BATHROOM SHOWER CURTAIN, DECORATING INSPIRATION

Here is the shower curtain we got for the bathroom.  It just came in the mail the other day (bought it online).  We liked the colors, because the yellow is a recurring theme in the house, and the gray is a nice accent color we hadn't thought of.  We will be able to pull from it when decorating the bathroom.  I'm seeing yellow and gray towels, rugs and accessories.  The white is a slightly "off white" when you see it in person, and that fits in as well.  Heck, the pattern is even reminiscent of the pattern on the master bedroom comforter so that's a nice bonus.  This is one of the rooms that we weren't sure what direction to go as far as decorating so hopefully this will let us move forward.  Of course, we still need a water heater, but that's another post...

AIR CONDITIONING BUT WITH A GLITCH

Sears Kenmore 15,100 BTU Window Unit

Yay, we have cold air, but, alas, with an asterisk.

We bought two of them Friday night after work.  Since they were on sale at a great price, and were the largest BTU's you can get for 110V electrical, the timing was just perfect.  We got them loaded into the Jeep, took them out there, and carried the heavy monsters into the house.  The instructions, as I feared, left a little to be desired, but after about 2 1/2 hours, we had the first one in and turned on.  Wonderful cold air blowing into the room and it started cooling down the house, at least the front part of the house.

So we decided to go ahead and unpack and install the second one too.  Actually, 2nd Man voted for waiting until next weekend, but I said let's just do it, while we don't want to do it and get it over with.  You know, like when you just rip off a band aid.  So we did.  Second one only took about 30 minutes start to finish!  No, we are not available for hire, haha.  We turned it on as well, and there was even more cold air blowing.  It started cooling the back half of the house, and was awesome.  First time in years the house had been that cool,
well, on a 90+ degree day of course.
So we were enjoying it...until....

Blackout

With both of them turned on and running at the same time, they tripped the circuit breakers and everything went dark and quiet (not mention, warm).  I did some checking and it looks like the two outlets, even though they are in different rooms, are on the same circuit.  Unfortunately, we can't move them to different windows and the cord is only long enough to reach those outlets.

However, we can at least run one of them at a time with no problem, so it's not like it will be hot in the house.  Just need to call the electrician back out to do some more work (ugh, more $$).  Until then, we'll just cool the part we're in at the time.  There are a lot of home renovation projects I'll at least attempt to tackle, but electricity is something I don't want to mess with.  Sure I can put up a light fixture, change out a switch, or do something simple like that, but when it comes to circuits and rewiring, I'll leave that to the experts.  If I mess up the plumbing, I get wet.  If I don't lay the tile just right, it will just bug me every time I look at it.  If I paint something wrong, I can just paint over it.  But if I don't do the electricity just right, it could have serious, life altering consequences, LOL.

Anyway, we have them in, we know they work and we know they will completely cool down the house so this is but a mere hiccup in the road.  At least the next time I mow, I will have cold air when I come inside.

EASY WAY TO FREEZE BERRIES

Here is just one of the many dewberry hauls we have gotten over the last few weekends.  Sadly "dewberry season" is officially over now.  I got the last couple of buckets yesterday.  Now, what to do with all these berries?  Here is how we do it, a great way to keep them almost as fresh as the day they were picked:

The first thing to do is...

 ...rinse and wash them!  I use this berry colander, which was my Mom's, it's ceramic and supposed to be non reactive with berries, but there were so many, I ended up using a mesh strainer anyway, no problems with reaction.

Once they were washed a few times, I poured them onto a couple layers of paper towels, just to take some of the moisture off.  Then you take some more paper towels...

...and put them on top of the damp berries, gently patting them down.  This takes off some more moisture from the top side. 

Then spread them out in a more or less single layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  They can stack a bit it's ok.  I use that new "pan lining paper" from Reynolds but you could use wax paper too, just something that keeps them from sticking to the metal. Once they are all laid out, just put the tray in the freezer as is.

Here is the same sheet pan of dewberries, taken out the next night (you can see that they are a bit frosty from the temperature change).  By doing it this way, they are individually frozen.  They are almost like little "berry marbles", which is exactly what you want them to be like.  They can thaw rapidly so work fast.

Then I simply take a 2 cup measuring cup and fill it to the top.  In this case, I filled it past the 2 cup mark, you know, just to have a little "extra", ha.  Two cups is a great measurement for cooking.  For example, our cobbler recipe (posted soon) uses that, so it's easy to grab one package out of the freezer and be good to go.

At this point, you can put them into whatever package you want, a ziplock baggie, a tupperware container, or as we do here, a vacuum sealer (awesome device, and a must have in your kitchen).  We like the vacuum sealer for long term storage and since there are no berries until next Spring...

...we'll have lots of packages like these in the freezer.  I just wrote the quantity and date on each package and plopped them back in the freezer.  You can use this technique for any berry, and it works great for the delicate ones that might otherwise become a frozen clump a few months later.  Enjoy your berry haul!

PASSION FLOWER, MAYPOP, APRICOT VINE, MAY APPLE

After my blog post the other day about the unknown flower, which has since been identified by all you wonderful readers, I have been doing some online research and learned all sorts of fun facts.  Turns out this wild variation of Passion Flower, which later develops into a fruit, is closely related to the more common Passion Fruit (they are cousins).  It goes by a number of names when it grows wild: Wild Passionflower, Maypop, Apricot Vine, Mayapple, MollyPop, Maycock, Old Field Apricot, and White Sarsaparilla.  Who knew?

They bloom from May thru September, and then edible fruits emerge about two to three months after the flowers.  The fruit is sweet smelling, yellowish, and about the size of an egg when ready to eat and are pulpy and sweet inside.  They also "pop" when squeezed or stepped on, hence the "Maypop" name.

It is a perennial vine in the Southern US, and grows wild in these parts pretty much anywhere...on the side of the road, old railways, bridges, thickets and, apparently, unmowed farm pastures just outside of Houston, LOL!

I'm excited to discover these new things on the property that I didn't know were there.  Even more excited that it's something edible.  I'm sure if I deliberately tried to cultivate them, it would be an epic failure, ha.  The vines can be up to 20 feet long and are spread by underground roots.

Vintage Mayflower illustration, image courtesy of Wikipedia

Sometimes, it's Mother Nature that does it best.  I'll just mark where they are and check in from time to time and see how the fruits are doing.  It's too far from the water source on the farm to try to water it myself, though if we have another drought, I might be persuaded to carry some water to the main vine and try to baby it along...assuming of course I could ever even find where the main vine starts!  Thanks again to everyone who commented and taught me what this was, it's great to learn just one more little thing about the property.

VINTAGE POSTER SUNDAY, VICTORY VITAMIN C

Victory Vitamin C image courtesy of: Florida Historical Society

Here is a double feature for today.  I thought these posters were pretty neat.  During WWII, they not only urged people to grow their own food, and can their own veggies, they also pushed locally grown (and US grown) fruits and veggies.

In this case, the push was for the nutritional and health benefits of Florida grapefruit juice by showing, healthy, in shape soldiers, presumably to persuade others to buy Florida grapefruit juice and get just as healthy.

Cool to see the push from the farmers and growers. Perhaps an early version of the "Got Milk" or similar ad campaigns that we see today.  I guess Vitamin C does a body good, ha. 

OFF TO THE FARM TODAY

A view on the property

Here is a picture I took last weekend while roaming around picking berries.  It's where I found the "Passion Flower Vine" that I blogged about HERE a few days ago and I just thought it was so peaceful.

We'll be out there today, wandering this path at some point I'm sure, but doing more work. Still don't have the flower beds whipped into shape, of course I'll have to mow and edge, have an old chicken coop building to help 2nd Family move down to their house, and just general 'stuff to do'.  If I can squeeze in one last berry picking adventure, I'll do that too.

Oh, I almost forgot, we may end up getting window unit air conditioners this weekend as well.  At least that's the plan at this point.  It's just getting to be so hot out there, we want to have the option to make it more comfortable if we decide to turn them on, and of course, have any guests comfortable as well.

Ripples in a pond!!


UPDATE:  Didn't get as much done outside on Saturday, because a majority of the day was spent putting in  two window unit air conditioners.  But it's done, and it 'almost' works, but more on that during the week.  For now it's off to bed and early to rise tomorrow morning to head out again and work on the outside projects (including the weekly mowing).

SUPERMOON

 Tomorrow night (Saturday), there will be a sky watching treat as the moon not only becomes it's regular "full moon", it will also make it's closest approach to Earth all year.  It will appear in the sky to be much larger and up to 16% brighter.  When it lies close to the horizon, it appears even larger, something they call the "moon illusion".  This time around, with the moon at its closest point as well, it should make for some stunning photographs, and I hope to capture one or two while at the farm.

The full moon in May is traditionally known as the "Flower Moon".  It's also known as the "Full Corn Planting Moon" and/or the "Milk Moon".

Image courtesy of: SPACE.com

Click HERE for the fancy pants scientific explanation.

So go outside tomorrow night and look up at the sky, instead of down at the garden, and enjoy the supermoon!

THRIFT STORE SILVER TRAY HAS A HOME

The silver plated thrift store tray I blogged about HERE has a new home!

It's on the coffee table in the living room at the farm, and looks exactly as I had hoped.  Sort of shabby chic/casual.

Now I need to figure out what to put on it.  Seems like everything I put on it took away from the beauty of the tray.  There is the obligatory tea service but again, I put some china tea cups on there, and it just didn't look right.  Then I put a glass dish on there but being clear, it sort of just blended in with the silver.  Not sure what other options there are.

Any suggestions?

INSPIRATION THURSDAY, OLD POTTING SHED

Wow, I could just stare at this picture all day long.  I've always wanted little space, perhaps a potting shed, perhaps a craft building, perhaps just a place to escape to and enjoy some quiet time.  I saw this picture while randomly surfing online for photos and oh my, it is SO exactly what I pictured in my head as what would be perfect for what I'd want.

I love the re purposed/reclaimed nature of the materials, the shape of the old windows, the roof, the old fence, the flowers, the bushes, the French doors...sigh, I love every single part of this.  It almost looks like a little chapel.  It's not of course, it's supposed to be a gardening shed.  But wow, how I adore this little building.  It's definitely going on the farm bucket list.

See you back here tomorrow!

RAISED GARDEN BEDS IN THE CITY

A couple of years ago, I built three raised beds in the backyard.  Our postage stamp sized city yard has no grass, it's mostly all concrete patio, deck and garage.  There was a small patch of "dirt" in the back corner, where a tree used to be, and so I thought that would be a great place to put a few raised beds.  Since we didn't own the farm at the time and it wasn't on our immediate future radar, it seemed liked the perfect plan. It's an oddly shaped space so I was only able to put in three beds.

A 5'x'5' square, a 3'x'3' square, and a 2'x'3' rectangle.

Last year, with the farm pre-closing stuff going on, and then trying to start the remodeling, not to mention our epic drought, I just let them go.  This year though, since I ran out of time to get a large garden built at the farm, I figured I'd live vicariously through fixing up these three small beds.  So last weekend, I started cleaning them up and getting them ready for planting, it's fun having something else to garden.  I'm going to have plenty of planting to do at the farm, more fruit trees and bushes and flowers and other landscaping plants, so a smaller scale but hopefully productive garden, will definitely keep me busy.

Ichiban Asian Eggplant in a raised bed

Above is the first one I worked on.  It's the 2'x3' one.  I practiced Square Foot Gardening in these beds in seasons past, but this year, I'm just planting a few things we want to grow since I'm getting a late start.  This bed has two Ichiban Japanese eggplants.  I grew one a couple of seasons ago and it was very prolific, producing all summer long.  I figured two in this bed would give us plenty. 



Beefsteak Heirloom Tomato in raised bed

In this bed, which is a 3'x3' square, I put one tomato plant.  It looks kind of lonely, ha, but it's an heirloom Beefsteak tomato.  I grew one a few years back and since it was indeterminate, it got HUGE (and gave us a lot of tomatoes in the process, hoping for that again).  A 3'x'3' is about the right size for it.  I might plant some herbs around the edges just to grow a little something else.

Side note; these are plants I bought that were already grown at a local nursery, not a big box chain.  They are non hybrid, heirloom plants.

I have one last raised bed, the largest 5'x5', and I'm going to get it fixed up this weekend.  Not sure what I'm putting in there, but I'll keep you posted.

WHAT IS THIS FLOWER?

Saw several of these the other day in the middle of a patch of wild verbena.

It looks like something I've seen before like at a garden center store, but I can't remember what it was and just can't quite place it.  I figured I'd put it out there for the faithful readers of the blog to help me identify.  I've walked by the patch a few times recently and never saw it before, so these literally just bloomed open in the last week.  Not sure if it's a free standing flower or a vine twining around in the patch.

There is only one spot that I've found (so far anyway) on the whole property where I see these.  Not planted by me or the previous owner and not watered or taken care of, they are just somehow growing wild and blooming.  The one thing I do know for sure, they are beautiful!

WE NAMED OUR MESQUITE TREE

If you are a regular reader of the blog, you know that we have this great Mesquite tree that, because of it's old, gangly appearance, it just really seemed like it needed a name.  It's the area I've been working on and we call it "the party tree" or "the dinner/picnic tree".  Somehow, it needed a name:

So, without further ado, introducing "BARNABAS"!

Yes, as in that Barnabas.

A couple of weeks ago, Jonathan Frid, the actor who played the iconic vampire Barnabas Collins in the original series Dark Shadows, passed away.  Here in a couple more weeks, a remake is coming out starring Johnny Depp in the role of the very same vampire.  So when I was out there this weekend, working on the yard and clearing the area under the tree, I was thinking of movies and it struck me that it seemed to be a pretty cool name for an old tree with such character.  With Dark Shadows in the news so much lately, it's almost like the tree just named itself.

I know the character is a vampire but the tree doesn't have to be a scary thing.  In fact, when we get the table in, the area around it cleared and planted with some new plants, some lights in the branches, it will be a pretty cool space, with good old Barnabas right in the middle, watching over things.

What about you?  I know we all name our animals, but have you ever named a feature in your yard?  Be it a tree, or a cool plant or some rocks or something similar?  Or maybe you named a favorite appliance or tool?

CLEARING OUT UNDER THE PARTY TREE

This is the area I got chopped/mowed/dug up so far under the big tree over the weekend.  It's where we want to put an outdoor dining table.  I'm trying to get rid of as much as possible since it's totally shaded and the only thing growing is tall, grassy weeds.  I think (hope?) I made a pretty good dent.  There is just about as much cleared when turned to look the other direction.

I'm thinking it's at a good enough stopping point (soon anyway) for me to put down some landscape fabric/weed block cloth, throw some heavy stuff on top, and let it sit to "smother" out the leftovers.

The only thing I'm not sure of, is how much more I'm going to weed along the perimeter.  I like the green and leaving it natural, and whatever that grass is, it's growing just fine...it could also just be a lot more work that I could concentrate elsewhere for now, since so many areas on the property need work.  Then maybe next Fall, I could do some more clearing.  I'll have to put some sort of border around the edges anyway to hold in the pea gravel (or whatever ground cover we go with) so clearing it out totally is not really necessary, it's just more of an aesthetic thing.

RED WHITE AND DEWBERRIES

Some unripe, red Dewberries, some ripe dark blue/black ones, and some white flowers.  I thought it was such a pretty combination of colors.

I picked another couple of buckets full of dewberries yesterday, and after last weekend's picking party, we have quite a large stash in the freezer.

Here is a bowl that we put berries in when we ran out of space in the the buckets.  This bowl was actually filled up twice...

...and then I filled this "berry bucket", not once, not twice, but FIVE times.  There are 8 cups of berries in one bucket!

Look closely at this picture, this is what a ripe, ready patch of Dewberries look like.  See all of those little purple/black beauties?  They are ready to be picked.   There are a few red 'stragglers' that aren't ripe yet so we may squeeze out one more weekend of berry gathering, fingers crossed.

I'll show you later in the week how we prepped them and got them all in the freezer.  Of course, throughout the year, there will be an occasional pop up 'berry recipe', since we like to hoard these for use all year long.

After all, it IS another year long wait for more!

BUSY WEEKEND AT THE FARM

Field of Yellow Flowers

Wish I could say this was in our front yard, but it is just across the road.  SO pretty I had to pull over and snap a picture.

It was a great weekend of stuff to do.  The weather was beautiful and I worked on the farm property and getting the garden worked on in the raised beds in town, and even scored another large bucket full of Dewberries!  I'll of course share photos and all the accompanying adventures in the upcoming week.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

VINTAGE POSTER SUNDAY, USE SPADES NOT SHIPS

Image courtesy of: Kennedy Museum Exhibition

I just love this poster.  Talk about a great graphic design.  Speaking of, it is by famed British graphic designer Abram Games, whose work spanned over six decades.  This was, of course, popular during WWII and the point was to get people to grow their own food, so that the ships and related supplies could be used for other purposes during the War.

This poster is nicely done, I love the contrast of the spade on one half and a ship on the other, and then the rows of crops on one half and the ocean waves on the other side.  Too cool.

"Use Spades, Not Ships".  Makes sense to me.  Nothing could be a truer sense of being a "Locavore" than what this says.  Today, we might say, grow your own, use spades, not delivery trucks, airplanes, cargo containers, and well, you get the picture, ha.

Enjoy and as always, just click on the "history" label below and view all the ones I've posted, every Sunday since early last year.

RANDOM FARM FLOWERS

Just a random picture from the farm.  These are probably weeds called "Verbena Bonariensis" (thanks to all the commenters), and are very pretty...I even cut some and brought them in to put in vases.  The butterflies were all over them too, so that's nice.

At the farm today, working my tail off I'm sure, updates as I have time.


Until then, enjoy this picture and hope you're having a great weekend doing what you enjoy!

SILVER TRAY, THRIFT STORE FIND

Here is an $8 thrift store find from a few years ago that I want to put on the coffee table. It's silver plate and was tarnished beyond belief.  Then, it sat in storage for about 3 years and got even worse.  I got it out recently and this is what it looked like.  I wasn't even sure it would ever turn out like I hoped it would.  So I scrubbed hard the last few days, and this is the result!

I used a toothbrush and scrubbing sponge, soaked it with vinegar and baking soda, and finally rubbed it with SILVER POLISH.  I would NOT recommend vinegar and baking soda for your fine silver, but it's perfect for getting out the small bits of tarnish in a shabby chic piece.  It ended up shiny with the edges and handles still kind of dark, sort of a casual chic.  Next stop, coffee table!

GARDENING AS THERAPY

Image courtesy of: bamboo tshirts

I can totally relate to this, as can many of you I believe.


My best times of late have been when I'm at the farm and I'm either on the mower, or digging in the flower beds.  I call it my "Zen time".  Even just roaming around exploring or taking pictures, I'm just so at peace.


I might add that yes, you get tomatoes...and of course other veggies and herbs and fruits and berries and flowers...well, you get the picture.

INSPIRATION THURSDAY, OLD LADDER AND FRUIT TREE

Photo courtesy of: Bear Swamp Orchard

Here is another one of those photos that I saw before we bought the property and while I'm not sure we'll have red apples growing (though I do have a golden apple that is supposed to be good for our zone, ready to go in the ground), this very image is what made me imagine,

"what if we could have something like this?"

Green grasses, established fruit trees, an old ladder to get up in the tree and pick some fruit...heck, if there was a hammock near this tree, I'd just stare at it and drift off to sleep, ha.

We're just getting our small fruit trees in the ground, so we have years before they look like this, but the day will come, and I can look back at this photo and remember when.  At least that's the plan, LOL!

Enjoy, today is my blog day off, see you back here tomorrow morning!