Two Posts In One Week??? Crazy, Right?

Woo Hoo I found I had a few minutes of time so I thought I would write to update you on the planting I've done. As you know not much can be planted up here this time of year but when a good friend sent me a box of 40 bulbs, well I found it hard to resist.

Forty bulbs may sound like a lot to most of you but if you have ever planted mass quantities of bulbs, forty is easy street. To start with, I had to decide where to plant them or in what to plant them. I didn't really want to dig in the ground with it being such rough terrain, especially when the ground is close to being frozen.

I finally decided on this old speckled pot that was Wally's grandma's pot. It somehow ended up with a couple holes in it and so now it has been turned into a planter. It's more than ample in size to hold 40 bulbs and so my mind was set.

I got my gloves and my little digger and set out with my box of bulbs in hand. I had to clean out some roots from the calibricoa that was planted there over the summer (and that the chickens gobbled up in no time) and clean out a handful of rocks. I used the digger to kind of stir up the potting soil and move it up on the sides of the pot so the bulbs could go in the center.

Come spring, I should see from the center towards the outside, 4 "Striped Red and Yellow" tulips, 10 "Sky Blue" lilies, 15 "Rock Garden Mixed" Allium, and 20 "Mixed" crocus flowers. They all bloom close to the same time and were planted with the taller plants in the center and shorter ones towards the outside.

I don't know if it's true of everyone (probably not) but it sure does me good to get my hands dirty! Thank you Karla!

As I was exploring the best place to put these bulbs, I noticed that some of last years tulips and hyacinths were poking out of the ground. Out of 12 tulips, I could see just 4 peaking out. The hyacinths were all there - none were flowering but their green tips could be seen. Spring should be colorful indeed!

My rosemary is growing just as if winter never arrived. It doesn't seem to be bothered in the least by cold temperatures. Next time I'm at the store, I'll get a chicken to roast and clip some of the rosemary with which to season it.

I'm also growing my own celery. I know, crazy, crazy, crazy. Kris found the instructions on-line and sent them to me so I thought, what the heck. I took the celery from the refrigerator and cut it from the root end. The stalks I put in a glass of water and the root end went into a bowl of water.

Within three days, the root end began to sprout! Who knew? It's a slow grower to be sure but what could be better than growing your own celery? And in a bowl to boot!! LOL I know I'll have to transfer it to dirt before too long and that's just fine. When you go through celery like I do, it's nice to have some growing at all times. I even bought another bunch of it just so I can get another plant started.

With any luck, the first root will get me through until the next one is ready and then, guess what? I'll just use those roots and start again...if it works that way or not, I'm not really sure but you know me, I'll try it out! And if I'm not too busy, I'll let you know how it works out for me. I sure never thought I'd be a celery farmer hahahahaha bet you aren't too surprised though, huh?

I tried a new recipe the other day, it's a sticky candy that is diabetic friendly and super yummy. The ingredients are simple; honey, nuts and egg whites. You bring the honey to a boil in a pot and then set it aside as soon as it boils. You roast the nuts and set them aside. You mix the egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the honey and bring to a light simmer. Cook on medium for 15-20 minutes. When it turns a burnt orange color, add the nuts and press into a parchment paper lined 9x9 casserole/bowl/dish/pan - whatever you have. Use another piece of parchment to press it down and refrigerate for 3 hours. That's it!

It's soooooooooooo good. It's sticky, chewy, crunchy, sweet and a wonderful treat! I already have an order for a batch to be sent to friends in Georgia LOL

I've been reading the blog of "OneGoodThingbyJillee." I don't know if you've heard of it but she puts something on the blog every day and in most cases, they are helpful hints, cleaning solutions and lots of homemade remedies. I've tried a few with moderate results.

For those of you who like to use fabric softener but forget to add it, she has a good solution. The solution began as an idea for dryer sheets instead of always buying dryer sheets. When I tried it, I found it was more like using fabric softener than a dryer sheet. I'm not a fan of fabric softener so I'll be back to using my dryer sheets but you might like the idea.

She instructs you to pour the fabric softener into a jar or other lidded container. Don't fill it to the top, only go about half way. Using an old dish towel (or other old towel) cut it into pieces the size of about 5x5 or smaller. I cut one old dish towel into thirds and they were fine for this process.

Put the towels into the container and when you're ready to dry your clothes, take one out, lightly wring it back into the container and toss into the dryer with your clothes. As they dry, they'll be softened by the fabric softener and it will also prevent static cling.

If you often forget your softener, this might be a good solution for you. I had two issues with it; wringing it out is kind of messy and I don't like the feel of my clothes with fabric softener on them. I don't like static cling either but dryer sheets take care of that issue just fine for me. Let me know if you like her idea though.

Another solution, instead of buying swiffer dry sheets, she suggests using a fuzzy sock instead. I haven't tried this one yet because none of my fuzzy socks will fit over the swiffer head. I looked for larger size fuzzy socks at the Dollar General but all they had were little sizes, smaller even than mine. Oh well, so much for that solution LOL!

The weather man is calling for the possibility of snow first thing in the morning. If it happens, I'll get some pictures! There's one of me on the flickr site with a little bit of snow falling. It hasn't been much so far this year but that's okay, they say mid-January there's more to come.

I hope you're enjoying this fine Friday afternoon. Hugs to all and know that you're missed xoxoxox

"Life is tough pilgrim, and it's even tougher when your stupid." John Wayne
(contributed by Sydna! Love it!)