Thoughts for The Day

I didn't have much to write about today...until I called my Hubby while on my way home from work. He sounded really sleepy, like I had just woken him up. He said he was watching the news break - that bombs went off at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

(Momentary silence on my end of the phone.)

You know, these kind of things are happening on a regular basis now-a-days. This is really sad. First, someone bombs a movie theater. Then, someone shoots innocent children in a school. Now, someone(s) place bombs at one of the most prestigious events in the world. Here in the U.S. of A.

What is this showing us? NO ONE is safe anywhere...anymore. Our great country is now at the mercy of domestic and international nutcases.

Are we to stop congregating for special events? Are we going to stop going to malls or the movies?

It comes down to 'What are our neighbors thinking?' and 'Who are our neighbors, really?'

Scary, isn't it.

Heart-wrenching events for those who've lost a loved one. Also, for those who've survived and have to relive the moment in their sleep for the rest of their lives. That is...if they can sleep soundly. I know I'd have problems.

It doesn't matter what status we have in life. We are all affected in one way or another. For some, it is more personal. For others, it is as an onlooker.

Let us take a moment to pray for those people who are affected by horrible situations - past and present.

As Tiny Tim says "God bless us, everyone!"

Another 'Not Much' Kind of Day

After our Sunday morning HGTV and DIY shows and our morning cuppa, we made our plans for the day.
"Agenda", as Hubby calls it. He was cutting and splitting firewood from the trees he cut down yesterday.

I did 'grenade brigade' and chucked that into the clean side of the compost bin. Then I raked up around the bin and tossed those leaves and twigs into the bin. Then I raked up pinestraw and put that on our dogs' graves. Then I turned the compost heap and limed it. Then I sifted compost from our black compost barrel. That was only about a 5 gallon bucket full.

Then we picked a handful of strawberries. We got two eggs.

THEN I told Hubby to get the pellet gun and get the rat in the chicken yard. He brought my BB gun and stung its little butt a couple of times before he ran off. I went across the ditch into the neighbor's yard to see where he went. He was alive and running in the pinestraw. Then he jumped and continued running. Hmmm. Stupid thing! Why did he jump? Hmmmm. Snake! There was a rat snake in his path and he didn't want to get eaten. Smart rat, eh?! THEN I got the brush axe and tried to chop Mr. Snake. Too much pinestraw and peat moss between the trees to do any damage. Oh, well. Maybe I got him. Maybe I didn't. Mr. Snake sunk under all of the pinestraw and never came back out.

Then I went to the neighbor's house to tell her what I did and to watch out if she goes into her flower gardens. She is deathly afraid of snakes, so I don't expect her to go out tomorrow. If she does, she'll be packin' heat. I need to get a small cap gun in case of a rattler. I wonder if Hubby would agree?

I guess I did a bit more than I thought I did. However, the house is not tidy, but some laundry got done.

Take care.

Nothing Much Today

Nothing much happened today. I had to go get steel-toed boots for work. We have to do a safety check walk-through this coming week. This is something we do to make sure the plant is safe. Being an admin assistant, it is weird to get out of the office and into the plant. However, this is good since I am a fresh pair of eyes to check for odd things around the plant. What is good, that my employers may not know, is that I was an inspector a very long time ago. I inspected plastics for errors in manufacture. I love picking apart things, which is good in a way. One way it is good is that I can pick apart and recreate a lot of recipes that others may not be able to. Actually, to toot my own horn, my recipes turn out better than the originals. IMHO. ; )

I pulled weeds from my itty bitty strawberry patch. Some of those plants have flowers and fruit. They really shouldn't have any since they are so small. I'll probably end up picking off the buds and fruit so the energy will go into making good plants.

I also made another enchilada pie and some ham and scalloped potatoes for dinners this week. I need to think of a cold side dish to make so we can have a variety and quick meals during the week.

I just came in the house and I am ready for movie night on Netflix. We LOVE Netflix!

Take care.

Learning at Work

During these past two weeks, I've been learning a couple of new software programs. When all is said and done, I'll have 3 more in-house programs under my belt. Ah! The life of an advanced administrative assistant! I can't wait until all of the training is done. I'm getting brain overload with all of this knowledge. I'm enjoying the crap out of it, though. For me, it's fun. Actually...it's fun being a quasi computer geek. ; )

Not much has been going on today at the homestead. We had rain so Hubby didn't do much outside. He did manage to get a round of golf in earlier today. He and his buddy from where he used to work have a standing golf date every week on Friday. His buddy had the upper hand today after the round was done.

Take care.

Night Walk

Tonight I asked Hubby to go on a night walk with me. I just finished baking a batch of double chocolate cookies and felt like taking a walk. It is hot inside and cool and windy outside. The temperature is about 75 degrees F, so it is really nice out. We took small flashlights and the dogs came too. We visited our back garden with the strawberry plants in it and our side garden with all of our tomatoes in it. We checked our driveway solar lights and replaced a couple that had fallen over. It is really neat to see how different everything looks at night. Our 'Eywa' is beautiful and swaying in the breeze. I wish I could get a good picture of it to show you! We checked our peach trees and oak trees that we transplanted a couple of months ago. The peach trees are in bloom. The oak trees are blooming and coming to leaf. We checked the chicken yard for rats...none there tonight. The chickens heard us talking and a couple of them gave out a little coo.

It sure is nice to live in the country. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else! If I HAD to live in the city, I'd make sure I had the whole yard in gardens and bird feeders. Luckily I don't HAVE to live in the city. No offense intended to anyone. I just don't see myself living in the city any more. I'm a country girl and love it!

Take care.

Cleaning Up

I did a little cleaning up this past weekend. At first, I didn't think I did anything fun or homestead-y. Well, I did. I cleaned the chicken coop and yard. That takes about an hour or so. I have one hen that likes to take a walk outside to pick the lawn when I do this. She's my last yard chicken. By that, I mean that she knows what to do when let out into the yard. And she herds back when I say 'chickens go nite-nite'. Sometimes she gives me a fit, but usually she heads straight for the coop. I deposited all of the pinestraw from the coop and chicken manure into the compost heap. Then I turned the heap.

Then, I decided to do a bit of painting to freshen up the yard. I mentioned this in a previous post, so this isn't much of anything new. First, I needed to wash the mold off of the doors to the pump house and repaint them. Then I painted a post that holds a length of water hose. Then I painted all of the pickets around the compost heap. Then I painted the step going into the chicken coop / potting shed. All of this was painted white with exterior latex. Now all of that part of the yard looks nice and fresh.

The only major thing left to do is finish pulling weeds in my flower gardens. I must do that this weekend. My daylilies are starting to come up and I need to give them light and room. I found a mystery plant yesterday. I think it is a Jewel of Opar plant. They are so pretty and delicate looking. However, they take a beating from the sun every year and come back the next year.

I hope you had a great day today.

Take care.

Thinking About Vermiculture

I've been reading on Squidoo about vermiculture. You know...worm farming. Now, don't go saying 'Yuk' just yet. Here is the deal on these little babies.

First, you'll get some good fertilizer from worm pee and poo.

Second, they'll eat most things that you'd be throwing into your compost heap. This would be like chopped paper, rotten veggies that wouldn't go to the chickens, banana peels, dryer lint, dust from the sweeper, etc. Some of the things not to feed them is citrus, plastics, onions and garlic.

Third, I'd be saving lotsa moola on buying fertilizer for my gardens.

Fourth, just like a good compost heap, they won't smell if you treat them right.

Fifth, they multiply quickly.

Sixth, Hubby would have a supply of fishing worms.

Seventh, I would have another thing to take care of. I like to take care of things. ; )

Eighth, maybe we could sell some?

I'm sure I could go on, but I'll quit for now. I think this would be a really sustainable project for us to try. Hubby is interested in this one. I'll let you know if I do or don't tackle this project.

Now...if I could just find a worm sitter...

Take care.