Squash Bugs Ruin Everything

This year the pumpkins did terrible. One of the problems was the critters–raccoons?–out there who managed to put a big gouge just about every single squash–no matter its shape or color–that came on.

Meanwhile, I got squash bugs.

I didn’t even know what they were. I was out in the garden and rolled over a squash and there were bugs EVERYWHERE. This general shape but some of them smaller and even very small and some were grey and there were A LOT. Like scary lot.

I fired up my web search and there were people all over SW WA complaining about squash bugs.

I don’t know the origins or if there’s a reason this year was worse than others of if it’s always been bad and I’ve just been lucky.

But: BOO!

So I have pulled almost everything and put it in the refuse bin. I’m hoping I have better luck in the raised beds next year and I might try to plant pumpkins out front again.

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Remember When October was a U2 Album?

Hi! Happy October.

Every October I am surprised by how busy I am. Every time.

Here are some quick updates: I had to cancel my Atlanta trip because there was a hurricane at the same time I was supposed to travel. I am graduating from crowns and getting my first implant later this month (that’s a teeth thing). I am *this* close to finishing my first fan fic (Polin, Bridgerton). If you don’t know what that means you are unlikely to be interested.

Everyone else: drop me a note and I will ping you when it’s up. As soon as I’m done with that I am writing another romance. Don’t hold your breath because I am super distracted by a million other things so I’ll be lucky to have a first draft by this time next year.

And: I bought some raised beds.

I have been re-habbing this corner of the yard for a couple of years and this year I decided to just buy the dang beds and get them out there because I was close enough.

I planned to buy two and see how I liked them. But then the website did that thing where a big pop-up ad told me it was a holiday weekend special and it was 40% off if I bought 4.

You know how everything looks smaller when you actually get it? I said: Sure! I’ll get 4!

Look how gigantic they are. They are, I think, 12 pieces, each individually wrapped, plus 60 (?) fasteners. It took me 2 hours to assemble one. I have 2 up and I more or less leveled them and started throwing some garden refuse in there. I am so pressed for time before the season ends, I plan to hold back the other two.

I can either assemble later or I might try to sell them. We’ll see. I’d like to give the main garden patch a nice rest next summer.

They are pretty though!

And anyone who is thinking: oh, look. A faucet. That will be so handy for your drip irrigation.

Nope. That faucet has never worked. We’ve had at least 3 people come out and look at it. It’s a mystery.

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Olympia, Conclusion

Unfortunately, I don’t have the energy to put my video clips up so here are some pics. This is what an outdoor concert looks like in Oly Wa in August. Note the rain gear and cold weather clothes.

Actually, it just happened that we had a rainy weekend for the concert. The weekend before and after were hot and sunny. In expectation, there were notices directing us to the water stations and there was tenting material that I bet was good for shade but wasn’t so good for keeping rain out.

We had to strategize our attendance carefully because I can’t stand out in the rain in wet clothes and 58 degrees and think it’s fun like I used to.

I also ended up buying a new wool hat and new wool socks. In August.

Bikini Kill! This is the short people view. Originally I was hanging out closer to the stage but I was mosh-pitted back to the drinking tent. I noticed another similarly aged couple also retreating. But we loved seeing the kids having so much fun.

And here they are X! I have seen them previously in 2013 and 1985 – post here. I am pleased to report that we’re all still here! Lots of grey tops and glasses rocking out.

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Olympia Part 2

Olympia coverage continues with a photo of the Spar where my cousin worked for awhile back before it was a McMenamins. We did not go in this trip. We had other evening plans all the nights we were there and much as I would have liked to, my day drinking days are long over.

I used to like to have a drink in the afternoon on vacation but now it just puts me to sleep. I can barely even finish 2 drinks now and everything gives me a headache.

Aging means a new relationship to your body. See also: big greasy meals, staying up late, sitting in uncomfortable positions for more than 15 minutes.

During the non-raining part of the weekend we walked up to the capitol building and wandered around. So many cool trees.

The second night of the outdoor music festival we had perfect weather. Incredible view while we waited for X to come out. There was a paddleboard guy who came out and stayed even after dark to watch the show. A jetski guy joined him for a few moments. Also seen: a seal, heron, and lots of boats.

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Olympia Washington, Part 1

We went to Olympia, Washington a couple of weeks ago to go to an outdoor music festival and celebrate our anniversary. I used to have family living in Oly and there was a period of a few years in the 90s where I was up there almost every weekend and had so many memorable adventures.

I love Oly and I can’t remember the last time I spent any time there.

I happy to report: it is the land that time forgot. At least superfically, it has changed very little. Lots of cool little shops, tons of fun places to eat, beautiful scenery.

We went to the farmers’ market and I got this amazing panzanella salad with lots of fresh fruit, little bread slices, savory green salad with parmesan curls and a fruit vinaigrette that was not all cloying or overly sweet. It so delicious.

This is a new and smaller location than last time I was there but Orca Books is still a fabulous and well-curated bookstore. I don’t know why I am standing so weird in this photo.

I have more Oly photos and stories for later. As per my entire life, I had a computer problem I had to solve when I sat down and by the time I finished I didn’t have a lot of time and I am rushing to post this.

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APPLES!

When we were in Olympia we went to the farmers’ market and I found Gravenstein apples. This is my favorite pie/sauce apple. I used to find them at the local farmers’ market but it’s been a few years.

I bought a whole box. I told the guy it was my favorite pie apple and he said there isn’t much of a market for them but people who grew up with them love them.

I made apple sauce. It seemed pretty labor intensive for just 4 quarts but I guess 4 quarts is a lot. It’s always such a great treat in winter. We didn’t have much left over to eat now so I will buy some other apples to make some fresh apple sauce.

When I first started canning things I was always so nervous about it. But now it seems like common sense and following the directions and keeping things clean and boiling the crap out of everything.

We have a ton of jam and now the applesauce. I don’t expect to do anything else this year.

I also made two apple pie fillings. This is my favorite in winter when we need dessert and it’s so easy to thaw one of these and make some crust. It was a lot of apples to peel and slice. When I went to bed my right wrist hurt and at first I wasn’t sure what I did to it. Then I remembers: 10 pounds of apples.

I love living in the apple state.

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They Fixed My Backpack!!!

Remember back in December I reported that I had a DIY fix it project and I was going to attempt to fix the zipper on my backpack? I chickened out and decided to live with it. Here’s the post where I bought it in 2017.

The zipper situation further deteriorated. At some point I decided to check if they could fix it — I didn’t even mind paying. I hated to get rid of a perfectly good backpack just because of a zipper.

They had contact info and told me I could mail it in and they would check it out. I think the contact said there was a fee — but they didn’t charge me and they fixed it. Look at these amazing zipper pulls. And they gave me some tips to keep the zipper zipping smoothly.

Waterfield Bags are terrific. I have a laptop back and we have a bunch of laptop cases. All great.

Here’s my favorite dahlia. My dahlias aren’t the healthiest. The earwigs have taken over and my half-assed attempts to address haven’t made a dent. I am digging a few up at the end of the season. But this one is so pretty.

More posts on deck. I am just pooped tonight. I woke up at 4am and just decided to get up. (Tell me you are old without telling me you are old.) And then I cleaned house and made applesauce and did a bunch of laundry and worked out and went for a walk. I’m going to watch a show and go to bed early.

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I Don’t Know Left

I have always struggled with knowing my left from my right. I would always need to take the extra step of pretending I’m writing and my writing hand is my left hand.

But also I wear a wedding ring. When I do yoga class I’ve gotten really good at quickly figuring out my left because I wear my ring on my left hand. In fact, I thought I’d gotten over this confusion.

Recently, my left knuckle seemed to be sore and swollen. Is this arthritis? Do you get arthritis in just one joint? Did I jam it and not notice?

Who knows? But my wedding ring was bothering me so I moved it to my right hand.

The next time I did a yoga class, I was paralyzed when I had to figure out which side was my left. I kept looking at my ring and looking at my left hand and on one level I understood that I’d moved my ring but on another level I was completely confused by which side was which. It was like translating from a foreign language — I had to think through the problem: my ring is now on my right hand so left is the other hand.

What next? Rings on both hands?

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How Many?

Massive raccoon tour group traveling through SW Washington this summer. I’m surprised I never heard them. We sleep with the windows open in the summer. You think it would be tough to move a family of that size without anyone hearing.

Side story: I’ve been mildly distressed about how dirty the bathroom sink and bathtub look. I’m only a medium housekeeper but I couldn’t figure out how they were getting so dirty.

Then I realized it’s me. I’ve been doing some big projects in the backyard and I get filthy from head to toe. This afternoon I was scrubbing my feet in the shower and watching the dirty water draining away and realized: that dirt is me.

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Blueberries!!

It has been amazing how productive our berries were this year. Lots of raspberries and then a pretty decent Marion berry crop. My next door neighbor has Marion berries and they used to be by the fence and I took the shoots that ended up on my side and added them to my berry patch.

We planted our blueberry bushes in 2017 and they’ve never been very productive. This year: so many blueberries. I’m still picking them but we’re down to the end.

I kept throwing them in the freezer until I had enough.

I made raspberry jam, tri-berry jam, and then this weekend I made blueberry jam.

I use the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving and nothing thrills me like scooping out 6 cups of sugar and then blending it with the fruit.

It seems impossible and I stir and stir. This time I was certain it was going to be grainy but nope: it is perfectly delicious.

We are not huge jam eaters but I am putting PB&J into my rotation. A nutritionist once told me that a half PB&J is more nutritious and better for you than a granola bar. Is that true? Maybe, but PB&J is for-sure cheaper.

I filled my jam jars and I still had more so then I found a pint jar and I still had more so then I found another jam jar in the box and filled that to eat now and I still had more so I found a big jar to scrape the last of it in to eat now. We now have 16 jars of jam and 5 are pint.

Dad loves fruit jam so we will share with him.

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