The spring storm season

Here it is almost March and the start of the spring storm season for us. I woke this morning to thunder and a good deal of wind and rain. I got up to see what the weather might be like outside. It should have been very light out but instead it was quite dark still with all the cloud cover and the incoming storm. We had some wind, nothing bad, a lot of rain with some pea size hail for about 5 minutes. Not that I would remember to take pictures or anything. Te temp did drop as the day wore on but the rain is over for the most part I think. The next several days are supposed to be rather nice. We have lots to do here as soon as it dries a little bit. We will be putting the plastic on the greenhouse this week some time and getting it ready. Need to be starting more plants real soon.
I was busy last week helping my aunt get her store organized and some what cleaned out so she can be a lil more efficient. Also got to visit some with my friend Jackie even tho she was in the hospital. Then great news last night, I got a text from her and she is home out of the hospital. Thank God she is doing better and has gotten past this Lupus flare up.  Also got to spend some time with my good friend Rosie and her family. Love going to her place, just like being at home. She sent me home with a bunch of raspberry plants, some stinging nettle and rugosa roses. I hope I can get those in the ground this week.
My seedlings all look really good but I do think they need to be in the greenhouse so they can get more light. As of now they are still in the summer kitchen. I love spring and the newness of things coming up and the grass starting to green up, the renewal of life at its best.
A few weeks ago when we pruned the grapevines I had cut a bunch into starts to try an root them. They were here in the kitchen inside sealed up trash bags to maintain humidity. I opened those this past weekend to find the buds on the cuttings are starting to open up. So thas a good sign they might just take root and grow for us. I think I started 65 or so for new plants. Wonder what all I can make with grapes from that many vines. Lots of jelly and wine for starts.
Not much else happening around here so till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Hillbillie Saturday night!

Life in the country and on the farm probably is not for everyone. But dang for us its really the good life. Let me give ya the whole story of this picture. We butchered our hog in January and it was cold, too cold in my opinion for the meat to cure like I wanted it to. I would have been happier with it if we had not gotten so much really cold a couple days after we butchered thus allowing the cure to penetrate better. So today I took the hams in an we sliced them up and put them in the freezer. Better safe than sorry later.

After we cut into them, hind sight, I think they would have kept OK. But we decided to have country ham and biscuits and red eye gravy for supper tonight. So that is what I fixed. Dayemmm talk about good. That stuff make ya take back stuff ya didn't steal. Any way Jason had went home to get some old corn and cobs and stuff out of the big corn crib at the old home place and burn them. I thought he was posed to be here for supper. But he still had too big a fire to leave so when the biscuits got done I took the biscuits, ham and a bowl of red eye gravy and went around to hang out with him. Pretty nice weather to sit outside eatin ham biscuits and dipping em in the red eye. Red eye gravy as we call it would send most cardiologist into cardiac arrest just thinking about the fat content, but oh well! Easy to make and so good. When you fry your country ham use lard in the skillet, preferably cast iron, dont take much extra lard and brown the ham. Remove the ham to a plate to keep warm. Drain all but about 4 tablespoons of the fat from the skillet making sure to leave all the brown bits in the bottom. Add about 1 cup of cold leftover coffee to the grease. Sprinkle in a bit of black pepper and stir to loosen the bits from the bottom. Simmer to get really hot and pour into a shallow bowl. Make your ham biscuit and proceed to dip it in the gravy with each bite. Not recommended for the faint of heart, this stuff will make your taste buds do jumping jacks. Sure don't take much to keep us occupied on a weekend.

                                                 (Dont he look like a happy feller!!!!)


The fire was nice and warm after the sun went down but the air was kinda cold for me. But earlier in the day it was sunny and really nice an warm out. Good weather for yard chores if have em to do. And goodness knows I got plenty things to get done around here.
So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Yard work is never done

The only time I think the yard work will be done is when I am 6 feet under. Everytime I walk outside I find something else that needs attention. Today it was the spreading and creeping juniper at the driveway end of the house. I usually take the pruning scissors to them and give them a hair cut in spring so they grow back fuller and look better. Today I had to use the pruning lopers on some of the branches. But they got trimmed. Then I had an idea, yep here we go again. I thought, "hmmm wonder if I could take cuttings and root them for new plants". So back in the house to google propagating creeping and spreading juniper. The instructions online says its easy to get them to take root. Ok we shall see. The method was to take young growth from the tips of the limbs making the cuttings about 8 to 10 inches long. Then strip off the lower leaves or in my case needles, stick them in damp potting soil and keep damp. They should have a humid enviroment to take root so the instructions suggested putting them in a container in a clear plastic bag and tie the top. Ok, I got as far as getting them in the soil and now who the heck has a clear trash bag that darn big. So plan is to make a cage of woven wire to go around all 3 pots of cutting and cover it with plastic to keep them damp an warm. Well if they make roots and grow, great, if not I have lost the 30 minutes it took to get them ready and in the dirt. Unless ya want to count the itching on my arms and hand from the damn needles eatin me up. So I will let ya know if they grow or not. If so I will have a boat load of spreading and creeping juniper plants. Sure could use them around here for erosion control tho.
When I came in to fix supper My cabbage had sprouted and are coming up already. I sowed some cabbage seed on Monday in a pot and covered it over with plastic wrap after I watered the seed in and in 4 days they are up. I did have them sitting here in the house on the bar. But that is rather quick.

They lil fellers but at least they are heads up outa the soil. These will go out to the summer kitchen on the counter to join the onion seedling tomorrow.
I was informed today that we are not going to plant the peas till mid-March. What the heck, make up my mind! I thought we were planting them this week but I was told we planted last year in mid-March and we did have a good crop so I reckin we are waitin for a while on them.
I hate to say this but I got a lil sun and wind burn today out working in the yard. It was so nice and warm, and I even saw some robins in the yard too. Lots of the perennials are coming up that I had not seen yesterday. Just hope to heck they dont get frost bit.
So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

More yard work, things are coming up

The weather here was so nice to day, almost spring like. Sunny with a lil breeze. I think I even broke a sweat a few times. I started out putting the trellis up higher on the cellar wall for the thornless blackberry to climb on and pruned the lavendar that is growing at the base of the vine. Got the dead leaves and trash off the flower bed on the right side of the cellar door. Looks  a lot neater now. The blackberries had trailed down and touched the ground and 2  of the tips had taken root. I pulled those out and cut them to transplant elsewhere. I shoveled out the ditch behind the outbuilding to drain the runoff water away. Dang I am already paying for that task with sore joints and achey back. Then I took the leaf rake and cleaned up the mess I made yesterday cleaning out the herb and flower beds. It does look some better out there. After a look at the onion bed, I can see onions starting to grow already.

 The asparagus should be up pretty soon. So we can have some fresh green veggies.

 Rodger and Jason got one of the oak trees cut that were shading the grapevines and lower part of the yard. Most of the wood is split and stacked.

 The little lilac bush had buds on it already. But it is on the south side of the house and gets warmer.

The flower bed along the front looks better without all the stubble of dead plants from last fall. It is starting to show some green as well.

The herb bed is all cleaned off and the wire put back to keep the dog an cats out. Even a lil green showing in here too.

The heirloom rose that I dug up at an old homestead up the road from us has lil tiny leaves already. I am hoping to get it set in the ground tomorrow.

The chives that I had out back in pots are getting some green to them. I actually thought they might freeze out being in pots up off the ground. But so far, so good. I love this time of year when things are coming back to life after a winters nap.
So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Cleaning the herb bed off

The weather here was fairly nice today but no sun shine to amount to anything. Dang I think I am solar powered. The sun don't shine, I don't function well. Just could not seem to get motivated this morning. Finally got outside and got started cleaning off the herb bed and the flower bed near the front side walk. I had put woven wire over the flower and herb bed last year to keep the cats and dog from getting into them. I pulled the wire out and used my long bladed pruning scissors to kinda mow the tops off the flowers and raked the debris off them. Then put the woven wire back in place. Maybe I can take some pics tomorrow and post them. Some of the perennial stuff is putting out buds already so spring is very close. It was a much bigger job to get the wire off the herb bed. It is much bigger and the plants are hardier and grown up thru the wire. It was going to be a big job with my pruners to cut all that so Rodger cut the bed off with the weed eater when he got home. Then all I had to do was take the spade and dig out the dandelions and rake the debris off the bed. All the wire is back on it now as well. It just looks much neater that having all the stubble sticking up all over. Sure makes for much easier harvesting too. Still have one more flower bed to get cleaned off and some odd plantings that need to be trimmed up.
We had 2 big oak trees on the lower side of where the grape vines are that needed to be cut. Rodger has run the weed eater with the  brush blade down there over the weekend and got the small stuff. This evening after work he and Jason got one of the trees cut down and most of it cut into firewood that will get hauled to the wood shed to dry for next year. It will let a lot more sun in the back yard to the things that we have growing back there. I'm sure the grapes will do much better with more sunlight. Once the trees are cut and the under brush cleared away we will be able to see the garden better from the house so any critter that gets in the garden will be living dangerously. We hope, as long as we shoot straight.
Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Starting a few more seeds

I got up early this morning thinking I had to go to a doc appointment with mom and she decided she was not going cause she felt fine today. So I didn't have to be up early at all but I was. The sun came out early and it was so nice and warm outside. I keep telling my self not to get in too big a hurry to plant stuff, it is early yet. So I got my shower and headed into town to check on her and just to get out of the house for a lil bit. Mom was OK and I called a friend of mine who cuts my hair and went to visit her for a bit and got a trim. Dang now I feel human. I got on back home and got my seed starter trays out and filled 2 of them with soil to finally get the celery and leeks started. So now those are sowed and for now sitting on the kitchen counter so they can stay nice an warm to help sprout the seed. I usually damper the soil after the seeds are in with warm water and cover the whole tray with plastic wrap to hole in heat and humidity. This method seems to work well for me. Then I got the hair brain idea to get a few cabbage seeds in some soil as well for really early cabbage. For the cabbage I just filled a regular flower pot with the potting soil and sowed the cabbage seed on top, covered them with a lil bit of soil, warm water, then covered the whole pot with the plastic wrap. Once the seedlings get up big enough I can tease the roots apart I will transplant them into cell packs till they are ready to go in the garden in a few weeks. I made it to the summer kitchen a lil later to finish up vacuum sealing my bread flour into half gallon jars for long term storage and got all that out of the way. That is also where my onion seedlings are and they look really good. So far am pleased with them. I did give them a drink of water too as they do get dry pretty quick when the sun shines in the windows and warms up the kitchen. But it does make a nice place to get a few things started. The plastic will need to be put on the greenhouse in a couple more weeks and then seeds starting will start in earnest.
So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Nice weather, more outdoor work

Another beautiful day here today, warm, sunny and a nice breeze. If you were in the sun a tee shirt was nice, but the shady spots or when the wind blew it was a little cool for my liking. But if ya moved around a bit it was nice and warm. Rodger had gotten all the straw bedding out of the brooder house yesterday. So all that needed to be done today was a shovel run across the floor to scrape up anything that was stuck. And we know how chicken poop can stick. So I scraped the stuff off the floor and took the broom in there to brush down the walls and sweep the floor. All done , it s nice and clean and I am leaving the door open for a few days to allow it to dry really well. Then it will be ready for more babies in a month or so. I went from this to emptying out the compost that was in my compost tumbler out back and put it around the grape vines we had pruned last weekend. Then put the stuff I had scraped off the floor of the brooder house in the compost tumbler so it can compost down. I still had some energy left so I weeded the asparagus bed and raked off some of the dead plant tops that were still there from last fall. Hopefully we will have some asparagus this year. I went ahead and pulled up the cabbage plants that were still somewhat green and tossed those. I don't think they were gonna do much other than make seed at this point. I did get one decent head that was big enough to make some slaw for supper tonight. It was really super sweet and good. I finished weeding the onion bed and already have some lil green onions coming up in there from top sets I placed on the ground last fall. Those are the walking onions that make great green onions really early in the spring.  So if someone likes scallions or green onions those are the perfect thing to grow. And gosh do they produce lots of sets. This fall I will probably have to dig out some of them as they are starting to get crowded.
After I was tired of playing in the cold dirt I got in the cellar and took out all my half gallon jars that I had forgot I had and washed them up and they are drying. Tomorrow I will put the rest of my bread flour in those and vacuum seal them for longer storage. A pretty productive day I think.
Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

So nice to be out today

The weather was nice today and I got to get out and do a few things that I wanted to get done before it was too warm. I had the task of defrosting freezers today. It was cold enough that I could set things out and them not thaw and warm enough that I didn't freeze to death. I got all the food out of the biggest chest freezer and used a pancake turner to get the frost off the walls which only took a few minutes. The trick I use to keep the frost from really adhering to the freezer walls is to wipe it down after cleaning with a cloth that has a bit of cooking oil on it. It makes the interior surface of the freezer slippery and the next time I defrost the ice comes off easily just like it did today. With all the frost and ice in the bottom of the freezer I use a clean dust pan to scoop it up and take it out side, wipe down the walls with hot soapy water, dry and then wipe again with the oiled cloth. Turn it back on and load it up. Easy and fast. Got all the freezers cleaned and somewhat organized and then moved on to the summer kitchen to sort that out. I had a 25 lb bag of flour that needed to be vacuum sealed for storage and I got that done. Now I have to locate some of my good buckets with tight fitting lids to put the bags in to store in the cellar. Still have one more bag to go. But I had to bring it in the house to come to room temp first, so maybe tomorrow. When I was in my outbuilding I did locate some more half gallon canning jars and I think I might use those to store the other bag of flour in so there is not a problem of where to put vacuum sealed bags.
  While I was doing this Rodger got the brooder house cleaned out, all the used bedding from the last bunch of chickens hauled out and piled up so it can compost. Then he started the weed eater with the brush blade to cut some brush in preparation for he and Jason to cut a couple trees that are shading the grape vines out back. I worked  a little bit on weeding my strawberry pyramid in the back yard till my fingers got too cold and I had to give that up. Not to mention the back don't allow the bending over to do those task to well right now.  When Jason got here he took the wheel barrow and hauled some limestone gravel from the pile near the back drive way to out building where the mower and 4 wheeler are kept and spread those in there to keep the equipment out of the mud. It does get quite wet in there with any amount of rain or snow. We still need to work on the back drive to get the ditches to drain the water away and that building will stay much drier. That will for sure have to be a project for warmer drier weather. It is mud back there right now.
The primary thing on my hit list tomorrow is to get the greenhouse ready to recover with plastic and get some soil in some seed flats and ready to start some plants. As I was looking at my calendar from last garden season I had several things started by the end of February and we are fast approaching the end of this month.
So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Onion seedlings are green, warm weather is coming

Well I don't know what the story is about google and blogger but they both locked me out last night and I could not post anything dang it. But I did get in today so all is not lost.
I got out yesterday and checked on my lil onion seedlings in the summer kitchen and took some pictures so ya can seed em. I did give them a lil drink of warm water too and they are starting to green up a lil bit from sitting very near the window.

So far both trays of seedlings are doing good so I am hopeful I will have a good supply of onions this year to store. My goal this weekend is to get the soil for the celery and leeks. OK so no I have not done that yet. It snowed and was really cold out there and I don't wanna go. I really don't want to clutter the counters in the summer kitchen yet with seed flats because I still have 2- 25 lb bags of flour to mess with out there and get in vacuum sealed bags and stored. Not to mention Josh is supposed to bring the wild hog meat down this weekend and that will need to be worked up and frozen out there as well. I really will need my counter space to work on.
The weather did improve some today. At least it was sunny and looked nice outside but still quite chilly. My body just don't adjust to the cold like it did when I was 25.  If the weather is as nice as they are forecasting I am gonna try to go to Jason's house and decide on a finally spot for the pig pen that we need to get built and get the pigs pretty soon so we can have meat hogs this coming year. The wire is waiting on some nice weather to get the pen fenced in for the laying hens to run in as well. The post have been set and wire bought for almost a year now so I think its time to get it done. But there are only so many hours in a given day to do things outside.
We usually try to plant peas on Valentines day here but I really don't think it will be on Valentines day this year. But if it don't snow or rain for several days maybe we can run the tiller in the big garden and get a place worked up and get them in early next week. That will be all good with me.
So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

I'm done with winter now

As matter of fact I was done with winter about a month ago. We have had snow since December 1 here and just got more today and tonight. We have probably an inch on the ground at this point and still snowing. Not to mention the dang cold. I can do OK getting outside with the cold but its when I come back in that it makes my joints hurt more. Not really something I need right now. I really need to get the potting soil in the trays and get my dang celery and leeks started. Otherwise they are not going to do well again this year. We are supposed to have nice weather this weekend so surely I will get them started then.
My meds so far are not having any ill effects or side effects as of yet. So am sure hoping they will work for me so I don't have to take the stuff that can kill ya.
Nothing really happening around here, so till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.


Stella

So much for nice weather, winter is back

We had a couple nice days over the weekend and got a few tings done around the place. On Monday I had a doctor appointment out of town. Rodger took off work to go with me. Long story short, I am diagnosed with rheumatoid and osteoarthritis. One meds and hope to heck they work well. It rained on us most of the day out of town and we did some shopping around for a few things we needed here on the farm so it was something positive accomplished. From hearing some folks talk it had snowed really hard in the next large town north west of where we were and we got on home to have just rain. Then after dark it started to snow here, big ole flakes, an covered quickly. This morning it had mostly melted off even tho the temps were in the mid 20's. This time of year I don't mind the snow we get cause you can be pretty sure it wont last the next day. But it has been cold today so I did not go out there in it messing around.
I decided to have tacos for supper tonight and am convinced ya never get too old to see something new. Well as I was slicing up a store bought tomato I did see something I have never seen in my life. A tomato that had seeds on the inside that had sprouted. Never in my life have I seen this in normal garden tomatoes.

On the second photo you can see the lil sprout that I took out of the tomato when I sliced it. The dang thing already has some green to it. But the tomato was whole and looked fine outside. What can promote this kind of sprouting and growth inside a tomato? Kinda makes ya wonder what kind of genetics are involved in our food these days. All I know is this is not normal and I wont eat this kind of food. Not to mention the fact that tomatoes are in the nightshade family and can be toxic if the plant is eaten. So am thinkin again this is not good.
So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

Outdoor chores have started

The weather was rather nice today, sunny but no rain or snow. We got out an got busy pruning our grapevines. They have been in 3 years now and we have never pruned them. Just for the record, this is a really bad idea. They get over grown and make the job harder.

They should have been trained to make tall trunks for the first 2 years then the third year leave 4 long branches with 6 buds each and below each of those a renewal cane with at least 2 buds on it. The following year this years producing branches should be pruned away and the renewal growth trained to the trellis. Again leave a renewal cane nearby for the following year. Google grape pruning and it is very simple with pictures.

 
My vines never got trained to make a large trunk and now they have branched out near the bottom so we had to cut them back rather drastically. The canes that were cut off can be used to start new grape vines. So I took about 65 cuttings to try an start those for new vines. Again simple instructions, cut canes and leave 3 or 4 buds on each cutting. The bottom and top cut should be near the top and bottom buds. Dip in rooting hormone and shove them into a tall container of damp sand. I used extra tall coffee cans for this with sand in them.

The canes are put in the sand over the second bud up the cane leaving the top bud exposed. In about a month they should have roots and the top bud should develop leaves. I put my container in a trash bag an sealed the top to keep in humidity till the plants get started. So they are sitting here in the house to keep warm and hopefully sprout roots an leaves soon.
Rodger also got the young pear tree pruned and tied back to try and straighten it up. Last year it had so many pears it pulled the tree and made it lean down the hill a good bit. So lil by lil we are getting some things done. Or maybe we just are trying to force spring. Next project will be to prune the big really old apple tree that is in the back yard at the home place. I really need to learn how to graft and propagate that tree.
Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

The hunters are home

The hog hunters are finally home. Oh sure it is nice to have "me" time, but after a lil while it does get boring. The guys made it back to Kentucky around 4 this morning and took a nap at Josh's house. Jason picked Rodger up around noon or so and they headed back here to home. They brought 2 hogs home with em so there is meat. I think Josh is going to cut it up and take care of it. Then bring it down later. This winter weather has been so odd all over the country this year. They left Texas yesterday and made it here missing all the bad weather. An old school mate of mine is on facebook and posted that he had a half inch of ice at his place in Texas and he was probably 6 hours south of where the guys were hunting. So if they had stayed till this morning and left most likely they would have gotten caught in the ice and snow storm. They did well dodging it going down an coming home. Just glad to have em home.
I have had all week to do as I please and have been successful in messing up my sleep habits again. I took a good nap yesterday evening and woke up at 2 AM and didn't go back to bed. I did try to watch some news today and napped for a couple hours. But with being awake this morning I did get a few chores done that I had put off. I cleaned the kitchen cabinets and put lemon oil on them. I try to do that several times a year to keep things from building up on them. So far they have stayed nice looking for their age. I even oiled some of the antique furniture that I have while I had the oil out. I guess I could call this spring cleaning. That's about as much of spring as we will see for a few days. We are supposed to get snow showers tonight and tomorrow here. It is also getting colder with this snow as well. I used to say I wouldn't mind moving south where it is warm but this winter has been an exception as it is cold in the south too. So I guess I will sit right here and wait for spring.
Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

All is quiet around here

It sure has been a quiet week around here. Rodger has been in Texas hog hunting this week and I have been home all week. I was thinking while he was gone I could get lots of things done around here and I guess I did get a few things accomplished, but nothing like I probably should have. I did fix supper for Jason a couple times this week and he made pizza for our supper tonight. He makes some good pizza. Now am thinking a nap is in order.
I did call Rodger cause he had said yesterday that they would be heading home sometime today. They were just north of Little Rock Arkansas this evening and had stopped for supper. He said they should be in Kentucky around 4 AM. Jason is picking him up tomorrow around noon. They did not have much success hog hunting due to the big weather front than moved in the area. But the rancher did give them 2 anyway. I am bettin they will all be glad to be home and get some rest and be warm for a change.
Other day I tole ya I did get the dirt in my seed trays to get the onion seed started. I had called Sheri and she gave me lots of good pointers, tips an tricks she has learned along the way. So I now have my onion seed in soil and officially started. I went down to check on the laying hens earlier today and had intended to get more potting mix from the greenhouse and get the leeks and celery started but dang it I was cold. I kinda wimped out and put that off till maybe tomorrow when it is not so cold. Both celery and leeks are slow to germinate and slow to grow so need to be started early. So thas the tentative plan for tomorrow. We shall see.
Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

stella

Dang its been 3 days......

Goodness time flys as we get older. Its been 3 days since I have posted. Not that you missed anything tho. Nothing happening around the homestead right now. Nothing of any importance anyway.
On Sunday we finally got Rodger packed up an on his way for their hog hunting trip. He did call on Monday and they had safely arrived in Crockett Texas around 11 am. The rancher was coming to take them on a tour of the hunting area and they were gonna hunt last night I think. Supposedly wild hogs move around at night. Haven't heard from them today tho, so I have convinced myself they are resting in daytime and hunting at night. So maybe he will call later. The hogs wont eat em, the hogs wont eat em, the hogs wont eat em.................I keep telling myself. According to the weather channel there may have been some nasty weather passed thru their area today but should clear out tomorrow. We are posed to get wind and rain here. Well we are getting the rain now jus no wind yet. I just hope they have fun and a good hunt.
Back at home I was able to walk a lil bit better today and went out to see mom at the nursing home. She is still having a good deal of pain and they are giving her meds, she sees her doc on Friday and hopefully will get this problem taken care of.
While I was out I stopped by the store to pick up a 12 pk of Mt Dew for me and decided to tour the store and see what was available in the world out there. I went thru produce, nothing there that I needed, got better veggies canned at home, didn't need anything from the deli, we have meat at home. Walked thru the crackers and cookies, sure don't need anything there. I make better cookies and have the raw ingredients to do so. Then a quick pass thru the meat section. Oh my, how prices have gone up. Sure glad I got a variety of meat in the freezer too. Frozen foods section is nothing more than instant meals that I would not eat or veggies I already have at home. Canned foods, same thing. On past the dairy case, gosh, I need a cow. Butter is $4 a lb and cheese is ridiculous. I don't use a lot of cheese so its not a big problem till someone wants a cheese sandwich. I might use a gallon of milk per week an thas for coffee an cooking. Thru the flour, sugar aisle, didn't need any, for sure not at the prices local stores charge. And even cornmeal is pricey, but I got lots o that. Noodles I buy in bulk maybe once a year, same with macaroni and spaghetti then vacuum seal it at home for long term storage. But if this go really south I can make my own, I have flour an eggs and water. I left the store with my 12 pk addiction and some potato chips, an dang it those have doubled in price as of the past year. Reckon somebody else couldn't raise taters too.  I did glance at a few folks grocery carts in my trek thru the store and its sad to see what they are buying. Folks my age and older buying TV dinners, quick this, instant that, did the whole world go stupid and forget how to cook a simple meal. Geeeshh!!! So I smile to myself and walk on being so thankful for what we have.
After I got home I moved somethings around. Had some things in the kitchen that needed to be in the cellar, got out a jar of gumbo for my lunch tomorrow, checked on things in the summer kitchen, fed Luna and put out food for the cats. I got in my building looking for some seed flats to go get the soil to get my onion seeds started in. OK now I got the trays, I got the dirt in em, now am thinking they might need to be started in something a lil bit deeper so they can make good roots. Am thinkin I will call muh new fren Sheri and her hubby tomorrow and ask lots o questions bout onion seeds. See I tole ya I don't know how to do everything, yet. lol So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella