Grapevine

Our grapevine is coming along nicely. Remember last year we cut it back too much and didn’t get not one single grape from it. We are hoping for lots and lots of grapes this year.

We have been busy this week with school and other miscellaneous things. Nothing too big. We went to help Hubby yesterday. The room he is working on needs lots of work on the floor. It is sagging very badly. He has to take the floor up and get under the house to jack it up. It had little linoleum squares on it that had been put on with some kind of heavy duty glue. We had to take the heat gun to each individual square and then use a shovel to get them up. It took most of the day.

We are having a little cold spell here. We call it dogwood winter as the dogwoods are in full bloom. We have been in the upper 20’s at night with frost. Yesterday’s high was low 40’s with lots of wind. Chilly but today has been nice. Sun and temperatures in the low 60’s. I like that much better.

Well, that’s about all that is happening here. I hope you all have a wonderful evening and God bless.

April 12, 2012 4

Questions

Look at our new toy! Grace and I put it together this evening. The thing is I’m not sure how to use it. Do we leave it inside when we start the seeds or do we put it outside? I am totally unfamilar with one of these. I tried to find out how to use it on the internet but could’nt find exactly what I was looking for. Have any of you used one? If so, could you share your knowledge. Grace is really excited about starting seeds so I would really like to make it work. I have tried starting seeds for many years but never have success. They grow up tall and “spindly” and then die. Last year we tried starting them like this: https://merryheartcrafts.com/2011/04/20/our-greenhouse/ They looked really good until we transplanted them and they just died. So sad! All that work and then nothing. I REALLY want Grace to be more successful than I have been over the years, so as I said earlier, any advice would be appreciated.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

April 10, 2012 8

Egg Hunt

Yesterday we went down to Jessica’s to celebrate Easter with them. We enjoyed a great meal of honey baked ham and turkey, potato salad, green beans, potatoes, baked beans, deviled eggs and several different types of dessert. After we ate, the kids were ready to hunt eggs. I think the look on Sam’s face says it all.

On the way back home we stopped at this little spot on the parkway. Grace wanted to get a few pictures.

I have forgotten the name of this little spot but I think it was a grist mill at one time.

Grace and Julie. It’s not very often I get a picture of them together. We then went for a little walk down to the creek. It was very pretty.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

April 9, 2012 6

Happy Easter

I pray each and every one of you have a wonderful Easter filled with many blessings. Enjoy your day and God bless.

April 8, 2012 3

Mama Goose

I thought I would show you all Mama Goose on her nest. She is nesting on the little island on our pond. Somewhere close to her but invisible to us is Mama Duck. From what we can figure, they both starting setting at about the same time. We look forward to seeing babies soon.

The girls and I had a fun day yesterday. Julie does have to start wearing glasses though. The eye doctor called them part time glasses. He said for her to wear them when she was doing school, reading, doing computer work, etc. To which I said well, that’s pretty much full time glasses. But anyway, she was just glad they didn’t put drops in her eyes. She was SO dreading that. After the eye appointment we went to Goodwill, Wal-Mart, Barnes and Noble, Home Depot and Lowes. We were looking for a certain color of stain for outside but we couldn’t find the color we have always used. We then ate lunch at Little Caesar’s (the girls favorite eat out place). After that, we came towards home-stopped and spent some much needed time at the Horn’s. It had been so long since we had been able to get together. We had a great visit but time just went by too quickly. It seemed like we had been there no time and it was time to go. She made me a nice hot biscuit so I could sample her dandelion syrup. It was really good. You can read about it here on her new blog http://oneandahalfacrehomestead.wordpress.com/2012/04/01/dandelion-syrup-tastes-like-honey/ My dandelion jelly did not set up. I used powdered pection that I had on hand instead of the liquid (Sorry, Mrs. Faye, I will listen to you next time) so my jelly will now be called syrup. I used some this morning to sweeten coffee and it was very good.

We had rain early this morning. Everything is very wet and the temperature is chilly-low 40’s. I think we will probably get a frost tonight and maybe tomorrow night. I am hoping it doesn’t damage any of our fruit. When I walked out toward the pond to get the picture of Mama Goose, I turned back toward the house and took this picture of our hens.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

April 5, 2012 6

Apple Tree

Our apple tree is in full bloom. It certainly looks like we will have lots of apples on it-if the warmer weather holds out with no frost. Our temperature was 36 degrees this morning. It has already warmed up to lower 50’s. As I type, the birds are singing, the sun is shining, clothes are drying on the line. I truly have a blessed life. Thank you, Lord!

We will be starting school in a little bit. After school, I need to go into our little town and get a few things. Then hopefully get home and get a few things done here. I want to get our seeds started this week. Tomorrow, Julie has an eye appointment in C-burg. This usually is an all day thing. We want to visit Goodwill while we’re over there. The girls are hoping to find a few books. Our Goodwill has an actual used book store in a separate building. It will be a fun girls day out.

Our back road is full of wild spring flowers. We see something new blooming every time we travel that way. Yesterday, the columbine was blooming. I so enjoy seeing all the spring flowers come to life.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

April 3, 2012 5

Miss Katie

I wanted to share with you all this picture of Miss Katie. She is all dressed up on her way to her cousin’s birthday party. Ain’t she cute?

The girls and I will be going with Hubby today so this will be a very short post. I have lots and lots to get done in a short amount of time when we go with him. Enjoy your day and God bless.

April 2, 2012 5

Fresh Mullein Tea

One of our favorite drinks in spring is mullein tea. It is so refreshing and has a slightly minty taste. The other day Grace had gathered some leaves from the tractor road. We have already drank that up so I thought we better make some more. Mullein has many medicinal purposes. We drink it because we just think it tastes good.

After gathering the leaves, I break them apart and put into a large kettle. Kettle size is based on how much mullein we have gathered. Cover the leaves with water and bring to a boil. Turn heat down and simmer for 10-15 min. Strain and sweeten to taste. This can be used hot or cold. I made a post last fall about drying mullein. You can read about it here. https://merryheartcrafts.com/?s=mullein

Today has been a nice day here in Floyd. We had some morning rain but the skies are clear now. Our temperature is upper 60’s with a good breeze. If you notice, we almost always have a breeze here. This is good in the summer, not so good in the winter. Anyway, clothes are on the line drying in the breeze. I love it.

I hope you all have a great day and God bless.

March 31, 2012 2

Dandelion Jelly

I heard about this jelly for the first time last year however I did not get to try making it. Our dandelions are popping up everywhere so yesterday the girls and I gathered some blossoms. We picked all the green off however I forgot to get a picture of that. We then poured boiling water over the petals and let it steep overnight.

It isn’t very attractive at this stage. I must admit this was a time consuming jelly. It took a while to get the green off the bloom. The end result though is beautiful in the jar.

This picture doesn’t really show how pretty it is. Every thing I have read about this jelly says it tastes like honey. We tasted it when it was hot and it DID taste like honey. Amazing! You can read more about dandelion jelly here http://theblessedhearth.blogspot.com/2011/06/another-jelly-recipe.html She also has a recipe for apple blossom jelly that I am thinking about trying.

I hope you all have a wonderful day and God bless.

March 30, 2012 4

Fruit Trees

Yesterday evening the girls and I planted 6 fruit trees. Grace dug every hole. She was very excited about getting fruit trees. As you can see, she has good helpers- the cats and the chickens.

And, of course, our ever faithful Shadow.

We planted an asian pear, bartlett pear, plum tree, golden delicious apple tree, golden transparent apple tree, and a nectarine tree. We hope to get 2 cherry trees in April. While we were working on the trees, Hubby was busy trimming the blackberries.

It was a nice, productive evening. After we finished planting, we went to get the clothes off the line and a huge flock of geese flew directly over our heads to land in the field. Of course, we had already put the camera up so I couldn’t get a picture. It would have made a beautiful picture though.

Today will be school as usual. Hopefully, with more outside work afterward. Enjoy your day and God bless.

March 29, 2012 4