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.

Gifts from Jeanne

July 27, 2026 Jeanne, from “A Jeanne in the Kitchen” blog, was sweet enough to host us while we were in Colorado. While we were at Jeanne’s, she gave me a couple of lovely gifts. I had meant to share this picture in a previous post about staying with Jeanne. Jeanne, thank you for the […]

Still Back in Time to the Middle of July

July 27, 2026 On July 9, there was more rain in the early morning. After everything dried out from the rain, I headed out to the garden. I picked tomatoes. I spotted this cutie on a bean leaf. The sunset was gorgeous over the house. We headed out to hunt hornworms. A toad was sitting […]

Another Past Day on Blackberry Homestead

Garden harvest of tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, beans, cucumbers, and squash.

Catching a Ride on the TARDIS, Going Back in Time

July 26, 2026 On July 5, I was in the garden watering the plants. I saw this little bird hiding behind the tomato plants. I also noticed another bird on one of the T-Post. The tomato cages didn’t hold up. I now realize that if I want to grow tomatoes in cages, I’ll need to […]

And Back Again, Blackberry Homestead Is a Jungle

July 25, 2026 We arrived, after a thousand-mile trip, at Blackberty Homestead around 1:00 pm. Welcome to the jungle! Blackberry Homestead turned into a jungle while we were gone.

Enjoying Our Time with Jeanne

July 25, 2026 Bruce and I arrived in Colorado on July 17 and left on July 22. Jeanne and Larry were kind enough to host us while we were in Colorado. I got to spend a good bit of time with my delightful friend Jeanne and her husband, Larry. Jeanne is also a fellow blogger, […]

Baking Sourdough Bread with Jeanne

July 25, 2026 While in Colorado (July 20), I spent some time with a Jeanne in the Kitchen. Jeanne and I have so much fun cooking and baking in the kitchen together. I love getting a chance to cook and bake with her. As a gift for Jeanne, I brought a 1/2 cup of my […]

Just in Case You Were Wondering…

July 18, 2026 Bruce and I arrived safely at Jeanne’s (a Jeanne in the Kitchen) and Larry’s home. I thought we should get another hotel room since Jeanne was expecting us on Saturday, not Friday night. Bruce suggested I call her to see if she was willing to have us arrive a day early. Jeanne […]

Our Fourth of July

July 13, 2026 As I was sitting on the back step putting on my rubber boots, I looked over at the bucket brigade of peppers. What did I see, to my horror, a very large hornworm hanging out of a half eaten bell pepper. Noooo! The hornworms are on my peppers. Bruce was also appalled […]

Oh, the State of Things to Come

July 12, 2026 This post is out of order. It is for today, as I haven’t caught up on posting about the garden. I am going to be gone for two weeks. I dread what will happen to the gardens. My neighbor sounded happy to harvest produce from the garden. I hope he will pick […]