It's been HOW LONG????

A not quite up-to-date update

As of May 24:
The spinach was bolting(going to flower/seed)



















The peas were climbing beyond expectations
















and beyond the fencing

we had a nice little harvest

















I put in some tomato plants and something dug right next to one the first night. (They are fine, and I never did figure out what it was. I probably prefer, on some level, not knowing.)



Last ,but by no means least, I built this uber awesome trellis/obelisk for green beans to grow on. Mimosa must be eradicated, but that doesn't mean it can't be useful!

Gray Rat Snake

First, let me say that I truly love living in the country. That said, I do NOT love everything about it. For example...

My daughter opened the back door and said in a surprised tone of voice " oh...hello", then she turned to me and said "gimme the camera gimme the camera gimme the camera". I figured the cat was doing something particularly cute, but no....


She is standing in the doorway here. That is the doormat. Yes, there by the SNAKE.
I'm sure he's very helpful, but, ICK. This is closer than I'm really comfortable with.












She then proceeded to STEP OVER it for more pictures.



You can really see how long it is if you click this pic.

~shudder~

Radishes

OK, here is a tiny piece of my garden. It is about4x8 and contains some radishes and carrots as well as the peas starting up the back and the parsley spilling over the front.

I started out planting the radishes and carrots in rows.....






but I got tired of that tedium pretty quickly, and went with a more "try to scatter 'em fairly evenly" method.


They look like they aren't going to wait to be pulled, like they will just hop on up out of the ground right now thank you very much.







First harvest of the season!









They clean up well, don't they?
Oh, here I go again with teasers in the background. That is our new puppy wondering if maybe those are for her.

No, they are definitely not.

What Was That?!

Tuesday morning after removing and patching the tractor tire, Hubby was going to start her up and was quite startled by the frantic flutter of a bird as he lifted the hood. Mama bird took off so fast we couldn't tell what kind she was.








These are the clues she left behind.











Our research indicates Nuthatch or Chickadee. Maybe.

I don't know if these pictures are "clickable", but if they are you can see details like the two different colors of horse hair in the back of the nest.






Sadly,of course, we had to move the nest. We put it in the cavity of a concrete block and set it about the same height off the ground and in the same area. This really is much sturdier than it looks.

I'm afraid that it didn't work though, we haven't seen any bird activity in the area since then.





That is my garden in the background. (and my horse) Garden posts to come. Stay tuned.

R I P our best friend

Words are difficult. She is missed. It's been three weeks, but it will always be hard.

A lovely, productive weekend

We spent the weekend at a lovely cabin in the mountains at Mentone, AL. My father-in-law bought a house with property up there and built a few cabins and some "bunkhouse" rooms off the main house. One cabin looks like a barn, one looks like a church, and two are just cabins.



The first two pictures are in the main room of the main house. My darling daughter is sleeping on the sofa because there are no televisions in the "bunkhouse" rooms. There is a massive fireplace just out of view on the left of the first pic. The blanket on the floor is for our dog.














The third pic is the view from the bed I woke up in, in one of the "bunkhouse" rooms. You see why I keep putting "bunkhouse" in quotation marks. The rooms are furnished in a not-so -rustic style. The word bunkhouse doesn't really seem to fit.

Last is a pic of the true nature of our visit. We were loading up the old kitchen cabinets that were being torn out for the remodel of the main house kitchen. I am so looking forward to having cabinetry in my kitchen.

To be continued.........

Hope Springs Eternal

.

Eternally hoping for Spring......Hoping for eternal Spring.....Oh, sorry. Rambling.

It's just that I'm so giddy. He did it! My dear, kind, thoughtful husband finally got the tractor to wake from her long Winter's nap and tilled my garden spot. What a rush! All the sins of last season wiped away! Hmmm....I must try to make the very best of my fresh start.

What service! He fumigated it too! Poor tractor needs attention. Is the garden still organic?

By the way, THAT friends and neighbors, is a tiller.

Just a reminder...

to myself really. We do actually make progress here. The first picture shows how overgrown and shaggy this side of the property was when we got it. (although, it was taken before all the vines and brambles had started to green up in the Spring) The shadow line in the center of the picture is as far as you could walk. We didn't even know what the rest of it looked like until we started getting it cleared.

If you look closely at the "after" picture, you'll see the pond area at the back. Close ups can be seen of that area in my post about tractors.

Anyway, we just need to remember to give ourselves credit sometimes. But, by no means does this mean we are going to rest on our laurels and stagnate in a pool (or pond)0f self congratulation! No! We will press on with renewed hope for further and greater accomplishment! With that in mind, tomorrow my DH has promised to till my garden. Yay! I just love new beginnings, don't you?

Let's just pretend I haven't been absent for 6 months

When I started this blog last year, I envisioned wonderful, witty, fascinating posts flowing daily from my keyboard. Didn't so much happen, did it? Oh well, as I always say, "so what?". It's a whole other year now so let's move along.

Things I Want To Accomplish This Year

1. Actually plant my garden. (so that I have something to photograph and blog about)(obviously that's not the only reason:feed my family, save money,etc.)

2.Finish the @#$% bathroom. (wanting a sink in the bathroom doesn't make me high maintenance does it?) At least it doesn't look like this anymore.