Good morning!

Huny is out the door on his way to work and I may not see him for a couple of days. He works for an airlines and is part of the de-icing crew which keeps him there for the duration of the event. I call myself the de-icing widow at this time of year.

Yesterday was the first day since Christmas that I felt good. I started feeling puny the weekend before Christmas and then was hit by the flu hard and was out for a couple of weeks. I felt puny all this first week back to work. I had plans to meet a friend for our "Christmas" get together yesterday and wasn't sure I'd even feel like it but after a good night's sleep on Thursday night I felt better to make it to meet her. However, that was my first time out in 3 weeks and I was very tired when I got home and hit the bed hard. I'm up and feeling okay this morning and am about to get my first and only cup of coffee for the day.

Here's a tip that helped me through a sore throat which was the worst part of the flu for me: Apple Cider Vinegar tea.

I started out the flu feeling puny and then I fell right into a hard, throat scratching cough that just tore up my throat. It hurt like crazy and there was no resting for the weary. I had some over-the-counter meds but those were not helping and I had some throat lozenges, but I do not like that coating feeling it leaves in my mouth. I went to Pinterest - I'm so addicted to that - and found a tea for the ACV. I have ACV in my house all the time anyway because I try to drink a tablespoon of this every day for some tummy issues but never considered it as a tea. I took my cup filled with water, added 1 teaspoon or so of honey and nuked it for about 1 minute. Then I added about 1 tablespoon of ACV and some lemon. I lived on this for those first few days and it helped my throat considerably

I still had other flu symptoms that laid me low but at least my throat wasn't raw and I was ever so thankful for that.

It's almost the middle of the month - crazy how time flies, and because of the flu still have Christmas decorations to put away. I have most of them taken down but need to get them all up into the attic. Little by little this will get done as my strength comes back.

Weather here has been cold with wind and with a chance of rain/ice today, hence the de-icing widow status for me. I don't mind it so much. I get to sit in front of a fire and during the week I work from home so I don't have to get out any farther than a few steps into the back porch where Huny has the wood stacked for me.

For Christmas for me, I ordered some bed pillows from Kohl's and am ever not happy with them and will return those today and see what I can find in the store to replace them. I'm planning to bake bread tomorrow so will just need to check that I have all the ingredients and get what I need and then I'm inside for the rest of the weekend.

I also plan to go through my seed box to see what I have and what I need to order and plan my spring garden. Lettuce is a given, radishes, carrots, onion. I do have garlic in and it is doing well. I told Huny I would like to try corn this year too. I have three garden beds that need more compost but that already show poppy seeds and johnny jumps ups coming up and I will have to figure out a way to save those while fixing up the beds. We'll see how that goes. I love that it is the middle of winter, and here in Denton it is the hard part of winter starting but there is all this beautiful green growth coming up. I have bulbs starting to peek up from the ground and bluebonnet seedlings that are coming up too. I'm looking forward to getting dirt under the nails!

Stay warm and healthy y'all.

Hello again and Happy New Year 2015!

Hello and I hope you had a wonderful Christmas holiday and New Year!

Here I am in my snug little home with a fire going to ward off the chill of the first really cold night of the year. The fire is crackling and warmth abounds.

A very long time has passed since my last posting. A lot of things have happened in the garden and many garden to-do's are in the plans and dreams for 2015.  Including:

a lean-to shed
an arbor at the front of the west side of the garden
building a new raised garden in the backyard
a couple of fruit trees for the front yard to begin a new front yard garden.

We shall see how many of these actually happen but in reality I think that perhaps the trees, raised bed and arbor will happen before the lean-to shed and in that order.

Have you heard about Cold Antler Farm? Check it out. I've been reading her and even though I don't see an actual animal farm happening for me, she has some good ideas and is an inspiration for doing what you want to do. 

Stay warm y'all.