Homemade Bread….

Ain’t nothing better than bread you create in your own home.

It’s just so good.   Something so simple as bread, and yet make it from scratch and it’s like something handed down from the heavens above.   And when it’s good… it’s super good and just wonderful.  I think it’s the smell…   yeah…. baking bread is awesome.

Well, our ten dollar bread machine from a garage sale was trying to work and managed to get two loaves done before it died.   It will turn on, but it won’t do anything.  So… I guess we’re back to making it by hand, which I did this day… or getting another, a real one with a warrenty.

I don’t mind making it by hand, but I must admit, the machine is a little bit easier.   Of course, some might say, well, a machine is not really simple… and yeah, that’s the truth.   But if I had to make it by hand all the time, there would just be some days that it wouldn’t get made.   And then we start back down the slippery slope and the next thing you know, we’re getting a loaf from the Kroger store.  So, I’ll be looking into another machine, real soon.

But in the meanwhile…  I got to enjoy a big old slab of REAL homemade French toast this morning and my goodness…. it was bliss.   One piece was all you needed…

dsc03399_m

Yes, that is a HUGE electric skillet!!  That is one large piece of french toast!!!

And get this…  I did a little research and there is a fellow only about 2 miles from me that raises homegrown eggs!!!   OH MY GOSH!   I can’t wait to go over and meet him and buy eggs.  I hope he won’t mind if I visit a little and ask questions about his girls…  I hope he is a organic egg man, and that he treats his hens good…   I found him on Craigs’ List!   I SO want chickens… I don’t know why, I just do.   I’m not sure if my moby manager will let me have a few girls of my own…  I think I will have to wait and think about it some… see if I can really handle it.   Visiting with the egg man, that might be a helpful decision maker for me…   yeah….  I can’t wait!

Pin It

Happy BIRD-day Maggie!

Maggie, my youngest daughter, loves birds and well, all sorts of critters.. but lately she has really been into birds and feeding them.  I wasn’t sure what to get her for her birthday, coming up at the end of April… but then I saw in a magazine a bird feeder pole!   And it was perfect!

It’s basically three pieces of black iron pipe and two 90 degree corners.  Oh, yes, and a couple bags of quik-crete concrete.

First… you dig holes for your poles to go into.

dsc03354_m

And then get the conrete ready to go.

dsc03378_m

And then…. add water and mix up with a shovel….

dsc03379_m

After awhile, you set your poles in to the concrete and you wait for a day or so…  for the stuff to get good and hard.

And then… you start to add all your various bird feeders and fun stuff to the pole!   I think she can have a ton of stuff on this wonderful bird feeding station.

We’re going to add some thin, tall trellises to the ends of the poles and grow morning glories up them…. and add a rock garden down below.   It’s going to be stunning as we keep working on Maggie’s birthday present.  She’s also getting a few new feeders too… so she’s pretty happy.

And her Dad is going to help her build a honest to gosh fort/hut/girlcave next to the shed for her birthday!   She’s quite pleased….

dsc03401_m

Pin It

Women Need Gardens

I’m convinced.   Women like gardens, men like fields.   We like the smaller, more confined yet well maintained gardens…  we don’t need heavy equipment and tractors and seed that comes in one variety and by the ton.  We want 16 different veggies in a 4 x 8 plot.    We want color and variety and stuff to worry over and check on.   It’s a girl thing.

dsc03332_m

So when women need gardens, women go to Lowes.  And we did.  And we got boards and screws and stuff like that.   And trotted them home in the Lumi.

Boards are heavy!  My arms were kinda aching after we got all 12 board in and then out of the van!  And these are not your little 2 x 4s…. these are 8 footers and 6 footers.   I wanted to make my beds 10 by 5, but they were out of the 10 x 2 x 10’s…. so I decided to change a little and make 8 x 6 beds.

dsc03336_m

Now I know this flies in the face of reason… I mean, EVERYONE uses 4 x 8s for beds…  well, I can reach that extra foot on each side and I had gotten these fancy corners from Gardener’s Supply last year and I only had so many.   I wanted as much bed as I could muster for my three big beds.

dsc03339_m

These corners are really cool.   Just a little like bracket, that you slip your boards into and screw into the metal.  Nice looking and designed to last and last.  They are not cheap…  $40 for 4…  but well, I wanted them to look nice and I used to be a little more flush than I am now, so I had splurged.

After all, it’s been like a good 5 years since I really gardened because of all the chaos and renting and moving in my life.   I figure that the money I saved from all those years of NOT gardening, kind of made up for this one little splurge!

dsc03341_m

Jessy makes a pretty handy counterweight for our very fancy girl sawhorse.   hahaha….

dsc03343_m

I will calmly admit here, that I hate my drill.   It’s this very cheap nasty plug in the wall thing and it’s just dreadful.  I usually end up throwing it, or doing a good deal of cursing.  It’s just awful.  I really really really need to get some good manly advice on a decent powerful, yet cordless drill for around the homestead.  This one is dreadful and I think if I am ever found dead in the yard, it will be because of the drill and my blood pressure rising much too high.

dsc03348_m

Look!   Three corners done!    Don’t they look nice?

dsc03350_m

Moving right along…. Two beds done!

As you can see, we’re going to have to dig out the top of the bed boxes a bit… apparently we’re on a bit of a slope.  That’s okay.  I’d rather get them leveled out a bit and all before the dirt comes in.  I really want these to last a good long time and if I take the time to do it right, they will last.  And if I don’t, well, the water will run funny and all that.   And I’ll have dirt coming out the bottom corner, etc etc etc….  no fun.

I am learning one thing about the moby and all.  Taking my time and doing things to the best of my ability is a real plus.   So many moby homes I see, seem to suffer from “lackofplanningitis”  and they stuff is done kind of, well, shoddy and fast.  And then it falls apart and just kinda looks well, awful.  I would much rather take my time and do it right, or not do it.  It means living with things a little weird for lengths of time, but I do like how it turns out once we’re done.

dsc03352_m

dsc03395_m

I did take a little time to plant this climbing rose bush that I got at Aldis… only $4.   It’s already setting leaves and I had set it out a night or two to kinda of harden it up a bit…  might be a little early, but I dunno… I figgered I would give it a try.  I’m hoping that it will crawl up a little trellis and on and over the shed.   I think that would look nice.

dsc03392_m

Well, it was a good 4 or 5 hours all told, but I think they look fabulous.  They are set up and ready for a little leveling and then dirt first of the week.  I can’t wait.  I think I’m going to just have a dumptruck of dirt delivered, because  I have these three to fill up and will be building another 3 beds for the corn, wheat and berry crops.   Yeah… this is going to be one fun year.

Related Posts with ThumbnailsPin It