Author: Julia

I am a retired software solutions architect. I have been married to my husband, Bruce, for over forty years. We went full-time RVing for 3.5 years and saw much of the United States. After deciding to stop RVing, we bought a ranch house halfway up a hill on five acres. After Bruce and I talked about names for our five acres, we settled on Blackberry Homestead as a homage to the wild blackberries on the hill. 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. Gardening and reading are my favorite hobbies.

My “Real” Alabama Diver’s License Came Today

November 25, 2024 I walked down to the mailbox and found three pieces of mail. One was my plastic star driver’s license from the state of Alabama! I won’t have to use the paper copy they gave me before leaving the DMV. I really like how my picture looks. Most of the time, my picture […]

Nox, Out and About

November 25, 2024 On Thursday (November 21), Nox was enjoying the day. I took some pictures of her walking about in the yard doing Nox things. After her walk, she was tired and stretched out in her bed.

Hanging Up the Sailing Ship Mobile

November 25, 2024 I decided to use a hanging Command Strip to hang up the Danish Flensted Dinghy Regatta 5 mobile in my office/studio. The sunlight was streaming in from my window. I was very pleased with the effect. The effect didn’t last for long. Here is the mobile from the door. We’ve had the […]

Update on My Father-in-Law’s Recovery

November 24, 2024 On Friday (November 22), Bruce took his father to physical therapy. After PT, they went to lunch. Later on Friday, Bruce took his dad to his 4:00 PM doctor’s appointment. This was the follow up to see how his dad was progressing after PT and to check healing was on track. The […]

Signed a Contract for a New Roof

November 24, 2024 I have been getting quotes from different roofers in the area to see how much it would cost to replace the roof. Bruce wanted to know how much it would cost to get a standing seam roof. One of the companies came out and offered a 50 year Corning roof. They offer […]

Clearing Some of the Fence

November 24, 2024 We’ve got a section of the fence that is very overgrown with blackberry canes, honeysuckle, an oak, an ornamental flowering pear, privet and the dreaded poison ivy. To get to the poison ivy, I decided to start cutting down the other plants on the fence. I used the sawzall to cut through […]

Permission to Feed the Donkeys Carrots, Granted

November 20, 2024 Last week, I saw my neighbor out putting hay out for his cows and donkeys. I waved at him and then I picked Nox up so she could watch the cows and donkeys eating the hay. Nox loves watching cows. Our neighbor came over to talk to me. I was glad he […]

Scenes from the Backyard

November 20, 2024 Monday (November 18) was a lovely day. I walked around the yard and got some pictures. The grass has gotten surprisingly tall and the false dandelions are blooming. The butterflies enjoy the false dandelions. I have seen several different types of butterflies. The fritillary butterfly is visiting a false dandelion aka cat’s-ear […]

The Washer and Dryer Came Today

November 20, 2024 Last night, I received an automated text message from Home Depot about the washer and dryer delivery. The window for delivery was 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM today. I was excited about the delivery and let Bruce know the washer and dryer were scheduled to arrive tomorrow (today). This morning, I got […]

Flowers!

November 18, 2024 This morning, I meet with a roofer to get an estimate for replacing our roof with a standing seam roof. He arrived on time and provided two estimates before he left, one for an asphalt shingle roof and one for a standing seam roof. After he left, another vehicle arrived. I was […]