Those are BIG Spuds!

Yesterday, I started digging my potato crop. I planted (if you remember from a springtime post)  2 kinds.  Yukon Golds & Red Pontiacs.   I   only dug about 6 plants ...We have enjoyed a few small new potaoes as they began their journey to becoming "Big Potatoes." Never in my life have I grown such Giant spuds! The one in my husbands hand weighed almost 2 pounds!! The average ones so far harvested weighed 1 1/2  pounds... I was afraid they would be hollow but they are firm & delicious...  (The egg ) in comparison was a Jumbo offering from one of our hens and we thought that was big! I wonder what the red ones will look like? We will check on those today... and find a good place to store these beauties for the coming months..and with 15 more plants to dig I could be even  more surprised...

Mmmmm Vanilla & Something Nice

There is a fabulous aroma  in my house...If you go over to the kitchen you will see what your smelling... Go ahead click on the egg carton in the side bar picture...be sure to wipe your feet, the patio is kinda wet from the Mr. repairing the bricks.. I'll be waiting for you..with fresh Coffee.
Autumn is here... And the whole house smells heavenly..
Vanilla &  Spice and everything nice...

Slowly stocking the Pantry....

Way too many green  tomatoes! This is the second year that my plants grew so nice and big, So healthy and yet the sun didn't allow them to ripen before Mr Frost took it's first bite.... So they are hanging in the garage, hoping they will ripen a bit at a time..I want to make salsa  too.  I have many green tomato recipes, but really like them in salads fresh, red & juicy.. Oh well..... Maybe next year?   

I was able to make some Peach & Pepper Sauceto compliment my chicken & pork recipes..  maybe even a tuck in gift for Somebody come Christmas with my Dilly Beans? 

Now I wish I had a crab apple tree or at least some right now  to pickle... Those are yummy too.. I do have my request in with a farm girl friend (a local Farmers Market vendor)... for them and some Italian Prunes..Oh! Yes, Its time but I am getting started slowly..

Oh Yes! Fall is in the air

It's Fall for sure here..Sunflowers are getting big.... Aren't they gorgeous? Cooler morning temps and  mild sunny day (at least today.) Time to start Fall Decorating.. starting with the Front  Gate and work my way next  to the  front porch.. Curb appeal 101.
 I want to get some pumpkins & a few potted mums to fill the tub and it will be complete, don't ya think?

All Aboard!

Not  just any train ride,  It's called "Train Mountain " and has been created by their Club members and open to the public for rides for a donations, from Memorial Day until Labor Day, every Sunday 10a-3pm. They use the proceeds for track maintenance and development. Quite the attraction.  Many train enthusiasts come from all over the states to enjoy it.  The track is only 7 1/2 inches wide. Yes Inches... You sit on single seats mounted on a frame and travel over 13 acres of track. Cute.. I think my grandsons would like to take a ride next time they come to visit. this young man "Alex" was our conductor...

Check  out that track.. This train engine (Below)  is only  about 4 ft long .

Project ..Paint and Repair

Buster is busy watching , That is his job... Watching..  

It is repair & paint time at Blue Sky Farm. You know how one project appears and all of a sudden inspiration kicks in and well, It happens to  me often, and I have slipped into full gear. Clay worked on repairing the back walkway today. The previous owners had placed nice brick work in the front yard and with these left over bricks designed a 4 ft wide walkway from the back stairs deck down the back side of the house. I have plans to extend those and my husband & I will build a patio deck off to the left connecting the stairs. Hopefully before snow falls.. Today the bricks had to be reinforced with cement because  they are falling. I think he made a great start.....I can see a flower bed along those bricks too...come Spring....

I have now chosen paint colors for my kitchen, and guest  bathroom & purchased the paint already. The trim in both rooms will be the lighter of the three chips. I have recruited help from my younger sister who will be visiting in a couple weeks.. I think I am on a roll. I wonder what project I can come up with next.. maybe a storage building?..I am talking like a small barn....12x12 . What do you think? Oh yea, we are going to be busy this fall... I am sure glad my husband is such a good sport, and is willing to get his hands dirty.

I love Red so my main wall color around my big kitchen window will be the red, the trim vanilla cream  and perhaps the bigger wall the tan( toasted marshmellow)  color.. it will also be the guest  bathroom color... I better start looking for new throw rugs and bath towels...don't ya think?

More Information about the Lookout

Upon further investigation, I found a website where you can view other lookouts & forest service cabins offered in many states. 
The one we stumbled upon is described as:      Over by Medicine Lake area (just south of the Lava Beds National Monument), a white wooden lookout rests on 4-foot-high stilts atop a cinder cone known as Little Mt. Hoffman Lookout (7,309 feet
A small building, usually located at the peak of a summit, the lookout towers consist of a small room known as a cab and an optimum-viewing vantage point known as a view shed.
Within the Shasta-Trinity National Forest there are two lookout towers eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, and outdoor lovers can behold a whole new view of the world by booking overnight stays in them.  I had no idea....

If interested the website is full of information, fees, reservations & restrictions  at http://www.recreation.gov/
Hope you find this useful. When you get to the site  just put in keyword lookouts...

Is this for Real?

.

Today we took a day trip to Medicine Lake in California.  Clay & I have camped there before

and just wanted to get outside, enjoy the great weather before it gets really cold.

As we drove higher, to our surprise we came upon this fabulous sign that speaks for itself...   Little  Mt. Hoffman Lookout.

 OMG!

A person can actually rent it....I want to come back here an stay. Can you believe the view and how great it would be to rent this place?It is very rustic with two twin beds with mattresses  pushed together, a table and a small woodstove..  (there was a flash back glare from the window  on these but still you can see)  ..... That Snow topped mountain  is Mt Shasta in the far distance. I Love the view  of the  world from here.. No stressors here for sure...well maybe one....

I looked for a "potty" it was of course not inside but a nice & clean privy just down the hill.  (You can see the smaller building .. that's it....)

 Clay did think if the wind was blowing it would be really something we have never experienced before.. so maybe we'll come in good weather like today, In the last photo, He is showing me which way is North... I think. 

"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?