Thank You, Garden, Seeds, Brrr......

I want to take a moment to say thank you to two dear friends for the lovely Valentine's Day gifts. I'm not going to mention their names, they know who they are.  

 

Bulldog Man and I measured an area out back on the property, for setting up our first vegetable/fruit garden at our new place.  We decided to measure out 35 feet in width by 110 feet in length and clear out the grass with the tractor by skimming the ground.  Next we'll bring in several truck loads of potting soil and compost mixture, and add wood chips.  We will need to till the soil all together before planting seeds.  We’ve decided to start small, and gradually add more to the garden over the next couple of years.

 
In order to get the garden moving, we’ll also need to purchase additional feed lot panels,  more chicken wire, bird netting, t-posts, clips, PVC pipe, staples, and 2x4's, to use for securing our garden against the wildlife hanging around on the property.

I've already received the vegetable seeds ordered from Baker Creek and can’t wait to get them in the ground.  I also picked up from the local farm store, several organic onion slips, asparagus slips, and potato seeds for planting.

The weather hasn’t been very conducive; once again it’s taken a nose dive.  We're back to freezing temperatures with rain, sleet, and ice.  This has basically slowed the garden preparation process down to a very slow crawl......in a mud pit.  It's just too muddy to get any of the equipment in the garden area to work.   We’re expecting the same type of weather tomorrow as well.  I won't complain too much about the moisture, we really need it to help prevent the wild fires.

How are things in your neck of the woods?

Weather, Wood, Equipment, Baby Cora, & Dillo's

It's 5:15 PM, and the temperature has peaked at 69 degrees.  Dinner was early today, and I just finished putting dinner away in the refrigerator, washed dishes, cut apples, scooped up corn for the deer, and fed the birds (for the 2nd time today). 

I decided to take in the sunset and sit out on our front porch.  Truthfully, I just needed to rest my foot (that big black $300 boot I'm wearing).  

I sat outside watching the birds, and listening to the deer trumping through the woods, making their way to the apples and corn.

After about 25 minutes it started to get dark, and I was ready to go inside and do a little computer work (the weather is supposed to turn, meaning internet access may not be available).

Temperatures are expected to drop this evening, producing rain and ice. We've been issued a winter weather advisory.

Here's what been going on since my last post: 

Bulldog Man, Tank, and I started working on a pile of trees, which were previously cleared and stacked out back.  Bulldog Man cleared a direct pathway to the tree pile, pulled out the wood chipper, chain saw, axe, and loppers.  We all got started pulling branches, breaking them down, and feeding them into the chipper, which was intentionally set in the middle of where our vegetable garden will eventually be located.

Large pieces of wood were placed on the log splitter.   Once split, the pieces of wood were stacked in a wood pile for future use.  

*****

Last weekend, we finally were able to drive down to Texas to see our Grand Daughter, Cora for the first time.  It was good to see everyone. We had a great time visiting with our son and his wife.

While down in the DFW area we visited my sister, and had a blast. While we were out, we went to the new IKEA store, located in Grand Prairie, Texas.  We picked up a few little things for the house, and headed back to my sister's place for the evening. Even though our visit was short, it was nice.

Back at the home front Bulldog Man returned to work and we all continued the process of clearing areas of underbrush, and chopping wood.

I finally went through my seed storage and determined what seeds I want to order, and placed my order with Baker Creek and Dixiondale Farms.  

*****

The state of Oklahoma has had 129 people die from the flu so far this year.  Hospitals have been deferring patients to other hospitals.  So when Bulldog Man, on Wednesday afternoon, came home early from work looking white as a ghost with a temperature, coughing, sneezing, ear pain, and felt like he was run over by a Mack Truck, I knew he had the need to see a doctor.  

He took 2 Tylenol for the fever and went to bed.  In the middle of the night his coughing and fever got worse.  At 5:00 AM we were up getting ready to go to urgent care.  Bulldog Man was seen immediately.  The doctor did a thorough exam, asked questions, and did a rapid Influenza test.   Congratulations you have Influenza "B"; we’re going to start you on Tamiflu, and a few other meds.  You’re not to return to work until you’re done with the Tamiflu, and if you’re not feeling better in the next 2 days get back here immediately.  Bulldog Man is starting to feel better, and that's a good thing!  The flu across the United States this year is bad. If you haven't gotten a flu shot yet, get one.

In closing, Tank, while coming in the front gate of the property saw two armadillos rooting around outside the fence.  They had no fear of his presence.

Tornado, Flooring, Caulking!!!

A week and a half ago, while shopping at Lowe’s in Norman, Oklahoma, the weather turned bad.  After loading the truck up with our newly purchased tile and thin set, for our main bathroom; we jumped on Interstate 35 to leave Norman to head home.  We had only been home for a couple of hours, when a tornado hit the Riverwind Casino in Norman. 

Thank goodness we’re safely at home; however, we had concerns regarding our travel trailer.  Our trailer is stored in a storage facility directly across the highway from the Riverwind Casino, the direction the tornado made its path.  Law enforcement had the highway and surrounding areas closed down, so first responders could help rescue people, and assess the damage. Therefore, we were unable to physically check on our travel trailer.  I placed a call to the manager of the storage facility.   She informed me they were attempting to get into the facility, and once at the facility, they would call us and let us know if our unit was affected by the tornado.  At 10:45 PM, I received a call from the manager, advising our storage unit was fine.  The storm passed it over, and hit the very next row of storage units.  The next morning, Bulldog Man and I, drove up to the storage facility to visually confirm all was well with our trailer, “The Beast”, and to drop off a few things in our trailer.  After checking our travel trailer, we both were so at ease that we didn’t have damage; it was nice knowing that we did not have to contact the insurance company.

*****

I’m going to give you a sneak preview of the floor being installed throughout our home.  Instead of replacing the damaged laminate again with laminate (something we were going to do in a couple of years, however, since the pipe broke, the flooring needed replacing).  We decided to go with engineered wood.  Here’s a before and after look, what do you think?

Old Laminate Floor

Engineered Wood Replacing the Laminate

*****

Bulldog Man and I have walked around our house identifying areas needing additional caulking from weather damage. This was to help prevent further issues to the wood, and to prevent any air leaks around windows.  After identifying the areas, we got busy caulking. Now we have one more thing to check off of our to do list.

How’s your winter chore list coming along?

Rain, Wildflowers, Snakes, Tractor, & Food

The rain has been coming down continuously here.  We never thought it would stop.  Here are a few videos of some of the water we received from the past several days.  

We’ve pretty much decided to maintain 3 acres out of 20; meaning we will cut, weed whack and groom those 3 acres, the rest will remain ALA natural, with pathways throughout created by water, wildlife, and humans. Bulldog Man and I routinely walk the entire property at various times to make sure all is okay, check for anything unusual, and to make sure we don’t have any uninvited squatters.  Our plans are also to invest in a nice quality drone to help with the monitoring of our property.

I thought I would share with you some of the wildflowers I found while cutting the grass.

Since the rain has stopped, and the sun is out, I decided to cut the grass.  When cutting the grass on our dam, there are areas where a push mower is needed; like next to the water of our fish pond.  While cutting next to the pond, a Water Moccasin snake became aggressive and started to swim toward me, and then decided he/she was going to attempt to come at me on the shoreline of the dam.  Big mistake…..see if the snake would have continued on he/she would still be treading water.  However, since he/she decided to lunge toward me……Mama’s 9MM (Say hello to my little friend!!!), came un-holstered and he/she became fish bait.  That wasn’t my first encounter of snakes for the day.  I came in contact with 3 other snakes; a rattle snake, a green garden snake, and another water moccasin.  The one thing I totally can’t stand is snakes.  If they leave me alone, I will leave them alone.  If they get in my way or attempt to lunge at me, that’s it; I’m done with them.

Picture from  news.aces.edu

*****

Several weeks ago, I hung 4 humming bird feeders out on our front porch.  There have been 3 hummingbirds that’ve made it a point to hang around and enjoy the sweet nectar provided; along with a hundred or so bees off and on each day.  The birds don’t seem to mind the bees too much; they seem to be willing to share their food.  I’m not sure where these bees are coming from, whether they’re from a wild nest or a local hand raised hive.  I wish we were ready to raise bees; I would make an attempt to capture them.  Since we’re not ready, we’ll just leave them alone, and give them space to come and go as they please.  

*****

Tractor shopping has been pretty interesting.  We’ve narrowed our choice down to Kubota.  Now it’s just figuring out which one to buy, and when (timing is always in consideration).  Here’s a picture of Bulldog Man test driving one at the Kubota dealership.

  

*****

I came across a recipe for pineapple fried rice and decided to share it with you.  If you like pineapple and fried rice, you’ll love this recipe.  The recipe is from Damn Delicious, click here to find the recipe.   

Everyone in my house gives this recipe a 4 paw rating!!!  It’s Damned Delicious!!!

 

Plenty of things to talk about, but for now, I need to get back to work.  Catch y’all soon!