Whew! Dodged a bullet with this surprise frost.

Now yall tease, but this past winter has been a pretty cold one for our area.  We had the bitterly cold days, snow, and wind all at some time this winter.  It began a bit early and lasted a little longer.  This is a problem for a woman (Me) who begins thinking of gardening around Dec 26th(smile).  Once we entered April I was feeling like we had passed the coldest part and it would be safe to start planting outside.  This year I am trying to go exactly with the Farmers Almanac in my planting dates.  According to them that was this past weekend.  The advantage would be we would be planting right before rain.  So this past weekend Dh and I got out in the garden and got everything turned under and all the seeds planted.  I also had about 8 tomato plants planted.  Yay right?  Well then we have rain come in but then I find I am faced with another hard freeze.  Like 28 degrees for more than 4 hours.  Yikes and Yikes!  I wasn't worried about the seeds in the ground.  We had covered the rows with straw, but I was facing my little, now transplanted, tomato plants and my blueberry bushes (covered in now open white blooms) freezing overnight.  Talk about your fly by the seat of your pants situation.


Don't they say necessity is the mother of invention?  I think I heard that somewhere.  Well that is what I did.  Come up with something, anything that would work. 

So for my blueberry bushes:  All I needed was to keep the temp around the bushes above the freezing mark.  There was no way I would be able to cover them completely because they are some pretty good size bushes.  I have two lighted boxes my dad made.  They have two light bulbs each and plug in to an outlet to generate warmed for seed starting.  I would be using them as a heat source.

 I laid one box on the ground under each group of three bushes.  Then I covered the bushes as much as I could with a tarp.  I had to string the tarps on rope and stake them down due to high winds.  Had it been the winds would last all night I wouldn't have minded the cold temps as much, but the winds were due to die down after sundown.  So the plan was that the box would heat up the area and the tarps would hold it close to the bushes.  It seems to have worked.  We will see how my blueberries produce in a few months.

For my tomato babies I took a quart size mason jar and put it over each plant.  These plants are already surrounded by a cage, so I filled the cage with pine straw.  This morning seems to be the best time to remove the jars and see how my plants fared.  Well they are all alive.  I can say with confidence.  Which is huge.  About 40% are "what just happened?, where am I ?", but the other 60% are happy as clams.  I am hoping the shell shocked 40% bounce back, but if not, a 60% success rate beats a 0% success rate.  These were tomato plants that weren't happy to begin with so for it to be that positive an outcome makes me happy indeed.  The rest of my plants that have yet to be put in the garden were brought in for a few days.  Last night was their first night outside again and they have fared well.

Today is my birthday and so it is off to thrift store shopping.  Yay.

 

Frugal, effective skin care...nah...seriously?

Yes seriously.  Move over Lancome, Clinic, Etc,  There is a new Sherriff in town.

Winter is extremely hard on my skin.  It gets so dry and no amount of lotion seems to help.  In fact, my face will get so dry I will have dry patches and bumps kinda like acne.  I know pretty right?  Hey I wear make up so DH is the only one to see me in such shape (poor man).  Anyway, I have tried lotions, even the name brand to no avail.  I even bought a face wash and moisturizer from Oil of Olay.  Then I had then fun of finding out I was allergic to it.  My face broke out even worse.  This was not cool.  So I stopped using it and went back to my Dove bar.  Before I used my Dove Bar,  I was thinking how would be the best way to get any residue of the face wash off my face.  I thought of my old stand by of Baking Soda.  It is great for washing hair.  You would think it would dry the hair out, but the exact opposite is true.  So I thought why not try it to exfoliate my face.  Well let me tell you it worked like a charm!  My skin wasn't dry afterward.  In fact it was so soft and smooth.  Yay! 
I still had this sore place why my skin had gotten so dry it had actually cracked.  What to do about that?  I started using clear aloe vera (the 100% kind) as a moisturizer. It helped some but I needed a real moisturizer.  Well I had a friend(Hey Lisa R) tell me one time she uses a small amount of coconut oil as a moisturizer.  So I picked up some at the store (you will find it in the baking isle with the oils).  You can get the organic, cold pressed, etc if you want, but I just picked up the ole Louana brand.  This was a test and I try to not spend a lot on tests.  Well it worked!  Boy did it ever! 

So my new routine goes like this:

Every other day, usually while in the shower, I make a paste of baking soda and water and scrub my face.  Just like if you were washing your face.  I don't use soap on my face that day.  The other days I use my Dove bar.
When I get out of the shower, I will take a little aloe vera and coconut oil and mix it together in the palm of my hand.  The warmth of your hand will melt the oil and so they mix well,  Then I apply it to my face.  I have been doing this routine for about 5 days.  The bumps are gone, the dry patches are gone, and best of all the sore place on my face is healed!  I have started using the aloe/coconut mixture as an all over body lotion as well and for the first time this winter I am not itching!

The Coconut oil is $7 for  a quart size jar.  The Aloe Vera I bought at Doller General for $1 and the baking soda is .50 for a 1 lb box.  $8.50 for a good skin care routine.  I will take that any day. I am planning on finding a larger bottle of the Aloe to get a discounted price.  We will see.  The one I got was I think 12 oz.   Try it.  If you don't like it you can use the coconut oil for baking, the soda for a zillion things, and the Aloe for sun burns.   

Wouldn't want to leave you hanging....

I know my posts have been few and far between.  It's mainly because A) Busy, busy, busy, and B) nothing really earth shattering to share.  I don't want to just leave you guys in cyber space, so I thought I would drop in and say Howdy........Howdy.  Okay see ya later.  JUST KIDDING!

My business comes from trying to get the garden in.  Little by little it is taking shape, but doing it with a shovel and pic axe is slower going.  I have to say I like my tiller.  Blooms are on my berries and fruit trees.  I might actually get a couple of peaches, but I don't want to hope yet.  We'll see.  I have managed to harvest a little spinach and lettuce, but I think I should have planted more.  The broccoli and cabbage are coming along, and I have 62 tomato plants (Unless I inadvertently kill them lol). 

On the frugal front this week, I

1. Have hung 2 loads of clothes each day on a newly restrung umbrella clothes line I have.
2.  Re strung a clothes line (huh, I guess that should have been first).
3.  Harvested spinach from the garden
4.  Cut my hair. 
5.  Got a good deal on loaf bread (wheat no HFCS) at Aldi.  .65 a loaf.  Bought and froze about 6 loaves.  I don't do as much bread making in the summer due to it heating up our house so much.  This is a good deal.
6.Went thrift store shopping with hubby and the young men (trying to not say boys anymore).  Got some books, Hubby found some CDs to download on his MP3 player, got some terracotta pots for .50 (Big ones), a looks new granite ware stock pot for $2.50 for my daughter, fabric, and some other things.


Full confessions here, DH and I have been married 21 years this past Monday, so we went out.  That isn't the unfrugal part.  We took the guys out the next day....and the grandsons the next day.  Now in our defense, we take the grand boys to church while their mama and dad work.  After church we go to the restaurant where they work and have lunch.  We get a discount, she gets a good tip.   So now you know.  All my deep dark secrets.

So now that I have bored you to tears, I am going to get ready for work.  What are you people doing up and this time of the morning anyway.  Go back to bed!

Clearance to play with sharp objects....

Dh and I have a dream to one day live a fully self sustainable life.  It is a dream that seems plausible in the next 5years.  Why do we have this dream?  It was a dream first dreamt by me and Dh would have nothing of it.  Over the years, as we have seen a tenuous economy, and ever expanding govt ( right now every time I turn on the news, my garden gets bigger. lol), and an ever growing dependence on technology, we have come to realize that relying on ourselves is the most prudent course.   Now he is fully on board.

Skills once everyday have become either niche or lost for the most part all together.  I get comments like " You make your own bread?" or yogurt, etc.  It amazes me how some people have lost the connection between what they eat and where it comes from.  I remember reading a letter to the editor of a paper (can't remember the name) where the writer said how awful it was to hunt.  We should just go get our meat at the supermarket.  They wrap it and everything!  Really?  Really.  Even I am amazed at people who hunt, dress the meat and tan the hides of the animals they kill.  When I say 'amazed" I mean impressed.  As in I want to learn that as well.

 News Flash!  As my daddy always says, the more moving parts an object has, the greater chance of it breaking down".  Case in point; our tiller has more moving parts, and broke down last week.  Our shovel and pick axe have no moving parts and has been preparing our garden for the upcoming season.  Well that and some elbow grease.  Not to mention the  manual gardening tools require no gas or electricity.  Big selling point.  Not to mention if I had to use those items every day I would have an awesome figure! lol

  As for our current live stock situation, my chickens will lead a good life of space, sunshine, green grass, etc,  before they grace my dinner table.  Make no mistake though.  These animals are not pets.  They will one day grace my dinner table.  They will provide food for my family one way or the other.  The only one of our chickens that has longevity is our rooster, Garris because he provides protection for his "Ladies".  Our future goal is to raise both egg layers and meat birds.  I would rather get to the point where all of our poultry and egg needs are met in our backyard, rather than purchasing poultry from a store where the animals have been confined with little to no room for movement.  I live in and area with many poultry plants.  Get behind a poultry truck on the way to a processing plant and you will understand my reasoning.  I can't afford to feed my family the free range organic stuff at the store.  But we can get to the point where we raise our own free range organic hens. 

Over the next 5 years while Dh and I retire the rest of our debt, we plan on adding to our arsenal, the skills needed to live a self sustaining life style.  I have baking, canning and gardening under my belt.  That is easy.  The poultry raising is a work in process.  We would like to add other livestock, small engine repair, cheese-making, hunting, and basic carpentry to our list.  I am sure there are other things and the list will grow as we learn more and more.    Will we be able to live this lifestyle.  That remains to be seen.  It depends on where the good Lord wants us. 

Rubic used to say when he gets rich, he will buy our farm cause he said he didn't think we would really do it.  I think he has realized our seriousness.  He came to me the other night and asked "are you and dad really going to  live on a farm and everything?"  I responded that we were planning on it.  He responds that now he has to worry about us cause we are gonna be out in the woods some where and we night get eaten by a bear or something.   I told him we weren't doing it tomorrow.  That is was going to be a process over the next few years.  He was not convinced.  I told my husband I think Rubic thinks it is nothing short of a miracle that his parents have managed to live this long and raise kids at the same time.  He thinks we shouldn't be allowed to play with sharp objects (Hence the title of my post).  In his defense, he is really big on technology. 

UGGGHHH and while I am at it, GRRRRRR

I'm sick.  Woke up this morning with some sort of stomach bug. What is so frustrating is the fact that it is going to be a sunny 71 degrees.  For the past two days I have been outside in glorious weather tilling up soil, building gardening structures, etc.  I actually have a bit of a tan.  Today I was going to be at work and not home til after 2pm.  I was still going to work outside as soon as I got home.  Now every time I move around I am knocked down by a wave of nausea.  As long as I sit or lay down I only have to deal with a crampy feeling.  I prefer that to nausea.  Shoot, I would rather have a baby with no pain killers than a stomach ailment.   So here I sit...no plans to go outside even this afternoon.  Bummer.

So since I can't go outside physically, I go out in my mind. No I am not transcending an astral plane.  I am planning.  Planning, planning, planning.  So far I have decided to plant more bush beans with my blackberry bushes.  I looked it up and they are friends.  I have plans to add pumpkin and sunflowers.   The sunflowers I hope will be a nice treat for my chick e dees.  Plus I hope it will supplement their feed.  That means I need to plant a lot of them to make it worth my while.  It is mine (and my husbands) desire to have as much of the backyard  planted as possible.  Hubby would rather tend a garden than mow the grass.  I need a big garden this year to make sure I have ample amounts put up for next year.  I usually want about two years worth put up since some years gardens are better than others.  We are digging up new ground this year.  I can't wait for it to all be green and growing.

So anyway, I am off for now. Stay well!

Crickets Chirping......

Wow!  It has been two weeks since I posted last.  I am totally sure people are holding their breath for my latest tidbit of knowledge.....NOT!  

One reason why I have been quiet lately is the fact that every spare moment has been occupied with updating Rubic's room.  When that hasn't been the case I have either been working, babysitting, or (on nice weather days), prepping the garden for spring planting (WHOOP!).  Once Rubic's room is completed, I will post before and afters.

Another reason for my posting neglect is that fact that I don't really have much to write about.  Now once the garden is in full swing I will have more to write about and probably less time to write.  My "greenhouse" is still a work in progress.  I am tweaking the design here and there.  When I get it to the point where it is a benefit to pass the info on, I will share.  Right now it has helped being able to protect my plants while they bask in the sunlight, but I can't leave them out overnight yet.  It is working to extend the growing season somewhat.  I am trying to get it to the point where I don't have to use electricity to heat it.  So please Stand By.

As far as the seedlings go, they are thriving with one problem.  I think I waited too late to start my broccoli and cabbage plants.  I should have started them indoors around the end of December instead of the end of Jan.  We will see.   The tomatoes, however (up to 54 plants now) are happy as clams and I think will be bigger when transplanted.  It is my hope they will have a better chance of producing before it gets so hot here down south.

Okay, I know this post isn't a barn burner, but I will do better next time.

The greatest compliment I have ever received.

I have, for the most part, been "Over Weight" all my life; with the exception of my first few years.  Dieting was a large part of that life.  I went on my first diet at the age of 9. It didn't last long.  My mom was on Weight Watchers then and I guess I wanted to try it too.  It is, however, the time I was first aware of the fact that I was heavier than my peers.  Realizing you aren't the weight norm can sometimes be detrimental to ones self esteem, but in my case, it didn't slow me down much.  I will tell you why.  The greatest compliment I have ever received is the statement that I look just like my mom.  One of my favorite pictures of my mom is a black and white head shot taken from her school days.  I always thought she looked like a movie star such as Marlene Dietrich.  How could I not feel confident in my appearance with a comparison to a movie star! As a result I have grown to feel  that while I may be fat,  I'm a good looking fat woman(Smile). 

This is my mom:

 

What daughter wouldn't look at this picture and feel proud of the comparison?

Following closely on the heels of looking like my mom is the statement that I am just like my mom.  Never was meaning of that statement made more clear to me than when I saw this picture during the holidays.

My mom is the greatest combination of beauty/strength, and Grace/Power.  She would give a total stranger the shirt off her back, but mess with her family and she'll knock you into next week.  To be compared to her on any level is a great compliment.  So for those who have made that comparison, I give you a heart felt thank you.  You have done more for my self esteem than any pant size.