Temptations

Well it is that particular time of year that makes me want to start putting seeds into dirt and under lights. The temptation is there to see something grow beyond my waistline (which is actually going down some lately.) Packets and packets call my name throughout the evening. Celery seedlings taunt the others. The glow of light through the windows makes the neighbors suspicious. Temptations. It's there and hard to overcome but I will prevail. I will be starting the eggplants this weekend but everything else will be according to schedule. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr............... Well, I may 'try' a few of my saved pepper seeds to see if I knew what I was doing. No sense in taking chances.:) Oh, and I killed all of the onion seedlings. I apparently can't grow the damn things.

Other nonsense.
Played some paintball with my boys this past weekend. Note to self, don't park next to a field where there are private parties going on.

I did knock something else off of my list; I built our paintball marker holders. All said and done cost me about $12.00 each. 

And last but not least our first snowfall of the year. 

People here really panic when it snows Took me an hour and a half to get home last night. They delayed all of the schools by two hours this morning for really nothing. There was enough at the homestead to make a foot print but nothing on any of the roads. It has turned colder and it seems to be here for a little while. Our average high in January is about 51 but we are running at about upper 30s and lower 40s for a while. Definitely colder this year from last. 

I am going to do a little more work on my 'list' and keep it in the side bar so you know what I have done and what I need to do. Signing off for now. Hope you have enough for a snowman kids. 

Sick Day

Well it seems that the flu bug going around has finally caught up with me. Not too bad this morning but driving to work didn't seem possible and from my understanding it gets worse before it gets better. So here I sit on the couch waiting for The Wife to bring me some medicine and blogging to you.
Building on my last post I wonder what 2014 will hold for out half acre? A few things have already been put into motion since that last post. A) Since the oldest boy will be going on deployment sometime soon my daughter in law will be staying with us during that duration. Love to have her around. B) My Wife's brother and his wife are looking for work down our way so they can get out of Dayton, OH. This means that they will be visiting sometime very soon too. He has an interview, then my mother in law and his wife will be staying and looking through the area to see if they like it. And if they do move to The Sandhills I believe my father and mother in law will move this way as well. All of this is fine as we've been in NC since 2005 with literally no family near us; be nice to have a helping hand :)
And with that knowledge let me look ahead into the crystal ball.......
1. By the previous post my "To Do" list is somewhat large so I know that will keep me busy.
2. With the completion of the outbuilding in the near future I am going to install a large water storage tank and hope to do the watering for a lot of the garden that way. Get rainfall from the building's roof.
3. I am also going to get a couple of compost bins going as I am probably the only gardener within 100 miles that doesn't have one. Hey give me a break; you did my list from last year right?
4. Seriously considering getting rid of the Directv in June when our contract is up. I am to the point of watching only a few shows and I think you can view those online now with one of those cheap services.
5. I am also thinking of getting rid of my smart phone and going back to an old flip phone. I need to keep one but it is burdensome with all of the emails and such.
6. I was going to say that I needed to get off line more but I'm not really on it much now. I have a Facebook account and a Twitter account but I usually use them just to see what others are doing. Still I need to limit these activities.
7. Stay home more. I need to make a concentrated effort to stay in town instead of traveling so much.
8. Blog more. I am not sure how some people can do 200 or more posts in a year. I did 85 last year and I thought that was good. Guess I had better step it up.
9. Read a few books. I used to love reading but it seems I have given that up. Being the geek that I am I read a lot of the Star Trek pocket books. Actually the last book I read was one of those books. Maybe I'll get back into them again.

That's my quick list. Now I'm going to peruse all of the seed packets that have come in a make a final plan today of what needs to go where.

List Work A

Well it is decidedly cold enough outside that inside list work is on tap for today. I did roam out this morning to get a few things (Okra seeds and one more starting tray as you can never have enough of those :) but it's all inside today.

Cruised by the seedlings this morning. Wow did that kit of The Youngest Boy really take off! Another week and we may have to transplant.

Off to work on the list, part A. 

A Quickie

Tried to post last night but couldn't get any photos to upload. The internet around us has turned to shit. I don't think it is our modem, I think it is the provider. They will be getting a call later today. One big thing I miss about cable.

Light stand completed.

1/2" diameter schedule 40 PVC pipe and fittings. I had some left over from the water line this past summer. Realistically I'd probably use 3/4". The 1/2" is about $1.50 for a 10'-0" joint. Cheap. I used 3/8" plywood for the shelves and light hangers but I'll change this later to something a little heavier later. I need one more light and done. All in all I'll have about $230.00 total in this, maybe a little more. Beats paying this or this. It's looks good for pipe and holds 16 plats. And I didn't glue it together, just stuck the pieces together, so I can knock it apart when not in use. All lights are on my timer. One thing off of my list!

Drilled a small hole through the pipe the a big one on the outside. Lateral supports is what these side pipes do. I used self- drilling screws to attached them.

Finally received my order from Park Seed this past Friday so that rounds out all of the initial orders. Until The Wife tells me what she wants to do outside I'll wait. Maybe. I am thinking of trying a few new plants this year to spread our palate out a bit. We visited some friends yesterday and the canned pickled okra. I never thought about that myself nor have I grown okra so that may be a new one. 

Quick post so back to work. And get your mind out of the gutter :)