February Blooms & Frugal Accomplishments

Hello, friends.  Last week, I ran errands after working in town.  At the grocery store, I found several things on mark down, including organic button mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, good quality olive oil and organic honey.  I also found a new dog food, at about the same price as what I usually get, but which contains no animal meal and higher protein/lower carbs, a more natural diet for dogs, so I was happy about that.  After I got home, I weeded the rhubarb and asparagus beds, and transplanted several strawberry plants that had grown beyond their bed.  This is in a sunnier spot closer to the house, so I'm hoping we get some berries this year.  J pruned grapes, kiwi, and more fruit trees, planted red potatoes, and treated several areas of fire ants with orange oil and dried molasses.

Sometimes I have to choose between doing laundry on sunny days or rainy days.  My preference is to be able to hang it outdoors, but when our rainwater tanks are full, and it's still raining, it seems a shame to waste the water.  So, I decided to do a couple of loads on a rainy day last week.  Wool socks and sweaters were hung around the house.  The daffodils and forsythia have begun blooming.  One day, I canned the marked down button mushrooms, adding four 1/2 pints and a 4 oz. jar to the pantry. I like using these on pizza, when I haven't got any fresh ones in the house.  We're making progress on the jigsaw puzzle.  On the days I'm home, I often stop by it a few times a day to add some pieces, but my favorite times are when J & I work on it together.  Paper and cardboard were shredded, vegetable bits added to the broth bag, and other fruit and vegetable bits to the compost crock.  A batch of yogurt was made.  One of our Ameraucana hens has been broody, so we put her in the broody area, which also holds our near blind rooster these days.  She's sitting on 8 eggs, and all is going well so far.  I sewed a button on a shirt.

Much of NC had severe weather Thursday evening and night, which included lots of rain and high winds.  Many roads were impassable, due to high water and trees down.  We had a tree come down in an area of the garden where nothing is currently planted.  I worked the following day at one of my occasional jobs, and brought water, lunch and snacks.  I checked online for road closures before I left, and tried a different route, which also ended up being closed.  Thankfully, the third route was the charm.  Several things were accomplished during the down time between customers, including soap wrapping, a bit of bookkeeping, and some research.  Over the weekend, I gathered kale for a salad, pruned several things in the orchard, and drilled holes in canister lids to turn into compost crocks.  The hellebores have begun blooming.  The movie Sweet Land was enjoyed on amazon prime.  It looks like most if not all of the peas are up.  I changed out the straw in the nesting boxes, and brought the chickens greens.  Wishing you much love and happiness this week of Valentine's Day.