This n' That Late Spring 23

Oh my goodness, I love Spring and Summer!  Do you?  The new growth, colors, and beautiful weather all make for fun times! I joke with my girls that they were raised in a berry patch, and in fact, they were!  I guess a berry patch is much better than a briar patch! 

A local farm 

We filled our buckets to the brim! The berries were delicious! We did something that we all love. Being together made it such a great day! 

We came home with quite a haul! We had our fill of fresh berries on shortcakes and in fruit salads, pie, etc. We then froze some for later and of course, we made our favorite Strawberry-Banana Jam!

Our front porch planters are in full swing!

I picked these from the front porch planters! 

Gardening

The strawberry patch in the garden yields us about a gallon a day which is pretty good! The garden patch is thriving now since the garden overseer has been trained not to pick them on his own! (yeah right)!

Distracting him away from strawberries and putting him busy with the garden vegetables Wouldn't you know it now he pilfers squash, bell peppers, and green tomatoes! This one also pulled up half my onion crop and isn't even supposed to eat an onion!  I spent 3 hrs. replanting them in raised beds! What's a pet grandma to do?  Love them!

He is checking out my boots underneath the growing pod. Ding, I had to spray and move boots from the porch. One morning I found two spiders, a Brown Recluse and a Black Widow with their webs inside the left boot! That's not all, there were two wasps building nests on each side of the boot inside!  Dag-gone critters love my chicken boots! (I will be ordering another pair and never leave them outside on the porch to dry again! WHEW!

This one loves to garden too!

I'll try to share some of the vegetable garden and the bounty that we're already harvesting from it! The Lord is providing as always we're thankful! Lots of hard work but so worth it! I love to garden just like my Mama and Grandmas before her.

Chuck and I worked hard all day recently cleaning the porch and rockers 

These critters keep us busy around here. We've enjoyed watching the beautiful birds that visit us such as this beautiful Painted Bunting shown in the top left photo. The resident cat is busy watching while the other half of the Cat-Dog Duo is busy destroying every toy he gets his teeth into. Meanwhile, Sparky is on the job keeping the hen house in order. We do enjoy the farm-fresh eggs!

 OH!

Remember the blue porch ceiling? It is no longer keeping birds away, but aren't they adorable? We had only one set to hatch.  The precious but very messy Chimney Sweeps tried to nest. We sadly ran them away. 

 A few brave wasps built nests. Thankfully not as many as in the past before painting. I guess many to none to very few is still an improvement! So six years later we may need a paint touch-up???

The Hydrangeas never cease to amaze me with their beauty

The Vegepod is worth its weight in gold!  Let me tell you it is heavy so that is a lot! It may be hard for you to tell but these herbs, lettuces, flowers, and even two tomato plants fill it to the very top!  I have been using many cuttings but had to crop and remove a lot to replant elsewhere!  I'm thrilled with the growth in this thing and need to update the post even more on that fact!

In the kitchen!

I've been baking a lot of bread lately. This food hoarder has tons of flour and yeast so why not?  I'm trying to improve the taste of a loaf baked in a bread maker...

These two love to help.  The oldest is quite a chef already!  The youngest loves to bake and clean! I call that a good pair. Summer is here yaya!  I'm so proud of these two and their parents! 

What's Next?

Quick Question For You Friends: I'm planning a trip to Savannah soon and would love your ideas on the very best places to visit while there, please! Thanks too! I can't wait to get away!

 Check this Out!

My new 'Garden Bed'!

I'll have to do a post on this one!

Enjoy the beautiful weather!