Tuesday Twittering

 It's one of those cooler mornings that we've been promised for the past week. The supposed "last of the rain" pelted down in a deluge, earlier, and now the birds are out, twittering away, enjoying the freshness of the morning. I've got doors and windows open, to air the house, and plan on some outdoor time this afternoon.

We had a brilliant weekend, and yesterday, hubby finished another raised bed for me, so I'm going to go out and transplant some more of the cantaloupes. Who didn't expect all of her seeds to grow? Me! That's who. I have been transplanting, and giving away, baby cantaloupe plants since they began shooting up and crowing each other. 

If I manage to empty the first planter of babies, I'll refresh the soil and plant the onion seeds from where I planted one onion and let it go to seed. At the moment, the tops containing the seeds are just on a paper towel on top of the microwave, drying.  

I'm not planning on going anywhere today, I have plenty to keep me busy here. I have a few articles to write, emails to compose and respond to, pedalling to do and phone calls to make. The nicest thing about working from home is the ability to work on my own time and take rests when I need to. My body just doesn't always cooperate, so I always intersperse my bouts of activity with lazy lying-down sessions, so that my body can sort itself out again, and my blood pressure and heart rate stay within my normal limits.

Over the weekend, we had 2 mama deer with their babies, come to visit us. One has twins, the other, we saw only one fawn. All 3 babies are no bigger than our dog, Mystery, was, when she was alive. They are so cute to watch, as they gambol around.

I am down to 2 library books, so need to go through the book lists, find some that look interesting and then reserve them. I read as I pedal, so I do a LOT of reading. I'm into all different genres but my favourite is legal/medical/detective thrillers. That's not to say that I don't meander into historical fiction, beach books or Harlequin-esque romances on occasion, just that I prefer books that keep me on my toes and trying to figure out the "who did what" before all is revealed.

Methinks also, today, I need to try to make a restart on decluttering. I am such a hoarder, it is terrible. I am sure I have plenty of stuff that I can still donate so that someone else can enjoy, and plenty of papers and boxes that can go for recycling. 

I also have AVON brochures to label, bag and box ready for my next "tossing" session.  

I plan on a busy week, and today is just the beginning. We had a lazyish day yesterday, as I had hubby home. We hadn't been sure about our weekend travel, whether we might come home Sunday, so I'd had him arrange yesterday off. I do love having him around. I wish he could retire now.

Have a wonderful day, my friends. Enjoy the blessings that come your way.

#lovingmylife  #bosslife  #AVON  #containergardening  #raisedbeds  #lifeisgood

A Beautiful Day Yesterday

 I used to attend all the local AVON "dos" until my health started getting in the way, and now that I'm beginning to stay on a semi-stable keel, when they announced the "Sip 'n' Shop" in Charlotte NC, I jumped at the chance to hang out with some of the AVON family, see new products and who doesn't love getting free swag bags?  I know I do.

I do not like traffic, and avoid Interstates like the plague, so we took a leisurely drive through Woodruff, Union, Sharon, York and Lockhart on our way from Greenville SC to Charlotte NC on Hwy 49 most of the way. We wish we had had the time to stop and explore those towns. They were so picturesque and full of history. We've definitely decided to take trips out to actually go to those places and explore them. Just passing through, the old houses and different city buildings and churches, were awesome to look at. Quaint towns that - in some ways - look untouched by progress, and are renewing rundown downtowns into some neat places to stroll around.

The weather may not have been everyone's cup of tea, but it was perfect for us, it stayed overcast much of the journey, both ways, meaning it was much cooler than it might have been. There was a slight breeze and - on the way home - a couple of sprinkles of rain.

The AVON "do" was neat and hubby and I both loved our swag bags ... and used the aloe cooling face masks out of them before we went to bed.

 Yes, I look like something out of a horror movie but it felt so good, really relaxing, and left my skin really soft and smooth. It made a perfect ending to a perfect day!

A Productive Weekend

 I love hubby's 3 day weekends every weekend, now. We manage to pack so much into them, running around, doing stuff around the house and yard.

This one has been busy, as always. 

On Friday, my day began with an AVON delivery, banking, paying bills, and dropping off trash and recycles.

We took ye bedroom cat, Snuggles, to get all her shots done. To say she was NOT happy was an understatement, her yowls of protest were loud and clear throughout the whole journey. We had been unable to find her harness (hubby jokes that she has hidden it) so he went and bought a pop-up carrier, which turned out to be a lot bigger than expected.

We also headed out to Berea, to pick up a lilac, and a couple of cherry, plants, as I add to my edibles.

Friday night was also the night that my chickie babies had their first overnight in their hen house. The night was warm, and we put pine straw in the nesting and perch area, added their smaller water bottle, and closed the door on them in there. All went well, and the next morning they were thrilled to be let out and semi-flew down the ramp to the open area. 

Yesterday, another 2 AVON deliveries began our "out and about", then taking back and picking up library books,  plus a visit to hubby's chiropractor, before dropping off some cantaloupe plants on my massage therapist.

We came home and I transplanted some more cantaloupes and my3 cucumber plants, and they are now nestled in pine straw on my new raised bed, that hubby got finished for me.

It looks good, and as the plants vine, they'll be able to lay on the pine straw as they produce their fruits. Surprising, for me, was the strong cucumber scent of the cucumber plant roots, it was very odd as I've never had  a fruit or vegetable  plant roots smell exactly the same as what they produce.

The rosemary is flourishing,

as is the lavender.

Today's outdoor activities include planting the seeds from the lychees that I has as part of my breakfast, and concocting a Dawn/Coke/hot sauce/ water and oil natural bug killer to spray all my plants with. It's supposed to rain, later, so they'll all be getting watered naturally.

And look who came to visit as well. 

Just loving my life, happiness is definitely tied to my chicks and my plants right now.

#lovingmylife #containergardening #3dayweekend #chickens #plants #happiness #contentment

My Chicks, My Yard, And Me

My chicks are definitely beginning to look more like chickens now. Their tail feathers are growing, their wings are fully feathered (and they love to try them out) although their bellies are still fluffy down. Their distinct personalities are coming through, with Poppy (the brownish one) being the definite self-proclaimed leader of the pack.

Now that they are getting bigger, I take them out to their henhouse every day, and we bring them in overnight for now. Once they are fully feathered, they will be able to stay out after sundown, and we'll just  unhook the ramp and close the front door on their nesting area.

They have fun in their "jungle" and love pecking at the grass, dandelions and clover that they don't get indoors. I still pop chick feed in with them daytimes, they need to be able to eat whenever they want to, while they are growing.

They seem quite satisfied with their new domain, and I love to just sit outside and talk to them. If ever you needed proof that I was crazy, there ya have it!

It's a part of getting a life back, that I thought I had lost forever. Being disabled, I had given up on the idea of having animals around that needed to be taken care of,  but as I regain some mobility, we figured I could handle 4 chickens in a henhouse, and it definitely makes me happy.

Likewise, I'd given up on gardening, since my attempts last year proved that, even having someone else till a piece of ground for me, did not mean that I and my trusty walker would be able to plant it. The first major obstacle was getting down to the field, the slope is too much for me to walk down and even harder to get back up. My ridearound made it down there but then decided it didn't like the slope either. Hubby had to bring the truck down to get me back to the house, and I was so flustered.

So this year we decided to try container gardening and raised beds. Hubby has almost finished the first raised bed for me, and the plants in containers are all doing well. My snow peas are awesome straight off the vine, and I snack on them outside. Sadly, the deer and the big bunny (who hangs out in the front yard) have taken a liking to my beans and all that is left of a flourishing vine are a few stalks about 4" high.

The grapevines have starting coming out of their dormant state, and the blueberry is shooting up. The blackberry (which we had moved from the patch down near the field) is very odd and withers when out in the sun, but flourishes under the car port. Yet where it came from was a place in full sun, it just makes no sense at all.

Indoors, I recently separated my spider plants and repotted some, to allow them to grow in their own pots. We also took cuttings from the gardenia and azalea bushes, and I am trying to get them to root indoors, and then I can have hubby replant them along the fence front line to create a fragrant "hedge".

Closer to the house, when we get the old holly bushes out, I want gravel beds and will then put my pots of rosemary and lavender there.

I have definitely felt a rebirth, of me, this Spring.

Poor hubby, he and my grandson have been working on the roof together some weekends, and my "honey do" list is so long.

Last weekend, we had some help from 2 missionaries from the local Mormon Church. Dax and his friend started painting the cabin shed for me, as I had only managed to do most of one side and that had been an effort. You can already see an improvement and it's going to look smashing once it's finished.

 I love the red and white. Eventually my goal is to repaint the brick , on our house, white, and repaint the shutters red to match the new roof. Slowly but surely, I am reclaiming my life and not just existing in a rut. I am beginning to be able to love my life again.

I joke that, to get the money for all the stuff I need and want to do, I def need to sell more AVON, LOL. Hubby says yeah I need to, too!

#lovingmylife #chickpics #containergardening #wildlife #Spring #rebirth #beinghappy #makingmyselfhappy #disabilitywontstopme  #whoisrosedempsey #rosedempseyAVON

A Beautiful Weekend Overall

The nicest thing about hubby's work schedule now is that 4 x 10 hour days means EVERY weekend is a 3-dayer and any long weekend is 4!  So I had hubby home for 4 whole days, and sadly had to let him go back to work this morning. I know, most long married couples are glad to have their spouse away and out of their hair. I like having mine around, and we have always worked well together.

This long weekend, we got a lot accomplished. 

We helped my grandson, granddaughter-in-law and baby Lily finish their move, so that they could all sleep in their new home. We also took a drive out to a nice little river place in Anderson County. 

He took some cuttings from my gardenia bushes, for me, and they are currently in water, having been dipped in rooting powder, so that I can get some new bushes started.  We are wanting to give Dylan and Lauren some for their new home, and we are going to line our front fence with them, and honeysuckle. Fragrant flowers, especially lovely on breezy days, as the scents get blown gently around. Next weekend I am hoping to be getting some lilac plants from a lady locally.

He's almost done with the first of my raised beds and then I'll be putting the first of my cantaloupe plants in there. I'm leaving them in their pots, but lining the bed with pine chips so that, as they vine out, the baby melons will be dry and less likely to rot. I am going to be keeping him so busy with my "honey do" list. I want 5 of these for starters.

My peas - oh they are awesome - we are eating them straight off the vine. I don't know why they never manage to make it in the house. 

I sat outside a few times and talked to my chickies, now that we pop them out in their henhouse daytimes on sunny days. They are feathering nicely, and their distinct personalities make watching them an amusing interlude for me. 

On Saturday, 2 local Mormon missionaries came by and started painting my cabin-style shed for me. They'll be coming back to finish it off another day. It is already looking much nicer, in the barn red colour with white trim. Once the house roof is completed, I am wanting to get our brickwork painted white. I love seeing white brick houses with red metal rooves and red shutters so that's where my wants are at, now.

Earlier today, there were a lot of sirens close by and the coyotes in the field kicked off yowling and screaming. Sounds like the pack is probably up to about a dozen now. I'm thinking that may be why "my" deer haven't been coming around. We have seen one solitary doe the last few days. There used to be about 8 or 9, including a young stag with his first antlers. 

Yesterday, hubby and I made it to the gym, and took advantage of both the massage chair and the hydrotherapy beds. They are an essential part of my wellness program, and a great pick-me-upper inbetween my "real" massages with my darling Roger at Studio Rejuvenate. I made it to see Roger on Friday and had a 30 minute back massage and 30 minute foot reflexology. I was in heaven! I swear, I could lay there for hours and enjoy every moment!  

All in all, it was a lovely weekend, and the cooler weather made it such more enjoyable (me not being a sun-worshipper).