Another rainy Memorial Day

I actually like it to rain. It seems appropriate to me. I thank everyone who has given their life to keep others safe. And I thank everyone who works to keep us safe. God bless and comfort them, their families and friends.

A few things around the home.

Baby pecans.

The onion tub took a beating in the last thunderstorm we had.

If you ever consider 'planting bags', don't consider this one. I already had the dirt in it and didn't want to take it out when I realized the poor design of it, but we finagled it for this season. The tomatoes seem okay despite this.

We bought a watering tank from Tractor Supply and planted some more of the tomatoes. They are from Burpee. A Bush Steak, as I recall.

I am all about not having to bend over so much. Hubby has his 'toys', so not so much.
Something about the weather or the corn seed isn't working. It has been very poor germination this year.

We have baby apples.

This tree is a dwarf Stark's Cinnamon Spice. We also have two dwarf Double Delicious. They all have apples growing. Last year we lost the entire crop to some sort of disease. I need to get spray and try spraying them, I guess; but I would like them to grow without that, if possible.

And that is all I have today. Hope you all have a safe, blessed weekend.

A view around the old farm

I thought I took a picture of the wild blackberries, which are ripening now; but all I got was a picture of all the lovely poison ivy which is growing happily now, too.

The Natchez thornless blackberries have not ripened yet. One bush looks like we should get a few though. Can't wait!

Never seen a caterpillar like this one. Spotted this fat little spud while picking wild blackberries.

I tried to get a picture of the stinging black caterpillars, but it didn't turn out. Their hairs are all little barbs. If one lands on you, you know it!

Not sure what was up with this bee. It sat here for the longest time.

We may have a few pears this year.

That's all for now. God bless. ♥

Happy Earth Day!

Plant a tree for cleaner air, food, and homes. :-)

I had a lot of things to talk about

But decided I won't. Ha. Not writer's block more that I just don't feel like writing.
We are doing well.
Youngest boy got his disability. Now perhaps if he wants to spend 30 minutes helping a customer, he will be allowed to do so without getting a black mark for it.
The year is half over. I am tired. I haven't painted in weeks. Bad me.

We celebrated our 40th anniversary with hamburgers and hot dogs. :-)
We have melons growing.

The garden isn't nearly as neat as it was back the beginning of June!

I do try to read your blogs, but when I don't get online before 10 PM, it's not easy.

Hope you are all doing well. Happy July! ♥

Last weekend in April already.

Did I mention that youngest boy is living with us now? Pretty sure I did. It's been working out well so far.

All of our apple trees (all 3) have bloomed now. Now to wait and see if they bear any fruit. They are only two years old though so I won't be too broken hearted if they don't.
However, the fig tree we planted doesn't even have any leaves yet, so I am thinking we need to toss it and buy a new one!

I found out that grape vines, especially when young, don't like humidity.... All we mostly have in Louisiana is humidity. I showed these photos

to Stark's on FB, and they said a copper fungicide would help to keep the rest of the leaves and possible grapes from turning brown like these did.

We have a wren living in the garage. She built a nest in hubby's cabinet because everything is neat and he keeps the doors closed behind a can there.
I don't like to bother it because I don't want her to abandon her babies; but you can just barely see one, or maybe two, if you look at the center of the nest.

We may get some bad weather down this way. And off to the East. But it may start in the Midwest. Hope you all have a SAFE, Blessed weekend where ever you live. ♥

We had a quiet Easter Sunday

Hope you all had a good one. I've tried to catch up a bit.
We fried a turkey breast. It turned out pretty good, surprisingly.
Haven't taken a lot of pictures. But I took one yesterday while watching the fryer.

With a little luck, and the grace of God, we may get our first grapes this year. :-)

I started this post about 4 hours ago and forgot about it. Oops.

Hope you all have a wonderful week! ♥

Ouch

Still not done with all the thistles. We've got other things going, and my shoulder has really been bothering me. I should probably go to see the doctor, but I'd rather share a few pictures.

These thistles didn't actually poke me. They stuck to my glove. You get an idea of the size of the thistles here. I've filled a 55 gallon drum, and then some, with thistle 'flowers'; but I still have a way to go as you can see from these photos.

The wild blackberries are blooming.

And so is one of our apple trees! :-)

Maybe we'll get an apple this year.

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

First

bush beans and wild blackberries of the season. :-)




Have a wonderful weekend. ♥

Try this before and after again

I've been trying to do a before and after post, but haven't taken enough of the right pictures. Oh well.
Here are a few, anyway.



This was behind the garage, back in 2009.
Here is that area now.






Broccoli, brussels sprouts, bush beans, pickle cucumbers, watermelon. bell peppers and four dwarf, or semi-dwarf fruit trees.
These are pictures from last month, sorry. Oh, can't forget the sunflowers. Got some of those in there, too.

Since we started coming here in 2008, we have planted about 26 trees of various sorts. Three died for who knows why. Three are not for food, but hopefully for catching fish. Yup. Catalpa trees. They grow a 'worm', or caterpillar, that is supposed to be a really hot fish bait.
I don't know, but that is what I've read.
Here is one of the catalpa trees from last fall.



Most of the trees we planted were pecan trees. We also planted 2 dwarf apple trees, 1 semi-dwarf apple tree, 4 dwarf pear trees, and an orange tree.
The orange tree took two years (or maybe three, darn memory) before it showed signs of any growth-though it never lost it's leaves.
This year, it surprised us by blooming like crazy.



Now we wait and see if we get any fruit...

2009



2012



2009



2013



I know, a different sort of mess.

So there is progress being made. Seems slow sometimes.
And since I lost my train of thought - something I seem to do a lot - I'll close here.
Hope you all have a wonderful, safe, Blessed weekend! ♥

P.S. I just wanted to add that my prayers and thoughts go out to those in Texas affected by that terrible explosion.

Spring really is here.

Having problems with my internet. :-(
Anyway, after planting some of the pasture garden (we put in 300 feet of pvc water line a couple days ago so we'll have water out there), I took some pictures to share with you to show you more spring.

Took these with my phone, so sorry for the fogginess.

Lots of these around. I think they are wild peas, or field peas, or some such?


Blogger is being a brat.

And there are a lot of these little wild flowers around, too.





And wild daisies?



And the blackberries are blooming like crazy, too.



And we have dozens of bumble bees around. No pictures because they're too fast. I'm glad they aren't vicious. They do fly by my head sometimes; but mostly they just seem to fly around and sometimes have disagreements with each other.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! ♥

February is almost over

Figured I should give an update.
Here is how the celery is doing:



The celery in the red-neck planter and a bucket, are doing the best.
Oddly, the celery I planted in the garden is not. One just died off (though I blame the cat for thinking I made her a new toilet); and the other just isn't doing well.

We've had a lot of rain.



It's looked like this three or four different times in the last month.

That garden has Brussels sprouts, bush beans, sunflowers, and four fruit trees in it. We planted two Stark double delicious dwarf apple trees (because we don't climb so well any more). A cinnamon spice apple tree, semi-dwarf, also from Stark. And an Asian pear, also dwarf variety.
We bought six Natchez thorn-less blackberry plants, too. If any of these survive my black thumb, we'll have some good snacking.

I'm also trying my hand at growing some broccoli.


That's the celery that survived being planted in the bed.
The broccoli is Packman.

This other broccoli isn't doing so well.


I don't remember which variety it is, and the little name tag disappeared. I lost one to either the cat, or possibly an armadillo. I thought that little one was going to survive, but it may not. No surprise with my lack of gardening genes. ;-)
You may have noticed some tires in this garden. We planted some seedless grapes here. A couple called Manukka, and a Concord.
Oh, there are a few garlic plants and onions here, too.

The potatoes seem to like their tire planter.


Tomorrow I'm going to learn how to install a toilet. And we may be getting in the house quicker than we expected. Hubby tore the rotator cuff of his right shoulder. He has limited movement. They took an MRI today. Now we wait for the doctor to give us his opinion.
We bought a... double recliner, or sofa today. It has two seats that recline and an arm rest - cup holder section in the middle.
From all the research hubby did, most people that had torn a rotator cuff said the only way they could sleep was in a recliner.
Well, where hubby goes, I go. There's no heat in the house, though we do have a small propane heater we can use, but we always have the trailer as a fall back.
They deliver the couch tomorrow.
After we get the toilet installed, we turn on the water.

Cross your fingers or say a little prayer or what have you, please, that the lines are good and hubby can sleep in the recliner. We haven't really had a good night's sleep since he hurt his shoulder 3 days ago.

Have a wonderful, blessed weekend! ♥