Home Sweet Home

That's my cantaloupe, growing. I'm training it with sticks and it seems to like it pretty well. Its vining out very quickly.

We will begin the purchase phase of our lease-to-purchase agreement next month and I'm super excited! I qualified for a Tennessee state backed FHA type loan. The program (THDA) donates a bit back, towards the required down payment.
I'm also very excited about this 2009 TY, first time home buyers credit. There a small short cut being taken by lenders to help homeowners. They allow you to deduct the credit amount against the initial purchase price, by way of 2nd mortgage, before your return has even been filed. I appreciate great efficiency.

B cleaned the gutters out last weekend and what he found was the best present ever. BLACK GOLD! That's right, fully composted leaves!!! I scooped it right into my knock-out rose garden, which had previously been taken over by japanese water beetles. I used my hand tiller, and worked it into the ground. A few days later, I have noticed the beetle have cut (horray!) and there are buds ALL OVER, just waiting to bloom. I'll post some shots, once they take off.

Thats it for now,
M

say hello to my little friend

Hottenanny pie. yum!

kombocha and me

Ha, like my title?
I had some trouble getting my first batch of kombucha to ferment. It molded over, boooo. Thank goodness for good friends, KT sent me a spare scoby. You know because people just leave scoby's hangin' around. Sweet woman, really. She also suggested using green tea, so I'll use some Tazo Zen and see how that goes. I'll get my second batch going this weekend. Fingers crossed...

The weather should be nice, so I'll be able to finish raking my yards. With gloves this time; grammas orders. B's investing in one of those lawnmower/mulchers. So I'll get to finish some of my planting too. I've got some beef steak tomatoes and cilantro. Zesty! So many plans and it's only Wednesday. So is country life...

For life...

I received one of these beauties for Christmas from B's mama. Best gift ever. In our moving process I broke my french press by cooling it off too soon after a nice hot wash. The glass cracked and man, where we bummed. Last weekend, I proceeded to fill the infuser with my Seattle's Best, course ground, Home Blend. What a delicious delight steeped coffee can be. The flavor is a mix between the smoothness of pressed and the boldness of espresso. Plus, the infuser makes for an easy cleanup. Just dump grounds in your garden (or compost jar) and rinse.

My komucha has started to finally develop a scoby on top. Last night I took a peek and found it to be developing rather slowly. After speaking with a friend who has also been researching the benefits of this tea concoction, we concluded that the cold location where I was allowing the fermentation to take place was not the best spot. I have sense moved my glass jar to the cupboard over my dryer. I'm hoping my laundry has a lasting effect on my brewing.

Until next time, here to life, love and tasty beverages!

Smudge your blues away!

After a few long weeks of packing and moving truck loads, we've finally moved completely into our new home. Whenever I move I almost always be sure to get my sage bundle and do a good smudging. Call me old fashioned, but I hate to have old, stinky situations hanging about.

Here's a great article on how to perform a "ceremony" - http://www.asunam.com/smudge_ceremony.html

I get a bundle of sage for about $2.00 from my local health food/herbal store. I like to start at the front door and circle the outter rim of the whole perimeter. While walking I'll waft the burning sage up towards my heart and then away while meditating on ridding myself of all stale feelings. I'll also say things like "No bad energy, only goodness and happiness". Sounds kind of kooky I know, but you can never be too safe with spirits lurking about.

I'm beginning to explore kombucha tea. I've done a lot of reading and snagged myself a 2 quart glass jar for $0.35 at a local estate sale. This has been my most influencial blog post.

I'm off, for now,
M.

Voila!

My first blog entry. So exciting!

I'm halfway through a week off from work and while I usually love time around the apartment, I've been super lazy this week. I guess mostly because we are in the process of moving to a big house so I'm very lackluster about sprucing the place up here anymore.

I found a flakey and easy pie crust recipe and have apples waiting to be baked inside my crust. My butter is almost room temperature so I guess I better get on to that. B got me some awesome, made in the USA, cast iron skillets for Christmas so I'll use those as my pie tin. My grandpa always told me baking isn't worth the time unless you're using cast iron. I'll post some photos later.

-M.