Cinderblock Garden

 Our garden this year is off to a great start due to the early spring and my actually getting off my butt this year and starting quite a lot of things from seed, rather than waiting on the local stores to get stuff out.  Seems they are always late.  Plus, they don't have the greatest variety of plants.  This is my first year growing radishes and I am stoked!  They came out so beautiful and SO tasty.  I've been making a radish/ cucumber salad that is to die for.  I mean seriously good.

 I wanted to experiment with more raised bed gardening so we are slowly transitioning over to large concrete block beds.  We get the blocks from a local concrete company as seconds (although I can't see much wrong with them) so it's much more affordable than buying new block.  Not the most attractive things in the world but you can make them look okay.  Beautiful plants like thins growing in them makes them much more attractive!

 This is the old strawberry bed that never produced a whole lot and was terrorized by moles and wild violets.  I dug the whole thing out, laid mole barrier in the bottom, refilled it with enriched soil and now it's got a bumper crop of broccoli and cauliflower in it.  We have a local farm that sells the best strawberries ever, so I'd just as soon buy from them.  They are reasonable and organic.

 Seems we'll also have a bumper crop of blueberries this year too.  This is especially great because blueberries are very anti-histamine and I've found a recipe for a coconut milk, blueberry, mango smoothie that is wonderful!  I have one several times a week now so I'll be freezing quarts and quarts of these these beauties this year.  Not so much jam but that's okay.

 I was attempting to till up the okra space but the girls commandeered it for bathing.  They thought it mighty kind to make that bath space just for them.  They have all been through their spring worming and are laying pretty good right now so they deserve a few treats!

 One view of the new raised bed area.  I've planted most everything that you see in those starter pots and it's all well on it's way at this point.  Still have not finished planting the main garden but we are getting close.

We are also experimenting in planting in double size concrete block.  Seems to be going okay at this point.  This is an old photo and these sugar peas are well over the top of the fence now and making little peas!  If we have enough stuff we are also going to try selling at the local farmer's market this spring.I'm all for it though, if we can produce enough stuff!  I think we'll have some different things, more heirloom veggies and stuff but whether that appeals to anyone in this area remains to be seen.  Anyway, we'll have lots of fresh veggies and fruits and it's very gratifying to grow so much tasty food!

A Change Would Do You Good

WHAT?

 Don't worry girls....this change doesn't involve ya'll!  I have just reached my limit on these health problems.  Something's got to give.  I'm sick of feeling bad, I'm sick of myself even.  Sick of laying around here feeling like crap.  Sick of sitting in front of this computer all evening, night after night not having a life.
First step is I go tomorrow to have some extensive allergy testing done.  Fortunately, I have a friend who is a very good ENT that is going to help me out and do this and maybe it won't break the bank.  Or at least, my feeble little checking account.  Allen built this guy's house years ago and I worked on it some, so it does pay sometimes to have been an ol' construction worker.  If the tests come out like I think they might, there may be some big career changes for me.  I don't know what yet but ceramics may be out of the picture.  At least for a full-time job.

 I don't know exactly what I'm going to do but I know I'm tired of wasting my life.  I know I can't help that I've had these problems and it's not just something I can will away...but I've got to do something to get better.  Of course, I've been trying all kinds of stuff all along, and I'll keep on with those things until I find out what's helping and what's not.  But it's no playing around anymore.  I'm tired of this crap.  I see so many other people doing great things with their life and I just can't fart around here making a few mugs and such and call it a day.  And yeah, most of those people don't have bad health issues but everyone has some kind of struggle, physical or not.  I can't let mine run my life anymore.

 I have to insert a funny story here about Muffin, the little Silkie hen in the photos.  I've tried for quite some time to get a few good photos of her because she's so darn cute, but it's rather difficult due to her coloring and the fact that she will NOT be still for even a second it seems.  So, I was trying to get a few photos the other day while it was not raining and she just would not cooperate.  Well, I got kinda tired of chasing her all around and started taking some photos of some of the other girls, who are much easier to work with.  After a few minutes I started hearing this little chirping sound behind me and I turned around to see Muffin staring indignantly at me....

Why you stop taking pictures of me????

 She stood there just still as could be while she scolded me.  I guess for not paying her enough attention!  So, I did finally manage to get a few photos of her.  Not great, but at least she was still.

 I also finally got the results of all those X-rays the rhuemy did back in May.  Said my hands and hips are fine (except for the SI joint) but my feet show a fair amount of "changes" due to arthritis.  The top of my spine is also showing spurs and growths.  They call it "cartilage-loss arthritis".  So, you know what that means....gotta get all the hiking in I can now while my feet will let me.  They are very painful now at times but I can go long stretches when they don't hurt so much and I've got to take advantage of that.  I'm still serious about hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back up again too.  Just gotta find someone that will go with me.  Or not.  I don't care at this point.  Of course, I also gotta start doing some hiking around here in Alabama!  We have some wonderful state and federal parks and I just have not taken anywhere near enough advantage of those.  So many places I want to go still.  And so many photos I want to take of those places.  I'm entering the Outdoor Alabama photo contest this year too.  I'm not terribly optimistic on that one but you never know.! 

 So, in other news, the garden has just gone to hell in a hand basket basically.  I have had zero energy to expend on it and even less after I quit eating starches.  We do have a few watermelons yet to pick and I get a few tomatoes every other day.  We have been getting tons of rain lately, so most of the maters have split, unfortunately.  The chickens sure enjoy them though.  I still expect to get some grapes also and we'll dig the potatoes.

How has your garden gone this year?  I haven't heard anyone say theirs has done really good.

Move That Body

Several of ya'll have commented that you are happy to hear I've been feeling more like working lately, and I appreciate your encouragement.  So does this mean I am not hurting much anymore?  No, unfortunately, I still hurt as much as ever.....but a few months ago I just said 'the hell with it.'  I'm apparently going to hurt no matter what, so I could either lay around and hurt or try to get some stuff done while hurting! haha!  Might as well.
Of course, learning to throw standing up has helped a great deal and that's the main reason I've been more productive there.  I also was very unhappy at how much weight I had gained during my real bad flare of 2014 and thought that losing that might help some of the pain, especially in my feet.  I believe I told ya''ll about starting up at the gym and all and making some progress in that regard.  I'm very proud to now report I've lost about 30 lbs.  I can't say that the pain is much better but I think I do have a bit more energy and not as much of the brain fog.  I would truly like to lose another 10 lbs. just to see if it helped the pain any.  I know now days people get all up in arms if women want to lose too much weight (and they should be concerned) but honestly, I am desperate for even some relief and willing to try. 

In a way, I was surprised that the weight came off as easy as it did but I have to confess, it was not all my great determination and such.  Basically, there are many days when I have absolutely no appetite.  I have to force myself to eat.  However, since I have gotten more of a handle on the anxiety those days are fewer.  Someone here had suggested I try magnesium and I mentioned I had been doing that and didn't see any improvement from it.  Then I realized the form of magnesium I was taking was not very good (magnesium oxide) and so probably the reason why it wasn't helping as it's not very readily absorbed.  I have since switched to magnesium citrate and it's working much, much better.

I also mentioned in a previous post that, due to my many matching symptoms, MRIs and research with medical personnel, I am just going to go with the assumption that I have spondylitis, more specifically ankylosing spondylitis.  Now, I realize my opinion doesn't really mean a hill of beans.  It doesn't prove in any way I have this but you know the old saying, "if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck....".  And being that the signs of AS are SO specific (inflamed SI joint being the grand daddy of 'em) I figure I'm very close and besides, one of the main and only reliable treatments for AS is exercise.  Constant, steady exercise.  "Move it or fuse it" as they say.  So again, I said, "what the hell".  It sure doesn't hurt to try that either.  Well, actually, it can hurt a little for a little while as you learn what exercises you can or can't do.  I SO wanted to get back into running and had envisioned myself triumphantly finishing 5Ks and maybe even some half-marathons!!  And then I started out slow and tried for a couple of months now.  I was doing 2 mile runs about 3-4 times a week.  This past week I made it to #3 for the week and had one of the biggest, worst flares I have ever had.  It knocked me down for 2 days.  So, it appears that my joints just cannot take the jarring motion of running or similar sports.  Now, if there was competitive hiking I could kick some ass!  I can do weights though, and yoga, stretching, hiking, swimming and probably lots more stuff.  And building!!  Bending over to weld kinda gets to me now but I can modify that too.

 Over the past 2 years I have learned many things.  A lot of the things I learned was not pretty and I've mentioned this before; people will dump you when you get sick.  Especially if you look like I do in the first photo...like there is absolutely nothing wrong with me, athletic even.

So, let me say a big, huge thank you!! to all of you that have hung in here with me.  I have been told by a few people I needed to stop writing about feeling bad or being sick but I noticed that I don't get that many comments whether I'm writing on that or the garden or chickens or whatever.  Sure, some of my readers dumped me when I got sick but many didn't.  Besides, it's my blog!  Don't like it?  then bite me!  I imagine that there are many others like me out there that might like to have someone they can relate to.  To read about their ups and downs and how they got through it.  'Cuz I can tell you...it has gotten damn quiet around here in the past 2 years.  People I used to see and hear from, ain't there any more.  I know there are some people reading here that can relate to that!

But don't ya'll worry about me...I'm gonna keep plugging along.  And I'm gonna have some more building posts because I'm gonna finish this damn house if it's the last thing I do, and I'm gonna show everybody when I do!! 

Throw Sum Mo

    That title says it all!  I've really been trying to keep the ol' nose to the grindstone lately and turn out a fair amount of work.  I'm no where near full speed yet but I'm certainly doing better than I was.  Good enough that I applied to my first show for this year.  Next month in fact and....it's a 3-day show, so that just shows ya what a glutton for punishment I am.  No reason to start out slow, ya know?  Well, the show is one I used to do regularly and it was always profitable, and it's only 30 minutes away from home.  So....there you go.
    I also had to go through standards (a judging procedure) this week to reenter a fine craft guild I used to belong to.  They have one show a year that is usually VERY good and good to participate in for exposure.

    I threw for a few hours today and right towards the end I could tell I was getting tired.  My hands get tired a lot easier than they used to.  And then I actually dropped a mug.  Haven't done that in a very long time.  I only had 2 more to go to finish the board I was on, so after I finished those I said that's enough for one day.  It was time for supper anyway.

    I also managed to get a large load of dinnerware and mugs out to my stores before I started production for this show.  I was very glad of that.  Now I can just concentrate on doing for the show.  Well, I may be able to take a few more pieces in to the others.  This new color scheme/ design is selling really well.  I like it quite a lot myself.  I just need to come up with about 2 more color variations.

    I will straight way say this is a very poor example of my show booth but it was all I could scrape together at the time.  This show requires a LOT of documentation that each craftsperson actually makes what they intend on selling and this past week I have had to work my butt off to get photos of everything, even including my raw materials, and get it sent in, in a reasonable amount of time before the deadline.  And of course, they want at least one photo of your show set-up, so they can see you have the correct color/ type tent.  Well, it has been years since I did a show; I didn't even have a tent anymore.  What was left of it got taken to the scrapyard last year and my shelves are just a shambles (which is why I photographed it from this particular angle, lol!)  You can't see that they are not actually complete.  But they will be before the show time.  I had to get a new tent and round all this stuff up, including dragging out every last piece of pottery I could locate around here, set all this up in the yard before an impeding thunderstorm arrived, take photos and then get it all taken back down and put up.  I know it does not look great but it is basic and all there.  At showtime I will have a banner and more decorations for a more complete look.   The better your booth looks, the more people perceive your work to be worth.  It's all image, baby.  Haha!

    So, things are quite busy here but I'll try to have some more posts soon.  We have several new things going and things to tell about.  My fertilizing last month seems to be paying off as all the fruiting trees, shrubs etc. are getting loaded with baby fruit.  I'm excited about that.  I would love to be able to bake a real homemade cherry pie this year!!

Like The Weather

 I made it to the gym this morning for the second time this week, so I'm feeling pretty good about that!  Even had a pretty good workout.  Anyhoo..this song came up on my playlist while I was working out and I thought, well, this is just perfect for this week!  Although I must say, she is acting way too happy for the lyrics...but there are chickens in the video!!!  Real chickens!!  So, we'll excuse any other artistic flaws.. lol! .https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te7bbWBXusk

The color of the sky as far as I can see is gull gray
I lift my head from the pillow and then fall again
I get a shiver in my bones just thinking about the weather
A quiver in my lip as if I might cry

And by the force of will my lungs are filled and so I breathe
Lately it seems this big bed is where I never leave
I get a shiver in my bones just thinking about the weather
A quiver in my voice as I cry

"What a cold and rainy day
Where on earth is the sun hid away?"

I hear the sound of a noon bell chime, well I'm far behind
you put in 'bout half a day while here I lie
With a shiver in my bones just thinking about the weather
A quiver in my lip as if I may cry

What a cold and rainy day
Where on earth is the sun hid away?

Do I need someone here to scold me?
Or do I need someone who'll grab and pull me out of?
Four poster, dull torpor pulling downward

For it's such a long time since my better days
I say my prayers nightly, this will pass away

The color of the sky is gray as I can see through the blinds
Lift my head from the pillow and then I fall again
I get a shiver in my bones just thinking about the weather
A quiver in my lip as if I may cry

A cold and rainy day
Where on earth is the sun hid away?

A cold and rainy day
I shiver, quiver, and try to wake

Something's Cooking In The Kitchen

I suppose a more accurate title would be Something's Curing In The Kitchen, but this'll do!  Unbelievably enough I finally got up the gumption to start pouring the first of the kitchen counter tops.  We had a whole week of spring-like weather and I just couldn't let that pass without doing some kind of house work.  A lot of times the hardest part of a project is simply starting, so I just took one step at a time and pretty soon it was going!  The nice weather made getting and hauling the sand and gravel enjoyable and easy and that was one of the biggest steps.
Now, in this first photo you can see that I have everything pretty much ready and in the next photos I'll give you some detail shots and more explanations.  As you can probably guess, the plastic sheeting is to protect my cabinets and also the stove that I left in place for the pour.

I ran my forms on grade, which is to say, I set the top of the form at the height I wanted my finished counter top.  To me, it's just so much easier to finish to the top edge of the form rather than try to make a grade line and keep it visible while you are pouring.  Of course, that's not that hard and what I had to do anyway on the sides that butted the backsplash area.  When I get my forms set to the right elevation I always mark it with a crow's foot and that allows you to see if something happens to knock your form up or down.

I then leveled my grade line across the back and around the sides and was pleased to see that when I measured up 2" inches in random spots it actually hit the grade line! ha!  I also partially ran a few long screws into a few studs to help "lock in" the counter top slab.  It would probably never move on it's on but expansion and contraction and all that jazz, you know.

There are several ways to do the edge form and I choose again, just to clamp mine to my cabinets with a 1" spacer between the cabinet and the vertical form, which is the standard counter top overhang.  Clamping does sometimes cause the form to roll out a little at the top but I'll show you how I remedied that in a minute.

The ends of the form were screwed off to available surfaces.  I always use screws also because they are much easier to remove than nails and will not pull out like a nail will.  Of course, there was very little pressure against this form but 2 inches of mud will exert a little.

This is looking at the inside of the edge form and you can see I caulked everything really good.  The concrete mixture will weep way more than you might think so I always caulk any crack really well.  A nice, smooth bead of CLEAR caulk in the bottom inside edge will give the bottom front edge of the concrete a really smooth finish too.  I know everything looks white but this is that caulk that goes on white but dries to clear.  The edge form and spacer are white though.  To the left you can see the 3/4" plywood that tops my cabinets and is the bottom form for the counter tops.

The very last step is to put in your reinforcing and in this case I used dog wire.  It's a 4"x2" grid wire.  You could use chicken wire, hardware cloth or even #3 rebar.  You also want your wire to end up about halfway up in the concrete rather than mashed down against the plywood.  An easy way to do this is to initially pour a blob of mud about every 12 or 16" and then pull the wire back up so that it's about an inch off the bottom.  I'm pouring 2" counter tops, btw.  The mud will hold the wire in place then as you pour the rest.

We mixed the concrete outside and then just brought it in with buckets.  I float the mud down as I go, pushing the concrete on grade towards the back first and working your way towards the front form.  With floating you are kinda pushing and patting and smoothing.  Not trying to get a smooth finish yet, just trying to get everything on grade.  I also vibrate the edges with a palm sander and tap the underside of the form with a hammer to compact the mud.  When bubbles stop coming to the surface you know you are done.  Don't vibrate any more or you can actually separate your mix too much.
In this photo you can also see two other tricks.  The side form against the stove is not nailed off as this was not possible without moving the stove and all that crap.  I pushed the stove over to the left as much as I could and slid in the edge form.  I then placed the wooden wedges every few inches and tapped them down until I got a good snug fit.  Once it's screwed to the front edge form and caulked good it's not going anywhere.  Always use wood wedges too because they won't scratch or dent anything. 
You also see 2 wires running over the slab.  I anchored 2 tapcons into the studs of that wall and then wired 2 little turnbuckles in the wiring, which ran over to the front edge form.  As you tighten (or loosen) the turnbuckles you can move the form in or out, however you want.  Works great.  I simply used a straight edge on the front edge to determine when it was good.  These are a tiny version of the large turnbuckles we use on big wall forms and such.  After you pour and get it floated down, you want to check your lining again and make sure nothing moved.

Okay!!  So, any questions??  I hope I explained all that correctly.  If I didn't, please let me know and I can address it in the next posts.  I'll do another on troweling the concrete for a good finish, removing the forms and all that.

January Hymn

Well, I hope everyone's holiday celebrations were what you wished for; whether that was days on end of food, family and festivities or just quiet days of leisure alone.  As I said in my previous post, we had a couple of nice dinners at home with family and that was about it.  Watched a couple of movies and went out once or twice.  It was nice actually.
But, I am ready to move on into the new year.  I'm not going to do a year-in-review thing like I usually do because....uhh....let's see...I didn't do shit this last year!  Yeah, that's it.  So, we will concentrate on what I hope to do in this coming year!  I don't really do New Year resolutions either.  To me, you're either going to change habits or you're not and a new year never seemed to motivate me that much.  I've already been sticking to my gym work-outs for about 2 months now, so I'll just continue that.  I'm to the point now that I look forward to going because the exercise really does make me feel better, physically and mentally.  Lifts my mood considerably.  And, I've lost about 8 pounds or so, so to see some progress is great and encouraging!  Can't say that it helps my pain any, other than I'm not sitting down, but it still helps me in other ways.  On days that I can't make it to the gym I have measured out a mile walking/ strenuous hiking trail around the house here and I do that instead.

My work break ends tomorrow also.  One of my stores has already called with a new order so I need to get busy on that and restocking my inventory anyway.  It's so nice to know I can make all these things standing up now and not hunched over in pain.  Maybe this year I can even come up with, or continue, some new designs and colors.
So, speaking of scenery and getting rich (haha!), this year I finally got off my ass and designed a 12-month calender that features the critters and flora of my little Dragon Valley.  They are available to purchase HERE and you can preview so you know just what is inside.  This is a standard size wall calender but I may see about having a larger, jumbo size printed and available.  The standard size includes all Americans holidays and the spaces are large enough for penciling in notes and such.  And please know, I sincerely appreciate any purchases.  Many bloggers put advertising or other such means on their blog to raise a little money but I've never really wanted to do that.  I don't like the way it looks and makes the blog seem sorta impersonal.  However, a little money raised from photos I've already taken for this blog doesn't hurt, you know?  And all the photos featured in the calender were taken right here at home.  If these come out well I might do an all chicken one, or all flowers or such next year.

So, here's to a prosperous and happy new year!!

Autumn Changes

Happy Autumnal Equinox everybody!!  A little late maybe, depending on when you read this, but you get the idea.  Today was one of the very few first days of fall that actually felt like fall, in my recent memories.  In fact, the weather here the past few days has been gorgeous.  We've been enjoying not running the air and cooling the house by just opening the windows.
The weather has the animals feeling full of piss and vinegar too.  Mr. George has turned into a fine looking rooster and has been trying to put some moves on the ladies lately.  Mostly he has only succeeded in getting the crap bitten out of him.  The girls have been a long time without a male bossing them around and haven't cottoned to the idea of him doggin' them around, so to speak.  Can't say as I blame them.

Little T and Pumpkin are loving the free ranging too and are fitting in better with the main flock.  Not sure what is going to happen when Little T becomes Big T but I hope he and George can get along.  Little T is quite a character.  When he is out in the yard he is still sweet little T, loves to snuggle in your lap and get a good rubbing.  Come time to go to bed though he's like most youngsters....he does not like to go in.  In fact, when I go to pick him up and put him and Pumpkin in their little apartment, he will bite the living crap out of me!  He is serious!  He does not want to go to bed!  Fortunately, since he is still young, it doesn't really hurt.  Not yet anyway.  It's really kinda funny in a way.  I can just hear him saying, 'No Mama, I wanna stay out a little longer!  Imma big boy now!'

Several of the older girls are going through their fall molt so we are not getting a huge amount of eggs right now but that's okay.  A couple of our regular egg customers were so taken with the fresh eggs they ended up getting their own hens!  So, mainly we just give the extras to family and some friends.  I still sell a few dozen here and there.

And Pumpkin is getting to be a big girl too.  She is very sweet and the prettiest little thing.  I'm really not sure when she will start laying because I wasn't sure how old she was when we got her, but I suspect she will be another month or so off.

I finally managed to get a few photos of Susie sitting in my lap.  The young Buffs get very jealous when they see Susie or PeePee in my lap and usually rush over in mass to fuss and push them out.  In return, Susie and PeePee take any chance to bite the young 'uns when they are out in the yard.

Chigger gets a little jealous too sometimes but not often.  She is so good with the chickens.  I wouldn't say she is fond of them (Ramona was the only one that was kind of a buddy) but she knows it's her job to protect them.

So, that's the news with the critters.  The garden and flowers are not doing a whole lot right now, as with myself.  We are working on changing that however.  I'm going to take the opportunity during my next firing, when the studio is really too hot to work in there, to do a good clean up in the main garden and possibly get in a few greens for the winter.  Or at least get things cleaned up and put away.

I'm working on a few changes for myself also, at least for as much as the pain in my body will allow.  I've got to get back to working on the house and may relegate the weekends for that or maybe Friday through Sunday.  Secondly, I've got to start producing more work and income.  I feel my pottery has become rather stagnant in design, so I am working on finding some new glazes that I will be excited to work with and new designs.  I was always able to make a good living in construction and take care of myself but now, since that is not an options anymore, I've got to get my art work up to an acceptable level of income.  If I can come up with some designs I really like, and that show promise in sales, I may consider methods of producing on a larger scale.  Not to say the work would be mass produced but maybe not completely hand thrown.  It would still be all completely hand made though.  I have to consider the fact that I may not be able to always build every single part of the rest of the house and so to be able to hire out a few things would be nice.  Like maybe the roof on the other half.  I would like to finish this house before I turn 80 also.  So, I've got to get serious about this and quit screwing around.  I need a cohesive set of styles and colors that reflect my work as a whole.  As I've said before too, I'd like to expand a bit more into the restoration work also.  I don't really expect that to ever be a big deal but you never know.  One may work out better than the other and I enjoy both lines of work.  Or one may be my main job and then just do a little of the other on the side.  I guess I'm open to either as long as I can make a decent living with it and enjoy what I'm doing.

Any changes out your way?  Has Fall made an appearance yet?

Love Your Mother

No, I did not forget today was the 44th (I think) annual Earth Day!  I got up a little late this morning and have been trying to catch up all day since, so I put off posting until this evening.  I generally write better later in the day anyway.  I was a little disappointed to see that there were not very many bloggers, that I came across, that posted anything about Earth Day but that's okay.  It still gets more press than it did way back when I was younger.
Thankfully, more people nowadays care more about our environment, or claim to, but that doesn't always mean that they actually DO anything to help matters.  I have a couple of acquaintances on Facebook that are constantly going on about global warming but when you ask them, 'well, what are you doing to help matters?'  Wooo, it gets real damn quiet.  Because well, they don't actually do anything.  Apparently, there are many people that somehow believe that if they can convince enough other people to believe the way they do, everything will spontaneously and gloriously change and the perfect harmonious world will pop into existence through the power of thought alone.  And then you still have the people that I think just try to see how much they can muck up and waste just to spite because being "green" is sort of an in thing and they 'don't like anyone telling them what to do'..  I can't help but laugh at these people going around in their fake Hummers and gargantuan trucks to prove their point, all the while spending half or more of their hard-earned pay on gas alone, not to mention payments etc.  They're making a statement alright but it isn't what they think it is. 
So, unfortunately, environmentalism has now become just another political contention for many.  A way to beat others over the head with their supposed intellectual superiority.  "If you don't believe in my flavor of climate change you're an idiot and I'm better than you."  I know that it sometimes looks hopeless.  Now days, for every "green" choice Americans, Europeans and Aussies make there seems to be 2 or 3 in China, or other up and coming industrial nations, gobbling up our environmental savings and more.  A lot of people would think, what's the use?.  How can you win against such overwhelming odds? As hokey as it is, I'm always reminded of the story of the Boy and the Starfish.  It's a sappy, almost surely fictional tale but it does capture one reality; that one person can make a difference.  One person can help right where they are but also because that person can influence someone else and on it goes.  Every bottle I recycle is one less in the dumps and by watching me other people may be inclined to join in.  When one person will stand up and say, "I'm going to do this because it's the right thing to do", it's amazing how much that alone can help other people to do the same.
We are awash in trash in this country and show no signs of slowing down.  Approximately 55% of 220 million tons of waste generated each year in the United States ends up in one of the over 3,500 landfills.  On average, most people produce a little over 4 lbs. of trash in ONE day.  One Day!!  For our children and their children's sake we have to do better than this.  Fortunately, more and more towns are initiating recycling facilities or programs.  Even my little town has recycling dumpsters at the library and it's real easy to take other stuff into Birmingham.
Every day there are more and more "green" options available to us, such as Energy Star appliances, solar energy of all kinds, even down to solar charges for your phone and batteries.  More people are able to work at home due to computer linking.  Farmer's markets abound if you can't grow your own or you want to add to what you already grow.  Many cities are allowing gardens and chickens now.  I know not everyone can do everything but everyone can do something.  It's often just a case of wanting to and getting it out of people's minds that it some huge inconvenience to live more lightly.  In many cases it's very freeing and can save you a lot of money, and supposedly, everybody likes to save money.

I know, to many of my readers, I'm preaching to the choir on this subject but it's one I wanted to write about anyway.  I have a list I wanted to share also, on various ways we can live cleaner and greener, but this post has gotten longer than I anticipated so I'll share that next time.  I hope you all had a nice Earth Day and are getting those gardens planted!!

Keep On Growing

I think the plants are convinced Spring is finally here to stay and everything has just been bursting at the seams bloom-wise.   Maybe it's just my intense relief at finally experiencing warm weather but it seems to me that all the blooming things are just very prolific this year.  The trees and everything are overwhelmed with blossoms. 

The dwarf cherry tree I planted a couple years ago has really taken off this past season, gaining quite a bit in height and fullness.  The other one I had died so I need to get another.  Supposedly these are self-pollinating but they say it does do better if you have two.

The first salad greens are ready to harvest!!  I'm not sure what this most prolific one is you see there but I need to thin those to give the other greens a chance.  Yum!!!  So excited to have fresh greens again.

And can you believe it?  I actually got some green onions to start from seed this year!!  I have had the worst time in the past with growing these things but hit it lucky this year.  I sowed the seeds early enough that they went through a freeze before they sprouted and have made sure to keep them watered good.  Maybe that was the key.

And the asparagus is on it's way!!!  There's not a lot up yet but it's there!!  Can't wait for the first good batch of that too.  This is it's third year so I should be able to cut a fair amount this season.

I continue to work on the driveway flower bed, setting stones and filling in behind.  I'm also working on moving the very low growing stuff out to the new front edge.  The old log that used to form the front edge is still there, just buried now.  Hopefully it will rot and enrich the soil.   Everything is going gangbusters and is getting big enough at this point I don't have to worry about the chickens scratching stuff up.

I used to know what this shrub was called but have forgotten by now.  It's real pretty though.  I'd like to have another but when I bought this one it was the only one I had ever seen.  Maybe I can divide this one or take a cutting from it.
Edit!!!  One of my readers informed me that this is a Kerria Japonica or Japanese Rose and I had also accidentally found it in one of my gardening books late last night.  So, there you go.  There are a few different varieties but I think this is just the common one.  I still like it though.

This is a close up of the ornamental crabapple and can you see what I was trying to photograph??  Honey bees!!!!  There was quite a number of them working this tree this morning before the rain came in.  I was so happy to see so many of them.  Funny thing though, there was not a one of them on the cherry tree.
 

The trilliums are also abundant this spring.  I wish I had a couple other varieties, like the kind with white or red flower blooms,  but I guess beggars can't be choosers.  These are native and free, never have to plant a one, so I shouldn't complain.

The rain did not come in today until about 1:00 so Zuzu and I took advantage of that and got 5 more azalea bushes planted around the house.  I'm embarrassed to say that these were some azaleas that I had bought on clearance ($1.47 each) last fall and I am just now getting around to planting all of them.  They are hardy though.  They all made it through a very cold winter with me only sometimes remembering to protect them from the cold.  I think I had bought maybe 15.  It was such a good price I couldn't pass it up.  I have to plant them fairly close to the house though because the deer love them.  I did manage to get about half off them planted back in the fall and they are blooming well this spring.
Here you can see my gardening buddy Zuzu inspecting the hole for the plant.  She's very thorough.  No grub or worm goes undetected around her.  She actually does kinda help me out because, with her there often in the hole, I have to go kinda slow and therefore I don't get carried away and strain my back or anything.  We just take our time.  And I swear, just like Chigger knows the word "walk", all I have to say is "dig Zuzu!" and here she comes running!  She knows what 'dig' means.

I hope you all are getting some of this nice spring weather too!  Any planting going on in your parts?

Knock On Wood

I've really been trying to make a concerted effort lately to finish up a lot of half-started projects around the house, organizing and decorating in areas of the house that are mostly finished.  To that extent, I've gotten a couple of new pieces of furniture and some art and photos framed and hung.  I figure it will all help motivate me to keep plugging along to finish everything.  Now, this sideboard is not new at all really.  It was built sometime in the 1920's and has been in our family since then.  No one else seemed to want it but we didn't want it to be given away or get messed up so I took it to use in the living room.  My grandmother's husband was the warden at Kilby Prison in south Alabama for a number of years in the 20's and this piece was built by a few of the inmates at the time, so it makes for a good conversation piece.  It's probably the only material thing in my family that has much value.  Anywhoo, it had been stored away for years so I got it out, cleaned it up and refurbished the finish a bit.  Basically just re-oiled it and cleaned some stains off of it.

So, now it is our entertainment center I guess you would say.  I replaced the plain glass in the doors with architectural glass and replaced the drawer pulls with bronze ones that matched the knobs on the doors.  I did make a little removable shelf for the bottom to put the stereo system on.  I've always liked the sideboard as it has a vague Craftsman style to it.  It's fairly well made and still in excellent shape too.  Now I just need to trim out that one last window to the right of it.  Ugh!

Now, we will not speak of how long this little cabinet has been hanging around in the basement but I finally got it cleaned up and finished, installed the hinges and door, etc etc. and hung it in the bathroom.  I thought it came out nice but I think I want to replace that glass with a colored/ textured something kinda glass because the clear, textured just still shows too much of what is in the cabinet.  I had thought about making a very simple, stained glass window type panel for the door but for now I just need it done and functional.  I can do the other a couple of years from now.  Maybe.
So, that is just a bit of an update.  I am trying hard to keep my motivation up and I've been feeling pretty good lately so that helps.  Seeing more and more finish work done helps a great deal too because I can see just how cool things are going to look all finished.  My cabinet maker guy is going to be back out in about 2 weeks to measure for the built in bookcases that go beside the fireplace so that area is shaping up nice too.  It's really going to be great!  I'm excited about it!

Happy Earth Day!!

In case you are having trouble reading the text it says:  “It’s pretty amazing that our society has reached a point where the effort necessary to extract oil from the ground, ship it to a refinery, turn it into plastic, shape it appropriately, truck it to a store, buy it, and bring it home is considered to be less effort than what it takes to just wash the spoon when you’re done with it.”


This says it all much better than I can.  Seriously.  Just wash the freakin' plate and fork.  I am unfortunately, often confounded by the number of people every day that croon about their love of disposables even knowing and understanding that it is crap for the environment, but who consider their "convenience" ultimately more important.  Wow.  Amazingly enough, these are often the same people who have multiple children or grandchildren, whom they claim to love unconditionally, yet are perfectly willing to let them grow up in a nasty, dying world made that way by our waste.
And yes, I used to pour hundreds of yards of concrete or weld for 10 hours a day and when I got home and had supper I washed the freakin' dishes!  Having a rough day is not an excuse.

Ahead

Although we did have a spurt of house completion before the wedding last fall, it seems to me that the past year to year and a half has mostly been focused on improving the garden and getting the chicken's digs completed and such.  Now, while that is still not totally finished, it's far enough along that I want to switch back to a serious effort to finish the house in this new year.  Really I don't lack much and with this being the first year that I've ever been sure I would not go back to work in construction (or out of town for same) I feel like I can really get this done.
So, this is my list for 2013:
1.  Finish the dividing wall in the living room. (both sides actually).  I have already purchased the slate tile that will cover this so it's just a matter of doing it.
2.  Construct and finish the small hearth that goes under the gas fireplace.  That is what that is on the wall there by the way, not another TV as a lot of people think.
3.  Finish the sheetrock on either side and make or have made the built-in bookcases for each side.
4.  Install the hardwood floors throughout the living and dining area.

There are a few things left to do in the kitchen but not an overwhelming amount.  Maybe.
1.  Pour concrete countertops and concrete bar tops on dividing wall.
2.  Finish running dark metal wall covering through living area.
3.  Trim out pantry cased opening.
4.  Install cork flooring throughout kitchen.
5.  Install dropped lighting over countertops by stove.  (wiring is there already).
6.  Install dishwasher.
7.  Finish dividing wall/ back splashes on this side with glass and stone tilework.

Hmm, that does seem like a lot doesn't it?  Oh well!  ha!

I would really like to finish the exterior stonework and landscaping also; or at least get the landscaping started!  A lot of people think this is finish and it is far from it actually.  So, this area would include:
1.  Finish the stonework around the basement area.  I started this a couple of years ago and have never finished.  Once that is done I can build the concrete retaining walls that will form planting beds around this end and cover all that blockwork (that you can't really see in this photo).
2.  Finish the stone planting bed on this end that will also contain a solar batch-style water heater.
3.  Pour the concrete curb 2 feet out from the length of the house that will form a planting bed next to the house.  This curb will absorb the fall of the rain runoff from the roof and also form the interior edge of the stone walkway leading to the parking area.
4.  Get rid of the ramp at the deck and install at least part of the flagstone patio there and permanent steps leading onto the deck.
5.  Install proper stone and wood columns under the overhang by the deck.

Basically, the stepstone walkway you see here will go away and be replaced with a 4 foot wide flagstone/ brick walkway, a large flagstone patio and probably a water feature of some sort.  I would like a shallow pool with a fountain maybe.  The planting bed next to the house will evergreens and possibly fruiting plants of some sort.  The planting bed formed in that inside corner of the house (far lower left) will be a kitchen garden with herbs/ medicinals and possibly fruit of some sort.  More flower beds and the tea grove are off to the right.

So, that's quite a lot of stuff!  I will admit it is fairly overwhelming when I think about it but the trick is to just take one project at a time and not think about the others for the time being.  I had thought I might do some craft/ art shows this year but really, I don't have time if I want to do all this other.  It takes a lot of effort and time to build up enough stock for a show and I really need to get this house finished if I'm going to enjoy it before I croak.

Do any of ya'll have any big projects in the works for this year?!