MID JULY GARDEN TOUR!

Even though we had another very hot and dry week last week, I did manage to spend quite a bit of time working in my vegetable garden, and I have to say, I was quite excited to see some progress there, even with the drought.

It was time to spend some time with my tomato plants.  Many needed tying up, some needed the bottom leaves removed where I thought some blight might be about to happen.  When I actually stopped and worked in the tomato bed, I realized that I do actually have a lot of fruit on my plants.  Even though the plants themselves are somewhat puny, they are loaded with tomatoes.  None are ready for picking, but another week or so, they will be ready to eat, can, freeze, or whatever I decide I will do this year!

 







On to the beans.  I have three different varieties of bush beans that I grow every year, Dandy Green, Dandy Gold, and Provider.  Last year I froze over 10 gallons of beans.  So far this year, I have picked and froze this lot:  Maybe a pound, all said and done!

I am also growing a bush drying bean that was given to me by a friend.  There are a lot of beans on these plants, but I will be leaving them to dry on the plants, and then will just pod them.

One of the plants is a renegade climber.  I totally love when this happens.  So I gave it a pole and hopefully it will grow something amazing for me.  

The corn is a big surprise.  Even though the plants themselves are quite short, every plant has a couple of ears growing on it.  So far I have only planted corn for us to have fresh, but next year I hope to plant more so that I can freeze some.  

I think my favourite thing in the garden this year is this Kale.  Oh my Gosh, it is so good.  We have been eating it and the Swiss Chard for a few weeks already.  I almost feel like seeding another couple of rows for an autumn garden... I will have to check our fall frost dates to see if I would have enough time.  It just has the most amazing flavour.

 







I have yellow, red white and Spanish onions growing, they are not a great size, hopefully they will have a good flavour, and they do have some time to fatten up before they come out in fall.

My pumpkin and squash bed is crazy wild, blossoms everywhere and there is a lot of small fruit on the vines.  I have butternut squash, Zucchini and a small pumpkin planted and so far it looks like I will have some of each to harvest come fall.  I really want to try some different varieties next year...

My cucumbers are totally pathetic.  I have picked 3 very small ones so far... not the best year for cuc's, I'm afraid.

I didn't plant potatoes this year, and my carrots never did come up ( after 3 plantings) it was just too hot.

I have a few beets but I think it has been too hot for those as well.

It hasn't been my best garden ever, but I am thankful for what I do have growing.

We had a really good rain yesterday - I can't wait to see if it will make any difference to the garden this week, or not.

My herbs are doing great since I moved them out of the hot sun.  I have been steadily harvesting and drying mint, lemon balm, chamomile, basil and sage and oregano, so far.  We have already had some teas from our herbs that were really really nice.  I am definitely going to expand my tea garden next year, for sure.

So that's my garden tour...

Can't wait for my first fresh tomato sandwich.... yum!

BUSY DAYS ARE A COMIN!

It's a good day today - it's finally raining!  We have been having a nice slow soaking rain for about 2 hours this morning and already things are starting to come alive.  The grass which was totally brown has a wee hint of green mixed in there now.

We could really use a couple of days of this type of life-giving rain, but we will settle with whatever we are given!

It's a good day to spend working in the studio, and a good thing too as I have some news about some of my creations.

A antique shop in Selkirk Manitoba has expressed an interest in carrying my mug rugs in their shop in the near future.  The shop "THE GYPSY TRADERS"  is adding a artisan/crafters space in their antique shop, and are in the process of finding Manitoba Artisans who can supply unique items in this new space.

I currently have no stock, I have sold everything I had made up a month or so ago, so I need to get busy and get some stock - "Stocked up" !

I am also hopeful for an opportunity to supply some of my creations to a new place recently opened in Minnedosa, and also replenish my supply to our own Uniques and Antiques shop here in town.

My head is buzzing a bit with all the ideas of things I want to do, and then there are the things I HAVE to do. 

As always, am I biting off more than I am going to chew, let alone swallow?  Possibly - but it seems to be what I always do, so for now, I will go with it.

I know one thing, it's going to be a very busy fall - teaching piano, working 2 jobs, and producing enough items to keep a couple of shops supplied...

Who knew retirement would be so busy!

And a day ago, I decided I really want to change the wall colour in my dining room and living room...

Well there you go!

BEST CURE FOR A BAD HEADACHE!

I went to bed with a headache last night, and woke up with an even worse one this morning.  Yesterday the wind was so bad, it blew us apart inside and out... and there is something about strong wind that really unsettles me, for some reason... so I blamed the wind for my headache!

The temperature got down to 10 overnight - the house was so nice and cool and fresh, after such a long time of having the house shut up and AC on - it was such a welcome treat.

But I still had that really bad headache.

I wanted to take advantage of the cool morning to get some much needed work done outside...

But I had that headache.

I ate breakfast, had a cup of coffee and decided bending and working in the garden would only make my headache worse, so I decided to stay indoors.

I went up to my studio... by the time I climbed the stairs my head was pounding even more.  I couldn't do anything, because I had that headache.

I went back down to my rocking chair, watched a video or two, and then decided I really wanted to be outside, so I got dressed and headed out to the garden.

I needed to water everything, so I started there, doing the tomatoes first...

And I still had that headache.

Then the Swiss chard, the kale, the beans...

And I sort of forgot about the headache,

Then the cucumbers, beets, flowers, lettuce, herbs, more flowers, shrubs...

What headache?  It was gone...

I don't know if it was the very fresh fall-like air, or the act of watering all my growing things, but without taking any medications, somehow my pounder of a headache had disappeared.

So I got to work in earnest.  I decided to continue working on the new flower beds I am making at the front of the house.  I completed digging that and started around the corner to the other front of the house on the south side.  By the time I stopped for lunch I was half way through that bed as well.

Now I'm going to start working in the studio for the rest of the day - the windows are open, a very cool breeze is blowing through my work space, the birds are singing out my window - it's a a perfect environment for getting something accomplished.

Better get to it!

IT WILL GIVE YOU GOOSE BUMPS - IT DID ME!

If you didn't read "A Typical Dale Day" post from a couple of days ago, you should go back and read that one before you continue with this post -  this is sort of a continuation of that one...

I spent most of my day on Wednesday sorting through the ribbon, braids and trims that my cousin sent me from my Aunt's home.

She was a Floral Designer by trade and so she always had a lot of ribbons and trims... and she used a lot in the crafts she did.... sewing, quilting, eggery, crocheting... floral arrangements.

I received a lot of ribbon - but truthfully - I know my cousin has not even scratched the surface when in comes to this particular crafting supply.

I use a lot of ribbon as well, so I am very happy to acquire this lot.

 In those boxes are many different colours, and widths of satin ribbons, which I use a lot of when I make my crochet ornaments, but now the ladies of summer will have even more embellishments on their hats!

I mentioned  in my post the other day, that I felt that my Aunt was near when I was going through her stuff.  I know now that my feelings were founded, because I found three things tucked in her ribbon boxes that I know my cousin did not put in there.

The first was this -   it was in one box.

Another box had a bunch of pieces of ribbons in the bottom... and rightly so - you never know when you will need little bits of ribbon, so you don't throw them away.  I cleaned the box out then turned it over and shook it over the trash can to get the really small stuff out - and this fell out of the box... it must have been face down and I didn't see it.

But it was the fourth box that did me in.

Again I was sifting through the dregs on the bottom, there were little plastic bags that maybe once held ribbon, and some cardboard pieces, where maybe ribbon had been wrapped around at one time... and a paper... I almost threw the paper away, thinking it was from a wrapper...

This message went straight to my heart! 

I know my Aunt used her ribbons right out of these boxes that I now have, they were all labelled for colour and size of ribbon... Who knows when she put these objects in her ribbon boxes, and who knows why?

I believe her hand was guided, she didn't know why she put them there either - she was meant to put them there, and I was meant to find them - it is after all, just that simple!

Does that freak you out?

Not me - it gives me so much comfort... you can't even begin to imagine how much!

My Aunt had a very strong faith, and she also believed that throughout her life, she was left signs and directions that guided her through the rough spots - and she had many of those in her 99 years here on earth.

For some it is a very hard concept to grasp a hold of...  but I know what those three items were meant for me to find....

I'm so very happy, that I did.

RECIPE THURSDAY SORT OF!

My recipe today, is more an idea than a recipe.  I tried something different the other day, and thought I would share it with you.

We were having leftovers one evening for supper, and I didn't really want to eat them, so I let Gary finish them and I decided to fry myself a couple of eggs.  I kind of lose my appetite for meals containing meat when it is so hot outside, so I thought the eggs would be perfect.

Then I remembered that I had some really nice Kale and Swiss Chard ready to be picked in the garden to so I thought I would have that as well.

After I washed the greens, I decided I also didn't feel like washing extra pots from cooking greens in the usual way ( steamed)  so I chopped them up,  and sauteed them in a little bit of butter, salt and pepper in the frying pan for just a couple of minutes...

Then added the eggs in the pan with the greens.  I did not add any more butter just fried the eggs in the juice from the greens and butter...

Pretty instant meal.  You could add fruit, or bacon or ham, whatever you want, but this suited me just fine.  And it was delicious.  I found that the greens had a much richer taste cooked this way.  I am thinking that one could add any number of vegetables to the greens as well and it would be equally as tasty.

So if you are inclined give it a try - I think you will find it quite tasty.

ANOTHER PROJECT DONE!

Quite some time ago,  I was visiting with my friend at her Antique shop, and she showed me three walking dolls that a customer had put in the shop.   All three dolls are Canadian made REGAL dolls, and not at all collectable.

They were kind of sad and the more I looked at them the more I just wanted to snatch them up, take them home and give them all a spa day.

When I asked Lou if I could do that, she informed me that she wanted them to be donated as models in our little one room school house, which is part of our town's museum.

I agreed completely.  We had been through the museum last year, and it lacked models of this kind in the school room.  Presently there is just a comatose teacher and a sleeping child.

So I took the dolls home and gave them all a bath. 

Two of the girls got boil perms, and the other doll's hair was so bad I decided to chop it off and turn her into a him.   They got some different clothes and shoes, I made a paper boy-style cap for the boy, and he even has a sling-shot in his front pocket.

Here are the new students for the school, they are ready to start school any day now.

As always, working with dolls is such a fun project for me.  I don't do much with my dolls anymore, as I have so many other activities I am involved in - so this was a nice relaxing treat for me.

Wonder what grade they will be in?

A TYPICAL "DALE" DAY!

A couple of weeks ago, I received a phone call from my cousin in the States, who is the son of my Beloved Aunt Margaret.  As with every conversation with Earl, there is a lot of joking around, but the reason for his call was much more serious.

If you have read my blog over the years, you will already know just how precious my Aunt Margaret was to me, and you will  also know that she was very much my inspiration, and indeed my teacher when it came to the crafts, hobbies and collections that I have always done - even to this very day.

My Aunt Margaret lived in a tiny little house, but unless you ever visited her - you could never imagine what was in that tiny little house.  She wasn't a hoarder, but she did have a lot of collections of different things, she was a creator of beautiful things, and she had all she needed to create, right at her fingertips at all times.

I remember many trips with her to Lee Wards, to buy craft supplies... it was the first time, I had ever seen a craft store larger than a shopping mall!  To be honest, that Lee Wards store remains the largest and best craft stores I have ever been in... but it exists now, only in my memories!

Earl has the task of cleaning out my aunts home.  It's not a task for the faint of heart!  Many many times over the years Aunt Margaret and I discussed just what Earl is facing right now... she said she would get rid of things as she got older ( she was in her 80's when she said that) but she crafted another decade past that day - in her mind, she needed all her supplies.

The serious side of my conversation with Earl was to find out if I could use any of her supplies, and if there was something in particular I wanted from her house.  I answered yes to the first question and there was really only one thing I really wanted, and another item I was concerned about.

The one thing I wanted, was a little cross stitch picture I stitched and gave her for Christmas in 1996.  It is a picture of a little girl dressed in a red coat hanging a quilt on a wash line.   I stitched that piece on every lunch break at work for months, and I loved the finished piece so much I always intended to make one for myself. 

The object I was concerned about was Elizabeth - my Grandmother's china doll.  Elizabeth stood on Aunt Margaret's dresser in her bedroom forever.  Because she had many china heads that looked much like Elizabeth, I was concerned that Elizabeth would be sold off with the rest of the collection, and not passed down through the generations to come, as I believe she should be.   I knew that she was the only china head doll that my aunt had that had a Kidd body, and so I instructed Earl to look for her, based on a picture I had taken 8 yrs ago during my last visit with my aunt.

Yesterday a large box arrived from Earl - thanks to another cousin... Thank You Kelvin for being our messenger! 

It was an emotional experience for me.  As I dived through the stuff Earl had sent, I swear that Aunt Margaret was right there beside me.  I believe she was - I know she was!

Along with lots of braids and ribbons, and craft supplies that Earl somehow knew I would use, there was this sweet little picture....







And there was Elizabeth!

Meet Elizabeth Owens...  she is around 122 yrs old, belonged originally to my Grandmother Mabel Fischer (nee Owens).  Her dress and pinafore are not original, these were made by Aunt Margaret, and I am going to knit an Irish lace shawl for her.  She has had a wash, her clothes have been washed and pressed and she is going to be standing on my dresser in my bedroom for as long as she is with me. 

I will keep her for a time, but eventually I would like to find someone in our very large family who will treasure her and pass her on to the next generations of little descendents of Mabel Owens, and I will make sure she is tagged with all the information needed to keep her in the family.


What an incredible day!  What a typical "Dale" day!  Memories, emotions, and wonderful, beautiful things!

BUT - something was missing.....