She finally succumbed.

This will be strictly grief, gardening and plans for my homestead. Here's the link:

http://widowsweedssite.wordpress.com

Not much there now, I literally started today, but I'll be working on that as my garden experiments progress. The good news is I've already sourced a potential buyer of winter salad greens! Woo!

planted purple potatoes!

That's it, really. Potatoes are fussier than I expected. They require regular additions of dirt. Given how sunken the Purple Potato Patch is, this doesn't bother me. But they are clearly More Work than "stick seed potatoes in the ground and water". Ah well. I have a lot of dirt.

I admit they aren't as deep in the ground as the box recommended, nor are they spaced as far. However, I have no problem building up the trenches, so we shall see.

The Patch only has about five plants. The rest I shoved into the compost heavy ground behind the garage. We shall see which location they like best.

I've also started making bottle bricks for my future earthship. I have several scratches on my right hand and one brick. There are three more sections cut, but I need sandpaper to smooth out the edges and none of them match up perfectly. I really should invest in a power saw for this...

Pruned the rose bush!

Scrubbed some rust off her shovel!

Dug up carrots! EDIBLE carrots! What I was convinced had frozen and died an icy death were actually okay and tasted like carrots. They were wee, but I got 10 in yellow, white and red. I am impressed! No pictures, we ate them.

Dug up way too many bulbs from the same bed.

Dumped two buckets of compost on top and turned it in with shovel.

Burned more wood for ash to sprinkle on the vegetable beds because that's what they're asking for. I have Garden Spirits! They talk to me!

Planted broccoli!

I'm taking a huge risk with the broccoli, but the research says broccoli can handle a frost and it was SUCH a mild winter, we shall see what happens. I now have to buy dried rabbit's blood to protect this bed. Also need to sign up for the CSA.

Here's hoping it rains!

It still hurts to flex, but not as badly, the swelling is going down and the itching is starting up. Huzzah! *rolls eyes*

Nobody sells charging cords for a Black and Decker weed whacker. I'll find one online.

I now have black plastic, another hose and a hand pump sprayer. It's too hot and humid to work outside now. I'll drown the jackets out tonight after dark. The stumps may have to wait until next weekend. It's not like they're going anywhere.

Because it's not as easy as it looks.

Researching for Shadows of Kyoto was fun and involved a lot of online digging.

Researching for my second novel is sucking me into a world of earthworms and crop rotations and I'm already eyeing my postage stamp and quietly plotting. There's going to be heavy labor involved once the cucumber and carrots are harvested. I'm spending money on seed catalogs and debating the best use of all the paving stones, bricks and other large rocks I have to expand my garden. IDK (Indestructo-kiddo) and I have already agreed tomatillos will be grown, if I can find the variety that tastes like apples.

My salt crust method did not work, so now I need something else. I actually pulled out two tree seedlings today while weeding the unused bed section where the drain spout is. My plan (hahahaha) is to use what I learn from working my little section in the novel, expanded accordingly. There's "food forests" and "how to have a complete farm on one acre of land" and "10 acres produce over $100,000 income in Ontario". Shetland sheep! Jersey cows! Why aren't Cayuga ducks getting any love? I don't want chickens!

I've requested an interview with my CSA owner, but it's a busy time for them, so I don't know if or when I'll get it.

In the meantime, my depressed heroine is going to start with four leaky metal buckets in the kitchen.

Does not have any more broccoli seeds. Sad Panda.

Has excellent compost!

Has some form of bee nesting in the compost bin!

Has the sting to prove it!

Is going to lose her marigolds that she transplanted. Apparently this flower prefers to be clustered together. So be it. When the transplants finally die I will plant more and hopefully will get more marigold flowers before the first frost.

Still has flowering cucumbers.

Still has little carrot fronds doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

Still has live basil, how is this possible?

I feel my first attempt at vegetable gardening has done well, all things considered. We got over two dozen pea pods, about six beans and if the cucumbers and carrots ever start DOING something, we should have a decent harvest. My plans for the rest of the growing season is to turn compost into the ground that was used for growing, mark out an area for a small raised bed or greenhouse and start killing the grass with flagstones and more compost. Also need to kill that one tree, but that will require more then a salt crust. I need serious stump killing stuff. There are many stumps to kill and I can't just burn them because they're ALL next to the house!

I found a free copy of "The $64 Tomato" written by a gardener in New York. I will be reading this over the winter and making plans.

In other news, I am NOT allergic to bee stings, aloe juice works very well at halting the reaction process and I had a lovely dinner out with my hair stylist. We celebrated divorces from dicks and surviving the abuse that comes with it and being stronger for it. Chezzie? Mowgli? She'll be the one doing our hair for my wedding. She's super cool and does a really good job. Start planning!

Realized today the west side yard is probably the reason I got the notice, so I went out today after work to pull the weeds.

I pulled many weeds, and handfuls of vine, the same vine I've been fighting all year. I finally trace it back to one plant about two thirds down the west side of the house. I can't pull it out, it acts like it's part tree or something. I yanked all the vines I could and broke all the main stems. I also found two more trees and a bush. *HEADDESK*

I will need Handy BIL again. Or see if I can find a replacement cord for my weed whacker, which was found over the weekend. The salt crusts helped some, but didn't actually kill the trunks. I will need stronger stuff.

Cuteness will be back from her impromptu visit to Bermania tomorrow. It's been weird, coming home to an empty house. I suspect I will suffer empty nest syndrome. Jazz-cat informs me he LUVS me, as long as I feed him and pet him and suffer his ankle and calf attacks when he's playful. I do not suffer attacks, nor do I suffer clawing the furniture. He will learn. I really need a laser pointer.

and we're no longer outnumbered by the pets. I'm enjoying the quiet. Tonight Cuteness and I made poached trout, baby red potatoes, broccoli and carrots. Cuteness ate most of her vegetables and very little of anything else. Either she's snacking hard at Mama A's or she's done with her growth spurt. I shall have to take her clothes shopping. The rest of dinner is in my bento box, yum yum yum.

In my garden the peas are getting plump. I might be able to harvest a few for this weekend, we shall see. The cucumbers are growing hand-sized leaves and nothing else. The beans are dying while still growing edible beans, WTH? The carrots continue to be adorably feathery and the basil has not died. Yet.

I'm sensing a pattern here.

In other news, Mama A continues to improve. She has decided 7 am is a good time to show up at my house, just as we're getting up and dressed. *SIGH* It still saves me time and gas in the mornings, so that's good. Tomorrow I have a shadow for a few hours, that will be fun.

Any plans for the weekend?

Something I never thought I'd say, but finally recognizing all states should get their collective heads out of their asses and recognize same-sex marriages as VALID LEGAL CONTRACTS WITH ALL RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES THEREIN gets the Justices a Huzzah from me. Rock on. (waits for Kansas and other "red" states to howl)

In other news, I got my promotion! Offer made today, will be finalized sometime next week. I'm getting an impressive raise, almost as much as what the Ex Boss was paying me to put up with his NONSENSE before he fired me. Whoot!

Peas are getting ready to harvest, there are teeny tiny fuzzy beans, the cucumbers are thinking about climbing the trellis and the carrots are feathery tiny sprouts. I need to thin and transplant the marigolds, they're still too clustered. It's supposed to rain all weekend, I don't know if I'll get anything done. We shall see.

I'm getting a haircut and manicure tomorrow. I booked it before I got the promotion call. I love being a Witch. (^_^)

has beans coming in!

hasn't killed the basil!

has a few pea plants going gangbusters!

is getting the cucumbers back too!

might have carrots sprouting soon!

hasn't been flooded!

In other news, Mama A was released Sunday. She's still weak and coughing and has OT (occupational therapy) starting Thursday. I have informed her that she is only to come out if she feels well enough to do so and Looooo agrees. IDK (Indestructo-kiddo) can pick up Cuteness for the rest of this week. How summer vacation will go is up in the air. IDK is going to Zahde in July and Cuteness is not quite old enough to take care of herself all day. I had to explain to her Sunday that it is Not Okay to go knocking on random doors to find someone to play with when your friends aren't available. A well meaning neighbor brought her home. I thanked her and shook her hand. I may have been judged.

Fitbit One is proving to be a little electronic Minder, reminding me to document water intake and log food. I walked over three miles today. I expect to walk between two and three miles a day this week, now that I've moved into the hospital. I suspect I'm not being entirely accurate with the food logs, what I eat doesn't come up in their handy lists as a complete dish, I have to parse it out. Mowgli? Didn't you say there was a way to program a recipe?