Dreaming of Spring Gardening in the Middle of a Wisconsin winter part 2

[WIchickMama]

@Callender Girl I am sorry for your loss.

Just sitting here listening to.....rain...yep rain....glorious real rain!

We got the hardware cloth laid out but not attached. No sod to be found within a 45 min drive so now my plans need to change. I wanted sod on top of the cloth but maybe 1x1 ft pavers, which will double the cost.

Have 1 male flower on one of my squash plants, hope more pop up after this rain.

I was going to go out and weed when I let the chickens out by myself to just weed and think but now I have to wait.

I just turned on the news and the first thing on is the overturning of Roe vs Wade. Don't want to get political here at all, but I do think our world is changing friends and not for the better. I read a book, World Made by Hand by James Howard Kunstler, if you get a chance to read it you should. It is fiction but more of a real life fiction and mentions stuff that is happening now.

Any how, I am going to go and enjoy some coffee and a murder mystery book for awhile while the rest of the house sleeps.

 

[jvls1942]

You can call me Jim. Jiminwisc..
yup, I could go on and on about politics. but I won't. lolol
cal, you will learn many things about keeping up a house. My sisters did.
upon further weeding, Annie found a whole grove of gooseberries. She is thrilled. the main drawback of all these fruit bearing plants, they are right on top of each other. Might as well let them that way, since they chose their fate..
I am not a forager, Annie is. She once picked 100 pounds of blackberries in one day.
it looks like it could rain here.
If it doesn't I am going to hook up the hose.
my garlic finally is shooting up skapes. have to get those picked off
I would just let grass grow up through the hdwe cloth. It won't take long. You could seed it with clover if you don't want wild grass.
the therapy ,,,,, after his manipulation, the pain switch to the left side of my head. I fought with it all night. it is not a steady pain, it comes and goes. I will live, if I have to, I guess..

 

[Callender Girl]

I would be happy to call you Jim. Thanks!

I've already learned quite a bit. My Jim was sick for a long time and couldn't handle many of the chores.

It's great that Annie likes those gooseberries. I still say, "Yuck!"

I have both grass growing up through hardware cloth around the runs (where the chickens will allow it to grow) and a fair number of flat stepping stones around others.

As far as the pain, I can sympathize. I had my pelvis fractured in two places some years back, but the cartilage was crushed and couldn't be pulled back out. It always feels like someone is pinching me but also elevates to burning, relentless pain. Especially after I've tackled projects with lots of lifting and/or stretching. Physical therapy didn't help.

As far as politics go, I remember when we defined politics as the art of compromise. Now, it seems compromise is seen as weakness while obstinacy and close-mindedness are virtues. What's wrong with everybody getting a slice of what they want, even if they can't get the whole pie?

 

[jvls1942]

I mowed the small blackberry patch down. we exposed an elderberry bush, a choke cherry tree, several more gooseberry bushes, a honeysuckle bush and a few assorted flowers.
then I put the tire back onto the yard cart. it still doesn't hold air, but the side walls are stiff. I sat on the corner of the cart and that tire did not go flat
it finally rained. I estimate about ten drops to the acre. Not enough to chase us indoors.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Got enough rain here to keep me satisfied for a day probably.

So sorry @Callender Girl about the lose of your husband. I cannot imagine how hard that is. I also used dogs as an excuse that I'm talking to them, and most times I am, but when I'm at Wal-Mart, we'll, it's just the crazy lady mumbling to herself.

My name is Lisa.

Jim you were right about the corn germinating without rain. It was already coming up, and this bit of rain will get it going faster. I'm gonna need a bigger freezer if it all makes it. We planted a lot. Husband seeded the back end with some oats.

 

[jvls1942]

we were away from home toward wausau when the rain started . we drove home thru it but it kept getting less and less as we neared home. the ground was wet when we got home, but I have no idea how much or how long it rained here. but I am thankful for what we got. the grapes respond to any TLC they get. I won't have to hook up the hose..

 

[Callender Girl]

It's nice to formally meet you, Lisa. I'm Barbara.

No measurable rain here, but at least it's cooled down so I could put the birds in their coops early last night. I often struggle with trying to stay awake late enough to get them to bed. I gather up all the "free-rangers" by about 7 but leave their coops open so they can hang out in the runs until dark. Last night, they were all inside by 7:30, and I watched baseball on TV, uninterrupted.

Upon closer inspection, it looks like my thornless blackberries have more blooms than I first saw. And, I have tiger lilies, hostas, Stella D'Oro's and yuccas starting to bloom.

I did a wee bit of lawn mowing yesterday afternoon. The county trims the grass along the road, and I try to keep the yard under control. But, then there's the ditch between the two. One of our friends tipped his rider over a couple of years ago and lost some fingers. I am terrified of being trapped and maimed by an upset mower, so the incline from the road to the ditch is terribly overgrown. I finally took the electric mower and the weed eater out to begin slowly removing the grasses -- which are higher than my knees.

All winter, I dream of all the projects I can do when the weather gets warm; all summer I curse many of those same projects.

 

[jvls1942]

good morning Lisa and Barbara, and anyone else reading..
On another site, there was a person whom I could not figure out the gender. It took me a couple of years to figure it out. It always reminded me of the old Sat Night skit of "Pat". back when that show was funny.
it is kind of overcast and dark this morning. I don't have any lights on.
I like getting up early like this with everyone still sleeping.
When I had my guard dogs, I never closed the coop . the birds free ranged . never had trouble with coons or deer in the garden or close to the yard. I did lose a couple of chicks to an eagle until I figured out what was taking them. I did lose guineas because they wandered down to the edge of the woods where the fox(es) hung out.
One day I spotted a big hawk in a tree across the field. He watched the birds for over an hour until he decided to fly away. didn't want to tangle with the dogs, I guess.
;;;;;;;jiminwisc;;;;;;;;

 

[WIchickMama]

Hello all! My name is Anjanet nice to "meet" you all.

I am definitely the one that talks to myself all the time, in the house, gardening, at the store, everywhere!

We don't have any blackberries ;( but I have raspberries at home and I just found a HUGE patch of wild ones at our wooded property this year. I don't believe there are any poisonous look alikes so I will harvest some, correct me if I am wrong though.

Happy for a break from the hot today, I will take mid 70s and sun. Not sure what we will do today, hubby has a list, lol.

We spilt and stacked about 2 truck beds of wood yesterday, we are getting close to having what we need for the winter ready. We drug our feet last year and ended up splitting into he snow, not fun.

I do have laundry going and the house needs to be vacuumed, so I will probably do that today. Maybe make some baked goods to freeze since it won't be so hot-cookies and coffee cake probably.

Hope you all have a great day Lisa, Barbara and JiminWisc, lol (and anyone else out there!)

 

[jvls1942]

Anjanet, there are no dangerous raspberry look alikes.
jim