INSPIRATION THURSDAY, SUES BEAUTIFUL GARDEN

Photo graciously provided by: Sue, of Sue's Garden Journal

Here is another favorite photo of mine and it comes from a fellow blogger.  This is but one small part of the lovely gardens of Sue.  She blogs all about her gardens over at SUES GARDEN JOURNAL and rightfully so, her efforts are beautiful and oh so pretty.

This is the kind of look I like so much.  It's the random yet planned nature of the flowers.  Love the colors and the textures and the fence, even the little path down the middle.  It's so serene and calming to me.  That's always the best way to plant, so it looks like it just popped up all by itself.  Of course, who can NOT love those amazingly tall Sunflowers?  Awesome!

Thank you Sue for giving me inspiration, and of course, thank you for allowing me to use your image so that I might share your inspiring work with others.

Blog day off, see you back here tomorrow morning with the giveaway results!

NAMING WINTER STORMS

OK, now this is kind of strange.

Or maybe cool?

The Weather Channel has decided to name Winter Storms this season.

So without further ado, here are the "names" of the major winter storms for 2012-2013:

Winter Storm Name photo, courtesy of: Weather.com

Now being down here along the Gulf coast, we are more than used to named storms...Tropical Storms and Hurricanes.  The reasons they give for now naming winter storms are the same as for tropical systems.

They say it will a better way to communicate the threat and timing of impacts of the storms as they approach different parts of the country.  They also mentioned that social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter would be a better way to bring together information about the storms when they have a name that can utilized throughout posts by people in the path.

The parameters for when a storm gets named, like wind speed or snow levels, vary for each 'event'.  As for the "names", not sure how they came up with the ones they settled on.  The majority are mythological but some are odd to say the least.  Twitter was even abuzz about the rejected names.

SO what do you all think?  Especially those of you here in the states that might live in the path of possible storms?

Old Man Winter

"Watch out, Gandolf is coming!"

"Oh no, it's Nemo!"

"Here comes Q!"

Read all about it BY CLICKING HERE for more details.

ROADSIDE CHAIR FIND

White chair

Was driving home from work the other night and saw this on the side of the road.  Side note, I still feel strange doing that, like I'm taking something I shouldn't.  But I figure people put stuff out on the curb for either trash pickup or hoping someone else might want it so it's OK.  Anyone else feel that way?

Anyway, I drove around the block, deciding if I should get it, where I could put it, etc.  Ultimately, I circled back around and picked it up.

It's a solid wood chair that has a really cool design to it.  It had been painted in a whitewash type of flat paint, which will actually work great as a primer.  I'm assuming they threw it out because the back of it has two small cracks, one on each side (someone must have leaned back in it one too many times).  It's nothing a little Gorilla Glue can't fix!  I liked the style, we need a chair in the master bedroom and besides, you can't beat free right?!

So, this will be my next redecorating project.  I'm thinking blue, the same blue I used for the dresser and end table in the master bedroom.  I might even leave part of it white (the back perhaps?).  After painting, all it will need is the perfect seat cushion.  Darn, that reminds me, I forgot to measure it for a cushion so I could look for one on my lunch breaks this week.
Oh well, I need to get it painted first.

Stay tuned!

MOUSE PROOFING UPDATE

Several of you have asked for an update so I thought I better let y'all know.

TWO DOWN, hopefully none to go!!!

So let me back up.

A few days back, we went out in the middle of the week after work to see if the traps were sprung. Going out there (it's about 45 miles one way) after getting home from a long day of work makes for a long night, be we were hopeful.  Sadly, they weren't sprung.  Ugh.  All I managed to do was scare myself silly in the dark when I heard a strange noise, but more on that in another posting.

The next step was to order some sort of ultrasonic noise type machine that several of you mentioned in the comments.  I did some research and found these online.  Supposed to be very good and they came pretty highly reviewed.  So I ordered two and they arrived on Friday.

It was a wet, rainy weekend, Saturday very heavy, so we stayed in town.  Sunday we loaded up and headed out, in the rain again, but it was  more sporadic.  Drove through some ominous, heavy clouds but for the most part it was just light rain.  We got there and walked in and the first three traps, nothing.  

But the next two, DING DING, two mice caught! (though "mouse caught" on the side of these traps is really just a euphemism for

CAUTION DEAD MOUSE INSIDE). I carefully removed the traps and disposed of said contents.  Just took a picture of one. I chose to dispose of the traps too. Wasn't in the mood for 'cleaning' them.

Found places for the two ultrasonic repellers.  Put one  in the mudroom pointing toward the kitchen and dining room and the other up front in the foyer pointing into the living room and bedrooms. Let me tell you, on the high setting, these things are loud enough to drive out HUMANS as well as anything else.

We checked all the cushions and drawers and cabinets and no droppings, no nests, nothing.  It looks, fingers crossed/knock on wood, like the mouse proofing measures we recently undertook have worked.  We sealed up everything, I sprayed some exterior repellent around all the doors and the perimeter of the house, we put down some packets of aromatic things they don't like, and we set the traps.  Now we have the noisemakers going on high while we're not there.

Field of "Broomweed Flowers" (thanks for the ID Dianne!)

When we left, there were blue skies starting to break through the gloom and I saw this view across the street.  I had to stop the car and jump out to take a picture.  2nd Man thought I was crazy, but I love sharing the land around us with all of you.  None of these flowers were there a week ago!

Maybe this will be a good sign that the mice have moved on too.  They can live in this field and be happy amongst the flowers.

VINTAGE POSTER SUNDAY, LITTLE AMERICANS DO YOUR BIT

Little Americans Poster,  courtesy of: US Library of Congress

Here is a poster from WWI, about 1917.  As with most things from the war, it was aimed at waste and keeping food available for those fighting.

This poster was put out by the United States Food Administration.  Asking even the "Little Americans" to do their part by cleaning their plates.  It even reminded parents to use oatmeal, cornmeal mush, hominy and even rice with milk in order to save the wheat.

I wonder, do parents today urge their kids to clean their plates?  I know I grew up with that ingrained in me, don't be wasteful.  I couldn't get up from the table until I had cleaned my plate.

We should all leave nothing on our plates.

CATNIP JAR MAKES FOR HAPPY CATS

We are house bound today
(in town) because of the heavy rain in our area and after last Summer's drought, I won't ever complain about rain again!  So I decided to look around for things that I have purchased and see what else I can use them for.  Here is a thrift store find from awhile back, an old glass jar with a metal lid.  I think it was a $1.  It is embossed on the front with the word "TEA", so I presume that it was originally used for the storage of tea or tea bags.  We have a tea storage box, so I began looking around for something else to put in it.

Then I happened up this idea.  I decided to fill it with fresh, dried catnip!  It's the perfect size for a nice batch of our cats' favorite special drug weed herb.

It will be a fun way to store it in the pantry or out on the counter. We'll always know what's in it when the cats need a quick high, hit, fix, pick me up. 

Besides, isn't catnip sometimes made into tea?  I guess it's a jar of catnip tea, ha.

Don't forget, this month's book giveaway ends tomorrow at midnight and there are only about 15 or so entries, so you have pretty good odds of winning.

And if you aren't interested in this month's book, a cookbook is coming next month!  Click HERE to enter.

Hope you are enjoying your Saturday

YOU ARE TRYING TO MATCH WHAT

Matches

Here is a real life "Friday Funny"

Went to the grocery store today to get some matches for the farm.  Sounds simple huh?  It was a new store and I was a bit lost so a young employee asked me if I needed help.  What follows is the actual exchange:

HIM: "Hi, um, can I help you find something?"

ME: "Yes, actually I'm looking for matches".

HIM: "Looking for what?"

ME: "Matches.  You know, like kitchen matches?"

HIM: "It matches what in the kitchen?"

ME: "No, no, to light things...with fire"

HIM: "Oh, you need a lighter, those are on aisle 12"

 ME:  Heavy sigh as I dejectedly headed off on my own.

Are matches becoming "old school"?  Or am I?

Hey, at least I got my matches!*

And they are "green" (eco friendly) at that, made from sustainable forests!  That's kind of cool.

*matches were in the picnic supplies section

OUR BLOG IS TWO YEARS OLD

Boy, how did the stars align for this?
Today is usually when I have an "Inspiration Thursday" post. 
This is also my 1000th post.
And it just so happens that today, we also turn two!

Yep, it is the 2nd anniversary of the Two Men and a Little Farm blog.  I believe in the world of blogging this is called a Blogaversary.  Or Blogiversary.  Or Blogoversary.  I'm never sure which one is right but the sentiment is the same.

However you spell it, it means the same thing; two years ago today, I turned on my computer, sat down to a blank screen and used my fingers to type into the scary world of blogging.  My goal at the time was to just keep track of buying the house and property and have a record of sorts of the progress we made on it.  I always thought it would be great if people found me and even better if they came back more than once, but of course, I didn't know if it would really happen.  I just enjoyed the process, it allowed me to be creative and it was also far less scary than I had imagined it would be.

Now here I sit, 2 years later, on my usual day of posting an inspiring picture, typing the 1000th post!  Yes, if you can believe it, I've managed to blab on and on about some topic or another ONE THOUSAND different times.

The last year has brought many changes, both to the house and to the property.  There have been triumphs and fun things and things we've learned that we didn't know.  There have been some exciting makeover projects and DIY things, some great recipes and cooking adventures and even some gardening fun.  There are also projects I had hoped to get to but didn't quite make it.  There were creatures galore (snakes, mice, wasps).  There was a sudden job change, a new car and even an unexpected car accident.  But through it all, you keep visiting and offer the kind of support I only dreamed of when I started this two years ago.

Photo courtesy of:  davesgarden.com

Thanks, each and every one of you.  I just can't imagine how this journey would have been without being able to bring each of you along for the ride.  So much more to happen in the next year.  Can't wait to share it all!

Thank you again. 

THE STUNNING WHITE FLOWERS OF FROSTWEED

Frostweed on each side of the trail

When I've mowed recently, this is the sight that greets me on a certain part of the property.  No worries, I didn't mow over them, this is one of the paths, I've been continually mowing and it seems to have created a border of these flowers.  According to my Wildflowers book, it is called "Frostweed".  Its other names are Virginia Crownbeard, Ice plant, Tickseed, Tickweed, Squaw-weed, and Indian Tobacco.  Believe it or not, it is actually a member of the Sunflower family.

Frostweed in bloom

It is a perennial that grows between three and seven feet tall.  As you can see above, there are a variety of sizes in one grouping.  It blooms from August until November, so I'll have them to look forward to until the mowing season is finally over for the year.

Field of Frostweed

Here is what they look like when viewed as a whole.  Isn't it great?  It's so pretty to see so much white in the Summer because it actually reminds me of Spring. The flowers have an interesting scent too; the closest thing I can use to describe it is that they smell like a sweet soap.  I know that sounds odd but it is actually a very pleasing smell.

Interesting side note: Native American Indians dried the leaves of this and used it as a substitute for tobacco in smoking!  I don't smoke so I won't be attempting that and besides, I'm not sure what laws might be involved, LOL.

SEEDS OF THE MONTH

Almost missed it this month, but here it is, this month's batch of seeds from the SEEDS OF THE MONTH club.  Not only do I love it when they arrive in the mailbox (it's like Christmas!), but I love sharing them and getting advice.

This month brings the arrival of the following varieties:

Pea, "Sugar Snap"

Cabbage, "Late Flat Dutch"

Broccoli, "Waltham 29"

Kale, "Dwarf Siberian"

Anyone grown any of these vegetables and/or varieties?  I always like to ask so I can see if there is any advice you all can give on best methods of planting, growing tips, etc.  I'm never sure what is best for Fall planting, or Winter, or wait till Spring, etc. and so I have to divide them up into what I can maybe plant in the Spring or save until later.

Thank you, as always!

KITCHEN COOKBOOK HOLDER DIY

Here is a great DIY I did with my recent thrift store find, turning something meant for one purpose into something for another purpose.  I did it as a surprise for 2nd Man.  It gave me something fun to work on and he gets the end result to use while cooking up something wonderful for dinner or dessert.

Wait a second...I guess that would be a win win for me?? Ha!

Here is how I did it, hope you enjoy!

DIY cookbook holder

First I started with this metal easel.  I found it at the thrift store.  It's made for a photograph or small picture frame, stands about 16" tall and is made of a wrought iron type metal.  I knew as soon as I saw it that it would be perfect.

Painting the cookbook holder

First, I decided on a color, in this case red, since that will be the accent color in the kitchen.  I got out my trusty can of Rustoleum and took it outside to spray paint it.  Rustoleum is always good on metal objects because it goes on so well and covers up a multitude of problems (including, of course, rust).

Cookbook holder in place

After an hour or so of drying time, it was done!  Simple as that!  Here it is on the counter in all its red glory.  It really is a quick and easy project.

Cookbook holder in use

Here is how you use it.  Just take your cookbook, and put it on the easel as if it were a picture frame.  The lower portion of the easel holds the book open to the page that you need to view and gives you a hands free way of reading your recipe while you're cooking.

Cookbook holder on kitchen counter

One thing to remember is that you want to find one that's an appropriate size for larger cookbooks.  If a cookbook was too big for a small easel, it would just tip over.  This one was just perfect, as you can see.  2nd Man was very surprised and loved it.  Now I just need to get him to make that pie that I conveniently opened it up to!

Enjoy!

VINTAGE POSTER SUNDAY, SAVE SEED CORN NOW

Image Courtesy of US National Archives

This is a really different poster.  They were definitely sounding the alarm about the "alarming shortage" that existed.  During World War I, there was a shortage of corn and the quality/quantity was not where it needed to be in order to get a good supply of corn harvested for the country.  They even urged people to report any surplus to the bank and they would arrange the sale of it.

I love the line "the quality is poor".  Um, yeah, that's true today for sure if you buy and/or plant the GMO seeds.  But I'm guessing we'd never hear that from the corporate owned media because Monsanto and those companies like them would never allow it.  They'd say "buy GMO, it's all good!" (NOT!).

Don't forget to enter this months book giveaway contest!

Hope you are enjoying your weekend and this second full day of Autumn.

AUTUMN 2012 HAS ARRIVED

Photo courtesy of: Mt Washington Valley New England 

Ah, it's here!  It's been a long, hot summer.  Thankfully, we were rainy here enough times that our rainfall is about normal but sadly, many parts of the country are still in a drought.  But now it's only a few hours away here.  Autumn, or Fall as it's more often called (I still prefer "Autumn"), has arrived and we are happy.  With it comes all the great stuff of the season.


The trees above...wow, American seasonal tree change is astounding. If you've never seen it, it truly is a sight to behold. 

Aren't the colors of the season pretty?  I just love this color palette.  It's so warm and comforting and inviting.  They certainly can make a place feel like home.  Green, gold, orange, rust, brown...it's the colors of the leaves!

Image courtesy of: Southernliving.com

And who doesn't love the veggies and fruits that Autumn brings? Squash in all shapes, pumpkins, corn, apples, pomegranates, cranberries, pears and more.

Image courtesy of: Wikicommons

The food!  Oh how we love the food.  Much like the comforting and warm colors of the season, the food shares a similar theme.  It's even often the same colors!  It's always warm and comforting too.  Hearty stews, thick wonderful soups, warm casseroles and flavorful slow cooked meals.

Pies, image courtesy of: Wikicommons

And pies.  Pies, pies, glorious pies.  Pecan, pumpkin, apple, fruit, custard...they just seem to be perfect embodiment of the season.

And as always, the start of Autumn brings the promise of cooler weather and eventually cold, with Winter not too far down the road.  Until then though, let's enjoy all we can of this wonderful season.

Happy Autumn!

INSPIRATION THURSDAY, GARDEN BENCH IN MEADOW

I've always liked this picture.  It's just a simple wooden bench in a garden meadow.  But it represents so much of what I love about the country.  Peaceful.  Relaxing.  Reflection.  Book reading.  Napping.  So much to do on a bench like this.  I think I love the fact that it's just sort of "there", more or less in the middle of nowhere, beckoning you to come and sit for a spell.  

Ironically, I have a bench very similar to this, in kit form, in storage.  Found it once upon a time at a garage sale and it has never been opened, I just need to put it together.  Haven't done that yet because I want to find the perfect meadow for it to be in.  As random as this one looks, my guess is that they planned it to be there in that spot.  I can do the same! 

Blog day off, see you back here tomorrow!

A VIEW DOWN THE DRIVEWAY

Driveway view

In the interest of sharing, and seeing more of the property, here is a view (right after I mowed it all!) that I thought I'd share.  This is looking down our driveway toward the house.  It's from where 2nd Family's house is.  It isn't from the main road though because we share the main driveway that goes from the road to this point (about 3 acres away) with them.  Here you can also see, on the other side of that large post, where our property begins.  So this part of it is our driveway, all the way up to the house.

On the left in both of the photos, you can see a fence line that separates it into what we all call the 'back pasture', which belongs to them (2nd Family).  We hope to someday share some livestock with them in that pasture.  Sheep?  Goats?  A couple of milk cows?  Pigs?  Time will tell I suppose.

The photo below is about halfway up the driveway so you can see a bit closer view of the house.  We've always liked how the house sits back far enough and behind enough trees that it stays pretty private.  No one can see the house from any of the roads around the property and that's nice.

House and driveway view

SAUSAGE WHITE BEAN AND KALE SLOW COOKER RECIPE

If you'd like, you can prep it the night before.  Here I prepped it all the night before to make it easy to throw together before leaving for work.

1 lb white beans

1 lb sausage, diced

2 stalks of celery, chopped

5 whole sprigs thyme

2 small white onions, diced

1 glove garlic, minced

pinch of red pepper flakes

8 cups chicken broth

2 cups torn/chopped kale

2 TBSP cider vinegar

salt/pepper to taste

The kale can be torn by hand or chopped into small bits, just be sure and remove any hard stems or woody pieces. Put about 2 cups aside in fridge until slow cooker is done.

 

Place beans, sausage, thyme, celery, onion, garlic, and seasonings in crock pot.

Add the chicken broth and put the lid on.  Set your crock pot for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high and forget about it.  

It should look like this after you take the lid off later when the cooking time is done.  

About 30 minutes before you are ready to eat, remove the lid, pour in your kale pieces (no worries, it will cook down), pour the cider vinegar over the top, and stir.  Put the lid on and let it go for about 30 more minutes.

How yummy is this?
Ladle it into bowls, and serve with a nice crusty piece of bread.  It's so satisfying and delicious.  A great use for kale
(which seems to grow like a weed down here when it's in season).

Enjoy!

CHALKWARE KITTENS IN BASKET

Vintage Chalkware bank

Now for some a happy post.  This is a neat thing I recently found in storage.  It was my Mom's, but not just hers from collecting it in later years, this was hers when she was little.  It's got a great story.  She got it when she was little, a carnival as she recalled, and then it sort of got "lost" for years.  After my Grandparent's passing (her parents), we were going through boxes of things in their cellar and found this.  

She was excited to see it again.  It's a "Chalkware" bank in the form of a basket full of kittens.  Chalkware was commonly used for giveaway items at circuses and carnivals, mucn like stuffed animals are done now.  We certainly couldn't let that linger in storage again yet again for more years, so I brought it to the farm and put it on the end table in the living room.

It makes me smile when I see it and I guess that's all that counts huh?  Still have lots of stuff to go through and it's fun finding these little things.
The farmhouse will be full of good memories and that's always a good thing.

Don't forget about the September blog GIVEAWAY.
Enter today!

MOUSE PROOFING WEEKEND

This past weekend was a mouse proofing weekend at the farm.  After our RECENT MOUSE TROUBLE, and asking you all for advice, we saw another mouse in the house.  The time had come.  We devised a multi-prong plan of attack.

  

Ortho mousetrap

First we got these mousetraps, the Ortho Kill and Contain traps.  They will keep the mouse body inside and sealed up until we get there to dispose of it.  We put six of them around the house, baited with peanut butter and a little vanilla (apparently mice love the smell of vanilla).

Great Stuff Pestblock

Then we found this awesome stuff at our local hardware store.  The guy there highly recommended it.  I remembered that several of you said that mice will chew through the regular foam sealant.  This is the "Great Stuff" brand but it's called Pestblock.  It contains a bitter tasting and smelling additive.  The guy said he had a mouse coming in and out of a small hole in his house, he used this and never saw the mouse again.  Pretty ingenious of them to come up with something like this to prevent future chewing.  We'll see how it works at the farm.  I spent the day sealing up all the little gaps and holes I could find.

Hey, if nothing else, we're sealed up for better a/c and heat operation!

Fresh Cab by Earth-Kind

Next, we got 8 of these.  Based on some of your suggestions for "smells" that repel mice, I did some googling and found a company that makes these.  They are called Fresh Cab and were invented by a farmer's housewife.  Supposed to work great because they are filled with the smells mice don't like.  I put one in each closet, a couple under the two sinks, one under each bed and one in the living room where we saw the mouse.  We shall see.

Ro-Pel Rodent Repellant

Lastly, we got this.  It also came recommended, and we used it on the external part of the house.  I sprayed it around the front doors, and then all along the porch, the stairs, and then sprayed it all around the perimeter of the house.

We've, hopefully anyway, made it miserable inside for mice, created a barrier outside for those wanting to come in, sealed up the entrances, and for those unfortunate enough to be stuck inside, they will meet their demise.
Fingers crossed that we've done enough to nip it in the bud!

Don't forget about the September blog GIVEAWAY.
Enter today!