Much has happened, but nothing has changed(In which a cousin appears, and a reacquaintance is undertaken)...

And as far as I'm concerned this is just fine. How are y'all doing? I'm just fine, thanks for asking. Today is the first day of summer up here in my little corner of the PacNorWe. Sunny, blue skies, and no rain in the forecast for at least a week. I'm almost as happy about this as the plants in the garden must be. We've been planting beans for the last two days, bush beans, green, yellow, and purple, and a bunch of beautiful dried heirloom beans I've never even heard of before. It's interesting. We've gotten to a point where instead of being days or weeks behind schedule we're actually getting things done when they're meant to be done. It's pretty cool. The farm is looking really good, and I'm incredibly happy to have been able to be a part of making it happen.

The fourth of July has come and gone, and I was lucky enough to be able to spend it with cousin David, who i haven't seen in years, since before he left for Japan, at least. It was a lot of fun to see him; even though we didn't get to spend a ton of time together. I'm sure we'll do what we can to remedy that situation in the coming months. We went to Lake Crescent, and I essentially gave him the guided tour that Maggie gave me and Kay several weeks ago, which was nice, since it allowed me to sound like I had some idea of what I was talking about.My favorite moment, and Dave's I reckon, of the whole trip happened as we emerged from the woods from our unsanctioned jaunt to Superior falls.

There was a small child playing on the border of the observation platform at the top of Merrymere falls. He was watching us descend from up high where we were clearly not meant to be. There was something akin to awe on his face, wonder sparkling in his eyes. His mother called to him, told him it was time to go. He shook his head, and pointed in the direction we had just come. "I want to go up there." He said. She shook her head, mentioned erosion, obviously a lesson she had been trying to convey to him. Dave frowned, explaining his belief that it's our responsibility to say yes to the next generation, to share with them our excitement for the world and it's myriad wonders. He smiled though, once we reached the bottom of the trail and pointed out that we had ruined that child. Having seen two weird guys emerge from the woods, where HE WAS NOT ALLOWED TO GO, he'll never be the same. He'll grow up wanting to be that weird guy, and as David said, that's pretty damn awesome.

After our hike we went and met up with some people, the farmers from over at the Lazy J, and we went into Port Townsend to celebrate the holiday there, which was convenient for David to catch the early morning ferry he needed to return to Bellingham. It was a fun time, we had dinner, and watched the fireworks at a park near the house we were staying at. In addition to the Port Townsend fireworks you could see at least half a dozen other displays being put on by small towns and islands across the bay. It was certainly a different experience from watching the show from a suburban high school. Afterward we returned to the house where we were staying and called it a night; I had to get up at five am to make it back to the Johnston's in time to do my writing before the day began.

The kids from the Lazy J, however, being infinitely more hardcore than I, went out to the weekly fiddle fest at Fort Worden, and didn't get back till three in the morning. This would be unremarkable if it weren't for the fact that Mike had me wake him at five, and I brought him back to his farm to get an early start. Their example is one of the reasons I have never felt overworked on my farm. Not even for a moment.

Not sure how much else I have to report. I cannot believe I've already been here for two months. That means it's time to start searching in earnest for what I'm going to do, and where I'm going to go next. I have some ideas, and some inklings, but nothing concrete yet. You can rest assured that as soon as I have something to report, you'll hear it here.

Some pics to prove to you that Dave and I actually were in the same place at the same time.

Lake Crescent:

Merrymere falls(I refuse to post my illicit pictures of Superior falls, if you want to see it you'll have to come to the PacNorWe, and make the hike yourself):

After our hike to the falls, we got a little turned around trying to make our way back to civilization:


And to finish a couple of shots from the farm.

The first of the garlic:

What did I do with my share of the bountiful harvest? Roasted it, and put three entire heads in a single loaf of bread. Heh. It was pretty fine.

My peas, finally ripe, and you had best believe I can't stop eating them:


The petit pois in particular are astonishing, more pics to follow, if I can ever stop eating them long enough to snap some pics.

Volunteer artichokes, discovered over by the winter squash. Talk about your happy accidents:



Ruth's birthday cupcakes, Vegan chocolate toasted coconut. I promise I tried to bake a proper cake, but couldn't find the right pan, and so I had to make do. No one complained:


I love you guys, and I look forward to talking to you all when I've got a chance. If I still owe you an email, I promise I'm working on it, but I'm trying not to spend too much of my time tied to a computer. Instead I'm reading(about farming, mostly), writing, and cooking. The things I've always loved most, which are being given a special savor because of where I am and what I'm doing. I hope you're all doing as well as I, and I can't wait until I see you all again.