Tuesday Garden Party

My Tackle It Tuesday Project today -  Before.

There was a butterfly bush here, but I trimmed it a bit too enthusiastically the other year, and it didn't come back.  :-(  The one on the other side of the steps is now huge, and taking over..  but I'm afraid to trim it back!  :-)

After -

The iris are blooming!  They are one of my favorites, even though they don't make a good cut flower usually...

Just a tad overgrown.  :-)  I'm really thinking about pulling those bushes out completely..  but for now I really need to trim them back!  I cut all the iris that are on the ground here and put them in vases in the house.

More flowers in the house - 

I found a plant stand, like a yard sale, but all plants, in Muncy..  everything was $1!

Black raspberries, conflowers, brown eyed susans, shasta daisies, sweet pea,  lily of the valley...

I cleaned out the bed to the front of the house, and planted a lot of the new plants in here.  It will  probably be too crowded when they all get big, but I can always move them later.  :-)

In the vegetable garden, my beans are coming up nicely.

Farm Work Monday

My husband has Monday's off, so it's the day we try to get most of the farm work done around here.

This morning we knew it was going to rain..  so we skipped breakfast and got straight to work, hoping to get a bunch done before it started.  We did pretty good!

Moved the ram, Samson, from the front pasture with the goats, to the maternity pen with the sheep.  We meant to move him with the sheep earlier this spring, but couldn't catch him.  :-)  The shearer is coming on Wednesday, so we wanted all the sheep together and easy to catch..  which is why they are in the maternity pen, it's a much smaller space. 

 Earlier this spring one of the high wind storms collapsed a small shelter we had in the lower pasture.  It's been so wet, we haven't been able to get a truck into the field to clean it up.  We were able to get in there today finally!

Also from the lower pasture..  each year after a local town does their christmas tree collection, the boy scouts collect them and bring them here to the farm.  We throw them in the pasture for our goats, who love them!  Then in the spring we gather them all up and take them out to the fence row for the rabbits and pheasants.  We had three trucks full like this to take out today.

In the last series of strong storms (tornadoes touched down nearby) the roof came off the goat shelter, and the extra shelter on the back of the upper shed, for the horses, collapsed.  The roof, which was a heavy metal, of the goat shelter twisted like foil - it could not be saved.  So for now we brought down the roof from the horse shelter that collapsed (the horses have a barn  too) to give the goats shelter until we can rebuild shelters for them. 

The roof bends a little in the middle, but Dan assures me it's sturdy and will hold until we get the new shelter built.  This one took a beating in that last storm, it will hold, but we'll want to take it down and rebuild it completely before winter/heavy snows.

During the worst of the rain we cleaned the garage..  I got some the garden weeded and  the front flower beds cleaned out and planted with some flowers...

All in all, not too bad.  It's a mess out there, there's still SO much to do, but at least we made a dent today.

Twix Bars

Recipe from the peppermint plum blog.  They are easy, and really good!

48 Club Crackers 

1 c. graham cracker crumbs 

1/3 c. sugar

3/4 c. brown sugar

1/3 c. milk

1/2 c. butter

Topping*:

1 1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Layer crackers on bottom of pan

Cook sugar, milk, and butter over high heat.  Add graham cracker crumbs, bring to a boil, let boil for 5 minutes to make caramel.

Pour over crackers, immediately top with more crackers, then top with melted chocolate.

The Application of the Martha & Mary passage

A  woman I know had a practical "today" application for the Martha/Mary discussion.  She helps a lot in the kitchen at our church, and she said (NOT naming names) that there are some women she will not ask to help, and if they are signed up to help, she makes sure to line up additional help to cover for them.  Because when they are supposed to be helping in the kitchen, they end up spending the time talking, then apologizing because they "just wanted to check on so and so" or "say hi to so and so that was visiting".  She equated this to Mary - seeking the spiritual, and a GOOD thing.  But the reality is, someone needs to do the work, and when  you are signed up to be the Martha that week, you need to let someone else be the Mary. 

I thought that was good.  :-)

Another online friend mentioned that she sees the story as a heart issue only - that Martha should have been happy to do her work, not focussed on what others were not doing.  "Do everything as unto the Lord".

In the NLT (which is a paraphrase of the bible, not the whole bible, but I sometimes like to check when I'm having trouble with the subjective meanings) says
 "41 But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! 42 There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”"

So based on that, maybe it's about not sweating the small stuff - more about perfectionism and lack of proper priorities? 

This makes me wonder if Mary JUST sat at Jesus feet, or if she did the work that truly needed to be done, then went to sit and hear Jesus..  and maybe Martha was a bit more concerned about everything being "just so" ?  Obviously pure speculation..  but it doesn't actually say that Mary didn't help at all, just that Martha was "cumbered" about it. 

Cumber - 1. To weigh down; burden: was cumbered with many duties.

The KJV says -

"40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her."

My husband sometimes tells me that I make work for myself - worrying about unimportant household tasks and details.  I wonder if that is what Martha was doing? 

cinnamon swirl french toast

The hens are laying about two and a half dozen eggs a day.  I should start selling them.  I've given a LOT away...  and am going through egg recipes like mad.  :-)  Fritatas were not a big hit here, although I am thinking if I add more meat, they might be more popular with my crew.

Tonight I made breakfast for supper.  Cinnamon swirl french toast, scrambled eggs with chives from the herb bed outside, and sausage and maple smoked bacon.

For the french toast, I made two loaves of bread dough, rolled them out to rectangles, then spread them with brown sugar, cream cheese, and cinnamon.  Rolled the dough, let it rise, topped it with more of the mixture with some oats sprinkled on top, baked and sliced.  Then dipped in french toast batter.


Served it with whipped cream and sliced strawberries..  it was a big hit!

BSF Lesson 30 - From the Notes

I can't believe this is our last lesson already!
There's a section in the notes this week that has really impacted me, and stuck with me.

The inhabitants of Zion (Jerusalem), God's people,  would also be "called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for th edisplay of his spendor" (Isaiah 61:3).  Those belonging to God are grounded and productive, living and growing in His fruitful goodness and His high moral strength.  Do the people around you see God's enduring stability in you?

Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah

Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I love books that include a little history.  This book almost could have been two books -the mothers story, and the daughters stories, were really two complete books.  I'm glad it was one book though, the author made it work together well!


The history is on Stalin, and Leningrad - which may not sound all that interesting.  It sounds sort of dry actually..  but told as a fairy tale, it will suck you right in.  Although it's no fairy tale, it's more horror.  And it's based on actual history, which makes it even more horrific.  No more so than any war I guess.


I loved this book, right up until the last few chapters.  Then it felt like the author was trying to hard to make it something it was not.  The ending was..  too much.  There was no happy ending here, no matter how contrived, it would have been better to just leave it be a loss, I think.  Wrap up the daughters stories happily, but leave the mother's story as is..


It didn't ruin the book, I just think it would have been much better without the extra ending story.


View all my reviews

2011 Reading Challenge

You have read 47 books toward your goal of 100 books.

47 of 100 (47%)

Awesome work, you're 16 books (15%) ahead of schedule!

My favorite Cleaning Products

Home Made Glass Cleaner (which I use for counters, appliances, & glass)

Home Made Laundry Detergent

& Purex Fabric Softener.  Yes, I know you can use vinegar, but I really prefer Purex.

Scott's Liquid Gold for every day dusting (the BEST for old wood furniture!)

Home Made wood cleaner (for once a month cleaning, a little more oily then the Scott's)

Comet & sos pads - for the sinks and stoves

The Works Toilet Cleaner, and The Works Shower Cleaner, for hard water stains

(Dollar General has their own brand for a few cents less, but I do not think it works as well. )

Iron Out for monthly cleaning of the shower heads, washer, coffee pot,  and if the water system is acting up, the dishes.  I've started using lemon shine in our dishwasher and it is AWSOME.  Not only is is cleaning up the dishwasher, but our glasses are finally truly clean and sparkling!

For the daily floor cleaning..  I admit to loving my swiffer wetjet.  I keep trying various reusable options..  but most often I buy the disposables.  This is the one area I want to work on  - I don't like disposable products and try to avoid them.

(Weekly the floors need to be washed by hand.  Not that I always do, but they NEED to be.) For that I use pinesol.

Bissel vacuum cleaner.  This is one of the cheaper models - but I love it!  I tried a more expensive Pet hair version, and it was just too much of a pain to use. The attachments on this are easy to get to, it cleans well, is light, the cannister holds a lot (this is a farm, with two dogs, several cats, and 4 teenagers in and out. )  My first one lasted me 4 years - a record for any vacuum I have ever owned.  I bought a new one, just like it, recently for $89.