"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands........" 1 Thessalonians 4:11

Monday, March 31, 2008

A greenhouse?....for me??




Hello everyone. Hope you all had a wonderful week! The days have been so pretty and I have been spending a lot of my time outside. Thanks to the thoughtfulness of my sweetie, I will be spending even more time outside. He surprised me with a greenhouse. Maybe because of our 25th anniversary approaching, or maybe I have taken up all of his space in his workshop, placing my baby plants where they will stay safe from the wind and the cold. Either way, I am delighted. He has just now got the frame up. The wind has been so harsh and hard that it is impossible to work on in these elements. I picked a spot to build it that I have been working on for the past year . One side has my tulip and daffodils planted and there was just enough room for the green house. The morning glory climbs the small fence each year and I have raised flower beds that run along the side. The cedar trees help serve as a wind break and also shade against the hot west sun in the afternoon. The space gets the early morning east sun and noon sun overhead. I can't wait for it to get finished and for me to get it filled! Do any of you have greenhouses and lots of advice? I would love to hear from you!

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Farm Fresh Eggs for Sale


Hello everyone! How was your Easter? The baby bunny, Hercules, is doing well and is the delight of the farm. I have gotten to know one of our "neighbors" down the road about 4 miles away. {: We don't visit often, but stop to say hello and catch up once in a while. I had offered a free dozen eggs since I am now getting 6 eggs a day. She told me she would like to have a dozen each week and purchased a dozen and a half yesterday. Also, she has friends who would like fresh eggs and she will be telling them. Not a large income, but a sprouting seed for my dream of selling things from "the farm". The pine trees I had sprouted last year are growing and I have more planted. I still have the dream of selling pine trees and pumpkins! Hopefully, this is the small step I need to make the "dreams" a reality. Do any of you sell things from your farms? Do you live 30 miles from town as I do and do you travel into town to sell, or do people know how to find you? I would love to know! A friend once told me, that she would help her grandmother make butter and then they would go to town on Saturdays and sell the butter along with fresh eggs. Do you have any memories like that? Please share them! I would love to hear from you!

Saturday, March 22, 2008

New farm baby.... Hercules




It was time to go to the feed store for more chicken scratch and I have to say this is my favorite time of year to visit. They always have the cutest chicks and ducks all ready for Easter. This year they had a new addition. baby rabbits. I could not resist this sweet little fellow. Although I have a wonderful pen for him, he is not going to be just a rabbit to sit out in his pen during the day. I found a small dog harness that fits him perfectly and now he can be outside with me, nibbling the grass while I work in the yard. He loves being held and the harness doesn't seem to bother him a bit. This is one way I can make sure he doesn't wonder off or become dinner for some hungry predator. My son chose the name Hercules for him. The perfect bunny for Easter! Happy Easter to all my blogging friends!

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

How dry is it?


We have not gotten much rain and the grounds here are still golden. But with the hint of rain from the radio program and the heaviness in the sky yesterday morning, I decided I would experiment with preemergence. Something totally new to my hands. It is so dry, that as I unwound the garden hose I have on the ground, I uncovered a mound of wasps, around 20 to 30, all gathered on the wet spot from the leaky hose. Poor things, I did not have the heart to smash them. I will change my mind later in the year when they are not so cold and more aggressive. I spent $$ on a bag of weed killer that I know nothing about, but as the years go by and the more sore I get from weed pulling, my laziness has led me to the greener side of poisons. The only problem I saw in this is I spread this magic formula where a hose won't reach, placing my faith in the radio announcer that we would get rain to help me out. As the sun set in a clear evening sky, my hopes for moisture led to me being mad at myself for foolishly throwing away $$ that I could have spent on flowers. lol. But as I was sewing, the welcoming green flash outside the window lit up the dark night. RAIN! I am so happy. As you can see, it doesn't take much to impress me! Today, with the ground softened, I hope to go till up the pumpkin/melon patches. Is there a magic powder that can be sprinkled to break up the grounds? If there is ... contact me!!! {:

Friday, March 14, 2008

bulbs are sprouting


The bulbs I planted back in February have finally sprouted and are growing so well. I can't wait to see them bloom!

Friday, March 7, 2008

Stock flower




I have a friend who sells her antiques out in the country at her home. Her name is Bell and she is 91. A few years ago, I would pack up my young children and go out to visit her and help sort and clean her treasures. She loves flowers as much as antiques and she loves sharing her garden bounty with everyone. Bell, never allowed grass to grow in her yard, instead, she had beautiful wild flowers growing in clumps and spots, along with other flowers she planted. She gave me a start of these beautiful, fragrant flowers. They have a name that does not hold up to their beauty. They are called Stock flower. They are extremely hardy for the harsh enviornment of West Texas. They stay green all year round, drought resistant and start blooming, as you can see, this early in the year. One can smell their blossoms several feet away. They will be perfect for Easter since it is coming so early this year.

Monday, March 3, 2008

Onions and fried green tomatoes


The daffodil and tulips are waking up and showing off their beauty. Spring is almost here and I am looking forward to it. I spent this past week, tilling the garden spots for my vegetables I want to plant. I love the smell of fresh ground being broken up. All I have in the ground are sweet onion and garlic. They can take harsh winter elements... as we are supposed to get snow today. I bought tomato plants and will plant them when the weather gets warmer. There is nothing better to me than cornbread and beans with fried green tomatoes and fresh garden onions! I was raised on country cooking and my mom was and still is the best cook ever. I have been so blessed!