A Nice Tax Surprise

Hello, friends.  As we're still working on eating down the freezers, I pulled spaghetti squash and lambs quarter, to have with leftovers one dinner, and pulled strawberries to have in my oatmeal.   J is thinking there's a good chance two of our four "pullet" chicks are roosters, from the way they're growing.  Lord, I hope not!  We've got three more roosters than we need already.  Temperatures warmed, so we were able to do without a fire for several days.  I paid off my Lowe's CC when it came, to avoid any interest.  When we recently had our taxes done, we found out we were eligible for a credit for our solar system, 26% of the total, which was a wonderful surprise!  Our accountant is worth every penny, and she charges less than most.

After delivering an order, I stopped at Hallmark, using several coupons, which brought the $13.54 total down to $4.97 for 11 cards.  I then stopped and picked up swiss chard plants, which I can't seem to grow lately.  They were $3.99 a pot, but I picked some that had multiples, getting 8 plants from 4 containers.  Still not cheap, but I really want to have it growing in my garden this year, and these were fairly large, healthy ones.  I wanted basil too, but I can usually grow them, so did not buy any and planted seeds the next day, which I picked up at Dollar Tree for .25.  I also planted the cilantro and chard seedlings, using a mix of compost and our chicken litter.  I transplanted black eyed susan and dyer's coreopsis that had grown outside the beds, planted wintersown marigolds in the ground, and transplanted wintersown parsley, lettuce and cilantro in pots to let them have more space to grow.  

For a dinner, I fried our potatoes with peppers and onion, used our sprouts in a salad, and our broth and garlic in sauteed spinach.   I've been going round and round with Co. Living magazine for months, with them saying my subscription is expired, though I have another year on it.  After multiple tries with their customer service and getting nowhere, I reported them to the BBB, attaching proof of the Feb. '23 expiration date, shown on all the magazines & correspondence they send.  After six weeks, I got a response, denying my claim, so I refused their response, and attached a copy of the posted check from last year, which extended it to Feb. '23, and somehow didn't get mentioned in their denial.  I get so aggravated with poor service such as this, but I'm staying with it.  The worst part is they did this to me once before, and I stopped subscribing for several years, but really love the magazine, so gave them another try.  I am not impressed.

A friend who gifted me elephant's ear last year mentioned she'd like some comfrey.  I dug up five plants, and dropped them off after picking up a book I'd requested at the library nearby.  The new to me drill press was used for the first time, to drill holes in lids, which are destined to become compost crocks.  It went off without a hitch, which is wonderful, as on J's large drill press, I had around a 10% crack rate.  Mine is much easier to use as well.  J did lots of prep work in the garden, tilling up some areas, then making hills for more lettuce, and two long rows of sweet potatoes.  He'll be planting them soon.  The peas have started flowering, so hopefully the first of the peas won't be far behind.  If you celebrate Easter, Passover or Ramadan, I hope your celebration was a lovely one.