Day Dreaming Of A Veggie Garden

As I sat on the swing inside the arbor trying to ignore the sharp pain in my back side & stomach all while feeling the urge to vomit I kept going over & over in my mind just how stupid it all seems to me that I will have to see my family doctor again before I can be seen by the urologist the hospital E.R. doctor advised me to have follow up treatment with A.S.A.P. To top it all off the urologist told me I had to contact my health insurance company to see if I would be covered & if they were in the network. I sure did not feel up to this & thought that was the docotrs job not mine. But it is done. Needless to say it upset me & caused stress I did not need. This kidney stone is a pain every where but my butt.

I took a new magazine and some old magazines from my stash to the gazebo thinking maybe I could read some and relax. I have been thinking a lot lately about planting more veggies to try canning again. The spot above the gazebo would be perfect for that. I was thinking I would like a small potting shed to start plants in & do some canning in. I am wanting an old cook stove in the potting shed for a little heat to start seedlings in the early spring and heat for canning all the many wonderful veggies I dream of growing.

The new garden magazine had an article about box gardening with a potting shed in the middle. Here it was the type garden I have been dreaming about. I would not need a tractor or plow for this kind of garden. Oh but I do like tractors. But I would need railroad ties & a potting shed.

In another magazine I found an article about sheds others put on their properties. I really like this one. I can just see me rocking in a rocking chair on the little porch of the potting shed as rain softly falls down to water my thirsty veggie plants as they stretch & grow. Of course while blooming & producing veggies to.

If I could just find another gazebo similar to the design I have in the flower garden I could close it in to get the potting shed. It would match every thing else here at the homestead to.

This would be the front of the veggie garden. A nice cedar rail fence and another arbor to enter into the veggie garden would be lovely.

This would be the back side of the veggie garden.

A side view of the veggie garden.

The other side view of the veggie garden.

The inside view of the veggie garden. It would need a lot of work to create my dream veggie garden. Well some dreams do come true so I am crossing my fingers. They do not hurt. I talked to some one about some free railroad ties that were to be gotten rid of. They are to check on them & get back to me. Hurry! They could be the start of my dream come true. You see I really need this dream to come true because I bought 5 dozen jars & a pressure canner last Saturday. That will be another post in its self another time. I have a vision in my mind of that dream pantry I told you all about in another post. In the dream pantry my shelves are filled with my canned veggies & deer meat.

I am still not feeling well but dreaming and sharing this post have helped pass some time for me. I will be taking my splitting head ace & retiring to my soft bed to rest on my heating pad now & hope I can get some sleep.

Blessings Til Next Time!

Relaxing In The garden

So nice to relax in the gazebo as the breeze blows thru. Tired I am & not feeling great. I spent the biggest part of last Thursday in the Doctors office & Friday in the hospital E.R. Now waiting for my next doctors appointment with my family doctor Then on to the urologist not this Tuesday but next Tuesday. I believe they like to all get a cut. However I am not enjoying the pain I am in while waiting. To top it off I had to do the contacting of my health care insurance myself.

The sunflowers have started to bloom!

Autumn sedium has bloomed & this happy yellow butterfly is enjoying it.

Ageratum is a bit late blooming but I welcome it.

Muffin is relaxing on a rock soaking up shade & sun both.

Miss White is relaxing on the soft chase on the porch.

Lucky is growing & has moved to the bunny hutch to get acquainted with the other ducks in the duck house next door.

Many other thing are going on here at the homestead including staning the cedar siding. I will let you in on that soon.

Blessings Til Next Time!

Amelia Gets A New Dress & Bonnet

Amelia is the first doll I ever made. I had to keep her for myself since she was the first. I will be adding some of my other dolls to my selling blog in the future. As the title of this post says she got a new dress & bonnet. I seen this great dress at a shop while the homestead owner & I went for a drive Tuesday. I could have made it myself but you know some times it is nice to just get it and use it right away. I had made this bonnet weeks ago and offered it in a post. It did not sale so I had it packed away in a picnic basket. I knew it would look great with this new dress so out it came and now Amelia is all dressed for fall. I also got this beautiful coverlet that is behind Amelia. It is another Family Heirloom Weavers throw. It is a bit littler than the last one I got. I could not pass this up. I was given a 20% discount on it. That made it all the better. I hope to collect other pieces to put with the two I have now & use them to redo my bedroom.

Amelia was wearing this little white baby dress & bonnet I coffee stained. The dress & bonnet was worn by my daughter Laken for her first baby photo. For many years it hung in the closet. Laken has already graduated from high school a few years ago. Oh how they grow up so fast.

For now Lakens baby dress & bonnet have went into the wood chest. I plan to hang it from a peg board in the bed room. I would love to start the bedroom soon. I am waiting for the homestead owner to purchase some boards to frame the window. I have so many ideas for this room. Got to have one of those blanket cranes in there to. In time one thing at a time I always say.

Thank you all for your helpful comments on my Home Canning Question Post! You are all great!

Blessings Til Next Time!

Home Canning Questions

Many of the blogs I follow post about their own food they grow in there gardens that they lovingly attend. The bounty of the harvest is now being gathered and they are canning their food. Many years ago Gram & I also did this together. I would like to start doing this again but I need a little advise from you experienced canners.

The homestead owner & I made a trip to the Lowes store recently so he could pick up stain for the cedar siding. I picked up a ball blue book guide to perserving & utensil set. I already had a dozen jars in the basement to bring upstairs.

After looking & reading the ball blue book I was in question as to do I need a pressure canner & a boiling water canner both? The book pretty much told pressure canners for meats & veggies & the water boiling canner for jellies & fruits. I only remember my Gram using a pressure canner for every thing we canned. Another question I have is can I even use a canner on my stove? I remember some time back a girl at church was getting a new stove but was told you can not do canning on my kind of stove. I call this my Cinderella stove because I spend so much time cleaning it after cooking a meal. Some of the marks do not even come off. I like to hide the stove top because of this and I love the way you can make the kitchen look primitive by using a dough board on it.

This was my solution to hiding and priming the stove top. If you have any tips or suggestions to help me decide what type canner I will need or even if I need both types it would me most helpful for me. The boys will be going out into the woods to hunt those poor pretty deer down in the coming weeks. I would like to can the meat. I love seeing jars lined up with foods preserved for the winter. I have enjoyed the wonderful photos other bloggers have shared of their harvested bounty. So I will be waiting to hear from you all. Thanks much.

Blessings Til Next Time!

To & Fro

Running to & fro like a chicken with my head cut off last night. I will spare you of that photo.

Hunting, gathering & pressing Lucas & Sams leaves in old catalogs for their school leaf collection. Time is running out & we have the weather to beat. They must be perfect leaves for a good grade.

No time for cooking tonight so pizza it is.

More red jewels to be picked.

Sweet iced tea to be made.

Fuzzy peaches to be peeled & sliced. A little dish sliced with brown sugar & cinnamon a treat for me. My reward for all the peeling.

The kitchen has been cleaned & my apron hung for the night. I sure hope so.

The laundry is next. Off I go to gather the washed & dried towels to be folded & put away. So many things to do to keep me on my toes.

Quickly I had to see how the runners would look with the coverlet.

A little crafting & blogging. I must fit something in to keep may sanity & where I can find encouragement from my blog friends. Some new ideas to.

Some reading in the chapter of Psalms to feed my mind and soul. Or I will surely wither away in spirit. So much to give thanks for.

Off my tired feet went to tuck Sam in for bed and get ready for bed myself.

Blessings Til Next Time!

Something To Think About

I saw this message on a church sign a few weeks ago and snapped a picture of it. At the time I planned to use it in a post but did not really know for what or how. It seems the time has come.

Just this week Laken was practicing her driving when three cars were coming toward us in their lane & the middle one pulled out into our lane in a no passing zone. Laken was very scared as she just seemed to freeze not knowing what she should do. As I said slow down & get off to the side of the road as much as you can the on coming car got around the car it was passing and got back into its lane. Laken was shaking & upset as she questioned why they would do that. I explained sometimes people are in such a hurry they do not think before acting. I told her even when you drive safely you must always be looking out for what other drivers may be doing and think what the best thing would be for you to do. I also told her that is why we must always be prepared for eternity at all times since we will surely find ourselves in one place or the other some day & which one would you want to spend eternity in. The good Lord was watching over us and the other drivers & their passengers that day. Praise God he was. It all happened so fast. As it has been said in a blink of the eye. If the maker recalls us today where will we spend eternity? " For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." St. John 3:16. Something to think about.

My you all have a safe & blessed Labor Day weekend.

Blessings Til Next Time!

Summer Road Trips

Off we went this summer not once but twice to Amish country.

We visited the market at Belleville Pa where many Amish sell their wares & baked goods.

Of course we always bring home fresh fruit & veggies at great savings.

On up the road we went to Reedsville to visit the flea market. These are the treasures I found that came home with me the first trip. Two pretty tee towels which you have seen hanging from my quilt rack. A wonderful gray granite ware dish pan to add to my collection. It is now hanging in the kitchen. Finally I found a chopper to put in the rolling pin dough bowl holder I got from Firecracker Kid. This amazing wood soap dish that I have not put to use yet but I did get a chunk of Hogwash soap to put in it. Sam found some treasures of his own too. A must have as always is another tractor for his shelf. A rubber duck for his animal collection and a old wood goose to put up in his room. Sam loves his ducks & geese. For that matter all creature.

Treasures I found came home with us the second trip. Two gray granite ware pie plates, a small wood bowl, a cast iron match stick holder, old skeleton keys and a short screwdriver.

Amish ladies sell cut flowers & weeds as I call them for drying. I got a large bunch of this & separated it into two bunches. I coffee stained strips of cheese cloth to tie around them & hung them from the arch at each end. They smell good.

My Gram grew these kind of flowers in her garden years ago. They made me think of her so I picked up a small bunch of these for the kitchen.

I finally got a large bunch of sweet annie to spread around the homestead. It smells so good. I hope to grow some myself next spring. Fingers crossed. While on another road trip threw Gettysburg Pa I got my first coverlet draped on the rocking chair. I just love it.

I snapped this photo while setting at a light in Gettysburg.

I had to get out and snap this photo of this civil war chapel model down from the square. It was so rustic & primitive.

I had to wait a few minutes for tourist to look & leave to snap this photo. I just think it is so pretty & cozy inside. I bet the seating is not to comfy on the bottom.

On down the road we went to Red Lion to visit Family Heirloom Weavers but we missed turning off on the road. I was so close to. I hope to get back down there and visit the shop. The coverlet I got in Gettysburg was made there by Pat Kline. The Gallery Of American Crafts sells the Family Heirloom Weavers coverlets, pillows, tablecloths, runners & window coverings. They are all beautiful. Of course there was much more I wanted to bring home with me. In time maybe. One piece at a time.

Blessings Til Next Time!