WTFE Wednesday

Howdy folks. We are going with some randomness today yay!


Today I shelled a five gallon bucket of black eyed peas from our garden. My thumbs are sore.


I enjoyed it. I find shelling beans and peas and processing stuff from the garden very satisfying and therapeutic!


I do not remember if I mentioned this before, but I am going to embark on creating a Garden Journal, made from the things we plant, or rather ABOUT the things we plant. So when we go to plant next year we can thumb through the garden journal and see what we need to do for the best possible crop, document our trial and errors, things like that. I am excited about it, but I have not started it yet. I will.


I have been collecting 20 oz and 2 liter soda bottles, and I have been cutting the bottoms off of them to use in a project. Check out the bottom next time you drink one, see that natural flower shape? I am going to be doing some glittering and painting and hanging to make pretty flowers out of them! I finally have enough so hopefully tomorrow Alex and I will start on that. Oh, and I will be making my own glitter too. Mmmhmm. I rock.


I had an emotional breakdown of sorts yesterday. Spent half the morning crying over old shit, as in decades old shit. The day got better as it wore on, and I found out I was not the only one having a rough day yesterday. But I'm feeling muuuch better! ( Bonus points to anyone who knows what show that phrase came from! )


Today was pretty lax, I played around on POGO and washed some clothes, reheated leftover chili for dinner and did pretty much nothing else until 9 this evening when I got a wild hair and started shelling peas I was going to save for tomorrow.


My PS3 misses me, but with Alex home it is hard to wrestle control of the TV away from her. It has been 98 to 103 here for the last two weeks, to hot to go outside, and she has not played with the kids across the street much, so when she is not playing she watches movies. That is, until she realizes I am perfectly content in whatever I am doing and decides to intervene, because that is just not allowed!


So the lazy days of Summer vacation are in full swing, and that is alright with me!


How YOU doin???

Just a SMALL fraction of what I have been shelling lol.

Projects...

Happy Memorial Day folks!


No big cookout planned here today, it is just SO hot, none of us feel much like doing anything. In fact I think Jack is taking a nap, he went to rest about an hour ago and I have not heard anything from him lol.


After a kind of bummer weekend, Jack and I got into a blow up this morning. Over nothing, as usual lol. I am a grouch when I wake up, everyone knows this, and after 7 years together you would think he would know better than to..well..speak to me until I wake up. I woke up this morning...okay, around noon, and the house was a wreck. I stepped out of my bedroom, which is by the back door and stepped in dirt, as usual since the garden is right outside the back door. I hate that. I understand with him and Alex and the dog in and out it is going to track dirt in but I HATE dirt on my floors, and to step right into it irritates me. I was grumbling to myself as I swept it up and out the back door, and had he left me alone, I would have gotten over it in about 5 minutes and once I was fully awake I would have been fine. But no, he came at me all wrong and it started an argument that had no point. It quickly burned itself out, as always, and things were back to normal.


After that little snafu we cleaned up and started talking about the garden, and plans we have for it. We are going to raise chickens and rabbits for eggs and food, and for fertilizer from their leavings, not to mention the chickens help control the garden pest population. We have to buy fencing, because our neighbors refuse to keep their dogs either on a lead or in the house like everyone else does in the neighborhood, so safety is a big concern. 


We are going to be planting the next round of crops this coming weekend, and while he and I were talking I decided I would make us a garden journal. It will keep track of what we plant, and what we need to grow it properly and what fertilizer and what not each kind of plant needs. I am excited as I love to do stuff like that, and for the first time in a long time I am excited about something. I think that is part of the reason I have been down, I am bored, nothing is stimulating me, nothing new happens, so starting this project will be good for me I think.


Wednesday Alex and I are going to spend the day at my parent's house, which will also be good as it will break up the monotony that is my every day life lol.


Other than that, not much else going on today. Just relaxing before Jack has to return to work tomorrow. I plan to start working on the journal tomorrow.


I hope you are all having a wonderful day!


I leave you with a picture of one of our tomato plants...this is a Cherokee Purple Tomato, supposedly when they mature, they turn a deep purple hue inside and out, and are supposed to be really tasty. They are of the beefsteak variety and they are already bigger than Jack's fist, and they are not even close to ready lol. I am excited to see what they will look like when they are ripe!

  

Saturday ramblings...

It has been an interesting day.


Alex and I ran errands this morning; paid the light bill, ran to the store for some groceries and a birthday present for Stephanie's 10 year old daughter Destiny, and later went to the birthday party.


We had a good time, it was nice to be part of the festivities, and Destiny really liked her gifts. ( We got her an art kit, a frisbee and some type of fragrance that smelled age appropriate lol. ) Alex had a good time and I enjoyed the adult conversation!


Later after we came home, I made homemade sloppy joes and french fries, and after Alex finished eating and went to bed we watched Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Old movie I know, but we had never seen it, and I thought it was hilarious. I am a huge Russell Brand fan.


I did not see much of Jack today. He was supposed to go fishing with my Dad this morning, but Dad was not feeling well this morning, which was lucky I guess, because not long after Jack did not feel so hot himself. He was asleep when we got back from the store, he said he had a headache. Alex and I left not long after that, and were gone for 3 hours, but he was feeling better when we returned home from the party. Good enough to eat and watch a movie anyway lol. He is already back in bed. Hopefully he feels better tomorrow.


The race is on tomorrow so we will be watching that and having some snacks. Other than that I have nothing planned, so hopefully it will be a stress free and relaxing day. The mood here in the house has been wonky the last week, Jack and I both have been a bit...over sensitive shall we say? Alex has been a bit difficult the last week as well, so Monday I plan to deep clean and sage the house. I never got around to it last week as I was hit with a case of the "I don't give a crap/slack ass disease." I think I need to start taking my vitamins again. I will forget for a few weeks and then I start to feel run down, and then I remember to take them for a few weeks and start the whole process over again lol.


I guess that is about it for now. Nothing much else going on. All the rain we had really perked the garden up, so that is a good thing. I will take some pics soon :)


Have a great Sunday everyone!

I have the slack ass disease....and a good cause....

Yes indeed. I do not know what is up with me, but this week I have not felt like doing a darn thing. 


I have a ton of laundry to fold, and I need to dust and clean the bathroom. I did manage to finally run the vac today, but I did not for two days, and anyone who knows me also know I am very OCD about vacuuming, I do it at least once a day. So for me to not do that should clue you in on just how lethargic I am feeling lol.


I am sure this non stop downpour of rain is not helping matters either. It has not been sunny since Sunday ( heh ) and it is taking it's toll on my moods. It was so bad here yesterday I kept Alex home from school. It was raining when we woke and conditions quickly deteriorated as the day progressed, and at the time I would have had to walk down to get her off the bus after school it was thundering and lightning and just pouring. No way was I taking her out in weather like that!


So yesterday I did nothing but play Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion on my PS3 and cooked dinner and did the dishes. Thats IT. Today is a similar feeling day, but if I do not fold those clothes we will have to go naked lol.


In other news, the garden is coming along nicely, almost everything is sprouted and thriving thank goodness.


I am currently sitting here trying to come up with a menu plan to help me grocery shop more efficiently and better handle the soaring food costs here, but I SUCK at menu planning. I am a " What do I feel like cooking today?" type of person, not a " Okay Monday is meatloaf, Tuesday is chili, Wednesday is Chicken Alfredo.." type person. I will figure it out I suppose.


Also, Mrs.B over at Confessions of a Pagan Soccer Mom is doing a "30 Days of Advocacy Against Witch Hunts" and has created a donation page at Just Giving to help Stepping Stones Nigeria in their battle to help children in the Niger Delta to stop being tortured and killed over accusations of being witches and wizards. I donated this morning, and if you would like to help, just click HERE and donate. Every dollar helps!


For more information on what else you can do to help, head over to Mrs. B's page and read her posts about the subject.


That sums up my week so far. Now to drag myself out of this chair and get that laundry folded. *Sighs*

Surviving Spring Break

How on Earth did I stay at home with this child for 3 years? I used to be with her 24/7. For THREE years. Now she is only home all the time from Friday to Sunday, but by Sunday night I am usually wishing I were the drinking type.


Spring Break started Friday. I have no working vehicle, and Jack works all week. So I am stuck at home with her. Thank GOODNESS for Vix and Steph living across the street with their kids, or I would be in a straight jacket.


Today my Dad dropped by and told me he was going to come get Alex Thursday and keep her for a couple of days. I immediately cursed the fact it was only Tuesday.


I love my kids, do not get me wrong, but my personality is so unequipped to handle the constant yapping and zooming around ball of energy my youngest has turned into over the last year for a solid week. The thought of Summer Vacation makes me break out in a cold sweat!


She has spent a good portion of time across the street, but right now I have her and one of Steph's kids here now. Today they are being good, but I have them on lock down on the couch watching movies. ( It is really hot right now and Steven has this bad habit of traipsing all over my garden plants. )


Speaking of garden plants, my squash, zucchini, eggplant and tomatoes are all about 2 to 4 inches high, and my basil, rosemary and garden sage is about an inch tall! We did a lot of amending to the soil this year, and started seedlings in my mini greenhouse, and things are going much better than they did last year. Jack planted speckled butter beans, corn, bell peppers, onions, and scallions, along with carrots and a couple of other things I can not remember off the top of my head. I think he has some Lima Beans out there as well.


All in all I am very happy so far this year with the crops we are growing. 


Things are pretty much back to normal here. The days are warm ( okay hot ) and the birds and butterflies are out in force...the downside to that is so are the ticks and biting flies and other evil winged creatures of doom, like the wasps and bumblebees. I SWEAR I read somewhere that bumblebees were going extinct. They are not extinct, they are all here in my yard! But even with the critters around I am so happy to see the backside of Winter! The days of longing for Fall and Winter are over. The last two years of abnormally brutal temps for an unusually long time have cured me of my love for Winter. I must be getting old lol.


Jack has been working in the yard for the last few weekends, but the leaves are still falling like rain, so there is a lot more raking to come. I might even get out there myself and rake some. Yes, me, outside, in the sun. Write it on your calendars, take a picture, whatever you have to do to get over the shock of disbelief. 


*Chuckles*


I started going through the closets and pulling the winter gear out and stashing it in Alex's closet, and dragging the summer stuff out. Alex has grown so much since last summer she needs a whole new wardrobe, which I get to start buying this weekend. 


Other than that, it is business as usual here at home. However, if you come over and Alex is duct taped to the wall in her room, just pretend not to notice. 

The Spring Thaw...

Well it turns out that we might not freeze to death after all! Over the next few days, the temps will creep back up into the low to mid 70's, and I, for one, can not WAIT!

At least the days have been sunny, and unfortunately the warmer temps comes with the rain, but I will take warm rain over freezing ice any day!

As it usually happens this time of year, our thoughts have turned toward the planting of our garden. We have planted the last two years, and while some things do okay, nothing does great, and some things do nothing at all. The soil here is very tired it seems, and is just not up to the task of sustaining us. So this year we are taking a different approach. We will be building large boxes filled with mushroom compost to plant in this year, and hope that does the trick. We already have our seeds, but the ground is not warm enough to plant, and the cold temps are not gone, as it has been below freezing every night this past week. Bleh. So it will still take 3 weeks or more for the weather to hopefully stay warm enough to cradle our seeds in the environment they need to thrive.

I can definitely feel the turning of the wheel this year, as the Earth swings back into the time of the sun. For the first time in a long time, I will welcome it with outstretched arms.