Sunday Eve

I hope everyone is having a good Labor Day Weekend.  It doesn't seem like it should be working on the end of summer already.  Some of the garden crops are starting to wear out.  It has been a decent year for some of the garden and mediocre for other parts.  I will start pulling some of the plants and get the beds ready for next spring.  It is just as easy to do it now as then.  Most of the beds I will lay cardboard down and maybe straw on top of that.  The cardboard will stat breaking down by spring.  Our soil leaves a little to be desired, and this seems to help amend the soil.

We had a nice visit with some new friends  this afternoon.  We  share a lot of the same interests and thoughts in our ways of life.  We really appreciate being able to share things with others who appreciate it.  We are in the process of thinning out our strawberry beds, so they took some of them home, along with raspberry plants.  Things were starting to get a little unruly in that part of the garden. We appreciate being able to share with people who care and are concerned.  Thanks Jeannie and Roger.  You are good people and I think we are all on the right track.  Thank you, friends.

The greenhouse is coming is coming along.  I hope to have it mostly done this week.  Mostly just finish work.  I am looking forward to experimenting  with greenhouse plants this winter.

As I look back at the summer, it has been a fairly good one.  My wife may not completely with that, as she has suffered from the shingles for the summer.  She is doing better,  A lot of the pain is gone, but still itches most of the time.  To me, just waking up in the morning is important.  Gets the day off to a lot better start!!  But on the serious side,  being able to enjoy the beauty of God's Creation is one of the greatest things that we can do.  The other morning I was walking around the our small place before sun-up.  It was so peaceful.  There had been a small shower during the night so everything was nice and crisp.  It was so quiet you could hear noises from a long way off,  The birds were doing their morning rituals.  I was thinking of the billions of people in the world will never be able to experience what I was just then experiencing.  The peace of the hour was beyond description.  Then I thought about the people who try to destroy this. In my opinion, if a fourth of the people of the world could feel what I was feeling at that moment, things could possibly be different.

I've rambled on enough. It is getting late.  Once again, thanks guys.  God Bless--johnnyb

The Mighty Hunter

Annie checking out a part of her domain.  Ever so vigilant, until a thunderstorm comes through

God Bless-johnnyb

Monday Morning

We have been busy the past couple of weeks. The grapes we picked steamed into 15 quarts of juice.  It will make good jelly and possible a little wine.  It has been a good year for the garden.  Best cucumber crop we have ever grown.  We gave most to my sister-in-law to put up.  We have canned a few tomatoes and split the rest with her.
We are in the process of building a greenhouse.  We have re-purposed a lot of storm windows and other windows over the past few years, and are putting them to good use.  And of course some pallets.

Hope to get it enclosed this week.  A friend has some corrugated roofing he wants to get rid of.  We are going to build a solar heater and along with the windows hopefully will keep it warm through the winter.  We have back-up plans also for the heat if needed.

One of our hens went broody a couple of weeks ago, so we have her setting in a separate building.  Hopefully next week we have some "peepers" running around.  Last year the same hen hatched us 7 little ones.  The only problem was 5 were roosters.  Hope for better this year!

Coffee cup is empty.  Have a good one.  Keep "Old Glory" flying high and proud, or the Maple Leaf to our friends to the North.  God Bless--johnnyb

Fruit of the vine

We have one grape vine .  Yesterday we picked about a bushel and a half off of it.  They are going into the steamer this morning.  Will make some good juice for whatever we use it for.  The tomatoes are starting to  ripen.  I didn't plant until a little later in May.  I just felt the ground was too cold earlier when I usually plant.  Cucumbers and eggplant are going great guns also.  I guess on a good gardening year, 4 plants are plenty for two people.  But they have not gone to waste as we share our garden with anyone that needs something.

Back to the subject of grapes, we have inherited  a small vineyard.  I say small, but they are 50+ vines!  So we will be busy next year year.  We are moving them to our  place, using what we want and giving others away.

   Time to go do something constructive.  Need to get the steamer going and get water heating.for other things.  We are also doing some peaches that were given to us.

God Bless--johnnyb

Hermit Jim  had an interesting post today.  I have this picture of a tombstone from a cemetery near where I live.  Follows the same line as his post.  I couldn't post  the pic in his comments, so am doing it here.

  .

I am not sure of the year.  Just interesting.

Had a little bit of rain last night.  Not much, but a lot of noise.  Anything is appreciated.  We have had our first muskmelon this week.  Very tasty!!  Tomatoes are really starting now.  I planted later than usual.  I am always trying to outguess the powers to be.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it don't.  Later was ok this year, so far.

God Bless--johnnyb

Things a person just can't do without

I am writing this after reading  Fliers  post yesterday.  It is amazing how much stuff can be amassed under the guise of "repurposing material.  I can pick up some usable piece of "stuff" that I know will be the handiest thing to have around.  (Next to a pocket on a shirt, of course).  Just can't do without this treasure. After a couple of years, my wife will ask, "Why is this still laying around?"  And the all-time great comeback, "I have just found a use for it.  I will get to that just as soon as I have time."  A couple of years later, "What were you going to use that for?"   So far, 3 pickup loads have gone back to the dump where I got them!  So goes the world of repurposing!!

This is one of the projects that will we finished soon.  The little shed will be a small shop for some of my projects.   It was built with old pallets and tin found lying around. The ground around it does not do well with grass and  ends up weeds and mud.  Yesterday with a little black plastic and Cyprus mulch we solved that problem.

Time to go.  I have  things to build or else it is another trip to the dump!---johnnyb

Monday Ramblings

Another Monday rolls around.  The hustle and bustle of another work week looms before the masses..  Some going to jobs they don't particularly care for, but having to do it anyway until something better comes along.  For others, it is a job so great they can't wait to  get there.  Then there are those of us who can wake up on Monday morning and say "I don't have to do a damned thing if I don't want to."   Since retiring, though,  I seem to have plenty of projects to keep me busy, so I don't say that too often.

It was a good weekend.  I volunteer my services at a Bar and Grill,  so I spent some time there this weekend.  I could write a book of the experiences in a small town bar.  Never a dull moment.  I will leave it at that.

Picked more veggies from the garden.  I think it is the sixth picking of beans.  The variety I planted this year  has been a good one. Will definitely plant more of the same next year. They are still blooming, so we should get more.  Picked our first muskmelon. Very tasty. Sweet corn is not ready yet. It will be late.  I had trouble with ground squirrels digging up the seed.  Took 3 plantings before I got the best of them.  I have some dent corn (Bloody Butcher) for grinding purposes.  First year for planting this.  Hope it turns out ok.  Tomatoes have finally started to ripen.  We should have quite few in the next week or so.

Some new friends stopped by for a visit last evening.  They are a younger couple who have a lot of the same interests that we do.  We will be able to swap ideas and tidbits of info and trade out some small jobs that we each need  done.

Coffee cup empty--time for refill and ponder the day. God Bless--johnnyb