New Kitchen Gadget ~ Coffee Cubes and other ramblings

Not very often, but when we have leftover coffee, I freeze it into cubes for my husband's coffee (he likes to cool it down enough to drink right away).  You lift that white tab, and pour it right it.  Works great.

Prices on everything are going up.  We paid $8 a package for brats to grill on Mother's Day, gas was $4.09 last week and is up more this week to $4.19, propane went up, and many more things.  

I saw beautiful hanging baskets a few days before Mother's Day and didn't buy them. Went back after Mother's Day and nothing left.  Hmpf.  I should have known better.  I went to Menards, and the same situation.  Plus their prices are horrible this year.

I'm so happy I can use my clothesline to lower our electric bill, plus the laundry smells so good.

Asparagus ~ Garlic....where did it go?!

It's going to be a warm, gorgeous day today.  We'll hit the 80's.

I picked more asparagus, so I roasted some last night with rosemary.  Oh my gosh!  Delicious!  So much more flavor than from the store.  It's been a year waiting for this bounty.

My favorite garlic to plant in our area is Music garlic.  The first year we spring planted, and every year after that we fall planted.

I'm so depressed.  I went out to the garden to start prepping for the year, and found all of my garlic eaten but 3.  My guess, from research, is that a squirrel (or more than one) was the culprit.  Never in all the years here has this happened. Rabbits, deer and ground hogs do not like garlic, so I am just guessing.  They have plenty of black walnuts to provide, so I am stumped as to why it happened, other than the smell of the dogs is not out there anymore (guess I'm gettin' a dog).

I want to now spring plant my garlic, so it cost me an arm and a leg to order some to plant.  I didn't record how many I planted last year for some reason.  I think it was a crazy fall due to my husband's sister passing away from covid, and Mom's health declining. 

I typically plant 80-100 cloves, so this is a tremendous loss with organic garlic.  It's just such a shock, because nothing likes the smell of garlic.  We toyed with the idea that I forgot to plant them.  I did not.  I remember planting.

We toyed with the idea that someone stole them.  Ha ha!  Actually, it's not such a crazy idea.  Every day for the last two weeks a car has been stolen in the city about 12 miles from us, and now they are breaking into chicken coops.  Seriously.  Stealing kids bicycles, and more.

I plan to pull the pea fence.  We didn't get any planted with this crazy kitchen floor repair, and we need to till that area as well.

I finally got the carpet spot cleaned from Daughter K's dogs being here, and laundry put on the line, but got zero painting done.

I believe it's finally time to call an exterminator, unless someone has a sure fire way to trap those big bumblebees (a LOT of them).  I've tried every year, and they get worse every year.  Yesterday they were swarming the doors of the house and porch.  I cannot for the life of me find the nests, but I'm guessing they are by one of the barns, by they way they swarm over there.