Cool Weather

I still have to go out and plant rhutabegas and beets this afternoon and there are a lot of weeds to be pulled already, imagine that!!! I'll have to post a pic of my least favorites later this evening, but this one in particular Virginia Water Leaf is the bane of my existance, garden wise, it's a native but it's taking over everything.

Dh has the next four days off, it's going to be a major push to get the other garden spot uncovered and planted, it currently has a lot of construction stuff planted there.

Something New - Ads

I'm trying out Googles AdSense on this site and if it works out well then I will expand to my other blogs. Right now I'd just love to know how to make content specific Google Ads, I'm thinking I'm not to "brilliant" when it comes to reading the help sections. Oh well, onward as they say.

Today

I didn't get the freezer addressed but that's ok John has Friday off from work, a four day weekend together he plans to take the new photos of the iceberg to the dealer to see about getting it fixed properly. It's still under warranty so why fight the thing, and I suspect because he's a guy that he'll be able to get the job done right this time.

I spent most of the day updating blogs and have applied for AdSense with Google, could be interesting. The rest of the evening was spent cleaning the kitchen, pulling out the fridge and vacuuming behind it, something that should be done at least once a decade right???

We did decide on putting hte maple flooring in the kitchen, will have to take a picture of the bare plywood, and I'll paint it whence it's in. I've plans to paint the floor in a black and white pattern. the walls will be painted Medici White ~ Sherwin Williams Paint, and the cabinets lettuce green, an nice soft green color ~ Dutch Boy Paint, and the ceiling Friendly Yellow ~ Sherwin Williams.

And since I didn't spend any time in the garden today here's a picture of last years marigolds, which turned out quite pretty.

Garden Day 2

Dh whose rather bothered by my need to snap his photo, he was stretching chicken wire onto little posts to, hopefully, keep the rabbits and stray dogs out of my garden.

Bell Peppers in front of the cattle panels, there will be pole beans growing on the panels and hopefully soon! The area right in front of the peppers I plan to fill with rhutabegas (sp?), beets, and turnips.

Some tomatoes, I've put coffee cans around them to protect them from the high winds we get during the spring and from birds, which love snapping off the young plants. To the left of the tomato cages are cattle panels on end I've planted pole beans, Kentucky Wonder and Blue Lake, around the perimeter of the garden.

Freezer Issues

I've had the upright plugged in for about six weeks now, and it needs defrosting already. The repairman has informed me that it does NOT need a new seal it's my issue! I've plans for a meeting with his employer tomorrow! It's bad enough my 50 year old freezer died and took a quarter beef with it but dealing with this three year old freezer is just insane!

Cherry Tree in Bloom

Beans Beans and More Beans

I'm off to set up my panels and plant pole beans, more pictures later!

Some Plants

Baby purple cabbage plants - hey I'm a childless wonder so every plant is officially a baby!

Jerusalem Artichokes coming up everywhere, very yummy to eat btw.

Leeks they winter over here really well.

Garlic that is in desperate need of thinning.

Garden Scenes

A view from my porch my two gardens are pretty well shaded making a lot of vegetables a real challenge to grow.

Garlic, leeks, onions, summer herbs, tomatoes and purple cabbages in the east garden.

Mullien, Phlox, Blue Vervain, Plantain, Bee Balm and Echnicia

Creeping thyme, bloodroot, solomon's seal, false solomon's seal, and some other plant that have no idea what it is and can't seem to get rid of!

I'm trying to make the most of my law, here is my butterfly garden that also doubles as a native prairie plant and medicinal garden.

Garden Space

Dh got the new garden space tilled up today, I'll take pictures tomorrow. He also planted the new asparagus roots, which the chipmunks, hopefully, won't eat! Tomorrow it's Hosta and Iris transplanting, composting the new garden and maybe even get the rest of the tomato plants in, and here's praying it doesn't freeze again till this fall.

We set out a bunch of blackberry bushes on the curb - posted to freecycle - and they've found a new home already. Seems the blackberries produce more vines than berries so hopefully the new owners can get some berries out of them.

Rain Rain Go Away!

Dh and I went out morel hunting this morning and found a couple pounds, and I discovered that my waterproof leather boots are not so waterproof anymore. They are five years old and I'm sure the coating has more than dried off by now. Since the boots are still rather new I'll be working on waterproofing them once again.

Tis the Season

Picked 20 morels this morning, good haul after last nights gully washer - one tornado that went north of town a piece yet. Most places got two or more inches of rain last night, we got 1.6 inches in less than an hour. Heard tales while morel picking of some places getting five inches, tis a lot of rain. Too many people walking around in the woods, the place is getting to be really trampled.

FFAC Collage Mania

The Fiber Art for a Cause Collage Mania Sale begins today! Virginia Spiegel is raising money for the American Cancer Society, and there are many many artists participating in this wonderful cause!

And remember I will be donating one third of the sale of any artwork sold on my Etsy.com store now through the end of May!

Spring has Sprung!

The magnolias are in bloom here, a sure sign that summer is definately on it's way, finally!

genuine fungus

Black Fungus

Appears to be a lichen of some sort, here's a pic with the original packaging.

Lichens on my Cinnamon?

There appears to be a lichen of some sort growing on my cinnamon - well I don't know if it's still growing or not, it is currently living in a glass jar with a lid.

Fairie Names

I was visiting Au Fil du Jardin's blog and found a link that will tell you what your Fairy Name is and I found that my fairy name is:

Your fairy is called Hex Icefilter

She is a bone chilling bringer of justice for the vulnerable.

She lives in places hexed and tainted by black magic.

She is only seen on midsummer's eve.

She wears black feathers and rose petals. She has icy blue butterfly wings.

Get your free fairy name here!

Hmm a person could produce some very interesting artwork based on this description alone!

Mirror Frame

This old frame was attached to a dresser that is basically no more, I plan to paint it have John insert a piece of plywood, that will be painted with chalk board paint, and will then attache it to the front of the house. Oh and I plan to attac some vintage blue quart jars to the frame to fill with flowers and such ;-) I'm thinking a nice pink will make the frame look wonderful, with some red over aqua in the recessed areas.

New Front Fence

I found this vintage fencing material along a road in Valley Junction a few weeks ago - they were having their "throw it out weekend" John wasn't all that excited about picking it up, can't say I blame him it has WORK written all over it!

I have plans for John to cut it into panels and trim it out with wood and attach it to wood fence posts. The wood he's planning on using is from a salvage job of an old garage. I just need to find my recipe for white wash so I can paint the wood white.

Front Garden

This is the front along the porch, I put down some sort of garden cloth and then the mulch. later this week I'll plant tulips, iris, asian lilies, and hostas out there, and put the muddy area back into grass ;-)

New Path

Through the ole mud patch! I've been slowly plugging away at the lawn this week, trying to get all the leaves raked up (a never ending battle) the creeping charlie beaten back (a defeating battle) and the grass seed spread (good luck with the weather on that one)! I was really happy to see that my Asian Lilies survived the winter, they were in a pot in the yard so the goal this week is to get them transplanted to the front lawn.

The hostas should be ready to transplant in another week or so, my peonies are breaking the soil as are the lilies of the valley, tulips, and tirger lilies.

Jerusalem Artichokes

Well spring has finally sprung here, it's supposed to be 66 F here tomorrow, and if it hasn't sprung then I'm pretending it has anyway! I've been doing yard work, will take some pictures of that tomorrow, I've been putting down mulch and pavers in the areas that I've decided are permanent walkways and trimming everything back.

I cleaned the Jerusalem Artichoke garden and found some really nice tubers, will be making these up with a batch of green beans.

The furkids

There are more pictures over here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kbaxterpackwood/

Thomas Love

No the iron isn't on, it's not even plugged in, thankfully.

Angel Love

Wow she actually sat still for her photo, too bad it's on our very messy bed! She's five now I figure she'll calm down someday, or not.

What my name means

What Kimberly Means

You are a seeker of knowledge, and you have learned many things in your life. You are also a keeper of knowledge - meaning you don't spill secrets or spread gossip. People sometimes think you're snobby or aloof, but you're just too deep in thought to pay attention to them. You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. You are confident, self assured, and capable. You are not easily intimidated. You master any and all skills easily. You don't have to work hard for what you want. You make your life out to be exactly how you want it. And you'll knock down anyone who gets in your way! You are full of energy. You are spirited and boisterous. You are bold and daring. You are willing to do some pretty outrageous things. Your high energy sometimes gets you in trouble. You can have a pretty bad temper at times. You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together. You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun. You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow. You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily. Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is. You are a free spirit, and you resent anyone who tries to fence you in. You are unpredictable, adventurous, and always a little surprising. You may miss out by not settling down, but you're too busy having fun to care.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Spring Cleaning

Well I've been on a cleaning jag the past week, and I'm actually making some headway in all of this - all of the clutter is out of our bedroom!!! And trust me that was a feat in and of itself. I'm still working on getting all of the laundry done, sorted, and the stuff we don't want given away or pitched if it's beyond it's usefullness anymore.

My goal now is to get my studio cleaned - this is my at home studio - so I can start working on some projects that need finishing.

More later from the land of sponge mops and cleaning supplies.

Fall Etc.

Well I believe I may have mowed the lawn for the final time this year. The oak tree has completely lost it's leaves, which is really odd for our red oak as it's habit has been to lose it's leaves in the spring. The weather has been strange this year so I'm chocking it up to that.
The Jerusalem Artichokes are cut down, need to pull some so there will be room for them to produce large tubers next year.

I still need to deal with the blackberries, they have invaded everything! I'm thinking of digging in the ground and pulling the roots for a natural dye bath. I have about six fleeces left to cold soak and then put through a final wash in the washer, and a couple of alpaca and llama fleeces to skirt and I'm done with that for the season as well.

The house needs a final cleaning and the windows need to be dealt with otherwise I think I'm excited that winter will be here and really soon!

Tooth ache and the Simpsons

I'm slowly recovering from having poison ivy in my lungs, makes for a cheerful countenace to say the least. Now I have a tooth ache, which is why my left ear has been bothering me non-stop for the past month or so. And knowing that you'd think I'd remember to make a dental appointment, right.

Movies: I can't wait to see the Simpson movie, looks pretty good and I'm not even a Simpson's fan, wonder with the King of the Hill movie will come out.

Inexpensive Dessert

Rootbeer Float - Yum!

Update

The studio is open and going full tilt, more with photos later. Maybe I can figure out how to get this particular blog to archive itself.

Packwood

If you are a Packwood or have Packwood family information feel free to leave a comment with a email addy or link here and I'll get back to you. Some time back someone from Texas left a comment wanting more infomation on Packwoods but left no email addy so I can't get in touch with them.

Kerfont

My cousin Brian Kerfont, he lives in Newfoundland, emailed me with a quite a bit of family information and confirmed what I have always suspected, mom is native american! Mi 'kmaq to be exact. Mom had always told us we were, well she used a not so politcally correct term. But with all moms sometimes it's hard to know what's fact and simple entertainment for small children, after all my husband's mother told him he was a little eskimo and as far as we know he's scottish and swedish. So anyway... the "how much part" would appear to be quite large more than half, maybe whole??? There seems to be a dead end on researching the family name.

Salvation Army

I spent about twenty minutes tops at the local Sal Army, and a total of fourteen dollars, this one has some incredible finds, silver platters, crystal vases, you name it, and all for really good prices. So if your redecorating you might want to check out your local Sal Army ;-)

More Bling

this was 99 cents, and is only four inches across I scored four of these.

Avon Dish?

New Sign for the Door

The letters are much darker now I went over them and made them black.

Bling

It's amazing what you find at the Salvation Army for only two dollars! It's about 24 inches wide, that's both of them btw.John spent some time polishing them for me, I had to ride him to keep him from removing all of the lovely dark patina in the crevices, he doesn't get it!!!

Little Bits