We Have Sprouts!

We have bean sprouts, we have broccoli sprouts, we have beet sprouts, we have cabbage sprouts, and we have lettuce sprouts! We have Sprooouuuttttsss!!!!!! Yippee!!!!!

All of the baby plants are doing well and look to have taken hold and are actually starting to grow.
I'm so excited!!

Berlin is the Place Where It is At This Weekend!

Friday, May 2^nd: Spring Arts Night in Berlin

View local artist’s works and enjoy complementary refreshments in many of the downtown shops, galleries and restaurants. Live Jazz and Blues music will fill the air with street musicians at various locations. See the Acoustic Blues of Jon Roling in front of Victorian Charm located on the corner of Main and Commerce Streets. Victorian Charm is hosting a Vera Bradley Pre-View Sale that night where customers who make a $10 cash donation to the Berlin Jazz and Blues Bash will get an opportunity to shop before the general public the next day.

Also that night, Raquel Orsini and Phil Knight will perform on the porch of the Atlantic Hotel from 6-8pm and then host a jam from 8-10pm. Jazz and Blues musicians are welcome to sit in or perform on their own. A silent auction of several local merchant’s items will also be held at that location to benefit the event.

Saturday, May 3^rd: Berlin Jazz and Blues Bash

The all day event will feature 6 live bands performing on two stages on Main Street in Historic Berlin, Maryland. Rain or Shine! All entertainment is free to the public and they are encouraged to bring a chair to add to the limited seating being provided. The entertainment stages will be located at the intersection of Pitts and Main Street and Jefferson and Main Street. Jazz and Blues bands will perform one hour sets on alternate stages throughout the day. (See schedule) Sponsors include: The Globe, Victorian Charm, Smooth Jazz 97.1, Solstice Grill, Barrett Chevrolet, Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep.

ENTERTAINMENT SCHEDULE:

Time/ Stage Location

10am- 11am: Pitt St.: Stephen Decatur Middle School Jazz Band

11am-Noon: Jefferson St.: Stephen Decatur High School Jazz Combo

Noon-1pm: Pitt St.: UMES Jazz Band, Sponsored by Victorian Charm

1-2pm-: Jefferson St.: Tom Larsen Blues Band

2-3pm: Pitt St.: Lower Case Blues Band

3:30-5pm: Jefferson St.: Smooth Play, Sponsored by Solstice Grill & Smooth Jazz 97.1

7-10pm: The Globe: Chris English

7-10pm: Solstice Grill: TBA

In the case of rain, entertainment will be inside the Globe located at 12 Broad St.

Beautiful Women Throughout the Ages...

Here is a link to site that I was directed to today with the most fascinating video. Click Here
It is a video of portraits of beautiful woman over the last 500 years. I was watching it with my 9 year old son and he said "Mommy all of the woman look the same, but they were all painted by different people"! I told him I think the common denominator in all of the images is that we have historically perceived beauty with symmetry, and all of these beautiful woman have nearly perfectly symmetrical faces

Bee Fact of the Day...

*A bee travels an average of 1600 round trips in order to produce one ounce of honey; up to 6 miles per trip. To produce 2 pounds of honey, bees travel a distance equal to 4 times around the earth.

Do You Know the Difference Between Hybrid and Heirloom Open Pollenated Plants?

What do you know about Hybrid plants vs Heirloom Open Pollinated plants?
Here’s the long and short of it:

An open pollinated plant has 1 parent; a hybrid has 2 parents.
Hybrid seed are seeds that result from the cross pollination of two inbred parent plants.
Open pollinated plants by contrast have only one parent line.
Many seeds offered for sale in packets, mail order and at nurseries are F1 hybrids, but there are many times that these plants won’t work. New varieties are created by a plant breeder, when they have uniform genetically stable inbred plants, they can consider creating new hybrids. To do so, pollen is moved usually by hand from the anthers of one inbred plant (male) to the stigmas of the second inbred plant (female). The seed will grow and as a result of this pollination is the ‘hybrid seed’. They are often preferred over open pollinators for a number of reasons. The parents were chosen for their strengths and to compensate for each others weaknesess, hopefully creating a new variety that is better than the best qualities of its parents.

Hybrids tend to be vigorous growers, uniformity of shape and earlier more sustained flowering., larger flowers or vegetables, or larger fruits.

Heirloom or Open Pollinated (OP) plants are simply varieties that are capable of producing seeds that will produce seedlings just like the parent plant. Not all plants do this.

Plant breeders cross breed compatible types of plants in an effort to create a plant with the best features of both parents. These are called hybrids and many of our modern plants are the results of these crosses.

While plants can cross-pollinate in nature and hybrids repeatedly selected and grown may eventually stabilize, many hybrid seeds are relatively new crosses and seed from these hybrids will not produce plants with identical qualities.

For example, each year new hybrid tomato varieties are offered. You may see them labeled as hybrids or F1, first filial generation (first-generation hybrid), or F2. These may eventually stabilize, but for the moment a tomato like the popular 'Early Girl' does not produce seeds that reliably have the features you expect in an ‘Early Girl’ tomato. Seed from hybridized plants tends to revert to the qualities of the parents, so tomatoes grown from seeds saved from your 'Early Girl' tomatoes might still be tasty, but not so early.

Anyone can select and eventually stabilize their own seed or even hybridize new plants, but plant and seed companies have recently begun patenting their crosses so that only have the right to reproduce the hybrids they’ve developed.

Hybrids should not be confused with Genetically Modified Organisms or (GMOs) which, can be any plant, animal or microorganism which have been genetically altered using molecular genetics techniques such as gene cloning and protein engineering. Plants like corn that has the pesticide Bt engineered into its genetic makeup to make it resistant to certain pests are GMO crops. Bt is a natural pesticide, but it would never naturally find its way into corn seed.

I personally like open pollinated plants. I like the idea of purchasing a package of seeds growing the plant, saving the seed from it’s fruit or veggie and then growing them again.

This provides my bee’s the work God made them to do, and I’m not playing God. I don’t want to be beholden to a chemical giant who might be the patent holder of a seed that I bought 20 years ago

Since the origins of Colony Collapse Syndrome has not been discovered yet, I think it best to go back to the old ways of doing many of the things of the past when it comes to gardening, and give our bee’s plenty of things to pollinate so they don’t wander into the Franken Fields of Corn.

To find out where you can order heirloom seeds that will produce year after year go to http://forums.seedsavers.org/ to learn about the importance of saving the seeds that we have for our future.

Happy Gardening!

What a Day!

Today was a day that I accomplished much. It was one of those days that I can be proud of and I am. I was feeling so awful in the morning it took me a while to get started, but before I knew it, I was fully committed to my tasks.
I had wanted to get the yard cut, kill the weeds and put honey supers on the bee hives.
When I came downstairs the kitchen was a mess so I cleaned that first.
Afterward, I went out side and got the lawnmower from the garden shed. I checked the gas and the oil and both were fine, and after priming I pulled the rope to crank it. It started right away but then it stopped. I pulled again, it started then stopped. I went through this several times when I realized I was getting no where. So I resigned myself to be being a woman and not knowing what to do with it, and being a woman who doesn't know what to do, does know to push it to the people who do.
Himself and the Rocket Scientist had it started again and running 10 minutes. We talked for a bit and I invited everyone to dinner, and left with my quest to finish my internal list.
It was wonderful the guys totally fixed it and I was able to get the grass cut rather quickly.
Billy decided it would be a good day to clean an area of the garage that he wants to use so he wasn't bothering me. Life was good.
Then I got my bottle of roundup and went around the property spraying along the walk and driveway it. In the process my neighbor and I found a huge bunch of poison ivy so I pulled out my handy dandy Brush Killer and took care of that.
It was after this chore that I walked past the beehive and decided I was going to deal with the girls. I was really calm, my chi was good so I put on my bonnet and lit the smoker. I pulled the tops off of the hive and it was really full the Queen had laid a lot of brood up in the honey boxes. I scraped off the wild comb, and inspected the hive to see if there were any sub-queen sacs that the girls may be raising and sure enough there were. So I took out the frames with the sub- queen sacs on them, and put them in my other hive box . I also took out a few frames of workers from the old hive and added them to the new to help build the colony. I really don't have anything to lose, since I lost last years colony from 'Colony Collapse Syndrome' so its worth a try and if she doesn't emerge with in a few day they will all go back to the old hive.
I added four empty honey boxes to the old hive. The two brood boxes and the one honey box were absolutely stuffed, and the colony was completely out of room.
To encourage them fill in the new comb. I placed the full honey box on the top and the empty honey boxes between them and my brood boxes.
It will be interesting to see how they do.
I am very optimistic regarding this years harvest as the bees looked so great. I did find mites on them so I will make up some sugar and crisco patties for them and see what happens... this is the only thing I can do for them at this point as if I put chemicals on them now the honey from the fourth of July flow wont be right as I don't want any chemicals in my honey. The instructions say that you can, I prefer to use the chemicals if I have to, during the winter so that we don't ingest the chemical that we are giving them.
Say a few prayers for the bees this year... they need our help to save them and if we don't we won't be here to notice.
Remember...every third bite that you eat comes from something that a bee pollenated.

Honey Bee Fact of the Day

Honeybees are the only insect that produce food for humans.

Too Many Cucumbers!!!

Here we are...The Farmer Girls! Enjoy some lemon mint water in the garden deciding everything that I have done wrong in my planning and planting. It was such a beautiful day so I didn't get too upset over my mistakes. I do however have to find a home for the horse radish that Himselfs Herself purchased. As I had completely forgotten how invasive they are.
Miscommunication between the garden Nazi's and the Submissive One has resulted in an over abundance of cucumbers.
Himself is not agreeable to any further tillage, so I hoed yet another bed next to the house and have planted the seedlings in there.
Today, I am going to hang strings from the header of porch that will drop to the ground using a criss cross pattern, thus giving the cucumbers a trellace of sorts to grow up. This will keep them from spreading all over the yard.
I am also going to spread a little bit of fertilizer along side of all of the little ones to give them a bit of a head start since I wasn't diligent in my composting. I would like to get the compost pile moved and established in it's final place. Hopefully, I can get all of this done and the grass cut!

Poem of the Week...Life Is Beautiful

Life is Beautiful

Life is a sham

Life is all I can

To be who I am

Who I am to you is

Not who I am to me

Who I am to me is

Not who you want me to be

If, I am who you think I am

Does it mean that I have succeeded in really being me?

The cause of everyone’s life

to be Who they really are.

To find themselves

What do you say?

Do you think its ok

Just to be me?

I have never liked what I see

When I look at me.

I have been told every day

From close and far away

That its soooo important

To be true to myself

To look out for me

But what do you see?

Do you see the real me

Or do you see the me that I want you to see

Would my real me be who you want me to be

Life is Beautiful

Life is a Sham

Life is all I can do to be who I am

Who I am to you is not

Who I am to me

The voices the voices down deep in my soul

Won’t let me go till I know that I’m done

Won’t let me go till the battle is won

Won’t let me go till I’ve made something great

From this form that we take

Won’t let me go, won’t let me wait

We have to let go and do something great

Or our life, are sham, will only be waste.

If you are not great.

Life is Beautiful

Life is a Sham

Life is all I can do to be who I am

Quote of the Day

The art of living well and the art of dying well are one.
Epicurus

What a Beautiful Day it Was!

The Farmer Girls and I got together around noon today. We had a really nice time.
Garden inspection went well. Lunch went better. A glass of wine went even better!
Today we looked through Karols Gardening Books to make sure we were doing everything correctly. The one big mistake that I made was on my horseradish.

Horseradish plants are kind of like mint, but worse. The grow an enormous tap root, and when you go to dig it you must get all of it or you will be unable to ever to get rid of it. I think I'm going to put it in a bed all by itself. Then I won't have to sweat it.

Everything else is going well, and all were pleased and impressed. I past the inspection.
Tomorrow I will fertilize. They all are looking a little peeked, and I want them to be strong and robust.

I'm falling asleep now guys, so I will say goodnight....Goodnight

Today is Farmer Girl Day....What Are We Gonna Get Into?

Today is Farmer Girl Day. This is the day the girls and I get together and do something practical, like learn a new craft, play in the garden, share a meal, drink some wine, and share what is going on in each of our lives.
Today we are meeting at my house. The girls will be coming over to inspect the new garden, that went in last week, and I have a bunch of perennials I need to split, so I will pass them around.
Our Farmer Girl Group is open to any ladies who feel that inner 'Farmer Girl' wanting to get out. So if you want to come play on a Thursday afternoon, let me know.

The Pollen is Pounding My Head!

This morning I woke up to the most horrendous headache. I had a stuffy nose, scratchy throat and watery itchy eyes.
Birthday boy was sick as well. We have been taking benadryl for the last two days, but our heads feel like they're in a vice.
Oh the Joy of Spring! It is soooo beautiful yet makes me feel so awful. I always know when the wisteria are at their most beautiful I will be the biggest mess. But I do so love the wisteria!

Thomas Jefferson's 'Monticello' Fig Cuttings

As you may know Jefferson was Secretary of State for Washington's Cabinet, and spent a great deal of time in France; I think it was about seven years. In France he pursued not only assisted the French to Liberate themselves, but also his love for architecture, and gardening.
When he returned from Europe he brought with him many seeds, cuttings and seedling that he attempted to grow at his home in Charlottesville; Monticello.
On a trip there over Thanksgiving break about twelve years ago, our family visited Monticello. We had a wonderful time and even experienced the first big snow of the year while visiting and touring the grounds. It was fascinating on many levels, and the beauty of the quiet winter storm all the more enchanting, as we were the only visitors there.
After our tour we decided to walk down the mountain to our car, and at the welcome center was a nursery that sold the plants that are grown at Monticello. Many of which are cuttings and seedlings from the plants that actually planted and experimented with. There was no one tending the nursery, so I walked next door to the Welcome Center, with the plants that I had chosen, and asked who I should pay for the plants (thinking the person who tended the nursery was inside keeping warm). The Director told me that the nursery was closed for the season, and I was welcome to take all of the plants that I wanted as they would not survive the winter.
I couldn't believe my good fortune and asked him again to be sure. He once again said take whatever you want, or take them all, as they would be ruined if I didn't.
Fortunately, I had my Grandfathers huge van and I filled it up with dozens of plants. I shared many with my Grandfather, and upon arriving home with my friends. A few of the flowers I still have but a fig tree that I planted in my front yard has grown and prospered here. It produces the most delicious figs that I have ever tasted. They are smaller than the figs that I have found on local trees, and have a slight kiwi taste too them, and aren't overly sweet like the local figs.
They are quite delicious and produce two major crops per year. One in the late spring, and one again in the late summer.
All of this is to say, my husband took cuttings of them this weekend, and if any of you would like one let me know and we will make arrangements for pickup. I have plenty so don't be shy!

Got Rid of Two; Found Three More! Want One?

Bright and early Saturday Morning Three Little Kittens came out from under the neighbors house looking and 'screeeeming' for their mommy.
When I saw the two cats the other week, I thought that the one was probably pregnant apparently she was very young and had already had the kittens as she was getting her figure back.
I put them in a box and fed them and tried to keep them from the keeping them from the kids finding them.
My youngest and his friends were on em' like a bug to a light.
It was love at first site. All three of the boys fell in love with all three of the kittens. They are now named, and well acquainted with human contact, with full bellies.

So here's the deal...I am terribly allergic (eyes are itching as I'm typing) and all the other moms and dads have said no as well. We have found a home for the grey tabby, now we have a yellow tiger and a light blue eyed calico. I told the kids I would take their pictures and put them on the blog and try to find a good home for them.

If you are willing to open your home to a really cute little kitten I would love to talk to you, however, I do ask that if you want one that you will promise to have them spayed or neutered and be kept inside. They will immediately need their shots and probably need worming, so please don't take this on if you can't do all of this. I will keep them until Wednesday, and if I don't have any takers I will then call Animal Control. I am far to allergic, and just cannot keep them.
Email me or post a comment and I'll get back with you!

We Did It!!!

Finally, after all of the breakdowns, time delays and life...the Garden is IN!!! Well most of it.
This weekend turned into one of the craziest in a while!

It was my youngest son's birthday (this is not the age that you can delay a party because they can't read a calender). One of the cats that I had trapped last week, apparently gave birth under the neighbors house and Saturday morning three kittens came out looking for their mother. My son and his friends immediately fell in love and have been taking turns nursing them.


So between a Full Moon, PMS, a Birthday Party, and baby Kittens we had a grand time and eventually got most of the Garden in.

The rain is supposed to come tonight, but I watered just in case it didn't.
The way this weekend went, I wouldn't be surprised if it rained everywhere else on the shore, except Pocomoke.

Realy Sad Earth Day Fact

I read yesterday a really sad fact, that makes me rethink the entire ethanol movement.
Greed and speculation is creating farmers all over the world to stop growing the crops that have historically fed the planet, like rice and wheat. Yet instead they are turning the fields that feeds the people of our world into fields that will fill our tanks.
The really sad part of this tidbit of information...
The UK just ruled that half of all corn that comes into the country or is grown their must be sold to turn into ethanol! Do you realize what this means?
If there is a shortage of corn at some point there will people who go hungry while ethanol will still be made.

Now the worst part...
The amount of corn used to fill a tank on big US SUV, is more than the amount of corn that will feed a human being for one year.

Globilization, is the politics of poverty and poverty on a global scale. With the Industrialization of India, and China they are in the next 10 years going to be the biggest consumers of energy, no longer the United States. The pictures of starving children are not going be children from Africa any longer, they are going to be from everywhere.

We need to rethink these issues and we need to definately not put all of our eggs in one basket with one particular fuel since clearly ethanol has it's own set of issues

Bunko Night!

We had our monthly Bunko game tonight and a grand time was had by nearly all.
Sometimes we girls get a little snarky, but in the end we had fun.

We stayed after and had a few more drinks and told funny stories of our lives and drank a little too much, but it's once a month and is good for the soul.

Herself and I went to Southern States and she purchased plants and seeds for tomorrows planting day. Deb got seeds and plants last week and has already started them in the window.

Tomorrow is my youngest 9th Birthday and we will have a few of the neighbors come and their children and grill some burgers and dogs, and eat cake and ice cream.

I'll post pictures...

Dog For Sale

Dog For Sale
* Free to good home.
* Excellent guard dog.
* Owner cannot afford to feed him anymore, as there are no more thieves, murderers, or molesters left in the neighborhood for him to eat.
* Most of them knew him only as
'Holy Shit'!

Kichen Garden Plot Tilled!

Last night while I was at the Worcester County Arts Council meeting, Himself came over tilled the small bed 'kitchen' garden.
Here I will plant my herbs, spring onions, garlic, lettuces and spinach.
I'm so excited that it is finally finished now I can do to the business of planting!
Today is Farmer Girl Day at Karols, and we are going to work on the chicken coop and crochet shopping bags out of shopping bags.
She has been so kind as to offer space for melons, pumpkins and corn, so I think if we have some time we will plot out where she will allow us room for this, and see about getting it tilled too.

This morning's frost should be the last of the year, and we can now feel safe to plant.

Kitties Got Caught!

I noticed a couple of weeks ago that I only had one pair of Morning Doves in the back yard this spring, and I began to think about it and realized that the Blue Jay pair that has come to my yard in the past was gone as well.
I do have two pairs of Cardinals, and I think the Mrs. is setting on a nest already as the girls haven't been to the corn in about a week.
Noticing the decline in my regular crew of songbirds I became concerned that the feral cat population was on the rise once again, so I kept my eyes out to see if I spotted any. Sure enough I spoke with my neighbor and she said she had seen what looked to be a pregnant Tabbie in her yard and when spooked it ran under her house. Then the very next night I saw a yellow Tom running into my garage.
So I called Worcester County Animal Control yesterday morning. The told me they would be out this morning to set the traps, and they were.
Low and behold by 4 this afternoon two cats were captured. The two previously mentioned suspects in fact.
Being an animal lover this entire scenario makes me nuts; but I can't allow the wildlife to fall prey to a domesticated animal that has no predator.
Over the last century North America alone has lost more species of songbirds than I really even want to think about and the one of the biggest reason is irresponsible pet owners letting their cats outside. Of course our globalized grocery store has played a very important part in killing thousands of migratory songbirds because being able to buy a fresh watermelon in Salisbury in December is just not normal. Latin American countries uses pesticides that the US outlawed years ago, and their application methods are unmonitored. Thus destroying thousands of birds yearly. But until we loose our taste for out of season fruits and vegetables I don't see this problem going away anytime soon.
A question that has been asked of us all lately is 'What can I personally do to help better the planet'?
I know I may step on some cat lovers toes, but the fact of the matter is a domestic cat has no enemies. Domestic cats are natural predators. They are beautiful creatures that God has blessed us with for companionship, however a cat will; no matter how much they are fed, if let out will kill up to two times per day. In the morning and in the evening. Their prey? Songbirds, and wild rabbits, especially baby rabbits in the nest.
It is unfortunate, but as sweet and loving as they are when in our laps. When let out it is their nature to kill and not even usually eat but bring the dead animal to it's owner as a present.
As pet owners, no matter what the pet is we must take into consideration what type of temperament it possesses and work with it, and not allow the pet to engage in destructive behavior.
If a pit bull came into a yard and killed a critter in a vicious attack, many people would find that appalling and disgusting. I personally don't see the difference. It is imperative to look a the big picture of not only our impact on the environment but also those of our pets.
Please don't take it personally if you are a cat person, but please do consider the nature of the animal, and take care not to let them outside.
Below is a chart that I found that shows how imperative our vigilance is:

Worcester County Arts Council Summer Arts Camp

Volunteers Needed For Summer Arts Camp

The Worcester County Arts Council is looking for Students Volunteers who would like to help with our annual Summer Arts Camp for children grades 3-7.

This year the camp is scheduled June 16 -20 at Berlin Intermediate School located at 309 Franklin Avenue in Berlin.

The hours of camp are 9 am to 12 noon.

The Volunteers will be involved in assisting art instructors during classes and workshops.

Interested students should call Anna Mullis, executive Director of the Arts Council at 410-641-0809 for more information.

Tiller Fixed! Main Garden Tilled & Upside Down Tomato's

Yippee! Himself was able to fix the tiller, and got the main garden bed tilled. My neighbors van was in the way so we will have to till the kitchen garden tomorrow.
We had a neighborhood pow wow afterward and made the list of plants. Deb got some tomato plants at Walmart and she is starting seeds for the spinach, more tomato's and the peppers tomorrow.
I drew a picture of a strawberry tower for the menfolk to ponder and see if they can make one. My Grandfather had one here when I was a kid and it was about 6 feet tall by about 4 feet wide at the bottom and 1 foot wide at the top. I grew ooodles of berries in very little space and architecturally it was beautiful all year.
Last night during my nightly insomnia spat, I saw an advertisement for an upside down tomato plant hanger. My friend told me that people in the Carolina's use 5 gallon buckets to grow their tomatoes in and hang them upside down. I'm not quite sure how they stay in the bucket upside down, and I also can't get my mind around how to not have it look really tacky.
If anyone has any ideas let me know.
So progress is being made, and I am pleased.
Have a nice night everyone.

OK OK Some ground was broken

The Troybuilt which 'Himself' owns started spewing gas on the fourth row of one bed. So he is going to venture into repairs tomorrow after noon.

This will give me time to get my railroad ties from next door so that I can lay out some raised beds.
I'm quite exicited as it is going to be fabulouls.

Let you know what happens tommorrow.

Plant Exchange.....Who's Interested and Whaddya Got?

One of our readers Jen has suggested doing a plant exchange.
In an email yesterday she suggested that we could meet in the park in Princess Anne one day soon bring a brown bag lunch, exchange plants, and meet new friends.

I think this is a grand idea, and would like to see this happen.

What I am going to do is put a list of up of what plants I have that I can separate and then you can put up a list of what you have.

We should do this within the next two weeks as the plants will do better if they have a chance to get established while it is still cool and wet.

So here's my list:

Siberian Iris - small deep purple iris that grows to about 12". They grow in a circular clump and are really hardy

Day Lilies - Tall green reed shaped foliage with bright orange flowers, spreads nicely for empty corners

Ferns- small low growing not sure of the variety, but are a nice ground cover for a shady spot

Border Plants - small low growing that look like miniature clumps of pampas grass, with small purple flowers that grow like a clump of grapes

Obedient Plants- Tall Spikes with purple flowers that bloom from the bottom up

Brunswick Fig- This fig is from Thomas Jefferson's Monticello garden. He brought this specimen back from his stay in France. It is a smaller fig that is not quite as sweet as other varieties, however it tastes almost kiwi like in it's flavor and I prefer it over other indigenous varieties.

Another thing that we should not neglect is sharing are seeds. If you have saved seeds from a favorite melon or tomato, by all means; bring them!

So send in your lists and dates that would be good for you and we will put this together!

I Just Hate the Prep Work!

OK, so I made the announcement that the ground was going to be broken last Thursday, and I explained my the reason it didn't get done Thursday because of The Farmer Girl Day.
Friday morning I wake up and think this is the day. I will get everything ready to break ground. It was absolutely beautiful, my youngest was home from school and life was wonderful.
My Granddad called and he was getting a ride into town from a friend and he wanted me to take care of some business for him. During the time he and his friend were here I had three visitors, and we spent the morning chatting. He left to go to the store, and I called his prescriptions in for him so that he could get them while he was in town and I could sort them into the S,M,T,W,TH,F, &S Box for him. He only has one eye he lost it while working on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. He was an Iron Worker, and it was shot out by a hot rivet from a rivet gun. He lost it when he was about 35 and continued working Iron. He built many of the bridges in the North and South East.
It is amazing what he has done with one eye.
A few years ago I poked myself in the eye and had to wear an eye patch for a few days. I thought of him constantly. Do you know how hard it is to do everything with just one eye?
Incredible! Now he has Macular (I think that's the right spelling) Degeneration in his remaining eye and he is having trouble seeing just about every thing. It is so sad. He gets so frustrated at his inabilities, he wants to do so much and is just not able to do it anymore. Yet, he never gives up, he is an inspiration to me on so many levels and I look to him for guidance on so many things. His wisdom runs deep, 94 years of life creates a lot of experience.
So anyway, after he left around 1pm my friend and neighbor came over and we chatted a bit and talked about the garden plans then she invited me over to have some ice tea at her house.
When I got there she was busy planting a raised bed in her back yard. A friend of hers had given her a 'Salsa Garden' for a gift for her birthday, and her kids had given her a bag planter for strawberry plants. So her daughter and her friend and I planted the strawberry bag, and hung it up. If it works it will be very cool. Then she and I planted the Salsa Garden. By the time we were finished we retired to the back porch and other neighbors began straggling over talking about it being 5 o'clock.
Well we all know what that means. Everyone procured their beverage of choice and we spent the rest of the evening talking and playing games, sharing a pizza and the children ran and played like it was summer.
It was a beautiful evening, and was enjoyed by all.
Which leads me to Saturday...it rained!
But today oh today was glorious.
I accomplished soooo much!
I rearranged everything I needed to move (fencing, outdoor furniture, rocks, railroad ties)
I also cut the lawn and in my minds eye planned exactly how the garden will look.
I'm quite proud of my accomplishments of the day, but I can't tell you how much I hate doing the preparation work before a project can really be started.
Tomorrow is supposed to be wonderful, and when 'Himself' gets home he said he would be over and we could till the designated area's. Once that is done we can commence planting!
I will take pictures tomorrow to show my progress. That is if I can lift my arms to head to actually hold the camera up. I used muscles today that I had forgotten I had.

Watercolor Classes Offered by Worcester County Arts Council

Worcester County Arts Council is pleased to offer watercolor classes conducted by an award winning local artist, Barbara Doyle Schmid.

Florals – Wednesday, May 28, 9:30 – 2:30 pm.

Dunes and the Beach – Wednesday, June 25, 9:30 – 2:30 pm.

Both classes will take place at the Snow Hill Gallery located at 218 North Washington Street. The cost for each class is $30.00

Supply list will be available upon registration.

Award winning artist, Barbara Doyle Schmid, takes you on a watercolor adventure where you learn watercolor techniques which will help you on the journey to beautiful watercolor paintings.

Step-by-step demonstrations and a relaxing style promise you a fun learning experience in an encouraging and supporting atmosphere.

Barbara hopes to transfer her joy and excitement in watercolor painting to each student.

Come and let your creativity soar!

Space is limited. To register, please call 410-641-0809.

Ladies Day at the Farm

Well, all of my good intentions got derailed today when I realized that today was Thursday.
Thursday is the day that a group of friends of all ages most of us are moms get together and have lunch and spend the afternoon working on a project.
This afternoon we made crocheted dish clothes. Three of us taught the other girls how to crochet. It was a simple project a little difficult for the untrained but we all walked away with one except me, since I ended up making two of them for two of the girls that couldn't get the hang of it.
Karol brought out the book MaryJane's Farmer Girl. This a great book full of useful projects that most of us were really interested in doing.
Thursday's are great fun, and we have plans to continue with them throughout the summer.
Next week the chicks that she ordered from Murray McMurray will be here and we are going to rejuvenate her hen house. We are also going to crochet shopping bags to take to the market so we don't have to feel so guilty about all of the plastic that we are throwing into the landfills, and we are going to crochet them using the plastic bags themselves.
Much discussion took place about the community garden. It was suggested that we could have a third plot at the Farm for the big fruits and vegetables, like the corn, the pumkins and the melons. They spread soooo much that they will eat a kitchen garden right up.
So it seems that more has been added to our plates (in more ways than one), and we have more planning to do.
Anyway, tomorow is supposed to be even lovelier than today and God willing I will be able to get up and get much accomplished without killing myself in the process. (I alway's bite off more than I can chew, and end up hurting myself because I do too much)!

Breaking Ground

The weather is supposed to break tomorrow and we will finally have some sunshine.
My friend has informed me 'Himself' (her name for her husband) has the rototiller working.
We are going to have to play a round of musical chairs and garden furniture first, but hopefully the ground will get broken tomorrow.
At this point it looks like I will have two beds the first will be a small 16'x16' kitchen garden directly off the back porch. The second will be a bit bigger behind the garage.
My paternal Grandfather who used to own the house had a garden in this space for many years and the soil is quite rich there with good drainage.
We could always go a little nuts like the guy further down on Market Street with the grow lights in every window, and plant the entire front yard in veggies. It's not like I have any real grass in that section of yard. I think the chickweed has managed to eat everything that resembled grass except for the evil crab grass. Some years when it is really dry the chickweed and crabgrass are the only things that give my yard the color green.
I'll be sure to take pictures of the happy gardeners and post our progress.

Insomnia.....bites!

Just curious but is it a rule when you become middle aged that you can't get to sleep anymore?
Insomnia is making me nuts. Well so is my husbands snoring, and so are my adult children, and so are the things my 9 year old comes home and tells me, and so do the things that are going on in our country, and our city, and our world.

I wonder at what point that all this stuff started bothering me, or if I just wasn't aware of it before?

I've been reading about insomnia and ways to deal with it naturally, I've been praying and meditating. Playing with my Yoga Ball and contorting my body into positions that are supposed to be relaxing. I'm also drinking chamomile tea, reading, taking baths, all the stuff they say your supposed to do.

But in the end it is 1:00am and I am wide awake writing.

If any of you have any tips you would like to share, I would be happy to hear them, and try them if I haven't and maybe even do them again if I have.

Also, I think it's more of a girl thing....let me know what you think, and for readers who are older than me (45), does your sleep come back at some point?

Spring Cleaning

Today I had Staff! Staff is what my friend calls her children.
My oldest was home for the day and I was able to get him to help me take on some things I haven't had the strength to do myself. He says we accomplished much...I'm not so sure.
The problem with such projects is, they make you that much aware of the all of the other projects that you still have to do.

I had him dismantle an old storage shed his daddy had made for the kids to keep their bicycles in years ago. It had become too rotten over the years and was an eyesore. As soon as we took that down and began hauling it to the curb for bulk trash, parts of my fence began to fall down. Possibly, because the shed had apparently been holding them up. We tried to rehang two sections, and when we were finally making headway, I had another section come down. This one from a completely different area.
UGHH what a pain!

The new broken section is the victim of a police pursuit through my yard a few months ago. Apparently the bad guy felt the need to jump my fence to get away from the police; thus breaking the support post in the process. Leaving me yet another project.
Anyway, all of this was to say, I wanted to make some real progress on clearing out the room we call the backyard, because we have decided to do a community garden, and I need to rearrange the furniture so we will have the room to do it.
I'll keep you posted on the progress.

Have You Heard About the Post Secret Project?

As I was doing some research on another article about 'Factory Farming' I stumbled upon a site that I found very compelling it's called Post Secret
The idea behind the project was found in a dream that the writer had while on a trip to Paris.
(Be sure to read the story behind the project; it's quite amazing)
The end result is the compilation of over 200,000 postcards sent to a Germantown, MD address containing an anonymous secret.
Some postcards are confessions, some are desires, some are memories of a painful time. Some have pictures others do not. Some are rather obscene, while others are so painfully touching you may find yourself identifying with them.
As with any Art, many will find some of the work offensive, while others will see the beauty in the truth that is laid bare.
The writer Frank Warren says that the project has changed his life.
He has published pieces of the project into a few books and is adding to them daily. He now goes on tour with a slide exhibit of the project and his audiences are packed. According to the website he is booked into 2010 at colleges and libraries across the country.
The site contains a Q&A and Discussion Forum with over twenty nine thousand users, and is also available in a French version.
Franks dream has turned into a modern day phenomenon. It kinda like going to confession and not having to say any 'Our Fathers'.
This site is so compelling it is definitely getting a link on the Blog roll.

Fact of the Day

Bees: Responsible for Every Third Bite of Food.

The Bee's Are A Buzzin

I had a visitor the other day telling me about a swarm of bee's that had attached itself to the soffets of his house on Market Street.

He and his wife had a swarm they told me about a few years ago, and unfortunately they didn't know that they really wouldn't bother them and when they moved to a lower location they exterminated them.

I think that the colony lives in the boxing of the house. It is a relatively small swarm (a healthy swarm when clumped is about the size of a basketball) this was only about the size of a football.
The family became alarmed when the bees were waiting for their queen to pick a place to land.
When she does this all of the bees that have followed her; fly wildly around in a circular patterns buzzing at such a volume the average person is easily alarmed.
When the queen finally lands she will call to her colony and they will quickly huddle up into a very tight ball.
This usually happens twice each spring.
Once when the queen goes on her 'mating' flight, and maybe again if the queen is old and is not producing enough eggs to maintain the level of worker bees necessary for an efficient hive. If a second swarm occurs it is either the old queen being kicked out of the hive, and with her she will take about 1/3 of the colony. Or it is a new queen that the workers have hatched and she in her battle for control of the hive is beaten and she is kicked out and she takes about 1/3 of the colony with her as well.
Unfortunately, when the latter two of the swarms occur, it can take the remaining colony an entire season to re-establish it's numbers, thus leaving a shortage of excess honey for the beekeeper.
If the beekeeper is fortunate enough to catch the loose swarm, it will take the remaining season to build up enough bee's to survive the winter; but the following year is usually very abundant in honey.
After an inspection of the couples attic I ascertained that the bees were not in the house itself, and given the height of the swarm, I advised it was probably best to leave them alone. But if they came down a little lower I would get them.
I haven't heard from them since my visit so hopefully they have moved on.
If you see a swarm this spring, don't freak out. If your allergic go inside, but if your not it is a fascinating thing to watch, and be sure to drop me an email and if I can reach it I will be happy to get it as I have an empty hive, and also know other beekeepers who would love to new colony,
and you'll get some honey as a nice little tip!

April Showers Bring May Flowers...

Hopefully the rain will end tonight and I will be able to cut the grass and work on spring beautification projects.
If not my son wants his room redone and he talking 'gothic' style after reading the Harry Potter series.
I have all the components, so I don't have t buy a thing, it's just a matter of doing it. He wants my Dad's old four poster, and wants a leather technique in 'harlequins' on the wall. Oh Joy! He doesn't have a clue how hard those are on crooked walls!

If you have any tips on measuring out harlequins around the room, I'd appreciate them.
I was thinking of making a template out of heavy paper and lightly tracing it around the room and fudge the corners or crooked parts. We shall see

I hope it's pretty!

Welcome to Wymzie's Blog

I decided being the extremely opinionated person that I am, I would probably do a lot better with my own blog. This way I could give our readers a womans perspective of the world around us in my usually goofy abstract way.
I hope you enjoy. I will continue writing for the Tattler, and for Sbynews.com, but I really want a chance to express myself about things that don't always fit in a political blog.
I want to talk about art, music, gardening, beekeeping, sex, home improvements being a mom,
dealing with midlife and anything else that is getting my goat on a particular day.

I hope you enjoy it, and participate.

Wymzie