Saturday

Taught Zumba Class
Visited my dad for an hour
Did the Church's bookkeeping
Planted Ground Cherries
Planted Chichiquelite Berries
Planted Two tomato plants (I need more)
Planted Pumpkins
Planted Squash
Planted Peas
Planted String beans
Planted marigolds
Planted wildflowers
Transplanted six raspberry bushes (new growth)
Pruned the Blackberry bushes
Pruned the White Birch Tree
Cleaned up the Mulberry Tree
Going to visit my dad
And then going out to Dinner with the hubby and friends........Looking forward to a glass of wine!

Good day!!!

Dandelion Jelly

After last week's success with the Violet Jelly , I decided to try dandelion jelly too.  I don't have a lot of dandelion's in my yard (like I did with violets), but my brother and my dad did, so me and my daughter and my niece picked a ton of them!  We just popped the yellow heads off and then used a scissors to cut off the green part in the back of the flower.  All you use is the yellow head.  You make this jelly the same way as the violet jelly....stuffing the heads into a mason jar, pouring boiling water over it and letting it sit overnight.  Strain the yellow infused water in the morning and make the jelly with pectin, lemon juice and sugar.

The dandelion jelly came out good, (the right color, the right texture (after two tries)) but the Violet jelly was definitely a winner in the spring time jelly category! 

If you would like a sample of either, please let me know.

Next up.....summer jams!  I think strawberry will be first!  Catie, are you ready?

My last CCD class

I taught my last CCD class Sunday morning before Mass.  It was bittersweet.  I have been teaching fourth graders for many years, but I now need to devote some time to my family and my life.  They were a great group of kids and hopefully, they now know about their bibles.  (That is their fourth grade requirement!).  Hopefully, they know the difference between Old and New Testament and what each section represents, how to find passages, etc.   I may go back to teaching again in the future, but for now, Cathechism is officially over for me. 

Definitely bittersweet!

Clipping Wings

The new fenced in area for the chickens has been completed by my son.  However, even though it keeps the dog out, the chickens decided that they can fly over and bother the dog!  The dog is bigger than them, though, so our yard was a cacophony of barking and screeching chickens...Not fun at 6:00 in the morning!!

So, I went on You-Tube and Google and learned how to clip chicken wings, so that the hens will stay on their side of the fence.  It was easy (once I caught the dang hens!), and all of the tutorials basically showed the exact same thing, so I couldn't go wrong (could I?).

As of 7:30 this morning, wings are now clipped and I'll let you know if it keeps the hens in their new area......it better!!!!!

 This is the new area - it is about 25 x 20 for four hens......and they have two coops as of right now!

 I think they were pretty P.O.'d at me this morning for clipping their wings, so they didn't come out of the coop to have their pictures taken! HAH!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my oldest child, Rick!!   Where the heck did 23 years go?  Seriously, where did they go?  How can I be this old?  Didn't I just have these kids?  Like two weeks ago???? 

I still remember picking out the ABC patterned primary colored border for his bedroom wall!!  And putting it up!  And taking his picture next to it!  And bringing him home from the hospital!  And the list goes on and on! 

WTH?

Violet Jelly

Last week, I had off for Good Friday, so I had a few spare hours of time. 

My yard is covered in violets.  The 'white with purple centers' type of violets.  They are beautiful and I had remembered that last year, I had read a post on making violet jelly.  The next day, another one of the blogs that I usually read had a violet jelly post, so, I just had to try it...

My pictures are not as nice as theirs are, but here goes......

Just for the record....I still have thousands of violets in my side yard....if anyone wants to try this!