Almost done

I have had the past 3 days off from work and I got working on the back 40! As can be seen fro the pictures on the last post, A lot of weeds and grass needed to be knocked down. Well I put the new Bush Hog through it's paces and it took a day and a-half to get it done!

This is the area behind Terri's house.

And this mine. As you can see, there are a few trees the came up in the spring of 2012.. Mostly Maples and one Pine tree. It made for some tricky maneuver's with the Bush Hog!

Starting next Sunday, I will have another 3 days off and this is what I will be working on then. In that mess of grass and weeds is a stack of wood I have to get out of there and eather clean up and get undercover or burn.

This one is several bags of leaves that will get turned into the garden area.

More wood and an old brush cutter in this one!

And lastly, There is a few logs in there that need to be cut up for fire wood and stacked somewhere.

 So tonight it's back to work and sleeping during the day until Sunday.

I wanted to tell you about the new recipe that I found on line. As I'm single and do have too eat and I want a slice of cake every once in awhile, This works for me!

What you need is:  One box of Angle Food cake mix and One box of any other flavor cake mix you want.
Combine both mixes in an air tight container  mix well and when you want a slice of cake, place 3 Tablespoons cake mix and two Tablespoons of water in a microwave safe cup or bowl. mix well and microwave on high for 1 min. Check to make sure it's done (It may need another 30 sec or so) and top anyway you like. For my first batch I mix Angel food and Dutch Chocolate.

Tom

It's been awhile

Hey,
I know it's been awhile and I have no excuse. But after the death of my Brother, I have not felt like doing anything! His death hit me pretty hard and it was all I could do to drag myself to work each day and come home to bed! I mean I did nothing at home, Not even read any posts from you-all. But that is going to change as of today!
I was so lazy that I even stopped feeding the worms and now the worm beds are empty. Ether they moved out or died and I will have to set up new beds and order a new bunch of worms. Maybe I should change the name of the Blog?

So, the chickens are down to 10 hens and all of them are in Molt right now. So no Eggs for the past few weeks. The total of Eggs is up to 1711 for the year and I hope that they start laying again real soon!

Daisy and Izzy are doing well, but are having a problem with fleas. It seems as tho I have to give each of them a bath every other day just to stay ahead of the Dam things! And the topical oil does not seem to have any effect on them!

I did get a new Bush Hog Brush cutter and spent the day yesterday cutting down the weeds and grass in what I call the back 40. It's the back side of Terri's place and the back of mine, Maybe 2 1/2 to 3 acres total. I got half of it done yesterday and was going to work on the rest today, But we got rain last night and it was to wet to get back to it. I hope to get it done tomorrow.

I put up a new recipe of Bread and Butter pickles a while back and they came out pretty good. I took pictures of the finished pickles and how I did the whole thing. they will follow at the bottom of the post.

The garden never recovered from the heavy rain we got in early spring and the only things that produced any thing were the cantaloupes and the crows got them! But I did get a few volunteers and I have pictures of them too!

Here are the ingredients for the pickles. One pound of carrots, cut into sticks, a large onion, cut into wedges, two green peppers, cut into strips, a yellow pepper, a red pepper and a orange pepper, cut into strips and one hot pepper ( for a bite) also cut into strips.

And 3 quarts of Bread and Butter pickles. Because the garden did not produce anything this year, all are store bought.

In a gallon size jar, place a layer of the pickles, then a layer of carrots, onions and then the peppers. Cover this with a layer of sugar.

Continue to layer the ingredients and finish with a layer of sugar. the sugar reacts with the moisture of the vegetables and makes a brine. For a week set the jar on a counter and each day rotate the jar so that one day it is upside down and the next day it is right side up! Then after the week is up, place the jar in the refrigerator for  and few weeks before trying. NO COOKING!

Here is the mess I have to get taken care of this week end.

And the one volunteer cantaloupe that the crows have not found yet! I need to place a flower pot over it to keep them out of that bed!

And a tomato plant that has come up neer where we store trash bags util I can get them gone. I have harvested several grape tomatoes from this plant

See the ripe ones? They are great in salads!

And the squash plant plant that has come up neer the chicken yard!

It has two fruits coming on.

And I hope it has enough time to mature before the cold weather hits!

More of the mess I have to take of.

And the new Bush Hog that I will use to get it done

And because of last night rain, This opened up this morning! There are more buds on the two plants and I hope to see more open over the next few days

Well there you have it! Again I'm sorry for the time have not been here and I hope to get back into the swing of things from here on out!
Talk to you later!
Tom

No e-mail

A long with every thing that has been going on here, now I can not get into my e-mail account! Just set up an alternate e-mail account at G-mail. woodnut222@g-mail.com, If your interested.
Also can't seem to be able to reply to comments either. So for Spider and Susan (if you read this), Thanks for the kind words about my Brother!
Tom

Brother lost!

Hey Every one,
This past Saturday my older Brother Dan passed away and I have been trying to figure a way to get out to California for his memorial. But it's just not possible! The cost of the round trip flight is just not in the budget. I have been off work for the past 3 days, and that is all the time I can get for this.
Dan was 70 (71 in October) and has had some health issues the past few years. In May he was placed in a nursing home and and was doing better, but early Saturday morning I got the call and was shocked by the news!
I will miss him!
Tom

Rain,Rain and internet problems

Hey Everyone,
While other parts of the country are getting no rain and dealing with fires, we have had a very wet summer! So much so that the garden is under water most of the time! The only things that are still trying to grow are 3 sweet potato plants and a few cantalopes. I have to come up with a way to get the raised beds up off the ground and out of the water.
In the past 10 days we have had 3 days of heavy rains, then 2 days of late afternoon thunder storms, followed by 5 days of showers! The only thing that does not mind the exsess is the grass and weeds. Yesterday was a day of cutting grass and it was still so wet that the mower mostly just knocked it down.

And I have been having major problems with the internet! I went to a new server in May and it never worked right. Well yesterday a Tech came out and replaced all the lines and installed a new router. And that seems to have taken care of the problems (I hope!).

An update on the Chickens....
They are now over a year old and some of them are mollting, so egg production has gone down. I will sometimes get as many as 5 one day and then get 1 the next. But the total number of Eggs sence Jan 1 is 1459! And they are still living in the getto, as the weather has not helped me get a new fence around the new Hen House. I have a few day vacation comeing up in Aug. and hope to get them moved then.

But I just wanted to get a short post in to let you all know that I'm still here!
Tom

Birtday Weekend

I took two days vacation and my regular two days off to have a 4 day weekend. How often do you get to celebrate 60?
So the weekend started Wednesday and I slept most of the day after getting home from work. We watched the ball game (Dodgers and Diamondbacks) and had a simple dinner of leftovers. I had a few beers too.
Thursday was very hot. But Terri and I went to the store and got all the food I wanted for Saturday. And I got some steaks for that nights dinner. It was so hot and muggy that all we wanted to do was get the food in the house and stay in the A.C. Early that evening a summer storm came through with high winds and heavy rain, But it was moving so fast that it did not take it long to move through and out to sea Temps dropped about 15 - 20 degrees in less then 30 min. I took a few pictures

Cooler temps and amazing colors!

 I was able to grill the steaks and get some roasted veggies in the oven. And had a few more beers!

Friday was a pretty day and it only got up to the high 70's with a breeze. My Son Gerry and our friend  Lisa came down and helped with the food preps. Saturday's menu

Grilled Burgers, Hot Dogs and Knackwurst

Potato Salad

Carrot Salad with Raisins and Pineapple

 Veggie tray

 Fruit tray

Terri's Cowboy Beans

Cheese tray

Three kinds of Dip

Corn on the Cob

And

Chocolate Brownies

And a Chocolate Peanut Butter pie! 

And A lot of Beer!

We all slept in late Saturday Morning and had a late Breakfast of:

Oatmeal Pancakes with fresh Blueberry Sauce

Bacon and Eggs

We played board games and Card games all afternoon!

We moved the party out side in the evening and had a great time!

I started a fire in the fire place and of course there was more BEER!

Today is Sunday and that means back to work tonight.

So I'm 60 now and life goes on.

It was a good weekend and I got myself the shop delivered and will be working on it in the future.

 TOM

 

Flooded

Last Thursday, Terri and I spent the day building a few raised beds and getting them set up in the new garden area. We even got some of them filled and planted. Tomatoes, Summer Squash and Cucumbers. I also Got a box set up and got some flowering plants planted, 2 Hibiscus and 3 Corral Rose plants. They will come back each year and add color to the garden.

One of the Hibiscus still in the pot it spent last winter in. I got them from the Lady next door and was surprised that they made it!

Here are the first 5 beds. Made from recycled wood and the first is filled and planted with 10 "Roma" Tomatoes.

We even got a few "Sweet" potatoes planted in tires!

And Terri wanted a few flowers planted next to Marks new shed. I placed a box around them too!

And then the Rains came that night and all the next day. As you can see the beds are all in the low end of the garden and are sitting in standing water! Three of them are filled and planted and I will have to figure a way to get them to drain. The Two to the left will be moved to the other end where the water seems to drain off. And place any new beds down at that end too.

What a mess! I will have to back fill this area and get it high enough so that water will not stand here!

I.m glad that we did not get a lot of beds set up here, as they would have to be moved too. The reason I started at this end is because it is close to the house and I hope that would help to keep the Deer at bay. But as they say, "The best laird Plans". But at least I now know where the low spots are and I can deal with them!

As a side note: The Chickens are doing well and still laying 8 - 10 Eggs a day. 1285 as of yesterday! They are still cooped up in the "Projects" as I still have not gotten their new Digs ready yet. There are only so many hours in a day and so much to do!

Gardening is so much fun, But it takes a lot of work to get it right!
Tom