The Stinky Stuff Just Might Work

   As you know, we planted another garden this year and have a deer problem. We saw the deer that have been eating the garden. They are less than 6 months old since they still have their spots. Did I ask them their ages, you ask? Nope, I just looked up the answer to "how old are white tail deer when they lose their spots" on the internet. White tail deer lose their spots when they are about 6 months old. Anyway, the deer looked very healthy and well fed. They should be well fed since they are doing a number on the garden.
   When we win the lottery, we will finish fencing in the garden. We would like to fence in a very large area to include the berry patch and future garden growth. I know it has to be a very high fence since deer can jump over a 9 foot fence. They can also run 40 mph and swim 15 mph. I just thought I'd throw in those facts.
   I was looking on the internet (I waste a lot of time on the internet), and found some recipes to make your own deer repellent. The deer munched on the garden the night I sprayed the stuff on, but they haven't touched it the last couple of days. Maybe it works after all. Deer aren't suppose to like stinky stuff, but then, who does?
   The stinky stuff I mixed up had a little milk, 3 eggs, garlic juice, hot pepper oil, clam juice, and a couple dashes of cayenne pepper. The recipe didn't call for the clam juice or the cayenne pepper, but I thought the stinkier and hotter, the better. I put this in a blender and blended it really well, and then poured it into the empty gallon milk jug I had finished off that morning and added enough water to make a gallon. I used hot water, not that I think it matters, but i thought it would make the stuff smell more. A couple of hours after I made it, I poured some in a squirt bottle and sprayed the plants in the garden. Wouldn't you know it, no matter where I stood while spraying it, I kept drifting onto my legs. After I had sprayed the whole garden, I just poured the remainder in the milk jug onto the most eaten veggies. I also sprayed the concoction on the berry plants and the Japanese Maple, that tastes so good.
   I think when I spray the garden again, I will just use garlic juice and clam juice. I think I will have to spray the garden once a week, or when ever the deer start eating it again. If that works, I guess it's a cheap enough fix until we can afford the mega fence. The stinky stuff is also suppose to repel rabbits, but that's one problem we don't have.

What A Lucky Unlucky Day

   Today, I had big plans. You know the kind, where you get a haircut and go grocery shopping? You see, I lead a very exciting life. I thought I'd go today because Saturday and Sunday are suppose to be really hot. It's a good thing I went today.
   As I was going down highway 2, I noticed there was about 1/8 of a tank of fuel in the truck. Hum, get diesel, not get diesel? That was the question. I decided to live it up and put $20.00 in. After I had finished, I got in the truck, pushed in the brake, and it went all the way to the floor. Not good. I left the gas station thinking maybe it was just my imagination, and turned into the next driveway off of the highway to see if it happened again. Yup, it happened again and the truck didn't want to stop. Luckily, I wasn't going that fast and the parking lot was for a foolishly built, empty strip mall and the parking lot was completely empty.
   The back brake line on the left broke. Goody. Just what we needed. I called Tim and he called the brake shop where we had the brakes fixed in January, and they called me to get my version and then they called a tow truck. It's a good thing it was only in the 80's today instead of the 90's like tomorrow and the next couple of days are suppose to be.
   The tow truck came and towed the truck to the shop, and before the truck was off the flatbed, two of the guys came out and ask what did I do to the truck? Nothing, I said, I just pushed the break pedal in. See, they said, you did do something. I knew they were joking.
   Of course, the brake line wasn't something they had fixed last time, so I had to pay for it. My fun with the tow truck and the brake job cost $200.00. There went a haircut and grocery shopping.
   It was a good thing I decided at the last minute to stop at the gas station, because the brake line would have broken the next time I tried to stop for a light, traffic, etc.
   The brake shop had air conditioning and more importantly, a bathroom. And, it was clean, too. So was the shop. One of the cleanest shop waiting rooms I've been in. They also had semi current magazines to look at.
   I stopped at the grocery store and got the basics on the way home. You know, milk, lunch meat, dog food, a chocolate mint cake. Yeah, I know, the cake wasn't a necessity, but I needed it after the day I had. I also bought a lottery ticket and a mega lottery ticket. I figured with the lucky, unlucky day I had, why not?
   I'm staying home for the rest of the weekend. I've had all the fun I can stand.

In Search Of The Elusive Huckleberry

   Last Friday, Tim and I were on a huckleberry hunt, with a little fishing thrown in for good measure. We know they are out there. If you ask anyone where to find them, they flat refuse to tell you. It's a closely guarded secret. If they do tell you anything, they'll tell you No-telum Mountain or No-telum Ridge. No help at all.
   We know where they are suppose to be found. I really think we need a berry picking guide.

We searched high and we searched low. Personally, I don't think we'd know a huckleberry bush if it bit us. We did see many pretty places. We even stopped at a little touristy, has everything store and asked. They all said they didn't know where to find huckleberries, but they were sure they are on a short tall bush. This was funny because it was huckleberry festival time there.

   Here is Tim hard at work, fishing. He says he caught a few small brook trout. I know he caught a 12" big mouth bass. I saw it break his line as he was trying to land it. It's funny, but now Tim says it was 25" and many pounds. Anyway, it was too big for the 2 pound test line.
   The mosquitoes were terrible, so I sat in the truck for awhile to get away from them. Tim said they weren't biting on the water.

   It was getting hot and boring sitting in the truck, so I went to take pictures.

   There are so many things to take pictures of up here. maybe, on day, I

I'll have pictures of our huckleberry find.

   maybe about that time, I will have figured out how to get the pictures on here right.

Darn, Summer Is Finally Here

   Well, at long last, summer is here. Have I mentioned before that I really hate hot weather? I know, I did complain about all the rain, but I'd rather have cooler, overcast days than highs in the upper 80's and higher. We got to 98 a couple of days. Way too hot. Tim, Jake and Chip say it's too hot, also.
   We had homegrown spinach with our dinner tonight. It was a time consuming process picking, washing and blanching 2 bushels of plants. Of course, there wasn't nearly that many leaves, and after it was all blanched, there might have been about a half a gallon of it. Anyway, fresh is much better than the frozen kind I usually buy. I tried to judge how much we would eat when I was dividing it up to be frozen. I came up with 5 servings for 2 people. We might have leftovers some nights, but that's ok. I suppose I could have been really accurate, and measured it all evenly, but I just don't do things that way. Tim just laughed when I told him it was harder work canning the stuff out of the garden than it was rototilling it. Physically, rototilling is harder, but canning is more time consuming and also a lot of hot work, with a lot of standing. I often think I'm crazy for doing this.
   I went cornered the market on canning supplies today, and found more screens for my dehydrator trays. I needed 4 and there are 2 in a package and there were only 2 packages left, so I figured I should go ahead and get them while they were available. If I had waited, knowing my luck, I wouldn't be able to find them.
   For some of my winter stocking up, I am going to make some of those mixes in quart jars, like the gifts in a jar things. A friend and I made some of those and some jelly for Christmas one year. We thought they made good gifts. We made a muffin mix and it called for cloves. Way too many cloves. I scooped them out of my mix.
   Since I was in the spending mood, I also ordered these clipper scissors called Scaredy Cut. They have different hair guides so you can cut the animals hair a certain length. Chip is afraid of clipper noise, but rather likes scissor haircuts, but they are always uneven. (Same thing happened when I cut the kids' hair.) I really don't think Chip cares if his hair is uneven, but I do. I try to keep his hair about a inch long, but I think it needs to be shorter in the summer, and I'll just keep his leg hair shorter all the time. Yes, I did know poodles were high maintenance when I bought him, but he's so cute.
   I still haven't gotten any sewing done, but it's still scattered all over the dinning room for when I get to it. A friend is paying me to make 2 afghans and booties for baby girls two friends of hers are having. They are due in October. More to do. At least I can make simple ones and they can be the same. I went through some of my crochet patters and finally found a nice, quick, easy bootie pattern. I'm really not making much progress making things to sell. Ok, I'm not making any progress.
   Well, winter will be here before you know it, and I'll be stuck in the house, maybe I'll get things made to sell then. Or not.


  

Summer is coming...or so they say.

   Today is July 4th, and everyone up here says today is thee beginning of summer. It was cool yesterday and today. Later this week we are suppose to be in the 90's. We had very little snow this past winter, and a lot of rain the last couple of months and everyone is worried about fires.
   Tim has been busy mowing our pretty weeds/wildflowers and it is a never ending job. One day we might have a riding mower.
   The people behind us are shooting off fireworks and setting off fire crackers. We really hope they don't start any fires. When you live in a wooded area, that is a big concern.
   The dogs are so jumpy with all the fire works going off. It's worse than the gun shots we always hear. Chip is so jumpy, the ice dumped from the ice maker and he had to bark like crazy, and then Jake had to, just because Chip was.
   It would be nice if warmer, dryer weather is in our future. Personally, I think mid 70's is perfect weather.