Monday, May 31, 2010

Memorial Day - Rained all day. Got a few things done in the house. I kind of took the day off. Did some reloading (brass sorting, sizing and priming brass). Both articles we sent in (one mine, one Susan’s) sold. Watched a Netflix movie on the computer.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

We had huckleberry pancakes for breakfast this morning. The huckleberries were some we dehydrated last year. I’ve been reading up on knife sharpening for an article I‘m writing. It’s a subject that’s been covered so often I have to have a new slant to it. The good thing is I’m learning some things I didn’t know! Susan sorted through some used baling twine to get some long enough for a project she’s doing. It would have gone much faster if the cat hadn’t helped so much. We drove in to the post office today to get the last half of our property taxes in the mail. We print our own checks using a program I purchased for $3.99 about ten years ago. The check paper cost $3.00 for 900 check blanks. (That was several years ago and I have no idea what they cost now.) Anyway, back when we used more checks it saved a pile of money. It’s always fun to watch the sales clerk when we tell them we printed up the checks at home.

After we mailed the tax check we decided to have lunch at the local saloon. They have new owners and we wanted to see if they were as good as the previous owners (they are). We also shot a couple of games of pool while we waited for our meal. The tables are usually a quarter a game but they’re having a free night tonight and already had the coin slots removed from the tables so we played for free.

When we got back home Susan and I set up some more water reservoirs (one tank, two more barrels) and pumped water from the main tank into the new ones. The main tank was full from all the rain run-off we’ve had lately. After filling the new tank and barrels I siphoned out another catch barrel into the main tank (now that we had room in it). While the tank and barrels were filling I moved our composter to a new location closer to the garden gate. It’s a small plastic unit that was given to us from some friends who didn’t like it. We use it for kitchen leftovers, etc. that the chickens won’t eat so it takes awhile to fill it up. It does a good job but it’s slower than the previous owners expected and they didn’t like it.

I set a trap for a gopher who’s taken up residence too near the garden. I mowed more of the lawn then spent the rest of the afternoon working on the article and watching the cat sleep. Susan’s been busy planting more trees (choke cherry), more peas and more potatoes. She also did a little tree trimming. It’s 8:15 (pm) as I write this and she’s still outside.

Photos are of - 1. Squash seeds drying. We save them, some to plant and some to roast and eat for snacks. 2. Dried huckleberries in the pancake mix. 3. The cat helping Susan with the baling twine. 4. Two barrels and tank for storing more water. 5. Composter