Sugar Bend Farm

Picture Tour of My Homestead

We have been getting out and working in the yard as much as we can this past week.  The yard needs lots of work yet - everything looks so wild and out of control.  I have these buttercups that take over EVERYWHERE - they are hard to keep up on.  I don't have a lawn at all, and we really don't want one.  Would rather have garden areas for flowers, shrubs, and edibles.  So, it is a work in process...any ideas are welcome!  We try to keep things looking natural - rock borders, etc. mostly because it is cheap  :o)

Our home is on five acres owned by my dad who runs a marine repair business and uses this property to store boats.  I have claimed more area as mine each year I've been here - now over 10.  Here is the house seen as you drive in the driveway.  We have been working in the side yard on the right to get things tidy - but it sure is hard when you lack storage space.

Here you can see the whole layout.  One of the big projects this summer will be to clean the log siding and get it sealed.  Sure looks bad when it is wet! 

On the left behind the trucks, is the future home of our chicken coop.  That big pile of dirt is getting moved and used around the property.  Then the coop will be on the left with a fenced area for them to run around when I'm not home.  I would like to be able to let them out and roam around when I am home.

Just beyond the dirt pile is my veggie garden.  I have peas, strawberries, potatoes, beets, red currents, raspberries planted and onions to go in (I got 1/4 planted tonight).  It is about 25' x 20'.

To the right of the garden we have our camper, which we could move to beyond the shed and open up this area - for more garden  :o)  Under the tarp is my chicken coop project.

To the right of the camper, I have four smaller raised beds.  They are about 2 1/2' by 4'.  I have zucchini, cabbage, carrots and radishes planted in them.  Then our little greenhouse is 8' x 8' which will hold our tomatoes and cucumbers.  The hill behind I tried to tame a bit - I've planted a rhodedendron and a cherry tree up there.  I get all my dirt from the hill for planting beds - talk about alot of work!  I have an area dug out that I think would be a great spot for a root cellar...one project at a time!

The rhubarb is doing well here.  The raspberries have moved themselves from the other side of the greenhouse - guess they wanted more sun. 

Tomatoes and cucumbers waiting to be planted:

To the right of the greenhouse, I have my compost piles - made out of pallets and I have one of the black plastic ones with a cover.  I put the kitchen scraps in the one with the cover so the dogs/bears don't get into it.  Leaves and other garden stuff go into the other 3 open bins.  The blue tarp is where our wood shed will be going - right now we are keeping our extra lumber there.

Okay, now we turn around and are looking at the side yard toward the front of the house and the driveway.  The road is on our left, parallel with the house.  Here is where we have been working on a new pathway, laying it out with the rock and filling it in with rock.  To try to keep the buttercups down, we layered sheets of newspaper under the rock.  We have the clothesline on pulleys from the back door to a tree - works well.  We have a bird feeder hooked up to a pulley so we can get it way up off the ground where the bears can't get to it, but it is easy to lower down to fill up.  The birds really love this area and it is so entertaining to watch them from the dining room window.

And now we are back to the front of the house and where we started!

On the other side of those trees, we have a little pond.  We get mallards, geese and eagles here.

Well, that's it for our place.  Thanks for looking  :o)

Friday's To Do List

I have alot to get done Friday, and mostly this is my list to remind myself and make sure I am accountable to get it done.  But if you read it and get anything out of it, great.  If it inspires you, wonderful.  If you are as bored reading it, as I am writing it, I am so sorry! LOL

1.  Clean off dining room table (the free produce I picked up yesterday is here)

2.  Start taking care of veggies (Freezing summer squash and zucchini and making salsa or spaghetti sauce with roma tomatoes and onions)

3.  Wipe down dining room table, chairs and highchair (while veggies are cooking)

4.  Clean off living room tables

5.  Pick up Noah's toys and put things away

6.Reorganize stuff on book shelves

7.  Put dvds and vhs tapes away

8. Dust and Windex in DR and LR (the rooms are ajoined)

9.  Spray fabrics with febreeze

10. Vacuum stairs and DR and LR

11. Wipe down brown chair and ottoman

12. Go through all magazines and purge (I will take some old ones to the Thrift Shop, and some more recent ones, I will box and let friends go through them to read before taking to Thrift Shop)

13. Put supper in the crockpot

14.  Empty dishwasher and start again if needed

15.  Go to Alltel store for a new charger (I am not sure why, but mine stopped working after a year!!)

If I get all this done, which is probable if I don't have too many interuptions, I will start in Saturdays to do list and get a few things done ahead of time.

Plans for our 3rd anniversary

Hi all.  Matthew and I are still what most would call newlyweds (May 21st will be our 3rd anniversary), but we have been through more than most have been through in more than 10 years of marriage.  To just mention a few, we have had a baby (he just turned 2), buried both of my parents, buried both of Matthew's grandparents, bought a house and moved, and both of us have switched jobs (me twice before finally deciding to be a SAHM while pregnant with Noah), all within the first three years (most within the first 2 years).  We know each other better than most couples who have been married for decades (Matthew's mother says we probably knew each other better in the 9 weeks we dated before getting married than she knew her husband within the first 15-20 years. LOL), but at the same time, we are newlyweds and still getting used to communication and getting to know each other's likes and dislikes.

The weekend after our anniversary is a 4 day weekend for Matthew. He took Friday off, and Monday is one of his holidays, so we are taking a short trip to the city (Kansas City, Missouri, about a 100 mile trip for us) to celebrate.  I am so excited about going, but nervous to leave Noah behind.  I have a wonderful friend Jen who has volunteered to stay at our house with Noah while we are gone Friday and Saturday (then we will come home, and still have 2 days to spend with Noah before daddy has to go back to work), and take care of Noah.  It will be easier on Noah to go to bed in his own crib.  Of course, we will leave her with his car seat, keys to the house, etc.  I just hate leaving him is all.  I know she will take wonderful care of him though. 

I decided today to make a list of the things that need to get done before we leave (such as a HUGE list of things that need to be cleaned up on the house before leaving.  It is awful to let a guest inside your home and expect her to make any sense of it all, and I hate coming home to a messy cluttered home too!) and make a goal of getting them all done by next Friday when we will be leaving.  My list is so long, but hopefully I can get it all done and then focus on sewing curtains for the kitchen and laundry room before we leave.

While we are in the city, we will eat our our all time favorite resturant called Ghangis Khan (mongolian BBQ).  The place is awesome.  They have a bar of fresh veggies, meats, and all the sauces, etc you could possibly want for your meal.  You pur your choice of things in a bowl and take it to the front where guys cook it on a huge flat metal thing (you expect me to know what they call it?? LOL) and bat it around with large wooden sticks to make sure it cooks evenly.  It is a little expensive, so we normally save eating there for anniversaries and birthdays.  This year, we are only eating there for our anniversary only.

Also while in the city, we will be shopping for my bday present (mine was April 27th), and my Mother's Day present from Matthew.  We consider the trip itself our present to each other.  We are planning a trip to Sam's to stock up on some things, and I am in need of some new bras, so Matthew said I can buy 4 new ones.  ( I am so excited about that.  LOL)  We will be staying at a hotel, which tickles me pink for some silly reason. LOL  We are hoping to stay somewhere with an indoor pool!  (We had a hard time finding a place with any pool that was open while on our honeymoon 3 years ago because in May most pools are either not open yet for the season at a hotel, or they are closed for remodeling, but most places that have indoor pools have them opened all year round.) 

I guess I am rambling here, but I wanted to write down what my plans will be for myself as well as writing releases stresses about the out of town trip as well.

Homemade Salsa???

After getting boxes of roma tomatoes, summer squash, zucchini and some onions from the guy giving produce away (he was taking donations for his food pantry in the city and since I knew him as a former pastor in town, I gave him a good donation), I have been looking up recipes for salsa (good use for my onions and tomatoes and I can buy the peppers needed), and looking up web pages giving directions on how to freeze the summer squash and zucchini.  So guess what I will be doing tonight and tomorrow??  I am excited because as my friend Kitty said, it is amazing to see anyone giving away food at these times.  Plus I have never frozen those veggies, and can you believe I have never made salsa before either???

Almost have my girlfriend's laundry done and bagged for her.  LOL  I washed it, dried it, folded it for her and she brought me a 1 liter bottle of my favorite drink....MT. DEW!!!   And a package of Reece's Peanut butter cups (possibly the best food on earth. LOL) for doing her laundry.  How funny is that??? She is a peach I tell ya.

Hubby went to work today with cructches and came home carrying them in one hand and walking slowly today.  LOL  He said his ankle is doing better, but I can gurantee hi won't be on any roofs or towers any time soon!  He is still planning on staying home this weekend instead of working with his friend on electrical moonlighting jobs, so maybe we will get some painting and other household projects done that are on my "honey-do" list.

Hubby and I talked about using some of the money we have had coming in to stock up on some groceries and paper supplies for the home again.  We were having a tight month and decided not to buy groceries this month, so we were using up what was stocked in our pantry shelves.  We did have to buy toliet paper (don't want to run out of that!!!), and diapers, and I even broke down and bought Matthew his favorite breakfast cereal while it was on sale because he was about to have a nervous breakdown without his Peanut Butter Captain Crunch cereal. LOL  Since then we have had some money come in, and after talking with Matthew today, I think we are going to make a list of bulk items we would like to stock up on when they go on sale and hopefully before the food prices rise again.  We had quite a stash going until we had to use it the last 2 months.  We may be doing some shopping while in the city next weekend over our anniversary weekend and I am excited to be able to visit Sam's Club again!  I haven't been to one in well over a year and I used to accompany my mom about 1-2 times a month.

ok, I am skipping out of here for now.  Have a wonderful evening.

This picture is of my Grandmother and cousin.  Isn't it a precious picture?  It was taken probably 39 years ago.  Over the years Grandma has loved her family and supported us more than most.  She gives graciously without wanting anything in return.  There is never a hitch or a catch behind her giving.  She's made all of our Birthdays special and never forgotten one.  She always given her Grandchildren special things without spoiling us.  She handmade my cousin and I each a large box full of clothes for our dolls when we were little.  Complete with nylons, bathing suits, fur coats, jeans, dresses, underware, crocheted sweaters, high heeled shoes, you name it and our dolls had it.  She handmade us quilts when we were teenagers.  Bought us our own rollerskates with carrying case when we were in grade school.  No one else had these and it made us feel special.  She started us our own bank accounts when we were very young which no one else our age had which made us feel special.  We've always loved to show her off because she is so beautiful and no one can believe she is our Grandmother.  Let alone a Great-Grandmother and hopefully one day a Great-great-grandmother.  She's taken care of us when we are sick.  Taught me to crochet.  She's helped us with our burdens.  Loved us unconditionally.  She's cried with us during our sorrows and laughed with us during our joys.  She allowed our family of 3 to live with her for over a year and I never heard 1 complaint.  She is patient, forgiving, caring, strong, kind, thoughtful, gracious, beautiful, artistic, humble and I could go on, but I don't want to embarrass her to bad.  Oh yah, she is shy, proper and somewhat reserved too, but don't mess with her.  I think our son and his goofyness has loosened her up a little.  She encourages us to follow our dreams.  Although I don't know if she's to supportive about the whole cow thing.  She dreams of living by the beach and the mountains at the same time.  Without her, we would not be who we are today.  Which I would like to thank her for all she's done for us and how she's blessed us. 

I've posted this with a picture of her so that you can understand a little of who she is and how much we love her and want her with us for many more years to come.  If you've read this please lift up a prayer for her because she's just been diagnosed with cancer and we don't know the details yet.

-

God bless you and many thanks to you all.  May you never take God who has created you and all things or your loved ones for granted.

Bubba and Jeffie with pictures

It has been such a blessing having the grand-babies back down here.  They have been with us for a few days because Michelle ended up in the hospital er for very bad head aches and her head swelled.  But Jeffie has been with us most of the time because he doesn't want to leave here.  But they both left today until Saturday night or ??.

Jeffie has a favorite place to sit when he is here.  It is on Bubba's (my hubby, he is called Bubba because he is carring on the family tradition of male grandpa being called Bubba, I named my grandfather Bubba, my girls called my dad Bubba and the torch has been past on to my hubby)  shoulder  Jeffie will crawl up on his shoulder they will talk and watch fishing and hunting shows.

Here is a picture of Bubba and Jeffie hunting deer 2 nights ago:

They look so cute .

Here is my sleepy deer hunter :

Here is Bubba with Maddie:

Here is Bubba with Maddie and Jeffie who is hiding from his mom Michelle so he wont have to leave, it worked she let him stay:

Well that is all for today.

God Bless, mj

Walking by Faith

Thinking of starting a laundromat...........what are your thoughts???

My best friend is washing her clothes at my house today.  NO, I honestly do not care, but of course I am teasing her about paying me $2.00 a load to wash and another $2.00 to dry.  LOL  That is the going rate around here at the laundromats.  LOL  She had to run a quick errand, so she dumped her laundry in my lundry back porch area and left it with me to start and switch over. LOL  How funny is that??? I guess I am a true friend! LOL  

We went to a small store today and I ended up buying Noah and adorable table and four chairs.  He was sitting in the chair while were there looking about and then I noticed the table as well.  The gal who was there said the table usually goes for $69.00 (it was a sratch and dent Pottery Barn chair...had a tiny tiny dent on one corner) but she would sell me the table and four chairs (two blue and two green) for $29.99.  So I bought them all.  It is so adorable and I know Noah will love being able to sit at it and color, etc. 

We also splurged a little today and ate at Pizza Hut today.  Noah had a blast shaking the parmesan cheese onto his pizza and dipping breadsticks into the marinara sauce.  He was so cute with spaghetti sauce all over his face.  LOL Too bad I didn't have a camera with me.

OH, and we were headed to Pizza Hut, we saw a guy with a truckload FULL of boxed vegetables and a for FREE sign on it.  We drove by and he said he was giving these away for a donation of any amount.  Isn't that awesome?? So we got a box of tomatoes, a box of yellow squash, and a box of zucchini as well as about 5-6 large onions.  My friend and I are hoping to possibly make some salsa out of some of it and I will cut up some and freeze.  I called Matthew at work and told him to call his friend Dan (the one we have been trying to help out with groceries because he only gets $10 in foodstamps a month) and tell him where the truck was.

Noah is down for a nap and I have several things that need to get done today, so I am off.  I think I might go start the new dish washer again, and check on my friend's laundry that needs to be switched to the dryer.  Then I will clean off the dining room table, and oh yeah....I should figure out what is on the menu for supper tonight as well. LOL

Hope you are all having a wonderful Thursday.  The weather is perfect here today and I am hoping to get outside for some sun after Noah wakes up from his nap.

The Birth of a Hummingbird

THANK YOU

Thank you to EVERYONE that has commented to me on how to post pictures and still have space on the blog to put more. I do appreciate it!
I think I will go with photobucket if I can figure it out! I am not really computer savy!
Thanks again!