SPRINKLER DONUTS

Sprinkled donuts...

Oh wait, not THOSE kind of donuts!

These are SPRINKLER donuts.

Something we got for our septic sprinklers.  As you may (or may not) know, our new septic system is aerobic...meaning the excess, filtered, "gray water" is sprayed out into the yard.  

This is done via pop up sprinklers.  There are three of them and because they are below ground level, they are very hard to see.  You have to be careful when driving and/or mowing over them.  

We looked online and found some solutions.

This is what we settled on:

They sell them HERE ON AMAZON but they are a bit pricy (but you can at least read more about them and how they work).  I found them online at a sprinkler supply warehouse for half the price.  In fact, the price was low enough that I ordered four (to get over the free shipping threshold) and now we will have a backup should one break.

They are made of a concrete mixed with a fiber to reinforce them and make them very strong.  

The first thing I had to do was find them, ha.  It's easy though, we have a test button on the sprinklers to make them go off.  I found each one and then cleaned out the grass around it.

Here it is when I got the grass cleared and put it over the pop up.  Now they sit more flush with the ground so they don't get struck by the mower blades when I'm doing my thing.

They should look like this once the grass fills back.

Seems like a win/win!

FIGS AND OUR FIRST POMEGRANATE

Our fruit trees struggled this year in the heat (and my lack of nurturing, will do that this Fall with a plan).  But a couple of them have surprised us.

The fig tree is covered in figs! They are all over in various states of growth but all pretty close to each other in size.

I counted them and stopped at a couple dozen.  We're hoping they will continue doing well and we can maybe make something good with them.  2nd Man is not a big fan of figs but I bet I can find something to make that will get him to really like them.

And then check this out:

We have pomegranate!  Only one but hey, we'll take it!  Looking pretty good.  But to make sure it stays like that, we pulled out these that we got a few years ago.

They are mesh fruit protection bags for fruit trees.  I couldn't find the set that we got, but here is the link to Amazon where they have all sorts of different versions.

I put the bag over the lone pomegranate and tied it off.  It will still breathe and still get water from rain, etc but the bag will protect it not only from birds (most important) but also from bugs.  I see some fresh pomegranate seeds in our future!

Not sure when it will be fully ripe and also not sure about the figs but we'll be on fruit watch 2026, ha!

GOOD FOOD AND KITTY CAT SUNDAY

AUGUST!  AUGUST?  Where has the year gone?

It's hot for sure, we are having "feels like" temps of over 100 degrees.

I made some of our favorite chicken, Pollo Asado.  It's a marinate that has seasonings and then achiote paste that gives it the distinctive red color.  This will be wonderful on the grill when we eventually get that set up but until then, we roast it in the oven and it's still wonderful (but we do miss the char marks, ha).  Then we roast some corn in the final 15 minutes when we bump up the temp to 425.  So yummy.

Babygirl likes to sit on the porch railing now.  She discovered the chair in the corner offered easy access to the railing.  Now she loves it up there.  

Hope you have a nice weekend.  Stay cool!

A VIGNETTE

Thought we would start sharing some pictures of the inside of the house.  Here is one.

This is in the master bedroom, just as you come into the room on the left. The black door on the right goes into the master bath.  We used this small table with drawers that we had at the old farmhouse. We thought it would be the perfect spot as you come into the room.

It was something my Mom found once upon a time, it was an older piece that someone had painted with sunflowers.  So it gives us storage (bonus points) and then we put a bowl on the top for our keys so we know where they are when we need them. For a pop of color, we put a yellow and brown vase on there that we had at the old house and added dried branches for height.

I came up with this for 2nd Man.  He loves it.  It shows the old house, then the empty spot when it was staked out for the new one, a picture during construction and finally, the end result, the day we closed.

Under that we put this:

Because...right?  

WILDLIFE WEDNESDAY OPOSSUM

 Another night, another creature on the porch.

Bur this time it was a opossum cleaning up the cat food bowl.  They come by regularly and we know it's good to have them around the homestead.

Some interesting opossum facts above.

And not gonna lie, we think they are kinda cute!

HOT DAY TO MOW PLUS A FUNNY MOMENT

I wish I had the before picture.  It was a jungle for sure.  I broke the work into both days.  On Saturday, I spent a couple hours doing the edging/trimming.  Went around the orchard area raised beds, then the well shed, the house, the driveway, the barn and the shed. 

Phew, it was hot.

How hot?

Really hot.

But I got that done.

Then Sunday, I mowed.  Here is one angle, looks so much better.  With no rain in the forecast for the next 7 days, hopefully I will have a week off from yardwork. 

Here's another angle.  Again, just short and hopefully it will be able to stay like that for at least a couple of weeks.  I could use the break, ha.  We shall see.

Here at the stats.  About average.

And here's a funny:

2nd Man:  "Whatever happened to that box lid that blew away when we were loading trash in the truck?"

1st Man:  "Hmm, I don't know I haven't seen it."

Several weeks later:

1st Man:  "Oh wait...

"...here it is!"

Oops! 🤣🤣

GOOD FOOD AND KITTY CAT SUNDAY

Another HOT week has flown by.  Is it really already almost AUGUST?!?

We used the last package of our meatloaf from the freezer.  Time to make more!  We had one of our favorite meals, meatloaf, mashed potatoes with healthier butter and non-fat dry milk in the potatoes, and then sautéed green beans with onions and tomatoes.  So good!

We gave Babygirl some toys and she's having fun with them.  Of course, I have to check the yard for them before I mow, ha.

Speaking of, I have to mow today. I did the edging over the course of a couple of hours yesterday and today will be mowing.  Easiest to break it up into parts.  It's just so hot right now.  Everyone stay cool!

WE HAVE SOME HERBS

Several of you mentioned herbs and yes, we already have some.  They are next to impossible to find in the Summer but we got lucky a few weeks back and found a few.  We snatched them up.

I bought five:  dill, thyme, oregano and two basil plants.  I got to use our utility sink in the garage for watering once I had potted them.  It worked great!

We put them on the ledge in the screened in porch and they are happy.  It's been a few weeks now and we regularly go onto the porch and clip herbs.  Especially the basil.  That stuff is so prolific!  2nd Man has used oregano in our sauces and fresh thyme on our chicken.

Since our porch is screened in but still gets nice light, we might see if we can grow them, at least in small amounts like this, during the Fall and Winter (moving them IN the house during a freeze of course).

I'm going to move them to a cart that we have that we posted about in one of our trash to treasure posts a few years back.  It's still in the barn storage from the old house, it's just SO hot right now to get in there and get stuff out.  But slowly we are.

Anyway, we have them and we can truly say, nothing beats having fresh herbs on hand.

GOOD FOOD AND KITTY CAT SUNDAY

It was a HOT weekend.  SO hot.  I was going to do yard work but I chickened out, ha.  I will do a little each evening when I get home from work.  

I didn't get a chance to post this yesterday so here it is a day late.

On the 4th, we had our semi-annual tradition of BBQ rib dinner (Daytona weekend is the other time).  I made pickled red onions, a low fat coleslaw with no sugar.  We love it, as it compliments the sweetness of the bbq sauce.  2nd Man made some homemade bread and I made the ribs.

Here is Babygirl.

In a series of two pictures.

She was ready for food and when she is...

...she lets us know for sure!

She will be spayed soon.  Since we know she has to stay in for a bit to recover, we are trying to get her used to being in the screened in porch. She freaks out in the house and we don't want her to be stressed and trying to recover at the same time) so we've been letting her come in the screened in porch and get used to it. We have a bed for her and a littler box.  She eats there from time to time so we think she'll be OK.  

Hope your week is off to a good start!

WHY DID THE CHICKENS CROSS THE ROAD

Saw this the other night coming home from work.  I had to slow down for chickens crossing the road.

Now they weren't lost, there were others on the property they were heading to. Free range chickens!

And the answer to that age old question, at least in this case, was:

"...to get to the other side". 🤣