New fur-babies!

We got new dogs!

Wednesday and Thursday Katherine had been talking about 2 dogs she had seen online that were adoptable.  She really wanted to go see them, even though they were at a shelter near Philly.  So Thursday afternoon we headed out (not great timing - Memorial day weekend, rush hour, hot, etc).

The trip back was not near as bad as the trip up.  Still took some time though

Nice sunset.  We didn't get home  until about 9:30pm 

This is a really nice shelter and the staff are wonderful!

We got there after about 3 hours and they let us have some time with the pups.   they were bath very shy and poor Sugar was quite scared and timid.  We got good vibes from both though and Katherine gave the green light.   We bought some stuff for the dogs while we were there.  Leashes, collars, cages.  They gave us a bag of puppy food each and some old towels/blankets for the cages.  It was a special for memorial day weekend; 2 for 1!   So we got out for under $500 for everything!  These pups are neutered, have their shots and even have a chips already installed.  We even got a health information folder on each dog!  We have a vet appointment this upcoming Wednesday to get a better idea about their health, just to be sure.  Frisco's got some stitches from being fixed that don't look great (he keeps licking at them) and Sugar's ears look a bit red.

Sugar Getting comfy!

Aww, first night in new home.  Passed out 

Sugar getting some water

Playing dog games!

More dog games!

We have a little barrier at the top of the stairs to keep them from the downstairs and the foyer.  Frisco looks so cute peeking up over the barrier!

Shih-Tzu's are known to be energetic and needing exercise.  Frisco must have two dogs inside of him - he is pure energy!

Sugar, checking this plant out

Frisco, in a rare moment of not moving

Sugar, resting soundly after chewing on new toy

Air Conditioning, Raised beds and new plantings

I was planning on going to the farm this Memorial day weekend, but we thought it a better idea to stay home and let the dogs get used to us.  Also we thought that driving them that far so soon would add to their disorientation.

In anycase, it was hot here and I was tired of the portable AC's inefficiencies.  Those roll  around units just don't bring them temperature under control like the window units do.   So I got two new window units - one for my office and one for the living room.   They installed fairly easily (heavy - but not like the old window units) and they are super efficient. They maintained house temp nice and cool during hot weekend (it got almost to 90F).

After taking care of some dog issues I was able to get some plants in the ground.  The peppers and the one eggplant I had were transplanted into a raised bed.  I had room left over in that bed so I planted some more eggplant seed.  They seed was obviously not germinating well, so i just dumped the last of the packets into the soil.  If too many come up I will just thin them.  I did the same with some tomato seed in the "kale" bed.  I had only used about 2/3'rds of the kale bed so I used the rest for tomatoes. Finally, I re-spaded the raised bed next to the woodpile and planted about half of it with cucumbers.  I left the summer squash seed up at the farm.  I will bring them back next time we go up and plant a few hill in the cucumber bed.

I had to put some fencing up around the beds because the dogs think its super fun to dig in them!  I left the fencing off the potato patch, but I also found that the dogs will plow into them when playing, so I am starting to place some fencing around them as well.

The Kale and Collards are looking good.  

Potatoes on left, about half of right bed is planted in cucs

peppers and eggplant on left, Kale and tomatoes in center, potatoes on the right.

I made some Kale crackers with some of the kale that I thinned from the bed.

I re-tried a recipe for Kale crackers that I had used a couple years ago.  I think its the same recipe - or very similar anyway.  Its basically 6 C Kale, 1 C almonds, 1/4C nutritional yeast and seasonings.  Here is a link to the actual recipe (which I only vaguely followed): Kale Cracker Recipe  They did turn out super yummy!  I will make more this year, I am sure!  These are nice nutritious and have no processed food ingredients.  We are trying to eat better - removing as much processed foods from our diets as we can stand.  I would still like to produce everything that we eat, but that's just not possible yet.

More planting. Spring is here

Just posting some pics from this past weekend.   I stopped at the farm on my way back from PSU so I got a good bit of work in.  I immediately tilled my gardens and even plowed neighbors garden because I was expecting rain Thursday.   I even planted my onions and potatoes by headlights Wednesday night to be sure they were in before rain.   It didn't rain until later on Thursday though,  so I was also able to plant some peas, kale, and onion seed in the big patch.  Even put down blackplastic before the rain.

I had gout flair up and some tummy issues one day so I stayed close to house and set up the electric fences and closed up the front garden.   I was afraid that deer might get in and eat off strawberries!  I extended the blueberry electric fence to surround the new plantings.   I also extended the orchard fence around the new apples and elderberries.   On the same day I  put wood chips around the persimmons.

Another day I got up and decided to finally move the firewood out of the basement.   It took a lot more effort than I thought;  those basement stairs are steep! Also, I think the pieces of wood leaned to the larger side than the ones I had previously moved from shop.  On that same day I also decided to burn the trash and leftover scrap wood from the woodshed build.   After moving the wood I used a push broom and shovel to get up the dirt in the basement.  

On another day I went over to mom's to pick up the apple wood and fence posts, as well as some blackberry plants and forsythia plants.  I managed to get 21 blackberries and 21 forsythia!   I could use a few more of each to fill out my planting spots.  I moved the spruce trees from the front to the hill across from the sheep.   They looked rough.   The deer really worked them over last fall.   If they don't grow,  no big deal.  I have kinda lost my interest in them.  The forsythia will be much better there!