Raised bed under sweetgum tree & firepit

Today I am going to show you some photos taken during the raised bed project

first we had to remove the fire pit so the skid loader could get in there

 firepit rocks cleaned up and stacked elsewhere so we can get more dirt into that raised bed we made under the sweetgum tree

 you can see the bean tree is all down and the logs stacked

 lots of dirt from the farmer to fill in this area

 everything piled up during the process, that's the part I hate, the mess

 Dakota getting me some more dirt

 good job Dakota!

 he is becoming a master at that skid loader

 dad supervising

 about one more load 

 while they are bringing the dirt, I am raking it down

 there it is, all filled in, firepit put back in place and cleaned up finally, we even moved the woodpile!!

 with the railroad ties there, it's extra seating for around the firepit too

that old bed spring has my cukes growing up it

Adding onto the front walkway strip flower bed

I love flowers! I just didn't have enough garden space for the, when we were transplanting things here from the old house, alot just got dumped into strip beds around the house to get them in so I wouldn't kill them, now that I have lived here awhile and have had some time to get used to where stuff needs to go, I found that I needed more color in the front area of the house, so I am taking that little walkway strip bed and widening it out quite a bit

 so I get the tiller out and start tilling all around the dogwood tree, and made a nice big planting area, put down some weed block cloth and started transplanting my flowers from the south side of the house to the east side, partly because we know where the water runs off the back hill and we ended up with a wet basement, so we know we need to dig a trench around that end of the house to put in drainage, so getting my plants moved before they come to dig and tear up that end

I also started a "strip" bed down by the road, it runs from the azaelia bush over to the burning bush, I have planted corkscrew willow trees, oak trees, hosta, grasses, iris, you name it, lots put in down at the road strip bed as well

got a load of mulch down finally and just look at all the flowers in this bed now

I love when a new project is complete and I can sit back and enjoy looking at everything we have accomplished here in such a short time

still live fishies in the pond

 a dear friend of mine gave me a pile of railroad ties, so the upper strip bed and the new turtle pen under the male tree have railroad ties outlining them

sweet hubby made me some rustic wood planter boxes

filled with salvia, lobelia and hmm thought I had something white in there too

 kittens are now full grown and bring me presents

and the hen house kitty Backfire is getting spoiled and so big and pretty now

Messy March - new job

Messy March because the snow is has melted, however the water is still running down the hillside and laying/pooling in areas of our side yard, making it near impossible to get out there and do anything without sinking :0(

 the yard is sopping wet and covered with the pods from the Sweetgum tree, why don't these drop in the fall when everything else drops?

put some stakes in the ground where the drainage ditch needs to go down center of side yard

Hopefully we can get this remedied before long

March is one of those months that I dislike, and this is why, nothing has yet budded up on trees or posies, we have all the runoff from the hillside, things are just ugly and messy out!

I got me a job woot woot, more money needed to fix up this place

Built our own cheese press

The hubby built a cheese press, he is so proud of that thing!

yup, we even used it, he made some cheese and it was edible LOL

he got the instructions out of  "Mother Earth News" magazine

nothin better to do when it's snowing out and cold

he builds a cheese press, and me and Backfire work on digital scrapbook kits

well, I work, she bothers me :)

Dress a kitty

HA HA Backfire is wearing my daughter's baby dress, she is thinking we are just so not right!?*#!

Chicken Pot Pie Recipe

Who doesn't like a homemade chicken pot pie?

This is a recipe I came up with and have been using it for years, it's super easy to make, and it will make 3 pies, make all 3 or make 1 and freeze the rest for later

this pie never lasts long in this house

Chicken Pot Pie

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ingredients: 

Pie Crusts

 1.5 cups butter or margarine

1 large onion, chopped

3-4 stalks celery, chopped

1.5 cups all purpose flour

1 (49 oz) can chicken broth

2.5 cups milk

about 8 cups cooked chopped chicken

1 can sliced carrots (drained)

1 can peas (drained)

1 TBSP salt

.5 tsp pepper

1 tsp poultry/chicken seasoning

can add dash of tobasco sauce if wanted

In large stock pot melt butter over med. heat. Add onions and celery and saute until onions turn transparent.

Add flour, stir until well blended, then cook and stir for 2 minutes.

Stir in broth and milk and bring to a boil, keep stirring, likes to scorch easy.

Boil and stir for 2 minutes.

Remove from heat, add chicken, carrots, peas and all the seasonings. Mix well.

Let set for 15 minutes or so – needs to cool before adding to raw pie crust (it will melt dough if too warm)

This recipe will make 3 round pies or a 9x12 cake pan

lay out the pie crust – pour in filling – put top crust on. Do not cut slits yet.

(Bake 400 degrees – 40-50 minutes total)

FIRST: bake for 15 minutes first, then brush with milk or egg for browning and cut in your slits

SECOND: then put back in for the remaining time.

Let set to thicken just a short while before you cut into it.

Hen house kitty gets a name

Well remember the little kitten that was found in the hen house? She has grown up and is sooo ornery and pretty now, and she has a name ~ BACKFIRE!

One gathering we had here to deep fry a turkey, we were sitting out around the fire waiting on the turkey to cook, miss kitty was playing around and I wasn't paying much attention, she's full size now and stays right by our side while we are outside

All the sudden I noticed a scorched or burning smell. . . what the heck?

I look down and see the cat going under the turkey fryer, back and forth and her back and tail is all in flames, geesh, I grabbed her up and rolled her around to put her fur out, the darn thing thought I was playing with her, geesh, I got her fur out, thank goodness it was long or she would have had burnt skin too, but all she did was singed off the longer portions of her fur and hadn't even a clue!

That is how this "kitten" finally got her name BACKFIRE lol

 look at her now, all growed up

 I design digital scrapbook kits, she loves to lay on my type font book and play with my camera strap

my other scrapbook blog HERE & I sell HERE

 WHO ME?

 yes her, brat, she can be quite distracting at times

 she knows I will stop work to play with her

see, she knows she is spoiled terribly, oh yes she does

and she has sure turned into a beauty compared to that poor flea infested drowned rat looking baby she was when we found her about 6 months ago!