Sister Tour 2011: Day 1

Traveling northern Idaho and Eastern Washington one town at a time. 

Final destination.... Walla Walla.

Gardening: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

 I had my niece say recently that she really wanted a beautiful flower garden, but she wanted somebody else to do all the work. She  just wanted to enjoy it. Wise woman to realize that gardens don't just appear.

Often people see a vegetable garden right as plants are coming up or right after the weeds have been pulled or right after it has been watered and smelling of fresh dill and basil and think, "I can do this. I want a vegetable garden."  That is the good part of  vegetable gardening.They may not realize that vegetables require a lot of work. Today JEJ fluffed up the soil and planted more seeds. The cats decided to turn it into a litter box. That is the ugly part of gardening! When for whatever reason the strawberries decided to only produce cute, tiny berries illustrates is the bad part of gardening. Vegetable gardens are unpredictable. Vegetable gardens are also rewarding. As we bit into our first zucchini and tomato today, it was pure bliss. We have small grapes now as you can see above. Yay!

People are very kind to me on Facebook and here on my blog with compliments about my flower photos. That is one of the good parts of flower gardening. There is usually something in one of the gardens blooming beautifully when I take out the camera. At the same time there is tall grass between dying leaves on spring perennials that are spent. I don't do sweeping photos that show dead spots, mint gone wild, or yellowing leaves. That is the bad part of flower gardening. In a few weeks comes the time I dread in the growing season. In mid-August the air gets dry, the temperatures rise, and it takes all the energy we can muster to keep flowers alive. That is the ugly part of flower gardening.

To me it is worth it. Now that I don't fuss about every single weed or obsess over geraniums that need deadheading, I enjoy the process of gardening so much more. Every day there will be a good surprise in some part of the yard. Every day there will also be a perfect blooming lily that a dog knocked over while running out to greet JEJ. That happens too. I don't want to remind my husband of the numerous times I have gotten carried away with the snippers and snipped something that he had babied along. That happens also. That is bad and ugly!

If you decide to garden, start small. Try some container flowers or tomatoes. That is a fun way to start working with colors and textures. This is a new garden we started in tubs this spring in the island in the driveway. We built the gardens around our place one part at a time. Some has worked, some has certainly not. The white garden was a disaster. The red garden is working. It is all in the process!

Harvest Day at the Orchard and the Garden

Our first harvest today came from the Sherman Creek Orchard up the road. For someone that loves cherries and loves to bake I can't believe I had never made a fresh cherry pie.

Well... I did today.

 We enjoyed it so much I believe I will go pick up some more pie cherries tomorrow to freeze.

When I got out the Betty Crocker cookbook I remembered so well this picture of the cherry pie from my childhood. I always wanted to make this pie to celebrate George Washington's birthday, but today I didn't add any hatchets! My pie wasn't so red either.

Of course you can't come home from the orchard without fresh Bing cherries. I just wish the delectable fruit could last all summer, but then I suppose we would all be sick of them.

I also harvested food for dinner this evening. Our peas have grown very slowly, but I found  enough for the two of us. When you have Bright Lights Swiss chard you almost hate to harvest the leaves because the colors are so striking. They even look striking on the plate.

The students at school raised a new kind of spinach in the greenhouse. I purchased some plants at school and we had our first taste of it tonight. It is a delicious type of spinach and is doing well in warmer weather. I will have to find out the name. I look forward to many more harvests as the growing season moves into full swing.

Where I'm From

 

I’m from

A logging truck hauling along the rutted road,

sun peaking over the eastern mountain,

baby starlings squawking for their first feeding.

I’m from

fires in the gazebo, summer in a glass , BBQ, bluebirds,

dark soil, daffodils, dogs barking,rainbows over Lake Roosevelt.

Fresh garden peas, fresh farm eggs, fading fuchsias, fur,

water gurgling, clouds dividing, lilacs lingering, green beans sprouting.

I’m from

springtime iris, winter snow, fiery autumn leaves, gorgeous summer lilies.

I’m from

four dog memorials, cats that never came back, rabbits that grew old,

funerals for neighbors too soon and weddings in the yard,

reminders in the handwritten recipe, orange trumpet vine, a blooming dogwood,

empty pet food dishes, a collar on a nail, and a photo of two black cats.

I’m from Martin Creek, the place I call home.
by Christy Woolum

Pure Joy

When was the last time you experienced pure joy? When was the last time you slowed down enough to experience pure joy. I think joy hides in our lives and often we miss it because we are too busy, too tired, too absorbed in something else, or too unaware.

 When I spent time with my great niece and nephew last week-end I watched pure joy. Jack feels pure joy as he is held by my niece and his mother Adrienne ( in the photo at the top).  I think both my sister and Jack felt joy in the photo above. I am not around small children very often. I need to be. They reminded me that pure joy can be found in

 Dora the Explorer on a real TV,

a new swimsuit from grandma,

 having fun with a new red ball,

Olivia helping out her cousin Jack,

learning to open the gate,

and discovering what a clothesline is for. It is all joy.... pure joy!

Getting Acquainted and Reacquainted in Kellogg

Being at Mom's house was a perfect place to get acquainted and reacquainted with a sister-in-law, nieces, great-niece and nephew, and  almost niece and nephew. Whether we were holding babies in the living room, doing tours of the garden, or saying good-bye on the porch... it was a week-end full of family time.