Back In The Saddle...Again.

Psst.  Hey, you. 

Yeah, YOU!

Just like Jack, I'm back.





So what was I doing? 

Working.  Here at the house.

It's always hard to see a paid holiday come around and not tack on a few extra days onto it. 

So that's what I did.  I took the rest of the week off and busted my @$$ around the house.  Time off = hard work.  At least when it's Spring and there's SO MUCH that needs doing.

I tried to entice SM with a few days of vay-kay at the beach but he's a bit pre-occupied with work and health issues.  Nothing to worry about.  Just getting older and another medication needs to be added to his list.  (He's been somewhat of a cranky-pants lately about that.)




That's OK.  We ALL go through it from time to time, don't we?

Anyhoo...I took the upcoming lack of internet this week to heart.  Blogging takes time doesn't it?  And trust me, there's no way I had time for much let alone playing on the computer.

In fact, I haven't been on the computer at all even though SM had us up and running with an internet connection the same day. 

I had SO MUCH on my to do list that it wasn't until today that I actually called it quits early.  I jumped into the shower at noon to scrub the garden filth off me, then I grabbed a book and sat on my freshly cleaned back porch and enjoyed the rest of the day.

So what did I do this week?  

Let me think.

Maybe I'll write a post about it.

After I come off of my wine buzz, that is...@;)

Pardon The Interruption...

SM has finally said "Enough!" with Time Warner Cable. 

We have a bundled package with them that includes cable, phone and internet.  SM has been complaining about the quality of their service from practically day one.

Being a good wife (or at least a wise one), I declined commenting on the situation.

But don't put a halo on my head just yet.  You can't imagine how many times the "I told you so" was on the tip on my tongue. 

The self control it took to withhold commenting almost did me in. 

I have learned however, that when dealing with my penny pinching Mr Crab it's almost always best to allow enlightenment to arrive at it's own pace.





Which it did last week. 

I arrived home to find SM pointing at the offending TV and decreeing "I have had enough!  DirectTV will be here in the morning."

Okey-dookey!

"One more thing."  SM turns his laser beam gaze on me.  "I'm dropping them completely so that means no bundle... No phone, no internet for a few days while I wheel and deal and see what's out there."

Uh-Oh. 

"No internet?"  (Notice I wasn't concerned about the lack of a phone.) 

"For how long?  One day?  Two days?  A week?"  My voice became higher as the reality of no connectivity shot home.

"Just until I figure it out.  A week tops." SM says turning away.

 A week?!?  Oh the horror! 





SM still has his smart phone so he can still access the internet as needed, but me... What about me?!?

"Suck it up."  Was the only advice forthcoming. 

"Think of it as a vacation.  You've got plenty of crap to do around here."  SM points out, his hand waving in the air.

"And if you get bored there's always HBO On Demand.  DirectTV gave me all the premium channels for free for the next three months."  SM says proudly with a big grin.  "I know how to deal."  He says smugly.

Ooooo.... Game of Thrones!  I've always wondered what the fuss was all about!  I scurry over to the remote control and navigate to the On Demand service.





"WhooHoo!  I get ALL the episodes!"  I crow.  "Excellent!"

"Game of What...?"  SM asks. 

I make him sit down and watch a few minutes of the first episode.  He gets up after a few minutes clearly unimpressed.  "You're weird."  He says waving his hand at the TV.

"Ssshhhh...Don't bother me!"  I say waving him off.

Life may never be the same again.  @;)




PS...If you don't hear from me after a week or so please consider gathering together for an intervention.  I tend to get addicted to these sorts of things...

See ya later!

Sweet!

I love peas. 

I know a lot of people don't but both SM and I can't get enough.  So since we've been gardening, sweet peas have always made the list of must haves.

Since most of the peas we would eat came frozen from the grocery store, I thought I should try English Shelling Peas first.  They were OK but SM didn't care for the denser texture of these home grown peas. 

We then tried snow peas which were better but just didn't have that crispy POP that I wanted.

This year I tried "Sugar Ann" Sugar Peas.  I'm not sure if our cooler than normal weather has anything to do with it but these peas are a winner.  SM and I are munching on these wonderful peas everyday in our salads.  And that's not counting the ones that we eat while we're picking!

The pods are tender and I can pull the string easily when I'm cleaning them.  They don't stay crisp more than a day so I harvest only what we need for fresh eating. 

I haven't tried cooking them though.  That just seems wrong to mush up a perfectly great, crispy, sweet pea.

So if you're looking for a great pea to grow, try Sugar Ann. 

Wonderful!

A Fine Line

I mentioned a few posts ago about loosing a lot of our strawberries to rot.  We'd had SO much rain that there wasn't very much you could do about it.

There's a fine line between ripe and rot.

I asked SM if he could go out with me to pick.  After spending a few minutes in the patch SM suggested that he pick only the good ripe berries and then I would come in behind him a pull everything that was rotten.  SM collected about a gallon of harvestable berries.

I, on the other hand, easily tossed 4-5 gallons into the compost pile.

It's a shame that this happened during the height of production but I'd already frozen 7 gallons of berries so the loss wasn't as bad as it could have been.  Even if I went to a Pick Your Own Lot that's already more strawberries than I usually put up for the year. 

I really wanted to get in and weed though. 

What a mess!  Along with all the rain we also had a windy month which blew all the grass seeds from the lawn into the garden.  Freakin Bermuda! 

The ground was perfect for pulling.  Not too muddy and not yet dried out.

By this time SM's brother V and wife D arrived.  The boys quickly made plans to go to Saturdays race.  D came out and helped me weed for a little bit as I really wanted to get this done.  We chatted while we worked but my back was tightening up and I really felt funny about D pulling weeds while on her "getaway" weekend. She told me she liked this kind of work.  It still felt weird.

Looks like another nice day today.  I'm sure I'll squeeze in a bit more weeding while everyone is sleeping in and having coffee.  I'll have to put most tasks on the back burner while we have our guests here. 

After all, there's fine line between being sociable and being rude.

Hmm.  Lots of fine lines aren't there? 

And a lot of them are on my face @;)

A Breath of Fresh Air

This past week has brought us rain every day.  Close to 3 inches total.  While it wasn't all that hot, low 80's felt like 100 with the daytime humidity.

Last night the storm front finally moved through bringing us one last intense thunderstorm while I was asleep.  I woke up as Ginny launched herself into our bed, quivering and trembling from the flashes and thunder.

I was up this morning at 4:30 and stepped outside.  Wet, yes...But cool.  Fresh, breathable air in abundance.  I went in and opened the windows.

Finally!

I seriously don't think I could live in the South without AC.  The humidity smothers you.  "And the Heat!  My God, the Heat!"

This hot flash Mama is very grateful for a cool breeze from time to time. 

We continue to pick strawberries although it seems like we're throwing away more that we're keeping.  The berries aren't ripening fully with all this rain.  They start to get red and then rot.  So my garden walkways are littered with strawberry guts that we've tossed aside.  I would have thought the birds would eat them but they don't touch them.  Hopefully a few drier days will help snap things back.

I have a feeling that the weeds are going to be outrageous.  Guess I know what I'll be doing this weekend.

SM's brother and wife have come up for the races this weekend so we'll be hosting them along with a couple hundred thousand other NASCAR fans.  SM said he might go to one race, but neither of us are really into it. 




We just happen to live here.  Sorry, not a fan.  I am happy that it's supposed to be a dry weekend for them though.  Nothing worse for racing fans than rain.

That's about it for, Kids.  Enjoy your holiday weekend where ever you may be!

Tender Vittles

 Just like the rest of the country, we've been enjoying a slightly cooler and wetter Spring than what we usually get. 

But we all know it's coming. 

You know. 

The Sun.  That big ole scorcher in the sky.

In anticipation of that event, I had purchased some shade cloth from Gardeners Supply a few months ago.  It has sat in it's wrapper in the shed waiting for the moment it would be needed.

I actually forgot I'd bought it.

Last weekend, I'd transplanted the sweet bell peppers into the raised bed next to the lettuce.  Sometime last week the sun came out to play and scorched my tender vittles.  We did actually hit 90 degrees for a day or two.

"They didn't look like that this morning when I watered."  SM said as we both stared down at the poor little suckers.

SM thinks we should pull these pull these little buggars up and buy some new from the nursery. 

"Let's give it a few days." I said as we hung the shade cloth up.

I'm hoping to extend our lettuce season with the shade cloth too.  We just love our homegrown lettuces and are eating salads almost everyday.  Past experience has shown me that the longest I can hope for a lettuce harvest in our heat is mid June.

Wouldn't it be lovely if we can keep lettuce on our plates all Summer long?

Tug Of War

For the past few years we've been putting most of our time, energy and extra cash into getting the garden and fruit trees up and running. 

Dealing with a concrete backyard created the need for everything to be purchased and brought in manually.  Creating all this has been a larger investment than I think even we realize but since this home is likely our last home, it has been an investment that we've been happy to make. 

Why? 

Because we're young and working and making money and one of these days we won't be.  One of our realities is that old age is coming sooner than we care to admit and with it a limited income.  Anything I can produce in my own backyard means less dependence on future inflated food prices at the grocery.

Because it takes time to learn what works and what doesn't.  Now we can absorb a bad decision, twist it and change things up to make it work. 

None of this happens overnight.

If you're new to all this and anyone tells you that home food production is an easy thing to do...Well, they're an idiot.  

Flat out, this has been one of the bigger commitments SM and I have made and we don't even do the animal husbandry thing that so many of you do. 

Taking care of the garden is right up there with home ownership.   It's a responsibility.

Your house has to be maintained if you've lived in it for any length of time.  Oh, sure...Some folks buy a brand new house, live in it for a few years, roll it over and do it all again.  They don't have to deal with failing appliances, weird smells, creaky floors, stained carpeting.  Gosh the list is endless!

But the same logic applies to growing food.  Constant attention.  Constant maintenance.

And that's the tug of war I've been dealing with lately.  I told SM that I'm not sure why it is but this year I'm less invested in the garden but I'm all tied up and twisted about home improvements. 

This is the "Year of the House" for me.  I want/need to make updates and repairs on this tired old house.  We haven't done very much to the interior of the house over the past 15 years we've lived here and it's really starting to show. 

So when we DO make some little bitty improvement, it suddenly shows us how crappy the rest of the house is.

I am grateful that the garden has gotten to the point where it can kind of take care of itself.  For the basics at least.  I'm still invested in it but I'm also distracted from it.  I want it easy in the garden this year so I can dedicate my time and attention to the house.  Easier said than done.

Example? 

Our newest reclaimed bed. 

Last year, this was lawn.  We double dug it, tilled it, weeded and amended it.  We put the tomatoes in here last year and they hated it.  Extremely poor production.  This year, SM and I have weeded this entire bed no less than 4 times in the past month alone.  It is obviously fighting back.

I had planned on planting beans and winter squash here but I'm so frustrated dealing with the weeds!  Just a waste of time and effort. 

And then I look over my shoulder and what do I see? 

Another area that we're trying to create garden space out of.  Only this bed is the bed we're trying the lasagna method on.  It's been smothered with cardboard and decomposing straw for the past 4 months.  No tilling, no digging. 

Not many weeds showing is there?

So I told SM that I'm done fighting this year.  The weedy bed is going to get the smother treatment.  I'm going to toss double cardboard and straw on it and let it sit this year out.  Maybe next year it will be good enough to plant.

Maybe.

So we're in the process of hauling in compost and tossing it on the lasagna bed. 

I must admit I'm very curious to see how things shape up with this bed.  This is the only area that we've tried lasagna on.  I've got raised beds, tilled beds and double dug beds. 

Not much we haven't tried is there?

If only home repairs were this simple.

Loaded For Bear...Berries, That Is!

During strawberry season, I used to go to a local "Pick Your Own" farm further out in the country.  I'd make a day of it.  Picking several gallons of berries, cleaning and freezing enough to last us through the winter.

Last year though, we planted our first ever strawberries in our raised beds.

I wish I'd known how easy they were to grow.  I'd have done this years ago!

These are Seascape. 

I bought these as they sounded like they were one of the more heat tolerant berry's out there.  I followed the recommended instructions for the first year of growth, pinching back all the blooms for the first few months.

They are as advertised.  

Seascape strawberry plants yield large, juicy, well-shaped berries with superb flavor, and they bear fruit over a long season. It’s one of the most productive and disease-resistant everbearing varieties yet! Shallow roots make them ideal for growing in containers as well as in the garden.

I personally don't think that they're the sweetest berries on the planet but a little sugar (or Splenda) goes a long way.  SM's been adding them to his protein shakes every morning.  (He got me to taste one of his shakes the other day.  Oh, Yuck.  A perfect waste of good strawberries if you ask me...@;)

We've been picking every other day now for over a week, harvesting about a quart or two as we went along.  Perfect for fresh eating.

The berries seemed to be loving the hot weather we had last week because suddenly everything kicked into high gear and I was hard pressed to leave for work on time the past few mornings! 

I've taken to picking daily now and freezing the last few batches as there's only so many berries a person can eat in a day!

Today was the most I've picked so far in one day.  About a gallon and a half.

I tell you, the sun can't come up soon enough in the morning right now.  If things don't slow down, I'll be getting up at 4am just to fit all my morning chores in.

It's a nice problem to have for sure.  Hopefully, this is just a big push and things will settle down to a more manageable rate.

Anybody got a favorite jam recipe I can take advantage of?

Know Thyself

I was approached this week by another Dr (with whom I am acquainted) who is looking to find a "Practice Administrator" for his office.

He called me to see if I knew anybody I would recommend but also asked if I might be interested myself. 

(SM calls this the sideways offer.)

"Ten years ago...Yes."  I replied to his query.  "Now?  I'm not so sure...But I've learned to never say never.  I'll think about it." 

I did have someone in mind who had just moved back to Charlotte who I thought might be a good match for him and passed the message along to her.

But the thought has laid in the back of my mind since.  Would I want to toss my hat into the ring?  This Dr has approached me with job offers several times over the past ten years.  I go in, we dance, I turn him down. 

I'm simply happy where I'm at.

But being a "Practice Administrator" would tend to indicate a big jump in pay.  SM feels I should consider it based on that fact alone while I feel it's more work and responsibility than I want at this point in my life.

So it comes down to this...






When questions like this come up, I find that the Universe has a funny way of pointing you down the right path. 

My own "Dr Boss" is out of the office on vacation for two whole weeks. 

She runs the show around here but when she's not around everyone tends to come to me with problems, issues or concerns. 

When that happens I'm kinda like Mini-Me.





So I suck it up and deal with it and the ball keeps rolling and generally no one gets hurt while the cat is away.  Once "Dr Boss" is back, the crown is once more placed on her head and life goes on as before.

Yesterday at work I put out more fires than ever.  (Why does this always happen when she's away?) 

Two days into her vacation and my feet are already smoldering and my nerves are already slightly fried.

Geez.

I think I have my answer.

Not just no.  Hell, No!

A Man And His Truck

SM and I talked about the front yard "plan" yesterday morning over coffee.  What to do about those big ass bushes.  SM as usual got to the heart of the matter.

"Do you like them enough to keep them or do you want me to rip them out?"  SM asked.

"I absolutely HATE them but I don't want you killing yourself trying to get them out."  I replied, concerned. 

"H (our next door neighbor) had a landscape service come in and rip his out.  He said they dug out 15 root balls with a backhoe."  I said.

"Let's see what happens."  SM said shrugging, preparing himself for a day of hard labor.

And hard labor it was. 

But SM and I have this trick.  If we can wrap a rope around it and yank it out with the truck, well then...

In all SM shoveled, hacked and axed his way through all 3 Hollies and a huge "who knows what it is" on that lived on the corner of the house.

NEVER underestimate a man and his truck.

I also trimmed down the 4 boxwoods on the other side hoping we might be able to pull those out easily with the truck.  Nope.  And by that time both SM and I were exhausted.  We'll save digging those out for another day.

We cleaned up using the truck to transfer the root balls back behind the shed to dry out before we burn them.  The limbs were deposited closer to the fire pit to dry out and will likely be burned in a few weeks.

"We should have done this years ago."  SM said, tossing limbs into the pickup.

"Well, at least it's done now before we're too old and feeble to do it ourselves."  I joked.

So now we've got a clean slate. 

What's left?  A mature white crepe myrtle tree, the hydrangea I planted last year, the Japanese maple and the towering birch that will likely have to come down at some point. 

So what will we plant?  Definitely low maintenance plants.  SM wants seasonal color and his only request so far is azaleas.  OK, I'm fine with that.  I'm planning on lots of perennials like variegated hosta, irises and some decorative grasses.  Flowers too.

Simple.  Clean.  Colorful.

Not a bad way to go and MUCH easier to maintain.

Domino

Have you ever started off your day with the intention of going in one direction and ending up in a completely different spot?  That was my day yesterday.  One thing led to another until I ended up doing stuff I didn't really plan on.

It all started innocently enough.  I went out to the garden.  Picked some lettuce and a handful of strawberries. 

8am and the sun already felt hot on my skin.

Hm.

"Maybe I'll save the garden work for Monday when it's cooler."  I thought to myself. 

I went in and considered what needed doing.  I even made a list.  I thought about hosing the last of the pollen off the back porch but SM was still snoozing and I didn't want to wake him up.

The front yard beds needed weeding.  OK.  That shouldn't take too long.

So I grabbed my kneeler, claw tool thingy and a trash can and set to work.  The front yard is always cooler with the mature trees.  While I was working, I noticed that the layer of mulch was thin to non exsistent.

Hence the weeds.

Hm.

Maybe I should get a load of mulch this morning.  They're open till noon, so I kept weeding.  SM eventually came out, coffee in a "to go" cup.  He had an out of town appointment to keep and he'd be gone all day.  Quick kiss, "see ya later" and he's gone.

I keep weeding.  All the neighbors are out by now.  Lawn mowers going.  Our new neighbors are pulling and chopping down all the overgrown shrubs and bushes in their front yard.  Trimming the trees.  It's looking nice!  

Deb comes over and we chat for a bit.  "What time is it?"  I ask her.  9:30

After she's left and I'm back to weeding around one of MY overgrown bushes, I lean back on my heels and consider the shrubs.

They came with the house.  25 years old and I've always hated them.  SM and I have discussed ripping them out but felt that other projects had a higher priority. 

I knew that at the very least they needed a Spring haircut.

Hm.

I tossed that thought to the back of my mind though as I wanted to get a load of mulch before the place closed.  I warmed up our old green truck and took off.

When I get to the mulch place I ask for 2 yards of mini pine bark chips.  The fellow who runs the place says "I've got to unload some of my inventory.  If you buy 2 yards, you'll get 1 yard free." 

My ears perked up at that!

By this time it's about 10am and they close at noon.  "I can't take 3 yards all in one trip.  How about I take 1 yard now and come back for the other 2 after I've unloaded?"

It's a deal.  Whoo Hoo!

So I buzzed home and unloaded some of the mulch around the mailbox area and then backed the pickup over to the house and dumped the rest in a pile away from the shrubs.  I figured I'd spread the fresh mulch after I'd given everybody a haircut.

Back to the mulch place for the other 2 yards and home again.  I go get the electric hedge trimmers and get it oiled up.  As I started to trim the bush back I noticed that the leaves were really only on the surface.  If I wanted to trim these puppies back a foot or so, I'd be down to bare branches.

Hm.

OK then.  I've hated you from day one.  You're going down suckers!

And that's what I did.  I took those shrubs down to the bone.  

If we leave them like this, they'll grow new leaves and bounce back eventually.  But I'm thinking of asking SM to take them all the way down to the ground.  Chop them off at the base. They'll still come back, but much smaller. 

I can deal with that.

Tomorrow?  Finish the job.

I got you in my sights you little bastards!

Whaa Haa Ha!

Aww...They Call Them Fruitlets

I posed the question in my last post if I should "thin" the apple clusters that we have starting.

Mama Pea pointed out that -

"I've read you should thin your apple clusters to the two strongest looking apples. I'll admit that doesn't always get done on our trees (ahem) but you will really get much bigger apples if you do it. And since most of our apples get made into applesauce, I always ask myself if I'd rather peel and core five small apples . . . or two big ones?"

This makes sense to me too.  I'd rather have fewer, larger fruit than ton's of idde bitties.

So I Googled it and came across a few articles about thinning apples.  I just love how they call them fruitlets.

Sounds like candy @:)

I found this video too for those of you who'd like a visual.  His apples are much larger than mine are now.  I might wait a week or two before I do this to see how they form up.  Plus, I've never sprayed.  Do any of you use a preventative spray when you have a crop forming?     

I also scrolled down in the comment section and saw that he says it takes about 5-6 years for fruit trees to really be mature.  I guess we're ahead of the game a bit as this is only year Four.

In other news, the strawberries are starting to ripen.  We're hoping to start thinning those fruitlets in a day or two.

Today has a chance of rain in the forecast but the long range shows a dry week ahead so I'm hoping to spend this weekend getting the rest of the garden weeded and planted.

I expect that ya'll will be out doing the same.  Enjoy the day and don't get sunburned!

Between The Rain Drops

The sun came out Monday so SM and I tip-toed between the puddles and ponds in our backyard to check out the garden. 

Everything seems to be enjoying the wet, cool weather we've been having except the tomatoes.  If things don't dry out and heat up a bit, it could be a bust year for them.  In just the past week alone we've had a total of just over 3" of rain with more on the way.

The lettuce is going bananas.  We've been eating salads like crazy and the sugar peas are only NOW starting to bloom. 

Wow!  Usually they're pulled up by May 15th because of the heat. At this rate we might be munching on pea pods by the end of the month.

The strawberries are loaded but still small and only a few of them are ripening.  Unfortunately those have gotten "beaked" by the friggin birds.  They eat them when the berry is only 1/2 red!  The nerve!

So I ordered more netting last week since our beds are 16' long and the hoops are so tall.  The netting I had was just too small.  Since these are everbearing strawberries, I wanted netting that would stay in place all summer and allow us easy access.  We attached the last of the netting this morning so hopefully the berries belong to us now.

SM spotted our first ever apples along with some ladybugs doing their thing.  We're excited that this year might actually be an apple year for us.  Long way till harvest though.  Many are in clusters of 3 to 6 apples.  Should we thin them out or let them be? 

I still haven't gotten the sweet peppers planted yet.  They're still lounging under the porch awning and I'm still bringing them in to the grow light at night.  Maybe this weekend I'll get them in.  They're still so small! 

Sunflowers, winter squash and (maybe) sweet potatoes have yet to be planted.  I've got a few more weeks to get those beds weeded and some compost tossed onto them.

I won't complain about these temperatures though.  It's actually quite nice to not have the AC on.  Even as we speak I've got the windows and doors open.

I know that Mamma N could flip the switch at any moment but other than hoping for at least ONE hot weekend for a beach run, I'd be perfectly happy with a cooler than normal Summer.

And a L O N G Fall.

Dawns Early Light

It wasn't raining when I got up this morning at 5, so we all headed out for our morning walk, then feed and chew for the pups and some caffine time (in the form of Diet Mt Dew) for me.

I buzzed around blog land for a while then noticed that it was getting lighter outside and so I grabbed the camera to see what's up.

 

 

Looks lush out there doesn't it?

The celery appears to be growing and the sweet potatoes have a few roots but no slips.  All this after 1 month.  Am I wasting my time?

Scooter hogs into the scene.  Fine.  How about a photo-op?

Not so fast says Miss Ginny.

Pictures?  You're taking pictures?

But where's Piglet?

There she is!

Such a smart girl...
All snuggled in for the day.