Tuesday, May 1, 2018

The Missing Blogger Back on Duty




Sorry about that.
I blinked and three weeks went by.

I blame our extended holiday. Keith and I made it to Hannibal Mo. for two nights to celebrate our upcoming 25th wedding anniversary. The highlight of our trip was the tour we took of Rockcliffe Mansion in Hannibal. Thirty rooms of early 1900's opulence!

We had to go in April because Liz the cow was dried off in anticipation of her calfs' arrival. (She's due any day now.) We stop milking our cows before their due date to allow mama cow to build increased reserves. Thus the reason we went on vacation when we did; it's much easier to get someone to do a few livestock chores when it doesn't include cow milking!

Special thanks to our daughter Raven and GK Allana for doing said chores by the way.

After that, the weather turned on us. Weeks of cold, rainy, even snowy spring days finally morphed into warmer weather and that called for serious garden time. We've been planting something, somewhere, for the last two weeks. This year we'll have three plots: the Potager Garden by the door of The Looney Bin, (herbs, salad stuff and flowers for cutting), the Main Garden father west of that (all the other vegetables not in the Potager Garden), and the Corn Garden out back alongside our feed shed (sweet corn and popcorn). I'll explain why we have three gardens in my next post.

In the midst of that I've been writing and submitting more homestead specific articles. I'm thrilled to report that Self-Reliance Magazine will be publishing my article about DIY Family Cemeteries in their Summer 2018 edition. 

Most recently I was busy planning for a visit from long lost Indiana cousins on my mother's side. So happy to see them and spend solid time catching up. We met for dinner one night, lunch at my sister Teresa's the next day, followed by caravanning across 6 counties in order to see even more sisters. It was a great weekend. We completely exhausted each other.

Today it was hot, and tomorrow will be hotter, in the high 80's, followed by severe thunderstorms predicted at the end of the week. We have a chicken brooder pen to complete, more garden seeds to get in the ground and of course, the barn to finish. Stay tuned, it's going to be one crazy summer!


15 comments:

  1. Your knowledge about Family Cemeteries must be 100%. Could you not become a 'consultant'? Or run a dedicated web site maybe? I expect there are thousands out there who'd like to do what you've done, but have no idea where to start!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would like to help others do the same. Perhaps with the publication of my article I'll get that ball rolling.

      Delete
  2. I know the feeling when time flies by, but it sounds like you had fun :D
    I love your post about Dead people's clothes - brilliant :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dead People's Duds...the name of my thrift shop should I ever open one. :)

      And, is Yarrow your real name or a stage name? It's lovely either way.

      Delete
  3. Congratulations on getting published! I stopped trying to plant sweet corn because the raccoons always got to it before I did! -Jenn

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. Our corn garden is fenced off (not that raccoons don't climb) but our Great Pyrenees keeps them at bay as well.

      Delete
  4. I'm glad to hear, you and Keith had a great time together. Maintaining the property can get in the way of any quality time together. So you're both now relaxed, and refreshed - ready to get back into the regular stuff. Bring on the barn! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We do well with short trips, even day trips. Nothing like an afternoon spent in a used bookstore to chill us both out.

      Delete
  5. I know what you mean about how quickly time passes. The phenomenon seems to get worse the older we get. I had to smile when you explained about vacation timing and your cow. That's just the way it is with critters!

    A huge congratulations on the article. You have a lot of knowledge to share and always in a way that makes interesting reading. Hopefully there will be many more to follow.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Leigh. You know how it is. You either have time to do the homesteading work, or time to write about the homesteading work. It's difficult to do both!

      Delete
  6. Hi Donna :) Congrats on the article! That's great news. I'm glad you both had a nice anniversary holiday! :) It is going to be a crazy summer indeed...we're still battling some snow here, just on the ground, but it's melting off quickly. I've got all my seeds started in pots by the window and I can't wait to get into the dirt! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In your area you must appreciate spring so much more than we do. Will be checking in on your pot growth for sure.

      Delete
  7. Belated anniversary wishes to you and Keith and congrats on the upcoming article publication, Donna. We also enjoy short getaways, which should be easier now that we house-less and animal-free, but we need to schedule between some volunteering and other activities. And, I also find that blog-away time seems to go by so fast.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No worries, you're not late. Our actual anniversary is not until June but we had to celebrate it on the cows schedule, not ours. Silly bovines

      Delete
  8. Nothing wrong with an early celebration, Donna, as we did a pre-anniversary celebration of our 1st date with a recent weekend getaway to Boston. The actual date is in mid-May and we're going away then as well. Let us know you June anniversary date and advance wishes to you both!

    ReplyDelete

Comments are good, as long as you're a real person and not some goof telling me how you were cured of hepatitis by snorting a pulverized neon blue crayon. Your comments don't even have to agree with my viewpoint, I love a good discussion, but civility does matter.