Thursday, March 27, 2014

March 27, 2014

     Good morning. The weather lately has been confused. Warm, cold, warm, snow, and warm again. It is still only March, we still have April to go before it truly starts to warm up. I just can't wait to get outside and get something done. I want to dig in the dirt and prune some forsythia bushes. I want to plant things and get dirt under my nails. I want to sit in the sun and feel it's warmth. I want to open the doors and windows and air this house out. I want to go for a walk in the woods and see the sun shining through to leaves. I want to walk barefoot in the cool dewy grass of morning.
     Thanks to my wonderful cousin, cousin J, I may just get a chance at milking a cow! It is something I need to so to earn a badge in the farmgirl club that I am in. I have never milked a cow before. I think cousin J may try to milk that cow also. Not sure but my husband might go along to be our photographer. This will be very interesting. To be honest, I have always been scared of cows. Well I have always been scared of any animal that is bigger than me. That includes horses also. I have been slowly trying to get over this. In a field next to my church there use to be a horse that would come up to the fence and want to get attention. All the kids would pet it, I would walk as far away from it as I could, even though I wanted to pet it also. One day I was outside alone and the horse was at the fence wanting attention and I gathered all my courage and petted it on the head. The world did not end. I survived. The horse did not trample me. I made a new friend. I hope to walk up to the cow the same way, but I will be doing more than just petting it on the head.
     No helper with Mom today. I hope to have a good day and get some things done. I have been having headaches more often lately. I think I have figured out why even though I don't want to admit it. I think I need glasses. I have been doing a lot of embroidery, cross stich, sewing, and crocheting and all that looking at small thread, small needle, and small work surface has been very straining on my eyes. I get a headache after I work on my projects every time. Today I will try not to work on any of those things to see how my head feels. Though it will be hard not to pull out my embroidery project because I enjoy it so much.
     Well Mom is awake and needing my attention. Have a good day.

                                                       April Whitehair 

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

March 25, 2014

     Good morning. Yes, I have decided to write on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It just seems to fit better into my life right now. Hopefully I will have more time to write and think while I write.
     My small garden in the house is doing great except for the great northern bean. Those beans were doing great until the mouse broke all the stems, I will try to plant more of them later. I actually have a few lavender sprouts, they had taken so long to grow I thought they weren't going to do anything. I made an apple pie the other day and some of the seeds in the apples were sprouted, I had never seen them sprouted in the apple before. So, yes, I put them in dirt. We will see if they actually grow. I came across a guy on FB that was offering free sugar beet seeds, he sent me some. I can't wait to see how they do. Hopefully today we get our blueberry plant planted. It came in the mail the other day. We are going to plant it in a very large flower pot, think quarter barrel. I am not sure where we are going to put it at in the house.
     We got out hotel booked for vacation this summer. We are going to stay in the same hotel we stayed at last year on the first night. I decided last year while camping with a very bad sunburn that I couldn't stay in a tent again. There was no where to cool off. We got the hotel room for a very good price. I am so excited, four days away from all responsibilities is much needed.
     Since we are staying in a hotel instead of camping we will have to pack a lot less which is nice. A bathing suit and a couple beach towels and we are packed. I bought a new bathing suit for this vacation. This is the first new bathing suit I had gotten myself in years and years. I hate to try them on, yucky. I tried on several and finally decided on the one I got which is a one piece black with silver ruffles on the top. Now I am so excited, I just can't wait.
     One of the pages I am a fan of on FB is doing a spring swap which I joined. All gifts had to be homemade. My partner was a lady in Hawaii. I made her a draw-string bag, a candle, a card, and a matching necklace and earrings. I think she liked everything. Someone from that page like the jewelry so much they asked if I sold them. Hmmm, business idea? I should be receiving my gift in a day or so. I am excited to see what I get from Hawaii. 
     I have been working on earning badges from the farmgirl club I am in. I just finished crocheting a scarf. I think it turned out well. Now I have to crochet a small blanket, I am thinking about making Mom a lap blanket for her to use while up in the wheelchair.
     Well I need to go get this day started. Have a good day.

                                                                  April Whitehair

Friday, March 21, 2014

March 21, 2014

     Good morning. I was going to start yesterday with posting to this blog on Tuesday and Thursday but the electric went out before I could get it done. It was a windy day yesterday and a tree had fell on the electric line. I got to use my new hand crank radio that I got for Christmas, Mom and I listened to music all morning. I realized that the radio doesn't last to long before I need to crank it again. I spent most of the morning cranking that radio.
     I got my package in the mail yesterday from the farmgirl club. I got four very nice books that show how to do a lot of different things. I learned to double crochet. I am working on making a scarf to earn a badge.
     I need to get off here and get something done. Have a good day.
                                          
                                                                  April Whitehair

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

March 19, 2014

     Good afternoon. I went out with my husband this morning to eat breakfast at Bob Evans. I got their cinnamon pancakes, they were wonderful. I think they are better than IHOP's cinna-stack. IHOP's are way to sweet. Then we went to Tractor Supply and looked at the baby chicks. I just loved them. No I didn't come home with any. My husband said that we needed to have a house for them first. Maybe this spring and summer I can finish getting the spot cleaned up where I want to build a coop in. Wonder what excuse my husband will give me for not getting them then.
     Yesterday the gas was out. Good thing it was a nice warm day. I realized something, without gas I can't cook anything. Oh, I guess I could have microwaved something, I never thought of that. And I  could have used the crockpot didn't think of that either. We ordered Chinese.
     I have been thinking about changing the days I write on this blog again. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are the day I have help with Mom, so that means I can go out and do something on those days. With the weather getting better I will probably be getting out more often. It would be easier and better time management if I would write on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I don't have any plans to go anywhere anyways. I may start this change this week or maybe I will wait till next week.
     Mom is doing ok. No changes in her condition recently. She seems to really enjoy spending time with Ms. M. I hope when the weather warm up she will like going outside and sitting on the porch like she use too.
     I am going to go. Have a good day.

                                                          April Whitehair

Monday, March 17, 2014

March 17, 2014

     Happy St. Patrick's day. Yes, there is no denying it, it is still winter. We got around six inches of snow yesterday and last night. Spring, where did you go?  I want the 50-60 degrees days back.
     I planted more seeds this weekend. I planted jalapeno peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes. Oh yeah, mouse update: one little brown mouse gone, escape route hole blocked. plants on the mend. I don't think the great northern bean plants will make it, for some reason the mouse had climbed those plants and broke all the stems. Bad mouse also ate the tops off several of my seedlings, most of which look like they may survive. I have three new bell pepper seeds sprouted. And the heirloom tomato seeds that I got out of my sister's garden last year are growing very well. Though most of the experiment samples got mixed up when they got knocked off, the ones I know for sure I can tell you that fermented and non-fermented heirloom tomato seed both are growing, the non-fermented seem to be doing a little better than the fermented ones.
     My husband and I went to Tractor Supply on Friday. I love stores like that, it is kind of like going to A, C. Moore, I just feel at home there. Luckily for my husband they had sold out of baby chicks or we just may have come home with a couple. They did have some baby ducks, they were so cute. I had seen a post somewhere on Facebook stating that Tractor Supply didn't take very good care of there baby chicks and baby ducks but I must say from what I seen of the pen that they kept the baby ducks in and the ones they had had the chicks in they were doing an excellent job. At least this store is anyway, I can't comment on the condition at any other location. I also learned from talking to a couple men there that they have a livestock sale there every Saturday morning. I do not need to go there on a Saturday morning or I might come home with a baby goat or something... I had been looking for non-GMO seeds sold locally and finally found them there. I bought more green bean, pea,  pepper, and cucumber seeds. Now if true spring would just hurry up and get here.
     I have been working on some of the requirement I need to earn some badges in my farmgirl sisterhood group I am in. I have been working on the cross stitch badge and the button badge. With so many badges to earn I was having trouble deciding which one to work on first.
     I need to go try and get something done today. Have a good day.

                                                                       April Whitehair

Friday, March 14, 2014

March 14, 2014

     Good morning. My poor plants... If they are not being  knocked off by a cat or my husband then they have a mouse terrorizing them. Yes a mouse, in my laundry room. I have set up several mouse traps and he just eats the peanut butter off it and doesn't even set it off. I came face to face with it the other night and it is a tiny field mouse. He was just digging around in the dirt in the pots but now he has been eating the tops off my plants. I can't have that. So I have resorted to the sticky traps. I have always been against them. They seem so inhumane. Anyway I can't allow all my plants to die just to feed a mouse I don't want in my house anyway. My cats are too well fed and lazy, they won't get it. The regular mouse traps don't work, I have even tried to use rat poison and it didn't work. So sticky traps was next on my list of things to try. One set out the other night with no result. Last night my husband put peanut butter in the middle of two of them. Late last night I went and checked on them and the one that was on the floor was gone. I later found it behind the washer. I also found where he was getting in at, through the hole around the washers drain pipe. I guess he got at least one foot stuck to the sticky trap and drug it to his escape route. He was not stuck on the trap. This morning both of the sticky traps had all their peanut butter gone and one of the regular traps was upside down. No mouse! There was some gray fur on one of the sticky traps, the mouse I seen was not gray but brown. How many mice are coming in this house every night? I must have an invincible mouse family invading my laundry room. Today we will fill that hole and hopefully keep those pesky, furry creatures out of my plants.    
     I need to go . Have a good day.

                                                           April Whitehair

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

March 12, 2014

     Good morning. It is a rainy morning. They say we will get snow again today, probably not much but any snow is to much snow for me. Yesterday was so beautiful out. I had the doors open letting some fresh air in. I walked around the house and set in the sun as much as I could, soaking up the warmth of an early spring sun.
     My poor seedlings have went through trauma again  My husband knocked off the k-cup tray and spilt the heirloom tomato seedling. If they all survive they will be the strongest plants ever. I was able to sort the seedlings in the large tray that was dumped my the cat last weekend. They are getting big enough now to tell the difference in most of them. I am not sure what they are but I have all the like plants together anyway. Four of the pepper seeds have started to grow, I don't know which is which but I am glad to see them growing anyway.
     I have been accepted into a farming group that I have been wanting to join. I am super excited. It is a farm girl sisterhood. Kind of like the girl scouts but for adults. I will be working on earning my badges. Many, many badges are available in all kinds of areas. I think I will work on the embroidery badge first. I bought a small embroidery project from A.C. Moore the last time I was there and started working on it and I enjoy it quite a lot. I need to find a cow to milk. Do you know anyone who has a cow I could learn to milk? This sisterhood will give me something to do and something to look forward to and more than likely get me out of my comfort zone. Plus I will be learning a lot of new things, things I thought I would never learn. I will also teach you something new, maybe if you haven't heard of it before. Glamping. Do you know what that is? It is camping with a glamorous touch. That is something I will need to do to earn a badge. Look up glamping ideas on Pinterest to see what I am talking about. So cool!
     I need to go get this day going. Have a good day.

                                               April Whitehair



Monday, March 10, 2014

March 10, 2014

     Good morning. Well I had a crazy weekend. It seemed like everything was going wrong and I should have just stayed in bed. First off on Friday I broke the screen on my tablet that my husband got me for Christmas. Those things must be fragile, one small drop and it cracks, big time.
     I had told you about planting all of those seeds in the peat tray, 72 plants. They were all growing and looking great, except for all of the pepper seeds they hadn't sprouted yet. Well on Saturday my cat for some reason decided to jump on them and knocked it off plus my six heirloom tomato seed pots that was in a different tray. All 78 plants on the floor, upside down and smashed under an avalanche of junk that I had sitting under the shelf the trays were sitting on. The crash was so loud that my husband heard it in his man cave and came running, he thought I had fell or something. We sat on the floor surrounded by dirt and baby seedlings trying to pick them up and salvage what we could. Two out of the twelve cucumber plants have died so far, a couple more have bent stems but look good. The onion, basil, cabbage, tomato, Brussels sprouts, and lettuce that had sprouted are all mixed up. They are so tiny that I can't tell them apart. Most of those seemed to have lived so far. But my heirloom tomato seeds that I saved from my sister's WV heirloom tomato plant last year, all but two got dumped. I was trying to do an experiment to see which way is better to ferment or not ferment tomato seeds when you save them. I planted six k-cups three of each way, four got dumped out, so I just scooped all that dirt and seeds up and put them back in k-cups not knowing which is which. Two k-cups did survive, one of each, fermented and non-fermented. And this morning they both have sprouted. I am just amazed at the will to live these plants have. I also noticed two of my pepper plants have sprouted, I just don't know if they are the sweet or either of the hot kinds I planted. I guess I will have to wait till they grow up and produce peppers.
     Before the plant tray disaster I had started to spring clean. Saturday was such a nice day. I tried to have the doors open to get fresh air in the house but Mom got to cold even with a blanket on. I did get the curtains in the living room, kitchen, and bathroom washed and the living room windows washed. I wanted to do more but after the tray disaster I lost all excitement and energy for spring cleaning.
     I had Ms. M come in to spend the day with Mom on Sunday so I could go to church. I hadn't been to church in a long time and I missed it. It is a good recharge it have fellowship with friends and family. Afterward I went grocery shopping and stopped at A.C, Moore, craft store. I tell you I am in love with that place. I have been there two times this week. Note to my sister M. they probably sell those things you were looking for to make those necklaces, they have a large jewelry selection, make your own jewelry type things. I had to stop there the other day to get candle making supplies. I have entered a spring swap through a page I am friends with on Facebook. Kind of like secret Santa but with homemade items and in the spring. I have made a drawstring bag and am going to make a candle to send to my partner. But as bad of a weekend as I was having I didn't want to risk it and end up burning the house down. I will try and make that candle and sent out my gifts some time this week. I wonder what I will receive.
     That is enough for now. Have a good day.
 
                                                           April Whitehair


Friday, March 7, 2014

March 7, 2014

     Good morning. This house is now over run with seedlings. I started several plants most of which are growing. The pepper plants have not sprouted yet and I have planted four different kinds. I don't know what I am going to do with all these plants, I just hope that it starts to warm up soon so I can set them outside during the day. I have figured out that I need more green beans and peas but I am having trouble finding them locally that are not GMO. My husband and I stopped Southern States the other day and we seen small chicken coops. I would love to have one of those and a couple chickens. But for now that is just a dream.
       This is going to be a short post today. I have things I need to get done today. Have a good day.

                                                             April Whitehair

Monday, March 3, 2014

March 3, 2014

     Good morning. Yes it snowed again, no surprise. No school again today for the area kids. They have missed a lot of school this year. No school means no Ms. M here today to hang out with Mom. But I got this, now that I had a mini vacation this weekend to refresh and recharge.
     My sister M took Mom to her house Friday and she spent the night and stayed most of the day on Saturday. My husband and I decided to go away for a mini vacation. About 2 hours away we have a Cabela's that my husband had never been to and I hadn't been there in years and years. We found a good cheap clean hotel and the woman at the front desk was very nice and gave us all the info on the area, like where not to eat and how to get free money at the casino that was nearby. With the thought of free money we set out to check out the casino. I am not a gambler but I was game to try something new and have a good time. We each got our free $20 card that could be used in the slot machines. My husband wanted to check out the dog track, I figured that I would not like it but I liked it, I really did. We bet on a couple races and lost every time but we spent under $20. We decided to go to the buffet and get something to eat but the line was so long that it reached from one end of the casino to the other and being so hungry and not wanting to stand in line for so long we decided to go back to the dog track part of the casino and get food there. Bad idea. The food was not good. I mean how do you mess up chicken tenders and fries? While we were there eating anyway we bet on a couple more races and lost again. I guess we are no good at picking which dog will win but we had a great time. I think it could be a good date night activity if they had better food. They brought a dog around that was up for adoption, he was so pretty but so skinny. That breed is naturally skinny but if I had one I know I would over feed it and make it a chunky dog and it looked like it would be cold so I would  probably put a sweater on it.
     After the dog track we decided to go play slots with our free money card. My husband lost all with in a matter of minutes. I on the other hand kept winning. I didn't know what I was doing but I was winning. Two credits about ten times or more, then 50 credits once and a couple more I think. I am not sure. I didn't even realize I had won till my husband told me. I was down to a dollar when I won the 50 credits which I think means like $25. Then I won some more. I kept betting and winning and loosing and stopped when I had $25 and cashed out. So I walked away with $25 for free and never spent a dime to get it. I can see me and my husband going back there sometime.
     We went to Cabela's the next morning. That store is very pretty with a lot of taxidermy animals everywhere. We are not big hunters or fishers but we bought a couple things. I got a purse. I wanted to get something and I couldn't find anything I really wanted. The purse was $50, I have never spent that much on a purse before but I let myself splurge.   
     We made it back to my sister M's to pick up Mom refreshed and recharged and so happy to have had some time alone. But I can't wait to be able to do it again, just get out of the house and forget about all our responsibilities. Mom had a good time with my sister M and her family. I think she enjoys getting out of the house also. My sister had me a bag of used k-cup cups that I can use for planting. Thank you sister M.
     We were glad to be home to see out cats and Mom to see her dog. The house was a mess, three cats and a dog locked up in the house for over 24 hours alone, they can get into some trouble. but everything got cleaned up and they were safe and warm while we were gone.   
     Yesterday I checked the mail box and some of the seeds that I had ordered was in there. I couldn't stand it anymore so I started planting. I planted one full tray, the peat pot tray, 72 plants started. Yes, I decided not to worry about the organic-ness of the peat pots. I am probably not going to sell anything I grow anyway. But I am not growing GMO that is for sure. Oh except for the plants and seeds that my husband wanted and picked out, those are probably GMO. He got pumpkin and watermelon seeds and a blueberry plant and strawberry plants. The seeds that I started are two different hot peppers, lettuce, cucumber, Brussels sprouts, tomato, sweet pepper, cabbage, basil, and onion. My house will soon be over run by plants and I can't wait.
     I need to go get this day started. Have a good day.

                                                                 April Whitehair