Garden update!

Here's our garden today, with that big old gaping hole where the squash used to be.  :(  But we live and we learn and we move on, right?  Our tomatoes are doing fabulous (if they will just start turning!  I picked four big green ones to fry for supper, hoping that would help the turning-red process for the rest of them.) and the peppers are producing about one a week now.  The lemon balm, peppermint, rosemary and lavender are growing like crazy, too.

These are our container veggies, flowers, herbs and the blueberry bush we're going to plant out by the clothesline sometime this week.  There's cherry tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, calendula, basil, the new squash plants and two of our old squash plants that I hope to salvage if I can get them to root.  I had to cut out all the bad stem and scrape out all the destruction that the grub left behind.  We'll see...  Crossed fingers!  I still want an organic garden, grown with no chemicals, so I've got some diatomaceous earth and peppermint essential oil to make a spray that I'm going to use to fight the squash bugs when they come back (and they will) as well as any other bugs that show up.  So far, none of the other plants have been affected by anything so I haven't had to really do anything.

This cucumber is pretty much a showstopper.  I can't believe how this thing has thrived.  I counted 48 baby cucumbers today!  There's cilantro and sweet peppers in there, too.

The sunflowers are coming up by the fence and I hope to have a flower by August!

We put this old Mexican blanket down for Tabbie Hoffman and Banjo to lay on when they're on the front porch, to keep them off the concrete and make it a little more comfortable for them.  Y'all see where Tabbie laid.  :)

Garden update!

Our little gardens are growing like crazy!!  The cucumbers are gonna push everybody else out of the pot!  They look like Swiss-cheese-cucumber plants right now 'cause we had some munchers but I took care of that.  I made some all-natural insect repellent that's safe for the plants, us, our furbabies and the earth and sprayed it on there yesterday afternoon.  Bye bye, muncher moochers!

We have twelve baby squash, five tomatoes and five peppers in our garden!  And grass.  We have grass in our garden.  When it cools off a little this afternoon, I'm gonna weed that grass out of there.  We have Centipede grass and it's pretty territorial.  It didn't like that little spot we cleared, I reckon.

I added a peppermint plant and a lemon balm to the mix, too. 

I'm just so proud of my calendula!  It's growing like crazy, too, in pots on the deck and there's already a bud!!

We got this adorable outdoor swing today for $10!  Larry was working on a rental property and I went along to help.  It's a sweet little house, built in the 50's and has the cutest little porch awning and front door!  We worked on a gorgeous hardwood floor in the master bedroom and painted the sun room.  Larry spied this swing in a neighbor's backyard while we were there.  We got it and a gas/charcoal grill for the $10.  An even better deal!  We brought it home and I pressure-washed it and it looks so good!  We're going to sand it and paint it and put some pretty cushions on it.  And maybe, if we're lucky, find a canopy for it.  I just love it.

We wanted to have a yard sale Saturday but we didn't want to have a yard sale Saturday so we got together some things, I took pictures and listed them on several of the local Facebook yard sale pages.  We sold five things and made $120!  And didn't have to set up tables, lug everything out, stand around all day talking to folks, lug everything back inside when it was over.  None of that.  All we had to do was run to Kroger three times to meet the folks buying our stuff.  Best kind of "yard sale"!!

Inch by inch, row by row...

...we're gonna make this garden grow!

Larry and I planted our little garden this afternoon.  We are so proud!  We have tomatoes, squash, bell peppers, banana peppers, rosemary and lavender in a little plot...



 
 



...and basil, cilantro, spinach, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and sweet peppers in a huge pot.  Rhiana gave me some Miracle-Gro Gro-ables seed pods for Easter and I picked up a few more.  We planted them all in a pot to transplant later. 

We're so excited!!  :)






My calendula didn't do so hot in the egg shells but as soon as I put them down in a pot and set it out on the deck, they really started to take off!  I hope to have some blooms by my birthday!

So I planted the rest of the pack in a pot and set it out on the deck.  

Calendula Dreams, the sequel.  :)

Calendula Dreams

My calendula seeds came this weekend.

I am so excited to get them started!

 

I have dreams of a yard like this.  :)  

If all goes well through the summer, there will be some yummy homemade salves and scrubs for Christmas gifts!  Fingers crossed!

Valentine's soap!

NuMe Natural Soap posted a picture last week on Facebook of their new sweet scent for Valentine's Day and it looked so good (and I was on my last bar of lavender!) so I thought I'd order one and try it.  I absolutely love their soap.  It's all natural, vegetable and plant based and every bar smells so good and leaves you feeling so clean and fresh.  Not to mention a bar out in your bathroom makes your whole house smell amazing!  I bought some at the Country Living Fair at Stone Mountain year before last when Ami and Brian and I went and I've been hooked ever since.  The bars last a long time, too, so you won't need to order often.  Or you might get lucky (or stalky) and find them at a show.  They're all over Atlanta.

I got my Chocolate Covered Strawberries bar today (with another lavender!) and oh my goodness!!!  Their web site says it's a combination of the rich chocolate from their Mocha Mint Coffee scrub and their fresh, clean Strawberry Seed soap.  I say they have created some soap that you will want to bite.  It smells that good.  It's perfect for Valentine's Day!  It's very romantic.  ;)  And it's on sale!  $6.95!  And they'll send you a couple of surprises, too.  I got two mini bars with mine, one Lemon Butter Sage and a Lavender Rose.  Larry's already claimed the lemon one.

International City Farmers' Market

 
I went by the farmers' market on my way home from work today.  We've only gone to a couple of places this summer, Mr. Sasnett's place on Highway 41, Smiley's up in Macon and we've picked up produce and bread and things at yard sales a few times.  I hadn't been to the big market here in Warner Robins all year and I was really excited!  But since it's 182 degrees in the shade this week, it was just too hot for me to enjoy my time there.  I grabbed a loaf of sourdough bread, a dozen fresh brown eggs and some peppers for Larry's omelets, bell, banana and jalapeno, and got the heck on up out of there.

I'm looking forward to going back when I can stay longer!  Maybe October.  :)

A sweet weekend

We went up to Roswell Saturday morning to attend the birthday party of our little granddaughter, Emma, who will be three tomorrow.  We had so much fun!  Larry did a great job decorating with streamers and he had the best time swinging and playing with his granddaughters.

I snapped this one of him and Elizabeth in deep conversation.  :)

 

Here's Emma with the present we brought her.  She and Elizabeth were so funny holding on to their gifts all day!  They couldn't wait to tear into them.  Emma had the side of this one torn away before the party even started.

  

Blowing out her candles!

I finally got to go to Trader Joe's Saturday, too!  There's one five miles away in Sandy Springs so we went!  I was so excited!  We don't have any TJ's down here in central Georgia and seriously, I need to go talk to somebody about that.  We got some really cool stuff and I was so impressed with how clean the store was, the prices, the selections, pretty much everything!  It was all I'd ever dreamed of and more.  Ha!  We got sunflower seed bread, orange marmalade, fine sea salt, pasta, pita chips, barbecue sauce, environmentally responsible laundry detergent, recycled toilet paper, hippie body wash and soap and a bunch of other stuff.  I was just throwing stuff in the buggy!  We got their baked green pea snacks called Inner Peas, too.  And I picked up three reusable shopping bags, too.  I cannot wait to go back.

We stopped on the way home and picked up that king-sized bed we've been talking about for months, brought it home and set it up.  And slept so goooood that night!  We were just worn slap out.  We love our new bed!  Every time we go to the beach, we get a room with a king and we've been saying for months that we were going to get one and so we finally did.  We still have lots of room when Banjo gets in bed with us and promptly turns sideways between us.  :)  Now I'm on a quest to find vintage king sheets!

Speaking of, we found time to hit a few yard sales this weekend, too!  At one estate/moving sale, I found these awesome vintage pieces!  A mushroom oil and vinegar set and three gorgeous green tumblers.  Y'all.  $1 for the mushroom set and $1 for the glasses (all three!).  Wow.  I got the glasses with the intention of reselling them but I kinda like 'em too much.  I found them online and they're from the 1960's and were made by Bartlett-Collins Manhattan.  And they're worth a lot more than the dollar I paid for them!  Larry says I have an eye for that kind of thing.  I just know what I like and I get really excited at estate sales when I find things like this that have been packed away for years, unloved and forgotten.  I can't wait to see what we find next!

The Honest Company

A box arrived this morning that made me sooooo excited!  I just recently heard about Jessica Alba's The Honest Company and I couldn't wait to try some of their eco-friendly, organic products.

They sell everything from shampoo to diapers to household cleaners to veggie washes.  All healthy, sustainable and green.

I ordered some cleaning supplies but I will definitely be trying some other stuff, too!  They were delivered this morning while my sweet hubby let me sleep in (day shift is killin' me!) and when I got up and he showed them to me, he had already mopped and cleaned one bathroom.  I told him not to get his feelings hurt but I was going to go right behind him and use my new stuff!

I loved it all.  They all smell good enough to eat and they work really well, too.  If you've never used natural household cleaners, I wish you'd try just one.  You will notice the difference right away.  I've been using Method, Mrs. Meyer's and Seventh Generation as well as good old baking soda and vinegar to clean my house and wash my clothes for years now and I don't sneeze anymore when I'm cleaning my tubs, I don't cough anymore when I'm scrubbing my toilets, my hands don't get red and irritated after washing dishes and my clothes don't make me itch.  

Earth Day is this Tuesday, April 22nd.  Treat yourself and the earth to one natural, plant-based product.  You will never go back, I promise! 

Compostable cup update

Nearly two years ago, I was given a compostable cup to put in my compost bin and I just wanted to give y'all an update on it.

It is still a cup.

I am disappointed.

Here's Day One.  All new and shiny.

Here's today, Day 662 (or thereabout)

It's not that much different.  Just old and wrinkly.

We're going to build a new compost bin in the spring, when Larry and I sod the backyard.  Something like this, made from wooden pallets and super easy.

I'm not giving up on that cup.  :)

Bits & pieces

So lately, I have fallen in love with California Baby stuff!  I joke sometimes that there's no age limit on Happy Meals at McDonald's.  I've gotten them for years and now they have chocolate milk, omg.  Well, there is no age limit on baby products either.  Besides, it gives me a chance to test them out and see how I like 'em before, um, well, before I might be in need of such things.  :)

I lovelovelove their bubble bath!!  It makes lots and lots of bubbles and it even comes with a wand to blow bubbles in the tub.  It can't get no more fun than that!  And the stuff smells incredible, too.

I've been trying out BabyGanics eczema cream, too.  I've had a little patch of red, itchy skin on both of my legs since March.  It showed up right around the time Larry was sent to the transitional center too early and we were under a tremendous amount of stress and that's what I thought caused it.  Well, he's been in Quitman for over three months now and my leg rash is still there.  I have tried everything that I could find over-the-counter.  Cortisone creams, Benadryl cream and spray, even Aveeno, and nothing was helping.  I picked up a tube of BabyGanics Bye Bye Dry cream last Friday at Target and the rashes are so much better!!  I think the calendula in the bubble bath is helping, too.  Yay!!

Tabbie Hoffman has a new thing that he likes to do.  He likes to lay on a towel on the sink and put his paw in the water.  It is SO cute!!

I finally got my 13WMAZ coffee mug that I won June 18th as their Facebook Fan of The Day.  I only had to call them twice about it!

We had a birthday party for Jessi yesterday at Mama and Daddy's house.  Ricky and Audra fixed barbecue chicken, baked potatoes with butter, sour cream, cheese and bacon, baked beans, salad and cake and ice cream.  Ami brought fudge brownies and we just had a feast!

Here's the birthday girl and her baby girl getting ready to blow out the candles!

Baby Lizzie out by the goldfish pond

Look at that chubby little thigh!  I think even the fishies were thinking, "Nom nom nom!"!!

Yep, Larry's been in Quitman for over three months now and he's still doing great, amazed every day by the world on this side of the fence.  An awful lot has changed since 1976.  He got his drivers "learner's" permit already and he's going Tuesday for the actual driving test.  He starts to school next month and is already dreading that algebra class.  I told him to just take what he could and we'd take college algebra together when he gets home.  I have to take it, too, to finish my degree classes so we might as well suffer through it together.  :)  He's got a painting/remodeling weekend job lined up, too.  I thought that was hilarious because I have a painting/remodeling job lined up for him, too!!  I kinda have my heart set on this IKEA kitchen.  :)  Everything is pretty much rocking right along.  Mama and Daddy are giving Larry a recliner as a welcome home gift and that was the last thing on my list so I think I'm done.  Just waitin' on January!

I finally broke down and got a smartphone today.  I don't like signing contracts and the idea of paying $450 for a cell phone was just ridiculous to me so I got a cheap Samsung with a prepay package and so far, so good.  It was a little hairy trying to get everything working like I wanted it but now that all that's done, I think I'm going to like it.  It's a heck of a lot better than the 5-year-old old school phone I did have.  At least this one will have signal wherever I go!!

Let it all hang out

When I was growing up, we always had a clothesline.  Even after we got a dryer, Mama still hung our clothes out on the line.  She's told us stories of hanging our diapers out (and she had two babies in diapers at the same time!) in the winter and how they'd freeze on the line.  The clothesline was always a big, even if not always necessary, part of our lives and I was raised hanging out clothes and then bringing them back in again.  Many summer afternoons, we would run out there and bring the clothes in just before a thunderstorm.  I admit I'm lazy and not at all down with being outside when it's cold so I don't even use my clothesline in the winter.  If the Lord decides to bless Larry and me with a baby, our cloth diapers will tumble away in the dryer in the winter.  Ain't nobody got time for that!

But.  All spring and summer, I use my clothesline and I love it!!  My clothesline ain't fancy.  It's just a line tied between two trees in the backyard but I love everything about it.  There is no laundry detergent or fabric softener in the world that can put that fresh, line-dried heavenly scent in your clothes, your sheets and your towels.  I love feeling the sun on my skin, hearing the birds sing in the trees, I even love how the wooden clothespins feel in my fingers.  Like Miss Kay said in the hilarious episode of "Duck Dynasty" where they go to get her a new dryer and get lost, it makes you feel like a pioneer woman.  And not only is line drying green and energy-saving, it's also free!  Sun and wind are free!  

I've been using my clothesline again for three weeks now.  I usually do my laundry and housework on Fridays when I'm home.  Here's my new-to-me beautiful vintage pillowcases that I won on eBay last week drying on the line this morning. 

Pioneer woman, indeed. 

Company's comin'

I spent the day doing some catch up around the house.  The last two storms we've had left a bunch of downed limbs and branches, the grass hadn't been cut ALL summer, the deck needed some water seal and the patio needed cleaning.  I got all that done AND still had time to paint my toenails and watch Fried Green Tomatoes.  :)

Tabbie Hoffman had a little excitement this afternoon!  He was scratching his nose this morning and then this afternoon, sure enough, he had company!  He saw his first fellow kitty in five weeks.  They didn't know quite what to think of each other. 

As soon as I saw this picture, I ran out there and got that little spot in front of the door that I missed!  So much rain and very little sun back there makes for a moldy, mossy backyard.  I used oxygen bleach, baking soda, the water hose, my broom and a LOT of elbow grease.  The whole patio was moldy just like that one little spot that I missed.  That's where the mat goes.  I think it turned out great!

Lovin' on the earth

Larry and I both wondered out loud today if anybody even knew it was Earth Day, if they were even aware that there was a day set aside to make commitments to take better care of the earth, to try to reverse some of what we've done to her.

There are so many things we can do!  You can start small if it feels overwhelming and just do things that affect your immediate surroundings.  You WILL make a difference!

Here are five super easy things you can do!

Turn off the lights when you leave the room.  I know your daddy told you this when you were a kid!  Mine sure did.  He'd go behind us if we forgot.  It helps more than just the light bill!

Eat PB&J for lunch!  Just replacing one meaty meal with a plant-based one will save about 3.5 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions.  That's about half the carbon you would save by driving a hybrid car that day!  Y'all, that's huge.

Unplug your cell phone charger when you're not charging your phone.  It's still using electricity if it's plugged in.

Next time you buy light bulbs for your home, get the compact fluorescent ones.  They use a fraction of the electricity that regular, incandescent bulbs use.

Pick up trash when you see it!  And before you throw something away, ask yourself, "can I reuse this?" and use it again if you can!

Think of Earth Day as Mother Earth's birthday.  You wouldn't celebrate a friend's birthday and then ignore her the rest of the year.  You would love her and talk to her and take care of her if she was sick and laugh with her all year long.

So as soon as we get past this next little cold snap that's coming (crazy Georgia weather!), plant some flowers, plant some 'maters, plant a tree if you can.  And eat PB&J like you did when you were a kid.  I promise, you will feel the difference you're making!

Earth911

I just discovered this web site and I LOVE it!!  Tomorrow is Earth Day and this site has lots of great information about how far we've come since the first Earth Day, 42 years ago.  We still have a long way to go.

I try to do my part to protect the earth every day not just every April 22nd.  Now that I'm working at RAFB, I have even more opportunities to recycle paper and plastic and I take full advantage of that!  I wash my clothes in cold water and never leave my water running when I'm brushing my teeth.  I don't use paper towels or table napkins (thanks, Brandy!).  I buy local produce whenever possible and I compost most everything I can't eat.  I keep my garbage down to one bag a week and most weeks, it's half full.

I found this photo at Earth911 and I thought it was really hilarious.  It's the ONLY memory I have of the Atlanta Pop Festival!  I've always said all I could remember about being there was seeing trash on the ground.  

 Recyclable waste litters the ground at the 1970 Atlanta Pop Festival. Photo: Flickr/ejmc

Not bad for a 3-year-old's memory, huh??  

Yes to...carrots??

Y'all know I'm always looking for green, organic, natural shampoos, cleansers, makeup, cleaning supplies, everything!  I just feel like the fewer chemicals we expose ourselves to daily, the healthier we'll be.  I have not used bleach or Lysol or Pine-Sol in my house in over seven years.  I clean my house weekly, dust, vacuum, scrub the bathrooms and mop.  I use Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day for all-purpose cleaning, Bar Keeper's Friend for scrubbing toilets, I have a feather duster and do not use Pledge in any form or fashion and I usually mop with a mixture of white vinegar, warm water and mild dish soap.  I like Seventh Generation a lot.  I love love love my Swiffer and I use old washcloths for the pad when I mop. I'm as healthy as two horses sewn together (I cracked Larry up with that a couple of weeks ago when we were talking about my upcoming physical at the base.  Ha!) and I get compliments all the time about how clean my house is and how good it always smells.  The way I clean works for me.

I discovered the Yes To brand recently and I LOVE IT!!  My favorite so far is the Yes To Blueberries line.  I've tried the carrots lip balm and I like that a lot, too.  Maybe even enough to put down my Burt's Bees??  May be.

Yes To uses organic fruits and vegetables (carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes and now blueberries) and they make everything free of parabens and petroleum and all kinds of other yucky stuff.  All of their products are at least 95% natural, are packaged in recyclable packaging and they never, ever test on animals.

They also give a portion of their sales to provide grants for students to plant gardens of their own.  I just LOVE that!

Everything in their line that I've tried so far has been awesome.  The cleanser left my skin clean and smooth, the makeup remover wipes took it all off without stinging or burning and the lip balm calmed my chapped lips after I'd been out in the cold wind way too long today.

Oh, and everything SMELLS incredible!!!  Good enough to eat.  And I think we probably actually could eat it.  :)  

What I'm loving Wednesday!

Today, on this BEAUTIFUL fall day, I am loving another chance to compost something!  My friend, Jami, gave me this cup yesterday that is made from corn and is 100% compostable. 

This is that Sun Chips bag that's been in my compost since June 2010.  SIXTEEN MONTHS.  And as you can see, you can still read the writing on the bag.  It was advertised to break down in 14 weeks IF your compost maintained a high enough temperature (130 degrees Fahrenheit).  My compost doesn't get that hot but they SAID it would STILL BREAK DOWN under lower temps, IT'D JUST TAKE LONGER.  Longer than 64 weeks??  Come on.  I don't think it's happenin'.

 

So we're gonna see what our little corn cup does.  I'll keep y'all posted! Thanks, Jami and John!!

I'm loving the fall gorgeousness that's going on around the condostead this week!

And I'm loving these few things I have that belonged to my Maw.  I went Saturday with Mama, Ami and Brian to Maw's house and it was a pretty rough day.  Our family is doing what's got to be done, sort through her things, you take this, I'll take that, but it was overwhelming and very, very sad.  Very sad, too, that her little Easter bunnies and eggs and chickies were still out because the last time she lived there, it was Eastertime.

Ami spied these ceramic mushroom canisters and said they looked like they belonged with me.  Thank you, sissy.  They sure do.
 

I thought these New Orleans Bourbon Street lamp post salt and pepper shakers were just the coolest thing!  I don't remember Maw ever going to New Orleans but she and Major traveled a lot early in their marriage so maybe they took a trip over there.

 

This was really the only thing I truly wanted.  It's an aerial oil painting that Major had made right after they married in 1976.  I have loved it since I was a child.  It's of their house and land in Montezuma.  You can even see Maw's car parked at the back door where she always parked.  So much about this picture makes me cry.  The trees near the road that were like a forest to a little girl.  I'd go in there and hide!  It was dark and cool and cozy.  There was a fig tree closer to the house and I ate so many figs one day, I got a bellyache.  To the right of the house, they had a huge garden and we'd go pick peas and tomatoes and squash in the summertime before Daddy started planting his own garden every year.  I saw a snake one time in the shed out back and it scared the crap outta me!  I sat on Major's old blue tractor many a summer day pretending that I was driving it.  Just seeing the house reminds me of years and years of Thanksgivings and Christmas Eves spent there, of afternoons spent there when Maw would come pick me up from school because I was sick (and sometimes when I wasn't!) and she'd take me back to her house and fry me some cornbread and we'd watch the stories all afternoon.  Just so, so many memories of that warm, comforting old house.  This picture means SO much to me.  I will cherish it forever.

 Ain't it so beautiful?

You really have no idea.