IT'S A NEW DAY FOR SOME YOUNG'UNS!...UPDATE!

Pret'near all cleaned out and ready for some new occupants,
the henhouse is open and ready for business!
Just got to throw down some wood shavings and fresh straw and we're good to go!

I've been checking CraigsList for chooks the past few weeks, and found some just a few miles from here, just about the right age for us.
I don't want them too teeny, as I don't have the equipment for raising tiny chicks.
But, a few weeks old would be just about right.
It will be a long time comin' before we see any eggs, but that's OK.
I'd rather have young chicks that get used to us, than hens that have been laying for 6 months already.

I will update this afternoon, hopefully with pics of the little ones!

UPDATE!!!

10 Buff Orpington chickies, scared silly!
About 6 weeks old, or so.
Farmer says if any turn out to be roosters, we can trade 'em in for hens.

Once again, I feel like a Farmgirl!

FRONT PORCH SITTIN'

View from my rocker


This was the perfect morning.
Up early, early, got my morning coffee, and headed out to the front porch with my Bible for some time with the Lord.
The birds are at their finest in the early morning hours, with the hummers stopping by every few minutes for a long, cool drink from the feeder.

Another view from my rocker

Flag blowing in the little bit of breeze we had, with overcast skies and the ground wet with the rains from the night.
I wait all winter for mornings like this.
Time enough for dealing with the stresses of the day...mornings on the porch with the Lord are the fuel I need to get me going.
Beautiful!
Wish you all were here!

XOXO,
Cindy

PS On the agenda for today...

sow the rest of the carrots, radishes, and beans

check Craigslist for chicks/chickens

IN MEMORY...MEMORIAL DAY

This holiday holds a special place in my heart for me, as both of my parents served in the U.S. Army in the early 50's.
They met at an Army base in Texas, fell in love, and were married a few months later.
(sure wish I knew how to use Photoshop...I would fix the tear in the photo and take the date off the corner!!!)

So this Memorial Day, as I do every Memorial Day, I fly my flag and remember those who have served their country and gave their lives so that we might have the freedoms we have enjoyed for over 200 years.

God bless America

SLOW & STEADY WINS THE RACE AGAINST WEEDS?

THIS is how the lettuce, carrot/radish/chard/peas beds looked yesterday morning.
Trust me...that is NOT all arugula.
80% of it is weeds.
So....I sat on me bum for hours yesterday and today, scootin' around the gardens pulling weeds.
One at a time.
Without gloves.
Cause you can't pick weeds that are growing right next to the lettuce, with gloves on.
I kid you not....I filled a wheelbarrow with the weeds I picked.

TA DA!

It looks all bare now :(
Tomorrow, 1st thing, I'll be sowing another mess of seeds.
Gotta fill in those bare spots before the weeds find us!

To be repeated bi-weekly till end of growing season.

(See how nicely the peas are doing around the windmill?)

AUNTIE EM!, AUNTIE EM!

Geez, Louize it's windy here!
Farmboy managed to get the whole front mowed, but he had to hang onto his hat nearly the whole time!
Our farmette sits right smack between two empty fields, so the wind from the west has nothing to break it.
I have often said our home is like "Little Farm on the Prairie".
That's all right, tho.
No neighbors tellin' us to keep it down when we're throwing one of our wing-ding parties.
(Now THAT'S really funny, as I am usually in my pj's by 7pm, and in bed reading shortly after.)
Yeah.
We're one wild and crazy couple.
NOT.

Does THIS make me a "redneck woman"?

Nah!
(Tho if the truth be told, I probably AM one!)

So what if I drink my tea from a mason jar!
A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.
And when I am working in the gardens, I don't want to have to go running in and out of the kitchen for a drink.
So I make me up a quart of instant decaffeinated tea, throw in some ice and a chunk of lemon, and out the door we go!

How do you like my Goodwill find?
The pot was $1.00, and the rosemary was one sprig for $1.39.
$1.39 x 3.
Three TINY sprigs.
Why, I'd need all three sprigs for a pan of rosemary roasted potatoes!

Geez....I'm gonna need a whole lot more rosemary, aren't I?

R.I.P. Potatoes

Finally got the remaining potatoes planted.
Who knew that 2# of seed potatoes would yield enough "eyes" for over 60 plantings?
Because I got so many of them, they really are scattered willy-nilly all over the perennial gardens!

I marked each planting with a metal or wooden marker, but also took vintage dishes and wrote the potato variety for a more permanent "headstone".

Kinda like...

"Here lies Red Norlund"
He never could see "eye to eye"
May he rest in pieces,
to be exhumed in the fall.
Amen

FLOPPIN' IN THE KITCHEN WITH CYN

With nearly 38 years experience under my belt, one would think I wasn't capable of a flop such as this!
HA!

I won't even tell you where I got the recipe for lemon cupcakes (somewhere on the www), as I don't want to humiliate the creator of said recipe.
Not that the flop was their fault.
Nope.
Mine. All mine.
When the recipe says fill cupcake cups 1/3 full....
they mean fill the cupcake cups 1/3 full.
Not "nearly" full.
And WHY didn't I pay attention to the ginormous amounts of batter this recipe made?
So now I have 18 flopped cupcakes and one flopped round cake.
Guess I'll rustle up some lemon frosting and cover the whole mess up!!!

My only hope is that my kids or Farmboy will have mercy on me and clean out my oven for Mother's Day!

Hope YOURS was at least as much fun as mine has been!

PO-TA-TO.....PO-TAH-TO

I say "po-ta-to", but you can call 'em anything you want!
The taters on the left are the Yukon Gold variety, and those on the right are Red Norlands.
Kinda looks like the nasty stuff at the bottom of the potato bag, doesn't it???
Like I should be composting them instead of planting them!!

I have never planted potatoes before, and didn't have a clue as to how to go about this, so I checked a couple of my gardening books and called Parisienne Farmgirl for advice.
P.F. had no tater advice, as she has never planted them either, but we DID have a nice long chat about lots of other gardening stuff, as well as catching up on family matters!

So, Carly Emery's "Encyclopedia of Country Living" had plenty of dirt on potato planting, so I am out this morning trying yet another new thing!

My actual garden bed space is all spoken for, as I have lots of tomatoes, cukes, peppers, etc. filling those up....
BUT....
I have loads of extra space in my perennial beds, as we have lost a lot of plants the last 2 harsh winters. And, of course, the bunnies did some major damage to some roses and made off with all of the tulip and daffodil bulbs.

So, instead of spending $$$ we don't have on annuals to fill in the blank spots, I spent all of $2.00 and bought 2 1/2 lbs. of seed taters!

They will be planted willy-nilly, as we have pockets of space here and there, but I think with a popsicle stick marker, we should be OK!

Anyone else trying something new in their garden this year?

PLANT IT FORWARD!!!

A "Victory Garden" of sorts!

Are you putting in a veggie garden this spring?
Consider this...
How about planting some extra and "paying it forward"?

The concept is based on the 2000 movie "Pay It Forward" where good deeds were passed from person to person. (I hated the ending.)

You could donate yur excess to a local food pantry.
You could bring a box to your church on Sunday with a "FREE" sign.
Or you could simply bless your neighbors with your fresh, home grown love!

Regardless of our "economic hard times"...................
In good times or in bad.....................

Consider "planting it forward!!!"

This has been a public service announcement from FarmgirlCyn!

You GROW gals!

THESE....ARE THE DAYS OF OUR LIVES

As sands through the hourglass.....so are the days of our lives.

Have you ever felt like your life is one ginormous soap opera?
Like you could write a book about the stuff that has gone on in your life?

That would be me.

And another chapter has come to a close here at the farmette.

Our grandson, who has been living with us for the past 20 months, has gone back to live with his mom.

It has been a difficult transition for me.

Lots and lots of tears.

I've been told by our daughter that I will never see him again.
Perhaps that will change.
No matter.
We did what was right, regardless of whether or not she sees it that way.

"He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you,
But to do justly,
to love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6:8

Now, the nice thing about the end of one chapter, is that it means the beginning of another!

What is next for the Farmgirl?

Lots of gardening.
Plenty of reading.
Some sewing.
Sitting' by the pool.
And lots and lots of praying.

For what does it profit a mom if she gains the whole world, but her children are lost?

TO MARKET, TO MARKET!

Farmers markets abound beginning this next week, and though I have one of those funny looking metal granny carts that I trail behind me, I still need something to put my goodies in!
In the past I have used the Trader Joe's bags, which are so much fun...but after 2 solid years of use, they are beginning to look a bit dowdy.

So last week, while blog browsing, I came across a really simple pattern for a handmade market bag!

Now, anyone that knows me, knows that I can pretty much sew a straight line, but when it comes to following patterns, let's just say I'm a bit on the slow side.
I have to read them, re-read them, read them again...call a friend, do a trial run, tear out the trial with my most-used sewing item...the seam ripper... cry...then try again.
I am self taught, so I can't blame my lack of skills on my teacher!

However.....

Voila. (see photo)

So by trial and error (mostly error) I have made several skirts, some aprons, a small purse, and now this!

And, I must say...
this is really so simple a child could do it.
And I even messed around with the measurements, as I wanted mine a bit bigger than the pattern called for.

I am not kidding.

I made one a few days ago, and with many interruptions, it took me a couple of hours.
This one with no interruptions, just a bit over an hour.

I used some 10 year old K-Mart Martha Stewart broadcloth curtains for my material, but any type of canvas or broadcloth would do nicely.

Easy Peasy.

Try it for yourself...here's the link

http://www.scribd.com/doc/3285051/Green-Bag-Lady-Pattern

PS... UPDATE
Got the original idea from:
Melissa's Ramblings...
http://urbanhomesteadingintheict.blogspot.com/2009/04/make-your-own-bags.html

Sorry Melissa....sometimes our dog Beau is not the only doofus in the house!