Sheep/Cattle needed: apply within!

The Unemployment Line...

Drumroll, please......!

The first tomato to set fruit in 2011 is.... Amish Paste!  Put on your squinty eyes to see it LOL!

This is the Amish Paste bed, and there are dozens of blossoms on them, seems like just the other day I was setting them out.  There are EIGHT of these indeterminate babies in there, just like all my other tomato beds, so if I go A.W.O.L. towards the end of July, you know what happened.

I wish peas could grow all season here, they are so pretty.

Even the leftover Hillbilly tomatoes that went straight into the unamended sandy clay are doing really well.  This time last year I was already carrying out the dead...

The "Jake Gyllenhaal's" are doing well in pots so far but these are the UFO tomatoes that reached 13 feet last year, these are more of an experiment this year with saved seed, and yes Gran, they are bottomless LOL!  I learned my lesson last year while carrying out the dead...

Potatoes have blossoms forming already

Marley taking a break from chores, she carries the hose for me :)

I have no idea where I am going to fit my pumpkins and random squashes this year, so until I can figure it out, I went ahead and got a start on them today.  At least this time of year I don't have to mess with lights so it's not too labor intensive.

more Marley...

Sprocket is a lost cause unless she is on video, she's too fast and never sits still.  Marley's 9 years old now and is developing a slow appreciation of sitting still for a few minutes at a time.

Look ma, * TWO * hands!

And then one day it clicked...!  Finn has started playing piano with both hands, it was an exciting night to be a mom :)

(he wasn't too happy about me wanting to record him, but I'll take it!)


Stock has been strained and put into freezer containers, throughout the whole event I had bystanders...

Marley is so intent here it appears she has no ears!  This is the herding look she gets when going in for an ankle bite LOL.


They know a special plate is just for them:

Not to be eaten in one session of course!  I used to work in a veterinary hospital so I've seen what can happen there!  I already know that marrow is too rich for Marley's stomach, so I separate that from the actual meat bits and carrots and plain soup bones, which are very safe for them to chew on.  They will have a little topping of meaty bits and carrots with dinner each night this weekend, and I'll pop the bones right back into the freezer to be issued to "good dogs" at a later date.  We try to use everything about the lovely animal we bought our beef share from, right to the very end literally, since this was the last of our share until the next one is finished out on pasture this spring.  (There is no forced timetable for pastured meat, they get to butcher weight in their own sweet time unlike their factory farmed friends forced to eat corn, huge amounts and quickly... oh sorry, there's the rant again!)

Of course, we had to have a "good dog" moment right away tonight!

It's a good house to be a dog in!

Life in Neuroticville

Time for my weekend wrap-up! Nothing really blog-worthy, as you will see, but thanks for hanging in there anyway!

I apologize for not replying to all the helpful sewing comments I received on those posts, but the reason is that I was "sew busy" (haha) putting into action all your advice that I kind of got caught up in it all!

I spent Friday night cleaning my machine. No kidding, I really did open that bottle of Jack Daniels and pour myself a cocktail while cleaning the heck out of it. It's never been cleaned in 19 years and it's also never been covered! That may be my first project, a sewing machine cover. My kids were in bed and it was really nice and quiet in here, streaming a radio show over the internet and then followed by an hour of 40's big band music that made the whole project feel kind of homesteader-ish.

The next day things got interesting. I was cleaning out my purse and came across one of the coupons for a craft store here for 50% off, Saturday only! I really needed that grid ruler and they are a bit pricey so I told the kids to hurry and we ran out the door to go buy it at about 4 p.m. - we got it alright...

Half off made it 9.99! Feeling very happy, we drove back home.

As we walked in the front door my son says "mom, you aren't going to like this..."

Sprocket, who shall be referred to as "Charlie's dog" from here on out, had torn up the sock I was working on! She pulled out all 4 bamboo needles and they were in bits all over the couch and floor. I had been in such a rush to leave and save some $$ that I had left the knitting on the coffee table!

Bamboo Needles: $13.99

UGH!

Here's a reminder of our furry family members...

This is Marley, the good dog, MY dog!

and this is Sprocket... hubby's dog!

BAD, BAD DOGGIE... see she's even on the couch while Marley was being her usual well-behaved self.

To top that off, Thing 1 comes home from school today with the below library book and starts in with "can we get a Border Collie, pleeeeeze?"

Yeah, I'll get right on that. Just what this little urban homestead needs, another herding dog with no sheep to herd! To be fair, our choice of pets tends to fit right in with our personalities, OCD, Type A, and neurotic! Funny how that works out...

I spent the whole day cleaning house yesterday, not really the "moving out" kind, but things that really need to be done so they won't weigh on my mind. Cleaned windows, plantation shutters, under the stove and fridge, that type of thing. Hubby will also be happy to know that I have converted the bed back to a bed LOL. Pretty much the day after he left, I put the wide side of the bed up against the wall and arranged all the pillows day-bed style instead, giving me an extra 12 square feet - you laugh....

Organized a sewing area for myself.

Still knitting.

Garlic still not planted.

I meant to plant that darn garlic today, but woke up to 38º and thought, nope! First it rained for a week straight, now we have 30 mph north winds on top of the cold temps moving in! As soon as it gets in the 50's again this week I'll do it. Yes, I'm a northern gal - I do actually enjoy winter, I just don't particularly like digging my hands into 38º cold wet soil in the shade and can't-catch-your-breath wind! I prefer a hike or sledding or watching it from the window!

Wow, a lot of rambling for a not so exciting weekend! Truth is, I'm enjoying the break. Just because I can garden 3 seasons doesn't necessarily mean I always want to!

I end on a sad note. Two of my blogging friends lost furry loved ones recently. Jill from A Berry Good Life-Farm Girl lost their doggy friend Allie, and Chicken Mama of Tales of Chicken Mama, Lady Homesteader (Mama Pea's daughter) lost her beloved homestead cat Annie Blue just today to an incident with wildlife. Take a moment to include them in your thoughts this evening. I know most of us are also pet lovers and have probably been there a time or two, it never gets easier.

Freaky Friday (now on Thursday!)

I wasn't going to post today since it's cleaning day, and that's not very interesting - but it was brought to my attention when my neighbor stopped over that my cleaning ways are perhaps a little "odd".

First off, she noticed that I was cleaning on a Thursday, and that apparently throws off the tide schedule, since my normal "like clockwork" cleaning day is Friday. Then she mentioned that every week when I clean house it looks like I'm moving out!

Moving out? I stood back and looked, and holy cow - it kinda does! This is normal weekly behavior for me:

This kind of made me laugh at myself - this is one of the things I've been trying to change about my Type A behavior, because this weekly clean EVERYTHING and rearrange furniture thing has gotten in the way of me being able to spend quality time doing fun things on a whim.

Friday was my regular cleaning day so it would be "perfect" for the weekend, and even though of course it doesn't stay that way for long with 2 kids and 2 dogs, in my mind I couldn't change. I am happy to say that now "Freaky Friday" is now on Thursday, so I can more fully enjoy my weekend! A huge step for me! I have heard many comments to the effect of "I wish I could clean that much", let me tell you - it's not a good thing. It gets in the way of relaxing with the family and just enjoying life in general. If you are a random cleaner with no schedule, consider yourself lucky, because it means you are spending time doing better things! I eventually want to get to the point that Freaky Friday/Thursday only happens every 2 weeks with just sweeping and wiping counters in between, I've done that a few times and while it made me uncomfortable, I think I can get used to it.

What I find interesting is that I don't even notice or care if other peoples' homes are disorganized or not super-clean, and as a matter of fact, I actually enjoy it, I wonder if it's because I'm jealous? I feel more at home in other peoples' homes if they look "lived-in"! I think a huge part of my problem is that we all live in just 900 sq ft - I'm afraid if I didn't clean the way I do things would get out of hand very quickly!

More Freaky Friday/Thursday happenings:

Dog Toy Laundry Day!

Watch the video to see how I love to torture my girls...

Actually I think they like it!

So what's your cleaning style? OCD? Anti-clean?, Random? Certain rooms on certain days, or whole house at once? Freaky minds want to know!

Watermelons and Waging War

I couldn't stand it any longer, I went out and took it! It's a bouncing 12.5 lb Baby Bush Watermelon! So here's the funny thing: as I was poking at the vines, the little one fell off. Had a brown tendril like it's supposed to and fell off the vine. The BIG one is the first melon that developed and still had no brown tendrils and was still firmly attached, I had to cut it off. What gives? I cut the small one open and it appears to be ripe, although it doesn't have much in it since it's so small! We'll cut the larger open tomorrow and I will report back on the taste.

Finn begged me to make pickles, so I had just enough for 2 jars of refrigerator dills. He was pretty upset when I told him it would be about a week before they would taste "pickly", so I offered him a slice of fresh cucumber but he wouldn't try it.

It's warm today, about 93º (notice how that's not "hot" anymore LOL?), so I spent most of the day reorganizing the canning closet and taking stock of what I need. I definitely need to replace my old canning rack before a disaster happens! Also got my seedling trays and seed starting mix out, seeds should be here Friday.

bad dog

On a down note, Sprocket the Outback Jack killed one of the juvenile doves a few minutes ago. Mama Dove is pacing with her wings out on the deck railing and just breaking my heart. I will never get used to the Jack Russell in her, give me Border Collie neuroticism any day over this. To her credit, Marley was barking and trying to alert me to the chaos in the yard but I ignored her. At least Sprocket didn't tear it up, she carried it up to me completely intact, damn dog. She's still my lovebug, but I am again reminded of the nature of dogs!

In a few minutes I am headed out to wage war against Squash Bugs and Leaf Footed Bugs who are drilling holes in my tomatoes, someone's going to get hurt, and it won't be me.... I have scissors & soap and Neem if necessary. I plan to cut them in half, they're easy to get when they are mating and being all gross and squash-buggly - what a way to go, huh?

Then I plan to be civilized and enjoy a glass of wine and knit, maybe read a book... us gardeners are a deranged bunch, aren't we?

Clotheslines and Dogs

I've been working inside the house most of the day, but thought you might enjoy this:

A Clothesline!

The neighbors in the new condos behind me are going to love this when they get home tonight and look out their window, heeheehee! That's what they get for moving into an area that has no homeowner's associations (me laughing hysterically) and still is somewhat of a rural edge to suburbia.

The reality is that I shouldn't be doing this until the pollen stops flying, but it was nice and breezy out today and I just happened to be in the midst of 5 loads of laundry, I couldn't resist at least putting it up. Finnegan thought is was loads of fun hanging his "woobie" on the line!

I wanted it close to the house, but in reality I think it will have to be relocated further out into the yard for more space (and closer to the condos, tee hee!).

Lastly, I leave you with our beloved Aussie girl, Marley snoozing with her stuffed sheep. Poor dog needs some real sheep, what's an urban herder to do? (hmmm, bite the ankles of children?) Good thing she loves Frisbees just as much!

Afterthought: I wonder if I am on some kind of "suburban homesteader watch list" yet? If not, I probably will be soon with the addition of my eyesore clothesline! I still entertain the idea of playing chicken noises over the ipod speakers outside to see if anyone calls the city... kind of a little stealthy recon/intel gathering mission...

The Dog Days of Summer!

I was trying to organize old photos on the computer this morning, and was inspired to dedicate today's post to my Garden Dogs! If you are the type that can't stand it when others go on and on about their pets or kids, this post isn't for you, lol! If you can take it, read on! I received several comments on how well behaved my dogs looked in my camping trip pictures, and that made me laugh! So here's the real deal...

I followed a water trail through the house last night that led to a bucket filled with sanitizer for my brewing equipment. This is what I found:

The next one is when I arrived home and found Sprocket repotting my plants for me:

Bios:

Marley - age 7, Australian Shepherd, came to us last summer and she is a joy! Well behaved and obedient off leash unless there is a garden hose spraying, loves H2O, squirrels, herding & her family. She is also becoming quite the disc dog! Dislikes: thunderstorms, Sailor/Husband's sneezes, campfires and fireworks. Fun Facts: Marley was afraid of stairs when we got her, and within a day was climbing to the top of the kids fort, and can fly over a 6 foot fence from a sitting postion! Her name was Charley when we got her, but was changed to Marley since my husband Charlie used it as an excuse to not listen to me, i.e. "Oh, I thought you were talking to the dog".

Sprocket - age 1, came to us at 10 weeks old from Aussie Rescue. She is hell on paws. Likes: eating Legos, Lincoln Logs, remotes, digging in the sandbox, catching vermin, and waiting for ice to come out of refrigerator door dispenser.

Dislikes: I haven't found any yet! Her favorite toys are a wing from a stuffed loon and a stuffed sheep, and loves Marley more than life itself.

Fun Fact: Sprocket can't keep a secret - if she has some kind of contraband in her mouth, she runs around growling so we all know she is being naughty! Neurotic Dogs rock!

The day we brought Sprocket home from the Aussie Rescue. Marley is thinking "What the hell is this??? I said I wanted SHEEP, not this thing!!!"

Marley soon shone in new role as mommy and mentor, the two are inseparable, literally!

Marley taking a break from garden duties to become "canoe dog".

Marley showing Sprocket how to be a proper herding dog!

And speaking of herding dogs...can you think of anything more neurotic than 4 herding dogs over Christmas Break and no sheep????

This video captures Marley's OCD passion for water:

Marley after chewing off another hose nozzle and telling it who's boss.

The following two videos are of Bailey the Cattle Dog and her TV obsession. I pet-sit her and her Aussie "brother". If these 2 ever go missing, it's probably because I kidnapped them - I love them that much, lol! She will "ask" for the TV to be turned on even...funny stuff!

And no proper tribute to pets in this house would be complete without the Incredible Mr. Pickett. Kelly mentioned that one of her dogs set the standard for all her other pets - Pickett is the one who set the bar in this household! He showed up one day in 1999 with a portion of picket fence attached to a heavy chain hanging from his neck. He never left. I heard through the neighborhood grapevine that he lived at a crack house and was chained to a tree every day in all kinds of weather, no dog house, no water, and had been seen dumpster diving for at least 2 weeks. After 3 days of baths and removing over 100 ticks, treating him for heartworm disease, erlichia, and a few other ailments, we had The Pickster! He was a little over a year old, was obviously primarily a Bernese Mountain Dog, a breed who needs and craves human attention the way a fish needs water. We worried when we brought home baby #1 - Pickett was beside himself with joy! Baby #2: thought he had died and gone to heaven! He let the kids climb on him, throw toys at him (but that wasn't encouraged!), and was underfoot so much you always felt like you had legwarmers on. I miss him next to our backyard firepit in the evening (Marley is terrified and won't come near!). Whatever was going on, Pickett was going to be in the middle of it all! He was the type of dog who loved us fiercely and showed his gratitude in his eyes all the time. Berners' life expectancy is short, 6-8 years, but Pickett kept rockin' until he was 9! He died last year and set the bar high indeed for all future pets! I will stop rambling now, you can tell how much we loved him! And here he is!!

Back from our "Staycation"...

We actually started our staycation 2 days before Daddy was set to return from sea. It was a bit like the movie 'Office Space' where he announces that he doesn't really like working and "I don't think I'm going to go anymore"... Truthfully, I was over the single mom thing and couldn't wait for the reinforcement troops to sail in (literally) and give me a break! We have a state parks pass so I figured we would use it at our local state park and go to the beach. This was pretty cool since it's on the Chesapeake Bay and the kids can see Daddy's aircraft carrier, the USS Truman, go by bigger than life about 3 hours before he gets to the piers and we go to pick him up. In past years, this has become pretty routine, non-exciting stuff for me but now that the kids are a little older it is so fun to see them get excited and see things through their eyes. Of course, in their eyes the pirates Daddy is out hunting down are of the Blackbeard "aargh!" variety and the Carrier is just like "Top Gun", lol... I envy them and their un-jaded view of the world...oh, to be 5 again!

Anyway, me-the mom who hates to sit on the beach- actually bought a bunch of sand toys, umbrella, and a beach chair and headed out. Here's Finn at the State Park excited upon seeing the first of the small boats going by belonging to Daddy's battle group.

This is a pretty bad picture, but if you look in the left center of the horizon, you can see a Navy Destroyer, this was just one of the several smaller ships that precede the carrier coming in. (Lame, I didn't get a picture of the carrier - bad mom!)

Not sure what's going on here.

So it turns out the beach isn't so bad after all...I forgot how much cooler it is at the shore, and an umbrella helped! Now if the kids could just be older so I can trust them around the water I could actually read a book! I took one with me and laid it in the sand next to my chair to give myself "the illusion" of relaxing, but in reality was watching my kids in the surf like a hawk.

After Daddy got home, we had a great outdoor lunch at a restaurant on the water and gorged on crabcakes and grilled tuna sandwiches, Daddy also got his homecoming/late Father's Day gifts of a new Leatherman Skeletool and some tactical looking flashlight. My husband is a "geardo" so he was overjoyed, showing the kids "Look, this light is for night vision, etc, etc". You would think he would get tired of it all, but he loves his job and gets downright giddy when faced with a new tactical "toy"! After lunch, it was back to the beach where we remained off and on for the next 5 days, lol! Sailor/Husband also got some new surf fishing gear, so even after a day at the beach, we would head back out after dinner to fish. All this jived pretty well with the garden, since due to the "Minnesota Summer" we have been having my first tomatoes aren't even ripe yet, so my garden is kind of on autopilot right now until the fruits start to ripen, giving me some extra time. Even if we could afford a big vacation this year, we have no time since Sailor/Husband is leaving again in 2 weeks!

This pic shows what it's been like this summer so far: the Ziploc bag of my husband's toiletries never gets unpacked since he's always on his way out! It's like he's a visitor to his own home...I am waiting for him to start knocking on the door instead of opening it with his key, lol!

Finn with Daddy

Finn and Loch digging for crabs

We headed to the beach on base to await fireworks for the 4th of July. Finn is digging to China, of couse.

Not sure what waves Finnegan plans on surfing here, but he's got "the board carry" down pat!

Here's Marley obsessing over her frisbee. She has become quite the disc dog since she came to live with us, but has never played in the wind on the beach in the sand...it was all a bit much for her and I thought she might have a nervous breakdown out there!

We are actually headed out crabbing today - then it's back to the garden! I find that I usually avoid the beach like the plague during tourist season, but am slowly rediscovering the good things about living here that I often take for granted. Plus, it tires the kids out! I am, however, getting really tired of sweeping sand up from everywhere, and the inside of the car looks like a sand dune! Oh, and before I go...here's a mental smell for you...my husband left a plastic bucket in the Outback with some rotting squid bait in it...I got in the car the next day, and....ugh! Yep, Daddy's back, alright!

Lazy Day in Pictures

My garden is in limbo right now...everything is growing, but not yet ripe for picking! I figured today would be a good day just to show pics of what's happening in the garden. The clouds finally cleared and got some decent (not great, as I am not a great photographer!) pics of the plants. It's hot here and humidity supposed to climb way up this weekend, so I am planning on some indoor activities, and possibly being able to put up some jalapenos from the garden by this weekend. I'm not much for heat and humidity, so I won't be out there any more than necessary! Enjoy...

Pinot Noir Bell Peppers

Purple Rain Eggplant

Tomato Beds with Eggplant in foreground

"Aerial Shot" of garden...from atop the kids' fort! Some of the beds were just reseeded with squash and edamame where the peas were ripped out.

The sometimes boring but always pretty marigolds.

Out of control Mammoth Dill in the Jalapeno bed

Purple Vitex that I am training into a tree...

Blackberries

(the resident boss mockingbird is watching me as I take this one, I know what he's thinking...)

"NO BERRIES FOR YOU!!"

The Butterfly/Bird Garden...although the first flush of blooms has disappeared, waiting for next group of plants to bloom

Miscellaneous free lily that came in a veggie shipment!

Crepe Myrtles are in full bloom now

Another shot of Crepe Myrtle tree

Five-Leaf Akebia vine...all the mockingbirds live here!

My new Fig Tree! Due to my uncertainty of how long we will be at this house, all fruit trees are now in containers so they can migrate with us.

Salvia

We have tons of butterflies with the new butterfly garden, hopefully I can get a better shot soon

And no garden post is complete without a shot of one of the Garden Dogs...here is one of my Aussies after "herding the hose"! This involves her chewing the nozzle open and then attacking the spray...yes, we are on our 3rd nozzle due to this game of hers. I guess if there's no chickens or sheep, water is the next best thing for a bored herding dog!