New computer and gardening

Well I wrote a long post here and it disappeared. So trying again.
I finally got a new computer since my old one was on it's last leg. This time I got a laptop. Not sure I'm going to like it but probably will once I've used it a lot. I also upgraded my satellite internet to more minutes so now can come here more often.

Gardening is winding down. We only have tomatoes, peppers and okra left and they will continue to produce until frost. I have been drying much of the peaches and plan to dry my apples this year as well. After we cleaned out our pantry, we decided we didn't need to put up tomatoes or salsa so going to work on making spaghetti sauce next week instead. We have given away so many tomatoes too.

This week we are doggie sitting our middle son's 2 inside dogs. Jack is a cockapoo and is so so old and he has back troubles (arthritis). Sophie is just a couple of years old and is a dachshund. She is mainly a one family dog so thought she might be a problem. But she remembered staying with us last summer and has adjust quite well this time.

Rainy Day photos

My sister and BIL came out today for a visit and to get some blueberries. It was such a nice visit. We had some showers so the place really looked green. This is a photo my sister took looking out from our house across the road at the clouds on the mountain.The flower bed in the photo is our iris bed. We need to cut them back.

Another photo she took was of our muscadine arbor over our brick walkway looking at our firepit area and garden in the background.

I am almost finished with the 3rd quilt top. I have one more row of blocks and then the sashing and removing the papers and then it will be ready to take to the quilt shop to be quilted.

But have to admit that I'm so glad my jam and jelly making is over until the apples ripen. The dried peaches turned out nice and have them in the freezer. I do plan to make salsa soon as we get enough tomatoes.

Blueberries and fabric

Today started early. I put up 26 pints of plum jam yesterday and thought I was finished with my jam and jelly making as I had put up 28 pints of peach jam last week...but was just going to put up the cherry juice I had into jelly but found that what I thought was cherry juice was really more plum pulp so got it all in a gallon ice cream bucket and called my DIL who was coming out to bring our ice chest back from last week when she came and borrowed to take home the garden and fruit goodies. Well she wanted the plum pulp so glad it found a good home. I did find enough cherry juice to make 4 pints of jelly so that was made this morning. Also picked 2 gallons of blueberries.

I kept one gallon and gave the other to the DIL to take home. She will be jelly and jam making tomorrow. In the meantime she was headed to her mom's house. Since her mom died, she and her older sister have been cleaning the house out. Her mom was a big quilter and think she may have made over 200 quilts in her lifetime and all hand quilted at that. But she had a huge fabric stash. The DIL wanted me to follower her over there after blueberry picking and pick out what fabrics I wanted. I came back with 3 bags full...mostly reds, whites, blues but some other colors as well. Also found an old Tupperware box full of embroidery floss and also they had a bag full of thread. I picked out a couple of handfuls of the thread. When I got home, I sorted it on my sofa so I could wash all the fabric. Here is all the goodies I got today. Better than Christmas.

In the midst of washing it all, I have gotten all the peaches I peeled and sugared yesterday into my dehydrator. Can't wait to try the dried peaches. Will be something good for this winter.

It's been about a week since I've posted here. It has been a busy time around the place. First the garden seemed to all come off at one time. And so we both were busy putting up our produce. We still aren't finished but at least we have breathing space now. Today is more jam making day for me. Plums this time. But with the 4th coming up soon, I tend to think patriotic thoughts and these are my patriotic pictures. Red, white, blue (black) beans we grew this year.

Our tomatoes have begun so will be making salsa soon.

The first crop usually looks pretty bad but they get better and better as it goes along.

Also found another gorgeous spider web the other morning. I just love these. It is so amazing that God made the tiny spider so she could spin such an elaborate looking home.

Well back to the plum jam making.

 

red beans, wild plums and new rug

We spent the largest part of yesterday morning shelling red beans. We got a bushel from the garden and was only 2 short rows that were planted. This is what we got from the bushel.

These are some of our stone (wild) plums we have picked. I have boiled down some already and have put down in the freezer to make jam later on.

Here is the finished "Bad Hair Day" rug. This is the 2nd one and for my beautician.

Of Rabbits and Birds

Today I'm taking it easy. We have been so busy in the garden, orchard and yard that today is going to be a quiet day. I finished the hooking on the new "Bad Hair Day" rug and even have it bound, but need to block it. I also hooked 2 hearts and they are bound as well. I will block them sometime today and then get photos up tomorrow. I plan to stitch the hearts together and stuff and put in an old rusty spring.

We have a nice friendly Peter Rabbit inhabiting our back yard. He loves the clover and he seems so tame. We can walk out when he is grazing and it doesn't seem to bother him much. Even the dogs don't seem to mind him. Thankfully we have an electric fence around our garden so that it keeps him in the clover instead of our veggies.

We also have several birds nesting around. One is in our stone plum (wild) thicket. They are brown thrush and when we pick the plums, they will fly off the next but come right back. Another nest is in one of our peach trees and not sure what kind of bird it is. It is a different looking next and looks like a little hanging basket. We thought it was a summer tanger but not sure. And the 3rd nest is in our muscadine grape vines growing at the front of our house draping over the brick patio area. That one is a redbird nest and they really squawk at us every time we walk under. Her is the photo of it.

Gardening

Finally got a few shots around the place yesterday. It has been hot and steamy here lately. We have had a late afternoon or evening shower for 2 days now and looks like it will continue today. Just makes it steamier. But so good for the garden.

Our tomatoes and peppers are in buckets and bins and really growing. None are ripe yet but will be in a week or so.
Our blueberries are beginning to ripen.

Our asparagus is now ferny plants. It makes them healthier for next spring's picking season. Cutting the plum tree beside them was a good thing as the asparagus was being shaded and sapped too much but the tree.

Our fig tree has come back as a bush. They had weakened so from 2 winters of long periods of freezing temps. They can usually do ok with a day or 2 but when you have 2 or 3 solid weeks of freeze then they take longer to pull out of it in the spring. So we decided to cut them back to the ground and now it is a nice healthy bush. We won't have figs this year but maybe next.