Getting Ready for Spring

This is the view from out the window above

the sink. 



I am so thankful for a window above the sink!

I often find myself just going to the window

and looking out.

Other times I'm there for the not so fun job of

conqering the pile of pots and pans

but being able to view the garden while I work is

so nice!

This little spot in front of the fence is

a perfect spot for herbs.

I used oodles of herbs this late summer while

making sauce.  It was handy having the boys

run down to the garden  and grab some but it would

of been better if the herbs were

closer to the house.

I also love, love, love tulips!

They bring so much sunshine and bright color in the

spring!

I grabbed a pack of 30 bulbs the last time I was

out shopping but they've been sitting

on the counter waiting for me to plant them.

Tim is a morning person.

He gets up with Mark, makes his breakfast

and then does school all by himself.

Tim is a very pokey person so I think he likes

the quiet and being able to set his own pace

to do things.

This morning, he finished school early so I gave him

the job of planting my tulips.

He enjoyed this job and did a great job.

It's such a blessing having so many different personalities

 in our home.

Now when the snow has melted and the days

begin to get warmer and the tulips

are in full bloom, I'll

think of Tim and remember his hard work for me.

Wormpit, Wood and WOW!

This afternoon I was canning some more sauce

when Tim came excitedly into the kitchen.

He exclaimed that he fixed his fishing pole for

our Shiloh trip.

Every fall we go with my parents for a week

to Hatch Lake in NY.

It's one of our favorite vacations

(my favorite!!!).

Together we decided we should build a wormpit

to build up the supply of worms

to bring fishing with us.

I cleaned up the kitchen and headed out to help

them. 

It's a gorgeous day:  sunny with a gentle breeze.

This is just perfect weather!

We got our bucket to house our worms and

started digging up some dirt.

I went to my garden and cleared out a spot.

It was the old bean patch.

I turned over the dirt and grabbed any worms I spotted.

Right next to the rows of beans, I planted some gourds.

This was a new gourd variety to me.

I love planting gourds.  They're easy and so

fun to watch grow.

This summer totally passed me by and I didn't look at the

gourd plants since they were baby plants.

I strolled over to the plants and was totally

amazed by what I saw!

These are the other gourds I have growing for my

sister.  I enjoyed

watching these

grow right along

the tomatoes plants.She does some

great painting

and ornament making with them.

But these I found today just totally wowed me!!!

Look how big this one is!  Mind you, I wasn't

"blessed" with tiny feet.  I have size 10 feet.

These gourds are huge!  Maybe Tonya will have to make

bowls or basket type things out of these.

She's very creative so it'll be fun to see what she

does with them.

It'll also be fun to see how many are out there.

The woodpile is coming along nicely.

Now I need to go get some carrots to go with supper.

How is your garden coming?

Hard Work Mulching

I love gardening but one job I don't

care for is mulching.

I so value the results of it but it really bothers my back.

It's the one job that I can guarantee a sore

back the night I'm done with it!

We're going away to teen camp next week.

 The garden has been very neglected and over grown with weeds lately.

I was determined to get it mulched today.

My fella got me a load of mulch from the lumber mill

down the road from us.

Most of the crew is off to camp and

my fella took Hunter to do a window job with him after they got the mulch.

So it was all me today. 

Oh man, I knew it was going to be an all day job.

So I took it slow.

When I got all done with spreading it,

I was so disappointed that it only covered about half of the garden!

I knew a week away would be real bad!

The weeds would take right over.

When my fella got home from his window job,

he commented he was going to mow the back field as it was very long.

YEAH,  I could finish my mulching job!

As he mowed in neat rows for me,

I began filling wheel barrels and spreading it on my garden.

It's a bit of a walk to the field and back to the garden but

it felt good to get the job done!

I finished the big vegetable garden before dark.

I hope to get the potato garden and the side garden done in the

morning. 

What a blessing to get the job done and

it was free.

The only bad thing is the grass stains  your hands....



and your feet!

Plants and Towels

How's your day going?

Here's a little about my morning.

My Pastor's wife gave me some plants last night 

at church.  She's a very giving person and she

also loves to garden, so when her plants need

thinning, she pots them up and gives

them to everyone at church.

She's a SUPER lady, I love her dearly!

It's a very cloudy morning so it was perfect

for getting some last plants into the ground.

It's going to rain tonight so they'll get some good water too.

My sister brought me some plants when she was here for 

Jordan's graduation so I also finally got them into the ground.

This is along the edge of my vegetable garden.

Whenever I plant in a new spot, I have a bucket

to gather all the rocks.

Our ground is very rocky.  These are all the rocks from the

spot where I put the bush.  I actually enjoy

picking all the rocks out, knowing that spot has that many less rocks

and better ground is developing!

This was my Mother's Day gift.

The fence around the garden and the gates.

I absolutely love it!

Isn't my fella grand?!?! 

He built the fences after he fenced in my garden.

I love the look and the security knowing our

guinnea can no longer dust bathe in my freshly planted rows

and critters can't feast in the early morning.

He got Silas to help him put on the latches with him.

Silas did a good job and did the last one by himself.

This is a normal sight outside these days.

The blue towels are my husband's window washing tools.

This has been a summer of change for his crew.

Jordan and Brendan were right by my fella's side when he got the 

business going.

Looking back, it's rather funny.  They were so young

but were so willing to help in any way they could.

Brendan did screens and Jordan did lower windows.

As the boys grew, so did the jobs

and business.

Hunter started going the last few years.

Now that Jordan is working full time for someone else, Hunter

has begun going regularly with Mark.

Today they're doing a big job!  Lots and lots of windows!

My fella, Brendan and Hunter. 

Eventually each of the boys will be by my fella's side, 

feeling the pride of a job well done, knowing their

hard work helps keep our family going.

Here's the peeps that we hatched in the incubator.

They're getting big.

How did your morning go today?

Twenty Pounds of Potatoes

The last big job was to get the potatoes in.

I still have smaller things like green beans, cucumbers

and squash.

I dreaded doing the potatoes, I

kept putting it off. 
This morning I woke up determined to get it done!

My fella had already rototilled  the spot.

I had to pull out the weeds that were left, 

hoe the rows and plant.

Addan came out and helped me.

I'm so thankful for times like this.

In a large family, it takes extra effort to spend time with 

each child.  This will be a time he remembers, especially

this winter when I remind him of how our work paid off in yummy

mashed potatoes and shepherd's pie!

I got the ground ready and hoed each row.

Addan came after me and planted all the seed potatoes.

He chattered away the whole time.

I'm usually so busy that I often don't really hear their chatter.

I know this is bad!!!  That's why these times are so nice

to have together.  I had nowhere to go and he had my

full attention.

"Mom, can I start burying them?

The job is done and it ended up being a fun time together!

http://wearethatfamily.com/

http://homesteadrevival.blogspot.com/

Yarn Along Hat

I haven't gotten nearly as much knitting done lately.

I've been outside more working on things like this:

The lighter colored wood chips is all added garden.

The boys commented that soon the whole front yard will be gardens!

I did manage to finish this last night.

My goal is to make one for each of the boys for Christmas.

One down, eight to go!

I've been reading home-schooling books,  catalogues,

manuals, etc lately.  This is the time of year I get the books for next year.

Next year will be the most we've had in school at once.

Titus will start school and it will be Brendan's last year.

We'll have seven in school!  Wow! 

This is the science I'll be using for four of the boys next year.

I'm real excited about it!

What are you using for science?  I've always lacked in science.

I don't care for any of the curriculums for the younger grades

we've used so far, so I'm hoping this one will be

different!


http://www.gsheller.com/2011/04/yarn-along_13.html

Wrong-Foot Bandit

What a gorgeous morning in April!

Once Tim and Luke ran out and fed their chickens, the pleading started.

"Mom, PLEASE can we do our school outside on the patio?"

I finally gave in, with many "rules".

NO talking to eachother.

No getting out of your seat.

NO wandering around!

AND TRY to stay focused!

I knew these would be very difficult to follow.

But this one of the joys of the life of a boy.

Sitting outside, feeling the warm air blowing through your buzzed hair,

dreaming of the plans for the rest of the day.

I heard, "Jordan, when I'm done with school, I'm running up to the pine trees

in the back woods and getting some of the soft branches to make a slingshot!"

I'm sure the fractions, adverbs and nouns didn't triggar these thoughts!

While the school was slowly getting worked on,

I began planting some seeds.

I turned the lovely dirt over.  Hello worms!

There's something so rewarding about putting a shovel into the black

dirt and flipping it over!  All that lovely compost rotted over time

making black gold for my plants!

I filled the cold frame with seeds and put some rows around it.

This is my first time using a cold frame so this is all trial and error

for me.  It'll be good to compare the progress as the seeds are side by side.

The fencing is my attempt to keep little feet and guinnea feet out of the patch.

It's also a reminder to me where I planted the seeds.

As I worked, Luke's poor flock was getting chased by the wrong-foot bandit!

"Titus! Don't hit them with the stick! Just chase them but don't hit the poor creatures!"

"What did you say Mom?"

"Oh Titus!  Can't you ever get your shoes on the right feet?"

My Free Pile

Last week the electric company was trimming all the brush and trees

that came close to the wires. 

All that noise was a distraction to my little gang!

Chain saws, machines, men working!

It was also a distraction to me!!

I could hear that wood chipper grinding up that brush and branches

into some nice mulch.

I so wanted that stuff!

Can't you see all my gardens nicely dressed with those wood chippings?!

The only problem, I'm way to chicken to ask those guys.

So, I begged and pleaded with Jordan to go ask.

The two chipping men were on lunch break, eating in their truck.

Jordan ran up to the truck and told them his Mom wanted

to know if she could have their chippings. 

They willingly agreed to give them to the young man's Mom once

they were done.  They said it would probably be the next day.

That night we got about 10 inches of snow. 

The chippers didn't return the next day.

Well, they came back today. 

Early this afternoon, a nice pile was dumped at the end of the driveway.

Every time I look out the window and see the pile, I envision the woodsy smelling
chips

being spread all over the many gardens in the yard.

God is so good with His special blessings each day!