Saturday, March 23, 2013

I'm home again

I was hoping when I returned from Nashville that Spring would have arrived.  But winter feels well intrenched.  A winter storm is due to arrive in a few hours and dump more snow on us.  What I really hope is that this means more and more storms are coming and the drought is over.  Of course I would prefer thunder rain storms to mountains of snow. 

We had a nice peaceful visit in Nashville.  One member of our group got sick so we mostly hung around the house.  But halfway through she had a good day so we went to visit the Hermitage where Andrew Jackson had his home.  We played a few games of Clue and watched some movies.  We made pizza one night and my cauliflower crust was a big hit.  We made one regular crust and one cauliflower crust.  I changed the cauliflower crust to using cheddar cheese instead of mozzarella and tripled the garlic and spices.  My family loves it this way.

Now Easter weekend is upon us and it's our next family gathering so two big days of activities and I'm no where near ready.  So this weekend I am making lists and Monday we'll be in St Joseph, MO and will do Ft Leavenworth commissary and hopefully  by the end of the week we'll be ready. 

I asked the family what main dish they wanted for Easter dinner and they all asked for Beef Stroganoff.  That's always been a family favorite with the beef poured over home made egg noodles but I can't have the egg noodles so I don't cook it anymore.  I will do a roast or ham also so everyone has something to eat.  The Saturday before hand is our son's birthday so we'll have a seafood buffet that he has been dreaming of. 

I've got a good start to my seedlings and am now ready to transplant them into bigger containers.  Hopefully in another week or so we can start planting garden.  Some time or the other it will finally be Spring and things can come back to life! 

Have a blessed week and wonderful Easter weekend with your family!  Being together and celebrating our Lord raising from the Tomb is always a great time of the year! 

Cherlynn
brchbell@yahoo.com

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Spring Forward

I must confess I totally forgot about changing clocks for today.  We had no plans to go any where today so it's ok.  We'll have a late Brunch and slowly set about to change all the clocks forward. 

My hens started laying eggs again this last week.  I take it as a sign that Spring is in deed coming.  I got seeds started late but hopefully they'll get big enough to set out at the right time.  Broccoli and cauliflower seeds sprouted very quickly and are growing nicely.  My tomato seeds took a full10 days to sprout but are now growing well also.  I try to keep my light just above the plants so they don't get spindly. 

We have been richly blessed with moisture these last few weeks.  We got buried in a couple feet of snow and this weekend it warmed up into the 40's and rained so we have great hopes our ponds will be refilled and we might even be blessed with more normal rain fall for our garden this year.


I am also getting ready to make my own seed tape.  I found this tip on youtube.  You lay down toilet paper to the length you want the seed tape to be and then make a flour/water paste up and with a Q-Tip apply the paste where you need the seeds at.  Put a seed in each spot of glue and when you are done fold the toilet paper in half and let it dry.  When dry fold and package it and make sure you label it with the type of seed.  You can go to you tube and watch the video  :How to make your own seeds tapes

Just in case the link doesn't work for you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n18HaIoMZ4I

I am truly excited about making my own seed tape!  I takes forever to plant a full bed of carrots.  I've tried seed tape from the store before and I had to pull extras like crazy.  If I make my own I can make sure it only has one seed per spot instead of the mess they sell.  I also can use the varieties I want and have much better selection.

So go have some early garden fun and save time when you actually get out there to plant.



Have a blessed day!
Cherlynn
brchbell@yahoo.com