Cherry pillow kind of morning.

     Morning again. We had a lot of rain yesterday and we are suppose to have rain for the next several days. I went out yesterday and placed sheets of newspaper around some of the plants and poured water on them and it rained then the wind came and blew the newspapers away. Guess I needed to put rocks on them. So I decided to shred the newspaper and place that around the plants and that has worked just fine. I just don't want to weed the garden this summer.
     Just made some cherry pillows.  Like cherry turnovers but square not triangle. I used crescents and cherry pie filling. And made confectioners sugar icing. And they were good. My husband even had seconds.
    I must go start my busy day. Have a good day.

                                                                  April Whitehair

More flower seeds!

     Good morning. Today I checked in on the bell pepper seeds and I have five growing! This I am so excited about. It has taken them so long to start. The plan for today is to put newspaper on the garden around all the plants to use as a weed blocker. I just hope it isn't to hot out today and I can get it all done before the rain starts.
     I get so much enjoyment from watching the garden grow. And hoping that they all produce well.
     I had found several flower seeds that my Mom had put up about four or more years ago and forgot about. So I planted all of them and hope to see them grow. Most I didn't know what kind they were but they got planted anyway. About two quart jars full of Cosmo seeds was hidden way in the back of some shelves. I remember as a kid walking around the yard nightly with my mom collecting the seeds. I hope they will grow. I planted a quart and gave my sister the other quart to plant hope one of us gets them to grow it would be nice to have them to continue. I know that I could just buy some of those seeds but they would not be my Mom's.
     My Mom's Alzheimer's is slowly getting worse. Lately she has been asking to go home, this is her home and she has lived here for over 40 years. It is just so sad watching her be sad. Heartbreaking. She spilled a half gallon of sweet tea the night before last and just cried and cried. Well it was a mess. But I got it cleaned up quickly. It is crazy the role reversal between us. Several years ago it would have been me making the mess and she would have been the one cleaning it up.
     All I know is to love and be patient and God will take care of the rest.

                                                                                     April Whitehair

Sunday Again

     Good morning. I am awake early getting ready for church. Enjoying a cup of coffee. I just walked around and looked at the garden and everything looks good. I have been thinking lately about what to do with all the produce I hopefully will have. Thinking about going to a farmers market and selling some goodies. That is if there is a good harvest this year. Or what about a food pantry, do they take garden goodies and give them out to those in need? That would be a good idea. I will have to check on that.
     I have also been studying the proper way to dry seeds to use next year. Maybe next year will be even better than this year.
     Got to go get ready for church. Have a great and blessed day.
                                                                           
                                                                                 April Whitehair 

Cornflake chicken and Flea market

     Good afternoon. I had a good day so far. My husband took me to the flea market and to several yard sales this morning. We found a couple of things. I think it is cute that I  have him thinking about prepping. He would see things and say that would be good for when SHTF. I bought a Longaberger bag, I just love those purses. I also bought 4 shirts and a skirt. I was looking at other things but they would not come down on the price so I walked away. Its ok they can keep their way to expensive stuff and have to pack it up and take it back home. One yard sale even gave me a half off discount.  Anyway it was I good day and we talked to several nice people. I still do believe there is good people in this the world.
     Got home and walked the garden and noticed that the cats must have made my cucumber patch into a play area. I have now lost many cucumber plants. It's a good thing that I had started and planted over 90 of them. My bell pepper seeds that I had started over a month ago have two starting to grow. I am so excited about that. My small farm is doing good. But must figure out a way to keep the cats out of the garden. Any suggestions on that?
     Lunch for today was my husbands favorite, cornflake chicken. It's easy to make and very yummy.

CORNFLAKE CHICKEN
Crush up cornflakes, not frosted flakes!
Use boneless skinless chicken. Rinse with water.
Roll in flour with salt and pepper.
Dip in egg.
Roll in crushed corn flakes. Flatten up good with the palm of your hand.
Fry in oil till golden brown.
My husband likes to dip them in ranch. I like adding extra salt. I am a huge salt fan.

                                                                            April Whitehair

     Good morning. I am enjoying a good cup of coffee and a nice sunny morning. This is one of my favorite times of day. I wake up early, well early for my house. My husband is currently working evening shift so he doesn't get home till after 11pm. Mom is a night owl and doesn't do mornings. So that makes mornings a good time for me to have some alone time and get some things done before anyone even wakes up. My morning routine is normally make pot of coffee, walk around out side and check the garden, start computer, check facebook (you never know what bad thing might have happened during the night), and then start writing this blog. I never have a plan for what I am going to write it is just what pops in my head while I am typing. If I am happy I write about happy things if I am concerned about things I write about that. Today I am neither and both.
      Yesterday my mom received a letter in the mail about abortions going wrong and the baby lives and is born alive. Then what are they(mom and doctor) to do? Well they want to murder that baby! That has disgusted me ever since reading that. Included in that was a petition to sign and mail to your government.  But basically it was in support of ending funding for planned parenthood clinics. That worries me. I am a proud pro life supporter. Murder is murder no mater the age. But I know that there is other places than planed parenthood clinics that provide abortions. What about the letter to the government that lets them know we want to end support for those places as well? Also the planned parenthood clinic in my area does not only do abortion assistance but it also provided care for pregnant women that want to get care for them selves and there baby. If we completely stop funding for planned parenting clinics what will happen to those women who want babies and not dead babies? This is something for me to look into. And provide my support to.

                                                                                       April Whitehair

Gardening Again

     Good morning. I slept in late this morning. We worked hard in the garden yesterday and finally got that shopping trip done. And yes we bought a couple strawberry plants. So now with the two new strawberry plants and all the seeds that are just getting started we should have a good amount of strawberries to harvest and a bigger strawberry bed than we planed. Got all the rest of the plants and seeds planted except for the beans. I hope to get them in the ground this morning. But I did make a trellis out of string for the beans to grow up. Hope it actually works. With the amazing seed pack  that I had started over a month ago I was able to plant over ninety cucumber plant and still had  some to give my sister for her garden. The bell peppers seeds that I started still have not started. It maybe a lost cause on those. but I am still trying to be patient.
     Last fall I had seen on pintrest painted rock garden markers. So I had painted them and yesterday I wrote on them the name of each plant and clear coat over that. And placed them beside each plant area. I must say that they are so beautiful.
     I have been thinking about canning. If the garden does as good as it could what am I going to do with all that produce? I have never canned before but it may be a good idea. I have been researching it and will have to buy a caner. Not sure if I can justify the cost. I have a lot of jars from when my mom use to can in the past. So we will see. Maybe I will ask for a pressure caner for my birthday in August.
     I would like to hear your thoughts on canning and if you think it would be a good investment.
                                             
                                                                                     April Whitehair

Strawberries ! ! !

     Good morning. Gardening day yesterday was canceled because my husband thought the ground needed a day to dry and he got a call from a friend who wanted to play golf. So he went and played. It don't bother me that he goes golfing. Some wives complain. I think it is good for both people in the relationship to have hobbies and activities separate from each other. It allows you to get away and recharge, relax and have good adult conversations with others. And going to work doesn't count. Sometimes I go to a lecture that the local university puts on, sometimes I go shopping(I love the goodwill and dollar stores), almost every week I go to church, and sometimes I go for a walk in the woods around my house. All of these things recharge me. I need these outings all by myself.
     So with this one day delay on planting and shopping for needed plants I noticed this morning that I have about twelve strawberry plants starting to grow from seed. I have been impatiently waiting for them to grow and had seriously planed on purchasing a couple strawberry plants it I would have went shopping yesterday. So maybe it was a good thing the shopping trip was delayed by a golf game. My bell peppers have not started yet and I have already got impatient and bought I second pack of seeds and planted them. So either they are bad seeds or I will have way to many when they start. I love to grow things and to harvest my garden. It gives me that good feeling that I grew something and can feed my family.
       So I am off to work in the garden and hopefully we wont get distracted today.
                         
                                                                                April Whitehair