canning!

because sometimes 30 pounds of tomatoes is all you have to get you through the day...

~30 pounds of organic early girl tomatoes from one of our local farms

 plus some peppers and garlic from our garden
and a bit of onion and cilantro

a few hours later = 11 pints of salsa and 11 pints
of crushed tomatoes (with fresh basil from the garden)

i think we are set on the tomato front for the winter. we have also had a bumper crop of basil this year so the freezer is rapidly filling up with pesto. the cherry and heirloom tomatoes are still going gangbusters with new blooms still coming in. and for the first time in my LIFE, i have failed at growing zucchini. i am so startled that there are no words, really. i didn't even think it was possible to have total zucchini failure! we had a couple of late rains in june this year that resulted in white mildew...apparently the plants have never fully recovered even though the vegetation is taking over the backyard. hmm. up next, fall/winter garden. fava beans, garlic, chard, and kale here we come!

a bit of summer...from minnesota

i'm in minnesota for a bit longer and am trying to enjoy some of the midwestern summer. many of the shots below were taken at my childhood home after we buried my dad's ashes. my parents sold the homestead six years ago; it was a comfort to be back in the place that was the setting for so many good memories. 

alexandra playing in (and ultimately eating) the dirt 

birch coulee creek - my childhood swimming pool 

luke and kieran measuring themselves against the soybeans 

madeline and luke looking at the barn at my childhood home 

tree frog on the shed

sunflowers for the birds

the old feed mill

the end of a beautiful life...

David Stephen Foley, the son of Ruth and Mike Foley, was born June 28, 1948 in Morris, Minnesota. He attended St. Cloud State University where he majored in music and met the love of his life, Ann Mellstrom. Ann and Dave were married in February 1970 and soon moved to the Franklin-Morton area where they raised their four children.

Dave was the service manager at Scott-Preusse in Redwood Falls for 31 years. When he “retired” to their lake house near Alexandria, Dave began working for Juettner Motors, a job he held at the time of his death.

He spent many years volunteering his time for the 4-H shooting sports program, gun safety classes, Boy Scouts, and Lake Rachel Association. Dave and Ann provided music for multiple churches including the Sacred Heart Catholic churches in Franklin and Glenwood. He was also a founding member of the Renville County chapter of Pheasants Forever and a member of Ducks Unlimited. Dave treasured his time with family and enjoyed fishing, hunting, sporting clays, and making music. He touched many lives with his kindness, generosity, and loving spirit.

Dave died, surrounded by his family, on Tuesday, July 26, 2011 at the Knute Nelson Care Center in Alexandria at the age of 63. He leaves behind many beloved friends and family members including his wife of 41 years, Ann; his children Sarah Foley (Brian Allison) of Cologne, Stephanie Clemens (David Clemens) of Des Moines, Iowa, Melissa Foley (Pete Dal Ferro) of Felton, California, and Matthew Foley (partner Michele Miller) of Litchfield; his grandchildren Madeline, Kieran, Luke, and Alexandra; his siblings Phyllis Johnson (Gay), Karen Daly (Nick), and Mike Foley (Jean); many nieces, nephews, cousins; and his hunting companions Katie and Koda. In death he will be reunited with his parents, brother Jack, mother- and father-in-law, and many dear friends.

<><~<><~<><~<><~<><

 

Thank you all for the words of support, thoughts, blessings, prayers, and love. We are weathering each moment and day as they come and cherish the many wonderful memories we have of a brother, husband, dad, grandfather, uncle, cousin, and friend who left us much too soon.  

dad...

my dad suffered a major heart attack on monday evening. he is now in the cardiac care unit in st. cloud, minnesota, fighting for his life. we are hopeful that he will regain consciousness within the next day or so and have minimal damage to his brain. we will keep everyone up to date via his caringbridge site:

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/davefoley

some exciting sh*t on circle drive (literally)

this post and photos are most certainly for nature-loving nerds.


we found two exciting discoveries this weekend - one just cool and one completely bizarre! the cool find was some owl pellets (aka poo) on our back stairs. we think that these are from a pair of barn owls that are apparently roosting in the redwood tree next to the house. we have been hearing them at night on a regular basis since january or february. we see them flying around the house every once in a while...their bright white wings being reflected by a full moon is magical. (on a totally different owl note, i found a dead burrowing owl while i was running a few weeks ago. so cool to know that we have multiple varieties around here.)

 two owl pellets

close up on what looks like a scapula

lots of other bones in there too...pete and i are going to dissect them later and see what we find. i mean, really. is there a better way to spend a 4th of july weekend? :)

find #2 falls squarely into the bizarre category. yesterday morning i was pulling weeds and raking leaves when something caught my eye in the pile...

at first i just thought it was a ball of tape or band-aids. but then i realized that it was much more... the hair and the shape of the poo suggest that it probably came from a coyote. but what in the world did it eat?!?!

 most bizarre coyote poo EVER. 

thoughts anyone?? 

new "dirty dozen" produce list released...

the newest version of the "dirty dozen" and "clean 15" lists have been issued. check them out and choose your produce accordingly. there's also a free app for iphones. more info at: http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary/

EWG's Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce

Dirty Dozen

Buy these organic

1

Apples

2

Celery

3

Strawberries

4

Peaches

5

Spinach

6

Nectarines
– imported

7

Grapes – imported

8

Sweet bell peppers

9

Potatoes

10

Blueberries
– domestic

11

Lettuce

12

Kale/collard greens

Clean 15

Lowest in Pesticide

1

Onions

2

Sweet Corn

3

Pineapples

4

Avocado

5

Asparagus

6

Sweet peas

7

Mangoes

8

Eggplant

9

Cantaloupe
- domestic

10

Kiwi

11

Cabbage

12

Watermelon

13

Sweet potatoes

14

Grapefruit

15

Mushrooms

one of our (many) backyard gems...

there's a little park about two miles from our house called quail hollow ranch. i've been hearing about it for months now, but haven't had a chance to visit. today was a beautiful day for a hike, so off i went. it is hard to believe that we live in a place with some many amazing spots within five minutes of our house (and they are free!). we will definitely be going back to this gem...herons, wildflowers, lizards, turkeys all while quail and acorn woodpeckers were serenading me. perfect.

 great blue heron & owl clover

 turkey! (it even had little fluffy babies)

 rattle snake grass

 sticky monkey flower

western fence lizard (i think)

bush lupin