DIPPIN DOTS SNOW IN TEXAS

I figured I better post this before it's in the 80's and 90's, ha.  Plus I thought those of you in the North and East might get a kick out of our 'snow'.  So the other morning, on one of our 'warned' days of freezing weather, most of Houston woke up to this.  Odd, little, white balls of Winter stuff.  Snow?  Sleet?  Hail?  Dippin Dots? (more on that later).  No, this is something called "GRAUPEL".  What?  I know, us too, we've never heard of that.

What the heck is graupel?

It's apparently a Winter precipitation phenomenon that occurs when supercooled droplets of water collect and freeze ON a snowflake.  Who knew?

Graupel closeup

Tiny little white balls of hardened snow.

It was actually kind of neat to see.

Graupel in Houston

As you can see above, when they started collect in one spot, it did look more like an odd type of snow...or maybe it looks like...

Dippin' Dots Ice Cream, image courtesy of www.dippindots.com

...Dippin' Dots!!  If only it would do this next time!  For those who haven't ever seen it, Dippin' Dots is a wonderfully fun ice cream that is often called the "ice cream of the future".  It's flash frozen in liquid nitrogen which creates these little balls of ice cream that just melt in your mouth.

Still it was the first time in all the years I've lived here that I've seen 'graupel'.  Don't get me wrong, we have had lots of ice and sleet and some teen temps already this Winter, but this stuff is a first for us.

Learn something new every day huh?

HOMEMADE DIY DIBBER AND A SURPRISE

What is this?

Some might call it a "necessity is the mother of invention" moment.

I might be more inclined to call it an "oh crap, I can't find what I need" moment.

Homemade dibber type garden tool

I used to have one of those tools for the raised beds that are called "dibbers", which is basically a pointed stick that you use for making holes in soil to plant bulbs, seeds, seedlings, etc.

When I was getting ready to put my garlic and shallots in late last year, I couldn't find my dibber.  Curses!  I think it got thrown away accidentally when I was clueing out some boxes in town.  I dug around in a kitchen drawer and found a rubber wine bottle cork we had saved for some odd reason, and a long wooden skewer from a package of skewers.  I figured they might do the job.

I pushed the skewer into the cork and it was done.  At first, I was going to use it like this by just using the skewer to push the cork down into the soil, thereby making a large hole...

...but I actually ended up using it like this.  I used the cork as a sort of handle, and stuck the skewer into the dirt.  Then I just wiggled it around and around in a widening circular motion until it created an inverted, cone shaped hole to plant in.  Sometimes, you just have to do what works, ha.

English made Dibber

So flash forward to Valentine's Day.  2nd Man surprised me with this.  It's a large dibber, handmade in England.  It's pretty neat, has a brass tip, and metal depth rings along the length.  Even a handy little leather strap to hang it with.  It's almost too pretty to use.  But I guess it's better than my homemade version, though I might keep that around just in case.

KITTEN

NO, not ours, but we'll still get to have access to her anytime we want.  

So I was at the farm this weekend and I get a message from 2nd Family (they live on property at the front of ours).  She says "oh oh, guess what we found?".

So of course I had to run to their house and see...

Behold...CLOVER the kitten!   She was stuck in some brush near their house.  They looked for a mama kitty but they couldn't find her.  Poor thing cried for two hours while they cut away brush to get to her.

Kitten playing under table

Once they did, now she's home, finding the dining table in their house to be the most perfect jungle gym for exercising.

Clover, the world's cutest kitten

She's probably also wondering about this crazy man down on the floor crawling around making goofy noises, with sudden flashes of light coming from some strange machine.  Is this not THE most adorable face ever?  Sigh.

In spite of this adorable addition to their family, I was able to go back up to the house and get some actual stuff done.  More on that in upcoming posts.

Hope your weekend was wonderful and filled with kittens, er, good times.

TURN THAT GAS DOWN, VINTAGE POSTER SUNDAY

Turn That Gas Down, vintage WWII poster, image courtesy of Britain's Imperial War museum

With more than 60% of the country still covered in snow this weekend, here's a great poster from WWII Britain that reminded everyone to "Turn That Gas Down".  Energy savings for the war effort of course.  Pretty neat poster actually.  That image actually makes me want a nice cup of hot tea right now, ha.  Is it OK to turn the gas up for JUST a moment?

Hope you are having a good weekend, yesterday was a shopping day for the irrigation supplies and today as you read this, I'm at the farm digging a trench, a long trench, if all goes according to plan of course. 

More later!

AN OPEN LETTER FROM LEHMAN'S PRESIDENT

https://www.lehmans.com

Recently, I blogged about Lehman's Non Electric being, other than seed catalogs, our favorite catalog to receive.  In the comments section of my post, several of you brought up concerns about "made in China" products.  I know that often, people don't go back and read comments later on.  In this case, there was a later comment made by one Galen LEHMAN, president of Lehman's.

Because I felt his response was important, I asked him if I could use his note as its own blog post and he graciously allowed.

"Thanks for your great story! I appreciate your kind words. The next time you visit, let me know. I'd love to meet you!

I would like to respond to the concerns that were raised about products imported from China. We are committed to selling USA made products where ever possible. We have a written policy on this and it is very simple. We will never displace any USA manufacturer with goods from another country. The only exception is when we find higher quality products somewhere else, a carefully considered move which we make because we believe that's what most customers want. Occasionally, if the price difference is significant, we may carry both the USA version and the imported version and allow our customers to choose.

When our staff says, "We would buy in the U. S., if we could," they are telling the truth. Sadly, in many cases, there are wide swaths of industry that no longer exist in the USA. For example, when was the last time you saw a USA-made stainless steel teakettle? Our promise is this: If you know of a USA made version of any imported item we carry, let us know and we will start selling it.

To see some of the blog posts I've written about our struggles getting USA made products, and about the ethics and outcomes of buying in China, visit http://CountryLife.Lehmans.com and use the search term "China" or cut and paste this URL into your browser: 

http://countrylife.lehmans.com/?s=china&submit=Search

Thanks again for visiting our store!  Contact me any time.

Galen Lehman, Proprietor, www.lehmans.com"

In this day and age of Presidents/CEOs of large companies that are seemingly out of touch with those who shop/use their products, we find it totally refreshing that one took the time to read and understand concerns some of us had and then addressed them head on in an actual comment.

Thank you Mr. Lehman.  We will look forward to meeting you one day!

Until then, your catalog will continue to be our wish list book for the farm.

VALENTINES DAY WISHES

Vintage Valentine's Day postcard image

2nd Man...

Thank you for our wonderful life.

Thank you for always being there for me.

Thank you for helping make the farm dreams come true.

Happy Valentines Day!

And of course, Valentines wishes from both of us to all of you, thank you for your online friendship.

GARDEN SCARECROW, INSPIRATION THURSDAY

Scarecrow in garden, image courtesy of Southernliving.com

OK.  Silly inspiration but hey, if you've always wanted one, then that makes it valid, right?  So for  the longest time I used to have a fascination with scarecrows.  Loved seeing them as a kid.  Some kids are scared of them but I guess the ones I saw were never scary.  Anyway, as I grew to adulthood, I never gave it much though.  And to be honest, even once we bought the property, and I was dreaming of gardens, I didn't think about it still.

Then one day I saw this picture on a gardening website and I told 2nd Man, that's it!  We need a scarecrow at the farm!  I'm not sure if they really work, but they look great and I've got a big spot in the future garden that one would look perfect in.  Now I just need to figure out the easiest way to make one.  Looks pretty simple to me.  A cross of some sort and some old clothes.

What about you?  Ever had a scarecrow?

Have a great day!

Be inspired!

SIGNED UP FOR BEEKEEPING SCHOOL

A couple of years ago, I took a very basic 'intro to beekeeping' class.  I had a blast getting up close and personal with bees and it gave me, no pun intended, the bug for keeping bees.  Of course at that time, we had to do much more on the property to even get to that point and to be honest, I also wanted to see if I felt comfortable around them.  Here are a couple of photos from that class:

Me, holding bees!

I was definitely comfortable, ha.

I was also totally fascinated by the whole process, not to mention the natural beauty of the bees and how they create what they do.

Honeycomb section with honey

So recently, a fan of the blog who lives not too farm from our farm, reached out in an email to say hello and chat.  Turns out he and his wife built their dream home on some rural property and like us, have planted fruit trees, berries, etc, on their land.  They also have a couple of hives!

Also like us, they had no experience prior to having them but had always wanted to do it.  So last year, they took a beekeeping course and then jumped in and did it.  And they enjoy it.  In our email conversations, he gave me the information on the school for this year.  It's an all day event, with a beginners class in the morning with a lot of information and then you can choose from a wide variety of informative classes in the afternoon (up to four per person).

So last night, I signed 2nd Man and I up for the school!

Anyone in this part of Texas that might like to attend, here is the link:

Central Texas Beekeepers School 2014

We are looking forward to it and of course, a big thank you to JM and his wife for not only the kind words about the blog, but for the wonderful tip about the school.  Let this be the year of "beginning the bees" at Seda Bolsa Farm!

More as it gets closer to the class.

Saturday, March 29th 2014 in Brenham, Texas.

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN HANGRY

Saw this sign on a poster at lunch today and just had to share.  Too funny!

How many of you have been "hangry" but didn't know what to call it?

I think I just found a new word to add to my vocabulary!

Can't wait to tell 2nd Man, "I'm hangry...you wouldn't like me when I'm hangry."

LOL!  On second thought, maybe not such a good idea after all. 

NADEAU HOUSTON STORE HAS MOVED

For those in other parts of the country/world, this post won't mean much but since we do get a lot of traffic on the blog from here in Houston (though they have stores around the country), and this is our favorite furniture store, I wanted to make those of you here locally aware of Nadeau Houston's relocation.

nadeau, furniture with a soul, click above graphic for link to their main website

For several years, they have been in the Village, off of University Blvd, but as of a couple of weeks ago, they have moved.  The Village location is closed and relocated to Durham Dr, just South of I-10, in a huge warehouse type space.

They are now located at: 1502 Durham Dr. Houston, TX 77007

Phone: (713) 942-9310

I can't tell you how much we enjoy this store.  In a sense, much of what we've done inside at the farm was built around the furniture we've selected from their inventory.  And just last Summer, some pictures of the inside of the farmhouse were featured on their website/blog.  Wouldn't it figure that they've relocated CLOSER to where we live in town, and that could be dangerous!

Check out the Houston store inventory by CLICKING HERE.

If you pop in to see them, ask for the manager, David, he is awesome!

WATER PREPPING AFTER WEST VIRGINIA

West Virginia state flag

I'm sure many of you saw the news out of West Virginia a few weeks ago.  The mess is HERE for those who haven't read about it.  Long story short, a chemical storage company had a failure of a toxic chemical storage tank which then leaked some horrendous chemical into the water supply of a large part of WV.  Residents all around the area were told to stop using water.  Not just 'don't drink it', but don't bathe in it, don't wash their hands with it, don't wash dishes, don't brush their teeth, don't even flush toilets.

Basically they were told not to touch it.

Water!?

Dangerous!?

Hazardous to your health!?

It's something we all take for granted at times.  We turn on the faucet and water comes out, right?  But what happens when it doesn't?  Or if it makes you sick even if it did come out?  It got us to thinking about being prepared.

Now at the farm we are on a well, and it's fairly deep, so the water is relatively safe from above ground contamination.  Still, who knows what might happen, even down underground?  Though unlikely, it could become contaminated.  But certainly the water system in town is VERY susceptible to something like this.  Heck, during Hurricane Ike, parts of the city had to boil water for a few days.

So what if that did happen in town...no water?

This is what would happen...

Water shortage, photo courtesy of WOWK

This is an actual Kroger store in a city in WV.  With more than 300,000 residents having no water, stores were inundated by people within a few hours.  In fact, in less than a day, authorities said there was no water to be had anywhere within a one hundred mile radius!

The farm is not only our future retirement place, it is also our "bug out location", our safe place to go if we can't stay in town for any reason.  No running water or not having drinking water would definitely be a good reason.  

So at the farm, we are keeping fresh water stored.  We have our water cooler which of course, holds 5 gallons at any one time.  Then we keep two back up, already filled, 5 gallon bottles in the mudroom.  This means we have 15 gallons of clean fresh water at any given moment.  That's not enough though to live on for any length of time.  The general rule of thumb for water storage is 1/2 - 1 gallon per person, per day.  If we were frugal, the two of us would have drinking water for 15 days.  If it was Summer and hot (which goes without saying here in this part of Texas), we might only have half that much time.  Add to that the fact that you would also need water for the other things that stopped in WV like washing, bathing, cleaning, and flushing.  Reading all of the stories in West Virginia reminded us that we need to up our own capacity:

• We will add two more 5 gallon bottles of water for a total of 25 gallons.

• We are getting gutters on the house this year and will finally begin the process of harvesting and storing rain water.

• We'll need a purification means to treat that rainwater (or the well water).

• We're looking into the waterBOB emergency storage system as a means to have a bit more water stored, of course when we have notice of a major event such as a Hurricane.

• And lastly, we're going to talk to 2nd Family (whom we share the well with) about alternative means of pumping water, manually and/or with solar.

Water = life,  so make sure you have it and have thought about what other options you might have without it.  How is your storage going?
Any ideas or suggestions?

VINTAGE POSTER SUNDAY, DELICIOUS RABBIT DISHES

Delicious Dishes Rabbit, vintage poster image courtesy of Imperial War Museum

A few weeks ago, I posted an image of a WWII poster that showed what to feed rabbits.  I guess there was a theme going on at the time, raise your own rabbits to help with feeding people at home (which in turn helped the war effort).  This poster gave all sorts of "delicious" options.  Rabbit Pie, Fricassee of Rabbit, Curried Rabbit, Roasted Rabbit, Rabbit Stew, and two we've never heard of Jugged Rabbit and Rabbit Brawn.

Phew, I feel like Bubba from Forrest Gump!

I can honestly say we've never eaten rabbit.  I'd be wiling to try it but I'm pretty sure 2nd Man wouldn't even try it, ha.

This weekend has been unproductive (related to the garden).  There was some stuff done but for the most part, I wasn't able to do outside what I wanted to do in the garden.  So next weekend, weather permitting, I'll have to bust my behind to get back ahead of the game.

Hope your weekend is going better!

OH OH, MILDEW ON SIDING

Mildew on siding

Anyone have a solution for this?

I haven't walked around to this side of the house the last few weekends, it's the North facing side, and without having to mow, I don't have much reason to go back there right now, ha.  Focusing on the garden now.  Anyway, went back there and we noticed that there is some green growth on the siding.  I'm guessing it's mildew of some sort?  As for the "clean strip" on the siding?  It's under one of the window units so I guess it's shade just right?  Weird.

Mostly likely it's the cool, damp weather the last few weeks has caused it, coupled with it being on the North side and not getting much direct sunshine.  Anyone have a suggestion to clean it?  We were originally just thinking of a bleach/water solution but didn't know if there was some other option?

It's always something, huh?

COUNTRY FARM ANIMAL PANCAKE PAN

Nordic Ware farm pancake pan

I found this on clearance at lunch and just had to get it.  It's used to make the small silver dollar size pancakes (slight larger than that actually).  And of course, when you pour the batter in and make them, they come out with a farm animal imprint on each one.

I found it at Marshall's Home Goods, but I did some Googling and they still sell them HERE AT AMAZON if you should be so inclined.

Can't wait to use it.  Should be cute and fun.  I wish I could say we'll use it this weekend but alas, 2nd Man is getting ready to head off to Arizona to start working there again.  He's been working in town the last two weeks but travel starts up again this weekend.  So, I'm on my own at the farm.  I'll work on the irrigation set up, if the weather cooperates of course.  We actually had sleet and ice again yesterday and this morning.

 O Spring, O Spring, wherefore art thou?

Hope you have a great weekend!

ZOMBIE GARDENING

In Case of Zombies...or Yard Work   original source unknown

This weekend is the return of AMC's The Walking Dead tv series.  We're fans.  And so when I saw this, not only did it make me laugh, I would SO love to do this on a storage wall of tools at the farm
(John in Trelawnyd, you reading this?).

I could totally see this on the side of the barn.
It would be hilarious!

FLOWERS AND A SHED, INSPIRATION THURSDAY

Image courtesy of BHG.com

We just like the layout and colors of everything in this picture.  The yellow flowers are stunning, the dark red ones in the background are pretty, the green grass and even the rustic shed.  It could also just be the middle of Winter blahs and longing for color.  Heck, even green would be welcome at this point!

Hope you are having a good week.  It's almost the weekend!

Be inspired!

ONE PAN PASTA RECIPE

We can't take credit for this recipe, though we did tweak it a bit for our purposes.  It's ONE PAN PASTA courtesy of Martha Stewart Living.

First you put the ingredients in a pan.  Make sure you have a pan that will fit the pasta.  Yes, you put the pasta in dry along with the tomatoes and onions and sliced garlic.

Then you add the water, and some fresh basil leaves, oil, salt and pepper to the pan.  Oh, and some pepper flakes for a bit of heat
(optional of course).

Bring to a boil over high heat and then just start stirring.  It might look like too much water at first but don't worry, it will cook down in time.

Just keep it boiling while stirring, gently moving the pasta around in the water.  We found that a pair of tongs worked wonders for this.  As you stir, the water will start to evaporate...

...and in about 10 minutes, what's left will thicken and become a sauce.  The onions  and garlic have cooked down and even the basil and tomatoes start to break down.

To add a bit of meat to the dish, we pan grilled some lovely Italian sausages to serve on the side of the pasta.  Not required but definitely good.

One Pan Pasta

And that's all there is to it.  The tomatoes have mostly broken down into a creamy, pink sauce and the onions and garlic are there, only now they are just softened and sweet.  The sausage on the side adds a wonderful 'extra' but of course, it's not necessary (we just like it).

INGREDIENTS:

16 ounces of linguine pasta, dried
12-14 ounces of cherry tomatoes, cut in half (we used mini San Marzano's)
1 onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
2 sprigs fresh basil
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (to taste, optional)
2 TBSP of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
4 1/2 cups water

Thank you Martha.
A lovely new recipe to add to our routine.

GARDEN FENCE ANIMAL PROOFING QUESTION

Something I thought of that I need to do, some protection from animals that might want to come through the fence pickets (ones that would fit of course).

Garden area fencing

So do you all have some good ideas for screening this?  Our thought was to put some screening of some sort, like chicken wire, along the the bottom 1/3 or so of the fence.  At first, I was thinking of just stapling them onto the outside of the fence and onto the pickets.  BUT, we're not sure we want it on the outside of the fence, just in case we want to paint or stain the pickets later.  Plus it would just 'look' better if it was on the inside of the fence instead of the outside.

Then I realized, looking back at pictures of the fencing, that the inside will be a bit more difficult to attach to.  I suppose I could just take a narrow strip and dig it into the ground a bit and then staple to the bottom rail and the onto each post and just leave it as high as the bottom rail (bottom red line)?  Or should I just go higher and staple it to each post and go up 2 feet or so (top red line)? 

Any other suggestions on what to use?  Something other than chicken wire?  This might be part of the weekend work, depending on weather (as usual).

RAISED BED CONSTRUCTION FINISHED

I won't bore you with more photos of the construction process.  It was easy, the same as BEFORE.  I used the raised bed corner brackets, screwed them together with Deckmate screws (rustproof), and rolled them, like square wheels, into position.  They are all three feet apart from each other, to make it easier to get wheelbarrows carts and other things in between them.

4x4 Raised Beds

This is a side to side view.  I did the four on the right last weekend and the last four (on the left) this weekend, before the rain hit.  I'm not kidding when I say we literally just got the last one into place when it started sprinkling. We loaded up the car to keep the tools out of the rain and then went to the porch when it started pouring.  Work outside done for the day!

Next step comes irrigation.  I'm currently figuring out the best way to do it since the water faucet is so far away. Most likely, an underground pipe or hose from the house to the garden area.  Once I get it there, I've got a drip irrigation system ready for that end that will, hopefully, work.  

Of course, the weather changed yesterday, rained all day again and got cold...down into the 30's during the day.  I'm not sure what this weekend's weather will be like.  If we wait long enough, it will change.  One good thing for sure, the rain will loosen the ground for digging a trench, which will help ease the hardest part of the work.

STUPID GROUNDHOG

Image courtesy of http://vintagemarigold.blogspot.com

He saw his shadow...

SIX MORE WEEKS OF WINTER!?

Image courtesy of earthsky.org

And today it's cold and wet.

Sigh.

Off to watch "the big game" (i.e. The Superbowl)

EDIT: For those in other parts of the world who are unfamiliar with our sometimes 'odd' holidays, HERE is the Wiki info on Groundhog Day.  According to traditional lore, if the groundhog sees his shadow on February 2nd, there will be six more weeks of Winter.  If he doesn't, it's an early Spring.

Click HERE for a bit more info from the official website.

PUT YOUR MUSCLE ON, VINTAGE POSTER SUNDAY

Not sure how many young people today would sign up for something like this, but it's nice to think that there was a time when they would.  This poster from WWII urged young men to sign up for a farm job and use their muscles to help support the war effort.  

The phrasing is different to me though...'put your muscle on a war basis'?  I understand the point but the use of 'on a war basis' sounds odd.  Any thoughts?

Cold and rainy today.  Is Spring coming soon?  We hope so!

AND THE RAIN IS BACK

Well, this is the weather here today.  I was able to get several things done outside at the farm so that's good, but now it's pouring rain and the cold weather is coming tomorrow and will last into the week. 

This seems to be the Winter of "if you don't like the weather, just give it a minute, it will change".  More on Sunday.  Hope your weekend is staying dry.