Shelling peas, cutting alfalfa

Last night Steven was outside working on our wood-cutting pick-up truck until after dark. It has a cracked something (carburator?) and something leaking which he'll need to buy a gasket kit for. The kitten decided he needed a "Cat Scan" of the motor...!

The kitten taking one of her many morning naps!

Ran into a lady named Mary at the Fortine post office this morning on our way to Eureka. She made this bear out of fiberglass. This is a picture of the photograph she had with her.

Here's Eureka from the hill east of the old Post Office.

This morning, while we had a few dollars in our pockets, we went to Eureka and had two 100-lb. propane bottles filled, and filled a few gas cans. It was $60 each to fill the propane bottles, and gas was $2.92/gallon. Ouch.

Steven cut the alfalfa today. He uses a hand sickle, cutting a clump at a time.

Behind him (to the right) you can see some of the alfalfa laying on the ground to dry. He's carrying this bundle over to start another row. When it's dry we'll tie it in bundles with baling twine and hang it inside one of the sheds. Over the winter we'll feed it to the goatling. I've also been pulling red clover, lambs quarter, shepherd's purse and other "weeds" that the goat likes and drying them for winter. I let them get about a foot and a half to two feet tall before I pull them. I'll mix them with the alfalfa when we bundle it.

This is mint. I slide my hand along the stalk and strip the leaves off. Theoretically I could just chop it up and leave the sticks in there too, but it saves room in the jars to just keep the leaves. I have LOTS of mint. I've already packed 3 quart jars full of dry mint. We'll use it mostly for iced tea, though occasionally for hot tea.

I should have turned the picture, I guess. We sat and shelled peas, again. The first of the pea plants are dried out and done, but I have one newer patch at the back of the garden that is still producing enough for at least one more picking. When the pea vines are done producing I pull them and throw them in the goat pen.

The kitten was all worn out from watching us!
She pretty much follows us around all day. When I sit down to work on my writing or editing, she lays across my lap or my arms. She's a very people-oriented kitty!