Busy Bee

We're winding down to the last day before we take off on a short camping trip to the beach. Originally, we were making this trip to have dinner at a restaurant we like in Cannon Beach, called EVOO. We made the reservations when things were looking up, virus-wise. Then we got nervous about indoor venues and canceled our reservations. No matter. No reason not to make the trip anyway. Camping is naturally socially distant, and we were able to get a reservation at one of the Oregon state parks. So we're going.

And that brings me to the goings-on here yesterday. Sadie knew it would be a busy day, and so she started with some good yoga stretches and face cleaning. It's important to stretch to prevent injury.

My slow-stitching got a little attention. I wanted to stitch the cardinal and see how it would look. The Valdani floss I'm using is rather thick, and so the detail in the face didn't show well. Still, it looks like a cardinal, and so I'm not worried about that.

From there, we headed out to the garden to harvest and hoe. Along the way, we had a little conversation with this guy. He's one of the few squirrels living near the house these days. Smitty has put out the unwelcome mat, and they've moved off to friendlier, if more hawkish, environs.

Out in the garden, I first indulged my latest garden obsession...beans. The flowers are opening, and I'm watching for beans now. 

So far, I haven't seen any, but I expect I will by the time we get back. I'll use them for dilled beans, but I'll probably also can some plain old green beans. That means I need to get out the pressure canner and figure out again how to use it. Probably, I need to take it to have the pressure regulator calibrated. Our local extension service will do that for free.

The corn is shoulder high now, and it's getting more crowded to walk between the rows.

This giant sunflower is about six feet tall now. I can't wait for it to open.

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Ladybugs inhabit the sunflowers. I see them in other places too, but they're in the most abundance on the sunflowers.

This is the only one in the vegetable garden to bloom so far. It's still bright and sunny and there are lots more buds coming.

Back in the herb garden, the squirrels forgot to eat two of the many sunflowers I planted there. I noticed the Ring of Fire sunflower has opened now. It has at least one other bud too.

Oh, did you want to see the echinacea again? Sure!

So, I harvested one "regular" sized zucchini...

and lots of babies. If you get them while they're young, they won't turn into baseball bats and bludgeon you in your sleep.

Actually, they're just really good in this Marinated Canal House Salad. I found this recipe some time ago, and it's a good one. You first brown them in a skillet, and then pour over a simple marinade. You can eat it within an hour, or keep refrigerated for up to a week. It's a good one for taking camping, but we just gobbled it up at dinner last night.

We had that as a side dish to another one of our Cooking Light Diet recipes. This is 20-Minute Grilled Lemon-Rosemary Chicken and Leeks. This was a new recipe I tried, and it was so simple and good! I'll definitely be making it again. It's simple preparation and few ingredients make it a good camping recipe too.

The only sewing I did, aside from slow-stitching, was to finish top-stitching the latest Dancing Chickens and Flying Pigs block. I doubt I'll finish everything I'm taking along, but this will serve as my emergency back-up piece...just in case I'm speedier than I think.

So that's it from yesterday's comings and goings. I won't be blogging while we're away, and so I'll tell you more about it when we get back in a few. I should say that even though I'm not blogging, you're welcome to follow along on Instagram (@threecatsranch) or to friend me on Facebook. Even when I'm not blogging, I'm often posting pictures. There is a Cat Patches Facebook page, and I'm always happy to friend anyone who wants to "friend" me on my personal page. If you want to friend me, please first send me an email and let me know. If you're name isn't familiar, I won't accept your request, and so an email ahead of time lets me know you're legitimate, and not some scammer or spammer. 

So carry on, my friends. Stay home and stay safe. I'll be back in a couple of days.