Tag Archives: PNW Gardening

Daily Life #12 – Handmade with love

I love that man of mine! Every day, all day. But there are times when he does something which just melts my heart an extra bit.

Like what’s happening right now.

We are not really what you would call sports fans. But we do like to watch the Super Bowl. So in preparation for tomorrow’s game, my wonderful husband is sitting down explaining football to Princess Girl so she can follow along easier.

Be still my heart!

Yeah, I know it’s not much. But one sure way to this girl’s heart is through her children. Not only that, but I just love seeing a man being a good daddy.

And speaking of love, Valentine’s day is just around the corner.

I am almost finished with Hubby’s Valentine gift. In an effort to stick with our new, healthier ways of eating, we have decided to forgo the candy this year (I know, it’s almost sacrilegious to not have chocolate on Valentine’s day, but I think I’ll survive. Maybe.)

Anyway, I came up with some inexpensive and easy gift the girls and I can make for our main man. I wish I could show it to you right now. But it will have to wait.

I also started another bookmark for a special someone. This one is extra special since there is no printer involved. I’m drawing and coloring by hand. And I’m actually excited about how it’s turning out.

Working on these things by hand is so much more personal than just buying something from the store. No, they don’t cost much, and may not look as nice as something you can buy of the shelf, but each one is infused with love.

And speaking of love, you know what else makes my heart melt?

My three year old washing the last of the carrots from the garden. I was able to start her on the task and walk away to finish other tasks. Yes, she took forever, but she did the job and did it well. When did she get so big??

And, for those of you who have been around for a while, yes, these are the last of the carrots which we planted from seed last February. They are oddly misshapen, I think because they stopped growing over the summer, and then started growing again this fall. They overwintered wonderfully in the garden. WAY better than they would have if I had picked them. One of the reasons I live growing carrots in this area!

Maridy

“I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121

Happy New Year

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I know, I know.

I’m a little late with my holiday greetings. But as I said in my family newsletter (which I just sent out a few days ago), better late than never, right?

I’ve been doing a lot of reflection the past couple of weeks, as is typical this time of year. And also looking toward the future of this year. Are any of you already planning for your spring and summer gardens? Now’s the time to order your seeds and in some cases, get them started indoors.

I just read this online article (How to Pick Your Vegetable Seeds Without Going Crazy) and it’s got me dreaming!

But alas, my biggest decision this year is that I am scaling way back on my plans for our garden. Any when you have a tiny plot anyway, “scaling way back” means that I don’t plan to do much of any gardening this year.

The reason why is actually pretty exciting. We are hoping to be in the process of actually building our house this summer. Which means frequent trips between Oregon and Nevada. And as I learned last year, my garden doesn’t do so well if I’m not around to care for it. Imagine that. 🙂

So, I’ll probably throw some carrot seeds in the ground and call it good. Those were what did the best and we ate the most of last year. And I love that they are frost tolerant and you can leave them in the ground all season and just go out and grab some as you need them.

It kills me not to really be making plans for the garden. But the trade off is worth it as we make progress on our house.

A couple days ago was a fairly mild day here in the Portland area, overcast but dry and not too cold. So I used the opportunity to get outside and do some yard work.

Almost done! And it’s a good thing, too, because the debris can is almost full!

I scooped up the walnut leaves and put them in the yard debris can. Yes, we have a compost pile, but not the right set up to cook the toxins out of walnut leaves.

Just after New Years, we had snow here. It was a rare treat for us in the Pacific Northwest. Normally, any time there’s snow here, it’s covered in ice. This was a light, fluffy, “dry” snow. At the beginning of the day it wouldn’t even compact into snowballs. The girls and I spent 3 hours playing outside.

Going for a walk in the neighborhood

snow angels in the street, because, why not?

Exploring in the park woods near our house

The wild onions are already growing! And the snow didn’t seem to affect them at all.

Our back yard looked quite different with a thin layer of snow.

A light powdery snow covering the backyard

My little 25sqft garden with the caterpillar eaten kale and aphid eaten brussels sprouts, neither of which did I harvest much of because I was too busy to deal with the pests.

Snow dusted honeysuckle vines

And then, that night, a freezing rain came in, covering everything in a layer of ice.

Same honeysuckle just 24 hours later

Icicles on the EZ-Up

Iced fence

Iced branches

A really cool ice leaf found by Flower Girl.

For this girl from the desert, ice storms are pretty magical. It is surreal to see ice coating everything. However, I am glad no one in our family had to go anywhere. One of those times I am thankful that my man works from home.

The hens don’t mind a bit of snow.

We had a bit of sad news recently. One of our hens (“Pepper”) was killed by a predator of some sort. Considering it was during the middle of the day in broad daylight, we think it was one of the many neighborhood cats.

Flower Girl with Pepper this past spring.

Now we’re down to three hens, one of which doesn’t lay very many eggs per year and none in the winter (our English Game Hen). The other two, however, have laid fairly steadily this winter (after their molt), even without supplemental lighting (for more information on supplemental light in the chicken coop, see this great article from Jill at The Prairie Homestead). I would love to add to our little backyard flock, but then I think of how much we are hoping to be gone this summer. And I think of transporting them back to Nevada when we do finally go. And I think, three chickens is enough. For now. 🙂

And in the mean time, we’re dreaming. We’re dreaming big!

Maridy

“I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121

First Frost

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We had our first frost here in the Portland area this morning. November 22nd and we just now froze! Gosh, the growing season is long here!

I love frosty mornings even if it does mean a bit more work to care for the animals.

This morning’s chore was pretty easy, though. I just broke the ice layer in the chicken’s water dish and plucked it out. Not so easy when it get’s frozen solid.