Littlesister

I have tried that before. I will come up and if it is a cherry tomato, that just takes off. Sometimes I will have cherry tomato plants come up from the year before. Never figured out how they would still live through the winter. But some will make it. I will just transplant them when they come up enough that I can move them to a different location. They have so far produced but it has only happened with the cherry tomatoes so far.

Wow, I still use a lot of that stuff today. I also have a B&M bean pot and have the rotisserie grill attachments as well as one for my mini oven. I have used both with great success. If all this doesn't make me feel old, I don't know what would. I have lots of oil cloth table clothes, and a cast iron turkey, pig and cow. Lots of cast iron pots and pans. Potholder loom as well. Still wear aprons when I am canning. Have quite a few of those. Wood cutting boards are a must. Use those a lot. I use the bacon drippings also. My bacon can is full again though. Grandson loves his bacon. I might have to put some in freezer if it can be frozen. Though I don't see why not. I have a few trivets as well that I use mostly during the holidays. I also have a collection of depression era cookbooks.

Wow, I still use a lot of that stuff today. I also have a B&M bean pot and have the rotisserie grill attachments as well as one for my mini oven. I have used both with great success. If all this doesn't make me feel old, I don't know what would. I have lots of oil cloth table clothes, and a cast iron turkey, pig and cow. Lots of cast iron pots and pans. Potholder loom as well. Still wear aprons when I am canning. Have quite a few of those. Wood cutting boards are a must. Use those a lot. I use the bacon drippings also. My bacon can is full again though. Grandson loves his bacon. I might have to put some in freezer if it can be frozen. Though I don't see why not. I have a few trivets as well that I use mostly during the holidays. I also have a collection of depression era cookbooks.

Thank you Kappydale. Those are great. I have made many a can of glazed carrots over the years. Grandson will eat those. Such a picky eater he is. Not sure if you are talking about store bought canned veggies or the ones, we can ourselves. But I do use both. I like to keep a stock of store bought just in case I have a short turn out of the garden. Those are my backups but do get rotated in with what I have canned as well. Need to start soon getting my soups canned for next winter. Lots to catch up on in that field as well as spaghetti sauce, ketchup, and so much more.

I also have that cookbook. Love it. Though off top of my head I don't know what year it is. All books are packed up right now. I also have the Joy of cooking cookbook. That was DH's favorite one. I have one that was passed down from my grandmother. The Boston cookbook. Lots of use out of that one. Been trying to go through a few things today trying to figure out what I can get put away without it being in the way of the construction work. Working on how the fireplace is going to be done and NO it will not be how he wants it done. He has a way of changing things and I have to watch him closely. I don't want things changed up without being asked. Going to try to get some of my books on shelves in den. I figure I could try to get that much done. And maybe my collection of old salts nautical stuff on there as well. Might have to dust a hundred times from the workers being in and out but at least they will be where they should be and out of dining room. Can't even see the table in there. Going to try to get the spices unpacked as well and start going through those and getting them back into the cabinet. Got blinds up in bedroom and one curtain rod so far. I did put the curtains up on patio door but will have to take those down before construction people get here. Whenever that will be again. But at least being on a corner lot no one can see in house at night. Just working out some plans on arranging furniture after everything is done and how I am going to turn living room into a sewing room/office/and craft room. Don't need a formal living room that will never get used. So now is the time to make that a useful, productive room that I can use. At least as soon as I can get the front bedroom set up for grandson. Right now, it is his bedroom. I am thinking if I don't hear from the construction people by next Wed. I am going to be on the phone. I don't need this drug out all summer. It has been going on since the beginning of Jan. and now here it is June.

Miki those pictures look great. Pioneer Woman, Love those flowers. I keep going back to look at the pictures when I get on here. I took pictures of my poor garden for this year. It is not like I want to get it set up yet because of construction, then grandson moving here, etc. Though grandson was a big help getting things set up as much as we could. Next year comes the big garden. Where you will see the black plastic is the original garden but a bit smaller because of the shed being placed there. Will be opening up a new section hopefully early fall or early in March. Well rats, I transferred pictures from phone to computer and now I can't find them. So will post pictures when I get it figured out.

I am getting ready to pull out my canning supplies and start canning from freezer again. Need to get that done. I just can't wait for the house to be finished any longer. It has been over 4 months now. This job started just after New Year's and here we are beginning of June and still not done. That Chicken and broth looks good. I am going to start pulling out the beef soon to thaw and start getting it canned. Hoping tomorrow I will be able to get it started.

I have heard there are some glass top stoves that you can doing canning on but most you cannot. If you ever get a new stove, if you can't get gas or propane ones then I would check to see which options you have for a glass top stove you can cook on. I have a gas stove though we used to have an electric stove that had those coils to cook on. I hated them. So, when we remodeled the kitchen, DH ran the gas lines for a gas stove for me. I can use to pressure cookers on it at a time. Wychwood, I have a single burner hot plate but have never tried to can on it. I would love to know if you could do that. Would give me another option for canning. Wonder if it would work for water bath canning in small batches.

Pioneer woman and Miki those pictures look great. Garden and flowers look really good. Paulene. Planting a garden is always a challenge. We had colder nights for much longer than usual. So, I have a late crop coming in this year. But it is coming in. I always check for when the last freeze is in then for the nighttime cold to end. I usually start putting plants out when night temps get up to 60 and stays there or gets warmer. I do harden my plants that I started indoors. Though this year that was a challenge as with construction I could not start anything inside or in garage because of their tools and equipment. Still can't get into garage to get things done. But hopefully by end of month they will be done and out of here. I will have to paint the hallway as they messed that up. It is not in contract for them to do so I will just repaint that myself. That in itself will be challenging as my hands are not as steady as they used to be to do the trim. But I am going to try. I did manage to save most of the butterbean plants from the collapse of the raised bed box. One of the construction workers said to get corner brackets and use those and screw it all back together. So am going to try that. I did lose one tomato plant though. It would just never grow like all the others, so I pulled it as the leaves were curling up. Could have been diseased when I bought it. So, I pulled it. All the others are doing great. This fall I will be better able to get garden like I want for next spring in a much better setting. Will be getting fence also to keep the rabbits out. Neighbor said they have a new crop of baby rabbits in bushes in their back yard. I now have 3 young rabbits in my yard. So more will be around. Need that fence for sure.

Things are back to being slow with construction again. They could finish in a day except the fireplace which they have not started yet. But won't come back out till the shower door for main bathroom comes in. So that could be anywhere from a week to 8 weeks or longer. So, I still can't get things put away in closets till shoe molding is in. Not going to put things back in closet just to have to take it all out again so they can get in there to put in shoe molding. So, it's all on hold till whenever. I am so over this. But it is what it is, and I really think this company just can't get their act together and order things like they should. That main bathroom has been ready for the shower encloser for 2 months and he just ordered it the other day. So here we go again. Garden is doing great. Everything is now in bloom so should start producing in the next month or sooner. Will have to get the pictures taken. Though I think I will be replanting the carrots. Still nothing. Got curtains hung up in my bedroom but still waiting on the furniture and ceiling fan. It is so hard to get things in these days. SIL has to get a new fridge for his parents. Hope he can get one soon. Said he was going to order one, but I think he should see if he can get one store in stock. DD said a friend of hers ordered one a year ago and still waiting. I know it took me 8 months to get mine. Jeepers hope your trip was great. Have fun while you are in Indy. I really have a lot to do around here, but so much is packed up I feel like I am moving instead of remodeling. So much to get rid of. But now need to rethink on that as GS could have an apt. within a year if he does like he should and gets his bills paid off. Either way I have giving him a goal of 2 years to get out on his own. He now has a good paying job but needs to pay off bills first and then a good down payment on a new car. That is a much-needed thing for him. His car is a Toyota 06, bad on gas and over 265 thousand miles on it. So that is a must. Then to save for the apt. He would still have a car payment but that should not affect him getting his own place within 2 years. He is loving his job but says it is boring at times. He is still in training. They looked at his steel toed boots and said they are buying him a new pair. That is great. Though his are old they are not worn out, just needs shoestrings.

Welcome Pioneer Woman. Glad to have you with us. Sounds like you are doing very well with a small place to grow food. I am not sure if my butterbeans will make it after the collapse of the raised bed. A few are looking good now but looking like I will lose most of them. I think all the rain we had made the boxes to heavy and the screws that came with the boxes just broke into. So still trying to work on a plan for that one and then after the green beans in the other box is done, I will be removing the potting soil into buckets and redoing that box as it has the same type of screws holding it up and a couple of places are questionable. Though it looks like it will hold up. When I do buy more boxes for next year, it will not be this type of box. Though I like how long and deep they are. They are up on 6 legs off the ground and a good height for picking the butterbeans and green beans without all the bending and scooting around to get them picked. Carrots have not come up yet and it has been 2 weeks. Will give them another week and then replant them. Blueberry bushes are taken off since they have been transplanted into the ground from the pots. We are getting our strawberry picking place back again down the street. Should open next summer. So, I might hold off planting those as I really don't have enough space to plant enough to do much with.

Becca Anne, the house looks great. Didn't get to do my porch as everything is still packed up. But I only have a very small front porch and no room for a chair or nothing. Could get a small pot of flowers on it and hang a reef. But that would be it. Jeepers, sounds like you are doing really good on the moving. Ready for another load to go to Indy. You will be all moved in and ready to go before you know it. I have not missed those Christmas parties. I hated to have to go to them. Haven't had to deal with that since I retired in 2004. DH never had parties at his work as it was the gas company, and they didn't have parties. I worked for doctors, and we had parties. Though the last doctor I worked for was fun. We all went to the colony theater downtown Portsmouth and watched a move and had dinner for our Christmas party. Been trying to get things as I can unpacked and put away in small bathroom. That room is done except that GS, and I are still sharing that one. The main bathroom still has a way to go yet. But that bathroom will be all his when it is finished. Then I can move his stuff into that bathroom and get the towels, etc. all in there for him. Hoping they will have it finished by end of this week but not counting on it. Went to neighbor's house for a cookout this evening. Had a good time. First time in a long while I was able to get out and enjoy the neighbors. It was 3 families. Though GS was not able to go because he had to work. But maybe next time. Finally got GS heavy coat washed but the leather jacket he said he has washed before, but I think I will take it to cleaners to be cleaned. No label for washing instructions and I don't want to mess it up. It looks fairly new, and I can't tell for sure if it is vinyl or real leather. So off to cleaners tomorrow. Then they will be ready for next winter. Did some weeding in garden yesterday and still need to weed where the tomatoes are and that will be done for a while. Cherry tomatoes, zucchini, and peppers are all flowering now. Still not sure if I can save the butterbeans are not after the raised bed collapsed. But if not, I won't worry about butterbeans this year. Though I might check the market to see what a bushel is selling for this year. Still a bit early for them yet. So will keep an eye out for both those and a bushel or two of peaches. Out of canned peaches, so want to get a couple of bushels to can this year.

Went outside this morning to find that one of the raised bed boxes collapsed. So, trying to save the butterbean plants. Got those situated in a temp. place and then we started having thunderstorms. Now it looks like the sun is trying to come out. Will rebuild the box this weekend as GS is off today and Sat. He goes back to work at 6 pm on Sun. Right now, he is still asleep, and I don't want to wake him as with that sinus infection he needs the rest. He got home after 3 am this morning and didn't get to bed till about 5 am. He is loving his new job and now has full health insurance with dental and eye care. I am so happy for him finding this job. I really think it is going to work out for him. He is not a morning person and loves working nights. Will get him to help me rebuild the box tomorrow morning if it is not raining again. Becca-Anne, I have 2 of those Neti pots and didn't even think about that. Will get one out for him to use. That just might help him. Though he is not as stuffed up as he was. I think the antibiotics are starting to kick in. Glad that your construction has started back up. Seems mine has taken another vacation or something. No work all week other than the countertop and sink in main bathroom. Painters did come Sunday of all days. And then nothing. So, hoping it starts again on Monday. He did talk about the fireplace plans. Annarchy, hoping and praying your DH's ankle is doing much better. Euphrasyne, I do hope and pray your wrist is getting better each day and you are getting more use from it as it gets stronger again. I can't do a whole lot around house right now with the sleeping arrangements for GS. He is sleeping on couch in living room for now till I can get the 2 bedrooms set back up. One for him and my bedroom. Working on my bedroom now as I got the windows washed and blinds put up the other day. Need to move the bed and start taking the ceiling fan apart and getting the dust off of it. That fan is going to be replaced but still don't want the dust flying when they remove it. Then will get the floor cleaned up good as that has been tracked up from the construction workers. I cleaned it once and here they come again. So gave up on that room. Need to get that room done now though so I can get my boxes of clothes and other things out of the other bedroom and clean it up for GS. Still waiting on my dressers to come. I am on Haynes furniture like a duck on a June bug. They have sold my furniture out from under me 4 times now. So now it will be another 3 weeks I think they said. It's only been over a year since I ordered them. So, they know if they sell out from under me again, I will be down there getting a refund. Never had this problem with them in the past, but this is the worst yet. Never again will I order from them.

Well, talk about a challenge. Woke up this morning to one of the raised beds being collapsed. Hoping to be able to save most of the butterbean plants. So got those in grow bags for now with some in mound of soil laying in another garden area till I can get them in ground. Started having thunderstorms and still raining. But did manage to get that part done in hopes to save the plants. GS is still asleep as he didn't get home till after 3 am from work, so don't want to wake him to help me get the box apart and rebuild it. half the box is already apart, just need to get the rest of it apart. The screws that came with the boxes when I bought them didn't hold up. They broke into and now will have to drill those out. The other bed is holding up well but with the same type of screws. So, when green beans are done will reinforce that box with a better type of screw. maybe stainless-steel ones. Will need GS help on all that, but not till he feels better from sinus infection and gets himself on a better schedule than he is right now. Poor guy was so tired when he got home this morning, he just ate, took shower and went to bed with Nyquil for sinus infection. Though it is now 1:30 and he is out of it. Must be the Nyquil as he is usually up by now. But with the infection he needs the rest.

Happy Birthday!

I must have hit something that bought up the first post on here. Don't know what I did. But anyway, I'm in on the challenge. I have 2 95 inch raised beds with green beans in one and butter beans in the other. They are doing great. Have them around on my patio. Below those I have 5 grow bags. 3 with potatoes that have now popped through and 2 are carrots that have just started coming up. The 5th one is spring onions. I have 5 more grow bags that I haven't used yet and thinking it might be too late to plant anything in there now as it is getting closer to June unless I buy plants. But too late to start from seed. Thinking about that one. I can put those 5 bags in front of the other raised bed. On front of house in flower bed, I have green peppers, tomatoes and an herb garden going. On side of house in flower bed are the Roma tomatoes, Flower bed in back of house is squash, okra, onions, and zucchini. Though some of the squash seeds have come up but not all. Thinking the birds got my seeds. Cucumbers are growing at back of shed. In back of the garden shed are the 2 blueberry bushes and next year will add strawberry plants there. As for the larger garden that DH and I always planted a huge garden at. That is being worked on for next year as I will be expanding the garden more. Right now, the black plastic is over it to keep the grass from growing. Plowed it up twice and still trying to get the grass out. St. Augustine grass is the worst to get out. It has been about 3 or 4 years since I have planted anything in there. So, the soil had a good rest. Going to head to feed and seed for what I will need to get that area ready for next year. Don't want to wait as I might not be able to get what I need next year. Going to get an area set up for making my own fertilizer. Will get out when I can with the rain past few days and take pictures to post on here. Love all the pictures and Mother, you have come a long way with your raised beds that was a great idea to have them running along the ramp. I always said where there is a will there is a way.

Miki, enjoy your company and the blackberries. Neighbor called needing help a bit ago. Her GS threw a rock or something against the house and it bounced and hit the truck door driver side. Broke out the whole window. We were trying to get plastic up on it as it is supposed to rain again. Couldn't get it on where wind wouldn't pull some of it up. So have a tarp on it also. It will be 3 months before she can get a window replacement. Another Neighbor came over and suggested plexiglass to fit the shape of window so she could see through it to drive. She is not a happy camper at the moment. Grandson thinks I am going to be fixing dinner in middle of night when he gets home from work to eat. Not happening. I will fix something for dinner at my normal time and he can heat up the leftovers when he gets home from work. We will be sitting down and working on a schedule on Friday as he has Fridays and Sat. off each week. In the meantime, he won't starve. He has his microwave dinners also. We will get it all worked out, as he just started this job and not sure how to figure his time out yet. He goes to bed around 3:30 in morning and sleeps until noon. Then gets up and does things around house and though right now he still isn't eating good due to the sinus infection. He will get there. It is all new to him and just needs to work on a schedule that works for both of us. Garden is doing great and now the second rabbit is back. So, 2 rabbits being chased out of garden now. Going to solve that issue tomorrow if it's not raining all day. It has been raining past 3 days and more rain coming. I also need to get out and do some weeding and this rain is not helping that. Carrots, some of the squash, potatoes and onions are coming up and the tomatoes are starting to bloom. Rabbits are now eating on few flowers that I have around the front porch. Though the rain is helping the garden grow and the weeds with it. GS will help me with the weeding if he feels better Saturday. Friday I am taking him to Walmart to find some shoestrings for his boots and to get his glasses repaired. They broke. So, some running around to do Friday after he wakes up and hopefully eats breakfast. Antibiotics should be setting in by then and he should start feeling better soon. The blueberry bushes have taken off now that they are out of pots and in the ground. I think next year we will have a good crop of blueberries. Will have to pull out my net that I use to keep birds out of them. Will get GS to help me hook it up to top of shed and bringing it down to ground over the plants. Then I can just roll it up in the fall after all the blueberries are done till next year when they produce again. Need to get chicken wire for the bigger garden also. Decided not to plant there this year as I have the black plastic over it now to kill the grass. We plowed it up, but it was a lot of grass that grew back as we haven't used that area in 3 or 4 years. I will take plastic off next spring and get it set up and ready for planting along with chicken wire to keep the rabbits out. They are wild rabbits and now they don't run as fast when I shoo them out of garden. They are getting braver everyday. GS is looking at rabbit stew. Shame on him.

This world has gone crazy. Wars, famine, pandemics or plandemics, spread the wealth, speech? Yes, careful what you say. gas prices, EMP's, yes, it is a possibility. And they want to cut off our natural gas as well. Deisel is in very short supply, and we all know what that will lead to. Stores and more cut off from supply chain. It just goes on and on. Even our retirements will shrink in more ways than one. But remember taxes will not go up. Yeah, so much for that one. Real-estate tax, personal property tax, car insurance all went up due to inflation. And if that is not bad enough, I just got back from neighbor's house. Her GS threw a rock or something against house and it bounced and broke driver side window. Totally busted it out. And when she called Chev. to see about a new window, it will be 3 months. Can't find clear plastic bags either. So, we figured out a way to cover with black bag, but she can't drive it like that. Another neighbor suggest plexiglass that can be cut to fit. At least she would be able to drive it. But rain is coming again, so her DD went to get a tarp as the bag is on good but don't want it to blow off. I could go on and on, but I think everyone has a clear picture of what is coming down the pipes. As for me, I am just doing my thing. Can't get house back together yet, so sitting during the day after doing what I can do and reading Bible. Haven't even had the TV on in several days. Watching some news but not much right now. Needed a much-needed break from the news and the Texas school shooting was the last straw. So now the gun did the killing and not the person that went into the school and pulled the trigger. But from what I heard, they shot and killed him. So at least it saved the taxpayers money for a trial, but they will use this to take our guns away next. Though they have been trying to do that for a long while anyway. Like I said it will never end.

I so need to stock cheese for freezer. American cheese has not been on sale for a while around my area. So, watching for that. Never made cheese before but would be a great learning curve for the future. I have made yogurt but has been a long while since I made it. Might need to start back into that when the construction is done. I was looking into those yogurt makers, but not sure about how they would do. Never heard of anyone that has tried using those.

Gotta love the Babylon Bee. I get those e-mails daily. And yes then there is Dr. Fauci. We do have to keep his pockets lined with the green stuff. That might explain a lot.

I always freeze the shredded cheese but didn't know about the American cheese. I am so going to do that. Just need to watch for a good sale. And yes, my GS does not like grilled cheese sandwiches. That boy needs to learn to eat what's good for him. It's hard to feed picky eaters. And I don't do fish every night for him. He never tires of fish. For me once or twice a week is good enough. And I am looking at a second freezer for garage. I just have to get garage cleaned out after the construction workers get their mess out of there. Haven't been able to get car in garage now for 4 months. I need my garage back. It has been a process getting all this work done, but the 60's were calling and they wanted their house back with all the issues of this house. Glad to see it coming along now though. It will be fun for myself and GS to move a big heavy couch from living room to den. Will be interesting to say the least. But that won't happen till the fireplace is done.

Joyfield Redhead, some of what you post I am already doing. I sit for a while during the day to just relax and read my Bible. I listen to Christian music as that relaxes me, I mostly listen to that in the evenings to unwind. And yes, when I feel stressed out, I walk around house doing things that need to be done and talk to the Lord while I am doing it. Got more into that habit after DH's passing. Working in garden is a great stress reliever, and I need to get out there and do some weeding. One of the things I ask the Lord is to let me have a plentiful garden. I talk to him as I am planting my seeds asking him to give me a good crop if it is in his will to do so. I stay so busy these days that I really haven't had time to think about being stressed out, but I know that I do get that way sometimes. I like a lot of the ideas all of you have mentioned. I am going to have to try some of those as well. I do have a couple of meditation tapes but are packed up due to construction. GS did find the DVD's and has been watching those, but the meditation tapes must be in box with the CD's. I will find them as I can get things put away again.

I think what is keeping me going with garden as before DH passed, he said he wanted me to keep the garden going. So, I am doing it for him more so than to keep us in food these days. I do have GS here to help now and he has been a huge help with garden. DH passed those skills to him and his sisters when they were small. It only took with him and one sister. Mostly with him. He does love doing yard work and gardening. Garden so far is doing great, and we have had rain now overnight and most of today. I thought the squash was not going to come up but came up overnight. I will be hitting the markets this summer to fill in what I think I will need if I don't get enough out of my garden. Just have to do something about the rabbit that wants to eat my plants. He is getting bold now. Doesn't run off like before. But will back away from the plants I catch him eating on. I don't have enough room for corn but might be working on something next year for that. I am getting ready to start microgreens. I got a grow starter from Patriot seeds when it was on sale. It is a 4-tray seed sprouter, so hope it works well. Never did this before either. But thinking it will add to my stock. I have tried the Radish ones and liked them. So will have that one going for sure. They were really good in salads. It says they sprout in 3 to 5 days so will see what happens as soon as I can get them set up where I want them. Tired of waiting for construction to get done to get what I want to do done. Miki, I know where you are coming from as I was the sole caretaker for my DH during last part of 2019, all of 2020 with no help from anyone that year due to corvid. and Jan. and part of Feb of 2021 before he passed. All that time he wanted me to do the garden even though he knew he would not be able to help with it. I did do a few tomatoes, lettuce and peppers in 2020 but not much. It was just too hard to keep that up and take care of him. But this year the garden is much bigger and still growing. I am working on more places to plant. My flower beds have become part of garden all the way around house with some flowers mixed in. Never got the marigolds planted though. Wondering if it is too late now as they are seeds. Not sure if I can find plants now. But might just look around at the garden center or Lowe's if I can get out that way soon. I really think we are all struggling this year with so much going on in this world. It seems to play on our minds as to what else could happen and with the stores all in the mess they are in as well. I think we all know what is coming and with trying to keep up and figure out what we need to do to keep our heads above water is weighing us all down in some way. I will have a house to put back together, canning when harvest time comes, keeping up the garden, dehydrating as much as possible and looking into another big freezer. I have a lot on my plate right now, but I know that if I don't get all this done that next year will be a huge disaster. I try to keep in mind that things are just going to get much worse than they are now. I think that is part of what keeps me going and out of procrastination mode. One thing is for sure. I am sleeping better at night as I stay so busy from 6 am to midnight.