Look whats growing now.

I Have the perfect place to start my plants and grow herbs right in my kitchen.. with  basil, leaf lettuce parsley and thyme. How hand is that?
I have sunflower seeds  started in another window too border the garden when its ready to plant.. Hopefully tomorrow it will be tilled and ready for a few seeds.. My friend Leslie has started a few heirloom tomato plants and they are thriving in her greenhouse. I am anxious to get them planted ..(hoping the last frost has been here and gone.) We just picked up a pickup load of compost to add to the garden before its tilled.. In the mean time I am planning the layout and waiting for the neighbor to come till.   Here is are the latest pictures of the "Blue Sky critters... Buster  making sure the "girls" dont get more treats than he does..

and see how big the ducks are getting?  Soon They will be moving outside and hopefully they will love the pond. They are swimming in a large Rubber maid tote in their pen in the garage.. They are so cute. They have been named Blabber and Snooper by Clay...

This was the sunset last night from out  back deck.. A very nice sight to see at the end of a hard day, dont you think?
 Come back often to see  the progress  and growth here on Blue Sky Farm.. Enjoy your day.

Great thrift purchases

Spent the day yesterday with my friend Leslie and we really enjoyed the day thrift shopping and lunch. I found a few great pieces.  This chalk board made re-purposed  from a wood TV tray caught my eye and  yelled for me to bring it home..
 as did the cute towel hook and the wire organizer for my bathroom. I may move the chalk board to the garden shed when it is completed or make one  myself..
Will definitely go out again  "shopping for those perfect garden items to use and decorate with"  on the shed.  I am hoping it will be completed next weekend as the weather here is showing warm 70-80 degrees and no frost or rain... Yay! I will be posting more pictures of the shed progress soon.

A Garden/Storage Shed in the making

We have started a major project .... A garden/storage shed. With the help of my brother in law Clay and he has spent 4 days in this great weather building.. I will be happy to see it finished as will Clay as his back has been really bothering him. I have a few pictures to show the progress.  The finished building will be 10 X12 ft.. and 8 ft high. We have not designed the door , other than it will be 4 ft. wide.
The great window  will provide sunlight to my plants as I start them there before transplanting them to the veggie garden... A lot of work goes into a project of this size.

I Can't wait to decorate it...

We have been  busy unloading a  lot of "Composting Crap" for the garden . Getting it ready to plant in a month or so... Its hard work but so rewarding when the garden is planted and producing. Thanks to friends  for loading it up in our truck.  Some of my plants are started and the seeds packets are calling me to get them started too.... Now if the weather will stay nice it would be a blessing... Put on your "Shitkickers" and come help if you have nothing else to do...(  yeah I said that!)

Here are the newest additions to the Blue Sky Farm. Aren't they adorable? We were in the Feed store  the other day and we just couldn't leave without bringing  them home with us...

We dont  know if we have female or male ducks yet.. but they will be great to have on the property. They will love the pond. They are quite  interesting fowl.. They do not fly very well and will not be low riders.. They actually walk like a penguin... when bigger standing erect.. Supposed to be great pets and  layers. Yes! Duck eggs are good.. Heres  what they will look like when mature.  Buster will be  happy to have some more critters to herd. I think they will be fun to have around keeping our insect population under control as well.

Well It's been a real whirl wind of traveling the past couple months for sure.. Our last adventure was camping with friends for 5 days in the John Day Fossil Bed area.. Great time enjoying the camp meals and daily sightseeing trips of the area. I will post  those pictures when I get them downloaded. We also extended our trip  and drove over to the Steens Mountains. We camped in a nice campsite ( Page Springs) just outside of  French Glen, Oregon.. We visited a hot spring and soaked awhile.. Now at home catching up with laundry and clean up..  ( Dont ya hate that? It's so much more fun to pack and go...)
Today was a great day to be outside here at Blue Sky Farm.. Spring has finally arrived and we needed to get the trees and shrubs fertilized and lawn  mowed, We have some gardening plans to put into action soon too...  and that will be another Big project to tackle before we head out again... The "girls" were happy to see us and I did miss them..The neighbor enjoyed  gathering their eggs while we were away... but I think I still have enough to make an angel food cake tomorrow!

Home from Our trip

 ( Cambria) Pacific Ocean shot near the Elephant Seal Beach, ( The seals come here every year to breed and deliver their calves. This is a Big Male sunning on the beach) A real huge and ugly beast.

 Here is  Montezuma Castle ruins in the hillside ( the cliff dwellers Indians ) lived here this housed about 45 people)

 Horseshoe Bend  near Lake Powell where the Colorado River carved its way through the Colorado  Plateau, through sandstone. Actually this is the beginning of the Grand Canyon Northern rim.

 As you can see  the sandstone has been environmentally washed, blown and drifted for years to create this formation. Unbelievably Beautiful.  We really enjoyed our trip and returned to rainy , windy weather and this morning it is snowing.. Sure wish we were back in canyon country... fortunately  we took many many pictures and  I will post more another time..

On the road soon

My Blue Sky Farm Blog and This Hens a Cookin blog will be on Hold as We will be vacationing in a warmer climate next week. for the month of March.  Leaving our home in care of  our dear friend who will also take care of Buster and "the girls".  Our destination first will be here at Moonstone Beach  and Hearst Castle in California.  Many Pictures will be taken as we head south and I will post when I return the end of March.  We will  travel on to Santa Barbara and then on to the  Phoenix area for our reunion with family. Spring training baseball game and a bit of golf.. good food and wine.. I wish I could take you all along but of course that's  not happening.. Sorry.. but  You can see all the pictures when I return.. It's supposed to be Winter here in Oregon next week and Hopefully warm Springtime sun shine South.

A New Dining Experience

 I think I mentioned we had a new dining experience while visiting my husbands brother and his wife  a couple weeks ago. It was so nice to share a new experience.. How can eating be an Experience you may be asking.. Well Jennifer served us "Raclette" a Swiss grille meal. We grilled our meats and vegetable right at the table and melted our cheese topping.  * the trays of cheese fit under the grille to melt while the meat and veg cook. I boiled some potatoes and  the cheese poured over the top was delish. "Raclette"  actually refers to a type of Cheese  usually sold in a round..a bit pricey and hard to find. So we substituted it with Jarlsberg and Gruyere` with lovely melting properties. A Swiss cheese would also  be good.
Tonight Clay and I enjoyed our own "Raclette". Yes, I had to have one so I ordered one as soon as I returned home  from Amazon..( my favorite shopping center). It arrived in two days. making me a happy girl.  We will be sharing a Raclette meal with our friends this Friday so this was a test to see how well ours worked.. trying different sauces and vegetables was fun and made our dining experience one we will repeat..We will try shrimp next time ... The grilling of vegetables and meats just got better here at Blue Sky Farm..

Mother Nature Tricks

This is NOT what I wanted to find when I  opened the drapes this  morning.. I am so ready for the sunshine.. warmer days and flowers blooming.. a glance at my calendar I remind myself the days are passing quickly to when we will be out of these "Wintery days of snow" soon..I wonder if I should start packing? Or just check to see if my summer clothes still fit..and  If they Don't?  I guess I should plan a shopping  trip soon.... what do you think?

Heading South Searching for the Sunshine..

Well it is Spring somewhere... and we are heading for the sunshine. Hopefully leaving Winter behind.

We will be on the road for pretty much the month of March. Headed to California and Arizona. We will take our time stopping when and where we want. No set arrivals or agendas. Visiting family and enjoying some sightseeing on our own. Planning a couple stops along the California north coast to San Francisco and Santa Barbara.  Visiting Clay's sister and  Hoping to check out  few desert landmarks and finally Arizona where we will visit my sister and other members of Clay's family to enjoy a game of Baseball.  You know Its "Spring Training" and possible visit to a casino in Scottsdale, Sitting by a pool or two, maybe a game or two of golf thrown in...and of course sipping wine.. Really looking forward to the trip, We have a great friend who will be house sitting and dog sitting.. (yeah, buster will be more comfortable at home with her).
I hope to post from the road and take lots of photos..but if I have time I will try to continue posting here until we hit the road.

Valentines Day & No box of chocolates

Happy February 14th.... I wish you all a very Happy day... My husband & I really do not celebrate Valentines Day as any special day... Oh there were times in my past that Valentine's Day was a Special Day...of Chocolate, Dinner out and always a card... but He is My Valentine. The respect, friendship and laughter we share daily is felt everyday.. I know that may sound a bit "sappy"..but it is true.. Our relationship is a happy one  so We  are both happy to just stay in tonight and watch TV.. enjoy a simple dinner and of course We will tell each other "I love you" with  hug and a kiss goodnight... but for some I understand a Celebration is in order...and may those chocolates, roses, and gifts be appreciated..and may you enjoy each others company, laughter and start another day ..... with your  Special Valentine.

A few photos at Camp Sherman

Clay, Buster and I went to visit Clay's brother and sister in law at Camp Sherman  (near Sisters ) Oregon for the past three days. We stay is a neighbor friend of theirs cabin and woke to a very pretty site. We walked into the forest area as the snow was just starting to fall.. A really nice 2 mile walk with the dogs. The cabin sits in a meadow and these are pictures of the surrounding cabins. Yeah, snow again but very pretty setting,  don't you think? When we were on our  way home today I captured these old trucks parked in a yard. One is used for "fire fighting" and the other had a big logs on it..Just waiting  for me to take their picture. I really like shooting these interesting subjects. I need to gather a couple other shutterbug friends and make a day taking these kind of shots. I really enjoy this hobby.