"From My Kitchen Table To Yours"

Some of my friends have requested that I teach them somethings about  cooking.. and although I am not a trained chef, I have cooked for other people in my own restaraunt and as a Personal Chef in Washington a few years ago..and years of cooking for family & friends. Today, I posted over on my  "This Hens a cookin" blog  a new feature. "FROM MY KITCHEN TABLE TO YOURS"  (you can reach it through my side bar) I will give a Cooking Class Tip or two on Tuesdays from  my cooking experiences and from what I have gleened from cookbooks & magazines and classes I have taken. Featuring food stuff, tools, recipe  how to's  and short cuts  for your use in your own kitchens. .  Please drop in and leave a comment or question and I will try to post an answer weekly. I will still be posting what I am cooking the rest of the week.

This will be a fun time in the kitchen...I hope you will enjoy!

Back to School so Soon..

It's that time of year again.. Where did the summer go? Here are Three of my 5 grandsons ready for their first day back to school today..... Alex is a senior this year, Peyton is in the 4th grade and Mason is in the 2nd.  It seems like only yesterday they were out for the summer... I am sure they will be busy with studies and sports. Alex and Peyton are playing football and Mason will be playing basketball. Their Mom will again be very involved with their activities as well as substitute teaching..
Oh how I remember those days when my own 3 kids were in school... Now I feel really old!

Tent Camping again & Sunflower surprise at home

Clay & I went back to Cresent Lake for a few days this week. What a great place to camp. We set up our tent and slept soundly and very comfortably on our air mattress. 

 

You can see how roomy our tent was.

  I had always cooked on a campstove and decided to give open firepit cooking a go.. Set up a tiered rock & coal foundation and then cooked potatoes in foil (placed in the coals and corn on the cob in husks on a grill.) Then grilled a   juicy steak.. It was yummy! There is nothing like campfire cooking.

When we got home I was shocked to see how big my sunflowers had grown.  The  tomatoes are  full of plenty small green fruit, I do hope they ripen before frost....we have already harvested all the beets, many peppers & and few potatoes...

I am sure the "birdies will love the seeds when we harvest this beauty, don't you?

Thrift table inspiration

 Yesterday, my sister in law and I went to one of my favorite stores,  "The Keepers Corner"
I found this table and really, really wanted it...but was not sure if it would fit  well enough in my kitchen.   After a "good nights sleep on, if I should buy it or not" I went early this morning and made the decision.. (Thankfully it was still there.) I also bought that basket for my produce sitting on the table as you see..   couldnt resist the  5 embroidered dish towels and fashioned  kitchen window cover by hanging them on a wire that  I strung across the window frames with some vintage clothes pins.. I love the new look.. don't you? I must go there  more often there are always new things arriving....

A few photos of our latest trip.

We made it home from Washington after a few Dr. appointments for Mom, and while I did that Clay got to go out in the Puget Sound Crabbing with a friend. We really enjoyed eating these yummy treasures from the sea.

A picture of my husband, Clay  & Me.

Yummy Dungeness Crab from Washington's  Puget sound

We still do not know what Mom's health issues are related to but a  consult  with a Pulmanologist may reveal something next week. She did pass the stress test and has been feeling better. Hopefully she will be back to her sweet self soon. Thanks you all for your continued prayers and thoughts.

Clay & I we able to take a couple days to visit my sister in Wenatchee and I have a few pictures of the Saturday Market and The Wenatchee Rowing& Paddling  Club boat house. We walked along the Wenatchee River enjoying the warm weather and relaxed with my sister and her husband for two days.. before  we made the 9 hour drive home..
We will be going camping again next week after a week at home...Watering the garden, lawn & preparing for fishing. Buster was glad to see us  and is not letting us out of his sights. He will come along  for this trip.
Thank You April, for taking such great care of him and our Blue Sky Farm while we were away. . I sure love this  sunny warm weather for fishing and camping.

Wenatchee Row & Paddle Club

Wenatchee River

My sister Karen at the market.. Beautiful flowers.

Busy, Busy, Busy.. some fun... Some not so much...

So I have been  on the go a lot as of lately. Yes, and tossing in a trip to Denver with my mom to see Charlie this June  &  A camping trip  was great. It has been a bit pleasure and a bit "gotta do it"... You may remember this photo I posted last spring of my mom at the train station? Well,  My mom has been ill and I have & will be spending the next week with her in Washington, Taking her to Dr appointments and testing she has scheduled. She is getting stronger and hopefully the results will show us what is going on with her. Thank you all for your prayers and good thoughts. I will be taking the laptop with me, so I will be blogging a bit. and hopefully back to it daily. Enjoy  your coming weekend.. Ta ta!!

Spectacular Escape

I couldn't pass up these opportunities to capture  Beauty at its best. The first two photos  are the skyline Sunday evening  from our back patio porch.

Tuesday,  we decided to go to Crescent Lake to camp for a few days. The weather was really nice and warm and after we set up our camp in this prestine setting I took these shots.

 As we were breaking camp yesterday morning I spotted these "Common Meganzers" swimming past our campsite...

Truely a great three days, We spent a lot of time on the lake fishing  and cruising (although we didn't catch even one fish). Enjoyed the time in the sun and fresh air, leaving at home  our stressors. Truely a great escape don't you agree....? This coming weekend we head to Washington State for a week. I will post more pictures when I return of that trip.

Wildlife at Blue Sky

As long as we have lived here at BlueSkyFarm, (this is our third summer.) I still feel amazed when I see the wildlife that resides here and the many migrating birds that stop to drink from our small pond. The deer are my favorite I think.

This morning as I sat on  the front patio I was greeted with a pair of does and their fawns grazing just to the side of the pond.  By the time I got my camera, One mama & her baby wandered into the near by juniper trees, but I did get this photo of the other pair.

Yesterday, we spotted this Egret perched absove the pond where it ate small fish that swim in the water. It is a great place here, just to sit quietly and enjoy our small piece of Heaven dont you think?

A calm morning to fish

But nobody told the fish to come nibble on our bait.. No fish for dinner tonight.. But Look how nice the water was.


This was Busters spot to be on the boat.... He had to keep an eye out on any possible sighting

... Later  after lunch at the lodge, we took him to another close lake ( after the wind blew us again off the Odell Lake.) He loved chasing sticks at Crescent Lake. It is only about 3 miles from Odell.. We are so lucky to live near so many great lakes.  We will head home  after another attempt at fishing in the morning.. Folks here say that the wind will kick up again around noon and the whitecaps will reappear.. A good time for us to say goodbye for this trip...... But a tent- camping adventure awaits us at Crescent in afew weeks....

Odell Lake Lodge

Clay & I decided to take a couple days & go fishing at Odell lake. We have passed this Lake many times on our way to Portland, never stayed here. We booked a couple nights in a cabin here overlooking the lake on the east side. This is the view from our rustic cabin at 1Pm right after we returned from our first attempt to catch that BIG fish. We Didn't catch anything but decided to have lunch and return. To our surprise the wind came up and spoiled our plans. Those are whitecaps on this beautiful lake.

We will give it another go tomorrow. In the mean time we will sit back & relax, read a book and enjoy the quiet of the evening.

.

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My veggie garden

The two variety Beets and 2 variety Potatoes are growing well..  a few   sunflowers and 3 varieties of pepper plants. 6 tomato plants with nice size tomatos on them.. Lettuce and peas. This is all I planted and with our beautiful watm weather they are looking very good don't ya think? I have a few herbs planted as well Basil & rosemary, parsley and thyme. I am happy this year with just this amount. Leaves me free to have fun this summer with little garden maintence.

Entertaining the grandkids

How much more fun could they have? I do hope these past few days have imprinted good deposits in the boys "fun at grandpa & grandpa's memory bank"They have returned to their own home today and although a long hot drive they will be glad to be home to their own summer routine of play and preparation for the upcoming football season. Their Mom is so dedicated to keeping them involved in sports programs. I do not know where she gets the energy...

Buster and I are exhausted.

Keeping a 9 year old grandson

After seven days this becomes a challenge to keep Peyton entertained. He Brought along his scooter and since our weather changed to Summer he enjoyed playing in the sprinkler to cool off.  We went out to the lake yesterday and he fished, and drove the boat. We filled the refrigerator with food he likes. Fish Sticks, Brocolli, cheese sticks, apples, kiwi. Mac & Cheese. ( any form of  salad? No way). Every trip to the grocery store we manage to pass ( directly) the bakery for him to get a "free cookie" and I managed to steer him away from the candy aisle. (Ok I did give in to some gummy bears and red vines.) Some cheese & cracker snacks and a box of animal crackers. A box of frozen fudgebars and a small container of ice cream. He has been a real delight. Of course we have to keep the wii game available and plenty of unsugared drinks. His bedtime routine was altered since he is here, bedtime is 10 pm and he reads for about 10 minutes and falls a sleep until 9am. I find it amazing how he is able to play his brothers PSP ( btw thats short for "play station portable " and he also brought along a DSI but I have no idea what that stands for).

He earned some money helping grandpa & me so he was able to add a few dollars to his own cash and he spent $39.99 on a Pokeman game that he had to have.. Surprised that Gramma let him use his own money..Well he would have liked me to pay for it but I held my purse strings tightly. What happened to the simple games we used to play, Yatzee, Monopoly, Uno, or even Dominoes?  He brought along a camera ( took 3 pix) a circle a word book and 2 reading books..
He has begged me to play "Clue" tonight because he found it  among a few "old games" in the cupboard. So I guess thats what I will be doing later....He has been a joy to have visit but thank goodness his mom and little brother will be here by the weekend.. I will be ready for a rest come Monday morning.  Of course the house will be quiet again & we will definately notice.

A great time then & Now

Well I made it home at last... it was a great trip... Charles Nash VanderHouwen was so cute. He is 20 months and growing so fast and learning so much. I sure wish he didn't live so far away.  Dennis & Michelle have moved into a perfect home for them.  I will post pictures later with our Fourth Of July weekend with Peyton 9 year old grandson who came home with me for a visit. Company coming for the next few days so we will be busy.

Oh! We have babies!!!

They are here! I was fixing dinner when Clay came to tell me tonight that "We are proud parents of 5 babies." I grabbed the camera and hurried out to the pond.. But mama had already gathered the babes together and was in the cattails hiding. I was disappointed but determined to snap a picture. Came inside  ate my dinner quickly and returned to where he said he saw her.

I parked myself in a chair and waited quietly. All of a sudden the  daddy duck made a circular pass of the pond and flew in.. Landed, swam around in a circle, bathed and quacked..and  

    Here they came out of the rushes..
     1, 2, 3, 4, 5 .........

but wait look closely not 5 but  6  Babies

Before mama introduced the babies to daddy, I observed an  amazing behavior.  As I sat there Daddy duck swam over to another part of the pond and started quacking Very angrily and loudly. Then I saw  another hen was swimming there and he actually chased her out of the pond and around the side of the pond before she flew away...I don't know if he was threatened by her or was protecting his new babies..

Watching these babies grow is going to be a favorite pastime now for sure.... I don't even want to think about the day they fly on.

Can you come along?

It was so pretty today, A fabulous  Blue sky & sunshine day.  After our hard work yesterday we decided to take a break & head out for the forest. I snapped a few shots  to share. So pick up a walking stick , there are lots laying on the ground  and follow me for a while. The scenery is beautiful.  I am  sure it's finally Spring.

Here's a path to follow..The trees are so sure getting tall.  I love the smells of the forest, clean fresh, definately a woodsy scent.

We are almost at the bridge crossing the creek.. The water is rushing quickly from the melting snow.

Keep coming there is an Awesome view of Mt McLaughlin just around the bend.

Now wasn't that a great way to get some exercise? I hope you will come along with me on another day.  

Found it, Hauled it, Painted it...

Well it took some muscle and a lot of persuading but Here it is.. My vision of a great entry to Blue sky Farm from the road.
I found it in the field next door covered with wire, weeds & a ton of dirt. I begged yeah , begged my fabulous husband to just "Please come take a look~see  and to visualize it at the entrance to the property with the flowers tumbling out of the old bathtub ( we already had placed there.) He finally gave in and we drug the monster out of the field, up our road . Man it was H e a v y....It was really ugly & a  rusty red but with a couple cans of Flat black spray paint It looks  just as I pictured..It is 10 feet long with plenty more room to hang more baskets, old tins,  flowers, and more.. I can picture it with Lights  strung at Christmas and a Scarecrow for the fall can you? It made my day....

Who's minding the nest?

It appears Mr. Mallard swimming, eating &  taking it easy, while Mrs. Mallard sits on the eggs doing the mom bit right?

... But wait.. here's the nest with nobody home sitting for these "egg- lets"... seems mama decided to take a bath, eat and exercise a bit too... I had to go take aother peek..I wondered  how the eggs would stay warm & safe, and found  

The nest was totally covered with feathers.. Mama did a great  job of conceiling these eggs,.,. I carefully removed the top layer of feathers and there they were.. I counted 7 maybe 8 covered the nest after taking the photo and returned to the pond where I found both ducks happy taking a break.. I think this is going to be a nice family.... soon..and Daddy is hanging around waiting for the big day..... He's got babysitting to do when they hatch....or does she not get a break then too?