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

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Glad you are getting some help Barb. We are starting some winter prep here, and finishing last minute projects. Husband has a very large buck caught on one of his game cameras and he'd like some time to sit out back and see if he can get him.

My garden is done, manure and leaves and grass topped off on the beds. They can go to sleep now.

I don't eat meat either Barb. I personally don't like eating other peoples food so I'd bring my own too. Hopefully figuring out what to feed people isn't too difficult.

 

[jvls1942]

i imagine the pine cones have to line up the long way parallel to the pick up wires. a pull behind lawn sweeper might work.
Annie lucked out today. we were just getting the first tub planter lined up to move to it's winter quarters, bro Dave drove into the driveway. She hugged him and gave up her job. actually he was a great helper. we got all the tubs moved and treated ourselves to a couple of home brews.
i put the strawberries directly on the ground in their tub. i think I will cover them with straw or something. if they die, they die.
bro Dave crossed four leaf clovers with
poison ivy. he broke out with a rash of good luck.
he was just itching to tell me about it.

 

[Callender Girl]

Congrats on putting your garden to bed, Lisa! Mine still needs a few more buckets of goat manure -- of which I have plenty.

Hope your strawberries survive winter, Jim. The short fence my sister and I built around my strawberry bed still needs a cover to keep critters from climbing inside and feasting. And, that's on the to-do list for my helper-guests.

I forgot when mentioning menu planning that one guest won't eat mushrooms (which I learned when I caught her picking out all the very expensive, previously dried mushrooms, revived for a meal that I thought was elegant) and will only eat cooked onions, not raw -- unless they're in potato salad (no idea why that makes them palatable).

Keep in mind that these folks are historical re-enactors, which means they've eaten countless outdoor meals made with unwashed hands, cooked in semi-clean pans, seasoned with campfire ashes that blow in on food that has been kept at least lukewarm for days in coolers filled with melting ice. I'd like to think my meals are at least that good!!

However, balancing everyone's dietary needs is a small price to pay for all the volunteer labor. And, one of the guests is a phenomenal baker who always brings great fruit pies.

 

[jvls1942]

i have a couple of projects i want to get finished before the snow flies. have a downed tree to cut up and onto the burn pile. have a very heavy steel framed work table to haul out where i can take a decent picture of. i want to sell it. have a couple of windows in the sun room that need attention.\
debating whether to burn the burn barrel or dump the contents on the burn pile out back.
bil Dave said he would come and cut a branch that is bouncing on the house roof. it has black walnuts on it and sounds like a drum when the wind blows
he has a pole saw. it has been about 9 months since he said he would come and hook up the wires to a baseboard heater. but he works hard when he finally shows up.
i have a tension headache from the little work i did yesterday. an extra dose of Tylenol should help it. good thing i am not pregnant, lol

 

[jvls1942]

good sunday morning
44F , not a bad start to the day
yesterday we got the branches of the fallen pine trimmed off and onto the burn pile. just the main trunk to do. might cut that into firewood.
having trouble with tension headache. want to move the work table. we will see.
want to get the dog house into the yard for pictures.
not having any luck selling things on FB Marketplace
so many cracked pots out there.

 

[Callender Girl]

Good luck purging stuff. I'm hoping to send some unwanted stuff home with the guests I'm going to have this week. One has been promising to take Jim's sandblasting cabinet for the past two years.

Yesterday, I specifically went to the annual Pumpkins and Ponies festival to see the U.S. Veterans Mounted Drill Team perform. It's seven black-hatted veterans doing basic moves on horseback, but the narrative and watching them ride with the flags made me tear up a couple of times. And, I was far from the only one -- especially when the lone rider with the POW/MIA flag made his rounds. Most, if not all of the performers, have PTSD. When my Jim was being treated at the VA in Des Moines, his favorite field trips were hanging out with the horses at Jester Park.

The festival is in the next county, but I know the woman who owns the farm where it's held, and she's been trying to lure me out there for years. I also knew a couple of the vendors, there were miniature goats and alpacas, and there was a band that played music so old that I knew the words to the songs!

After goofing off all morning, I came home and cleaned poultry dishes as penance. The waterfowl fill their dishes with muck; the chicken waterers collect mold. I wish I could say I got all of them done. Last year, I must have gotten tired of cleaning, bought a bunch of new dishes -- and apparently hid the really dirty ones in the garage. Have to clean those up before guests -- who will spend a lot of time dinking around in the garage -- arrive.

All the corn fields around me are down, but there's still plenty of dust getting kicked up from all the fresh white rock along the paved road. I likely won't even try to dust until a couple of hours before everyone's ETA on Thursday.