Jada Appleseed

My neighbor, the rhubarb growing, bee keeping wine making neighbor has apples ready....apples galore. So today the boys and I went apple picking. We picked a 5 gallon bucket full, came home made a dozen of them into dumplings, and the rest into apple butter and applesauce. We had so much fun *ok mommy did* that we went back and picked another 5 gallon bucket full! I just finished washing them and am pooped....the only thing I hate about picking apples is washing them. If you've never seen what an apple, fresh off the tree looks like, especially out in the country, it's not what you'd expect. It's more like a black speckled, mildew looking ball. You have to scrub and scrub to the road dust, dirt and bug shit off of them...but underneath all of that is that shining yellow globe of golden heaven.

Although the cost saved, verses the labor put into it, probably doesn't really pay to do it, I love having fresh applesauce and apple butter in the freezer. It tastes so good and it's great to pull out for a quick snack or to serve guests who've never had it.

I think my husband thinks I am suffering from a manic spell today...perhaps he is right, but I sure as hell get a lot done that way! LOL!

Plain Old Fashioned Country Girl Braggin'

Ok I just have to show you my flowers....the ones that were successful anyway. I got a little carried away this spring....remember I told you I am notorious for not following through on my big projects (now I have an excuse....BPD :0) but I do have some on my porch that are just gorgeous and I want to show them off. I am sure many of you could care less...but I can't help it, I am gonna show ya anyway! LOL!

These are my midnight Gladiolas aren't they just heavenly!!! These pics were all taken before dawn so they are a bit dark.

I can't remember what this is called but I love it. It's some kind of Maple.

Once again, I can't remember the name but I love it!

Same plant in it's full pot with coleus and vinca that I am trailing down the banister, with seed begonias in the bucket at the bottom...I started those from seed all by myself :0)

My Dahlia's in an old 10 gallon crock that was my granny's

My tuberous Begonias...not a great pic, the flash was too bright, but they are gorgeous

And finally....my baby....you know those weeping pussy willow trees ya'll are paying $100 for a the local nursery, those gorgeous weeping miniature trees that look fabulous in your front yard??? I paid $15 for this little sapling that I am growing myself...in 3 years I will have one of those trees too and all it took was $15 and some TLC!

Ok enough bragging for the day. I got to get ready for work at the bank today.

Strange Summer

For the first time in all the years that I have been a farm wife, I am putting sweet corn up for the winter...in SEPTEMBER! Late August is the latest I can every remember doing that and that was usually what we call 'soup corn'...the corn that is more mature and tough, the last of the crop out of the garden that isn't as sweet or tasty as the early crop. I just cut off and put up 15 quarts of corn and it occurred to me as I wrote 9-1-08 on the bags that I had never had to date them for September before! Everyone is in the same boat this year, just now canning tomatoes and putting up the rest of their garden bounty. The Flood we suffered this spring set crops back significantly. In fact in my last post I have a pic of my boys harvesting wheat in July. That is usually done in early to mid-June. It's been a strange summer indeed. (In more ways than one LOL!) But we have had a much cooler summer this year than I can ever remember, that is a blessing!

Well River starts pre-K tomorrow and mom and dad are having a hard time with the though of our little man going to school. It seems like only yesterday he was a chubby bundle of joy at my breast. Now he is a smart mouth know it all 4 year old...oh did I just say that out loud? LOL I meant he is a bright, energetic, and strong willed 4 year old! Tomorrow is going to be a hard day. Pray for me!

Hail to the Domestic Goddess of Words and Weeds

No no not that kind of weed...LOL! I did something today that my husband would have squawked and had a fit over! I used the weed eater! He has been working very late each night because they are short handed where he works and the yard work just wasn't getting done. Well he and I kind of have this arrangement...it goes like this, I am not allowed to do the yard work, which I bitch and moan about, but secretly am glad I don't have to do it. Just like he thinks he is not allowed to do laundry or dishes, but unbeknownst to him I would would be thrilled if he traded in his lawn mower for dishpan hands!

We are having family pictures taken tonight and I decided to have the photographer come here to our house so we could have pics taken outside and on our porch. We have two ponds and lots of acreage so there are many many places to stage photos for the kids. However the weed situation was getting out of control! Sooooooo I took my little country butt out to the garage and found the weed eater. I read the instructions on how to start it...and then re-read them. And then I fired her up and off we went....shredding the life out of the cocky weeds who had taken over my yard!!! I felt like Superwoman...

Yes I live a sheltered life.

I am happy to report that not only did I NOT injure myself or anyone else...but that I did a pretty damn good job too! The place looks great. But can I just say my hands shook for like 2 hours from all the vibration (you'd think I'd be used to that *wink wink*) and my forearms are killing me!!! I used muscles I didn't know I had!

Calling all my international readers!!!

Ok folks, if you read my blog and you are not from the United States, I need a favor. I have decided to start a little project with my day care kids. We want to have an "International Foods Week" before school starts. I am looking for some traditional recipes for meals and snacks that kids enjoy from all over the world. I know I have readers from Australia, England and the Middle East and other places I have never heard of LOL and I know I have American readers who could probably pass along some of their favorite international recipes too...I would consider it a huge favor if you could post a comment to this blog with some food and recipe ideas for us to consider! Any foods that you feel are native or traditional in your region, especially something that we would not normally fix in the U.S. The only catch is, I need to be able to find the ingredients here, or at least have some substitute ideas.

If you recipes come with any stories or background information I would love that too....it would bring a lot more meaning to the kids if they knew the history of the dish - right before they go "Eeeeewww are we really gonna eat that?!" LOL ~ I can already hear it now, but I think this will be a fun educational activity. Plus I love to cook....don't hesitate to send recipes that might require some effort, I am not afraid of my kitchen, it is where I am most at home! Bring on the recipes!!

If I had anything to offer as a prize for the best submissions I would...but I don't....unless you want some fresh garden tomatoes and sweet corn! LOL!

The Whining Moon

Well after visiting with some girlfriends and checking a few of my favorite blogs, it seems my hubby ain't the only one in the doghouse this weekend!! Around here when things in nature take on a familiar pattern of behavior most old timers will tell you the cause must be the sign of the moon. I think the same goes for men! I really do. (ok maybe for women too....) Our cows tend to calve during certain times of the moon, and if the decisions are left up to Great-Grandpa all crops are planted around the moon signs as well. He is a firm believer in such things. Hunting, fishing, even haircuts are often timed by the moon signs by many of the old timers. There are supposedly certain times you should never try to preserve your garden bounty or butcher your meat.... Perhaps there is something about the waning moon that makes men turn into crab asses....I think I will change the name to the Whining Moon!

Or us girls could band together and enjoy a few bottles of Verde and call it the 'Wining Moon'

We could avoid this whole problem if they could come up with some kind of Midol for men. We could call it Moondol; For that time of the month when you feel bloated, bitchy and belligerent! Or all of us girls could just hit the road for a few days! It looks like we all might need to take the weekend off July 18-20....anybody want to meet up in Jamaica?? Ok, who am I kidding, I could maybe scrounge up enough money for a campsite on Kentucky Lake, but I'd be game! Hey with enough wine, a beach is a beach is a beach.....right?

Cherry Picking Disaster

I had a frightening adventure on Thursday! I took my children and my daycare children to the park for a while in the morning and on the way home I decided to stop at my neighbors, the one with all the rhubarb. I knew that more rhubarb would be ready by now and he had told me that one of his cherry trees was ripe for the picking. Fresh cherry pie sounded fantastic and his farm is lots of fun for the kids so we stopped in. They have kittens and a cute rat terrier puppy the kids like to play with. So I got to work while they frolicked in the yard.

After picking what amounted to another gallon of rhubarb, I headed to the cherry trees and the kids followed. "Johnny" my special needs child was carrying the little puppy and was just in hog heaven! He and that puppy had become fast friends and I was enjoying watching them as I was picking. I had probably picked about 1/2 gallon of cherries when I noticed Johnny carry the puppy over to this big white wooden box sitting in the yard. I am oblivious to the danger of this, not even realizing what the box contains as I am picking and munching on cherries. Johnny sets the puppy on top of the box and is petting him and playing when all of the sudden I hear the puppy start yelping as he jumps off the box and starts running through the yard. Honestly my first instinct is to think Johnny unintentionally hurt the puppy, he can be rough without realizing it sometimes. But when I look over I see Johnny walking towards me. He has a strange look on his face.....normally his face is fixed with a great big smile that rarely leaves....but there is something showing on his face in addition to his permanent smile....fear...pain and then I saw the tears! I've never seen Johnny cry before. Ever! I wasn't even sure he was capable. He has a very high pain tolerance and is rarely upset about anything. But these were clearly tears. My heart was pounding as I dropped the cherries and I ran to him and then I could hear it.....

BUZZZZZZZZZZZ.............He had placed the puppy on the lid of a bee hive!! There were bees trapped in his shirt! I ripped his shirt off and immediately ordered all the kids to run to the van! Johnny is allergic to bees...not anaphalactic type allergic, but he gets very sick. There were multiple stings on him and I was terrified what this might do to him. I almost ran into my neighbor's house and called 911, but knew his house was in such a remote location we'd have a better chance of getting ambulance to my house, which was only 1 mile away and located on a blacktop road. (ambulances have been known to take over an hour out here) I wasn't sure how serious his reaction might be to the stings and I was nearly crying myself as we flew home. Once at my house I decided not to call an ambulance, he had very little swelling and no difficulty breathing, but I called his mom right away to see what she thought I should do. Benadryl took care of him for a while, it was only about an hour before he was up and playing and his happy usual self....but for a while I was just heartsick for this poor boy. The kids all chipped in and loved on him and hugged on him and kissed him on the head. My 4 year old told him as he kissed his head "Don't worry Johnny your Mommy will be here soon and make you good and new..."

Johnny didn't make it to my house on Friday, his mom said he vomited in his bed overnight and she found more stings on his legs. I felt so terrible! He's a farm boy just like my kids are, and fortunately his parents are understanding about pitfalls that come with rural living...but my heart still ached for him. Once he fell and knocked out 7 teeth and didn't cry (not at my house), so that tells you what kind of pain tolerance he has. For him to by crying for so long and so hard had to indicate how painful all his stings were. We still don't have a total count of the stings but I would imagine there were 8-12. Poor Baby!!!!!!!!

Note to self: Stay away from the white box!!!!

P.S. My neighbor felt really bad too for never telling me about the hive, it never occurred to him. I called to check on the puppy later that night, it had been stung so bad I was afraid it might die. For a split second it crossed my mind to toss him in the van too, but I figured Johnny's survival was of the utmost importance.....for the record, the puppy is fine now, but he had a rough day.

Survival of the Smartest

So I am sick as a dog and really should be in bed, but instead here I am talking to you...whoever you are....

I have come across a blog that I find fascinating! It started with my fascination about polygamy and reading several blogs of Americans who are living this lifestyle. I stumbled across a website that combines the poly lifestyle with something else that fascinates me, Survivalists. Not the doomsday type survivalists, but the realists, the people that realize our economy may not hold out forever and disasters like Katrina and 911 may put us in the position to be self sufficient at some point in time, especially those of us isolated from any metropolitan area. They are the "Bama Girls" and they call their blog The Self Sustaining Kitchen It is filled with ideas about how to recycle items, can, dehydrate and store food, as well as general country living things. Here is the link....I will add it to my blogroll too http://www.bamagalskitchen.blogspot.com/

This site got me thinking about something I made a mental note about years ago. After 911 happened, I remember thinking that I should really try to be prepared in the event of a disaster like this. I look now at the flooding going on in our neighboring counties and realize the cost of food and supplies is going to increase dramatically because of this. In fact much of the farmland that is flooded right now is used to grow corn for ethanol production....so once again that is going to impact fuel prices, which affects us all across the nation. On the flip side of that, in the last decade wheat production has gone down because so many farmers here began to grow more corn, due to the demand for ethanol....this is why your bread costs so much more lately, especially healthy whole grain bread. When you consider my family of 4, who generally lives paycheck to paycheck, or damn close to it, that is a scary prospect. Higher food costs and fuel costs could sink us in a hurry. We already have a lot of trouble with people robbing fuel from the farm tanks and even vehicles parked in the driveways, most of us have guns handy to ward of varmits like skunks, coons and possum...but they are handy for theives too! There may come a point in time when we are forced to protect ourselves from theft of food and other supplies as well if things continue this way.

Anyhoo, it just got me thinking. It is a subject I am sure I will write about more, I just had to share this little gem that I found. It is funny and informative. Just 2 wives and their hubby living the country life, much like me, minus the other wife.

For now I need to get to bed, even my fingers ache. I hate being sick. It makes me whiny....and I hate it when people whine!

The Triplets have Arrived...

Well after much waiting and watching here on the farm, this:

Has become this:

They are just so ugly they're cute! LOL! The kids are thrilled! So far they are making no noise, but I am sure that will end soon...kind of like bringing home a newborn who never made a peep in the hospital, then screamed for 3 days straight! LOL!

I am very glad they survived! We have all been anxious for their arrival, checking the nest twice a day. They arrived on Tuesday, I knew they were probably hatching because when I checked the nest that morning the mama bird didn't budge! Usually she flies away but this time she just gave me this look like "Give me a break lady, can't you see I'm havin' a kid here!?" When we checked later that evening, sure enough, this is what we found!!

Cow Farts and Carpools

This spring Mother Nature has wreaked enough havoc on the planet to claim an estimated 150,000 lives in Asia alone. There have been numerous deaths in the US from killer storms and tornadoes, volcanoes exploding in Chile, wildfires.... She is quaking, storming, fuming mad at the citizens who inhabit her for the destruction they have caused to her serene and balanced structure.

Sometimes I wonder what the ultimate price is going to be for all of our technological and industrial advances. And even as I sit here, being hypocritical, with my SUV parked in the driveway, and my trash burning in the barrel out by the cow lot (we do not have trash service out here in the boonies), letting my 4 year old play video games while I veg out in front of the computer for a while...I wonder if it will be my children and grandchildren who will pay the ultimate price.

I have made many strides, especially considering the area I live in, to try to go green. Florescent bulbs in every socket, all of our appliances are Energy Star rated, I make several of my own cleaners (for the kids sake also), I opt for paperless billing, I try to reduce our use of disposable table service, I recycle rain water for my flowers, I have given up my daily soak in the big garden tub and replaced it with shower except for the occasional 'pamper me' nights, we raise and eat much of our own produce, I bring my own canvas grocery bags to the store and I try to be mindful of the things I throw away and their potential for re-use. However, when you live in the boonies, there are some things that are just not practical. I can't walk or ride my bike anywhere except the local cemetery or grain mill. Cow's are a fact of life around here, even though they say they are a major contributor to global warming....cow farts = ozone depletion...and frankly I will start to feel guilty about that one the day McDonald's stops serving Big Mac's...but in all seriousness, I try to be mindful of what I can do to help the cause. And hopefully I will pass it on to my children. But is it too late? That is always the question in the back of my mind. Are all our efforts fruitless and pointless now? Was it our parents and grandparents generation's that unknowingly pushed the boulder off the cliff? Are we simply holding toothpicks in the air to hold it back?......I hope not.

Scenes from Spring on the Farm

There are going to be some new additions to the farm soon! And NO I am not poppin' out any babies anytime soon...LOL! We found this yesterday...

Nestled in our little baby crab apple tree is a robin's nest. The mama bird is perched in there almost all the time, she even lets us get pretty close, but if we touch the leaves she flies away. She doesn't go far though because I have noticed her sneak right back in if we take very many steps away. I hope that the babies survive, my kids and day care kids are very excited about this little discovery! The tree is only a bit taller than me, and is small enough that I can pick them up and let them peek inside. Here is there home, right next to our newly planted vegetable garden.

In addition to the Robin eggs, we found "Franklin" today

I don't have the heart to keep him very long, a box is no home for a box turtle (no pun intended! LOL!) but for the kids sake he is 'spending the night'. We gave him a carrot and some water, but so far all he wants to do is cover himself with the grass we tossed in and sleep.

I blogged recently about a calf, "Willy", that I wanted to get a picture of....I have had no luck! The only shot I got was a picture of his Mama...and she was not happy about me stalking her baby boy. I suppose I would be sporting a similar glare should some crazy lady come sneaking around my child with a camera!

And I usually refrain from posting pictures of my kids online (because I am a paranoid freak! LOL) But I could not resist posting these of the first crop of sweet corn going into the garden.

My 2 year old was busy eating rocks...but my 4 year old was very interested in helping to plant the garden this year. Let's hope he gets better at eating his vegetables!!!

Oh and just a few more pics....these are new additions to my 'landscape' (if that's what you want to call it) I just thought somebody might think they were cute...One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure!

Thank God I'm A Country Girl!

Mommy'd Out!! Among other things....

Sometimes I just get Mommy'd Out. Translation: Affliction affecting parent of the female gender who can be described as emotionally, physically and mentally exhausted. Symptoms include stress, irritability, headache, backache, hunger (from being too busy to eat), over fullness (from stress overeating), and can increase desires for caffeine, nicotine, alcohol and tropical vacations.

Today is one of those days. My youngest is sicker today than he was yesterday...I am hoping the antibiotic does it's job before tomorrow or we will be back at the doctor. His cough is tight and wheezy and he is fussy fussy fussy!! Thankfully Ibuprofen has stepped in and given me a much needed break from the fussing..and "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy," ok you get the idea.

On top of that my Grandparents were here for an overnight visit. Which was actually surprisingly pleasant. Everyone has members of the family that you dread seeing because the experience can sometimes be unpleasant (traumatizing, agonizing, life-changing, horrifying...you see where I am going with this). Well in my life, that would be these two. Not because they don't love me, but because my Grandmother, Bless-Her-Heart (my other Grandma, long departed, always taught me if you say 'bless his/her heart' before you said something bad about someone~it didn't count! LOL!)...has this natural ability to strip you of your entire self-worth and confidence with one single sentence. There have been times over the years that I have been utterly emotionally destroyed by this woman. And it always happens when we are alone....so I avoid this event at all costs! Things have improved with age (hers and mine) and her deteriorating health seems to make her a little more appreciative of the human beings in her life who are willing to love her despite it all...and the fact that I have given birth to her two adorable great-grandsons. I think she is very mindful that in some ways they are my bargaining chip. A horrible thing to say I know, but if you'd walked the road I have walked with this woman you might feel the same way. I suppose for the sake of the few family members who know about this blog I should shut up about that....In her defense she now suffers from some dementia...which I sort of feel like gives her an excuse now. It's gone on as long as I can remember (so about 30 years!), but now that she has had this diagnosis, we all just chalk it up to dementia.

Anyhoo, she did manage to get one good knife in the back when we had 30 seconds alone, and boy was it a doozey! I just smiled and acted like I hadn't heard a thing...I survived, and all in all we had a lovely visit. The kids were overjoyed to have them here and I could tell that they loved seeing the boys again! That made me happy. Plus she and I share a common love of gardening (she's the Green Thumb Grandma) so we had lovely discussions about that. All in all it was great. And much better than I expected. Especially since my hubby completely deserted me and hid out in the bedroom all night because he was sick! Ok, he really was sick and I am a heartless bitch for being grouchy about it...sue me. So it wasn't too bad for a solo mission! They left this morning.

But add in a sick and fussy child today, and another one who is jealous and cranky by the noise and extra attention of the other.....I am wiped out! Uggghhhhh!! Somebody put a Margarita in my hand and put me on a plane to anywhere with a beach. Hell I'd go to Guantanamo Bay at this point.....

Thankfully at the moment my oldest is down the road at my in-laws. I am so lucky to have that resource just a mile away!!!!! So now it's just me and Mr. Fussy, who is happily munching on raisins (that he calls grapes...he's half right!) and watching Robin Hood. But my sickly husband will be walking in the door any minute and then you can add two fussy babies to my roster tonight!

God I am awful ain't I???!! I need a vacation!

Sniff Sniff, Cough Cough, Achoo, Wheeze...Oh and Poop too...

*Sniff Sniff, Cough Cough, Achoo, Wheeeeze...Sniff Sniff, Cough Cough, Achoo, Wheeeeeze*....that it is the rhythm of the music running through my house these days. The allergies are creeping up on all of us. I actually had to take my boys to the doctor today because they were starting to get really sick and the youngest even has a fever. The doctor says what she always says...and every year I must block it out...I hate the thought...but I know it must be done. CLOSE THE WINDOWS! Uggghhh. So today we had to turn on the A/C, it was over 80 degrees here!! Dang that's hot ya'll... for April anyway.

So as we are driving the 40 miles it takes me to get to the town where my doctor's office is (and the nearest town where I will find more than one grocery store...) I am enjoying the smells of spring with my windows down......for about 3 miles. Then all I could smell was manure, fertilizer chemicals and dust. Farmers are going balls to the wall taking advantage of the break in April Rains to get their fields fertilized and cultivated....but the resulting smell is horrible. And I thought to myself "It's no wonder we are all dying of cancer..." I bet I passed two dozen Anhydrous Ammonia tanks on the way to town. Now doesn't that thought put a little spice in your tofu stir-fry tonight!

We take for granted all the chemicals that are used in the production of our food. It's scary really. And I am even a farm wife.....For our own home garden we use cow manure, and for many of the fields we use as much manure as we can, but frankly right now crops pay more than cattle and there's just not enough poop to go around! Ha! I feel funny saying poop. No farmer I have ever met calls it poop. They'll all tell ya, Shit is Shit....It's nothing to hear a little kid around hear holler "Oh dang it I just stepped in shit..." and not many adults even blink an eye. Shit is not a bad word on the farm. Although I will say, my upbringing tends to make me steer my children from saying it, but I am sure by the time they are teens they will be 'shootin' the shit' with the rest of us. (Personally I have a very foul mouth, so I don't know why I even try to prevent my kids from saying this one little word that nobody else seems to be bothered by...)

Anyhoo, the lovely smells of spring took on a curious turn this morning as toxic chemicals and the various 'flavors' of livestock manure filled the car....cow shit, horse shit, hog shit etc...but the absolute worst smell in the entire universe, is turkey shit! If you ever pass a field that has been fertilized with turkey shit...you'll know it! Ugggh!!!! If you are a city dweller, I would say if nothing else you can be grateful you don't have to smell turkey shit!!

Anyone hungry for a slice of Butterball! :0)~

The Fruits of My Labor....

I've managed to dig myself out of the garden for the night and hose off....I thought I would share some of my handy work. There is much more to see, and much much more to do, but I hated to take a pic of every little thing I have planted while it's still little, I will show pics of the 'full effect' later this summer.

Here are few pics of the fruits of my labor last fall!!!

The tulips and hyacinth are one of my favorite sights in Spring! Orange tulips are a particular favorite for me, I don't really know why, they just seem to pop and add such a bright splash to the garden! Like biting into a tangy tomato (oooh I can't wait for that! They are growing in my kitchen windows right now! I want the FIRST tomato of the year! LOL!)

Below is the work currently going on around the 'poop tank' as my almost 4 year old refers to it! It doesn't look like much now, but this summer it will be thick with salvia, ornamental grass, foxglove, liriope, my purple leaf sand cherry shrub and whole bunch of other things I have no idea how to pronounce! LOL!

Hopefully in about 4 months I can post before and after pictures and you will see a beautiful display of color and foliage here! And as the years go by my tulips will multiply and make a wonderful spring show each year!

Here are the two shrubs that my mini-van drove me to the greenhouse and forced me to buy! I swear I must have blacked out, I apparently even thought ahead to keep the kids occupied and got them milkshakes at Dairy Queen...or so they tell me.... there were empty cups in the car when I got home so they must be telling truth.

A beautiful bleeding heart and then a plant I had never heard of before but it was called a Metallica something....any plant with the word Metallica in it has to rock right?!! Arf Arf!! Get it!! Lord I crack myself up!!

And the pic below would be the reason I was supposed to stop buying plants a LONG time ago!!! Here are my babies! Grown from seed, roughly 50 petunias, some lobelia, vinca, a few begonia seeds that survived after all (note to self: begonia's are a bitch!) , coleus plants, and more!!! I have five hanging baskets already on display full of sweet pea, nasturtium and lobelia, all started from seed. I did add some store bough pansies. I couldn't wait for some color it there!! I am terribly impatient!!

I know I am getting carried away with these pictures, but I just love my little happy spots! Here is one of my favorites. This old chair, jug and crock were in my own Grandma's garden. She can no longer labor over a garden so I acquired them! I have a Dahlia plant starting in the crock and my sedum is just filling out beautifully. Normally there is a pot full of flowers inside the seat of the chair to, but we have a small problem. We haven't put gutters on the new house yet. So when it rains that pot just fills up and over with water. I have been using it to save on water instead and dump it out on it's neighbors!

There is a shipment of 'junk' on it's way to me from eBay that will complete my garden. I am so excited! Just getting it all done will be work. I have plans to create a container garden out of two old washtubs to go with the old hand pump that used to sit on this homeplace, but I need a hacksaw (and preferably a MAN) to size it down for me.

Our 40 acres has been in our family for 40 years or more. It was used for pasture ground for the family cattle until my husband and I got married. An old house, The Lambert Place, it was always called, sat here that was probably 150 years old and we burned it down to put our first home (a trailer) up. I saved the hand pump in the kitchen to someday be able to create this little vision of my garden. I didn't bother much with landscaping and things until we built the new house. I think I was waiting to put all of that effort into our permanent dwelling. Now that it is here it is so exciting and makes me feel very accomplished to actually be doing it! We have lived up on this hill 10 years now and the old timer's are finally calling it the Stark Place instead of the Lambert Place....(we always used to be referred to as 'the kids who live on the Lambert place') I suppose they have seen us paying our dues, turning the ground, making it our own. It's time to pass the title on to it's rightful owners. :0)

I love bein' a country gal! And oh what the hell, here's a few more pics too...if you don't want to sit and look at flowers all night go check out some of my friend's blogs over to the right!

A sunset, all in one little tulip!

Aren't these great! I got this $25 Purple leaf sand cherry tree at Wal-Mart last fall for $1!!! It was the last thing they had left around November and I scooped them up! Five of them I think! If I could have fit more in my mini-van I would have. I considered leaving the kids behind for a split second but thenI gathered my senses and realized if left my kids, who would hold the water hose while I planted them! ;0)

This side of the house (the east side) will continue to be a work in progress for a while. There is still a lot of backfilling to be done, but some of it may have to wait until this summer. We revolve around farming season and that takes priority over everything else until a crop is in the ground, or harvest is finished. But this little old rocking chair had been tossed up in the hay loft of my Papa's barn and dragged it down and stained up a bit. The rusty fluted feed bowl is going to host some Hen and Chicks very soon...I am expecting them from e-bay as well. (yes gardening is not my only addicition~give me a break I could be smoking crack in the bathroom, walking around thin as a rail with a bee hive hairdo that hasn't seen a comb in 2 months...oh wait, that's not me, that's Amy Winehouse...wwheew! Yeah, it could definately be worse!;0)

~~Happy Spring~~

Hi, My Name is Jada and I am a Gardenaholic....

This is the part where you say "Hi Jada....."

Today is just absolutely gorgeous in Southern Illinois!! The kind of day you dream about all winter long. And the only reason I am even sitting at the computer is because one of the boys is still napping...wiped out from our big day in town! I am waiting for him to wake up so I can go out side and plant the new shrubs and flowers I bought....yes MORE of them! None of these include the plants I started from seeds that are still just babies and are not ready to leave the nest. (On a cute note, since I call them my baby plants, my 3 year old always has to give them a hug and a kiss....that's what you do with babies you know!)

So I ended up having no daycare kids until the school bus arrives today, and since I lost a screw out of my glasses (yes they found official proof that I have a screw loose) I had to run to town to get them fixed. I promised the boys a day at the park. We had such a goooooooood time! It's one of those days that makes you so glad to be alive and living in a free country where I can take my kids to a safe place to play and eat junk food and throw rocks in the river and run through wild flowers and just BE. I think we Americans take for granted how many billions of people in the world have never experienced even one second of that feeling, and never will.

So off to town we go and head to the park. The local park sits upon a hill that runs along side the Embarrass River. This is properly pronounced (Em-Braw)...but my husband affectionately calls it the Bare-Ass River just as any good redneck should when faced with such a silly name for a river! LOL! Anyhoo you can take a gravel road down from the park to a canoe launch area. This area is one of my favorite places in the whole world! If you can shut out the sounds of the nearby highway it is nearly perfect in every way. The river slowly meanders by, flanked by thousands of different trees and there is a grassy clearing that stretches for probably 1/4 mile that is just wide open and flat, full of wild flowers, flowering trees and various tree loving critters. If you sit quietly you can watch squirrels gathering goodies or birds nesting. If you run wildly through the grass and flowers you can scatter bees, birds, and butterflies. We did a little of both today. It was heavenly!!!

After we left there, I stopped in the local hardware store....just to see....perhaps they had cheap plants. Well they weren't impressively cheap....but they were impressively pretty! Thankfully I had some cash in my pocket from money I had made with my stitchery business. (I feel like this is my money and don't feel as guilty spending it on frivolous things. A girl needs an extra $30 here or there to spend willy nilly) So I spent about $20 there. And then it happened....I remembered there is a fabulous greenhouse in this town....absolutely fabulous...and it was as if I had lost my f'n mind! I swear I know what it feels like to be a gambling addict or something. My mini-van just drove itself right to that green house, my sandals just walked right up to two beautiful shrubs...and my hands just forked over my debit card (after they picked up just one more cute little planter....) and I plopped down another $30!!!! My husband will be so un-thrilled......

That's why I gotta hurry up and plant them before he gets home!! See Ya!!!

Back to Business!

Well now that my mind is eased of any pressing health issue, my brain is once again abuzz with it's latest obsession. The garden!! When I went Wal-Mart to buy all my 'rear end roto-rooter' supplies I picked up extra seed flats to start thinning out my seedlings and more seeds to start....I am determined to have a blooming blossoming front porch!! And I am convinced that any day now I will be back to feeling normal so I need to prepare!

We have a new home this year and a HUGE front porch. Here is a pic of about 3/4 of the length (total 76 ft). (it was still under construction here, there are now rails on the stairs etc..) Someday it will be white washed but we need to let the wood 'weather' for a year. Anyhoo, my plan is for this to be bursting with color from hanging pots, pots on the steps, and maybe even saddle planters on the railings. I have some old decrepit wooden chairs that I am using to hold flower pots as well and an old large crock that the bottom broke out of that is being used as a planter as well. Eventually I will erect the hand water pump that was kept from the original homestead on this property and put washtubs around it with flowers blooming from it as well. There are roses on the east end (this pic is facing the west), and I have planted several varieties of evergreen shrubs along the front. Since the shrubs are still quite tiny I am going to plant several caladiums in between them so that there will be some foliage this summer. We have yet to cover the bottom of the porch, and I suspect it will be a while before DH gets around to that.....ever the procrastinator. Hopefully the Caladium will help hide some of that.

My back yard is full of new tree saplings that I am hoping will grow and grow and grow this summer. I think I planted 15 new trees. I am still hoping to talk DH into letting me plants some weeping willows. They would be so gorgeous near the pond! (see my default pic, that is my view looking east) But he is not thrilled about the prospect of mowing around them when they are big...I have promised to keep them trimmed, but I think he knows that secretly I am crossing my fingers because I love the way a weeping willow looks as it's branches are kissing the ground and blowing in the wind.

The only thing that would completely fulfill my dream garden this year is one of this miniature weeping cherry trees to plant in front of the porch...but they are so damn expensive. I have seriously considered trying to start them from seed and if they are a success, selling the saplings I don't want....but I may wait until next year to tackle that. I get a little overzealous sometimes...ok almost all the time....

Let's hope this Garden Plan is still in full fruition by fall and not overrun with dead plants and scraggly weeds.