Summertime in Alaska - or not!?

The past few years I have tried without success to grow a nice firm head of cabbage here on the farm to no avail!  It has been too hot and I do not have an area of good enough shade to keep the cold weather crop doing what it is supposed to be doing,  One year I had rabbits take out the whole lot, and one year it just flat out bolted and tried to seed before it ever made a good head.

So this year I decided I would plant some good ole' Southern Hot Weather Greens!   I got Mustard and Collard seeds and Jicama too.  I prepped the raised bed and sprinkled in the seeds in neat, tidy rows.  And we have had the coldest summer in 5 years starting out!  June 16th it was 48 degrees at 9:00 at night!  Most likely colder overnight - most assuredly colder overnight!  But the Collards and one row of the Mustard greens have come up - Im hoping for them.

In the above photo you can just see the little rows of green coming up - we need some heat now!

I did plant some cabbage though - some Red Mammoth.  We will be doing some red saurkraut if we can get some cabbage to grow.  I planted it in the most shady grow box I have so it doesnt get full sun - just most of the day sun!  Ill keep you posted on the cabbage since it has been a little cooler start to the summer.  We love cabbage and I just can't imagine not at least trying it!

We have had such great winds too that my squash have broken off and I had to start two of then right over - they broke off right at the base - ground level darn it!  It seemed like a monsoon one night here, wind, thunder and lightning - I ran as fast as I could go to close up the greenhouse, the cold frames, and batten everything down.  Then it rained about 5 minutes and was gone.  So we have to water every day even though it is cold and cloudy!  The only thing really going great guns is the onions and the radishs.

Above shows a couple of the Cherry Belle radishes and the radish/caarrot bed behind it.  I always plant radishes and carrots together to start since carrots take longer and by the time the radishes are grown and pulled out it thins the carrots automatically for you.  Way less work thinning and you dont have to be sad pulling out perfectly good carrots!

I read a facebook permaculture post asking how any one else's green beans were doing - I know Im not alone - the consensus is that it is too cold.  I have planted by green beans in the cold frame again in hopes that they will thrive with the added protection - they have just come up but since I had them in there last year and they did well I think we are ok!

I hope your global warming is working in a way that works for your growing affairs!  Ours so far is not!  Blessed be!

Keeping the Birds!

As you know from my previous blog "How Much is 15  minutes?"  I try to quilt at least 15 minutes a day.  Sometimes that happens and sometimes it doesn't.  Since my son passed away I seem to do more sitting and thinking than I do quilting but sometimes I quilt too.  Usually once I get started I work for more than 15 minutes - kind of get in the groove so to speak.

I told you before about retreat and the block drawings we do - each of us do a block or two based on a theme or on a pattern that has been nominated at a previous retreat.  I have been pretty lucky and have won them a few times over the years.  Of course, I have made a ton of blocks to do it.

The last time I won blocks was about a year and a half ago - I won the Birds!  The above picture shows the bird blocks on the wall at retreat before the drawing.  Each star block has a bird in the center square.  Our theme besides the bird cutouts was fall colors so it gave a really big variety of colors.

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Above shows one of the blocks after the quilter was finished with it.  I dont quilt this size of quilts yet - I dont have room nor do I have the machine but I have a wonderful lady at Briar Rose Quilts that adds her art to mine and makes for a beautiful combination.

Many times when I win blocks I have need of a quick quilt for a fundraiser, a chemo patient or for a gift for someone - in other words I give them away!  I also told you in a previous blog about cutting up our bed quilt and up cycling it into items such as pillow covers and such - so we had no quilt on out bed.  The hubby asked me numerous times - "How can it be that you are a quilter and we dont have a quilt on our bed?  You make them!"  SO....I am keeping the birds!

Here is is in all it's glory finished and on the bed!  I love how the colors are fall but with the light colored background it keeps it nice and bright in our room!  Sanctuary!

Blessed Be!

Love your people - the quilted edition

I did a blog a few months ago (9 exactly actually) about loving your people now that we have lost one of our dear ones.  I am still "getting through" things and some days I simply put my feet on the floor and march forward and try not to cry all day.  We have good days and bad weeks but the good days are getting closer together now.  I am also trying to do things with people more and do more of the things that I love to do - like quilting.  So off I went to the family quit retreat this past April.  While I was there my family members gave me a special gift - The People Quilt!

One of my super creative cousins (Patricia) designed the quilt and sent out blocks for the family members.  Some did the X and O blocks in the center part (Kisses and Hugs the block is called), and others did the "people" blocks around the outside.  It was a funny story because when she sent the people blocks out she gave some simple directions and then about three days later she sent a note saying that the people they made needed to look like them!  AACK! is what most of the ladies said!

Here we are checking it out at retreat.  You can see some of the people, a soccer player and a ballerina (cousins daughters) there are a couple of cowboys (an aunt and a cousin), a fairy (cousins daughter), and everything in between!  All the blocks are signed but you can still tell who did which ones by looking at them.  They do look like the people who made them!

This is the bow from the package that the quilt was wrapped in - it was beautifully wrapped and this bow is hand made by the same creative cousin who designed the quilt.  The bee in the middle is felted wool and it is so cute!

Below is the label on the back of the quilt.  The quilt backing is a warn and wonderful fleece and it gives the quilt a really good weight for sleeping under.  

The flowers on the label are from a fabric that was used to make an anniversary quilt for an aunt and uncle - a beautiful forget me not fabric that has meaning for all of the family but is certainly appropriate for the quilt.

I had occasion to stay overnight at the Big Lake Rec Center while the High School was hosting a gun show - you'll learn more about that in another blog - but the people quilt came with me and made for a great sleep in the center and warm.  The people quilt is my new travel and every day sleeping quilt.  Ill give you some updates as we go as to the travels of the people quilt - its like my own version of "Flat Stanley".

There is a saying that when you sleep under a quilt you sleep under a blanket of love and this quilt is certainly,  literally sleeping under a blanket of love from my family where ever I go!

  Safe Journeys where ever you may go and may you have a blanket of love to sleep under when you get there!  Blessed Be!

Mamas New Boots

I have always had an issue with shoes and boots.  I love them and there are so many cute boots and shoes out there that one would think that I would be able to find exactly what I needed for farm/garden work easily.  Not so!  The problem you see is my feet!  They are flat and wide on the bottom but I have that high arch on the top that jams me up every time I try to get boots to wear.  I also have calves that are to die for - they are just huge!  It comes from being a long and triple jumper as well as gymnast in high school.   I had found a wonderful pair of rain boots - black with pink polka dots and not too tall that they had to be rolled down to accommodate my giant calves - many years ago and this year they finally just wore out!  I will upcycle them soon - look for that in an upcoming blog.  So the race was on to find some boots that would fit toot sweet!  I also like something that is easily slip on - I never go out the door with nothing in my hands it seems, and I dont need to have to put every thing down so I can wrestle with a boot and then try to gather it up to go out.

And then there is the fisherman in the family!  Who also needed new boots since last summer due to another growth spurt!  I know you cant tell but both of these guys are wearing rain boots of some type!  Reed is the guy on the right in this photo and that is a King Salmon that weighs about 25 pounds give or take.  Colton Conner is on the left and he is the owner of Drifterz Paradise Fishing Charters where Reed was lucky enough to be hired and is in training to be a fishing guide.  He has got his guide license with the State and he is waiting on his Maritime Credentials to arrive.  He took the two day (16 hour) class and passed with flying colors. (check them out on facebook also here). Such a great thing!  But I digress!  Of Course!

Alaska is home to a couple of other fishermen (women actually), the Salmon Sisters - if you havent heard of them - its a great story - they have helped to design some XtraTuf boots for the Alaskan way of life.

Above photo is the Salmon Sisters boots that I first saw when I was looking for boots.  I LOVE those octopus boots but the Salmon ones are cool too and so stylin'!  But alas finding ones that will fit my weird feet is a challenge!  But Reed had chosen a pair of XtraTuf deck boots and XtraTuf ships free to Alaska so I thought "what the heck - Ill try a mens boot and see how it does for me."  I have worn mens tennis shoes often as they are wider and make a better fit for me.  So we ordered up our sizes!

Reed got these white ones!

Mama got these blue ones!!  They are Wicked Sweet and they fit great.  They easily slip on and they are comfortable and best of all they are waterproof!

They are a total fashion statement I know and I'm pretty sure there were some ladies in the Lowe's store checking out my boots over this last weekend and a few dudes too for that matter - so jealous!

Isn't it amazing how the right equipment can make such a difference in our lives - right down to our cool blue boots!  Im pretty sure at this point that I have more "foot selfies" than I do actual "selfies"  but no matter.  I have been wearing these for about two weeks now and im pretty sure they will go great with a skirt I have so I can wear them to work!  

I hope you have some fun outdoor gear that makes your farm face smile at least once during your hard working day!  Happy Spring!