Monday, June 17, 2013

A Virtuous Woman Takes A Walk in the Garden

  • Who can find a virtuous woman? her price is far above rubies
  • With her hands she planteth a vineyard...
I wish this was my garden, but alas, although I had great plans for putting in a bigger, better garden this year, the weather and my husband's busy schedule conspired and we didn't plant a thing this spring.  Luckily for us, though, my mom and dad still garden on a grand scale, and they are generous to fault with their produce.  They grow enough for themselves as well as extra for friends and family.

Walk with me and let me show you my daddy's pride and joy.


On our way to the garden this early morning, we pass by one of two fig trees...



absolutely loaded down with baby green figs. They'll be ripe just about the time that the rest of the garden plays out, I think.



You can see--much larger than my puny little raised beds!



This end is the main pea patch.  Daddy grows purple hull peas, usually Mississippi pink eye purple hulls.  There were a couple of years that you couldn't get seed for this variety anywhere, but luckily they releases some last year and this year, they're our favorite.



You can see almost every stage of a pea on this one plant--the blooms are white on the first day, then as day wears on, they turn yellow.  Eventually the yellow blooms fall off and the little bud that remains starts of grow a pea.  On purple hulls, they start off little and green, then start to get purple as they fill out.  Once these get closer to ready, I'll show you the finished product.



Aren't the blooms pretty? Not as colorful as an ornamental sweet pea, but lovely and delicate, just the same.



These are green beans--at last count, these four(ish) rows had yielded over 71 quarts of green beans!



And they're still making blooms, which means more beans coming.



These blooms are a slight lavender in color. 
(Do you see the green bean at the bottom of the picture?)




Only one row of squash--and I can't tell you how many squash, we've eaten these mostly fresh, and mom and dad have given away tons of these.


I saw Jaimie Oliver batter and fry squash blossoms on his cooking show once, I've been tempted to try it with some of these pretty yellow blooms.



That's about a half row of zucchini back there, beside my parent's mean guard dog.

(My folks were gone for a couple of days and we were tending to her while they were away.  She was moping and pouting about being at home alone, so I decided to take her riding with me.  I ended up taking her town and buying her a happy meal.  Yes, she is wicked mean.)

This was daddy's first attempt at zucchini, and they were a roaring success.

(The empty rows are where they did have onions and potatoes, they're already gone for this year)



Cucumbers in bloom--they are just starting the yield, first one or two a day, and now by the droves.  If the heat doesn't get them, looks like there will be plenty more to come!


Tomatoes are a little late this year, no red ones just yet in these larger ones...



...or among the grape tomatoes.



These are bell pepper, they have a couple of the plants have one or two baby ones, but there were hiding among the leaves and I couldn't get a clear shot.



And sweet corn growing--do you see what I see, right in the middle?


...one lone ear, just starting to tassel.


And last but not least, a few more rows of peas, just to fill the empty rows to the end. 

I hope you enjoyed my "Garden Tour".  How is your garden growing?

Until next time...

This post is linked to:
Make Your Home Sing Monday at Mom's the Word
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
Tuesday Garden Party at An Oregon Cottage
 

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

A Virtuous Woman Cooks--Fried Summer Squash

  • Who can find a virtuous woman? her price is far above rubies
  • She is like the merchants ships, she bringeth her food from afar
  • She provideth meat to her household...


I made my family a delicious dinner Sunday night, and everything was homegrown, incluidng the beef!

Check our my recipe for this lightly breaded Fried Summer Squash over at Secrets of a Southern Kitchen!

Until next time...


Thursday, May 30, 2013

Clutter Busting Challenge-Day 30

  • Who can find a virtuous woman? her price is far above rubies
  • She looketh well to the ways of her household
  • She eateth not the bread of idleness
Today is Day 30 of the Clutter Busting Challenge at Money Saving Mom.  Our task, should we choose to do so--and you know you really need to--is to rid ourselves of the clutter in our houses, by turning loose of (at least) seven things every day during the month.


Today I got rid of one thing from home--a television--donated to my church to use in one of the children's rooms.  I also got rid of several things from my office at church--a wireless router/modem that's been in a desk drawer and is missing one of the cords, an old phone book, some magazines, and some construction paper scraps left from when I was teaching an adult class on how to teach children--I made the grown-ups do crafts to teach them how to teach the kids--it was priceless!

What did you get rid of today?

Until next time...

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Clutter Busting Challenge-Day 29 (Hotel Toiletries)

  • Who can find a virtuous woman? her price is far above rubies
  • She looketh well to the ways of her household
  • She eateth not the bread of idleness
Today is Day 29 of the Clutter Busting Challenge at Money Saving Mom.  Our task, should we choose to do so--and you know you really need to--is to get rid ourselves of the clutter in our houses, by turning loose of (at least) seven things every day during the month of May. Big or small, trash or "treasure", give away or throw away, sell or donate, it doesn't matter, just get rid of it!


Today I'm getting rid of 27 things--hotel soap, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, and even a mouthwash or two.  These are being donated to my church, where we're making up some personal toiletry bags to use for disaster relief or homeless ministry. 

What did you get rid of today?

Until next time...

Friday, May 24, 2013

Clutter Busting Challenge-Day 24

  • Who can find a virtuous woman? her price is far above rubies
  • She looketh well to the ways of her household
  • She eateth not the bread of idleness
Today is Day 25 of the Clutter Busting Challenge at Money Saving Mom.  Our task, should we choose to do so--and you know you really need to--is to get rid ourselves of the clutter in our houses, by turning loose of (at least) seven things every day during the month of May. Big or small, trash or "treasure", give away or throw away, sell or donate, it doesn't matter, just get rid of it!


Today I cleaned out the clutter in my coupon binder.  I have no idea how many I threw away--way more than 7! I had unclipped inserts and loose coupons just stuffed in the front--obviously I haven't been using it in a while. I had a lot of expired coupons--one or two that I made a mental "ouch" that I'd missed using them, but of them will come around again.  I'd just been dreading doing it, but once I went through and threw away the expired ones, it really didn't take that long to get it back in order.  (To see more on where I get my coupons and how I organize them, see my Couponing 101 page for the basics.)


With the price of groceries and everything else these days, it's time for me to get back to my couponing, meal planning, scratch-cooking ways.

What did you get rid of?

Until next time...

Dollar Store Decorating--Thrifty Summertime Flip-Flop Wreath

  • Who can find a virtuous woman? her price is far above rubies
  • She worketh willingly with her hands
  • She maketh herself (and her home) coverings of tapestry...

    Summertime Flip-Flop Wreath

    For the last couple of weeks, I've been a woman on a mission.  Several years ago, I made myself a cute spring/summer wreath using a re-purposed grapevine wreath, and some craft ribbon and frou-frou I picked up from Dollar Tree.

    Not bad for $3.00 out-of-pocket, huh?

    You can see the step-by-step for this one here, if you'd like to click through. I don't know what it was about this wreath, but I just loved it--the colors, the dragon-fly, and the thriftiness of if all combined to suit my fancy, and I hung it out usually from the first sign of anything resembling spring until the leaves were falling off the trees in the fall.


    Unfortunately, three years of wear-and-tear, and it being left out in the sun on top of the birdbath (don't ask!) made it just a faded shadow of it's former self. 

    I was determined to re-do it with something similar, and went confidently off to the Dollar Tree in search of inspiration.  Unfortunately, apparently craft ribbon like I used here is not the "in" thing anymore--everything seems to be going to the big puffy deco mesh stuff, and while I think some things made with deco mesh look pretty, it just wasn't what I was looking for. 

    I even went to the big Dollar Tree when I went to the city for a meeting a couple of weeks ago. 

    Disappointment, again.  No craft ribbon, no cute wind chimes, nothing. 

    Think outside the box, I told myself.  Too late in the year for spring colors, anyway, what is bright and pretty and summery and cheap and can be hot glued to a wreath?  A hot pink flowered beach bag first caught my attention, but standing in the middle of the store I couldn't figure out what to do with it--and then I spotted the flip-flops hanging right beside the beach bags. 

    I'm not much of a flip-flop person, myself, the only time I wear them is to get a pedicure, and those occasions are very few and far between these days.  But they were bright, they were pretty, they were summery, and best of all--cheap!  Oh, and hot-glueable!  So I grabbed a pair in each color.  (I figured if I didn't use them all, I could always throw them in my give-away/donate box for the clutter-busting challenge!)


    Step 1--remove the old ribbon stuff. 




    Step 2--remove the tags and hanging thingies from the flip-flops



    Step 3--try some arrangements.  In pairs...




    ...or separate?


    Step 4--Hot glue to the wreath and to each other. 

    Note: The bad thing about hot glue is that it's called "hot" for a reason. 
    The good thing about hot glue is, it dries clear, and if you need to move things, once it cools, you can usually just pop things off and peel the hot glue remnants right off.


And here is the finished product on display.  My out of pocket--$5.00 for the flip-flops

I think this would be easier with a styrofoam or straw wreath form--the hot glue did drip through the wreath a little onto my kitchen table--luckily, as I mentioned above, it peeled right off once it cooled.  You might want to do this on newspapers or something if you have a nice table that might be ruined by hot glue dripping on it. 

What thrifty pretty have you bought or made for your house lately?

Until next time...

This post is linked to:
Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home
Friday Favorites at Simply Sweet Home
Pity Party at Thirty Handmade Days
Happy Hour Friday at Happy Hour Projects
Anything Blue Friday at The Dedicated House
Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound
Sunday Scoop at I Heart Naptime
Sew Darn Crafty at Sew Many Ways
Penny Pinching Party at The Thrifty Home
Homemaking Party at Hope in Every Season
Wow Us Wednesday at Family Home and Life
A Round Tuit at Creating My Way to Success

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Clutter Busting Challenge-Day 23

  • Who can find a virtuous woman? her price is far above rubies
  • She looketh well to the ways of her household
  • She eateth not the bread of idleness
Today is Day 23 of the Clutter Busting Challenge at Money Saving Mom.  Our task, should we choose to do so--and you know you really need to--is to get rid ourselves of the clutter in our houses, by turning loose of (at least) seven things every day during the month of May. Big or small, trash or "treasure", give away or throw away, sell or donate, it doesn't matter, just get rid of it!


Today I got rid of an indoor table-top fountain thingy that I won as a door prize at a women's meeting, four little candles/candle holders, and the remains of four solar lights I used to have along my front walkway.  The fountain and candles are in the giveaway/donate box, the solar light things are in the trash.  (They were el-cheapo to start with, and when I first put them up, instead of lighting the walkway, they just sort of glowed after dark--I thought it made my house look like space ship had landed--so I'm not sorry to these go at all!)

What did you get rid of today?

Until next time...

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