I Know What I Said but....

                                             

I know what I said, I don't feel like Spring Cleaning but I did.  First, I moved back the stove and cleaned under there, then I cleaned weird things like the teapot and the toaster till they sparkled, and I even cleaned the fridge.  Of course life happened but now I'm back to work on the pantry.

Smokie one early morning, sad that he can't go outside (his tail was in the oatmeal I had cooling for the chickens).

The weather has been cold and snowy (-11 actual temperature this morning) but we are promised a warm up next week.   I'm sad to hear about the people without power and I hope everything gets fixed soon.  I can't imagine and I don't want to imagine.

I'm growing sweet potato vines.  Only one has rooted the other three nothing yet.  I look at them multiple times a day but it doesn't help. Maybe soon. 

How is everything in your neck of the woods?

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BRR....

I know so many of us in the United States are freezing right now and I hope and pray everyone is staying warm.  Right now in our part of Michigan it's 1 degrees with a wind chill of -11.  It will get worse they say. Record breaking cold.... Brr.

Some of the ways that we prepared last night for the cold were:  we dripped water in our bathtub last night to prevent frozen pipes. Prevention is key.

The puff is there so we won't hear it drip.   Also there is a small electric heater running in there as well.

We also kept the cabinet under the kitchen sink and dishwasher door open.  

What do you do when there is nothing to do but stare at the snow?  You crochet and sew or do other crafts (like reading).    I started crocheting these hats for charity using this tutorial on youtube.

I bought the snap button puffs she showed here.

I guess you could also start Spring Cleaning but I'm not in the mood right now...

If your in the path of this storm ...try to stay warm.  Some of my suggestions are have plenty of blankets, wear long johns (layer up), flannel nightgowns, keep your head warm with hats, wear gloves, and go to a warming shelter if you need to.

After what I seen on t.v. about the stores, good luck if you need milk and bread.  

**Thanks so much for helping to support Vickie's Kitchen and Garden! As a Amazon affiliate I earn a small percentage when you purchase items from one of my links (the item doesn't have to be what I have linked here).  

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Surviving the Cold and Saving a Few Dollars!

 You know it's cold when the husband's shoes froze to the floor in the little unheated porch we have.  BRR!!!  It's a good place though to keep things cold when you run out of space in the refrigerator (there is a gallon of is milk out there now).  LOL

You need a purpose to go outside in this cold-my chickens and shopping (christmas and food shopping) are my two main reasons why I do.  It's quite dangerous here now to walk around, there is ice everywhere.  We even stop in the car to check our mailbox that sits  on the road.   

Before the ice came and the weather was a little more bearable we went to our local historical village one night.   We enjoyed singing Christmas songs as we went around the village in the tractor drawn carriage.  We also listened to the choir from a local school in the chapel.  I was impressed with the boys in the choir...they were so good and not afraid to raise their voices.  Sometimes you don't hear the boys.    

Do you shop early or right on time?

We finished up shopping for our out of town relatives. The boxes are packed and ready to be shipped this morning. Yeah!

I know some people shop earlier in the year and get it all done but find I'm a mixture of both... I like the sales that come later in the month just before Christmas.  Which one do you do?

Great Coupons I've used this week:

50% off JCPenny (it came in the mail)

$10 reward off JCPenny

Free pizza coupon for my birthday.  I've gotten this for the last several years, I must have signed up for something. I gave it to the grandkids and it was gone in no time.

Meijer 5% off total purchase for my birthday this month.

Fixing the house:

We  have a problem in the living room:

Husband went and bought the wood and screws to brace the couch back up next week.  It's been like this for a while but this is what you do when you can't work outside.  You fix the inside! 

This couch is so heavy it takes a army to move it so you wouldn't believe what was under there. 

**Thanks so much for helping to support Vickie's Kitchen and Garden! As a Amazon affiliate I earn a small percentage when you purchase items from one of my links (the item doesn't have to be what I have linked here).  

Be sure to follow me on Facebook,and Bloglovin where I share my frugal list, gardening, recipes, and more!  You can also sign up for my email list on the top right hand side of the blog.

Hints on When to Plant the Garden

 

Sometimes we get a little warm here in Michigan but really it's still Spring and it's mostly cool weather here.  The frequent question asked on a lot of gardening pages I visit is, when to plant.  They are excited and just can't wait for the fresh vegetables out of their gardens.  With our high temperature  in the mid 50's to low 60's during the day here in our part of Michigan and dipping down into the high 30's and low 40's at night,  it's too cold in my opinion for most plants to thrive, except maybe for some cold weather crops like onions, garlic (planted last fall), lettuce, cabbage, etc.   

No matter where you live one of the main reasons not to jump the gun is because the soil has not warmed up yet for the warm weather crops.  The soil needs to be at 65 to 75 degrees and needs to be somewhat dry.  With our frequent rain our soil here is nothing but mud.  Hint:  If you can make a ball of your soil like we can then it's too wet.  It's hard for seeds to germinate in cold and mud if they do at all.

To combat our gardens wet soil we've decided to put in two raised beds at the back a couple of years ago and we will have two more this year in the front that way we can plant more of the earlier crops.  

So far, I've planted cabbage, marigolds, onions, and garlic.  I'm taking a chance on the Marigolds but they seem to really help with worms on the cabbage.   Sometimes, I take chances.  

Your know my best advice to ask your neighborhood gardener.  They usually will not steer your wrong about when to plant.  Get friendly and you will learn a lot. 

So, when do we plant our warm weather crops in our part of Michigan?  We have a short season and usually aim for Memorial Weekend.  We might be able to plant the week before or we might have to wait for everything to dry and plant the week after, but that is the weekend we aim for.  

Just a couple of more weeks guys and we will be ready!  With the high price of vegetables, we need our gardens and there is no sense in losing our crops.  

I hope no matter where you live this gives you some helpful hints on when to plant. Have you planted yet in your area or are you having to wait a little longer like we have to?

Thanks so much for helping to support Vickie's Kitchen and Garden**As a Amazon affiliate I earn a small percentage when you purchase items from one of my links (the item doesn't have to be what I have linked here). 

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Freeze, Frost, Death in the greenhouse, and Meet the Tillers!

 It's been a busy week:  

Wednesday night it came a freeze, not a frost mind you, a freeze.  I think they said it got down to 24 degrees.  You can see in the background of the garden where we desperately tried to  cover the fruit trees with old sheets.  We are short people so this is the best we could do.

Some trees really are too young yet to worry about but the apple and the peach were looking good before this.  Time will tell if are efforts worked.  

This is Friday -we left the sheets on last night for a frost.  I'll take them off later this morning.

The freeze got one of my tomato plants in the greenhouse.  I believe it's because it sits right under the vent. No other plants in the greenhouse were harmed.

That makes two deaths -I also had a cabbage plant also wither and die for some reason. There is life and death in the garden and greenhouse just as in our lives.

The plants in the greenstalk are growing fast.   I picked just enough lettuce to go on our hamburgers a few days ago.  

Meet the tillers.  I let them out to roam the yard and they go out all over the yard but they always end up in the garden, tilling for worms.  This will have to stop once the garden is in.

I made some Keto peanut butter cookies that disappeared fast.  Since this, I've also made some Keto chocolate chip cookies.  

How is it been going at your house?

Thanks so much for helping to support Vickie's Kitchen and Garden**As a Amazon affiliate I earn a small percentage when you purchase items from one of my links (the item doesn't have to be what I have linked here). 

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Snow, Easter baskets, and Chicks 4/5/24!

 

I opened up my kitchen curtains this morning to let in more light for the plants and we have snow.   We have had a lot of rain so we are basically living in water too.  The garden soil has to warm up and dry out so it will be awhile before we garden outside.

The grandkids Easter baskets:

For the baskets:  I went to the garage and found a basket for the granddaughter. I lined it with fabric, Put lace around it and made lace bows on each side.   She loved it.   

For the grandson I filled a new hat with stuff he loves.  He thought that was pretty great too.

Although it looks like it -it wasn't all candy.  I put in different fillers like the Cracker barrel peg game, stuffed toy that smelled like cotton candy for the granddaughter (not shown), etc.

I made funeral dinner sandwiches with left over Easter ham and rolls.  I'm sort of hammed out so I froze the rest of it to use in other dinners later.

 

I moved the little chicks into one of the garden boxes I bought on Marketplace for $10 apiece awhile back.  They have grown so much and they are loving the extra space.

How is it been going at your house?

Thanks so much for helping to support Vickie's Kitchen and Garden**As a Amazon affiliate I earn a small percentage when you purchase items from one of my links (the item doesn't have to be what I have linked here). 

Be sure to follow me on Facebook,and Bloglovin where I share my frugal list, gardening, recipes, Free Kindle books, and more!  You can also sign up for my email list on the top right hand side of the blog

A Michigan Spring and our Outdoor Fridge plus My To Do List!

 

There is a quiet when snow falls. That was the one thing that I have missed this winter that we've had without snow, was the quiet.  When there is snow you hear less noise like traffic and planes.   It's is a wonderful peace!

  

Having an outdoor fridge is another benefit of snow and cold. Our fridge requires defrosting about once a year.  Oh it's frostless but ice forms in the freezer and clogs up everything.  We picked a perfect day to do this job... today-it's both cold and snowy and we can just put stuff outside without worry about anything being ruined.  We have a fridge just outside our door.  The joy of having a Michigan winter  I mean Spring! 

I've started back with a to do list this week.  Life gets busy and I try to get something on my list done everyday

Outside work:

If weather permits this week I hope to finish caulking the greenhouse.

Keep cleaning and organizing garage.

Inside work

Clean carpets

Defrost the fridge 

Peel and freeze garlic into cubes (I've been watching how to do this on youtube).

Clean that corner of the kitchen that I've been neglecting.

How is it been going at your house?

Thanks so much for helping to support Vickie's Kitchen and Garden**As a Amazon affiliate I earn a small percentage when you purchase items from one of my links (the item doesn't have to be what I have linked here). 

Be sure to follow me on Facebook,and Bloglovin where I share my frugal list, gardening, recipes, Free Kindle books, and more!  You can also sign up for my email list on the top right hand side of the blog

Never Bored, Kind of Tired, but Never Bored Kind of Week 3/15/24!

It's beens so warm this week I actually talked to a neighbor!  You know how it is in the winter when you see each other in the driveway and your so cold you just wave to each other and run in the house.  It was nice to be able to catch up on the happenings in our neighbor's life (it was all good). 

Husband even grilled out a couple of dinners.  Steak and grilled rosemary pork chops.   Now we are living easy.  

This week has mainly been about keeping animals and plants alive.  I feed the chickens and chicks plus I watered and sowed more plants.  Actually it's been fun!  Never bored, kind of tired, but never bored.

I love rain because you have an excuse to be still and relax inside your house.  It rained yesterday, I ignored a lot of inside work, and read a free book from Kathleen Ball called Alanna: Christian Historical Romance (Mail Order Brides of Pine Crossing Book 1).  It was still free this morning 3/15/24 (check the price). At 144 pages it was perfect for my time off and had a wonderful and thoughtful story line. 

How is it been going at your house?

Thanks so much for helping to support Vickie's Kitchen and Garden**As a Amazon affiliate I earn a small percentage when you purchase items from one of my links (the item doesn't have to be what I have linked here). 

Be sure to follow me on Facebook,and Bloglovin where I share my frugal list, gardening, recipes, Free Kindle books, and more!  You can also sign up for my email list on the top right hand side of the blog