It's Raining Peaches!

 I may be the only person eagerly following the growth, drama and successes of my peach tree... and that's ok too.

Remember, this tree is just 6 years old. And a year ago, with little fruit not eaten by squirrels, but plenty of leaves to boast about, it suffered with snow in summer and a catastrophic branch amputation. 

Winter was tough and spring brought more heavy snow as well as one of the wettest seasons I've ever experienced here. 

Between blizzards (including "snowmageddon") our stubborn peach tree blossomed and we watched bee's eagerly pollinating while crossing our fingers that the next storm wouldn't destroy the flowers before they had a chance to become little fruit embryos.

TWO hail storms in one week!

Success... by early summer we were seeing almond-sized green peach babies. They grew about as fast as a human baby and I became convinced that it would take nine months to produce an edible peach. To put it in perspective, we are awaiting the birth of next fur baby and call me crazy, but the fact that golden retriever puppies take only about 62 days to gestate, while our peaches were closer to 6 months is just a tad weird, right?!

By early September our half-sized peaches were still rock hard but beginning to blush. At this time we realized we had WAY more peaches than we'd anticipated. We had also discovered that 2 things are crucial when it comes to dissuading your squirrels from biting into and then discarding, green peaches. 

1. Not one, but two young cats in the yard. Both enthusiastic about chasing squirrels away and one of which appears to be part monkey!

2. Bird feeders that a continually loaded with hulled sunflower seeds - Squirrel-proof bird feeders but with birds messy enough to chuck half of their seeds onto the ground so our squirrels were never hungry and hardly motivated to try their hand at green peaches this year. 

Despite letting our greed run the show and ultimately allow too many peaches which overwhelmed another branch to the point of destruction, we have a lot to be grateful for. 

It is with great pleasure and a satiated belly, that I show you "harvest" pics now. 

And perhaps what you've really been waiting for... Did we waste any? Have TOO many to handle? 

Heck no! The neighbors got peaches, my dentist office, builder, friends, airbnb guests and even the mail carrier got fresh peaches. Uh-huh... they do taste better than Western Slope peaches! Juicy, concentrated peachy flavor that runs down ones face and hands and sprays all over the show when you bite into the fruit. It doesn't get any better than that. 

As for "dealing with" peaches that were harvested early from the downed branch, harvested daily after that to lighten the load on remaining branches and then harvested at the peak of ripeness - we worked hard  and wasted little. Yes it was a full time job for a few days.

Frozen Peaches

Bottled Peaches

Spicy Peach Salsa

Cardamom Peach Compote (for French toast, waffles, pancakes, ice cream and more!)

Peachy Smoothies

Fish Tacos with Peach Salsa

And today the hens arrived. No surprise, but they also love a little peach in their diet. Will I get peach flavored eggs? Time will tell. 

Last word: It does appear that if you hug peaches to your body during the harvest, the peach fuzz will get to you, even through your t-shirt. After a couple of days I began to get a light pink rash where the little hairs had irritated my skin on my belly and forearms. My tongue was also feeling a bit raw. Nothing that can't be fixed by using a basket and by peeling one's fruit before eating... but it's fair to say that learning to be a hobby farmer has been trial and error.

From the beginning...

Who is Dallice?

In short, a Realtor in the Boulder area and a flight student out of Vance Brand Airport, Longmont.

Of course there is more to me... I'm a person, with all the diverse interests, issues and complications that any decent human being has acquired by the time they get to my age.

I invite you to peel back the onion... get to know me through my posts. Give me advice, make comments and share your stories too.

I began flight lessons in August, 2010. Everyone has a bucket list. Mine's not that long, since I'm a "why wait?" type of girl. However, learning to fly had been on my list for a good 15 years... which I realize does call into question whether I am truly a "why wait?" girl after all!

This is "my" airplane. A Cessna 152. Tail number 65440.

We have become friends, have lots of memories together, and have a good deal of trust between us.

And my flight instructor, Mark. Same deal.

Around the same time I began flying, I undertook a kitchen remodel. My own house... so I was driven by passion and a vision for my home's improvement.

Sounds simple enough, right? Ummm... Not really!

There is a lot of work that goes into making a 1955 (original - Yikes!) kitchen, complete with washing machine, no dishwasher, poor lightening and poor storage, into a functional kitchen to be enjoyed and proud of.

There was dirt, noise and a generally high level of chaos which I thrived in for the first 3-4 weeks... then a slow decent into "make it stop" land. The kitchen (and all the other bits that need doing just then too) took 7 weeks... but what a transformation.

Long story short, the chaos of construction was offset by the freedom of flying. The anxiety that came with learning to recover a stall and from trying to learn landings was quickly pushed aside by each physically and emotionally demanding day of kitchen remodeling.

I am now a year into my training. The anxiety of new maneuvers has given way to test anxiety as I get closer to my check-ride.

Like many of you, I turned to the internet for advice, information and general reassurance about this upcoming exam. I found little. Perhaps because I wasn't looking in the right place... or perhaps because few of us log the process, emotion and planning that is upon us when preparing for such events.

Hence this blog... A place to record my journey, both the ups and downs.