The Vegetable Tsunami Begins

What is happening in Spokane is just awful. The area that is burning is not too far from one of the former Joann Fabrics stores where I used to shop. I also have a friend that lives a few miles from that area. She hasn’t had to evacuate (yet) and is giving updates to our homesteading group.

If you look at the drought maps, we’re not nearly as bad as eastern Washington, but we still have to get through the month of August. All it takes is one stupid person flicking a cigarette out a car window or leaving a campfire without making sure it is dead out, and we’re off to the races.

March and August are my least favorite months here in Montana. At least we are getting a few days of cooler weather before it heats up again (91F on Friday).

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The plants that survived June’s deer invasion into the garden look spectacular. We will have an excellent crop of winter squash. I harvested the first zucchini yesterday:

I thought I would come back after a week of not checking and find them all the size of baseball bats.

I need to make a thorough investigation of the tomato patch today after church. I see fruit on the plants and I suspect there may be some ripe tomatoes hiding in that jungle.

We have several feral cats hanging around the chicken coop—they help to keep the mice population under control—and yesterday morning I spotted one of them running through the yard. I went out to see what was going on and discovered that the cat had chased three deer into the woods behind the chicken coop. Perhaps it aspires to be a mountain lion. I thought it was pretty funny. The cat was sitting at the edge of the grass looking like it was going to pounce, and the deer were standing there staring at it.

I am caught up on cleaning and laundry. Yesterday afternoon, I made a quilt block. I am participating in a group quilt project and my contribution is due this week. (The project is a gift, so I can’t show you the block.) I made an Economy Block with some machine embroidery in the center square. I had been hoping to do more machine embroidery this summer. This is a good start, though.

I sewed the quilt block togther on Vittorio, my Necchi BF. That poor machine has been neglected of late. I really need to make an effort to sew on it more often. It really is the smoothest sewing machine I own and working on it is an absolute joy.

I am getting having dental work done tomorrow morning at 7 am (a crown) and I have lots of paperwork this week, but The Other Janet and I have a trip to Missoula planned for Wednesday. We are going to spend the day shopping for fabric. I can’t think of a better reward for getting through bike tour!