It All Went Away

 Not sure how things are going in your area,

but we have had the strangest year in the garden.

Everything is a full three weeks later than normal.

This basket is a good 20"-22" diameter.

As of writing this,

it is mid October.

Our beans and tomatoes are finally "coming on."

My eggplant has produced 2 fruit since spring.

At the moment it has 5 fruit on it.

We are expected to have mild temperatures for the next

week so I should be able to harvest them.

Typically, by the beginning of October,

I have already or am in the process of putting the garden

to bed for winter.

I currently have a couple tomato plants I will be pulling this weekend but the others are loaded both with ripe and green fruit.

We ran pretty low this year since we weren't getting much

in the way of fresh produce from our garden.

It's been a good lesson for me

to get as much as I can while I can.

The current prices at the grocery store are also 

pretty good incentive.

We also got a ton of delicious mild onions.

Well, not a full ton (heehee) but a lot!

I've been sorting them into boxes with brown paper

between layers to preserve some for fresh,

but I've had the dehydrator earning its keep, for sure.

 

In addition, we've been going full throttle at work

so extra time off hasn't been possible.

I could work full time at work and full time at home lately.

Thus the reason for so few posts.

Now to get to what the title is all about.

This year, Hubby put in for an elk hunting tag in Montana

with a long time friend of his who also enjoys bow hunting.

Bow season is earlier than rifle seasons so it's usually quieter.

FYI: MT hunting licenses and tags are expensive!

Well, two weeks before they were scheduled to leave,

his friend had a massive heart attack and flat-lined twice.

He has miraculously lived to tell it himself,

but needless to say, he wasn't able to go hunting.

Hubby went for two long weekends by himself

which neither of us were really wild about.

There is no phone service out there, and it's not an area

either of us is familiar with.

(His friend has hunted there for years.)

The third week of the season, 

he asked if I'd want to go if we took the trailer

and left on Tuesday and came back on Sunday.

For both of us to leave the business,

and for me to leave the garden and kitchen

right when everything was going nuts,

was a difficult decision to make.

I finally thought, you know what?

It's all going to be here when I get back.

I could work myself to the grave, or I could go

and take a break that was very much needed.

So we went~

The first day there, I took three, 3, III naps!

It was beautiful!

We camped right next to a creek off a very remote dirt road.

And for a few days,

it all went away.

No work.

No politics.

No banking or balancing books.

No urgency.

No food preservation.

No worries.

No people.

No noise.

It was so wonderful.

It was the longest vacation we've taken since we've been married, going on 12 years.

We somewhat reluctantly returned home Sunday night about 8PM, and the alarm went off at 4:30 Monday morning.

We've both been going non-stop since we returned,

but for just a couple days,

it all went away.

 

Drying Apricots & Too Much Eventfulness!

Why we don't go on vacations...

Last weekend being long for the holiday,

we decided to take a little trip.

Not too far, just outta Dodge for 3 days.

I found a great little camp site with 5 sites

each with its own picnic table & shade trees between.

It was at the end of a short street so no traffic etc.

We were camper #7 to pull in.

We were parked on a crusty lawn in the blazing sun,

no table & only some lilacs separating us from the owners house.

"Oh, well, we'll be out and about quite a bit.

It will be okay."

We had been up since 5 AM because that's just what time we wake.

Fireworks didn't start until 10:15 PM.

We didn't stay to watch all of them

as we were falling asleep and didn't want to be

in drunken traffic or teenager traffic or whatever other traffic.

We went back to the camper and were out by the time

our heads hit the pillows.

About 2:30 AM the owners family all came

rolling in with hoopin' and hollerin' & language like I won't repeat, and 

went directly between us and the house.

The next day, the owner apologized then proceeded to inform

me that there would be different music at each bar in town.

Mr. LB & I talked and decided just to come home.

On the way home, we saw Mr. LB's brother fishing

so ended up stopping and fishing a little longer than we should have.

I took over driving when Mr. LB started snoring behind the wheel.

He hadn't slept since 2:30 AM.  I did a little.

We rolled in about 9:30-10 PM.

We slept in until 6-6:30 then decided to go get a load of wood.

They opened the forest since the last rain

and we were home anyways.

It turned into a very long hot (100+) day.

Got a nice load of red fir and returned home about 9 PM.

I was so hot and tired, I didn't care about food.

Mr. LB had to eat or he would have been sick the next day as

he uses up all his spare calories.

I cooked while he showered.  Then he ate while I showered.

Monday we were still zapped.

Tuesday, I picked up some bulk meat to divy up and freeze.

We still hadn't unloaded the wood.

Wed. my M-I-L gave me 2 big boxes of apricots so I got to work on those.

I don't care for them fresh but love them dried.

Five racks on the dryer going constantly since Wed. night.

Still have 4 or 5 cookie sheets (so they are single layer)

in the little room where they will keep better.

This isn't even all of them:)

Thursday, I put some lamb chops in marinate for Sunday's company.

Today (Sat.) was my first day home in a while.

Got the lawn mowed and watered, did 4 or 5 loads of laundry

which I usually do Thursdays, did most of the ironing, made a gallon

of homemade ice cream and was cleaning house since we have

company coming tomorrow, .

If there was a 'weeds in the garden' competition,

I would win - so weeded a ton in the garden.

Bustling and busy and sweaty all day.

About 7:30, went to do up the tail end of some dishes and start dinner.

No Water!

Mr. LB is at Home Depot (over an hour away) with my dad, as I type this,

purchasing a new well pump.

I'm not sure how long it will take to install it, but

I am thankful we live next to a river.

I went down with my towel and soap.

It was rather invigorating to say the least.

Hoping we get it all put together and have water before company.

I'm curious - what does a day off feel like?

Until next time,

Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches

PS- Mr. LB just called: they are 30-40 min. out, and

they are hoping to get the pump in tonight. It's 9 PM.

* Hell's Canyon Oregon*

Hell's Canyon Oregon

Neither Hubby nor I had ever been to

the Hell's Canyon Damn so we decided to go.

If you appreciate rugged beauty or

if you like outdoor adventure,

this is a must. 

This is above the damn.

I think we were actually on the Idaho side for this one.

From below the damn 

looking back up at it.

Now back on the Oregon side.

In the summer, there are rafting tours

from about here all the way down to the

mouth of the Snake River.

We have been farther down river,

but had not been this far up.

This is right next to the damn - 

a visitors center.

I don't remember how deep it is,

but it is more impressive in real life

as the size of the rocks and the volume of water

are truly grand.

The picture doesn't give you a great perspective

of the scale.

The other thing I enjoyed

was the variety of rocks.

As we were driving, areas of the cliff sides

were green with copper,

or plum colored.

If you know what causes a plum color,

please let me know.

It was beautiful.

There was also metamorphic rock

that was all speckley.

(Another me word.)

It was a fabulous mini vacation -

the only vacation we've had in some time.

That evening, we went to a Gothard Sisters concert.

You might look them up on youtube if you like Celtic music.

It was all within a few hours of home.

Hope you enjoyed the mini-tour.

Until next time,

Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches