Town House Homestead Tuesday

Well, it appears that the out door work is coming to an end. I did manage to get about sixty to sixty-five cloves of hard neck garlic planted. Better late than never I suppose. With a couple of warmer muddy days we managed to get the fencing up and protect it. With my budget spent, we raked leaves for mulch. I'm sure it will be fine and all I can do now is wait. Plus the leaves can be turned under next fall as compost.

It looks so small here, but this is a good size area. Next spring we'll continue with the fencing around the whole pollination garden and keep growing. It's mostly to keep Hunter out and away from the bees while he learns not to go near it. He's really done well learning, but we know challenges are coming. 

I also managed to get some bunch onions planted to see if they'd winter well. I can't tell you how upset Hunter was that my marker sticks were on the other side of the chicken wire. Pulling them out was his favorite pastime this summer. What a puppy.

The bees are all tucked in the best we could, and they seem to be quite healthy at this point. They were out for the warmer days doing their last minute cleaning and getting ready to settle in. We are hoping they make it. It's up to them now.

I got some decorating done in the kitchen. Just simple, cheerful decorations to brighten the day. 

My red Christmas cactus bloomed one flower, but it is so pretty. It's growing strong. Pardon the dust. It's all over here along with dog hair Hunter is shedding. 

Ending this blog, I'm sharing a picture of my grandchildren. From left to right is Kalob, Amanda, and Joshua. Yesterday Kalob was sworn in to the Marine Corp. and I'm sure this morning was a big shock to him. I can only wish him well and be proud of him. That's the short of what's been happening here at the Town House Homestead. Tonight temperatures drop and they are predicting snow and cold for at least the next week, so it will be indoor work and fun. Thank you for stopping by for a visit and don't forget to share your love and bounty.

Thursdays Threads

There's been some breaks in the kitchen activities lately and it honestly feels great. There are so many things that my daughters and I want to do and we are taking the time to do it. This past weekend I continued working on my memory tee shirt quilt. It is coming along well, but I ended up with enough shirts to make two quilts or a front and back. I needed one more shirt from my son's college he graduated from last May and it has been ordered and should arrive by this Saturday. I am excited to have one more item on the road to being finished. 

My eldest daughter finished an apron made from a vintage sheet. This is one of the many, many projects that she has underway and it felt good to her to have it finished. 

I continue on my new adventure knitting socks. I know some of you wonder when I find time, but we live in a rented townhouse. I have some not so nice neighbors who will keep me up late nights with the noise. They can start being noisy at 5:30 a.m. and go to well after 11 p.m. and no matter what we do it doesn't stop. We are close to our goal of finding a new residence, but it may be up to 16 months from now. Money isn't growing on the tree fast enough so in the mean time I reduce my stress with my knitting and am rewarded each time with a new pair of socks or other clothing item. I think I will probably have a few dozen pairs of socks by the time we can move.

The most challenging part of my life right now is growing my green thumb. It is a test, but I have one window that is small and can't be blocked (according to the complex rules) so I have a small table with my Christmas Cactus plants on it. My white Christmas cactus is growing leaps and bounds and it is actually blooming "one" bloom and it's May. I guess it likes that window. I'm calling it my prime gardening space.

Life in the townhouse has it's challenges. Too small but workable, bad neighbors but the reward is socks, and taking the time to look and grow into the new life we so need and desire. Counting our blessing every day and taking advantage wherever we can to move forward. Thank you for stopping by and have a great weekend. 

Thrift finds, freebie economics, trying something new and the simple things.

On a recent adventure to do errands my daughter and a dear friend and I stopped at a thrift store. One we hadn't visited for quite a while. We have cut back on our trips to hunt because we've set a new goal for moving in a year and have been thinking and learning about what we would like to have as far as living quarters. This stop however was quite a great one and we got to pick and choose a few good things.

The best find was a large green Pyrex Cinderella bowl. This is a keeper and the price was $2.99. We found a bright floral table cloth and a double yellow daisy sheet and some vintage blue Christmas ornaments.

We found some other odds and ends that are always on our list. Canning jars at 49 cents, another small Pyrex Cinderella bowl, a terra cotta plant saucer, a basket for a gift basket and a pattern for a men's tie. The most exciting find for my daughter was a new with tags Holly Hobby doll. We left behind a lot of Pyrex that was not in good condition and some with bad chips but it was wonderful to find and be able to choose what was good. 

On our adventure to try something new the girls made honey oatmeal soap. I stayed out of the way for this one, but it seemed to be a simple procedure and look at the results. It's curing and will be ready for use soon.

Now getting to the freebie economics for the week. It wouldn't be a good week without candy and this week was a free York peppermint. I accumulated $34 in Staples rewards and cards over the past month and had my daughter take me to pick out a few items. We had no idea what we'd get. Our printer died and we didn't need ink so until we can get a new one I couldn't let this money go to waste. I purchased a 20 roll package of Scott bathroom tissue, two large containers of coffee and a three roll package of tape. In the end the total was $3.23. I had to split the order in two because I couldn't use them altogether on one order and that was fine. I think I did well. Then on the way into the thrift store I found a wrinkled up dollar bill on the ground and felt even better. Since I have little to no income at this time my daughter covers the overages for me and the dollar went straight to her piggy bank.

The most exciting thing for me this week was the blossom on this Christmas cactus. Three years ago my sister-in-law gave me a cutting. She was sure it was from her white cactus plant. I loved and watered and tended to this plant with such care and was rewarded with the proof that it sure is white. When I was working at The Home Depot a few years back I had seen one and didn't get off work in time to make it mine and had wanted one. The universe gives gifts in such special ways. This plant is named Junior. You see I have a larger pink Christmas cactus plant she also gave me as a cutting many years ago and on one of it's bad years I salvaged a cutting from it and got it to come back to all it's glory. In my small room on a very small table I have three plants. There is Senior, the larger pink cactus that made a miraculous come back, Junior the white cactus and "the third" which is the salvaged cutting from Senior. My happiness is in the simple things.

Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful week everyone.