Oh me, OH my....

 Looky !!  There are beautiful lavender colored bee balm flowers in the midst of all the red ones. They are gorgeous and really attracting the bees and hummingbirds.


  On a less bright note...maurauders came through last night in the guise of sweet, gentle deer...and ate the tops off ALL my edamame plants...I am so upset. When we moved here 6 years ago, the neighbors told me that if we were going to have a garden, we would have to have it fenced to keep the deer out. It was too late to plant that first year ( and we had so much to do!), but for 5 years since we have had a huge garden and not one bit of trouble with critters. Until last night.  Here's what they left me....

 In the life of a homesteader, it's always something,. lol


  I have decided to go ahead and buy another Oreck. A carpet shampooer this time.  I love my vacuum, and don't see how I can go wrong with the shampooer. Their warranties are great and I cannot live without a rug cleaner. AND, if I don't like it, I can return it within 30 days. But I'm telling you, I have never returned anything to them yet.  I talked it over with the Irishman and he grunted something, so I'm taking that as a go-ahead.  lol  I'll be ordering it tonight. And they will ship it and I will have it in my hands within 3 days.  At least that's how it usually works.


  I made a chocolate cream pie today. And bought some pork butt sliced into thick steaks that I slow cooked in the oven with homemade bbq sauce.  Cooked some red potatoes and called it a feast. We may not have much, but we certainly eat well.

  I'm going to try my best to get to bed at a reasonable hour tonight...it's been 2 AM or later about 3 nights in a row. And I am tired....


  Excited about the canning experiment slated for Thursday.  I have always thought about canning meat, but never tried it for some reason. Maybe because, although we do eat meat, we also eat a lot of meatless meals, so it never seemed necessary.


  One last thing and then I'm outta here. Asking for prayers, energy, and general good vibes to be sent to Matthew, Petit Fleur's nephew (?) who is facing a most difficult time. Collective energies can work miracles....thank you.


 
Be Blessed.

Hump Day

   

Ain't she a beaut ?  And now, there are light lavender colored bee balm flowers coming up in the midst of this red one too. It's stunning. Tomorrow I will try to remember to get out there and take some more pictures.

 The garden has exploded. The past week has been outrageously high temperatures and humidity...it's like a rainforest out there. Today the heat index hit 105.  2 days ago I was out weeding in the late afternoon and clearing things out a little, and there was still a semblance of rows between the green beans. Now it's a complete ocean of bushes, with no spaces in between. Same with the butternut squash.  Yowsa!  Tonight I went out at almost dark and weeded some flower beds.  I have some Siberian Irises to plant and also some bright yellow daylilies.  But it's been so dang hot I can't do it...15 minutes out there and I'm wringing wet and hot as a firecracker. Sweat running down my face and into my eyes. It's even been already thick at 7 Am...but, I will persevere and try to do a little at a time. Every day. Being especially conscious of how easy it is to get heat stroke in weather like this.

  Tonight I took my pump sprayer out there loaded with white vinegar and sprayed some spots to try to kill the weeds. Hopefully it'll knock some of it down.

  The tomatoes are loaded  and it looks to be a really good crop this year. I planted several Romas  for saucing and dicing, as well as all the regular big tomatoes. Skipped the yellow Brandywines this year...wasn't all that impressed with their performance last year. The edamame are growing great guns. Beautiful healthy big plants.  And the peppers...well, let's just say that I am in awe at the beautiful healthy plants this year. I should have more than enough to get through the winter and eat all summer as well. My mouth is watering at the thought of big red and yellow peppers stuffed with quinoa and chanterelles and garlic chives and chopped fresh parsley, Mmmmmm...

The Irishman went to Wisconsin to visit his family and got back Monday evening. He had a great time and said the weather was wonderful, and never got above 80 the whole time.  WHAT !?!?!?!?!  LOL     I had a pleasant 4 days home alone and spent a lot of it in deep thought.  *snork

  The remaining kitten is doing fine, only 1 out of 4 survived. Not sure what the problem was, but this one I have been feeding kitten replacement milk and the mother is starting to nurse him more. I've named him Jinga.  The Irishman wanted to name him Ralph. I win.  I said that if I am the one feeding him every 3 hours, I get to decide what his name is. (It's the law) The other 3 died abruptly...it was awful. They got listless, lost body heat and were gone within hours of one another. I'm baffled and bereft.

  Been a long day and I'm hoping to hit the hay early tonight.  I baked bread, did laundry, and worked in the yard some. Baked brownies as I was supposed to meet a girl for lunch wand then hit a meeting...Monday was her 5th anniversary and nobody got her a cake, so I thought
I'd surprise her at the mtg w/ a little treat.   She called about 10 and had to cancel.  We had brownies for dessert, after a lovely supper of chicken and black bean burritos with skillet roasted red and green peppers and onion. Coupled with a nice tossed salad. Yum.

  Kinda quiet on the blogging front this week.  Summer???

  Namaste.
 
 

Tuesday ...just Tuesday

Oh yeah...this is definitely what I needed today....

What a day. It started out on a doable front and wound up with me having a meltdown. It was just a bubble off "Life on life's terms" and I wasn't coping well at all. sigh...

To begin with, Mr Weather Anchorman...it never hit 60 today. It was 52 at the apex. NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!!!!!! It was cold out there and it was cold in my house, because I refuse to turn the heat back on when it's spring. (I know...I know).

I cleaned the carpets, and I'd no more than gotten started when the pump stopped working, and I had NO running water. In order to finish the job, I had to boil water and mix it in with spring water. So it took 3 times as long to finish it up. I hurt my back moving that stupid wooden table off the rug...you know, the one filled with Records (the vinyl music kind) which are heavy when there are probably 200 of them in there. Plus, the table is solid hardwood and an old piece of furniture. S-O-L-I-D.

I went outside to check for eggs and found one of my hens dead in the run. I have had these chickens for over 2 years and I have no idea what has happened. It's hard to cry over a dead chicken, but with my luck she was probably one of the only 2 that are laying regularly.

Then my brother called to say they won't be here tomorrow...the appointment was rescheduled AGAIN. (So, I could have waited on the floors). (And the groceries). Arrgghhh....

Then I had a coughing fit that was so bad, I peed myself. THAT WAS IT!!!!!!! As I ran to the bathroom, I tripped and stumbled, and started to cry. In a matter of minutes, I'm sitting in the bathroom bawling like a baby, and little babydawg is sitting in the hallway looking at me, cocking her adorable little head this way, then that way, and trying to figure out what she is supposed to do next. And I had a good cry and then I felt better.

My back still hurts, and the pump still doesn't work. But the floors are clean, and I have a pork shoulder to cook tomorrow and I'm staying home and planting the rest of the hens and chicks and a beautiful red Bee Balm plant I was given today. I'm also getting some flowering Quince from my neighbor and some other things maybe...so I can work out in the yard all day tomorrow if I want. The weather people assure me it will be in the 60's tomorrow.....


And I'm blessed to know that I'll wake up sober tomorrow and start my day with prayer and try to keep it on the straight and narrow.


And I have the number to the plumber, and I'm calling him first thing.... As soon as I have my coffee.


Namaste.