The tall plant on the left of the picture is lettuce that has bolted. I still managed to harvest some lettuce, but pulled this plant, and others out because the leaves will be bitter. The combination of the suddenly much warmer weather and all the rain we have had lately brought my lettuce harvesting to an end.
My poor spinach plants will do the same kind of thing soon, since they are an early spring plant. I’m going to harvest from the remaining plants as long as I can because the spinach can be frozen.
These yellow crookneck squash are cute, aren’t they. I don’t know what I’m doing here, but I’m having fun watching the sweet little things grow.
I had to pull the other two cabbage plants, and I still need to do a lot of weeding to get the garden in reasonable shape. I didn’t take pics of the tomato plants but they have little bitty green tomatoes and lots of yellow blossoms on them. I’m really hoping we have a good tomato harvest this year. Ripe sliced tomatoes are one of our favorite things.
WEATHER – It’s a good thing I’m not water-soluble, or I would have sogged down into a puddle by now with all the rain we have had. We just returned from putting our trash out for pickup and running errands. I wore a hoodie, since my husband has no patience for me trying to use an umbrella. I just throw my hood up to stay as dry as possible.
YARD WORK – I pruned our rose bushes and weeded a bit yesterday. Some unfriendly bug bit me on the back of my hand. It swelled up and itched like crazy. I finally got the itching to stop and the swelling should be down by tomorrow.
I was watching for ants, since I react badly to their stings/bites, but whatever bit me snuck up and did it before I was aware. I am going to try to harvest more lettuce, since my plants are starting to bolt, but it will have to wait until the rain stops.
EMAIL HACK – I seem to be over the worst of the repercussions from my email being hacked. I spent the entire day yesterday, except for the time pruning the roses, contacting as many friends and family as possible, giving them my new address, plus getting on our important websites and changing email, user name and password. What a hassle! I did get to talk to people I would LIKE to talk to more often, so that was a really good thing. If I finally reach a real person at Google, I will try to enlist their help in finding out who is responsible for the hack.
GENERATOR – Just as your car will never act up or make the noise you’ve been hearing when you take it to the shop, our generator came on just fine when the tech came out to help us figure out why it didn’t do its weekly test and or continue to run when we started it manually. He looked it over carefully. It started right up and continued until he turned it off. We told him the ‘overcrank’ light was on when we went out to look. My husband suspected the carburetor, but the tech was looking more at the fuel regulator, whatever that is. He said he would check his manual for ‘old’ generators to see if he could be of more help if we need to call him again. Meanwhile, $131.50 later, the generator IS working…
WEIGHT LOSS – My newest motivation to lose the lard seems to be working – at least, so far. Last Monday we had our routine doctor appointment with blood tests. We were doing fine (for old people) and the doc said we didn’t have to come back for 6 months, rather than the 3 months we have been doing. I decided that I wanted to try to finally lose a significant amount of my poundage by the time we go back in November. Since Monday I have lost 4.6 pounds. I’m trying to keep my focus on trying to really watch my portions, try not to eat in-between meals, or if I do, eat a really careful snack. I’m trying to move more, and pick up my afternoon yoga stretches again.
So far, my yoga efforts have been a dismal failure. Usually, I’m out in the yard when I WAS doing yoga. I’m telling myself that if I’m up and moving, that’s good, but I know it’s not a substitute for the good stretching I do with my practice. I’m going to rethink WHEN I’m trying to do my practice so that I can work in the yard AND do my yoga stretches on a daily basis.
ART ROOM – I’m still trying to overcome my stupid fear of failure regarding trying a new art technique. I’m really fascinated watching people demonstrate ‘acrylic pours’ and then ‘pours with crackle gel.’ They are getting wonderful abstract colorful work with gorgeous texture and cracks highlighted with gold. I’m going to keep making careful notes as I watch (and drool) and see if I can get started on it in my art room this week.
I hope that you are having a fabulous day, enjoying the weather where you are, if possible, or if cooped up inside like me, changing over to something fun INSIDE.
Here is today’s leaf lettuce. I will have to harvest as much as I can in the next few days. The too-much-rain has made my garden a mess. My lettuce is bolting (long, tall towers of lettuce that have bitter leaves. I have a lot of pests I don’t normally have.
I will see how much I can salvage before the next rains start and pull up the rest. This has been a spring for the record books.
Today I have harvested these two cabbages, a head of lettuce that was trying to spoil, and the yellow crookneck squash here. I have lettuce leaves in the sink awaiting processing.
The rain has caused a LOT of my lettuce to bolt, making the plants shoot up tall and taste bitter. I filled my veggie basket, and will go out and see what else should be harvested. I’m going to have to pull the bolted lettuce out. I also have little bitty worms all of a sudden. I’ll need to use some Eight on them. I’m so glad I found a spray that is safe for plants, people, and animals, but kills the bugs.
I will make several trips out to the garden today, salvaging what I can. I’ll share some pictures when things are as much under control as possible.
We will leave for Lunch Bunch in about an hour. It looks like we may need a boat if this keeps up.
I would like to harvest more lettuce, but Mother Nature has been playing with us over the last week or so, starting the rain up every time I get ready to go outside, almost like a faucet, waiting until I am out there, and then dumping on me. I can imagine her laughing at me. :0)
Other than squeegeeing, mopping, and toweling off the porch floor over and over, I’ve been playing in my art room. I’m trying to eventually try an ‘acrylic pour,’ but I’m a bit intimidated, so I’m trying one new technique at a time, building up to it. I put the second coat of a stuff called, “crackle medium” on the background of a painting on which I used Unicorn Spit paint. So far, nothing is ‘crackling.’ I’ll continue to experiment, having lots of fun, until something good starts to happen. :0)
I think I already told you that I am newly motivated to get the lard off. We had a routine doctor appointment Monday. We were doing so well that she said we could wait 6 months to come back, rather than the usual three. I’m now trying to lose a significant amount of my lard before we see her again in November. This week has been a good start for me.
I hope the weather is good where you are and that you can make this a wonderful day.
I just got back from my massage. I really didn’t care that today is rainy because I always feel SO much better after my wonderful massage therapist, Lynn Moody, 479-629-7601, finishes with me. Ahhhhhhh!
My main exercise since the 17th has been a series of squeegeeing, mopping, then toweling the porch floor each time the rain stops. The wind makes the rain come in and then the water sits there. I’m trying to lessen the damage as much as I can by taking care of the water as soon as possible between deluges and storms. We’re supposed to have two more days of this, and then MAYBE a 3-day-respite before the rains come back. I don’t remember our having quite this much rain before.
I will also try to harvest some lettuce if the rain will allow. We’ve been enjoying a combination of head lettuce, spinach, and buttercrunch lettuce from our garden with our dinners. :0)
I have on my to-do list today a return to my afternoon yoga practice. I’ve been so busy the last few weeks it got lost in the shuffle and my body is noticing. Hopefully, I can get in a nice session of stretching to finish off the good Lynn did with my massage this morning.
Also on the list is playing in my art room. I’ve been watching some demonstrations of acrylic pour art, plus another technique you can do with pieces of the pours that are left over. I’m a bit intimidated, to be honest, but my mouth waters as I watch what the artists are doing.
I’m trying SOME of the techniques, easing into this slowly. I’ve started a piece with my Unicorn Spit paint. I just put a coat of varnish on what I did yesterday. When that dries, I plan to paint some flowers, and then use the crackle paint on the background. Finally, I will use some metallic paint to highlight the cracks. Fingers crossed that it turns out SOMETHING like what my brain is picturing. :0) It’s such FUN to play with the colors!
Good morning. I’m not feeling very energetic this morning. No problems, really – my get-up-and-go just got-up-and-went. :0)
I harvested a lot of spinach yesterday. I still had some in the fridge, too. After watching a YouTube video on storing fresh spinach, I’ll take mine out of the gallon bags. The guy recommends using plastic containers and paper towels. I’ll store some that way for salads. I’ll chop up the rest and freeze it.
It hasn’t started to rain yet, but it’s supposed to today. In fact, it’s supposed to rain all week. I’m actually looking forward to it because I won’t have to feel guilty that I’m not out in the yard working. :0) I really want to start playing with the new art stuff I received last week.
I have materials to try an ‘acrylic pour.’ The Internet defines this as, “Acrylic Paint Pouring is a fluid painting technique used to create art by pouring acrylic paint onto a canvas. … The Acrylic Pouring technique allows artists to apply colour in puddles, pools and marble-like patterns. Pouring results in a smooth, glossy paint film that is perfectly even and blemish free.”
A lady did a beautiful demonstration of using some leftover “pours” that she did on a piece of plastic, transferring that to a piece of wood. She used a material called, “crackle gel” to add texture, and then rolled on gold paint to highlight that texture. The resulting piece looked like this –
Mii’s Paintings
This makes me drool, and itch to play. So Mother Nature, please bring on the rain so I can give myself permission to play in my art room! :0)
I hope that you are safe and happy this Monday morning. Have fun with your day!
I may have mentioned (griped) that, starting about 6pm this evening, we’re supposed to get rain every day through the 27th! So Thing Two on my list today was to harvest some of our veggies from the garden.
The garden has gone nuts. I filled my basket with spinach, then went back and harvested lettuce. By the time I got everything washed and stored, I was too tired to go back and harvest more.
The thing I’m MOST pleased with is that I grew an actual head of lettuce. Just like one you can buy in the grocery store.
Today’s lettuce harvestToday’s Spinach Harvest
It’s about 4pm here now. I’m going to get a cup of coffee and enjoy my book for awhile, now that I have finsiehd Thing One and Thing Two. :0) I hope your Sunday has been a good one.
The predicted rains haven’t started yet, so I will try to harvest some veggies today. I’ll post some pics after I wash and bag them. Happy to live on top of a ridge line right now. We may need a boat by the end of this…
KFSM – TV5 Fort Smith AR“Dancing Dragonflies” Hand-Painted Tote Bag
I sold this tote on Amazon Handmade last night. The image doesn’t show how sparkly it is. It will go in the mail tomorrow. :0)
TopSail Beach NC
My SIL and some friends are renting a house on the beach for a week for lots of peace and relaxation. She took this photo this morning, pre-sunrise. I am so happy she can get away and soak this up! And WE can enjoy her vacation vicariously!!! :0)
Yesterday the postman delivered a big box with the things I ordered to try a couple of techniques new to me – acrylic pours and crackle paint. Here is the link to a YouTube demonstration if you’d like to watch
Raised bed square foot garden May 13thThis is cabbage. I’ve never tried to grow this before and I’m like a kid at Christmas. The center portion is where the head of cabbage is forming. I’m going to find as much information as I can. It’s FUN!One kind of lettuce.2nd kind of lettuceCan you see the cute yellow crookneck squash?I have blossoms on the tomato plants, although none show in this picture.
The forecast is for thunderstorms EVERY DAY between the 17th and the 27th. I’m going to try to get a nice harvest in, either today or tomorrow, before all the rain starts.
This morning my husband and I ate breakfast at one of our favorite restaurants in Greenwood, The Dari. We did this (1) to celebrate a stellar report from the dental hygienist for both of us, and (2) we always have breakfast out when we have to get blood tests at the clinic for a doctor appointment.
So my diet is pretty much blown for the day. We are having a portion controlled frozen dinner of tortilla crusted fish this evening, so maybe that will make up for the truly delicious, rare breakfast with all the fixings. I have to say that my emotions are like a yo-yo lately. I go from being really serious and sticking to my diet, to thinking I’m getting older and the world seems to be going to Hell in a hand basket so I might as well enjoy one of my last meals. Until I can get my ‘yo-yo-ness’ under control, I foresee very slow, if any, weight loss for me. :0(
I’m trying to get into the mood to get and plant some flowers in our deck planters. We will probably go to the local nursery tomorrow after Lunch Bunch to see if we can find some wave petunias and periwinkles. We’ve checked a couple of other places, but can’t find them. I hope our luck is better at the nursery.
We are about to start more monsoon weather. It’s a lovely, sunny day today, and we’re supposed to have another nice day tomorrow. I couldn’t believe the weather website, though. Starting Saturday, we’re supposed to have rain EVERY day from then, through the following Saturday, AND through the following Thursday. (Saturday, the 17th through Thursday, May 27th.) REALLY. I need to get out tomorrow and harvest more veggies.
I’m finding it hard to grasp that we’re already into May, and a third of it is gone!
Arkansas is having a ‘monsoon’ season this year. I’m growing some veggies in a raised bed square foot garden and they are loving this weather. It’s been cool and wet. For example it’s overcast, looking like it could rain any second, and is only 49 degrees right now. Friday I was able to share some spinach and lettuce with good friends. I’m planning to do my third harvest of the season today, if the weather will cooperate.
lettucespinach
Yesterday, after over a year of absence, I started accounts on Facebook and LinkedIn again. My accounts had been hacked and I couldn’t change my passwords or get any help from support at either place, so I gave up and closed my accounts. I missed some of the people I had met, so yesterday I created a new email address so I could sign up again. I have no idea of anyone remembers me anymore or will connect with me again, but I figure it’s worth a try.
My latest project – after putting the house back together after new carpet and porch flooring – is to switch my winter clothes for summer ones. Funny timing, since we may be setting a record for the coolest May we’ve had since I’ve lived here, but I’m in the middle of it now. I have the actual clothes switched. Now I’m trying to get things organized, plus I’ve promised myself I will try things on, going through for things I can donate.
We are continuing to enjoy getting healthy, individual portion meals from Real Food and from Stu’s Clean Cookin’, both of which have opened in the past year in Greenwood.
Calvin & Hobbes Mailbox Decoration
We haven’t been putting up mailbox decorations for awhile, due to the chaos in the world. We finally put up my favorite recently. I think we can all use a hug.
I hope that you are having a good start of a new week, too.
Today’s spinach harvest is the best I have ever had. I am really amazed hat how large and healthy the leaves are! Some of the leaves are 8 inches long!
This is a small head of lettuce. frilly lettuceButter Crunch Lettuce
I could have harvested a lot more today. I’m HOPING that the storm tonight doesn’t batter my sweet plants. I have a gallon bag of spinach and a gallon bag of lettuce that we’ll give to our hairdresser when my husband gets a haircut tomorrow. Meanwhile, we will have a huge chef salad for dinner tonight. :0)
I’m waiting for my coffee to kick in. It’s overcast and rainy-looking. Severe storms are forecast for this evening, so I’ll need to get out to my garden and do a second harvest in case we get the hail they say we might.
I’m also going to try to finish getting things put back where they belong after our new carpet and flooring project. Even though I’m sleepy, I’m smiling every time I see the carpet and walk on it. It’s nice. And new, And clean. I also love the way the porch floor looks like weathered wood. I have my side of our entertainment center in the living room to straighten out and then things will be done. Hooray!
The garden was looking strong and healthy the last time I checked. I’ll try to share some pictures with you. I have all appendages crossed the the storms this evening won’t break the plants. One year we had bad hail that battered things so much I had to cut everything WAY back. Then the weather turned really warm and the early spring plants gave up the ghost.
If you’re feeling sleepy too, I hope we can both wake up and enjoy the day.
Our new carpet and porch vinyl installation was finished up by Friday mid afternoon. Aside from walking around smiling, we’ve been trying to get things put back where they belong. We had to empty out all the furniture, filing cabinets, etc. to do the install, and all that STUFF had to go SOMEWHERE. That ended up being EVERYWHERE – living room entertainment shelves, dining area floor, garage, my art room and the guest room upstairs, etc.
Friday I concentrated on making sure that we could make our way around the house without falling over anything – clear paths, places to sit down, place to eat, etc. My husband very kindly got my computer working again so I could work on getting over my computer withdrawal. :0) I also brought the drawers to my desk down from the guest room upstairs. There are 15 drawers in my old style roll top desk, so I made a lot of trips up and down stairs – good exercise, but a bit hard on this old woman.
Yesterday we moved all the files back into the office. We have two 4-drawers file cabinets and one 2-drawer cabinet. We got most of them back in. I’m working on one drawer today that was filled with OTHER STUFF – trying to go through it and get it better organized, and give away or throw away things.
Today I’m also concentrating on getting our supplies shelves fixed. Right now, the entertainment shelves in the living room are jam-packed with things from the office. I’m going to try to go slowly here, again trying to get rid of some things, but mainly to organize them so that my husband can find things. He has a harder time as the years pass, so I’m trying to look through things with an eye to where would be the easiest, most straight-forward place to store whatever supply it is – pens, rubber bands, tape, staples, etc. so he can walk up to the shelves and pick it out right away – or at least, that’s the plan. I’ll take my time.
We’re supposed to get rain today with more tomorrow, so yesterday I also took the time to check on my garden a bit. I planted some elephant ear bulbs I received in the mail. I may harvest a bit from the veggie garden this afternoon in case the weather people are correct. That will give me some good breaks from the reorganization of the office.
And today we welcome Mal, Humphrey the emu, and May, 2021.
The fact that all of these gorgeous Australian firefighters are young enough to be my sons doesn’t diminish my ability to appreciate the ‘view’ in the least as I help them in their fund-raising efforts by buying their calendars each year. :0)
I hope that things will get better and better as we start a new month.
I just walked out to my raised bed, square foot garden to see if the recent storms pounded my sweet veggies into the ground. (We had bad storms particularly Wednesday evening with high winds, lots of close lightning that had me cringing at times with the loud bangs, and some hail. Thankfully, all seems to have come through fine. Pictures to follow, and I will do my second harvest.
So far, so good on my garden veggies. We are due for rain this evening-into THURSDAY, with some possibly severe, so fingers are crossed again.
This is the whole garden, except for the two brick planters of tomato plants on the other side of the house and yard.
As you can see here, the zucchini and yellow crookneck squash didn’t like the recent freezes. I’m hoping that the main plants are healthy and that they will put on more leaves now that we have supposedly passed the danger of freezes and frosts.
The spinach is happy.
Buttercrunch LettuceThis is cabbage. I’ve never grown it before so I have no clue what I’m doing. I’m like a little kid watching a magic show. Nook TomatoesAs you can see, these tomatoes need to be weeded.
All appendages are crossed that all my sweet veggies make it through until Thursday afternoon, when the rains are supposed to be over for a bit.
I’ve been covering my veggie plants and tomato planters with sheets for 4 nights now, and so far, things seem to have come through the freezes all right. The Zucchini has had the most reaction. I’ve had to cut off several leaves from the plants. They blackened with the frosts and freezes. There is enough left of the plants that still looks good I think they will make it.
According to the weather website we are now past the freezes. This is really unusual here. Usually, our last frosts are April 5th, and that is even pretty late since I have been trying to grow things. We are supposed to get rain tonight and all day tomorrow.
I have the sheets spread out on the fencing around the garden, trying to dry it out during the day today so I can bag them up and put them away.
I HOPING that things will get back to normal for gardening soon.
Although the veggies seem to be doing all right, my elephant ear bulbs did not make it over wintered in the garage. I have finally given up on them and ordered more bulbs. I am hoping those will arrive soon so that I can get them into the ground.
I gathered my first harvest of the year recently, and we enjoyed a main meal salad last night, featuring our own spinach and lettuce! It’s been quite awhile since we were able to do that. I loved it!
Today is sunshine-y and pretty, but it’s still only 37 degrees outside now. This is the third night I’ve had to cover my veggie plants, hoping they won’t freeze in the uncharacteristically cold weather we’ve been having. I think after tonight, this cold wave will be finished and we can get back to normal. So far, so good. Fingers – and all other appendages – including my eyes – are crossed.
I finally gave up on my elephant ear bulbs that I tried to winter over in peat moss in my garage. They aren’t showing anything good. I have ordered some bulbs and will plant them as soon as they arrive. I’m sad to lose the ones I received from my friend, Laufrain.
My husband and I went searching for new carpet and flooring yesterday. We compromised on some new carpet and I got my choice of flooring for the porch. The man is coming today to measure and give us a final cost. My husband told the lady we got the carpet and flooring from them in 2012, but it turns out that we got our kitchen tiles in 2012. We got the carpeting and porch floor in 2008, so it’s a good time to get new.
I sold a hand painted tote bag on Amazon Handmade overnight, so I’m heading out in just a minute to get our mail and then drive to the post office to mail the tote. It really makes my day when someone likes what I’ve created enough to buy it for themselves or as a gift for someone else. :0)
I got some things accomplished over the weekend that make me feel like I’m starting the coming week well.
I caught up on the filing and bookkeeping that had been piling up for quite awhile. I gathered the things I brought home from the booth my friend and I were renting in a local shop. I’m not ready to go through them right now, but at least I’m not in danger of falling over them on my way to and from the computer.
Our credit card was frauded and we had to cancel the one we had and start over with a new one. We had to contact a bunch of places to get things updated. I’ll finish the list today with some phone calls.
I discovered the local weather people were warning of a frost and freezes the coming three days. I got my plants covered last night. They came through just fine. I’ll cover them again tonight and tomorrow night. I enjoyed gathering my first harvest of spinach and lettuce yesterday! :0)
I will start hanging things up on the porch today. We have decided to start researching putting a new floor cover out there, since the project to replace the ceiling, seal off where the squirrels were getting in, and hanging a new shutter are finished. As an added project, I paid the guys to repaint the rest of the woodwork out there, so things look fresh and clean. Ahhhh!
At the same time we replace the porch floor covering, we’re going to research replacing the carpeting in our living room, foyer and office. It’s beyond being able to look better with cleaning. Our records show we have had it since 2009.
Our list of things to repair or replace is getting a bit shorter, so it feels good.
As you can see, the plants in my veggie garden are happy at the moment!
I celebrated our first harvest of 2021 this afternoon.
I am about to go cover up the veggie planters because the weather people are forecasting a possible frost tonight! I find it hard to believe, but I’ll sure take the time to go cover things up.
I will get out tomorrow and do some weeding – particularly in one of the tomato planters, plus do some fertilizing. I will also mix and spray more weed killer, starting under the planters in the garden.
Here is today’s harvest of leaf lettuce. I actually have three kinds this year – head lettuce, a kind of frilly leaf lettuce I haven’t harvested yet, and Butter Crunch lettuce. I had enough to fill 3 one-gallon storage bags.
Here is the harvest of spinach today. Again, I had enough to fill 3 one-gallon storage bags. This is the best lucky I’ve had with spinach ever.
We will have a nice, fresh salad tonight to go with our leftover hamburger patties and macaroni and cheese.
A. A. Milne – E.H. Shepard – Winnie the Pooh – DreamsQuote
Last night I gave into our desire for comfort food, since our weather has been gray, cool, and rainy lately and made hamburger patties and macaroni and cheese. It hit just the right note with my husband, and he declared the meal ‘delicious’ several times.
Mostly we are trying to watch what we eat in an effort to lose our lard, get as healthy as we can, and be able to continue doing most of what we would like to do. We have found two places locally who are offering REAL FOOD and STU’S CLEAN COOKIN’ – individual frozen dinners with few ingredients – all of which you can pronounce and understand – with measured portions that are GOOD for us. We feel as it we have found a treasure trove.
Particularly when the weather is good, I like to spend a lot of time outside – working in our veggie garden, gathering harvests of lettuce, spinach, radishes, yellow squash, zucchini, broccoli, onions, and tomatoes each time I can for us to enjoy right from the garden. Much of the time I am helping with the lawn or weeding my flower beds, so it’s nice to have veggies from the garden and a good-for-us delicious dinner that only has to be nuked to be ready to eat.
As soon as I finish here, I’m planning to go out and take pics to share with you, hopefully harvest my first gathering of veggies, plus get things ready to cover the plants for some possible freezes this week.
I hope that you are well and happy this morning, and that your Sunday is a nice one.
Yesterday I had a glorious massage after SEVERAL days of mixing and spraying 2-gallon containers of weed killer, and then switching to 6 hours of using the power washer a couple of days ago, cleaning outdoor furniture, our deck, and the back sidewalk. My body was really anticipating the miracle that is Lynn Moody, my massage therapist. 479-629-7601. I spent the rest of the day reading, resting, and sleeping. AHHHHHH! I capped it off by getting a good night’s sleep last night.
Not even the fact that today is supposed to be very rainy can dampen my spirits.
We’ll go to Lunch Bunch in about an hour, catch up with our friends while enjoying chicken fingers, and then hit the local grocery store for supplies before coming back home.
Weather permitting, I’m hoping to gather the first harvest of the season from my veggie garden! My mouth is watering for a salad made with lettuce and spinach from our own garden.
I hope that you are safe and well. Enjoy your Friday.
Today is a gorgeous day in Arkansas. The sun is shining and it’s 55 degrees outside right now. It may make it to 80 this afternoon! Since I finally finished the main part of the weed whacking around the yard in the past few days, I’m planning to use my two-gallon sprayer to spray KillzAll all around the yard and planter edges, under the deck, and under my garden planters today to see if I can get a leg up on the weeds around here. I will probably do the spraying in several trips so that hopefully my back doesn’t yell TOO loudly afterwards. :0)
Tomorrow at least one of the guys in the crew that has been replacing our porch ceiling and doing a couple more handyman jobs – SAFE ELITE TRANSFORMATIONS– CLIFF HARDEN – 479-849-0520 – will be here all day to paint the porch. Things started with them just doing the new ceiling, but then we expanded that to include painting the rest of the woodwork on the porch. That will allow ME to concentrate on using the power washer to clean up the outdoor chairs, and then continue on to include the front porch, sidewalks, driveway pad, and the deck. This is a big project and will take me several days, if not a week, to finish. (with cooperation of the weather)
There is a lot to paint, so I’m assuming it will take most of the day. Then two fluorescent light fixtures and a ceiling fan need to be put back up, and then a lot of clean up. This may take through Tuesday.
Right now the deck is piled high with ‘stuff’ from the porch. I have promised myself to get ruthless about what goes back on the porch. Using my new ‘LESS IS MORE’ philosophy combined with Marie Kondo’s idea of only keeping things you really need or give you joy, I’m planning to donate a lot of things and throw away others, consolidating what is left. I’ll post pics when the porch is back together.
I hope that your Sunday is shaping up to be a fine day, too.
We had quite a storm last night – heavy rain, gusty winds, hail, flying hairballs…. I went out this morning to see what havoc had occurred.
Two of my three new azaleas were pretty battered, but I’m hoping they will perk up once they get a chance to catch their collective breaths.
My garden plants seem to have come through fine. As you can see, one of the next jobs will be to spray weed killer under the planters.As you can see, I need to pull off yellow leaves and weed this tomato planter. The ‘nook’ tomato planter is looking pretty good..
I’m feeling very lucky that the hail storm didn’t decimate my garden, as they did one year in the recent past. I’m trying to ‘hold my mouth right’ so the good luck continues. :0)
Things are looking very happy right now. We are under a possibly severe storms warning most of the day, so I’m HOPING that the storms are just rain and wind, rather than hail.
We are having a beautiful day today. It’s hard to believe that we are due for possibly severe storms overnight into tomorrow, with gusty winds and hail (and flying hair balls) much of the day tomorrow. I’m hoping that the whole thing will bypass us.
My guys are due tomorrow to finish painting our new porch ceiling. They will also paint the rest of the woodwork on the porch, so it will seem like a whole new porch when it’s finished! They have already installed a new shutter to replace the one that fell off the front of the house and sealed the area of the roof soffit where the squirrels were getting in. Clifford Harden is very reliable. He either comes when he says he will or calls to let us know what is happening, so we’re not left hanging. He, his brothers, and other workers in the group they call Safe Elite Transformations have a passion for excellence. You can reach them through Home Advisor, or directly at 479-849-0520.
If Mother Nature cooperates with us, by the end of the day tomorrow we should have a nice-looking new porch ceiling!
Since our weather is so nice today, I’m planning to transplant the celery I’ve started in the kitchen to the main garden. I’ll take some pics so show you later. Things are happy in the garden so far. I’m also planning to finish weed whacking in the back and then hopefully spray some KillzAll to discourage the weeds from popping right back up. My goal is to have less and less to weed whack each time throughout the season.
I’m still trying to go through the things I brought home from the booth I shared with my friend Carla at Rags & Roses in Greenwood. It is a really nice shop, and the owner, Joanna Brandt, is a peach. Our sales were super slow, though, so we decided that it was best we try other venues. I am going through things, trying to decide which I should list on my Amazon Handmade page. I’m taking my time, so my office looks like of like an explosion occurred. :0)
A. A. Milne – E.H. Shepard – Winnie the Pooh – DreamsQuoteTulip TreeAmber and Purple IrisNew Azalea BushesAzalea bush close-up
There is always more to do in the yard or in the garden, and this is my favorite time of the year. Lots of sunshine, hope, new life, beautiful blooms, the promise of healthy veggies…
I went out to check on the garden and everything seems to be doing all right.
I’m trying to grow spinach, leaf lettuce, head lettuce, yellow squash, zucchini, broccoli, red onions, radishes and celery in the main garden.
This is what I call the “nook” planter. It’s in a nook between the back of the house and the back porch. It is shielded from the wind and rain a bit better than the other, longer planter.
This is the longer planter. Things are not growing really fast yet because of the cool nights, but things are looking healthy.
Although the plants are a bit waterlogged from last night’s rains, all seems to be looking good. I still need to make markers for the plants, and we need to put the new sprinklers in when they are delivered; but otherwise, the spring garden is in. Whenever I feel down, all I need to do is walk out to the garden and my spirits lift.
“It was such a pleasure to sink one’s hands into the warm earth, to feel at one’s fingertips the possibilities of the new season.” ~ Kate Morton
“I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden.” ~ Ruth Stout
“There can be no other occupation like gardening in which, if you were to creep up behind someone at their work, you would find them smiling.” ~Mirabel Osler
“In every gardener there is a child who believes in The Seed Fairy.” ~Robert Brault
“Gardening is about enjoying the smell of things growing in the soil, getting dirty without feeling guilty, and generally taking the time to soak up a little peace and serenity.” ~Lindley Karstens
“You can bury a lot of troubles digging in the dirt.” ~Author Unknown
“One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides”. ~W.E. Johns
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