Birthday ~ Sparta ~ This and That

Woke up to a chilly 48°F this morning.  Hubby and I have been getting up earlier and having coffee on the porch.  The sun rises just about the time he rolls out of the driveway for work.  It was beautiful this morning, but right after I took this photo it was cloud cover.

Yesterday was my birthday.  I was home all day waiting for Hubby to get off work.  He had a dentist appt. after work too, so for me, it seemed like a looooooooong day.  I literally did not do any garden work.  It was too wet to weed too.  I did some crocheting on the porch, sat and talked with a few of the kids when they were home, and really just chilled all day.  When Hubby pulled in, he called me to the car, and surprised me with this Harley Davidson gift basket.

Treating Scars ~ Venomous Spider Bite Update

The post you've all been waiting for (maybe). . . 

I have had a nasty scar on my leg, left from a venomous spider, and have been putting homemade calendula cream on it for over a year now.

Did you know that calendula has the properties to help new skin growth?  I just learned this even though I was already using the cream/lotion.  It has helped too.

Warning:  Graphic photos.  If you do not want to see the bite before and after (some of the before) do NOT click to continue reading.

Wild Violet Jelly ~ Garden Tidbits

My homestead has a somewhat good amount of wild violets.  

I was itching to pick some wild purple violets, for my "new" jelly to try this year.  I've never made it and we had a very busy weekend.  So...I picked the violets....

In Motion

I went to the barn early yesterday to fetch the hoe before the bumble bees woke up (terrible again this year). 

(steps I got on my fitbit yesterday)

The hoe and I had a date.  I got the beets in finally, and started weeding some of the flower beds.  I had a ton of laundry, and ran out of clothespins.  The day went way too fast, but work was done.  It was a nice 60-some degree day, so it wasn't sweltering either.

I found one of my rain barrels completely drained. Hubby and I will have to put a clamp on the hose.  It's a different set up than my barrel looking ones.

Weekend Updates

Did we survive the weekend?

Friday was clean up, grocery shop, everything day.  Saturday was get up early and tidy up the last of the last, join up with some bikers (sounds so funny after all these years of just wearing muck boots), and take a ride to the lake.  We attended a fundraiser for a co-worker of Hubby's (stage 3 cancer, in his 30's and has kids).

Sunday we hosted a breakfast for Hubby's family and friends.  He made his famous breakfast burritos, I whipped up a sausage and egg souffle (overnight dish), and I could not let the young ones down, so I made chocolate chip waffles too.  However, I was greatly disappointed with the turn out.  All that cleaning and cooking and only 4 people showed up (when 12 or more were expected).  No young ones showed up either.  There were many more to be here as well, but over the weekend two babies were born into the family - one on the 4th and one on the 5th.

Tidbits ~ Herbed Omelets or Scrambled Eggs

Hubby and I were up at 5am this morning.  Had coffee on the porch before he left for work and I made him a sweet potato (more like an egg hash) burrito.  Both of us were up since about 3am.

I had to laugh this morning.  He asked me to open the door so he could carry his lunch, mug of coffee and half eaten burrito out to the car (truck is still down).  I looked down and he had socks and slippers on, ha ha ha ha!  I had to tell him, "um, hun? You don't have your shoes on."  We laughed and laughed.

It's operation homestead clean up again today.  I was abandoned by all kiddos, so I didn't have any help, but today I will.  More spider traps are going in place again too.

I don't see that it even rained last night, so we'll dig out more porch furniture.  I put a few pieces out yesterday, but golly, there is more to tidy up than I thought.

Getting Outside and Random Tidbits

Last Saturday, I planned a birthday bash for my husband.  I found out the band he hired for my birthday was playing at a local bar.  I got word out to family and friends, and wa-la, party at the bar and grill.  We brought the girls along, ordered food, played pool, and danced until 12:30am.  It was so much fun (Hubby too a long nap prior to the outing).  Not everyone showed up, but enough did.  He was so happy and even danced with me most of the night.   We were whipped on Sunday, but visited a new church, then took a motorcycle ride.

Monday was a "get back to it" day, since I lost out all of Sunday.  Hubby took Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday as vacation days, so we could take advantage of the weather and take a motorcycle ride as a reward for actually getting something done around here.

Shell and snow peas have been planted!  I forgot to buy sugar snap peas.