Category: Outdoors

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Yard cleanup and missing summer

Every year when I clean up my yard and put all the summer things away, I get a dreadful feeling about winter weather. I love summer and since I despise winters here, I know I’m living in a place where I feel totally misplaced.

Already I’ve raked leaves in the front yard. Granted, not to many but they are falling off the big tree. I also have been collecting seeds, and pulling up dead annuals.

Closing the pool isn’t happening just yet, as my kids swim even if it is chilly out. The water has stayed semi warm but the air still has a chill to it that is obvious when they get out of the pool and have goose bumps all over their bodies. I’m going to miss summer so darn much I’m thinking about buying a heater for the pool

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Gathering seeds and doing household repair

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been gathering seeds from what I call, my “blown out herbs and flowers” so I can put them in packages, mark them and then plant again next year. I love having herbs, flowers and other plants that I have grown and then gathered the seeds, and planted again the next spring. Generations of plants, so to speak.

I’m also getting the house ready for the winter. There are some repairs needed to be done on the outside of the house, due to the drought and yet also the terrible storms that passed through when we did get rain.

All of these things I love to do but need help with, and I have to admit that my kids have been wonderful about helping me with the a lot of the things that need to be done. This gives me peace of mind and also knowing that I am going to be prepared (sort of) for the winter and also have the spring seeds to plant, will save money and help me to keep from a great deal of worry.

 

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New lawn furniture

By putting off buying lawn furniture until now, I’ve been looking at all the styles and sets on sale and there are some awesome buys and deals out there to be had now that summer is nearly over. There are two sets I’ve sort of got my heart set on, but haven’t decided which I’m going to buy yet.

I would like to get a set that will go up on the deck around the pool, since the furniture I have now, doesn’t seem like it’s going to last through another summer. It’s starting to look worn out, because it’s been bleached by the sun and the fact that the chemicals in the pool are on it from everyone sitting on the furniture while they are wet. One will have that and I’m glad the seat coverings aren’t made from fabric.

There is a set that I particularly like, with a table and an umbrella, that would be perfect for this deck also. The seats are made out of a sort of woven non fabric material that I think would last longer than the tufted and stuffed cloth type material that I have. Decisions, decisions…

 

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Cold weather has moved in

Most people are saying the chilly weather we are now having feels great. I say I’m very cold and not enjoying it at all.

I believe if it wasn’t rainy and damp, this may be a refreshing change instead of having 105 degree temperatures for weeks, but it feels down right like a rainy fall. This rain has come too late for the farmers crops though. It’s sad

I can imagine what grocery prices are going to be like come winter…as if they weren’t high enough. It’s going to be a frugal winter.

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Already August

I can’t believe it is August 1 already. Summer has flown by it seems. It’s still hot as blue blazes outside, and my gardens are all dead and have been since we are in the middle of a drought, but the fact that summer is nearly over just kind of amazes me in one way, and also makes me a bit sad.

My youngest son will soon be back in school…the battle of getting him up in the morning will begin. He is the roughest one to wake up and always has been.

Time for getting school clothes and supplies and also time for getting the house at least semi ready for winter. With the weather the way it has been all summer, it’s hard telling what the winter will bring.

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Enjoying the pool and duckie

When it comes to my kids and swimming, I do believe they are part fish. I personally was a spring and high board diver while I was growing up and then into my late teens. At one time I had considered training for the Olympics, but situations change and things happened that I never did get to go to tryouts. My youngest son has the diving gene in him also swims like a pro, but lately he’s smitten with a floating duck I brought for the grand kids.

We taught kids in our family how to swim as a natural part of our summer lives. We were always going to the water of some sort or fashion. Whether a pool, a deep creek or even the big Lake Michigan, we were always in or near the water on hot summer days.

I wish every kid had the chance to learn how to swim at an early age so they would never be afraid to be in or on the water. You have to learn young – before you become afraid of things like that. I think the perfect age is 4 or 5 for most children. Some people even like to take babies in the water and teach them proper breathing techniques. I think that is wonderful – we need more of this in our children’s lives.

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Garden planning for next year

This years gardens and lawns did not do well at all. It’s sad because I had seeded, planted and even reseeded in hopes that my plants and flowers could or might do well despite of lack of rain. I was wrong. Even watering from the hose didn’t help.

I’ve been looking at various seeds and plants that might do well despite the lack of rain, in case next summer is anything like this summer has been. In our growing area, it’s pretty sparse pickings. No pun intended.

In the mean time, I’m trying to get the remodeling of my bathroom finished, so at least I’ll have the extra money to plant new flowers, plants and veggies next spring. Hopefully, that will be finished toward the middle of next month if all goes well with the plumbing. As far as my gardens go…I’m still trying to water, but it’s a loosing battle.

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In need of outdoor furniture repair

Because of someone, meaning my sons and husband, seem to have had a small party over the weekend, they or their friends went a bit overboard and now I am in need of someone who specializes in outdoor furniture repair. Around here, this is no easy task. I really like the furniture I have and want to keep it, but I know that it might be hard to repair or heaven’s forbid cost more than it would take to replace it. But I’m bound and determined to have my old furniture repair. It matches my deck and all of the other finishing touches I added that also mate the furniture.

To refinish patio furniture, I want someone who knows exactly what they are doing and I believe I have found such people to do this. I’m glad, since my furniture is not antique, but it is vintage and I’m really partial to all of it.

I have one patio chair that is going to need a whole lot of work. It is my favorite and happens to be the chair I always sit in. It looks like it went though a hurricane and was spit back out by the wind and ocean, after being dragged to yonder and back. I indeed will be needing a patio chair repair person who knows exactly what they are  doing. I know for a fact that the next time I go away, there will be no parties or disrespectful people here, but at least I found people who can fix my furniture, at a good price, so I don’t have to go out an buy new things that can’t compare with the good items I have.

 

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Healthy Ducks for Sale

After me voicing that I wanted a pond in the back yard, my husband jokingly said to find some Ducks for sale while I was at it. I don’t think that is a bad idea at all. If all goes well with building the pond that I would like to have at the edge of the back yard, they would be an ideal addition to it. Plus, not many people I know like duck eggs, but I do! They have a nice rich flavor and are great for omelets, in my opinion.

If I can Buy Ducks along with the chickens, I’d be on way to becoming a back yard farmer of sorts. Plus I think these animals are so darn cute to watch. They would be a most welcome addition to my back yard. They might even turn out to be nice pets also!

I thought it would be so nice to find some nice laying  Chickens for Sale. I would love to go out to their coop and fetch my own eggs that came from my own chickens, and ducks without having to buy them in the store at a really high prices for brown chicken eggs. My whole family love fresh eggs, and brown ones are the best. I think they have a much better flavor when they are fresh and brown.

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Possibilities of a small pond

Kicking around the possibility of a small pond has been on my mind lately. We have enough room on our lot out in the back yard, and I would really love to see what I could do when it comes to landscaping around a pond.

I don’t want a really big pond. A small one, stocked with some fish and water critters would work just fine for me. My dog could swim in it, and I wouldn’t have to worry like I do if he goes into the pool. I am afraid one of these days he is going to rip the liner, and in a pond there isn’t that worry. He loves the water and since the temperature hasn’t budged below 85 degrees in the last few weeks, it would be a great respite from the heat for my little guy.

Of course, I’ve not mentioned my idea to my husband yet. I have to come up with some very good pros, to counter his cons. We’ll see what happens, but I would indeed love to have a small pond.