Are we living our dream?

I was sure in planting mode....plants started, they're popping up. We've had a LOT of rain and last two days, I believe winter came back šŸ˜±. Cold & heavy frost yesterday & today. Not making me happy šŸ˜µā€šŸ’«. Nice to see your weather is better!

Fresh berries are Sooo good!!
 
I seem to have bad luck with plants I buy from Tractor Supply. None of the strawberries came up so I will plant herbs in the gutter.
We have several cattle panels and t posts set up in arches with squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, cantaloupe coming up on them and along the fence we have some of that also and green beans. We have okra coming up in the backyard, near the ditch, which DH put some 55 gallon barrels which were cut in 3 as raised beds with weed stalks (hadnā€™t gone into seed yet). He had started some spaghetti squash from a squash we bought at the grocery store so he put them back there. He was worried about the possibility of the neighbors spraying Round Up so I told him he could cut two rows of grass for the chickens and tend to the ditch with a weed eater and then they donā€™t have an excuse.
Something was wrong with the rooster and none of the eggs have been fertile so I knew I needed another rooster. DHā€™s imaginary friend gave me a Delaware roo. Well the old rooster started chasing him, even though he limps. I finally put him in a tractor so the new guy can get busy and he did with a vengeance. But DD took her wading pool off from on top of him and I assume thatā€™s why he dropped dead. DH is using him for crab bait but something big is going into the openings and taking whatever might have been in the trap.
So the new rooster is an idiot. With all my limitations I discovered that I can still side kick. He came after me. Then after I kicked him he charged me again so I grabbed him by one wing and then put the egg crate down to grab him by both wings. He was held in the cradle of shame and I walked him around picking up eggs, putting water in the waterer and I didnā€™t turn him loose until I was done. Yesterday I think he was planning on doing it again. I wasnā€™t exactly dressed for a possible attack because my legs were exposed. I tell you whatā€¦I know how to fertilize the eggs myself and I have a few empty cages and one tractor I can put him in. But I told DH if this is my game, then I want the nest to open up from outside so I donā€™t have to go in the coop with that crazy man. Honestly when the coop is small and you have to go in with them you are so much more likely to get jumped.
I ordered parts to repair our cabinet incubators and we have tried making them fire up but no luck yet. I know all I need is a red rooster and I will be able to create sex linksā€¦..sell the pullets to make money and eat the cockerels.
Food is getting so expensive lately that we trying to grow our own groceries. I also have a rabbit trio. Supposedly they were bred before they went into the cages but I donā€™t see any evidence of that. Maybe I can throw a doe in the buck cage today.
I have also been thrift shopping with DD 17 and teaching my niece and DIL how to sew, using a pattern. Niece was last Wednesday and tomorrow I plan on doing them both. Middle DD got me thinking about sewing by telling me she needs to buy her DD sun dresses for a vacation she is going to Cancun with the other grandma. I figured it was time to kill several birds with one stone.
DHā€™s doctor came down on him for his blood sugar and I have been cooking lately even when Iā€™m tired.
 
You are totally right because I get more out of this form of social media than Facebook. That frequently gets me crazy. I was so tired I brewed coffee and only just drank it. Thatā€™s desperate. Iā€™m not even dressed but Iā€™m fixing to be. Got stuff to do.
 
Lots of salads, eggs, meat, seafood, squash. Cucumbers are my go to emergency vegetable when Iā€™m hungry and not so creative.

So I mentioned this on the garden post but Iā€™m still freaking out about Tractor Supply GIVING us whatever seeds we wanted. DH said he didnā€™t want to be greedy and take it all, but I said, ā€œI will.ā€ I started grabbing everything that we normally plant but in a huge way. DH was doing the same. We filled up 5 shopping bags stuffed with seeds. Yā€™all check out yā€™all local Tractor Supply stores and see if they are throwing out their seeds.
 
Geesh -- that's great!! We know seeds last if stored well. Maybe poorer germination but -- my older seed I either plant closer or save some back to fill in as needed. Fresh seed, I plant at what they suggest for the desired spacing. I do not like to "plant & thin". Some seeds are expensive & I'm not wasting them! Another thing I do is make a hill, toss seed, then transplant the plants. This works well when making starts for cold crops. Grandad always did that. Some things do not like to move like that.
 
I have a love/hate relationship with my rooster. He tried jumping me twice several days ago and thatā€™s when I discovered I still have enough balance to at least give a low, left side kick. On his 2nd attempt at jumping me he was apprehended by me, and carried around in the cradle of shame. Mostly I have been giving him space but yesterday DH and I tag teamed the chores and I went in. It was time. I lost the cork I had been using to stop up the waterer so I had the top off and the hose stuck in the top. I had been running the hose for 13 seconds a day to just fill the bowl up but I found an interesting cork at the grocery store with a metal ring and small shaft and I thought it would help me so Iā€™m all fancy in the coop now with that. I leveled off the cypress logs that I sit the waterer on and filled it up. The rooster just stayed away from me, even when I was pushing the hens away from my working area.
Really need my incubators to be up and running. I might need a friend to help me cuz DH hasnā€™t succeeded yet. Gotta get some cash flow in the house some kind of way cuz when it costs $4.09 for a cantaloupe and $10 for a small water melon, something has gotta give.
Went for a walk around the yard, hoping to bring in vegetables. I regret listening to DH and leaving the 3 squash for seeds cuz we have LOTS OF SEEDS!! I will try again and cook whatever we have.
I need to organize the freezer and defrost it again. Hopefully I can locate some green food in there like green beans and okra from last year. I really gotta use that stuff up and retire that poor old freezer before the top totally breaks. Before I know it DH will be going trawl with one of his buddies or put jug lines in the bayou and come home with 100 pounds of catfish or something. He cooked around 5 wild ducks 2 days ago. Need to make some room or just downsize and use just the freezer over the fridge. God forbid I need to go to the grocery store!! I am staying afloat and thatā€™s about all Iā€™m doing right now. I am really struggling with my income level and the price of food. Itā€™s really a good thing we have animals and a garden. I think we should constantly be planting right now.
DD is like my BF right now. She has been thrift shopping with me and helping me with some chores. I really wish she would study more and take her education seriously.
I gave my niece sewing lessons and I think she is ready to sew simple patterns on her own. My granddaughter is going on vacation to Cancun very soon and I have been working on sun dresses. I had to do the last few steps by hand because of taking my share home. I havenā€™t yet modified the front bedroom into my personal room but Iā€™m hard at it. The bed is gone. Actually several nasty beds are gone. I got tired of having them in the house. DD and I loaded them all up in the truck and DH tied them up and brought them to the dumpster. DD is now sleeping on a twin bed, off the floor, on a frame rather than the nastiness I had covered with a lavender infused egg crate and clean sheets. But yeahā€¦the front room is my problem. Gotta get it to make sense if I want to go in there to write, crochet, sew, herb, escape, etcā€¦. Maybe I can bring the incubators in there too.
DH seems to think squash and pumpkin canā€™t be moved once they are growing good on the ground. Thatā€™s not so great cuz other things trying to grow with it and my goal was vertical gardening. Anyone wanna chime in here? I would appreciate it. My back really canā€™t handle all that bending over.
 
The pumpkin & squash can move if still young plants. If already 6-8' of vine, not so much. But, can you put a trellis or teepee by the plant to have it climb? That could work. EVERYTHING you can grow saves $$ on food. I can a lot all summer, spend very little at store. Mostly basics like, flour, salt etc. Have chickens for eggs, meat; goats for milk, cheese, meat.....many use rabbit, I don't because of cute factor. BUT if hungry, I'd be frying it! When I look at prices it's even more reason to keep at it. Wish money grew on trees!! I'd have a huge orchard :lol: then again, a garden is like $.
 
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