4-30-12

Blogger hasn't been nice to me lately.

I wrote a whole bunch yesterday

and went to publish it and only the 

part about the flea market and the seeds

I bought showed up.  I was so upset

because I posted a lot and didn't

feel like writing it all again.

So today we'll see how it goes

and I'll try to redo everything. 

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7:30am

I got everything reposted again from yesterday.
What a pain in the rear.


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9:30 - 10:15pm

 I got the tomato cages, which was one long
continuous cage that went around
my tomato plants last year, taken down and rolled up.
It was tacked in with U shaped staples,
wiring and rope to hold it up on the posts
and bottom boards to keep the rabbits and
other critters out.  No fun.  But it's done.
Then I removed and raked out all
the weeds.   Nothing like starting
off the morning with sore arms.
Now comes the fun part of figureing out
how to design the garden beds.
Kinda liking this layout found HERE.

But will have to adjust it some to the plants I have

or will grow from seeds.

You also have to figure out what plants

can be grown with others.

This is called companion planting.

Might have to move my window and stuff to another 

location if I would plant tomatoes along the fence.

Still have to bag up all the weeds.  Maybe later on.

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5:00pm


Still trying to plan out my garden beds.
Not having fun and are getting flustered with it.
You have to consider the type of plants you put
in the beds, how much sun they need and
what plants are compatible with others.
Sounds easy but it's not.


Making Chinese for supper tonight.
I sliced up some smoked sausages and threw
them in a pot of water with a little soy/teriyaki sauce.
Once it starts to boil then I'll throw in spaghetti.
I'll serve it with Chinese stir-fry veggies and teriyaki
sauce drizzled on top.




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8:00pm




This evening I went and got a small load of 
free wood from hubby's work from where they
are redoing some upper patio decks.
Plenty more wood to get if I need it.
Didn't want to overdo it at the moment.
I won't be able to use this wood for the porch as
it is too thick and very heavy. 
It almost reminds me of railroad ties.
So that means they'll work great for
the garden and flower beds.
Most boards are already cut to 4'
which would be excellent for a square foot garden
which are usually 4' x 4'.
They are 2" thick and 6" wide and 4' length.
Check out the idea I had to store the wood.
I used a pool ladder.
Got from a yard sale last year for $3 to use
with our pool.  We're not putting the pool
up this year so I found another use for it.
No bare spots in the yard from where wood would
be laying. 

Well I just checked the weather and it
seems we're going to be getting some thunderstorms
around 9:00pm.
Good sleeping weather with the windows cracked open.


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6:45pm

It's been a long day.  We got a lot 

of stuff done though.  Spent most of 

the time outdoors since the weather was nice.

You know you live in Ohio when

you get up early to head to the flea market

and are wearing a t-shirt under a sweater

and are wearing a winter coat with socks and shoes.

Then by the after noon you change into

shorts and a sleeveless shirt and go barefoot.

LOL. 

The flea market was better than last weekend

with more vendors.  I did find a couple vendors

who were selling the flower and veggie seed packets.

I got 50 seed packets for $2.00

 I also bought a 6 pack of hot banana pepper plants for $2.00.

That was a really good deal considering 

I saw ONE banana pepper plant at Walmart for $3.00.

It was the only other live plant I wanted to get for the garden.

When we got back home from the flea market

Tony cut the back yard.  I wanted to plan out

my garden beds but as I watched the sun and shading

I realize where I wanted to put the beds along

the fence in the back just wasn't going to work.

It turned out it was all shaded in that area

so I had to come up with a plan B.

Plan B will be to put the garden beds 

where I previously had a garden

the year before last.  It stays sunny most

of the day and I already have horse

manure mixed in the soil.  This photo was taken in the

late afternoon as the shade was setting in.  It won't be 

as large as the one before due

to a vehicle sitting on half of

the previous garden bed.  That is why

I am trying to learn about square foot gardening

so I can put just as many plants into a smaller space.

I still have a lot of work to do in the garden space

from raking it all out, pulling up old tomato fencing

and digging up dirt and making the wooden beds.

About 3 years ago I was given a ton of day lilies

for free if I dug them all up.  I ended up with

a small pickup truck load.  So many that I had a bunch

left over after planting them around the house.

I ended up planting the remaining ones at the edge

of the old garden.  Well I had to dig them all

up today if I wanted a garden here again.

I found them all a new home in the front 

of the house by all the bushes where

nothing else wants to grow.

They'll probably look crappy this year being

thinned out and transplanted but next

year they should look much better.

As I go around and show you things in my yard

I'll tell you prices of everything to make

the flower and garden beds and how I managed

to make them as cheap as possible.

The little wheel barrow I found free

along with the hose reel that I found along

the curb on trash day and all our hoses

left behind by residents where Tony works.

I still ended up with about 6 or so extra plants

and had to figure out where to plant them.

I decided to put them in the middle of my

rock bed with the zinnias.

The rocks were already there dumped into our

yard by the neighbor behind us trying to

block off the alley way and to keep

people from driving in the grass.

It looked like crap.  And I was a little upset

that he did it.  But he has since moved

and I'm trying to make the best of it

considering I can't pick these rocks

up and haul them outta here.

I arranged them into the flower bed you see

to make it look like something other than a rock pile.

While there was no evidence of ants or

ant hills in the flower bed I managed

to dig up a bunch and found them 

all up and down my arms and hands.

Those little buggers looked pissed off.

And I'm pretty sure they bit me because

the areas between my fingers burned and

hurt like heck afterwards.  I'm going to put some

Diatomaceous Earth (Food Grade)

crawling insect killer in there.

It's safe around pets, people, flower and veggie gardens.

I'm all about natural gardening 

and have been using this stuff for the past year. 

I even used it on my banana pepper plants

last year that started getting bugs.

They were gone by the next day!

That 4 lb bag at about $9 goes a long way!

I still have most of a bag left.

I put some in plastic condiment bottles

I found at a yard sale for .05 cents each

and squeeze it onto the areas that have pests.

Here is my Concord grapevine coming back this year.

I found it at Lowes in their mark down area.

I've had about 3-4 years now.

No grapes yet.

Tony was about ready to throw out this iron

umbrella base when I rescued it.

We haven't used patio umbrellas for years

and this has been sitting around doing nothing.

I found a metal pole to put in it.

I would like to find a bird feeder to put

on top of it.  This will keep squirrels out of the bird seed.

 Iron umbrella base was free and found at

my hubby's work.

Here is a bird bath, but I use it to give

the squirrels and neighborhood wild cats drink of water.

I found the metal bowl for free

and the table used to be a patio chair I found.

I removed the back part of the chair since it was broke.

I have two other actual birdbaths,

one is plastic and one is like a ceramic.

Both were gotten at yard sales for $2.00 each.

I got the solar powered tiki torches put in along the driveway.

They were $3 for 4 of them at a yard sale.

The iron work on the fence was part of a gazebo

we got off Freecycle.  I tore it apart and hung

the panels on the fence for morning glories to grow on.

The hostas were all gotten from my hubby's work.

Residents leave behind plants on their patio 

and I'll go over and dig them up and bring 'em home.

The old street bricks lining the driveway flower

bed were gotten free from my mom.

Someone had them as a sidewalk in front of mom's house

when they moved in and mom put

in a concrete walk and had them tore out.

 I decided I wanted to jazz up my garden area

considering it is my retreat area to go to

and relax.  I brought up an old window I had

in the basement and put it up on the fence.

I found it free along a curb.

The shutters I also got free along with the flower box.

The two wooden benches I got with the free

wood I picked up recently off Craigslist.

The medium sized flower pots were .05 cents each

at a church sale.  I even found the John Deer

wagon out along the curb.  I use it all the time

for gardening hauling plants, tools, bricks

and what not around the yard.  All my yard tools like

shovels, spades, hoe and rakes were given to us.

 

When working out in the yard on a sunny day

be sure to remove any heat patches that you

may have on your shoulders.  I forgot about the ones

I had on and had gotten a little sun on my shoulders

and now have a white, rectangle spot where

the patches were, lol.

These things have helped my shoulder pain.

You can get a box of 20 at Dollar Tree.

We had supper outside.  Tony fixed up some burgers on the grill with all the fixins.  We also had tater tots and potato salad.

The grill use was free.  A coworker of Tony's moved

into an apartment at their work.  The residents are no

longer allowed to have grills on the property

due to being a fire hazard.

His coworker had asked us if we could store the

grill at our house and in return we could use it

when we wanted.  It even came with a full tank of propane. 

All folding chairs and tables were found free

at Tony's work.

After a long day everyone was tired

and had their bellies full.

I noticed one kid went missing.

This is where I found him, in his room asleep

with his birthday bike over top him, lol.

We got the bike for him on Saturday and

told him he couldn't ride it til his birthday.

So he's been cleaning and working on it in his

room and admiring it like it was a trophy. 

It's a DK General Lee bike we got

off Craigslist. 

4-28-12

2:30pm

I made some sweet Italian bread pizzas for lunch.

Sweet Italian bread $1.10

2 loaves cut in half 

then cut in half again.

1 can tomato soup- .50 cents

 garlic powder & Italian seasoning- free

1 pkg pepperonis $1.67

leftover ham- free

onion- .05 cents

2 cups shredded cheese $1.89

Total cost:  $5.21

serves 8 @ .65 cents a serving

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I learned today that at hubby's work
they are totally redoing some of
the upper patio decks.
I'm going to try and get hold
of some of the old decking wood for free.
That sure would help out a lot
with all my projects.
If I can get that wood I could also
do my back stoop and maybe
make some borders around all my flower beds.


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4:00pm


Got the Charger sold today.
That's two things sold in the past week.


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5:00pm



My body aches are improving today
since putting heat patches on my shoulders.
But the tiredness starts to overwhelm me at times.
Was getting ready to lay down
and this is what I found in my bed!
Kitty's got it so rough around here, lol.
'Bout ready to tell him to scooch his 
butt over so I can lay down.

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I just submitted my 6th reusable tote
bag design for the Kroger contest.

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I told y'all yesterday that I had flowers coming up.
I forgot to mention that both of my trees I planted
3 years ago will have pears this year.
Be sure to check the marked down plants
area at your nearest Lowes.
I found these pear trees for only $1.50 each tree!!
I knew I wanted to plant a couple trees
to watch them grow over the years.
And I knew I didn't want ordinary trees
but ones that would be practical and
supply us some food. 
To buy fruit bearing trees you need
to have two in order for them to produce fruit.
Just like it takes a man and woman to make a baby.  
It kind of works the same way with
fruit trees.  The bees carry the pollen from
one tree to the other pollinating them.
I planted them on the first anniversary of 
buying our home.  I really wanted them after
moving in but couldn't afford any
especially after buying things for our home
like lawn and garden equipment,
paying 3% down, earnest money, paying 
inspector fees and everything else
that requires money when buying a house.
The first year we had them only one produced pears
while the other didn't have any.
Last year neither had any pears.
And I'm excited about them both having
pears this year.
It appeared that some of the pear buds
had been damaged by frost.
But there are some without the frost bite.
We'll see how this Ohio weather goes
to see if they pull through and make it.
And ya gotta watch the neighborhood kids
who like to pull the fruits from the trees
and use them as baseballs.  Grrr!
That happened the first year and I was so upset!
You take care of and baby your plants for many months
only to have it ruined like that.


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8:20pm

Kitty the pole dancer, lol.

 

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4-27-12

Have no idea what happened to the posts
I posted today.  I hope Blogger don't start this crap again.
I had problems before with my posts disappearing.

I don't feel like reposting everything from earlier.
I still don't feel good.  Better but not the best.
My legs feel like jello and are shaky when walking.
I did manage to unload the lumber from the truck
tonight.  I'm guessing with what lumber I have
to work with that I can make six 3-4" x 2' x 4'
raised garden beds.  Going to try to work
with the free wood I have before buying any.


Tony got the yard cut this eve
and I got my 4 solar tiki torches
in the ground along the driveway
that I got at a yard sale today.
They're pretty cool.  They flicker like
those flameless candles.
Not too shabby for .75 cents each.


I also noticed that I have flowers coming
up that I planted less than 2 weeks ago.
Got a bunch of zinnia starts in the rock flower bed
and a bunch of marigolds coming up 
in the front yard corner flower bed.
Oh, and some of my onions are starting to come up.
I had squirrels dig up a few and I replanted
them because they didn't seem damaged.
Maybe the smell got to them, lol.


I've been hoping to find the person with
all the seed packets at the flea market
30 for $1.00 but they haven't been there
the last couple of weeks.
Been wanting to stock up on some
veggie seeds.  I'm stocked on flower seeds.

Well it's almost 9:00pm and I think I'm going
to head to bed and watch some Ghost Adventurers.  
Tomorrow we're going to get
a bicycle for Jonathan for his birthday coming up.
He picked out a General Lee bike
off of Craigslist.
We have to meet the owner tomorrow at his work.
He works at the Toy Barn in Dublin.
I've heard of this place and for those of you
who don't know what it is, it's a place
that sells exotic, high dollar sports, muscle and one
of a kind cars.  I checked them out online
and saw a couple of their cars 
going for $108,000!
I warned the kids not to get anywhere
near these cars when we go there.
You can look but DO NOT TOUCH!
I'll be taking my camera along with me.

4-26-12

9:40am

Mom called this morning and asked

if I wanted to tag along on her trip to Meijer.

I said sure because I wanted to check out their

vegetable plants.  This is usually where I buy

them cheaper than other stores.

Today I found veggie plants for

.99 cents a 4 pack.  While checking

for some decent plants and making sure

the ones I picked had four plants in each one

(many I picked up only had three

so be sure to check) 

I noticed that some had extra plants

in them.  I got 11- 4 packs of veggies.

I ended up getting 4 extra plants

in some of those packs for

a total of 48 plants.

Total cost was $10.89

Then I used a 10% employee discount of $1.09

and that made them all $9.80or .89 cents a 4 pack.

When you add in the extra 4 plants I got 
it was like I paid .20 cents per plant.

I got-

2 pks Early Girl Tomatoes

1pk Sweet 100 Cherry Tomatoes

3 pks Beefmaster Tomatoes

(somehow I ended up with 3 packs

of these when I only wanted 2)

1pk Green Bell Peppers

1pk Yellow Bell Peppers

1pk Red Bell Peppers

1pk Ceyenne Peppers 

1pk Red Chili Peppers 

Before checking out with my plants

I cruised by the produce section because

 I know sometimes Meijer will put out

a cart with marked down fruits and veggies.

I got 2 heads of lettuce for .25 cents each

and 3 bags of celery.

.67 cents, .55 cents and .50 cents for each one.

Did you know that you can chop off the 

bottoms of store bought celery and plant them

in your garden and they will regrow?!

 So there's three more plants I'll add to my garden.

Still need to make the garden though so these

plants will stay inside til then.

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8:55pm

I felt ok today.
At least this morning and part of this afternoon.
I decided to use that time of feeling better
to straighten up my house which
has been going to heck and back the last
couple of days due to not feeling well.
I think I rushed into things.
I now feel worse than what I started with.
Shoulders down both arms, my upper legs
and my lower back ache, throb and feel inflamed.
One step forward and three steps back.
Still taking mom to some yard sales
tomorrow morning for a bit,
or at least as long as I can stand it.
Ibuprofen isn't doing a darn thing.
I might try Naproxin tomorrow aka Alleve
to see if that works any better for the muscle
and joint pain.

I'm tired so might be heading to bed soon.
I was up at 3:45am this morning when the
rain came down in sheets.
It was raining so hard hitting the window
and that's what had woke me up.
I got up and went out under the carport
to see if the yard might be flooding again.
I didn't see anything.  Then I went to the basement
to check the fuse box.  During major down pours
we have been getting water coming in through
where wiring comes through our basement walls
and water would pour over our breaker box.
We ended up with a bad main breaker
one time and lost half the power to our home
around Christmas time.
The breaker box is less than 4 years old.
A couple months ago I caulked all the outside
holes around wiring.  
Thank God it worked this time around
keeping water out! 


Nighty night.
Hoping tomorrow is a better day for me
because at the moment my body feels like
it is on fire.


 

4-25-12

Here is my most recent bag designed for the
Kroger reusable bag contest.
Please vote for it HERE :0) 
It's the most popular of all the bags I've designed so far.
It's ranking 146 out of 16, 064 bags designs entered.

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9:30am

Still feeling a little achy and tired today
but not as bad as yesterday.
  
2:30pm

I awoke from my nap with an awful case of acid reflux.
I took a heartburn pill in hopes that it will clear up soon.
And guess what?  I'm making chili for supper.
Boy if those two don't clash. 


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7:30pm


Still haven't got around to getting the wood out
of the truck since Monday eve.
But I have noticed that boards are
slowly disappearing out of there.
And have noticed a fort of some
sort being built by our shed.
So much for using some of my wood
to make garden boxes out of, lol.
That's ok.  I figured out a plan "B"
to make them fairly cheap.
It will cost $21.28 plus tax to make
seven- 7 foot long x 2 feet wide raised garden beds 5 1/2 inches high (all connecting to one another) 
if I use 17 fence picket boards from Lowes.
Double that price and supplies to $42.56 if I make
the garden bed 11" tall.
I already have screws and scrap wood
to use in the corners of the beds to attach the sides to.
The only thing I would need is to hire
someone to go pick up a truck load of free horse manure for me
if or when I make them.



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 8:45pm


Going to lay down.  I took ibuprofen
about 40 minutes ago and feel no relief
of pain in my shoulders/arms from it.
I don't dare raise my arms up.  
I'm lucky to get my hair tied up in a pony
tail and that's all I can do.
I can't even comb/brush out my hair at the moment.

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