Friday, September 1, 2017

Back to Work Today

Yep, it was back to the usual routine of "gettin' things done" today after taking the day off yesterday for our anniversary.

On August 31st, many years ago, Papa Pea and I joined hearts and hands and embarked on this journey together.

How many years ago, you may ask?  Well, although neither of us can believe it, it is our 54th anniversary.  The time has flown by so very quickly that that many years having passed seems impossible.

As I said, we took the day off in celebration (of making it this long) and ended with a dinner out at a lodge on an inland lake.  This particular lodge and rental cabins were built in the 1920s (hey, longer than we've been married!) and although a bit of modernization has taken place in the form of running water, bathrooms and kitchens, the log lodge and cabins look much the same as they did when first built.  Back in those days, you could build structures almost right on the edge of the lake and our table at the window gave us a wonderful view of the water complete with two loons swimming and diving a stone's throw away.

It was a delightful evening, good food, good drink and, since we were the last table to leave, we had the pleasure of meeting and visiting with the young couple who became the new owners a year ago.  What enjoyable, nice people!

But back to the ol' grindstone today.

First thing this morning, we split and stacked some firewood.  The great thing is that this is wood that shouldn't be touched until the 2018-19 heating season.  What a good feeling that is.


Next I got a stock pot with two chickens starting to slowly cook.  I defrosted and cleaned our freezers a couple of weeks ago and was a bit surprised to see I still had two ducks and several chickens I hadn't used in the last year.  Here it is getting close to butchering time again when new birds will need space in the freezer.  It's not a bad problem to have, but I'll concentrate on cooking up a bird or two each week now.


I needed some veggies to put in with the stewing chickens so went out to the garden to get these.  Looks like we're going to have a great crop of both onions and carrots this year.  The onions were okay last year but all the carrots were about as big around as a pencil!  (Or nearly so.)  Looking much better this year.


What?  Didn't everyone have a semi truck in their backyard today?  No, we didn't order a semi load of poultry feed, but we did get a pallet of bags of feed which should last us well into winter.  The poultry all cheered when the truck pulled in.


Speaking of poultry, a group of Canadian geese landed on the pond again this morning.  This afternoon when I looked up from my continuing work on the strawberry patch (didn't quite finish yet), I found the wild geese contently intermingled with our poultry.  I went in to get my camera to capture the scene and, of course, as soon as I got close enough to the fence to snap a picture, the wild geese waddled quickly away down toward the pond.  If you look closely, you can see them in the upper back of the picture.


Papa Pea and I made another picking of our blueberries.  The grand total for the season so far is just under six gallons.  There are a few more to ripen on the bushes but the season is definitely winding down.


Hooray, hooray, my mini-sunflowers finally started blooming about a week ago.  I just adore them and keep vases of them all around the house.  Such vibrantly cheerful faces they have.  Makes me feel happy just to look at them.

29 comments:

Jan said...

Happy Anniversary!

Michelle said...

Happy Anniversary! Definitely something to celebrate; I think it's the hard work that keeps you together. ;-)

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Happy Anniversary!

Anonymous said...

Happy Anniversary!
Sue

gld said...

Happy Anniversary! We have two years on you. I am betting you were married much younger than us. I feel you are younger than I am.

Glad to see something in your garden is doing so well. I am amazed at the blueberry harvest. I tried them here and it wasn't successful.

Have a super weekend. (I am getting a chicken out of the freezer next.)

Mama Pea said...

Thank you, Jan!

Mama Pea said...

Michelle - Well, we often say we couldn't accomplish what we do without each other!! Thanks for the well wishes.

Mama Pea said...

Thanks, Kristina!

Mama Pea said...

Sue - Thank you, thank you!

Mama Pea said...

Glenda - 56 years for you two! There aren't many of us these days who've managed to make it this long, are there? (As they say, too late to change now. Hee-hee!)

I do think blueberries are a fruit that is more suited to the northern climates. Too bad because there's nothing like having your own in your own yard. They're so full of antioxidants that "old geezers" like Papa Pea and I do well to consume them by the bowlful!

Happy Labor Day Weekend to you and Max, Glenda.

Nancy In Boise said...

Congrats on your anniversary! Nice for you to get out and relax. Love the Canadian visitors :)

Nancy In Boise said...

LOVE your new header! What software do you use for the photos?

Sue said...

The best part of this is the stew pot coming out. Love this time of year!! And to get fresh vegetables out of the garden--hooray!

How much, dare I ask , is a pallet of feed going for these days??

DDD said...

What a happy occasion.
Many, many, many more....

Rain said...

Hi Mama Pea! :) Firstly HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!! I'm such a romantic...I think it's so wonderful to have found the person who is just right for you! :) Your day sounds amazing. We are so lucky to hear loons pretty much daily, they hand out in the river a few streets away. I love that call!

Your whole gaggle of fowl is amazing. I love that photo, they all look so happy. :) I'm quite inspired. Oh the sunflowers are really pretty! I think my flowers are all dying...it's been too cold. But like you, my root veggies did so well during this cold summer!

Mama Pea said...

Thanks, Nancy! The Canadian visitors are back again this morning (Monday). If not the same ones, then friends they told about our place!

Mama Pea said...

Thank you! I am so computer- deficient that my daughter does my headers for me. She built/designed it in Publisher.

Mama Pea said...

Sue - It was a mixed pallet of organic chicken mash, grower for the half-grown ducklings, plus a few bags of whole grains. Including shipping, $600 and some buckeroos!

Mama Pea said...

DDD - Thank you so much! At dinner, hubby toasted us to another 54!!!

Mama Pea said...

Thanks bunches, Rain! I can't imagine living with a person I didn't like let alone love. We married youngish, he 22 and me 20, so we count ourselves lucky to have such a good relationship all these years later. :o)

Goatldi said...

Darn late to the party. Big congrats on 54 years! I agree no turning back now. We will mark 46 years next month. 23 and 22 at the time. I also marvel on the longevity of it all. Friends be best of friends. Here is to another 54 for you two. Papa Pea may just be onto something.

MrsDuncanMahogany said...

Congratulations and happy anniversary! I have been on vacation so am slooooowly catching up! We celebrated 21 years on the 3rd of August! August is a lovely month to get married!

You and Papa Pea work incredibly hard! I know that we are likely too late in starting up a big farm but I still hold in my heart that some day I will get a bit of land and have a little farm, or at least a little corner where I can properly do things. Not like these ridiculous city plots where you have to get incredibly creative.

Winter is a time to rest for you I hope?

Lisa said...

Happy Anniversary!! What a delightfully wonderful way to celebrate! And those sunflowers bring the sunshine in. Beautiful!

Mama Pea said...

Goatldi - Darn late for me answering your comment!

Thank you for your good wishes. Your 46 wishes is nothing to sneeze at either!

Here's hoping you and your hubby have as many more years together as we do!!

Mama Pea said...

MrsDM - No, no, no! Never say it is too late to do anything you want to do! I sincerely hope you and your hubby get just the size piece of land you want and make it perfect for yourselves. Do it, do it, do it!

I usually don't get as much rest in the winter time as I want, but, dagnabbit, this coming winter I'm going to do my best to get a heckuva lot more time in my quilt room than I have in the past several years. Remind me of this and get on me if I don't make it happen, okay?

Mama Pea said...

Dear Lisa - Thank you so much.

My sunflowers are still blooming their little hearts off even though we've not had any real sunshine in days and day. Lots of showers though so maybe that's all they need. Brought in two new bouquets of them this morning. I enjoy them so!

Unknown said...

Papa Pea may just be onto something.


หนังออนไลน์

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.