starting a natural fence

every time I go down to visit my parents, my dad sends me home with small cypress trees. I made the mistake of telling him once that Senior and I wanted to work on a natural fence along part of our property line. So ever since, he calls to tell me he has some trees for us..
I can't say no to him..I mean he's my dad. But, every time a new little tree pops up in his yard, he is quick to dig it up, pot it and send it home with me when we visit.

So, yesterday we finally got around to planting these three. The ground was really hard, and of course rocky. I was happy to turn the shovels over to the boys and just supervise.

 But we got them in the ground, of course we have no clue what type of cypress trees they are..

This one is a complete mystery..but we took it anyways and I smiled and thanked my dad for it.

It was with this one, that while we were taking it out of the pot, I talked about its roots and how happy it would be to be in the ground where it could stretch them out. NW the oldest, said it was kind of like us...getting the house built, starting our life up here..and putting our roots down on the estate, and now it was time to watch the little tree grow, just like we had.

I told him that was a good analogy, and Thanked God for giving Senior and I wise and intelligent kids..

-JUGM

rainy saturday and garden sale

All you had to do was tell me there was a plant sale, and I would be there. I love planting and watching things grow. So, I was up bright and early on this rainy Saturday morning. The boys asked last night to come as well, but only ND made it out of bed... 
I made us a quick breakfast, and with coffee and chocolate milk in hand we both headed out

It is an annual plant sale the first Saturday in April that is put on by the local high schools and "Future Farmers Club+. I really want to give it up to these kids, and all the hard work they do. I don't think I have ever been around a group of teenagers as polite as these were.  When so many are disengaged, sit on the video games or getting in to trouble, it was nice to see some doing a worth while thing and learning to be self sufficient. Their knowledge on gardening, what to plant and when to plant just amazed me. It was like picking the brain of the "Farmers Almanac" . Indeed I was truly impressed.

Then there were the girls,  and being all flirty and smiling at my little ND that he turned red.. LoL
  I was proud of him because he brought some of his own money and bought cantaloupe plants and Jalapenos..  Don't ask me why the peppers, but he did. I guess it was something to buy and he could plant. I think he has inherited moms love of gardening.

 This was my haul: Squash, pickle bush cucumbers, beef steak tomatoes, red and yellow peppers for Senior and the two things ND bought. The prices were so cheap that it was impossible not to go overboard, I think I paid no more then $10.00 for my load.

The rain here is now stopping,and the sun is starting to peek out,  but there is no way to get down in the garden, it is so muddy after the two days we have had that it will be either tomorrow or Monday before I can get this stuff in the ground without sinking down 2 feet and getting stuck.

Hope you all have a blessed Saturday...

-JUGM

things round here #6

 With the fact that spring has sprung, I have been trying to work on the chicken hatching thing..  I pick up a broody hen, throw her in for some loving with the rooster, then a couple of days later put her in the maternity ward,  so she can lay her eggs, and nothing...  The entire science of it all baffles me that I am not considering either  buying chicks, or getting the eggs once they lay them and incubating them. ..   Will keep you all posted..  : )

Planting season has also begun, Senior has been non stop getting the garden  plowed and the rows neat and spaced decently. I picked up a pound of Silver king corn seed last week, and over the weekend we got it in the ground..

 

We wore out the hired help, and much to their happiness we are finally investing in a seeder plow...

But, 15 rows later...so pretty!!!    I still have a quarter of the bag left, and I suppose Senior will do some more rows this weekend..

 I have the best niece ever, she does metal stamping and charms and made me this necklace for the boys baseball. I love it!!!

We just celebrated Easter, and for you all I hope it was truly blessed.  It was our first year coloring fresh eggs straight from the chickens, and I got to tell you the natural colors from the hens, made for some vibrant colors.... They also made for some great deviled eggs, that were so good the boys cleaned them out....

-JUGM

Spring is springing

Senior has been working hard on the garden, now that we have an extra hour of daylight, he comes home, eats supper and gets on the tractor. We got about 2 rows of sweet onions planted, which have began to sprout, a couple more weeks and the corn will go in. 

I don't know about the rest of you, but I am happy for Spring..everything is waking up and life is returning to our hilltop.

Saturday morning we had to be up early for the baseball jamboree and team pictures, I grabbed my coffee and stood at the kitchen window, then I caught a glimpse, and ran for my camera. She was standing at the edge of the garden, just walking around. Senior had even gone outside to get something from the car, and she did not get spooked. I caught this pic when she looked over at him.

I have been meaning to post this one for a while...the boys wanted sling shots. I guess it s a right of passage... It was probably the best money I have spent in a while, as they have become quite proficient with them, until they started targeting the chickens with acorns. Once I stopped that they go after the crows in the garden...

Well friends I must be off here, got chores and errands to tend too.

-JUGM

welp we moved in...

finally got closed on the house, and "Senior and Jugms moving company" had to go to work...and my Lord, we are still working!!!. Digging through boxes, finding things that have been packed up for 18 months....*Sigh*  But, it is a blessing to be in a place that is all our own......

I think the biggest thing for me is opening the boxes that held all the pictures, Senior has started putting them up on the walls, and its really beginning to feel like home around here.

its been a flurry of  activity all last week with the different service technicians coming in to connect stuff...like the Internet, TV Satellite, and now the gas company is here installing the tank for the gas fireplace and checking all the connections for us.
things though have began to calm down and we are getting back into our groove of daily life. This is the view from my new kitchen window: 

 

 Jack the Cat, who at first was not so sure about the place, has finally relaxed and loves his new digs and all the space he has to roam now... 

 

Now begins the daunting task of cleaning out my father in laws trailer that we called home for the past year and a half. We are trying to downsize the furniture that is in there, donate some stuff, sell some stuff and clean the place up.  One of our neighbors has offered to come by and paint the exterior for us, and I tell ya what, it needs it.

In other news..Little league is here, and NW is excited to be back behind the plate catching, not sure where ND will end up , but being that he is  a lefty he did quite well at 1st. I just hope they continue to love the sport like they do now. I want them to enjoy what they do and have fun at it.. 

-JUGM

thrift store finds...

With the new house about done, we have started searching for some new or nearly new furniture. Senior decided while out mattress shopping one day that after all our years of hard work  we need to reward ourselves and get a king size set. 

However, with a new king size set, that means king size bedframe to hold it So,  I searched through some thrift stores and found one for 150.00. 

Now I am on the hunt for a king size quilt. I prefer a quilt over comforters because they are not has thick.  I also swear to not buy one from a big box store, because in my mind buying a quilt that is "made in china" is like buying an American Flag made in China...Completely UnAmerican.! 

I have found a nice  hand made one, its navy blue with patch work and its in the same store where I got the bedframe..but my jury is still out on getting it. So therefore my search continues..Oh where oh where is my quilting grandma when I need her!  

While in said thrift store, I found a new /old jar to add to my growing collection of jars.I don't think it is actually that antiquated , but I liked the pattern that is etched into it, and thought it cool..besides it was only 1.00

Since we are on the verge of getting ready to move in, I decided to re-cover my dinning room chairs. The old is the white suede...white with small kids and pets, absolutely did not work..and thus no matter how many times I cleaned them, they still looked grungy. So I found a nice print and set to re-covering them. Once I figured it out it was a cinch..but I got to tell ya, those corners were real " You know what" ! 

Our weather got warm, and was really nice...but a nasty front moved through and now its back being blustery and cold. Last night we dummed ourselves down by watching a bit of the democratic debate, it did not take me long  to change the channel. And that's all I have to say about that...lol. Because anyone who wants to vote for those two needs to be deported...

-JUGM

kids and issues

Ya know, this world would be a better place if the kids could run it. Our nine year old ND had to write this little report on if he ran the world for a day, what would he do..  His first thing was to fire Obama. the second thing was to end common core, and the third was to return school lunch menus to their rightful place.
While all the other kids had wishful thoughts of toys, and video games, ND came out with a grown up political statement in which his teacher gave him an A.


I love to debate the issues with the both of our boys and hear their views on the world and the candidates. They know about the Hillary email issue, and  both firmly believe that if they pulled a stunt like that, they would and this is a quote: "lose their xbox for a year"   So why should she get off?

The other issue I was told is that "Gun Free Zones" should cease to exist. It was asked of me that Don't all these people know that the mass shootings happen in places that are gun free? You don't hear of these mass killings at gun shows or gun ranges do you? Noooooo you don't...always in a gun free zone!!, then if you want to stop it, get rid of gun free zones....


Another thing was to build our military back up, and add more ships, I mean we are the country that was turning ships out like tic tacs during WW11, so why can't we now?. We have an enemy out there that wants us destroyed and despite what we are told:  its not climate change....."DUH"

And the Space program!  What the heck is that about? All kids dream about being an astronaut and with one stroke of a pen and a speech that dream was crushed. .

Lastly, (and I said this to Matt in my previous blog post)...both boys would LOVE to stand before Jeb Bush during a debate and have him work an elementary school common core math problem.. and not some 1st or 2nd grade level problem...no, he needs to attempt a 5th grade problem.


 You don't think they listen to mom and dad too much do you?

 -JUGM