Just call me

Little Miss Sunshine or should I say little miss sunburnt.

Today started off great. I slept in. Got up and put on comfy hanging around the house clothes. You know the type. Then I went out and watered the garden, picked out a couple of weeds. Marveled at the amazing things happening in the garden.

Then I got out all of the coupons that have been waiting for me. And proceeded to cut out the ones I want and the ones to send over seas to our Military for the Legion. I put my legs (knee down to bare feet) propped up on another chair and relaxed. The next thing I know all heck is breaking loose.

My mom shows up with Teenage monster. They were gone most of the morning. The DH gets home from work. Dear Brother and Date come over. One of DH's work buddies showed up.

We spend the afternoon in the cleaned up, reclaimed yard. It was a very nice treat to have a yard full. The only problem was that I started out under the shade of the umbrella. And then somehow I ended up in the sun. Didn't bother me until I came in the house and noticed that my nose could out do Rudoulf's. Then I looked at my arms and my poor legs. They really haven't seen sun sense some time last summer. They are all nice and rosy pink.

I know better but everything happened so fast that I didn't think to run in and put on sun block 5000.

Didn't get much done other than a load of laundry, some coupons clipped and the garden watered. But man o man am I tired.

Gotta Run,
Yart

Saturday Musings

I know that I have been MIA for the past week and a half. I have just been so busy. Teenage monster has had a marching band thing to do which took up quite a bit of time. Then we had to work on a new gate type of thing to keep the dog out of my garden. He got in there the other night and squashed a lot of plants. I am hoping that they survive.

We have also reclaimed our yard. There was a ton of stuff that didn't need to be there that is now gone. Once upon a time someone not us put in a path from the house to the garage. DH thought it was just a small amount. Well the time came for me to get rid of it. So away I started to work. I pulled out great big pieces of broken concrete that they had used. We ended up with enough to make the retaining wall for another garden bed. This one now holds day lilies and daisies, from another part of the yard. We also started to till the bed where the raspberries were. The trench that was left from the path is now filled. The yard looks nice but really bear. LOL! The fire pit also has 4 new blocks underneath it now. Very level and stable.

I haven't done much baking. I have been using some of the stored foods. As I need to start making room for this years harvest. From the neighbor that moved we got a shelving unit. That DH was able to get situated in the pantry. The 5 gallon buckets are on the bottom two shelves right now and I have all the dehydrated jars placed. The toilet paper is on the top shelf and I have a few baskets filled with stuff also.

Right now I have 3 baby tomatoes on the heirloom tomatoe and the peppers are budding like crazy. I have pictures. The potatoes are starting to sprout out of the tires. YEAH! And the corn should be knee high by July.

DH picked up another 2 cases of bottles and 2 more types of beer. One is a Scotch Ale and the other is a Dortmouth? So now we have the guiness type, which was just recently opened and the irish red ale is completely gone. I think he will need another 4 cases of bottles before we are done. That way he can have enough bottles to make at least one type every month and still have some to drink.

Got more canning jars and the food saver gadget but it didn't come with the hose. So now I have to find the hose or buy the canisters which I really don't want. But I might not have any other way.

Well, still lots to do here.

Gotta Run,
Yart

Wordless Day! Almost

I got this little beauty for $20 at a yard sale a couple of weeks ago. But I wanted to wait till a wordless day to show it off!

Tuesday Ramblings

My to do list for today is pretty much out the window. I was going to can up the potatoes that I have. It's only 10 pounds. I found out last night that I would need 25 to 30 pounds to do 9 pint jars. So instead of wasting all that time and energy to do a few jars I will wait. My mom still has part of her 50 pound bag that she bought in the fall. I will get that from her and process, maybe Friday. And since I planned on being in the kitchen most of the day everything was planned around that. So now I need to figure out what I can get done today instead. While I am doing that here is some information on homemade cleaning products.



Here is a link to a list of items you can use to clean your home. Clean & Green: Natural Homemade Household Cleaners

Since I have a cabbage to dehydrate, laundry to do and a garden to tend

Gotta Run,
Yart

Monday Bread's

I have managed to get back to my schedule. I made bread and hot dog buns. The house smells wonderful. I haven't made bread in a few weeks. I missed doing it but didn't realize it until today. I like being able to create not only something edible but yummy as well.

I have a whole list of what I would like to try and get accomplished today. And I have even checked off a few items. The list thing is going to become part of my daily life as I tend to forget what I am suppose to be doing. Really I am not a bobble head... LOL! Even though sometimes I feel like it. This way I can see that I did do something all day instead of just playing with the computer.

I didn't sell any of my afghans at my mom's yard sale. I was a little disappointed. I was going to take the money and buy more yarn. That way I would be one step ahead for winter. I know spring is here and I am thinking winter again. But isn't that all the nice weather is for preparing for the next winter....YUCK! So I will have to keep plugging along with You Data. I have made almost $8.00 with them. Not bad for a couple minutes of time each week.

I was able to order my adapter for the vacu-sealer. I got it from Amazon.com. I earned enough from SwagBucks to get $20 in gift cards. I have only been a member there since February. Every little bit helps.

We need a few more nicer days. We had a frost advisory last night. Luckily, it missed us. And all of my little plants are doing well. The onions are even starting to grow. Woo Hoo! This garden thing might actually work. Hoping it does so then I will be busy using all of these jars.

Speaking of jars. DH is going to change somethings around in the pantry. He is going to take down one shelf that is in the way and put up the shelving unit the neighbor gave me. Then on the other side he is going to take some scrap wood and build me more shelves for the jars. As I will be using the metal one for the buckets, toilet paper, water & other big stuff.

I need to make more laundry soap. It will have to go on the list as I knew it had to be done and even got more fels-naphta to do it. It just slipped my mind. I only have enough left for two more loads. But I can do that today and it will be ready for tomorrows washing.

Gotta Run,
Yart

Natural Progression

Of course I still know nothing about the care and feeding of rabbits. But I now have a great understanding of what to do with the hair once it comes off the rabbits. LOL!

Here is a video on Kool-Aid Dyeing Yarn



Next we have a video on Using Natural Dyes



And last but not least here is a site with tons of information on what to use to make your Natural Dyes. Natural Dyes From Plants -Pioneer Thinking

Gotta Run,
Yart

Saturday Musings

Went over to my mom's to help her with the yard sale. Wow! I am still reeling from the amount of people that showed up. They were coming out of the wood work. And we have tomorrow also. But I will only be there for a little while as me and teenage monster have a memorial to attend.

But I wanted to share some information that I found on line about shearing angora bunnies. Fascinating stuff.



I just need to figure out what type of angora bunny that I want to raise. I am thinking that I can raise them to sell. Just 1 male and 1 female. That should work out well. Then I can sell the babies and get the hair from the two adults. Since I have no way to spin the hair I will just card it and see if I can sell it that way. And if not then I will have to learn how to spin the hair... Sounds like another winter project... LOL! This might be a really good inexpensive way to make some extra money. Anyone out there have bunnies like this want to share your expertise. It would be greatly appreciated. As you know I am a suburban dweller and most folks around here already look at me funny when I ask questions... LOL!



I know I am putting the cart before the horse... Learning about what to do with the finished product instead of learning about the care and feeding of them.... I'll do that next. But until then, here is a video on Drop Spinning!

One of those days

Like I said earlier it is one of those days. I putsed around the house all day. I folded laundry that had grown from a small pile to Mt. Laundrious. Well, that monster has been tackled. I worked in mouthy monsters room. Since she was nice enough to get in the closet and pull everything out to play with, including all the summer clothes. Her room is now 2 garbage bags lighter and I'm still not done. That kid being the last has never gone without anything. You know the type she's the baby.... So everyone in the family has made it a personal mission to spoil her rotten. Hence the name Mouthy Monster. Anyway, once this chore is done I hope to be able to keep better track of this. Most of the clothes will go to goodwill as will the toys.

But, I got thinking because it was one of those days that I was just bored and didn't know what to do with myself. I decided to re-adjust my list of what I want to accomplish since I have done so well with the list so far.

Research:
Angora Bunnies
Beekeeping
Kefir Grains
Wood Stoves
Log Splitting
Growing Hops
Crockpot Meals

I will be adding more as I think of them. I really didn't think that I would accomplish so much this year and we aren't even half way through. This is really kewl.

I have been trying to come up with a name for this urban homestead of ours. Since this was only suppose to be a temporary living quarters. We lived in our last home for 7 years. And this one we were suppose to be out of and on land of our own by now. But that just wasn't to be the case. As I became a spendaholic. But that problem has been corrected and we are still paying for it. With that said, since we are here longer then expected we need a name. All of the moves have lead me to something with Gypsy in it. Maybe the Rambling Gypsy Garden.... LOL! That is funny. I think more thought is needed.

Gotta Run,
Yart

What to do

Have you ever been to the point when you just look around and wonder what am I going to do next. I know that there are a lot of small projects to do. But I am not seeing any big ones right now. Or at least none that I can afford.... Like getting the sod. Hmmmm..... What to do?!?

Yesterday I mowed the front and side yards. I have these really pretty orange and yellow flowers. I let them go to seed every year to increase the amount but this year they didn't seed in the circle they are planted in. I took some of the seedlings that decided to grow out side of the circle and put them in the circle to help fill it in. One day I will get pictures. I know I am bad about that.

Finished up the laundry and helped out with the dishes as teenage monster has been busy after school with this marching thing. Got the bathroom washed down. So I can go into this weekend with little to do.

Mom is having her yard sale. I am taking my afghans over to try and sell. Plus the rest of the candy bars from the fundraiser. We already paid for them. Now we need to re-coop the money. DH also has a saw of some type to sell. If we can sell all of this stuff. That would be great!!!

Gotta Run,
Yart

Wordless Day!

Tuesday's Musings on Wednesday

Yesterday, I worked in the garden all day. I finished putting in the grids. Then I got to planting. I planted everything I had and still need more. The only thing I didn't plant was the beet seeds and the garlic that is in the fridge. I need more onion sets and still need to get potatoes and more corn seeds to plant also. I still have about 30 squares to fill up.

I did take pictures but as usual the camera is upstairs and I am to pooped to run up and get it. For wordless Wednesday I will post.

Went to the District meeting last night. I am so happy that they are every other month. As they really do drag on and on. But now that is done until September when they reconvene. Since the meeting ran so long mom and I stayed and each grabbed a hot dog and watched the end of the biggest looser. I was so happy that Tara didn't win. I was disappointed that Mike didn't win but with the weight he lost he got something way better a life.

Today I drug DH with me to do some over due shopping. We didn't spend tons but we got a lot. We had to go to Kroger to get pet food and supplies. Then we went to Aldi's and got some fridge stuff and stock up items. Got more canned milk, tuna, baked beans and the like. Then went to the bakery as I haven't had time to bake anything. I guess that I will have to maybe try and do better on the weekends if I know that week is going to be crazy or maybe freeze some. Then I went to the meat market and picked up some bacon for tonight and country ribs for the freezer and hamburger to make meat balls with. I figure I will freeze them for a later use.

Teenage monster is at a Marching Band thing tonight. Not sure what she is doing but I hope she can keep up. Monday she fell at school and hurt her knee. It was fairly swollen so I let her stay home yesterday. So keeping fingers crossed that she will ok for this as it is tomorrow night also.

Gotta Run,
Yart

Weekend Recap

Friday we went and ordered 3 yards of dirt to be delivered for the 12 planter boxes. They said that they would deliver it in the afternoon some time. So back to the house we go. I moved all of the tires out from behind the garage. Then moved everything else out of there. I used the pitchfork and tilled most of that area up. I am going to plant sunflowers on one side and amaranth grain on the other. While leaving the compost bins at the end. Then I moved on to tilling around the stockade fence. I stapled up chicken wire and then planted cucumber, watermelon, pumpkin, & acorn squash seeds. I am hoping that when the seeds start to grow they will grab on to the chicken wire and grow up the fence. Then the dirt arrived. We were able to get all of the planter boxes and all but 1 of the tires filled.
Friday night we had the beer tasting. It was very good. Everyone that came over told DH what a great job he did. I was so happy for him. So now he really has the bug. What will he make next?

Saturday DH and I went to the farmers market I have been wanting to go to forever. I didn't get much. I got 2 heirloom tomato plants. I will let you know what type later. Sorry forgot. And we also got a strawberry plant, everbearing. We also stopped in at Whole Foods. I just love that store. Picked up a couple of things. Even got this new fangled cod liver oil. The company can be seen here. And you can even sign up for a free sample.

Sunday the kids and DH took me and mom out for brunch at the post. They had a very nice spread. French toast, eggs, biscuits and gravy, sausage, bacon, bread for toast & fruit. Then we went to get the bicycles out of storage. It is nice to have them home. After that I taught teenage monster how to use the electric staple gun as mine went missing. We are using twine to mark out the squares in the garden. Then after all that happened this weekend I felt so crappy, I went and spent the rest of the day in bed.
Oh, I almost forgot. I got tons of daisy's from everyone. They are my favorite. I will get pictures up one of these days.

Square Foot Gardening

Since I am planning on getting a square foot garden going here in the next couple of hours I thought I would share what a finished one looked like and who better to do that then the inventor himself. I will get some pictures of our adventure up later. I have an appointment with picky monsters teacher this morning so we will be a little behind get the boxes built.

Gotta Run,
Yart

Wednesday Musings

We were able to go and get the 25 boards that I need to build my sqft garden. 13 boxes in all. I was also able to get some tomatoes, beans, peas, peppers, broccoli and cabbage. There is other stuff to, but I wanted to post something for today.

DH and I will be building the boxes in the morning. Hopefully, I will remember to take some pictures. Then we have to go and get some dirt so that they all can be filled and planted. I can't wait. These boxes will last me for years. And provide my family with lots of goodies to eat.

I have been doing some research on Kefir Grains. I think that I am going to try to get some. I think that it is just what Picky Monster needs in her diet. She is super skinny and I think she needs more. More what is still debatable.

Did my second Bingo last night and the self defense class tonight. I am looking forward to the end of the week. I am so tired from being this busy away from home. It is different when your working at home and get tired. But this is different it is like bone tired. I don't know if that makes sense. But I did realize something. I need more freezer meals and more things that can go into the crock pot. Dinner this week has been really screwy. And in the fall when Marching Band starts things are going to be this crazy or worse. So I know what I will be working on all summer.

Gotta Run,
Yart

Tuesday Ramblings

Yesterday I was able to get to Mom's and get behind the garage cleaned up. Then I used the garden claw thing. You know the one, its been advertised on TV for years. Well, she got it on clearance awhile ago. I put it together. Now I remember the commercials of old people using this thing. Let me tell you it was pretty darn tough to use. Mom couldn't get it to turn once it was in the soil. It took me a couple of hours to till up a 4'x20' section. I know it was fast then using a shovel. But I thought it was going to be super easy. My mistake! Then she had some of that black plastic edging so I dug down and we got that around the new bed. After a brief intermission of food and picking up the monsters from school. We dug up all of the raspberries (9 plants in all). Took them to her house, put down the black weed control stuff and planted the raspberries. We decided that in area near the edging we would plant rhubarb. So that will be a nice addition at we hadn't planned on.

Mom said that she will buy the wood for the sqft garden as my birthday present. So either today or tomorrow we will get that. DH said he will build the boxes as soon as we get the wood. Then all we need is the dirt and I have the money for that. So hopefully, by Sunday I should be able to plant seeds and onions in the new garden.

Gotta Run,
Yart

Times a ticking

I was watching this great series on doing the laundry.


And while watching it they talked about how you need to have simpler things so to get done with the laundry faster. Which led me to read a blog about time. I will paraphrase as it is easier. The old timers had time to do all the chores and still had time for the kids, friends and church. And now a days we seem to be chasing our tails as we don't have time to do anything. Well, this all got me thinking. Usually not a good thing. But we waste so much time now on seemingly unimportant things. I am guilty of this: instead of making a 20 second call I will text and it will take me 20 minutes, between me typing and them replying. Then I sit and read all of these wonderful blogs. But time is ticking and I'm not doing what I probably should be doing. At least right now I have laundry going and that is why I am here right now. But what do you do that wastes time that you could maybe cull so that you could free up that time? One of my oldest habits that I broke was to sit down and talk on the phone. Sometimes depending on the person on the other end it could be a very long conversation. Now when the phone rings I answer and continue to clean or what ever I was doing before the phone rang. Multi tasking.. LOL!

All of the laundry is caught up and now I am working on my bedding. Picky monster didn't want to do her chores of getting all her bedding down to the basement so she got skipped till next time. It is suppose to be almost 70 degrees here today so a perfect day to hang laundry outside.

I am going to my mom's today to clean out behind her garage and maybe get the raspberries moved..... YEAH! I need them moved as I want to put in grape vines and the raspberries are in my way. But I didn't want to just dig them up and toss them. So I will still get to keep the berries and also have grapes. Off to do that now.

Gotta Run,
Yart

Weekend Recap

Friday DH and one of our friends and I went out for dinner in the big city. This is something of a first for me. I have been to the big city a time or two but this was to eat and then walk around one of the neighborhoods. We found this wonderful bakery. The smells were fantastic. I got each of the monsters something small as I knew they would enjoy the treat.

Saturday is still kind of a blur. LOL! Got the post in the morning to help set everything up. That only took a couple of hours. Then I went try and find a couple of yard sales no luck. Then went back home to get ready for the party. Got to the party early and that's when the fun started. One of the kitchen help didn't arrive so my DH offered to help out in the kitchen so that we would be able eat dinner in a timely fashion. There was toasts made and people living and dead honored. Dinner was eaten and prayers said. All in all I think that everyone that came had a very nice time.

I tried to sleep in today but mouthy monster had other ideas for everyone. So up we were. I was able to get all the laundry done as it was a beautiful day. I even got the grass cut in the back. This is the second time already. The front has yet to grow so I don't have to bother with it yet. Then I got a call that my moms privacy fence that we propped up last week had fallen down again and this time took more fence with it. So into the garage to DH's tool belt and away we went. 4 - 2x4's later the fence is now secured and once again upright. Woo Hoo! Grampa would be proud, I can still remember how to use a hammer!

So now I am tired, sore and probably should be in bed as this is going to be a super busy week. Tomorrow, dig out behind the garage at mom's. Transplant the raspberries over to her house. Tuesday I have the second bingo. Wednesday I have the self defense class. Thursday is my meeting for the legion. Friday we are having some friends over to try the first batch of beer. Saturday DH is going to take me to the farmers market an hour away. Then Sunday is Mother's Day. DH will probably be working so I don't know what the kids will have planned for me. No rest for the wicked.... LOL!
Well, I should try and get some sleep.

Gotta Run,
Yart