Warning!

... if you're going to hang laundry on the line, do it before you wash it!

Ah, the fresh spring air...

This is one day's worth of pollen!

Probably time to refill the wiper fluid

Ah, the fresh spring air... make sure you close your vents!

This might make you cringe... but these are all allergy meds!  Hubby's on the left, the kids' on the right, we've done raw honey for 5 years but it just wasn't doing much of anything by itself sadly, we even switched the type of honey (meaning the type of plants the bees were on), and so far I've only allowed myself the eye drops in the front, but I'm going to have to admit defeat.  Considering that we don't really take meds for anything in our family, this is pretty shocking, I know.  I will say however, these are not all taken at the same time, lots of them are trial and error with little notes scribbled on the side LOL, and it will be over with in a short 3-4 weeks for me, 6-8 weeks for the kids, but hubby will have it most of the summer as well since he also has grass sensitivities.  I personally think our state may be a biological  weapon (as in pollen) testing ground... it's all a conspiracy theory!

When I can see through my yellow pollen stained eyes, I see this, and I keep telling myself it's all worth it - right?!!

Carolina Jessamine 

these surprise me every year, they pop up so fast

Yes, I'm sort of taking the day off today.  No gardening, no lifting, but I did finish my first article of clothing for myself, a "simple wrap skirt" - not so simple!  I really have a lot to learn about pattern sizing.  This was too small, I was able to sort of fix it by tying it in the back instead of the side, and adding a button halfway down the leg to compensate for the lack of extra fabric in the wrap, but next time I will know those sizes are serious!  Which means I'm a size 14.  What the heck is with the discrepancies between commercially made/dept store clothing and patternmakers?  I'm a consistent 8/10 in the conglomerate world yet I have to make clothes almost twice that size when I make them myself?  This weekend I'm going to actually take my real measurements and write them down and actually use them next time instead of guessing.  

Well, here it is anyways:

Of course I'm sporting my typical Marsha Brady style fabric.  Although I guess I'm more of a Jan Brady, Marsha was way more put together than I am :)  Now I can finally say I made something to wear!

Here's me waving bye-bye...

This was taken when I returned from running errands this morning and is from opening the storm door!  Needless to say, I'm having to use the indoor dryer for laundry today.

Why do gardeners and outdoor people have to suffer through this allergy stuff?  I think the indoor video gamer types should be stuck with it all instead.

Jody stopped by again this weekend...

Warning: one big pi$$ed off Navy wife rant coming!

Remember Jody? The unseen entity that weaves a path of destruction and financial ruin whenever hubby is deployed? Well, he was kind enough to stop by early this time, 5 whole weeks before the big day! Oh yes, that's a beautiful stainless refrigerator on my curb, isn't it? Mr. Trash Man will pick it up tomorrow. The compressor went at 1 year and was replaced, and yet again at the 3 year mark. I won't be repairing it this time. It was in my rental house so it was extra urgent that we get a dependable one this time. So hear this: to all of you out there with the Avacado, Harvest Gold, Almond, etc fridges.... keep them! Hoard them! I know so many people who have pretty new fridges, all shiny with lights... we covet the old ones, and may break into your house for that 1980 fridge, beware! I don't care what it looks like anymore, as long as it does one thing: "be a fridge that works"!

So if anyone is keeping count, that's "3" stainless refrigerators purchased in the past 5 years for 2 houses. ??? And if I can stop you from ever buying a Frigidaire appliance, all the better. Our new kitchen went in 5 years ago with a new stainless & black ceramic stove, stainless dishwasher, and fridge - all Frigidaire. 5 years later we now have a Kitchen Aid fridge, a GE dishwasher (I went without for all of last year) and our stove had to have the entire circuit board/panel replaced. I've got $1200 paperweights all over the place. STAY AWAY FROM NEW FRIGIDAIRE... read complaints on the web, it's not just me.

As if Jody hadn't wreaked enough havoc with that, he stopped by this morning at my next door neighbor's house. Her husband is in Iraq, and as she got ready to leave - flat tire, really flat! So after figuring she'd deal with that later, she gets into her husband's car and it wouldn't start. So us girls jumped it and got her going again. Jody, never underestimate us military gals, you may financially ruin us, but we won't go down without a fight! If he so much as thinks blight towards my garden this year, heads are going to roll! Apparently Jody didn't get the memo that my husband hasn't even left yet!

Now onto better things:

I finished my first bag this weekend! It's loud, funky, and uneven, but wow, it's not a scarf! I'm happy knitting anything now that's "notascarf"!

We are working hard on eating everything that's leftover from the garden last year to make room for the new. Plus, it would be really nice to remember to defrost the freezer this year before it gets packed full again!

Stir fry with "froze-fresh" from the garden broccoli, peas, beans, and leeks we pulled the other day.

Finnegan in training making pizzas with daddy the other night

The pollen is killing me....

We did get a ton of stuff done around the yard the past weekend, every bit makes me feel a little better about the upcoming deployment, we have been slowly finishing a bunch of little projects that have been in limbo. I planted ALOT this weekend, and I hope it wasn't too early.

The highlight of the past week was today. Husband back at work, kids back to school after Spring break, I was alone sitting in my Adirondack chair with my dogs, listening to the birds, sipping an iced coffee, and knitting! Did I say alone? LOL. Unfortunately the birds were soon replaced by the sounds of F/A 18 SuperHornets screaming through the sky, banking right over my backyard - they are always so close I can read their helmets. I wonder what they think of me knitting under them, lol? Like I always say, Military Homesteading is kind of an oxymoron, but you can't blame a girl for trying!

Got Pollen?

We do! And we are starting to think about wearing masks out in the garden, it's miserable out there! When the wind blows it looks like a yellow dust storm. My husband's allergies are terrible and our neurotic dog wants to jump the fence every time he sneezes! Luckily, mine aren't as bad, just itchy eyes and a general tired feeling in the afternoon. The car today is actually worse than this picture - solid yellow!

Despite the pollen, we were outside all day yesterday and today working in the garden. I bit the bullet and planted my Edamame, Bush and Pole Beans, Baby Sugar Bush Watermelon seeds, Dill and Cilanatro seeds. My peas haven't even grabbed onto their trellises yet and were screaming "what happened to Spring?" the whole time I was out there - it was 91 degrees yesterday and looks to be the same today. The carrots are peeking up finally from their kleenex seedmats. Today I transplanted the Jalapeno, Bell, and Stuffing Peppers, and transplanted most of my tomato seedlings into containers. I am doing all of my tomatoes in containers this year, so now we have "Tomato Alley" along the fenceline. There is simply no more room in my raised beds for tomatoes. I still have a few but I will have to wait until we modify some more buckets and I can get some more soil mix made for them. Pictures of the garden to come soon!

Thomas, I see your cute Jonathan and raise you one Finnegan, LOL... someday our little guys are going to be very talented gardeners!:

Finn holding his Foodie Bouquet of Leeks (the last of the leeks!)

The blogosphere is quiet today, you all must be outside gardening... here's hoping you are finding all the room you need to put plants, LOL! I think we are going to quit early today and take the kids for ice cream and buy a gallon of eyewash and a pallet of Benadryl...