Summer morning

OK!

After a good and restful nights sleep I am up early, said my morning prayers, took the dog for a long walk while its still sort of cool(not!) and now I'm ready for this:

Oh gosh-its not showing up too well. Gotta work on the photo editing a little more I guess. These are all little watercolors I did while I was on vacation.

If you were here girlfriends, I would offer this one to you!

 And we could sit on the back porch while the morning cool inches away from us

 and discuss the garden. 

We pulled 3~ 12 inch cucumbers off the vine last night! 

Yay!

 The summer bounty is beginning!

 I have 2 wonderful basil plants too, and I'm going to try to make my own pesto.

I love summer!

xx

~Annie

On TDIPT this month

 

Ophelia and her daisies!

Click here to go to TDIPT Mercantile for more photos!

Happy 4th of July!

Here are some pics of my garden, which is growing like gangbusters this year!! My pole beans are reaching over their 6 foot support. 

My cucumbers have exploded with blossoms! Yeah! We will have pickles this year!

 Here is a picture of the healthier of the only 2 sunflowers that made it past the seedling stage. I didn't do well with seedlings this year, and had to buy most of my plants. It kind of feels like cheating to me. Next year I am going to use my brother's greenhouse to start my seeds, so they get enough light.

 We have already decided to double our garden space next year. There just isn't enough room. I also want to separate out my herbs and put them in their own plot. a lot of them are getting overshadowed by some of the larger plants. You learn a little more every year!

Have you seen this?

Food Inc. 

This documentary confirmed everything I have suspected about our food supply and more. I have been getting into organic food for a couple of years now, mostly for health reasons. I have hypothyroidism, which I take medication for every day, and for the rest of my life. I have had this condition for many years, and it has really taken its toll. As I  get older, my energy is easily sapped. Diet plays a huge role in this. If I eat healthy-lots and lots of veggies, I actually feel almost good. If I eat badly, I feel awful. Sugar especially effects me, and I try to avoid it. High fructose corn syrup makes me actually achy and tired.

So...I have started gardening in earnest. 

I buy eggs from a local farm. 

I am using organic flour and whole wheat pasta. 

I have thrown out all processed foods. All.

This last winter I had my first free range turkey-it was unbelievable!

Now I am on a mission. 

It is probably a 10 year mission.

It is about self-sustainability.

I am planning a process of slowly living off the land, and becoming 3/4 vegetarian.

My hubby and I put in a 450 square foot garden this spring. I am growing carrots, turnips, onions-red and yellow,basil, lavender,flat leaf parsley, broccoli, kohlrabi, peppers-green and jalapeno, swiss chard, dill,tomatoes-heirloom,cherry, roma(for sauce), and beefsteak, cucumbers, zuchini,pumpkins and pole beans.

This is step one.

Next year we will install our beehive in hopes of having honey the following year.

Eventually, we will move to a house in the country where will will also have our own chickens. There is a no-chicken ordinance in this town or I would not wait.

So that is the plan. We have a lot to learn but our quality of life depends on it. My kids are growing up and out, and we now know what we want to do as we move towards retirement(still many years away). We will end up living a homesteading type of self-sufficient lifestyle out where the wind blows through the trees and you can hear a car come up the road from a long way off.

:~)

Fisher cat and lilacs

Our lilacs are in full bloom these days! I love lilacs, they smell so wonderful! I couldn't resist bringing some in to scent the house!

Here is a sneak peek at my cat for this months TDIPT. I hope I can get him done-I'm so distracted by the gardening!LOL!

Spring is finally budding all over!

My back yard cherry tree and some wild tulips growing randomly!!! Also a pic of my future garden! This is only the first initial dig. We have to clean it out yet and begin adding manure for the deep bed technique we are trying this year. I'm so excited to get going on this project!!

Roma tomato seedlings and HRH

Lookie my cute little tomato sprouts!! These are Roma tomatos, which I plan to use to make and can my own spaghetti sauce. It is still cold and wet around here, it seems spring will never come, but May is just around the corner, so I need to get some more things started!


I don't know how I got a single stitch in yesterday! It seems as though every time I sat down to stitch I had to get right back up again to tend to something; the kids, laundry, etc. Sometimes the "fun" never ends around here!! (BGG)