Taking It Easy

October 1, 2025 Bruce and I slept most of Sunday (September 28) away. We did go for a walk around Blackberry Homestead in the late afternoon. Sunday night to Monday morning (September 29), Nox decided to keep me up most of the night with her whining and fussing. I don’t know what was wrong with […]

Moving Logs and Branches

September 28, 2025 Yesterday (Saturday, September 27), Bruce and I decided to do more work in the back pasture. Bruce hooked the cart to the lawnmower and drove to the back pasture. He loaded a few logs into the cart and drove them close to where we plan to put in a new garden bed. […]

Seeing New Friends and Longer Term Friends

September 28, 2025 On September 25 (Thursday), I had invited some new friends for lunch. I went out to the garden and the back pasture to pick some foliage and flowers for a flower arrangement. The purple basil (purple leaves and flowers), sweet potatoes vines (heart shaped leaves) with flowers (purple trumpet flowers), goldenrod (yellow […]

More Chipping and Dirt Moving

September 28, 2025 On September 21 (Monday), we headed out to work in the yard. From the barn, Bruce towed the chipper with the lawn mower to the large pile of branches from pine 2 and pine 3. Once he had the chipper in place, Bruce drove the mower back to barn and hooked up […]

Start of the Sweet Potato Harvest

September 26, 2025 Early morning Friday (September 19), I helped Bruce move the trunk of pine tree one. He was cutting it into sections. He needed the trunk moved so the chainsaw wouldn’t bind. As Bruce levered the trunk up, I pushed a piece of oak trunk, about 6 inches high, underneath the trunk of […]

Chipping Away at the Large Branch Pile

September 25, 2025 On September 17 (Wednesday), Bruce and I used the mower and trailer to move enough Bama Dirt Pro Mix to cover the small flower bed. We covered the bed with four to five inches of dirt. Bruce used the mower to tow the chipper out back. He chipped branches from the big […]

Digging Out Grass and Weeds in Small Flower Garden Bed

September 24, 2025 A while back, I laid down cardboard on the grass and covered it with Bama Dirt’s Pro Mix where I wanted flower beds. I planted cantaloupe seeds in the smaller bed, thinking the vines would look pretty. While we were gone for two weeks, the weeds had a chance to thrive. The […]

Preying Mantis in the Front Yard

September 23, 2025 On September 15 (Monday), instead of working in the yard, I spent most of day inside cleaning. Bruce was outside doing some mowing underneath the pine trees, when he noticed this female praying mantis. She blends right in with the lichen on the pine trees. After taking pictures of the praying mantis, […]

Around the Yard

September 22, 2025 On September 14 (Sunday), during my daily walk around Blackberry Homestread, Bruce moved the burn barrel to see the results of the fire. The stump had burned completely away. After admiring the hole, we talked about filling it. We walked over to the wild passion fruit vines and discovered three passion fruits! […]

Watching for the Cows!

September 21, 2025 On September 13 (Saturday), I was out in the garden. I noticed our neighbor’s cows next to the fence. I got Nox so she could see the cows. I held her up and she was so excited to see the cows. The cows wandered off, but Nox hoped that they would come […]