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.

Lilac Jelly Tasting ~ Bugs with Blogger ~ Herb Garden Work ~ Greenhouse Win!

I cracked open a jar of the lilac jelly I canned.  I can't explain the flavor, but it is very good.  It's not a perfum-y taste as is the fragrance of lilacs.

I am getting frustrated with blogger.  I noticed yesterday that half of my font changed after I posted it.  It's been happening a lot lately.  I'll try and remember to view it first thing, so the font is all the same size.

Green onion area (after photo)

My herb garden is a hot mess this year.  After running into ants in the flower beds, I moved to the herb garden.  Man oh man.  Thankfully the rain helped making the process easy.  I now have an area to plant my thyme seeds I started inside this year.  The oregano looks great, other than grass is now growing in it.  I ripped the grass seeds off and will weed the grass out after the next rain (more photos hopefully soon).  I have much to do, but it sure feels good (although work) to be outside again.

My veggie plants got a day outside to start hardening.  It has been way to cold to even start, and it's late for us this year.  

I found habanero, serrano, hot banana pepper plants and sweet potato slips at the Greenhouse yesterday.  No cherry bomb hot peppers.  Again. No one seems to have them this year.  I've tried everywhere, and seeds are not available in stores, so (I know it's late), but I ordered seeds.  We'll see how that goes.  Our neighbor who sells his veggies/fruits in a stand may have some to buy this year too.

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.

Back to the Grind ~ Lilac Jelly

 

This was my "note to self" upon awakening.  I had two days off in the kitchen.  I technically had a complete two days off, so it was back to the grind, kitchen, laundry.....you name it.

I got more flowers on my birthday and many more gifts.  The day was truly special, and I did not do a lick of work.  

First, a breakfast needed to be made (made a scramble)

A two meat potato, onion, green bell pepper, garlic, farm fresh eggs and dandelion greens.

...and this crazy lady did this

I picked lilacs to try lilac jelly for the first time ever.  The infusion first turned a blue-ish, then purple color.

Once the jelly was made it turned into a beautiful pink color. I was expecting a yellow color (someone showed me their jelly they canned), but of course this color is pink.  Any thoughts?  My blooms were a brighter purple, so maybe that is why?  I will be tasting this in a day or so and let you all know if it's good.

I apologize for no printable version.  I tried one way I googled and could not figure it out.  It was written Feb. of 2021, but what pops up with the directions does not look like what her photos show. One of these days....

Lilac Jelly

2 cups packed lilac flowers

2 1/2 cups boiling water

I use a quart canning jar.  I add the flowers to the jar and pour the boiling water over.  I put a lid and rim on and let it sit overnight, but you should let it infuse at least 8 hours.

Strain infusion.  I use a coffee filter in a strainer over a glass bowl.

In a large pot, add:

2 cups of the lilac infusion

4 Tbsp. organic lemon juice

1 box sure-jell powdered pectin

Bring to a boil.

Add 4 cups sugar and bring to a rolling boil, constantly stirring. Boil one minute. Remove from heat and skim.

Pour into sterilized jars (1/4 inch head space), wipe jars, and add heated new lids and add the rim.   Boil in canner for 10 minutes.  Cool untouched for 24 hours.

Yield:  8 - 4 oz. jars or 4 - 8 oz. jars.