such color

 

A couple of weeks ago I thought this might be the last zinnia of 2022. So I carried it, held over my head through a paddock full of interested goats, up to the house. Popped it into a little vase along with a handful of Galinsoga parviflora. Photographed it. Sketched it. Enjoyed a late-summer posy for many days before it gradually lowered it's head and faded. 

When I harvested the tomatoes last week, there was one more zinnia!

With color every bit as brilliant, but petals showing the challenges of blooming when nights are sometimes dipping below freezing.

There's beauty in the struggle.

~~~~~

zinnias

Less than a week ago, with several days of rain predicted,

I headed to the terrace garden to pick a few zinnias.

Since midsummer I've had a few zinnias in a range of sizes, shapes, and colors, in little vases and jam jars around the house. The flowers last for days in water, and sometimes even change color as they begin to - well, I was going to write "fade" but when a flower turns from a coral-rose to purple, it isn't really "fading," is it?

With so much rain predicted in the first week of November, I thought that might be the last handful of zinnias I would be carrying up to the house in 2019. And it was.

Thanks for another grand year, zinnias!

It was just last year, when on a whim I started some zinnias from seed in the tiny greenhouse, that I discovered how generous and joyous these plants are. Many of those tiny seedlings were eaten by insects before I could get them into the garden, but the plants that survived just grew and bloomed and grew and bloomed, right into late Autumn. They were one of my greatest joys in the 2018 gardens.

The bees and other pollinators certainly enjoyed them, too.

All day, every day: bees on the zinnias.

I saved some of the dried flower heads at this time last year, and planted the seeds this Spring. I planted a single row of seeds. That was all.

And all summer, I was greeted with:

The plants grew two to three feet tall, and branched out to form a wide row.

I ran a line of soft rope at knee-height along the the row, to help support them.

Maybe next year I'll make a little picket fence just for the zinnias.

Because I'm saving seed again this year.

Of course.

 ~~~~~

yesterday

Yesterday the weather forecast was 5 days of rain beginning at 7 AM. This was not great news, but it did get me up and out early to do as much as possible. I carried extra hay to all the covered feeders, filled water buckets, gave the hens a tomato and half an apple, and coaxed LeShodu to eat some apple slices - she was a bit quiet and didn't want to eat anything, even oats which I had to sneak past the other goats. Then I closed some of the barn doors to keep a bit of the rain out. The barnyard is already so muddy I've put 2x6 "bridges" out for the goats, and I have to wear rubber boots to get to the barn.

At 7 the sky was grey and rain seemed imminent, so instead of taking Piper for a walk - we got caught in heavy rain a half-mile from home a few days ago - she joined me to work in the vegetable garden. It was still too wet from Monday's rain to harvest the catnip, but I did gather a few zinnias, picking ones whose long stems seemed most likely to get pelted to the ground.

I also picked an armful of bean leaves, still green but already beginning to fall from the vines. I brought them to the barn for the goats to munch - LeShodu said "no, thank you" - and at that point, the sky looked light blue! I opened up the barn doors that I had closed earlier.

Then I drove down the driveway to the garden, so I could bring up all the vegetables in one trip. By the time I started carrying the vegetables into the house, the sky was  grey again. And in just a few minutes, the rain began and went on for the rest of the day.

So by trying to beat the rain, I got a few hours of focused outdoor task time yesterday, which was fantastic. I couldn't tackle any of the big jobs I had planned for this week - for example, rebuilding paddock gates and working on the new raised bed - but at least I got late vegetables harvested before rain could rot them!

And when the rain came...I baked.

Big News: both the young hens have begun laying! Let the baking commence.

This recipe for "Impossible Pumpkin Pie" is similar to the very popular coconut version. Instead of canned pumpkin, I used the last package of frozen Candy Roaster Squash puree from last year's garden. Since I used a 10-inch pie dish instead of the 9-inch called for in the recipe, I also used 6 little pullet eggs to add volume. My estimate was a little off, though, because it made a bit more filling than would fit in my pie dish. No worries! The extra went into a little Pyrex dish and baked separately. Oh, the house smelled SO good as soon as the baking began!

I would call this more of a baked pudding than a pie, but it does set up solidly enough to cut into wedges and has a well-balanced, not-too-sweet "pumpkin pie" flavor. If I make this again I will make more of the single-serving size - very handy for snacking or sharing.

Happy to say it is not raining this morning, though the forecast still calls for rain today through Saturday. Time to get cracking and see if I can manage another productive day. I hope your Thursday will be wonderful!

~~~~~

sunday garden snaps

Rooting Old North Sea strawberry runners.

The Chelona has begun to shine.

I don't think I can post garden pictures without including the zinnias.

And here's a Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) on a zinnia.

(You should probably click to embiggen this one.)

Goats happily soaking up the sun after yesterday's rain and gloom.

The Supervisor.

Are we all ready for the new week?

Let's hope it brings only good things.

~~~~~

zinnias

I am enjoying the zinnias.

If you left-click the pictures you can see them in a larger format.

This is recommended.

 It would be difficult to get too close to a zinnia, I think.

 Every time I go down to the big vegetable garden,

 I spend ages visiting the zinnias.

And I am not the only one.

~~~~~

goats and gardens

There's no better feeling for a person raising livestock than to hear an expert say your animals "look good." Last week, not-my-usual-vet came out and did annual shots for the herd. He commented repeatedly on the condition and manners of my goats, which left me feeling pretty darned good. I don't take my goats to shows, and very few of the people who come here and see them are "goat people," so it's rare for me to get this kind of feedback. Rare and sweet.

Tsuga says, "You know he was talking about ME, right?"

~~~

It's taken several years of encouragement, but there are now three separate milkweed stands producing flowers here, and my efforts to bring Monarch butterflies back to my place are ever so gradually paying off.

Last year my Occasional Helper spotted the first chrysalis - which was unfortunately attached to a fence in a high-risk spot. After a lot of thought, I decided it's chances were better in the house, so I had the experience of watching it slowly develop into an actual butterfly. Pretty much everyone I know has had this experience - usually in childhood - but I never did. So it was especially magical.

This year, I saw two Monarchs dancing around the gardens!

And a couple of days ago I noticed one of these, in two of the milkweed stands:

Huzzah!

~~~

Remember last year's zinnias? I started seeds in peat pots, transplanted them into the terrace garden, and they bloomed and bloomed and bloomed and brought me joy every single day.

This year I mixed seeds saved from last year's flowers with a few left in 2018 packets, and seeded them directly into the garden. They have just begun to bloom and it's so exciting to see what colors they are turning out to be. I already have plans to find seeds for zinnia colors I particularly enjoy, and plant even more next year.

~~~

Daylilies!

How I love them.

Sometimes when the very last flower on a stem is blooming,

I bring it into the house to enjoy for it's precious day.

Like this:

And perhaps to draw:

And speaking of drawing...I think I answered every comment in the previous post,

but I want to say a general "thank you" again.

I am so grateful that each of you took the time to reply, and I am pleased as punch that you are not getting tired of the daily markmaking adventure.

You lovely people made me the same kind of happy as the vet who complimented me on the condition of my goats! Thank you so much!

~~~~~

the last morning of 2018

On this morning of the final day of the year,

I'm doing a bit of thinking back and thinking ahead.

While I'm doing all this thinking, what task could be more appropriate

than cleaning the seeds saved from this year's gardens?

Do you have any special plans for this New Year's Eve?

Or, depending on your place in the world, New Year's Day?

~~~~~

changes

I started writing this yesterday, but was too tired to be coherent. Every waking moment of Tuesday was spent shifting goats around to keep two young bucks separated from the does, several of whom came into season yesterday morning.

Rocket at 13 days.

I had contacted my vet to try to get her out to wether both boys last week - which would have been perfect timing - but didn't even hear back. I managed to catch her with my third call, on Monday. I'm reluctantly wondering if it's time to look for another vet. I certainly don't expect someone to drop everything to rush out to my place, but I do need someone who will return my calls. I like my vet, but her practice has grown and this is not the first time I've felt like she just isn't "there" for me anymore; the last time, there was a communication delay for several weeks with the result that vaccines were administered at a time when their efficacy was reduced - which frankly, stuck in my craw. I'm a good client. I am respectful of the time of others. I don't complain about expenses and I pay my bills instantly. My animals matter to me.

[Deep cleansing breath.]

Anyway, the boys' appointment is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.

Rocket now.

I'm a little sorry neither of these boys will sire offspring as they are both quite nice in terms of conformation. I even checked with the owners of their dad, in case they might want to have Rocket for his genetic potential - his mother is the daughter of my best doe, and is a good cashmere goat in her own right - but they are fully stocked with bucks. So, wethering it is. Mallow and Rocket will be happy and there won't be a constant risk of unplanned breedings.

In other news, I found my largest baking pan - it still had this watercolor taped to it, as I had used it as a drawing board back in July - 

and have started baking the candy roasters.

I started with the largest squash, which was 11 pounds 8 ounces - I had to cook it in two shifts! I've got several pounds of gorgeous purée in the freezer already. I will try to save some of the squash whole, for cooking in the Winter - it's lovely to cut into a squash and relive summer in that fresh aroma.

One quarter of the 11.5-pound candy roaster

The temperature has dropped below freezing several times at night, but a few nights ago it went down to the 20s F and the gardens really showed it the next morning. I pulled up all the remaining okra plants, and saved some wilted zinnia heads in hopes of seeds. I'm not sure how that works - do you know if the seeds have already matured before all the petals have dropped, or if they haven't developed and won't be viable? - but it's worth a try. I now have cardboard trays of seeds all over the porch - zinnias, bee balm, Suyo Long cucumbers, two varieties of okra, and candy roaster squash. The plan is to get all the seeds dry and into envelopes before I knock the cardboard trays over or the cats start playing in the seeds or Piper swings her tail and sends everything flying.

Piper on our long walk in the woods on Monday.
Plenty of tail-swinging that day!

There are still zinnias in jars on my windowsill, and I will enjoy them as long as possible. And of course, there are dozens of photographs on my laptop. I could keep drawing and painting zinnias for quite a while, I think. Maybe I will.

My eyes are almost closing as I type and I have yet to do my Daily Markmaking, so I'd better get cracking! I hope your week is going well :)

~~~~~

thanks

I want to say thanks for the encouragement on my little Cloud Harvest Cashmere experiment for Rhinebeck. Your comments and emails have been very helpful and energizing! It really means a lot to me.

It's been quite a lot of work so far, and intense due to the short deadline. A deadline can be a great motivator, but in this case, even a few more days would have been very welcome.

Of course most of the work has been on the computer - it's not like I'm building a barn. But every day for the past week I've spent hours looking through photographs, designing, searching for information, ordering specific things from various places, and juggling components of the process.

If this all comes together and my box of goodies makes it safely to Rhinebeck for the set-up on Friday, I will feel somewhat victorious even if not a single card is sold all weekend.

But of course I hope lots will be!

These two acrobats are also working hard and with intensity.

Meet my latest "squirrel-proof" bird feeder.

HA.

Last night I decided to cast on a cashmere project and see if I could get it finished before Rhinebeck. Just for a fun challenge, because I have all this time on my hands. I already had the perfect pattern and yarn combination in mind: a lacy baktus in a light green laceweight cashmere from Maine. Airy yet warm.

After three complete circuits of my little house, I still had not found the yarn. This is odd, because there are only a few places where I store yarn, and my small stash of cashmere hanks and balls was not in any of those places. Apparently when I virtuously gathered up ALL my fiber one day last year, carefully organized it by type, donated some and tucked the remainder safely away in drawers and baskets and boxes, the cashmere went to some Extra Special Place.

Sure wish I knew where that place could be.

Oh well, it's not like I'm short on projects. While searching for the yarn, I found the bag of steel wool I need for a woodworking task, and the box of blank cards I bought for a printmaking extravaganza if I ever get over my irrational fear of lino-cutting, and a complete set of 1960s(?) Pyrex mixing bowls from my parents' old house, which I ought to put on eBay. So although none of these things are Rhinebeck-relevant, my to-do list just got longer.

But not too long for Daily Markmaking!

I hope your weekend has been a joyful one.

Here's to a lovely week ahead.

~~~~~

stormy monday

After three days of cool weather - COOL weather! - there's quite a bit of rain in the forecast. I did barn chores early this morning, so the goats would have access to hay inside shelters, instead of the paddock picnics they've been enjoying recently.

AZALEA and MALLOW

 The sky was overcast so I got right down to the garden to harvest vegetables - beans and kale for myself, and a little chard and okra to share with the goats as I walked back up through the herd. I was back in the house at about the time I usually begin chores, and still dry, which made me feel all smug and efficient.

Another batch of green and yellow beans went into the freezer, and I steamed a bowl of snapped beans to add to the Pyrex cornucopia (a cornucopia is a food container that's never empty, right?) of bean salad in the fridge.

My pole beans began to struggle during recent days of heat, before I noticed and began to water them - something that had not been necessary even once earlier in this Summer of Continuous Deluge. They are still flowering and producing. I should write an entire post about these pole beans. They are wonderful.

While in the garden, I selected a few zinnias to provide color and cheer in the house should there be the predicted series of murky days ahead. 

They are also likely to become models for more of my Daily Markmaking efforts. Zinnias have turned out to be fantastic subjects for sketching. There is a great deal of variation from one flower to another, and they are a lot of fun as well as a challenge to draw and paint. Or maybe the challenge is part of why they are fun?

Here is one of the green zinnias, growing in the second raised bed:

And here, the very next day, is the same zinnia from a slightly different viewpoint.

With a special guest!

According to the Internet of Dragonfly Identification,

this one is a male flame skimmer - Libellula saturata.

My plan for today - after the chores and the garden and the photographing and so on - was to do a lot of housecleaning. Planning, it turns out, is different from doing. The rain started while I was downloading photographs, and both Moxie and Della anchored me solidly in place. So I decided to write this blog post before disturbing the cats in my rigorous pursuit of a tidy kitchen.

I may be doing that housecleaning stuff at about suppertime.

Meanwhile, I hope these zinnias help get your week off to a cheerful start.

If you sketch them, let me know!

~~~~~