We've had a few concerning exchanges with our dogs and the road. I witnessed for the first time on Saturday how Lil lights out after a quad tooling down the road in a dead-on run. No whistling, calling, yelling even slowed her down. (I did get to meet the neighbor we've been meaning to meet, but still ....)
 |
| Angler taking a Siesta |
That squelches the invisible fence idea after seeing her run. She would just muscle through a few seconds of jolt from the collar and keep going. So, short of leashing them both 24/7 and having a play pen, which we thought of more as a diversion than a mainstay, it looks like a fence is needed. Sam kept far from the road before having a chum to play and run with and chase. Not anymore.
Big fig news: the boys had fun up in the trees filling a 3 gallon bucket with Mission figs, everything they could reach with their ladder. Sunday night I dried some and canned some and froze some. I took some to work on Monday and gave some to friends. And there's a ton more on the counter. It was the first time we got enough figs after the birds took their share (thanks to the shiny mylar tags we hung up in June). I made fig syrup which can be used for basting hams and drizzling over ice cream and goat cheese appetizers and probably a million other things. I'm going to use the rest for fig newton cookie filling for the Hubs.
Fig Syrup: 4 cups figs, 2 cups sugar, a pinch of salt, a whole lemon including zest, and 1/4 c brandy, cooked down. You add the first 4 ingredients (wash the figs, trim the ends, but otherwise toss them in whole) and cook over low to medium heat, it needs to be higher and then turn it down to bubble away for an hour or so, food process the big chunks that are left so it is mostly smooth, add the brandy and cook until it is thick and bubbly and the alcohol burns off, probably another 10 min or so. Process and store in the pantry, if it lasts that long. My yield was 6 8-oz jars.
We clean the veggies and fruit we grow before storing or eating it. Even though we're organic, we are flanked by farms that need to occasionally spray their crops, and the mosquito abatement folks are spraying for West Nile Virus. We use 1 cup of vinegar in a sink full of water, toss in the veggies, turn them a couple of times, soak for 10 minutes, and lay out on the counter on towels to dry. You can mix fruits and veggies. No scrubbing needed. You'll be amazed what is left in the sink. There is no vinegary residue, and it makes a pretty picture. :)
