Garden Gatherings, A Bit of Disappointment & Frugal Accomplishments

Hello friends.  That's a basket of this morning's garden gatherings.  There are cucumbers, eggs, yellow squash, blueberries, yellow transparent apples, and tromboncino squash.   I also harvested lettuce, basil, parsley, blackberries, raspberries and mulberries last week.  The carrots were weeded.  I enjoyed a free Kindle book from amazon, and have ordered several more free Kindle books.  Three books were borrowed from the library, including this one about Beatrix Potter, which I'm enjoying.  At the grocery store, I purchased two bags of dog food on sale, and frozen organic waffles on sale (rarely bought, but J has recently commented about not knowing what to have for breakfast several times, so I thought this would make for a nice change).  I made a broccoli salad with some I harvested, and red grapes we were gifted.

This was the smallest bouquet provided for the celebration.  I thought it was so lovely and cheerful.  The discount grocery store moved and reopened the first of May, and I made it by there for the first time.  They didn't have the usual amount of groceries, but said they're getting more in.  I purchased a pretty set of new linen & cotton sheets for half of what they sell for at Target.  I bought a few more things, including Annie's organic cookies for $1.20, artichoke hearts for .50, and a couple of metal plant stands with casters ($5 for both).  Produce and cheese were bought at Aldi's.  We took a friend to a new local restaurant for his birthday.  There were several extra tortillas, so I brought them home and added them to the pups dinner.

While in town for work, I ran other errands, and brought a reusable water bottle and snacks.  For our celebration, J bought a large plastic planter to put the beer and ice in.  Though I'm not all that fond of plastic, I decided to plant nasturtium and zinnia seeds in it.  It's placed beside where I drive in, so I'm hoping it will bring cheer each time I arrive home.  There have been some sharings about finding your tribe here recently.  I realized when pondering how wonderful it felt to be surrounded by so many good people at the celebration, that that's exactly what it felt like... like I was with my tribe.  What a wonderful thing that is.

The day after the celebration, J & I were invited to spend the day at a nearby lake with friends.  There was a long, relaxing boat ride, along with a boat picnic. It was the perfect way to wind down after all the festivities.  Tractor Supply is offering a rewards program.  I signed up, and have two of three purchases towards a reward.  Swagbucks goals were made almost every day.  With cucumbers coming in, it's time for asian cucumbers again.  I brought some to the lake, and made more for us at home late in the week.  We sure do love them.

Well, the eight eggs under the broody hen were a bust.  Over the past week or so, she's thrown 5 of the 8 eggs out of the nest.  I checked 3 of them, and there were no chicks.  Today is day 24, so we'll be removing her from the broody area.  This is the first time I've had this experience, and the only theory I can come up with is the hens that laid in that particular nest box were some of the less "popular girls" that the roosters didn't breed with.  With three roosters, you'd think they would get them all, but maybe not.  If you've got any other theories, I'd love to hear them.  At least we've got blueberries and other garden goodness to help soften the blow.  We're pondering if we'll let one of the other broody Buff Orpingtons sit on another round.  I hope you have a great week, friends!