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Monday, April 29, 2013

Japanese Maple~


When I moved from Oregon to VA, I had to leave all the beautiful Japanese maple trees my DH bought me, with a good friend.
Just no way to take them with me.

We went to a local nursery yesterday to look for some garden stakes. Something VA people know nothing about,,, any way..... found some there, bought what they had.
Couldn't help it, haven't been to a good nursery since we left Oregon, so I just had to look around.
Love trees, so went to look at those.  And would you believe it, they had a couple varieties of JM's... on sale. 
DH must of saw the look on my face, so he said, "Pick one out", Happy Mother's day.
Think my smile could of lit up the dark side of the moon!  LOL

Looked at the pots next, do you know, the cost 4 times the amount here in VA, compared with Oregon!  Flabbergasting to say the least. Refused to buy one.

A couple of weeks ago I bought a half whisky barrel on sale, to put my wee Rosemary plant in.
So I decided to just use that as the planter.

With the families help, I potted up the Lace leaf Japanese maple. To make sure the chickens do not dig all of the soil out, DS found some stones for me and I put them on top.

Is quite pretty.

This is not the best picture, because it started to rain..... but more to come soon. LOL



The Kitchen~


Bought some pan wall racks, so I have easy access to them.  Am extremely pleased that the make the kitchen look more complete or larger if you will.
Would be a lot easier to show you in person.....   but a picture will do for now.


Mia ~



Mia was posing for me,,, sweet cat she is. 

To bad my camera is shite inside.

But I can see a future painting in one of these. 
Granted I need to start painting again.





Thursday, April 18, 2013

Asparagus, Nari and sheep


Every where I have lived, I have always wanted Asparagus,,, now I have three small raised beds of them.  This is the first one to come up! 
 I have a baby Asparagus! LOL





Nari hunting......  then had to come see what I was doing. 

Sheep in the new front pasture... needless to say, they are happy!







Our Wee Orchard ~~




Really hard to see some of the fruit trees, but if you look very closely.....

Having to start all over is a pain, this is the 3rd Orchard I have started up, I just hope this time, by the time it starts producing, we will be here to enjoy it.

All but the newest tree, a Williams Pride Apple, are blooming.  Very beautiful to look at.   ;O)




Flowering Cherry Trees


Put arrows near DH's flowering Dogwood in the back of the photo, and  Kawanza flowering cherry near the front of the hen house. 
I planted them last year, because I missed the beauty of the type of Flowering trees, we had in Oregon. 
They do not look like much now, but in a few years, this will be a very beautiful spot to look at.



Just love this flowering cherry tree!



We also planted another type of flowering cherry tree, but it will not be as spectacular as the Kawanza. 

Kawanza is hard to find here, but would like to plant two more trees before next Autumn.




Sunday, April 7, 2013

Raised Beds, Pancake Muffins and a Flowering tree.... oh my...


DH made breakfast yesterday. Pancake batter put into muffin cups and baked at 350* for about an half hour or so, I don't think anyone was timing it.
Came out pretty good and I love having blue berries on them.




Spring comes a lot later here, than in Oregon.  The first flowers of spring, from my Peach Tree. 




DH put in the 4th raised bed on Sat.  
DS and I will put the stone dust in the holes and I will put some of the horse manure that has been composting since last year in it, mid week. This will give the mortar time to cure.
The yellowish stuff you see on the paths, is Corn Gluten, this will help keep the weeds from growing.

You can see on the front left bed, some of the cap stones we plan on putting around all the raised beds. Makes it easier for me to sit on and tend the Kitchen garden.

Most likely a bit early, but I ordered some tomatoes, peppers, Artichoke plants, a Rosemary and Thyme.



Friday, April 5, 2013

Making Bread.... one handed~~


I badly needed to make bread today, and being one handed was a bit of a challenge.
However, with the help of the bread machine, doing the first two rises and kneadings, I was able to make hamburger buns. 
Right now, they are doing their last rising in the oven.

Keeping my fingers crossed they come out right! 



**Updated....  the Hamburger buns.... little more character to them than usual,  but they still taste good.  ;)



Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Second set of Raised Beds~


Last Sat, DH started on the 2nd set of raised beds.
 Was hoping to get 6 done for this summer, but with Congress cutting our pay, might not be possible.
At least this is a start. 
Have also decided to cap the edges of these raised beds, so they are easier for me to sit on. 




Sheep happily eating in the newly fenced front pasture.
It is a load off, that they will have food.
Am slowly getting Stjarna and Maggie used to the grass again.



Needed to do some, slight, pruning with the Willow tree I planted last year, so I figured I would see if I can get some of the cuttings to grow roots.
Free tress are always a good thing.