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