Happy Homemaker Monday

 

We've had a few days of fog here lately.  We are moving into a cool down weather-wise.

Saturday we got the entire rose bed weeded, weed whacking done, and mailbox flower bed planted.  We also planted an ornamental apple tree that was growing in one of the beds.

Yesterday was beautiful.  We finished up outdoor garden work, showered and took off on a motorcycle ride.  We went to a new town and a local eatery.  Delicious, but not cheap.  We'll go back, but to try their breakfast next time.

Once home, we made a fresh strawberry pie, and played cards on the porch with adult drinks.  Great day for some R & R. 

Today I'll be joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

The weather . . .

80's, slight chance for rain, sunny

On my reading pile . . .

On my TV . . .

Heartland (long series for sure)

On the menu . . .

-Salmon Romanoff, green beans, fresh strawberry pie
-grilled fajitas
-walleye, not sure on a side yet
-leftovers

On the to-do list . . .

-water garden
-bake a breakfast casserole

-dehydrate oregano

-boil eggs

-freeze more strawberries

-laundry

-sweep front porch and get more furniture put out

What I am sewing, crocheting, knitting or creating . . .

Working on the XL hot pad in this color, still crocheting water balloons too, and getting some yarn back on the knitting needles.

From the camera . . .

More snapdragons are blooming, but I am a bit disappointed that they are mostly white or yellow.  I hope they produce more color as they continue to bloom.

Something fun to share . . .

Fun for us anyway...found another Mom and Pop eatery to take a motorcycle ride too.  I'm so happy we found new rides to take this year.

On my prayer list . . .

A young girl named Annabelle with health issues, Daughter K who got tonsillitis

This and That

I finally got to our post office.  Well, the one that is closer than our town post office.  It's only open 2 hours and day and quite a struggle to get there when they are open.

New blooms in the flower bed.  The roses that are blooming were planted in memory of Daughter E's boyfriend that passed.  They were gifted to her and planted in the flower bed.

Work resumes in the vegetable garden today.  The rain has stopped and watering by hand is needed.

Yesterday we had a nice visit with my Mom and gifted her some strawberries.  She was tickled pink for our appearance and for the berries.  We retired our evening with playing cards on the porch and grilling burgers.

Blooms ~ Household Tip

 

My comfrey bloomed for the first time ever.

More bell flower blooms

Household tip:  It took almost a dozen purchases, to find the sink strainer basket replacement that actually fit the sink.  I'm not kidding either.  I finally found one that fit, so the label with part number is being taped inside my cupboard under the kitchen sink.

Wacky Weather and Planting

Only in our state.  We had very hot temps, followed by a downpour day, and now we are cooling down to nights being in the upper 40's.  Ugh.  Not good for the garden, but I'm still planting.  There is so much to get in the ground and the tiller still needs a new belt.  

Today we woke up to more rain.

The flowers are looking great, and my glady's are starting to come up.

I un-earthed these while cleaning.  They are paper book covers I had moved two times and still had them.  They are going to a family friend for her kids that are still in school.

I apologize, I forgot to post the winner of the Mystery box.  I had one the daughter's pull from a "hat" and that person is Amy.  Send me you info via email (contact email is on my blog).  Or comment here.  Congratulations and I hope you enjoy the mystery box of fun.

Snake and other random tidbits

 

I was weeding the mailbox flower bed and this guy scared the crap out of me.  I literally almost grabbed it thinking it was a stick.  I told my husband he has to weed it for me now. I literally did a back roll when I noticed it.  I'm sure anyone driving by got a laugh out of it.

The barn birds have been busy making nests in the barns.  They will be taken down soon.  They are bombing me on the front porch now.  Sheesh.

We bought a mole chasing windmill when we visited Amish country.  It works 75 yards in all directions.  I think we'll buy another one if we make another trip.

I found one last bag of garden zucchini, so I whipped up a breakfast casserole yesterday.  This morning I will have more time to get other things done.

Happy Homemaker Monday

Sunday morning we got some sprinkles, but not enough to really soak the herb garden.  I was thankful for it anyway.

While in town I checked the hardware store for a swivel hook I needed.  They had a single one for $6.99 for a project I am working on.  I however, did not buy it.  I went home and ordered 50 of them online for $8.99.  I'll be sharing that project soon.

I also found 3 hanging baskets at a decent price and added more beauty to the property.

So these are growing in my green onions.  I did not plant them.  What are they?  Wild onions?  I have no idea.  the tops are very tall and look nothing like my green onions.  I thought wild onion tops look more like chives, and these to not.  Any thoughts on this?  Wild garlic?  It has the smell of onions and garlic both.

The herb garden has been fully weeded and new pine mulch (minus 2 more bags I need for it).  I never thought I'd finish it by Sunday.  I was so tired and with my husband working another midnight shift and first shift this morning, I thought I would be sleeping in and resting up.  

Nope.  Daughter E had the nerve to bang doors and talk loudly to herself, which woke me up early.  Urgh.

Today I am joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

The weather outside is . . .

79°F/61°F, cloudy

On my reading pile . . .

On the TV . . .

Heartland, Netflix

On the breakfast plate . . .

Sausage/egg/cheese quesadillas, coffee

On the menu . . .
-new recipe to try
-baked chicken, veggie
-baked mac n' cheese, green beans
-breakfast for dinner

....in no particular order

On my to-do list . . .
-make a breakfast

-bathrooms
-sweep and mop kitchen

-plant rosemary, weed corner of one flower bed

-laundry

-sweep off front porch

-water house plants, water flower beds, garlic, asparagus, and rhubarb (still not getting rain as predicted)

-vacuum

-write up a pattern that is only on a video to keep in my pattern binder

What I am crocheting, knitting or creating . . .

A lot.  Too many projects on the hooks right now.  I'm working on getting some photos and doing an update on them all.  Stay tuned.

Looking around the house  . . .

It's in shambles.  I've spent every day outdoors with yard work, garden work, etc. 

From the camera . . .

We named a resident ground hog "Harold" and apparently it's a she.  I spotted a youngin' out there.  I guess we need to take care of that problem before the garden is planted.

Something fun to share . . .

I seem to slack in this department.  I have nothing "fun" to share right now.  Other than I have more new recipes to try out.  Not sure if they'll get made this week or next.  I have more flowers to plant, and 2 new rosemary plants to plant and 4 more flower beds to weed (not to mention put in the entire vegetable garden.   

On my prayer list . . .

A friend's family.  They want their Marine son to come home for a summer visit, but there are some issues with allowing him to travel.  

Bible verse, devotional . . .

Trip into the Big City

 

We made a trip into town.  I was sent a coupon to our farm store, in my email.  They however, gave me 2 days to use it.  Luckily I needed chicken feed.

We needed some more glady posts (planted 20 this year), and stopped at the Home Depot.  It was him, not me, that created another garden project (photo up above).  I put together two of them for the south drive entrance.  They are much bigger than they look, and I was lucky to find enough flower to do it.  They were completely sold out of the larger marigolds I previously bought and I found 3 mad hatter hot pepper plants (the closest I will find the cherty bomb).

I barely got any more weeding done with the added project, but he mowed most of the homestead, and I got my 4 rain barrels in place.  The rain may show up briefly today, but according to the weather won't show up until mid-week now.  Sadly, I need the rain to soften up the herb garden.  I soaked it with the garden hose yesterday, but man it's already dry and difficult to weed.  Same with tilling.  We had hoped for just a bit to soften up the hard ground out there.

The cold weather prevented me from hardening off my seedlings, but today makes day 4, and I think they'll be ready by the time we finish prepping the veggie garden.

However, my husband (Till Man) worked the midnight shift last night so today's work time will be either zero out there or a teeny tiny bit.  He'll need to sleep when he gets home this morning.

The weather has be great the last few days, but this morning, the sky is gray.  My bum muscles were so sore the first 3 days of weeding, but I think I'm broke in for a good garden season now, ha ha!

Gardens and other random bits

Our night temperatures are finally going to be in the 50's so flower planting has started.  There is much to do to prepare the vegetable garden this weekend.  I got all of these planted, plus 20 glady bulbs.  I weeded the mailbox flower bed and will resume finishing up on the herb garden.

If you don't see a post, it's because we will be very busy out there.  Rain is coming and lots of it, which will make it too wet to work in, but the perfect time to get seeds in the ground.  However, we didn't get my raised bed built, so we plan to dig through the old barn rubble and see if we can use that wood first.

The mower belt took a poo, so we had to go pick one up last night before we could mow. We hired someone to do the mowing, but that was short lived.  He doesn't own an phone and we communicate through someone to get the message to him.  He was a no show.  Too bad too, because we both could have been out prepping the vegetable garden.

This and That

I went to book a camping trip, and wow!  They are booked solid for the next two months (one of our favorite ones).  Already.  I will have to book late summer now, but still going camping.  We did not get to go camping at all last year. Needless to say our first camping trip is now booked.  I'm tempted to book a fall one right now too, as everyone is getting out this year.

On another note.  A very disturbing note.  The Gov. of MI is demanding a pipeline shut down that runs from Canada thru MI.  If this happens my husband will be out of a job.  I'm so frustrated with how this country is operating right now.  It will put thousands more out of jobs. Not to mention threaten the economy once again.  We've had enough.

On a good note, the weather is finally warming up and the frost warnings are coming to an end.  Tilling the garden begins, and I will finally (finally) get planting started.  It feels like it's been a long wait this spring.  I will start hardening my plants this weekend.

I have started weeding out the flower beds, and I am hoping to be done by Sunday.  I have a lot to weed, and thought "do I have too many flower beds?" as I was weeding.  Well, I'm keeping them all the same, but boy it seems like a lot to me.  Flowers are slim pickin's too. 

The wild black raspberry plants are already getting their blossoms.

I have lots of things on my hooks right now. I am still working on the cardigan (husband was right with that project).  I plan on getting some pictures soon.  I finished Daughter T's hot pads, but forgot to get a photo before I gifted them to her.

Chickens ~ Flower Gardens and what not.....

The ladies (chickens) are laying exhaustingly awesome right now.   I have 2 (not just 1) dozen in the fridge to boil in a week or so.  So excited to be blessed with so many eggs right now.

We are adding several perennials to the flower beds this spring.  I have had them in the garage until the snow and freeze was finished.  I know there may be a chance for frost, but with the 80°F days, and rain, I put them all outside.  

I don't have very many tulips, but they are blooming.  I'm planting more bulbs this fall. 

Look at the size of the dandelions!  I will be doing something before my husband mows again.

My husband was tickled pink to see I made strawberry crisp.  I need to rotate out some strawberries before strawberry season gets here.  The recipe is online with Belle of the Kitchen.  I use thawed frozen strawberries and adapted the recipe with organic ingredients.  I do have to bake it a bit longer using the thawed strawberries (more liquid from frozen).

Blooms ~ Wild Violets and Lilac ~ Asparagus ~ Woodpecker

 

More pretty blooms are coming up.

We are getting lilacs this year (unless the upcoming freeze kills it again like last year).

Wild violets are coming up early this year.

Asparagus is coming up early this year too, so I hopped out to my beautiful garden and weeded it.  I can see what needs covered if covering is needed.  So excited to be in the garden for once.

A woodpecker built a home in the tree that my clothesline is attached to.  It comes out and gives me heck when I use the line now.

I finished the order for 2 scrubbies using the scrubby yarn from Red Heart.

Where I spent most of my day.  So far no rain either.  The wind has picked up this morning, but no rain yet.