I'm so thankful that God has given me the desire to homestead. A few years ago, I wouldn't even imagined that I would be doing all the things I am now! Do you think I have too much time on my hands? Some one said that to my husband when he told them some of the things I made from scratch. That person stated to my husband that I had too much time on my hands and I needed to get a job! That is both funny and sad, and yes it kind of bothered me a little. That is the mindset of every body I know. Sometimes it is discouraging to feel like you are the only one who thinks and does the things you do. I really wished I had an actual person to can beans, garden, sew, etc., with. It's supposed to be a community thing, but I've yet to find some one here to connect with who likes the same things I do. I believe in time that will happen. Until then, I guess I'll just have: Too much, time on my hands......! Blessings from Bama! (I'm thankful for my readers, though!)
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| The row in between the cardboard pieces are Yukon Gold Potatoes coming up. |
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| Crookneck squash plant. |
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| Butter head lettuces. |
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| Red potatoes and red onions, growing very good! |
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| How big is this thing going to get? I love it! |
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| All the frames are filling up so we're going to add a top. |
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| The Celebrity tomato plant is popular here, so I bought a few. They sure do taste good! |
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| I planted this one in a hole in the cardboard. That is some rich dirt! |
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| I adore the yellow finches! |
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| More finches. I think these are female. |
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| Male finch. |
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| Homemade Ranch dressing. Tastes like the restaurant! |
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| Pull a-part bread made with canned biscuits. (I don't care for them but the son loves this dish!) |
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| Homemade Italian dressing mix. Used this in the pull-a-part bread. |
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| Pickled cauliflower. Way too strong. I will continue to look for another recipe for this! |
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| Pull-a-part bread just out of the oven. |
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| W sat for quite some time playing with the tea set. |
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| He enjoys playing with the girls when they come over. |
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| I love these irises! Yes, we need to weedeat! |
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| Up close. |
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| Oak leaf hydrangeas grow in the woods behind the house. |
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| Catching a glimpse of the neighbors horse and jack. He'll be weaned soon and she'll be gone. How sad! |
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| Honeysuckle and a muscadine vine? |
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| These irises are so dainty! |
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| I love the miniature roses on this bush, even though they are not fragrant. |
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| Sir Graham Thomas. |
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| If you look closely at the bird on the back of the feeder, you'll see he has a strikingly red breast. He is a rose-breasted grosbeak. He is in flight back to the north, or northern Georgia, from the tropics. Maybe they'll stay here! |
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| Hubs all suited up and ready to take cover off. |
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| These things seem to be getting easier for him. |
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| Bees are multiplying very good and filling up the frames, as they should. |
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| Putting on the new top carefully so as not to squish a bee. |
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| Now they have room to grow! |
Hi Bama Girl! Come on over and I will do things with you! You are doing things on a much larger scale than I am tho. It would be fun to do things together with someone tho. In the meantime we will just keep plugging away! What is that huge plant/bush? That color of your iris is striking! Come visit me! Nancy at Cozy Thyme Cottage
ReplyDeleteHi Nancy! Thanks for stopping by! It would be nice to have someone to do things with, but yes, we'll just keep plugging on! That bush is a fig tree! It already has nice sized figs on it. They'll probably be ready to harvest late May, early June. I can hardly wait!
DeleteBeautiful pictures. That yellow rose is now my desk top image :) I love yellow roses and that one looks perfect!
ReplyDeleteThanks Shasta! Wished I could see your desk top! I too love yellow roses, and just about any flower that is yellow!
DeleteHi Bama Girl! Yes, I, also, believe these "arts" should be a community thing...(sisters, friends, church family, relatives) all getting together to have a "canning frolic"! I used to do that many years ago...canning and harvesting was always done with my Grandma or friends! I sooo miss that! Even mending was done together! We always put up HUGE amounts of food. My family farmed peaches and walnuts and my grandparents lived three orchards behind us and had a pick-your-own berry farm. We did some freezing, lots of canning, some drying...not with a dehydrator, but, in hugs bins that Grandpa built outside for the walnuts, etc. It was a wonderful time! Us kids grew up working the berries, etc, etc, etc!
ReplyDeleteYour garden looks so rich and the soil like loam! Everything is lush in your part of the country! :) Enjoyed the finches and flowers! Your husband is becoming comfortable with the bees, isn't he? It is so wonderful you both are pulling together and have the same goal...but, I was surprised to realize that this is new to you! I thought you had grown up doing all these things! You HAVE a job! And, it is a wonderful one...you just exude joy in pursuing these wonderful life-skills which promotes the same in your readers...for which I thank you kindly! I enjoy your "joy"! :) Cheeryshirley
Oh Shirley! What a wonderful heritage you have! And what awesome memories! Were those English walnuts or black walnuts? I ordered two English walnut trees but they didn't live. I guess our climate here in not conducive for English walnut trees. We have way too many black walnut trees on our property and I don't even like them! I bet the berry picking was so much fun! Is the farm still in your family? I hope so.
DeleteOur garden does have rich dirt, in places. Trees once completely covered this property, so it has a nice topsoil. Underneath that however, is red clay. Every once in awhile I'll dig into it. The Magnolia tree is planted in it and is not doing well. We added manure and wood chips so hopefully that will help.
I have had small gardens in the past and learned how to make jellies and such, but not to this extent! I grew up watching my Grandmother do some of these things as well as my Mom. We lived in the city though, so we didn't grow but a few tomatoes.
I do love my "job" and I wouldn't want things to be any other way! Thank you for the kind words! They made me cry!
Hi Bama Girl! The walnuts we grew were black walnuts with a husk that stained terribly! I can remember having very strange-colored knees and hands during harvest! :) The berry farm was a great job for a young girl! Sooo much fun and I was always running barefoot through the dirt to Grandma and Grandpa's house! :) She taught me to iron, cook, bake, sew, garden, use a wringer-washer, etc! THEN, we would sit down with our hot dinks, and she would always say, "Now, then, let's gossip!" To us, gossiping meant tell about the things that interested us...my school, friends, our gardening, her life in the "old days", etc. Surprise to me when, as a young adult, I attended a new church and met some people for tea, and said, "Now, then, let's gossip!" BIG mistake! LOL!
DeleteI sometimes wish the world wasn't quite so big, so we could be close neighbors! :) I am very grateful for your wonderful blog and all the commenters! This is a warm and "family" place to come to! Now, then, let's gosspip! Hugs, Cheeryshirley
Oops! I mean "gossip"! Sorry :)
DeleteYes, I agree, the world is a big place and we're all so spaced far apart from each other. That's why I love blogging and reading blogs! We can still have a 'sense' of community this way. I am so thankful for my readers and commenters! Thank you, Cheery Shirley, for all of the nice things you say to us! You are a blessing!
DeleteHi Bama Girl! ~ Love your photos! It's fun to see your place progressing and your flowers are lovely. We were just looking at Oak Hydrangeas at the nursery the other day and yours look so big and will be beautiful in bloom. I love birds too and you got some great shots! Homemade ranch dressing 'mmmmm' my favorite! I buy the ranch powder in the big jars from Sam's because I like to add it to so many different things. Your garden looks great! Cheeryshirley made a good point in that it looks like your husband is 'becoming comfortable with the bees'.
ReplyDeleteToo much time on your hands.... that you needed to get a job?! Is that what our society, culture, of today believes?... that one's 'value' is placed on $$$$ instead of 'investing' in our family and relationships? During the home-schooling years I heard a lot of this stuff and chose to be a duck and let it roll off my back. This is where it's helpful to have a 'strong will' as it never phased me or made me question my home-schooling decision. I remember thinking it's too bad some folks are caught up in their daily grind and can't see, or maybe even appreciate, any thing else. I am also like you, in that there is no one of my peers who do and enjoy the things I do locally to be able to do them together. (I've thought about attending our local quilt guild just to get together with other women who like to sew...even though I don't know how to quilt!) Anyway, I've been able to learn from some of the older women these long-ago skills.... but they are not of my generation and age group. Most, gosh really, almost all, the local women I know who are my age work outside the home. Wish we lived closer to be able to do things together. I do appreciate that the 'blog-world' allows us to be connected in a roundabout way, with other like-minded folks, but also understand it'd be nice to interact with an 'actual' person.
Hi Lisa! You are so right! The people I know who may do some of these things are not of my generation either, and the ones I know work, or are younger and don't have any desire to learn! I try to encourage people when I'm around them and share how much fun it is, but they don't seem to be interested. Maybe they'll come around before I get too old! Yes, it would be nice if we lived closer to each other because we share a lot of the same interests. But, thank God for blogging! At least we can connect here!
DeleteHi again! What a nice comment CherryShirley left. She sounds like the kind of person I would love to have for a neighbor! What an encourager! Nancy at Cozy Thyme Cottage
ReplyDeleteMe Too!
DeleteHey Bama Girl! Just wanted to personally thank you for your kind comment about our little pup. I was really struggling the other day when I wrote that post. We just found out she will live and be okay. What a rollercoaster ride it's been! Thank you again.
ReplyDeleteHi Cozy Thyme Cottage ~ That was such a sweet comment! I would love to have you as neighbors too! :) I really like your moniker! Especially the play on words. :) Cheeryshirley
ReplyDelete