The garden has been tilled and manure has been incorporated!! We're ready to go with planting this weekend. I'll have to hoe the rows (always wanted to say that) and get the squash hills ready but other than that - it's planting time on the farm!! I'm going small this year because I still have that learning curve for the weather here. I decided on summer squash (just one row), peas (surprised, aren't you?), radishes, scallions, peppers (hot and sweet) and tomatoes. I may do some cantaloupe but that will be later in the year - or so I hear.
I'll take a picture tonight and going forward so you can watch the progress.
Let me take a minute here to recognize a couple of people who passed away yesterday, may they both rest in peace.
Roy Woods
Our dear friend Roy Woods, who was a true gentleman and a very wise man. About 4 years ago Roy told me I should pack my things and move to TN with Wally. Well, as you know I didn't heed his advice 4 years ago but I sure do wish I had. Now it seems I'm trying to make up for the lost time. Roy could be soft-spoken but the meaning of his words was loud and clear. He believed you should do whatever it takes to make you happy and not worry about what other people thought. He always used to tell me that if he were a younger man he would court me until I finally agreed to marry him. What a sweetheart he was and he will be truly missed. Sonny (Roy's son), our thoughts are with you during this time.
John K. Davis
Jack's father passed away yesterday at the age of 92. While I did not know him, it is still important to recognize the father of my sister's most wonderful boyfriend. I credit Jack's parents for instilling in him the sincerity, generosity, and loving nature we have all come to know. My guess is "like father, like son" and if this is true then I consider Jack's father to have been a great man. Our thoughts are with this family as well as they honor the passing of their patriarch.
"As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well used brings happy death." ~Leonardo da Vinci
Yesterday I was so busy at work that I didn't even have time to take a lunch break. Hence the missing post. I even had to stay late and if you know me well, you know that overtime is something I WILL do but something I really prefer NOT to do. Well, here I am with about an hour of it so I'm planning to leave early on Friday :) That's about the only benefit of overtime I can think of.
The weather was nice so I rolled down the windows and let the fresh air come blowing through the car. It's nice not having to use the air yet but I know those days will surely come. When I got to the dirt road, there were kids playing some kind of ball game and a couple dogs laying there like they owned the place. They were in no hurry to get out of the way. I'm not the most patient sort but they seemed to be having a good time so I did wait a little bit before just driving on by. Don't worry, I didn't run them down, they realized the need to get the heck outta the way! LOL
Wally was tilling the garden so I grabbed a couple beers and headed out to see him. I was charged with picking out the bigger rocks and piling them up over by the wild roses to be used on another project. After a few minutes of that I got to work raking and shoveling the hay/horse manure into the wheelbarrow. I'll tell you what, this was no easy chore. It was deep and damp and heavy. Thankfully it wasn't stinky. I think I filled the wheelbarrow twice before I was done in. I know, what a weeny! But I am starting to get calluses on my hands. Well, I could have kept going a little longer but then I wouldn't have it in me to work on it again tonight. Wally dumped the wheelbarrow on the garden areas and I took the rake and spread it out. He tilled it in really well so there's nothing left to do but plant :)
It was nice getting my hands in the dirt finally. I took a look around to get a good perspective on things - I had wild roses blooming and perfuming the air around us, I had the horses coming over to get fed and I had my boyfriend on the tractor tilling up my garden. For me, it just doesn't get much better than that. Well, plus the fact that not one single neighbor could be seen or heard.
I fed the horses their sweet feed and had to dump out about half a bucket because it had gotten wet. They can't eat it when it gets moldy but the turkeys can. The turkeys will appreciate that and the overflow from what the horses drop. I haven't seen the turkeys since the weekend so I'm wondering if there will be some little babies coming soon... it's that time of year:) I remember when I was here visiting last year, two of the hens and about 12 little babies went walking by on their way to the horse feeding area. It would be so cool to see that happen again. The toms haven't made an appearance in weeks. I feel certain they went the way of the hunted.
I checked on my day lilies, my tiger lilies and my mystery plant. No blooms but tons of buds. One of the buds on the mystery plant is trying to open up. I can see a really tight cluster that looks just like rice only with pink/lavender tops. Still no clue people. Now that I've figured out how to use the camera on my new phone, I'll try to get a picture tonight. I know I keep saying that but we get so busy when I get home that it slips my mind. Gimme a break! lol
I had taken out pork chops for dinner so while Wally finished tilling in the hay/manure mixture I went and got cleaned up and made dinner. I like to use Adobo on pork chops. For some reason they retain that flavor better than any others I can come up with. I did add some black pepper just because we both like lots of it. I browned them in the Wolfgang Puck skillet (love it!) and while that was going on, I chopped up some onion and got the pot of water ready for the whole wheat pasta ribbons (like an egg noodle but without the egg).
I like to mix a can of Cream of Mushroom soup with a little milk and some ham bouillon and then use that as the gravy on the chops. Well, I kicked it up a notch (ha ha) and added a half a can of peas to it, drained of course. The gravy gets poured on the chops after they have browned good on both sides and then into a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes - depending on how thick the chops are. I don't like the really thick ones as I think I have said before. Anyway, the water started boiling and the pasta ribbons went in. Wally finished up cleaning the tractor and tiller, got himself a shower. Everyone and everything was ready at the same time. Rarely does this happen for me when I'm cooking. I'm getting better but there's still a timing issue when I try to get everything ready and hot at the same time. We ate at the table and talked about how each other's day went.
It was pretty darn nice :)
I cleaned up the kitchen and Wally fed the dogs the bones. Everyone was happy, full and tired so we watched a little AFV and headed up to bed. We were working too late to catch Archie, Two and a Half Men or even Everybody Loves Raymond. It was kind of chilly last night so I had to have an extra blanket. Here I am, cold, and using two blankets and there's Wally, no covers, hot and in front of the fan. LOL Our thermostats aren't in sinc. I warm up from his and he cools off from mine. Works out good!
Tonight we're supposed to go to Pee Wee's place. We'll see how that works out. I have to stop at Food Lion for the beer sale and the gas station for fuel while it's still $2.65 a gallon. It's hard to believe that that price is considered good...
I posted a picture of my drive to work but it was still a little too dark for you to see it very well. You can see all the traffic I have to deal with though... that's what it's like every day. Just imagine :) or better yet, come see for yourself.
I hear Dizzy Debbie is planning a trip up this month. We're having a cookout Memorial Day weekend so hopefully she'll make it for that. It'll be the maiden voyage on the outdoor kitchen... lol
Until tomorrow... enjoy your day :)
"If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in bed with a mosquito." ~Betty Reese
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