The past two days have been nothing but lovely...warm, sunny, and beautiful. The hubster is thrilled because we've made lots of solar...he charged his truck yesterday after our shopping trip with little worries.
It was funny, with the weather being so nice, the folks were out shopping yesterday where we were anyway. We went to a small town about 40 minutes away to have a nice lunch and then visit an Amish bulk food store. We didn't need a ton of stuff, but there are a couple of things I had used and wanted to replenish. It was sort of on our way to another town, so we decided to kill two birds with one stone so to speak. We traveled about 15 minutes farther and went to the other little town and went to a Michaels so I could buy a skein of yarn for a lady who wants me to make her a hat and then bought some small bottles of paint. DH has a laser and he wants to make a 7 layer cross and I didn't have enough paint to paint the 7 boards. Each board has to be a different color. Each board has more and more cut out of it so the colors sort of show through. It's very intricate. After he cuts them out, we glue them together. He is making one for each of his kids for Easter.
Then it was Rural King for fertilizer and onion sets and of course a bag of free popcorn! I had packed water in our water bottles so no expense there!
Today was basically an outside day. We moved the rain barrel to the garden area and set it up. We trimmed part of a bush that was overgrown, and I painted those 12 x 12 boards. I then painted a metal chicken that is a lawn ornament. DH's late wife had bought a lot of lawn ornaments through the years and with things that sit outside, they get weathered. Last year I painted these metal bird houses and made them looked renewed. I just painted a wooden lady bug that hangs on a fence, and today was a chicken. It was black and rust and now it is just black. LOL DH said he appreciates the fact that I would rather repair or repaint stuff instead of running out and buying new.
I have a little tiller that is battery operated and I worked with it today to till up a small area so I could plant some green onions. I planted those and nearly stepped on a little toad. I name all the creatures around us, so I had to be careful of Teddy the Toad so he didn't get hurt. I went and buried a small flower pot in the corner of the garden bed next to the pole barn so if Teddy needed a house, he has one.
It appears we wore the pups out today as they played outside. I started with a walk to the compost pile and Murphy always accompanies me. He's a St. Bernadoodle and very protective of me. Ivy is a Goldendoodle and she goes along for the walk. It's near the back of the property so it is a bit of a walk, but a good stretch of the leg so to speak. It's good they get out and exercise as well.
Tomorrow is supposed to be our last warm day -- it has been unseasonably warm -- but it has been nice to not get chilled while working outside and it being warm enough to paint stuff so I didn't get overwhelmed with the fumes.
The only problem is it is making me want more days like the last two so we can get more done, and then I feel like I want to start the garden and it is way too soon. We could still get a frost or freeze here in Central Illinois. But I'm looking forward to homegrown vegetables and I'm anxious to start!
March 21st, 2026 at 10:23 pm 1774131785
It’s been a really nice day where I am as well, though unfortunately, it was also today that the trees decided to dump a whole bunch of pollen here, so I didn’t stay out for long.
March 22nd, 2026 at 01:05 pm 1774184714
March 22nd, 2026 at 05:49 pm 1774201769
Tabs, the beauty of the Amish bulk food store is they have a variety of things like herbs and spices and you can buy smaller containers for less than a regular grocery. Same with different types of flour. I like to bake bread and like to experiment, but honestly, I don't really want to buy a five pound bag of rice flour to see if I like it. Plus, this one has some locally made items and homegrown items too. Here's a website and I believe they have a Facebook page: https://justplainbusiness.com/beachys-bulk-foods/
March 23rd, 2026 at 07:05 pm 1774292729
March 23rd, 2026 at 07:07 pm 1774292852