First, we gave up the cable TV. This is a huge thing for the man cuz he loves his TV. Especially the news. He is a news fanatic. However, we were paying $120 a month for 300 channels and there was nothing to watch. Except news. Remember when TV was free? The kids stream movies to their computer from Netflix and we can rent a movie for $1 a night from the local store if need be but to tell you the truth there simply isn't anything worth watching. What happened to really good movies like Star Wars or Titanic or Romancing the Stone? I am really tired of "comedy" that thinks bodily functions are funny. I swear if I see one more movie where I have to see someone puke I am going to do it myself and that's not funny. So I canceled the cable. The man was not happy but I think he is adjusting. We are learning to stream TV shows that we actually want to watch to our computer and he is learning how to access news programs. I find we are a little behind on current events (a function of the learning curve) but I am less depressed about the state of our world and I don't have the exposure to commercials for big business pharmaceutical companies. All of a sudden I don't feel the need for Viagra or Cialis so I can take a bath outdoors in twin bath tubs with my honey overlooking a view of the sunset. Sheeeeeesh! And since I don't watch ALL the news stories that are hand fed to you via the big screen I don't find the need for anti depressants either! Wow!
The chickens, geese, and ducks all made it through the summer without getting eaten by the family of eagles, the family of hawks, and the family of Osprey that we had nesting just off of our property. They all had a great view of the farm yard and we had a few close calls. Including the owl that sat in the tree above the pond while the ducks took their morning bath. My smart ducks wouldn't come out of the water until I came and got them then that owl took off.
The garden had a rough start due to a colder and wetter than normal spring and summer but we are finally getting something besides lettuce and peas. No pumpkins but lots of zucchini. The tomatoes are ripening and although we aren't getting enough to can we are eating them like candy. I put in broccoli, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts for a winter garden and plan to try to grow lettuce and spinach in a cold frame.
The man built a cute little fence around our back patio and is putting in a large cold frame as part of the fence.
Originally the fence was to keep the geese and ducks from pooping on the patio and back porch and as usual
that blossomed into a rather large cold frame. 8 ft. by 4 ft. to be exact and he is talking about putting in pipe heaters to keep the plants warm in winter. You know the kind that you use to keep pipes from freezing. Go figure. It will be cool if it works.
The potato towers worked like a charm. (See Fifteen days and counting 3/8/11) I harvested a five gallon bucket of purple spuds, two shopping bags of Yukon Gold, and the reds still need to be dug up. The potatoes never did bloom but I got potatoes. The man didn't like the purple ones. Guess the color was off putting so don't know what I will do with them. The Yukon Gold are crispy like a new apple and so yummy. There is a definite difference between a store bought and a fresh potato. I had people ask why bother and I guess that is why. Not to mention commercially grown potatoes are loaded with pesticides.
I am reading a book written by the editor of Mother Earth News called Beautiful and Abundant-Building the World We Want. It is written to be the opposite of the doomsayers that we all seem to be hearing these days. More of a "what cha gonna do about it" type book. A hard read for me so I have to go back over pages more than once to get the concepts but worth while.
It's been pretty much a none eventful summer. The chicks are old enough to lay pullet eggs. The ducks are old enough to lay. Kids are back in school and I am making jam, freezing fruit and vegis and canning and stocking the freezer of course. I am very thankful we didn't have the hardships that the rest of the country had as far as weather goes. I will take cool and wetter than normal any day over months of temperatures over 100 and tornadoes, floods, and hurricanes.
So I have to apologize for the lack of pictures. I can't figure out how to get them to download on this dumb computer. They aren't set up right so when the man gets that fixed I will flood you with pics.
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