The Gardening Has Begun

I have been very busy the last couple of days getting my self-watering container garden going. I spend 2 days getting the potting mix assembled and the buckets filled. So far I have 8 for tomatoes, 6 for sweet peppers, 2 for carrots and Jake's old toy wheelbarrow for herbs.

I want to try and get the garden rototilled and get my cabbage started today. I also need to string the pea trellis and get busy sewing the fabric bags that I am going to grow my potatoes in this year. I pre-cut my potatoes this morning and hopefully I will get them planted this afternoon.

Well I've got to get busy. If I get a chance later I'll try to post some pictures. I was trying but blogger wouldn't let me post them now.

Good News

We took Hollie back to the vet this morning to have her stitches removed. Praise God the tumor was not cancerous!!! Thank you to everyone who was praying for us. She is well on her way to recovery.

Surgery Update

I appreciate the prayers for Hollie. She came through surgery very well. The tumor did not look good so it was sent out to pathology for examination. It may be cancerous so the vet said to have it examined to find out for sure. Hollie is doing much better today. She's still limping badly and favoring the leg that the dew claw was removed from but she's up and moving. Please continue to pray for a speedy recovery and for the tumor not to be cancerous. Thanks.

Prayer Request

I have a prayer request for my dog Hollie. I had her to the vet today for a lump that came up on her chest last week. She is having surgery tommorow morning to remove it as the vet thinks it may be cancerous and should be removed as soon as possible. Please pray that it is harmless and that she recovers quickly. Thanks.

They're here......

my blueberry bushes that is. I was so excited when they arrived this morning. I ordered 2 Ka-Bluey jumbo grade and 1 Jersey jumbo grade bush from Gurney's. I am very pleased with the stock that I received. They are a very nice size (18-24 inches), have a lot of roots and are starting to bud already. I was able to get all three of them planted. We are supposed to be getting rain and snow this weekend and I really wanted to get them in before it arrives. The rain should help them to get established more quickly. I hope that we don't get snow because I don't know if it will affect them, being newly transplanted. I did apply a heavy mulch around each bush to help keep them warm if it does snow.

I still have an apple tree and 2 different types of potatoes on order. They should be coming by the middle of April. Spring is definitely in the air around here. I have a bunch of tomato, cabbage, pepper and herb seedlings started. I still need to start some broccoli, zucchini, eggplant and winter squash yet.

I need to get busy and finish making my self-watering planters and my fabric planter pots (for growing my potatoes in). I've got about 12 self-watering planters made already and have nearly that many more to make. I'm also planning to make at least 4 fabric planter pots. Soooo much to do and spring planting time is coming on so very quickly.

Happy Spring!!!

Hi All!!! I know it's been a while since I last checked in. I'm doing ok, still healing from my oral surgery. Everything is coming along quite nicely. Homeschooling is going well. We are starting our last quarter next week. I can't believe how fast this school year has gone by.

Spring fever has set in. I got out in the yard and started playing in the garden. We planted pea, broccoli and salad greens on the 18th of March. I've started cleaning up my flower beds and I planted some wildflower seeds in the bed off of my patio. I want to get my tomatoes, peppers and a few other things started this weekend.
I ordered 3 blueberry bushes, an apple tree, and potatoes to add to my garden this year. They should arrive in mid April.

I told my husband that I would like to order a peach tree and a cherry bush. Maybe he'll get me one of them for my birthday. I am still trying to figure out exactly where I'm going to plant my blueberries. I'm thinking on my back fence to help use as a wind block. The winds blow through here something fierce since they cut down all the trees in the field behind my house last year. The apple tree is going in the back yard near the one that didn't survive last year. I would like to plant the peach in the front yard and the cherry bush near my front door to balance the magnolia that is planted near the corner of the house. I'm going to try to grow wildflowers in the bed below the picture window that's in my living room.

I've been working on assembling my self watering planter buckets that I'm going to grow my tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, carrots and a few other things in this year. I plan on growing them on the driveway near my garage. This will free up quite a bit of space in the garden for more beans, corn, cabbage, broccoli and zucchini. The winter squash is going in on the back fence and the potatoes are going in new garbage cans/bins with drainage holes drilled in them. I did the potatoes that way last year and it worked out ok.

The chickens are doing good. Red and Peggy Sue are laying again. Mama still is not laying and I don't think she ever will. Some people who raise chickens told me it sounds like she has a hormone issue and will probably never lay again.

Well, that's about all that is happening around here. I can't wait for the warmer weather to stay. Happy Spring everyone~~~

Happy 2009 and an Update

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas and is having a happy New Year!!!

As for the update~~~

We started our holiday season off with a bang. About a week before Thanksgiving I ran to Louis Joliet Mall for a few Christmas gifts and my van decided it just wasn't going to stay running any longer. We wound up having to have it towed home. It's sitting in the driveway and I will have it looked at after I get everything finished up with my teeth.

Christmas was very busy with all of the canning, cooking, and candy making I did. We also did a little baking. I'm still exhausted. We spend part of Christmas Eve with my sisters and their families before going to join the celebration at my step-daughter's with the rest of my husband's children and their families. Then on Christmas Day I cooked a nice meal and we took it to my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's house and celebrated with them.

New Year's Eve we had our traditional appetizers and sparkling juice dinner. I however, didn't make it quite to midnight. The guys rang in the New Year with horns on the porch at midnight. We had to have our traditional midnight New Year's toast with dinner because I fell asleep.

I went in for my oral surgery on Monday morning and everything went well. Now it is just going to take time for everything to heal. I am feeling much better now. One of the teeth that I had removed was wrapped around or was into the sinus cavity. That is why I always had such a problem with my teeth aching whenever my sinuses bothered me. When the dentist pulled that tooth I had an instantaneous relief of pressure in my sinus and in my ear. It's a great relief not to have the pain and pressure anymore.

Homeschooling is getting back on track after the long holiday break. Jacob attended chapel and finished up week 17 today. We are going to have a busy week reviewing for our quarter tests next week.

Well that's about all that is going on around here. I hope everyone has a great 2009!!!

Fall Activities

I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful Fall weather and colors this year. Homeschooling is going well. We are looking forward to the fieldtrip next week. I have been busy as a bee. I have been canning and freezing our garden's bounty to enjoy this winter. So far I have canned 25 pints of applesauce and 14 quarts of Ham and Bean soup. I have blanched and frozen probably 20 pounds of green beans from our garden. I've gone to the Lemont Farmer's Market for the past few weeks and have been busy adding to the freezer from the produce offered there. I've cleaned, sliced and frozen probably close to 7 pounds of peppers, 3 pounds of garlic and still have to cook, puree and freeze the pie pumpkin I bought Tuesday. In my garden I still have cabbage, zucchini and butternut squash growing. I have some zucchini from my neighbor as well as my own garden to shred and make into chocolate zucchini bread. I have chunked and frozen some of the zucchini to feed the chickens over the winter. I also froze some apples for them too. I hope to get to canning some vegetable soup this weekend. I also have a ton of cherry tomatoes to contend with, maybe some will be guest appearing in the vegetable soup.

I still have a few outdoor projects to wrap up before it gets too cold----complete the floor for the chicken run and winterize it, clean up the spent garden plants and till the compost into the garden beds. I need to redesign the garden beds and I want to trench the fresh pile of ever growing compost in between the rows of the beds this Fall. I need to get the trenches dug so that I can clean out the chicken coop. I also need to cut back my perennials and clean up those beds, as well as do some tilling for an elderly friend. Let's hope and pray that my health will allow me to get all of these things done.

I just love this time of the year~~~Happy Fall Y'all!!!