My little business...

 

The reasons I get up and go to work...

• To pay for my girls collage eduction
• To buy that kick-ass Dyson vacuum I have always admired
• To pay for that last trip to the dentist

Thank you to all of my faithful and loyal customers over the past season.

You came and picked produce to feed your family, share with a neighbor or impress your co-workers.

And I am grateful you picked my farm to visit!

A Little Farm Life

 I picked a few treasures in the garden the other day.

We have had a stretch of dry weather that is going into the record books.

Therefore, my garden is overwhelmed with cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and beans.

But all this dryness means it is dusty.

It has been windy too.

The wind comes from the East, right down the Columbia Gorge.

And into our island.

And this is the view from the Poodle Palace.

The youngest farmer daughter has finely moved in...

and she was offered a job else where today.

What to do... take it or stay?

And look at how our Tug has grown!

He tops the scales at 55 pounds.

He is a big boy!

He still barks at cats and eats apples off the trees.

But we love him.

The American Dream Is Ours!

We bought a house!

The neighbors house, to be exact.

The house is river front with a view of the Columbia River and four Cascade mountains.

The house is old... like old as dirt.

The house is small... like less than 1000 square feet on the main floor.

And the former owner has a slight hoarding problem.

And we bought it; lock, stock and barrel.

Now the real work begins!

And our little Tug is growing like a weed.

He is gaining about three and a half pounds a week.

We are settling in just fine. 

Although the cats still do not like him.

Maybe because he chases them?

And I hit my foot on the bathroom door last week. 

I think I broke my baby toe.

I hurts and I can't wear shoes.

Which means I have not been on the treadmill.

I have not hoed my 2 acres of blueberries or my u-cut flower patch.

Things are looking wild here.

I hate wearing flip flops.

This is the one!

Meet Tug.

He came to live on the farm on June 21.

Mr. Farmer is happy.

So is Tug.

He is adjusting to farm life. 

And a life with three cats.

He likes to play hard and sleep hard.

And sometimes he shows off his junk.

Be still, my heart...

I think I am in LOVE... with puppies.

One of these little guys is ours!

A very generous friend is giving us a puppy.

A cute chocolate Lab puppy.

Mr. Farmer is lonesome without a dog.

Maybe this one will come live on our farm and be our constant companion.

Or maybe this one...

There are nine puppies in the litter; six males and three females.

We will be bring home a male around Fathers Day.

I can hardly wait!

Ummm... Strawberries

This big boy was very delicious.

I love strawberries. I love Oregon strawberries.

I love warm, from the sun, Oregon strawberries.

My tummy is full of strawberries.

My days of unemployment are coming to an end. Our produce market will be opening up in the next ten days and I will be crazy busy for the next two months. A good crazy busy.

It has been a while...

Things that have happened since I last blogged:

• My favorite dog, Cole, passed away

• The youngest Farmers daughter graduated from collage

 

• Completed a few quilts 
• Started a few quilts
• Attended our first University of Montana football game
• Vacationed on the Oregon coast, during that dry and sunny week in December
• Skied in Montana

• Road trip through California, Arizona and Nevada... chasing the sun

• Ate too many pieces of pie that the oldest Farmers daughter bakes  

But now it is mid- May and it is time for me to go back to work on the farm.  

Life on a working farm...

The farming life has got the best of me. My days have run into one another... I just hope a can wash my hair on a regular basis.

 

First thing, Happy belated  Birthday to  my baby girl.

Not such a baby anymore. She claims she is in her mid-twenties. Whatever. 

And my other baby came home for five days. So nice to see her. That was the best $$$ I have spent recently... for her plane ticket. It is not cheap to fly at the last minute but it saved her from having to drive 10 hours one way, by her self.

And Mr. Farmer sold his car.

 

 He bought this back in the early '90's from an elderly neighbor. Her Dad bought this car new in 1954 and died shortly after. Her Mom continued to drive this car until her passing in 1977. Then Karen could not part with the car and the memories. It sat in her husband's shop until Mr. Farmer spotted it. Karen felt that she could part with the car. So... it came to live in our garage. Mr. Farmer worked on the wiring and had some body work completed. Mr. Farmer thought about selling it at different times... like to pay for the girl's braces. But he couldn't part with the car. And it moved with us and sat in our lean- to and barn for years. Another neighbor recently asked if Mr. Farmer would be willing to sell the car and he agreed. Now Ethel belongs to someone else. I will miss seeing her. I never rode in her. But I did get to pull her to compression start her engine. I feel so close to her.

Ethel's Stats

1954 Ford Customline

four door

15,884 original miles

Mr. Farmer will be looking for a new hobby at the end of harvest.