~ Guinea Gang ~

The guineas are doing a wonderful job at controlling the tick population. We still find an occasional tick on us , but I believe Shadow and the cats are bringing them in from the woods.

We lost one guinea , the neighbor saw a fox chasing them in the field across the road , so I guess he got one. That was about 2 weeks ago , since then , they've been staying closer to home. They had been going across the road into the field and visiting some of the neighbors. So far I haven't had any complaints from the neighbors , as a matter of fact , they seem to be happy they visit. Our closest neighbor , actually cut a hole in the fence so they could walk through to their yard. They had guineas when they were young , so they know how great they are at bug & tick control and enjoy having them visit.

I've been looking for guinea nest , but haven't found any. I think they should be laying now , but have read they hide their nest well. But since they free range and cover a very large area , I guess I may never get a guinea egg. I was looking forward to trying one , to see how they compare to chicken eggs. They are a lot calmer now and don't make as much noise as they did , only when startled and they're still roosting in the same tree at night.

~ Spring Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Altogether ~

Monday , my Mom had a birthday gathering at her house for a friend. Little Tree was lying on her bed , Curious J was coloring , so Little Missy and Little Froggy had to join in. I was able to get all four Grands together in a photo , it's hard to get the toddlers still long enough to get a pic of them altogether.

Yesterday , I cleaned out the area around the well house. I have planted cilantro there for the last couple of years. I planted seed I saved from the cilantro I grew last year , hope it germinates. My sister gave me some strawberry plants from her patch last year , I planted then in a strawberry jar since I didn't have a bed ready. They are blooming and some have small berries on them , I'm thrilled !

I finally have a spot chosen for my herb garden , decided to put it behind the swimming pool and to the backside of the garage , in a sunny location nearer to the house than our garden is. I already have catnip , leaf lettuce and spinach growing at the backside of Dh's garage. I plan to work on it Monday , I'm going to make a spiral herb garden with white flint rocks.

~ Green Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Taking Time Out ~

Dh and I took some time-out yesterday , we went shopping. He needed concrete mix for a gate and I wanted to checkout the garden center and netting to put over the chicken coop.

The garden center was full of wonderful plants , I had a hard time deciding on what I really needed. I got 3 potted herbs and some herb seed. I was thrilled to find stevia , hope I'll have better luck with it this year. Last year I purchased stevia and set it out to soon , the frost killed it. I also bought lemon balm and lemon basil. I love citrus flavored foods and drinks , looking forward to trying recipes with these herbs. We also purchased cilantro , dill , garlic chives , lavender lady , lime basil , oregano , parsley , radish and sweet basil seeds. I saved seed from my cilantro last year , but bought a packet just in case it doesn't sprout.

After we left the The Home Depot , we went to Target. I bought all the Grands a outfit , a new hobo bag for myself and a few food items. We left Target and went to TGIF 's for supper. It was nice to have some time-out , we haven't been out in long time. Hope you were Blessed with some time-out this weekend.

~ Spring Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Spring Harvest ~

My oldest daughter was given about 10 lbs of asparagus this week , we've eaten some and frozen some for later. I love asparagus and hope my patch does well. Does anyone have a favorite asparagus recipe to share ?

I harvest violet leaves to make a infusion , it's like a green tea. The infusion is very good for you , full of vitamins and nutrients.

Harvested a few more violet blooms , they're almost through blooming for this season. I made more ice cubes with these blooms. I've also added some to salads. I didn't get to make a second batch of violet jelly , but plan to make dandelion jelly soon. I found a cookie recipe using violet jelly , they're called "Thumbprint Cookies " , hope to make some soon. I will share the recipe if they're good.

I gathered lots of dandelion greens , plan to cook a mess for my family this weekend. The girls are eager to try the new dandelion recipe. I think I'll serve it with whole wheat noodles this time.

Something store bought , something homegrown and something wild , made for a great salad. I used iceberg lettuce , a handful of homegrown leaf lettuce and dandelion greens , violet flowers & leaves.

~ Green Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ More Earth Sun Catchers ~

Yesterday I had Little Missy and Little Froggy , so I decided to let them try to make a earth suncatcher for Earth Day. We made a simpler version , out of a coffee filter. I put some blue and green food coloring in small containers , they used a paint brush to dab the color on the filter , then I sprayed the filters with water to make the color run. We laid them on a paper napkin and let them dry.

They were so cute when I gave them a paint brush , they were looking at me like I had lost my mind , but they watched and took their brushes and dabbed at the filters just as I had shown them. They did well until I sprayed the filters and they saw the colors running , then they just had to put their little hands in it , so they got stained hands ( true little artist ), but for 17 month olds they did good. I really like the way they turned out , it's a wonderful tye-dye look , I punched holes and hung them with fishing line.

Hope everyone had a great Earth Day !

~ Green Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ On this Earth Day ~

Let us begin to
celebrate Earth Day ........... Everyday

Let us Appreciate

& Respect Mother Earth's beauty .....

Let us take good care

of her .....

reuse * recycle * pick up litter when we see it.

Let us take time each day to be Thankful for all she provides for us !!

~ Earth Day Blessings to Everyone ! ~

JoyceAnn

~ In the Garden ~

I worked in the garden Saturday , finally got the broccoli and cabbage planted , hope it has time to produce before it gets to hot. I also got my asparagus and strawberries planted in the raised beds , still need to mulch them. Hope to get the seeds planted this week. The onions and potatoes are sprouting , need to mulch them soon too.

~ Green Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Cooking up some Dandelion Greens ~

I tried that dandelion recipe last Saturday , it was so good I made it again Thursday night. Dh said it was different , but later said it tasted pretty good. I think it is delicious , highly recommend it , wish I had taken a pic of the finished dish but I forgot to. I served it over brown rice , Dh doesn't like brown rice , so I think that's why he didn't care for it. The next time I will serve it on white rice or whole wheat noodles. Here is the link for the recipe if you want to try it ~ http://southernfood.about.com/od/collardgreens/r/bl30319f.htm ~.



Check-out Flassie's blog for another yummy looking recipe using dandelion greens , I hope to try it soon ~ http://wwwflassiesfila.blogspot.com/2009/04/while-looking-at-martha-stewart-website.html ~ . Tansy has a recipe for cream of dandelion soup posted over at Not Dabbling in Normal ~ http://notdabblinginnormal.wordpress.com/2009/04/16/eat-your-weeds/ ~ . It sounds delicious too , hope I can gather enough dandelion greens to try both of these recipes.

Hope everyone is having a Blessed weekend !!

~ Green Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

Spring Break / Celebrating Earth Day

Curious J has spring break this week , no pre-school. He's staying with me , Little Froggy is staying with my Mom this week , so Jake and I can spend time together , creating and doing big boy things.

He has been helping feed and water the animals. Shadow enjoys chasing him , but he gets to rough with him at times. He's just playing , but he's a big pup now and doesn't know his strength.

We're celebrating earth day this week , since he'll be back in pre-school next week. Yesterday we made an earth sun catcher and planted my rosemary. Today we made a diorama of the ocean and baked Mother Earth oatmeal/raisin cookies.

~ Spring Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ * ~ Easter Blessings ~ * ~

It was a Blessed Easter for us , we had our gathering with family and friends. The kids enjoyed the egg hunt , games and swinging.

Everyone brought covered dishes and ate to much.

Little Miss Sunshine took time to smell the flowers.

Hope you had a Blessed Easter !

~~ Spring Blessings ~~

JoyceAnn

~~~ DandyLions ~~~

Today I'll be gathering dandelion blooms , hope to gather a gallon and start some dandelion wine. I'm also gathering the last of the violets , hope to harvest enough for another batch of jelly and some for potpourri.

~~ Spring Blessings ~~

JoyceAnn

~ Herbal Hike ~

Spring has all the wonderful herbs popping up , I've been hiking and trying to identify them. I've found some interesting plants , but need to wait for blooms to open , to properly i.d. them.

Shadow always tags along and enjoys the creek , while I explore. He found some grass along the creek bank that must be pretty tasty , so he chowed down. We ran into Mr. Kong whom resides behind my hubby's garage at the edge of the woods , he's been around this area for a few years. He maybe finding a new home if he decides to visit the chicken coop (lol).

I finally got around to making those violet ice cubes , they're quite charming. The dandelions are blooming , plan to make some ice cubes with their blooms too.

The weather has been colder the last couple of days , but I believe we're suppose to get back to Spring weather starting today ~ Yay ! Will be planting broccoli and cabbage tomorrow , a little late but I think it'll be o.k.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week !!

~ ~ Spring Blessings ~ ~

JoyceAnn

~ Windowsill Beauty & Fundraisers ~

Lib and JoAnn inspired this photo , check-out Lib's violet jelly in the windowsill at http://libsprivateparadise.blogspot.com/2009/04/violet-jelly-and-tea-parties.html and JoAnn's blog about flowers and vases at http://piecefulquillting.blogspot.com/2009/03/flowers.html , you'll see way I was inspired . I enjoy picking flowers from the yard and having them on the windowsill at the sink to enjoy as I do dishes. The rosemary will be put outside as soon as danger of frost is past , the rosemary from last year didn't survive , so we'll try again this year.

I read in our local paper about a Relay for Life fundraiser happening yesterday , one of the local chicken processing plants was having meat sale. They had fresh boneless chicken breast for 2.00 lb. I sent DH to pick some up , we got 30 lbs , the last 3 bags . I was thrilled to add this to our freezer , great price for a great cause.

Hope you're having a Great weekend !!

~ Blessings ~

JoyceAnn