I did get some things from my Mother.

Pineapple Orange Jam!!

Today I made jam.  This is the first time in my life I have attempted to preserve or can anything.  It is magical.  There is something so pure and uplifting about the experience.  My Mom made the most amazing strawberry jam.  I will make some in June....but I doubt it will be as good as hers.  I am glad though that between the gardening and my new interest in canning, I can feel some kind of connection with my Mother.  That does not come easy for me and when it does, it always seems to be so fleeting.

On another note....I have a sick cat.  I hope that the vet can help him.  He is my heart.  Time will surely tell.  I will be taking him in tomorrow.  JC....I love you very much Moo Cow.

Top O' The Mornin' to ya!!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

I just finished putting the corned beef, onions, carrots, potatoes and cabbage in the crockpot.  In about 8 hours I will have a Pot O' Gold for dinner!!

I have 4 tomato plants started.  They are seedlings that have barely popped through the peat pods they are planted in....but oh when they grow up the things they will do!!!

Until my garden is up and running I have discovered Bountiful Baskets.  This is a co-op for purchasing fruts and vegetables and it is awesome!!!  Every week is a surprise as to what 4 - 6 fruts and 4 - 6 vegetables you will have waiting for you.  This week we got carrots, potatoes and cabbage in honor of St. Patrick's Day.  I was pretty sure this would happen and I was not mistaken.

I also purchased the extra veggie pack with a mexican theme.  I now have more then enough supplies to make salsa and process some peppers for future cooking.  Between last weeks baskets and this weeks I also have pineapple and oranges and I am contemplating trying my hand at jam.  Wow..this is a really new world for me but I want to give it a try.  I bought a canning pot and rack last week along with the tool kit.  I plan on buying canning jars this weekend and I will be all set to give it a whirl.

Other then that all is going well.  Debt pay off is moving along as scheduled and all in all I am very blessed. 

Here are 2 pictures of all the produce I got for $25.  This stuff is amazing!!

Wow......over 3 months since I have posted. Yikes!! LOL

As you can see it has been a long time since I posted.  I chuckled when I logged on and saw my last post was about getting going on debt free living.  

Here is an update.  Since 11/11/11 when I started "The 12/12/12 Project" which is based on the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover debt free living lifestyle, I have paid off.....drum roll please.....you are not gonna believe this.....you ready for it....are you sure.....$10,518.36!!!!!!

That is an amazing amount of debt paid in 3 1/2 months time on a single salary that is also paying a home mortgage and supporting a grown unemployed son.

I am very proud of this accomplishment so far.  I am actually ahead of schedule and as it stands have set a new goal for myself to be debt free by 10/31/12.  

If you want to know more about how this was accomplished or need information on how you can do this too.....message me.  I would love to share it with you!

Life is good...

There is so much to be grateful for, and I am.

I have flirted with living debt free for about 4 years now.  I even got pretty darn close once, but it is a total commitment and a slippery slope once you falter.  I am now doing it and this time it is very much for real.  My debt free date is 12/12/12.  Although I will not be putting detailed numbers here I can tell you that this is definitely going to require sacrifice on my part.  I am willing to do what I have to do for now and live like no one else, so that later I can live like no one else.  :-)

My 2013 goal will be a fully funded emergence fund (FFEF) and that will be another 12 month proposition.  I am a believer in Dave Ramsey and his Total Money Makeover and that is the program I am using. 

Life is good....and I am grateful.

Been a long time since I rocked and rolled...lol

Haven't been here in ages but decided this would be a good place to log some garden activity.

Today I planted garlic (spanish roja) and shallots (French red).  Cleaned out the beds and whiskey barrel and now I dream of spring.  Lots of planning to do before then....this next years garden will be my first that is this large and with this much variety......and  it is going to rock!!!  :-)

Ramblings....when I want cuz I can

I think I am always so worried about my blog being some cohesive thread of thoughts and posts that I only seem to add to it very sporadically.  Not sure if that will change or not based on this declaration...but I am going to just post what I want, ramble from time to time and makes this somewhat of a personal space that happens to be public.

I have been in a funk lately but I am really trying to fight it.  There is not one major think I can point to to blame nor is there one major thing that is my symptom of how I know.  I am just fighting the blues more and truth be told I think I am just really tired from working full time for the past 21 years with all financial responsibility resting solely on my shoulders.  That is how it is being a single parent and I know I am blessed that I have been able to go in an incline of a career path with increased salary and lifestyle.  But...that does not mean I am not still tired and would not love being able to take a bit of a step backwards if I had a spouse that could pick up the slack.  Ok...that is just a bit of where my head is at I guess.

I have been doing some cooking lately which has been nice.  I made a fabulous chicken curry crockpot dish, a good mexican crockpot dish and last night I cooked with a leek for the first time.  Yum!  Saturday morning I went down to the farmers market, for the first time this year believe it or not, and I wound up with some garlic, shallots, leeks, fingerling potatoes and a beautiful bouquet of flowers.  Some of the garlic is for eating and some is for planting in the garden. 

Last night I steamed the potatoes and cooked the leeks in butter and olive oil.  I also cooked and crumbled some bacon.  I tossed all the ingredients together and let them fry up a bit and it was just lovely.  I am definitely going to plant fingerling potatoes this spring.

I am home sick today and won't go into details.  I can be up and about a bit and am going to work on getting out a few fall decorations.  I am ready for the summer heat to be gone and survey says it will be leaving this week.   

The promise of glorious things to come!!

I cannot expect anyone to understand the joy I feel inside right now with the progress of my garden.  It just makes my soul sing!  I am planning to do a small fall/winter planting this weekend with some lettuce, spinach and carrots.  I have 2 squash plants that are doing very well.  The zucchini plant has at least 4 tiny little barbie size starts on them and the yellow crookneck has 2.  I have just picked my first 3 cherry size tomatoes and am looking forward to having them for dinner tonight.

This past weekend involved filling my 4 raised beds with 2 yards of mushroom soil and spreading 4 yards of dark bark in my front yard.  I have my son Shane and his friend Ian (sp?) to thank for that.  They worked really hard and I am very grateful for their assistance.

I have started saving little containers for seed starting of next years garden and I can hardly wait!!  I bought a great book on canning and preserving and look forward to making some killer relishes and sauces and such.  This is not your grandma's green beans that I am going for here....not that there is anything wrong with that!!  I do not have a house full of people to feed so for me this is more about the gardening itself and getting to explore flavors and smaller batches of unique things.

Here is a picture of the garden beds now full and ready to plant....along with a picture of my 3 little tomatoes that make me smile!!