Max Cat

Max is jealous of the new kitten. You can really see it in his face.

Echinacea

This is my Echinacea that I got for Mother's Day. They are one of my favorite flowers. I have been waiting for this flower to open for weeks.

Strawberry Picking at Lee Farms

Yesterday we went strawberry picking at Lee Farm in Junction City. He has a no spray field. His plants were better than all three other places I went. Plants are large with lots of perfect berries. He has three varieties. We picked Bentons. He starting a blueberry patch. He has Dukes so far and plans on getting Chandlers as well. Chandlers are the giant ones. Dukes are just yummy. I dehydrated a flat and half so far. That's only one tub. I don't think I will make it ti my goal of five. That's okay.

This tree is dwarf Bing Cherry. It is said to taste more like a Lapins Cherry. He is a beautiful tree.

Sunshine Blue Blueberries

These are an evergreen blueberry with small tart berries.

Free Cherries

We went down to the busy road around the corner and cleared a wild cherry tree. A lot of wild cherries are bitter and not very tasty. This is not the case with this tree. We are going to graft part of the tree later this year. As is we don't have enough cherry trees. We already have five. Three are in barrels. Along with two Sunshine Blue blueberry bushes.

I started spinning my maroon merino I bought from Fantasy Fibers. I love wool.

Our Love for Trees

We recently bought this tree from Greer Gardens. Shishi Yatsubusa is a rare maple because of the scion wood it is graphed to. We love our tree. Not more than the cherry trees. My husband has special feeling for cherry trees. We bought a beautiful Montmorency for our anniversary.

So far we picked this from the garden. The snow peas are doing great.

The suns still been out and the garden is finally starting to grow. We are going strawberry picking again. I think this is the third time. My goal is five. I have to hide the ones I dried to keep the kids out. I have to remind them we are drying them for summer. If I let them at them they would be gone by fall. They are same way with the cherries. I shooting for 5 tubs of dried strawberries, possibly 6. Same for died cherries. At last my bunt pan was found so I think it is time for another pound cake.

I need to make pizza dough today but honestly don't think I will get to it. It's nice to have it made up. Then I can throw together a club or Greek style pizza on short notice. Another meal we normally have is yaki soba and fried rice with orange chicken from Trader Joe's. It's our cheater meal.

Our goal was to get out more this year. We promised ourselves we would at least go fishing. My husband and younger son had never caught a fish. So we finally made it out. We went to Leaburg the first time out. We only got a few bites. Next time out we went to Junction City Pond. Say that fast and will most likely come out as Junction Shitty. Anyways, we caught six fish. Just little trout. Now my husband is eager to catch larger fish. I had my fingers crossed that he would feel that way.
My little guy wants to fish often too. He is such a caveman. I can't even go to wildlife refuge without him wondering what every animal tastes like. I hear from the back seat "MOM look a hawk, I bet you he tastes good!" He's a hunter at heart. My older boy lost his appetite from watching the fish cleaning. My boys are like night and day.

The past weekend we had the Black Sheep Gathering here in Eugene. I felt like a child in a candy store. There was so much beautiful fiber. I ended up with about 60 dollars worth of fiber. Actually, I probably over paid I am new at this fiber shopping thing. I already started spinning some of it. I bought some cheaper stuff for more practice. Also some nicer stuff. I wanted to try spinning different breeds. I am spinning some merino right now. It's kind of bad still but it's all part of the learning process.

This season we went picking with the home school group. We went to Bush's Fern View Farms. They have a bunch of sweet (strange shaped berries). The following week we went to Riverbend Farm and Pleasant Hill Orchards. They had smaller berries but they are naturally grown. So they basically organic but have not payed the money to call them selves that. Also Riverbend is a dollar cheaper per bucket. Bush's $8. Riverbend $7. We normally go to Thistledown Farm but their U-pick was in bad shape this year due to all the crappy weather. They normally charge $1.25lb. They are no spray. Hopefully next year they will have better luck.

Strawberry Freezer Jam

This years late rains have finally let up. I am so happy to see the sun. The strawberries are finally starting to sweeten.

Strawberry season in the northwest