Catching up ......

It has been amazing to me how this little part time job has come to take up so much of my time.  I was feeling pretty bad, as I was tired and not accomplishing things around the house.  I decided to sit down and figure out if I was really having a problem, thought maybe I was just being disorganized.  The first change had come when I was asked to work 4 days (5hrs) a week instead of 3.  So 20 hours a week shouldn't be taking such a chunk of my time and energy right?  I started adding up the 40 minute round trip each day, plus the hour to get ready in the am, and the hour to iron and make my lunch in the pm.  My 5 hour job is now taking 8 hours of my time.  OK that kind of makes sense, sleeping and eating are a must and I'm feeling better about my organizational skills and my energy level!  I also have hit that spot where I used to be when I worked full time and was just able to organize my time better.  My mother and I have discussed this and we both agreed when you work outside the home you just get more organized because your mind 'knows' you have less time!  Once we retired I had that idea that if I didn't get it done today there was always tomorrow.  There is nothing wrong with that but my organization of tasks was "fluid"!  Things could be moved around more easily!  That it took this long to get back into the habits of the 'before times'  may speak more to the impending 60th birthday (this fall) than anything else!!  ;)  Having gotten that off my mind we have made lists of projects that we are going to do while the money is coming in, and prioritized them.  It is nice to have the little extra and be able to get a couple of the big items done this year we hope now instead of waiting till next.

While the Northeast is having a rough spring we are having a lovely one and the garden is hard to resist!  Tonight's predicted frost is proof we were wise not to give in to the urge to plant too many things. We will put a tarp over the tomatoes and the rest should be fine. I finally got the red mulch I wanted last fall and couldn't find any more. The herb garden looks very nice I think and hopefully this will make a big difference with the weeds.  Do you see all the blooms on the strawberries?!

This is looking up at the apple tree, Hubby and Number 2 son trimmed this big time last fall and it is loaded with blossoms, would be nice to have a bumper crop of our own apples this year for pies and applesauce.

I am loving this brave little lettuce plant that came up from last year before we started planting new this year.  I have been picking a leaf or two here and there and dipping in dressing for a snack.  It is keeping my craving for fresh veg under control!  By the way, that is technically called 'chicken wire' in the store.  We call it 'cat wire' because it is used here to keep the cats from using the freshly worked beds as litter boxes - just one step too 'organic' for my comfort level!  (smile)









From the back porch looking back to the garden.  Hubby has since cut the grass once and we have irrigated once.

Looking from the garden to the back porch.  It has been nice to have a lot of rain this spring and our snowpacks are still looking good.  After low water years it is always nice to have a green spring!  The trees are leafing and the hillsides out and about are green.  It really is a nice time of year.

The cherry tree got topped by about 20 feet last year and has quite a few blooms on it, we are holding our breathe to see if it weathers the frosts and cooler nights this week or if we will go another year with no cherries!

We will be going to see this little one in a couple of weeks - I love this picture - you can almost hear the laugh can't you!?

Think I am caught up again for a little while, maybe get back to a regular rhythm here too!

Catching up....again!

It is that time of year when we get really busy and then end up really tired and just collapse at the end of the day!  Today, though, was a fun day for me as I went to a friends birthday-salad-potluck-party, got to see and admire my other friends new chicken coop and chickens, and then went by the mall to pick up a couple of things and found a sale on my favorite lotions (Bath and Body Works) that I hardly ever buy for myself as they are so expensive, but they were on sale 75% off!  I got a regular $28 worth for $6.50!  Feeling pretty good about that one and it is the light summery smelling stuff!  So I have enough energy tonight to sit down and go through photos and do a post! 

I believe it is a Mophead or Macrophylla...I think.

So we were at Sue's house and she had helped someone and they gave her a bunch of plants and she was giving some away so I now have a Hydrangea, I have never grown one so this will be fun and it needs to go in the ground tomorrow. 

The vinegar weed killer experiment is done and the results were mixed.  Here is my settled on mixture, after much reading and researching of vinegar weed killer.  I used a 5% regular kitchen solution of vinegar (some recipes call for 20% but then you get into some pretty harsh acid)  I added 2 Tablespoons Dawn dish liquid. (the soap is supposed to help it stick to the leaves) and it is ready to go.

                                                                      

 

This was the successful application.  Small individual weeds in the sun most of the day, sprayed in the morning and by next day they were so dead you couldn't hardly see them.  Apparently the vinegar desiccates the leaves, it does not kill the root as a rule.

This was the not so successful application.  Heavy weeds, full grown and sun in the morning only.  To the right is the beginning










This picture is the end after 2 applications.  The leaves are turning brown and dry but the stems are not affected.









 My conclusion on the vinegar is this - it works for small weeds in direct sunlight. It is possible that the 20% solution would work on the larger older weeds but I am not sure I want to deal with that level of acid exposure.  The other thing is - this kills the bugs in the ground at the time but it does not kill the ground like a salt solution will.

This was Hubby's tomato bed on the first of June

This is the tomato bed tonight 15 days later!  Amazing what a little sunshine will do.  He has quite a few green tomatoes already, we are salivating and planning for fresh tomatoes already!

I took a broccoli salad to the pot luck today and it turned out pretty well (broccoli and onions from the garden) so we will definitely be having it again.

Think I will have 8 or 9 strawberries tomorrow - not really enough to do anything with I will probably be forced to just eat them!  (did I sound too greedy, did the loud sigh sound feigned?)  The chicken wire pup tent Hubby made is working a charm, the birds can look but not touch!




I think that catches us up, I will have a post on a gift I made for the oldest Daughter-in-Law's birthday but she hasn't got it in the mail yet (she should be the first to see it) so it will be in a few days.  Let's see, what will I do tomorrow - I know I'll pull weeds!  Truly hate the little buggers and yet am psychologically  incapable of doing the no-till thing and letting them grow.  I guess it keeps me out of the bars, yes?  Hope your week is splendid!

Monthly Nine

It is time again for the monthly nine link up over at  Greenhaven, be sure to check out the other bloggers and add your own or just read, it is always interesting I think.  I did not do a post for the March link up so will try to be thorough on this one.  The weather has settled into spring now so most of what we do is out in the garden. 

View from the back porch

Nourish - Salads, fresh berries with yogurt, eating out on the porch and enjoying the view.  We always eat lighter the minute the temperature settles in to the 'warm' mode!









 Prepare - We have been preparing the garden and our raised beds.  This is our 3rd growing season (the

first summer we were working on making it liveable, the garden was weeds and we had 2 tomato plants in a pot!) and we are, I think, finally able to be a little more deliberate.  I am thrilled with the herb bed, what I am calling the permanent garden, as I only had to replant rosemary and basil, everything else over-wintered and has come up well.
We added a strawberry bed (in the front) and Hubby made rings for everything and we will try to conserve water and prevent weeds by putting out mulch round it all




Reduce - I had 2 sewing projects this month and ended up with a new skirt and a pair of PJ's.  Total cost was $1.69! Love that!

the hem is even - couldn't get it to hang on and hang even!

the panel from an old knit shirt in my scrap box!

The pj's were made out of fabric from my 'grandma' stash, that I brought home last fall, (pictures here) the thread also came from there and I purchased a package of bias tape for $1.69!  I was jazzed!










  The skirt was an old one that is such good quality I hated to give it up so I pulled the expando like I did with another skirt here, inserted a stretchy piece and it really was too easy! 

Used some old stuff to make new, hurrah!






Green - We are experimenting with various recipes of vinegar and sundry add ins to kill some of the weeds in areas we are not growing anything in, like the drive (dirt and rocks...oh and weeds!)  I am keeping records of what works the best and will try to remember to report back, the vinegar is very effective according to what I read.  We will see....

Grow - Other than what I've already shown, we have several plants waiting to be big enough to go in the garden, cucumbers and squash, and this year we even have flowers!

Create - I am still working on my 'slipper' pattern to crochet.  I had a pair done and didn't like the fit so I started another pair and am happier with the fit, but of course have run out of time and yarn is not as much fun when it is warm outside!  I will figure it out and post the pattern.  I will make one suggestion - if you ever decide to try to make a pattern and crochet along, use a solid color yarn, I cannot tell you how hard it was to keep track of stitches in the camo yarn!!

Aren't they cute?

Discover - Having fun getting to know my new daughter in law, they decided to do a civil ceremony in April and then repeat their vows in a formal ceremony/reception in the fall.  I am so glad I didn't have to raise girls- I now know what my Grandma K (mother of 2 boys) meant when she said she got better daughters than she could have raised!













Enhance - I have really been convicted about the plight of women in other countries who are treated poorly, who have no rights and are being beaten, stoned and killed.  The honor killings have even happened here in America.  I can't do much, but I have tried to speak out when I have a chance, write encouraging e-mails to groups and individuals who are making a difference, and post information on my facebook account when I find it.  I truly believe we will be held accountable for the things we turn our backs on or close our eyes to. 


Enjoy - The seasonal change is always fun to watch, I am enjoying watching the things starting to grow and green and bloom, we are beginning to see flowers and our own periwinkle are in full bloom!

plus the dandelion...sigh!

Enjoy the seasonal change wherever you are and have a wonderful May!!

What a week!

Sooo... it all started 10 days ago when my gum started hurting near a back tooth and I figured I had hit a corn chip the wrong way or poked my gum with something, but it kept getting worse, and worse and then I'm nearly crying in pain and I look like Marlon Brando in the Godfather, my jaw was so swollen!  Hubby got up early on Monday morning and got me into the dentist and they took an x-ray and said "abscess" and pulled the tooth!  You night think it was instant relief but noooo.  The tooth is gone but I had to wait for the antibiotics to work before the swelling and pain in the gum was gone!  Yuck, this was not fun!  Yesterday was my first completely pain free day and I am so grateful!!!

The two pints are my Armenian Cucumbers sliced

Of course things do not just stop and let you recover when you have this sort of goings on.  :)  Hubby really picked up the slack with dishes and meals (only soft food please!) and I used the little energy I had each day to work up the garden produce.  We are full bore into cucumber season now and I am ready, I think to do some pickles that I have not done before, this week I am going to try bread and butter pickles.  I have done a total of 8 quarts of dills, and Hubby has given me 6 pints of salsas (all different) to "finish off" for him, that translates to water bath for him, but he does clean up his messes so....:)

Thought I'd take you on a tour of the garden now that things are really popping, I want to start with the 'thing'. When the 'thing' first appeared it looked like a cucumber or squash and I just left it to grow in the wrong spot, but now it has these round green fruits and I was stumped.  So I typed into Google "it looked like a cuke and now has round fuzzy fruit"  - frustration will make you do strange things, but it worked, I got several hits and the "thing" turns out to be a cantaloupe!  I'm thinking the seeds may have been in the compost?  Oh well, I like cantaloupe!

The Sunflowers are just ready to bud and they are almost as tall as me!

Corn is making ears, look at all that pollen!

Black beans have purple flowers, I love this!

We will pull most of these onions this week and plant another crop, we're hoping for purples

Crookneck summer squash

Watermelons

and pumpkins!

The tomatoes are loaded

Just a couple of Hubby's many peppers - mostly hot!

The full view minus tomatoes and peppers in another area, the broccoli are giving us a second head and we have a second and third planting of corn coming up now, hoping for fresh corn into September!  Most of the herbs have now gone to seed so I'm going to cut them back and see if I have long enough to grow another crop, this one to preserve.  I wanted to try and fill in the herb part and see if it will be self perpetuating mostly.  Think this catches me up and ready for another week!

Slow Living Monthly 9

Fair warning - I am really excited about spring!  I also detest hot weather, so - just so we are all on the same page here I am behaving in a slightly nutso (it's a technical term) manner.  Totally jazzed about spring and the garden and sort of dreading the advent of the warm season, getting out my capris and complaining about having to paint the toenails.  Sort of a schizo kind of thing.  The good news is that when the heat really hits I just settle in to full time grousing and moaning so the multiple personality thing goes away and it's just full time Flying Monkeys! (that may not actually qualify as good news...)

Here goes the look back at March - (And yes I am late!)

Nourish - They opened a Trader Joe's in Boise (about 20 miles away)!  This was my favorite store in California and I told my Mom that the only things I missed about CA was the family and Trader Joe's.  I have been now twice and we are eating the lettuce and avocados and cucumbers that are so welcome in the warmer weather, and are so fresh and tasty and clean from TJ's.  (I do actually miss really good Mexican food and roadside fruit stands, but not enough to move back to 'Cali' as my kids call it) TJ's also has all kinds of different cheeses and a lot of the goods are organic and they do fair trade....it is just a wonderful store and my life is a little more...hmm...fun(?) because it is there.  (And that probably says something really sad about my quality of life!)

Rototilling Hubby

Prepare - We are continuing to ready the garden for planting and clean up the area so the detritus from the long winter is just about gone.  Garden is cultivated - the new electric rototiller is my new best friend - compost bucket is dumped into the area it is getting tilled into and the new part of the garden is completely dug out.  This summer we will plant 1000 square feet of garden in the back!  (be still my heart - this is a long time dream!)

Reduce  - I'm going for reuse this month or maybe just save from the trash bin.  I am now the proud owner of a whole pile of yarn from my Grandmothers closet that may be a much as 30 or 40 years old.  Grateful to my Mother for thinking of me and being willing to send it on.  I will have much fun with this largess and it will save quite a bit of money for me.  If you can get your hobby down in cost it is a win - win!

Green - We are now using a lot of those containers we rinsed and set aside over the winter months.  this year we will not buy any containers for seed growing and we will set back the ones that are still in good condition to use again.  Old milk cartons become scoops and creamer bottles are great for taking liquids (dressings) to potlucks.  I think this year we have finally begun to really use the things we've been saving (and then tossing) for years.

Grow - I have peas!!!  This is not as disgusting as it may sound.  My peas (plant when it is still cold) are here and there peeking through the dirt and I am thrilled.  The first sprouts of the season always send me into paroxysms of excitement.  (around September - I start grumbling about how many  zucchini are still there!)  Hubby is going to try iceberg lettuce this year and his seedlings are coming up as well.

Peas!

those little leaves are lettuce!

Create - I decided to move out of my comfort zone with my crochet patterns this month and I am very pleased with the results so far.  I am doing a throw that is very textured, the picture is just once through the pattern and that will be done 9 more times.  All but two of the rows in the pattern are new stitches for me so I feel like I really stretched  on this project.

crocheted panel

Discover - I have an obsession with genealogy and this month I have worked on a branch of the family tree that could, I suppose, be called a 'side' branch, but is in actuality one of those wonderful loops that we find in the people that live in pioneering times.  I have had such a good time discovering the connection between the relative I knew in my family and the relative in a cousins family.  I was able to get back to the 1600's in America and find the ancestor who started the family and then the place where the family branched and they lost track of how they were related.  What fun!!!  (really, you have no idea - it makes me feel like Sherlock Holmes or something!)

Enhance - I am once again taking photos for a website called "Find a Grave.com".  This is an awesome tool for family historians and I have gotten some new photo requests for my area and will be taking more cemetery/headstone photos and posting them online.  The public can then look for a headstone of a relative or ancestor and it is just really fun.  Spring and newly dry roads have me planning trips to some pioneer cemeteries.

Enjoy - I am enjoying open windows! After a long winter of closed up house it is so nice to smell fresh air and cut grass and damp dirt!  There simply isn't an air freshener that can beat them.  I may even lemon oil the furniture and get another good smell in the mix.

Happy April!

Crops!!!

The real test of the garden is not the pictures, although I have documented in pixels the progress of the 'crops'. No - the real test is production!!!! We kept our expectations low, this was our first real season of gardening here, and we had only done the one raised bed, and.....we just didn't expect much. We have been very pleasantly surprised.

This was the first morning I had to take a basket out to get it all in (and yes I did miss that monster zucchini several days running, it was standing upright!) think the cucumbers are about every 3 days now for picking, same for the squash, we should have our first crooknecks in a couple of days as well. The real excitement for me was the cabbage. I did not know what to expect and they looked so small from the top that I was prepared for 'nothing much'. They are perfect, They are very heavy with tightly packed leaves and the flavor is very good, next post we do kraut! We are definitely thinking we will plant cabbage in the fall garden as well.  

I resolved to add more recipes to the blog and so here is the first of my new pledge!

This is summer comfort food for me! This works with store bought veggies but is so much more satisfying with fresh!!

Gomen Salat (Cucumber salad)

Half and Half (straight cream or a combo of sweet and sour cream)

Cucumbers sliced thin – peel especially if they are bitter

3 or 4 hard boiled eggs – chopped

Sliced green onion (½ to whole medium onion)

Salt to taste - Pepper if you like

Let sit refrigerated for flavors to mix

My 'German from Russia' grandmother made this and her recipe is in the parenthesis, my recipe is how I like it. I like it a little less rich and even use 2% milk these days. I like pepper in it (Grandma never put pepper in anything white - said it looked like fly specks!) and an overnight set in the fridge to let the flavors mingle is good. This salad is a taste that takes me right back to grandmas kitchen as a kid! I am sure the genesis of this recipe is frugality - everything in it was produced on the farm, grandma had a huge garden, chickens and they milked for many years.

I will post this here today as my tribute to the 250th anniversary year of Catherine the Great inviting the Germans (her people) to come to Russia for free land!

I'm Baaaaack!

I've decided to try this blogging thing again, did a little more research, read a whole lot of other blogs, think I'm ready to make the commitment. We'll see. :)

Time away, and many projects done, handmade Christmas was a great success, everyone seemed to like their gifts and a great time was had by all (except for the terrible snowstorm we had to drive through to get there - take my advice - just pay the guy to put on the chains!)

Our January here was the 2^nd coldest on record, a real test of our winter preparations in the house. What did we learn?

A) We can heat the house with electric heaters but it is very expensive.

B) The wood stove we were not sure of (so many things in the house were substandard) was brand new and meets the new EPA guidelines, turned out to be awesome and capable of much more than we gave it credit for.

C) We need a lot more wood.

D) We had one small length of plumbing that missed being insulated and we had to find it! (of course)

E) Double layers of clothing are comfy once you get used to it.

F) You just get used to picking up the quilt, lap robe, blanket every time you sit down. (60° is just chilly!)

G) Our stocking up worked and we never felt the need to go to town in bad weather – we were able to wait for clear roads.

H) Our diy roof repairs got almost all the leaks...sigh!

I) We totally entertained ourselves with our planned projects and enjoyed the great indoors!

We were thinking winter was a success and behind us. spring was here and ...nope! It may say spring but it definitely looks and feels like winter! But we had that warm week and now I have spring fever...actually I had spring fever, now I have a cold...but the spring fever will be back again as soon as I can breathe. Garden planning is in full swing though, we have started some seedlings, laid out plans for the ground level part of the garden and for the raised bed part. Last summer we just had a few containers as it was get the house in shape for winter time. This summer it is work on the yard time. There is a lot to do – not just getting a garden in, there are several projects for just basic landscaping to do this year. There is landscaping here that just makes for more work (that has definitely gotta go!), and some that is neither functional nor pretty and I'm thinking everything eventually ought to be one or the other!

Not to say that there are no projects left inside but they do not have the urgency of last year's "can we get the hot water running before the first freeze".  I have covered the thrifted glider rocker and glider footstool that had no cushions (pics to follow), and we recently found a hide-a-bed at Savers! Cheap - as the legs were broken – but handy hubby is working on them today and we will have a couch and extra bed. The fabric is spotless and in good shape and it's an expensive brand, but not a fabric to go with my décor (ok it's not really a décor but I like to call it that) so I am deciding whether to slipcover or reupholster type cover, I am leaning toward a hybrid, sort of, thing, I'm thinking on it!

One thing I got to the giving stage for Christmas was the recipe book from the grandmas and favorites from the family so they are all on my computer so should be able to share more of them easier now.

Will close this first post back with a story and two pictures. The first picture is a Ziploc baggie of seeds, they are 'wonderberry' seeds (nightshade family, historic heirloom seeds, Volga German family thing) saved, cleaned and given to me by my Grandma, my dads mom, in 1989. She passed away in 1994. I have saved, lost, found, stored and found these silly things again and again over the past 24 years. Kept them in a special place when I found them as we were packing to move, grandma wrote a special note and stuck it inside, otherwise I might have thrown them away – they are so old now!

This second picture is the wonderberry seedlings! I planted them just to see if they would grow and there they are! They come back every year, so my garden will have children of Grandmas wonderberries in it, how cool is that?! My Garden is off to an awesome start!