A few days ago, debbie over at the Happy Days blog gave me a beautiful blogger award and asked me to respond by putting up a list of 10 things about me that you may not know. I'll do this one myself WITHOUT Lisa's help...as in the response she put in for me 2 posts ago. She does think she's funny.
1-I DISPISE sports. I've never watched a game of anything in my life
2-I can quote Texas Chainsaw 2, Student Bodies, and Blazing Saddles pretty much from beginning to end.
3-I'm a professional steering wheel guitar player while driving
4-I'm an admitted and untreated peanut butter & jelly addict
5-I (we) haven't had any kind of cable/satellite/antenna t.v. since last January
6-I'm a HUGE list maker but tend to lose the notebooks that contain the lists
7-I am the last of my family name
8-I can't sleep if my feet are covered at all
9-I'll eat deviled eggs till they come out of my ears but can't stand the smell of egg salad..go figure
10-Anytime I am in a bigger city where there is concrete and tall buildings everywhere, I almost feel like I can't breathe. Cities make me feel like I am choking. Even little-bitty downtown Akron nearby. I can't stand being there.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Rainy Day pictures
Of course after just two days of warmth and sunshine, the Ohio weather gods decided to make it turn cool and rain again. I think they're in cahoots with the orange barrel gods Ohio has too...gonna have to do something about that. So, I sat around with a pot of 2 of coffee, read some herb books, and snapped some pictures of how things are going outside so far.
These are the greens beds. Everything is up and/or gone and resewn already. The spinach that was in the bottom left spot was nearly gone and what was left had bolted. It's been resewn as well as the lettuce in the one to it's left.
These are the greens beds. Everything is up and/or gone and resewn already. The spinach that was in the bottom left spot was nearly gone and what was left had bolted. It's been resewn as well as the lettuce in the one to it's left.
This is one view of the front yard. I wanted something a little better, but I was hiding from the rain under a pine tree. That trellis/obilesque has a cherry tomato plant under it, and there are 2 more stakes of them straight up. I just have to make more...many more. In between those are small beds for Lisa's gourds and pumkins that I dug and tilled yesterday. In the center is the 30ft round herb bed. It's nearly finished. It just needs a few more herbs and some kind of border or edging. Right now it contains-lemon balm,spearmit,yarrow,chocolate mint,oregeno, basil,chives,rosemary,catnip,sage,lavender,parsley,dill,thyme,peppermint, mugwart and wormwood. In front of the round bed are two other beds planted full of cucumbers, and behind those you can see the grapevines.
This is just another view of the bed for the gourds and cucumbers, and the raspberries growing along the fence behind them. I can't wait for that whole area to fill up with berry plants.
Just a little better shot of the herb bed and the two for cucumbers. I'll be making something fairly tall for the cukes to grow up.
Little different view of what is above ground already. That one lone onion made it through the winter.
Happy chickens with 4 wheelbarrow loads of grass clippings.
When we picked up the hens, the guy laughed and said "for buying five you get a bonus". I laughed and before I saw what he was doing, he tossed this rooster in the cage I had brought to transfer the hens. He's a beautiful bird, a blue cochin, but I have no use for a young rooster. Anyone wanna give him a home before he ends up in the freezer? LOL
Just a picture of one of the cucumber beds and the grapes. It's hard to believe those grapes were just five little plants two years ago. I have to make something taller for them to vine on when I can.
Partial view of the main vegetable garden. The corn, onions, green beans, squash, and zuchinni all planted from seed just a week and a half ago are already 3-4 inches above ground. Now if we can just get more than 2 days of sun and heat, things will really take off.
Partial view of the main vegetable garden. The corn, onions, green beans, squash, and zuchinni all planted from seed just a week and a half ago are already 3-4 inches above ground. Now if we can just get more than 2 days of sun and heat, things will really take off.
Little different view of what is above ground already. That one lone onion made it through the winter.
Happy chickens with 4 wheelbarrow loads of grass clippings.
Speaking of chickens....in the past 3 weeks we have lost two, one being the cute little banty that was everyone's favorite. We decided that since we have more people asking to buy eggs, that we needed to bring the flock back up a little bit. I talked to my neighbor today, and after he got home from work, we went to his friends house where I got five young layers for $20. That brings us back up to fourteen layers now. I'm going to be looking around for some cheap or free fence and posts so I can expand their yard and rework the old round-top end.
When we picked up the hens, the guy laughed and said "for buying five you get a bonus". I laughed and before I saw what he was doing, he tossed this rooster in the cage I had brought to transfer the hens. He's a beautiful bird, a blue cochin, but I have no use for a young rooster. Anyone wanna give him a home before he ends up in the freezer? LOL
Tomorrow it's supposed to get warm and sunny again..at least for two more days until the rain and storms come back for the weekend. I have one more project in the front yard to do and thats making a bed for sugar snap peas. I'm going to put it in front of the herb bed and between the two crabapples that we got for free. After that, it's just adding edging/borders and cleaning up before I move to the backyard and concentrate on the big stuff.
I have to still move off the 24x3 foot pile of sod pulled from the potato beds, weed the edges of the garden, dig the last 5 foot extension, dig/widen around the blackberries, then possibly move the clotheslines so we can expand the junebearing strawberries in the spring. I may just let that one go till fall.
For now, I'm gonna post this, swallow some coffee, read a few of my regular forums, and call it a day....I'm going to need the rest.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Garden growth & business ventures
Again, we finally got a break in the weather, so things are finally starting to catch up outside. The main garden is done, other than broccoli,(which we can't seem to find anywhere), and the last 5 foot extenstion which will be 2-3 more rows of sweet corn. We did have a good laugh at a mistake though. In the haste of getting things in, and lack of normal planting with a list and garden drawing like we do every year, we managed to forget cucumbers. How the hell did we miss cucumbers? Of course the garden is full now, so I had to dig 2 new beds in the front yard for the forgotton cukes. I put in two beds for them, each 4x8 feet. Of course Lisa also reminded me that she wanted to plant gourds and pumpkins, soooo.....there are 2 MORE beds marked out front with stakes and string that I'll be digging, tilling, and planting today. I also need to dig and till the section I have marked for widening the blackberry bed. It's just getting too big and is a pain to mow around. The herb bed is nearly done too. I got it dug and tilled on Friday, then planted on Sunday when we had the first break in the rain. I'll have to make a list of all the herbs we have planted out there. There are far too many for me to remember.
Everything we had planted last week is doing well. The corn is already standing around 3 inches tall, as well as the onions and green beans. We didn't lose a single plant yet either, so we have high hopes for the whole thing so far. We've been picking a lot of strawberries already too. We picked some on Saturday, then yesterday I picked 5 pounds of junebearing and 3 pounds of everbearing. I still have half of the everbearing bed to pick today, so I'll probably end up with at least another 3 pounds. The total picked so far is at 11 1/4 pounds, our best first picking to date.
The mini-CSA is doing well too. Right now we have stopped at 5 customers. They aren't getting anything but greens, eggs, and strawberries; but everyone is happy so far. Lisa also has a few steady egg customers beyond the CSA people, so we're going to end up getting a few more hens to keep up with the demand. It looks like the next major project is going to be extending and rebuilding the chickens yard to allow for more....yay for another project!!
I heard back from one of the stores last night where I have the staffs and wands on consignment. Apparantly they are both getting great customer reviews, and the owner said that she would take anything that I would make. The other store had a few requests for items that I am trying to work on in my spare time in the evenings, so I'm woodburning designs in boxes for tarot cards, gemstones, and runes, cutting and designing wooden runes, and giving a try at making carved wooden knives. Mike got orders from the same place to make a larger version of this awesome teepee style incense burner that he designed and made to try at the market.
All four of us, (me, Lisa, Mike, and his wife Chrissy) have started a website for our crafts. It is nowhere near completed, but it's starting to take shape. I came up with our company name and Mike has been working on getting the website up and running. http://www.alchemyamongus.iwarp.com
Lisa has been making her jewelry and has a store set up on Etsy as well. http://www.etsy.com/shop/AlchemyAmongUs?ga_search_query=fishing+jewelry&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_page=7&includes[]=tags&includes[]=title When Mike and I get more things made that don't go directly to the stores, we'll be adding them to sell there too. Making them in....yanno....all that spare time I have.
Everything we had planted last week is doing well. The corn is already standing around 3 inches tall, as well as the onions and green beans. We didn't lose a single plant yet either, so we have high hopes for the whole thing so far. We've been picking a lot of strawberries already too. We picked some on Saturday, then yesterday I picked 5 pounds of junebearing and 3 pounds of everbearing. I still have half of the everbearing bed to pick today, so I'll probably end up with at least another 3 pounds. The total picked so far is at 11 1/4 pounds, our best first picking to date.
The mini-CSA is doing well too. Right now we have stopped at 5 customers. They aren't getting anything but greens, eggs, and strawberries; but everyone is happy so far. Lisa also has a few steady egg customers beyond the CSA people, so we're going to end up getting a few more hens to keep up with the demand. It looks like the next major project is going to be extending and rebuilding the chickens yard to allow for more....yay for another project!!
I heard back from one of the stores last night where I have the staffs and wands on consignment. Apparantly they are both getting great customer reviews, and the owner said that she would take anything that I would make. The other store had a few requests for items that I am trying to work on in my spare time in the evenings, so I'm woodburning designs in boxes for tarot cards, gemstones, and runes, cutting and designing wooden runes, and giving a try at making carved wooden knives. Mike got orders from the same place to make a larger version of this awesome teepee style incense burner that he designed and made to try at the market.
All four of us, (me, Lisa, Mike, and his wife Chrissy) have started a website for our crafts. It is nowhere near completed, but it's starting to take shape. I came up with our company name and Mike has been working on getting the website up and running. http://www.alchemyamongus.iwarp.com
Lisa has been making her jewelry and has a store set up on Etsy as well. http://www.etsy.com/shop/AlchemyAmongUs?ga_search_query=fishing+jewelry&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_page=7&includes[]=tags&includes[]=title When Mike and I get more things made that don't go directly to the stores, we'll be adding them to sell there too. Making them in....yanno....all that spare time I have.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Holiday Weekend
Well...the flea market was a total waste of time. On Friday I sold ONE staff for $35 and nothing else. On Saturday, Mike sold 2 necklaces @ $10 each and 2 $1 refrigerator magnets. That was it. $57 in two days, minus setup fees ($18), minus what I bought ($11), minus what Lisa bought ($2), minus a sausage sandwich and fries ($4), minus what Mike bought ($5), minus the food and drinks we took ($15), we came out $2 ahead. It was 90 degrees and sunny. Some of Lisa's treasure candles melted, I dropped and destroyed Mike's favorite sculpture, two of Lisa's clay figures got broken, she got sick from the heat, and now I have to fill the truck with diesel for what we wasted driving there and back. What a horrible waste of two days. We left an hour early, sick, dissapointed, and disgusted over the whole experience. By the time I fill the truck we'll be as a loss of around $30. That may not sound like much, but we were counting on making a few extra dollars there to help., and it just didn't happen.
Yesterday we did manage to get most of the garden in. I started at 6:30am to try to beat the heat. We had a good pace going. then the neighbor behind me stopped over with his brother-in-law from Florida,(who was raised in my house) and stayed almost an hour. Then the neighbor in the back of the orchard stopped by for about another hour, (though I did manage to swap him 3 of my handmade wands for a garden cart and he gave me a barrel stove). Then as I was digging the last 5x24 bed, friends of ours stopped by since they were out yard saleing in the area and stayed about 2 hours or so. Don't get me wrong, I like having company and people over, but it was one distraction after another. The weather was horribly hot and I took 5 minute breaks about once an hour to drink water and sit in the shade. (I drank my 2 gallon cooler dry twice). I ended up sunburned red from the waist up, hot, sweaty and dirty. Everything is planted but squash, zuchinni, beets, broccoli, and the rest of the herbs.
Today I slept in a bit longer than I wanted but was still up at 6:30. I made coffee and did a few things outside then worked on cleaning up the garage and garden tools from yesterday. I tinkered in the garage a bit and made a wreath from the grapevines with a star in the center, then made two small horseshoe shaped beds behind the chickenhouse and transplanted some spearmint in them. We had a barbeque, but a storm rolled in and it got windy and fanned the flames in the wood cookstove. Some of the corn was burnt and almost half of the steaks ended p ultra-well done. Of course, just as I was ready to take everything off the grill, it started pouring rain and stormed for not quite an hour. I wasn't too upset with the rain since we needed it after just planting yesterday, but it only lasted an hour then got sunny and really hot and humid....typical Ohio. The forecast now says rain the next 4-5 days straight, so I have no idea when I can finish the garden. Hopefully I'll get at least a one day break to finish planting. I could now since the rain stopped, but I'm just plain drained both mentally and physically from the disappoinment at the flea market and from spending 13 hours outside yesterday. Lisa is sitting across the table from me making jewelry and I'm doing laundry at the same time I write this. I think it's gonna be an early night............................................
Yesterday we did manage to get most of the garden in. I started at 6:30am to try to beat the heat. We had a good pace going. then the neighbor behind me stopped over with his brother-in-law from Florida,(who was raised in my house) and stayed almost an hour. Then the neighbor in the back of the orchard stopped by for about another hour, (though I did manage to swap him 3 of my handmade wands for a garden cart and he gave me a barrel stove). Then as I was digging the last 5x24 bed, friends of ours stopped by since they were out yard saleing in the area and stayed about 2 hours or so. Don't get me wrong, I like having company and people over, but it was one distraction after another. The weather was horribly hot and I took 5 minute breaks about once an hour to drink water and sit in the shade. (I drank my 2 gallon cooler dry twice). I ended up sunburned red from the waist up, hot, sweaty and dirty. Everything is planted but squash, zuchinni, beets, broccoli, and the rest of the herbs.
Today I slept in a bit longer than I wanted but was still up at 6:30. I made coffee and did a few things outside then worked on cleaning up the garage and garden tools from yesterday. I tinkered in the garage a bit and made a wreath from the grapevines with a star in the center, then made two small horseshoe shaped beds behind the chickenhouse and transplanted some spearmint in them. We had a barbeque, but a storm rolled in and it got windy and fanned the flames in the wood cookstove. Some of the corn was burnt and almost half of the steaks ended p ultra-well done. Of course, just as I was ready to take everything off the grill, it started pouring rain and stormed for not quite an hour. I wasn't too upset with the rain since we needed it after just planting yesterday, but it only lasted an hour then got sunny and really hot and humid....typical Ohio. The forecast now says rain the next 4-5 days straight, so I have no idea when I can finish the garden. Hopefully I'll get at least a one day break to finish planting. I could now since the rain stopped, but I'm just plain drained both mentally and physically from the disappoinment at the flea market and from spending 13 hours outside yesterday. Lisa is sitting across the table from me making jewelry and I'm doing laundry at the same time I write this. I think it's gonna be an early night............................................
Friday, May 28, 2010
Friday's flea market adventures...and a surprise
This morning my friend Mike and I set off to the flea market at 4am. The people there told me that it got so busy that I should be there at 5 or sooner to get an open spot. All I can say is one word..........LIARS! lol There were quite a few people set up, and others arriving with and after us to set up, but we found after putting up tables and displays that the place was half empty. We talked to a few other vendors, and they all said that Friday is slow and basically a setup day for everyone planning for Saturday and Monday. AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHH I was up making coffee and sandwiches at 3 am for nothing!!! I wanna know who I talked to on the phone so I can slap 'em silly. *sigh* The price for the spot was marked in the corner at $13 and I was told it was an extra $5 for holiday weekends. When the young guy came around to collect money for space rental, he told us that only Saturday and Monday were extra, and actually that Friday was half price. So the spot cost us $6.50 instead of the $18 we expected. I felt a little justified with my irritation over getting there before the sun thought about rising. Maybe this day was going to be ok.........or so I thought.
When these people said slow, they meant SLOW. There were a lot of people walking around, but most of them were the regular flea market vendors. You know...the type that will buy something from you for $5 then take it to thier table and sell it for $8. Yea, those guys were everywhere. Of course there were the typical flea market buyers that never bothered to look, and just asked for specific things.....lionel trains, pocktknives, watches, guns, WWII items, etc. I know they're after certain things, but c'mon folks, learn some manners. Don't just stop and yell then say I have stupid stuff. Quite a few times I eyeballed the meat grinder at the table next door hoping for that one next rude old guy so I could make a great big batch of Grumpy Ass Sausage, but I held my patience and smiled. One even stopped, picked up a wand, and said to his friend "what the hell would anyone want THIS for", to which I politely responded "to smack you upside the head with". Hmm..wonder why he didn't come inside the tents and look around.
I do have to mention one really awesome, incredible, and totally amazing thing about today. Guess what?..................I'm a celebrity! Thats right. You didn't misread this. I'm a celebrity. Remember the posts that I've made about the flea market and the staffs I was making to sell? Yea.....I had someone stop in, looked at the staffs, and asked if my name was Chris. "yea thats me" I responded in total curiousity. "from One Acre Homestead?" he asked. I stood up rather puzzled and said "yes". I walked over, shook my hand and asked how he knew me. It turns out that he is a long time follower of this blog and came all the way from Chatanooga Tenneessee to visit this historic flea market and to see my incredible woodcarving skills. Can you believe that??????? Well, you shouldn't lol. He is a blog follower, but he's local. Actually from the same town the flea market is in, 10 minutes from our house. (gotta admit my story is WAY cooler) It was great to find someone that reads the blog and follows it, local or not. I wish I could remember your name. Sorry, but I'm HORRIBLE with names, but thank you for stopping by and saying hello. It was a pleasure to meet you.
So..........now for the grand total sales figure for the day. An hour and a half before the market officially opened, I sold one staff for $35. Mike pushed his merchandise and the refrigerator magnets that his wife had made, and made a whopping whole dollar. Yep.....36 bucks. Now subtract the money for renting the spot, and we made $19.50. Then (lol) subtract the $5 I spent on an oil lamp (hey its a nice one with a wall mount bracket!!) and we came out ahead $14.50. It got so slow that we left at 3:30, soooooooo.........there at 4:30, out at 3:30, total profit $19.50.....that figures out at $1.77 an hour for sitting in 90 degree weather dealing with grumpy people and making a permanent mark of a lawn chair on my ass cheeks.
I was assured by everyone I talked to that tomorrow will be INSANE. One guy even told us that it took him 3 hours to get to the flea market from the highway, which is under 10 miles. Another said that it gets so busy you end up waiting 30 minutes to use the bathroom or an hour to get a cup of coffee. We shall see mister flea market.....we shall see.
Keep your fingers crossed for me folks! Another day like today and you may see me on the evening news. "Ohio man goes insane at flea market and puts 3 people through meat grinder".
When these people said slow, they meant SLOW. There were a lot of people walking around, but most of them were the regular flea market vendors. You know...the type that will buy something from you for $5 then take it to thier table and sell it for $8. Yea, those guys were everywhere. Of course there were the typical flea market buyers that never bothered to look, and just asked for specific things.....lionel trains, pocktknives, watches, guns, WWII items, etc. I know they're after certain things, but c'mon folks, learn some manners. Don't just stop and yell then say I have stupid stuff. Quite a few times I eyeballed the meat grinder at the table next door hoping for that one next rude old guy so I could make a great big batch of Grumpy Ass Sausage, but I held my patience and smiled. One even stopped, picked up a wand, and said to his friend "what the hell would anyone want THIS for", to which I politely responded "to smack you upside the head with". Hmm..wonder why he didn't come inside the tents and look around.
I do have to mention one really awesome, incredible, and totally amazing thing about today. Guess what?..................I'm a celebrity! Thats right. You didn't misread this. I'm a celebrity. Remember the posts that I've made about the flea market and the staffs I was making to sell? Yea.....I had someone stop in, looked at the staffs, and asked if my name was Chris. "yea thats me" I responded in total curiousity. "from One Acre Homestead?" he asked. I stood up rather puzzled and said "yes". I walked over, shook my hand and asked how he knew me. It turns out that he is a long time follower of this blog and came all the way from Chatanooga Tenneessee to visit this historic flea market and to see my incredible woodcarving skills. Can you believe that??????? Well, you shouldn't lol. He is a blog follower, but he's local. Actually from the same town the flea market is in, 10 minutes from our house. (gotta admit my story is WAY cooler) It was great to find someone that reads the blog and follows it, local or not. I wish I could remember your name. Sorry, but I'm HORRIBLE with names, but thank you for stopping by and saying hello. It was a pleasure to meet you.
So..........now for the grand total sales figure for the day. An hour and a half before the market officially opened, I sold one staff for $35. Mike pushed his merchandise and the refrigerator magnets that his wife had made, and made a whopping whole dollar. Yep.....36 bucks. Now subtract the money for renting the spot, and we made $19.50. Then (lol) subtract the $5 I spent on an oil lamp (hey its a nice one with a wall mount bracket!!) and we came out ahead $14.50. It got so slow that we left at 3:30, soooooooo.........there at 4:30, out at 3:30, total profit $19.50.....that figures out at $1.77 an hour for sitting in 90 degree weather dealing with grumpy people and making a permanent mark of a lawn chair on my ass cheeks.
I was assured by everyone I talked to that tomorrow will be INSANE. One guy even told us that it took him 3 hours to get to the flea market from the highway, which is under 10 miles. Another said that it gets so busy you end up waiting 30 minutes to use the bathroom or an hour to get a cup of coffee. We shall see mister flea market.....we shall see.
Keep your fingers crossed for me folks! Another day like today and you may see me on the evening news. "Ohio man goes insane at flea market and puts 3 people through meat grinder".
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Holiday Weekened Happenings
Yesterday was finally nice enough that I was able to spend the whole day outside, around 75 and sunny, yeehaaa. I had two new strawberry beds marked out do thin and transfer from the overstuffed 6x24 bed, but since this weather has been so bad, I was never able to get them finished. Of course, now the plants are blooming and starting to bear fruit, so I don't want to dig any and chance killing them. So instead, I moved things around a bit and made three beds the same size instead of two. Two we'll use for potato's, and the third will be either bush cucumbers or more corn. Next year they'll get strawberry plants.
I staked out the main garden addition, adding another 4 feet, widened the blackberry bed since it's gotten to be a pain to mow around, and added a small triangular bed in front of the blackberries and beside one of the new beds. I hate wasted space and open grass, so that at least took care of the small roughly 6x9 area. I don't think we'll have a problem filling it with something, lol.
With our love of vegetable gardening and hatred of open grass, we've decided to take on yet another little venture. We're going to run a little CSA out of the place. Lisa already has two people on board wanting in, and we'll take on 2-3 more for this year, just to see how it goes. We're offering them a pretty low price for vegetables, fruit, and eggs every two weeks through early October. If the herb bed does well, we'll add fresh and tried herbs, along with some homemade teas. If all goes well, next year we'll plan on more people and more garden expansions. Right now we'll stick with the 4-5 people as an experiment.
We aren't going to get rich off of this by any means, but we'll make a tiny profit and basically get our own produce for free since the fees will cover the cost of plants and seeds. For now I won't count our time since we would be planting the same things anyway. We'll track everything we do time-wise and with production vs sales and evaluate everything for another go next season.
Today I *have* to spend the day inside finishing the things for the flea market this Friday and Saturday. It's gonna make me insane staying inside when it's so nice out already, but I have to get these done. My friend Mike and I will be there all day Friday and the wives will be with us on Saturday. Both days will be from 5am to 5pm...ugh, but I hope things go well and we sell quite a bit of items. After that, it's ALL garden time. Lisa will be off work Sunday and Monday, so those will be our massive catch-up days. I'll keep things posted on how the flea market goes and how things are going oustside. For now, I'm running Lisa to work and heading out to put in an application at a local garden center.
I staked out the main garden addition, adding another 4 feet, widened the blackberry bed since it's gotten to be a pain to mow around, and added a small triangular bed in front of the blackberries and beside one of the new beds. I hate wasted space and open grass, so that at least took care of the small roughly 6x9 area. I don't think we'll have a problem filling it with something, lol.
With our love of vegetable gardening and hatred of open grass, we've decided to take on yet another little venture. We're going to run a little CSA out of the place. Lisa already has two people on board wanting in, and we'll take on 2-3 more for this year, just to see how it goes. We're offering them a pretty low price for vegetables, fruit, and eggs every two weeks through early October. If the herb bed does well, we'll add fresh and tried herbs, along with some homemade teas. If all goes well, next year we'll plan on more people and more garden expansions. Right now we'll stick with the 4-5 people as an experiment.
We aren't going to get rich off of this by any means, but we'll make a tiny profit and basically get our own produce for free since the fees will cover the cost of plants and seeds. For now I won't count our time since we would be planting the same things anyway. We'll track everything we do time-wise and with production vs sales and evaluate everything for another go next season.
Today I *have* to spend the day inside finishing the things for the flea market this Friday and Saturday. It's gonna make me insane staying inside when it's so nice out already, but I have to get these done. My friend Mike and I will be there all day Friday and the wives will be with us on Saturday. Both days will be from 5am to 5pm...ugh, but I hope things go well and we sell quite a bit of items. After that, it's ALL garden time. Lisa will be off work Sunday and Monday, so those will be our massive catch-up days. I'll keep things posted on how the flea market goes and how things are going oustside. For now, I'm running Lisa to work and heading out to put in an application at a local garden center.
Friday, May 21, 2010
What's that bright thing in the sky???
FINALLY FINALLY this rain and cool weather has given me a break. Yesterday was sunny and near 80. The plan was to mow the worthless grass since it was 2 days away from needing bailed, but the always spring-finicky Loboy didn't want to start. I charged the battery, changed the oil, then noticed a gas leak at the carb. The leak is a simple rubber hose, but I opted to let it go for a day and use the pushmower. I figured that by the time I remove the hose, go get another one, come back, put it on, and get the tractor started, I could just go ahead and mow. It's been 11 years since I mowed the whole place with a pushmower, and lemme tell ya, I forgot how much walking that is! I imagine it wouldn't have been so bad if the grass wasn't 8-9 inches tall in a few spots, but I got it done. Today I'll definitly get the tractor running. I'm not doing that again.
It was nice in a way though; walking along instead of riding on the tractor. I payed more attention to things. I noticed three anthills that I would have missed. I noticed that the tiny blueberry bush is setting berries. I noticed how much the grapes have grown in just the past few weeks since we had the last actual look at sunshine. I noticed the name written on the wreath in the front by the telephone pole where someone was killed 30 years ago. While it made my legs a bit weary mowing an acre with a pushmower, it was a nice break from just driving along and just paying attention to where the mowing deck was.
When I picked Lisa up from work, she of course wanted to go walking at the park. We made a half mile and my legs were just too tired from mowing. We walked back and sat at the edge of the Cuyahoga River and talked a while before we came back home. On the way, we stopped and got the extremely rare sub sandwiches and sat at our picnic table to enjoy the weather. We talked about what needed done outside and walked around the whole yard making mental notes. to ourselves and each other. We have the usual pruning and weeding to do, and I have a lot of little bed extensions to work on. Both of us love the smell of the various mints and lemon balm we have growing outside, so I'm going to expand their areas to almost double. We're both interested in experimenting with teas and using more herbs for medicinal purposes, so the expansion will work out great that way. We have three different kinds of mint right now. Spearmint, peppermint, and chocolate mint. I can't wait to get them expanded and filled out. I love the smell of them all.
There are lots of things to get done outside, the little bed expansions, the herb bed, and of course the vegetable garden and new strawberry beds. Of course, being Ohio, the weather is going to change again and start raining today and not stop until monday morning. I'll use the weekend to catch up on the things to sell at the flea market next weekend, then have the week to get as much done as I possibly can. It's going to be a long,hard week but I can't wait. I live for this stuff. Sitting around idle makes me insane. I can finally catch up, get some sun and fresh air, and enjoy myself outside.
To get away from my normal blog material for a minute, I have to say goodbye to an old friend who we lost last weekend.Though I never actually knew the man, he has been a part of my life for 30 years. I have many memories of him in song and of those I have seen in person. I am actually in the beginning of day four of my own tribute to him, playing many cd's from my collection of him on vocals. Most people don't understand my view and my passion of my music. It touches me. It moves me. It makes me angry, happy, or just plain want to move and sing at the top of my lungs. His music has never been an exception thoroughout his entire career, whether it was Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, his solo recordings, or Heaven and Hell. His lyrics, his incredible singing style, his massive stage presence, all of them encompass who he was. He lived for music and for the fans. I'll forever be grateful to enjoy his music and to have the opportunity to say I've seen him live. Ronnie James Dio, you will never be forgotten.
It was nice in a way though; walking along instead of riding on the tractor. I payed more attention to things. I noticed three anthills that I would have missed. I noticed that the tiny blueberry bush is setting berries. I noticed how much the grapes have grown in just the past few weeks since we had the last actual look at sunshine. I noticed the name written on the wreath in the front by the telephone pole where someone was killed 30 years ago. While it made my legs a bit weary mowing an acre with a pushmower, it was a nice break from just driving along and just paying attention to where the mowing deck was.
When I picked Lisa up from work, she of course wanted to go walking at the park. We made a half mile and my legs were just too tired from mowing. We walked back and sat at the edge of the Cuyahoga River and talked a while before we came back home. On the way, we stopped and got the extremely rare sub sandwiches and sat at our picnic table to enjoy the weather. We talked about what needed done outside and walked around the whole yard making mental notes. to ourselves and each other. We have the usual pruning and weeding to do, and I have a lot of little bed extensions to work on. Both of us love the smell of the various mints and lemon balm we have growing outside, so I'm going to expand their areas to almost double. We're both interested in experimenting with teas and using more herbs for medicinal purposes, so the expansion will work out great that way. We have three different kinds of mint right now. Spearmint, peppermint, and chocolate mint. I can't wait to get them expanded and filled out. I love the smell of them all.
There are lots of things to get done outside, the little bed expansions, the herb bed, and of course the vegetable garden and new strawberry beds. Of course, being Ohio, the weather is going to change again and start raining today and not stop until monday morning. I'll use the weekend to catch up on the things to sell at the flea market next weekend, then have the week to get as much done as I possibly can. It's going to be a long,hard week but I can't wait. I live for this stuff. Sitting around idle makes me insane. I can finally catch up, get some sun and fresh air, and enjoy myself outside.
To get away from my normal blog material for a minute, I have to say goodbye to an old friend who we lost last weekend.Though I never actually knew the man, he has been a part of my life for 30 years. I have many memories of him in song and of those I have seen in person. I am actually in the beginning of day four of my own tribute to him, playing many cd's from my collection of him on vocals. Most people don't understand my view and my passion of my music. It touches me. It moves me. It makes me angry, happy, or just plain want to move and sing at the top of my lungs. His music has never been an exception thoroughout his entire career, whether it was Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, his solo recordings, or Heaven and Hell. His lyrics, his incredible singing style, his massive stage presence, all of them encompass who he was. He lived for music and for the fans. I'll forever be grateful to enjoy his music and to have the opportunity to say I've seen him live. Ronnie James Dio, you will never be forgotten.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
