I finally finished it. It took an entire year of moods to complete. I can only remember the moods I assigned to a few of the colors. I should have kept better track of the post it note with the information written down on it.
Love and War Devotional for Couples.
I read this devotional a while ago. I had hoped it would be something we could do as a couple. That didn’t work out. It’s hard to do a couple’s devotional when half of the couple is not interested. It would be a good devotional to do as a couple, I really think so. Just difficult if it’s one sided.
Disclaimer: Blogging for Books provided this book to me for free in exchange for an honest review.
I like to try to learn new skills or add to the arsenal of skills I already have. Case in point, canning. I can put up food for us without a hitch. So I decided to try Violet Jelly this year. A friend was raving about it and linked to a recipe online. My yard is full of violets right now, so I thought,”Why not?”
So the girl and I spent about an hour collecting blossoms. Then we brought them in, did a quick rinse and placed them in a jar.
Poured boiling water over them and…
Voila! Beautiful blue shade. Isn’t it gorgeous? I let it sit for 24 hours then strained the liquid. I followed the recipe exactly. Canned it and then had this:
It looks great. However…this is the fail part. It never jelled. It remained syrup. I waited 36 hours hoping it was just a slow batch. Nope. So I thought,”Well, I can just use it as a syrup.” Gave it the old taste test. Blech! It tasted like rotten fruit. I don’t know what went wrong. It was just gross. So I had to dump it out. I was all set to try dandelion jelly too. Now I’m a little skittish.
I thought I would post a few pictures of the beginnings of the garden this year. I’m always so hopeful in Spring and lose the momentum by the end of Summer. Hoping I can avoid that this year. My husband might have to get a permit and sit out on the deck with a bow and shoot the deer if they try to eat my garden this year. I’m serious.
This is last year’s kale. It is a biennial, but most people pull it up after one season. I’m letting this batch go to seed so I can save the seeds.
I’m trying two new to me varieties of peas. Desiree Dwarf Peas.
And Alaska Peas.
I also ordered a raised bed from my local Master Gardeners group. We are selling them as a fundraiser for our group. I think it’s great, I’ve never used a raised bed before.
It has been filled with: Lollo DeVino lettuce, Swiss Chard, Scarlet Nantes Carrots, Pepperone di Cuneo Peppers, Mixed Orach and Brussels Sprouts. Down the center of the bed I planted Globe Artichokes.
We are seriously considering another bed. I need to measure the remaining area to see if there is room for it without expanding the garden space.
Strange weather we’ve been having. Super cold, long, dark winter followed by a few warm days then cold again. Then warm again, then cold again. We’ve been taking advantage of the warm days to get some gardening started. The peas are up and looking lovely. We purchased a raised bed from my Master Gardeners group, the group is selling them as a fund raiser. It is really nice, there is a seat around all the sides so you can sit down and not kill your back by bending over. I’ve got it filled up and planted already. Mixed orach, red lettuce, Brussels Sprouts, miniature peppers, New Zealand Spinach and carrots were directly seeded in the bed. I also planted globe artichokes down the center that I started from seed indoors. I started some cucmber seeds four days ago and they are almost big enough to be put outside, it just isn’t warm enough at night for that yet.
The flower beds really did well this year, most of the bulbs are well established and bloomed beautifully. We had hyacinths, daffodils, grape hyacinths, tulips, irises, crocuses and snow drops. Gorgeous. I keep forgetting to take pictures of them though. The pink azalea bushjust stared blooming, it’s fantastic. In about two weeks the lavender azalea will bloom as well.
I planted a peach tree. It survived the winter in it’s pot and had lots of buds. Then after planting it in the ground we had a hard freeze. All of the buds were killed. So no peaches for us this year. Hopefully next year we will have some. I would also like to get a few blueberry bushes and perhaps an apple tree. We’ll see.
My girl is currently playing with her water table. That was the best five dollars I ever spent. This is the third year she has played with it. Constant source of entertainment. She looks so grown up. Long, gangly legs and arms. Where did my baby go?
The dog is chilling beside me in the sunshine. Her friends that live next door are whining out the window at her. They can see her but can’t get to her to play. Poor doggies.
Fun news…I joined the praise band at the contemporary service at my church. It’s been a great experience. I love it. I play guitar and sing.
Well, not a lot truthfully. I think, hope(pray) spring has finally sprung. It was a long, very cold winter. If you know me you know that I’m always cold, even in the summer. So I detest winter. I can never get warm. Right now it’s nearly 70 degrees inside my house and my hands feel like ice. Annoying.
We took LadyBug to be spayed last week. Poor baby had a hard couple of days. Now she’s back to normal. I take her to have the stitches out next week. She acts like they itch now, which means healing, right? Hope so. Phoebe was very upset because we won’t let LadyBug have puppies, but she’ll get over it.
I’ve got a few seedlings started inside and have put peas in the ground outside. I’m planning to buy a raised bed for the garden. My master gardeners group is selling them as a fundraiser for the group. Let me know if you are interested, I’ll get the info for you.
Lastly, I’ve finally taken the plunge and invested in essential oils. I researched and read all I could about them for a year and a half before finally settling on a company. I have decided to go with doTerra. I’ve registered as a Wellness Consultant. If anyone wants to check out my site feel free.
The blue is much darker than it appears in this photo. It is more like navy and the color between the yellow and red is light grey. I really like this so far.
So a friend shared this with me and I thought it was such a great idea. I’m in. I’ve ordered yarn and found a pattern. Now, if I can just stick with it I will have a blanket at the end of the year. 🙂
Tomorrow my Phoebe girl will be four years old. I’m not going to say any of the typical things mom’s say. “Where has the time gone?” Nope, I know. It’s speeding by, seriously like the speed of light. We always snuggle first thing in the morning. She climbs up on my lap and gives me a squeeze. She’s so big and gangly now that she doesn’t fit on my lap. Arms and legs are everywhere. No more tiny, squishy baby. She’s so tall she looks six not four. She can sit on my lap and look me directly in the eye. Incredible.
I was prepared for infant-hood to be hard. The midnight feedings and diaper changes. The spit up and teething. Funny thing was, after the colic went away she was a dream. Seriously, the perfect angel baby. We had ten weeks of constant screaming and then it was like someone flipped a switch and gave me a new baby. I loved everything about her babyhood after that.
I was prepared for the terrible twos. Yet, she wasn’t terrible. She was pretty happy go lucky. No tremendous tantrums or anything like that. Three was when it got tough. No one ever warns you that three is worse than two. Boy has it been. On a daily basis I have felt ill equipped to mother this child. She is so smart and stubborn. So extroverted while I’m an introvert. She pushes and pushes and pushes boundaries until I’m at my wit’s end. Yet when she smiles at me or gives me a hug and says,”I love you Mommy Moo,” I melt. I wouldn’t trade this girl for anything in the world.
As we go into her fourth year I have high hopes for her. We’re doing home school preschool and she loves it. I’m hopeful that she’ll learn to read. She’s so close! She has such a big heart for animals, every stray cat or dog we see she wants to bring home. Never mind that we have two cats and a dog already. Phoebe also loves horses. She says,”I’m going to be a horse farmer when I grow up. I promise, Mommy.” I hope so. Mommy loves you Phoebe Phu.
Is it really November already? I could have sworn October just started. My garden is almost put to bed for the winter. I spent the afternoon raking leaves today. I put some on the garden as mulch and the rest went into the compost bins. I almost forgot I need to fertilize the dogwood tree we planted for Liam. I just glanced at the Extension Service calendar and it has that listed as something to do this week. So I need to do that and put down a fresh layer of mulch.
Phoebe picked out a few gourds and pumpkins to make a little garden display to celebrate Fall. We artfully arranged them in the flower bed.
I’ve got a few crafts planned for the next few weeks. Hopefully they turn out nice enough to share.
Avant Gardener 