Still recovering

I'm still not feeling 100%, but I think I'd feel better if Quentin would just stop babbling like a brook once in a while. I can't concentrate when I have no peace and quiet to think of what needs doing, especially in this heat. I love him to death, but when he's telling me all about his little truck projects that don't mean squat to me, in detail, and cussing like a sailor over everything ... I just want him to zip it!

I'm not sure how in heck I'm going to get through work with still feeling a little wobbly on my pins, but I don't have a choice. It's a short week anyhow with the holiday and I need the money. This is not going to be an easy week with trying to work and recuperate at the same time. I need some extra nap time which I'm not getting because as soon as I doze off, he insists on waking me up to make sure I'm okay. And I keep saying I'm fine, I'm just trying to SLEEP, and he gets mad ... shouldn't I be the one getting mad because I'm exhausted from not getting my sleep in? ARGH. And because I'm a bit wobbly, I'm agreeing to ride in to work with him for a couple of days, which means I won't get anything done around here. My life lately has taken a rather wonky twist, and I'm not happy with that. At least with riding in with him for a couple of days, I can sleep in and back and nap when we get there in  the truck (though he tries to have the darn thing completely closed up while I'm napping, instead of wanting me to get any breeze - some days I feel like I can't win for losing!). Anyhow, I'm going to quit yakking and get myself together for the days so Mr. I Have To Be There Three Hours Ahead Of Time can get going and be there "to find the perfect parking spot." (insert eye roll here)

KINDLE FREEBIES OF INTEREST


Indoor Gardening Made Easy: How To Grow Herbs & Vegetables In Your House (Homesteading Book 2)
Trailersteading: Voluntary Simplicity In A Mobile Home (Modern Simplicity Book 2)
Knitting for Beginners: Learn How to Knit Quickly and Easily From Home (Knitting Books - Master this Amazing Craft and Knit Beautiful Patterns)
Indoor Gardening: A Quickstart Guide To Growing Herbs And Vegetables In Your House, Apartment Or Any Small Space (How to Indoor Gardening and Urban Garden ... Indoors In Any Small Space Or Apartment)
Permaculture: A Step by Step Guide For Home Permaculture: How to Become an Expert in Home Gardening Techniques

In sickness and in health

I know you're supposed to share and share alike when you're married, but the last few days have been ridiculous. Quentin got stomach flu the other day, and of course, by Thursday night, I was starting to come down with it. I had to hope that it wouldn't be that bad, but of course, that didn't work out at all. I wasn't feeling super great Friday when I went to work, but I was determined to give it the effort. Not a chance. An hour into my shift, I started sicking up, and when I came back from the loo, my supervisor just looked at me and said she was finding someone to cover for me because I was going home. An hour later, I was on the way out the door. Dry heaves and hunching over my work station trying to stay upright wasn't exactly making an impression of being able to pull my weight! We were scheduled for work yesterday, but I called in - there was no way I was even going to try, considering I'd barely made it home Friday and into the house before collapsing, fully dressed, in bed - the only thing I got off was my shoes. I've spent pretty much every moment since in bed. I haven't been able to eat much, and anything greasy doesn't sit well at ALL. Fever, cold sweats, dry heaves, dizzy spells - you name it, I've had it the last couple of days, and I have to kick this so I can go back to work tomorrow. What fun. I'm pretty weak, but I think I can manage as long as I cram calories today of some kind. (Tried some broccoli beef, but the meat just about did me in.) So I'm back to bed for a bit and then up to eat, back to bed, up to eat, lol. It's going to not be very fun!

KINDLE FREEBIES OF INTEREST


Worm Composting & Woodworking Plans: 2 BOOK BUNDLE for Use in Organic Gardening of Growing Vegetables & Herbs
Homesteaders 'Quick Bites' Guidebook: Raising Chickens - My 5 Top Tips (K.I.S.S Quick Bites Book 4)
aPatio Planters: & Vertical Gardening - Designs & Wood Working Plans Volume 2 (Patio Planters: & Vertical Gardening - Designs & Wood Working Plans)
Beginner's Guide to Raised Bed Gardening: Grow your Own Salad Garden

Not feeling so good

I haven't gotten sick yet, and hoping to avoid it completely, but I'm still not 100%. Yesterday was a bad day with the fibro fog, as I kept forgetting a lot of the little things that should have been done. Today, I discover I accidentally tossed out something important the other day, and so I get to go through the trash bag outside in the burn barrel and try to find it. I hurt, I want to cry, and I'm still not feeling great after last night. I was in such bad shape when I got home that I pretty much went straight to bed, shivering like a Chihuahua! I even put some of the afghans back on the bed for me to stay warm and it took three of them to make a dent in the shivering. Still so tired, sore and generally feeling crappy. To top if off, it's not TGIF, as we have to work Saturday. The fibro has me going through a major round of depression, and I can't focus, can't concentrate well, just having a really rough day. Did manage to get some branches out of the brush pile yesterday that will work for a while as supports for the beans and the one tomato that didn't have a stake or trellis already, but I'm going to eventually have to break down and get real stakes. I did get a goody yesterday though. Mother Earth News had a special a few weeks back of a few small books and a couple DVDs that I wanted, including the archive of everything from 1970 to 2013 on DVD, so while I have no way to use the DVDs right now, I got the set anyhow - $25 plus shipping compared to $100 not on sale. GREAT savings, and worth it. Now I need a new computer, lol. Wishing I wasn't so tired. I need to be doing things and they are not getting done. Wishing more that I could  work strictly from home so if I had a bad day like today, I could do nothing but sleep!!! SOMEday! So other than work, today is going to have to be a mostly do nothing day, which bites, because I still need to get a bunch of things up for sale!

So, obviously, since I feel so poorly, it MUST be time to watch the Collabro audtion video for Britain's Got Talent again. And if you haven't seen it, these young men are wonderful. Early to mid-20s, only together a MONTH before they auditioned, and the blew everyone away with their performance of "Stars" from Le Miz. The one judge was all, "A month? What makes you think you've got what it takes to win Britain's Got Talent after only a month?" Their response? "Natural chemistry, I guess." Then they proceed to wow everyone. Oh yeah, and they did win. If you want to see it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob5UJS2WwQ8&feature=kp, or just search youtube for collabro audition video and get blown away. Bring tissues, you'll need them.

KINDLE FREEBIES OF INTEREST


How To Compost: Everything You Need To Know To Start Composting, And Nothing You Don't!
Homemade Soap Making: A Beginner's Guide to Organic Soap and Natural Body Scrub Recipes
Sustainable Food for the Globe, One Square Foot at a Time. (Sustainability for the Globe Book 1)
(3 Book Bundle) "Beginners Guide to Knitting" & "How to Knit Hats: The Easy Way" & "How to Knit Fingerless Gloves and Mittens" (Learn How to Knit 7)
Backyard Chickens for Beginners: Getting the Best Chickens, Choosing Coops, Feeding and Care, and Beating City Chicken Laws (Booklet)
Beginners Guide To Knitting Socks: Learn how to Knit Socks Quick and Easy
Container Gardening Designs & Woodworking Plans - Volume 2 Ideas for Organic Gardening & Urban Gardening
Worm Farming: Everything You Need to Know To Setting up a Successful Worm Farm
Vertical Gardening: What You Need to Know to Grow Organic Vegetables and Fruits for Your Family
Organic Square Foot Gardening:: A Practical Beginners Guide Growing More in Less Space Today
One-Day Crochet: Christmas: Easy Christmas Projects You Can Complete in One Day
A Splendid Guide to Residential Solar Power

A new addition

And an unexpected one, at that. Quentin says it's "only temporary," but I know him. He'll fall in love and want to keep the little furball. Somebody decided our place was a great place to drop off a young kitten this morning. The boys were pretty interested in it, looking out the bedroom window and trying to make heads or tails of what this thing was that they could smell. So I went out and got ahold of it. It is definitely male, which is good, and he's pretty well socialized, because he didn't try to get away nor did he struggle much when I picked him up and sexed him. Now the problem is, convincing Quentin we'll keep him. He wants me to put him up on the various Facebook yardsale groups I'm on as a freebie. There are so many free kittens up on them already, he'd be overlooked. He's a bit on the scrawny side for about eight weeks old or so, so I guess it's a good thing we feed wet food every morning and free choice feed kitten kibble because of Bouncer. (Bouncer had that spider bite a few years ago before he stole us fair and square, right on his spine - it left him needing a very high protein diet to keep weight on, especially in the summer heat.)

I guess it's just part of living in the country. People just seem to think that because you live in the middle of nowhere, that everybody can deal with another cat. Or a dog. Or that if they are let loose, they'll be able to take care of themselves. This little guy is so tiny, with our foxes and the red-tailed hawk around here, if he's left to fend for himself, he'll end up a snack for something in the large predator wildlife department around here. So, in he came. He is a hungry little bugger, too. I got the wet food down and once Bouncer quit sniffing him, the little fuzzball just dove in. There's plenty of water and kibble, so it's not like anybody will starve, just have to get the boys used to the little snot and Quentin used to the idea that we now have three kitties. Because I really don't think putting him up on Facebook would work to get him a new home. I've wanted a third cat for a while now, and whether Quentin realizes it or not, we now have a third cat. Bouncer has adopted little Nameless ... Quentin just went out to the living room, and apparently, Bouncer is curled up with the little snot. Smudge is being typical, in the he's already hissed and growled and is hiding right now. The kitten may end up being called Squeaky, lol, the way he mews.

It's supposed to rain again today, but with any luck, I will be able to get outside for a little while. No okra this year, and it's my fault. When I did the weed eating the other day, I accidentally chopped it down. Ooops. Oh well. I just got a bit overenthusiastic, which wouldn't have happened if a certain spouse of mine was more interested in doing chores around here like I ask him to. Anyhow, time to find books, and here is a rather grainy (because I zoomed in) photo of Little Turdbutt.



KINDLE FREEBIES OF INTEREST


Raised Bed Gardening - 5 Books bundle on Growing Vegetables In Raised Beds & Containers
The Handbook of Common Herbs
A Beginners Guide to Organic Vegetable Gardening: Introduction to Composting, Worm Farming, No Dig Raised & Wicking Gardens Plus More... (Simple Living)
Soap Making Business: How to Start and Manage Your Own Home Based Soap Business (Home Based Business)
Boxed Set 3 How To Make Natural Skin Care Products
The Essential Guide to Container Gardening: Growing Organic Herbs & Vegetables In Any Space or Container Has Never Been This Easy! Grow Like A PRO And Have Fun Doing It!
All Natural Cleaning Recipes: A Non-Toxic Household is a Healthy Household
Growing Berries: How To Grow & Preserve Strawberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, Blueberries, Gooseberries, Redcurrants,Blackcurrants & Whitecurrants.
Candle Making for Beginners: Step by Step Instructions for Included Projects
Herbal Antibiotics for Beginners: Your Path to Natural Healing
Organic and Homemade Skin Care Formulas: 101 Easy and Affordable Herbal Recipes for Natural, Healthy, Glowing, and Beautiful Skin

I won't have to water today

But I won't get anything done outdoors, either. It's about to start pouring. I have to go to work in this mess, lol. Gonna be FUN. Hubby will be home - he headed in to work even though he didn't feel well, and is now heading back home because he is tossing his cookies. Woops. So it's going to be an interesting day. Getting in to work will be fun, anyhow, because the main drag at the bottom of the mountain road is being repaved, so it's flagman and one lane, etc., and I won't know which way the lane is going when I get down there! I managed yesterday to fall in behind the bunch going the same way I was, so I got off pretty lucky there ... no telling what today will be like. And I guess I can't hunt down books for a while today if at all - my dish has "outroute has lost lock" due to the weather. ARGH! Funny how my computer says I have five bars, but I am missing three lights on the modem. This is annoying. And now the internet is back up, but there's not a lot today. A bit sparse on the books end of things! Gotta finish this up and head in to work for another night of the Chicken Mafia, yay me.

KINDLE FREEBIES OF INTEREST


A Beginners Guide to Keeping Backyard Chickens - Breeds Guide, Chicken Tractors & Coops, Hatching & Raising Chicks Plus More... (Simple Living)
Indoor Gardening: Indoor Gardening Secrets You Wish You Knew
Organic Vegetable and Fruit Gardening: A Beginners Guide to Growing More in Small Spaces
Grow your Own Organic Food: How to Easily Grow an Abundant Garden of Fresh Fruit, Vegetables and Herbs in Small Spaces: A Green Thumbs Guide to an Organic Food Producing Garden

Short rant

Because, honestly, even with my fibro, there are days when it feels like I have to push myself to get things done around here that need doing so they simply get done. I spent most of my "vacation" day yesterday cleaning the house because a certain spouse of mine hasn't done his fair share of chores for days again. (More appropriately, he hasn't done ANY chores, and lately it all falls on me.) Ditto with two heavy chores I wanted him to deal with. Weed eating over the weekend and getting my new dirt out of the back of the car today. Let's see - the dirt is still in the back of the car, I need to eat and get ready for work, and I'm supposed to haul ten 40-pound bags of dirt from the car up to by the house. Thank goodness for that cart - I might be able to do it in trips of 2 bags a load so as not to overload the cart. Lifting isn't that hard, it's the carrying it. Weed eating I did this morning - well, early afternoon. I asked him to get the thing started so I could do it while he got ready for work. Two hours later, he's ready for work and THEN says, "Here, let me get the weed eater ready for you." I could have had it DONE long before, plus my internet stuff, plus food and packing lunch for work, ALL before he left, if he'd started it up for me like I asked. (He has to start it because he insisted on a gas weed eater ... I wanted battery operated so I didn't NEED help with it. "Oh, no," says he when we got it, "Don't worry, I'll do ALL the weed eating!" So far, out of the last three times it's been done, he's done ... none of it.)

So yeah, in among everything else today before I leave in about two hours, I have to fit in time to haul up the dirt. I WANTED to get some stuff transplanted today and tree  branches in for trellising beans up as some are already!!! into their second set of true leaves in just DAYS. Also wanted to shift around some of the radishes so they all have plenty of room to grow. Thanks to lazy, that's all off again, because I'm pooped from weed eating and have to save what energy I still have for shifting bags of dirt. Anybody else have issues like this with their spouse wanting to homestead with them but not willing to actually put forth the work involved? Because I'm about ready to say the heck with it some days, the way I feel!

KINDLE FREEBIES OF INTEREST


Growing Organic Berries: Everything You Need To Know To Grow Healthy Berries (Strawberries, Blueberries, Blackberries & Rasberries)
The Ideal Pantry: Your Comprehensive Guide to Food Remedies and Preservation Techniques
Indoor Gardening Box Set: How to Grow Beautiful Tomatoes, Bell Peppers and Avocados at Home & How to Grow Delicious Peaches, Grapes and Strawberries at Home (Indoor Gardening, Urban Garden)
Backyard Chickens Book Package: Backyard Chickens: The Beginner's Guide to Raising and Caring for Backyard Chickens & The Backyard Chickens Handbook
How to Grow Vegetables & Herbs in Containers - Container Gardening for Beginners
Easy Knitting Pattern Fingerless Gloves
One-Day Crochet: Projects: Easy Crochet Projects You Can Complete in One Day
Square foot gardening: For beginners (Square foot gardening, square foot gardening book, square foot gardening guide, square foot gardening kindle)
Growing Herbs: Beginners Guide to Planting & Growing Healthy Herbs (Simple Homegrown Herbs)

Well, my plans for the day are shot!

It decided to rain good this morning first thing, so I'm not going to get anything done today unless it dries out some before dark. Not likely, so a quick run to Harrison to get a new shower bag is likely to be all of my outside chores for the day. Grrrr. I really wanted to get some more dirt and put some more stuff into tire beds! I can get the dirt, but transplanting is going to have to wait DAYS, and weekends are so busy that it's difficult, and with working ... oh, this is so frustrating. Spring delayed gardening so badly, and now the weather is still not cooperating. It's too wet to get out the weed eater, and the yard needs chopping at if we are to avoid ticks yet and if I am to get more tire beds down. I don't know what to do, this is ridiculous weather. We need the rain so much but I want to be DOING stuff!!!

Guess this week, everything will be indoors types of things. *sigh* The heat and all have me so messed up with the fibro and associated stuff that I had to take off my wedding band last night. I'm so bloated from heat that it was cutting of circulation. Happens every summer. Oddly, somehow, I also have a small blister in between the base of my ring and pinky finger on my left hand. Not real comfortable, which means trying to get it to pop later with a razor so it can dry out and heal up. Stupid blister. Most of the time, I leave them alone, but when they interfere with me doing stuff, they get lanced.

So today will be indoor chores (dishes, sweep floor, kitty box, trash, put away laundry from Saturday), and some other stuff like converting more books in Calibre to PDF, making jewelry, catching up on some video watching (for stuff I downloaded off youtube), writing, and getting stuff set up for sale. Yeah, I'll still be super-busy. I just won't be super-biusy outside, darn it!

KINDLE FREEBIES OF INTEREST


Thrifty Chicken Breeds: Efficient Producers of Eggs and Meat on the Homestead (Permaculture Chicken Book 3)
Backyard Ponds for Beginners: A beautiful backyard addition in a single weekend!
One Acre Homestead
Crochet: Basics. How To Crochet Vol. I. A Complete Beginners Guide with Step by Step instructions with Pictures! (Crochet, Beginning Crochet, Crocheting, ... Guide to Learn How to Crochet Book 1)
Starting a New Garden (VOL. 2): How to Plant Seeds and Seedlings, Care for Your Plants, and Grow 12 Simple Vegetables, Plus Shade Gardening (Growing Organic Vegetables at Home)
Hi Top Sneakers For Baby (Crochet Pattern)
Vertical Gardening for Beginners: Ideas for Growing Beautiful Space-Saving Gardens Indoors and Outdoors
Knitting for Intermediate Knitters: How to Knit The Complete Guide on Intermediate Knitting With Step by Step Instructions with Detailed Pictures to Expand ... Knitting Skills and Knowledge. Volume 2
Tomato Container Gardening: Growing Tomatoes In Containers, Planters And Other Small Spaces (Gardening Techniques)
Success Guide For Raising Healthy Goats (Goat Knowledge)
Watermelon Container Gardening: The Quick and Easy Step by Step Guide to Growing Watermelons in Containers
Backyard Chickens: A Beginners Guide To Getting The Best Chickens, Feeding and Care, Choosing Coops and The Regulations For Keeping Chickens (backyard ... keeping hens, city farm, urban farming)

Going to rain some more!

Which is a good thing. We need it after a week of no precipitation, to recharge stock ponds and such. If hubby will get the weed eater going tomorrow before he heads to work, I'll chop grass for our walking path down, as it's getting shaggy. I'll also be doing a bunch of chores, inside and hopefully outside as well - it's supposed to rain off and on all week, and I'm hoping a lot of that rain ends up here in gentle showers. I'd rather not have the gullying downpours we've been having, because the road is bad enough already. JJ came over and helped Quentin today while I ran a couple errands and got pizzas, and together they got the alternator replaced in the van. No more squeaky-squeaky when the thing is runnning, which is very good. I have gotten rather tired of worrying about the van dying somewhere if the alternator went out completely, and now I don't have to.

My garden is starting to look like a garden. Of the things I planted the other day, I have several radishes, a bunch of beans and one corn up. My marigolds are finally starting to develop some extra leaves, and some of the carrots are getting those pretty, feathery leaves that they get. So the next few days will be getting a bunch more beds done for the gourds, squash and cukes, and getting them moved. So far, my replanted tomatoes and peppers are doing zilch. Disappointing summer so far for that. Considering I'm at least a month behind where I should be on the garden this year, it's a blessing that anything is going. I did lose the one cherry tomato that had the thin spot on the stem, along with one of the mortgage lifters that came up. However, the other mortgage lifter seems to have been a double seed in that cell as I have two seedlings in it. The gourds and squash I moved out of cell packs into bigger beds really seem to like the root room, as they are already putting out new leaves. I'll have to put in the trellis branches very soon for them and the beans!

I am a bit disappointed in the White Icicle radishes, though. Don't know if I mentioned it, but when I opened the pack, there were supposed to be "up to 95 plants" worth of seeds in there, and 4.5 grams of seed. I do not think that SEVEN seeds is 4.5g. Seriously, SEVEN FREAKING SEEDS. Instead of having any White Icicle to sell as a novelty and some to let bolt, I'm going to have to make careful sure that each of them pollinates the others for gene dispersal and let all the five that came up go straight to bolt if they survive, and hope I get a good harvest of White Icicles NEXT year.

I've had to get myself a bottle of B-complex vitamins, as the heat combined with the fibro is just dragging me down so bad on energy. I'm eating a lot more fruit, though, and that along with loads of water is keeping me hydrated. Yesterday was a bit of a bummer because of how the heat draggd me down, but we had so much fun in Branson anyhow. We headed up early to avoid some of the heat, and spent a ton of money, lol. Way less than we could have, but we didn't get anything that isn't going to be useful here or do anything that wasn't fun.

Let's see, after gassing up the van and lunch at Red Lobster when we got there ...

Looking at the online bank statement to see what we spent where, lol, because a lot of it, I forget. The fibro fog is just that bad this weekend with the heat and humidity. We got him some stuff for work at the travel center on the way up - his silly cigarettes and some mini thins, because he really pours on the energy and burns out without the mini thins. One of these days, I fear he will burn himself out badly with taking those things.

After lunch, we headed across the road to the IMAX theater but couldn't find a movie we both liked, though we did a bit of shopping there. I got him a Marines hat, flag and magnet in one store, and a cool knife with skulls on the handle in another. Then we went to the Tanger Mall Outlets and hit up a few stores there that we like. I got him a pair of nice Nikes in the Nike Outlet store there for his anniversary big present, because he REALLY needed some new sneakers. About all he had left for general walking around was a pair of slipon type shoes that are just ugly. The ones he picked are lime green, folks. You can see his feet in the dark, I think!!! Wow!

He went into Yankee Candle with me and got me some Fruit Salad tea lights and a medium jar candle of a new scent called "Summer Scoop" that smells just like strawberry ice cream. He SAYS he doesn't like candle shops, but I have never seen a man spend so much time smelling everything that sounds good as he does, haha! Then we spent a bunch of money at Wal-Mart, where he also got me my big anniversary present of a Crock-Pot, which will come in serious handy use come cold weather again in just a few short months. I hate to think of winter already, but it's going to happen. That means that once I get all the plants into beds, and I may have to double up some on things to make room (oh well ... such is life these days!), I'm going to have to get plenty of things to store stuff in once they are done. Just in case I don't get a chance to eat it all fresh or dry it, because no way will I have time to can it up with working and all.

Also, we hit up the Coleman Outlet store near the one theater we tried to find a movie at (and failed), before we hit up Wal-Mart. Turns out they were doing summer clearance, so we picked up a couple of battery-operated tent lights for closets here, and their last collapsible camp cart. It's cloth with a metal frame that folds up much like a camp chair! So handy yesterday getting everything to the house. Instead of a bunch of trips with laundry and groceries, it was TWO. So much easier and more fun. Hopefully tonight, when it cools off some, we can finish up the bailer bucket, as I have to fill jugs tomorrow and would rather not leave the property to go do it! One thing I am trying to figure out how to do without adding a zillion pages to the blog, is to do a series of articles on various homesteading things written by others that are informative and helpful, but I haven't figured that out yet. It's a bit grr-some, but I think once I get it figured out how blogger will do links internally within a page via HTML, so I can break up the recommended pages with a bunch of links at the top (so visitors can go right to the section they are interested in), I can do the same with the articles for the moment. I would like to have a real website one day, but for now, blogger will do.

But it is time to get books together for everyone from yesterday and today and hope you get some. I am still pretty wiped out from the heat and recent fibro flares, which doesn't make homesteading easy, but it's so worth it. The days when I can get out and do things makes me feel some less pain, and I sleep so much better. (Plus, seriously, I really want to have a bit of coffee ice cream and some room temp green grapes for a snack ... especially the grapes. Tart and juicy and settles my sweet tooth!) Hugs, all!

KINDLE FREEBIES OF INTEREST

The Briggs Book : Recipes, Remedies and Household Hints from way back when
Growing Vegetables in Containers: How to Grow Gourmet Vegetables in Your Container Garden (The Weekend Gardener)
BOX SET#5: Soap Making For Beginners & Homemade Body Scrubs & Masks for Beginners(Soap Making, Body Butter, Lotion, Soap Making Recipes, Soap Making From Scratch, Natural Homemade Soaps)
Everyday Soap Making: Go From Beginner To Expert In Learning How to Make, Natural, Easy, Handmade Soap From Scratch. (UPDATED)
The Quick Start Guide to Making Soap
Nature Crafting How-To's - Crafter's Display, French Sq. Bottles, Decorating Eggs
(2 BOOK BUNDLE) "Learn How to Crochet Quick And Easy" & "Crochet Stitches For Beginners"
How To Keep Goats Healthy (Goat Knowledge)
Balcony Gardening: A Beginners Guide To Starting A Beautiful Balcony Garden (beginners guide to gardening, beginners balcony gardening, urban farming, ... vertical garden, city garden, beginners)
How To Plant Your First Organic Garden
How to Grow Beans and Peas: Planting and Growing Organic Green Beans, Sugar Snap Peas, and Heirloom Dry Beans and Peas
(2 BOOK BUNDLE) "Knitting Stitches Handbook" & "Knitting Scarves For Beginners" (Learn How to Knit 5)
(3 BOOK BUNDLE) "Knitting Stitches Handbook" & "How to Knit Socks" & "Knitting Scarves For Beginners" (Learn How to Knit 7)
How to Crochet: A Beginners Guide to Learning to Crochet Today (The Ultimate Crocheting Book to Unlock Your Inner Artistic Talent)
Organic Gardening, Garden Design, Composting and Companion Planting for Beginners: A Guide to Companion Planting, Building Your Own Compost Bin and Basic Garden Design

TGIF

 This has been a bit of a crazy week, with the weather drying out and last night, no rain. We had 80% chance of thunderstorms, aaaaaannnnd .... nothing. Not a drop. So I have to go water again today. I will be glad when there is time to finish the bailer bucket ... every time we try to get to finishing it, something comes up (or hubby goes down for a nap). This weekend, he and a buddy are going to replace the alternator on the van. It's squealing some and we know it's not the idler pulley or anything else - those were replaced just a couple summers ago right before we moved here. So it's time for the alternator. It's a heavy thing, so JJ will be coming over to help, and while the guys do that, I will head to Harrison to make a pizza run. It'll be good for the guys - they get to have some guy bonding time which neither hardly gets to do, and get to play with something mechanical while they're at it. If I'm really lucky, I might be able to talk them into helping finish up the bailer bucket. (Crossing fingers.)

I'm starting to see some good results on things from the replanting. Not only are most of the vining things up in the squash, gourds, watermelon and canteloupe department, but when I did some watering yesterday, I noticed that a couple of the Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes had popped up as well as two of the Mortgage Lifters. Yum. Tomatoes ... now to just get them going good and producing something for me!!!! I'm tired and really need a nap, but doubt I'll have time for one unless I'm really fast on some things that should be getting done but haven't been. My to-do list is not turning all that quickly into a tis-done list! I have Monday off as a vacation day, so maybe I can get some things done then. One of these days, I will have all days off, lol. Till then, it's hit and miss.

As our anniversary is Monday - wow, has it been four years already? - and he will likely have to work, because he can't get time off, I am informing everybody now that everything will likely be late tomorrow if done at all because we are going up to Branson to celebrate our anniversary a couple days early. In the meantime, I need to eat something, and do what I can before I have to leave. Really need to stoke up with some caffeine, too - I think my thyroid is out of whack as I am exhausted a lot lately, and I'm about the same age as my Mom was when hers went screwy. Time for more yummy veggies and fruit - good thing I like them a lot!

KINDLE FREEBIES OF INTEREST


Low Cost Gardening - A Recycled Garden
Balcony Gardening: A Beginners Guide To Starting A Beautiful Balcony Garden (beginners guide to gardening, beginners balcony gardening, urban farming, ... vertical garden, city garden, beginners)
Ultimate Guide To Soap Making
Growing Tomatoes - Growing Tomato Plants, A Useful Guide For The Home Gardener For Great Tasting Tomatoes (Do You Want To Know About)
Essential Oil Magic For Quick & Safe Cleaning: 75+ Homemade Sanitizer, Deodorizer, Disinfectant & Spritzer to End Your Fight with Germs, Bacteria, Fungal Infections, Viruses and Stains!!
Raised Bed Gardening: 3 Books bundle on Growing Vegetables In Raised Beds.
Boot Cuffs - Easy Crochet Pattern
How To Plant Your First Organic Garden
How to Grow Beans and Peas: Planting and Growing Organic Green Beans, Sugar Snap Peas, and Heirloom Dry Beans and Peas
Patio Planters: & Vertical Gardening - Designs & Wood Working Plans Volume 1

Stuff is popping

Having taken a look at the flats this morning, a lot of stuff is popping up in the fast-sprouting stuff. I'm still waiting to see what happens with the tomatoes and peppers I replanted, but so far, replanting has taken off. So my garden will be late this year. Big deal. I'll just get a little shorter harvest than everybody else. NEXT year, I'll at least have one of those little portable greenhouse things to start stuff off in. (I do need to haul in the water jugs from yesterday - as usual, I'm doing everything around here because the hubby is in a big hurry to get to work three hours early.)

I am a bit disappointed in my one cherry tomato plant I moved into the old cooler planter. It's not been eaten or anything, but the bigger one decided yesterday to suddenly develop a pinched spot just above ground level and fell over. I had to prop it up with extra dirt. Hopefully, I can keep it going long enough for the newly buried extra stem to develop some roots for stability, and get it going good. I also need to find the seed packet for the white icicle radishes, because when I planted them the other day, there were a whole SEVEN seeds in there. Seven. The Watermelon radishes I planted had darn near a whole handful in there, which is going to mean a lot of thinning with a dibble in a couple of days, ditto on the extra lettuce ... I was short on time so I just broadcast them a bit in the beds. Worth it for a good harvest though. Just if I don't get satisfaction from the seed company (Burpee's, I think), I'll have to let the White Icicles bolt and go to seed instead of harvesting most of them for sale like intended.

The cooling mat for the laptop is working good. The computer is staying nice and cool, instead of getting really warm in this weather. Smudge seems to think the laptop is his, because he's always marking it with the scent glands on his face. "This belongs to you, and you belong to me, so this belongs to me," he seems to say. The heat really makes me sleepy and I want a nap before I pack for work today, but there's a lot to do before I can think about that, mostly involving putting more stuff up in the farm store for sale and junking more Kindle books that I really don't want anymore due to having read them. That is a bit time-consuming, since I have over 8000 of the electronic lovelies. Of course, nobody ever told ME that there was a limit to how many books I was allowed to have, and some of these are really good to the point that I'm putting the hardcopies on my wishlist.

But it's time to eat something and hunt down books for us all, so see you later! Hugs, all!

KINDLE FREEBIES OF INTEREST


Tomato Container Gardening Tips
Raising Chickens: Answers to the Most Common Questions About Chicken Care, Feeding and Egg Laying
The Perfect Compost Plan: Simple Guide To Making Healthy Compost
One-Day Crochet: Afghans: Easy Afghan Projects You Can Complete in One Day
(2 BOOK BUNDLE) "Knitting Stitches Handbook" & "Knitting Scarves For Beginners" (Learn How to Knit 5)
(3 BOOK BUNDLE) "Knitting Stitches Handbook" & "How to Knit Socks" & "Knitting Scarves For Beginners" (Learn How to Knit 7)
CAN IT! How To Can, Preserve, And Store Your Food In Jars

Even the computer needs a fan

It's just that hot. I can't afford to replace it just yet, so it's $15 on a cheap USB plugged cooling pad for the laptop. It seems to be doing some good, so we shall see. I've got the hottest spot on the thing sitting right on top of the fan itself, and it's not getting quite as hot as it has been. So many chores to do today before I head to work in a couple of hours, including watering the other half of the garden and stopping to fill water jugs.

I want to get more stuff up for sale, especially as the fourth is coming up and I have a few things that are patriotic-themed. I did have to make a dash to Harrison this morning to get a few things I was out of, plus a snack tray of sorts. My old lead is getting a "going away" party at lunch break today, and everybody is bringing something. Mind, we only got it thrown together late yesterday, so it's a rush to get anything, but I figure a cheese, crackers and meat snack tray will work.

Other than all that, I don't have much planned for today, because I got a lot done yesterday before I headed in. Pretty nice that I can be so good at time management that I got the water started heating up to do dishes, and while that was getting warm, I took care of the litter box for the boys, made my lunch for work, did some planting yesterday and watered half the garden. Then I did the dishes up before I left. It's not that I try to tire y'all out with all I accomplish, it's just I'm good at time management. It's a learned skill, but worth having. You get loads more done that way. Anyhow, time to hunt down books, the BEST part of my day! Hugs, all!

KINDLE FREEBIES OF INTEREST


100 More Easy Recipes in Jars
Desserts in Jars
How to Crochet: A Beginners Guide to Learning to Crochet Today (The Ultimate Crocheting Book to Unlock Your Inner Artistic Talent)
A Beginner's Guide to Patio and Kitchen Herb Gardens: 21 Herbs You Can Grow at Home (Gardening Quick Start Guides)
How To Grow Carrots, Growing Carrots Made Easy
Organic Gardening: A Quick Start Guide (Gardening Quick Start Guides)
Organic Gardening, Garden Design, Composting and Companion Planting for Beginners: A Guide to Companion Planting, Building Your Own Compost Bin and Basic Garden Design
Blueberries in Your Backyard: How to Grow America's Hottest Antioxidant Fruit for Food, Health, and Extra Money (Booklet)
Container Gardening Made Simple: Beginners Guide To Growing Health Vegetable & Herb Gardens
Companion Container Gardening: Using Easy Companion Planting Techniques to Get More from Your Small Space (Organic Gardening Beginners Planting Guides)
Container Gardening: A Quick Start Guide (Gardening Quick Start Guides)
A Beginner's Guide to Raised Bed Gardening (Gardening Quick Start Guides)
Square Foot Gardening - How To Grow Healthy Organic Vegetables The Easy Way: Including Companion Planting & Intensive Vegetable Growing Methods
Vegetable Container Gardening: A Quick Start Guide (Gardening Quick Start Guides)
Naturally Bug Free: Homemade Pest Control for Organic Gardening Made Easy (Organic Gardening Beginners Planting Guides)

Planting time!

Yeah, more planting. Now that the squash and gourds that have true leaves are finally in their permanent spots (which means I also need to go to Home Depot or Meeks tomorrow for more dirt, haha - because I can't afford to have a couple tons delivered in one shot, but a bit here and there I can do), I can put out more carrots and some mixed radishes and some more lettuce. And there will be beans and corn going out today around the cucurbits as well (fancy talk for squash and edible gourds). But since they won't be up and shading out the ground for a while, it gives me time to get in some short-season stuff real fast.

Mind the lettuce will likely go to bolt quickly unless I pick the whole head early on. I do leaf lettuce so I don't have to worry about bitter inner leaves which I hate, or heads cracking from uneven watering. Radishes and lettuce take about thirty days or so to harvest, and carrots about sixty, so by the time the beans and corn are getting really big, the radishes and carrots will be done and out of the way. It may have been a while since I've had a garden, but I'm having fun trying.

But I need to eat some lunch, find us all some books and get my butt in gear with some gardening fun. Hugs, all!

KINDLE FREEBIES OF INTEREST


Greenhouse Gardening the Easy Way!: Learn to Greenhouse Garden: What plants grow best, how to use vertical gardening and other methods to create an optimal year round or seasonal greenhouse.
Seed Starting: Beginners Guide To Seed Gardening!
Recipes in a Jar vol. 2: How to Can Vegetables
Raised Bed Gardening Planting Guide - Growing Vegetables The Easy Way (How to build a raised bed and grow vegetables with minimum fuss) (Gardening Techniques)
Herbal Soap Making: Powerful Soaps That Heal, Clean & Nurture The Body! (Simple Homemade Soaps)

Going to be busy today

It's going to be busy today for me. It's not supposed to rain much if at all today, so once hubby is gone off to work, I will be heading myself outside to work on the garden. I noticed yesterday when I came home that quite a few of the vining things like cukes, squashes and such are popping up, so I want to get them shifted to permanent spots ASAP. Today will likely be the ones with true leaves already, along with possibly popping in some corn and beans around them. They'll grow fairly quickly, though  I very much doubt the corn will be "knee high by the 4th of July," in a couple of weeks. For those not in the know, in the US, that's the general standard for whether or not you'll get a good corn harvest, is for your corn to be standing tall to your knees by Independence Day. With as long as this spring has stayed either cold or wet, I'll be happy to get much of anything out of the garden!

Now, as many cukes have popped up this time as have done - the full six - I'm liable to have to get a water bath canner later this year and some pint jars to make me some bread and butter pickles and relish. Marketmore is known for making lots of cukes, so with any luck I'll have a good harvest on that. Heck, I'll take a good harvest of anything at this point!

I tried to do some knitting while at the laundromat yesterday, but my cable needle decided to split apart, so last night required a shopping trip on Amazon. Thank goodness for all I do that gets me gift cards there, because I spent about $60 on a few novels (had to replace a couple that I've literally read to death), got me a set of cable needles, and some jewelry stuff for displaying earrings when I go to shows. So now I'm expecting three packages in the next week or so. I like shopping, lol. Especially when it doesn't cost me anything.

Anyhow, it's time for breakfast (bacon and eggs, yum!) and then getting outside to do things. Must find books, and hope my legs quit itching ... all these darn tick bites that are healing up are really, really itchy!!

KINDLE FREEBIES OF INTEREST


The Naturally Bug-Free Garden: Controlling Pest Insects Without Chemicals (Permaculture Gardener Book 2)
Container Gardening - 2 Book Bundle: Vegetable Container Gardening - Made Easy; Tomato Container Gardening - The Easy Way To Grow Tomatoes In A Small Space
How To Grow Tomatoes, Growing Tomatoes Made Easy
Boxed Set 3 Gift Ideas and Gift Baskets
Vegetable Gardening in Containers: How to Grow Organic Vegetables in a Container Garden
Build a Back Yard Frog Habitat: The Quick and Easy Guide to Build a Small Container Frog Pond in a weekend

A do nothing much kind of day

Yesterday ended up being very long. Twenty hours long as a matter of fact, before I got to bed. Work was supposed to be only a "short kill," and therefore only about 5-6 hours long of work. Nope, ended up being 3AM before we clocked out again, and then to save a bit of energy today, while still able to motivate myself, I went to Wal-Mart after work to get a few groceries. Got home, unloaded, ate real quick, put things away and hit the hay around 6AM. I was so overtired, I was out cold in minutes. Of course, Quentin was up and moving at about 10AM and expected ME to get up then, too. I said, "It's pouring buckets, it's supposed to quit by lunchtime, I'm sleeping till noon." Then I spent the next two hours trying to rest because bright boy kept talking. I finally gave up and got moving so I could go do laundry. Being Father's Day here in the US, I'd told him I would go by myself to do it so that he could do whatever all day.

He chose to do a bunch of small chores while I was gone, and then griped when I got home about how he hadn't gotten anything "fun" done yet. Yeah, this is not a good day. I'm still wiped out, because once laundry was indoors, I simply couldn't function any longer and lay down for a nap. I was only going to rest for about 90 minutes. It turned out to be 3 1/2 hours. I JUST got up. So now I need to eat (heating that up right now, meatloaf and mashed taters, yum) and find us all some good books! (I'm not that upset over him talking like he did, really ... I'm just cranky from not getting enough deep sleep, and he KNOWS that leaves me grouchy. I'm like a toddler in that respect, lol!)

But I did do a quick check on the seedling flats on the way in the house once I got home, and I am going to have to get VERY busy putting together tire beds the next several days as much as possible. All six of the replanted cucumbers came up, at least one more gourd, several varied squash ... whew! Now if the replanted tomatoes and peppers and such come up too, I'll be doing good. Once things are shifted into beds, I'll also be finally able to plant some other things, like radishes and bunching onions and some extra lettuce and swiss chard (which I've never had but what the heck) and other really fast-growing stuff in with the tomatoes and peppers. More carrots as well. I'm also probably going to try and see if I can get the Three Sisters method to work for me with all the squash and gourds.

I have plenty of branches and fairly straight scrub trees I can cut down to use around here for staking up the vining stuff. I hope that putting a bit of indian corn (for fall decoration sales) and some green beans in with them, that I can get a good harvest in a very small space. Supposedly, the American Indians did it and it worked, so why not give it a whirl? I'm limited on space right now, but interplanting will save a lot of space, and a lot of time eventually weeding if I ever see one! So far, no weeds, which is a good thing because I hate weeding. Haha. So now dinner has just beeped at me, and I am going to eat and find us books. Hugs, all!

KINDLE FREEBIES OF INTEREST


Raising Backyard Chickens For Beginners: Simple Guide To Keeping Happy & Healthy Backyard Chickens (Complete Guide)
Growing Upside Down Tomato Plants: Learn How to Set Up a Topsy Turvy Planter (Vegetable Gardening)
Organic Pest Control for Everyone: Easy Homemade Insecticides and Traps (Organic Homesteading Series Book 1)
15 Fun Crochet Patterns

Summer heat, gardening and blowing coat

The heat is ridiculous again now that the rain has passed. I don't mind too much except when it's mid-afternoon and that's when I get to try to get gardening done. I guess it's a good thing that with my schedule, I can't spend more than an hour or two at it a day during the week, because otherwise the heat would clobber me! Thank you to friend Tina, who reminded me late yesterday that I'm finally getting a garden in of some kind, which I've wanted to do for such a long time here. It may not do much this year, and could be a complete failure, but the upside is that I am making the attempt.

Headed to Meeks this morning to get some of their topsoil but they were out, so I had to go to Home Depot instead and get some of the Miracle Gro. I don't like their stuff as much because of all the salts in it, but it's better than the cheapy alternative HD has, which is Scott's so-called PREMIUM topsoil. That stuff is little better than fine mulch. There isn't a bit of soil of any kind in it. Premium it ain't. Go ahead fellas. Pull the other one, it has got bells on. Four big bags, 2 cubic feet to a bag, and my poor car was loaded. Got it home and Quentin unloaded it for me. Next time, I think I'll get the little bags so I can do it myself, because it isn't worth listening to him grouse about helping carry them up to the house for the little bit of money saved. I can carry the 1 cubic foot bags myself with no problem. Though if I had things like I want, I'd just save up and go have a truckload delivered, lol.

So even if I don't get much done outside today, because I still need to eat some lunch and pack for work (yeah, they scheduled us for today, and I am hoping it's going to be as short as they said it would be), I do plan on at least getting my little lettuces moved into the pot with the one tomato and some of the carrots thinned by pricking them out and using the dibble to replant them in there as well. I am not wasting good Chantenay carrot seedlings when they don't even have any true leaves as yet. If they survive a quick move, that means more carrots for me, right? *big grin*

As for blowing coat, it's the boys. Honestly, they are shedding up a storm. I swept the house the other day and got up enough hair from Smudge that it's a wonder the boy even has any left. I could have made a whole kitten from what I swept up, I think. Bouncer likes the furminator brush, but Smudge doesn't, so petting him brings up a lot of loose coat. I wish he'd let me brush him, but he doesn't like it. Considering he barely tolerates petting most of the time, I'm lucky I can get off as much loose fur as I do! But my lunch just beeped at me and I need to eat real quick and find us all books. Hugs all - see you later!

KINDLE FREEBIES OF INTEREST


How To Grow Herbs
Back Country Crafts Made Easy: 25 Crafts to Warm Your Heart
Slippers - Easy To Make Crochet Pattern

Not getting much done today

Well, folks, my plans for today and tomorrow have got to be swapped out. Not that I want them to be, as I really wanted to get down to Meeks, get a bunch of topsoil, haul it home and do some gardening before work. Tomorrow was going to be jewelry-making and other things here at the house. But things have to swap around because of things at work.

My current lead, Calvin, has opted to stop being the lead and go to maintenance instead. He'll like it better, I think, but it leaves me in a quandry. Breast line will be without a permanent lead. I have been encouraged to put in for the position, despite having more points than desired for a lead right now. There's a good reason. I've got over a year in this time round, more time than anyone else on breast line. Let's see, we have two complete new hires who just started this week, two people still on probation, one just off probation, and one gal who has barely enough time in but doesn't speak very good English (and is shorter than I am, so she'd have trouble flipping boobs on two of our three lines) ... of the current crop of folks on breast line, where we are short 2-3 people for a full crew, I am IT. I am the one with the most experience, who can do all the positions as needed, and who is, essentially, being encouraged to put in for it. My supervisor actually told me last night, "You never know, you might get it." So basically, it all depends on who else, if anybody, puts in for it and whether or not they have seniority equal to or better than me.

This means that today's plans get swapped, because even though the plant only opened the job up for bidding yesterday, they are closing it Monday, so I have to get paperwork, fill it out and get it turned in ASAP. And since personnel isn't open on the weekends, I have to leave a bit early today so I can get there and go in that end of the building to get the paperwork and get started fillilng it out. Mind, I'll still get some stuff done around here before I leave, like setting up more beds and such, but filling them is going to have to wait until tomorrow. So I'm outta here to find us some books  Hugs, all!

KINDLE FREEBIES OF INTEREST


How to Knit Socks: Quick and Easy (Learn How to Knit Book 1)
Worm Composting - Woodworking Plans & Worm Bin Ideas for Use in Organic Gardening
CONTAINER GARDENING: IDEAS & WOODWORKING PLANS HOW TO PRODUCE MORE ORGANIC VEGETABLES IN LESS SPACE
How To Compost, Composting Guide With F.A.Q. includes Vermicomposting & Bokashi Compost: Composting Made Easy, Step By Step
Fruit & Vegetable Growing - Two Book Bundle: An Introduction To Growing Organic Vegetables And Fruit Berries
Beginners Handbook of Knitting Stitches: Learn How to Knit Great New Stitches
Growing Organic Tomatoes: Your Seeds to Sauce Guide to Growing, Canning, & Preserving Your Own Tomatoes (Organic Gardening Beginners Planting Guides)
Composting In a Nutshell

I am so tired

Oh my gosh, I'm pooped. Partly it's all the hours we're putting in at work, partly it's all the stuff that I absolutely HAVE to get done around here (so I'm living on caffeine a lot), and mostly it's my husband. I love him to death, really I do, and I don't want to sound like I'm carping, but I cannot go and go on four or five hours sleep a night plus things like energy drinks and Mini-Thins like he can. My heart condition won't let me, never mind that I hate the stuff. (Never works on me for hours past when it should kick in anyhow, my metabolism is funny like that.) If he doesn't learn pretty quick that if I'm not getting up at the same time he does and say, "I'm trying to sleep some more," it means I'm trying to sleep some more, so hush. Do not talk to me, do not sit on the bed and bounce around getting dressed (he has a chair for that which he never, EVER uses because "the bed's more comfy.") I need my sleep. If I  don't get enough, like most people, I can't function - plus it sets off that nasty irregular heartbeat I've got. Sometimes, I wonder why I changed to second shift, and then remind myself it's for the extra money. Besides, as long as I get a little time outside in the garden, stuff gets done, and I can always take a nap and get nothing else done to speak of before I head to work. Take that Mr. Bounce the Bed and Talk When Someone Needs to Sleep!

I did get four more tires dug out, rolled up by the house and set out like I want yesterday. I also found the first ripe wild black raspberries, so I had a snack while outside of a few handfuls of those. Mmmmmm. Today, I'd really like to get compost hauled up and some dirt in on top, though I don't have good dirt. I have really pebbly sandy stuff from the roadside grading ridges, and there's one right at the end of the drive. I won't be putting root veggies in those anyhow. The squash and gourds will be, and for seed-saving purposes, I'll be taping the female flowers shut if I ever get any. That way, I can do what my seed saving book says and tear the ends off, dob them with the male flowers to pollinate, and retape to prevent any incidental pollination from various bugs that help the process. I hate putting them that close together on supports, but with limited space, I don't have a choice. Then tomorrow I can start in on other tire beds till I run out of those, then it's the unconventional stuff like that busted coleman cooler and the drawers and such out of the Merlot for more if needed.

My tomatoes are not growing very tall, which bothers me. I hoped they'd get really big and supply me with a ton of maters, but I'll take what I can get. Maters is maters. I gotta get a lot done the next couple weeks so things can start getting root space and growing. (Plus I want to get a lot of greens and radishes and carrots and short season onions out and growing for possible saving for winter ... or selling preferably for extra cash.) Crap, it just started raining again, so I guess there goes my shot at stuff outdoors today! (And since today was going to be hauling up rocky dirt from those grading piles by the road, it gives me an excuse to go buy more decent topsoil instead ... "Honey, this is faster and easier, I can get the beds filled really fast this way so stuff is in it's permanent spot sooner!") Oh, and more carrots came up - I got them a bit thicker than I'd like so I may have to thin them. Instead of cutting them off, I'm going to try to prick them out and move them before they have true leaves into the pot with the biggest tomato - the one that keeps trying to drown itself, so the carrot seeds there likely got dumped out with all the excess water, lol. It's the only one with no carrots in it, the other three are sprouting a good crop!

Time to hunt down books for me and you ... and then maybe a nap before doing everything else. Hugs, all!

KINDLE FREEBIES OF INTEREST


Square Foot Gardening - How to Grow Organic Vegetables in Your Garden: Organic Gardening, Squre Foot Gardening, Organic Vegetables, Organic Berries, Own Garden, Canning, Preserving
Growing Herbs: Indoors, in Pots, in the Garden, Herb Recipes And a Medicinal List: Indoors, in Pots, in the Garden, Herb Recipes And a Medicinal List (Vegetable Gardening)
Homesteading Essentials (4): From Garden Plot To Soup Pot! Modern Homesteading & Easy Tasty Soups - 2 Book Bundle
PICKLES AND RELISHES-TWENTY BLUE RIBBON CANNING RECIPES
JAMS AND JELLIES-TWENTY TWO BLUE RIBBON CANNING RECIPES

A nice day at last

Though it's liable to be the only one this week. So whilst I write and such over breakfast, I'm enjoying the breeze through the windows, and then once hubby is gone to work, I will hie myself to the out of doors and get some tire beds set up. This will be a Good Thing, because, as I mentioned in comments on yesterday's post on the Facebook page, the weather has not been cooperating of late for this.

Thus, I have pretty much nothing ready to go, and I need to get stuff done. Otherwise, my poor seedlings are likely to go poof! and die on me. I have to worry about a couple of tomato seedlings right now that are getting a bit leggy. After reseeding the flats, I've got them back out, sans humidity domes. I hate the idea of playing "dump out the excess water every time it rains" but until I get some more beds set up so I can get the current seedlings with true leaves pricked out and moved to a permanent spot that will drain well on it's own, I'm a bit screwed on that. Hopefully, with the extremely warm weather now, the new reseeding will simply pop. Likely to be on the safe side, I'll also pop in more seeds as I can into the beds directly, as my buddy Ann suggested, too. I hate reseeding, but I have to do something if I'm to get any kind of a garden going this year. Much will be sold if it grows, but some will be just kept for direct eating.

The way this year's gone so far, it's not likely I'll get a dehydrator built, and this place just doesn't have the oomph to run even a small one, so it's going to be eat it fresh or sell it. Especially the okra I planted the other day to replace some of the yellow pear tomatoes that didn't come up. Hubby hates okra, and I'm not overfond of it, but many locals love it, and I know a couple people that will buy all I can grow. Partly, I'm thrilled that things ARE growing for me, partly I'm upset that so much has had to be reseeded, and partly I'm jealous as heck that others in my planting zone are already enjoying the bounty from their gardens. *sniff sniff*

Add in with the garden that there's a lot of writing to do, and crafting to do, whew. I'm awful busy. Add work on top of that with the hours we've been running, and it's a wonder I have time to get anything done. Speaking of work ...

If anybody is within an hour of a Tyson's plant. and needs a job, PLEASE feel free to apply for hiring in (at least at my plant, we are really shorthanded and could use the extra labor). It's not a great job, goodness knows. It's cold, and messy and sometimes gross. It's not overly difficult. I'd never worked in production before I started at the plant and I've managed to succeed in my job there. We do chicken mostly, but there are plants that do beef or pork as well. The pay is excellent, well above minimum in most cases, so you have a living wage for the area the plant is in. (As an example, I make $11.40 an hour, for doing nothing more than standing around flopping chicken boobs on a conveyor so they are flat and separated on the belt when they go through the x-ray machine.)

Add in paid holidays, paid vacation, insurance that is cheap because of company group rates (I pay around $20 a week for myself and my daughter for medical, dental and vision with the vision buy up so we can get better frames and exams annually), 401K, ESOP, etc., etc., all after just 90 days probation, and you really have trouble beating that for job benefits. I don't know for sure how other plants operate, but mine in Green Forest, you start at $10.50 an hour during probation, you get a 50c an hour raise after your 90 days is up, and if you agree to work second shift (which is where all the overtime is at), you get a 40c an hour shift premium. And that is just for the really easy stuff like I do, which is called Class 1. The cone lines where hubby works, where the wings, breasts and tenderloins are removed from the birds, get $12.50 an hour for first shift, $12.90 for second, for what is called Class 7. It goes up from there. You can make lead in a year, supervisor in two, if you show up and do your job well, and that's what you want to do.

So anyhow, time for a quick book hunt and finishing my breakfast, and then I'm going to get some gardening done while the weather's halfway decent! Hugs, all!

KINDLE FREEBIES OF INTEREST


Growing Herbs, How To Grow Herbs in Beds, Containers, Pots, Baskets, Window Boxes
What Everybody Ought to Know About Herb Gardening !!! (doctor gardening books collection Book 5)
Vegetable Gardening Tips - Complete Guide On Growing Vegetables
Vegetable Gardening: How to Build a Vegetable Garden
One Block Quilt Pattern Compilation Book ONE (Little Quilt Ladies Quilt Pattern Series)

Back to work

And still raining. Woke up this morning to anoter drenching downpour. I guess I'm going to have to risk damping off in order to make sure the seedlings get upright growth rather than getting sideways and weedy. But that means I also have got to get some more beds finished up FAST, and move the ones that are up into them, so they don't get too weedy, either. This year is not good for gardens round here, sadly. It happens, but it's never fun. Just means harvests are later than normal.

My one-day vacation is over so it's back to work for me today. From what I understand, there's going to be a lot of long nights, and while the extra money is nice, some days I wonder why I transferred to second shift, lol. It's worth it every week when I get the paycheck, but that good feeling lasts about five minutes. Though I did get a lot done yesterday.

The house looks a lot nicer, with the cleaning I was able to get done. My seedling flats got replanted, and the labels redone. Some stuff I was out of, lke the Kabocha squash and Yellow Pear tomatoes ... of which I got one squash and none of the tomatoes to come up. So the rest of the squash pack got replanted with a diffrent squash, and the tomato packs got replanted with other things. I got some Mortgage Lifter tomato seeds a while back so I did a pack of those and Shooting Stars eggplant. Did a couple packs of hot pepper mix seeds, so I have no idea what will come up from those. This will be the last seed-starting I do this year ... it's halfway through June already, and I really don't want to have to mess with more. Hubby is trying to convine me to get two more of the mini-greenhouses anyhow and finish starting off all the seeds in mix packs, like the hot peppers, mini sweet bells, large bell mix and the gourds, so I get a good mix of all the stuff that is in the packets. I may do that ... I'm dithering.

I also found the information for the virtual accounting jobs and put in my resume for all of those. If even one picks me up with enough part-time work that pays at least half what I'm making at the plant, I'm done with the plant. Even part-time, there are other things I can do to make money that I'd have more time for, like Amazon's Mechanical Turk. That's a crowdsourcing thing I've done a lot of over time, and it pays fairly well, just not a living wage. I've made as much as $70 a week off that one, so working from home can be lucrative, but you have to be able to have the time for it. So I'm hoping like crazy. I've got the background and experience, just not really recently. Hopefully, they can overlook that and realize I've worked at the plant to do what had to be done - put food on the table, clothes on my back, and a roof over my head.

So here's hoping things will start to turn around to where I can get a better garden going (I am SO jealous of everybody that had a better spring and are already getting early harvests!), and that I can get some work going from here a lot better. Though if all this drenching rain doesn't quit, my poor Arkansas Travelers are going to drown. Just looked and after this morning's downpour, with all we've had coming through lately, and what's supposed to continue, they are in standing water .... they just can't drain fast enough. Well, if I want to leave the seed trays out, I'm either going to have to find a way they can get light and be protected from the worst of the rain, or get a small greenhouse. This is not a good year for gardens ... even in raised beds ... around here. Oh well, hugs all - I'll try to find some books for us!

Quick addendum: Ok, just looked outside at things, and the only tomato drowning was the one still in the original pot. Dumped out the excess water, of which there was at least a half gallon, and moved that pot away from the house. I think it's been sitting right under a good spot for runoff for water catchment, and I don't want to drown it. The seedling flats are back out, no cover though. I think if I keep dumping off the excess water every time it rains hard, they might be okay. We'll see, because some of the seedlings are getting a bit big but their beds arent' ready yet - hoping  by this weekend that I can get that done, ha!!!

Had to come back in for the camera real quick so I could take a few photos. I got a crappy shot of my flowers by the front steps coming up - you can see where I have put up string for the sweet peas. Now to just get them training upwards! You can see the starts of the snapdragons and marigolds as well. No photo, but my carrots are starting to come up. I saw three little seedlings popping up today.

Next up - my first tomato! Not on the plant I had to move, this plant is in one of the tire beds. The thing's about quarter-sized, but I has a mater!!!!

And THIS one ... well, I spotted the fellow by sheet happenstance. I don't mind snails but they do not belong three feet from my garden. The quarter is for size reference. He is a HUGE bugger. So after photographing him, I picked him up and tossed him into the trees as far as I could. I know, not nice to him, but he would not be nice to my garden, either! It's not the first snail I've found around here since I put in the garden and I doubt it will be the last.

KINDLE FREEBIES OF INTEREST


Backyard Vegetable Gardening in Winter: A Beginner's Guide to a Successful Vegetable Gardening in Winter
Container Gardening Made Easy: Beginners Guide to Growing Organic Herbs and Vegetables in Your Indoor Garden
Backyard Chickens Book Package: Beginner's Guide to Raising Backyard Chickens & The Backyard Chickens Breed Guide (Modern Homesteading)
Raised Bed Gardening - Ten Good Reasons For Growing Vegetables In A Raised Bed Garden (Gardening Techniques)
Organic Gardening: Your Guide to Growing Healthy Organic Produce
50 Popular Types of Herb (The Herb Books)
How To Care For Your Newborn Goat Kids A Simple Guide (Goat Knowledge)
50 Best Homemade Soap Recipes
Vegetable Gardening Basics: A Beginners Guide To Growing Organic Vegetables - Including Top Ten Easy Veg To Grow
Compost 101: The Vegetable Gardeners Guide To Composting - Including Hot and Cold Composting, Layer Mulching, Vermicomposting And Bokashi Composting
Homesteading Handbook vol. 1: The Beginner's Guide to Becoming Self-Sustainable (Homesteading Handbooks)

I am officially old now

I had to get up at the usual time today because there's so much to do, hence why this is late getting done. I had a couple of errands in Harrison this morning that I needed to do before I got involved in other things and didn't get them done. As one of them was getting my Arkansas license, I kind of had to get up and out of the house first thing. I do tend to get involved and lose track of time, and with all that I need to try to do around here today as well on my holiday (birthday holiday, paid day off, yay), it had to be done. But it also means I'm officially old now, because I had to have me cheaters on for the eye test, and up till now, I'vee only needed them for reading and computer work. Oh well.

Today is going to be busy for an off day, though. There's yesterday's laundry to put away, dishes to do, floors to sweep, trash to pull together, and I really need to reseed the flats in the mini-greenhouses where things didn't come up. Yeah, for a "holiday" it's not going to be a lazy day! But then again, when is homesteader EVER lazy? I think I put as much time in on homesteading stuff as I do at work, whether it's regular chores or writing or crafting for us or for sale, or whatever! Sheesh! No wonder I'm pooped all the time, I'm essentially working two jobs!

KINDLE FREEBIES OF INTEREST


How To Hydroponics: A Beginner's and Intermediate's In Depth Guide To Hydroponics
Cheating on a Chicken Coop: 8 Cheap Ideas to House Your Backyard Hens and Save Money
Pickle It!
Herbs and Spices - Garlic, Ginger & Chives (My Herbs & Spices)
Milking Your Goats What You Need To Know Guide (Goat Knowledge)
Yoda Hat Crochet Pattern

A Sunday off

Quentin has today off after we got done at 4AM again last night (this morning????), and I also have tomorrow off as my birthday holiday. Yesterday wasn't horrible at work but it could have gone a lot better. Lots of people didn't show up, things broke at the start and at the end, but in general, it was just exhaustingly fast-paced, because of having so few people and needing to get everything caught up. It all wasn't too bad, overall, but so tiring. I am still pooped, and this morning, we still had to get up at an early hour to get things done.

Quentin took the laundry and headed off with it, I did a couple small things around here, and then headed off the other direction to get groceries and a pizza for dinner. We finally get home and get it all taken care of, but getting it all in was so fun. It was raining again. Not normal this time of year, this much rain. We're getting so much predicted rain off and on over the next several days that we actually have flash flood warnings posted through tomorrow night.

What I did before I left wasn't much, but it allows me to not worry about one thing and to get something else done indoors. The lack of worry was getting some string tied up to the front stairs and draping down to the sweet peas. They're starting to get tendrils on them, so they have to have some kind of support to grow up so they can eventually help cover the stair rail. It's a bit pitted and corroded, and doesn't look that nice. I want it covered enough to look nicer but not so much that it's unusable. Five or six sweet peas should do the trick, and five of the seeds I put in are growing, so that little problem is solved.

My other problem is that I don't have grow lights, but I had to bring in the seed trays. The seedlings would get drowned if I left them outside without the domes on, but if I leave the domes on any longer with what IS up, I have to worry about damping off. It's a toss up of stick the trays in the front bedroom on the spare desk and turn them a couple times a day for a few days till this storm system passes, so they can go back outside without drowning, or hope that I can keep the excess water dumped off so they don't drown. I'm not worried about the Arkansas Traveler tomatoes, as the one in the big pot drains as do the ones that got moved to the tires. And whoopie! I have about three or four very small tiny green tomatoes growing on there! I'm going to have to save the seeds as they ripen and are used.

Two more books arrived the other day that I ordered from my Amazon gift certificate money, both on market farming. I'm reading bits and pieces where thing apply. For example, it's kind of silly for me to read about wholesaling or selling to restaurants when those are not going to be primary concerns for me. Mine is actually just farmer's markets and homestead swap meets, so market gardening is the key thing I'm working on. They are both good books, and I think I will enjoy having them and learning from them. There is also a trip back to Harrison tomorrow as I need to take care of my driver's license and I want to stop at the Meek's there - they have good topsoil at 4 forty-pound bags for $5. I need to see if that's $5 a bag, or $5 for 4 bags. The sign wasn't totally clear. If it's 4/$5, I'm bringing home about $10 worth of topsoil, lol!

But while the rain has let up some, I need to eat and find some books. Then I think I will take a nap, lol. The last few days have drained my batteries and since I can't do outside what I want to do (set up more beds for the stuff that needs to be moved into beds ASAP), I'll be working on the last of the bailer bucket project tonight, and hopefully getting to use it tomorrow, along with doing some reseeding of the stuff that didn't come up. Hugs, all! (Oh, boy, one of my buddies on a gardening group sent me a link to a guy on YouTube with a ton of good gardening videos. Time to start up the video downloader and save a bunch of stuff to the puter again!)

KINDLE FREEBIES OF INTEREST


I CAN CAN GROUND MEATS!!: How to safely grind and home can ground meats to stock your food storage pantry with flavorful and nutritious loose ground meats (I Can Can!! Frugal Living Series)
Planning and Preparing Your Winter Garden: Try These Things to Lift Up Your Spirits and Your Garden!
Growing Berries In Your Garden - How To Grow Organic Strawberries: Growing And Preserving: Preserve Strawberries, Canning, Grow Organic, Diabetes Cure, ... Grow Berries Indoor, Grow Strawberries)
Essential Vegetables Box Set (4 Books in 1 Package): Organic Gardening with Tomatoes, Potatoes, Peppers, Eggplants, Broccoli, Cabbage, and More
Growing Flowers in Containers: Successfully Create Extraordinary Hanging Baskets, Window Boxes and Other Flower Garden Containers (The Weekend Gardener)
How To Compost Manure
Candle Making: A Guide Book With More Fun Ideas and Instructions (Crafts & Hobbies)
A Survival Pantry - The Ideal Prepper's Guide To Using Emergency Storage For Survival

Happy birthday to me

Yep, 46 today, and after the way this week's gone, I feel every moment of it. I ache in so many places that I'd forgotten I had places. I'd rather just sleep my birthday away, but I can't. We actually have to work today to make up for Monday, but the extra grow time has just made the birds freaking huge, and hard to handle. My left hand hurts pretty bad from all of that, whicih is not good with me being left-handed. Then again, there's always Cream of Old Age (aka Ben-Gay, which we keep on hand anyhow with all the aches and pains of homesteading), and thankfully, arm support wraps at work. They're basically just tubes of soft cotton and elastic, and I've got one here somewhere - I can cut a thumb slit in it and have it on today to help support my wrist. With any luck, I can avoid a trip to the nurse's station for an ice pack. And since I'm taking Monday off to "celebrate" my birthday holiday, I still get two days off, and one of them paid. Yay, I think.

But there's still stuff to do today before I head in. There's replanting to do if I can, maybe get something done on the bailer bucket. I'd like to - Quentin's been insisting that he'll "help" and do it for me, and ain't nothing getting done. Typical of projects around here that I want done. If it's important to me, it doesn't get done. I also want to check into some online accounting jobs. It's what my degree's in, and I really like and miss doing it. There's a few places I can put in my resume and one I will likely try to work on Monday, as it has a four-hour online assessment to do as part of the application process. So who knows what the future holds for me?

It's kind of like this poem Mom sent me the other day. It basically says I may be old, but this is the best time of my life. I am now at an age where I can basically do or say whatever suits my fancy, and nobody's going to say much, if anything, to me about it. And if they say it behind my back, that just goes to show how shallow they are. So while I may be "old" now, or according to my daughter, I'm "older" because I am older than Quentin. I'm going to enjoy the dickens out of it. So excuse me, I'm going to find some books for us all, and then I'm going to begin enjoying the early start of my "golden years." Hugs, all!

(Well, there go my outside plans unless it quits raining - again. Y'all should see the mountain road - it's a mess, lol. And the internet ... bummer ... man it's coming down hard.!)

KINDLE FREEBIES OF INTEREST


How to Grow Delicious Vegetables In Your Backyard
Leg Warmers Knitting Pattern
Soap Making For Beginners: The Definitive Guide To Help Beginners Create Rejuvenating And Hydrating Soaps Like A PRO.
Best Chicken Breeds: 12 Types of Hens that Lay Lots of Eggs, Make Good Pets, and Fit in Small Yards (Booklet)
Tabletop Aquaponics -- for Homes, Schools, Churches, Clubs, and Science Fairs
How to Grow Tomatoes, Peppers, and Eggplant: Planting and Growing Organic Heirloom Tomatoes, Sweet Bell Peppers, Chili Peppers, and Gourmet Eggplant
Growing Culinary Herbs
Square Foot Gardening Mastery: A Step-by-Step Guide From the Patch to the Plate (Organic Vegetable Garden Plans and Ideas for Beginners and Intermediates)
(2 BOOK BUNDLE) "Learn How to Crochet Quick And Easy" & "Crochet Patterns For Beginners"
Slipper Boots For The Family - Easy Crochet Pattern
Beginner's Guide to Organic Vegetable Gardening: How to Start, Maintain, and Troubleshoot Your First Organic Garden

More rain, haha

But we're still a bit behind where we need to be, but unless it quits well before I have to leave for work, it will put off anything outside again. Oh well. It happens. And as bad as it's raining, I have no idea if I'm even going to get this post done. That is going to be a pain in the butt, but it happens ... it's just raining that darned hard. And ... nope, right now, it's raining too hard and no interwebs. So I'm going back to bed for a bit and will see what I can do when I get up. See y'all!

KINDLE FREEBIES OF INTEREST


Homemade Stain Remover: The Best Natural Stain Removal Technique Around
How To Dry Preserve Fruits & Vegetables (Canning and Preserving Guides)
How To Breed Goats And Manage Gestation A Simple Guide (Goat Knowledge)
Organic Pest Control: A Beginners Guide To Backyard Pest Control (beginners guide to gardening, organic pest control, organic vegetables, backyard vegetables, organic fruit, organic pesticides)
Managing Goat Nutrition What You Need To Know A Simple Guide (Goat Knowledge)
BACKYARD CHICKENS: The Secret Beginners Guide to Raising and Caring for Chickens in Your Own Backyard (How to Raise Chickens - The Backyard Chickens for Beginners Book)
Indoor Gardening: How To Grow A Vegetable Garden Indoors! (15 Step-By-Step Guide)
(2 BOOK BUNDLE) "Knitting Stitches Handbook" & "How to Knit Socks: Quick And Easy" (Learn How to Knit 4)
Making Soap From Scratch: From Bar Soaps to Liquid Soaps, You Will Never Run Out!

Rainy, rainy

It's pouring buckets this morning, so that's good for the garden. What's not good is I didn't realize it was going to rain THIS much, and with some of the seedlings getting a little big, I took the humidity domes off yesterday when I watered. So of COURSE it pours today. This means I have to get a bit drenched to dump off the extra water and put on the humidity domes again. Oh well. at least things are getting a good raining on!

Work was a bugger, and will be for a while. The small fire evis had Monday has caused that part of the plant to have to run on industrial gennies, which really can't handle the load. Apparently, we blew out two of the three again yesterday, and when the second one blew from overload, not only did we have to call in repairmen from all the way in Springdale (90 minutes away in good traffic, and home to corporate headquarters), but the backlash from the second one going out caused another small fire in a different area, called tub room. That's where all our small tubs and whatnot are washed up every day. So more repairs will be needed that have to be inspected. We've been told to show up as normal every day and if possible, they'll work us, even if it's just for a few hours. First shift is getting the shaft, but at least second isn't. First is mostly having to go apply for temporary unemployment due to lack of work.

Yeah, there's a ton of things to do around here and all, but I'd rather be working at something until the homestead is up and running. I know with a couple acres under production, my personal income would be about $10,000 to $15,000 profit, depending on various conditions like weather, what grew, customer base, etc. But it's a home income that doesn't depend on equipment not failing, since things would be small enough to not use more than hand tools unless I had more than three acres going. I don't see that with just me doing things, but it's possible. Not likely, but possible. Then there's my writing and crafting and such, which just brings in more income. And I am all for more income right now - not only to pay off back bills but to get a downpayment going to buy a place because renting is not fun. It's like the plant right now. It works, but it ain't pretty.

I saw some butterflies the last few days, including several varieties of swallowtail. I picked up some cheap hummingbird feeders at the dollar store last weekend. I need to get those filled and stuck outside, so the hummers and butterflies have a bit of food, and encourage them to come settle round here even more for pollinators. They're not as good as bees, but if I have to, I'll hand pollinate everything. And this weekend has plans for replanting some gourds (seeds saved for future growth and sale, and gourd crafting) and loads more tomatoes and peppers. Not sure I have room to put in too many more vining things than have already sprouted, so those may have to wait till next year for cukes and squash and such that haven't started already. I'd hoped for different, but the way this spring has gone, it's not quite working out. Anyhow, time for a caffeine infusion of my instant cappucino and hunting down some books and things like that. Hugs all!

KINDLE FREEBIES OF INTEREST


Applique Patterns
Herb Gardening For Beginners: How to Plant an Herb Garden
Container Gardening Made Easy - How to Grow Vegetables, Flowers, Herbs and Even Trees in Containers
Renewable Energy Guide Book: Introduction To Popular Alternative Energy Options For A More Sustainable 'Green' Lifestyle
Growing and Cooking Herbs - A guide for taking herbs from garden to plate
22 Best Natural Green Cleaning Recipes

Pooped

I didn't sleep well last night, so I doubt much will get done today. Blasted fibro steals your life and your sleep half the time as well, from fighting to sleep through the aches and pains. Work wasn't too bad yesterday, considering we got about six or so hours in, running nothing but totes from Monday's debacle. The full scope was just learned last night by us line weenies. Turns out two of the rooftop transformers over in Eviseration went blooey and nobody realized it right off. All anybody over there knew was that power kept flickering and things kept shutting down. They just kept turning them back on, figuring, hey, it's got to be the overload on the A/C due to all the temps outside.

After an hour or so, power went out completely, so folks headed to the power control room to find out what was going on. No flashback, but lots of smoke, so the fire alarms were set off and the smoke was apparently bad enough when the firemen got there that they had to crawl in to fight the fire for an hour. Total physical damage: two burned out transformers, some wiring scorched/burnt/melted, and one wall of the control room is toast. They've brought in and hooked up a huge industrial generator so we can run - running last night was not fun because we barely had enough oomph to run the equipment, so it was a bit warmer than usual. (I say a bit, bt I wasn't wearing any of my extra layers, so that says something, because I'm never without four shirts on in there, one of them a sweatshirt!)

So life is more or less back to normal in that respect. Around here, I got a full packet of carrots planted around the tomatoes, and I actually have one teensy tomato growing now. I feel special, lol. I actually will have at least ONE tomato. (I hope - now to just pray it doesn't fall off or get blossom-end rot or anything else.) I go out daily and shake them to ensure pollination. Yep, I'm paying attention to the instructions in my seed-saving book. I never did get to Harrison yesterday, but I guess it can wait till this weekend, because I have decided that if things aren't popping this weekend, I'll spend part of it replanting. I have decided that if things haven't sprouted by now as they should have, I'll just replant and see what happens. I still have a few weeks to put in seeds and get them going and get a little bit of a harvest before frost in the fall. Funny to be thinking of that this year in full heat of late spring/early summer.

Off to find me/us some books (which there aren't many), and then maybe a short nap before I head to work. I'm just that pooped. Wish I had the energy to go out and do something, or to sit up and work on the recommended products page for the blog. Ugh. This whole exhaustion thing bites. Hugs, all!

KINDLE FREEBIES OF INTEREST


Survival Pantry: Definitive Preppers Guide to Food and Water Storage, Canning, and Preservation (Prepper Survival Pantry - Can your own Food, Store Water, and Preserve your Food)
A Beginners Guide to Companion Planting: Companion Gardening with Flowers, Herbs & Vegetables (Simple Living)
Gift Basket Business Guide to Marketing: 7 Easy Lessons To Jump Start Your Sales (Gift Basket Business Guide to Profits Series)

Back to work

Which I don't mind at all. I got a lot done yesterday, which is great, but it was kind of weird, too. First shift got sent home early yesterday, and we didn't work, and first didn't work today, so it was a toss-up if we'd work today or not. We are, which is good, but we'll likely work Saturday as well. Hey, it'll mean a full paycheck that way anyhow.

I did get the tomatoes shifted round yesterday, so now they have plenty of room for their roots to grow. Now if everything else would just start popping really well because I really don't want to have to replant stuff. I need to get busy getting more tires and some of those dresser drawers and things moved to by the house so I can fill them up - hence the potential trip to Harrison that I mentioned yesterday. It's going to depend on how many books I find in a few minutes. As things start getting bigger, I'm going to need that space desperately. But once it's all done, it'll be just maintenance while I build a solar dehydrator and do a lot of cleaning up and wood cutting for outside chores until things are ripe and ready to store or sell. Yeah, I've got plans, and things are starting to roll.

Never mind the plethora of indoor stuff I have to get done, which I mentioned yesterday. That's a load of work there alone. I got a lot done though with a day off. Mostly writing, because it was pretty muggy, so I spent quite a few hours until sunset getting writing done on the current booklet. I can't really call these things full books, because the current one is the longest so far at about 100 pages. But booklet I can do. So there I was, sitting around writing all afternoon and early evening until the gloaming, then I hauled up compost from the pile by the bucketload and dumped into the tires. Plenty of good stuff in there for those tomatoes to grow in.

Anyhow, time for books and then a run to Harrison for stuff because I really do need to get more topsoil and a couple more mini-greenhouses. Hugs all!

KINDLE FREEBIES OF INTEREST


Raised Bed Gardening for Beginners: Simple Guide to Growing Beautiful Gardens!
Organic Pest Control: All-Natural Pest Solutions To Protect Your Garden! (100% Safe For Your Garden)
Organic Gardening Book Package: Organic Gardening: Your Guide to Growing Healthy Organic Produce & Seed Saving for the Organic Gardener
Survival Seeds: The Heirloom Seed Saving Handbook
Container & Companion Planting: 3 Book Bundle Vegetable Container Gardening; Tomato Container Gardening; The Vegetable Growers Guide To Companion Planting
Aquaponics: The Beginners Guide to Growing Vegetables and Raising Fish with Aquaponic Gardening (Sustainable Living & Homestead Survival Series)
Companion Planting: The Beginner's Guide to Companion Gardening (The Organic Gardening Series)