Friday, June 27, 2014

Garden - end of June 2014

I have to say I am well pleased with the garden this year.  Such an improvement over last year.  We've added multiple raised beds where before it was just one large slightly raised bed.  Here are some pictures.  The tomatoes are doing very well, as is the lettuce, even if we do have a slight slug problem .. ugh!

The beans just don't seem to be germinating very well, I keep having to replant .. and the peas are a bit .. well, weird, they just aren't growing well .. but anyway .. I'm still VERY pleased .. the tomatoes look divine! :)  Cant' wait to start getting tomatoes :)  No more purchased canned tomatoes for me!  Not this year!


 See ! ? ! ? !

Below is a mystery plant .. not sure what it is.  It's a volunteer at the corner of the "wooded" patch .. needs to be weeded badly, but this plant looked interesting, and I've left it the last couple of years.  Flowers are similar to a snapdragon, but not quite the same ..   If you know what it is, I'd love to hear from you!




May 2014 Pictures

Guess it's time to catch up :)

Here are some pictures from May 2014

This first is of a Indigo Bunting.  Aren't they pretty ?

A very handsome couple :)  Mom & Dad at my nephews wedding. :)

Same wedding weekend, my son and my great nephew.

My son and my mom. :)  They both look great in this picture.

This is a baby doll bed that I had has a child.  My niece decide she didn't want it anymore, so I got it back.  I think peaches was trying to decide if it was for her. ! :)

Monday, May 5, 2014

A Late Spring

I think there is something inherently wrong when you have to keep the furnace running in May.  Here it is May 5th, and though we try to turn off the heat once in awhile, I had to just turn it back on, because it was 65 in the house an I was getting chilled.  Nights are still getting near freezing, and days are not getting out of the 50's most days.  Spring is coming so late this year.

Figured I would share a few photos that I took today.

This morning I was surprised by seeing FOY White-Crowned Sparrow and FOY White-Throated Sparrow.



Sorry for the fuzzy pics, they were taken through the window.

Speaking of birds :) We have two nests in our front entry way.  A Robin's nest ..... The first pic is so you can see where it is.


... Here is a closeup....


And we have a finch nest as well. (I think it's a House Finch).

Over this weekend, DH and I have been working hard to install a couple of raised beds in part of the garden area.  We plan to continue the theme for the whole area, but this was the first weekend we've been able to get into the garden, and so we started with just two.  The shorter one in the photos is using the old wood.  That will probably be replaced in a year or two with new wood, but it's better than it was, and we'll wait and see how long it stays in good shape.


Same beds, from the other direction.


We are hoping that these will be good for the plants to be raised up, hopefully the soil will warm up and stay not so soggy.  We are hoping also that it will be easier to maintain for me.

I've planted peas (under the cover), cucumbers, and summer squash  (in the raised bed we installed last year all the way upper left in the picture) this morning.  Over the weekend I got carrots, lettuce, cowpeas (old old seed, not sure it will germinate), onion sets, and beans started in the new raised beds.

Just to show just how late spring is coming this year.  Here is the yard as it is right now.  (I literally just got inside from taking these photos).





So you can see the difference, here is my blog post from 2012 year.  The pics in that blog post were taken in April 2012 - but weren't posted until May 17, 2012.  What a difference!  You can see the buds on the trees are starting to swell a little, but nothings opened yet!  i did see a few forsythia blooming this weekend, but only one those that are in protected little nooks where they get more warmth reflected off a building or something.

On a more attractive note - We purchased a couple of Easter Lilies for church, and they are on our table.  The blooms are still very pretty.


on a fun note - here is Peaches.  She would really love to go outside!


She isn't too happy that we keep her inside.  ah well, guess we can't please her all the time :)

Hope you enjoyed this little window into my world.  Hope you are enjoying your spring! :)

Saturday, March 1, 2014

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Baby Hat

Made this little hat this afternoon from bits of yarn I received from a friend.

Friday, January 3, 2014

Geocache Containers

I had cut off some bottle tops to make cache containers and was researching today what type of glue to use. I came across this variation that only uses superglue.  Cute uh? Very quick as well.