Jambalaya, Swimming, and Cat Drama (not necessarily in that order)

Had a swim meet tonight. Went well. Very tired. Have another in the morning. Gotta destroy Juneau and Craig again. Last home meet of the season, and of my life. Senior recognition tomorrow, as well. Big day.

In other news, Kiki's cat, Boo, has been at odds with ours. No fights, but quite a bit of yowling. Things do seem to be improving, however. I wasn't able to get a picture of them, since I haven't been home at all... But here's kitty looking peeved.

Kiki made jambalaya. Yum!

Kiki's Cooking

Remember how I was complaining about Mom cooking for people who aren't me? Well the joke's on her, cause Kiki's cooking is da bomb. She made chicken + red pepper fettuccine, garlic bread, and steamed carrots. Delish!

And for dessert I had the last of the leftover rhubarb bars that Mom made before she left.

Now I have to do math before my world completely caves in upon itself. Laters.

Back Again

Hiya. Levi here. Subbing for mama while she goes and makes extraordinarily nice food for people who aren't me. Oh, what's that? Bitter, you say? Oh, no. I'm not bitter... Now where would you get that idea?

Anywho, I'm really very super mega busy all the time right now. So I *may* not blog each night. But I'll do my best and all that.

I made a breakfast burrito tonight.

Getting Ready To Go Again

Mr. Adams is home and we are gearing up the boat to head out on another trip.  This time I am going with him.    I need to be working on the boat but I still have salmon "curing" in about 7 buckets and NEED to get them in the garden before I go..

Here is one row that I finished today...

And the pea tunnel row that I finished yesterday....

Aren't they beautiful?  Hmmm...I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

There are still come things growing in the garden...here's some purple cabbage...

and some broccoli...

Levi said he would blog for me while I am gone, so you can look forward to some good entries!

Clipping Wings

A couple of days ago one of my ducks took off flying....it's not uncommon for them to do that, but it usually does not amount to much.  This particular time though- the duck was up and going....it was going to be gone, but it was too low and ran into the net fence and fell to the ground.  That was a close one!  So today....it was time to clip their wings!

The procedure is to get them all in the hutch, shut the doors, catch them, process them then let them out...one by one.  Catching them isn't TOO hard, you just have to visually pick one out, commit yourself and be fast!

They don't enjoy this very much by the way!

But it doesn't hurt them at all...You just take about 5 of the longest feathers on one wing and use a scissors to cut off the last 4 inches or so...

See...that wasn't so bad now, was it?

Another Trip To The Beach

Today when I went to the beach I took Lucy with me....She loves going with me...

But I get irritated with her because all she wants to do is this...

And this...

It's just too tempting for her to resist...I hope she doesn't get sick tonight!  I swear, she has a cast iron stomach!

There were still some fish left but they were few and far in between and buried in the seaweed...

 Most of them where in pieces...sometimes just the head...

Sometimes just the tail...

And sometimes just the spine...

It's all good and I couldn't be choosey...

Sometimes I could distract Lucy with an irresistible stick...

Look how fierce she looks!  After she gnawed on the stick for a while I would throw it for her...even thought she can't see she still loves to run for it...just guessing what direction it's going to go and then correcting her course when she hears it land.  This is a pretty good beach for her..not many obstacles.

There is tons of great seaweed beach/mulch down there, but much of it is mixed with rocks and sticks which is annoying...

This is my favorite stuff....

Beautiful, beautiful minced up mulch!

I plan on getting truckloads of it later!  The push right now is to get the salmon, the mulch will be here all fall.

It was another good day!

Sometimes I'm Smart

It was a beautiful day today!!  I loved it, but I did sweat alot today.  There's always a lot of bugs, so it's tough to wear short sleeves..oh well, you can't have everything.

Made another trip to the beach today...harder to find salmon than it was yesterday...but I got enough.
This time I got smart and left about 6 inches of head space at the top of each bucket and then topped them off with beach mulch.  AMAZING!!!  No smell, no flies...why didn't I think of that earlier?

Most of the stuff went in the pea row- next year's spinach and lettuce row.  First I pulled up all the peas and layed them in the row. OH, now the ducks are interested!
 

 Peas are legumes and they work with bacteria in the soil to pull nitrogen out of the air and store it in nodules on their roots...here is a small sample..sometimes they get form HUGE masses!

At the end of the plant's life the nitrogen gets stored in the greens, so that's why I leave the plants in the row.

Next I laid a line of used straw down the sides along the inside of the fencing to keep things contained, then wheelbarrowed in a generous amount of horse manure, then laid down a layer of salmon carcasses and then topped it off with about 10 inches of beach mulch.  Later I will add more seashell sand and next Spring I will move the pea tunnel to the next row over. 

I didn't carry around my camera today, so no shots of the finished row, but I think you get the idea...I wonder if I will have the energy to get another load tomorrow.  My mind says "yes" but my body says "no".

Salmon Carcasses And Seaweed

*NOTICE:  This post contains graphic photos.  If you have a weak stomach do not look!

Today was the day!  The day to start hauling salmon carcasses and seaweed.  I was disappointed this morning to see that the sun was not out as I expected....of course they changed the forecast.  But, as it turns out I was glad it was cool and overcast....hauling around dead salmon is stinky work, but it would have been way worse if the weather had been hot!

And here is my good friend, Kelly Warren....

We go way back....way back before kids even!!

Wasn't she a pal to help me with such a nasty job?

The fish were not as plentiful as usual and the ones that were there were in pretty bad shape.  I think I might be a week late this year....but there are enough to do the job.

The good news is that there was more seaweed than I expected!  And it's good stuff too...seaweed mixed with leaves and all sorts of other good things minced up into bits...

I love beach mulch... it makes the best soil builder!  And it was so great to have a pickup without a canopy!  It made the job so much easier!!

Thanks for helping me Kelly!

Once I was home with my treasures I set to work layering them in the garden beds...This bed has one side fenced and charged with straw.  I will fence the other side next Spring- it can wait.  It's going to hold broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage next year...

First, salmon...

What's going on kitty?

Second, seaweed beach mulch...

I like the seaweed layer to be about 10 inches thick.  It keeps the smell of the salmon down that way! Later I will add a layer of seashell sand.

I had more salmon than I had seaweed, so I made a second trip to the beach by myself later in the day.  Finished that bed and started on another.  Now it is raining and I am ready for bed...Tomorrow is another day....