Mid-August Garden, Wildfire, and Life Report

On Aug. 1, three wildfires broke out in Spokane, WA. It was hot, dry, and windy, so the fires grew quickly and the smoke came our way. I avoided going outside except to water the flowers on my deck, and to turn on the sprinkler for the garden. The air cleared enough by the evening of Aug. 3 to check for squash, tomatoes, and broccoli. The following photo was taken after 3 days of not harvesting.

I always plant plenty of squash, just in case some of them die. This summer, very few of them died, and I have more squash than we can eat. I've been sharing with friends and neighbors, and recently learned I can donate extras to the local food bank.

The air quality has been questionable ever since those fires began. Some days the AQI is in the yellow zone, and then it's not so bad. My upper respiratory system is my "Achilles' heel;" I can go outside without coughing up a lung up to about 115 on the AQI index. After that, I have to wear an N95 mask or stay indoors. A little smoke manages to seep in around windows and doors, so even with high quality air purifiers in the house, I am beginning to sense the smoke indoors as well.

However, last Tuesday and Wednesday the wind shifted and the air was clear enough to enjoy being outdoors. I discovered the first two glads had opened up over the weekend while I was escaping the smoke by staying indoors.

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My daughter and granddaughter came to our house for a day to get away from the severe smoke in Spokane. Granddaughter and I picked lots of flowers, and she made all these little bouquets, with just a little help from me.

Every time I think the raspberries are nearly done, they aren't. These three quarts were picked on Friday while wearing my N95 mask.

Earlier in the week, I had picked a cup of blueberries from my little bushes. So I decided to make [Blueberry Raspberry Muffins with a Streusel Topping.](https://bakerbynature.com/blueberry-raspberry-muffins-with-streusel-topping/) I haven't had too many baking failures in my life, but this was one of them. They didn't smell right while baking, and they didn't taste right when done. The only thing I can figure out is that the grated lemon peel had been in the freezer too long. I intend to try again, once the air clears enough to pick blueberries and raspberries again.

Our air looked like this yesterday morning. The sun was a red orb. The outdoors stank.

Today is a little better, and the sky is brighter, but the air is still quite smelly. I have plenty of things to do indoors: books to read, needlework projects, a photo album to work on, cleaning, organizing, baking...and yet it's summer, and I find myself feeling quite cooped up. One thinks of Cabin Fever as being a winter affliction, but it's turning out to be a summer burden as well.

However, I remain thankful for our Mini Split A/C system, now in its seventh year of operation, and for our Air Doctor air purifiers. They were expensive, and the replacement filters are ridiculously priced, but they sure do the job! I am also grateful that we have no fires nearby and have not had to evacuate. I have a pile of things to grab in case that day comes.

All photos taken on my Android phone.