Memorial Day Weekend

A great weekend to take advantage of getting a few things done around here.  We started it off right by eating dinner at Cindy and Ed's on Friday evening.  It was a beautiful evening on their deck, grilling out and just catching up.  We had so much fun we decided to make it a monthly event and put it on our calendars.  We are all looking forward to it.

Saturday we started off at the farmers market and then came home to clean up under the shed roof by the shop.  Originally intended to house the camper and garden tools, after 2 years it had become a catch-all junk pile. It really bothered Lisa as it's the first thing you see when you come down the driveway.  We hauled some stuff off to the recycle center and just did some general clean-up including moving the leftover stone from our house.  It looks so good.

Results of all that labor, neat and mostly orderly.

Future fire pit

Then we got to work in the garden some and mowing the grass.  It always looks so nice after we get that done.  It was a beautiful Carolina blue sky all day and it actually was not too hot.  Went to church Saturday night so we could take advantage of sleeping in for 3 days.  Whoo Hoo all the way to 6:30.  I know...we're sick.

Sunday we "did-in" 3 of the chickens that had not produced any eggs in about 6 months.  Time to go in the jars so we can have chicken 'n dumplings later.

Later we had some friends over for dinner.  We smoked a chuck roast in the morning and then slow cooked it most of the day.  Lisa made some fresh rolls and a salad from the garden while John provided some Indian veggies and we all enjoyed dinner on the screened in porch. I think we could get used to this kind of a social life with such good friends.

On Monday, we built two more raised beds over near the shed roof. We'll plant crowders and green beans as soon as we get some dirt to put in them.

Two new raised beds located in front of the strawberries and next to the shed roof 

Later that same day, we cleaned out the old coop and got it ready for some new chicks; we picked up 3 Dark Cornish and 3 Black Jersey Giants from Belle Farms; a local garden/farm supply center.

Talk about little, The grand kids were pretty excited about them. They really are cute.... but they're still livestock so in about 3 months, they'll be larger than the girls in our existing flock; big enough to put at least some in the freezer.

So, not too bad of a way to spend a long weekend for a couple of old codgers, We'll need a day or two to recover from all this productivity, but we wouldn't have it any other way.

Bacon

We bought a pig again this year from the McManus'.  So again we had the side meat for smoking bacon.  We finally got around to it last weekend and then sliced it up this week.  It is so tasty.
Here is a pile of it on the cutting board and then all of it packaged in 1/2 pound packages.  We have a total of 7 pounds and then some end cuts that are great for seasoning beans.

Bridge

The drainage ditch near the shop prevents us from easily driving the tractor to that side of the driveway. So we built a bridge that the tractor can go over. Previously we had to drive to the top of the driveway to get on the grass. We still have some finish work to do but until then people can cross it. Flat surfaces are so much easier for these old people feet to walk on with plantar fasciitis and pulled Achilles tendons. We are actually having a landscaper come later this month or next month to correct the drainage problems we are having with this particular area. He has the equipment and rock hauling capabilities to rework this area. When he is here he is going to put more dirt on both ends of the bridge so we can drive the tractor over it. Wyatt got to help Papa screw the boards down and was very proud of himself.

Gardening

 Wyatt and Bayleigh helped in the garden. We hilled up some of the potatoes and then we went to pick strawberries. Hilling up the potatoes was more help than Meme could handle.  The ground around the raised beds are not perfectly even and they had a hard time walking around in the garden without falling into the beds. So we did what we could and then we moved over to strawberries.

It was easier picking strawberries. They got to find the red ones and as you can see, picking strawberries is the perfect height for 2 and 4 year olds. Wyatt ate some and then he wanted to save the rest of his for Papa. Bayleigh liked them so much that you will notice that she did not end up with any in her basket. They all ended up in her tummy. This is the first time we picked strawberries this year.  There are tons to be picked in the future. 

We have a plethora of baby lettuce.  I hope we can eat it all before the hot weather makes it bolt and turn bitter.  If you look closely you will notice some radishes coming up along the right edge.  In the back beds are onions, pea pods, and a variety of tomatoes.  Not pictured are 2 full beds of potatoes, 1 full bed of october beans, and then a scattering of peppers, more radishes, carrots, squash, cucumbers and Kale. Some of the older kale that overwintered has bolted but the flowers are pretty so I am leaving them there for now.

Chicken Screens

A few days before we left for Phoenix a fox attacked the chickens on the driveway in broad daylight. We saw it happening and were able to run him off. (Screaming wild women will have that effect on an animal) Thankfully there were not any fatalities but we did decide that the girls should stay in the coop the entire time we were gone. Our neighbors Gary and Pam took care of them in our absence and we did not want them traumatized by another fox attack. Unfortunately, staying in the coop all day is HOT. So before we left we constructed some fabric panel screens to offer some shade. Is makes a tremendous difference in the temperature inside the coop. The local fabric store had exterior duck cloth on sale for half price so Lisa put some grommets in the corners and voila. They work great but Pat wants to decorate them up a bit. He sees some fabric paint in their future. Lisa sees that job on the bottom of the do-list.

Blueberries and Rhubarb

The rhubarb started sprouting and then the blueberries were covered in beautiful white blossoms. Sure signs of spring. The last day of potential frost approached on the gardening zone calendar and low and behold not only did we receive a frost …..but it got down to 28 degrees. UGH. It took a few days to accurately assess the damage but we ultimately decided that we lost all but 2 apple blossoms, a chunk of the blueberries (but we don’t think near as many as we initially thought) yet the rhubarb flourished. There are a few advantages of being busy and not getting things in the ground as planned. Because the onions went in late they had just popped thru the surface, the potatoes were still in the garage and the tomatoes were still under the grow lights. Usually we are ready to put more things in the ground about the time of last frost but due to our schedule we were behind. There are some benefits.

Here are some things I canned with the rhubarb

Blackberry rhubarb jam using this years rhubarb and last years frozen blackberries

Rhubarb Chutney- To be used in pork and chicken dishes

Phoenix

Ryan turned 29 on May 3^rd and Sharee graduated with her MBA that morning.  What a birthday gift.  We, along with Sharee’s parents, were able to attend.  We flew out on Thursday and returned on Monday.  Sorry that the pictures are not that great but we were looking into the Phoenix sun.

While there we ate some amazing food and were also able to help prep a ton of things that were preventing them from listing their house.    The house was listed this week and they have a showing on Thursday. Yeah.  Now just pray that the house sells quickly and the jobs come easily. We were still able to take some time on Sunday for fun and we went target shooting out in the dessert.  We all had a blast (no pun intended).  Here are a few pictures of Lisa.  Not sure why none were taken of Patrick.

Asparagus

 This is the first year we can really cut from the asparagus patch we planted 3 years ago. Year 1 you have to just let them grow. Year 2 you can cut for about 2 weeks and then just let them grow and become better established.  Year 3 you can cut as much as you wish for the 6-week sprouting time in the spring.  So here we are at year 3 all excited about spring after a hellacious winter.   We kept checking on the asparagus to see when they would emerge. They usually spring forth about the same time as the rhubarb but this year they were VERY slow to start sprouting and Pat was convinced they were killed by the sub zero cold.  I was more optimistic as I saw a few shoots start to emerge here and there.  Then one day we went to cut the few sprouts that were in need of cutting and we saw a vole hill running thru the patch.  Dang voles were eating the roots of the asparagus!!!! We were so mad but what are you supposed to do.  We are letting the roots that don’t get eaten grow as they can this year but have plans to rebuild and reinforce that bed.  That is the first bed we established when we bought the property 5 years ago and because we don’t use pressure treated wood on our food beds they have a life expectancy of about 5 years.  So we are going to relocate the asparagus into a new bed that has strong wire in the bottom so the voles can’t get up from below.   We will then rebuild this old bed and plant more blackberries or raspberries.  That will make all the fruits on that side of the driveway and nothing will need to be fenced in to deter bunnies. The picture above is of our 3rd meal this year.

Dang vole hole.  This one entered from above.  Makes me sort of wonder if this hole is a bunny nest like we saw last year in the raspberries.

 

Picture of the bed after I weeded it and cleaned it all up this morning.  You can see how the boards are stating to deteriorate.  You can also see how few and far between the plants are.  PITIFUL.  

Easter

 It was fun to celebrate Easter with the grandchildren. After many years of empty nesting and no Easter baskets we had fun constructing them. We got to dye eggs, have an Easter egg hunt and dress up in pretty clothes. Bayleigh was resistant to getting her picture taken for some reason. I had to snap about a dozen before I could actually capture her looking at the camera. Wyatt on the other hand is a ham and will readily pose whenever asked. We didn't capture any pictures of the egg dying process as it was mayhem.

Busy Spring

Where do we start? I guess first with an apology for being so slack in keeping each of you updated. We kept meaning to put up a post and then we/I got so far behind I threw in the towel. I kept thinking of things to write about but just never could find the time to actually sit down and do it. So today I am sitting here at my desk in the process of compiling a bunch of posts; as I have very little on my work schedule today. I promise when I get home I will gather the pictures scattered from camera and both phones and get them all written up and start posting them this weekend. No feelings of incompetence as this blog chronical is supposed to be just fun. But it's nice to be back.