~*~ Sarah's (sarahsunshine) Lodge ~*~

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by momW

That was really sweet of DH. It'll help so much having water flowing to keep those darn skeeters away. One thing I found out recently about moving to town is I should have brought my bats and barn swallows with me. We had a pond right behind our old house but never had skeeter problems. Every night the bats and barn swallows would fly around gobbling them up. Here in town, bleh, they're terrible. I heard there's a plant that deters em, not sure if it's a perennial or annual but next year I'm lining my yard with them.

---

Try here: 5 Easy to Grow Mosquito-Repelling Plants | Eartheasy Blog (5 Easy to Grow Mosquito-Repelling Plants | Eartheasy Blog)

Whether they are perennial or not depends on what planting zone you are in. The ones listed here are Citronella (perrenial Zone 10-12), Horsemint (Zone 5a). Marigolds (annual), Ageratum (annual), and Catnip (Zone 3a but seeds itself freely). I've also heard of Citronella scented geranium that yo can rub on yor clothes.


Last night we went on a walk with the kids in the ravine (midwife appt moved to Saturday because she was at a birth). It was beautiful. We've had so much rain here that the stream is still flowing strong instead of the muddy and dry trickle we usually have. Right now it's still deep enough that yo require a log or bridge to go across it (8-10'). Usually it's a series of puddles right now!

DH HATES mosquitoes and is constantly putting bug spray all over himself (every 2 minutes!). I rarely put on any and last night I hardly noticed them until I looked at DH's back and got about 20 in one sweep of his shirt! Figured that maybe they were just attracted to him more than me, but when I compared our pants they were just as covered! Guess I just don't notice them very much.

Ivy was GREAT! We took our wagon, but she walked the whole way! I find this funny because DSS (!3) would be wanting to sit in the wagon! She was off exploring all the little paths, and she's just careful so we don't have to worry. She'll go right up to the spot where it's safe and look down, or test the slope with her foot to see if it's slippery. It's wonderful not to have to worry too much about her (only the normal amount). Leo, on the other hand, would have run right into the stream on several occasions had I not run after him and greabbed him. He loves it just as much, but you really have to be on your toes! Yay for kids loving to be outside, but REALLY, Leo, get with it! I think next time we might just let him fall in the river (being prepared to catch him afterwards) so that he starts to realize that he has to stop himself! This time, though, we wanted to still go quite a ways, and get a treat at the store.

We got to the store about ahlf an hour later, and the sun was just beautiful. I stayed outside with the dog, and DH went in with the kids and got 2 ice cream sandwiches which we shared (one Reece, one cookie). Just as we were leaving, downpour appeared out of nowhere! After about 30 seconds, hail started coming down! There was no awning or anything to hide under, but the wind was blowing enough that we stayed relatively dry right next to the building. Then, 5 miutes later it was done and gone, leaving buddles and a few pieces of hail behind... Can't gbelieve our timing that we had just got our ice cream sandwiches and were close to shelter for the only five minutes of our walk! We got to watch the thunder and lightening, staying quite dry, and then continue on our way. It was GREAT!

Today DH is taking care of the kids. I think they may try to get some feeder fish, and then fix the back deck (where it has been sawed apart to replace the electrical for the hot tub). Then maybe tonight I can buld some tomato cages - the metal ones are completely overgrown and the tomatoes are shading EVERYTHING! i have some old hockey sticks and some 1x2 that we can build some structures 3-4 feet high and hopefully contain these toatoes slightly! I'm just so happy that not only do we have RED tomatoes in August (they usually turn red in September when it's about to frost here), but they are growing beautifully! Now, let's control them just a little!

Do I have to say that I LOVE the new veggie garden? Here's some time-lapse photos...

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s...DeckBefore.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s.../PileoDeck.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s...ningBlitzA.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s...%20May/016.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s...dendBlitzA.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s...202012/006.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s...202012/009.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s...202012/037.jpg

This last photo was the beginning of June - I should take a photo 2 months later, now!

Wow! Inspiring!! :D

You parent much the way I do. :) We like to do "controlled-falling/slipping" so that T learns her limits and so that we can trust her a bit more.

I love your backyard. Your productivity amazes me. We've been toiling away on the backyard for over a year now and my "garden" is still a big pile of rocks. We have big plans but things keep getting in the way. It stinks that we have a lot of time in the summer to work on it but its over 100 degrees out there most days!!

The back deck removal was a result of no veggie garden (one of my few conditions when we bought the house), and a course that I did this spring. I designed it to water itself from the downspout. We had a few people help on two separate days (2 weekends apart), and it made all the difference in the world! 5 people working, rather than 2, means 2.5-3 times more work done! Dh did do the brunt of the work (poor guy), but I can tell you that he was in terrific shape after those 2 weeks!

Speaking of that, he's once again trying to quit smoking... He had quit for over a year at one point (just before DS passed away). He tries successfully for about 2 weeks about 4-5 times a year now. This week he's cut back to 2/day... will be 1/day next week... I just don't know if I can stand the withdrawl anxiety/frustration if I'm exhausted after baby is born. Ugh. Never having been a smoker, I can't understand why he just doesn't quit if he really wants to. Why agonize and plan instead of just doing it?

I smoked a pack a day for seven years and managed to quit using the patch. Has he tried anything like that?

WOW - that's an incredible transformation! I love the pictures of your little ones "helping"! :D

No... never tried a patch. I've tried to convince him to join a group/ do it with a friend, etc... but his best buddy who also smokes is very mucha "quit for 2 weeks" kind of person as well... grrr...

As for "little ones "helping", Ivy actually was helpful! It amazes me! In fact, last night we accidentally locked ourselves out of the house, but Ivy could fit through the window and open and unlock the front door! What a useful 3yo!

Now just wait until she's 12 and jimmying other people's cars.. then I won't be so happy!

We had to shove DS through a window in our new house several months ago and have him unlock the door, it really is quite useful having a smallish person around that can do things like that for ya :D

I love the pictures, it's so beautiful!! Our tomatoes are doing great this year. I'm actually cooking down a batch of spaghetti sauce as we speak to can this evening. Last year our tomatoes were almost a bust, enough for supper but barely enough for canning. I rationed everyone's salsa and spaghetti sauce this year and I hate doing that as I like nothing more than home canned spaghetti sauce more than anyone here. I promised DS this year I would make him and DD2 their own salsa, not fisey (spicy). He always wants to eat salsa but he can't handle the heat of ours. It looks like we will actually have a good enough crop to do it with. Our onions and green beans are shot this year though, they didn't handle the heat and dry weather but I'll buy green beans if it means I have tomato based stuff canned up :)

sounds like you guys do exactly like how we do with our kids as well, controlled learning experiences.

How do you can your spaghetti sauce?

DH does Salsa most every year and gives it away as christmas gifts. Last year DSS and I did pickled beets to go along with the salsa. DSS asked specifically for extra beets to be planted this year, but they don't seem to be doing very well. Might have to buy some beets this year, but we'll see.

Oh, my family eats the crap out of the beets we pickle. I bring it out as a "dessert" after meal and the kids really do think it is dessert.

Here's my spaghetti sauce recipe. I adapted it from a recipe I found online and have tweaked it over the years to suit our taste. I taste it constantly as it's cooking down and add to it as needed.

15 lbs tomatoes, blanched, peeled, chopped
2 lbs onions, diced
1/2 c olive oil
1 c sugar
1/4 c granulated garlic
1/8 c oregano
1/8 c basil
1/8 c salt
2 TBSP pepper
3 12oz can tomato paste
1 c lemon juice

Saute onions in olive oil until translucent in a large stock pot. Add all the ingredients but the lemon juice. Simmer until reduced to a good consistency (usually takes me all day long). I usually pull the sauce off to the side of the stove after it's been simmering for several hours and use a hand blender to chop it all up and get it to the consistency that I want and then let it continue to simmer. Add lemon juice at the end. Simmer for a little while to blend the lemon juice.

Can and process for 35 minutes for quarts or 30 minutes for pints.

When we prepare the tomatoes we try to squeeze out some of the juice so the cook time isn't quite so long. Keep an eye on the consistency and if it isn't thick enough when you get to the end you can add some more tomato paste but then you'll need to let it simmer afterwards and check the taste to see if you need to add more seasoning. It's a taste thing, when you get about 5 hours into cooking it you'll start getting an idea of what it will taste like and you can adjust some of the seasonings as needed to suite your taste.