I am totally panicking, am totally depressed! Argggghhhhh! The weather man is threatening me with two horribly cold nights. 28 degrees tonight and 29 degrees tomorrow. What is this going to do to my plants. The whole yard may end up being frosted. Oh Noooooo!
It is going to be a chilly 53 degrees today and I have to clean a house. I am undecided what to do about the greenhouse. I don't want it to get too hot but I certainly don't want it to be too cold either. I think I will open the roof vent just before I leave and hope for the best.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Spring Garden
The weatherman is threatening me with 28 degrees tomorrow night. Let's hope he revises that upward!
Greenhouse currently 74 degrees. Cloudy, sunny,cloudy,sunny. I'll just have to make sure I close it up early.
Windy but I did go get some wild brush and sagebrush early at my friends house for the west fence windbreak. Running that zone to water them in.
Watered fruit tree zone overnight last night. Hope to catch up on all the spring activity soon like looking at the crabapples that are blooming so prettily. The mystery tree is blooming for the first time this year. Maybe some sort of apple. The Siberian crabapples are still small but mightily putting on size.
The pine trees on the wind fence are tiny still but they are trying hard.
Got the goats out with Penny this evening. Rusty just couldn't handle this mission and I am too tired to work with him. It never pays to work with an animal when you are not feeling well yourself. Penny did really well for about half an hour or maybe 40 minutes. Then she got the goats running and they headed for the pen. A little too soon for my taste. The goats were later poking around the pen like they were still hungry so I pulled a bucket of weeds from the front and gave it to them. I am not feeding them alfalfa with this many weeds available!
Have to clean a house tomorrow so I am trying to rest up. Spring is a lot of work. When I am tired I make lists of what I need to do. Like that is accomplishing something.
Royal fever has come upon me. Kate and Wills are getting married tomorrow in the wedding of the century. Or should I say Catherine and William? I have a lot to do tomorrow so good thing I have the DVR recorder so I can watch it all later in the day! I've already warned Hubby that I can't miss a single minute of it so don't mess up the recording schedule, please.
Greenhouse currently 74 degrees. Cloudy, sunny,cloudy,sunny. I'll just have to make sure I close it up early.
Windy but I did go get some wild brush and sagebrush early at my friends house for the west fence windbreak. Running that zone to water them in.
Watered fruit tree zone overnight last night. Hope to catch up on all the spring activity soon like looking at the crabapples that are blooming so prettily. The mystery tree is blooming for the first time this year. Maybe some sort of apple. The Siberian crabapples are still small but mightily putting on size.
The pine trees on the wind fence are tiny still but they are trying hard.
Got the goats out with Penny this evening. Rusty just couldn't handle this mission and I am too tired to work with him. It never pays to work with an animal when you are not feeling well yourself. Penny did really well for about half an hour or maybe 40 minutes. Then she got the goats running and they headed for the pen. A little too soon for my taste. The goats were later poking around the pen like they were still hungry so I pulled a bucket of weeds from the front and gave it to them. I am not feeding them alfalfa with this many weeds available!
Have to clean a house tomorrow so I am trying to rest up. Spring is a lot of work. When I am tired I make lists of what I need to do. Like that is accomplishing something.
Royal fever has come upon me. Kate and Wills are getting married tomorrow in the wedding of the century. Or should I say Catherine and William? I have a lot to do tomorrow so good thing I have the DVR recorder so I can watch it all later in the day! I've already warned Hubby that I can't miss a single minute of it so don't mess up the recording schedule, please.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Spring Garden
Boy, it was cold overnight.
31 degrees on the breezeway early this morning. It looks like nothing got frosted. Got lucky.
41 degrees in the greenhouse at 7:40am. Should have closed it up sooner. The zinnias were fine though.
Sunny and not too warm today. Got to do some burning, finally. It has been too windy to burn so far this spring.
Heard it will be breezy later.
Trying to sell the old Neon for a few hundred dollars. Gotta pay for registration on the new 2008 Honda Fit. Cute car, great gas mileage. The newest car we have owned in years! Has A/C. Loving that.
Neon is sold.
The dogs did so well at staying while I was getting the goats out. Then poor Rusty got excited and went the wrong way to herd the goats and frightened them back into the pen. I locked him in the house though not out of meaness. I just needed to get those goats fed and it was starting to take a long time. Tomorrow we will try it again. I am very proud of Rusty. He's a very good boy.
31 degrees on the breezeway early this morning. It looks like nothing got frosted. Got lucky.
41 degrees in the greenhouse at 7:40am. Should have closed it up sooner. The zinnias were fine though.
Sunny and not too warm today. Got to do some burning, finally. It has been too windy to burn so far this spring.
Heard it will be breezy later.
Trying to sell the old Neon for a few hundred dollars. Gotta pay for registration on the new 2008 Honda Fit. Cute car, great gas mileage. The newest car we have owned in years! Has A/C. Loving that.
Neon is sold.
The dogs did so well at staying while I was getting the goats out. Then poor Rusty got excited and went the wrong way to herd the goats and frightened them back into the pen. I locked him in the house though not out of meaness. I just needed to get those goats fed and it was starting to take a long time. Tomorrow we will try it again. I am very proud of Rusty. He's a very good boy.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Goats
Kevmac asks do I eat the goats or are they here to eat weeds or what?
The goats are my ode to farming:) Actually, we live on five acres in one of the barrenest desert area in the USA. Rain averages 6" per year. We live on a big patch of sand.
So, to answer the question: No, we do not eat the goats. We probably would if it was cost effective but I always laugh because I think goat would be valued at $50 a pound. I have one large Nubian/Boer cross and two Nigerian dwarfs. They eat 2 bales of hay a month between them and that costs me between $16 and $25 a month for hay. Plus, although the large goat was a gift, the two small goats cost me $50 apiece.
I do keep the costs down by throwing all the left over vines from the veggie garden into the pen. Excluding tomato plants and pepper plants and potato, of course. It saves me a lot of time and effort in composting as well few dollars in hay. There simply is no way to raise animals cost effectively out here in the desert.
The goats are pets and I enjoy watching them from my dining room window. They get up well after dawn. I thought they would get up early but they take their time. Usually they peek around the corner, get a good look around and then they saunter out one at a time. They are really cute.
I was raised in a large city and living out here has been my chance to have "farm animals". But I like to keep the whole thing within reason. It costs a fair amount of money to have chickens and cows and goats and horses. It takes a lot of time and effort. I have seen many people get bogged down with too many pets.
When you have seven dogs, goats, guinea hens, peacocks and chickens it starts being a bit much. Horses cost a lot of money to keep. Well worth it if you enjoy riding but seems like a bit much if you don't. One gal I know is trying to sell her horses. They are costing her about $10,000 a year. Think about this, she could own her house and property in only 10 years if she used that money to pay off the house. Or she could stop squeezing pennies and live a little more.
Around here we have a two dog limit and 3 goats have served us well. One barn cat. He really is a "shed/garage cat" as we don't own a barn:) I have threatened to get a cart pony but I keep thinking that we don't own the house yet so it would be foolish.
Time to get busy. Spring comes only once a year and I have a lot to do. Yesterday was incredibly windy and I hear tomorrow will be too. So today is the day to get some work done. I am hoping that Hubby will be up to working on the cross fencing.
It doesn't pay to be lazy although I have slowed down a bit:)
More about my adventures in goats weeding the north half of the property tomorrow.
Thanks for asking, Kevmac.
Greenhouse - 7:40am 48 degrees
Outside temp - close to 32degrees overnight - slush on the goat water
The goats are my ode to farming:) Actually, we live on five acres in one of the barrenest desert area in the USA. Rain averages 6" per year. We live on a big patch of sand.
So, to answer the question: No, we do not eat the goats. We probably would if it was cost effective but I always laugh because I think goat would be valued at $50 a pound. I have one large Nubian/Boer cross and two Nigerian dwarfs. They eat 2 bales of hay a month between them and that costs me between $16 and $25 a month for hay. Plus, although the large goat was a gift, the two small goats cost me $50 apiece.
I do keep the costs down by throwing all the left over vines from the veggie garden into the pen. Excluding tomato plants and pepper plants and potato, of course. It saves me a lot of time and effort in composting as well few dollars in hay. There simply is no way to raise animals cost effectively out here in the desert.
The goats are pets and I enjoy watching them from my dining room window. They get up well after dawn. I thought they would get up early but they take their time. Usually they peek around the corner, get a good look around and then they saunter out one at a time. They are really cute.
I was raised in a large city and living out here has been my chance to have "farm animals". But I like to keep the whole thing within reason. It costs a fair amount of money to have chickens and cows and goats and horses. It takes a lot of time and effort. I have seen many people get bogged down with too many pets.
When you have seven dogs, goats, guinea hens, peacocks and chickens it starts being a bit much. Horses cost a lot of money to keep. Well worth it if you enjoy riding but seems like a bit much if you don't. One gal I know is trying to sell her horses. They are costing her about $10,000 a year. Think about this, she could own her house and property in only 10 years if she used that money to pay off the house. Or she could stop squeezing pennies and live a little more.
Around here we have a two dog limit and 3 goats have served us well. One barn cat. He really is a "shed/garage cat" as we don't own a barn:) I have threatened to get a cart pony but I keep thinking that we don't own the house yet so it would be foolish.
Time to get busy. Spring comes only once a year and I have a lot to do. Yesterday was incredibly windy and I hear tomorrow will be too. So today is the day to get some work done. I am hoping that Hubby will be up to working on the cross fencing.
It doesn't pay to be lazy although I have slowed down a bit:)
More about my adventures in goats weeding the north half of the property tomorrow.
Thanks for asking, Kevmac.
Greenhouse - 7:40am 48 degrees
Outside temp - close to 32degrees overnight - slush on the goat water
Monday, April 25, 2011
Spring Garden
Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! My seed flats are already coming to life.
Cosmos is popping up.
Zinnias are working it.
Basil just starting to show.
Marigolds looking good.
I love spring.
I got a new gadget for the irrigation system. It is a tank you hook up. You put fertilizer in it and it dispenses it over the next one or two hours to all the plants on the line. I tried it and it works! Now we have to see if the plants are growing better over the next week or two.
Looks like the transplanted plants in the newly redone front window garden are all happy. I don't know if all the lavender lived...yet. Have to give it some more time.
Today I need to work on the "spring garden" I am planning for the dog kennel area. I think there are a number of plants that can be consolidated over there and they will do better than in the south facing "under the front window garden". Snow stars, daffodils, Japanese iris, a couple of Shasta daisies are going to planted around the Medlar fruit tree [yes, it is some sort of weird European fruit], 2 forsythia I am moving out of the dog kennel area to the front of the dog kennel area, along with one currant. It is lovely, cool and less windy so the spring plants will like it, I think.
Hoping to clean out the goat pen. They have been a bit neglected in that I have pulled the straw out of the shed and just left it lying in the pen. The winds have been atrocious and when it hasn't been windy I have had to get the transplanting done that I need to accomplish SOON. Before I know long it will be warming up considerably and I need these transplants to have time to settle in.
Cool, cloudy and probably windy again later. Gotta get busy.
Cosmos is popping up.
Zinnias are working it.
Basil just starting to show.
Marigolds looking good.
I love spring.
I got a new gadget for the irrigation system. It is a tank you hook up. You put fertilizer in it and it dispenses it over the next one or two hours to all the plants on the line. I tried it and it works! Now we have to see if the plants are growing better over the next week or two.
Looks like the transplanted plants in the newly redone front window garden are all happy. I don't know if all the lavender lived...yet. Have to give it some more time.
Today I need to work on the "spring garden" I am planning for the dog kennel area. I think there are a number of plants that can be consolidated over there and they will do better than in the south facing "under the front window garden". Snow stars, daffodils, Japanese iris, a couple of Shasta daisies are going to planted around the Medlar fruit tree [yes, it is some sort of weird European fruit], 2 forsythia I am moving out of the dog kennel area to the front of the dog kennel area, along with one currant. It is lovely, cool and less windy so the spring plants will like it, I think.
Hoping to clean out the goat pen. They have been a bit neglected in that I have pulled the straw out of the shed and just left it lying in the pen. The winds have been atrocious and when it hasn't been windy I have had to get the transplanting done that I need to accomplish SOON. Before I know long it will be warming up considerably and I need these transplants to have time to settle in.
Cool, cloudy and probably windy again later. Gotta get busy.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Friends and Gardens
The neighbors came over and we had venison tenderloin wrapped in bacon and cooked on the grill. Delicious. We had those sweet potato French fries with it. And smoothies with frozen melons from last year and fresh strawberries.
I had invited some new people over but then at the last minute they said they couldn't come. I was very disappointed but having the neighbors over was probably even better than having new people we don't know over.
Early this morning I finished up the new irrigation for the new windbreak by the veggie garden. Had one more tree to split up and make two trees from. Got them planted and irrigated just as the wind started howling. Done. It is going to look good. High hopes anyway.
I had invited some new people over but then at the last minute they said they couldn't come. I was very disappointed but having the neighbors over was probably even better than having new people we don't know over.
Early this morning I finished up the new irrigation for the new windbreak by the veggie garden. Had one more tree to split up and make two trees from. Got them planted and irrigated just as the wind started howling. Done. It is going to look good. High hopes anyway.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Friends and Gardens
I laid out the new drip line around the veggie garden and sheds this morning. Then I did some reconfiguring to get the different lines working more efficiently. The street side now waters the 6 elms in the back and a few poplars. The middle line now waters the new section of windbreak that snuggles up to the improved larger veggie garden that is being envisioned for next year. The northeast corner is now devoid of any plantings but the new windbreak will give me the privacy I wanted and is much closer to the house. The same amount of plants has been put into a shorter area and will fill in beautifully over the next couple of years.
Little Penny Poo Poo searched for rodents and dug holes and came back adorable dirty and sandy.
I went to the north side and pulled out tubing an plugged holes. And loosened up the plants getting moved later in the day. It rained the whole time but only lightly. Finally, about 11:30 I said enough and came in for lunch and a nap.
My neighbor friend came over about 3:30pm. She has an ATV and a cute little ATV trailer. She helped load up the plants from the back fence and brought them up to the line I have closer to the house. There must have been 50 little shrubs and trees. Then she helped me plant them. Sometimes, as the song says, I get by with a little help from my friends. I couldn't have done it without her. She stayed for almost 2 hours.
It rained most of the day. A warm and gentle rain. I mention it again since it so unusual here to have a perfect and warm light rain. It was the perfect day to be transplanting. I worked on the drip system for the new plants from 6pm until dark at 8pm. Long day but this is definitely what I needed to accomplish! Another week or two and it will be hard on the plants. I sort of wanted to do this while they were still dormant but between the wind and car shopping I just didn't have the time.
Time to rest up and start again tomorrow. Spring will soon be over and planting season will be done. Then it will be on to finishing up other projects. Aspirin anyone?
Little Penny Poo Poo searched for rodents and dug holes and came back adorable dirty and sandy.
I went to the north side and pulled out tubing an plugged holes. And loosened up the plants getting moved later in the day. It rained the whole time but only lightly. Finally, about 11:30 I said enough and came in for lunch and a nap.
My neighbor friend came over about 3:30pm. She has an ATV and a cute little ATV trailer. She helped load up the plants from the back fence and brought them up to the line I have closer to the house. There must have been 50 little shrubs and trees. Then she helped me plant them. Sometimes, as the song says, I get by with a little help from my friends. I couldn't have done it without her. She stayed for almost 2 hours.
It rained most of the day. A warm and gentle rain. I mention it again since it so unusual here to have a perfect and warm light rain. It was the perfect day to be transplanting. I worked on the drip system for the new plants from 6pm until dark at 8pm. Long day but this is definitely what I needed to accomplish! Another week or two and it will be hard on the plants. I sort of wanted to do this while they were still dormant but between the wind and car shopping I just didn't have the time.
Time to rest up and start again tomorrow. Spring will soon be over and planting season will be done. Then it will be on to finishing up other projects. Aspirin anyone?
Friday, April 22, 2011
Exhaustion
Pretty tired still but... I had to clean a house today for a friend. The goats grazed while I drank my coffee this morning. Obie, the big goat, is very stubborn sometimes. He decided he would have to eat the baby pine tree and we duked it out for several minutes. I won until I turned around and saw the two little goats finishing it off:) Oh well, I tried.
Grazing the goats twice a day is relaxing and the weeds are a bit thinner.
It is gently raining. It doesn't make much of a difference in the ground moisture but I enjoy the soft rain. I guess it reminds me of Seattle. I wouldn't want to live there but it is nice to have it visit once in awhile.
Nothing much new in the garden but there is a little cottontail sneaking around out there. Along with two quail that were running from bush to bush like I couldn't see them.
Picked up the house and started on the laundry; kept up on the kitchen. But mostly sat around trying to work up the energy for tomorrow. Definitely hope the hip stops hurting. Why today? Maybe its the rain.
Grazing the goats twice a day is relaxing and the weeds are a bit thinner.
It is gently raining. It doesn't make much of a difference in the ground moisture but I enjoy the soft rain. I guess it reminds me of Seattle. I wouldn't want to live there but it is nice to have it visit once in awhile.
Nothing much new in the garden but there is a little cottontail sneaking around out there. Along with two quail that were running from bush to bush like I couldn't see them.
Picked up the house and started on the laundry; kept up on the kitchen. But mostly sat around trying to work up the energy for tomorrow. Definitely hope the hip stops hurting. Why today? Maybe its the rain.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Rain!
It is raining hard as the sun comes up this morning. I didn't think it would rain so I am going through a list of things I might have left out. Fortunately it is a short list but I guess I better run out there and wrestle the rototiller into the shed. It is always hard to be unhappy about moisture.
Guess I will throw the goats some hay this morning and relax until I have to leave at 8am.
Naturally it didn't rain much or for very long. Grazed the goats after all and got them some good clean dry straw in the goat hut.
The irrigation supply company sent me the wrong part so I will have to box it up and send it back!
I think it is the right part so good to go.
Grazed the goats and met some new neighbors that are moving in around here. They seem really nice. Hoping to have them over for some venison on Sunday. Mostly rested up so I can start all over again.
Crossing my fingers that it will stay above freezing tonight.
Guess I will throw the goats some hay this morning and relax until I have to leave at 8am.
Naturally it didn't rain much or for very long. Grazed the goats after all and got them some good clean dry straw in the goat hut.
The irrigation supply company sent me the wrong part so I will have to box it up and send it back!
I think it is the right part so good to go.
Grazed the goats and met some new neighbors that are moving in around here. They seem really nice. Hoping to have them over for some venison on Sunday. Mostly rested up so I can start all over again.
Crossing my fingers that it will stay above freezing tonight.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Exhaustion
Exhaustion has set in. I nodded off on the couch last night only to awaken and drag my sorry butt off to bed. The weather is beautiful this spring, except for the winds. We were spared yesterday but it looks like the winds will be back this after noon.
Watered the street side overnight. Watering in the summer veggie garden area to get the amendments to compost in the soil.
Grazed the goats this morning. So pleasant. Cloudy and the birds were not singing like most mornings. Will it rain? Probably not but even if it does it won't be enough moisture to make a difference this time of year. What to do? Rest up, do only the bare minimum to keep the property happy for a couple of days. Maybe finally start the indoor seed flats. Go see a friend and relax for a couple of hours.
Other stuff to do for a couple of days. The garden will have to wait on me Thursday and Friday. Saturday, I will start all over again.
Pleasantly surprised by how big some of the trees are getting - finally. This will be our fifth spring on our property. Got to do some of the fun stuff finally. Like building an arbor and making a few pathways of rock or wooden planks.
This is when the garden starts to come in to its own. Five years in. The perennial flowers have grown large. The garden soil has improved. The areas are becoming defined. Changes are being made - adjustments, now that we know our property well enough and our climate well enough and we have learned a bit more about what we like and what we want and what will on our property.
Gardening is a metaphor for life. Now that I know more about what will work and what won't work in my own life. And that makes for a better self. It takes time to grow all the shrubbery and trees and install the fountains and nurture the flowers and build the arbors. But, a life without the effort to make a beautiful landscape inside oneself is no more fulfilling than living on a pile of sand without any shade or windbreaks or flowers for the beauty they provide.
Above freezing overnight - yahoo! And it has been above freezing for the whole week but I am worried about tomorrow night. Let's hope the weather report is wrong and it doesn't get down to 31 degrees.
The wind is kicking up already [10am] and is rumored to be hitting 35 mph today. Ah well, I needed the day of rest anyway.
Grazed goats
Watered drip veggie for an hour or so to keep new seeds moist
Started in flats this afternoon
Pumpkins-Howden in peat pots yesterday
Peppers Cayenne Thick
Tomato - Delicious
Tomato - Siberian
Cosmos - Candystripe
California poppies - Jelly Bean
Marigold mix - Boy O Boy
Salvia - Evolution
Snapdragons - Chantilly [open flower style]
Zinnia - State Fair
Zinnia - Cactus flower
Desert Peach
Orange Yucca
Watering back area drip overnight
Watered the street side overnight. Watering in the summer veggie garden area to get the amendments to compost in the soil.
Grazed the goats this morning. So pleasant. Cloudy and the birds were not singing like most mornings. Will it rain? Probably not but even if it does it won't be enough moisture to make a difference this time of year. What to do? Rest up, do only the bare minimum to keep the property happy for a couple of days. Maybe finally start the indoor seed flats. Go see a friend and relax for a couple of hours.
Other stuff to do for a couple of days. The garden will have to wait on me Thursday and Friday. Saturday, I will start all over again.
Pleasantly surprised by how big some of the trees are getting - finally. This will be our fifth spring on our property. Got to do some of the fun stuff finally. Like building an arbor and making a few pathways of rock or wooden planks.
This is when the garden starts to come in to its own. Five years in. The perennial flowers have grown large. The garden soil has improved. The areas are becoming defined. Changes are being made - adjustments, now that we know our property well enough and our climate well enough and we have learned a bit more about what we like and what we want and what will on our property.
Gardening is a metaphor for life. Now that I know more about what will work and what won't work in my own life. And that makes for a better self. It takes time to grow all the shrubbery and trees and install the fountains and nurture the flowers and build the arbors. But, a life without the effort to make a beautiful landscape inside oneself is no more fulfilling than living on a pile of sand without any shade or windbreaks or flowers for the beauty they provide.
Above freezing overnight - yahoo! And it has been above freezing for the whole week but I am worried about tomorrow night. Let's hope the weather report is wrong and it doesn't get down to 31 degrees.
The wind is kicking up already [10am] and is rumored to be hitting 35 mph today. Ah well, I needed the day of rest anyway.
Grazed goats
Watered drip veggie for an hour or so to keep new seeds moist
Started in flats this afternoon
Pumpkins-Howden in peat pots yesterday
Peppers Cayenne Thick
Tomato - Delicious
Tomato - Siberian
Cosmos - Candystripe
California poppies - Jelly Bean
Marigold mix - Boy O Boy
Salvia - Evolution
Snapdragons - Chantilly [open flower style]
Zinnia - State Fair
Zinnia - Cactus flower
Desert Peach
Orange Yucca
Watering back area drip overnight
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Spring Garden
Today, grazed the goats this morning.
Beets, broccoli, Swiss chard, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, lettuce, all in! Garlic, spinach,radishes planted!
Watering it all in for a couple of hours.
Yeah, I know the seed package says to start the broc and the cauli indoors or plant dirctly in summer but I am trying it this way since the weather seems beautiful and cool but not really cold. We shall see what happens.
The Kwanza flowering cherries are a soft cloud of flowers. The daffodils are just about done blooming.
Watered fruit tree zone overnight.
Watered front garden, two hours.
Beets, broccoli, Swiss chard, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, lettuce, all in! Garlic, spinach,radishes planted!
Watering it all in for a couple of hours.
Yeah, I know the seed package says to start the broc and the cauli indoors or plant dirctly in summer but I am trying it this way since the weather seems beautiful and cool but not really cold. We shall see what happens.
The Kwanza flowering cherries are a soft cloud of flowers. The daffodils are just about done blooming.
Watered fruit tree zone overnight.
Watered front garden, two hours.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Spring Garden
The garden peas, snow peas and snap peas have finally gone in today. Yes, I am a little behind but the wind as been atrocious.
I have been quite busy. Systemic on the fruit trees and willows. Yeah, I don't like to but we are having terrible problems with borers and our trees are so young and vulnerable.
I ordered drip line today. I am going to redo the North windbreak. I am moving it closer to the veggie garden [in its imagined new configuration]. Hubby and I are hashing out how we are going to change up the veggie garden. We aren't quite seeing the same vision though he has agreed to most of what I want.
I redid the front garden. Last August I got some free vinyl fencing, in the picket style. I got it put in around the front of the house in a timely fashion and it looks great. It also helps with the winds. The crabapple trees are starting to look like real trees. The ornamental pear is still not very big but is growing. Maybe it will take off this year. I designed and built a wooden walkway that has a flowing stream shape. Redid the Feather Reed grass to follow along the backside along with some Golden Rods and Russian Sage. On the front side of the wooden walkway, I followed along the curves with Coral Penstemmons and some lavender I split up. Hope the lavender lives:) I am picking up rocks on my way home to fill the area in with rocks. The whole area is on drip. The very front is on sprinklers and I have high hopes for a three foot wide row of annuals. We'll see.
The West end of the house is getting a make over, as well. The picket fence wraps around the west end and I built an arbor to walk through. I am installing a native stone path as I get the flat rocks from the ridge. I have started a sedum garden. A few cottoneasters and a couple of blue hollies along with Saskatoon grasses and blanket flowers are making it a really nice looking area. Oh yeah, I have a Purple Robe Locust that is already 11 feet tall to shade the breezeway. It will be so nice when it grows large enough to give a cooling effect over there.
I have other plans but this is what I have accomplished so far.
The Sand Cherries are literally vibrating with the buzzing of bees.
I have been on a new adventure last two days. The goats have been going out with me to eat weeds on the back of the property. They are very sweet and cute but very worried. This is the first time since we got them 3 or 4 years ago that they have been out of their pen. [Except for a couple of incidents where they parted the wire from the posts.] Every time a car goes by they run for their lives. They are getting a bit used to it and not running as far now. But... a three wheeler Harley come bombing by quite loudly. That was just too much for all three of them. They ran for the pen and didn't stop until they were up on the goat toy. I coaxed them back out with some apple treats. I was laughing so hard to see those goats running willy-nilly for the safety of their pen.
I have been quite busy. Systemic on the fruit trees and willows. Yeah, I don't like to but we are having terrible problems with borers and our trees are so young and vulnerable.
I ordered drip line today. I am going to redo the North windbreak. I am moving it closer to the veggie garden [in its imagined new configuration]. Hubby and I are hashing out how we are going to change up the veggie garden. We aren't quite seeing the same vision though he has agreed to most of what I want.
I redid the front garden. Last August I got some free vinyl fencing, in the picket style. I got it put in around the front of the house in a timely fashion and it looks great. It also helps with the winds. The crabapple trees are starting to look like real trees. The ornamental pear is still not very big but is growing. Maybe it will take off this year. I designed and built a wooden walkway that has a flowing stream shape. Redid the Feather Reed grass to follow along the backside along with some Golden Rods and Russian Sage. On the front side of the wooden walkway, I followed along the curves with Coral Penstemmons and some lavender I split up. Hope the lavender lives:) I am picking up rocks on my way home to fill the area in with rocks. The whole area is on drip. The very front is on sprinklers and I have high hopes for a three foot wide row of annuals. We'll see.
The West end of the house is getting a make over, as well. The picket fence wraps around the west end and I built an arbor to walk through. I am installing a native stone path as I get the flat rocks from the ridge. I have started a sedum garden. A few cottoneasters and a couple of blue hollies along with Saskatoon grasses and blanket flowers are making it a really nice looking area. Oh yeah, I have a Purple Robe Locust that is already 11 feet tall to shade the breezeway. It will be so nice when it grows large enough to give a cooling effect over there.
I have other plans but this is what I have accomplished so far.
The Sand Cherries are literally vibrating with the buzzing of bees.
I have been on a new adventure last two days. The goats have been going out with me to eat weeds on the back of the property. They are very sweet and cute but very worried. This is the first time since we got them 3 or 4 years ago that they have been out of their pen. [Except for a couple of incidents where they parted the wire from the posts.] Every time a car goes by they run for their lives. They are getting a bit used to it and not running as far now. But... a three wheeler Harley come bombing by quite loudly. That was just too much for all three of them. They ran for the pen and didn't stop until they were up on the goat toy. I coaxed them back out with some apple treats. I was laughing so hard to see those goats running willy-nilly for the safety of their pen.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Spring is Here!
It is early spring in my garden and I am working very hard at keeping down the weeds and getting the plants transplanted. I am transforming the front garden into an easy to weed oasis in the desert. The landscape cloth is down, the plants neatly arranged and my nifty wooden pathway is done. The drip system is in place. Now all I have to do is get the baby flowers started for the front edge and keep hauling in rocks from the side of the road.
Today I am quite busy putting in sagebrush. I got it from by the railroad tracks. It is native but doesn't grow in our yard without a little help from me. I am still cutting back the dead silver sage and yarrow stalks. Yeah, it should already be done by now but, hey, it has been incredibly windy this March and April.
I have also watched a few people blossom online. It is wonderful to see people taking control of their lives as best they can. Christianity not working for you, chop it down and throw it in the burn pile! Make room for softer, kinder beliefs. Quit trying to grow moist tropical jungle plants in the desert. You are fighting against reason!
Today I am quite busy putting in sagebrush. I got it from by the railroad tracks. It is native but doesn't grow in our yard without a little help from me. I am still cutting back the dead silver sage and yarrow stalks. Yeah, it should already be done by now but, hey, it has been incredibly windy this March and April.
I have also watched a few people blossom online. It is wonderful to see people taking control of their lives as best they can. Christianity not working for you, chop it down and throw it in the burn pile! Make room for softer, kinder beliefs. Quit trying to grow moist tropical jungle plants in the desert. You are fighting against reason!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Notable Quotable
Todays Notable Quotable is a long one! It talks about women, the Bible and liberal churches. It is by Gandolf an anonymous exChristian. I just love the way he said this.
For starters,Eve is the one blamed for being convinced and led astray in the garden of eden by the naughty snake that convinces her to eat the fruit of the tree so that they will become as gods ,Eve then leads adam astray by helping convince Adam to do likewise through being led by Eves example,thus causing downfall of man.
To top matters off evidently God made the male the head and the female the helper.Christians may try to argue this only means man bears the primary responsibility to lead the partnership in a God-glorifying direction.But this still tends to suggest that somehow the spiritual aspect of man is thought above that of a woman.Why do theists beat around the bush,if woman and man were thought equal there should have been absolutely no reason at all to even bother to discuss the male as the head and the female as being the helper.
Ecclesiasticus 25:24 Of the woman came the beginning of sin, and through her we all die.
This religion is harmless ? pffffffttttt !
Maybe liberal religion is less harmless ,the further away it gets from the "origin" of this original religion.But still that does little to help suggest this original-religion is honestly harmless.
From "origins" of this ancient religious thought of gender bias, evolved much of the bashing and beating of women folk we do still sometimes see continuing within our societies in general today.Sure liberal religious folk might have now joined the anti women-abuse movement in these more modern times,but sadly its a matter of too-little to late ,when "religious thought" in past history had already left the gate wide open and some "faith-groups" been involved helping give the green-light for such bigoted promotion of this sort of gender bias, that now sadly has also infected our whole societies like a cursed plague ,that still ends up helping produce some men who will end up in jail for mistreating women.
Genesis 3:16: Adam's role is to be Eve's master.
A man could marry (literally "become the master of the woman") as often as he desired. In Genesis 4:19
Genesis 16:2 : Sarah gave permission to her husband Abraham to engage in sexual intercourse with her maid, Hagar
Genesis 19:8 Lot offers his two virgin daughters to be raped instead
Genesis 21:10: A man could simultaneously keep numerous concubines
Exodus 20 & 21: A woman as the property of her father. At marriage, her ownership was transferred to her new husband
Leviticus 12:1-5 Quotes God as stating that a woman who has given birth to a boy is ritually unclean for 7 days. If the baby is a girl, the mother is unclean for 14 days.
Leviticus 27:6 A child aged 1 month to five years of age was worth 5 shekels if a boy and 3 shekels if a girl.
Numbers 5:11-31 Women subjected to nasty tests to find out if guilty of an affair.No such test for men
Numbers 27:8-11, Moses describes the rules of inheritance that God has stated. If a man dies, his son inherits the estate; his daughter gets nothing.
Deuteronomy 21:10-13 describes how a soldier can force a woman captive to marry him without regard for her wishes
Deuteronomy 22:13-21 requires that a woman be a virgin when she is married. If she has had sexual relations while single in her father's house, then she would be stoned to death. There were no similar virginity requirements for men.
Deuteronomy 22:28-29 requires that a virgin woman who has been raped must marry her attacker, no matter what her feelings are towards the rapist.
Deuteronomy 24:1 describes the procedure for obtaining a divorce. This can only be initiated by the husband, not by the wife
Deuteronomy 25:11: If two men are fighting, and the wife of one of them grabs the other man's testicles, her hand is to be chopped off. There is no penalty if a male relative were to grab the other man
12 disciples of Jesus were recorded as all male
Mark 12:18-27 Jesus doesnt bother to preach against the sexism and unfairness of Jewish law (from Deuteronomy 25:5-10)
Racist Jesus insults women referred to her as a dog or sub-human Matthew 15:22-28 Mark 7:25-30
1 Corinthians 11:7-9:"For a man...is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman but woman for man. For this reason, and because of the angels, the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head."
1 Corinthians 14:34-35: "...women should remain silent in the churches.
Ephesians 5:22-24: "Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife
1 Timothy 2:11-15:"A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent
Titus 2:4: "...train the younger women...to be subject to their husbands
1 Peter 3:7: Women are referred to as "the weaker vessel"
And there is plenty more verses that caused harm, whether intended or not harm is harm.Whether through ancient ignorance of man or not , this was indeed about religion ,and religious views did not have the ability to be deemed wrong and evolve and change fast the same way that science does.If use of nuclear bombs was connected to religion and religious beliefs,the grave danger of these beliefs might become a scurge that is hard to budge for thousands of years.Just as is subjection of women still a scurge that still is hard to budge with regards to women being given equal rights,in becoming leaders within some churches to this very day.
I would totally agree than Dan Wilkinson and his liberal friends are surely very nice people,most will be genuine people who mean well, and definitly are a big step forward.But for them to try and suggest these religious beliefs have no responsibility for heinous acts commited in the name of a religious belief system.To me seems lots like trying to say people killed by nuclear bombs,is not the responsibility of the existence of these nuclear bombs.
And while liberal folk try to water down sanitize and sanction the adverse detrimental effects of religion.Liberal folk liberally continue to also help enable unwarrented respect of religion,which in turn continues to convert folk toward liberal faith,many who through their respect of religion will also allow for the laws of "freedom of religion" to continue onward unchallenged, inturn "cementing" the rights of some faithful folk in the more abusive fundamental faiths ,to also continue onward abusing people existing among their faith groups, totally unchallenged.
Thus why i suggest, the liberal faithful cannot honestly lay claim of being so very harmless either.
When they finally have the guts to ALL promptly step forward ,boldly speak-up! and stand alongside atheists,and petition our governments and authorities, demanding that old laws surrouding "freedom of religion" that currently still allow for this faith-abuse ,need to be reconsidered and amended .Then they might be honest in laying their claim to being harmless.
Until such time,their liberal faith also liberally allows for the faith abuses of abusive fundamental faith groups,to continue to continue onward unchallenged.
For starters,Eve is the one blamed for being convinced and led astray in the garden of eden by the naughty snake that convinces her to eat the fruit of the tree so that they will become as gods ,Eve then leads adam astray by helping convince Adam to do likewise through being led by Eves example,thus causing downfall of man.
To top matters off evidently God made the male the head and the female the helper.Christians may try to argue this only means man bears the primary responsibility to lead the partnership in a God-glorifying direction.But this still tends to suggest that somehow the spiritual aspect of man is thought above that of a woman.Why do theists beat around the bush,if woman and man were thought equal there should have been absolutely no reason at all to even bother to discuss the male as the head and the female as being the helper.
Ecclesiasticus 25:24 Of the woman came the beginning of sin, and through her we all die.
This religion is harmless ? pffffffttttt !
Maybe liberal religion is less harmless ,the further away it gets from the "origin" of this original religion.But still that does little to help suggest this original-religion is honestly harmless.
From "origins" of this ancient religious thought of gender bias, evolved much of the bashing and beating of women folk we do still sometimes see continuing within our societies in general today.Sure liberal religious folk might have now joined the anti women-abuse movement in these more modern times,but sadly its a matter of too-little to late ,when "religious thought" in past history had already left the gate wide open and some "faith-groups" been involved helping give the green-light for such bigoted promotion of this sort of gender bias, that now sadly has also infected our whole societies like a cursed plague ,that still ends up helping produce some men who will end up in jail for mistreating women.
Genesis 3:16: Adam's role is to be Eve's master.
A man could marry (literally "become the master of the woman") as often as he desired. In Genesis 4:19
Genesis 16:2 : Sarah gave permission to her husband Abraham to engage in sexual intercourse with her maid, Hagar
Genesis 19:8 Lot offers his two virgin daughters to be raped instead
Genesis 21:10: A man could simultaneously keep numerous concubines
Exodus 20 & 21: A woman as the property of her father. At marriage, her ownership was transferred to her new husband
Leviticus 12:1-5 Quotes God as stating that a woman who has given birth to a boy is ritually unclean for 7 days. If the baby is a girl, the mother is unclean for 14 days.
Leviticus 27:6 A child aged 1 month to five years of age was worth 5 shekels if a boy and 3 shekels if a girl.
Numbers 5:11-31 Women subjected to nasty tests to find out if guilty of an affair.No such test for men
Numbers 27:8-11, Moses describes the rules of inheritance that God has stated. If a man dies, his son inherits the estate; his daughter gets nothing.
Deuteronomy 21:10-13 describes how a soldier can force a woman captive to marry him without regard for her wishes
Deuteronomy 22:13-21 requires that a woman be a virgin when she is married. If she has had sexual relations while single in her father's house, then she would be stoned to death. There were no similar virginity requirements for men.
Deuteronomy 22:28-29 requires that a virgin woman who has been raped must marry her attacker, no matter what her feelings are towards the rapist.
Deuteronomy 24:1 describes the procedure for obtaining a divorce. This can only be initiated by the husband, not by the wife
Deuteronomy 25:11: If two men are fighting, and the wife of one of them grabs the other man's testicles, her hand is to be chopped off. There is no penalty if a male relative were to grab the other man
12 disciples of Jesus were recorded as all male
Mark 12:18-27 Jesus doesnt bother to preach against the sexism and unfairness of Jewish law (from Deuteronomy 25:5-10)
Racist Jesus insults women referred to her as a dog or sub-human Matthew 15:22-28 Mark 7:25-30
1 Corinthians 11:7-9:"For a man...is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman but woman for man. For this reason, and because of the angels, the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head."
1 Corinthians 14:34-35: "...women should remain silent in the churches.
Ephesians 5:22-24: "Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife
1 Timothy 2:11-15:"A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent
Titus 2:4: "...train the younger women...to be subject to their husbands
1 Peter 3:7: Women are referred to as "the weaker vessel"
And there is plenty more verses that caused harm, whether intended or not harm is harm.Whether through ancient ignorance of man or not , this was indeed about religion ,and religious views did not have the ability to be deemed wrong and evolve and change fast the same way that science does.If use of nuclear bombs was connected to religion and religious beliefs,the grave danger of these beliefs might become a scurge that is hard to budge for thousands of years.Just as is subjection of women still a scurge that still is hard to budge with regards to women being given equal rights,in becoming leaders within some churches to this very day.
I would totally agree than Dan Wilkinson and his liberal friends are surely very nice people,most will be genuine people who mean well, and definitly are a big step forward.But for them to try and suggest these religious beliefs have no responsibility for heinous acts commited in the name of a religious belief system.To me seems lots like trying to say people killed by nuclear bombs,is not the responsibility of the existence of these nuclear bombs.
And while liberal folk try to water down sanitize and sanction the adverse detrimental effects of religion.Liberal folk liberally continue to also help enable unwarrented respect of religion,which in turn continues to convert folk toward liberal faith,many who through their respect of religion will also allow for the laws of "freedom of religion" to continue onward unchallenged, inturn "cementing" the rights of some faithful folk in the more abusive fundamental faiths ,to also continue onward abusing people existing among their faith groups, totally unchallenged.
Thus why i suggest, the liberal faithful cannot honestly lay claim of being so very harmless either.
When they finally have the guts to ALL promptly step forward ,boldly speak-up! and stand alongside atheists,and petition our governments and authorities, demanding that old laws surrouding "freedom of religion" that currently still allow for this faith-abuse ,need to be reconsidered and amended .Then they might be honest in laying their claim to being harmless.
Until such time,their liberal faith also liberally allows for the faith abuses of abusive fundamental faith groups,to continue to continue onward unchallenged.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Notable Quotable
MaverickJester says:
Bill Maher said something that struck me as profound. He said that being able to doubt is a luxury. There are some people, he said, who cling to religion because that is all that they have.
I think that is indeed sometimes very true. I remember reading as a Christian the "inspiring story" of some gal whose last name was Tada. She was paralyzed as a teenager. She seemed to believe that god wanted her to be nearer to him and so, because she was being drawn away from god, this happened to her. God loves her so much. She is super special to god. She is invited to go to Billy Graham meetings and be a speaker.
What happens to a gal like that if she realizes that it was all just a big mistake? The only purpose in her life is the one she herself created. Her mission, her goals, her very reason for being are at stake here as is her entire support group. Hubby is evangelical, friends are evangelical, her job is predicated on being a Christian. Wow. I sure wouldn't be in hurry to burst her bubble.
Bill Maher said something that struck me as profound. He said that being able to doubt is a luxury. There are some people, he said, who cling to religion because that is all that they have.
I think that is indeed sometimes very true. I remember reading as a Christian the "inspiring story" of some gal whose last name was Tada. She was paralyzed as a teenager. She seemed to believe that god wanted her to be nearer to him and so, because she was being drawn away from god, this happened to her. God loves her so much. She is super special to god. She is invited to go to Billy Graham meetings and be a speaker.
What happens to a gal like that if she realizes that it was all just a big mistake? The only purpose in her life is the one she herself created. Her mission, her goals, her very reason for being are at stake here as is her entire support group. Hubby is evangelical, friends are evangelical, her job is predicated on being a Christian. Wow. I sure wouldn't be in hurry to burst her bubble.
The Christian Belief Story
Really true, articulett. You just can't come up with a coherent message from the gobbledygook of the Bible. It is the wackiest, scariest story ever told. We are born as worthless sinners and filthy rags fit only for the dustbin because of 2 people long ago. God never mentions his great plan in the entire Old Testament [several chapters in Isaiah not withstanding, especially since you have to really pick through the whole thing to get what the Christians are getting out of it and it doesn't read the same if you translate it directly from Hebrew instead of from the Greek version].
Anyway, the myriad of problems with the Bible not stopping there but god then sends his son who is really himself to get the crap beat out of him and save us from hell [which also was never mentioned in the Old Testament]. So, Jesus gives the ultimate sacrifice of giving up his life but not really since he came back after only 2 days even though we are going to say it was 3 days. So, for 3 days out of eternity he was dead. Doesn't seem like much of a sacrifice. But, okay, he sacrificed himself even though he is really god who he is sacrificed to and did all this to save the world. Only, not really, since it looks like most of us are going to hell anyway.
It is a inane plan, it is nonsense and it is not believable. Plus, why didn't god just put a fence around the tree of knowledge. If I was a parent with a pool, that is what I would do. Then, you walk out and say "Where is little Johnny" even though supposedly you are all seeing and then you see the little goober floating in the pool. You revive him and it looks like he'll be alright. So you beat the crap out of him because you love him so much and curse all his children, grandchildren, etc. Yeah, I call that bad parenting. No, I call that abusive parenting.
And you never speak to the child again except through other people and you tell him that you hate him and he deserves every bad thing that happens to him but that is really love and you are helping him build character. He doesn't think you are real because he has never actually seen you. He has only seen the nursemaid and a bunch of preachers who tell little Johnny that you are real and all-seeing and all-knowing. So, you decide when he dies you are going to roast him in hell for eternity. Yeah, that is a psycho parent, for sure.
Anyway, the myriad of problems with the Bible not stopping there but god then sends his son who is really himself to get the crap beat out of him and save us from hell [which also was never mentioned in the Old Testament]. So, Jesus gives the ultimate sacrifice of giving up his life but not really since he came back after only 2 days even though we are going to say it was 3 days. So, for 3 days out of eternity he was dead. Doesn't seem like much of a sacrifice. But, okay, he sacrificed himself even though he is really god who he is sacrificed to and did all this to save the world. Only, not really, since it looks like most of us are going to hell anyway.
It is a inane plan, it is nonsense and it is not believable. Plus, why didn't god just put a fence around the tree of knowledge. If I was a parent with a pool, that is what I would do. Then, you walk out and say "Where is little Johnny" even though supposedly you are all seeing and then you see the little goober floating in the pool. You revive him and it looks like he'll be alright. So you beat the crap out of him because you love him so much and curse all his children, grandchildren, etc. Yeah, I call that bad parenting. No, I call that abusive parenting.
And you never speak to the child again except through other people and you tell him that you hate him and he deserves every bad thing that happens to him but that is really love and you are helping him build character. He doesn't think you are real because he has never actually seen you. He has only seen the nursemaid and a bunch of preachers who tell little Johnny that you are real and all-seeing and all-knowing. So, you decide when he dies you are going to roast him in hell for eternity. Yeah, that is a psycho parent, for sure.
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