Lots of back issues of Mother Earth News, and a book on backyard homesteading so that hopefully I can grow some vegetables and not murder them!

My pile of mulched leaves are composting really nicely. The raised bed that dh filled with whole leaves from the yard are NOT composting at all. So when the weather breaks, I need to shovel those out, and put composted leaves in. Dh is building 5- 7'x2.5'x2' beds (roughly 87.5 qft or 8.129 sq meters) the weekend of April 15. Unfortunately we are out of town the first two weeks of April so he can't get them done before then. He will also build 3 - pallet beds for bush beans and radishes that day. They will be three pallets deep so my quess is 12" deep but I haven't measured the pallets to know for sure. Here is a link to a pic of single pallet deep beds so you can get an idea of what it they will be. Just imagine two more pallets stack on top with the slats in the top two removed in the middle and all three screwed together for stability. Everything will be built on top of several layers of cardboard for weed barrier, and since we don't need 2' deep soil in the large beds, they will be first filled with sticks and some of our "gopher wood" rejected firewood logs to take up space and introduce organic material to rot, and then soil and compost. 18" of soil and compost for the tomato beds, 12" for the other beds. Also, photo of the deep beds. I do not have him bother with the little flower trough beds on the ends. He is doing enough work for my gardening dreams without taking the time to add that. These are not photos of our beds. Just an idea of what they will be similar to when done. For reference, it is snowing outside yet again, 30 degrees, and the sun is not shining. 😥 I am so over this!

Thursday: No breakfast: But, "One man can change the present", James T. Kirk. And that one man was dh who made some specialty coffee and added Bailey's to my cup! Lunch - leftover bean tacos and veggies. Very yummy. Supper - one boneless, skinless chicken thigh a piece seasoned heavily with tumeric, cumin, garlic, and onion, pan seared and finished in the oven. Hummus, saffron rice, roasted brussel sprouts, lentil and carrot soup. Super duper yummy.

Be like me. Be so happy that a plant survives you that it doesn't matter what it is or when it blooms! The whole thing is a miracle! 😁😉

It should be noted that there are 331.9 million people in the U.S. of which 81 million, 24% of the total population own guns. 74.4% of the population are adults or roughly 245 million. Thus 33% of all adults own guns, assuming legally purchased guns that are registered. It would be difficult to estimate illegally owned firearms.it doesn't point to a religious imperative to own guns. 33% is not even close to have much less a majority. Given that there are an estimated 120 million guns out there and gun hoarding is a thing, the numbers suggest along with the fact that his collection requires multiple gun safes and that he buries guns, he is in actuality a hoarder. These types of people often do have a very dangerous view of gun ownership and life and a thirst to solve their problems violently. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/fact-sheet-weakening-requirements-to-carry-a-concealed-firearm-increases-violent-crime/ I also found a study just on California in which it indicated that there was a rather disturbing percentage increase in gun violence for adults who live in a home with a handgun owner, and 84% of the victims are women. So while this discussion is considered specific to one particular family unit, everyone here should question the wisdom, in their own lives, of living with a partner who is a handgun owner. While all of this father's issues are being worked on, and the attorneys hash things out, I personally believe the grandchildren should have a very long visit with grandma and grandpa out of state. Gardenmom and hubby could be a real lifeline to these precious kiddoes. Mom needs help, dad needs (in my opinion) a long stint in drug rehab or maybe even on the psyche ward. The kids need stability and what they have no isn't stable even if their mamma is a wonderful, devoted mamma. Devoted mamma in crisis is still unstable because of the mess their father created. It hasn't been sorted out, and is a fraught situation. So I really hope Gardenmom will read here and seriously consider asking her daughter if she can take the kids home for a few weeks.

1964 Aston Martin. 'How are you today, Mrs. Bond?" 😂 I will never own one, but for Christmas my sons purchased the Lego Aston Martin kit which I assembled and now sits on a decorative shelf in the living room. 😁

That is amazing! You certainly inspire me. Right now my adult kids are making lists of what they want, and I took one look at it and told Mark he will be canning, dehydrating, processing food with me on the weekends because it is too much for me to do alone. he said he was happy to help so we shall see.

Wednesday: Breakfast - little bit of granola, a lot of mass murdered Java beans. Lunch - salad with chopped turkey Dinner - black bean and refried bean tacos with lettuce, dried cherry tomatoes - I am almost out of my garden tomatoes now 😢 - and red pepper. Dollop of Greek yogurt for each.

Bats are your friends. If you have any discarded tires outside or a tire swing, get rid of it. Standing water inside old tires is a major breeding ground. I have been told that planting lemongrass, lavender, and rosemary around door and porches or as exterior potted plants kept close to the doors helps ward them off because they are averse to the smell. In India, people often keep lemon peels/slices and cloves in bowls near the doors of home inside. Not sure how effective that is but might be worth a try. We do not allow mosquito control to spray our property because we are trying so hard to encourage pollinators. But we have a ton of bats living in the maple trees, and have some bat boxes in the tops to encourage them. I honestly think that is the reason we have few mosquitoes around.

Ah. Well, good thing we don't use any car stuff for passwords or security questions. Mark told the bank that this business of asking easy, personal questions is NOT security. We use really weird stuff that would be super hard to guess even if you knew us very well. Dh is IT though, so he stays on top of that. Our kids use even more bizarre stuff than we do. I wonder where they come up with it.

Chevy concerts for me 1984. Mark had a 1968 Opal Cadet. Eldest - Saturn sl1 sedan Next oldest - Saturn Astra (A German Opal but GM label because GM bought the company though they recently spun it off again. Great engineering and safety record.) Middle - a 1988 jeep, fully restored. We hate that vehicle, but his grandmother gave it to him when she could no longer drive. It had been in her garage for a number of years and only 13,000 miles on it. It has ZERO safety features and a high rollover so we have been encouraging him to get something else, but he has put it off due to grad school expenses. Youngest - 2006 Toyota Camry. Great car, good safety features. First car Mark and I had together, 1984 Peugeot.

Mark told me he needed to build one of these. I looked over at his 3D printer with a 5" x7" bed, and said, "Uhh no. That isn't happening. But maybe you could build a replica for the shelf." 😂

Well, when I figure out the jam, I will post it. Every recipe we have seen uses a lot of sweetener. We want the jam to be healthy for the kids, and strawberries are sweet anyway. So we are thinking that we will try it with pectin and a tiny bit of honey, and hope it turns out well. We will use fresh limes. I will let you all know how it turns out, and if we think it is tasty, I will post the recipe or announce the failure! Baby outfit pictures of things I have made so far are over in the craft threads. I think there are two from January, and two from February. Two were T's and two were for our honorary grand baby, A. Thanks everyone! I will edit out the photo after supper so that anyone who has been busy today might have a chance to peek at him.

I already thanked her profusely! I told her the hive aunties are excellent about not reposting pics. I am in the process of making two set of overalls, one short, one long. I am going back at the end of April to help her take the kids to a u-pick strawberry farm so we can dehydrate, freeze, and make strawberry leather for the kids, and a little strawberry lime jam. I have some fabric with strawberries on it for overalls, and will use the scraps to put a matching pocket on red t-shirts for his brothers so we hope to get a really nice photo of the three musketeers in the strawberry patch. The other overalls have sheep on them, and I have very cute sheep buttons for the straps.

We think he is da bomb! The picture doesn't show it, but his hair has some strawberry highlights just like his Uncle P, our middle boy.

Tuesday: Breakfast: Slaughter the Queen's Java. One boiled egg. Lunch: Broccoli pasta salad with red peppers, celery, and fresh basil plus herbed olive oil and vinegar. Dh wasn't hungry for a big meal, so we had loaded baked potatoes - steamed broccoli, a little shredded cheddar, some Greek yogurt, and green onion.

I wish I could. The roots are going up under the foundation and causing damage. We have tried so many times to dig it out with no success. There will be some.baby tendrils, and I will be trying to salvage one to put on the opposite side of the property before we go completely barbarian on it.

I miss the snuggles already. I console myself with the fact that I am going back again at the end of April. Thanks everyone! I am taking the photo down now.

I am having the same problem with a black cap bush. (Black caps are a black raspberry.) I would have preferred not to kill it because the berries are edible and delicious. But it was planted by the previous owner right up against the foundation of the house. It is causing damage and busting up all the brick in that spot. Every year so think I have murdered it, only to have it come back. I don't want to spray Monsanto Round Up and refuse even though that would probably take care of it. The new plan is dh is going to dig up around it in the hopes of exposing roots and dump a five gallon bucket of boiling water on them. Then a couple weeks later he is going to make up another five gallon bucket of tobacco slurry (water, large pouch of chewing tobacco, and a cup of dish soap, mix and let sit for 48 hours) and douse the roots with that. Basically, tobacco poison it. The dish soap works as a surfactant to help coat the roots. Fingers crossed. But who knows. I think these things have nine lives.

Monday: Coffee beans turned into dark matter. Boiled egg. Lunch: Salad with lots of vegetables and another boiled egg Dinner: I made a big sheet pan of carrots, green beans, potatoes, and leeks tossed with olive oil and lots of herbs, roasted. Super yummy. We also each had a small perch fillet cooked in the iron skillet.

I am so sorry he is being such a bastard. I hope he slinks away, and stays away.

Bummer. Sorry to hear that. I know I hate it when I am sewing and have to rip out a seam. Ugh.

That Disney movie, Over the Hedge, was not wrong about squirrels, raccoons, etc.

I am so impressed! You go girl! I have thought about canning over wood stove outdoors. It would keep the heat outside and lower our electricity use, but I haven't found the right stove. We have a maple tree that needs to come down. It is dying, and the branches are cracking, huge branches. It cannot simply be trimmed anymore. It will make a ton nice amount of firewood as it is over 100 ft tall. But, I have not been able to find a stove anywhere.

Today: Nephew, a smart smart beautiful man, Assisinated some extra nice coffee beans to start our day. We ate some scrambled eggs and then shared out for home. Didn't bother to stop for lunch, and grocery stopped on the way. So when we got home we had veggies, hummus, and baked potatoes with sour cream and chives.