From the Homesteading Journal . . .

. . . planted two types of potatoes, lettuce, red and yellow onions, spinach, arugula, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower and broccoli.  I picked some asparagus too.  We used the rain barrel water to water the vegetable plants we planted, and love it.  The rain barrel saves us water, and electricity (so we don't have to run the water pump to do it).  We definitely want two more barrels this year.

. . . weeded out the raised beds of strawberries.

. . . planted a rosemary plant and some organic basil seeds.

. . . planted organic sunflower seeds and two varieties of Shasta Daisies. 
  
 . . . dehyrdrated organic baby kale for dog treats (could not find organic, regular kale).

. . .made more homemade dog treats in the dehydrator.

. . . my 16 year-old made another batch of goat's milk soap.

. . . picked up a truck load of mulch for the flower beds.  I need another load.

. . .divided my Thyme and planted some around the front porch to ward of mosquitoes this year.  One of my "farm" books suggested this.  I will see if it helps this year.  If anything, I will have more to dry for winter tea and cooking.

. . .started crocheting washcloths for selling at the Farmer's Market.
  

 

Pains of Planting Season ~ Chick on the Loose

This was day 2.  I think Aurora is not giving up my plant pot.  However, I did check on the comfrey, and after a good rain it should spring back to life.  

Today my hands hurt badly.  This morning, I dropped the coffee grounds, and then a two bowls.  My finger joints and hands are not working well today.  Planting 299 onions doesn't help.  It's amazing how many onions I got from 1 lb. of red and 2 lbs. of yellow.  I still have more in the bag.  Those will get planted in with the strawberries today.

I've been gardening these past few days, and will have updates on all that in a day or so.  Rain is on the way, and I have to get more planted.  My son finished all the mowing, and we still need to finish up trimming everything.  We have been so tired.

Yesterday was perfect for laundry.  I had all my clotheslines working overtime.  Somehow I managed to make crock pot lasagna for dinner in between all my outdoor work.

We had an interesting night last night.  First, a chick escaped from her box, and took a walk down the hallway and into the kitchen (with a cat chasing behind her).  We all got a laugh about that.  Good thing Tiger was just curious and not hungry.

Then, after that, I (we) heard an extremely loud screech of tires.  I have not heard anything so loud, other than the TV noise that usually blasts out of my sons speakers (gotta love how men like their "surround" sound when they watch TV).  I simply thought it was the TV.  Then I heard the girls go outside in a hurry.  We looked out and sure enough, in the head lights of other passing cars, were two dogs on the road.  The older three went out with flashlights, but the dogs took off and into the field.   We've seen stray dogs twice in the last few weeks. 


Today, it may take another pot of coffee to get my body moving.  Hubby is still working 10 hour days, so it's up to me to get the garden planted.  I have to remember that we'll reap the benefits at harvest. 

 

Comfrey or Cat?

I can't tell who is going to win this plant pot.  Will it be the cat or the comfrey?  See that little sprig to the right, in the bottom photo?  That's my comfrey, trying to come back to life.  Silly cat's.  The other day Timmy was in that very same pot.

Marriage, Mind, Farmer's Market update, and Just Life

Do you remember the weekend "restoration trips" Hubby and I took last year?

Could I Have Written It?

The release date, for the new movie The Great Gatsby, is May 10th of this year.  With it landing smack dab on my birthday, I decided to read the book before then.  

My family was sitting around talking about it, as it was on the front cover of my writing magazine (with the subtitle of "could you have written Gatsby?").  My son told me it's based on the book, and then we realized that not one of us has read the book.

With that said, I am happily reading a 1925 edition I borrowed from the library.

What are you reading?  Could you have written it?

Playing Around With More Ricotta (again)

I tried another recipe from Allrecipes:   Grandma Johnson's Scones.  I used my homemade ricotta in place of sour cream and used frozen blueberries.  They were soft and moist, and the family loved them.  I think they did need something like nutmeg or cinnamon, but they were still delicious.

I ventured around the Internet the other day, in search of a dinner that would utilize our homemade goat's milk ricotta (once again).  This crock pot macaroni and cheese dinner was delicious.  Just to warn you, it's not your creamy mac n' cheese, but still good.  I did spice this recipe up, by adding some grated gruyere cheese in place of about 1/2 cup of the cheddar cheese.  The kids loved it!  Oh, and I doubled it, all except the butter.  Yum!

3 Cheese Mac Crock Pot Recipe 

I am selfishly taking the day off for myself today.  Although I have laundry to do, I am going to refresh with a good book, good tea, and God's beautiful sunshine. Just don't tell Hubby I am not planting in the garden or weeding the flower beds today.  

Phew! I'm Back ~ Family Funny

I'm back, and a day early.  The tulips are blooming and we have beautiful colors surrounding the front porch - pink, purple, red, and white.
 
My break from blogging gave me more time to work on our "extreme" house cleaning.  I got all the windows washed and cleaned of winter mildew, washed all the curtains, a few walls, and boots are put away.  I spent time cleaning out my closet (holds my crafts supplies, so you can imagine how packed in it is), and tidying up and dusted.  I also got work done in the gardens.

Here's what else I got accomplished:

I finished the brightly colored tablet cover.  It was too short for my youngest daughter's tablet, so it went to my 13 year-old.  However, I will still make her one.  I just won't make these for sale.  They will make great gifting ideas though.  The pattern is on Sugar n'Cream (http://www.sugarncream.com/search.php?pspt=o&advps=y), and you do need to register to view the free pattern.

I finally found a hot pepper jelly recipe that tastes hot, but it turned out too thick.  I've only had this problem once, but with another jelly.  If you have a hot pepper jelly recipe to share, I'd love to give it a try.   The one I made yesterday used habanero and green peppers, and the peppers get strained out.  Hubby said he'll eat it all, but I can't sell  any of it, so I'm a bit bummed about that.  It's just too thick.

~The Funny ~

I was sitting at the computer this morning, loading photos, updating blogs, and making the last of the market signs, when I hear my 13 year-old screaming in the bathroom.

Those of us who were up, began looking at each other, wondering what was going on in that bathroom.  I thought, hmm?  maybe a spider?  

I got her to unlock and open the bathroom door (after much more screaming, and by then I was thinking snake?).  We found her sitting on the top of the toilet, with her feet up on the sink, screaming even more.

Guess what it was?

A mouse!  Ha ha ha!  We got the biggest laugh.  Even though we sent in a mouser cat to get it, it escaped through a tiny crack in the floor. 

I was still laughing when the school bus arrived. Ha ha ha!