And we're back!

Wow! What a great week! We had a ton of fun camping at Rimrock Lake. We read books, took naps in our hammock, swam, fished, enjoyed shooting stars and campfire songs, ate pudgy pies, hid from the rain, smelled the trees (Ponderosa Pines smell like BUTTERSCOTCH, it's crazy!!), and even tie dyed shirts!  A giant THANK YOU to Jen, Heather, Hominee (and your families), my sister and our neighbors for helping to keep things under control, alive, and in the yard while we were out of town. It's tough to leave everything behind, but we are grateful to have friends willing to help us out!  

We ended up cutting our trip a day short to save our garden from some escapee rabbits and a hose that sprang a (HUGE) leak. We weren't too worried about the rabbits since they are quick to kindle. I was more worried about our cabbages that I've been loving on for five months!! Andy and Matilde ran down four bunnies when we got home, Andy found the last one in the morning, and we had harvested the meat of three of them by noon! It's been a busy day for us on our first day back. Aside from the rabbits, we gleaned and raw packed plums from the vacant property behind ours, unloaded the car and put everything away, set up the tent to dry and repaired some tears, ran errands, washed all of our dirty clothes, and smiled at the end of the day! It's good to be back home. :) 

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Matilde enjoying our walk back to camp from Indian Creek. 

This is a panoramic view from our camp. We tend to set up in the same spot year after year....I bet you can guess why! 

Results

Well, they didn't turn out the way we thought they would, but they're still cool! The girls were impatient and wanted to stick them in the dryer instead of line drying. The jumble of the dryer combined the colors and bled into all of the excellent white from tie dyeing. They're still happy with the results and have talked about doing it again! If they're happy, I'm happy. :) 

(Sorry about the terrible pictures and the messy house!) 

Tie dyeing the natural way.

The girls and I wanted to have some fun this week, so we decided to tie dye some clothes. (Nothing says summer like pots of dye in the yard. :) ) Instead of buying expensive kits, we pulled some beets and picked some blackberries around the block, and grabbed some turmeric and spinach. Basic and bright colors. Red, yellow, and green (although, I'm not sure if the green will work). They will set overnight in the pots and we will ready our fabric with a mordant in the morning. After that, we dye! The clothes will soak a day or two and hang to dry. This is our first attempt at natural dyeing, but I have a good feeling. The girls have been open to learning how people dyed fabrics before the use of artificial and synthetic dyes used today. It's nice to know they now consider the many uses of plants and the natural world around us as something more than just vegetation. 

Whatever our results, I'll post photos soon! 

In Bloom

Cabbage Worms 1 - Smiths 1

Our incessant search for those little green caterpillars paid off. We were constantly on the lookout for cabbage worms and because of our diligence we have a happy, healthy, cabbage! Those tiny green worms eat and eat and eat giant holes in our precious cabbage leaves, so whenever we walk into the house or out of the house we would inspect the leaves and peel the worms off. Most of the time I would collect a few and send one of the girls to the backyard to give the Donnas a treat. Other times, I would just let the greedy little worms meet their demise. 

Last year, we lost this battle. This year we evened the score. 

Blueberry Remix

After picking blueberries and getting some useful advice about rehabbing our own berries, Andy and I decided to get to work when I got home. We were told that ideally our soil's pH should be at a 4, and if it reaches a 6 it can be brought down to a more acidic pH. However, if it reaches a 7, we are outta luck and should start over. Our berries haven't done well after the initial transplant. It had berries while in the pot, but once it was planted in the ground it lost momentum. We tested our pH and what do you know? A 7! Off to the nursery we went. We opted for a 50% sphagnum moss, 25% original soil, 25% finished compost mixture plus a dash of this, that, and love. The plants are looking healthy and great, but it's only been a week or so. We'll get a better picture of our hard work in a few weeks. We'll continue to test and attempt to lower our level if we start to elevate. Hopefully, we can control it and eat our own berries next season. Fingers crossed! 

Blueberry Treats

The girls and I had a great time picking blueberries with Grandma R and our friend, Alix. Our share to bring home was two gallon bags full of large, ripe blueberries. Alix passed along a great cobbler recipe and I found another recipe online for a yummy blueberry lavender butter. Both were super delicious and extremely easy to make! I am pretty sure these recipes are keepers. 💙

However, I may need a canning refresher soon because lately my seals have been leaky and I'm nervous to keep them shelved. The seals "pop," but I still pass the jars along to friends, neighbors, and family to enjoy before they (possibly) spoil. I'd rather share our harvest than suffer from botulism. Wouldn't you?!