Mar 9, 2008

Sweet million Tomato....


We have quite a few different tomato plants growing this year...all different sizes....not all for me to keep and all for different recipes and reasons....

Arcadia Broccoli...


Our tray of broccoli....

Time to repot....




Our little seedlings were getting too big for their first stage pots so we re-potted some of them today - these were our 'Atlantic Giant pumpkins'.....they were root bound and in fact their roots had grown out of their pots in several cases - amazing in just a week!

Lloyd doing his best Dragon from Treehouse impression ;)

Today we also planted more tomatoes, and some asparagus which won't harvest until next year.

jennifer - any advice?????????

Bat house plans

The most successful bat houses in Alberta are medium sized bat houses and here you can find free house plans of all sizes:

free.woodworking-plans.org/bat-house-plans.html


But if you look online there are many websites that you can find house plans - you can also find them in hardware stores such as Peaveymart and Lee Valley Tools.

Mar 8, 2008

Bat boxes and plans

This morning Lloyd and I ran out to get a few things - amongst other things we ran to the Wild bird store to get some supplies for the bird feeders and to look at bat boxes....In the store they have a big display board stating which birds have been spotted in the area in the last week....bald eagles etc etc...

The lady in there was telling me that any day she expects to stat getting calls to say that people are spotting bats - when they open up their sun parasols for the first time after winter, they find that bats have hibernated up inside them - Val beware!!! :) Lol

We went in to look at bat boxes. Lloyd is off next week and is planning to spend a couple of days building bat boxes, owl boxes and bird boxes for us to put up all around here - I want several bat boxes in the woodland around the pond - bats are wonderful at eating mosquitoes and are such sweet cuddly little things :)

If we put owl boxes up then we can we regularly go round for walks to look underneath them for pellets :)

I want several bird boxes put up within sight of the new sunroom and kitchen so that we can sit in the sun room or on the wrap around porch and watch the birds go in and out of the bird boxes.....

WE also went to Southgate Mall - I had never been there before (except to drop my nephew there for a party once) but I thought it was quite a nice mall....we went there for the science store - which was a bit disappointing really - so much smaller than it looks online! Ah well...

Lloyd dragged me into the Audi dealership to see a car he likes only to be told he can't get it for 2 years....so he was a bit fed up....I don't think Audi were expecting quite so many people in Canada to want one!!

Now we are home and relaxing for a few hours - I'm going to scrapbook for a while - Lloyd is curling up watching a movie with the kids I think.....then he and I are going out to Samantha and Ians house for dinner to celebrate Ians 40th :)

40!!! OMG THATS SO OLD!!!!! ;)

Dad - bees

Hi Dad,

Yes we are very keen to get some bees - it won't be this year thats for sure as we are having all the building work done...but hopefully next year we can focus on getting the hives and ordering the bees......

I've wanted bees for a long time - probably since Manchester when we learned about them at our homeschool group and had a hive at the centre in Manchester that our group met at....we could watch them through the glass and hunt for the Queen....

Last year I read a couple of books that discussed bee keeping and we watched a couple of shows on it and in the summer we talked about it again....

Then last year on our trip to BC we visited the Bee Centre and my interest was piqued again and the girl there made me realise how easy it would be to get my own hive going....and how reasonable the cost would be.

Some people over winter their bees by wrapping the hive up and keeping it inside....they leave the bees some of their own honey and then feed them syrup through the winter.....often the bees will fly out and just die. Many bee keepers order new livestock each year. We have the workshop which will be heated next year and can maintain that at 5c so they should be fine in there and should survive ok :)

I would like to get Fireweed growing here this year but I can't seem to find anywhere online with any still for sale - Fireweed makes incredible honey....but everywhere is sold out :(

NEXT year with the bees our vegetables and fruits should do REALLY well :)

Happy Birthday James!

I think Val said that today is James' birthday! So happy birthday to Val's husband James! I hope you are having a lovely weekend - It's certainly a gorgeous sunny and warm weekend for you celebrate!!!

Spring forward!

Feeling all better! Well, just a little cough now! the wonders of garlic :) I swear - its a miracle cure :)

Don't forget that here in AB the clocks Spring forward an hour tonight - which means we are on Summer time as of tonight and will be only 6 hours behind the UK for a couple of weeks .

Longer days at last :) LOVE it :)

Lloyd and I just sat through 'Jimmy's Farm'...we LOVE that show...such a nice way to start the day......it was the episode where Porridge had hurt his foot and where they were running the farmers markets before Christmas trying to get the farm debts down before Christmas...Its a show about a city guy who bought a farm in the UK and wants to make a business out of it - he has bee hives and old rare pig breeds and a farm shop....vegetable gardens etc etc...he rescued battery farmed chickens etc etc and he farms mushrooms from his own woods to sell etc etc....lovely show on BBC Canada.

He's very much like Jamie Oliver.

Ok...off to pour coffee and take it up to Lloyd and then we are off out for the morning! Have a great day everyone!

Mar 7, 2008

Blegh!

Lloyd and I are close to deaths door.....to others it may be just a bad cough...to us its triple quadruple pneumonia.....

Why am I always ill on days when its gorgeous outside? Most of today I have relaxed indoors. I feel quite pleased with what I've accomplished though. I have decluttered all of my scrapbooking supplies (well, two drawers to go) and have a huge box of supplies to donate to the school :) I feel cleansed.....

I've been hacking up 'stuff' all day, my head is throbbing and my chest hurts.....but I do feel cleansed lol.....

LOTS of garlic tonight....LOTS and tomorrow we will be all healthy again (PLEASE).

I know I shouldn't complain - its been a fun and busy week all in all. But really it would have been nice to have lots of energy today to go for a long walk. Although saying that poor little Sam couldn't have managed it either....he's still full of germs.

In fact its that little bugger that gave this to us - I swear he must lick every germ covered surface he sees and brings all those delightful cold viruses into this house...if it wasn't for the fact that he's useful for stealing the odd bottle of milk I'd have to consider offering him to Grace ;)

He is awfully cute though.....sigh....how come three year olds are cute even with snot hanging from their noses? This morning I saw wet spots on my lovely soft pillow. I asked Sam what it was.

"Oh thats just snot - I didn't want it".

"Use a tissue".

"Didn't want to".

Don't use my pillow".

"Wanted to". Poopy!" And off he walked. He calls everyone Poopy if he's fed up!

My worry is - what else does he use to wipe his nose when he doesn't want his snot any more and there are no tissues around??????????

29,000

Eight more visits and I will have had 29,000 visits to my blog!!!!! Oh my gawd have you guys got nothing better to do than read about me doing my laundry and how my pig eats my leftover Chinese food?

Mar 6, 2008

Baking with Susie....






Did I forget to mention that Susie had the day off of school today???? Too funny but when Val turned up, she had given her Son the day off too....oh we are such baaaad parents lol!

So this afternoon while I crafted with paper, glue and scissors, Susannah baked with Abigail and Samuel. They baked cookies and then stuck chocolate chips into the top of them (as opposed to baking them with chips in them)....

They had fun and loved rolling the dough into balls :)

My atc's so far


I'm quite happy with them so far...they don't have to be in until April some time so I am way ahead for me - I'm normally a last minute kind of gal ;)

Still a lot to do on them - lots of embellishing and they have to have the word 'Dragonfly' on them somewhere...but apart from that I am happy :)

I did a few extra in case anyone else signs up for the swap :)

atc progress....


I have been working on my atc's this afternoon.....I haven't done any for ages and this is the first time I've ever had to include a photograph on it.....and its sooo NOT easy......this is like making miniature scrapbook pages.

They have to be 2 1/2 inches X 3 1/2 inches and they have to include a picture of me and my username at scrappershaven.

Jesus in a pickle

You should all trek over to Mindless Musings (link on the right) and see the amazing pickle that has been found in Edmonton.....not to be missed.....

Things are growing.......




day by day things are sprouting.......
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