We are having some nice weather today, but I think it's a mini mid-February thaw which is a yearly event around here. Only two warm days, but we'll take it. This weekend again they are predicting cold and more snow. We've turned the winter corner though and everyone who lives in these here parts knows that mud season will be "wicked" and that spring will arrive just like it always does.
I've been doing some cross stitching and getting done with some UFO's. Some of these things were meant to be done two Christmases ago, but got buried under a mound of "must-do-right-away's". Seems odd to be working on Christmas stuff in February. I'm just getting a head start on next Christmas. My friend Mrs. T and I visited a cool little needlearts store in Grafton last Saturday and I got all "reinspired" about getting my UFO's done so I can start something new.
I recently purchase some quilted fabric to whip up a vest for myself. I tried one on at K-Mart the other day but didn't want to spend $30 for it. With my coupons from Joann's I got all the stuff for $10 and now just need to find a little time to work on it. I don't really NEED it this winter, but certainly would like to get it done for next fall/winter. I'm going to try to make my own pattern. In the past I haven't been too successful doing this, but I do have a couple of vests to look at for help. I would take one apart and use it for a pattern, but they are all still in use no matter how bad they look. If you have any tips on making your own pattern, let me know... I can use all the help possible.
Yesterday on the way to work there was a horrible accident. A logging truck with trailer was coming around a corner and the trailer came loose and struck a van in the oncoming lane of traffic. The driver of the van was killed. That morning I was ready to leave for work and came back in after a paper Mr. D wanted me to type up for him. Just those few minutes. It could have been me in that lane instead of the van. We arrived on the scene just moments after it happened. Folks who witnessed the accident were just getting out of their cars and calling for help. No emergency vehicles had arrived yet. I was behind 4 other cars waiting to get by. It made me stop and think again how gracious God was with me today. We just do not know when it might be our turn to leave this earth, but I thank the Lord it wasn't yesterday morning. What am I going to do with my life? What does He have for me to do? Those are the questions that come to mind.
James 4:13-17
Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
More pictures next time.
Love ya all. Have a wonderful weekend.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
snow pictures....
Anyone living here in the northeast will know what I'm talking about when I say, "enough is enough already".
Actually lots of folks across the country could say that this winter....
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| Little camper on the hill... home sweet home |
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| plowing the "front yard" |
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| I'd hang clothes on the clothesline if there were room |
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| my little greenhouse frame is buried in the snow too awaiting spring |
Just waiting for spring.
:)
Friday, February 4, 2011
Just a little new look
Thanks to Clover Lane's tutorial on how to make a collage and put it into your blog header, I was able to change the header and add a little "pizzaz" to this dull blog.
Thank you Sarah, and Carrie also who showed me where to go.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend all!
Thank you Sarah, and Carrie also who showed me where to go.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend all!
Thursday, February 3, 2011
No pictures, just a little thought from my devotions this morning...
Jeremiah 31:3b-4a
...Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built...
This brought me to tears today. Maybe the Lord will use it to speak to you in some way.
Jeremiah 31:3b-4a
...Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built...
This brought me to tears today. Maybe the Lord will use it to speak to you in some way.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Planning for Spring
Sounds like a crazy thing to do on a day when we are expecting 18" of snow, but sure enough we must plan for the garden. It has been a cold winter with a little snow almost every day, but thankfully that insulated our little camper and even when the furnace was nonfunctional for about a month, we were not too cold with just a little electric space heater. We picked up our furnace on Friday last week and Mr. D was able to get it in again on Saturday. It is working great.
On Monday we came home to frozen water. I was just wrapping my mind around the idea of not having running water for the rest of the winter, when we discovered the problem was in the well house where a heat lamp bulb was broken when Mr. D was leveling the washing machine on Saturday. After a night of the heat lamp being back on we have water again. Yea!
I had a miserable cold all week end starting Wednesday afternoon. It has cleared up good now. I'm feeling almost 100%. A cold that only lasts one week is a good thing.
So now on to more important stuff... planning the garden. We have our seed order ready to go. Mr. D and I went through all the seeds we would like to order this year. I'm not getting huge amounts because our garden is quite small and we do save seeds. We did purchase some Lutz Winter Keeper beets from Pine Tree Seeds. Mr. D thinks these are the best.
From Gurneys we ordered:
Miragreen - peas
Gotta Have - It corn
Ozark Beauty - strawberries
Gentry Hybrid - summer squash
French Breakfast - radishes
and a Macintosh apple tree, we are planting one fruit tree each year.
I wanted to order some more raspberries, but decided against it since they will be in here with an excavator this summer to get the work done, Lord willing, and I have not planting spot yet.
From R.H. Shumway's catalog we are ordering:
Herbs ...
Sage
Dill
Basil
Thyme
Marjoram
Jacob Cattle - beans
Romano - pole beans
Straight Eight - cucumbers
Burgess Buttercup - winter squash
My mouth is watering already! We have lots of winter squash seeds, lettuce, carrot, pak choy seeds left
Last year we had Ruth Bible beans which I really liked, so I saved some of those for replanting too.
I started working on a reorganized gardening journal. We've been keeping information in a wire bound journal and the only organization was by year. We've been keeping poultry and garden (veggie and ornamental), all in one book. It's getting hard to find information so time to overhaul the system. I looked up some free pages online and printed a sample of each type of page. Now I need to go down and get some copies made of each one and save the master copies for future entries. I have a good size 3-ring binder for this, so it should be good for quite a few years. Information we like to keep are:
Seed type
germination
yield
# of days till fruit develop (first picking).
recipes (how to prepare and how to can)
how long seeds can be saved (always date seed packets when they come in)
if the plants were started early then information about when to sow inside, how many days till ready to plant, success rate of transplants, etc.
if they are saved seeds then keep a record of which came from what season and picture or description of the fruit they came from - squash especially tend to cross pollinate and change over time.
There is also a garden map. #'s corresponding to the # on the seed page keeps the map from getting cluttered.
We also keep track of how many quarts we put up so we can easily see if we need to plant more or less in the next year taking into account the growing conditions.
I also have pages of information on ideas to try someday. Greenhouse plans, cold frames, fencing and trellis ideas, raised beds, controlling garden pests. I want to add those into this book too with an index so that I can find them when I am interested in trying one.
We add compost and manure to the garden every year. We also plant the garden in one or two days. Memorial Day is the chosen day for us so we are 99% sure there will be no more frost. Last year we hadn't tilled the soil completely before memorial day so we spent most of the day removing rocks and tilling. Our garden in on a hillside with a small flat area on top. Rocks have mostly been removed, but somehow there is always one more here and there to pick out. The frost must drive them to the surface.
This year we want to get the tilling done earlier if possible. That will depend on how wet the soil is. We have a lot of snow on the ground and it has been a very cold winter. I imagine there will be a longer time for thawing and drying out than usual. If we can't till early I will probably hand turn the soil around the peas and other cold tolerant crops to give them a little head start.
This year we get to dig up the parsnips. Yum! They have been growing for two years now and they say to dig them up in the spring... if the mice haven't gotten to them yet. I'm also excited to see how many of my herbs overwinter well. I left some to reseed too, so we'll see what happens. I'm also interested to see how our first apple tree does this spring. It is small but produce one good sized apple last year. The girls gave me this for Mother's Day last year. We are adding a Macintosh to the mix this year.
We may have a few blueberries this summer too. It's been a couple of years now and the bushes are strong even though they are small. I hope they will start to produce well within the next couple of year.
So that is the plan. What actually takes place is entirely in God's hands. We plant and tend the garden, but God is the one who 'causes growth. It's the same in our spiritual lives. We can read God's Word and pay close attention to our testimony and our response to life events and people around us, but it is God who causes the growth. He promises growth and maturity as we deal Biblically to the temptations in the way.
It is so hard sometimes to think the right thing during times of trial. I am asking God for His grace dealing with all the changes that will be taking place in the next year in our lives. We will be taking on more debt with the refinancing of the house and land. We will be hiring a contractor to finish the work, then there is the moving in process and all the repair that needs to be done in the house. I don't expect it will be all done before we move in either. It is exciting but just thinking about all the work that needs to be done is exhausting. This year I have 2 weeks of vacation. That will help much. I may take a good chunk of that when we actually move into the home, so it doesn't get too overwhelming.
If you think of it, please pray that the move takes place this summer. I am so ready to have my home back in one piece.
So this is our home in many pieces so you get a visual of what's happening. I will try to update now and then so you can see the progress.
On Monday we came home to frozen water. I was just wrapping my mind around the idea of not having running water for the rest of the winter, when we discovered the problem was in the well house where a heat lamp bulb was broken when Mr. D was leveling the washing machine on Saturday. After a night of the heat lamp being back on we have water again. Yea!
I had a miserable cold all week end starting Wednesday afternoon. It has cleared up good now. I'm feeling almost 100%. A cold that only lasts one week is a good thing.
So now on to more important stuff... planning the garden. We have our seed order ready to go. Mr. D and I went through all the seeds we would like to order this year. I'm not getting huge amounts because our garden is quite small and we do save seeds. We did purchase some Lutz Winter Keeper beets from Pine Tree Seeds. Mr. D thinks these are the best.
From Gurneys we ordered:
Miragreen - peas
Gotta Have - It corn
Ozark Beauty - strawberries
Gentry Hybrid - summer squash
French Breakfast - radishes
and a Macintosh apple tree, we are planting one fruit tree each year.
I wanted to order some more raspberries, but decided against it since they will be in here with an excavator this summer to get the work done, Lord willing, and I have not planting spot yet.
From R.H. Shumway's catalog we are ordering:
Herbs ...
Sage
Dill
Basil
Thyme
Marjoram
Jacob Cattle - beans
Romano - pole beans
Straight Eight - cucumbers
Burgess Buttercup - winter squash
My mouth is watering already! We have lots of winter squash seeds, lettuce, carrot, pak choy seeds left
Last year we had Ruth Bible beans which I really liked, so I saved some of those for replanting too.
I started working on a reorganized gardening journal. We've been keeping information in a wire bound journal and the only organization was by year. We've been keeping poultry and garden (veggie and ornamental), all in one book. It's getting hard to find information so time to overhaul the system. I looked up some free pages online and printed a sample of each type of page. Now I need to go down and get some copies made of each one and save the master copies for future entries. I have a good size 3-ring binder for this, so it should be good for quite a few years. Information we like to keep are:
Seed type
germination
yield
# of days till fruit develop (first picking).
recipes (how to prepare and how to can)
how long seeds can be saved (always date seed packets when they come in)
if the plants were started early then information about when to sow inside, how many days till ready to plant, success rate of transplants, etc.
if they are saved seeds then keep a record of which came from what season and picture or description of the fruit they came from - squash especially tend to cross pollinate and change over time.
There is also a garden map. #'s corresponding to the # on the seed page keeps the map from getting cluttered.
We also keep track of how many quarts we put up so we can easily see if we need to plant more or less in the next year taking into account the growing conditions.
I also have pages of information on ideas to try someday. Greenhouse plans, cold frames, fencing and trellis ideas, raised beds, controlling garden pests. I want to add those into this book too with an index so that I can find them when I am interested in trying one.
We add compost and manure to the garden every year. We also plant the garden in one or two days. Memorial Day is the chosen day for us so we are 99% sure there will be no more frost. Last year we hadn't tilled the soil completely before memorial day so we spent most of the day removing rocks and tilling. Our garden in on a hillside with a small flat area on top. Rocks have mostly been removed, but somehow there is always one more here and there to pick out. The frost must drive them to the surface.
This year we want to get the tilling done earlier if possible. That will depend on how wet the soil is. We have a lot of snow on the ground and it has been a very cold winter. I imagine there will be a longer time for thawing and drying out than usual. If we can't till early I will probably hand turn the soil around the peas and other cold tolerant crops to give them a little head start.
This year we get to dig up the parsnips. Yum! They have been growing for two years now and they say to dig them up in the spring... if the mice haven't gotten to them yet. I'm also excited to see how many of my herbs overwinter well. I left some to reseed too, so we'll see what happens. I'm also interested to see how our first apple tree does this spring. It is small but produce one good sized apple last year. The girls gave me this for Mother's Day last year. We are adding a Macintosh to the mix this year.
We may have a few blueberries this summer too. It's been a couple of years now and the bushes are strong even though they are small. I hope they will start to produce well within the next couple of year.
So that is the plan. What actually takes place is entirely in God's hands. We plant and tend the garden, but God is the one who 'causes growth. It's the same in our spiritual lives. We can read God's Word and pay close attention to our testimony and our response to life events and people around us, but it is God who causes the growth. He promises growth and maturity as we deal Biblically to the temptations in the way.
It is so hard sometimes to think the right thing during times of trial. I am asking God for His grace dealing with all the changes that will be taking place in the next year in our lives. We will be taking on more debt with the refinancing of the house and land. We will be hiring a contractor to finish the work, then there is the moving in process and all the repair that needs to be done in the house. I don't expect it will be all done before we move in either. It is exciting but just thinking about all the work that needs to be done is exhausting. This year I have 2 weeks of vacation. That will help much. I may take a good chunk of that when we actually move into the home, so it doesn't get too overwhelming.
If you think of it, please pray that the move takes place this summer. I am so ready to have my home back in one piece.
 |
| view of the woodpile from the top of the hill all the wood is covered with roofing and blue tarp |
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| this is the mobile home as it is now. the porches are in the foreground the roof will be higher on this side, so it is not on completely the back has a complete roof. |
We have much more snow than this now. Maybe I can snap some picture tonight so you can see how much.
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