Hello again. Long time no see!

Wow, that was a long break.  I am not sure what happened, other than a few trips to Springfield.  I am still doing my kefir and smoothie, though it is often kind of purple these days, because the blueberries are in.  I don't know if I am going to get any blackberries this year, because we have had no rain and are in severe drought in my neck of the woods.  My lawn is brown and crunchy.  The weeds manage okay.  I picked some peas and cucumbers, and have managed to keep the cukes alive, but they are looking pretty sorry these days.

My first trip to Springfield, around Mother's Day, I roped Jeff into helping me build some raised garden boxes in Mom's back garden.  I based them on this Pin from Pinterest, but used 8" boards instead of 6" making it about 15" tall, which is pretty easy to work with.

This last trip was from early June, so I could take care of the critters while she went on a trip to Ireland.  On my way there Tuesday the 5th, I called Matthew and talked about building some drawers for Mom's bottom kitchen cabinets, because she was having some difficulty getting to the things that were stored in the back of them.  Of course, being his father's son, Matthew was at the house Friday when I got back from dropping Mom off for her trip.  He had already unloaded his tools and was ready to hop in the hot tub!  After his soak we went shopping at Lowe's for wood, Ace and finally a specialty hardware store to find 20 full drawer glides.  Jeff was able to come over and help out and he and Vicky brought us dinner Saturday evening.  We finished at 10:30 Saturday night.  Matthew is genius.

Worms!

Now that I am making a green smoothie every day, incorporating all kinds of fruits and vegetables with my water kefir,  I find that I have a lot of compostable waste on hand.  I wanted to start something that could move with me when I finally get around to selling my house, so I did some research and settled on a worm composting system.  I ordered it last weekend, and the worms arrived on Wednesday, but the composter won't be here until Monday.   Yikes!  I set up a temporary home in a bin with some shredded paper and some of the current compostables.  Hope they are happy where they are and don't decide to go exploring.  Pictures to come when the whole set up is ready to go!

Lazy week--Nice weather!

I went to my Mom's last weekend- and spent some time listing more auctions because EBAY had a week long listing special.  I had over 150 auctions up at one point.  Now I have just been waiting for them to end and packaging the sold items.  Last night my ST JOHN suit went for $200.  I had previously had it at a fixed price of $199.99 for several months with lots of watchers but no purchasers, so I listed it at auction for $159.99 and two people battled it back up to $200.  Funny how people's minds work when it comes to auctions.  Another woman in California has bought 3 fixed price items for a total of $99.97 but won't be paying until she gets paid on the 3rd of March.  All in all I think the EBAY promotion has helped considerably.  I will be moving all unsold vintage items over to ETSY when they end.  I may list the current items in ETSY on EBAY this spring--especially the possible wedding dress.

Well, I am out of greek yogurt, so it is off to SAMS I go.

little steps and a visitor

 There has been a black tom cat on my porch this last week, and he will scratch and the windows and meow at me.  This has a tendency to create a bit of a stir inside.  He is smelling like a tom cat, and if he is still around next week I am calling my vet and getting him neutered.  I don't care who he belongs to, if he is hanging out on my porch, I want him fixed.  It will be way too stinky this spring.


This is a jug of water Kefir, brewing for 
a few days.  Then I take out the kefir grains and allow it to continue to ferment for a few days, and add flavorings, like lemon or cherry concentrate or fresh cranberries, like the one pictured below.  The grains were dehydrated when I got them and it has taken a few feedings to get them going strong, but the last batch carbonated nicely.  I am using it in my smoothies.  It is full of probiotics.  I also got my old sprouter out and am giving that a go again.  It has been tucked away a long time.

Ramona is a sometimes lap kitty, but she loves to climb the ladder as much as Jean-Claude.  I love this picture of him, because it shows his chest circle!

Green smoothie rendition #2 and more food.

Today my green smoothie, still made in the blender, was

4 leaves of organic kale, minus the leaf spine
1.5 cups organic spinach
1 granny smith apple, peeled and cored
1/2 frozen banana
4 frozen organic strawberries
2 cups water kefir
1/4 cup chia seed gel
1/2 avocado

It is VERY GREEN, but still very tasty--I am amazed.  I know I would have had a great deal of trouble making myself drink this, if I hadn't made it myself.  I am drinking half now, and will have the other half this afternoon.  By using the blender, I am still getting all the fiber.  This is a great way for me to get my daily vegetables.

I also made a broccoli salad with bacon, raisins and sunflower seeds, miracle whip, apple cider vinegar and honey.  It is supposed to have some red onion, and I may add that next time.  For dinner I am having some of the turkey, apple, and rice curry soup I had frozen, but I am adding some kale.

Pantry pictures after the challenge-a work in progress

This cabinet probably saw the most use, tuna and salmon and some sauces.  The fruit cabinet also thinned out a bit, but not much!   I tossed some stuff out of the baking cabinet, so now it has the vinegar and jello in it.


I also made enough room in the freezer that my cold packs for my knees are now frozen!  

Kitties in the window, front garden bed

Mica and Ramona have taken to hanging out in the greenhouse window, watching the birds and squirrels.  Unfortunately, Mica doesn't like to share with Ramona.

I spent some time yesterday double digging a front bed, facing south, and burying some tulip bulbs that should have gone in the ground last fall.  They were starting to sprout, so I was running out of time.  I only made it about 6 feet before it started to rain, but it is a good start.  My knees are not happy with me, but they will get used to it!