What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Spring around a homestead is an exciting time.  As you watch the bulbs start to bloom and the seeds you started peek through the soil, hope and excitement fill your soul.  While trees start to bud out and grass starts to green, birds start building nests and breeding season brings even more life.  

Our first attempt at breeding the rabbits didn't "take".  Olaf had never been in that position before and really didn't know what he was doing.  Sadly we have no baby bunnies, but everything happens for a reason.  As we scrambled to make sure we had ...

I've spent over *ahem* 40 years in the corporate foodservice industry.  Admittedly I know way too much about food, where it comes from and how it is processed.  Being a part of the industry has, however, helped me in making decisions regarding our food and where it comes from.  I've seen more than my share of recalls and have seen what they can do to a company as well as the consumer.  I've seen entire restaurant chains put out of business because of one bad decision an employee on a produce line made.  Recalls come more frequently ...

I love Saturdays - Hubs and I usually find a project together.  He has worked so very hard this week.  I honestly figured he would be too tired to work on anything.  He (and one of our daughters) moved ALL of the asparagus from the 3 raised beds in the chicken run to the garden.  He de-constructed those raised beds AND the compost bins out there.  He made new compost bins closer to the garden, but still close enough to the chicken barn to make that task easier.  He mowed and weed whipped everything for one last time AND he moved ...

No matter how much you know it's coming, it seems like you are never ready.  There was a freeze warning.  Most of the garden is usually done for the year.  Usually, you have been working so hard at harvesting and preserving that you are more than ready.  But still....you hear that meteorologist and it stops you in your tracks.  Panic steps in.  You race out to the garden to do a quick 'tour' to see if you have missed anything.

Tomatoes - check.  Pumpkins - check.  Sunflowers - check.  Cabbage - check.  Birdhouse gourds - oh noooooo!  I have only harvested a couple ...

I thought it was a 'genius' idea.  When I was canning pumpkin, I was saving a LOT of seed!  I had them drying on a sheet pan.  Wait - I have my dehydrator trays.  I even bought extra dehydrator trays....AND extra liners for the trays.  (The pics are awful, but you get the point.)

Hubs goes to the grocery once a month.  For the last couple months he has noticed that the cleaning section is all but bare.  This month when he came home, he tells me 'it's time for you to make a post about your toilet bowl cleaner'.  So, I guess it's time for another "green cleaning" post.  

For normal day-to-day cleaning in the toilet, I use this cleaner.  This is also great as a glass cleaner!

1 c. distilled white vinegar

1 c. water

1/2 tsp liquid dish soap (or liquid castile soap, which is what I use ...

 A fond memory I have is making apple cider with Pops.  We had a farm market for a few years and made apple cider to sell.  After a week or so with a hand press, Pops 'modified' it and put a motor on it.  Is is so completely unsafe.  It is not grounded and Hubs really needs to re-work it.  But, he has strict marching orders - he is not allowed to replace it.  He can fix what needs fixed, but Pops did it.  I have the press.  It needs to continue to fulfill my need for nostalgia.  It is full ...

I have IBD.  I know - TMI.  I struggle with 'intestinal health'.  Hubs was told at one point he was going to die within a year....here's the back story:

Hubs was at work and passed out, hitting his head.  He had just eaten a burger from a fast food restaurant.  He was taken to the hospital.  They did a series of tests on him and told him they wanted to put in a pacemaker.  He asked if there was something wrong with his heart.  The doctor said they didn't find anything wrong with his heart, but they couldn ...

Macedonian Neighbor's daughter came over yesterday to see my garden.  She was telling me about the 5 gallons of pickles she did this week and various other harvests.  I felt so incompetent.  My green beans have flowers but no beans.  My tomatoes are not ripe.  There I was, again comparing myself to another gardener.  Just stop.  My garden is fine, just not as far along....

We had a few pretty good storms come through this weekend, so I had to go out and check the damage.

The sunflowers out by the pumpkin patch held up pretty well.

Last week was the anniversary of my paternal father's suicide.  It also would have been my step-dad's birthday.  It's always a tough week for me and especially my Momma.  When Pops was alive, I would always have to plan his birthday party as Momma just wasn't feeling it.  I never minded.  I'm usually pretty withdrawn, not in sadness but I get wrapped up in memories.  I was blessed to have a step-dad who loved me as much as, if not more than, any paternal father could  Today I again reflected on how happy he would ...

Did you know....Packed with essential nutrients, beetroots are a great source of fiber, folate (vitamin B9), manganese, potassium, iron, and vitamin C. Beetroots and beetroot juice have been associated with numerous health benefits, including improved blood flow, lower blood pressure, and increased exercise performance.  (This was taken from HealthOnline.)  They even contain moderate amounts of protein.

You know how there are foods that as a kid you just couldn't eat, and then as an adult you love them?  I have always loved pickled beets - even as a kid.  Growing beets is pretty much a given around here.  I ...

We got a nice little rain last night, so there was no need to water the garden.  Today, I just got to stroll.  A garden, whether flower or vegetable, always looks beautiful after a nice rain.  

For Father's Day we had a cookout to celebrate the Hubs.  Three of the six kids were able to come over.  I am very passionate about birthdays, Mother's Day and Father's Day.  Hubs does so much for us and has done so much for us that it is pretty important to me to make sure that he knows how much we ...

Remember the song from the 70s....Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme??  We can't grow Rosemary here as a perennial, but I've got the rest.  I harvested some sage, oregano and thyme to dehydrate.

I have some Amish friends in Berlin, Ohio.  When the kids were younger, we used to take a weekend and camp on their farm.  There were 3 farm ponds for them to play in and it was a great getaway for us.  Sometimes my sister and her 3 kids would go with us.  Sometimes my almost brother and his 3 kids would go with us.  Sometimes it was both.  (Alvin even asked us once when it was ALL of us if my almost brother was Mormon to have 3 wives and 9 kids.  LOL)  We were awakened in the mornings ...

We try to take Sunday as a day of rest.  Grandpa & Granny never let us work in the garden on Sunday - especially planting.  They said "nothing good wood come of it".  So, we try not to.  It's hard for us.  Yesterday we kept talking about all the things we needed to do.  I knew we would fall into the trap of working, so I suggested we take a little drive.  I was antsy to get some work done and knew I didn't have the willpower to hold back.  I always feel that way after I have had a ...

Bear with me, I have a LOT of photos today, but the sun was shining during my little morning walk.

As I was pulling the pics off, these were still on from Monday.  Two of the grands came to see the baby bunnies - Stella and Luciano.  Visitation is done in the garage on a moving blanket to keep them from escaping and becoming wild bunnies.  LOL

I was patient.  I waited.  I was chomping at the bit to get the garden planted.  I am, however, so glad I waited because of this crazy weather we have had.  I would like to start off by saying how thankful and grateful I am that Hubs built me all these raised beds.  Had he not, we wouldn't be planting until June!  Our yard is still like a wet sponge.  There are still ponds everywhere and we still can't even mow.  It stresses me out to see how tall the grass is....but I digress.

Flats of flowers ...

Friday night we got a call from Army Son.  There was a bee swarm by his pond.  He called to see if the Hubs wanted to try to come and get it.  It was nearly dusk so time was of the essence.  Of course Hubs wanted to give it a try.  We lost both of our swarms during a warm snap in January.  They packed their bags and left.

We rushed to pack up the beekeeping supplies and off he went.  Army Son has a run off culvert from his pond, and of course the swarm was on the tree ...

They keep multiplying!

I'm not a fan of dishwashers.  I love to hand wash dishes.  There is only the two of us, so c'mon, there aren't that many.  Yet, Hubs insists on loading that dishwasher.  Think about something (maybe it is just the OCD in me)....while those dishes are sitting there waiting for a full load, germs are percolating.  They are high-fiving each other and multiplying.  Ewwww!  Now that I put that vision in your head---your welcome by the way.

If we are going to use the dishwasher, we may as well make it as 'green ...

We are first-year beekeepers.  Everyone told us we would get no honey this year while our hive gets established.  We secretly hoped they were wrong.  If you have seen bee boxes, they are stacks of wooden boxes on top of each other.