If I Took A Self-Portrait

This is what it would look like.

Sometimes Mother Nature blows. Literally.

So, how's the weather in your neck of the woods?  Maybe I'll fly by and check it out.

Earth Day 2010

Today was Earth Day and next week (April 30) is Arbor Day, so it was the perfect time the plant a tree in our yard.

One of our maple trees (I'm not sure if it's a Red Maple or a Crimson King Maple) throws off an incredible amount of seedlings all over our yard and normally they either die off or they get mowed over before they even have a chance to grow.  However, last year being the year that we paid absolutely no attention whatsoever to our yard, a couple of the seedlings not only took root, but flourished.  The largest grew over five feet and had established a nice straight trunk.

We have a couple of trees that have died and will need to come down, so we decided to take Mother Maple's gift to us and try to nurture those trees into adulthood.  

And just because there's nothing better than drinking water straight out of the hose, I'll share this too.

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

Currently, at our house . . .






as well as a . . .


So I'm counting the 37 days until . . .

Which One of You Pissed Off Mother Nature?

Because I have a real bone to pick with you.


The weather around here has been terrible. It was only last week that we had a bad ice storm, fallen trees, and lost power. Then it turned cold. So cold that you couldn't catch a breath. Today, it is 60 degrees, but we have flooding, flash flood warnings, and tornado warnings.


Mother Nature's cycle is definitely screwed up. She may need some hormone therapy soon if it doesn't straighten out.


Speaking of therapy, I've been knitting. I know, big surprise there. But it's knitting for ME now. Me, me, me. After a couple of months of doing gift knitting, I'm back to having something on the needles that is just for me.


I picked up this yarn (Lion Brand Sock Ease) a month or so ago at Hobby Lobby when they opened. I love the cheery pink color. It's not super expensive sock yarn, but it has aloe in it and so far it is knitting up nicely, so it might be a good alternative to the gut wrenching feeling I get whenever I think about spending $40 on handpainted sock yarn. There are some nice colors and best of all, it only takes one skein for a pair of socks and it runs under $10.00 for a skein.





I'm making the Lacy Mock Cable Socks by ScarlettKnits and so far, I love the pattern. It's easy to memorize and is a nice break away from plain stockinette socks yet not too complicated.


And the best part? They are for me! Sorry, but it's the selfish, only child coming out. Sometimes I can't control her.

I've Been Punk'd

Every morning the dogs and I go out and check for ripe tomatoes. It's the highlight of their day. Hey, they are dogs. What else do they have to do but sleep, eat, poop, and fetch the paper.

I think they can either see the ripe tomatoes or smell them because they always sniff them right out.

This morning we did our little morning routine and there are a few tomatoes that are at that "not quite ripe enough" stage.

A few hours later I looked out my kitchen window, and I see this.

(Try to imagine it a little bit further away and through a dirty screen and window!)

How did I miss two great big ripe tomatoes? And on my cherry tomato plant no less!

When I actually got outside and looked a little closer, I see this:

I've been punk'd. By a dog.

B.L.T. Y.U.M.

My first BLT of the year.

Toasted honey wheat bread

Hellmann's mayonnaise (of course)

Crispy bacon

and best of all . . .

The first tomatoes from my upside down garden.

I hope it is the first of many this summer.

That Wascally Wabbit

Some of my upside down tomatoes are getting ripe.

I had more but some stupid rabbit ate them.

So we moved the plants to the upper part of the deck so at least he has to work a little harder to get them.

Did I mention I love a man that knows how to use a level?

It's a Thorny Situation

Wanted: Tree Hugger who is up for a challenge. This might be this stickiest situation you have encountered. It could get prickly at times. If you like to get right to the point, this is the job for you. Multiple piercings okay.

We have these trees in our yard. They are honey locust trees, but Vern calls them the thorny bastards.

They need to be removed.

Vern has the thorn in his head to prove that.

Pass The Pepper

My first green peppers from my upside down, topsy turvy plants.

Fresh, organic, and I didn't even have to get my hands dirty.

Like a Bad Penny

He's back. Like a bad penny.


Jesse stayed with us for two weeks and went on to his new home in Indiana last Wednesday.


On Sunday, he called and asked if it would be okay if he came back for a while. Apparently the flooding is so bad in southern Indiana that they were evacuating the area where he was living.


So, he returned on Monday. A mere four days after he left. We barely missed him.



Oh well - it's not like there isn't a ton of stuff he can help out with around here! Jesse isn't married, but that doesn't stop me from giving him a "Honey Do" list.



Honey, can you trim all the trees? Yes, even the really high branches.

Honey, can you put the branches you trimmed on the fire?
Honey, can you help drywall the shop? And then you can paint it.

Yes ladies - he's single. But he comes partially broken in. And with his own bucket truck.

I'm Against Rules

There must be something in my past that makes me incapable of following rules.


I mean, I read directions. I just refuse to follow them.


I don't know why I do that. The results are almost always bad, and I end up saying "I don't know why I don't follow the rules."

But, alas, I don't.


My herbs and vegetables were growing so well that I was infused with a sense of confidence overconfidence. I bought a couple of small herb planters today while I was shopping wasting time at Menards with Vern. (It was his first trip out since he got out of the hospital; I had to indulge him a little.)



The directions said to mix the dirt with water and then plant five seeds from each of the three packets of herbs included in the kit. Wait. What? FIVE seeds? Five tiny little seeds? Each packet had at least 30 seeds. I'm supposed to pick out five teeny, tiny little seeds and plant just those?


Screw that. I sprinkled the whole darn package and called it good.


I expect great things. It doesn't mean I'll get them, but I expect them.

Sew and Grow

First the sew.

I whipped up a couple of summer tunics from Simplicity 3624. (I made the 4th view - View D - but lengthened it by about 5".) (You can click on any of the photos for a larger view)

Other than being a little bit fussy at the shoulder seams, they were a fast and simple sew. I had the black and white fabric, which was a dream to sew with, and I picked up the stretch brown knit for $1.00 per yard at Walmart. I don't like to spend too much on fabric unless I'm making something special since I tend to wear something for one or two seasons and then pass it on. I'll be making this pattern again (maybe one of the other versions with a less fussy shoulder seam construction) because it's a flattering shape and fit.

Although can I just ask "what the heck is up with all of these super low cut shirts?" I thought it was just ready to wear, but every pattern I pick up lately definitely wants to display some serious boobage.

(JoAnn, as usual, is looking a little rounder than I would prefer. She really needs to go on a diet sometime soon.)

Now for the grow.

A big "screw you!" to all of you who had doubts in my gardening abilities or in my homemade topsy turvy planters. It was only a matter of a day or two and all of the leaves on my plants turned upwards and now they are growing happily upside down.

In fact, I have a few green peppers already getting large enough to start dreaming about how I am going to use them and tomatoes on each of my three different tomato varieties.

Green Peppers

Cherry Tomatoes

Roma Tomatoes

Beefsteak Tomatoes

So ha! I can do anything! I could probably even garden, sew, knit and balance a pizza on my head at the same time.

Here at Uno Acres, when there is grilling to be done, it's a job for the man of the house.

On Memorial Day, we grilled steaks and ate outside on our deck. It was a beautiful day, and it was nice to share one of our first meals on the deck with Jesse since he worked so hard to help us build the deck.

In honor of the master chef here at Uno Acres, I am sharing our special marinade for steaks.

Uno Acres Steak Marinade
Teriyaki sauce
Garlic
Brown Sugar (sometimes I substitute fresh honey)
Cilantro (sometimes I use this and sometimes I don't, so add it if you like)

Directions:Mix together and marinate meat for at least one hour.

Yes, it's really just that easy to turn your steaks into something memorable without all the artificial ingredients that bottled marinade contains.

Oh, and it tastes even better when someone else does the cooking.

Let's Play "One of These Things Is Not Like The Other"

Can you spot the intruder?




Someone apparently decided that this was the line for free meals.


And he wasn't happy about being evicted.


Not. Happy. At. All.

Birds of a Feather

Look how the little hobgoblins have grown! Their eyes are open now and they are getting their wing feathers.



Meanwhile, we had some more feathered friends visit us.




And then away they went.




. . . and back down into the creek.


And what, you ask, were my Labrador Retrievers doing while all of these birds were invading our yard?


Good thing we don't hunt with them. One is too lazy to care and the other one would rather play with sticks.

Curb Appeal

We spent most of the weekend working on projects outside since the weather was sunny and warm (but not too warm). I may have mentioned . . . I'm not a big fan of outside. Or dirt. And unfortunately, most of the outside projects pretty much require you to actually BE outside to work on them. And a large number of them involve dirt.

Nevertheless, I pitched in. After all, I can't let my ailing husband do all the hard labor.

In addition to the Topsy Turvy Upside Down plants we planted, we also did a little bit of improvement to the front of the house.

We added some geraniums and new mulch to the front of our porch. We had geraniums here last year and they added such nice color to the front of the house.



We also removed all of the rock around one of the trees in the front yard and planted some hostas.

The former owner of this house had a thing for rock. Lots and lots of rock. Everywhere. Removing it is going to be a job. For someone else. I'm pretty sure we'll hire some strong college guy to schlep this rock away from the entire perimeter of the house and around most of the trees.

Lincoln also pitched in and added some moral support.


If only we could actually get him to dig where we want to plant hostas instead of where he wants to plant bones.

It's a Topsy Turvy World

I want a garden.

But there are two problems.

1. I hate dirt.

2. I hate being outdoors.

Not necessarily a good combination if you want to be a master gardener.

Intrigued with the As Seen On TV commercials for the Topsy Turvy, we decided to try our hand at upside down gardening. It eliminates a lot of the "digging in the dirt" aspect of gardening and minimizes the "being outside" aspect since we can virtually put them right on our deck. I barely have to get my hands dirty or leave the house. Awesome.

We did a little research and decided to make our own version of the Topsy Turvy.

You will need:

Plants - We purchased fairly large tomato and pepper plants since I am the kiss of death to anything green it seemed like they had a good start on life. (If I were to do it again, I might get slightly smaller plants since the larger plants were harder to feed through the hole in the container.)

Hanging Containers - We purchased containers that were ready to hang, but you can use anything from a 5 gallon bucket to a fancy pants planter from your garden store.

Coffee Filter or Newspaper - To keep the dirt from falling through the hole in the container.

Step 1 - Drill a hole in the bottom of the container for the plant to grow through. (We drilled a hole 2 1/8" in diameter)

Step 2 - Insert plant upside down through hole (this is where a smaller, more flexible plant would be easier)

Step 3 - Put coffee filters/newspaper around the base of the plant and over the hole so that the dirt doesn't fall through

Step 4 - Break up the roots of the plant a little so that they can grow into the shape of the container

Step 5 - Fill with potting soil. I planted herbs in the top of my containers but you could also plant flowers for a colorful touch.

Step 6 - Hope that the birds, dogs, and bugs don't get to them before you do.

I hardly even had to get myself dirty.