Flower & veggie garden update

Sunday, August 9

I’m tired. Although feeling much better after taking a quick shower and finally cooling off. The morning started out quite cool but quickly grew hot as the temperatures soared into the nineties. I think we’re in for another four days of this foolishness according to the weather report. sigh.

It’s been a non-stop day since we took our last sip of coffee. Maybe I shouldn’t guzzle my coffee, ha! Anyway, I spent some time in my flower garden this morning before the sun starting warming the air. CountryBoy dug, er pick-axed, the holes so I could get my new plants in the ground before the sweltering heat. I just knew they would not do well in their pots with the temperature so high. We discovered that my garden is not in the best of spots. Apparently, there had been a drainage issue in that area so one of the previous owners buried some large rocks (the size that are around my garden) then they must have covered them with dirt and threw some grass seed on top making a type of french drain with rocks. Well, it worked because we’ve never had any drainage issues in that particular area. Other areas, but not there. The problem now is that whenever I want to plant something everywhere we dig we hit a rock. So far, I’ve been able to put the plants where I want them even with a rock underneath. The roots will just have to go out to the side! CountryBoy used the pick-ax to try and pry the rock up or break them up a bit but was not successful with some of them. At any rate, it was quite the job and I’m glad he was the man for it because I sure wouldn’t have been able to do it.

Once the plants were in the ground I spread newspaper all around, then threw some mulch on them and watered everything really well. It’s looking much better now and hopefully the weeds will remain at bay for a while.

Now I need to do the other half of the garden but it can wait until it cools off a bit.

In case you’re wondering about the hoe I used to get rid of the weeds here it is…

It’s a double-blade hoe with serrated edges on both sides of the ‘V’ and you simply rake it across the weeds. You saw how bad the weeds were in the garden and it worked great. Some weeds were tougher than others but it’s easy to push deeper each time you push or pull which loosens up the soil therefore freeing the roots where they either came up in a bunch on the hoe or I could hand pull them the rest of the way. The hoe is an Amish design and made by Hoss. It was a little pricier than your average hoe but it has definitely been worth it.

While I worked in the garden CountryBoy puttered around with the pop-up camper. After purchasing the impact wrench he was able to remove the rusted bolts from the tire rims and replace the tires with new ones. He’s also been painting and freshening up many of the exterior parts such as the propane tank and the tail light casements.

When we had both finished we ate a BLT+E (fried egg) and saw that our guests were on their way out. When the guests are able to drive their own vehicles up to the cabin we don’t always know when they leave and we don’t get that last chat with them to make sure everything was all right. I just happened to look out the window and saw them drive past the barn and on down the driveway. Just in time to get to church if one were ready. There was no way I would be ready in time and CountryBoy had to deliver some eggs so he quickly jumped in the shower and was on his way. I headed up to the cabin and went ahead and stripped the sheets, put new sheet on, cleaned the inside of the cabin, and swept the deck. I had to wash one of the comforters and one of the blankets.

By the time I came down from the cabin, threw the sheets and blanket in the wash and washed the cabin dishes CountryBoy was home and it was past time for me to get ready for work. I still desperately needed a shower but there was no point since I knew I would be sweating some more while wrangling hot sheets behind a hot iron in a very warm basement. Instead I took a quick sponge-bath and was on my way.

Meanwhile, CountryBoy finished the cabin once the comforter and blanket were dry then hauled sixteen 5 gallon buckets of water up to the cabin as the barrels were bone dry. Needless to say, he was exhausted after that. I’m not sure what the best solution is for our dry summer months but I will be doing some research.

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It was a short day at work. All the sheets had been washed with the last load just needing to go in the dryer which made quick work of getting them all ironed, folded and put away.

After making a quick supper of homemade macaroni & cheese and eating it with some of our homemade dill pickles I finally jumped in the shower. It felt so good to wash all the sweaty stickiness of the day away.

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Farm news: 30 eggs

Monday, August 10

It was all I could do to muster up the motivation to go to work this morning. Even when I got there I did not want to be there. It took a lot of praying and positive self-talk to turn my mood around and do whatever came up with a decent attitude. And believe me, stuff came up. I won’t go into it but we muddled through and even managed to get some pages laid out. It turned out to be a decent day but had I not made the effort to change my mindset about being there it probably would not have been a good day.

I came home to a delicious aroma wafting from the kitchen. CountryBoy had made chili. No recipe. Just whatever he thought should be in there he put it in and it was delicious. Here’s a brief rundown of what he put in… ground beef, pinto beans, green pepper, onion, garlic powder, some tomato juice (strained juice that I brought home from the B&B), and a jar of our home grown and canned Mexican Spice diced tomatoes. Chili is even better the next day(s) so I can’t wait to eat it again!

After that we rearranged our bedroom. Again. Our furniture ‘fit’ better when we had moved the bed in front of one of the windows but it still wasn’t cozy and we blocked the window that we could’ve put a fan in during the cool nights and not use the AC which is in the other window. Now it’s right back the way it was when we first moved in and I really don’t like it. The room is small, has two windows, an itty bitty closet and there’s only one place to put the bed. I don’t mind the placement of the bed so much, it’s the placing of the other furniture that is terrible. The ceiling slopes on two sides leaving only one place for my antique dresser with the huge oval mirror. I have no nightstand because I was using my dresser as a nightstand but it is now on the opposite side of the bed and the space is just awkward. I guess I’m just getting tired of making due or trying to find places to put all the stuff. I want a nice cozy bedroom that’s soothing and calms the mind for a good night’s sleep with minimal stuff. Tomorrow I know I will feel better about it. I just have to wrap my head around ways to make it work and ways to make it cozy. Meanwhile these Rose of Sharon beauties will make anyone feel better…

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I’ve been having a bowl of ice cream the past few nights and last night I was so sore all night that it was a restless night. CountryBoy ends up having burning feet and legs when he has ice cream or too much sugar and I’m beginning to think that my aches and pains during the night and stiffness during the day may be caused by too much sugar. I hadn’t really thought about it but while I wasn’t eating the ice cream I was sleeping pretty good and not waking up in the middle of the night with achy hips or legs. And now? ugh. I’m going to lay off the ice cream for a couple of nights and see how it goes. I have a feeling I’m going to be pretty upset about the outcome. sigh.

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Farm news: 24 eggs

Tuesday, August 11

Work was good but longer than I had anticipated. While I waited for the rest of the pages to be completed so that I could prep them to send to the printer I managed to get caught up on emails. I was able to create a bunch of ads that had already come in for next week and have even placed them on next weeks Classifieds. It’s nice to have a jump start because one never knows what the days ahead will bring.

Since I didn’t leave work until 1:30 CountryBoy had to take care of the cabin by himself. Luckily I was home soon enough to print the cabin guidebook out. Somehow the guidebook, that is in a plastic notebook and the pages are all in plastic sleeves, was soaking wet. There was no salvaging any of it. We have no idea how it got so wet. We did have a nice rain last night and the only thing we can figure is that the windows were left open and the rain blew in long enough to soak the guidebook and all its pages. It’s no big deal but all the brochures that I had tucked in the pockets of the notebook were soaked. I have them spread out on the dining table air drying. Today’s guests are only here for one night so we didn’t think they would be too interested and wouldn’t miss them. However, I just talked to them as they were headed out to get something to eat and they said they would definitely be back and wished that the cabin was available for more than just one night. I’m thinking if the brochures had been in there they could’ve had an idea of things to do on their next visit. Oh well. They’ll see them when they come again. Note to self: I need to pick up some extras in case something like this happens again.

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Before the guests arrived I went upstairs and started putting our bedroom back together. As I knew I would I feel better about the arrangement of the furniture and I’ve come up with a solution for my nightstand. In fact, last night I started working on a large slab of oak that CountryBoy had cut last year, maybe even two years ago. It was cut with a chain saw so there are saw marks on it and some of the bark has deteriorated. It’s also split on one side as they tend to do when they dry. My plan is to sand it smooth but leaving the saw marks, remove the deteriorated bark and clean up the edges then put several coats of polyurethane on it. Once it’s dry I’ll set it on top of an old milk can I have in my craft room and use the combo as my nightstand. It’s just the right height and should fit nicely in the space without having to buy something. Win-win! I’m still undecided on whether to fill the crack with epoxy or not. I might should leave well enough alone. Epoxy can be quite messy if not done just right.

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As I mentioned above we had a really nice rain last night which really perked up all the plants I planted the other day. It’s amazing what a good dose of rainwater can do!

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I had a couple people give me the thumbs-up for the Flashback Friday segment I did last week. Thanks for taking the time to comment! I will be digging up some other ‘old’ stuff for this week.

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Farm news: 21 eggs

The garden has not done as well as we had hoped. We harvested a decent amount of green beans and we are harvesting handfuls of black eye peas. Actually, we’re not sure if they are black eyes or cowpeas. CountryBoy planted both of them in the same area. When the one didn’t come up he planted the other. We thought we were harvesting cowpeas but the shells aren’t turning their typical purple color. Rather they are turning a tannish color when they are ready to be picked. At any rate, we’re harvesting something and that’s all that matters! We have harvested a few ears of corn but they are small and not filled out. I don’t think we are going to buy any more Silver Queen seeds as they’ve not done well this year or last. Our tomatoes are pitiful. I’m going to start some from seed in early February next year. The basil plants, however, are doing great. We are waiting for the okra to get bigger and start producing. A few of the asparagus came up but this is their first year so they were left alone. Two more years and hopefully we will get some asparagus. The squash did well as did the sugar snap peas. The potatoes were overtaken with potato bugs. We harvested some small potatoes but don’t have hopes for too many more. CountryBoy tilled up some ground in the small garden behind the house and planted some seed potatoes the other day. If they do well we may wait and plant potatoes later next year. Maybe we’ll avoid the whole bug infestation. We did not get any fruit this year other than a few wild blackberries due to a late frost. It has not been a good year for the garden.