Summer Flings...

Gosh, my summer has been really flying by! I haven't had much time to write, sew, or keep friends up to date with what we've been doing. So I thought I do a post letting you know what we've been up to lately.

I spent much of June taking local day trips with the kids, tending our garden, and meeting up with family in Portland. We took a day trip to the coast, and enjoyed seeing Portland.
In July I've been spending a lot of time at the local pool, both with kids' swim lessons, and cooling off in the heat and playing with the kids.
We also took camping trips to the Ochoco and Strawberry Mountains, and got to see the John Day Fossil Beds, the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center near Baker City, and I took a trip to Sisters, Oregon for their huge Outdoor Quilt Show.
I had entered a quilt block in a competition there, and won a "Teacher's Choice Award"! Needless to say, I was thrilled!
I had the pleasure of meeting up with a long time friend and her family there, and got to not only spend the day admiring over a thousand quilts, but got to visit with her as well. Lukas has been taking guitar lessons and drawing lessons at the local art center, and both kids are still doing karate twice a week. So we've been busy!!!!

Our garden has really taken off in the hot weather we've been having. I'm starting to freeze the excess. I love snacking right off the vine, or from the earth, and watching the kids do the same. My trips to the grocery store are becoming few and far between. Got to love that!!
As to our solar project, the company making our panels has run into manufacturing problems with the specific panel we wanted, forcing pretty much all of us to use an older style panel instead. The company is giving us an older 240W panel for the same price as the newer 230W panel that we'd ordered, which will also mean more of a tax refund as well. Unfortunately, due to budget cuts, the state of Oregon is no longer offering tax incentives, but "grandfathered" in all of us who have signed up and put in a down payment, as long as the work gets done by Sept 30th. So it's now up to the contractor. He's predicting we'll be up and running mid-August, so keep your fingers crossed.

Other than the solar installation, August will get us down to Dallas for a week to visit my family there with the boys. Chris will stay here and hold down the fort. So far the fire season has been pretty mild, but recent lightning in the area and state could change that. We'll still be at the pool almost daily, and freezing and canning will be kicking into high gear! Kids start school Aug. 30th, so hopefully by then I'll have a bit more time on my hands.

Cutting the Cheese

Summer's here, and yes, I've been spending all of my time these days with my 2 boys, who are out of school for the summer. And, well, anyone who's raised boys knows that "cutting the cheese" is one of their favorite subjects (sigh).

I thought I'd share another type of cheese cutting with you though. A much nicer one. Anyone who knows me well knows that I enjoy the "science" behind food. Maybe it's the many years spent in a lab, or just my interest in what's actually in my food, and how it's made, but anytime I read an article about how food is made, I feel compelled to try it. I have made bread and yogurt, roasted coffee, brewed beer, canned all sorts of fruit and vegetables, and yes, made cheese.

A fellow lab-worker introduced me to cheese making after I sampled some of her home made cheese at work. She told me about The New England Cheese Making Supply Company, and soon I was making my own cheese (and cutting it). In our recent move, I tossed out all of my perishable supplies, but at the urging of my kids, I just ordered a new batch of rennet so that I can once again make cheese.

When I started, I ordered a "30 minute mozzarella kit" from the company, and yep, sure enough, it really only takes about 30 minutes to make some amazing fresh cheese right in my own kitchen. I start by heating up a gallon of whole milk on the stove top with some citric acid.

As the milk warms, it starts to curdle. At a certain temperature you add the rennet and continue heating to 100 F. After a few minutes, the curds really start separating from the whey (ala Little Miss Muffet).

The curds are then strained away from the whey (or vice versa?).

There's a few additional heating steps done in a microwave oven. By then the cheese starts to get shiny and stretchy. Kneading, along with the addition of a little salt finishes up the process.

Now it's time to eat, and believe me, this first batch didn't last more than 15 minutes!

Fresh mozzarella is a wonderful treat, is easy to make, and can be much cheaper than buying it at the store. Give it a try!!!

It's not too late...

To start a garden that is!

With a good 2 and a half months (or more!) left of full-fledged summer months, you still have time to open a pack of seeds, put them into the ground, water and watch food grow!

We started some of our food garden plants a few months ago. Ordering seeds from seed catalogs is probably the easiest part of growing a garden. There are so many companies around. Our favorite is also a "local" company, Territorial Seed Company, near Cottage Grove, Oregon.

In years past, and this year, we started some of our seeds early in a mini-greenhouse. It's quite easy... buy some seed-starting mix, put it in a tray, and plant rows of seeds to transplant later into larger pots. Since we're new to Eastern Oregon though, we didn't quite anticipate some of the cold snaps and fierce wind storms that we get here, so we had a few set-backs. All in all though we had some success, but also used our "back-up plan".... buying established plants from a local nursery.
Soil preparation is key to growing a good garden, and in our case, protecting young plants from deer and birds proved essential too. But hey, if we can do it, you can too. One of our favorite books on the subject of planning a garden is "The Square Foot Gardening", by Mel Bartholomew. There's also a website of these techniques.

We had to plant and replant, as it's been an unusually cold and wet Spring here. Don't let a few dead plants discourage you. It's not rocket science. They're just plants, and a packet of seeds doesn't really cost that much!
And the rewards are incredible! It feels so good to watch a plant grow from seeds, flower and produce something yummy to eat. My kids love to help, and enjoy eating food right from the vine or plant. We love to teach them this valuable skill. It's local, it's environmentally friendly, it's healthy, cheap and just plain nourishes the souls along with the body.

Besides sun, water and good soil, the plants need little else, besides weeding. But I must admit that weeding is my least favorite part of gardening. I've tried ways to minimize weeds, and refuse to use chemicals. Bottom line is that you just got to do it. But even if you don't, you'll still be able to harvest some food among the weeds. Just maybe not as much, or as easily.

But DO give it a try..... It's not too late to start!

Drinking Locally - microdistilleries

I've been trying for the last few years to make a real effort to buy products, especially food, made as close to home as possible. The real motivation came after reading "Animal Vegetable, Miracle", by Barbara Kingsolver. She details a year in her families life as they try to produce and eat only locally grown food. Locally grown food is fresher, healthier, better for the environment and if bought from local farmers, supports your community. I like the fact that if I grow it, I know exactly what is put on it and into the soil, and we tend to eat healthier, since we were directly involved in the effort to produce and grow it.

Recently, an empty bottle of gin brought me to the local liquor store here in town. In Oregon, all "hard" alcohol is sold only in state owned liquor stores, and luckily the one here carries a very nice selection of locally distilled spirits. I was quite surprised at just how many of these micro distilleries there are here in Oregon. I did a bit of research and found this map of US micro-distilleries, and was even more surprised at how many there are through out the US. Yes, they cost a bit more, as with most items that are made in small batches on a local scale, but they're also superior once again in taste, and travel fewer miles. The one I picked out is from Bendistillery, out of Bend, Oregon. It makes perfect sense that gin, which is made from Juniper berries, would be made in Bend, an area rich with Juniper trees. They make other spirits as well. And since we don't go through large amounts of hard alcohol, this bottle should last a while. But it is awfully good....

What other local products do you use or know about?

Going solar!!

We're doing it! Friday, we found out that we were one of 50 households who won a zero-interest loan through the city of Pendleton, OR!!! There were 93 households who applied, so we feel incredibly lucky! We'll have 4 years to pay back the loan, and will have to agree to a lien on our house, but much of that loan will be paid back with tax rebates that we should be getting in the next 3 years. We also met with the actual contractor who measured our roof, looked at the inside and outside of it, and inspected the electric system. Once again, he said we have a "near perfect" place for solar on our roof. We'll be getting the actual bid in the mail soon, signing the paperwork, and hopefully the company will start installing in June, or July. They have about 200 households who've signed up who are in various stages of commitment for the mass city project, so that should cut costs even more.

The drawing for the loan awards was done at Friday's Growers' Market here in Pendleton. While we missed the actual drawing, a white board was left up with all the names in place of who won the awards and who didn't. They wrote each name down in the order they drew them, and if any of the 50 households for some reason can't go through with a solar array installation, then next in line will be eligible. Looking at the list kind of reminded me of high school try-outs for sports or plays. While we're thrilled to be on the "in list", this being the small town that it is, we knew some of the people who didn't get one of the loans.... co-workers, neighbors, friends... So it's a bit bitter sweet, since we wish all 93 families could get a similar loan. We've also been learning just who in town will also be going solar and have found out a few of our neighbors will also be on this adventure with us, which really makes us happy, since we'll have someone else to compare notes with. But until I have more notes to share ourselves, shine on, shine on....

Solar site assessment

Spring is a busy time for our family, as it is with many others. Before it gets any later though, I thought I'd try to give an update of our solar electric journey.

A few weeks ago, we had the Energy Trust of Oregon come out and do a home evaluation, both for its current energy efficiency, and its solar electric site "value". Their folks climbed up in our attic crawl space, and under our house, looked at our heat and air conditioner, water heater, and gas and electric bills. They made a few minor recommendations, but our house is relatively new (12 years old), so it's in pretty good shape. Next, the solar evaluation was also an easy one. There was a neat tool the evaluator used to determine our exposure and shade. It had a graph of sun exposure, and a reflective dome fit over it that would show the percent of shade a site had. It was a low-tech tool for a high tech adventure!!



We suspected what the Energy Trust person confirmed, that we have 100% solar exposure... Our roof in the front faces due South, and we have no shade blocking it. We also have room on our electric circuit breaker to expand. We have space on our roof for a 3-4 kilowatt solar array. We also expressed interest in solar hot water heat, but right now the best incentives are for solar power.



If anyone else is interested in renewable energy or efficiency, I found this website for a list of state by state renewable/ energy efficiency money incentives. It depends on where you live, but most states have more than a few programs out there.

Since our initial evaluation, we have applied for the city's loan program, and were supposed to have the actual solar/roof contractor our today to give us a bid on exactly how much it's going to cost, but right now it's raining pretty good, and that appointment was canceled and will be rescheduled for later this week. I'll let you know what happens!!!!

Pendleton Quilt Show

OK! I'm now officially "hooked" on quilt shows! I not only attended my 2nd quilt show this week-end, but since it was here in town, and since I've become a fixture at the local quilt shop, I volunteered to help out. I'm kicking myself for forgetting my camera during set-up though. I wish I could show you just how much work goes into these events!! I spent a good chunk of Friday helping set up all the frames that the quilts hang from, and carrying many, many quilts from car to auditorium, to quilt frame. It was quite a treat to pull each quilt out of its protective bag and see them. Kind of like unwrapping Christmas presents! And the care and attention that goes into handling these treasures is something I enjoyed begin part of. I also got to meet and became acquainted with some wonderful quilters here in Pendleton.

There were about 200 quilts in the show, including 2 sets of "challenge quilts". One set all had to use the same fabric in part of the quilt, the other set was the "Round-Up Quilts", making a quilt that celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Pendleton Rodeo, coming up in September. This time I wasn't quite as overwhelmed, got to go without kids, and really took the time to read the story that was attached to each quilt. Some were the result of classes taken, "block swaps" or "block of the month" clubs. Some were art quilts, the inspiration coming from countless places. Some were fun patterns, some were done during rehabilitation from illnesses. Many of the quilts were made as gifts, for birthdays, graduations, weddings, birth of babies, or for other special events. It reminded me of just how special these quilts are. I really can't think of any other item that is as useful and as beautiful as a quilt. It fulfills such a basic need: warmth. And to be wrapped up in a work of art that was made by a loved one is such a wonderful thing! Of course the recipient often doesn't know that it's just as much fun to make these quilts as it is to use them. When I make a quilt as a gift, it's such an incredible opportunity to reflect and meditate on that person as each stitch falls into place.

Because of this I was so incredibly moved by this quilt's story:

It was started as a 16th birthday present for this mother's son. The "boy" in a boy/girl twin pair. I have a twin brother, so immediately I felt a connection. Unfortunately her son died in a freak skate boarding accident before he reached his 16th birthday. He was wearing a helmet, but the impact injured his brain stem, and he died shortly after. It took this woman many years to be able to pick up this quilt again and finish it this year, what would have been his 21st. I was so incredibly touched by this story. I walked around with tears in my eyes for a good bit of the show, and still am in awe at how this mother was able to find the strength to finish such a quilt and how she was able to put it in a public show. I can only begin to imagine the tears that went into finishing this quilt, and hope that she was able to find some comfort, healing and peace as she completed it. I am so grateful for her sharing it at the show. It's a beautiful quilt, but its story made it my favorite.