Half-way Through Summer

Half-way through the Summer Spent Separately. AKA working out of state to pay off debts. AKA at least there's True Blood, Dexter, and plenty of books.

Also: blackberries are on. First pick was over 5 gallons, second pick was about 3 gallons.
Still a pick left.

If you've never tried blackberry jalapeno jelly, you're missing out on life.

 

The healthy eating agenda is still pretty much on track. I've been eating a lot of breaded eggplant slices w/marinara, quinoa/klamata olive/feta salad, Italian stuffed tomatoes... well pretty much those three things on rotation. Pinned a lot more recipes I'll probably never get around to making but sound good on my "get in my belly" board.

A rock with a crack it in makes a good recipe holder.

Lazlo always has to protest having to sit for a photo. Petting him the other night I felt a lump in the fat part of his chest, so Mr. Brown is going to the vet next week.

Mia Pia is swimmer extraordinaire. Now only if she could kick the fleas. (Apparently it's a bad year for the, mild winter + wet spring = flea epidemic.)

The river continues to drop every day and when we go in the evenings it's that perfect balance of almost equal air and water temps. The skies have turned hazy in the past week or so, no doubt from all the forest fires. Makes me think of Armageddon. "Cause my worst case scenario brain takes over sometimes.

We haven't had rain for a while now so logically the rain barrel is slowly emptying, between feet washing after the river, filling the dog water bowl and watering the plants on the porch I am not sure how much longer it will last. If we had multiple barrels I wouldn't be worried since the early summer was nearly constant thunderstorms. Definitely need to put that on the list of projects. A friend in Kooskia also posted this rainwater harvesting sketch from Mother Earth News on facebook the other day - definitely like this idea.

The Chief Lookkingglass Pow-wow is this weekend. Last year I shot a few b/w Polaroids and this year I'm taking a whole pack of PX70 Color Shade in the SX-70 - pretty excited.

Breaking bad habits

Six weeks of stress eating and watching as much television-on-DVD as humanly possible (oh, Dexter) has caught up with me. I go through cycles of eating fairly decently, but most of the time when I am left to my own devices, I revert to a diet that is admittedly horrible.

I am trying to change.

Step 1: Break up with the microwave. It's lazy. Put some effort into it. I mean, we bought our camp chef oven for a reason. And the propane's already paid for.

To start I built me a pan of bean burritos in jalapeno tortillas smothered in enchilada sauce. Reheating is easy, just throw some tin foil on the little baking sheet and cook on low for 20 minutes or so.

Gets a delicious crunch on the bottom. This little oven would have no trouble roasting veggies, I never even turn it up past the very lowest setting.

Step 2: Don't eat after 7 p.m. They say sumo wrestlers gain enormous amounts of weight by eating a huge meal and then going directly to sleep. Sounds plausible at this point in my short experiment. And instead of trying to convince myself that energy bites are okay to devour because all the ingredients are "basically good" I've started satiating my sweet tooth with an apple and peanut butter after dinner.

Lunch with my very thoughtful friend Melinda in the park last week meant taking leftovers of a delicious quinoa klamata olive feta salad home. And the other day she dropped off a huge bowl of vegetarian chili for me. I am always thinking how I could eat better if only someone would deliver food to me!

I've missed about a month of yoga, which was really starting to feel beneficial. I will be glad to get back to it this weekend. My yoga teacher recommended some books and one I really enjoyed was The Wisdom of Yoga: A Seeker's Guide to Extraordinary Living. I know yoga is seen as some new age flakey woo woo thing, but I have experienced beneficial results, and reading that book made me consider what is possible. 

Last night I read most of Why I Am A Buddhist. My family only went to church for weddings and funerals and I've never felt an affinity with the Christianity I was exposed to growing up. I am more of a science person. Or nature person. I really don't feel the need to have a spiritual awakening - though peak experiences shouldn't be discounted or diminished - but I am finding a lot of what Asma writes in it is in line with what I already believe: all living creatures deserve our compassion, we should try to reduce suffering in the world, truth must be self-tested, that everything is temporary. 

And my temporary physical separation from my husband is....temporary. We talk almost every day and Skype when we can. But there's no replacement for the real tangible within arms reach. I'm trying to appreciate the opportunity that I have, being alone isn't something I'm used to. We've been together pretty much since we met in 1997/98. Then again if this summer job means we get some burdens/bills get paid and we possibly have enough coin to scrape together a short getaway once he returns, it might be worth the separation. The jury is still out.

Too Hot For Pants

Obviously we're not the only ones in the country dealing with hot weather.  
But I am officially declaring July 2012 as Too Hot For Pants. 

We're still hitting the river about every other day. Lazlo is getting better at holding his breath and dredging rocks from the bottom, but for some reason he tries to chew on them so we're discussing what's appropriate behavior with rocks.

We found a tennis ball at the beach last week so I attempted to lure Mia out deeper in the river with it and it worked. Swimming is not her favorite activity, she'd rather scour the beach for treasures, but she is able to make a few doggy paddle strokes when I take her out and throw the ball back to the shore.

Pretty impressive for a dog that survived Hurricane Katrina. We're taking it slow, though.

My potted veggies are growing well, though it still seems unlikely they'll get big enough to produce fruit. 

Mr. Stone Pine has some volunteer clover growing in the pot. 

I have a single corn plant growing (among the bindweed) on the side of the house. Assuming that an unsterilized corn kernel from the bird feeder is the source. It's not going to produce anything since corn needs to be pollinated by other corn plants, but I don't really have the heart to pull it up. Found some sunflowers starting to sprout in my potted veggies, too. Someone at the bird seed factory was napping when this bag went through.

My parents convinced me to buy an air conditioner for the tiny house. I was so reluctant (for four years now) for obvious reasons but with Keith being gone and the dogs spending most of Mon.-Wed. inside while I'm at work, there was no other solution. I didn't feel comfortable putting them in the dog pen during this kind of heat. 

So we have an air conditioner now. Other than using more electricity, the biggest con is that it's in the window above the bed and so in the evenings when I turn off the A/C I don't get a breeze through that window. It's cut down on the air flow considerably and the house tends to stay hotter in the evenings. 

Take the lack of air flow and throw in the sultry, oppressive weather and it's most definitely Too Hot For Pants. 

Keith is on his way to fire camp - finally, after being in Montana over a month. They've been driving back and forth between the co. HQ in Billings and the site of the contract starting point, Cody, Wyo. knowing something would happen soon. And now it finally is.

Water dogs

The temps are rising and even though we now have a little air conditioner for the tiny house (a lifesaver, thanks to my parents) we try to hit the river about every other day to cool off. It's very crowded this time of year but the river has been dropping rapidly and now we can walk downriver to the rock beach and have some space.

I think Lazlo is part Lab as much as he likes swimming. Just saying "swimmin" gets him all worked up. We get to the river and all he does is swim and dig for rocks. Not sure how he got onto the rock digging, but Mia has been watching him and decided she can do it, too - in a little shallower water.

I tried coaxing her out deeper, but she was not at all on board with that. She needs to be touching the bottom at all times. Though she will stick her face underwater, so whatever.

I can only be out in the sun for about an hour at a time without feeling like I'm frying (even with SPF55) and every time I tell Lazlo it's time to go home it breaks his little doggy heart. I think he would live in the water - except there are no blankets to crawl under at night there. 

Julyness

 

Growing things

A friend from the farming class we took a few years ago brought me some plant starts - eggplant, tomato, peppers. They're tiny little things, so I don't know if I will reap any rewards, but hey I'll give it a try.

The lilies I dug up at the librarian's house are finally blooming - all yellow.

The dogs and I have been visiting the river about every other day. Walking home the other night I inhaled a small village of bugs that were swarming in the last sunlight of the day.

I love watching how the river changes. The level rises and falls throughout the year, but it also makes certain paths through the rocks and sand. At this one point in particular it seems to flow backwards for just a bit. Hard to capture in photograph, but mesmerizing to watch.  

Let the summer begin

Before Keith left for the summer (trying not to mope too much, at least in public), he built a plywood box with a window as a door for a stove stand. It holds dry goods on the top shelf and washing basins on the bottom - perfect! I usually don't eat all that well when he's gone (cooking for one and all), but I used the griddle last night for Nature Burgers and diced zucchini - the old stand-by. I also hung up our folding wooden dish rack. Today I need to take our water bottles up to the spring for a fill-up.

The pups and I are trying to stay busy with the ChuckIt, walks, and visits to the river to cool off. Yesterday during the heat of the day we walked down there to find it crowded with people and also a neighbor dog. Both my dogs did outstanding, Mia never even barked ONCE, and I let them cool off in the river for a few minutes before coming home. We'll have to time our trips down there better until the water recedes and there's more beach to share.

We'd planned on at least getting the composting toilet operational before Keith left for the summer, but it just didn't happen. Mostly budget restraints, but also time. I hung a glass crystal that my mom gave me outside the window and at just the right time of day it's like a disco in the bathroom.

Still not sure if I am going to grow any vegetables this summer. A friend we met in our farming class a couple years ago has a line on some good heirloom tomato plants and I might scout the town to see what else I can find.

Sitting on our porch writing this post, the hummingbirds are visiting the feeder I hung up frequently. The other day I had the doors open and one flew in the house. I didn't realize it at first because I was outside. When I came in I heard it beating itself against the window. I tried calmly capturing it in my hands, but it was too frightened, so I just cupped my palms and tried to shoo it in the direction of the open door and out it went.

The Steel Anniversary

We celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary this weekend with camping trip up the Lochsa.
There was:

free camping at "Kayaker Camp"
 

pancakes in a cast iron skillet (the. best.) documented with IP film and the SX-70
 

a nice soak in Weir Hot Springs - all to ourselves
 

and a pair of eagles riding the currents above the ridge where we camped.

This past year was probably the most difficult in our relationship. But we both had some major breakthroughs and now we're in possibly the best shape ever as husband and wife. Each marriage has its own strengths and weaknesses and if you'd asked me 11 years ago if I was ready to go through all of it, I would've returned a blank stare. I didn't know what I was capable of then, and maybe I still don't. 

But accepting your partner 100% they way they are is the best advice I have after 11 years. Just this past year I finally let go of The Way It Should Be and opened my heart to The Way It Is. Don't judge, just love. Simple as that.

Now we're cooking. Dinner. Really.

Say goodbye to the Coleman camp stove and welcome a new addition to our outdoor kitchen - the CampChef Oven with 2-Burner Range (with griddle, oh yeah).

I had pinned this very appliance when I first discovered them and then last month when I saw Costco was carrying them at nearly half the retail price - oh we wanted one BAD. It was painful waiting to be able to afford it and hoping there would still be at least one in stock on payday.

It's got a temporary slightly unstable milk crate base. Repeat: temporary.

We've all seen burners work before, so we christened it with a batch of delicious black bean and taco TVP nachos. The temperature regulation's going to be a bit of a learning curve because the thermometer is separate from the LO-HI knob. However, we are extremely stoked to have upped our self-sufficiency in meal prep.

The second night we had Nature's Burgers and diced zucchini. A friend sent me a small herd of boxes of this veggie patty mix and we are loving it - great, thick texture and great taste - definitely an easy fix as I'm single parenting it this summer while Keith works out of state.

What good are dogs for if not the pre-wash cycle? Mia's the smart one, she stops the plate from scooting by stepping on it. Street smarts, yo.

My mom was in the hospital for a couple of emergency surgeries last month and it threw our whole family out of whack for a bit. She's recovering but we lost most of May and it appears no one is growing a garden this year.

I had planned on doing a 3x3 plot after reading a book on square foot gardening and I even wrote out the order form for seeds, but just never could find the extra lump sum for seeds. I procrastinated. And now it's too late. Maybe not for a summer plot. I still have a compost pile going. Possibilities are open.

We're in a rainy patch of weather and last night a big hail storm went through. Of course Keith thought that was a good time to be fiddling with the rain barrel. No damage, just a good lightning show.

Hoping to hit a hot springs this weekend in celebration of our 11th anniversary. Nothing as involved as our 10th anniversary road trip, but I am planning on enjoying it, rain or no rain. In the hot springs who cares about rain? Also, I have a pack of Impossible Project film to run through the SX-70. Good times are happening now.