Annie's Kitchen Garden: April 2014

April 26, 2014 - Good Morning, but it really isn't.

Hang in there, because I'm having some really big problems even running the computer this morning. I'll have Amy post the rest of this blog entry for me to try to explain....

This is Amy.

Granny's just not able to make things work this morning. A couple of days ago she took a pretty big spill and landed right on the back of her head. Since then she has had trouble keeping her train of thought, and making her fingers type what her brain wants them to. She has a doctor appointment on Monday to see where we go from here, however, up to now, the doctor has done absolutely nothing, and has yet to even start the chemo. For now, I will be her fingers, and I will post for her as needed. She still looks forward to reading those comments, so keep 'em coming!

April 22, 2014 - Easter Sunday

Bryson and Remington

Cambri

Cambri and (I think) Carter ~~(lower left).~~ (lower right''.......duh! Carter is NOT the Easter Bunny, LOL) I think he went from here straight to the beach!

Alicyn

Amaya and Alicyn

Amaya

Alicyn and Amaya

Guess who loves her camera. Would that be Grandma Amy by any chance? LOL! Celeste, Cambi and Carter's mother, runs a close second, but we need to get Bryson and Remington's mother, Shayna, in high gear.

I hope you all had a marvelous Easter.

April 21, 2014 - Please Forgive Me!

I awoke this morning and immediately, as usual, opened my email. I saw it was a friend, with the message that her computer had been compromised, DO NOT OPEN!

Taking no chances, The first thing I did was a deep scan of all files. It took about 1-1/2 hours. No infection was found, but to be on the safe side, I deleted all of my email and I also rolled the computer back 3 days.

So forgive me, but everything I received after yesterday afternoon is no more. All of your current comments are kaput. I think you'd agree that is better than infecting your computers!

I'll do my Easter blog tomorrow!

April 21, 2014 - Amy's in the Garden!

It's a first. Amy does my grocery shopping, takes me to doctor appointments, does all my "beauty" stuff (sorry Amy, even you can't make a 75 year old beautiful), helps me shower and dress, calls doctor or nurse if I have a concern or request (sorry Amy, we tried), Delivers and picks up my RXs, and calls several tims a day to see how I feel or to ask if I need anything.

But Amy doesn't garden.

She knew the carrot seed mats had to go down soon, so I got my seed mat tutorial out for her to read.

How did she do?

I gave her an A+ Maybe even an A++!!

Judge for yourself.

First she scratched in the leaves that had topped this bed for months, under clear plastic, in an attempt to solarize the soil and break down the leaves. I was (unhappily) surprised to see the leaves had not composted down very much.

Then she added some slow release, mixed with a bit of regular release fertilizer. *Disclaimer: That is NOT Miracle Grow in the shaker container! It' a mixture of chicken poo, turkey feathers and other organic ingredients, and the shaker is about 3-4 years old and a God send.

She removed all the clumps of leaves and sent them to the compost pile.

She raked it as smooth as possible, after removing some soil for covering the mats.

That removed soil was put into the wheelbarrow, where She again tried to sift out leaf clumps. Then she added a good amount of Pro-Mix with mycorrhizae. Mycorrhizae are supposed to make things grow better and stronger, plus it has mostly peat moss to lighten the soil. I also added a bit of vermiculite.

She laid out her seed mats and sprinkled enough of the 'topping" to hold them down,

Last, she finished covering the mats with the soil mixture, tamped them down with the back end of the rake, and watered them in with a fine mist.

Good job, Amy. You just planted 360 carrots! I now pronounce you Master Gardener in Training!

April 20, 2014 - And the Love Just Keeps on Shining Through

I'm sure most of you know that 1st. Man started it, and Gammy Tammy came through with flying colors....literally.

Well, look what came in the mail yesterday!

Yes, the larger one is the original watercolor! The 5x7 is an enhanced copy, perfect for a desktop frame, a lovely gift card, and (not shown) a pretty refrigerator magnate. Amy had already taken the original painting home to get it matted and framed when I discovered she didn't get the magnate in the photo. It's all Mr. Granny's fault. He was almost running to get it up on the refrigerator! :-)

My plan is to print out the blogs that began it all, and put them in an acid proof envelope to attach to the back of the original painting. It will then be proudly displayed for generations to come.

I am not a wealthy woman. I do live comfortably, with enough savings and investments that I'm not worried about finances at this point. That being said, with the love that shines through my world, from both family and bloggers, I feel like the richest woman in the world.

Thank you, thank you, Tammy!!

April 19, 2014 - You're Spoiling Me Rotten!

Yes, you are!

Yesterday I received another package in the mail. It was another beautiful beanie! This one was crocheted by Peggi. Peggi doesn't have a blog, so I'm sorry I can't link.

Anyway, the cap is gorgeous, and a lovely shade of denim blue. It's what I call a 24/7 cap, as it's equally comfortable as a day hat as well as a night cap. My body gets really cold at night with my head uncovered.

I was wearing the old gray cap when I opened the package, so I immediately plopped the new one on my head. Mr. Granny's reaction? "That looks good! So much better than that gray one!" So both Peggi and Anke passed the hat test with flying colors.

Mr. Granny took a photo. I was just going to take one of the hat, but we decided to use the more personal one, even though I'm in my pajamas and my robe is all messy. At least the hat is pretty!

Peggi also included this lovely card, with a person message inside.

Thank you so much, Peggi!

April 18, 2014 - Meet The Great-Grands

You are all familiar with Great-Granddaughter Amaya, because her grandmother cannot stay away from the camera. And, of course, she's good about emailing all of them to us. So I got on the others in the family to send me some updated pictures.

Meet the Great-Grands!

The youngest, at six months, Amaya with her mother, Alicia. Her grandmother is Amy.

Bryson, age 1. and Remington, age 4. Shayna's children, Shannon's grandchildren.

Cambri is 4, and Carter is 6, Jared's children, Shannon's grandchildren. Their father is stationed on the east coast, but in the process of being transferred to Ft. Lewis, here in WA State.

April 15, 2014 - Daddyisms

I call them Daddyisms.

I said "My tailbone just feels raw!"

Mr. Granny heard "I need a heated bra."

April 14, 2014 - The Family Garden

Saturday, "Bigfoot Bryan" (the favorite son-in-law), came over and weeded the entire garden. I had tried to keep it up, but only managed to get it half done, and the weeds were growing fast with the irrigation water now feeding them. He also got netting installed over the last spinach bed. I had wanted to be there to take pictures, but I fell asleep and slept through the entire job! John came over today, so I had him take pictures of the great job Bryan did.

The spinach is protected.

Strawberries are blooming in their new bed.

And in their second new bed. John planted Provider and Jade bush beans in those boxes today. Just a single row of seeds across the front edge of each box, sweet peppers will fill the backs of the boxes.

Garlic is over a foot tall. Radishes are up. It's almost time to begin running garden twine over the peas, to give them something to climb on.

They are hard to see right now, but broccoli is in the bed in the center, cabbage in the bed to the right of the broccoli and along the side of the kennel between the radish squares.

Another hard to see, but the two wide row plantings on the right are sweet onions.

My future carrot bed. We'll get it planted....eventually.

Look! My Red Norland potatoes are up (fenced bed)!

Copra onions and protected lettuce bed. Aren't the narcissus pretty?

And that is my our nice, clean, Family Garden!

Yesterday, after the boys got the crabapple tree planted, John went out and planted all the broccoli (6) and cabbages (12).

He was very careful to plant the seedlings 30" apart.

Cutworm collars were added to all.

Another thing I didn't photograph, and nobody in this family would believe it if they didn't see it with their own eyes........while John gardened, son Scott cleaned my kitchen and hand washed the dishes (the dishwasher was full of clean ones), then he damp mopped all the hard surface floors!

Shannon came later, to plant the cabbage and broccoli, but since her brother already had that covered, we just had a nice long visit.

April 13, 2014 - A Tree For Mom

The boys showed up with a special gift for their Mom.

A lovely, flowering tree. Scott supervised while John did the work.

They went for a dogwood, but those were all on back order. So they bought a flowering crabapple. Now I can tease them about planting a crabby tree for a crabby old lady, LOL!

Scott's dog, Lola, helped. Oh yes, she did!

That was a very thoughtful gift, my dear boys.

I love you.

April 12, 2014 - Thank You, Anke!

Back when I first announced my hair loss, Anke, from Our Little Piece of Heaven, offered to knit me a hat. She even asked what color I wanted (denim blue). Today I received the loveliest hat ever! It's "Dapple Blue", 100% wool, and reversible! You know what? I can feel the love and support coming through every stitch. Thank you for caring so much, Anke.

My camera didn't do it justice.

Anke's pictures show the color and patterns much better than mine.

And you can see the reverse!

Tonight I'm going to put on my hat, have a nice cup of hot tea, and just feel the love that shines through.

Thank you, Anke!

April 10, 2014 - 4:30 AM. Really?

I had such a good sleep last night. I think it was the first time since last February! But, at 4:30 this morning, I heard the phone ring. Mr. Granny was talking and laughing with somebody, and I was getting really angry that someone would call that time of the morning. I kept yelling at Mr. Granny, asking him who it was. Did I say he's a bit hard of hearing? He heard nothing that I said....er, yelled. I finally got up and confronted him about it, that he woke me up at 4:30 in the morning.

He: "Night".

Me: "No, it's it's morning, I can read the clock."

He: "It's 4:30 in the afternoon."

Me: "NO! I went to bed last night, and I was sleeping so well!"

Well, he finally convinced me, I think, LOL!

My little corner of the world.

I'm finding it a bit difficult to adjust to so much sitting, but tire so easily that this is where I spend most of my time now. The lawn chair, with the extra cushion and sturdy arms, makes it easier to get up and down from the chair. TV and laptop help save my sanity.

Scott (youngest son), Kris and grandson Kevin, came bearing gifts last night. A comfy, summer weight sweatsuit, some stretchy yoga pants, two stretchy shirts and a lovely pot of spring tulips.

Daughter Shannon took me to the hospital for another MRI. When we got back home, she began putting more pre-cooked meals in the freezer. We kept the ham and scalloped potatoes out for tonights dinner. Or was that this mornings breakfast? I'll get it all straightened out. Eventually.

April 9, 2014 - Sweets From the Sweet

Look at what arrived at my door yesterday!

My dear Blogger friend, Angie, from The Novice Gardener, was aware that I'd lost some of my sense of taste after my recent radiation treatments, but that one thing I could taste was CHOCOLATE! So she sent me chocolates. Oh, my, did she send me chocolates! A lovely tower of chocolates from Harry and David.

Yes, I have taste tested nearly every box of lusciousness. I'm not letting anyone else (that means you, Mr. Granny) even have one bite, because they are mine, mine, mine!

Would you share these? I thought not. And no way am I sharing my favorites, the chocolate covered dried cherries! I can't keep my fingers off of those, LOL!

Once the boxes are empty, I'm going to leave them stacked right there on the old sewing machine that belonged to Mr. Granny's mother. I think they look right at home.

And cheers back atcha, Mrs. R. That was a sweet and thoughtful gift, and I'm going to enjoy every last bite.

April 7, 2014 - Feeling Like Popeye

More spinach. And more spinach. And more spinach.

Sunday I pulled out two more big baskets of spinach from the over wintered bed. Washed and spun dry, it came in at 38.7 ounces. I sent daughter Shannon home with half of it, and granddaughter Alicia with the other half. I also took advantage of having the girls here and had them pull all the remaining plants from the bed, 22.2 ounces. That's all for me! Total weight of the winter spinach harvest....92.9 ounces (5.8 pounds). A decent haul, I'd say!

I decided to get about a two week early start on the bush beans that will be planted in that bed. I'm taking a real chance that we won't get another killing frost, but I have a lot of seeds and can replant if necessary. I'm goin' for it!

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We had a big family dinner at our favorite restaurant on Sunday afternoon. It was to celebrate Mr. Granny's 79th. birthday, which is tomorrow.