More Olio – July 28, 2020

Years go by faster as we age, but this year has flown by, locked in and frustrated that simple measures that would have slowed, possibly contained the virus are not being heeded by many. Frustrated that basic simple procedures are being pushed back on as “violations of my rights,” a false claim, when they don’t think twice about heeding the “No shirt, no shoes, no service” messages, or the wearing a seat belt when driving or helmet when riding a motorcycle laws.

It is so hot and humid that outdoor activities are not inviting. The pick your own berry patches are either not opening or hours are so limited that instead of spreading out the crowds, it concentrates them. The garden is supplying us with good nourishment, but the items that require my attention in the kitchen for more than a few minutes are still maturing, so there has been only one canning session. Cucumbers, other than the first batch, are being fermented or quick brined. A half gallon jar of dill wedges were started in a refrigerator quick brine a few days ago.

Mornings are still mostly pleasant enough to enjoy my breakfast and coffee on one of the porches. This morning it was the front covered porch where I watched the Hummingbirds and spotted the web in this photo, stretched from the spider plant to the porch post.

The hens production is up again finally. All three Olive eggers are laying again, so I’m getting blue, green, and pink eggs from them. One of New Hampshire Reds is laying very small rough shelled eggs. We are back to getting 5 or 6 eggs most days instead of 2 which is nice.

Because we still don’t have a brush hog, there is a section of the yard that has not been mowed all year. It winds through the evergreens that we have planted between the end of the lawn and the barn. When I walk to the mailbox, it is interesting to see the deer paths and deer lays that are in the tall grass.

I finally finished spinning the Sea Glass green fiber that I was spinning during the Tour de Fleece and the mini challenge the following week. It adds 96 more yards that I can include with the nearly 400 yard skein that I spun with it. Now I’m trying to decide which braid to spin beginning in August for that month’s challenge. One choice is BFL/Silk Redbud color, another is an unknown fiber that feels like Merino called Baltic. I ordered an Elderberry colored braid of Shetland and Silk that will be spun at some point. In the meantime, I’m spinning a Merino/Bamboo blend of yellow, blue, and white called Sky Flower.

The mobile vet made her visit and drew blood from the pups to check for heartworm and other parasitics and they both are ok, but the big guy is showing signs of his age. We will try some supplements recommended for his joints and his tummy upset. It is hard watching him slow down, he is such a big lovable gentle giant.

We see many of our friends doing some travels, hopefully safely and socially distancing. Maybe some day we will feel safe enough to do so. Stay safe everyone, wear your masks and lets get through this together.

Non-venomous, still not welcome

My Facebook memory from this morning was the 6 foot black rat snake that I extracted from my chicken coop exactly a year ago to the amazement of my then 14 year old grandson. Then about 5 weeks ago, another about 5 foot one from the coop, and last night just as a thunderstorm was beginning, I went over to lock up the hens who had wisely gone into the coop to find another 6 footer lounging on the outside of the coop, right at waist height. I walked past it in the deepening gloom without seeing it and spotted it when I came back out. Another 5 gallon bucket with lid grabbed, a call into the house for hubby to put on shoes and grab keys.

July 27, 2019; June 22, 2020, July 26, 2020

When I grabbed the one last night, it wrapped it’s tail around the gate handle that I use to secure the chicken run gate closed and was so strong that it almost pulled it’s head from my grasp. It was stretched out on the trim board above the handle it’s head half way down the length of the coop and it’s tail on the trim piece behind that fiberglass post.

I don’t kill them, but I don’t want them in my coop, eating eggs, feed, or babies when there are any, so they are put in a lidded 5 gallon bucket and taken away from the farm. The first two were dropped off in the wood about a half mile from home. This one was taken two miles away and dumped. I have to admit, that I never handled a snake before these three except for twice. Once when I took a small, 2 foot Hognose snake into my classroom from the adjoining classroom to show one of my Biology classes, the second time to feel, but not hold a python. Snake skin is dry, cool, and smooth, they are not slimy like some people think. They are well muscled and you can feel the muscle movement when they coil or try to.

Hubby is not a fan. He would prefer that they stay in the woods well away from us. When we bought a house in Virginia Beach when our children were young, the air handler was in the ceiling above the family room. The first time I went up to change the filter as it was a crawl on your hands and knees to get to it fit, I found several snake skins. Later that summer, a black rat snake crawled out of the hole in the brick where the condenser tube ran and he commented that if the snake was found in the house, he was moving out. Last night, he was taking the picture above and afterward, I lowered the snake in the bucket at my feet with the lid in my right hand. That snake did not want to be in that bucket and before I could get the lid firmly on, it tried to escape, in the direction of hubby who was standing back about 6 feet with the camera. I caught the snake and secured it, but his reaction before I did was priceless. I thought he had learned to fly, he jumped back so fast and so high (he says this is an exageration).

They have their place, eating rodents, but their place is not in my coop.

It did rain for a little while last evening and this morning, the farm was shrouded in fog. By the time the chores were done, the fog had lifted except at the tops of the trees and the mountain tops.

It was very pretty sitting on the porch with my breakfast and coffee watching it shift and having the territorial little Hummingbirds fly around through the covered porch chasing each other off.

The fog mist had settled on the asparagus ferns in the garden and they glittered like they were covered with thousands of tiny diamonds this morning.

The row of sunflowers are producing more blooms each day, bronze, lemon yellow, and Hopi dye seed varieties. Non of the wild Kansas sunflower seed that my sister sent produced plants this year.

It is going to be another hot and humid day, Roanoke, the nearest city has broken their weather history for the most consecutive days above 90 degrees f. It has gotten that hot here a few times in the past months, but mostly hovering in the upper 80’s. We await the mobile vet to check out the big guy and to administer vaccines possibly and do heartworm tests if the pups cooperate. The visit will be socially distanced on the front porch.

Stay safe, wear your mask. Let’s beat this virus.

Olio 7/25/2020

Olio: a miscellaneous collection of things.

This morning as I was taking the feeder out to the wild finches, I realized that the 3 days of thunderstorms encouraged these pretty fringed silver mushrooms in the compost put down in the walled garden. There are dozens of them in clusters. I’m sure as soon as the day heats up, they will all wilt back.

After doing the morning chores, I stood in the dining room to do my 15 minute daily challenge spinning on one of my Jenkins spindles. From there I could watch the House Finches ravage that feeder and the Hummingbirds dancing around their feeder on the opposite side of the house.

The fiber I was spinning was the last of a braid of fiber from Inglenook, it was a beautiful braid of blue, purple, teal, and some white Merino and Silk. It spun like a dream and was one of the fibers I was spinning during the Tour de Fleece and this week during the 15 minute challenge. It took me about 35 minutes to finish the braid.

After spinning it, we decided to go in to the outdoor Farmer’s Market which we have not visited since the pandemic caused all the lock downs. They have it set up with moveable fences to control how many people can enter at a time, directional signage in chalk on the walkways, no touch payment, and if you plan ahead and know exactly what you want, you can order ahead. I was hoping for some sausage, cultured butter, cheese, and veggies I don’t grow. When we got there, the line wrapped around two side on the outer sidewalk and people though masked were standing close enough to put their hand on the shoulder of the person in front of them in line. Many kids running around in the grass in the middle not masked though there is a mandate to wear a mask within the fenced area. I was unwilling to stand in the line, so we left and went to take a walk on the old rail grade. After our walk, we drove back over toward the market and the crowd had thinned down to no line and fewer people within the fence. It was good to see the vendors I have missed. The vendor with the butter and cheese wasn’t there and the only vegetables not sold out that I don’t grow were a couple of cabbages. There was squash, but that isn’t a favorite here, and salad mix which I had just gotten from the same vendor’s supply at the local Natural Foods Store a few days before. I did talk to those vendors and got on their preorder list/info with the suggestion to come during the first hour when they more strictly limit the number of people for the seniors and when supply of items is greater. I will start doing that. I miss that weekly trip.

The hay in the lower field still stands. We are still parking three tractors and four pieces of equipment besides our own tractor. Last evening, after dinner, we went to the village market to get ice cream and saw the farmer that does the hay. He relies on two younger men to help him and last weekend they decided to move all the hay already mowed instead of finishing the mowing, then there was a forecast of 50% chance of rain so they didn’t mow and it didn’t rain. This weekend, one of the younger men is away, but Randy said he might come mow after his shift at the stockyard today. We will see.

I ended up with 342 yards of 21 WPI lace weight yarn weighing in at 69.6 grams (2.45 ounces). I guess it will go in the shop after it is soaked and dried. Lovely soft Merino and Silk.