FUN NEW FINDS

Once again, at lunch I ran over to Marshall's Home Goods and found a couple of great items.  First, this wonderful bright red bucket.  It's a glossy, brilliant fire engine red and the second I saw it I knew it had to be at the farm. It's also really large, hard to tell but it's like twice as big as a regular.

Then I saw this set of burlap baskets.  When I first saw them, I thought they were neat but almost didn't give them a second look.  I'm glad I did though...

...because they are printed with these great graphics  showing 20lbs, 10lbs, and 5lbs.  I'm hoping that one day, we can fill them with produce from the fruit trees.

LEMON JUICE AND VINEGAR FIRE ANT KILLER

 EQUAL PARTS:

Several of you asked about the Fire Ant killer I used, it's a simple mixture of lemon juice and vinegar poured over the ant mound.  It's all natural and has worked well for us. I poured about 2 cups total over the large mound we had.  Hope it helps!

ANTS IN THE TIRES AND SKUNKS ON THE TRAIL

I was roaming around on one of the trails recently, when I heard some noise in the underbrush.  Shortly thereafter, I got the distinct smell of skunk.  No mistaking that smell!  As I rounded the corner, I saw this tuft of hair...black and white hair.

I looked down and saw another tuft.  Now 2nd Family does not have a black and white dog, so I'm assuming that there was a skunk fight of some sort nearby.  I certainly did NOT stick around to see who won or lost that fight.

It's amazing how fast fire ants can build a nest and/or take over.  I pulled the cover off the zen machine to check on things and discovered this; a fire ant mound had built up next to the tire!  They had even carried dirt up into the tire treads.  Of course, what happened first?  I pulled off the elastic cover as usual, it snapped back and flung fire ants all over everything.  Had to put it in neutral, push it out and then get the broom and water hose to get them off.  I used a mixture of vinegar and lemon juice poured over the mound to kill them while I did other things.  After a couple of hours, there was no sign of fire ant activity.  Good riddance.
I hate fire ants.

WEED BLOCK BETWEEN RAISED BEDS PART ONE

Weed block fabric rolls

So this weekend, I had several things planned.  Well, first I spent too long in Home Depot on Saturday (but I did get a bunch of stuff).  Then on Sunday when I went to the farm again, I didn't realize how much rain we had received out there.  Probably 2 or 3 inches!  Water was standing EVERYWHERE.  So that limited my plans.  I decided to focus on the garden area.  With our hard freeze over several nights, the grass has been made dormant.  So I bought weed block fabric, and I opted for the higher end stuff, commercial grade.

Putting down the newspaper and weed block

I put it down in the small sections until I found a rhythm.  It's really not too hard, except for the fact that it was also WINDY.  Sigh.  

Rolling out the weed block fabric

What I did first, but realize now that I didn't get a photo of, was put down some newspaper and cardboard, that's why they are puffed up a bit.  Next, I rolled the fabric out over the top of that and then cut it as I went along.  I found it easier to work in the sections between beds.

Weed block cloth around raised beds

Then I used a box of those landscaping staples that you just press down into the ground.  I made sure to overlap the sections.  Once I got into a routine, it was pretty easy, until I ran out of the staples.  D'oh!

Fortunately, I was able to get the two front sections done, this side and the one opposite it.  I need to get the remaining beds built so that I can put them down and then finish out the newspaper/fabric.  Lastly, we have a load of mulch ready to be delivered when things are finished.

Rubber tree ring

I also bought one of these to try out around our fruit trees.  I have trouble with the weeds growing up around them and then trying to mow around them carefully.  We've seen them for years and thought we'd see how they work.  I bought one at Home Depot, they sell them HERE AT AMAZON.  They are reversible, one side dark brown, the other reddish brown.  We were slightly concerned about their safety, but I've found numerous independent studies that show they are safe.  The post consumer process removes 99.9% of all metal and chemicals from the tires making them approved for use around gardens.  I only bought one because we want to see how it works and what we think.

Garden tools on porch

Lastly, I bought some new garden tools, still need more, but it's a start.

Need to have at least two of everything, you know, so 2nd Man can help.  :-)

I have another project I'm working on in the garden, but it's not ready for its unveiling yet.  We figure that at least if we are getting all the parts and pieces of the garden out there, that's less to do later.  That way, we won't have to spend time at the stores looking for stuff, we can just get started building/working. 

VINTAGE POSTER SUNDAY, RABBITS CAN BE FED ON

Rabbits Can Be Fed On, vintage poster image courtesy of Imperial War Museum

OK, this is an interesting poster for sure.  It was one in a series of posters from the war, this one courtesy of the UK, that urged people to raised rabbits for meat during the war.  This poster was letting people know what they could feed to their meat rabbits.

I can honestly say I've never had rabbit, not sure if I would like it or not.  One of my best friends growing up had rabbits as pets and I was over there constantly playing with them.  Perhaps that has skewed my judgement, ha. 

Hope you are having a good weekend, our weather turned gorgeous this weekend so it's a great time to get stuff done.

OH HOME DEPOT

How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways...LOL!

I spent about 3 hours in Home Depot today, roaming around and planning things, and of course purchasing things for the farm.  My goal was to start getting some of the wood for the rest of the raised beds.  I've been planning the garden area, and have a list of things to get.  Of course, they were out of the wood that I needed (must be others getting ready too) so I decided to roam around for awhile.  Big mistake, ha.

We are lucky, the store near our house in town is one of largest in Texas, in fact I think it might be one of the largest in the country.

I could roam around in there for hours (is it a guy thing?).  And I did.

I just went up and down the aisles looking at stuff and planning (and of course tossing things in the cart).  I love looking at something and thinking about how we might could use it.  Or having an end project in mind and figuring out how to get there.  I started in the lumber section, worked my way to the garden center and saw pretty much everything in between.  It reminded me of things we still have to do at the farm, so I created a list of even more future projects. 

So tomorrow (or today if you are reading this Sunday), we at the farm, 2nd Man will be cleaning and I'll be starting on the outside projects.

Hope you are having a good weekend!

Home Depot

*This is not a paid endorsement for Home Depot, it's just one of my favorite stores and since I spent most of the afternoon there, I thought I'd share.

Lowe's

And in all fairness, I DO love Lowe's as well!  I just ran out of money before I made it there, LOL!

COLD WINTER SKY

Fluffy white clouds

These were the skies last weekend when we were at the farm getting things ready for the "Polar Vortex".  The cold front had just pushed on through the area and it made the prettiest skies.

This weekend is supposed to be nice, even though today is rainy.  The rain is good though, the fruit trees and yard are getting watered.  Now I just have to hope they survived the freeze.  I'll have an update later.

Hope you have a great weekend planned and it's warming up for you!

Cold front sky

FUNNY FELINE FRIDAY

Cat covering his face

This is Brisbane...sleeping the way he often does, covering his face with his front arm leg.  He's done this since he was a kitten.  I'm not sure if he's really blocking out the light or it just feels comfortable.

All we know is that it sure is adorable.

Friday is here, it's rainy but supposed to be a nice weekend.

BLUE OUTDOOR DINING, INSPIRATION THURSDAY

Blue and white outdoor dining, image courtesy of Southernliving.com

Love the blue on this outdoor dining scene.  I really like the hanging candle lanterns too and would be neat hanging under "Barnabas" (our soon to be dinner/party tree area).  I think this color palette, blue and white, is very clean and fresh looking.  Now I've just go to find some of those hanging lanterns that I can paint.  Hmm, maybe if they were cheap enough, I could paint sets in different colors for different settings later on.

Be inspired! 

CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL

Homemade chunky chicken soup

After we lost our sweet Sydney Cat a couple of weeks ago, 2nd Man made a huge pot of homemade chicken soup so we didn't have to think about cooking for a few days.  It worked, because we ate on it all weekend.

He just makes it up as he goes along so there isn't much of an actual recipe, but here's what I know.  First, he uses a pressure cooker, a package of wings and some seasonings to make some amazing chicken broth.  Then he roasts some breasts in the oven.  Next, he just dices up and then cooks the veggies, in this case carrots, red, white and blue (purple) potatoes, onions, celery, garlic and white beets, in the broth with added water.  We like it chunky as it seems more rustic.  After that, he just adds some herbs and seasonings and finally the roasted breast meat, torn into chunks with some fresh parsley sprinkled into each bowl when it's dished out for serving.

It's chunky and flavorful and oh so satisfying.

I guess it's true, it really is chicken soup for the soul huh?

CEILING FAN DIRECTION WINTER SUMMER

A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about getting some space heaters put in at the farm and how well they worked at warming up the room temperature.  I forgot to mention that we made sure to switch the ceiling fans around to run the other direction for "Winter".

Ceiling fan direction, image courtesy of Hansen Wholesale

I found the image at Hansen Wholesale where they have more information about the process and the science behind it that you can read about.

EDIT:  The direction is as you look up at the fan.  Easy way is to just turn it to low, wait for it to slow down and then just look up.  Doesn't matter where you stand, just look up and see if the blades are rotating clockwise or counterclockwise and adjust accordingly.

CLOCKWISE - Winter (warming effect)

COUNTER CLOCKWISE - Summer  (cooling effect)

It worked great.  When I got there, I realized the fans were still spinning counterclockwise which is the way they should be for Summer.  This pushes air down and blows it around you, making it feel cooler.  So I turned them off, waited for them to stop spinning and then flipped the switch.  I also followed the suggestion of turning them to the lowest speed in order to draw the air up and then push it down and out without giving you the wind chill effect that you actually want in the Summer heat.

As I said in the earlier post, the room warmed up quickly and I know the fan direction made a huge difference.  All you could feel was a gentle warmth circulating around the room which is definitely what you want in cold Winter.

Polar Vortex record low temperature map, image courtesy of NOAA Mesonet

With the record cold blast affecting most of the country right now, I figured if something might help us all be a bit more comfortable or make the heating more efficient, I'll post it.  I know I could never remember which way is the right way, so hey...flip your switch this Winter and maybe it will help to keep your house a little bit warmer!

And in the meantime...

EDIT:  Great suggestion from Galestorm, this would be a great time to clean your fan blades!  It is always amazing how quickly they can get dusty and, if you have pets, hairy!  If you forget, and the blades go the other direction, it will all blow off into the room and that's never a good thing, ha.

POOL NOODLE FOAM PIPE PROTECTOR FOR FREEZE

They say necessity is the mother of invention?  Well, in prepping the farmhouse for our polar express cold snap this past weekend, I went to the store to get some of those foam pipe protectors for the empty spots.  Of course, with our local media pushing this as the end of the world, the stores were out of bread, bottled water, batteries, and of course, foam pipe protectors.

What to do what to do...

I looked around and saw these pool noodles, you know, the ones you float on in pools?  Side note, they are really fun in a pool, but I digress...

I picked it up and saw that there was a hole down the middle.  Hmm, I wonder if it will cut easily?

Yes!  It's super easy to cut!  Just cut them to the length you need and then cut a slit up one side.

Voila, it worked like a charm (and honestly, seems a bit better than the standard foam protectors).  I covered the gaps where I needed them (those other parts were covered too after the photo was taken, ha).

For wrapping the outside pipes and faucets, it worked great as well.

Even the little sections where maybe you didn't have any before but want to put some up just to be on the safe side, it is perfect to cut into small pieces.   

VINTAGE POSTER SUNDAY, PREPARE FOR WINTER NOW

Prepare for Winter Now, vintage poster image courtesy of NY Public Library

Well now THIS poster is appropriate today (in the US anyway).  It's from the war of course, and because fuel was scarce, and needed for wartime efforts, the Government used posters such as this to get people to save it.  In this one, they are urging savings by getting the proper fuel, checking your heating plant to make sure it's running properly and working, and then of course, to insulate walls, ceilings, caulk cracks, etc.

In a way, that last bit of advice about winterizing your home is just as valid today as it was then, and for the same reasons; saving fuel and/or your monthly heating bill.  Conservation is key!

Hope you are warm today, as this posts, I'm prepping us for our part of the super cold weather that is coming our way tonight and tomorrow.

PREPPING FOR THE ARCTIC BLAST

We're getting ready for our first BIG freeze since we've owned the farm.

We thought those of you in in other countries might like to see this image.  It shows the forecast low temperatures for the United States*.

*Hard to believe some of those temps are THIRTY AND FORTY BELOW ZERO.

Brrrrrrr!

And it's amazing to see how that dip of frigid air just pushes down into almost all parts of the country.  We live in Texas, down in the part that is maroonish to white.  They are calling for temperatures in the mid to low 20's for us.

Very cold Sunday to Monday, warming up during the day Tuesday but then even colder on Tuesday night.  It's been several years since we've dipped in into the low 20's so of course, in Houston, if you watch the local news, you'd think it's the "Freezepocalypse" coming!

I'm almost embarrassed to post that it's "cold" when there are those up North that are suffering through something that looks like it's from the movie

"The Day After Tomorrow", ha.  But for us, this is cold, and it's the coldest we've been in a while so as usual, they are now talking about the "Four P's"...

Pets, pipes, people, plants

We don't have to worry about the pets or people, they/we are warm, but of course we do have to worry about the plants and most importantly, the pipes.

So, we're heading out to the farm to Winterize things.  Thankfully, 2nd Family, who live out there at the other end of the property, have already turned off our main water supply and opened the outside faucet to drain it and give us a head start.  When we get there, we'll open the taps and let the remaining water drain out of the lines.  And we'll just leave it all open since we won't turn the water back on until the next time we are out there.  It makes it pretty easy to Winterize things out there. 

Plants on the other hand, well, thankfully, I still have the plants I bought on clearance in town and they will be protected.  The only thing at the farm I'm worried about are the fruit trees and really, I think it's just the two citrus that we should have to worry about.  I need to research about the minimum temps they can survive in.  I think since we aren't having sustained subfreezing temps, they will be OK, but I'll have to make sure.

Wherever you are that's cold, stay warm and stay safe!  Here in Houston, it wouldn't surprise me if we are back up to 70 by this time next week.  That's the fortunate thing about our cold snaps, they are just that, snaps.

UPDATE:  Just saw the weather, they have revised us down to 22, with nine to twelve hours of below freezing temps both days.

AND THE DELAYED GIVEAWAY WINNER IS...

And the winner is...

Congratulations to Chickie Mama Linda from Practical Parsimony!

Your name is the one we pulled from the basket.  I'm sorry for the delay in getting back to this, as you all know, it was a crazy month or so for us.

But now we're starting fresh for the new year.

Please email me directly with your address (you can use the 'email me' button), and I'll get your book packaged up and mailed out Monday.

And stay tuned for another giveaway coming soon!

Thanks to everyone, we appreciate you!

FELINE FRIDAY THAT WARMS OUR HEARTS

Brisbane and Hobart

This is Brisbane, cuddling up next to Hobart.

It warms our hearts because Brisbane has been seemingly down since we lost Sydney.  Brisbane came to us as a tiny bottle fed baby and Sydney was his only 'cat frame of reference'.  They became inseparable.

With his bond with Sydney, he never really had much to do with Hobart when he came into the family.  But now, they are starting to warm up to each other.  They have spent the last few days sleeping next to each other.  It started out just laying 'nearby' and then progressed to actual physical contact!

Still, we all miss Sydney.  There is a different feeling in the house.  Sydney was the patriarch of the house and we definitely feel his absence.

We both wanted to say, from the bottom of our hearts, how much your kind words meant to us when we lost him.  I haven't gotten around to replying to them all yet because, well, it makes us sad to read them but I will thank you all in replies soon.  But consider this a great big thank you as well.

You all are so kind and so awesome.

We're proud to 'know' you all, it means so much.

AMAZING WALKWAY, INSPIRATION THURSDAY

I have no idea where I originally found this image, but when I saw it I just thought it was so amazing and I saved it.  Someone put a lot of work into this path.  Heck, I think I'd be afraid to even walk on it.  It kind of reminds me of something you might see in The Hobbit movies!

Of course, it also inspires me to remember that we need to work on our paths at some point in our list of projects that I posted about yesterday.  Not sure I'll be THIS creative but it's certainly something to strive toward.  I've got these cool cobblestone path molds that will be nice once I get ready to do that and since they use concrete, I could easily 'add things' to the concrete before it sets up.  I'll keep this to remind me to be more creative than just plain concrete stones.

Hope you are having a great week.

Hard to believe we are now into the second day of 2014!

Be inspired!

UPDATE OF OUR JOURNEY AND PLANS

There are many new followers, or 'Friends of the Farm' as we like to think of you, and with the new year upon us now, I thought it was the perfect time to give everyone an update on our journey, our progress and the plans for those who are curious.

Recently, we've had some new friends ask about before/after pictures.  The answer to that is that for awhile, I couldn't find where I stored them (new computer since then) but good news, I've found the original "before" pictures and will soon use those to take some "after" pictures thanks to my new camera and create a post of those.  Then a very dear follower from almost the beginning recently asked if we ever spent the night or entertained at the farm.  Yes, one or both of us are out there every single weekend (except during cold/flu season, ha) and we spend the night out there at least once a month, several times a month during the really nice weather.  We haven't entertained though, for example having a dinner party, since we still have some things to fix to make it comfortable for guests, but we've had friends out to see the progress many times.

Farmhouse after we had cleaned it up a bit

We bought the farmhouse and land in the Spring of 2011.  The land, other than the yard immediately around the house, was overgrown.  The house had been lived in but not updated for a long time.  We had to decide what we could do and what we'd hire to be done.  We found a contractor who was awesome and he and his crew helped us update the inside, painting, re-staining the floors, patching up some walls, and making some other minor modifications.

Then we needed to buy stuff for the inside.  Mainly furniture.  Decor.  Beds.  Sheets.  Towels.  Rugs.  You know, the things you need to make a house livable.  Then there was some electrical work to be done.  And some plumbing.  And clearing the land.  And working on the outside of the house.  And, well, the list goes on (and on and on, ha).  We aren't in ANY hurry though, much as I often seem to think we are.  We sometimes worry because some little something doesn't get finished quickly enough or we didn't get to it before bad weather.

What we are doing at the farm is building the place we will eventually retire to.  For now though, it's our weekend getaway.  It's also our 'bug out' location in case some terrible disaster befalls Houston (major hurricane, tornado, zombies,  asteroids, etc).  And in the not too distant future, it will be a place to bring friends and family together to create awesome new memories for all of us.

So, we came up with a multi year plan to help put things into focus, give us goals, and of course keep our budget dollar$ in line.  Since we bought the house in the Spring of 2011, and started work later that Summer, we use that as our starting point.  We make our calendar year from July to July (more or less, ha).  The year dates below are pretty much July of one year to July of the next:

2011-2012: Inside of house and its infrastructure

(paint, sheetrock, floors, electrical, plumbing)
DONE, with a few minor tweaks needed

2012-2013: Furnishing the house, decorating it, making it livable

(beds, couches, dining table and chairs, pictures, appliances, etc)
DONE, technically but decorating is always a work in progress

2013-2014: Property infrastructure

(clearing areas on the property, raised garden beds with fence, irrigation, planting fruit trees, landscaping, barn with fence)
WORK IN PROGRESS, we're still six months to our goal deadline for 2014 but some of these have already been done and the rest are coming soon

2014-2015: Outside of house and its infrastructure

(painting the house, railings, porch ceiling, gutters, new roof, etc)
PLANNING, this is underway now, and with our hot summers, we may go ahead and start some of these this Spring instead of waiting until Summer, and then finish them in the Fall

2015 and onward:  Enjoy it, ourselves of course, and start hosting wonderful parties and get-togethers with family and friends.  The plan is Fall of 2015.

BUT..of course, some of these are always ever expanding projects:

I'm always clearing a new area for something new and we seem to find something that we want to change up a bit after it's done. 

And then some things are constant and ongoing; I will always be planting trees and flowers and plants.  That never ends (and it's my favorite part).

 And then we have the bonus things that we can do at any time but have on our bucket list.  Beehives, chicken coop (and chickens), a pond, the walkways and paths, etc.  We'll try to do those when we have a random pocket of time or the opportunity to do it.

So as you can see, we are pretty much on track to getting things done.  Now this doesn't mean we won't have friends out.  We're planning a dewberry picking party this Spring (if the dewberry season is good).  And we're thinking of a 4th of July ice cream making party as well.  We just might even host a small Thanksgiving dinner next Fall, once we have the outside house work done.

We've done a lot, but we have a lot to go.  Still, not bad considering we're doing this as we work it into our schedules.  This year, I plan to go out there during the week, at least once or twice a week after work, to make sure the garden is growing so that we can start getting a return, in food anyway, on our investment of time and energy.

While our year ended, sadly, on a couple of down notes, here's to hoping for a great new year full of wonderful and productive things!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR WISHES

Here is to a great new year for all of us!

Let the resolutions and planning begin!