July Daze

The fourth of July has come and gone. Cameron's patriotic lei kept him warm while we all wore sweaters ! Cameron also taught l
Lynne the real words to "It's a Grand Old Flag" as she was humming in parts forgotten! Already  it is well past the middle of the month. How is that possible?

Here in Seattle we can not count but a few warm days and no heat by any standard. Fortunately Lynne invited me to come along on a mid-July lake stay. The weather started cold and wet but ended with lots of sunshine and dock time, including a day with Dave and Gail. It felt like summer had really come to 2010- think jumping in the water to cool off and swimming because it just feels good. The water is still high so the cocktail cruise included a trip around the upper lake. It is surprising the number of changes and still things remain pretty much the same in a good way.

One of the nice parts of a time at the lake is the drive over the Cascades. The summer has been slow in coming, even to Eastern Washington. Purple wild flowers blanketed hillsides with borders of white daisies and sprinkles of yellow. The greens of grass and sage were the background along with the bright blue skies and dark blue river waters. Post cards just can't do it all justice but you have seen it all and I hope this is a reminder to look into your eye's memory for a moment.

Returning to Kingston has been busy. The garden is on auto-pilot for the most part. There is a lot of dead-heading to do but the weeds have slowed a little. The harvest is slow too and makes me jealous of desert living! The strawberries were great this year but the raspberries are late and sparse- the birds are getting the biggest portion because all the wild berries are even slower. Fruit trees missed the bees so we have no cherries for pies and the rest of the trees show little progress. Don't expect much in the dried fruit shipments this year. Greens and peas are the biggest portion on our menu but we continue to have hope for August, including maybe eggs by then.

Speaking of eggs, the summer home for chickens is built and ready for occupation. They won't like the decrease in space but, if they get comfortable in their new home, they may be able to free range in the orchard during the day. That won't be for a week so we shall see how it goes. For now all we have is a noisy rooster who crows in the morning for a few minutes and 5 hens that eat well. They tell me that the eggs come after 20 weeks or so which puts us at around the end of August! As usual we discover that it really it much cheaper to just go to the farmers market, no matter WHAT they charge!But where is the fun in that? So for now, we all say enjoy the heat because at least you can remember you had a summer. Make as many happy memories as possible, eat ice cream and jump into cool water. 

Love, Mama Llama

summer feasting

Well, we put up with 100 degree weeks for a reason (no, not just the tan and excuse to drink all the time). Good food has arrived. Thought I'd share a picture of the vegetables brought home last week for a dinner with friends.

Tonight, it's too hot to cook indoors, so grilling lots of vegetables, including peaches for dessert.snacking on sungolds with mozza, and fresh melons. i realize i mostly just talk about food and the outdoors now. but hey, you take what you can get in the desert.