I know, I've been remiss lately

I have dropped the blogging ball recently for a multitude of reasons.  It has been very busy here at the homestead.  I have been using up concrete blocks to finish the raised beds.  I can say now I'm done with that.  I got 3.5 raised beds added to the garden, and 1 raised bed for my strawberries.  I have also been able to prune my fruit trees.  Only down to one peach tree now and 4 apple.  I am beginning to clean up the existing raised beds to reveal my herbs still standing.  Something ate my lemon Thyme which is the herb I  use for making cough syrup.  I can use regular Thyme, but not sure how good that would be.  Aside from the loss of my Thyme, I still have Mint, Lemon Balm, Oregano, Thyme, Chives, Parsley, Cilantro (I can't believe that!), and garlic.  Remember the store bought garlic I planted last year?  Well they're up and growing.

I have to confess I'm cheating this year on tomatoes.  I am not starting them from seed (GASP!).  I need fewer tomatoes and so am just going to buy maybe 16 plants that are older and hopefully we will get a good return on our harvest.  No corn this year.  But the plan is for Green beans, a Cucumber plant, Spinach, Lettuce, Beets, Broccoli, Green Onions,and Bell Peppers as well.  We already have Asparagus growing.

Inside the homestead, I have been sewing doll clothes and a pair of Jeans for myself.  I can't complain about it, but I made these jeans what I thought would be a size smaller, and they ended up too big.  I think I'm gonna take them in.  As problems go that is one I want.  It doesn't happen often.  Probably something I did, but I don't care.  Still makes me feel good.  The doll outfit I have been making is my first custom order from Etsy.  I mailed it off today and have started on some other items to add to my shop.

Another reason for my silence of late was a lack of anything worth while to write about.  Writers block is a tricky thing.  Even now I write to stay in touch more than impart some little tidbit.  But just so your read isn't a total loss, here is the recipe for cough syrup

Cough Syrup

3 TBS dried Thyme (I like Lemon thyme)
1 cup raw honey
2 cups water

Bring water to a boil.  Add Thyme and let steep until water has cooled to less than 95 degrees.  Strain out the Thyme leaves.  Mix the honey with the Thyme .  Store in the fridge.  Works like a charm and is nontoxic so you take what you need.  Stores up to 3 months in the Fridge.  The raw honey has antibiotic properties and the Thyme is an ingredient used in commercial cough syrups and is good for respiratory issues.  So there you have it!