Front Porches

Do you have a place in, or around, your home where you love to spend quiet time?  I love to spend time on my front porch.  We canceled our camping trip due to rain, and have spent several hours on our front porch.  I am very grateful for having the space and covered porch to spend time alone, and with my family.

The rain has not stopped even as I type, but we have already had a dinner on the porch during a thunderstorm, where we have all taken turns coddling our youngest dog.  The poor thing has a panic attack during such storms.

We don't have a lot of color around the entire porch, but a few tulips still linger.  Each year I add a few perennials to the lot, and toss down some saved seeds.  By the middle of summer I am joined by the kids after school.  We sit, snack, and talk.

Evenings are fun on the porch too.  Tin can candles light the edge of the porch, and dinners are often served.  It's not uncommon to have breakfast on the porch either.  We call those breakfast days "Patio Pancakes."  Traditionally, pancakes are made, and we take time to enjoy the view, and enjoy a leisure breakfast.  We savor the smells, the views, the sounds and the warm air.  Too soon, winter will take it away.

Blog posts slowing down

It’s that time of the year when my blog posts begin to slow down a bit.   I am already into the busy season of gardening, herb gardening, planting fruit trees, and repairing.

Today, although the rain is holding back, we are to expect even more.  This is putting a hold on getting the rest of our garden planted. 

In the mean time, I spend most days clearing out and splitting up my herb gardens.  Today, I have 2 buckets full for free green onion, sitting alongside the road.  

It is so nice to step outside, snip green onion or whatever I prefer, and added it to a delicious salad for lunch.  It’s also nice to sit on the porch and enjoy eating it.  I did share my tuna with one of the barn cats today.  He was purring, so  I just couldn’t resist.

Thunderstorms are 40% chance right now, and I sure hope they hold off.  I’ve been getting quite a lot finished in my herbs, and replanting them in other areas.  My lemon verbena has spread, along with my oregano.  And yet I have several more herbs to plant from seed.

My husband's health insurance has now required us to participate in an on-line program.  We log in exercise, weight loss/gain, and take part in a walk challenge.  Today, I started wearing a small gadget to track my miles of gardening, housework, and just plain walking through the house.  It will be interesting to see what it reads after I've used it for a full day.  The programs also take quite a bit of my time logging in and reading materials, as well as tracking my progress.  It's definitely a time stealer having to do all. However, if we don't, our co-pay and deductibles will go up in cost.  Could this be another control issue by the government? 

.....back to the garden.

Work Begins

What started with 4 clay pots

Some glue, and a some paint 

Turned out to be a couple of nice planters.

I painted them in between weeding, and cleaning out several flower beds.  My work has just begun. 

Happy Mother's Day!

Garden Journal

May 5^th

. . . planted sunflower seeds in the old water trough.  

May 6th,
. . . had evening thunderstorms with hail.  Lettuce, Peas, Onions, and some Spinach is up.  I hope they survive the hail.

May 7^th

. . . one redbud tree seed has sprouted so far.   We planted 5 Dahlia bulbs today.

Lessons Worth Teaching

I our quest to be self-sufficient, we woke up to 2 flat tires yesterday.  It was a good time to teach our 17 year-old daughter how to change a flat tire.  Today’s driver’s education courses do not teach this anymore. Next on the list is to teach her to change to the oil.

When driver’s education courses were taught in public schools, the course director took the class outside to change an actual tire.  Today, schools do not teach this, and parents often forget what teenage kids should learn.

It’s been difficult to stay off my foot, and complete chores.  I spent a few hours taking photos from the front porch.  This, so far, has been the best photo of any bird.  My goal is to get a clear shot of a cardinal, a deer, and a hawk (just not taking off with one of my chickens). 

In my quest to make a good batch of dandelion jelly, I took the advice of one of my followers.  I simply reboiled it, added more pectin, and our syrup is now 3 pints of jelly.