Category Archives: Gardening

December 2, 2020 · 9:38 am

Thoughts on a Rainy Wednesday

Contra Spem Spero – Et Rideo-Wordpress.com

I didn’t get my tomato plants pulled out yesterday, so I just went out and tried to do it. It didn’t LOOK like it was raining much. It waited for me to get the wheelbarrow and get started pulling plants out and then the sky opened up. I put the wheelbarrow under the porch as quickly as possible and came back inside, grabbing a towel on the way to the office so I can dry my dripping hair. I’m happy that our schedule is clear today. This is a perfect day to crawl under a throw in a recliner, a cup of coffee beside you, reading or watching TV – and probably taking a nap somewhere along the way. I may gift myself some time in my art room this afternoon.

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I am newly aware of how much my old lady yoga stretches help me. A couple of days ago I spent about half the day off and on cutting the leaves off my poor, frozen elephant ear plants, then digging out the humongous bulbs, storing them in a trash can full of peat moss and potting soil in our garage for the winter and then cleaning up outside. I really stiffened up, and shoveling things that don’t want to come out of the ground has never been a skill of mine – and certainly not since I’m older than dirt.

I did about half an hour of my yoga stretches and that loosened me up a lot, even making my back stop complaining. I did it again yesterday, doing a longer session because I had stiffened up again and my body was telling me that I’m no longer 20. Between yoga stretching, slowly and carefully, and muscle gel, I’m almost back to normal this morning.

This, and time on my elliptical trainer today will be a good amount of exercise even though Mother Nature is making this an ‘inside day.’

I hope that you can make this a good day, regardless of the weather.

Stay safe, warm, and dry.

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December 1, 2020 · 8:28 am

Welcome, December!

Nathan and George – Firefighters of Australia calendar

I bought this calendar to contribute to the fundraising efforts of the firefighters of Australia. Getting to enjoy handsome men with bulging muscles and cute animals is a great way to welcome each month with a smile on your face, as well. :0)

If you would like to get one for 2021, you can order one here.

Yesterday I cut off the leaves of my two wonderful elephant ear plants, and then dug up the bulbs to store them in peat moss and potting soil in our garage for the winter. I’m HOPING they will do well, being ready for me to replant them next spring, when all chance of frost has passed.

Today I plan to pull out my tomato plants.

Judging from my sore muscles from all the digging, shoveling and hauling I did yesterday, I will try to do a LOT more yoga today than the 30 minutes or so I did yesterday…

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November 30, 2020 · 1:43 pm

End Result

DailySquee.com – I Can Has Cheezeburger

I have now finished hacking down the frozen, wilted leaves on my elephant ear plants. I have dug up the two humongous bulbs and stored them in the garage in trash bins filled with peat moss and potting soil. They will stay there during the winter and then I’m HOPING to be able to replant them in the spring when the chance of freezes is gone.

This is what they looked like yesterday.
Today, after the freeze
Some of the stalks were taller than I am.
I had to dig about 6 inches or so down to get to the roots so I could pull out the bulb
I dug out both bulbs, plus a bunch of the roots of the purple-leafed stuff. (I have no idea what it is, but I like it. )
This is basically what the planter looks like now. I need to neaten things up a bit, but the work was harder than I thought it would be and this old lady needs to warm up and rest. :0)

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November 29, 2020 · 9:43 am

Winter Approaches

DeMilked

Mother Nature is bringing winter closer in Arkansas in the coming days. I’m not ready.

I’ve really been enjoying the fall. I’m not a hot-weather person. I’m not really a cold-weather person, either. The temperature range at which I feel comfortable has lowered and then narrowed as I age.

Right now it’s around 42 degrees F. and very cloudy, wet, and raw outside. A good day to express thanks for a warm, dry house.

We got our irrigation system turned off, hoses unhooked and drained, vents closed, and outside faucets covered this past week. We’re supposed to have freezing temperatures each morning for at least the next 10 days, starting tomorrow morning.

We have had a wonderful season of veggie garden, flowers, and elephant ear plants, so I’m trying very hard to be thankful for that without being too greedy for more. I love to see things thriving and blooming all over the yard and in the garden, so it’s hard to see that come to an end.

I’m setting up in the garage to have a small place where I can try to get seeds started for my spring garden. If I’m successful, I can get an early start to good veggies for the spring!

I hope you are somewhere warm and dry this morning where you can dream of veggies and flowers in the future.

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November 24, 2020 · 3:17 pm

Last Hurrah?

Gif Abyss-Alph aCoders

The cold front seems to be coming through now. It’s cold and rainy – a GREAT time to have a warm, dry house.

When we got home from errands, we went back outside and shut down the irrigation system. This involves turning off a control, disconnecting a hose and rerouting a water system in the well house, and then disconnecting a main hose that runs across the front of the yard just off the civilized part we mow. We then gathered outside faucet covers and installed those all around the house, closing the vents. The forecast is calling for a light freeze overnight, so we’re just in time.

I then came back outside again and gathered what will probably be the last of the tomatoes.

We have had a really good run of tomatoes this year, despite a lot of weird weather. These are mostly cherry tomato size – perfect for salads and snacks.

This is probably the last of the roses and one twice-blooming iris I found.

And finally is my elephant ear plants. They are tall enough to almost cover the window in the garage. The research I did said that after the first freeze, I should cut the leaves off and store the bulbs in a combination of peat moss and potting soil in the garage until the spring. Fingers crossed that will work.

So, a last hurrah for a good year of growing. I lost my green house in a bad storm, but I will try to start seeds on the counter in my garage for the spring. I’ll need to clear things off a bit again, but I have a grow light set up, Mel’s Mix in a small trash cans, and my trays, so I should be in good shape to start up again, probably in February.

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November 15, 2020 · 11:07 am

It’s COOL Outside!

We had rain and a cool front come through overnight. It’s 44 degrees F. outside right now with a bit of a wind, so it feels pretty chilly.

The wonderful fiber optic people came through recently hanging wire for the future. They had to cut branches out of a couple of trees in our side yard that were encroaching on the lines. When they finished, it looked like the trees had exploded or had been hit by lightning, with broken branches hanging down. They said they would neaten things up. I don’t think they decide where they go or what they do each day, so they haven’t been back.

My husband disappeared, and I went to find him. He was coming back from the shop with the chain saw – just the thing I had been trying to avoid. We are a bit long-in-the-tooth now for activities such as chain sawing and hauling big branches around. Since he was determined to handle it, I dropped what I was doing and helped him.

We worked about an hour, but made some headway. At least it looks now as if someone might have had a plan. I’m still hoping that the guys will come back and cut both of the trees down, but I won’t hold my breath.

This is part of what we cut down.
This is part of what’s left.
This is the rest of what remains

The other thing we did recently was to prepare our raised bed, square foot planters for the winter.

Audrey Hepburn – keepinspiring.me

(We built six 4’x4’x8″ wooden planters and put them on metal supports, kind of like tables, at about my chest level.)

I harvested the remaining onions very carefully, since the fire ants had taken up residence in the planters. It amazes me that they wanted a home so high up off the ground. Unfortunately, they were aggressive about defending what they considered their home. I had to keep hosing the planters down with bug killer, then harvesting as much as I could or weeding until they started to swarm again, over and over until the job was done.

We then re-filled the planters with Mel’s Mix – a combination of peat moss, vermiculite, and as many different kinds of compost as you can find or make. The level of this had really gone down, so it was quite a job to mix up the mix needed to top them off.

We have made this alternative soil process as seamless as possible, with big trash cans holding the ingredients of the mix, and then a used cement mixer to combine things.

We strung some wires across the remaining two planters not used this year to create the ‘squares’ we use for spacing the plants. We decided to wait until spring to replace the wooden strips that we put along the middle of each trio of planters that hold the sprinkler for the middle of each box and connect the irrigation hoses.

We put a pail in the middle of each of the boxes and then covered each box with a tarp. We are hoping this will cut way down on the weeds in the planters for when we uncover things and get ready for spring planting.

You can see 5 of the 6 planters here.

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November 15, 2020 · 10:30 am

Hope Comes Through Flowers

Twice-Blooming Purple Iris
Rio Samba Roses

Even though it’s 44 degrees F. with a slight wind, it was really wonderful to wander around the yard this morning, seeing what is still healthy and blooming.

As you can see from the pics on the blog this morning, I delighted in the elephant ear plants, our Rio Samba roses, and our Twice-Blooming Purple Iris.

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November 15, 2020 · 10:16 am

Elephant Ear Plants

Elephant Ear Plants a few weeks ago
Plants today
I can’t believe the size of the leaves!

Soon we will have freezes forecast and we will have to turn off our irrigation system. I’m trying really hard not to be TOO greedy. I’m more than grateful to have found a place that the elephant ear plants my friend Laufrain gave me are happy and thriving.

Soon the leaves will freeze. I will cut them down and dig up the big bulbs to store them in a combination of peat moss and potting soil for the winter. Then I will plant them in the planter again in the spring and keep my fingers crossed they are again happy and healthy.

Meanwhile, what a gift!

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November 10, 2020 · 10:04 am

Short Time Outside Today

Roses gathered this morning

A cold front is due to come through around lunch time, bringing thunderstorms, gusty winds, and lots of rain with longer temperatures. I went out this morning to gather some roses before the plants get clobbered by the storms.

DINGER Justin E

I talked to the wonderful men who are running fiber optic lines in the area yesterday as they road a cute little car in the back and side yards. We discussed the tree they cut branches from that were encroaching on their lines. I asked them if it were possible for them to ‘neaten up’ the tree – that we were too old to do it ourselves and it would be really expensive to hire someone. They said they would be here today and would see what they could do.

This is a group of three evergreen trees that have been there a long time – long enough to essentially grow together. Right now with big branches hanging down, it looks like they were hit by lightning or something and exploded. I told them that I would appreciate whatever they could do, whether it’s cutting more branches or chainsawing the whole thing down.

They are wonderful men. I’ll be grateful whatever they do.

Our bug spraying man will be here around 11:00 to protect us from critters large and small. I have only seen dead bugs – the best kind, as far as I’m concerned, plus a few wasps that have figured out how to get in the house. I always feel good when the quarterly treatment has been done. Since we live in ‘the country’ in our own ‘woods,’ we get a lot of critters I hadn’t ever seen before, including a rare snake, centipedes, tarantulas, and scorpions, as well as the usual stuff. I’m really serious about spraying for EVERYTHING – including elephants, around here. I will deal with stuff outside – but there is a no tolerance policy about INSIDE.

JellyMuffin.com – Giphy

My sister-in-law and my massage therapist are both having surgery today, so they are both in my thoughts and prayers today – for smooth procedures and complete recoveries as soon as possible.

I hope you’re having a good day.

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November 9, 2020 · 10:07 am

Flowers

Okakura Kakuzo – SayingImages.com

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November 7, 2020 · 9:50 am

Thoughts on a Saturday 11-7-2020

PictureQuotes.com

I am hoping for a quiet day. My husband has a haircut and we have other errands to do in a bit.

Our weather is lovely – sunshine-y and 61 degrees F. Yesterday we finally got the irrigation system control thingie for my garden removed from the agricultural faucet. For some reason, it was almost like it was frozen on there – hard to get the attachment parts to turn, but we managed. We’ll leave the main irrigation system for the yard up and running until it looks like we’ll get some freezes.

DINGER Justin E

I think I told you that a crew working on fiber optic lines came yesterday and did some work. We are delighted that our electric company is partnering with another company to eventually supply us with Internet speed that will bring us into this century! We have changed over the years, each time able to improve things a bit, but we are rural, and so aren’t in the forefront on anything significant. It will be exciting when it finally comes.

The guy told us that he needed to cut some branches in a tree that were encroaching on the lines, so I said ‘sure.’ It ended up that it looks like the tree was struck by lightning, with big broken branches hanging down. They are supposed to be back Monday. I will ask if he can do more, cutting the broken branches and stashing them out of sight a bit more. Fingers crossed.

Southern Illinois Coalition for Children and Families

Yesterday I played in my art room, starting on an idea for Christmas presents for my friends. I’m having a great time. My sister-in-law made a great suggestion for a small thing I can add to each gift to make it more special. I love when that happens. :0) I’ll work on them more today.

I’ll get the makings for beef stew in the slow cooker for us when we get back. I feel the need for comfort food lately with all that is going on in our world.

And that’s it for us. I hope YOUR day is full of fun and laughter.

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November 6, 2020 · 8:52 am

Artful Dreams

unknown

I dreamed of some ideas for Christmas presents. I woke up early this morning with more ideas. I will see if I can get started on them when we get home from Lunch Bunch.

So far, changing the time back an hour is messing with me. I liked the idea of getting an extra hour of sleep, but the reality is that I am waking up super early – the middle of the night for me – and having grim thoughts. This is not like me and I’m going to see what I can do to stop the cycle.

Our weather is gorgeous again today, so I’ll plan to spend some time outside. There are LOTS of things to do.

I feel good today. My mouth is no longer hurting from my tooth filling. I had a wonderful massage yesterday. I’ll see my friends, and hopefully have a productive day.

I hope that YOU have a great day, too! :0)

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October 31, 2020 · 9:48 am

Twice Blooming Iris

We don’t have many, but each fall a few twice-blooming iris pop up and remind us how beautiful our world is and how lucky we are to be alive.

I gathered these two yesterday, since there is a chance we’ll get a freeze overnight. I couldn’t contain my grin when I saw these in my walk around the yard.

I hope that you have reasons to smile around you, too.

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October 25, 2020 · 11:42 am

Today’s Haul

Roses and Tomatoes

I just came in from about 20 chilly minutes outside. It’s not really that ‘cold,’ (52 degrees), but it’s raw-feeling and quite overcast and the wind is whipping around, making it FEEL a lot chillier.

I am planning to have several short sessions outside while it’s not actually raining, since we’re supposed to have rain tonight through Thursday.

This first time I gathered the few ripe tomatoes on the vines and then was caught up by some pretty blooms on our Rio Samba rose bushes. We also have a couple of twice-blooming iris, but I haven’t decided it I’ll bring them in or not. :0)

Even at mid-week, I was having to put on a sweat band to work outside very long. Not so today! I wore a much-used down vest and still got cold.

I will fix us some lunch and then see if I can get the irrigation system controller off the agricultural faucet next.

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October 21, 2020 · 10:22 am

Serial Weed Murderer

Ace

Armed with a 2-gallon sprayer of Killzall, the serial weed killer will be active around here today and tomorrow, while the weather is supposed to be sunny and in the low 80’s – perfect weather for a murder.

It seems that everywhere I look there are things that need to be pruned, cut back, cut down completely, or sprayed with weed killer. The fall has brought vigorous plant life, and I would like to get things under control before cold weather arrives.

The 2-gallon sprayer is about the most I can handle, and ONE sprayer-full is all I can do at a time. Sometimes I can do one load in the first part of the day, rest a bit and then do a second, but mostly one is it for the day.

I’ll concentrate on the spraying while the weather is warmer and then switch to the loppers.

If I win the lottery, I’ll employ a lot of good people to help me get our little part of the world more civilized!

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October 20, 2020 · 9:29 am

Onions are Finished!

Yesterday I finished cleaning the onions from the garden.

These are the onions in a wonderful mesh bag I bought last year – hanging in the pantry, ready for me to use.

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October 19, 2020 · 9:59 am

Rio Samba Roses

Rio Samba Roses and celery

As you can see from the tomatoes, onions, and roses, I spent some time working in the yard yesterday.

It will probably rain today – in fact it’s dark and gloomy outside right now – so it’s good I got most of the weed whacking done and used the leaf blower to tidy things up a bit.

We will run errands today – and try to vote on the first day of early voting here in Arkansas, and then we’ll be in the rest of the day. Here’s hoping we don’t drown in the rain!

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October 19, 2020 · 9:53 am

Onion Harvest

I pulled these out of the garden – only a few at a time due to an infestation of fire ants living in my raised bed, square foot planters. I spread them to dry on a trailer that has a nice metal mesh bed perfect for this.

Yesterday my husband cleaned them off with a hose while I was weed whacking. I will finish cleaning them up today, putting them in mesh bags to hang from hooks in our pantry.

I hope that they are nice and sweet.

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October 19, 2020 · 9:46 am

Tomato Harvest 10-18-2020

I keep putting it on my list to clean out the tomato planters, but then I find lots of little bitty tomatoes! This happened again yesterday, so I will enjoy each and every one as long as I can. :0)

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October 1, 2020 · 4:36 pm

Working in the Garden

Animal Wallpapers-Desktop Nexus

Earlier today my husband came out to help in the garden. I turned off the water to the irrigation system. We removed the hoses and sprinkler heads from the narrow wooden strips that went down the middle of each group of three planter boxes. We then removed the broken wooden strips. We stretched wire in two directions on the last planter, making the planting ‘squares’ we inadvertently forgot to do this year.

(This is a pic from the beginning of the season.)

 

I went back out about an hour ago to start the process of mixing Mel’s Mix and filling up the planters.

Mel’s Mix is a soil alternative made from

  • 2 parts peat moss
  • 2 parts vermiculite
  • 1 part of as many different types of compost as you can buy or make. (I use cotton burr, mushroom, and barnyard, plus I add the one I try to make from yard and kitchen waste.

I keep the ingredients in large lidded trash cans we keep along the back of our shop. We also have a used cement mixer. I measure out the ingredients into the cement mixer. I usually mix a double load each time. I mix the ingredients for about 3 minutes, and then empty the mixer into a big plastic yard bucket with handles. I then carry the bucket to one of the garden planter boxes and dump it.

This is kind of a laborious process, but I only have to do this once every few years. Usually, when you pull out a plant and plant something else during the seasons, you add a bit of mix. (I usually keep a small trash can of pre-mixed Mel’s Mix so this is quick and easy.)

Today was hard because the trash cans are getting empty, so I was kind of having to stand on my head to reach in and fill up the measuring bucket in each trash can. I also found a humongous ant hill that was in my way as I was going back and forth. I had to go back to the garage to get the EIGHT bug killer spray so I could hose them down before I got bitten or stung.  I decided after mixing and distributing the one double load, that was it for the day. I think I can do one more double load tomorrow, but then I’ll have to replenish supplies.

I just finished calling the Greenwood Co-Op, the wonderful outfit that provides my ingredients. Sometimes they have everything I need. This time they had to order some of it, so it should be ready for us to pick up Monday or Tuesday of next week. (After mixing up another double load tomorrow, it’ll probably take this old lady that long to rest up… :0)  )

When the planter boxes are all full of Mel’s Mix, my husband and I will replace the wooden strips, tying the hoses and sprinkler heads onto them. Then I’ll take some pics before we cover the planter boxes with tarps for the winter.

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September 30, 2020 · 10:36 am

Gorgeous Fall Day!

Cheezburger-“just-going-for-a-leaf-swim”

I’m still smiling from finding this!  I LOVE this cat!

It’s gorgeous, sunny, and 64 degrees F. here in Arkansas today.

I’m still patting myself on the head because I was able to figure out why our yard irrigation system was failing to come on. I don’t know what got it ‘wonky,’ but I was giving it a last-ditch-effort, having tried everything I could figure out to do on reprogramming the thing, and it FINALLY came on as it was supposed to. My husband was impressed. I just smiled – as if it were no big thing – but INSIDE I was jumping up and down. :0)

I will try to spend some time working on my garden boxes today.

Enjoy your day.

 

 

 

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September 29, 2020 · 12:00 pm

Thoughts on a Tuesday 9-29-2020

dogspotting-Bored Panda

Today is cool, sunny, and beautiful.

Today is a two-outing day for us.

We’re leaving in a couple of minutes to take out our trash in the truck, get our mail, then run errands. Later today I’ll go out again for a hair cut. Exciting life we lead!

Actually, I can use a BUNCH of ‘ordinary,’ ‘quiet,’ ‘normal,’ and ‘peaceful.’ All really beautiful words and much appreciated. I plan to do a bunch of relaxing between outings.

 

Last night we tried our first frozen dinner from Stu’s Clean Cookin’ in Greenwood. 1435 West Center St., Greenwood, AR 72936.  479.597.3242. the meal was “Chicken, Brown Rice, and BBQ Sauce.” The chicken was excellent. The rice, not so much for me. I got one mouthful of really HOT (to me – a real wuss) BBQ sauce. My husband loved the dinner and said it was one of his favorites since we’ve been eaten food from the two new places in Greenwood. He didn’t have anything hot. He said he could have easily eaten twice as much of the chicken – but that has been our problem – reasonable portions for a human. We were both satisfied, so that was good. I’ll make sure we order this again for my husband next time. Tonight we will try “Pork, Black Beans, Brown Rice and BBQ Sauce.” Their store was clean. There were two really friendly guys who greeted us, had our order ready, and we were out the door in under 3 minutes flat. Impressive. I also like the fact that they print the nutrition information on their website, on the packages, etc. so you know what you’re ordering and eating. I am feeling SUPER lucky that we have TWO new places that BOTH offer good, convenient frozen foods for us to plan our dieting around. :0)

I seem to be in an ‘advertising-frame-of-mind’ today.  I have awful hair – thin, fine, yucky. I’m lucky to have a wonderful hair stylist, Michael Remillard in Greenwood at Tangles, 40 Town Square, Greenwood AR 72936. 479-996-6636 who understands this. I’m going for a haircut today. He knows that my hair doesn’t do anything good on its own. The best thing I can do for it is keep it clean and go to Michael for good hair cuts. I wash it every morning and blow it dry. He cuts it so that it looks like there is a PLAN. Mine is very short now, kind of like a pixie cut. It’s easy to take care of.

I have found a shampoo that I REALLY like. It’s called “Herbal Essences Bio:renew, Blue Ginger & Micellar Water Refresh.” Quite a mouthful, isn’t it!  I like it because

  • it smells good
  • it makes a truly wonderful amount of lather
  • it rinses out really well, without my feeling I have any kind of residue

I looked for it at Walgreens today. They had Herbal Essences, but not this flavor. I just ordered it online. It comes in a nice twin-pack. :0)

I harvested these sweet little bitty tomatoes yesterday. This may be the last of the year. I’m continuing to work in my raised bed, square foot garden. I’ll show you pics when things get a bit farther along. The tomatoes come from two brick planters on the opposite side of our house from the garden. We converted them from regular planters, filling them up with Mel’s Mix. Even with the weird growing season we have had this year, we had a nice crop.

While we were out doing errands, we saw our plumber, Travis Hawkins. 479-461-8347. He helped us recently with a water pressure problem, and then with a follow-up problem with our master bedroom shower. He told us that when we called about the shower, he tried to get to us himself, but got covered up in work, so sent his co-worker, Josh. He said he MEANT to just stop by and not charge us. Since Josh DID, he said he ‘owed us a service call and won’t charge us for the call the next time he comes.’ To say we feel lucky to have found him is a HUGE understatement. He is a really first-class person.

I hope that your Tuesday is a fun one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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September 28, 2020 · 10:01 am

Beautiful COOL Fall Day

Giphy

A cold front came through overnight. Our temperature right now (9:45 a.m.) is 53!  The sun is shining and it’s beautiful outside. This is the first morning in a LONG time we haven’t opened our doors first thing when we come downstairs. It was actually TOO COOL to do that!  We’ll probably do it later as the day warms up, but it looks like summer is finally waving goodbye.

I got my six 4 foot x 4 foot raised bed, square foot planters weeded yesterday. I managed to harvest the remainder of the onions and finish the weeding without getting stung or bitten by the fire ants that had taken up residence in a couple of the planters. We live on about 8 acres. I have no clue why they would climb up the legs of the planters and live in my veggies, but it really has been a problem for me.

Today I’ll remove the broken wooden strips that support the irrigation hoses and sprinkler heads for the garden, plus I’ll string wire on the one box we forgot to prep this season. I’m not sure if I’ll start the process of mixing Mel’s mix for the boxes today or not.

Mel’s Mix is the wonderful soil alternative that allows me to have a garden at about my chest height so I don’t have to worry about the quality (or lack of) of my soil, and can have a garden where I can plant, weed, and harvest without having to bend over double or get up and down on my knees. Mel Bartholomew of Square Foot Gardening is the man who came up with the process. Mel’s Mix is a combination of vermiculite, peat moss, and as many different kinds of compost as you can find. It makes a really rich medium in which to grow plants.

I keep the ingredients in big trash cans along the back of our shop, just next to the garden. We got a used cement mixer that I use in preparation. I put the components in the proper ratio into the mixer, mix it for awhile, then dump it into a big plastic container and dump it into one of my planters over and over until the planters are all filled up.  Though a bit laborious, it works very well.

When this is all done, I have a tarp to put on each planter that I’ll secure with bungie cords. This should keep the growth of weeds down until I’m ready to plant in the spring.

I’m doing a bit on this each day Mother Nature is feeling cooperative. I’ll take pics of the garden prep soon.

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September 22, 2020 · 10:31 am

Thoughts on a Tuesday 9-22-2020

“The one red leaf, the last of its clan,
That dances as often as dance it can,
Hanging so light, and hanging so high,
On the topmost twig that looks up at the sky.”
~Samuel Taylor Coleridge

 

Evgeni Evgeniev-Unsplash

Fall is my favorite season.

I love it when I am a bit too cool and need to throw on a hoodie to be comfortable. I enjoy snuggling under my throw in my recliner and nodding off when I get sleepy. One of my favorite drinks is hot chocolate. A fire in the fireplace is a luxurious, comfort thing. The colors of the leaves lift my spirits.  I hope we get a good, long autumn this year!

Gardening Know How

I got SOME of the onions harvested yesterday before I pulled one and a gazillion ants swarmed out. Thankfully, I was armed with my new 2-gallon sprayer of Eight Bug Killer and hosed down the planter box again. It’s raining today (Tropical Storm Beta) but I’ll try it again when the weather is cooperative.

 

Depositphotos

I also managed to file (or throw away) the huge pile of paper sitting on the table beside my computer yesterday. Today I will tackle August bookkeeping. Hopefully, I can get that accomplished today – since September’s stuff will be staring me in the face soon.

 

“Caught Red-Pawed” – Audrius P. – Bored Panda

My husband and I enjoyed Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad for our dinner last night from REAL FOOD in Greenwood. It was truly YUMMY. We are so lucky it is so good and so convenient for us. I also lost a bit more weight! I looked at my records for South Beach and BistroMD, and I’m losing at the same – if slow – rate. If I live 100 more years, I’ll eventually reach my goal! :0)

Penn Fitness Warehouse

Another thing I love about the fall – I can use my elliptical trainer in our garage in a lot more comfort. My husband mounted a wall fan on the wall in front of it for the summer, but I still end up overheated when the temperatures and heat indices go nuts in the summer. I won’t say I look forward to going out there, but putting in the time is much more palatable now.  My yoga stretching in the afternoons is rounding out my exercise nicely.

I don’t have a big project for the day. We drove the trash down to the bottom of the driveway, and I have load #2 in the clothes washer. The dishwasher is running. I’ll go do the elliptical (hopefully doing 35 minutes) and then hit the bookkeeping. I live such an exciting life! :0)

I hope that things are good for you today.

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September 21, 2020 · 2:45 pm

Today’s Harvest 9-21-2020

Calendarpedia

“Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.” ~ George Eliot

On this, the first day of Autumn, I was able to harvest small little bitty tomatoes!

 

I don’t know if this is the last of them. There are some green tomatoes on the vines, but we’ve had that before and they never ripened. I keep threatening to remove the plants, but I just can’t when there is the possibility of more tomatoes!

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September 21, 2020 · 10:25 am

Thing One and Thing Two

THING ONE:

These are the same two elephant ear plants that my friend Laufrain gave me last year about this time. They wintered in our dining area and then I planted them in pots on the front porch. They hated it there, showing their displeasure by almost croaking!. I got the idea that they might like one of the planters we rebuilt along the front of the house. Here they get a lot more sun than they did on the front porch, plus a bit of protection from the gusty winds we get up here.

They seem to be delighted with this spot. I’m really happy. This is about the only thing that is doing really well in our yard right now, so it’s wonderful to be able to look at them.

THING TWO:

Mostly, my yard work this year has been cleaning up damage or cutting stuff down. I’ve used a LOT of KillsAll because the weeds are trying to take over. Here you see a place that will receive some attention quite soon, weather permitting. (This is supposed to be a bed of ROCKS….) Sigh. It’s on the list…

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September 19, 2020 · 12:21 pm

A Beautiful Day for Murdering Fire Ants

Orkin

I just hosed down our raised bed square foot garden with EIGHT, a wonderful spray that kills ants and other bugs, but is safe for our animals and plants. I will do it over and over again before finishing my harvest of our onions, since the minute I pull out a weed or onion, they swarm all over the place. :0(

The clean up of the garden will be a many-step-many-day enterprise.

  • I will harvest the onions first, armed with more EIGHT spray, if needed.
  • Then I’ll pull the dead plants and weeds.
  • I will mix a BUNCH of fresh Mel’s Mix and keep making and distributing more until all six planter boxes are full to the brim.
  • I will replace broken boards that hold the hoses and sprinklers, plus run wire criss-cross fashion to delineate square feet in one box that needs it.
  • Finally, I will cover each planter with a tarp, probably holding them with bungie cords.

Hopefully, this will result in nice, fresh, happy planter boxes without a lot of weed growth to welcome my spring efforts to get my garden planted.

My 2-gallon sprayer seems to be giving out, though, so we have it on Monday’s list to get a replacement at our local hardware store.

It’s a really lovely day to be murdering fire ants!. :0)

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September 10, 2020 · 10:34 am

Thoughts in the Rain on a Thursday 9-10-2020

“Singin’ in the Rain” – Pinterest

 

It’s very cloudy, 73 degrees F., and raining quietly here. We have our doors open so that we can ENJOY every minute of the rain and cooler temperatures!

I was unable to find any lettuce plants, so I won’t be planting in the brick planter near the house for the fall. :0(  We still have a few tomatoes, so I’ll just enjoy whatever we can harvest from that and the ‘nook’ planter as long as they are producing. Yesterday I got caught up pruning rose bushes, and then overgrown stuff from more planters, so I didn’t get out to murder the fire ants in the main garden. That will have to wait another day.

I DID get up and play a bit in my art room yesterday!  (I converted a bedroom to be my art room.)  It’s been forever, since other priorities have eaten up our days, so it was really nice to spend some time up there.

Thomas Merton – Healing with Art via Cathy Ruggiero

 

I decided I would make some bookmarks to sell at Rags & Roses, the wonderful local shop in Greenwood where I share a booth with my good friend, Carla.

I played with my Unicorn Spit paint that my sister-in-law, MaryLou, sent to me as a nice, ‘just-because’ gift I guess about a year ago now. I have SO enjoyed experimenting with what I can do with it, and have barely scratched the surface. I also used some rubber stamps. I let things dry overnight and will go up and spray the sealer on them next. When that is dry, I’ll do the finishing touches to make them into bookmarks!  I love choosing the ribbons, strings, beads, and stuff to add to them. :0)

 

“Caught Red-Pawed” – Audrius P. – Bored Panda

 

We have about a day and a half’s worth of BistroMD meals to finish. My husband and I got online last night and ordered some meals from the new local place in Greenwood called Real Food.  We can pick up our order Monday afternoon. In the meantime, my husband has asked me to make “Keto Chili,” Saturday, one of our favorite recipes from Suzanne Ryan, Simply Keto.

 

 

I’m truly delighted that I was finally able to find a place that the elephant ear plants my friend, Laufrain, gave me back in September last year would be happy. I wintered them over on the floor in our dining area by the window, and then put them out on the front porch when it was warm enough in the spring. They were very UNhappy there and almost croaked! I decided to TRY them in the planter we rebuilt along the front of the house, thinking they would get more sun, but would be more protected from wind here. As you can see, they are smiling!  (As you can also see, I will spray the ‘greenery’ in the rocks with KillsALL weed killer on the next dry day we have…)

Today I will work on the bookmarks. I’m not sure what area of the house I will attack on my decluttering project, but I’m leaning toward the shelves in our bathroom. We have a set over the toilet, and two floor-to-ceiling sets in the main part of the bathroom.

 

Amazon Handmade

I will also see if I can make any progress registering my shop on Amazon Handmade. We are still fighting over whether my Google Chrome is ‘acceptable’ or not at this point. I have upgraded to the newest version. My husband checked my computer and confirmed that. I’m still getting the screen that says I need to upgrade my browser to meet their requirements. ARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!

I hope you have a glorious Thursday.

 

 

 

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September 8, 2020 · 9:22 am

Happy Tuesday!

Reader’s Digest

We have several errands this morning, and more this afternoon, so I might not get ANYTHING else done today.

In about an hour, we’ll leave 4 leaf bags of trash at the bottom of our driveway for pickup. (I made my goal of finding 2 extra bags of things that SHOULD have been thrown away a long time ago. I’m hoping to continue this each week.) We will also get our mail.

We have been experiencing serial failures of our fluorescent light fixtures this year. We have changed out the ballast transformers on many of them. Now we are replacing the switches that control them.  We will pick up those at Yeagers. We will stop at our co-op to see if they have lettuce plants. (I’m hoping to pull out the spent tomato plants in the long brick planter by the house and put in lettuce plants.) Then we will stop and check the new Real Food store on the way home, hoping to find some frozen meals to buy and try.) Later, we’ll go back for my husband’s hair cut and a quick trip to the clinic for a shot for him.

I got lazy yesterday and didn’t do anything outside. This afternoon I’m planning to mix up EIGHT bug killer and will hose down my raised bed, square foot garden planters before I even THINK about trying to harvest the rest of our onions. I am finally healed up from the attack of the fire ants that I discovered living among my onions, so I’m ready to wage war. If I’m successful on getting the lettuce plants, I’ll take some pics for you.

I finally got an email from Amazon Handmade, confirming that I have been accepted to list my work there, and giving me some directions on how to get to a place I can register. When I have a calm space of time, I’ll try to follow them. Fingers crossed!

I hope you had an enjoyable Labor Day and that you make today a great day, too.

 

 

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September 7, 2020 · 9:57 am

Happy Labor Day 2020

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“Labor Day 2020 will occur on Monday, September 7. Labor Day pays tribute to the contributions and achievements of American workers and is traditionally observed on the first Monday in September. It was created by the labor movement in the late 19th century and became a federal holiday in 1894.” ~ http://www.history.com

In 1918, my dad was born on Labor Day, September 6th that year. He always said he thought it was ‘appropriate.’ :0)

This Labor Day is a bit sad because so many good people are still out of work due to the pandemic. In addition, we have people who have lost homes, businesses, and jobs due to Mother Nature and the hurricanes and flooding. Hopefully, all this will improve soon. It seems we have already started, though more rapidly would, of course, be better.

We continue to eat our way through our BistroMD eating plan. Last night we both ate a chicken, rice and cheddar casserole with broccoli. It was the best thing we’ve had so far, but neither of us was impressed. We have to accept an order for next week, but we have cancelled the program.

Our yard is looking pretty good now! (for us).  My husband got the grass mowed a couple of days ago. The day before yesterday I weed whacked what he couldn’t mow, and yesterday I used the leaf blower to clean up. One would actually think we might be civilized around here!  Today I will mix up 2 gallons of EIGHT bug killer and hose down the garden before I try to harvest the rest of the onions. I’ll also spray the trio of brick planters between our driveway area and our yard in preparation for weeding and pruning things there. I do NOT want to get stung/bitten by ants again!

I’m also thinking of checking the co-op in town to see if they have lettuce plants. If they do, I’ll take the tomato plants down in the planter close to the house and plant lettuce there. One year we were lucky, having fresh lettuce into early February!

I will call to find out if the new place in Greenwood called Real Food is open today. I interested in seeing the place, plus possible getting a couple of frozen dinners to try.

I hope that you make this a happy day.

 

 

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August 31, 2020 · 12:02 pm

Thoughts on a Monday – 8-31-2020

Good Housekeeping

After I cleaned up the kitchen last night, my husband came in, wanting to talk about our continuing efforts to lose weight. He had noticed that I was in the kitchen a long time yesterday and strongly urged me to consider signing up with another prepared meals plan. We got online and found BistroMD. Their food looked good, and the website was well-designed, so we signed up.

I thought we could use my email address on both accounts, with different passwords, since my husband is terrible about telling me about emails he receives. That assumption was not the case, and the customer service portion of the site wasn’t available late last night. We got confirmation of our orders, showing they had seen my efforts to sign up for another account and included that with the order for my husband.

I called them this morning. Customer Service there is wonderful. The agent is changing the email address associated with the order for my husband, and then is creating an account using my email address for me. She will send me an email as soon as it is done so that I can sign in and change some of the choices for our first week. I’m VERY impressed with the food choices, the website, and customer service so far. This is a week-to-week thing. We can cancel at any time. I’m hopeful that this will be a great help to us in our efforts to get the lard off.  :0)

I started harvesting onions late yesterday afternoon. As I pulled up an onion, ants spewed up out of the hole left by the onion, charging mainly up my left arm. I brushed as many of them off as I could, but some of them bit/stung me. I have now taken my Benedryl allergy pills 3 times and spread ointment all over the welts, particularly on my left arm. I am puffed up in several areas and my skin is warm, but no exciting reactions. Just really annoying. :0(

We got a lot of lightning, thunder, and rain overnight. No damage, though, thank goodness. We need to go to Fort Smith this afternoon, so I’m hoping we don’t run into street flooding.

Have a happy day everyone.

 

 

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