Another winter

We are having one of the little winters here in Kentucky that we have every spring. Those happen when certain trees bloom. First is dogwood, then redbud, then what the mountain folks all called "sarvis" winter. With sarvis winter you get some cool weather and rain. The rain started late this afternoon and is still raining as of right now.The trees are in full bloom and starting to drop their blossoms at this point which means cool rainy weather for the next several days. The old folks planted gardens between these little winters. I remember dad always saying to plant corn when the leaves on the oak tree were the size of a squirrels ear. Well that was a week or so ago. And the weather was right for planting corn so we did just that. After this cool wet spell we will have a few weeks of dry weather, that is the time to plant beans and such in the garden. Which we will be doing. Then we have what we call blackberry winter. That will be the last of the spring rains for us under normal conditions. Dad was always insistent on getting his garden all planted so they got the spring rains, with exception of things that were transplanted like tomatoes and peppers. You can about be assured of no frost after blackberry winter. But time all this takes place it will be probably the second week of May. Its hard to believe it is almost May. Time flys as you get older they say.
I will be going out of town tomorrow to take my friend that had a stroke to Cardinal Hill rehab facility. He will be there for a couple weeks and I am just praying he will be much better. He has lost a tremendous amount of weight after his stroke due to the fact he cant swallow, therefore he cant eat. He has a feeding tube but that is not working out well for him. Just feel so bad for him knowing how hard he worked and how much he enjoyed good food.
After getting my buddy settled in I am thinking I might go to western Kentucky to visit my aunt and I need to go pick up a gas range for my summer kitchen. This will likely be the last time I will have a chance to get away till probably this fall sometime. I will also be stopping to visit my friend in central Kentucky on my way back. I alas end up spending a couple nights there. I sure do enjoy her company and enjoy visiting her place.All this will take place if I can get my ducks in a row this evening so nothing falls apart while I'm gone.

It was dry enough today for me to finish painting the cabinets that go in the summer kitchen. They look so much better than the baby blue that was on them. Yuck! The counter tops are in the shop waiting to be cut to size and installed. Maybe in a few days when the guys get time to do that. 

The ones on the other side are oak finish, all in good shape for used. The sink will go on the right in the oak sink base.The floor was painted today as well. Much cleaner looking than the bare concrete. I have some of those nice rubber link together mats for the floor that are supposed to make standing easier on your back. And heaven knows I need all the help I can get in that area. My back dont allow for much standing these days after my injury. There will be room for a bar stool in here too.

My baby chicks live next door to my summer kitchen. When we butcher, we have a place set up in back of the chicken house, so it will be close to the summer kitchen as well. But these little fellows look content so they are unaware of where they will end up. Our secret, OK?

I have tomatoes that are big enough to be in the garden, but we still have to wait till the last frost. That is probably about 3 weeks away for us. Then I have some plants that are not near big enough to transplant. I have had a hard time getting peppers to come up this year. I am thinking I should have kept the seed flats in the house and warmer till they got sprouted. They do need heat to sprout and come up.
I am totally disappointed with the peat pellets that I used to start plants in this year. But had I thought about what they were made of I would have realized that once wet they are going to be a little on the acidic side. I have good air circulation in the greenhouse with the fan on but still had green moss starting on the peat pellets with the lil seedlings in them. So when the little plants struggle enough to get heads up out of the peat I have been transplanting them into regular potting mix and then they take off. Ya live and learn I do reckon. So maybe ya can teach old dogs new tricks. Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella