Category Archives: Rain

The Last Days of Spring

Cherries, Cherry Tree, Chickens, Dogs, garden, Killdeer, Nature, Pond, Power Outage, Rain, Reflections, spring, The Farm, Tomato Weaving, Tomatoes, Weather, , , ,

The Pond

Hot weather moved in before summer actually arrived. It was time to make the pond more welcoming, so on Monday, June 16 I started by raking some of the weeds and leaves out of the beach area before rototilling the beach.

My husband brought out the beach chairs and I cleaned them up. Then we set up the chairs with the umbrella and a small table on the beach.

Ruby enjoys the pond as much as I do. She brings her ball the beach so we will throw it in the water for her to retrieve.

And Ranger, AKA our beagle fish, goes for regular swims just to cool off.

I’m not really a swimmer. I like to be in the water, but I don’t like my head under water..

I use this floating ring as my watercraft. With my upper body floating on the ring and my legs kicking in the water I find I can get a good lower body workout. Probably as good as the recumbent or stationary bike. So, my goal, as often as possible this summer, is 30-60 minutes in the pond each day.

My first time in the pond this year. In spite of my objections my husband took my picture. At least he didn’t figure out how to use the zoom.

Chickens

My husband gave the chickens a mound of fresh topsoil to bathe in. We had a very happy flock.

Prayer Garden

Abundant color.

So pretty.

Killdeer Update

I didn’t get any pictures, but on Tuesday afternoon we saw our young killdeers take flight. They are still hanging around the garden area which is fine with us because they do eat a lot of bugs.

Despite the storms that brought high winds and torrential rain both of the other killdeer are still dutifully sitting on their nests.

Sweet Cherries

The second sweet cherry tree that we planted last year was more productive than the first. I harvested these on Wednesday morning. Enough to have with lunch. And that concludes our sweet cherry harvest for the year.

Except for this lone cherry that my husband discovered on our youngest tree (third tree). I never even saw any blossoms on that tree this year. I did pick and eat this last sweet cherry.

Before The Storms

With heavy storms in the forecast for Wednesday afternoon we wanted to make sure the tomato plants were supported. Last year my husband discovered a method called tomato weaving. No more cages or staking each tomato to keep them upright.

To weave tomatoes, you need a stake at each end of the row. You also need a spool of twine or heavy string. You tie the twine/string to the stake at one end of the row then string it out weaving it in and out of the tomato plants. (On the right side of one plant then the left side of the next all the way down the row.) Make sure that the string is up against the main stem of each tomato plant. At the end of the row pull the string tight, wrap it around the stake a couple times, then weave it back down the row in the opposite direction, making sure that the string is on the opposite side of each plant and up against the stem of each plant. At the end of the row pull the string tight wrap it around the stake and tie it off.

As the plants grow taller you can add another layer of weaving higher up on the stake.

Once we were done with the tomatoes I spent about an hour pulling weeds in the garden.

Here are some views from when I was on my knees in the garden.

This storm went to the north of us. It was after we went home for lunch that the storms hit our place.

A baby tomato, I would not have noticed had I not been on my knees in the dirt. 🙂

Sweet Peas

In April I planted sweet peas in two planter boxes on our deck.

This week’s harvest.

After hulling. We normally don’t grow peas because you have to grow a lot to get a decent yield. I ate these raw with my lunch. 🙂

After The Storms

On Wednesday the storms dumped three inches (7.62 cm) of rain on us. We didn’t have any flooding, but the ground was saturated with standing water in areas. We got more rain Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Our gardens that were doing so well are now struggling. We will likely lose some tomato plants – hopefully not all.

The water level in the pond is up. It is littered with cottonwood seeds but the water is refreshing.

We are currently in the middle of a heat wave, experiencing record high temperatures and intermittent power outages but that’s a story for another day.

Thanks for visiting.

Catching Up

canning, garlic, Grandchildren, Rain, Reflections, Sewing, The Farm, Tomato Sauce, Weather

There were so many things in August that I wanted to write about but didn’t – this is my catch-up post.

Weather

The rainy streak that we had in July continued into August as our gardens continued to flounder. We were blessed that we didn’t get any of the severe weather, tornadoes, high winds, and hail, that other parts of our state experienced. We also did not have any power outages. We didn’t have our super-hot “dog days” of summer that we normally have in August, but we are having them now. Yesterday was hot and today, September 4th, we have reached 95 degrees Fahrenheit with a “feels like” temperature of 103 Fahrenheit. This weather is supposed to stick around for another day or two but today will be the hottest. A good day to spend indoors with the air conditioning on and writing to you all.

Back to School Shopping

It’s been about a decade since I’ve done back to school shopping (my youngest daughter graduated in 2014) but when Tina mentioned that they had received school supply lists from Jackson’s and Addie’s teaches I thought maybe I could help out by buying what they needed for school.

It was like stepping back in time when I walked into the same store where I bought school supplies the last few years my girls were in school, and saw all the notebooks, folders and others school supplies steeply discounted for their big back-to-school sale. I was flooded with fond memories.

The lists for a kindergartener and a first grader varied greatly from that of the high schoolers that I last shopped for. I bought crayons instead of highlighters and red and black pens, and safety scissors and glue sticks replaced the multitude of three ring binders with dividers and spiral notebooks. Hand sanitizer and Clorox wipes, items I would think should be supplied by the school, are now a priority.

Jackson and Addie started back to school on Monday and I saw a picture of them walking into school with the new backpacks I bought attached to their backs. That made me smile.

I also made them each a new pair of pants. I had planned to make the t- shirts to match but time got away from me, and I have not got around to making the shirts.

Books

Oure local library had a used book sale in August. When we walked in they handed me a plastic grocery bag and said that it was $2.00 for whatever fit in the bag. I ended up with two bags full, about 20 books for $4.00. That should keep me in reading material through the winter. My husband found a partial set of Audubon Nature Encyclopedias. They were printed in 1964 and were a first printing. It was the first 5 books in the set (A through IN) they have some lovely photos and illustrations and will make for some interesting reading. He paid $1.00 for the set of 5. Now that’s my kind of shopping! 🙂

I wonder if I should start doing some book reviews or at least some recommended reading posts. Several of the bloggers I follow do book reviews but is that something you would be interested in hearing from me?

Like Winning the Lottery

One afternoon as I was getting up from my recliner I happened to see something sparkle on the floor in front of my husband’s recliner. I didn’t think much of it at the time other than to remind myself that I really needed to do some vacuuming. A short time later I happened to glance down and notice that the diamond was missing from my wedding ring. At first I started to panic. Then I remembered the sparkle that I had seen on the floor. How it ended up there I’ll never know but indeed it was my diamond. (Angels perhaps?)

I just can’t imagine, of all the places it could have ended up, what the odds of it ending up there and me noticing it are, but it has to be at least equal to winning a million or more in the lottery. Though the monetary value of the stone is nowhere near that of a million-dollar winning ticket, I don’t think I would have been happier if I had won the lottery.

After two weeks at the jewelers my ring is back on my finger and as good as new. 🙂

Canning

In early August I mentioned to my husband that peach season would be coming up soon and I wanted to get another half bushel to can this year. Not wanting to miss out my husband called the orchard where we got our peaches last year and found out that they had quarts and pecks but would have large amounts later that week. Early the next week I knew I would have time to can peaches so on that Tuesday my husband went to the orchard and picked up a box. As it turned out they needed a few days to ripen so I ended up waiting until Friday. I canned 21 pints of peaches and made 7 1/2 pints of peach jam. They taste like summer in a jar – oh so good!!!

In addition to the bread and butter pickles I made last month we had enough cucumbers for me to make 5 more quarts of garlic dill spears. Since I still have pickles left over from last year we will have more than enough to get us through the year.

I finished up last week canning 14 quarts of tomato sauce. I also have 5 gallons of tomatoes in the freezer waiting to be made into sauce. Since I still have some juice left over from last year we decided to share our abundance of tomatoes with our neighbor who was also doing some canning. God is good!

Garlic

The garlic that was harvested and hung in the barn in mid-July was finally ready to be cleaned.

It took me about 4 hours over the course of two days to clip and clean the approximately 330 bulbs this year.

Twist and Turns

I mentioned in my previous post that life had taken some twists and turns and I know some of you might be concerned over such an ambiguous statement. I apologize and assure you that we are well. We have, however, started exploring our options for building a house at the farm. We are mostly in the research stage – gathering the information that we need to make decisions. I do think this is going to be a long process and pray that it will be a good experience.

Don’t be surprised if someday in the future you see a house in the background of this photo.

Thanks for visiting!

July 2023 Recap

Birds, Blueberries, Cucumbers, Dragon Flies, Flowers, garden, Mosquitoes, Pickles, Rain, Reflections, The Farm, Weather, Wild Flowers

I feel like I just wrote my review of June and already we are more than a week into August. July 2023 is history but let’s take a look back to some July stuff.

Weather

Our July weather was anything but typical. While we didn’t suffer the extreme heat that much of the country did, we had a very wet month. Typically, we spend a lot of time watering the gardens in July but this year there was no need for that. In fact, we had much more rain than we needed for some of our plants to thrive. My husband saw a report that our area had over eight inches of rain fall in July. Our average rainfall far the month is less than four inches. We were blessed though that we didn’t get any of the large hail or damaging winds/tornadoes or power outages that areas around us had.

Gardens

Blueberries have been our superstar crop this year. I mentioned picking blueberries in a couple of my previous posts and we have continued to pick them into August. I told my husband that since we pray for God to provide for our needs, I assume that God is telling us that we need to eat lots of blueberries.

We have also been picking green beans and cucumbers. Some of the green beans went into the freezer but most we enjoyed with our dinners.

So far we’ve had enough cucumbers for me to make 6 pints of bread-and-butter pickles which makes my husband happy because we only had one jar left in the pantry from last year.

All of the cauliflower died and much of the cabbage either died or is struggling so I was surprised to see that broccoli plants forming crowns.

I would be delighted to pick a few bunches of broccoli this year.

Our squash and pumpkin plants seem to be faring well so far.

We are seeing small squash and pumpkins on many of the plants and even some cantaloupes starting to form fruit.

Colors

The colors this year are beautiful – lush greens and bold colored flowers.

The lavender continued to blossom and was heavily foraged by bumble bees and honeybees throughout July and well into August.

I was surprised to see that this cosmos that came up voluntarily from seeds that were dropped last year is white while all of cosmos last year were all pink. I not sure how to explain that – likely is has something to do with the plant’s genetics. I’m now waiting for others to blossom to see what color they are.

It was the very end of July when the hibiscus began to blossom.

Purple coneflower in a patch of wildflowers.

Early in July I decided to dig up some Black-eyed Susans that were outgrowing their designated spot at the house and plant them at the farm. I wanted them in the front corner of the fence where I can’t get to with the riding mower. My husband planted them for me and for several weeks we’ve been waiting for them to bloom. Now they are. Black-eyed Susans spread through underground rhizomes and by seeds that they drop so my hope is that they will not only fill in this corner but spread some along the fence as well.

Mosquitoes

The wet weather has been ideal for mosquitoes. Did you know there are more than 3000 species of mosquitoes worldwide? Around 60 species in Michigan alone. I found this very interesting article that explains about different types and where and when we might expect them to hatch, grow and live.

The mosquitoes that we are currently plagued with would be categorized as floodwater mosquitoes – these eggs are laid in depressions in the ground that flood or hold water when conditions are right. The eggs may remain viable for up to seven years.

While dragonflies, frogs, toads and many of the bird species that live on, or visit, the farm are known to dine on mosquitoes, apparently there are more than enough to go around because more often than not a trip to the farm means dousing ourselves with that horrible bug spray in order to prevent being eaten alive by these vicious blood suckers. Sadly, I’ve not spent as much time outside as I normally would because I try to avoid the use of chemicals as much as possible.

Birds

Sometime during the last week of July our green herons returned.

Each year the pair shows up in late summer and spends several weeks with us. Since we have never seen their nests or their young, I assume that by this time they have raised their young and then stop at our pond for some fine dining before they migrate south for the winter.

They seem to be pretty comfortable with us, flying up from the edge of the pond to the windmill and waiting there until we passed by.

You might remember this post from July where I showed you the life ring that had become a bluebird house. Well, we have since learned that there are baby bluebirds being raised there. (I tried to get a picture of them but it just looked like a black hole.) We are enjoying seeing the bluebirds coming and going as they care for the young. When doing some reading, I learned that bluebirds commonly raise three broods per season. I also found interesting that sometimes the babies from the earlier brood will stay around and help feed the next group of chicks.

We do plan on getting some new life rings next spring. I think we will also be buying or building bluebird houses.

Thanks for visiting and I you enjoy the rest of August.

Too Much of a Good Thing

garden, Gardening, Rain, Reflections,

Last week, when I took you all on a little garden tour, our gardens were doing well. We had gotten some much needed rain and did not anticipate having to water anytime soon. Now we have gotten too much rain, and our gardens are suffering .

June 27, 2021

It is called wet wilt. The ground is simply too wet for the plants and they are basically drowning.

June 27, 2021

We have lost significant amounts of tomatoes and peppers and the entire row of green beans. Today we noticed that the cabbage and potatoes have also taken a hit.

June 27, 2021

On June 27th, when we first discovered that we were losing plants, my husband removed all of the straw mulch in order to give the ground an opportunity to dry out and prevent further damage, but with showers and storms adding water to the ground each day there has been no chance of that. We now have about five dry days in the forecast so hopefully the worst is over and all is not lost.

While this is discouraging we must remember –

Do Not Worry
(Matthew 6: 25-34)25 Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns—and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 28 And why do you worry about clothes? Consider how the lilies of the field grow: They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was adorned like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles strive after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.

As soon as the ground dries up some we will be placing some of the lost plants. My husband was able to find some tomato and pepper plants at a garden center and he also bought more green bean seeds. 🙂

When The Rains Came

garden, Rain, Rainbow, Reflections,

Much needed rain was in the forecast for Sunday night and throughout the day on Monday. We were becoming discouraged as we watched the radar and saw storms to the west fall apart as they crossed lake Michigan. Throughout these days the National Weather Service forecast also changed with chances of rain diminishing from a 70% chance of rain to only a 20% chance that we would get any.

We were so happy Monday evening when the rain started to fall. We had just come from the gardens where I had taken many pictures, that I used in my previous post, and we picked Swiss chard, beets and cucumbers.

As the rain poured down we sat on the barn porch and offered prayers of thanks.

It rained for about 30 minutes or so.

And by the time it was done we had puddles on the driveway.

When the rain was coming to an end we looked to the east for a rainbow – the symbol of hope. The white spots are caused by rain drops. I know the one looks like the moon, but it is not.

It was a complete rainbow – I just couldn’t fit the entire thing in one photo.

The sun was low in the sky as the clouds moved out.

We are so thankful for this life- sustaining rain.

Note: In the early morning hours of Wednesday we had more rain arrive. It started sometime before 3:30 A.M., when my husband got up to let Ranger out, and ended around 6:30 A.M. Our garden should not need to be watered for a while now. 🙂

How has you weather been this summer?