LAST LEASE RENEWAL AND A GIFT

We recently signed another year lease at our apartment (the last one we have to deal with, or at the most, month to month for a couple of months since we are building a new house) and the leasing office dropped this off at our front door with our lease papers...

A bottle of wine!  Trader Joe's.  We enjoy TJ's house wine, it's good to drink AND, since they say to always cook with a wine you would drink, 2nd Man uses it in recipes too.  We'll just keep this for cooking.

Tied to the bottle with a ribbon were some stalks of dried lavender...it smelled so wonderful!

We thought it was a great way to present a bottle of wine as a gift (we'll have to remember that if we ever take a bottle of wine as a gift)!  It was a very nice gesture and will be appreciated and used to its fullest!

And now the clock starts ticking!

JOHN DEERE GIFT

Got an early Christmas gift from some dear friends...

X320 Lawn Tractor

This is my real life "zen machine", our John Deere X320 lawn tractor...

1/16 scale replica of X320

...and this is my gift.  A 1/16 scale die cast replica of my zen machine!  Yeah, this is a small model, not the real thing. It's kind of crazy that the detail is amazing, right down to the cup holder!  I love it and it now has a home on my desk at work...so I can daydream about the farm.

Don't you love when you get something so unexpected but so perfect?

Thank you!  I love it!

Four days until Christmas!  

Is everyone ready?

BURLAP BARBED WIRE AND FLOWERS

My coworkers got some neat things for my birthday and I promised I'd show them on the blog. Of course by "me" they actually are really giving them to both of us to enjoy and always ask me to let them know what 2nd Man thinks. 

Burlap farm life wreath

First up, a very sweet person, "T", at my office made this wreath to use either in town or at the farm.  She makes and sells wreaths for all sorts of occasions and sports teams (and is really good at it) and she wanted to make one that was good for us at either place. She found the cow wall hanging and worked around that.  She used burlap and a cool ribbon with a chevron pattern to fill out the wreath.  We love it!

It's on the door at the apartment now but we may move it to the farm.  Not outside of course, we'd end up with birds (or worse, ha!) nesting in it. 

Barbed wire star

Then another very sweet coworker, "S", gave me this really neat vintage barbed wire "star" to hang at the farm.  Now this CAN go outside.  In fact, we already know exactly where we want it on the porch (but I forgot to take it to the farm Saturday!).  She also gave me this branch of flowers are from a bush in front of her house, the smell is amazing.  

I raved about it last year and now...

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow plant

...she bought one for our very own!

It's called a "Yesterday/Today/Tomorrow" flower.  The flowers change from deep purple to lavender to white, all in three days.  It's already blooming and sitting on the porch ready to find the perfect spot to plant it.  It gets pretty large and the smell can be intense so we'll have to find the perfect spot.  Side note, hers survived just fine in our freeze so that's a good thing.  

Thank you "T" and "S" for your thoughtfulness!

CHRISTMAS GIFTS

We're late on this post but wanted to share.  2nd Man and I spent the long Christmas weekend together instead of with family.  We had a good time and just being together in the quiet of home, no worries about work, was gift enough.  

Of course we DID have to get a visit from Santa, I mean it WAS Christmas after all, ha.  We usually try to just get two or three items each so that we have something to open.  We also try to be practical in things that we can truly use.  For me, almost always something related to the farm and gardening and for 2nd Man, it's almost always cooking related.

2nd Man remembered that during the Spring/Summer, when I'm mowing in the sun, I tend to get the back of my neck sunburned.  

So he found a fabulous hat for me:

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OK, so it's not THIS hat...though this hat IS indeed fabulous!

Instead, he found this one!  It's awesome, has a wide brim, mesh around the head to let out heat, vent holes and of course a really substantial flap portion that covers ears and the entire back of the neck.  It will DEFINITELY be used this year.  

Then he remembered that I was always talking about listening to music on my iPhone while in the garden. 

So he found a great solution:

No, not this DIY lifehack speaker with stand, ha! 

Instead, he got not one but TWO of these for me!  They are wireless stereo speakers, waterproof and made for outdoor use.  Not to leave outside all the time but if they are in the garden and get dirty when I pick them up, or covered with grass clippings, or water splashed on them, there are no worries. 

They are rechargeable and bluetooth.  Now I can have one in the garden and another on the porch (or the barn/shed).  As I walk from place to place with my phone in my pocket, the music will follow me to each speaker via bluetooth.  

Nosey cows

It's going to be interesting to see how the neighbor's livestock reacts to the new sounds coming from the garden they are always so fascinated with.  I think I've heard that cattle like music?  

2nd Man got a new piece of Le Creuset to add to his collection (it's his favorite brand) and a couple of personalized items, a baking themed t-shirt and hat with his name on them.  Oh and speaking of cooking, a couple of cookbooks he had been wanting as well.  I always say his gifts to him are a win for me.  He gets a gift for cooking, I get the end result. 

Hope you all had a great end of year holiday season and got everything you wanted!

CAST IRON TWINE HOLDER

2nd Family gave us the neatest Christmas gift and we just had to share...

It's this cast iron vintage (reproduction of course) twine holder.  The ball of twine sits around a post in the middle...

Cast iron twine holder

...and because the post is hollow, it has a pair of scissors stored in it.  "J" said when they saw it, they just knew our little farmhouse needed it. 

For those new to the blog, 2nd Family is what we call the family that lives at the property attached to the front of ours.  They are "Ma's" daughter, son in lawn and granddaughter, and they have lived there about 20 years.  They helped take care of Ma until she sold the land and house to us and moved to Florida.  We call them 2nd Family because they are like each of us having a second family in addition to our own families.  

We think it's a wonderful gift and we appreciate them so much!  We just wanted to thank them and acknowledge them for all they do for us.  

SNAKE IDENTIFICATION GUIDE

The size of this snake is hard to know in this picture, could be 8 feet coiled up under the bushes...or it could be what it is, a small snake I found under one of the landscape timbers recently.  Of course, on first reaction, it might as well have been 8 feet long, scared the crap out of me for a brief moment.

So it made me realize we need something to learn the good snakes from the bad snakes.

Snake guide for Texas

Having 11 acres of land, much of it still covered with trees and brush and a large area with a pond/swampy spot, we reluctantly share our space with snakes.  Even though I'm not a big fan of them, I'm also not the type to just kill anything that slithers if it's not dangerous to us.  For example, 'Texas Rat snakes' eat large quantities of rats and mice and if that will help keep the mouse population in check, we're OK to have them there.  

Snakes of Southeast Texas

But like the picture at the top of this post, I still need to know what are the good ones or the bad ones.  Recently, I found this guide on Amazon, it's called Snakes of Southeast Texas.  A slick, glossy, waterproof foldable that has pictures of each of the most common snakes found in our part of the state.  It shows which are venomous, which are safe, which are aggressive and which are not.  It will be nice to have on hand at the farm...

UPDATE:  I forgot to add, since many of you asked, what this snake is.  I ordered the snake guide, and then promptly left it at the farm before I had a chance to look at the picture again.  I will look at it this weekend and see what it shows.  I had intended to leave it in town so we could study it, but forgot.  I'm pretty sure, and with 2nd Family's thoughts, this is a harmless one.

TAMING WILDFLOWERS BOOK REVIEW

Recently, I received a wonderful book for review.  

Taming Wildflowers: Bringing the Beauty and Splendor of Nature's Blooms into Your Own Backyard by author Miriam Goldberger.  

Living in Texas, wildflowers are a way of life here.  In fact, as I read this book, the wildflowers are in bloom all around us, a riot of color and texture.  We also have some newly cleared areas on the property and the thought of a wildflower garden is high on our list.  Needless to say, this book was perfect timing.

The book is smallish in size (dimensions) but the author somehow packs a LOT of information into that footprint.  It is over 200 pages long and is divided up into 8 chapters.  Miriam takes the reader through all aspects of wildflowers, their relationship to us, how to care for them, propagation, and so on.

As many as 60 different wildflower species are referenced in the book.  Is this the definitive book on all wildflowers?  No, but with hundreds of species, it needs to be pared down to the essentials and she has done that very well.  Details on each include soil, height, water, light, bloom time, native to, etc.  It's a wealth of information.

As if that wasn't enough, she has even added a section devoted to using wildflowers in decorations, complete with DIY instructions for various items, including this wildflower wreath that we SO want to do next year.  An interesting surprise at the very end of the book are a few pages devoted to weddings featuring wildflowers, again complete with DIY steps to create the items.  Miriam Goldberger and her husband own a business called "Wildflower Farm" where wildflowers and native grasses are their passion.  It's a passion born out in the pages of this book and it's always nice to see someone whose love for a topic is so evident in the book that they create.  The photography is beautiful and this could even be a great bedside book in a guest room to dazzle your guests with some gorgeous flowers.  I consider it part reference book and part coffee table book.  A great gift for anyone who loves flowers and/or wants to create their own wildflower meadow in their yard.

Please visit their website linked above.  While I was perusing it, I found a section on creating a wildflower meadow in clay soil which is what we have here at the farm!  We will definitely be going back to the site to see what we can learn about creating something like that on our property.

You can purchase the book here via Amazon: Taming Wildflowers

As a side note, this book is published by an amazing company called St. Lynn's Press.  They have a wide variety of books in the gardening, self sufficiency, and slow and local lifestyles topics.  In my interaction with them, I found them to be kind, easy to work with and just all around wonderful.  A great, small publishing company worthy of supporting.

Thank you St. Lynn's and especially thank you Miriam Goldberger for bringing wildflowers to life, in more ways than one!

DUPLO LEGO BIG FARM

After yesterday's Persimmon Fail post, I thought we should post something fun.  Recently, we needed to get a gift for 2nd Man's Grand Nephew, who is now 3 yrs old.  (Aww, he's just a little guy).  His Mom told us he loves to build things and so we immediately thought of Lego's.  Of course he's too young for regular Lego's but they do make DUPLO for the younger crowd.  

When we went to the store, we saw this and fell in love with it. 

Duplo Big Farm Set

It's the Lego Duplo Big Farm set.  It has a farmhouse and chickens and cows and a horse and a barn and all sorts of farm related things.

While we were standing in the long line (this was a couple of weeks before "Black Friday") we had time to kill and so we made the observations below:  

Duplo Farm set

We could give everything a name based on our own farm, LOL!  (told you we had too much time on our hands).

We got ours at the local Target but of course, it can be purchased at Amazon by clicking on this link: DUPLO LEGO Ville 10525 Big Farm

Hopefully, he'll enjoy it!  And if you have a little one in your family to buy for and you have a farm or rural place, this would be a really cute gift.  

Christmas is coming soon, now time to find something else!

CONGRATULATIONS IT'S A DEERE

Here was my surprise anniversary gift over the weekend.  I know, I know, who knew a utility cart could be an awesome gift? But it is!  This is the John Deere 10P "Utility Cart".  It's designed to be hooked up to the back of my Big Green Zen Machine (i.e. mower).  This will be an asset for doing things around the property.

It has a carrying/hauling capacity of 600 lbs!  It has slots on the edge for railing and slots inside for dividers.   I'm thinking of figuring out some way to carry water tanks to make it easier to water the trees and (future) landscaping that are far away from the length of the hose and faucet.

And here's the best part.  It's a DUMP truck!  You get your stuff to where you want it, you push a lever with your foot and it tilts back and dumps out whatever you have it loaded with.  This will be a nice feature when loaded with dirt, compost, rocks, wood or whatever.

OK, I couldn't resist this photo.

You suppose the cart could handle highway speeds?  Kidding!
(warning, do not try this at home)

CERAMIC EGG TRAY CARTON, OUR NEW FAVORITE THING

Here is something we got recently.  We ordered two of them.  With all the fresh eggs that 2nd Family gives us at the farm (when the hens are laying), we wanted something more durable, something that is easy to clean, and something lets us take the eggs and easily carry them to the counter in the kitchen (the fridge is out in the mudroom).  Another benefit is that, quite frankly, they are kind of stylish (hey we can be in the country and have style, right?).  I have seen them in various shapes and configurations, but having one that holds a dozen was the best choice for us and we liked this one as it looks like an egg carton.  Here is the link to where we found it:

Elizabeth Karmel's 13-inch Porcelain Egg Crate, 12-Egg Capacity

These will keep the eggs in the fridge, safe from bumping around and take up the least footprint of space. 

Here is one that seems to be the other popular style, 

it's called the Kikkerland Ceramic Egg Rack.  This one is glazed ceramic as well and holds a dozen.  

They even have the one above, BIA Cordon Bleu Egg Tray - 6, another ceramic glazed tray that holds half a dozen eggs.

We decided on the first of course, but they are all pretty neat and all would look great in any kitchen.

RECAP FOR CANNING JARS, WONDERFUL NEW PRODUCT

reCAP lids

Here is a great new product I recently discovered.

They are called "reCAP Mason Jars".

It's a wonderful invention that I didn't realize how much I'd use until we had them.  I got two, they are made in two different sizes, one for the standard size opening of a jar and one for the wide mouth opening.

reCAP lids on jars

We are experimenting with making our own salad dressings in a jar.  It's a great way to just put our ingredients in and then screw on a standard lid and ring and shake it up.  Nothing wrong there, but then when you unscrew that ring and pop off the lid, it's a mess to pour.  This eliminates that.

Here is a batch of mason jar dressing we made up for dinner.

It's our "Farmhouse Vinaigrette".

reCAP jar dressing before mixing

First I put in the olive oil, then some red wine vinegar, and then a batch of seasonings and screwed on the reCAP lid.

reCAP jar dressing after shaking

Snap the flip top down (I kept my thumb on it just to be safe) and then I shook it up for about 30 seconds.  Voila!  Homemade dressing.

Then came the fun part, pouring it out.

I flipped up the top and poured the dressing onto the salad.  It came out smoothly and cleanly.  Best of all?  When I was done, I snapped the flip top down and put it in the fridge for storage.  No mess, no fuss, no leaks.  It's ready for the next salad and all I'll have to do is shake it up and pour it out.

These jar lids are made of BPA-free, recyclable plastic and replicate the vintage  look of the American zinc cap.  They are top rack dishwasher safe, though they recommend hand washing.  Oh, and they can even turn your favorite canning jar into a beverage container (i.e. an adult sippy cup!).

Please visit the reCAP website HERE for more information, or, they have an Amazon storefront that you can visit at: reCAP Amazon Storefront.

This is my own independent review, not done in exchange for product.  It's just something I found that is very useful and thought I'd share.

A HANDMADE SEED SURPRISE

A little seed love!

Anyone who follows the blog knows that I love when I get my "seeds of the month" shipment in.  Imagine my surprise when I got home recently and found an unexpected package of seeds!

But these beauties came courtesy of "Bee Girl", Melissa, author of the always inspiring blog, Sky Minded & Ever Growing. 

The fact that these were hand gathered and even hand packaged in homemade seed packets by her, means more to me than any seed I could ever get from the store.  So now, I'll have some more great seeds to use in planning our garden in the Spring.

She sent organic and even heirloom varieties of the following:

 Radishes - Cherry Belle

Kale - Red Winter and Red Russian

Turnips - Purple Top White Globe

 Beets - Early

Tomatoes - Yellow Taxi

When we (hopefully) eat some fabulous meals featuring these veggies, we'll have her to thank for it.  In exchange for her seed love, we're sending some blog love her direction!

Thank you "Bee Girl".

Everyone, check out Sky Minded & Ever Growing.

MIX IN A JAR GIFT PACKAGES

I mentioned in one of my pre-holiday posts that we were making several of our gifts.  Well, since the gifts have been given, I thought I'd share some pictures of what we did.  I'm sort of known among my friends and family for the mix in a jar recipes.  Most of the ones we use are our own recipes that we have tried out and made to use just for the jars.  Here is the dessert jar we made, it's a jar of chocolate chip cookie bar mix...dump the jar in a bowl, mix with some wet ingredients and you end up with a giant chocolate chip cookie/brownie hybrid.

This one is our version of I guess what you could call something similar to hamburger helper.  This one is actually a goulash mix.  Just add hamburger, some tomatoes, water and this jar of mix and you've got a great meal ready to eat.  The one with the bow tie pasta in it was a special request from a dear friend who loves it, it's a turkey pasta dish.

Once we got them done, we got them organized.  These ten (we made sixteen total), represent dinner and a dessert and so that's how we packaged them.

Here they are with their labels on, and some other decorative elements, along with a small jar of sugar scrub that I made as well.  Details on that one coming in a separate post.  I put them on a cardboard circle, and then we filled them with paper shreds and wrapped them up with basket wrapping.

Finally, they are almost finished in this shot, just before we put a big red bow on each one.  We ended up with eight gift "baskets" like this to give out.  I believe everyone we gave them to enjoyed them. They were certainly made with lots of care and love, and really, that's what it's really all about, right?

CHRISTMAS GIFTS PART THREE, A METAL DETECTOR

Here is the last of my gifts...

What is this you might ask?  It's a metal detector!  Yes, I got a metal detector.  Let me back up...ever since I was a child, I have wanted one.  I was a treasure hunter wannabe from way back, always reading about buried piles of silver, gold doubloons from shipwrecks, and treasure chests full of jewels and coins.

Sure it was the stuff of childhood fantasy but as I grew older and I had a developing interest in archeology, and digging up 'other treasures' came to mind as well...relics of old civilizations, weapons from past battles, etc.

Alas, as my career path went away from archeology and down the route of boring insurance, my treasure hunting dreams faded away.  But I've always talked about never getting that metal detector and 2nd Man remembered the stories I told of my youth and so on Christmas, he gifted me with this one.  

It's pretty nice, I can plug headphones into it, it tells me the depth of the object, can distinguish between different coins and metals and 'junk', and even has a setting for "gold" (hey, a guy can dream can't he?).  I think 2nd Man did well this year.  I was totally surprised by this and it shows me that he really does listen to my stories after all, LOL.

The interesting thing is, our farm property lies very near some interesting parts of Texas history.  In 1836, General Sam Houston led his troops through battles against the Mexican army of Santa Anna to ultimately fight (and win) at the Battle of San Jacinto.  On the way to San Jacinto, they traveled through the part of the county we are in, camping out at a nearby river.  Could they have travelled through some part of the 10 acres?  Could good old Barnabas the party tree have hosted another party of sorts, a resting point for soldiers to rest under the shade of a big tree?  Did their horses travel the same trails as my Big Green Zen Machine?  My guess is no, of course, but won't it be fun?

With most of about 7 acres of the property more or less untouched for the better part of a hundred years, perhaps there was another house or barn on the property once upon a time?  Maybe I'll find evidence of that?  Heck, I'd be happy finding an old key or a coin or a horseshoe or even nails from a long forgotten homestead.  I can't wait to try out my detector!

Wish me luck, you know this is the first place you'll hear about my finds, unless of course I find something like this...

...in which case it will be on the news!

CHRISTMAS GIFTS PART TWO, ROLLING GARDEN SEAT

Here is another fun, thoughtful and definitely useful gift from 2nd Man.

A couple of seasons back, I was clearing some old cactus (!) from around one of the trees in the front yard and I hurt my back while walking around and around in a circle all bent over chopping and digging.  With me about to start working on the raised beds and then having to go up and each row once they are growing, 2nd Man remembered that and thought I might could use something like this:

Image courtesy of Northerntool.com

It's a rolling garden cart/seat.  Here is the link from Amazon if you are interested in reading more about it: Rolling Garden Seat with Turnbar.

It has a turnbar on the front so as you roll, you move the handle and it steers the front wheels.  The seat is a tractor style seat (so it's comfortable) and it swivels to make it easier to move around while using it.  Now, as the Amazon reviews say, I will have to admit the assembly instructions were lacking to say the least but I was able to figure it out.  It was worth it to me to get it put together so I can use it soon.  Speaking of, below is a picture of what it looks like when it's in use.  It's got a cool little tray underneath to hold tools (and seed packets!) and then a basket on the back end to hold more.

Rolling garden seat in use (FYI, not me) image courtesy of Northerntool.com

It was definitely a surprise and I can't wait to use it this season.  Once it's in use, I'll do an update review of sorts.  Did you get anything you didn't know you needed but now can't wait to use it?