Over the Fence Chat - 4/27 thru 5/3

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Well everyone - another week has come and gone and as usual, I didn't get all I wanted to get done, but I accomplished quiet a bit. And now - wet and rainy and dreary and I'm housebound :-(! Which gives me the opportunity to get things done that have piled up in the house. Of course, my "honey-do" list keeps me running around, too, so there's never a dull moment around here.

It was nice to see some of you folks on the message board of the website when the forum went down this last time. Nice to "see" all you crazy people every day!

On that note I will get this posted. Wife is on the phone with family and I'm a little distracted, so I'll save more info for a later post. You all have a great weekend and enjoy life!

-- Phil in KS (cshomestead@planetkc.com), April 27, 2002

Answers

Yes, here it is Saturday afternoon again and I look about me and wonder.......since I was super busy all week........how come it looks like I did NOTHING!!!! It is cold and dreary here also, not raining but windy and not very pleasant outside. I am inside and SHOULD be getting a lot done inside but am taking time to get caught up on some correspondence and a little quiet time. I spend most of two days getting my tattoos and papers in order so I can get the vet in here to do the TB testing which is required by law now in Michigan. I got the new little doelings all vaccinated, disbudded and tattooed and did some cleaning in the barn. Got a few seedlings started and worked a bit in my new herb garden. So much to do and so little time to do it!!! Hope everyone has a blessed weekend.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), April 27, 2002.

Well, we've all been sitting around here picking on each other and trying to drive each other nuts; as if all this blasted rain wasn't enough to do it on it's own! Pop is growling at the seedling pots of melons.."These durn things should have sprouted by now, they need to be under the lights, they need watered, they need heat, we shoulda just waited and planted them outside, they're gonna be puny..." Hubs is sitting in his Lazy Boy glaring out the window and sulking because the Off Road Race that he wanted to go to has been canceled. He's so dang grumpy, he won't even take a look at my feet for me - and I'm just certain sure that I'm starting to grow webs between my toes! Ah, Spring! Glorious Spring!

I must apologize for bringing down all this rain upon those of us in the mid-west. I just know that it's all my fault; because I have the whole weekend off work! I really was planning to work some overtime this weekend, so that y'all could get out and get something done in decent weather, but it just didn't work out! I guess I did get a few things done during the week, so I can't complain too much. Pop, Hubs and I have been moving wood chips all week, and have the path area (6'X30') between garden 1 and garden 2 filled in; plus the paths in garden 2 done. It takes a full wheelbarrow load of chips for each linear foot of 3' wide pathway; 2 loads for the 6' wide ones - lots and lots of wheelbarrow loads!! Sure looks nice, though. We still need to bring the paths in garden 1 up to level; and then start on the path between the 2nd and 3rd gardens, and the paths in between the beds in garden 3. I also plan to go all the way around the sides of the garden, 2 to 3 feet out, with a chip pathway. Pop and I are discussing (cussing?!) about how to edge that path - to keep the chips from being flung into the yard by the lawn mower; and to keep grass from growing up in them. We've talked landscape timbers, but I'm too scared to do the math to figure up how much it would cost to go around three sides of a 36' X 100' area! I'm seriously considering going down to the end of our road, where Mama and I transplanted some of those bright orange daylillies to when I was just a girl. They have spread and multiplied so well, that I am sure that I can dig several dozen transplants without it even being noticable. What do you all think of that idea? I'm not going to do the math to figure out how many of them I need either!! At least they're free, if you don't count feeding the labor!

I've also been doing a lot of weeding this past week; both in my perennial beds and in the garden. The town where I work was supposed to hold an Herb Festival today, and I was thinking of stopping by on my way home this morning to maybe buy a few plants. Rain put the kibosh on that idea in a hurry! Hey! Maybe this rain wasn't all my fault, after all!! Those Herb Festival organizers got to take part of the blame, surely!

I haven't found any decent looking tomato plants in town to replace the home grown ones that Pops inadvertently killed off - they are all lanky or have a weird purple or yellow tinge to their leaves. Guess it really isn't too late for me to start some new plants...sigh. (But I don't wannaaaa...whine, whine, whine - anybody got any cheese and crackers to go with this whine?!)

On the good news front - a few weeks or so back, Neighbor Mike offered to bring his backhoe over and dig me out a little duck pond if I could find a liner to put in it. Last evening when I came into work, one of the other nurses was talking about taking down her 18' diameter, 4' deep above ground pool - and griping about how much it was going to cost to have it hauled off. I'm going over to pick up the liner on Monday; Friend Cheryl is picking up the frame Wednesday morning after work!! The liner has a small rip in it, but I figure it can be fixed pretty easily - at least well enough for a pond, since it doesn't have to look pretty! Hmmmm...just how big of a duck pond can I build with this here liner....hmmm....pump, filter, gotta put an apple box or two on the quad and go down to the creek and get me some big rocks...hmmm...fish? Water lillies? Driftwood from down by the lake? Park bench? Solar light? Now I'm getting carried away - looks like this free liner is gonna cost me some bucks! Hubs is probably ready to call out the guys in the white coats with the big butterfly nets!! (Nah, he's used to me by now; he just sits in his chair and shakes his head!)

Well, Hubs offered to do the cooking tonight, and it smells awfully good in there - I reckon I'd better go set the table and get ready to chow down. You folks have a good week out there; take care...

-- Polly (tigger@moultrie.com), April 27, 2002.


Hi all, sounds like we're all getting this nasty weather. We've had a slight cold spell (blackberry winter?) and some rain, but it's been so cloudy I don't think the sun has shown for an hour straight in the last few days.

Well, I got Daves' "flu". I had the sore throat last Tuesday and thought I could talk myself out of it, but next thing I knew my head felt like it weighed a ton and then it proceeded to my chest. We got ourselves to the doc's on Wednesday and are starting to feel much better now. We're still going through boxes of kleenex, but we're starting to get our energy up and running again.

I did drag myself out of the house and went to the basket making class,I had signed up for, on Thursday. I actually felt better by just getting out of the house. The class was really fun and the basket I made actually looked like a basket!!!:) Dave was surprised when I brought it home. (hmmmmm, some confidence he has in my craft ability)! :) The kind of basket we learned how to make was an egg basket. Now all I gotta do is get me some chickens so I can carry the eggs around in my basket! hee hee I'm going to try and make another one out of honeysuckle or wild grape vines. I'm not the most craftiest person, so this next one might not go as well! :)

The garden is coming along, even with this yucky weather we've been having. The beans are poking through the dirt as well as the weeds. Think I'll go out tomorrow and sit in the dirt and pull some weeds. Hope the sun is shining as it will feel good to get some fresh air and sunshine after being stuck inside all week. It's just about drove me bonkers being stuck in the house.

Here's hoping you all have a great week and the sun shines on your faces this week!

-- Annie (mistletoe6@earthlink.net), April 27, 2002.


Hello, everyone! I have been busy getting ready for my bi-annual beekeepers field day. Lots of fun --we get to visit all the bee yards in our county/ You know--to see how their bees are doing and what's going on in their hives! We planted 20 of my tomato plants ,yesterday. Of course, the disk through a 'bearin'! We spent two hours pulling off the blades and putting it back together. The 'bush-hog" has been on it's last leg for about 10 years, now SO we bit the bullet and purchased a new, larger, easier to operate one that will be delivered Monday! It will be nice to have a peice of equipment that we don't have to work on all the time! Dh doesn't seem to mind but I hate it--seems a waste of time and energy. I know, I know "reuse, make do, and recycle BUT-- you know what I mean.

Send us some rain!:) Not a 'gully washer' just a few inches to settle the dust and water all these tomato plants!!!!

Hope everyone else is having a good Spring!! I look forward to hearing about what you all are up to!

-- Debbie T in N.C. (rdtyner@mindspring.com), April 27, 2002.


Good morning! I planted my potatoes yesterday morning. Just in time, too, cause now we are getting some much needed rain! We also made the one hour trip to my inlaws and came back with a truck load of stuff. Including a recliner which is in good shape, and alot of scrap lumber. We also stopped at the building supply store and got some replacement windows and 2x4s. I got home in time to fix my pvc greenhouse, (the wind had destroyed it this week) take care of the meat chicks, and gather eggs. That left me about 6 hours to sleep before work at midnight. I'm at work now (0630)and I feel pretty good. Just an hour and a half to go! Hope everyone has a restful Sabbath! I know I will!

-- Mike in Southern PA (mleeyworm@yahoo.com), April 28, 2002.


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