Fall is in the air!

God, I can't believe that it is already fall; the weather was spot-on today! It was so chilly this morning and stayed cool most of the day. That is unusual for our area. I love this time of year. We have planted some fall crops and even have some ornamental pumpkins that came up by accident. I weed-eated a dried up pumpkin and spread the seeds all over this one area and they came up! The plants are very healthy and we haven't had to water them so far. I hope they turn out great. We have carrots, radishes, turnips, beets, collard and turnip greens planted and they haven't germinated yet but soon will! I love that digging in the dirt. We spent all summer digging the weeds out of every square foot of my mom's yard and it looks good. I weed-eated, mowed, and chainsawed everything that needed it. We have mulched and planted ground cover everywhere we don't want the grass to grow back. It has been hard work but very rewarding to both of us.

June is in bloom!

Man, the last month completely got away from me! I have been busy, as usual, gardening! We have some veggies and tons of ornamentals blooming constantly. It is constant battle with the grass growing where we don't want it, but Mother Nature has been good to us lately, blessing us with some rain! The burn ban was lifted recently and we burned like pyromaniacs! So much brush, tree limbs, weeds, etc. had accumulated in the utility yard that it was unbelievable. Mom is not as physically active as in the past but I do my darnedest to keep everything maintained with the weed eater, lawnmower and chain saw. I enjoy that so much; it is very uplifting for me to be able to do this yard work. Hope to be able to keep it up until I die.

March Blew Away!

Man, I completely missed blogging in March! I was busy and almost missed April. I have been sewing some costumes for the college dance instructor. I still have a couple of pirate shirts to finish but made 4 for the last show that just ended Sunday. I didn't get to attend, due to illness (no, I don't think it was the swine flu, but it wasn't good!). I made one of the guys a gaucho jacket from scratch (no pattern, just a suit jacket that fit him was all I had to go by!). It turned out very well, considering the circumstances. I really worked hard and this was all volunteer work; no paycheck! It was good experience; thank God I had a great sewing teacher when I was growing up. My mom is amazing! We have a very small garden started, with tomatoes, peppers, and squash. With the recent rain, things are really looking good, but we need more. There is still a burn ban on and that means a lot of piles of brush are building up in the utility yard. Winds have been quite strong and have done some damage to some of her trees. I don't mind gettin' the ol' chainsaw out, though! It will definitely work you hard though. Maybe I am just getting old but I feel that I can't do what I used to do.

Happy Birthday, Husband!

Today is my husband's 53rd birthday and the poor thing had to work. They make them work 12 hour shifts; I hate that for him as he has to get up at 4 AM! He does have some good perks from that job, though. I hope he comes home in a good mood and I don't ruin it by griping too much. Lately, I have been very "critical" because he is a slob, but he does support me and I never want for anything. I would love to have a house but we haven't found one yet that fits our budget. However, we live in a decent apartment with fairly cheap rent and only have to pay the electric bill. It is upstairs and that is the only drawback on that. Hauling groceries is grueling! My little ol' mom helps me with them sometimes, but the stairs are a real challenge for her. I worry about my husband's health as well; he takes a lot of medicine already! One day I hope that he can retire and be away from that place of employment.

My Dear Son!

My son lives in Washington state and, as the old saying goes, "if it weren't for bad luck, he'd have no luck at all!". I was not a very good mother to him and he has had some trouble in recent years. I pray that he will make it through a trying time that he is about to endure. I have been able to send him money, which he sorely needed; thank God that I have been blessed now to do this. My own father used to send me money, out of the blue, just when I needed it most. That is why I feel that Dad is smiling down on me as I do this. I know that, in retrospect, I should have done things differently, but when you are young, you don't think about things that way. I don't judge my son for the things that have happened, as he is a really great young man and I love him. His father raised him from age 10, but he had a " wicked step-mother" during his formative years. The next step-mother came along and I believe she was much better but it was too late then. I just hope that my son's significant other will stand by him while he is away and won't desert him the way I did. I regret this and always think of my deceased daughter who was adopted by my parents when she was quite young. Her death was a very traumatic occurrence for all of our family. It has been almost 25 years since that that happened but it still comes back to haunt me like yesterday. I hope that someday I can go back up to Washington to visit, maybe even live, in a beautiful place that I so enjoyed, near my son. It was the best vacation I ever had!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I went through the whole month of December without blogging! That month just went by and here it is, a new year already. Didn't make any resolutions, per se; I just decided that I need to eat healthier (those burritos are habit-forming!). I think that I am addicted to asado and barbacoa. I have been helping my mom, as usual; yard work is forever. No season goes by without some work needing to be done. Poor mom! Had a rough year this go-round. First the cataracts then a hospital visit in December. Three days in there was enough to make her realize that she is not a young woman anymore and can't overdo! I have to keep tabs on her! But that is all right as I certainly don't mind the work. It is a constant dream to have my own piece of land somewhere, someday, with a modest home. My husband has been working hard toward that goal and these people need to realize that the economy here is not up to the asking prices I have seen for some of their "dumps". They need to get real! On that note, it is "Farewell!" until next time, good people.