Monday, April 27, 2009

Countdown to Denver

I've had so many different things going on lately, I feel like every day is just something more to cross off my list of things I have to do. I'm planning on taking off for a week to go visit my Mom in Denver, so I'm also trying to get garden things onto automatic pilot so Aries won't have to worry about plant stuff while I'm gone.

Saturday, the Democratic Women put on our annual fundraising Spring Luncheon and Fashion Show . In previous years I've been one of the models, but the past couple of years we've had local celebrities as models instead, so I was part of the raffle prize committee (which involves begging prize donations from local businesses). Sunday I spent in Reno at the Soroptimist Region Conference, with a few hundred other women from 60 clubs throughout Nevada and California.

Today, Aries helped me finish getting compost spread and dug into the last of the garden beds. I dug the last of the leeks from last year, put a few into the leek nursery bed to make more leeks for subsequent years' plantings, put some down into the cellar to keep for a bit, and made potato and leek soup for dinner (with cellared Yukon Gold potatoes, still keeping nicely down there, and my last stored garlic bulb; plus One-Hour French Bread). I thinned some of the seedlings I've got under lights in the guest room, and am debating whether I want Aries to start setting some of the cole plants out to start hardening off while I'm gone or just wait until I get back to do it myself. It snowed night before last, so there's really no hurry.

This year's four new little chickens - I guess they'd be called pullets now - are fitting in with the rest of the flock and spending their nights out in the coop. They still come back up to the dog run in the evening, so I catch and carry them down to the coop each night and then they go right in. Pretty soon, the dog run will be taken over by guinea Tweedit and her clutch - she's still patiently setting on her nest in the Oregon Grape out front. I hope she waits until I'm back from Denver to bring in her babies.

And one more thing: the cat brought something in the house this afternoon. I had the doors and windows open, and could hear him meowing inside when I was outside. I went in to see what was wrong, and he was squatting down with his back to me in the living room. I thought he might be sick or something, but when I came up to see if he was ok, something (not sure if it was a mouse or a lizard - I'm thinking the latter, I haven't seen mice around here since the owl moved into the pine trees across the street) scurried away from him and under the couch. So now I'm paranoid that I'll find out what it was when I go to put on my shoes in the morning.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hope you can track down that "something".... and thanks for the link to the bread recipe - I love my standard bread, but the 1 hour factor makes me ready to dive in and try this tonight.

Val said...

OOOHHH! Hope the kitty finds it before you. I will try that bread-sounds great.

Carla said...

Sadge - Saw an old western when I was a child - don't even remember which one it was or who was in it. Two cowboys, not very friendly to each other, were sitting around the morning campfire, verbally sparring. One was about to pull on his boot when the other fellow kicked it out of his hand.

He immediately jumped up, hand on his pistol butt (familiar pose in those old westerns), & the camera went to the boot lying on the ground. A scorpion crawled out of it.

The lesson I learned? Always, ALWAYS, empty your boots before you put them on. :) I even do it with my shoes...spiders, you know.

P.S. I just love your One-Hour French Bread - it almost the only recipe I use on a regular (weekly) basis.

Nancy M. said...

Oh, I hate to see anything scurrying in my house! I hope you or the cat finds it soon. You keep yourself really busy. Hope you'll have a good trip!

Annodear said...

Busy girl, aren't you?? lol

Reminds me of Sweatshirt... he'd bring something in, I'd scream and he'd drop it to look up at me :-) while whatever it was ~ usually a mouse ~ would run under the couch! ugh. At least he'd usually stalk it and a couple days later catch it again. Good luck with that!

Sadge said...

It was a pretty little lizard - photo on the April 29th post.