BLUEBERRIES AND OLIVES

No, not a recipe, ha.

Although, on a charcuterie board, that might be a good combination with some cheese, but I digress.  No, this is a random fruit tree update.

This is the Arbequina olive tree.  I need to get it in the ground soon.  It's starting to get little buds on it.  We know an olive tree can live for a LONG time.  They are also beautiful trees as they grow, so we want to find just the right spot for this one to enjoy both the olives and its appearance for a long time.

And then two of our blueberries are covered in fruit!  Can't wait.  I have put bird netting over them to keep the birds at bay.  We feed them plenty of seed, they don't need to eat our berries, ha!

The other fruit trees have not really budded out.  Not sure why but it's ok, this year is getting them back in shape.  I am getting ready to top them all off with soil and some mulch to keep them healthy and of course, looking good and keeping out weeds.

SO THIS HAPPENED

Not too long ago, I decided to go outside and pot some herbs.  I have this table outside that I am currently using as my potting bench.

I grabbed the bag of potting soil which I noticed was kind of open.  I thought I had closed it up last time but thought maybe the wind blew it.  I picked it up and put it up on the top and opened it up.

What they heck is that?  Oh, it looks like a bird nest.  I made a noise and then saw this...

Three little hungry mouths open wide!  Baby birds!  "J" said it is probably the Caroline Wren.  She has the same kind of nest and two babies in one of her potted plants on her porch.

I carefully put it back on the shelf.  Now we crack open the back porch door on occasion to check, and mama is regularly there feeding her babies.

Now I have to find a new place to work on my plants, so I don't disturb the new family and when I was edging, I skipped that area to keep the noise down but hey, I am 100% ok with that.  Another reason why we are so happy out here and loving every minute of it.

#RuralLifeBestLife

GOOD FOOD AND KITTY CAT MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

 It's been a weird weekend. 

It rained almost every day last week.

The ground is soaked.

The grass is tall.

We were looking forward to the big racing this weekend but then the shocking sudden death of one our favorite drivers has made it all so somber.

To top it all off, the weather in both race locations is not looking good for racing (Indy 500 & Coca Cola 600).

We did manage to get some good food in.

2nd Man made Pozole (a Mexican pork stew).  Lots of dried peppers to make the complex flavors.

The end result is so good.  Topped with sliced radishes, onions, shredded cabbage, avocado and cilantro.  And check out the margaritas!  I made those, it's a recipe we had always wanted to try using our Vitamix and whole fruit.  OMG, we are obsessed!

Here is Babygirl, while I was outside working on the Zen Machine, sitting next to the truck, as if to say "well, OK, when are we leaving and where are we going?"

#catdistributionsystem

As this posts, the Indy 500 is starting, weather holding so far...

Then this afternoon/evening it is the NASCAR Coco Cola 600 in Charlotte, we'll see how that goes.

But of course, all of this tempered by the death of NASCAR superstar Kyle Busch.  He had just won a race a few days before he died but had been battling a respiratory illness for a week or so prior.  Turns out he had pneumonia and it turned into sepsis and he just didn't make it.  So sad.  RIP Kyle.

Let us all, as it says above, remember and honor those who have given the ultimate sacrifice on this special weekend and keep their families in our thoughts.

DANGEROUS SNAKE ALERT

So our Ring doorbell sends us alerts.  Sometimes they are funny as it misidentifies an animal.  For example, once it said a pig was on the front porch.  It was the kitty.  Then another time it said there was a French Bulldog.  It was a raccoon.  Then we got this one the other evening:  "A snake is slithering on the porch".

Yeah, sure.

No joke there and not funny, yikes!  We watched it move around.  When I went to look through the door glass, I didn't see anything.  I was hesitant to open the front door.  I had visions of it right on the door threshold and coming into the house, but I carefully checked and it was gone.  I stepped into the front yard and saw it.

We weren't sure what it was, I thought it was a rat snake, but I posted it to a snake group, and it was identified 100% as a venomous cottonmouth!!!  YIKES!!!

We have to be very careful out here, that's for sure.

WORKING ON THE FRONT PORCH

Time to do a little project.  We ordered some furniture for the front porch.

Two boxes, two rockers, a table, some instructions and my cordless drill.  Time to get busy.

This is what they look like and sure enough, about an hour later, we had these:

Two new rockers!

Then another 30 minutes or so and we have a table in between!  We put out our outdoor pillows that I bought at lunch a year or so ago for this very moment.

We love them and we have already spent a few evenings sitting out there watching rabbits, the sun, the birds, just enjoying life.

Next up will be some hanging plants (any suggestions?) and some decorative items.  We are still unpacking boxes (from storage) and so we'll figure out something.  We still have more room on the porch for other things so we shall see how it all turns out but for now, we are so excited and will be spending many hours out here.

GOOD FOOD AND PUPPY DOG SUNDAY

 Wait, what?  

First up, some good food.

This is one of our new favorite treats.  2nd Man found this recipe online and it's our go to now.  Next time, I'll get some pics along the way.  It's made with 00 flour and high protein Greek yogurt.  They are called Pizza di Lengua (or pizza tongues).  They are rolled out thin and cook really fast.  We use passata sauce, part skim mozzarella and turkey pepperoni to make it all heart healthy.  Some fresh basil after it's done.

Who is this?

NO we don't have a dog but we did for a night.  We had some bad storms come through and we heard something at the door.  We looked and saw this sweet (and at the time, wet) face.  Figured she showed up after getting spooked in very loud thunder.  We got her collar and she was chipped with the number on her tags.  They couldn't give us the phone number or owner of course, but they did tell us her name, "Bella" and they said they would reach out to the owner.

We let her stay on the front porch, gave her food (cat food but at least it was food, ha) and some water.  She was full of energy that's for sure, but finally fell asleep (as did we).

A few hours later (early that morning) "R" from 2nd Family called (they are divorced and he lives about a mile down the road).  I thought "why is he calling so early?"  I answered he said "I understand you have my dog?" ha!  What are the odds??

He lives in his own house and she was in the back yard with a newly installed fence but escaped when he let her out to do her business.  He said she's about six months old.  So glad he had her chipped.

Well, if she ever comes back, now we will know where she belongs.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

FREE TREES UPDATE

We blogged HERE about the free tree giveaway back in March when we got them from our local Master Gardening group.

This is the Nuttall oak...it hasn't budded out yet but we're still hoping.  It does seem taller, so there's that.

This is the Shumard oak.  It was the first to leaf out.  So, it's obviously doing well.  For about two weeks it was the only one that had any leaves.  We were most worried about the pecan but...

...this week, we got leaves!  Yay!

We'll keep watering them and they are on the back porch getting watered regularly and cared for.  Then this Fall, when hopefully they are bigger (and leafier), they can go in the ground in a special spot.

We've always loved this quote.  Yes, it's never too late to plant a tree!  We hope we live long enough to see the results but planting a tree can be a lasting thing for future generations to enjoy too.  Win/win!

IT WAS A WORKING OUTSIDE WEEKEND

 I wish I had more pics of before but suffice to say, no mowing for the better part of three weeks with lots and LOTS, of rain, it was out of control.

Here is a great before.  This is part of the side yard next to the well shed.  It was like this all over the yard; front, back, side, driveway etc.

And here is that same spot after.  Much better.

Here's a side yard shot next to the garage.  That's Barnabas, our old mesquite tree.  I need to do some clearing there but the mower can't get closer and there is debris like rocks, etc. that will have to be cleared first (while watching for snakes, ha).

Yep, over two hours on the Zen Machine.  Covered 7.2 miles, ha.  That's because I had to mow a lot of areas first with the mowing deck up so it wouldn't bog down and then mow the same spot again with the deck at normal height.

After mowing, I had to edge and trim.  This is the orchard area, and the mower can't get in between the beds.  But the trimmer works great for this.

Here is the well shed.  After I mowed all around it, I had to edge it to keep it looking neat.  And that is why we had the slab poured to be a little larger than the shed...I can safely edge without damaging the building with the trimmer line. 

Now to get it painted, ha!

But in the end, after mowing AND edging, it looks so much neater.

Here is the back of the house (and our pile of septic excavation dirt that they use to fill in low spots, ha).

Here is the front from the barn/shed area.  Lots of clippings but most of it blew away in the storm that we had come through Sunday night.  

It's done and I feel accomplished.  Now I just need to get into the mindset of remembering that I can mow anytime now, if it looks like extended rain is coming, I can mow on a Wednesday night after work or early Sunday morning.  Or I can edge on Friday night and then mow Saturday evening.  Before, it was a 45 mile drive out here and I had to time it to get back into town and had to pick and choose my yard battles.  Now I'm here for all the battles, ha!

A new strategy awaits! 

GOOD FOOD AND KITTY CAT SUNDAY

 Another week has flown by.  We were busy doing stuff after 5pm the last few nights and I didn't get a change to post.  Today we'll have the semi usual post, while I'm outside mowing and edging.  It's a NIGHTMARE because of the rains we've had but hey, we live here now and I can work outside as often as I need to, ha.

Weekend is easy with some roasted chicken and veggies.  We remove the skin before eating of course, but it looks "prettier" for the picture like this, ha.  Carrots, sweet potatoes and beets.

Babygirl loves hanging out on the porch.  She lets us pick her up briefly now, so baby steps. She follows me all over the yard, except when I get the mower and/or trimmer out.  Then she disappears until I'm done, ha.  Understandable.

#catdistributionsystem

OK, time to go outside and get some stuff done before rain comes (again) later this week.

BIRDS ARE OUR NEW THING

 Is it an age thing?  Or a slowing down in life and enjoying nature thing?  Because we are starting to love birdwatching and taking care of the birds around our property since we moved out here!

Went in Tractor Supply the other day (love that store, ha) and they have a whole section devoted to wild birds and everything you could want!

Seed, houses, feeders and everything.  We didn't get much, but we got lots of ideas.

I had already picked up a few feeders at another store and some bird seed (a Texas blend) at the grocery.

We got them hung up in various places.

We repurposed a large canister jar we had at the old farmhouse for use as our birdseed container.  It's got a rubber seal, and we put a scoop in there and it works out perfectly for filling the feeders.

We also have an awesome birdhouse that was made for us and gifted a couple of years back by an amazing friend, so that's our next step, creating specialized bird sanctuary areas.

We have a bunch of books that were given to us by a very sweet friend and these two have already been invaluable and helped us identify quite a few. 

The birds are happy, that's for sure.

And we are happy...