Saturday, March 31, 2012

lazy, sore, tired gorgeous saturday



we are both sore. and both tired. jambaloney fell asleep in his chair reading his book a little while ago - i really wanted to wake him and move him to the bed but he is out cold and i don't want to disturb him. we have been painting our kitchen cupboards, hauling rocks, shovelling over our compost heap, getting the seed starting tray ready and a bunch of other things over the past week. we are both sore and tired!

we went to bed late last night as both of us were too sore to lay down in bed - bahahahah - isn't that crazy-sounding? even with many trips to the hottub over the past few days and nights, we are still sore from being cramped up trying to paint the crappy cupboards - 3 coats of primer and 2 coats of white paint - ugh! and then last night apparently i was sleep-talking about food to jambaloney. he told me that i woke him 3 times from a dead sleep talking about nonsense - something that i have done since i was a child. i sleepwalk, too!

whenever i sleeptalk or sleepwalk it means that i didn't get a good night's rest. same for poor jambaloney - why he puts up with me, i'll never know? maybe it's because i make a mean stir-fry, or maybe it's because i bought him a canoe! anyway, i didn't sleep well and neither did he, what with me waking him up 3 times! and then at some point in the night our mouser, barrel, brought in a weasel. a beautiful, white one according to jambaloney - i didn't see it thank goodness. our other cat noodle woke up jambaloney at about 5am, playing with the weasel! jambaloney picked it up and brought it to a safe place outside and we are not certain if it is dead or just in shock. i don't want to go and look and see if it is still there. i hope it got over it's shock and is frolicking in the forest now.

i was sitting at my computer reading some blogs and realized just how cramped and sore i felt. so i went out and got in the hottub. it's a really gorgeous day out there - the birds are really feeling spring in the air and are chirping like mad! i have daylillies in pots that are popping their green heads out of the dirt. the air smells wonderful! i got in the hottub and relaxed my poor, sore, arthritic hands. it felt wonderful.

the only thing missing was jambaloney. he's still flopped in his big, comfy chair and out cold. poor guy is so tired. i am not going to let him do any jobs today - i will take him for a nice walk down to the river later though. and i am going to go and make him some dinner in a few. the smell of food cooking always wakes him.

i hope you all are having a gorgeous saturday too!

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Ditch Enhancement

jambaloney here!


we had a couple of super hot days last week and one afternoon i took a quick walk to the river - it takes a few minutes - there's home circled in red ;-)


you can see some ruts in the road... there are some low lying and soggy spots that require more drainage. i figured it was a good day to start. in the below pic you can see the water across the road just before the shore. the ditch on the right hand side is today's little project as water trickles from the left to the right.


here is a better pic as it nears the river.


and right where it meets the river grass has created a dam. the drop is about a foot which is significant.




here is a close-up, nothing a few minutes with the shovel can't fix!



and sure enough water starts to flow!!



i let that get started and walked around a bit to enjoy the ice melting.



i came back, cleared some more debris and stomped it down a bit to make a solid channel. i got my first soaker of the year!!! my mom will appreciate that as a sign spring has arrived, i ALWAYS had wet feet in march ;-)


the right hand ditch needs a bit more effort - yep, i chose the easy job this day - you can see the canoe ready to go fishing when the season starts - can't wait!!!


on the way back, i found some tracks - either a HUGE deer or a moose - can't tell for sure but it's always nice to see the visitors leave their trail.



hope everyone is having a great spring!!!!

cheers!

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

some of the reasons why i like blogging

there are a lot of reasons why i like blogging. i really like meeting new people from all over the place - if you notice our visitors list on the right-hand side of this page, you will see that we get them from all over. i like that. it makes me happy.

i also really like learning new things from reading others' blogs, and of course - i love it when people leave comments! i love that there is quite a rag-tag group of us that have formed here and on others' blogs and we have all become friends and support each other. there are also a lot of regular people here, and on others' blogs, that don't have blogs themselves but always leave supportive comments and are part of the group. it's a nice feeling to have what feels like extended family out there on the interwebs.

our friend Stephen encouraged us to start a blog. he has recently suffered some illnesses and spent several weeks in the hospital. our group of friends were very concerned - but our dear friend Duke kept us all informed on how Stephen was doing. and then Stephen was able to update us through his blog - even when in the hospital!!! there's a reason for liking blogging right there! Stephen was back in the hospital the other night and of course our dear friend Duke kept us all informed - he's very reliable that Duke! and a great friend! another reason to like blogging. Stephen is doing much better now - i know this because of his recent post on his blog - from the hospital, no less.

several friends in the blogging world have suffered illnesses, surgeries and sicknesses since we first started blogging. everyone has been encouraging, sending uplifting messages and praying - it is an awesome feeling to know that you are praying with a group of other people who are praying with you. it is an even more awesome feeling to know that people are sending you healing vibes and praying for you - i know how this feels firsthand as many of you are the reason why i was able to make it through the first few days of jambaloney being hurt last october - your support and prayers meant the world to me! another reason to like blogging!

then there are those of you out there that i now communicate through email with. how wonderful! and i would have never met you if not for blogging! add to that the number of people who have shared their physical addresses with us, and we have shared ours - for in the event of SHTF! imagine, total strangers offering us safe haven! and we have shared our physical address and will with anyone who wants it! another reason i like blogging!

and then i meet a new friend. who starts a blog. and is interested in sharing seeds. Beth jumped on the opportunity to send me bergamot seeds when she learned that i was searching high and low for some. not only bergamot, she sent me brown mustard, navajo tea, clove basil, and hopi blue corn! see pic below:



it is so nice to receive a gift from someone you have never met in person! it is wonderful to receive a package full of treasures! Beth asked me to send her hopi red dye amaranth, stevia, window box roma tomatoes, jade cross brussel sprouts and light red kidney beans in return. Beth, the seeds are all packaged up and jambaloney will take them to the post office on thursday. i can't wait until you get them as i threw in 5 other kinds of seed that i hope that you will enjoy! i can't wait until you get them.

all of this to say that i really like blogging. it has opened up a whole new world for me and jambaloney. we are making some really great friends - just check our blog list - everyone listed there is someone worth getting to know!

if anyone is interested in exchanging seeds - let me know. check out our inventory of herb seed here and veg seed here. i have a lot of seed to share, but in some instances i only have a few of a particular seed and plan on saving all seed from this year's harvest. but if i have seed to spare, i will gladly send some to you...like Beth did. and i will gladly share on a regular basis if anyone is interested.

we also made up a little package for Stephen, his Sweet Wife and Little Bit today. and finally got around to mailing a card to Mystic Mud as she sent us a sweet one. as well as getting Beth's package of seeds ready. we both really enjoyed doing that! if you would like to send letters or cards to us - we would be glad to do the same with any of you. it felt nice to make packages to send to our friends. you can contact me at "kymberzmail@gmail.com".

Helga - you are sooo right about enjoying making up and sending packages! i am sending you our mailing address as soon as i post this! and i'll need yours in order to make up a little package for you!

all in all, i really like blogging. for a variety of reasons. these are just a few!

Monday, March 26, 2012

for Stephen



(blogger is acting up yet again - i have been trying to post this msg all day!)

we have just received some bad news. our friend, Stephen, is in the hospital. our friend, Duke, will keep us all updated as he always does. Stephen has been through quite a bit this past few months, but we know that he is strong. let's all of us pray for him to recover and recover quickly - he gets pretty stir-crazy when he's not able to be out and about! we believe that prayers really work - and we would appreciate your prayers for him, his Sweet Wife and his Little Bit. let's use our prayers and get him better!

your friends,
kymber and jambaloney

Stephen - we love you! and need you to get better!

Duke - thank you for always keeping us updated - you are a very great friend!
(you can get updates from Duke here.)