Days Starting in June So Don't Bust My Chops

 Well here we are in June already. Been a busy week work- wise and busy here on the homestead. And in the news. If you've been living under a rock, former President Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts. Take from that what you will. This will surely carry forward to his other trials. Only wait and see. 

This week I thought I threw my back out again. Walking through the kitchen and a sharp pain hit my lower back. Thankfully it subsided. But through the advice of Ms. TD, we both went to see the chiropractor. They did a few adjustments and I was moving around quite good today. If you get a certain age, parts just start hurting all of the time. Mine is lower back with sciatica pain down my right leg into my heel. After walking without good shoes, a limp. We both are scheduled on a packaged offered by the clinic of four visits a month. $79.00 each month so it works out to a good deal, $20.00 a session. Previously we hit the sporting goods store and I picked up a pair of HOKA trail shoes. I purchased a pair of tennis shoes and fell in love with them so this was a no brainer. Think I may order another pair of tennis shoes today. After that we went to the grocery store and watched our bank balance go down by $100.00 for four bags. Home and a well deserved nap. 

Started Sunday with a trip to the big store 20 minutes away. Lowes. There I said it. Lowes Home Improvement. Went by myself so I didn't have to supervise someone. Needed tomato stakes, dirt for Ms. TD's beds and that tomato plant. Picked up some more flower and herb seeds, fertilizer and some fertilizer stakes for the newly planted bushes. Main reason was the tomato stakes. The plants were getting bushy and my Sunday was going to be trimming them up and staking them out. So here I was pushing this heavy- ass cart out to the lot and thought 'let's take a photo of my accomplishment before loading. 

And a photo of what I had to unload when I got home. 

Notice something missing? Those tomato stakes I desperately needed? Yep. Forgot them. They are the porkchops of the gardening world*. I was able to make a few so I could get most of the ones without cages up. Then I spent ages cutting and weeding. I even got to use my new toy, a Tomatonator (or something like that.) It works most of the time. 

We are finally getting some more little tomatoes setting on.

The replacement tomato. A summer sandwich tomato.

Peppers are still doing good and even a few very small cukes are here. 

I assembled two small oval beds Ms. TD purchased and we put those on the other side of the chicken coop. I used the store- built dirt, planted three cherry tomatoes in each, gave them a shot of fertilizer and some girl- goodness poop. 

Seeds shot. 

Front bed time. 

WOF of the Week.

    I have two to choose from but pointy- ears was last week so Eeyore can be shown this week. Sad because no naps we had today. 

*Clarification- two weeks ago I had pork chops on the menu but forgot them at the store. Last week Ms. TD had them on the list, but yet forgot them. Two weeks, no chops. And apparently no stakes either. Until next time, stay out of jail. TD

 

Memorial Day, Gardening, Watermelon, and Professor Plum

 Well Memorial Day weekend is upon us and oddly we haven't been too busy in the garden. I did some weeding, cleaned the coop, and planted a tree. That was enough. It gets hot quick here in NC. Probably head out early tomorrow morning to get a few more things done. I ordered some edging from Amazon but they lied on delivery. So it looks like it will be here Wednesday. The extra stakes I ordered have already arrived. First though, Memorial Day. Here in the USA, we honor the fallen that have gave their lives serving in the armed forces. From our household.... Thank You.

As I said earlier, I did some weeding on the beds and need to get some tomato stakes. That's on tap for tomorrow morning; a trip to the home improvement store. Let's take a tour...

Bane of my existence above. Where we live, this is fondly called bermuda wiregrass. The roots go deep and they are extremely hard to get rid of. You'll see later.

Spare tomatoes. Waiting for us to get a few more small beds built. 

The onions I planted seem to finally set up and are growing good. I ordered them from Renee's Garden and forgot I did. So they stayed in a bowl of water for about 6 weeks before I planted them. Relieved that they are doing well.

 

Seems to have lost a tomato plant. Have to get a replacement tomorrow. 

Jalapeno peppers have grown out to over an inch now. 

Little baby bell pepper. 

Cucumbers are flowering. Just no cukes yet.

And here is the root of that bermuda wiregrass. If you don't get the root, they come back. 

The peach tree is giving us some good fruit this year. Last few years it's been quite barren. The pear tree on the other hand.... lots of pears!

Ms. TD bought some watermelon from the store this morning and this made the girls happy.

And because of that, the girls give us back eggs. 

And here they are doing their work. 

Professor Plum. Almost. We bought a plum tree last week and today it got planted. Thankfully our soil is sandy so it is easy to dig. I got some compost to fill the bottom and then raked up some leftover mulch to put around the base to hold water. 

A tour of the front. The daylilies have really bloomed out. 

We have a wild flower garden that Ms. TD keeps adding on to. We keep it for our bee friends. 

Another, slightly smaller downpour this Saturday. Our little rain gauge in the garden measured 1 1/2". 

And after that I took a small selfie then went inside and showered. 

Ms. TD went out later and got this great picture. Then she got the current temperature. Maybe not quite that high but not happy about it.

 

WOF of the week. Someone is being nosy....

Until next time! TD