Monday

I really felt rotten today so I only worked in the garden just a tad. Then Crystal and Tim came and got the car that had broke down yesterday with my Grandson  up here . So, it is not on the side of the road anymore.

I sat and watched them work on a Tiny House that they are hoping to use when Crystal sells her house in town one day.

I was good and tired so I came to the house and got a bowl and picked some  lambs-quarter , which is a wild weed in our area. I fixed it and a potato salad with white potatoes and sweet potatoes and that was very good. Then I topped it off with a beans dish that had eggs on top so you could break the eggs and have a type of sauce. The beans dish had onions and Worcester sauce and catsup  in it with a little bacon on the side because my daughter loves bacon. That took all evening to do and it was gone in 20 minutes and I washed the dishes all up and dark is here.

Grandmothers & Great-grandmothers can have busy days?

First you can have a "Gamer-Grandson" who blows up his car. ~smile~

Then you can have a Granddaughter turn the big 20 who has never been away from home who is moving to South Dakota to start a whole new life?????

You can have Grandson's who come in all shapes and sizes. This one of course - LOVES Chocolate cake and ice cream - so a birthday party is a good thing to him. lol

You can have a daughter-in - law who works hard to keep her family happy.

Leave a happy birthday party and take another Granddaughter and Great-Granddaughter to the school play area to burn off some energy.

Watch a "real- swinger" and remember when it was you????   63 years ago - that is. lol

She's not even scared of hights like I always was-and still am to be truthful.

Even knows how to catch a moment.

Is curious about everything???

Isn't afraid to go "Caving" . lol

Rides wild dinosaurs

.

Rides "dirt bikes " on the "track" .

Makes beautiful faces at just the joy of living.

Has a Mama who loves her.

Knows how to catch a "breeze"

Has beautiful blue eyes that I can still see.

And who just watching with Joy can tire an old Grandmother/ Great-grandmother out???  What a lovely day.  Now if only my pups could get to feel better and enjoy ?

I am sooooooooooooooooo glad I got to savor this day.

A busy day

Even too busy for a picture. Grabbed my granddaughter, great-granddaughter and grandson and spent the day with my son and his family on a Going Away Family get together for my Baby granddaughter who is moving from Va. to South Dakota!

Lots of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Boy they sure can multiply when your head is turned! lol

Busy , Busy Friday

My day was up and going fairly early for me. I had to unload the car of 4 big bags of wood shavings I had bought yesterday. Two went to the garden and two went up to the building for the chickens.

Then I went on and pulled all of my junk out of the car and went and got my vacuum and went to work on the inside of it . It was FILTHY after being abused all winter like a Truck. The My vacuum quit working. It is one that has that nice 18 foot long hose on it but it had got something stuck up in it  from last nigh. I beat and banged on it and made it dance all over the yard until a piece of  of  dryer softner sheet came flying out and that was what had stopped it up.

Finally I had the inside cleaned out and all the stuff rearranged back inside . That made me happy as I had been DREADING that job.

Next I hurried to the house and loaded up Blondie - who had been bitten by something last night -And- Mocha -who has been so sick and Rosie the Sewing cat -who had started to throw up again and was digging at her neck and off to the vet we went.

Blondie got a shot and some antibiotics . Mocha got a worm pill and some medicine and Rosie got her shot for throwing up and some drops for a fever and something for an allergy - plus the pups all got a little medicine for their hearts-but the vet said that the company had quit making their heart meds and if they offered no substitutions then he would call the vet  hospital next week to see what they suggested. It really has me worried as this medicine has worked so good for them. It has been wonderful to see them be able to breath!!!!!!!!!!

So back to the house I came as it was very warm today and I did not want to leave the furbabies in the car to do any other errands. I unloaded all of them and fed them . Then I carried all of the little chickens down to their runs in the garden and I finally fixed myself a bowl of soup for breakfast and I went back to town to pick up some supplies. Then back home and did all the outdoor chores and fought to get two big flower pots back up on the front porch. IT was a battle but I pulled it off -then I took off to the shower because my back was hurting.

While I was in the shower I had visitors?

This precious little 2 year old Imp -is my great-granddaughter and then her Mama (my granddaughter) and then my daughter and her partner. We all worked out doors for a few hours . This little imp and her Mom is staying for a while. She has played so hard her little cheeks are all rosy. Maybe she can sleep tonight? Then tomorrow will be another adventure.

Is It Hump Day Already????????????????

This is Tiny Tim and he is the cutest little fellow . He is no more than ten inches tall . He did not feel good one day last week and scared me as I do not want anything to happen to him as he is only one year old.

This is one of my "Work-crews" hard at work. They go in these little corrals and then they eat the vegetation and scratch around to help loosen the soil for me so I can then dig it up to plant things. They really are a big help. 

I cleaned one of their runs in the building today -all the way down to the linoleum, which makes it easier to clean and then I put down clean shavings.

I was good and mad at myself for this project beside the house. Remember a month or so ago I had dug it all up and got rid of all those ground covers that had taken over??? Well, then this little soft ground cover showed up and I thought it was so cute -yea- until it got to where I could not even see my Hellebore . So here I go a-digging again. I will use the shavings from that run to Mulch it with this time!

Now that looks much better. I can see the hellebore and the bleeding heart. It got warm today and all this digging made me hungry so I took a late lunch. It was a skillet bean dish with some eggs and then two oranges for dessert. That felt good. My DH had said one time he wondered if he would ever live long enough to see me get full of oranges - Bless his heart -he did not because I still am not full of them. lol

Now I headed back out the door to work in my pigeon house. The old nest boxes are made of two liter pop bottles and they are filthy so I am pulling them all down and trashing them and putting up new ones from my daughter's supply of plastic bottles.

Mocha even came out to see what I was doing for a minute. She looks so bad to me and has lost weight-yet the vets are useless. Cocoa did not even leave her bed today and her mama slept all day long too? Only Bandit (their brother) came out and enjoyed the beautiful day. 

I sat and caught my breath for a few minutes in between jobs and watched one of the tied hens where she had done the edging on one of the flower beds. You would be amazed how much work they can get accomplished.  They used to tear the flower bed all to pieces and be destructive but this way they are a big help.

It took me a good 35 minutes to carry all the chickens back to their safe nightime places and then I dug up the spot where Tiny Tim and his ladies had worked on. It was still hard digging and getting rid of all those rocks. After I got it ready I planted some sweet onions a friend had given me.

I lost two of my little tomato plants today???? They were there this morning when I watered them and they were gone as the sun went down??? Then one of the healthier tomato plants was all wilted over so I watered it good but it does not look good and it does not look like it was from needing water??? Darn it.

But it was a beautiful day to be outdoors. I am so grateful to be warm.

Beautiful Tuesday

They were calling for a beautiful day with no rain in sight so I had lots of outdoor projects lined up. I made many trips up and down my hill as I carried the little chickens to their workplaces. It seemed to take longer as my back wanted to complain early.But I really needed their help to clear off some spaces I need to plant and it is many times harder without their help.

I even got the big hens tired out for the day and this time I used the safety pins to hold on the little leg collars. It worked good for half a day and then the pins came out and I had to find new pins to put in. Every thing is just made so cheap these days that they just do not work. It is very sad. The girls were having lots of fun digging in the yard and they even did a great job edging some of the flower beds!

Would you believe ONE DAY without rain and I had to carry water to the little plants in the garden? So that was four more trips up and down my hill. lol

I got some more seeds planted in a  tray this afternoon. I sure do hope they come up. I had 5 more of the yellow zucchini seeds so I planted all of them. I want to try them so bad , as I have never seen a yellow zucchini before? It is hard for me to have zucchini as everything wants to eat them or the powery mildew will hit them or a bacterial infection.???? I wonder if Mama had it this hard with her garden???? If she did she sure fooled me and made it look EASY!  Where is your Mama when a 65 year old lady needs her?????  Just because she is in Heaven doesn't mean I still do not need her!

I also planted 12 yellow squash seeds, 6 dill seeds, 6 banana melon seeds and 12 malabar spinach seeds. We shall see what that produces???  I got one of my chicken runs cleaned out and mulched the rainbow chard with that and newspapers.  Something has been eating on my Kentucky Pole beans that are about 3 inches high. I cannot see ANYTHING but they are doing a lot of damage. So, I went and got that last cedar chips pillow I had made last year and dumped the cedar chips around the beans? There is all kind of controversy about if you should do that or not???? But, when something was eating the dinosaur kale I put it around them and what ever it was quit eating them???? So, we will just see what happens?

It was such a beautiful day . I am so tired and in pain, but I have enjoyed it tremendously. I am so grateful to have the pretty weather back in my life and to still be able to SEE all the beauty that is around me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Weather People Never Seem To Get It Right

They were calling for thunderstorms today so I took off to town and picked up two bags of potting soil and two stevia plants and one basil plant. I had to stop and get a quart of oil for the car and then stopped at the Good will just to see if they had any flower pots . I was in luck - I found two just the right size.

As soon as I got home I jumped into my working clothes and headed to the garden. I dug up a new spot and planted the Chinese Cabbage that a friend gave me yesterday . I hoed down the little potato patch. I am anxious to mulch it, but am just waiting to see how many actually come up .

I got my geranium and the impatient and the shamrock all potted up in new soil. All ready for the Summer.

Then I tackled my baby nasturtiums. This was the first time in my life I had actually collected my own seeds and started them from scratch -so I am proud of them.  You can actually eat the leaves -they are spicy.

I moved on and planted the two big pots with tomatoes. One is a cherry tomato and one is a black tomato? Then the white box is marigolds and the green box is Love In The Mist.  I have learned if I keep the marigolds on the porch that the mosquitoes do not come on the porch.

I got my biggest naval orange repotted in the pot I got at the Goodwill. I wanted one a little bigger than what it was in, but also a little lighter in weight to help me carry it in the house for the Winter.

Then I had a free pot where the larger orange had been in that I could put the smaller orange in.  I need to do that little lime tree but I am almost out of soil and my back mutinied ! Plus, I am still fighting that dumb bug and my foot is still whining.

The day turned out very nice. If I could have foreseen that -then i could have put the chickens out and let them scratch up the next  spot I will need to dig up.

I also got a little chestnut tree planted and covered that my friend gave me.  Yea. Trying so hard to have food.

Start of a New Week in May

Yukon was one of my first stops. Bless his little heart -he is like me -his age is showing. I am afraid this might be his last Summer as he really had a hard time pulling through the Winter. But he has been such a good boy ! Never a mean bone in his body. I was feeling so rough from that bug trying to jump on me but I had goals I wanted to accomplish.

I got all the little chickens out in their corrals and then took my madox and dug up this spot and tied Miss Hen there to work on it while I dug on another area . I came back and dug up all those rocks you see and got them out of my garden. Rocks - I hate rocks. (in my garden)

Then I removed the rocks from my first bed and smoothed it all out and planted my "Baby" Banana Melons.They are so tiny - but I am hoping that being in the earth will be good for them. It is suppose to rain tomorrow so that way they won't have time to wilt down any. Matter of fact it rained on them shortly after I got them in the ground.

This was the bed that Miss Hen helped me fix and I planted Delicata Squash  here.  That bag there is full of rocks that came out of this bed. I am getting plenty of rocks for the driveway!

I also got this spot dug up and cleared and planted cucumbers here.There is ONE white cucumber plant that survived and then the rest is some seeds I have never heard of before . So I am anxious to see how they will do???? Please, just let me have some cucumbers.

My kids arrived and they were doing some mowing until they ran into some trouble.

Tim went to pull through the gate and Crystal told him it was a slick spot.? The ground is damp there a lot of the time and then you add the mowed grass on top of that??? Well, he went to spinning and slide into the snow blade on a ATV and busted his tire. We thought that was bad enough - then we could not find a tire tool that would fit the lug nuts -until  a friend showed up and he had one.

Then that rain storm showed up and we scattered to the building. Next Tim went to check under the truck to see if it had a spare tire that was up???? There was - but then there was another Big Challenge. The chain that held the tire up under the truck had somehow got Down inside the hole where the lug nuts were suppose to go and it kinked up in a big knot and they could not get it to budge.  Add to that the fact that Tim had already whacked off the side of one of his fingers and it was a bloody mess.

Finally our friend pull out a saw-saw and they sawed the chain off and the tire came down -ONLY -now the chain was stuck in the lugnut hole and rusted in there??? We had Never seen anything like it before?????

Sat. May 21

Today I just took  day of rest - mainly enforced because of the pouring rain.  I enjoyed a few of my Youtube friends ,like:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcZCvPPU9dgxD0yXrc9DaPA
A young family who is determined to see how much food they can raise in 100 days in N.C. I love this young family and the kids can be such a laugh! Brings back memories.

Then : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu3KOyas91ceUYvkNzNR1Zw
I just found her today and she caught my interest because of her vegan cooking. I have never been around anybody who cooks vegan and this is a wonderful insight to me.

Then I found a new program called , Risk It All . (not that I needed something else to kick back with !) But it is a real life story about 3 different families who have given up their normal lives to go live off grid to accomplish different goals.   PSTTTT::SS:S - sorry , I just got smacked in the nose by a stink bug. No, he does not stink but he sure is an aggravation. To me they look like little Roman soldiers with that "helmet" they have on. lol

That foot was a little swollen today and my throat is kinda scratchy??? O DEAR - the baby was sick that day the kids took me to the eye doctor???? I better load up on vitamin c and zinc and honey and cinnamon.

Cloudy Friday

It was calling for cloudy and cool all day today so I headed out to do chores and to test out my new chicken outfit to tie the hens out with. I had bought 4 cat collars and put new holes in them and cut them down to almost nothing and then tied these 4 out in the yard while I was working.

i thought they were cute out in the green grass having a good time until I discovered that NOTHING I could figure out would make those dern collars stay latched???  The idea was good but the collars were just so flimsy that they would not stay hooked. And me and the ladies were all having so much fun . GRRRRRR!

While I was "chicken-sitting" my almost son-in-law and my

grandson came to borrow a jack to work on the grandson's car. It was nice to get to see them.

After they left and I completed my chores I headed back to the garden to do some more digging and I ended up with this much rocks in the one bed I am working on. Time had already dumped it for me once so I am spreading them in the driveway -where they should have been in the first place -instead of my garden! GRRRR!

It took me about 3 hours but I finally got to plant my baby Rainbow Chard plants  and I started to mulch them.

But it started to drizzle on me and I still had to carry all of the little chickens back up to the building and my back was complaining too. But, it was perfect weather to get all of this hard digging accomplished . No sun and had to wear a jacket so no worry about getting overheated in the sun. lol Now if my back will just quit complaining. I am so blessed to have such a beautiful day to do this hard work in.

Eye Doctor Appointment

I was so very fortunate today that my son and daughter-in-law took me to my eye appointment. I knew I would have problems because it really messes with my eyes when they dilate them. Matter of fact it is 6 hours later and they still are giving me problems. So , I would really have been up the creek with out a paddle ??????

On the way home he stopped at Subway and bought us all subs. That way I got my veggies and they got their meats. The Dollar Tree was right next door so I went over and picked up a few of these S hooks to try to hang my flowers on that new porch roof  my daughter had built. I INTENDED to grab these hummingbird ones  _BUT!

For some reason I ended up grabbing the wrong ones and got the rest Butterflies! They are ok, but I was still so disappointed in myself????? GRRRRR.  Then Cory ran in with me at Wal-mart's and helped me get milk, orange juice and tea and frozen blueberries and pineapple for my smoothies. He knew where everything was and made it happen so nice and quick. I was so grateful that I did not have to drive in all that afternoon traffic.

Then we stopped at the lawyers for me to sign the papers to hand over a piece of land that joins his. I was so afraid I might just up and kick the bucket and the land get messed up going to him. It was nice and cloudy so that had helped my eyes a little but once we stepped through that door I was almost blinded. I don't know if the walls were really green or not but all I saw was a blur of total green and that was it. I managed to follow them back to the office but then everything changed to bright PINK!  It was very frightening ???? At least now the land belongs to him and it will help me a tad bit on my taxes - Yea!

The eye doctor said that I was holding stable! Yea! I told him about using the organic castor oil in my eyes at night and he said that he had read that could actually help detox . So any good I am doing I will keep on the straight and narrow path to save my eye sight. This is bad enough - but I still have my independence. I hated to ask Cory and Tracy to take me today but it was so nice to get to see them and one of the grandbabies -who had a terrible cough. I just sent them a link with various natural remedies for that  as I hate to see a child cough themselves to exhaustion and Tracy had just had him to the doctor and they told her they do NOTHING about a cough now????  Mainly because druggies drink the children's cough syrups that used to have to codeine in it??? Now the innocent babies have to pay the price?? It is very sad.