Author: Julia

I am a retired software solutions architect. I have been married to my husband, Bruce, for over forty years. We have a 12-pound dog, Nox, who we love dearly. She has been with us since 2009. We went full-time RVing for 3.5 years and saw much of the United States. We bought a ranch house on a hill in the middle of five acres. We are working on creating our homestead. I love cooking and enjoy sharing recipes. I am also an artist and I’ll share my current projects. Reading is my favorite hobby.

Update on Bruce’s Dad, Grill Ready to Grill

May 18, 2025 Bruce’s dad managed to go home from the hospital yesterday (May 17, Saturday). I do mean managed. There was a lot of miscommunication happening at the hospital. The doctor (neurologist) didn’t know my FIL had been moved to a regular room!!!! Who authorized moving him out of ICU then? Several hours after […]

Estate Sales Finds, Update on FIL

May 16, 2025 This morning, after we got up and took care of Nox, we headed out to two estate sales. At the first estate sale, Bruce bought a pair of plastic sawhorses and a couple of levels. I bought a 3 quart stainless steel sauté pan with a glass lid for $12. At the […]

Trying a New (to Us) Restaurant, FIL Injured, Trellises Put Up

May 15, 2025 Today (Thursday, May 15), Bruce drove me to PT. While I was in PT, Bruce tried to call his dad. He got the answering machine twice. Bruce decided to hang out in the lobby while my physical therapist had me do various exercises. Afterwards, we went to lunch at Ricatoni’s Italian Grill […]

Starting to Clean Out the Shed

May 15, 2025 I realized I forgot to mention that we started to clean out the shed yesterday (Wednesday, May 14). The barn is attached to the shed. I believe the shed was built around the same time as the house. The barn was clearly added on later. The shed wall sticks into the barn […]

Just Around Blackberry Homestead after the Rain

May 14, 2025 In was raining the morning of Tuesday (May 13), when Bruce drove me to PT. We got there early, so we went to next door to Home Depot to get more trellis supplies. I kept an eye on the time and headed over to PT while Bruce finished shopping at Home Depot. […]

Rain and More Rain

May 12, 2025 It rained so much on Saturday (May 10). We weren’t able to do anything outside because of the rain. Nox even had to go outside in the rain. Bruce spent some time replacing the outside door knobs since he could do that without getting wet. He replaced the standard door knobs with […]

Started Setting Up the Trellises, Change of Plans

May 12, 2025 On Friday (May 9), we started to set up the first trellis. We decided the trellis was too short for tomatoes. We are going to move it to the other side for the peas and foot long beans. We went to Rural King, Lowe’s and Ace to find more metal electrical conduit. […]

Salad Greens from the Garden

May 8, 2025 On Thursday (May 8), before I went to PT, we went to the Home Depot to buy the materials for trellises based on the plans from the “The Square Foot Gardening” book. We were getting ready to check out when I realized I needed to walk over to the physical therapist office. […]

Planted the Fig Trees

May 10, 2025 On Wednesday (May 7), in the morning, I pulled poison ivy from the other big pecan tree. In the fall, I had cut the poison ivy vines around the base of the pecan. I thought I had missed a vine since there were green leaves on a couple of poison ivy vines […]

Overslept Due to an Uncomfortable Nox

May 10, 2025 On Tuesday, (May 6) we overslept. My appointment for PT was at 10:30 AM and we slept until 9:30 AM. This gave us 30 minutes to get showers, get dressed and get out the door. Nox also needed to be walked before we could leave. I walked Nox while Bruce showered and […]