I cannot believe it is March 11. Seems like it was just Christmas yesterday. With it being March 11, that means we have to start thinking about planning out our garden and getting the ground ready for planting. Clydie and I discussed it yesterday for a bit, looking up what you cannot plant close together (peppers and beans, for example, or cucumbers and melons - which explains why my cantaloupes failed last year). Looks like we're going to have butterbeans, pinkeyes, string beans, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and zucchini. We're also expanding the size of our garden this year - last year it was approximately 2 fence sections by 2 fence sections - we're looking at making it 5 x 2 this year, across the entire end of the backyard.
The garden will be a lot of work, but it is so worth it. All the fresh vegetables, yummy cucumbers! But we're gonna have to pressure can the veggies we intend on putting in jars. We learned the hard way with our green beans, that you're not supposed to water bath them. They got a milky residue in the bottom of the jars, and when Clydie tried cooking some a couple weeks ago, it smelled REALLY bad, and they got thrown out. After Googling the issue, we discovered that the milky residue is apparently a sign of botulism! I hate that those beans got wasted, but at least now we know.
I never got around to cleaning out the closet, so it's still on my to-do list. I did finish the baby blanket and got to spend some time with the sweet baby girl it was made for and her family. I also finished my first crochet afghan, and will soon be tackling a peacock afghan for my mother, once I practice making the feathers/eyes again. I also want to make a lap blanket for Meme, and may have found some fabric that I like for that purpose.
Dominion has been practicing his thieving skills again! Clydie had made chicken Florentine last week and had put the leftovers on a plate for Steven for when he got home from work. Went back in there later and the plate was empty - licked clean! And he struck again last night - finished off the BBQ pork roast, broccoli/cheese rice, and home-style cream corn. All of the dishes, licked clean! At least he's putting on weight and isn't so bony anymore, but damn.
This afternoon, I did a little hedge-clipping. Well, I wasn't clipping hedges, I was clipping the wild growth at the property line next to the woods. All these thorny vines and stalks, mixed in with shrubbery that was re-sprouting from last year's cut-down, is what I was working on. (Brian had the chain saw and was working on the same kind of stuff along the fence line). Have I mentioned lately how much I HATE thorny vines and stalks? I could cut them off, step on them so I could cut further in, they'd bend up and stick to my pants and poke and scratch my legs. I had gloves on, and some of the thorns would go through them and there were several times I had to take the gloves off and pick thorns out of my hands. I know, poor me. Brian's glasses managed to get flung off his face, and we all spent about 20 minutes looking for them. I found them in the opposite direction that he thought they went.
Ok I'm getting sleepy and it's not even 9pm, so I'll probably give in and crash early tonight. Have a great weekend everyone!
Oh - my mom's birthday is tomorrow, March 12 - make sure you tell her Happy Birthday! Love you Mom and can't wait til you're home for good!
No comments:
Post a Comment