MOWING TIME AGAIN

So this past weekend, it had been dry for a week and so it was time to mow.  Only the second time on the new Zen machine...

I opened the mower shed doors and the lights shone down and the angels were singing.  OK, so that didn't happen, but it DOES still have that new mower smell!

An hour and a half, about the usual time.  I had skipped a few areas because we were expecting the tree/brush clearing to happen but of course it didn't.

This new mower with its deeper mowing deck that allows the clippings to be chopped up longer, keeps it looking very nice when it's done.

Here's an angle we don't always show.  The back corner.  Hope that when they do the clearing, they will have time to do this area and clean it up.

We had some decent rain yesterday but scattered.  It's supposed to be much more today and tomorrow but they were a little wrong about the start of it yesterday, so we're not sure how much it will end up being.

Fingers crossed not too bad because we've rescheduled the clearing for next Thursday.  Hopefully, that will be enough time to dry out.

NO BRUSH AND TREE CLEARING TODAY

Well, as some of you may have seen on yesterday's post, today was supposed to be a big day...

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE POST

An orange X here since this got cancelled, ha. 

So we confirmed in the morning and then in the afternoon we got an emergency note from the company and two of their crew members were out and not available.  That meant 1/2 the crew would be out and they couldn't guarantee to get it all done in one day.  They offered to do it Thursday but...

This is our forecast through the weekend...

And here is the forecast for rainfall total for the next 7 days:  The farm (and Houston) is in the 4" range.

We'll just enjoy this sunny and beautiful reminder of what it's like when it's nice out there, ha.  In the end, we're flexible.  Nothing they are doing is urgent, we can have it get done when it gets done.

The best laid plans!

Fingers crossed for next week!

BRUSH AND TREE CLEARING

A big project we've been needing to get done is happening TOMORROW.  We'll be clearing the driveway and some other spots!

I cleared, SLOWLY, this area from where we come into our part of the driveway over several years. The trees were very small at the time and easy to cut down and/or in some cases, mow over.  I was able to widen it considerably as you can see by the arrow.  The drive was originally that wide all the way down...back then.  

Once you get past that wider area, it is a long and windy road from there on, ha.  A curvy driveway would be OK someday but for now...

...it is narrowing because the mesquite trees are encroaching.  I've pruned back and that works for a few months but there are some points where it gets so narrow, the limbs touch the sides of the car.  Keep in mind, these are mesquite trees which are covered in thorns.  Not good for paint on cars, ha.

However, with work going to be done on the house this year, whatever we go with, we'll need room for vehicles and trucks to go back and forth and come and go without worry.

So they will be clearing a row or two of mesquite trees all the way down to where we park.  They are cutting them flat to the ground and then drilling out the stumps.  Also, the gangly mesquite on the corner of the driveway is being removed as well.  It's limbs collapsed in last year's freeze and it's just a mess.

Even though I'll be there with them all day, I bought some marking paint so they can do what they need in case I am otherwise occupied.

I sprayed an X on the trees and brush that are going.  

In the areas where I couldn't really get to the trees or brush, I just painted an arrow on the grass, ha.

And here is the other thing we are having done that I'm so excited about:

They are clearing all of the area around the garden, all three sides.  By the way, this picture is from a month or two ago when things hadn't bloomed out for Spring.  We wanted to get the work done then because it might have been easier but alas, it was too wet and every time we scheduled it, it would rain more.

The brush has been creeping in and I can't get the mower around the fence to keep it clear and now I can't get it to the backside of the garden and it's growing out of control.  We want to fix up the garden this year, but it's too hard to get to the sides to replace the fence and the brush and branches are starting to become a problem inside the garden.  The big clump of trees also puts too much shade into the front side of the garden.

The crew is coming with a team, some heavy equipment and a bunch of chainsaws.  The goal tomorrow is the driveway and the garden area.  The guy seemed to think they could get all that done by early afternoon and then work on anything else we needed done around the yard.  In his words, "you are paying me for 8am-6pm so you just point at it and we'll clear it".

Our mind races at the potential! LOL!

So that will be the day tomorrow.  I'll probably leave this post up tomorrow and try to add to it by way of an update during the day.  If I can't, certainly there will be big post of BEFORE and AFTER photos, ha.

GOOD FOOD AND HOBART SUNDAY

April?!?!?  Where is the year going?

Yesterday was a beautiful perfect day.  Got a lot done at the farm.  Today is a bit overcast and there's a chance of a thunderstorm.  Time for good food and Hobart.

So the other night, we decided to have green chile enchiladas.  We had some FLAUTAS and so we used them.  It was quick and easy.  I mixed some green chile sauce, cream and cilantro in a blender, put a little in the bottom of a pan, put in the flautas, topped with more sauce and then some cheese.  Baked until bubbly.  Topped with a bit more cilantro.  It was delicious!

Here is Hobart, deep in thought or perhaps contemplating the great mysteries of life.  He's so cute.  And as always...

#notspoiled

BEAUTIFUL DAY

Today as this posts, I'm off to the farm for a full day of working outside.  Since I didn't get to mow last weekend because we were at the Home & Garden Show on Saturday and then Sunday was a rainy washout, today is outside yard work day.  That means the second time on the new Zen Machine. Looking forward to that.  

I also hope to plant the apple tree so we can get that growing.  I dug up the old one a couple of weeks ago.

Also have to get things ready for another project that's happening Tuesday, more on that in another post.

Blue skies and perfect weather, it's a good day. Couldn't ask for more.

Hope you all have a great start to the weekend!

 

WILDFLOWER FRIDAY

When we were out last weekend, we stopped to see some wildflowers.  Were hoping for some bluebonnets but they were nowhere to be found in the area we were.  Might be a bit late for them or they didn't have as big a season as usual. We still saw some pretty ones!

Loved this because of the old metal building in the background.  Pictures still don't do these scenes justice, it's just color scattered around everywhere.  Literally looks like you are in a real life painting as you stand there and admire the view.

Saw these near our farm that we see every few years.  I think someone called these ditch lilies or something like that.  So pretty.

Usually see these later in the year, but with temps in the upper 80's already, we guess they are confused, ha.  Something about these flowers just make us smile.

We love that nature just has flowers just popping up all over the place.  Texas wildflowers, thanks in large part to First Lady Ladybird Johnson, are ubiquitous at Springtime in Texas.

Hope you are having a Good Friday, the weekend is almost here!

PUTTING UP BANANAS

Trying something new.  You know how we love to put up things in the freezer using our vacuum sealer.

A coworker had an overabundance of bananas and asked if anyone wanted some.  I took a dozen.  We left them out on the counter for a couple more days to get them nice and ripe.

I peeled them and put them in vacuum bags.

Then I sealed them up and popped them in the freezer.  Of course, we got three bags of four each, which is about 2 cups mashed when used in a recipe.

That now brings us to the question:  Other than the ubiquitous banana bread, what are some other good uses for ripe bananas like this?

Anyone got any good recipes/ideas?

SPRING IS BLOOMING OUT ALL OVER

Well, we are a week into Spring 2023 and the fruit trees and bushes are blooming out all over.  Always a good sign that they made it through the Winter and are ready to do their thing:

Plum blossoms

Both plum trees are blooming.  The plum blossoms are so pretty against a blue sky.

Nanking cherry blossoms

This is one of the cherry bushes.  They are the "Nanking cherries" and both plants have blooms on them for the first time since we planted them. A few cherries in our future?  Fingers crossed.

Pear blossoms

Both pear trees are blooming, here is one of them.

Nectarine blossoms

This is the nectarine, finally coming back after it had a bumpy Summer with our drought.

Tiff blueberry blossoms

Here is one the two varieties of blueberries we have.  This is the "Tiff Blue" and both bushes we have of this variety are coming in nicely.

Austin blueberry blossoms

And here is the other blueberry variety we have, the "Austin", both of them are coming in nicely as well.  Already have the bird netting up on these.

Mayhaw blossoms

Look!  Flowers and actual fruit coming in on the Mayhaw tree.  Kind of exciting. We're guessing not enough to make Mayhaw jelly, but it's going in the right direction for some of that wonderful jelly in our future.

Apple blossoms

Here is the apple tree (not the new one of course).  This is our leaning "Anna" apple tree.  Lots of blossoms on it and it looks strong and healthy.

Flordaking peaches

Last but not least, we have actual fruit coming in on the peach tree!  Did not expect that, this is our Flordaking variety that we got to replace another one and this year it finally has actual fruit.

Two other trees have yet to show noticeable blooms or development from Winter dormancy.  The fig tree seems a bit behind.  Maybe it's a bit early for buds on it, not sure but no leaves at all yet.  The pomegranate is not doing well either, we think the freeze may have hurt that one but we'll give it some time.

Spring is here!

GOOD FOOD AND HOBART SUNDAY

 Well this weekend was thrown off schedule, yeseterday we went to a Home & Garden Show out in Katy (suburb of Texas) and talked to some builders, designers and even a banker who does rural homes.  Could be some interesting things coming in the weeks and month or two ahead!

We stopped at a burger place out there to eat, we had been wanting to eat there for a while.  Thought we'd share that picture because a) we haven't been out to eat much and b) the burger was so unusual.

We went to eat at Willy Burger.  It's a place that started in Beaumont TX a few years back and they put their only other location in Katy.  They are craft burgers with sides and even have desserts like funnel cakes, coke floats and malts and shakes (we skipped those, ha).  

2nd Man got a classic cheeseburger, double meat Angus beef, with mustard, bacon and grilled onions and a side of fries.  I got what they call a "Hee-Haw burger" with onion rings.  Funny name but OH MY.  Angus meat, housemade pimento cheese, fried green tomatoes, lettuce, bacon and topped with red pepper jelly.  No words.  Definitely good food!

In Hobart news, I was getting some quilts ready for storage and had this one folded up and laying on the table.  Somehow, he found his way up onto it and there he was, sleeping the afternoon away.  We didn't move him.  Because...

#notspoiled

WILDFLOWERS ARE BLOOMING

Took this picture last weekend, just a half mile down the road from the farm...

Texas wildflowers
The picture doesn't do it justice but we're still happy with how it came out (as always, click to enlarge).  It's just so pretty and calming.  Texas wildflower season is indeed a thing of beauty, a sea of color everywhere.  Bluebonnets are the state flower of course but all the wildflowers are just so stunning.

We are going to a home show this weekend to check out some things we are considering and when we're done, we're going to head around the area and see if we can find some more great shots.

Happy Friday!

PUTTING UP PORK LOIN

We get these periodically to stock up our freezer for future meals.  Recently, we used up the last pork loin roast we had so I've been watching.  These were on sale at the grocery store for $1.25/pound.

It was time to replenish our stash!

Picked this one up, it was almost 10 pounds.  It was $11.85.  You can always cut these into thin cutlets or thicker chops, but we like to cut them into roasts.

The pork loins are always a little wider on one end so I started at that wider end.  I got three nice sized pork loin roasts cut from it.  The other end was a little narrower and a bit scraggly for some reason.

So I took that last section and instead of having a weird looking roast, I cut it into pieces/cubes.  They will be nice for a stir fry or rice and gravy with pork.

Then I used the vacuum sealer to put them up.  Three pork loin roasts, almost 3 lbs each and then a nice package of pork pieces.  Popped it all in the freezer and now we're good for a few months.

This is our favorite way of using them, olive oil, herbs de Provence and roasted in the oven but of course we're going to be branching out with our newest Penzey's seasonings blends.

They are great to have on hand and with this loin costing $11.85 before cutting, we got FOUR future meals out of it.  That's a $2.96 per main course meal!

WEEKEND SUCCESS

Well the weekend started out as a bust.  Cold, rainy, even sleet if you can believe that.  No freeze, just the right conditions for some frozen precipitation to make it all the way to the ground.

The goal was to work on several things.  Didn't figure I'd need to mow since it was so good last weekend but Saturday was a bust.  I woke up Sunday and it was cold but clear so I figured I'd venture out to the farm and see what I could get done.

Before:

If nothing else got done, I HAD to clean up the fruit tree area.  With Spring doing its thing, it was starting to get out of control.  First I edged around them all.  Then I pulled all the weeds inside each bed.  Then I used the electric mower to clean up in between narrow areas.  Finally, I got on the new mower and used it to "clean up" all the clippings and debris.

After:

It looks SO much better and it is a great relief that it's done.  There is something about getting a mess cleaned up that makes you feel like you accomplished so much, ha.  The next thing to do is to get the beds mulched for this season.  This year, I'll be using the truck for what it was intended for...a trip to the garden center to load up the bed with all the bags at once instead of a few at a time in the back of the Jeep, ha.

Isn't this a pretty picture?

This is the front yard, still looking nice after last week on the new mower.  I was so glad I went.  It was cold at first but turned out to be a perfect day.  I was dreading pulling all the weeds and working on all of that in the heat, so we ended up with a bonus nice weekend.  This coming weekend is supposed to be nice.  We have plans Saturday so it will be another Sunday trip. 

I'll be mowing and we'll be preparing for some trees/brush to be cleared the following week.