Happy Birthday

Today was my mom's birthday and this is what I made for her! A sign for the little project we've been working on...

- Dan

Pear Pickin'

Today I finally buckled down and started a way, way overdue task... Our long neglected pear tree has been picked! Witness the carnage of lost souls, er pears, under our tree that were unfortunately not picked.

I used our fruit picker basket. It comes in handy for getting those really high pears!

The little claws (or teeth?) on the basket are the secret to picking. Just guide it gently under the pear and get the stem between the claws and pull... If the pear is ready to be picked it will come free easily and if not... well you just take down the branch with it! Probably not the best scenario but oh well...

Look at these beautiful green pears compared to the bee invested ones on the ground! I had to watch my step the whole time for fear of making the bees and wasps angry.

I ended up picking about two 5 gallon buckets today... They were kind of heavy, notice the broken handle on the white bucket.

I think we are planning on dehydrating these pears to make some tasty snacks! I will show you if and when we do!


- Dan

Sunday Sketch 10 & 11

Since I did not put up a sketch last Sunday... I am putting up two today!

- Dan

Progress

Today we made some more progress on the Pumphouse!

Notice the circle out in front of it? That will be a paved patio to sit out on while you enjoy your drink of choice!

We put on the whole bottom row of shingles... But first we had to cut each one down to size!

And prime every last one, front and back...

TA-DAAA!

Then the shingles went on, making sure no cracks lined up!

We obviously have a little more to repair above and some shingles to re-nail down... But we finished the bottom row for now, so that we could set her down nice and easy.

Looking a little tipsy?

After setting it down, we had to re-lay some of the pavers below that got moved and the front end needed some adjusting. BUT she is all set. More work to follow of course!

BEFORE

AFTER

- Dan

Woodland Skipper

The other day I was out watering the garden and I noticed the oregano plant had little orange butterflies all over it! These little guys were flitting from one bloom to the next...

Of course I had to figure out what kind of butterfly they were! After doing some searching and comparisons to some photos online, I determined they were a kind of Skipper Butterfly.

While looking through the super zoom camera lens it can be hard to find the little buggers, especially when they turn...

I determined that specifically they are Woodland Skipper Butterflies or Ochlodes sylvanoides. They are considered a very common species that range from British Columbia south to southern California and east to Montana, Colorado, and Arizona.

Woodland Skipper / Ochlodes sylvanoides

Look at the proboscis, or the tongue, that they use to collect nectar!

 I learned something new today... I hope you did too!


- Dan

Fading

Remember these Crocosmia I showed you?

The first ones starting showing on 06/12

Crocosmia or Montbretia / Crocosmia × crocosmiiflora on 06/26

 

Well... now the blooms are long gone and the bright green seed pods are fading. Sometimes the leftover pods on flowers can be quite interesting and colorful in their own way. See the wonderful gradient from green to yellow to brown.

 

 

Here is an idea of the full effect... I know the picture is out of focus, but you get the idea. Next year when the clump of Crocosmia is larger, perhaps it will be an even better show!

 

 

 

- Dan

 

 

 

We've Got...

HOPS!

 

 

- Dan

Gettin' a Bath

The Pumphouse got a little wash down this last weekend. We took the pressure washer to it, in order to remove some moss and loose paint...

This was the portion that we did the most pressure washing on...

We also did the inside to get rid of the dust and also several old wasp nests.

The paint we washed off before I sprayed it off of the slab.

 

 

- Dan

Pico de Gallo

There is only one thing to make when you have a ton of fresh tomatoes... pico de gallo!

Look at the fresh veggies from the garden! We picked two different kinds of tomatoes, some green onions, a green bell pepper, fresh parsley, a few basil leaves, and some green jalapeño peppers! The large onion at the top and the three larger bell peppers were given to us by our uncle.

 

Usually pico de gallo calls for cilantro but we substituted parsley in. We also have more onions than usual and the bell peppers were a nice addition. Notice that our ratio of tomatoes is less than normal just because we like all those other things more... to each their own!

Add some lime juice, salt, and pepper and you are done.

Looking forward to chowing down on this deliciousness!


- Dan

August Sunset

One of the most glorious sunsets I have seen this Summer!

 

 

- Dan

Weather Talk

The last few days have not been typical Oregon summer weather. As an Oregonian, born and raised, I pride myself on loving any weather that mother nature can throw at us, and often in one day! But if there is any kind of weather that I can't tolerate, it has to be muggy weather...

That feeling of constantly being hot, sweaty and sticky combined with no breeze and overcast skies is not fun... I would rather take a cool rainy day over a muggy forecast any day!

Here's to hoping it changes sooner than later! I got my mini rant out. Now I am going to go stand in front of the fan!


- Dan

Random Shot

Here's a random shot of one of our flowerbeds looking back towards the house...

I thought the roses looked beautiful in the late afternoon sun.


- Dan

Hollyhock

I have been gone rafting this past weekend but, I am trying hard not to fall off the wagon when it comes to posting updates!

Last night I did a tour of the yard. I was surprised to find that one of the hollyhocks I planted this spring is blooming!

They are considered biennials, completing their life cycle in two years. Apparently not true for this one?

- Dan

Garden Goodness

This is what our garden looks like right now!

- Dan

Garden Snapshots

Last night I had some fun doing some photography...

One of our rescued hop plants has finally reached the eaves of the barn! The rest are not even close... they are all pretty short and scraggly compared to the hops in the nearby fields. But I did see some buds starting to form!

The clematis we purchased this spring is having a second spurt of blooms!

I got some close-ups of the garden... This is a spiky sunflower stem!

Soon we'll have some glorious sunflowers!

Lovely patterns in the corn...

Another shot of the sunflowers...

 

 

- Dan