Town House Homestead Tuesday

It was bee tending time again this past Sunday. The weather finally allowed good conditions to inspect the hive. These bees are strong and working hard. They are building and have filled most of the supers with lots of honey. There are five stacked here and another is soon to be added until the owner arrives back in the country to harvest the honey. 

On the way home from tending the bees we stopped at a co-workers garage sale. She had posted pictures on line and I was in need of planters and any pots because of all the newly donated plants and cuttings people have given us to brighten up our new home, and of course indoor herbs. 

This is the collection I came home with. Not too bad for $23. These are very good heavy pots and one pot was marked $28. I think I did well.

This is my kitchen herb garden so far. I have added a jar of Rosemary to root and will plant is as soon as it does. I have also started a new pot of Basil because the Japanese beetles liked it as much as I did if not more, killing it completely. 

After the garage sale we hit up a thrift store and found some vintage items, The cupcake mold we got at the garage sale. There were a couple of linens, Vera scarves, holiday cookie cutters, yes more plant saucers, Tupperware items and a stacking Santa. 

My daughter rescued this wonderful chair from the trash. Why anyone would throw something this great away is beyond us. I washed it all up and got years of dirt off it and she continued the challenge.

She simply unbolted the four bolts and is giving it a coat of spray paint to change it from an off white to a bright white for my office in the closet. Total cost will be about $6 for the paint and a few minutes of work. The chrome legs just need a little more washing, but are in excellent vintage condition.

This gray rolling file cart she also rescued from the trash. I spent two afternoons scrubbing and peeling all the years of dust, dirt, coffee and tape from it and today I started to spray paint it a hammered bronze color. I will use this as a planter. Once again, why can't people see beyond the box and make something new out of things? So glad we have space to have up cycled things now. So, that's what's new at the Town House Homestead this week. Thank you for stopping by and have a great week.

Town House Homestead Tuesday

The new house is really beginning to feel like home. It's been three months and the changes are looking good. The work list is getting shorter and the urgent structural problems are getting fixed and not turning out as bad as it could be. I had this big idea that I was going to have this great big beautiful garden and would be canning and preserving at this time, but that was quickly put on the back burner and I am still using the farm markets. I did, however, get a few vegetables planted in pots and they are growing well. Except for the pepper plant that was eaten. 

Here are my three pots/buckets of container tomatoes that are just over the moon happy and doing quite well. As you can see they are loaded with tomatoes.

I have been growing string beans in containers and starting them a couple of weeks apart so they will continue to produce for us. I also have two surviving carnival pepper plants. These I bring into the breezeway every night to keep them from being consumed by whatever country critter feels hungry. I also have spinach growing in the breezeway and many herbs. It's a glimmer of hope for the large garden that may start next year. 

We had a few appointments last week and in between we did a little thrift shopping. Here we found a mid century modern candle stand, a Wilhold sewing box and a vegetable strainer.

There are always books we enjoy. We needed a napkin holder and of course more Christmas decorations. We also found Halloween ice cube molds and the Tupperware freezer pop mold. Most items were in the 49 to 99 cent range. A couple were a bit more.

This is a set of Tupperware canisters that did not have covers. I wanted the large one for my cooking utensils, but I only needed the next to smallest one. We will find covers. It always happens.

Last, but not least we found a Pyrex round opal baking dish. Always great to find Pyrex for less than two dollars. We got the floppy disc file to hold seed packets that are getting a little out of control. I'm sure we will need more, but for now one will do and they are abundant at thrift stores and who couldn't use another plant hanger. A nice sturdy metal one for all the plants that are rooting and will need homes shortly. Well, that's what's new at the new town house homestead this week.We hope you all have a great week and thank you for stopping by. 

Town House Homestead Tuesday

I sure hope that everyone had a great 4th of July holiday. We sure did. It was work and relaxation with friends and family and a small cookout under the gazebo. Should I say that I am smiling? Life as been overwhelming here at the new town house homestead. As everyone knows, to bring a piece of land back up to par requires long hours of hard work. This past weekend we received help from still another neighbor. 

If you remember the first two weekends we were here required a lot of tree removal. The result was this pile of logs and brush. As May passed by and then June the grass took over. I realized that putting a larger garden in this year was really out of the question and cutting up the wood to store was being put further and further on the back burner. Until...

This neighbor, and may I say a fine gentleman, and his help came to clear the wood. He lives two houses away and they like to sit around a fire and enjoy family and friends and time in their pool. We met him for the first time Saturday evening and at nine Sunday morning they were there with all they needed to cut the wood and haul it away. All we provided was electricity for his chain saw and weed trimmer. 

They removed the grass and kept cutting away and we were glad someone could use the wood and was willing to work hard getting it out. 

They worked for four hours and left to go share time with their family and company. Before leaving however Scott explained that he'd be back the next morning (July 4th) to finish up. By this he meant he would remove all the old garden fence and posts and cut the grass down to a manageable level. Here is the last barrel of wood he hauled away. 

This is the beautiful cleared future garden spot as of this morning. There's lots to be done. There's some weed guard down under some of the grass and it needs to be raked well, but for now we will be able to keep working and prepping it for next summer's vegetables. We feel so blessed to have such wonderful neighbors and this experience is new to us. I gave them each a pint of home made triple berry syrup and they went on to enjoy their holiday.

My daughter is once again tending bee's this summer. We went and checked out the hive and it is thriving beyond belief. This is an awesome thing to see a strong hive at work. In a couple of months they have filled two supers and built the third to fill with honey/brood. You can see how busy they have been. 

She inspected the hive and saw that it was growing at a fast pace. She was going to add one super to the hive, but because of the activity she added two new ones. When she goes back in a few weeks to check on them again she expects to see more honey and good activity. They were flying strong and I was impressed with the speed and accuracy of the bees. 

From my herb garden this week I was able to harvest a good variety for drying. I have winter savory, sweet marjoram, basil and thyme. I wasn't expecting anything to grow or to be able to plant a garden this year after the tree episode, but the containers with tomatoes are doing well and the containers with peppers are also thriving. I've planted bush beans in pots and spinach. I will be able to harvest some spinach in a couple of days and I started another pot for when the other is depleted. Not a lot, but enough for a couple of meals and that's something. That's what's new at the new town house homestead this week. Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful week.