Everything is pretty and green here!

      I'm so thankful to live in Alabama! Yes, we do have severe weather at times, but for the most part, the weather is mild! Of course the summers are sweltering hot, so thank God for air conditioners! I've been busy working in the flower beds all week and planting seeds. So far, I've planted rattlesnake beans, cucumbers, and squash. I'm going to harden off the seedlings soon, so I'll get those in the ground as soon as possible.

      As I said in the title, everything is pretty and green here! Amazing what a week can make in the weather! We went from cool to very warm in just a few days! Then, everything seemed to turn green over night! We've had a lot of rain, which is to be expected in April, and that accounts for all the green. There are a lot of irises blooming, as well as the Lady Banks rose. The climber by the porch is full of rosebuds about to open. I can hardly wait, since it smells so good! The girls were here this past weekend, but I don't think they're coming this weekend. What will I do with myself? I know, I'll finish in the flower beds, hopefully! The  humid weather really drains me when I'm working in the sun! I can barely move past nine o'clock at night! That's what time we've been eating dinner! I'll be glad when I get caught up so things will get back to normal! I love staying busy though, just not this tired!

      I hope you are getting to plant something where you live! Some of you may still have snow, so you'll have to wait for awhile. I wished I could make a snow angel right now; it would cool me off! I can't seem to get cool for now, and I'm drinking a green smoothie! There are lots of photos here, and there would be more but the camera battery died. I'll have more to show you next time. Have a great weekend! Blessings from Bama!

Can you guess who bit the flowers off and scattered them? Rubi!

The Lady Banks with more flowers. There are even more on them today!

A different shade of purple. This is one of the flower beds I've been cleaning out.

You will see in the photo below this is the white iris. This bed has been cleaned out too!

The bluebirds established their nest in this nest leftover from some other birds last year. It is at the top of a column on the front porch.

You can't see the nest, but it's at the top of this column.

Yasmine and Layla enjoying the swing!

The geese and chickens are enjoying the pile of weeds I threw over from the flower beds.

Yasmine is holding hands with her 'bestie' as Layla drags along behind.

A closeup of the iris.

The collie loves the children!

Apple blooms on the older apple tree. Yay!

Cherry blossoms for the first time!

Yasmine and Layla's other friend. Can you tell the shoes are on the wrong feet?

Alaina is such a diva!

Yasmine's bestie, Eden, wanted to ride in the wagon.

Time for a nap! Look, her shoes are on the wrong feet!

Auntie Amber holding Riley!

Handy dandy steamer working to steam the rice. It turned out beautifully!

Dog wood trees in the back. You like the See Rock City bird house? Everyone should have one of these!

I'm excited about pears on the pear tree!

The white irises opend. The peonies are about to open also.

Pretty, green trees!

The neighbor brought us some horse manure to use in the garden. I'm glad to get it!

The once-blooming rosebush that I transplanted from another part of the property. The hens take shelter under it most of the year. It us full of buds!

A fuller view of where the rosebush is. Just to the right of the beehive, is a nook. We separated the hive and made a new one. You can barely see it in this photo.

Yellow iris in bloom with a lily just in front of it.

I really like the orange iris! There were all kinds of grass and weeds in this bed before I cleaned it out!

It's 85 degrees outside and I'm sitting in the house!

      Grating soap! Thank you Rubi! I was taking the dogs for their walk when I passed by the apple trees and noticed something. They had new growth! I was so excited, I ran over to where they are. Rubi was way down the driveway but when she saw me running, here she comes! BAM! right into my right lower leg and foot! I fell down to the ground in pain! Rubi was all in my face! She thought I was playing! All I could do was sit there! I took off my shoe but my foot looked fine. Rubi got my hat, but somehow I managed to get it away from her. The other dogs came over and investigated and decided to sit down next to me and wait til I was ready to walk again. I didn't have a stick or a cell phone. Cars seldom drive by at that time of day. I finally got the courage to put my shoe back on, and try to stand. I did! It didn't hurt! I walked around a bit, still no pain. I decided to continue with my walk. When I got back, I got the shovel and dug some stubborn weeds from the front flower bed, then got the wheelbarrow and took the weeds to the chicken yard. I was getting hungry, so I came in for lunch. I think I sat too long, cause when I got up, I couldn't walk! I was in pain! I thought if I put on my shoes, that will help support my foot. So, I did and went outside. Or should I say, hobbled outside. I really didn't think I was going to make it, but I went ahead and took some photos, before coming back inside. Now, I sit here and write this. Ya'll know how much I love to be outside! Ya'll know what all I need to be doing! Please pray that I'll be well by tomorrow! I've got too much to do to be sitting! I can't even wash my dishes! Or cook supper! I'm not swollen or bruised! At least it hasn't shown up yet. All the more reason I need to get some freezer meals made! I'm not prepared for this! At least the weather is pretty, and I can enjoy it from inside! And I can visit ya'lls blogs! I will make the most of this time! I hope to be back with good news soon! Have a nice week! Blessings from Bama!

We had these two Friday and Saturday! Oops! The bib is on the wrong baby!

Did you say something to me, Aunt FeFe? The photos don't do the eyes justice!

Big sister, baby sister!

She makes the Keria beautiful! It has bloomed all winter!

Trying solar cooking. Didn't work.

Tried again today, but it never boiled. Unless it did after I hurt my foot! I used a crock since that was the only black pot I had. A painted glass jar is recommended.

I love forsythia! I was digging in the upper corner of this bed. You can see all of the growth that still needs to come out. Yes, our neighbors are very close.

The orange iris is about to bloom!

The purple irises never seem to tire of blooming!

The growth doesn't show up well in this photo. This is what caused my accident!

The new growth shows up better on this one.

A few blooms popping out on the Lady Banks rose.

There are lots of buds about to open; just can't see them in the photos.

It's Getting Closer to Planting Time!

      April? Already? The weather most of this week seems like February! We had a beautiful, sunny day on Monday with the temps around seventy! Ever since then, it has been cloudy, windy, foggy, rainy, colder! I can't believe this is April! Oh well, par for the South! Ya never know what kind of weather we'll experience here! Next week it's supposed to be in the seventies! Now that's more like it! 

      I hope you all had a terrific Easter! We did! The kids were so cute hunting for the plastic eggs! And the candy! I'm glad they went home afterward! (All that sugar!) The Kombucha tea turned out delicious! And so did the ginger ale! I will definitely be making these again! I'm trying to get to make soap again, but I will have to move that to next week. I had two little visitors yesterday, and they will be back tomorrow to spend the night! I am getting more used to them being around, but not enough to do some of the things I do. I want to make a baby sling to put the little one in when I'm working in the kitchen cause she wants to be held all the time. Hopefully I can find a quick pattern and turn it out before they get here tomorrow! (Not?) We'll see.

      There's so much I want to do! I have so many recipes to try, and I also want to weed my flower beds! I want to plant grape-vines, and help the hubs dig a well! I also need to turn the rest of the raised beds in preparation for planting! I know these things will need time to be accomplished and eventually they will get done! I'm just glad to have recipes my family and I enjoy and can make on a regular basis; and good health and soundness of mind to do these other things! I will try to keep you updated on what tasks get accomplished each week. Thanks for reading, following and commenting! Blessings from Bama!

My Mom and Dad. She has very few gray in her hair. Why couldn't mine be like hers?

Little Easter Diva and the baskets we gave them.

Riley is smiling so big! I need a sling for her.

Hunting for the eggs.

The eggs were filled with jelly beans.

Ran's Mom and Dad.

Riley holds stuff with her feet, so cute!

Yasmine and her basket.

Layla loves to be read to.

My hubs, the clown!

He loves to chase the girls, roar!

Big girl holding the baby!

There he goes!

Riley likes to swing!

Win loves to swing on this!

The seedlings are growing nicely. Only about two or three haven't come up yet.

The lovely daffodils and weeds!

This is what it looks like out today!

I love using this steamer!

Fudge Pie! My oven isn't cooking right so this had to go back in and cook some more. It turned out delicious! I just have to set the temp forty degrees higher than what it's supposed to cook.

Playing with the girls, and messing around in the kitchen!

      The weather has been cold and windy here since I wrote the last post! Not much going outside for me, except to feed the animals! The sun finally came out today so I took advantage of the somewhat warmer weather and walked. It's still rather windy, but bearable, much as the weather for March! Winterlynn and Riley were here on Friday with Win, spending the night. We had a good time and I took her home on Saturday.
      
      It's hard to believe that Easter Sunday is almost here! Where did March go, out with the wind? I am hosting Easter dinner here so I have a lot to do every day until then! But, it shouldn't be stressful since I know what I'm going to prepare and have things written down to do on certain days.

      I've been busy in the kitchen as usual, and I made Kombucha! It is a fermented tea that is full of probiotics, which are good for the immune system. I brewed it until it had the flavor I liked, and it tastes delicious! I started out with a store bought bottle and went from there. There are directions on the web if you google it. Or you can use the directions from Katie at Wellness Mama. I'm also about to brew my own ginger ale. I've had a ginger bug brewing for several days and am about to move to the next step with it. You can also google ginger bug if you want to find out more information on that. I used the information from A Life Unprocessed blogspot.

      Hope you all have a wonderful week and a Blessed Easter! Blessings from Bama!

The strips should have been latticed but I was in a hurry! This was a delicious Mexican chicken casserole!

Sleeping Beauty, trying to keep the light out of her eyes!

It's hard to hold a baby and take a photo at the same time!

Little 'mischief maker'!

Lemon pound cake made from lemons purchased for .99 at Aldi!

Barb-q chicken breasts that was used in calzones.

It is so delicious!

I used a homemade barb-q sauce that I won't make again. It was ok, just too vinegary.

Pouring up the Kombucha. See the scoby on top of the tea?