All posts by ruthsoaper

Wrapping Up June

Birds, Blueberries, Blueberry jam, Cherries, Deer, garden, Reflections, Strawberries

I let Ruby outside a Thursday afternoon and as I stood looking out the window waiting for her to return a small but colorful hummingbird made a quick stop just a few feet away from where I was standing. It’s pause in flight was just enough to say “Hello” before it hurried on its way. My thoughts immediately turned to my mom. It’s been 12 years (Friday, June 30th) since Mom passed away and there are still times when something will happen, and my first thought is “I should call Mom”.

For many years of my adult life mom and I would talk almost every day. She wanted to hear every little thing that was going on in my life and the lives of her grandkids. She would have loved hearing about that little encounter with a hummingbird.

Then on Friday evening when we turned to calendar to July it was as if Mom was speaking to me. More hummingbirds.

What I really meant to share in this post was some of the things that have been going on over the last couple weeks.

Berries

We have been picking both strawberries and cherries. Our strawberry crop is small this year and we have been eating some fresh so I only have about a quart in the freezer. Well I should say had because Monday I decided that if I am going to make strawberry jam I would have to buy berries. When I called the strawberry farm where I have bought my berries in the past I found out that it was their last day picking and I was able to snag the last two trays they had. I kept one tray (8 quarts) and got them in the freezer that day. My sister picked up the other tray so she can make jam as well.

Our cherry crop, on the other hand, was fabulous. I think I have 10 quarts in the freezer now and have made 4 pints of cherry juice. My husband finished picking all that we wanted then my sister came and picked about 4 more quarts. We left the ones we couldn’t reach for the robin family that is nesting in the maple tree nearby.

Organizing Freezers

I needed to organize my freezers because the 1/4 cow that we had ordered from our local farmer would be coming soon. I still had a large piece of suet in the freezer from last year so I cut it up and put it in the crock pot to melt. When it was mostly melted I strained it through a fine mesh strainer lined with two layers of paper towel. As it cooled it hardened back up and I now have several pounds of tallow to use in soap making. (This tallow could also be used as cooking oil or in candle making.)

I also had blueberries in the freezer from last year’s crop, so I made a double batch (6 pints) of blueberry jam and some very tasty blueberry popsicles.

Sewing Projects

My sister K.C. and her husband were in Michigan for a couple of weeks so on one of our days together K.C. and I made a trip to the fabric store. The main project I was shopping for was fabric for my dining room curtains. I knew I wanted, in some way, to match the kitchen curtains that I made last year but I didn’t want them to be exactly the same.

The picture above is the new dining room curtains I made. You may remember the kitchen curtains I made last year are full panels of the blue with the lemon pattern that I used as trim for this set. I am very happy with the way these turned out. They are very cheery and, in the afternoon, when the sun shines through the yellow, the room glows.

While at the fabric store I also found same really good deals on clearance fabrics. One fabric was a Christmas themed fleece for $2.98 a yard. It wasn’t anything I thought I would use for making garments, but I realized it would be perfect for making dog blankets to donate to our local humane society. For less than $15 I bought the last five yards and have cut it up into 7 pieces to make dog sized blankets. I have finished the edges on two of the blankets and when I finish the others will make a trip to the humane society to deliver them along with some scarves and chicken potholders that I am making for their “Pawzzar” fundraiser they will hold in December. Animal adoption is not the only way to support our local shelters.

Gardens

As summer arrived our weather pattern changed. The dry weather that we had from late May and early June has been replaced by pretty regular rain showers and storms.

We were able to stop watering the gardens and the plants have really taken off.

We will be picking green beans before long.

The blossoms on the tomato plants are turning into small tomatoes and my husband spotted our first cucumber yesterday.

I don’t know if we have ever grown healthier looking cabbage.

Chickens

When we arrive at the farm nowadays the welcoming committee looks something like this. The chicks have really grown up. The rooster on the far right in this picture, who we are now calling Rex, began crowing a couple of weeks ago. Out of the three roosters he seems to be the dominant one. A second rooster just began trying to crow this week.

Deer

The deer population on the farm has been greatly reduced since my husband put up the fence this spring. There are still a couple of does that regularly stop for breakfast (and lunch, and dinner). We did have to put fencing around the strawberries after we discovered the tops nibbled down and my husband replanted and fenced the mammoth sunflower patch after the deer ate the tops off, but they haven’t done nearly as much damage as they have in previous years.

Among things that they have (so far) left alone are the Asiatic lilies that have been in my prayer garden for at least 6 years. Each year they come up but before they ever get a chance to blossom the deer eat the tops off. This is the first year I have ever seen them blossom. That fence has been a blessing in so many ways.

I’m going to wrap up this post that I started writing a week ago, even though I could keep adding things (like we started picking blueberries) because if I keep adding to it July will be over before I hit the publish button. 🙂

Thanks for visiting.

Attention Michigan Drivers: A Reminder to Put Down Your Phone!

Reflections

Dear Friends and Family who drive in Michigan,

On June 30th a new law goes into effect in Michigan. The law makes holding or using a cell phone while driving a primary offense — meaning an officer could pull someone over and ticket them for it. The legislation defines holding a cell phone or electronic device as physically supporting it with “any part of the hands, arms or shoulders.” See this article for more details.

I do believe it is a best practice not to use the phone while driving as one can easily become distracted by using the phone and an accident can happen in a split second, but if that in itself is not reason enough to wait on that call or text until you are done driving then hopefully the threat of getting pulled over and fined will motivate you.

Please drive safe! ❤

Ruby Tales

Dogs, Reflections

It’s been just over a year since I wrote this post introducing you all to Ruby, and what a wonderful year it has been.

Our fourth shelter dog, Ruby has been everything we could have hoped for. She is loving and lovable, she is obedient, loyal and fun. She loves to play with Ranger; she loves to herd chickens; she loves to play ball with my husband while he is trying to do chores; and she loves to cuddle up on my lap in my recliner. She is a good watch dog with a big bark and will let us know if she sees something that she thinks is not right. She does take her time getting to know new people but the easiest way for someone to befriend Ruby is to toss a ball for her to catch or fetch. You then have a friend for life. 💖

RUBY LOVES TENNIS BALLS!!! Ruby can also count tennis balls. She seems to know how many she has and where they all are at all the time. My husband will sometimes secretly slip one of the balls in his pocket as they walk. She will bring him another ball and he will throw it for her, but she will not chase that ball until he takes the ball out of his pocket and throws that one too. At times we will be playing ball and she will run off in a different direction only to return a few minutes later with another ball. I find her obsession with balls quite amusing perhaps because I have never had a dog that loved to play ball like this.

Last week I noticed that we were building a collection of balls at the house. There were six balls (five tennis balls and a rubber football) on the living room floor when I went to vacuum. It seems Ruby had been bringing some of her balls home from the farm. Ruby doesn’t need that many balls in the house and I, quite frankly, don’t want to chase that many balls around as I vacuum, so after Ruby and Ranger were in bed (in our bedroom) my husband picked up three of the tennis balls and put them on the shelf in the mudroom so he would remember to take them back to the farm the next day.

It was 2:30 in the morning when Ruby and Ranger woke me to let them outside. We made our way to the mudroom in the dark, as we always do, and I turned on the porch light before letting them out to do their business. When they returned a few minutes later I let them in, closed and locked the door and turned off the porch light. As I turned around, I could barely make out the figure of Ruby with her front feet up on the dryer. “What are you doing?” I asked and as I did, she got down and went to the shelf by the door put her front feet up, grabbed one of the tennis balls and took it with her to her bed. It was still dark. I had never turned on an inside light and the balls on the shelf were well above her sightline so how in the world did she know those balls were there? Smell perhaps?

Later that morning, around 6:00 a.m. my husband had gone to the farm to open up the chicken coop for the day, but he didn’t take the tennis balls at that time. Ruby came to me and wanted to go out. As we went to the mudroom Ruby grabbed another tennis ball from the shelf and took it with her while she went out to do her business, then she brought it back in the house with her. A few minutes later when my husband returned Ruby greeted him at the door and he gave her the third tennis ball.

The picture below was taken a few days after that incident.

As you can see there are still six balls on my living room floor. It seems that I am now destined to chase tennis balls with the vacuum. My only wish is that I could grow a tennis ball tree. LOL!

Thanks for visiting.

Blooms and a Bluebird

Birds, Flowers, Reflections, The Farm

Evening Primrose

Dianthus

Roses

Creeping Thyme

Salvia

Iris

Peony

Roses

Chives

Our Prayer Garden

Wild Roses

This spring I have been seeing a bluebird around the farm a lot. I really don’t know if I am always seeing the same one or there are more than one, because I have only seen one at a time. This afternoon I was able to capture a picture of it in the oak tree at our picnic area. Not the clearest picture but I think you can tell it’s a bluebird.

Thanks for joining me and have a great weekend.