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.

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 […]

Why Alabama?

November 16, 2024 I no longer sound like the Southern woman that I am. My Southern accent has disappeared after living in Colorado for so long. Since we’ve moved here, I have had so many people ask, “Where are you from?” Then after hearing, “I was born and raised in South Mississippi. We lived in […]

My Turn to See a Snake

November 15, 2024 My friend Jeanne from ajeanneinthekitchen.com, had a snake in her garage just a couple of days ago. What’s a snake doing out in Colorado when they’ve just has a foot of snow? Bruce said, “that snake is just trying to stay warm.” Yesterday, Bruce had a very startlingly encounter with a copperhead […]

Big Storm Last Night, We have a Leaky Roof

November 14, 2024 When I went to the kitchen this morning, I discovered a puddle on the stovetop. It wasn’t there last night. The stovetop was beautifully clean when I went to bed. I could trace where the water came down from the top of the upper cabinet. It ran down the cabinet doors, over […]

Nature Pictures from Blackberry Homestead

November 13, 2024 After I got back from getting my driver’s license yesterday, I walked around and took some pictures. There were several variegated fritillary butterflies flitting around. I was lucky enough to get a picture of this one. There was a small bird’s nest in the fence row. My index finger is for scale. […]

More Rain Today

November 13, 2024 It rained all morning. After lunch, I decided to wait until one o’clock to drive to the DMV. I wanted to avoid the lunch rush. The rain stopped and it was 1:30 before I drove to the DMV and presented my two pieces of mail to be scanned for the Star ID. […]