Quick Update

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I apologize for the delay in posting

... we have been busy packing.

And, I have been distracted.

Judith had asked for an update on the straw bale garden experiment.

It is going, and growing, well.

I can definitely see how the plants would benefit from supplemental nitrogen.

Some of the leaves are yellowing, but

I wonder if that is because I reduced my watering 

to every other day ... in order for the bales

to dry out so they can be transported to their new home.

(I donated them to the Oregon County Food Producers and Artisans Co-Op.)

Here are the snapshots I took this morning.

The pumpkins, squashes, and watermelons 

... planted into the sides ...

are doing excellent.

The cantaloupes, jalapenos, and tomatoes

(transplants)

are all flowering, and doing awesome.

The smaller seedlings are not fairing too well

... and, like I said, it may be due to cutting back on their water.

I don't know.

I am sad to not be able to see this experiment through to the harvest

... but I hope someone benefits from it, and enjoys it.

On a different, more exciting note, we are packing.

 

My house is turned upside-down, and is a cluttered mess.

Yes, we are moving back to Texas.

Fort Worth, to be exact.

Where I grew up.

I anticipate another delay in posting ...

I do not have a fancy, smart phone

(only a basic texter)

and I do not like how it mobile blogs.

However, I will have tons of updates on Facebook

... so add me, if you have not already done so.

My final night in Missouri, I treated the girls and my Self

to Benita's Cafe on the Square

in downtown Alton.

Miss Field Lab loved it ... the name won her over.

*big smile*

And here is our final series of sunset shots

... from tonight's walk home.

Goodbye, Missouri ... whew.

Love you all, and hope to see y'all again real soon.

Keep us in your prayers, please.

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Look at the Weeds I'm Growing

Last week, or so, when I burned the boxes

... I introduced to you all 

a friendly neighbor down the hill:

Ted

I haven't seen him since that day ...

which is unusual because he liked to walk up here 

to check the progress of the garden.

Anyway, today another neighbor came over

to look it over.

She had talked with Ted the other day,

and she asked him about it.

He shrugged it off by saying, 

"Aw, she's just growing weeds up there."

I planted my first seed seventeen days ago

... look at the weeds I'm growing.

Of course, to give Ted proper credit

... in that same blog I did confess

that he thinks this garden experiment is insane,

and he also thinks I am crazy.

I love it.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Strawbale Seedlings are Coming Along Nicely

At last count, I had these strawbale seedlings:

77 pea

8 pumpkin

7 cucumber

22 corn stalks

4 spinach

2 swiss chard

71 okra

6 cantaloupe

24 cherokee wax bean

10 blue lake green bean

23 calabacita

9 basil

5 yellow squash

10 grape tomato

1 jalapeno

5 radish

8 watermelon 

I take photos with my cell phone.

These snapshots were from last Sunday, the 22nd, before the storm hit ...

and before I lost cell phone service.

Service was down for three solid days ... I'm not sure how we got service back, 

but I am glad it has been somehow restored.

It is my understanding, hundreds of towers were destroyed.

Other photos from last Sunday were of two projects I had.

One was painting an old, rusty wire shelf thingy ...

... and the other was painting the upper-window on my shed's door

so nobody can see into it, and also figuring out how to 

cover/close the missing bottom panel.

I used an old towel, some epoxy, and lots of duck-tape.

Got real, real tired of the stray cats ripping open my trash bags

after sneaking into that bottom entry ... 

it's been about a week since my creative fixer-upper, 

and I'd say the pesky problem is solved.

So far.

Here is a snapshot of my youngest miracle's 

Dill and Zinnias.

 

The final two pictures are of last Sunday's sunrise 

... the calm before the storms.

On a final note,

my oldest miracle is somewhere on the other side of the world.

She SHOULD be in Tokyo by now, maybe, I don't know

and it's driving me bonkers.

From Tokyo she catches a flight to Bangkok,

and from Bangkok she goes on into Laos.  

I just want her to get her precious feet on LAND, 

and let her stay there, safely, a while

... so I can catch my breath.

My heart is in my throat.

A Month Ago ... then, Today ... and, One Year Ago

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

This house had been abandoned for a long while 

before I unexpectedly came along

to clean it up, and turn it into a home again.

One month ago, April 21st, was the City of Alton's 

Clean-Up Day.

I was really excited about this day.

This was the special day the city would come by, and 

pick up dang-near everything you need to get rid of.

Including brush, cardboard boxes, and tree limbs.

I know, because I called and asked.

They WANT their city to look clean, and nice.

I worked real hard to get ready for that big day

... I WANT my house, and lot, to look clean and nice, too.

So I piled a lot of brush and limbs, and all my cardboard boxes, 

into a neat pile for the clean-up crew.

Well, as neat as can be expected for a girl 

... who also has a little girl helper ...

to do those kinds of things.

I ... we .. were so proud of my ... our ... achievement.

Most of those boxes had two or three smaller boxes stuffed into them. 

Anyway 

... back to a month ago ...

they never picked it up.

I was sad.

They told me it was too dangerous 

for them to stop on the blind side of a hill

... which I fully understand ...

 but, they also told me,

if I would move the piles to my driveway

... where they pick up my weekly trash bags ...

they would be glad to pick up from there, instead.

It never occurred to me that I was supposed to 

block my entire driveway with that huge mess.

But, even if it did occur to me to block my driveway with that huge mess,

my driveway still sits on the same blind side of that same hill.

I was frustrated AND sad.

I honestly would have rather heard

that they just didn't want to mess with all that stuff.

I wouldn't blame them 

... really ...

I didn't want to mess with all that stuff either.

Who would!?

Still, I entertained the possibility of "calling their bluff" 

by moving it all to my driveway just as they had asked.

But, like a good girl, I shrugged it off.

No big deal.

And I did, eventually, decide to take matters into my own hands.

 

All the boxes went into the drainage ditch.

I started dragging limbs to the 

burning drainage ditch, too.

 

But, I gave up on them after a short while.

I ought to have plenty of wood 

for my steak burning sessions 

for a little while.

I think.

I will have to resume that part of the looming chore

at a later date ... at least all of those dadgum boxes are gone.

 

They were a constant reminder of the original packing 

... and the original move ...

and they put unnecessary strains on my heart. 

Anyway, it was neat to be able to set fire within city limits 

... that is a no-no in Texas ... 

... of course, Texas almost burned to the ground last month, too ...

but I digress.

I didn't need permission, or a permit, or anything.

You might have noticed a man 

in a few of the snapshots ... that is a friendly neighbor 

who likes to walk up to the place 

every chance he gets

to check out the "goings-on" of my insane garden.

Today he showed up to make sure I didn't burn my house down,

and to look over my insane garden again.

He can't believe it.

He'd already been up here earlier.

Twice.

So, anyway, this is Ted. 

He thinks I am, literally, crazy.

However, if you could hear him yell at his dogs 

when he lets them out to go potty 

.... nevermind ...

goodness, I crack myself out.

He is, literally, a nice feller.

Here is a pretty shot of a calabacita seedling 

... with smoke billowing in the background.

And here is another snapshot 

... same subject matter, but you can see 

the charred drainage ditch.

 

Anyway, so, that covered one month ago and today.

But what happened a year ago?

One year ago, today, I was on a wonderful trip with my father.

Here is that blog post.

I found some of the rocks we gathered from that adventure,

and wanted to share.

And here is tonight's hazy/smoky sunset ... taken almost too late.