Showing posts with label first. Show all posts
Showing posts with label first. Show all posts
First Harvest
First Harvest
Our first harvest (aside from lettuce) has been peas. We loved the shelling peas last year and realized our mistake was not planting enough. So this year we planted more and will likely plant more than that next year. I love them and especially in the cold months of winter. I honestly never knew that there was much difference in a store bought frozen pea and one I grew and froze. Big difference, try it for yourself, you will see what I mean.
We picked for 30 minutes or so and this was our bounty. Not too bad for a first batch. We shelled them all while listening to the television and then blanched and froze them in Foodsaver bags. They are so sweet and hard to stop eating while you shell. This year we grew Maestro, which we knew from last season was a winner. But in the spirit of trying new things we also added Green Arrow, which we have yet to harvest.
Maestro promises long pods filled with plump peas (as many as eleven) with a sweet and tender taste and I must say they deliver as promised. I love them. I am anxious to try the Green Arrow variety. Peas are a great crop for any garden but they are great in raised beds as they add nitrogen to the soil and raised beds are easily depleted of their nutrients. One must rotate the crop for the next season as they leave nitrogen in their place but use up some other valuable things.
The raised bed garden has been floating in a sea of wood chips as the ark we built to get out of the rain wasnt finished yet. Just kidding. It has been raining a lot here which is great when it comes in spurts so I can go mow the lawn every couple of days. But not as great when it just wont quit. I wish mother nature could spread it out a little.
Everything is growing well and I am excited that the beets are responding. I had to replant the chard and also added some cilantro to that bed. We love cilantro in salads and in marinade all summer long, so I plant in succession as it is quick to grow and be done. Note to self: never allow it to go to seed near the strawberries. Lesson learned.
First Harvest
My First Blogging Award Hooray
My First Blogging Award Hooray
Here are the rules for the award: (Copied From GrafixMuse Garden Spot)
"Liebster" is a German word meaning dear, sweet, kind, nice, good, beloved, lovely, kindly, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome.
The Liebster Blog Award is designed to introduce others to enjoyable blogs that have less than 200 followers. When you accept the award, you choose 3-5 other blogs that you feel are deserving of more subscribers and pass the award on to them.
Here are the rules:
1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Reveal your top picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.
5. And most of all - have fun!
Now its my turn and I would like to nominate...
Crafty Cristy - Cristy is a gardening mom in South Alabama who also home schools her kids. She posts good book reviews, craft ideas from her homeschooling adventurers, and gardening experiences. She is a new to gardening like me and I like following her blog.
Frugal Living At Its Finest - Amy is a stay at home mom who really knows how to find a good deal. I am amazed at the number of deals and posts that she puts on her blog. She posts really good deals, and I have learned a few "frugal" tips from her.
GingerBreadHouse - Mrs.Ginny is a gardener and excellent cook. She posts lots of good ol southern comfort food and gardening posts. I feel transported in time when I read her blog. She reminds me of all the good in America like the way things were before we got all complicated with our iPhones, Netflix, Facebook, and 24/7 society that we live in now.
My First Blogging Award Hooray
First Friday At The Banana Factory May 2 2014
First Friday At The Banana Factory May 2 2014
Im expecting a great crowd tonight for First Friday at the Banana Factory in Bethlehem, PA
where I am an artist in residence! From 6pm to 9pm all of the resident artists studios
will be open to the public and there is lots to see and do. My studio is on the first floor,
studio 102, so if you get a chance to come out, be sure to stop in and say hello!
Its going to be a beautiful night!
Part of my studio inside the Banana Factory in Bethlehem, PA. I am in studio 102, first floor.
One of my studio walls, all filled with new jewelry available for purchase.
On display tonight in my studio at the Banana Factory
I was featured artist of the month last month for April! Here I am hanging my exhibit. April
is now over, but you can still see my exhibit, which I moved from the hall into my studio.
Featured artist exhibit night and book signing
Inside my studio
I will also have some copies of my new jewelry instruction book, BoHo Chic Jewelry available
for purchase in my studio. If you cant make it to the studio, you can purchase a copy here.
The Banana Factory in Bethlehem, PA (directions)
What do you think?
Hope to see you there!
First Friday At The Banana Factory May 2 2014
Woodworking plans table from the first times
Woodworking plans table from the first times
It is usually easy to construct with the help of common hand tools. Woodworks sometimes appears in the simple furniture, ornamental add-ons, practical safe-keeping items ,and so on. some wood item projects may be built just within an hour or so, while others may necessitate one week .
Wood has always been the favourite and classic furniture building materials for new comers and pros. It is easily obtainable and straightforward or perhaps strange.
A great many other materials will need painting, concluding, etc nevertheless it can be quit undone like a natural wood seems even better. It is going well any time left discolored, unpainted, unpolished as it makes a natural wood conclude.
Woodworking and cabinetry are both concerning working associated with wood. Carpentry specifically means mending or constructing wood structures.
End carpentry contains trim, cabinets and paneling, although rough woodworking includes sheathing, surrounding and patio decking. Woodworking is considered to be an extension box of woodworking and requires making cupboards, furniture and other goods. It does call for precision, persistence and some a lot more skills.
Dining tables
A desk is used for a lot of different types of desk serving numerous purposes just one common factor it explains to you is a toned and side surface generally used for consuming from and dealing.
History of platforms
The four legged platforms have been well-liked since the historic Egyptian period of time. The roman and also Greek utilized the platforms that were slab-sided, similar to the altars.
Your Romans used reduced heighted tables to provide low sofas but these days and nights the platforms have more peak to accommodate the actual chairs inside.
The trestle platforms were used with regards to eating. It had been the traditional western table of people early periods.
It acquired simple panels that was standing on the trestles that might be erected at any time for the purpose of having.
Other than platforms, there were in addition tables including card platforms, library platforms, billiard’s tables, creating tables, breaking of the bread tables, green tea tables, dressing up tables, a coffee table, etc. there are also distinct tables for various locations that may be the differentiating aspect between their own sizes and shapes.
They might be night furniture, sofa dining tables, side and also end platforms and plan tables.
There are numerous designing inside tables that permit it to lessen or develop in size, thats usually for additional leaves ,pull leaves, flip leaves, fall leaves as well as many others labeled in by the specific strategy of construction like tilt-top, hunt -tables, gate-leg, crop and Pembroke.
There are several additional features in which enhance the seems to be and using of any stand. A kitchen table may have additional shelves along with drawers, and then for library furniture, there may also be drawers for more storage space
Some of the popular woodworking table plans are highlighted below
Scandinavian Kitchen Table
This is the simple and humble table that is certainly hard effective enough, created in such a way which it allows the hard home cooking food. The kitchen table has shouldered any bridle joint in which does the function of lock the hip and legs to a set of two long apron. Also having an H-stretcher that allows this to look as well as solid being a rock.
Shaker-Inspired Corridor Table
It is a sort of multi-purpose kitchen table that fits wherever and looks nicely everywhere. It appears attractive and light-weight the bottom archways of the apron add a lighter in weight appearance towards the look of the particular table.
Area Table together with Flair
This kind of table was made with a distinct taper having its top broader. The cut-away the surface of the table had been meant for placing the hip and legs on complete display as well as the aprons ingested the shape of the arc that echoed the actual theme.
Woodworking plans table from the first times
First Tree Planting Nuttall Oak
First Tree Planting Nuttall Oak
In my last blog post, I ended with a picture of the corner of my yard and a big red "X". Obviously from the subject of this post it is obvious that I planned to plant a tree there, and not just any tree it had to be the perfect tree.
A little background on me and trees:
I am a little bit of a tree snob, there are only certain varieties that I like. What I look for in a tree is that it has a strong central leader at least the first 6 to 10 ft up the tree. Then coming off that central leader, I like a nice even branching structure. I also prefer deciduous trees that have great fall color, mostly red. At my old house, I planted several red maple varieties because they fit all those characteristics. However, red maples grow a lot of surface roots and they make landscaping difficult around them. Because of this I knew I didnt want red maples at my new house. When we moved into the new house, I had been researching trees for weeks on the web and then it hit me.
At our church there are some of the most beautiful trees that I have ever seen. They have a wonderful branching structure, strong central leader, beautiful pyramidal to oval shape, just great looking trees. I asked someone who worked at the church if they knew what kind of trees they were. After some research, they told me Nuttall Oaks. I was like, say that again, never heard of it.
Within minutes I was on my phone googling them and within five minutes I knew this was the one. It has all the characteristics I want and even more. It turns out this is an under used tree, but has all the great characteristics of so many other oaks without any bad ones. It has well behaved roots and actually prefers wet sites which was good for me because the area is kind of a gulley. Here is a nice article about the Nuttall Oak.
Ok, I know that was probably way too much background information for a blog post, but I get pretty passionate about my trees. I will stop there and suggest you look up the Nuttall Oak, now on to the pics.
So here is the spot with the big red "X" marking it
I purchased a 2.5 inch caliper tree from a local nursery.
I wanted something big for this site because I want it to fill in fast.
Ball and burlap trees of this size are too big for me to handle.
These two guys were good, they made short work of digging in the hard clay.
Here she is, a big one, over 15 ft tall.
They rolled it into a wheel barrow and had to muscle it up there.
You can see how tall it is compared to the guys.
Here it is all finished, I cant wait to watch it grow.
Another perspective from farther away.
You have to take a picture to commemorate a tree planting.
First Tree Planting Nuttall Oak
First day of Fall! Living Room project sanity ensues
First day of Fall! Living Room project sanity ensues
WHOA! I know it has been a while since I have posted anything but I didnt know my last entry was mid-August. WHAT? However, I have been quite busy on a lot of major projects! The major overhaul right now is the living room. And I know what you are thinking - wha??? I thought you were doing the kitchen and the foyer, etc. YES! That is the problem!
When I was a young girl, my parents always told me it was more important to know a little bit about a lot of things as opposed to a lot about one thing. They told me it would make me a much more interesting conversationalist at cocktail parties. Thanks Mom & Dad - it turns out to be quite true. :-)
Unfortunately, I seem to have adopted this concept and applied it to my home improvement projects. I have been doing a little bit of work in a lot of rooms. I need to get one room done and finish it!
This leads me to my current project - my deep dark secret - my dreaded living room! Cue the chilling scream and spooky music. LOL.
Yes - it is time to come clean - THIS is the state of my living room. In its hey day, it was cranberry, mauve and hunter green. You can pause here if your stomach is a little queasy. Being the 1990s it was really a gorgeous room as my parents had custom draperies and furniture but, alas, it has been sitting in a time warp and it became a catch all for all sorts of things. I tore up the carpeting quite a while ago and the pile of stone in the picture has also been sitting there. It was a sweet deal on Craigslist and couldnt pass it up. I always dreamed of a stone wall in this room and it is now a work in progress.
This room needs a TON of work but I decided that I want to have this room done for the holidays this year! A daunting task but I am so motivated. I have all the furniture and items for this room - have had it for quite a while - hence the chair in plastic in the picture above. I just need to paint the walls, the ceiling, the floors, stone the wall, put up molding and put everything in place. Piece of cake, right? YIKES.
I seriously cannot believe I am posting these pictures! I feel so vulnerable right now. LOL I found those room dividers at a Habitat Restore and I am excited to rehab them and put them in place.
The metal lath in place and ready for the scratch coat!
The waterproof barrier and the metal lath prepare the wall for scratch coat and stone application.
Here is the scratch coat complete. I HATE this job but Im glad its done.
Here is the progress so far.... I know I am going to love it! But a long way to go.
So, will I get it done? I am very bound and determined. I imagine watching those awesome cheesy Christmas movies, with my Christmas tree and my cozy furniture as the snow falls outside. It is this vision alone which is my motivation. I saw this sign on Pinterest and I love it. Since I believe I will get this done, I will. I hope to post more progress this week! Happy Monday!
First day of Fall! Living Room project sanity ensues
First Poultry Loss This Morning
First Poultry Loss This Morning
We had our first poultry loss this morning. My husband noticed that one of our hens was craning her neck and gasping for breath last night. We raced into the house and started trying to figure out what it could be. She still wanted to roost with the others, moved around like normal but kept opening her mouth wide and arcing her neck.
I raced in the house and spent the rest of the night trying to figure out how to help her. It hasnt been too cold the last week so we left her in the coop where she was certain to have less stress. We got up at 5:00 this morning to check our forum board questions for answers to no avail. Doyle also headed to the chicken house and she was dead on the floor. I think he is going to try a necropsy on her to see if anything obvious was the culprit. We were pretty discouraged. We knew things could go wrong but we had a false sense of security because we have had such good luck with all the chickens we raised this year. I am sad but I also know that on the farm anything can go wrong.
First Poultry Loss This Morning
The First Wall Is Up!
The First Wall Is Up!
The first wall of the chicken house is up! Whoohoo!!!!! I am so excited. I spent the whole grueling day in Boise trying to pack up my Dads house and hating every minute of it. When I got home, I got this! Life got much better after seeing progress on the new chicken coop. This picture does not really show how tall this is. I am actually shocked it is so tall. The south wall is 12 ft tall to accommodate the pitch for shedding snow. I dont visualize very well so I was aghast at how tall that is when you stand right up next to it. We wanted to be able to stand inside the whole thing. The footprint of the coop will be 10 x 16 with 6 foot of that an ante room you walk into first. I plan to store all my supplies and feed in there so we dont have to treck around in the snow in the winter. We also preplanned a pop door in this area so that in the future, one side can be used as a brooder. You know... just in case we go totally chicken crazy. We are no construction gurus. Our friend, Monte, is helping us build this. Actually he seems to be building while we watch and get what he needs. He is one meticulous fellow. I thought I was bad. He is seriously anal. All in a good way, of course. He will need to really like chicken and eggs. We are on the barter system around here, with the lovely economy and all. So I plan to keep his family in the good stuff for as long as they will take them. The main body of the house only has one roof elevation and off the back side, there will be a covered run. It will look a lot more even when it is all there. I will keep you all updated.
And last but not least, the Inspector showed up again. Ollie loves to smell the hammer just before you swing it to drive a nail. He also likes to lick the tape measure and is absolutely in love with string line. Lime green is his favorite. What a pain in the rear end when he is putting his feet up on your legs when you are squatted down to look something over closely. Kind of throws off the balance a bit. We finally had to put them away. Way too curious for safety reasons. Osha must have some kind of rule against livestock on a construction site.
The First Wall Is Up!
First Corn Harvest
First Corn Harvest
This morning it rained. Yeah!!! Which, I might add, makes it the perfect day to put up corn for the freezer. This is our first year in many that we grew our own corn. We stayed pretty basic with our variety and only planted Bodacious. Next year we will try something different. Doyle picked them and shucked them outside and then brought them to me to clean the silks off and blanch.
Here they are ready to go in the big boiling pot of water to blanch them. The corn was really quite pretty and so far not buggy.
After blanching, we plunged them into an ice chest full of ice water and cooled them down. Then onto a towel to dry for a minute. Then Doyle used the electric fillet knife and a bundt pan to remove the kernels.
I bagged the corn into pint sized Foodsaver bags and vacuum sealed them. This tends to work best for us.
When it was all said and done, we put away 32 pints bags of corn and that seemed a great start to the corn harvesting season. Of course we tried it after it was taken off the cob and it was yummy. Fresh corn is so far superior to what one can buy in the supermarket. We will definitely grow this again.
First Corn Harvest
First Seeds of 2012 Purchased
First Seeds of 2012 Purchased
We were at Wally World tonight and they have started putting out some of their vegetable seeds. They didnt have a huge selection, but they did have my corn that I love to plant. I picked up 4 large packets of corn, 2 Silver Queen and 2 Peaches and Cream Corn. I also grabbed one packet of what I call English Peas. My wife says she really likes them so I am going to give them a try. I want to pick up some white acre peas and butter beans, but I will probably have to get those at my local nursery. Everything else I can reuse the same seed packets from last year. I have them stored in my fridge, and hopefully I will still get good germination rates from them.
First Seeds of 2012 Purchased