Hello and welcome!

The last few weeks have been very busy around here. That really isn’t uncommon for this time of year since it is gardening season. This year, however, our “busy” has included a couple other big projects that we have completed or nearly completed in the last two weeks. Are you ready for a look at what we’ve been up to?

Gardening

We waited until the last weekend in May, Memorial Day weekend, to begin planting our garden. It was a good decision since our last frost was earlier that week. On Saturday, May 27, we managed to get 48 tomatoes, 24 peppers, 24 cabbages, 12 broccoli and 12 cauliflowers planted – all plants that we had started from seed.

Keeping these plants watered then became a regular chore since we had no rain from that point until this past Sunday, June 11.

Later that week my husband went to the greenhouse and picked up a few additional plants – eggplant, kohlrabi, Swiss chard, celery and a couple of melons. We also put in the few peanut plants that I started from seed We did get a layer of straw mulch around the plants to help retain moisture and keep weeds down.

In the above raised beds we planted green bean and cucumber seeds, but we decided to wait on planting anymore seeds until we had rain in the forecast. We spent the next two weeks keeping the plants watered and watching the weather forecast. Since the forecast showed a good certainty of rain on Sunday, June 11, Saturday became planting day.

My husband planted two varieties of pumpkins and several varieties of winter squash. He also planted carrots, beets, Swiss chard, and dill. I planted a patch of sunflowers. We ended the day with a prayer asking the Lord to bless our efforts.

We were overjoyed and thankful when the rains came on Sunday. The gentle but steady rain soaked into the ground was accompanied by cooler temperatures that allowed the ground to retain the moisture. We’ve had more rain today (Tuesday) but not too much and we have rain in the forecast again on Thursday, so we do not anticipate having to water anything for a while.

Sewing Projects

In April, when Ken and Tina told us that they were buying a house, and had a closing date set in May, I asked if I could make curtains and matching pillowcases for Jackson’s and Addie’s bedrooms. Once they closed on the house, I asked Ken to measure the kid’s bedroom windows, then Tina and I took Jackson and Addie shopping at the fabric store.

Jackson selected this Mario cart fabric and a solid red trim and Addie, after much deliberation, picked out the pastel unicorn fabric with a pink glitter-infused fabric for trim.

I started by making the pillowcases using this tutorial that I have used in the past.

The curtains were my own design.

I added a 6-inch boarder (with the trim fabric) to the bottom of each panel and used the trim fabric to make the top loops for hanging.

In these pictures the curtains are hanging on windows in my home. The windows that they were made for are wider than the ones in the pictures so the top loops will not be so bunched up when the curtains are in their new home.

I am quite happy with the way these projects turned out and look forward to seeing them in Jackson’s and Addie’s new bedrooms.

Our New Shed (or is it a Barn?)

Last Thursday, we had a new shed built at the farm. Though its footprint is only 10 ft. by 12 ft. my husband said it is more of a mini barn.

The building crew (two men) arrived shortly before 9:00 a.m. with all of the materials and tools for building it. They were finished before 4:00 p.m. Quite impressive.

We purchased the shed from this company but when my husband originally called the company he was referred to a local dealer/contractor. Through the contractor he was able to order the shed by phone and arrange for delivery/assembly within about two weeks.

Before they came to build the shed my husband had to prepare the site where the shed would be located. He first had to move the old metal shed that this one was replacing. Then he leveled the ground and added several inches of gravel for a base for the shed to sit on.

It looked quite big inside until we started putting stuff in it. LOL. The loft provides extra overhead storage space. We had a few upgrades added to the base package. They were – the solid wood floor (instead of osb), the three windows, and the five-foot ramp at the entryway that will make it easier to bring in equipment with wheels on it.

We were both impressed with the quality of the materials and the workmanship. It was also nice that the shed was already primed (that is the brown color in the above photos) and ready for us to add the paint color of our choice.

We spent much of the day on Friday painting and a bit of the day on Saturday (but had to break from painting to get planting done). We only have a bit of trim left to paint but that will have to wait until dry weather returns. I haven’t taken any pictures of the shed since we started painting but, if you’ve been hanging around here for long, I bet you can guess what color(s) it is.

*If not here’s your clue – The question remains – will it be our Big Red Shed or Little Red Barn?

Thanks for visiting!

What’s been keeping you busy this spring?