Something Old

I'm in the process of planning my wedding

that takes place this June.

(Which is my excuse reason for not blogging on a regular basis)

One of my tasks is to refurbish this old Radio Flyer Town & Country wagon

(I use refurbish over restore because I'm not sure it will end up exactly like it used to be).

After deciding that a wagon was needed as part of the ceremony

(I have a son and an infant grandson 

the son will be pulling the grandson and act as "co-ring bearers")

I happened to see this gem sitting on the side of the road with a bunch of other junk someone was calling a yard sale

(truly junk- and I'm being kind).

So Big E and I stopped to see the price and condition.

I got it for $2.00

For that price, we didn't look it over much and decided to just take it.

Turns out, it's not in hideous shape.

It's rusty, needs a new floor piece 

(there was thin veneer like stuff covering the bolts 

that had water damage but the main solid floor is salvageable),

needs new or reshaped brackets

and a back panel

(and a paint job).

 

My mouse sander knocked out a good bit of the rust on the handle.

There are some hard to reach rust spots,

so I might have to come up with a better plan.

I hear vinegar works well.

And in a flash of brilliance, I decided to see if Radio Flyer had replacement parts.

Turns out I can get the brackets

and a back panel for the same price or cheaper than fixing and building them myself.

I could order new wheels and other new pieces, 

but my goal is to keep as much of the original as possible.

It is a vintage antique afterall.

Of course learning this wagon is circa 1975 the year of my birth

I'm not so sure I like using those terms.

Turning Soil

Last night I finally found some time to see if the tiller was going to start

work on preparing the veggie garden.

Let me put a plug in here for Mantis Tillers.

I have always wanted one and last year I finally got one.

I love it.

And after sitting all winter

it started right up

(well, after I remembered to flip the switch to the "on" position)

I managed to get about 1/2 of it done 

before succumbing to my new blisters.

There's more to do-

hauling manure from the barn

putting down lime

retilling the above in-

but it's started

and soon I hope to have some peas popping up.

(as long as we don't get the potential snow they're forecasting for this evening)

Jeepers, Creepers, Can't You Hear Those Peepers?

 

The thing I love most about spring and summer?

The sounds of the spring peepers 

and the tree frogs.

(the tree frogs are the ones making that whirring noise).

We had our first really nice day (80+ degrees)

so I managed a hike,

a 2.5 mile walk

and 30 minutes of yoga.

Go me.

The garden still needs to be tilled and I'm hoping I can get to that tonight before the rain.

 

Spring Has Sprung

Finally!

I started some seeds indoors this year.

I have never had luck starting seeds indoors.

Never.

I'm not sure why I'm thinking this year will be different than all the other years before,

perhaps all the stress has addled my brain.

With the nicer weather coming this weekend, 

I have plans to get the garden limed and fertilized and tilled.

Time to shake off the long winter blahs.

In case you're wondering, I have started: 

Cuor di Bue Grosso Cabbage- an Italian heirloom that is super sweet and good for coleslaw and sauteing 

Filderkraut Cabbage- German heirloom developed for sauerkraut (which I'm going to attempt to make)

Bull Nose Pepper- Red bell pepper grown by Thomas Jefferson

Blondkopfchen Tomato- They produce tiny round 1/2" gold tomatoes and are very sweet

Dwarf Blue Curled Scotch Kale- Easy grower, hardy and delicious (and I hated kale most of my life)

I grew this in the winter and it did great. 

And chickens and deer love it too.

I ordered my seeds from Annie's Heirloom Seeds