Smokey Days

Posted on September 12, 2020 by Donna

Friday morning it was starting to get more smokey here.  I did the animal chores wearing an N95 mask.  We have purchased these masks in the past due to the wildfire smoke that tends to happen here now every summer.  Here is Bambam looking especially golden in the smokey sunlight yesterday morning.

And here is how it looked facing to the east.

And here I am in my mask and hat.

I noticed that the most recent hay loft chicks are starting to feather out.

I threw some turnips to the sheep and noticed it was getting smokier.

I did some harvesting in the garden with my mask on.

And then hid in the house.  The AQI was 152 at 11:00.

In the afternoon it became much smokier.  You couldn’t see the field across the road.

I tossed some harvest cuttings to the animals, and it was thickening more.

The crows on the right of the photo were acting oddly.

By 3:00 PM the AQI was 180.

I stayed inside and cooked with my harvest.  First I made Winter Vegetable Refrigerator Pickles with carrots, parsnips, beets, and rutabagas.

Winter Root Refrigerator Pickles

Next I started another batch of zucchini chips.

Zucchini chips

Then I started slicing zucchini for Zucchini Lasagna.  By the way, if you did not know, all of the recipes I have tried and liked from the internet I keep track of on my pinterest page.

Zucchini slices

Then I made the lasagne.  I made a traditional one for Tom.

Zucchini Lasagne

After dinner we cut, blanched and froze the thinner green beans I had picked.  I didn’t feel well so went to bed early.  Not sure if it was related to the smoke or not.

This morning the AQI was much worse at 196.  It was foggy as well so almost no visibility.

After the chores I went to our trailer and racked 3 carboys of wine (two plum and one blackberry).  Here are all of my carboys so far.

I brought the leftover, slightly fermented plums and blackberries to the pigs.  They were not interested, probably because they had already eaten a lot.

And here it is looking east.  You cannot see the mountain to the right at all.

So I hid in the house again.  This time I cleaned and prepped the rest of the green beans for canning.  They are in the pressure canner right now.  Tomorrow I work so hopefully will not be exposed to the smoke.  This summer kind of sucks.

But on the bright side- Go Hawks!

Posted in Farm | 6 Comments

Zucchini Ribbons

Posted on September 10, 2020 by Donna

Tuesday I used a recipe for Zucchini ribbons from Dining in Seattle Past & Present. The recipe was from Campagne.

It involved first making noodles from the zucchini.

Butter and chopped shallots are heated in a sauté pan. The “noodles” and a little water are added cooked until heated through. Salt, pepper and parsley are then added.

Entirely separate from this recipe Tom made a sauce using out fresh Roma tomatoes, basil and oregano. He added the last of our homemade Italian sausage.

He put the sauce over cooked spaghetti noodles but I put it over the zucchini noodles and added grated Romano.

It was so good. I could have cooked the ribbons a tiny bit longer, but it was delicious. Another good use for our abundant zucchini.

Posted in Historic recipes, Recipes- farm | 1 Comment

Piper’s First Birthday!

Posted on September 8, 2020 by Donna

So yesterday was our granddaughter’s birthday party.  We took the purple Challenger and drove north to their place.  On the way, we enjoyed songs from the best 50 rock albums from 50 years ago.

We stopped in Bellingham for some beverages to bring to the party.  This trailer was sitting by the side of the road, for sale.

We went to Elizabeth Station to buy ciders to bring to the party.

It was spooky windy in the area.  I had irrigated all around our house before we left in case someone on the road created a spark.  

For some reason these lyrics really resonated with me today.

We crossed the Nocksack River.

We headed toward the border as I had not seen it closed yet during this pandemic.  This is  I-5 looking north toward the mostly closed border on Labor Day afternoon.  This freeway would normally be packed.  Again kind of spooky.

empty border

We passed this cool old barn for sale.  I am guessing it is not long for this world.  

We drove by Drayton Harbor

and you can see White Rock, British Columbia on the other side of the water.

We arrived at the party, and Piper was wearing a cute sundress.

I loved her facial expression.

William explained how he can do wheelies on his scooter wearing his motorcycle helmet,

and then showed us his dirt bike wheelies.

He also showed us his new GTO.

We had a great dinner that they had prepared with jalapeño poppers, short ribs, and baked beans.  The sheet was then placed to catch any fallout from the birthday cake.  

The scene was set.

Piper decided to climb on the dining room chair instead,

but then she was placed in her high chair.

The singing happy birthday video did not turn out, but I have plenty of pictures of her and her cake.  This is the first time she has ever had any cake or frosting.

She did not make much of a mess at all.  I think the sheet was unnecessary.  This is in sharp contrast to William at his first birthday.

Then it was time for birthday presents.  Piper was more interested in the balloon

and the paper.

But William did show her how to open the cloth book on the lamb puppet,

and she did briefly try on the hat I knitted for her.  Winter is theoretically coming.

Jaylene seemed to like the clothes she received.  She has outgrown almost all of her current clothes as she is quite tall.  We bought her 3T jeans

and a shirt.

She did eventually play with the puppet,

and tried to open her next present with her teeth.

She did seem to like the magnetic blocks.

Belle liked her vantage point on Tom’s lap.

Present opening over, William hung with the birthday balloon.

Piper grabbed her new sippy cup

and drank some water from it.  I had intended it to be for camping as it has those images on it, but there may not be much more camping this year.

Jay read Piper’s new book to her.

This was a socially distanced birthday party with only grandparents and an uncle.  It was so much smaller than William’s first birthday.  Thankfully, Piper does not know the difference, and we all had a wonderful time.

Tom and I headed home via the sunset.

The sunset was spectacular but bittersweet as it is due to all the fires. When we got home, our house was still standing. We checked our computers and discovered how many new fires had started in the state due to the heat, dry condition and wind. So much destruction.

This morning the air quality is quite poor at our place so I am confined indoors while Tom is outside doing all of the chores. I am thankful it was not this smokey yesterday for the party, and I am able to do indoor chores today, like writing this blog post. Stay safe out there from the pandemic, the fires and the smoke. What a year!

Posted in Farm, Trips | 4 Comments