HIGH TEMPS, WALL SCONCE AND SPIDERS, OH MY

Here are some random updates from the last week...

99 Degrees

It's been hot the last few days.  I was heading back into town from the farm, where, I'll be honest, I stayed inside more than outside, and I looked at my car's outside temperature and it was 99.  I don't believe our "official" high temp was 99, it was actually 96, but that's splitting hairs when there is also 80% humidity and the "feels like" temp is over 100.  It's going to be a long, hot summer...just as long as we get lots of rain, it will be OK.

AND THEN...

Candle Wall Sconce

I found a home for one of the two sconces I got last week.  I can leave this one black, and it fits perfectly between the two windows in the sitting area off the master bedroom.  Now to get those curtains...


AND FINALLY...

Big A** Spider

...there was this guy (or gal).  I went out to the big green zen machine and reached down to remove the cover and saw this spider.  The thing was large, very large.  Probably about 3" across.  I would call it "sub-tarantula", LOL.


OK, so it probably wasn't related to a tarantula, but still, it was big.  I just brushed it away and it scurried into the grass.  Anyone have a clue what type it might be?  If it's dangerous, I won't let it escape next time, but if it's just a spider living it's life, eating bugs, then we can share the space, I won't like it, but we can share it.

BACON CARTOON, FRIDAY FUNNY

OK, I thought this was just too funny.  I've had days like this, just recently as a matter of fact.  I guess you could say after mowing and working a bit outside, I've got bacon neck, and I don't mean my t-shirt was wrinkled, ha.

So, more sunscreen next time I mow...or I might up like our little friend above.

  

INSPIRATION THURSDAY

Photo courtesy of: gardenweb forum

I love this photo I found.  Alas, it's not our yard, BUT, it's VERY much inspiration for what we would like to have as our yard.  I like the fact that this looks random, but I'm sure was deliberately planned and planted.  Wouldn't this be a great view from the front porch?

It's definitely something that inspires me to get some things planted around some of our trees.  I think I could still use the big green zen machine to mow around something like this huh?  It would make for a more interesting ride, that's for sure!  I actually have this printed out and put up on the fridge.

I'll be back here tomorrow, enjoy your day, doing whatever makes you happy!

UPDATE WITH EYE CANDY

I'm sorry for my lack of posting the last few days, and especially replying to comments.  I've been spending more time at the farm during the day, after making trips to the storage unit on the way.  While I do have my iPad out there so I can keep up with things, it's just easier to sit down and blog when I am back on the laptop.  Unfortunately, I've been getting home late and I'm kind of tired then, ha.  But I'll keep you updated as I can.

They are calling for rain the next two days, and while we need it, it will bring a halt to my outside work and might keep me from driving out there.  I also may have an unexpected job interview either tomorrow or Friday, so fingers crossed for that.  Someone who knew I was available, found a possible opportunity for me and let me know about it.  It's nice to have people watching out for me, including all of you with your wonderful comments, they are much appreciated!

Texas Wildflowers

Until then, enjoy this eye candy.  No, not THAT kind of eye candy, "gardening" eye candy!   Specifically, these Texas wildflowers that I saw on the road to the farm yesterday.  I can't remember what these are called, but the red is certainly striking, especially when mixed in with the bright yellow.  Wildflower season is almost over, so in another month or so, it will just be green.  I really enjoy the vibrant colors of Spring, that's for sure.  Nature is so inspiring.

LIVING ROOM PROGRESS

In between doing some stuff outside in the heat (and let me tell you, it is HOT out there), I come in to cool off and find something inside to do.  So here is yesterday's project. I got all of this stuff from storage, except the plant of course, ha.  The print is one that my parents always had hanging up wherever we moved, so it holds special memories.  This little cabinet was painted and distressed a few years ago by a friend of my Mom's.  Unfortunately, I broke one of the handles on the drawer while moving it, but it's fine, I can find some replacements.  I think I kind of want something different anyway, maybe glass.  Everything else just fit so perfectly.  In addition to the storage we'll have in the two drawers, I found a basket for underneath to use for more storage.  Let's see, what else...the doily we had in storage, the brown ceramic jar with lid was my Grandmother's, the glass coasters were a thrift store find, and the beige crocheted throw was in storage but I have no idea where it came from, ha.  The plant was on my desk at the office, so it was one of the things I brought home last week.  It's great how pieces from different places and sources all come together.  I told 2nd Man that this one little spot that took me about 30 minutes to put together looks like it's been this way for years.

A FOUR WAY INTERSECTION

A couple of weeks ago, I SHOWED YOU what I was working on with the trails around the property.  Here I am standing in what I have now dubbed "the intersection".  It's where I (with the help of 2nd Family's tractor and brush hog) cleared some trails and I've been working steadily on clearing out the smaller brush and saplings the last few weekends.  In this spot, it was a good place to just go in four different directions, hence the intersection.  So I stood there in the middle yesterday after I mowed and turned four times to show you the four different paths.  Some are a bit more cleared than others but they are all a work in progress nonetheless.

Looking North

Above is the view looking back toward the house to the North.  We made the paths sort of curving on purpose, to make you wonder just what's around the next bend (plus I was able to move around the trees we are keeping, ha). 

Looking East

Here is the trail/path going toward the East side of the property.  Just beyond that tree at the far back in the center is the neighbor's fence line so the trail sort of stops there.  You can however walk most of the fence line of course as I've started clearing paths along there as well.

Looking South

Here is the view toward the South, with one of the TWO SISTERS visible on the left.  This path goes toward the future pond site (believe it or not, there is an actual pond, of sorts, but more on that later).  If you walk far enough, it leads to the main road in front of the property.  You can't get lost that way!

Looking West

And finally, here is the trail to the West.  Not very long but it leads right straight to the driveway, which is nice for those who don't want to wander around in the brush and would rather just take a shortcut back to the house. 

In the future, I'd like to put up a signpost like these (randomly found online), right in the middle of the intersection (with my own words of course):

       

NATURALIZING EDIBLE PLANTS

A few weeks ago, I had numerous posts about the fields of dewberries we had growing wild.  Then I discovered (through the help of you all) the passion fruit/maypop vine that will produce fruit and there are quite a few of those around.  And of course we have lots of Mesquite trees whose pods can supposedly be dried and ground into mesquite flour.  I'm not sure about that just yet, but might just try that next Fall.  We've also seen in the past, a small wild hot pepper plant that springs up randomly.
So all this got me to wondering something;
Is it possible to create naturalized food plants on a piece of property?

Wild Dewberries on our farm

I'm not talking about fruit trees of course, I'm planting lots of those.  Or building gardens, yes we'll have those too.  I was thinking about the things that just grow wild in other places without intervention of watering, or fertilizing, and just do their thing.  For example, those dewberries.  They come back year after year in the same spots, and never get a drop of water other than what comes naturally in the form of rain (fruit was heavy this year even after the epic drought).  The passion vine fruit has just sprung up and seems to be doing fine as well, no extra watering for it.  Occasionally, I'll read on a blog where they were wandering around on a hike and found wild onion or garlic growing on the side of the road or by a fence, or maybe wild grapes growing under some old tree.  I even read a book recently that referenced wild rosemary and thyme growing on a hillside. 

So that's why I was wondering if there was any sort of perennial edible that I could perhaps throw down, maybe deliberately scatter some seeds, dig in some bulbs or maybe even small seedlings and cuttings?  I could of course water them a few times to get them started and then I'd like to ignore them and hope they come back year after year.  Almost like flower bulbs that just come back year after year with very little outside intervention.  I'd love to just have wild edibles growing in patches here and there.  I'm sure there are lots of things growing now that I don't even know are edible too.

Wild Onions, harvested.  Courtesy of: homegrown.org

I know you can naturalize plants of all kinds that are native and grow well in certain areas, so I wondered about native edibles.

Hey, we have several acres to play with, I'm willing to plant some test things and see what happens.  Hmm, could I plant some rosemary scattered around in different spots and just let it grow?  Put down onion seeds or chives and just let them grow?  Any edible food type bulbs I could plant that will just grow and divide and come back next year and the year after that?

Wild Rosemary

Any thoughts?  Anyone ever tried something like this?
I'm off to the farm today, by way of the storage unit first, so please feel free to leave suggestions, personal stories, etc and I'll check them when I get back.

THE ZEN MACHINE AND SOME LISTS

Here is my big Green Zen Machine, after using it today and giving it a fresh cleaning before riding it to it's storage shed.  I just can't explain how much I enjoy mowing with this.  The biggest part of it is just riding around the property, especially when I'm keeping the trails mowed.  It's less about mowing and more about planning, observing, exploring and daydreaming.  It's definitely a great way to clear your head.


I saw my first bunnies today!  No way to get a picture, LOL, but I rounded the corner on the trail by The Two Sisters and a bunny jumped out of the bushes and ran across the path.  I stopped and sat there for a moment looking for it and then another smaller one hopped out the other direction.  Too cute.


I'm making my mental list for this week.


For tomorrow, I'm going to get up like I was going to work and drive to the storage units (we have two) that have all the stuff from my parents and the stuff we've saved over the years.  It's something I've been wanting to do, and now is as good a time as ever.  I will inventory it and most likely find all sorts of fun stuff we can use at the farm.  When my Mom passed, I was in such an autopilot mode in packing up her stuff, it was just put in storage and there it has sat.  Then we have all the stuff we've put up waiting to have a garage sale before we bought the farmhouse.  It's like my very own thrift store!  I need to go through it all and I hope to find a bunch of stuff we can use.


Then I have my yard list of things to do.  Do you know I still haven't planted all the fruit trees?  I've got a few in the ground but the rest are still in the city, so I can keep them watered and keep my eye on them, but I have to let go and just plant them and I've got some ideas for keeping them watered.  Then the flower beds are still not finished, and I need to get the plants for them (of course they'll need to be tilled again till).  Then there is an old overgrown flower bed around a tree that I want to get cleaned up.  And some more cleaning up of the party tree area.  And of course, last, but by no means least, working on the future garden site.  Still have a couple of small 'trash trees' to remove from there, then I can plan some fencing and see what I can create out of there.


Hey, it will all be a nice workout, that's for sure, and at least I have a cool place to go in and relax.  Just have to make sure there isn't too much relaxing, ha.

VINTAGE POSTER SUNDAY, DIG FOR VICTORY NOW

British WWII Dig for Victory poster, courtesy of British War Archives

Here's a cool poster.  The image almost looks contemporary and would be right at home today as it was then, during WWII.  This is from the British allotment program that they called "Dig For Victory".  It was their version of the similar US "Victory Garden" campaign.


As always, I think this could be as applicable today.  We need to plant, grow and then dig for victory, victory over GMO food, big corporations, pesticides, and even the Government regulations that hurt small farmers.


So let's get out there and dig!

LIFE COMES AT YOU UNEXPECTEDLY

My posts and replies the last couple of days have been limited, and for that I must apologize.  I have a reason though...I was laid off yesterday.

It was not a total surprise, the man I work for is considering retirement, but I thought that if it did happen, it would be later.

Sadly, it was sooner rather than later, and I was cut in order to keep things going for a while longer.

So I have to look at the positive aspects; I'm getting a bit of severance so that's good, I'm in an industry (insurance) that is pretty easy to find work in and I have 20 yrs experience doing it, but best of all, I'm going to be able to take some quality time and spend it at the farm...

 Lots of new pictures and hopefully some major progress soon.

INSPIRATION THURSDAY, GARDEN CHAIR AND FLOWERS

Garden Chair, courtesy of:  http://www.monroestbistro.com/

This is something I've always loved, a chair in a garden. 

The idea of a garden chair in a comfy setting amongst the flowers and bushes you've worked hard to create into something beautiful.  Too often, it's easy to forget to take that time out of the day and just sit back and enjoy.  Don't forget that end table to put a glass full of the beverage of your choice!

Blog day off today, though I will be replying to comments that I wasn't able to get to while out of town.

Other than that, I'll see you back here tomorrow!  As always, thanks for stopping by.  We appreciate it!

A GIFT OF JADE

My job anniversary was the other day and we usually don't get gifts. This time, a few of my coworkers got me a very thoughtful gift.  They bought me this little Jade plant.  They chose it because it doesn't require a lot of care and water and they thought it would be perfect for the farm since we wouldn't be there daily to water it.  Plus they can be pinched off and started in other pots so it's an easy way to get 'more plants' later on.

 

So I brought it home, looked through our milk glass collection and found just the right one for it.  It fit just perfectly in this one!  The green of the plant looks great against the white of the planter.

Here it is in its new home at the farm. I put it on the back of the desk that's in the foyer, against the wood wall.  It fits perfectly as a contrast to the dark wood.  When I left, I made sure it was watered and it should be good for another week.  A very neat little surprise that got me to thinking, what are some other indoor plants that can maybe be watered once a week or if pushed, once every couple of weeks?  I might just have to fill the house with them.

RETIREES GOING RURAL

Saw this interesting article online.  It seems more and more retirees and opting for life in the country.  As they say in the article, trading Thai restaurants and high speed Internet for homegrown veggies and birdsong.

 CLICK HERE to read about it. 

It is a journey that I think a lot of us are taking...either already there, working toward getting there (like us now) or just dreaming of the day when we can.

Our "Retirement Spot"

It's an interesting dynamic, seeing people move from the city to the country, and I have to wonder what is behind this?  Is it the economy?  Concerns about food and all the chemicals and processed nature of it?  A need to live a simpler life to clear your mind?  Worries about some natural/man made disaster?
Some combination of all?

Country Sunset

SEDA BOLSA NOW HAS A MASCOT

Americana Pig

For those who have followed the blog for awhile, you might remember the story of how we named our farm.  Every good farm needs a name, right?  So we named ours Seda Bolsa.  If you are a new visitor to the blog, or just missed the naming debate last summer, you can CLICK HERE to read all about it.

We figured we needed a mascot, something that would make visitors remember the name, maybe something that could even become a logo to personalize stationary or something for the guest room at the farm.  So of course, with the name we chose, a "pig" was the obvious choice for an image.


Flash forward to this long weekend and during our trip to Oklahoma, I found this little guy and he just seemed perfect.  He's black and white, and since he's now sitting on the desk in the foyer, with it's black and white floor and black and white toile chair, he just seemed to fit nicely.  The rustic "Americana style" of the design also works with the overall style of things in the house.

What about your place, does it have a mascot?  A symbol?  A logo?

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF COUNTRY LIVING BOOK REVIEW

REPOST:  I posted this a few weeks ago but it was accidental (I used the wrong date) and was in between two other automatic posts that went up an hour or on each side.  I think it might have gotten lost in the shuffle.


Since today is a holiday and I'm traveling, I figured I'd repost it and see if anyone has some more book suggestions.  I can always use more books, LOL!


I am so excited!  I got this book yesterday a couple of weeks ago on the recommendation of several bloggers, and I have to say, I LOVE it.  I've never seen so much great information in one place.  This is a classic book I'm sure many of your have seen.  It's been around since the early 70's but it's periodically updated with the most current information and is the newest 10th edition.

It's almost a thousand pages of valuable information.  Recipes, cleaning tips, how to home repairs, gardening, beekeeping, canning, butchering, orchards, flowers, fence building, how to milk a goat, making soap, building a chicken coop, and literally dozens (hundreds?) of other topics.  Right now, I'm enjoying just flipping through it randomly and reading whatever section I land on.  With this newest edition, they have even added web pages, email addresses and mail order resources for all sorts of topics.

While we have TONS of books (see HERE), cookbooks and gardening books galore, I am always on the lookout for the "must have" books for eventual life in the country.

Are there any books you have that you feel are essential?
Any others similar to this one?

VINTAGE POSTER SUNDAY, WAR GARDEN

War Garden General, Image courtesy of: Historical Society National Archives

As I'm on the road traveling this weekend, I'll keep my commentary short on this one.  This is from WW1, during the "War Garden" campaign.

This started as a cartoon and was turned into a poster.  I think everyone can related to being a "General" in the garden, getting the "troops" in line.  Although the potato scares me just a bit, LOL, I do love the "enemy plotters" lurking in the background.

Enjoy and as always, you can click on the "History" tag below or to the right and see all the vintage poster postings I've done.  

Thank you, and hope you are enjoying your weekend!

MY GRANDFATHER'S BIRTHDAY

This weekend, my Grandfather turns 95.  Yes, 95 years old!
He was born all the way back in 1917.

He's in a nursing home in Oklahoma and while physically he's not able to get around very much, his mind is still sharp and he is, occasionally, just as ornery as ever. He is the last of my grandparents so he's kind of special.  Both sets of grandparent's (and both sets of great grandparents) had farms and/or gardens, but he was the one that I spent Summers with when I was little.  I would help him in his gardens and would then help (but mostly watch) my Grandmother canning all of the stuff that he grew.  I can directly relate my want of a small farm/garden to that influence from all of them, him in particular.

So this weekend, today actually as you read this, we are driving up there to see him.  It's a surprise visit so I'm sure he will be thrilled to see us.  He may be 95, but he loves 2nd Man as if he were his own.  That's pretty awesome in my book.


We talk by phone several times per week but because he's in Oklahoma, I don't get up there as often as I would like.  While we are there, I hope to get some gardening tips and advice from him, and maybe some stories that he might remember of gardens and farm living from back in the day.  I haven't told him about the farm yet, I wanted to surprise him with that.  So I'm bringing lots of pictures, I can't wait to hear his reaction.

Have a great long weekend and I'll update as I can!

MORE WALL SCONCES, THRIFT STORE FIND

More wall sconces

On my weekly lunch break trip to the thrift store, I scored some more metal candle wall sconces.  The large one is made to hold two tapers, and the smaller one to hold a votive or small pillar type candle.

As you can see, one is black, and the other is a brownish/rust color.  I think I might actually paint these, depending on what room I put them in.  I could paint one pale yellow or pink and put it in the guest room, or leave the black one as is and put it in the foyer.

Best of all?  Scored both of these for less than $3.  The large one was $1.89 the small one .99 cents.  Can't beat that!  And now we have a bit more alternative lighting and/or mood lighting.  Now if I could just find some oil lamps...

INSPIRATION THURSDAY, HOBBIT STYLE GARDEN FENCE

Photo courtesy of: ferncreekdesign.org

Any big, fenced in garden is an inspiration to me (and I'm working on our future garden site as we speak!).  I hope to get a big flat cleared area like this one, minus the trees and hills in the background of course.  Anyway, on this one, I'm most intrigued about the fence.  Have you ever seen something like this?

I really like it, and I can't help it, but the first thing I thought of was The Hobbit. Go figure!  It's definitely a much more whimsical design than a traditional garden fence and it looks like it's been cobbled together from timbers.  Probably one of the main reasons I like it, it's not traditional!

It's still an inspiration to get our space finished so we CAN put up a fence around it before the raised beds go in.  See you back here tomorrow! 

SEPTIC TANK QUESTION

We've lived in the city all our lives.  Even growing up, as I moved around with my parents, we lived in large cities with full city sewer and water, so I never had to help with anything involving a septic tank or overheard my parents talking about how to take care of it.

How a septic system works

Flash forward to now and we have the farm, with its small septic tank.  Only one shower, one toilet, and no dishwasher, washing machine or disposal.  I've of course learned what can't ever be put into a septic tank and, from the above picture, how it all works and is all connected together

My question though is this: What SHOULD we put in there to keep it healthy?


I see all sorts of stuff on the market, name brand things that all say they are the "best product to use".  Then I've read online that just plain old yeast is good to flush down the toilets periodically, or a mix of yeast and sugar.

Dry Yeast

So my question is, for those of you on septic systems, what advice, home remedies, store bought miracle substance, good old fashioned advice do you have for someone new to the world of septic tanks?  Remember, for now it's only being used on the weekends, but every time I'm out there, I was wondering if I should regularly drop something in (good bugs?) so the system stays healthy?

Good Bacteria

UPDATE:  Thanks for all the awesome replies (and keep 'em coming!).  Tomorrow is my blog day off and I just got home a bit ago (long day) so I'll reply to each of you on Friday.  Thanks again!!

A TRAIL OF TWO SISTERS

Two Sisters Trail

Forgive the pun in the posting title, I like to play with words sometimes, ha.  I thought I'd share a photo of one of the (many) things I've been working on.  I so often blog about things I want to do, and little projects, this has been a rather big one that I devote at least a few hours to each weekend.  Baby steps!

So, here is one of the trails I've been diligently creating.  I've been clearing brush and some small Mesquite tree saplings a little at a time, and then trying to keep it mowed on a regular basis as well.  Hopefully, it will keep the wild look that I'm enjoying right now, and yet let me roam around to different parts of the property more easily.  I created a path (several actually but more on those in a later posts) from the house and future garden area.  It runs down in between these two trees, curving toward the end to match a curve in the ground cover and the terrain...because sometimes you just have to let nature guide you, ha!  Oh how I'd love to be able to mulch/gravel these paths but that would literally take tons ($) and tons ($$) and tons ($$$) of material.

I think if I just keep it mowed that will be just fine.

These trees have been neglected for years and while very healthy and very tall, they are in need of a good pruning.  That will have to come later as I sharpen learn my pruning skills and of course I'll need to clear out the areas under them before I attempt any pruning measures (no telling what exciting creatures I'll discover then).  The neat thing about these two is that they are the exact same trees, the only two of their kind on the property that I can find.  Not sure what variety they are, I need to get some leaves and figure that out, but because they are both the same size, they make a great pair of bookends for the trail and more importantly, a landmark on the property.  So this past weekend, while on my Zen mower/tractor time, I decided to start calling them the "Two Sisters".

It's nice to be able to locate things on the property by using phrases like "I saw this unusual bird over by the Two Sisters" or "walk down Two Sisters trail and turn left."  I know I like to have a frame of reference when I'm roaming around so I figured that's a good way to tell others how to find their way around as well when they come to visit.  Obviously, it's not like you'd get lost, it is only 10 acres after all and as you can see, not densely forested.  But still, it's a nice way to plan for things in the future as our ripples move ever further outward onto the property.  For now I'll keep the trails cleared on a weekly basis and I'll continue exploring other areas and discovering new things.

That's half the fun!  I'm thinking the other half is hard work!

RED WINE AND WHITE WINE SUBWAY ART PRINTS

We enjoy a glass of wine now and then and want to have wine at the farm, so the other day I was at a store and I found these awesome "Subway Art" prints.  Speaking of, does anyone know why this style is called that?  It seems to be pretty popular right now, I see it everywhere.  Anyway, they were on sale and I just couldn't resist because they are perfect for this corner.  They are printed canvas on a wood frame and the black one has the names of red wines and the white one has the whites.  It's kind of hard to tell in this picture but the background is a sort of wood floor effect.  I hung them in an awkward corner of the dining room above what will soon be a bar table.  It seems black and white is a becoming a recurring theme in the house, matching the vinyl floors, the desk  chair, some of the other furniture, etc, so these fit perfectly.  The bar table should will be finished soon.  Still trying to find the right pieces for it.  Need some more glassware, a tray of some sort and a few other things.  Might be time for a thrift store run...but it should be neat when it's finished.

VINTAGE POSTER SUNDAY, WOMEN DIG FOR VICTORY

Women Dig for Victory Poster, WWII, courtesy of UK Historical Archives

I like it, for the message it's trying to send, but do you think it might be viewed as a bit sexist in today's times?  This was from WWII, the British "Dig for Victory" campaign, so it was a different time period and a different world they lived in.  Of course, men were the ones in the military at that time, so women were left at home to care for the family and other things, so the campaign directed this toward them.

The purpose was to remind people that farmers were growing the other  essential crops and that they needed to grow the vegetables for their kids' nutrition.  I do like the suggestion to turn your garden over to vegetables, and get the "older" children to help.  DO IT NOW.  Ha, can't go wrong with that.

As always, a nice glimpse into our not too distant past.

SATURDAY UPDATE

Close up of wildflowers at the farm

Today was a good day.

Didn't get everything I wanted done, but I did enjoy my solo time out there.  2nd Man had to work to make up for yesterday, and they didn't have a big SUV or truck available as a rental, so we got a Dodge Journey with a third row of seats.  Don't need that but oh well, it is what it is.

  I was able to mow everything, including the trails that 2nd Family had used the brush hog on to clear them.  I am mowing over them regularly, to keep them cleared and it's working.  Of course I stopped many times to avoid frogs and butterflies and a small rodent of some sort.  In addition to mowing, I also took down a few smaller trees, and have started cleaning up the future garden site.  I didn't get to the flower beds, but without having a vehicle to transport the bigger items, and plants, I'll use the upcoming long Memorial Day weekend to get some of that stuff done.  Inside I put up some shelves in the closets, brought some more baskets out there and put them in strategic areas for storage (love baskets for that!), hung a few pictures and enjoyed the cold air inside the house (extension cord works great by the way).

Hey, any day on the big green machine (the John Deere) is a good day.

Hope you all had a great day and we still have one more day for the weekend!  Have plans tomorrow with 2nd Man's family (a graduation) and we're looking forward to that.  Not sure if we'll make it to the farm but like I said, long weekend next weekend, and I'm making my list already!

THIS MAKES ME SMILE

When a day is gloomy, and things don't seem to be going right, this is the kind of thing that makes me smile.

Was sitting on the couch and I looked over at this...two of our cats (out of three) curled up together, sleeping soundly.  The black one, who is only visible as a pillow, is Sydney, a black and white Tuxedo who is almost 17, and the one with the comfy place to rest his head is Brisbane, who is about to turn 12.  I stared at this for about 5 minutes and it made me happy inside.  Such contentment.

Thank you kitties, nature's blood pressure medicine!

UNEXPECTED EVENT

Well, there is always something unexpected around the corner huh?

2nd Man had an accident this afternoon. Ugh.

The upside, he's OK, no injuries thank goodness, it wasn't his fault either and the other person has insurance, so that's all good.  The downside, the car is not driveable, so now we have to get a rental car and go through all that.  This will of course impact this weekend's farm plans as we were going to use his Jeep (much bigger than my car) for hauling some things out there and buying bedding plants and we will most likely end up with a smaller rental car.  He also may have to go into work tomorrow to make up for being out this afternoon.  Alas, posting and comment replies might be sporadic this weekend until I'm sitting in front of a computer, but I'll see what I can come up with.

RULES OF GARDENING, FRIDAY FUNNY

UNWRITTEN RULES OF GARDENING 

by David Hobson

The best way to garden is to put on a wide brimmed straw hat and some old clothes and then, with a hoe in one hand and a cold drink in the other, tell somebody else where you want them to dig.

Compost is best aged a little like a fine wine; would you prefer to drink a nice 97 or something made last Thursday?

When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it; if it comes up out of the ground easily, it's definitely a valuable plant.

A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except for learning how to grow in rows.

Spring does not arrive until the ice is out of the compost pile.

Winter does not arrive until the ice is IN the compost pile.

Any self respecting rock will break at least one shovel before accepting its new home.

A good compost pile should get hot enough to poach an egg, but not so hot that it would cook a lobster.

Gardening requires a lot of water, most of it in the form of perspiration.

INSPIRATION THURSDAY, GARDEN BENCH

Photo Courtesy of: Moose Country Gardens

One thing I've always loved, and you'll see it reflected in some of the pictures I've used for my "Inspiration Thursday", is a nice place to sit in a garden.

Sure we don't have our gardens up and pretty just yet, but when we do, I want something like this.  Just a simple bench, a place to sit, amongst the flowers and bushes.  Isn't it pretty?  And peaceful?  We all need a place to stop and smell the roses...and admire our hard work.

Today is my blog day off so I'll see you back here tomorrow morning, bright and early!  Hope you have a great day.

DOOR MOUNTED STORAGE RACK

Closet Door Shelf Organizer

Not sure how many of you have used one of these but they are awesome.  Since our guest room has two closets and realistically, we only need to use one of those for guests and storing other things, we decided to make this one our cleaning closet.  This closet is closest to the kitchen and since we have a vacuum to deal with and the attachments for it that seem to fall all over the place, we decided to get this.  We will use it for keeping those and most all of the other cleaning supplies in one spot.  I found it at our local Home Depot.  It comes in two sizes and since this door is narrow, this is the smaller of the two sizes, the 24" wide version.  Still, for just 24", it packs seven shelves into that space.  This is the first time we've used one but we couldn't be happier with the purchase.


It was VERY easy to install; just 6 snap on plastic brackets (2 at the top, 2 in the middle and 2 at the bottom), a couple of screws in each one and it was done.  Took me about 10 minutes total time.  We don't have it full now of course, but as you can see, it will be the perfect 'central location' for our cleaning related things and in a small house like this, that's important.  We can still hang coats in there and I will be putting a shelf above the closet rod this weekend.  

Don't be afraid of these ready made, wire organizers.  They do have their place for storage in your house and best of all, they are very affordable.  In such a small house, you have to steal some storage space wherever you can get it.

Can't wait to get it organized!

Closet Door Shelves in use