Oh deer, a project diss and boozy peaches

Hello all my bloggies! A quick post today.

1) The marauding band of deer returned and finished the remains of my garden. The strawberries are merely green sticks, all the tomato plants stripped bare--every last tomato is gone-- the only thing I am left with are a few fat jalapenos and a couple of habaneros....Sigh... We are expecting temps in the 90's this weekend, which would have been great for my tomatoes--if there were any left! I am considering buying a couple of plants for the patio. Damn deer! What are some of your tips for keeping the wildlife from turning your garden into an all you can eat buffet?

The deer could have at least eaten the weeds in addition to the strawberries. How rude!

2) I am almost finished with my No Dig Zone project. The hubbs kinda dissed my project. Stay tuned for part 3 which shows the completed project, you can read about his unfortunate diss and decide who was right about this project...ummm me!

3) I scored a really good deal on some peaches, so there is some small batch canning going on at the MCLF homestead. Boozy peaches anyone? oh yeah!

 As a side note, I am wondering if my blog is working properly?

Hello...Is this thing on?

I am experiencing a lot of traffic on my site and seeing shares with Google Plus but not one comment in 10 days. I know some other bloggers were experiencing some issues with comments. So if you would take a moment, to leave a comment. If you find there is an issue and you are unable to comment on my post, would someone be so kind as to go to my Facebook page, leave a comment there or private message me?

No dig zone and thinking outside the box (part 2)

When we last left our heroine she  was facing a crisis of epic proportions...oh wait, wrong story...

Well, maybe it wasn't a crisis of epic proportions but it was definitely an issue--for me. In case y'all don't remember I am talking about that ugly corner of my house with the gas pipes. When I had posted about this previously, I had taken the project to the point of spraying the gas pipes, the meter and phone/cable boxes. It needed a 2nd coat of paint, then it rained, and rained and rained...The more it rained, the more irritated I became. What soothes my irritation (besides chocolate, booze and pasta?) Pinterest and shopping. Never, EVER a good combination!  

I...ummm...may have over spent on this project. But after carefully weighing the instant gratification factor against the "I will be sweating my ass off , being chased by buzzing/ stinging insects, and I really didn't want to paint a kazillion things factors"... I went for instant gratification. I know, I know. I broke my own mantra of a budget. And repurposing things. But it was hot as hell. And I'm tired ...

Please pass me the cheese plate to go with my whine...

Gatehouse Vinyl Privacy Lattice 31 x37

Pea Gravel 0.5 cf

Retaining blocks, 16 inch

Here are some of the in-progress shots because the typhoons rains came...again. This is not how I leaving it but you get the idea of what I am trying to do by concealing this corner. Since I can't stick the spikes in the ground due to a concrete slab  and gas/ water lines, the blocks filled with gravel holds the spikes n place. Let me tell you those blocks are heavy as hell.  It is definitely quite the workout! This is even more of an improvement over painting the pipes but I am not loving the gap in between because you can see the hardware. Nor am I loving the gap under the panels.



View from my porch...ehhh not so much...but I have a fix for this too

What I do like is the utility workers have easy access to the meter. They can view it over the panel or have access to step behind the panels. Worse case scenario this all can be moved with relative ease.

Just a tweak on the hardware which came with the panels. The top hardware is used when attached sided by side (except you use 1 bracket). I connected them using a small bolt and nut. The bottom hardware is used when connecting the panels at a 90° angle. Agian I overlap the hardware using a small nut and bolt. I bent the hardware to conform to the angle I had arranged the panels, drilled through the sides and attached using small bolts with nuts. The hardest part of this was finding bolts that fit the hole of the hardware and nuts to fit the bolts when digging through the hubbs hardware bins.

Well that's where I am for now. If the rains ever stop, I can finish what was supposed to be a weekend project which has now spanned over 2 weeks....

Good Fences make Good Neighbors

Robert Frost said it best and who am I to argue?

I am so excited because we are FINALLY getting a fence! WooHoo! The (north side) neighbors have decided to fence in part of their backyard and now we are too! We only had to fence 3 sides to begin with since the (south side) neighbor already has a fenced yard.

Instead of an old fashioned barn raising we are having a fence building party to be scheduled in May/June. We used a distance measuring wheel to figure out how much linear fencing we would need. (That is a very neat little tool). Anyhoo, we are going to split the cost of renting the 2 man post hole auger (which  breaks down to about $50 per household).

The only issue we have, is the neighbors are installing split rail (with wire mesh backing) and we are going to install chain link. We need to figure out out how to marry the 2 styles so to speak. I would really like the chain link that would run the entire length of our yard (shared property line) and have the north side neighbors tap off of it and install the 3 sides of split rail. At least this way I could maintain visual continuity and the same style for my yard. 

What is the protocol for splitting cost on fencing materials? I will offer to pay for the shared property line chain link (otherwise 1/3 of the shared line would be split rail) and maybe get them to buy some concrete mix for setting posts?  Or do I just suck it up and absorb the entire cost of the shared property line since I want the chain link?

Thoughts? Suggestions?

I will keep you posted...bahaha...post-get it?

Quilting for Dummies

This isn't so much a house remodel project as it is a craft for me. As indicated in this post I am learning how to quilt. (Bless my friend for volunteering. I hope she has lots of patience. If not I hope she has lots of liquor and nerve pills, because she will need it when finished with me, haha).

I went to Joann's Fabrics and found this Quilt block of the month on clearance. The setting kit was originally priced at $39.99/ clearance price $15.99. Each block originally priced at $7.99/ clearance price $3.19.  Original price total $135.87. My clearance cost $54.27.  I saved $81.60 Woo-hoo! 

There are 12 blocks consisting of :

The Four Patch Variation

Shoo-Fly

9 Patch Star

Road to Oklahoma

Pieced Star Variation

Double Hourglass

Water Wheel Variation

Stars and Squares Variation

Perpetual Motion

Evening Star

Twin Star

Double Square

Okay-I have to confess I have NO IDEAL what any of this terminology means. I have several reference books for a crash course in quilting. I am really excited to make this quilt. I hope that it is something that "sticks" and I have a new lifelong hobby. Fingers crossed. Just not when I am quilting.