Home, Sweet, Home!

It's no secret that I love my home and I derive great pleasure from keeping it looking nice, especially the outside. Today was one of those days that I never left the house, but took care of a lot of things around home. What a project it was to remove the pollen from the indoor/outdoor carpet that is on the patio! It required my high power hose attachment sweeper and then a squeegy. The furniture is still sitting out in the yard hoping for the sun to dry the cushions out tomorrow. I guess I will be back in the garden tomorrow.

Too tired to eat!

Was in the garden by 8:30 this morning and worked there until 1:30. That's just more than this old body can take. That's without taking a break for lunch. Planted some bush beans and cucumbers while my brother planted 5 more rows of corn. That's the easy part. Getting the soil ready to plant is the hard part along with hoeing the weeds out of the potatoes and other stuff. I am determined not to let the weeds win this year. They won all previous years, but not this one if I can stay ahead of them.

I put stuff for beef stew in the crock pot before I left this morning. I think it's good, but I am too tired to eat!!

Yeppers!

WooHoo!

Another day of gardening chalked up with success! My brother and I both worked at Mom's today. He was clearing a place by a fence, so I could plant some climbing green beans. I cleared another place to plant some bush green beans tomorrow. We both successfully used the Mantis tiller and our garden is looking good. Almost everything has come up....even the sunflowers that I planted only a week ago are coming up. I am so excited at how nice our garden looks. I will post pictures when things come up a little more. I planted more tomatoes today. We swore we were not going to plant enough stuff to feed the village like our dad did, but it looks more and more like that is the case.

Why?

What happened here? I had pink, white and purple hyacinths planted from bulbs. As they came up the pink ones bloomed before getting out of the ground and wilted and died. The white ones didn't do much better, but the purple ones came up great and beautiful, but their stalks wouldn't hold them up. WTH? Well, they smell lovely even if they are lying on the ground!!!

Work, work, work!

Fortunately, it's work I enjoy. Spent all day Monday in the yard and garden again. Got my yard all mowed and pristine, then went to finish mowing Mom's yard. We have groceries coming up all over the place. It's so much fun to watch and it makes me miss my dad so much. This is the time of year that he just loved. I must have got his genes on this because I love to garden and work in the yard. It's so satisfying to have a beautiful yard and a lovely vegetable garden. It's certainly not easy on this old body, but it is very gratifying. Hoping for some rain today because our garden really needs it.

My 94 year old aunt is in the hospital and I doubt she will ever go back to the assisted living place. She is too weak to walk and really doesn't want to live. Who can blame her? She was mad that all 3 of her younger brothers went before her. She lost her husband years ago in a boating accident, lost a brother in a tractor accident, lost a daughter to suicide and a daughter to cancer. She is ready to go be with them!

He is Risen indeed!

Ouch, again!

Spent all day in the garden and Mom's yard without even stopping for any lunch or drinks. When I get going, eating is not on my mind. Of course, when I get home, I am starved so I have already grabbed a wiener and malted milk eggs! How's that for a meal!!! I rock!

Planted some more potatoes because so many of ours have not come up. If they do eventually all come up, everyone will need to come get some potatoes....just sayin'! Also planted some pole beans...AKA Christmas butter beans because it seems like they don't get ready until Christmas....80 to 90 days to fruit, but someone gave them to me a couple of years ago and I am finally getting around to planting them. Brother wanted to plant some more radishes, so I bought more and planted them. After I finished up in the garden, I got on the lawn mower and mowed and mowed and mowed and mowed.....still didn't finish, but I will next week. I was tired! I am exhausted, but it is a good kind of exhaustion because I know I accomplished a lot while I was getting exhausted!!! A cold beer and a nap will make it all better!

Perfect day!

Spent a good part of the day working in the garden. Got some tomatoes planted, and some cucumbers, squash and zucchini. Also, planted Dad's two rows of sunflowers. He always loved the big showy sunflowers because he could actually see them in his last years when he was nearly blind from macular degeneration.

Tonight my brother and sister-in-law brought Mom and we met my cousin and two  of her adult children from Virginia at the Crawfish Hole. They don't have crawfish in Virginia, so they take advantage when they come here. They are going back to Virginia today.

I love this sign!

Holy CRAP!

Went to a beautiful outdoor lunch at my neighbor's house, then went to Wal Mart on the first day of the month and EASTER! CRAP...after that I had to come home and take a NAP!

Wow! What a beautiful day!

Not much work got done today by me, but I did make a run to Shreveport to pick up a little Mantis tiller that my cousin let me borrow. If my brother can get it running, I will be able to start it and use it whenever I want to work in the garden. As things are now, I cannot start either of the big garden tillers that we own, so I can only prepare rows to plant when my brother is there. This grates on my nerves. I want to work when I want to work.

I went and got Mom and we went to the cemetery for the first time since daddy's funeral. She has been unable to go, or it has been too cold and wet before now. We are going to start deciding on a memorial monument soon. There is one black shiny one in the cemetery that really stands out. They are more expensive, but Mom, my brother and his wife, and I all like it, so I am sure that's what we will get. We will all be buried there. It's such a beautiful, peaceful place!

While I was at Mom's, the first hummingbird of the season came to an artificial wreath on her porch and tried to get nectar. Immediately, I got her feeder ready and put it out for her. We enjoy the hummers. Will get mine ready tomorrow!

Holy Moly!

I was in overdrive today at Mom's. Cooked a pork loin for her before I ever went there, stopped to pick up Hawaiian rolls to have with the pork loin and went and bought squash plants, cucumbers, and tomatoes to plant.

Brother and I hoed around the few little potatoes that have come up. The weeds have no problem coming up, so why are the potatoes struggling! We also planted a few more potatoes, a row of pinto beans and 2 more rows of corn.

After that I finished cloroxing and power washing in her garage and around her entrance to the house. I went crazy with the power washer because it opened cans of worms all over the place. Every place I cleaned showed me another place that needed it. I am worn out after 5 hours of working at her house. OUCH!

It's been a good day....now it's time for a glass of wine!

Full speed Saturday!

Ok, full speed for me is barely moving, but even at that speed, I have accomplished my goals already today.

• Cooked peas and cornbread (with awesome tomatoes from Whole Foods)
• Cleaned house including vacuuming (which I hate to do)
• Washed all the clothes and put them up
• Spread 3 more bags of mulch (finished)
• Washed the patio furniture
• Ate the peas
• Nap time now
• Krewe Captain's party tonight
  

None necessary!

Another day of progress!

Another day in my own yard has me almost caught up. Got 4 more bags of mulch today that will go in the rest of the flower beds. Fortunately, Wal Mart had it today, but I had already cleaned up and showered before I went there, so it is still in the truck. Tomorrow, I will get it spread if it is not raining.

I have stopped watching all the political crap on TV...can't take the nonsense anymore. Just can't understand how so many people can be so stupid. I hope all the morons enjoy their new socialistic country.

Progress!

Had to make a run to Bossier for my mulch this morning because our Wal Mart was sold out of the kind I wanted. Bought 5 bags which equaled two

hundred pounds. Got it all spread one shovel at a time. It felt good to get it done. I still have a lot of work to do, but that was what was bothering me most. Had a couple of neighbors drop by while I was working and it was pleasant to just sit outside in the sun. I love my life!

Another missed opportunity!

 It was too cold this morning to get in the yard and start the process of preparing for spring, and I didn't get to do it after it warmed up either. I had to take Mom to the doctor for a regular appointment. She is doing fine, so I thought I could come home and get started. Dang Wal Mart was sold out of the Scott's red mulch, which is what I must have. I will have to go to Bossier tomorrow to Home Depot and get some while I have Dad's truck. For some reason, I just can't get the usual enthusiasm I usually have in the spring for such labor. Don't know what the problem is. I have to get out of this LAZY mode and get on with the business of creating my little piece of heaven that I can be proud of.

We are screwed!