Rebecca Homecca

I got another punch on my a la carte hippy card the other day.

I went to the book store with my gift card to buy a book on preserving food. I have in the past bought some things at the farmers market (or picked from my garden) and froze them for use over the winter. I wanted something that would help me branch out from green beans and spaghetti sauce.

I chose the book The Beginners Guide to Preserving Food at Home because it concentrated more on freezing than canning. It does touch on canning and drying too.  It’s not that I have anything against canning, but it does require more equipment, and I remember hot steamy days of tomatoes when I was a kid. I might try some of that eventually, but right now I’m just looking to extend the summers bounty and have better tasting veggies all winter.

I do need to buy a multi pot and hoping to find one on sale, that is maybe NOT Calphalon. Not that it isn’t probably worth the investment, but seriously. $80? It was $129 at Kohls. I thought I could get it with my gift cards. Yeah I was a little short…But I can’t find any other brands. I guess I have until spring to shop around.

Er…where was I going with that? I got on a bit of a tangent there.

Anyway, the other nice thing about this book is that it gives you some options. There may be a quicker method that you can use, or one that is recommended for best flavor, that kind of thing. It also has ideas for combining veggies into one bag for quick meal options.  It really takes into account that people have jobs and lives and don’t want to spend hours on this.

It does get a little hippy dippy at times but that is to be expected.

Now I can’t wait until summer! I may even join a produce co-op. (punch)

I wanted to work on some outside projects today and one of them was to finish the fire pit project. I had to level out some of the stones with sand and then fill in with pea gravel.

It ended up taking all day because I had to dodge the rain 3 different times. It goes from dark clouds and wind and rain to sunny with a pleasant breeze. During those pleasant times I put my shoes and gloves back on and headed out to work for an hour until the rain comes again.

I did finally get it filled in, so now we are all ready to have fires. I even bought marshmallows so we can s’more it up.

The best part is the old owners left the pavers for us and the gravel was leftover from last year’s drainage ditch project. So we did not have to shell out any money to get this one done.

I did not get any other outside projects done because I have kind of lost interest at this point.

I saw this plant stand a while ago and thought it was really cute (and a good price) but didn’t want to spend the money that day.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and I sold a chair out of our basement at work and made some cash money. I knew what I was getting! Hubs and I discussed needing something to get the pots off the deck, so it was perfect.

I did not think it would still be there since it was so neat and such a good deal. And that happens to me a lot.

But it was still there!

I decided the tomato plant was too heavy, so I will have to find something else to sit that on. The pots on top are attempting to grow peppers, but I think the marigolds are doing better.

Next year I could even use it as like a bar for snacks and drinks or what have you. They had another one in the store…hmmm…maybe if I sell another chair…

While I was at the antique store (one of my faves, they have good prices) I also found this little gem for $12.

I have been looking for something like this. Everything I saw was cheap (well, not cheap, expensive actually, but cheaply made) or ugly or cost too much or all of the above. This little angel is made out of cast iron, so she is very heavy and sturdy. I love how she is peaking out from the ground. She made me go over budget a little, but I think it was worth it!

I forgot to take a before picture, but doesn’t the finished project look great?!?

Instead of mulch, the area under the trees was filled with rocks slightly smaller than the ones I used for the border. It did not do a very good job of keeping weeds out and generally looked terrible.

I had decided that I wanted to clear the rocks out so that I could make a little parking area for the trash can. It was on the other side of the garage all out in the open. I did not like pulling in and seeing it right there, it’s ugly. Also, it was right outside the dining room window, and I did not think this was a good plan as the weather warms up.

As with all projects, something small turns into something bigger. Part way through the clearing of the rocks (and weeds) I decided I wanted to mulch around the shrubs and use  bigger rocks for a border in addition to making a parking area for the trash.

So there was alot of hauling rocks up and down the hill in the back to get the sizes I wanted. Since I am a weakling I can only load so many in the wheel barrow at a time. That makes for a lot of trips.

Then I put down landscape fabric which I had purchased to put under the paver the trash is sitting on. I just put in everywhere instead.

Since I wasn’t planning on mulch, I had to go get some. I thought I needed 2 bags, so I decided I would buy three, to be safe.

I got to the store and thought, those bags look bigger than I thought. The area isn’t that big.

So I ran out.

Three bags was actually the EXACT amount I needed. Go figure.

Finally finished up tonight.  We often have a lot of half done things going on around here. I have to say it is nice to do a job start to finish with noticeable results!

It was hard work, but I am pretty proud that I got it all done by myself. Even the heavy lifting.

Last year we noticed quite a few hummingbirds flying around hitting up some of our flowers. So this year I planted some pots full of hummingbird friendly flowers and also purchased a hummingbird feeder.

I filled it with homemade nectar and it seems to be a hit! Hubs saw a couple the other day eating it and I saw one when I was outside (I thought it was a really loud bee at first!).

Here’s the recipe from my friends at the birdseed store. It’s way cheaper than the premade stuff.

1 Part Sugar
4 Parts Water
Boil 1-2 Minutes
Cool & Store In Refrigerator Do NOT add food coloring. It is not needed and just makes clean up harder. Besides, I don’t think the birds like it. They prefer to go organic.

Last fall we went to a natural gardening group (who never contacted me afterwards, by the way) where we learned about sowing seeds and whatnot.

They gave us some seeds to plant in containers over the winter. I kind of forgot about them. I was supposed to pull it out in March or April. Well it’s June, so here’s what I got

I should have taken a picture when they were all smooshed against the lid trying to get out. I am going to leave them on the deck for a little while and see if they get a little bigger (and straighter) before I transplant them. I am not entirely sure where I want to put them just yet anyway.

If you are paying attention (which I was not) this is a fun way to get plants started from seed. If you had a bunch you were doing this would be an easy way to keep track (there is a label stick instide). I might try some more this fall.

Here’s a pic of Grandma’s Peonies that I picked the other day. I love the buds. I think they are so cute. And it is so hard to believe all those petals are in there!

I braved the mosquitos to get these pictures of my pots that I planted. All the plants were selected to attract butterflys and hummingbirds. That plant in the middle is a black and blue verbana (I think). It has black buds that turn into bright blue flowers.

Hmm…that one’s a little blurry. Must have been swatting a mosquito. I dig these rectangle ones. I think they look so cute.

This pot is a found item from an antique store. I think  it was some kind of strainer. It has kind of a mesh in the bottom (great for drainage!) and a flute type thing that I stick in the ground.

Ran out of room and still had  a few left. So, I threw together this little pot for the steps. That is our little snake that lives on our front steps (next to the pot). He came with the place so we just leave him be.

Oh and he’s plastic. Makes for fun conversation when we have visitors though. Now you know my secret, so if you ever visit you won’t be scared!

Also, let’s try and ignore all the weeds in the flower beds. Too many skeeters for that. Hubs is out spraying though, so maybe I can stand to be out there for more than five seconds now and get those weeds out.

Now I just have to wait for the butterflies to show up!

I came in from outside just in time to catch the first song on American Idol.

A couple of notes about that…

I am so glad it is only an hour long. I just assumed it would be 2 (Biggest Loser was 3 and far less interesting).

I do not like it when they sing songs they have done already. I understand why they do it,  it’s alot of pressure to learn 3 new songs. Having said that, I think they both chose good songs to repeat, if they must.

Now on to Adam Lambert…He did not invent that rendition of Mad World. I have heard that song sung that way before. Not that he doesn’t sing it well, he just isn’t the genius they think he is. It would help if the judges turned on a radio once in a while.

That was an awesome performance by Kris. I love that he busted out the piano.

I hate to make empty threats (see also Taylor Hicks) but if Adam wins, I am considering boycotting next year.

Ok, back to the outside business. I had a magazine article about making containers for attracting butterflys and hummingbirds. I have seen a couple of hummingbirds already, so I thought that sounded like fun. I took my magazine to the greenhouse across the street from work and the lady helped me pick out plants. They were having a good sale so I bought way too many and ended up with several pots instead of just one.

Alright Adam Lambert enough with the screaming.

The skeeters are out in full force, which made planting interesting. I did not know you could sprint while planting flowers, but I did. I have never planted pots so fast in my life. I also planted some marigolds to try and keep the deer away from my peppers and tomatoes. They are on the deck, but I’m taking no chances.

Can someone tell me why these judges are so in love with this guy? I think only dogs can hear some of those notes.

My boy Kris Allen is coming on. Can you say PERFECT song choice?? These judges are idiots. Do they not get that he is a laid back guy and that is why people love him? Not everyone likes people who sound like ambulance sirens when they sing, but apparently these idiots do. I feel like ripping Randy’s ugly tie off and shoving it in his mouth so he can no longer talk.

Not that I’m bitter.

What are those pants Lambert is wearing?

I hate this song. Kara, I think you are great but this is horrible. Really what do I expect? The songs they write for them every year are lyrics ripped from a 13 year old girls diary put to a casio keyboard.

Prediction-Adam is going to win, put out an album sell like 5,000 copies, get dropped from the label and tour the country starring in Rent in third rate theaters.

Kris is actually make this song not sound like total drivel. How is that possible? New prediction-Kris, win or lose, is going to sell a bazillion records.

He totally beat Adam with a baseball bat mob style on this one. The judges don’t know what to do now. Their pride and joy just got served.

The vote off show is going to be 2 hours? Is that neccesary? We only care about the last 5 minutes.

Go Kris!

Since the deer ate our hostas within about 5 minutes of planting them last year, I decided to try and save them this year. I saw a couple of nibbles on one of the hostas, so I figured I better get to it.

I had done a little research last year on my different options, all of which are expensive.

You can buy all kinds of animal urine; coyote, wolf, bobcat. But it’s kind of pricey. So I opted for somehting called liquid fence.

Apparently the key ingredient in liquid fence is butt stink. It is the most foul smelling stuff ever.

I started gagging while spraying it on the hostas, and one little one on the just about got skipped because I couldn’t take it much longer.

I told hubs how bad it smelled when I came in. I don’t think he realized the extent to which it reaked.

Then he went out for milk. He opened the door and immediately closed it back up. Then he told me it smelled like someone dumped raw sewage in our front yard.

He held his breath and ran out to the car. Upon return he used the back door as to avoid walking past stench radiating from our flower beds.

I’m not sure if it would keep deer away or not, but I’m pretty sure we don’t have to worry about any Jehovah’s Witnesses ringing the bell.