going on.

There was some wagon play, too. Those cousins went down the hill a thousand times. Fell out, too. They're still in their pajamas. They got up at the crack of dawn and dashed outside while the adults were still drinking first cups of coffee.

So Much More

Well, I haven't been able to post for awhile but just changed Blogger back to the old editor. What d'ye know? It worked. Let me review the month or so that I've been idle on line.

Each item below would have made a delightful post.

• We had a wildfire just to the west of us and were evacuated. Crazy weird. House and land okay. Lewis Creek Trail burned. Smells like a wet ashtray around here.


• Baby chicks are now in the big girl coop.


• I made goal weight of 132 pounds using Weightwatchers. I can have six points more every day. Whoot whoot!


• Peas are coming up. At last.


• Lots of lettuce, radishes, and spinach in the cold frame.


• It's finally started to rain a bit but we're still in severe and persistent drought. Grass is green.


• The scrub oak is leafing out.


• I adore the lone barn kitten. I'm wooing her (because she is very skittish).


• Lambs are playing together. Sylvia, one of the ewe mothers, made a miraculous recovery from pneumonia.


• Jerry and I are going to "camp" in Estes Park in June. We are proud owners of a 1978 fifteen foot Wilderness camp trailer. Plaid and paneling galore.

There was so much more - fantastic dinners, trout fishing, wonderful and beautiful adult daughter report. And what about the Ready Ice truck that flipped over just at the Hwy 67 and Hwy 96 intersection? So much more!

A Bit of Rain on a Tuesday

Egads! I think it actually rained some last night!   I see little puddles of water on the porch.  This is special, for sure, because it is so dry here.  Humidity is less than 5% most of this spring.  The little grasses that did come up were withering away and our volunteer fire department has asked residents to attend their wildfire preparedness training on a weekly basis.   And - it rained some last night!   Old Virgil's mother (a pioneer in this area) used to say, "Well, it'll rain someday...."  There is hope, but it's rather sad to miss the spring wildflowers.

We've kept the sheep, donkey and horse in the corrals to save what little pasture there is.  Had to move Angel, the donkey, out of the sheep pens when she started to drag the sheep around on the ground out of sheer boredom. 

I need to get ready for work.  Egads!  Just found myself sitting and thinking. 

Red Flag Warnings and Love

Pike's Peak seen through the scrub oak

I woke early this morning to the wind howling yet another day.  The humidity is low, too, which means another "red flag warning" day.  There is a bit of green here in the Wets but on the plains it's looking brown and dry.  I got up at just before 6 am - because there are few things I like better than to make coffee at the break of dawn and NOT go to work.   The habit is to pour a cup and then wander from window to window to savor the four directions.

My youngest daughter, Madeline, has returned home for awhile.  She has brought Rooster, the blue heeler, back with her and her huge yellow cat, Moses.  Last night my middle duaghter, Emily, came home for the weekend and she brought her dog, Bear, with her.  We now have four dogs and two cats who are used to being allowed in the house.  My first task this morning was to feed them all (the animals, not the daughters) and send them outside to play.  They've been in and out all day.

My daughters each are moving on their journeys through this time and I am honored that they allow me to be, in some small way, part of them still.  They are truly my pride and joy.  My daughters, not the animals. 

So, I'm wrapping the day up now and stopping to reflect again.  Despite the wind which has only just now calmed it was a lovely day.   The daughters have gone together to a girlfriend's 30th birthday party and Jerry is downstairs making some music.   He's wooing me, I think........ 

Spring Fever and Farm Update

Ohhhh, it was a long day today. The afternoon stretched on and on. And when I looked at the clock it wasn't cooperating at all. Others at work seemed tired and worn a bit at the edges. It's gotta be Spring. Farm update - I planted my pea patch this weekend. It snowed the next day so that was perfect for snow peas, wasn't it? I've put lettuces and radish and spinach in the cold frame (although I could have done that even earlier - we'll see if it helps at all - still a month of freeze possible). We woke Saturday morning to find a surprize lamb! A little April Fool. Our ewes are real young and we didn't think we'd have lambs this year. He's adorable. People ask what we do with our lambs and of course we eat them at some point. A good friend's mother once said that she would prefer to know and name the meat she eats - and I agree with her. Good karma. New chicks are due to arrive next week. We're all set up for them. So are the coyotes, I'm sure. Damn coyotes. Eat the rabbits! Eat the rabbits!

Oven Cleaning the Green Way

I cleaned my oven yesterday. It is a totally Big Deal as it is not a "self cleaning" oven. Oh, if it only were! This is the same stove that was in the double wide trailer house that we lived in on our property while we built our current home. It's an old LP propane Kenmore that works just fine - but, you have to clean the oven the old fashioned way. It hasn't been really cleaned for 11 years. Now before you go all weird on me and accuse me of being a slob I have to tell you the the damn oven sort of self cleans itself whenever you bake in it. You know, stuff turns to ashes so it's really not seething with maggots or anything like that. Yesterday I cleaned it with some sort of spray that is pure lye based. It's nasty stuff. I tried using the vinegar in a boiling pan of water left in the oven overnight "green clean" idea but 11 years of gunk does not render itself to "green clean". It's spanking new looking now. But, I'll bet you anything I won't clean it again for another 11 years.

Modern Medicine

It snowed a little last night. A surprise in the night kind of snow. There is that comforted feeling that comes about from the realization of how buffeted from the elements one can be, all snuggled in a warm bed. Entwined with that one person who is as familiar with your life as you are.

There hasn't been a lot of that entwining business going on here for the last week until last night because of the Illness. I thought I'd go to work yesterday because I was feeling like the Illness might be leaving me. I was wrong. Started the "Zpack" antibiotic and some kick ass steroids yesterday and I just about feel human again. Does anyone else ever think about how many times they might died in their lifetimes without the miracle of modern medicine?

It looks like it will stay cloudy today. I will hang out some sheets later if it doesn't snow/rain and knit on my sweater and be grateful for kick ass modern medicine.