My ship comes in

The big blower truck aroused some envious curiosity on our street yesterday.  You have to realize that compost is like gold around here, and people lug it home in expensive little bags, or if they're feeling extravagant, have a yard delivered and dumped on the sidewalk.  And this was an entire ship loaded with riches, docked right in front of our house.   Ha ha, I thought selfishly to myself- get your own compost! Go away! There will be no sharing today!
 

Within a few minutes, they had the long hoses connected and the blowing started.  

It was dirty work but only took about 45 minutes to cover all the beds about 3 inches deep. Done.

I can't tell you how happy I am to put garden work behind me for a few short months.  But while I was gloating, the compost man mentioned that weeds "really love" fresh compost.  Gulp.  Hopefully the weather will finally cool off and everything stops growing.

Go to sleep, now...

Compost Day

The compost truck is coming today to blow six yards of black gold on the garden beds. It's shaping up to be a dry day, but I'm still nervous as a bride. Hopefully, I'll have a happy report this time tomorrow.

It seems somehow appropriate that the Boeing union machinists are voting on Compost Day to accept or reject an eight-year contract extension.  This is the "deal" that significantly cuts pension and other benefits in exchange for Boeing’s "commitment" to build the planned 777X airliner in Washington state.  Pass or fail, a great deal is at stake, and there's been a deluge of news and speculation in the media.  For the big picture, here's an editorial from Seattle Times.

Ain't he sweet?

You can't help being cute when you're a miniature horse and your name is "Tater Tot."  How small is he?  Well...his back comes to about my knee.

Here he is with "Biscuit" the Dachshund.  Both of these adorable creatures belong to Jen Smith-- she's our trainer and barn manager, and she brought "Tater" to work with her yesterday.   He was happy just being underfoot and getting into various mischief.  He might look like a dog, but he acts exactly like a big horse.  Although Jen says he does occasionally jump in their car and go for a ride.  

Just twenty miles from the summit of Snoqualmie Pass, it was 60 degrees at the barn yesterday. Unfortunately a strong wind was blowing through the woods and we couldn't ride on the trails, which seemed like a waste of a rare, dry November day in the mountains.

I've got a busy morning coming up, so no dawdling on the computer.  Here's an amusing quote:

A woman needs two animals - 

the horse of her dreams and a jackass to pay for it.  

~Author Unknown

Too easy, too rich

Linguine and Smoked Salmon

Here's a recipe stolen from Martha Stewart and slightly modified:

12 oz. your pasta of choice
2-3 oz. cream cheese, cut in small pieces
1 tsp. dried dill
2 tbs. capers, rinsed and drained
4-6 oz. smoked salmon, in bite size pieces
Salt, ground pepper to taste

Boil the pasta then drain in a colander, reserving about a cup of the pasta water.  In the same pot, add the cream cheese, dill and capers, then toss the hot pasta on top and gently stir until the cream cheese is melted. Use some of the hot water if needed to make an instant creamy sauce.

Because you have a whole block of cream cheese sitting there, you'll be tempted to use more than 3 oz. like I did, but resist--  it becomes too sticky and heavy.   Oh yes, fold in the smoked salmon last so it doesn't fall apart.  No extra cheese needed on this one!  A simple meal to prepare that would be ridiculously expensive in a restaurant.
  

The talk of the valley

"Meanmean"

This is a true story. For the last several weeks, a mysterious lady has been moving slowly east on foot over the North Cascades Highway, pulling an overloaded shopping cart full of belongings.  John and I saw her on the shoulder of the road near the town of Mazama when we were driving home a couple weeks ago.  Many things have been hauled over the North Cascades, but as far anyone knows, she is the first person ever to pull a grocery cart.  

Her journey has gone viral on the Methownet bulletin board, igniting discussions about social freedom, mental illness, spiritual quests and personal choice.  Many people have stopped to chat and have given her food, water and sometimes money for supplies.  Everyone says she is friendly and does not appear to be especially unhappy or confused.

She was seen eating a caramel apple outside the Trails' End Bookstore in Winthrop last week and a Good Samaritan put new wheels on her shopping cart when she wasn't looking. She's received offers for free shelter, but she chooses to camp out along the road, which seems just fine with folks over there.  (If nothing else, she picked the right Valley to drop into.) 

She says her name is "Meanmean."  She told the Methow Grist she is 53 and her life “is a little thin right now.” She said she left with her cart from Belllingham over a month ago, and that she is a writer looking to get somewhere where she can stop and write her story.

In downtown Seattle, Meanmean would be nearly invisible. By crossing the rugged mountains, she’s a sight so bizarre that Amanda says she's become a topic of conversation everywhere in the Methow Valley.  If the Guinness Book of World Records creates a category for pulling a shopping cart over the North Cascades Highway, who knows? Publishers might fight each other to get her book rights.
 
I especially liked this observation from the Methow Valley News: 

As one person ruminated aloud last week, isn’t it amazing – here is this 50-something-year-old woman pulling that cart more than 100 miles over the pass, sleeping out in the cold. Compare this with those with $1,000 bicycles who pedal the same route, and are followed by a van with a support team equipped with spare parts, tools, food and water and first aid.
 

Good movies, bad movies

Jack Kerouac's Mexican girlfriend

On the Road

It seems like good acting talent is wasted these days in movies that try too hard, like the over-crafted On the Road, based on Jack Kerouac's confusing autobiographical novel.  Another example is the new The Great Gatsby, with Leonardo Di Caprio and Carey Mulligan.  People loved it, and the critics called it a "visual feast" but I thought the 3-D effects and non-stop movement gave it a cartoonish feel, like an animation hybrid.  I'll take the lovely and heartbreaking 1974 version, with Robert Redford and Mia Farrow.

Speaking of over-stimulation, they've stretched the sweet Hobbit book into three very long action films, and I don't think I could bribe John enough to sit through them.

Lately we've been streaming more cable television series on Netflix. An episode of House of Cards, Breaking Bad, The Borgias and so on is a perfect length for weekday entertainment.  Although we just watched an entertaining movie called Lincoln Lawyer. The subject matter might not be your cup of tea, but it stars the excellent Matthew McConaughey as a sleazy Detroit defense attorney who has a change of conscience.