We finally have a riding lawnmower... or will on Thursday evening when it's delivered!!! We went to a Sears Outlet on Monday and found a decent deal, so I'm excited and Mike is excited that we will be able to mow the lawn in a lot less time, and more of it. Over time we can also add implements and attachments to it that will increase its capabilities and make it more useful. And we finally bought a freezer (online) that will be delivered the following week. They had some at the outlet but we compared prices and the difference between the prices was only $100 so we went with a new, unblemished freezer with free delivery instead of paying $85 at the outlet, worked out about the same at that rate.
So today we smoked a brisket. We've been craving one for a while because the last one was soooo good. I got up and made more of the rub we concocted last time.
And I soaked some wood chips
In the meantime, Lady Richelieu dropped in for a visit
And Daisy helped dad get the fire going.
Which was something of a feat, since it started to rain about an hour into the cook time... So Mike created this Seussian creation to keep the fire and smoke going.
The hummingbird dropped in for a visit
The dogs are very focused when it comes to treat time.
Bo doesn't like it when Daisy gets her treat first.
But he gets a treat too
And lightning fast, he jumps up to snatch it.
Daisy is a good sitter.
The hydrangea is blooming. The poofs are kind of small right now but they're getting bigger and bigger. I can't wait until it really bushes out. I'm so jealous of the ones at Ashford Castle in Ireland, but I suppose those have had decades to grow while mine is a mere summer old.
I have six rose buds. I guess you would call them teacup roses? They're smaller and more carnation-like than a typical rose. I've only seen one blossom so far so I think it will be really pretty when it blooms.
I have either a bell pepper or jalapeno about to grow, I can't remember which one I planted here.
The sycamore is really branching out. Leaves formed and then grew into little stems where more leaves grew. I'm glad because that final freeze we had killed the first leaves that grew. The top of the stem is still bare, but the bottom half is very much alive.
Lots of magnolias blooming. This one is older...
And these are about to bloom
We have blackberries in the process of ripening. LOTS of them.
This grew from the birdseed... it sort of looks like corn but I'm not sure if it is because I don't see any kernels in the feeder. I did have a different kind in the feeder before this though.
Not sure what this is, but it doesn't look friendly
And this looks like wheat...
I have one tomato and four potential tomatoes. I can't wait. Chocolate Cherokee tomatoes. Yum.
Speaking of Cherokee, I met an Apache at the Folk Medicine Festival last weekend. He was very nice. He said that I could go to college for free since I have Indian blood (two or three generations back?)... really wish I had known this when I went to college... but I suppose if I decide to pursue a different degree I could maybe check into it.
Tomorrow we are going to clean the basement so Mike can get back to fixing the curtain setup, making it more sturdy so the dogs can't pull it down so easily... And sometime soon we should be putting up a fence. A friend has a bunch of chainlink that he doesn't want, probably enough for half an acre, and he's practically giving it to us. I can't wait... it'll make life so much easier, the dogs can run free and we will only have to leash them if we walk them or take them out front. :)
Then I can start amending the soil for next year's garden since I pretty much missed out this year. Being able to mow the field will make it possible to actually see the ground... so I will also start back with my gardening course. A new module gets unlocked every month so I just have to watch the videos and read, but it's pretty fascinating stuff and the videos are broken up into short sections. And I found a free permaculture course so I'm going to check that out too. I feel like we're finally going to make some progress in making this place ours, finally settling in. We know what we want it to be, and it's going to take some time, but it's going to be amazing, and each little piece is going to make a huge difference.
