But It Was A 6 Foot Fence

   Well, the deer have been in the garden, even with the 6 foot fence. I guess there is really no stopping them. They had a good old time eating whatever took their fancy. Who needs lettuce, broccoli and watermelon? Who needs peas and beans? We do have a freezer full of peas and beans. They haven't helped us harvest onions yet. I'm sure with time, they will.
   There is a pumpkin with some teeth marks in it, but it's still ok. Chard is also good deer food. I went grocery shopping yesterday. It was a really long day. I noticed people weren't buying the non-necessities.
   Tomorrow there is a farmer's market in Clayton, WA, which isn't that far from here and I am trying to convince Tim we need to go. There are going to be spinners there, with fiber to buy. Who cares that I have a bath tub full of still untouched fiber to do something with. There will be Alpaca fiber to buy and I've always wanted to try some of that. $10.00 for 4 ounces. 4 ounces of Alpaca fiber will go a long way.
   There will be other crafters there, as well. Also fresh cheese, homemade goat milk soap, small farm animals to buy, and free lemonade and cookies. Who knows, maybe we can get more peas, green beans, onions, carrots and potatoes.
   One of our tomatoes that had a big boy label in the pot turned out to be a cherry tomato. Big difference in tomato size. I bet someone had fun playing with the variety sticks stuck in the pot.
   The birds have discovered Tim's black berries and raspberries. He's not happy about that. He put bird netting over them and the birds were trying their darnedest to get in under the netting.
   The wild turkeys are still roosting at the end of the driveway high up in the trees. Tim is getting a good collection of turkey feathers for his fly tying.
   Amy caught Michaela walking yesterday. She just turned 8 months old. Michaela really has that throwing things down pat. She still spits up a storm, too.
   Well, my break is over. It's time to get back to playing in the green beans. Amy and Daniel are shelling the peas for me, but for some reason, they don't like doing the green beans.

Green Bluff, WA

Yesterday, my mother-in-law, and I went to Green Bluff, WA. Green Bluff is a small community that has orchards and farms that are open to the public where fresh produce and lavender can be purchased. Besides picking your own fruit, you can buy already picked fruit and vegies. There are jams and jellies and syrups and mixes, as well as crafty things, books, household decorations and wine tasting, ice cream, pastries and lots of friendly people. It's a fun place to go. There are live bands, tractor rides, pony rides, BBQ's and many other fun things to do. The first time Tim and I went was in the fall a couple of years ago, and we shot corn cobs out of an air cannon. You had to see if you could get the corn cob into a 55 gallon barrel quite a distance away. We both came close, but didn't make it, and had a lot of fun doing it. If you were lucky to make it, you got $50.00.
My mother-in-law bought a box of peaches and gave me 18 of them. I have to do something with them within the next couple of days. The box probably weighed 20 pounds. Maybe I'll have better luck turning them into preserves than I did with the cherries I bought from Green Bluff when it was cherry season. Peach cobbler does sound good, though.
I bought a box of canning tomatoes and Barbara only took 3, even though I tried to push more onto her. I figure the box weighed 20-30 pounds. I can't remember the name of them, but they are huge and meaty.
Today was spent making spaghetti sauce. I used 20 tomatoes because that's all that would fit in my big pot. They cooked down to 4 cups, and smelled and tasted really good. Tomorrow, I have the last 26 tomatoes to turn into sauce. I guess I'll have to use 2 pans for that. I put the sauce in the freezer. Tomorrow, we will be eating spaghetti and some of tomorrows sauce. Alyssa should be happy to know, I didn't put zucchini in it. The deer ate that. I could have bought some of that, too.
I also got some corn. It was 4 for $1.00, the best price I'd seen this year. I only got 8 ears. I think Tim and I will have to go back this weekend and buy some more. I really need a freezer.
Our home grown Yukon Gold potatoes looked better than the ones we saw up there. Soon, I will try dehydrating the potatoes.
I will also have to get a bunch of apples and pears since our apple and pear tree had blossoms but nothing else.
The pumpkin crops looked to be doing great. After that, will come Christmas trees and the end of the season.

Tundra swans

Not too long ago we went to Usk, WA to see the Tundra swans stopping over on their migration to Alaska. We didn't see many that day, but I was able to get some photos of them. Watching ducks and geese fly is a sight to see, but it's nothing compared to seeing a swan fly.