Life in Hickory Hollow...This past weekend we had beautiful weather! Beautiful weather for getting out and getting some projects completed. We have had to do a bit of work in the garden, actually a lot of work. The soil is just not rich enough for anything to grow very big. We bought bales and bales of peat moss and tilled it in the soil. This fall it is going to get a manure and lime treatment. These cute geese were hanging out by the pond all Sunday morning. I crept up pretty close to get these pictures to share with you.
Visitors...We have also had a couple of unwelcome visitors. Doug had to shoot a big snake down at the pond shortly after I had taken these pictures. It was about 4 feet long and as big around as a man's wrist. He couldn't tell if it was poisonous or not and we couldn't risk the kids getting bit. Now, I am not a big on guns type of gal, but I was pretty relieved that we owned one and my husband knew how to use it. I am absolutely, positively, skin crawling, jumping, yelling scared of snakes....even little garter snakes!
Another unwelcome visitor has been the deer. Humph...they are not so cute anymore...they have tried to prune all my Cleveland Pear trees that line the driveway into topiaries! I am not thinking they are cute in the least...they have also eaten the new leaves of my raspberry and blackberry bushes and have tried even more topiary art on the fruit trees.
BAD Deer....very, very BAD DEER!
BAD Deer....very, very BAD DEER!
The Stone Nest...
We have a Killdeer couple that have made a nest of stone, smack dab in the middle of the driveway. There are 4 little stone colored eggs in the middle. The comical act of these two was pretty funny about 2 weeks ago...they pretend that they are injured to lure you from their nest. We call it "hurt wing". Here we are a few weeks later, and they aren't so cute...and they are getting a bit aggressive. We have been driving out and around the nest so we won't disturb them. Now as we come down the drive they run at us! We pull over to the side and ask her everyday if she could just get on with it, so we can have our driveway back! I will let you know when the BIG day arrives...personally we can hardly wait!
We have a Killdeer couple that have made a nest of stone, smack dab in the middle of the driveway. There are 4 little stone colored eggs in the middle. The comical act of these two was pretty funny about 2 weeks ago...they pretend that they are injured to lure you from their nest. We call it "hurt wing". Here we are a few weeks later, and they aren't so cute...and they are getting a bit aggressive. We have been driving out and around the nest so we won't disturb them. Now as we come down the drive they run at us! We pull over to the side and ask her everyday if she could just get on with it, so we can have our driveway back! I will let you know when the BIG day arrives...personally we can hardly wait!
In the Garden...
So far in the garden I have planted 9 Big Boy tomatoes, 9 Celebrity tomatoes, 2 Brandywine tomatoes, 4 Cherry tomatoes, 4 banana peppers, 4 green peppers, 4 jalapeno peppers, 4 Italian Basil plants, 4 Siam Queen Basil Plants, 3 rows of Blue Lake Green Beans, 28 cucumber plants (yep, you read that right, 28 plants germinated from the seed), 4 cantaloupe plants, 4 watermelon plants, 4 zucchini plants, 4 yellow straight neck squash plants. We are getting ready to plant corn later this week. My potato plants are up, but not just real big. I have been Miracle Growing everything, and they look a bit better. I am hoping to be able to can spaghetti and salsa this fall! I will take some pictures of the garden later this week to share with you.
So far in the garden I have planted 9 Big Boy tomatoes, 9 Celebrity tomatoes, 2 Brandywine tomatoes, 4 Cherry tomatoes, 4 banana peppers, 4 green peppers, 4 jalapeno peppers, 4 Italian Basil plants, 4 Siam Queen Basil Plants, 3 rows of Blue Lake Green Beans, 28 cucumber plants (yep, you read that right, 28 plants germinated from the seed), 4 cantaloupe plants, 4 watermelon plants, 4 zucchini plants, 4 yellow straight neck squash plants. We are getting ready to plant corn later this week. My potato plants are up, but not just real big. I have been Miracle Growing everything, and they look a bit better. I am hoping to be able to can spaghetti and salsa this fall! I will take some pictures of the garden later this week to share with you.
and the Chicken House...
We have really been working hard on the chicken house...Doug put on a new roof, and I have finished painting the outside. It is soooo cute! I even added a hanging basket and potted up some plants to sit on the little front porch. I will share some of those pictures with you too! I am hoping to be able to finish the inside with the wallpaper this week. Doug and Tyler are almost finished building the nesting boxes! I think I have decided that we will get 8 hens. I am going to get a couple that lay the pretty pastel eggs. If you are in the neighborhood in the next few weeks, come on by for a slice of quiche made of farm fresh eggs!
Thank you everyone who so diligently follow this gal, who doesn't quite so diligently post! My goal is to post at least once a week this summer. We are really working hard to get our place up and going so we can have bountiful harvests later this summer!
I seem to be over the bloggers block...now I just need to find a bit of time, to visit all my blogger buddies!
~Jill~
I seem to be over the bloggers block...now I just need to find a bit of time, to visit all my blogger buddies!
~Jill~
P.S. I am addicted to watching the Bachelor/Bachelorette shows...why, I don't know...it is so silly, but this girl loves a good romance, I guess now matter how fake it is...anyway... I like the pilot so far for Jillian!
The couple that owns the business were so very helpful. But, they asked me all sorts of questions that I couldn't answer. "How big is the area, how long is the sidewalk, how tall is your roof, how tall all your windows?" Hmmm...well I really don't know, probably about yea high and this wide. They wanted to make sure that the fountain would not over power the space or look dinky.
A little corner decorated with finds found at garage sales, thrift stores and the flea market. The lamp came from Hobby Lobby and the wool rug I found at Lowe's. The little table was my Grandma B's.
I made this monogram G picture
Here we are in the dining room peeking into the kitchen.
I knew I just needed something on the other side of the windows, so last week I was scouting out plates to hang on the wall. This was definitely a Nell Hill inspired shopping trip. After looking around about 40 different booths, I found the perfect stack of plates for the perfect price! I wasn't sure about the turquoise color on the plates, but I thought they might just play beautifully with the wall color.
A closeup of the plates, all four are the same design.
A very grand tassel found a home decorating the handle of the china cabinet, I found her at the flea market last week too!
Just this past weekend, I served Cherry Preserves in this darling silver and crystal bowl. Isn't that spoon so very cute and dainty.
Here is a closeup of the dining room fixture. It coordinates with the foyer's fixture. The balls that look gilded are actually a metallic green with a crackle finish, the shades are an amber. 
Looking into the dining room from the foyer. When I first got this grape ivy plant it was in a little 4" pot. He is just going bananas. A friend of mine in Colorado gave me the metal trellis. One day, I got the idea to stick it in this urn to give the ivy something to curl its tendrils on. I went out to the woods and found some moss and have placed it on top of the soil, I really like that conservatory/Mediterranean look!
I love hydrangeas and have been on the lookout for several months trying to find some pretty silk ones. I grabbed this basket right up when I spotted it! I really loved the muted colors and what a bargain at $3.
I have been playing around and haven't yet decided which room to keep them in.
I haven't really decorated much for spring.
I have been giving this little cabbage set the eye, for quite some time. This whole set was just $4. Lucky for me, he was in a booth that was pretty much off the beaten path at the flea market, so he waited patiently until I decided that yes, he must come home with me! This was someone's ceramic project in the 1970's. Isn't it amazing how some things really don't go out of style? Cabbage style dishes are all the rage! I think he is quite adorable with the matching salt and pepper shakers. They even have real vintage salt in them!
Not too far down from the cabbage tureen I spotted this cute print, also for $4.
It was dry enough a couple of days ago for us to finish putting in most of the spring garden. We planted radishes, green onions, lettuce, turnips, beets & peas. I went to Wal-mart yesterday and they had pack of 9 tomatoes for $3. I bought a pack each of Celebrity and Better Boys. Eighteen tomato plants, that's a good start! I am already thinking of fresh salsa. Doug said these were the littlest tomato plants he has ever seen. Right now they are sunbathing on my back step! Grow little tomato plants, GROW!
I also bought a jiffy pot that had 4 Basil plants in it for $3. Basil is just about my most favorite herb! Basil is kind of a tricky herb to try to dry and preserve because it can turn black. But I have had pretty good luck freezing the leaves whole and then giving them a rough chop before adding them to spaghetti sauce. Hmmm...I am also thinking how yummy basil is with a thinly sliced tomato on a slice of crispy french bread!
As I mentioned before I was able to get some potatoes planted and a couple rows of asparagus.
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