Okay, enough about that. This weekend's full. We're celebrating Natalie's birthday tonight with a few of her classmates. I have to finish Ainsley's and Natalie's costumes by Sunday night so they can wear them to school on Monday (for some reason I thought it'd be great to sew them costumes even though I've never used a sewing machine - except once in a sewing class where the teacher didn't teach me a thing!). I'm proud to say I'm getting the hang of the sewing machine and embarrassed to say my lines aren't very straight. But they're just Halloween costumes.
Monday's Halloween. I'm the classroom mom for Ainsley's class so I'll be volunteering for their afternoon party. Then there's a neighborhood party followed by trick-or-treating. I'm trying to figure out when to fit in Henry's birthday cake. The poor man competes with candy every year.
I made a list of things I need to do over the next few weeks... it's not complete, but here it is.
- Winterize the house
- Nail down Thanksgiving and Christmas plans
- Garden planning for the Spring
- Pruning plants for winter (roses, take out raspberry plant)
There's more, of course, like painting the entire first floor including kitchen cabinets, making curtains, hanging pictures on the walls, Christmas shopping, etc, etc, etc. It'll all get done in time or deleted from the list when I can't stand looking at that line item anymore. The biggest up in the air item is planning a garden. I've wanted to have one for umpteen years and was hoping to sow a few crops this year. By crops I mean a few plants, not a few acres. The neighbors tell me the deer are a problem. Anyone have any tips for keeping them out of the veggies?
You have always amazed me at what you have been through and handled. Love you!!!
ReplyDeletewe have MANY problems with deer (and bunnies) so we have to put stakes around the garden and put netting around it. All the mixtures we've made to keep them out have done nothing.
ReplyDeleteSo you can spend thanksgiving and Christmas with me. Now you can cross that off your list. Glad to be of help! love ya.
ReplyDeleteIf you have deer, you need a fence....a tall fence...or a fence about 5 feet tall that is electrified. That is what I resorted to here in Minnesota for my two large vegetables gardens! I put up electric tape(1 1/2" wide) fencing;three strands, AND a two foot tall run of chicken mesh fence around the bottom(for rabbits, etc). If the amount you are going to grow though is very small, you could try some of the sprays that are designed to deter deer, but you have to reapply often, especially after rain.
ReplyDeleteagreed, deer NEED a fence. don't bother with sprays, if they're determined, spray won't cut it, even for a small plot, plus you don't want to be eating veggies that have been potentially been sprayed with that junk.
ReplyDeletehere's a quick and easy (and not too expensive) but effective way to put up a deer fence around a veggie garden. it goes up quickly, and can be easily broken down at the end of the season if you wish:
1) get 3 or 4 ft. metal stakes, the kind you can drive into the ground, they have a pointed bottom end. put them at the corners, and some along the sides for reinforcement if need be.
2) get 6 ft. wooden stakes, 6 ft tall. use plastic zip strips to quickly but securely attach them to each metal stake.
3) run deer netting (6 ft tall) around the whole thing, zip stripping it to the stakes at regular, stable intervals from top to bottom.
4) make sure to leave one end "open" to act as a door that you can tie with twine or whatever to . if you want it more stable, you can zip strip the end to another wooden stake (better to fold it over or roll around the stake to reinforce), and that stake will act as a more stable door end.
the main investment is the stakes, but it's the best investment you'll ever make. if you want to cut costs, try finding used stakes on craigslist or maybe get scrap lumber or something, but don't buy used netting (it can be torn) and don't skimp on the actual number or type of materials. and if your plot is bigger than, say, 6x6 or maybe 8x8, definitely DO NOT get shorter than a 6-ft fence.
if you want to also hit up the planning for rabbit deterrence, make sure the bottom edge of the mesh goes all the way to the ground with a little extra to boot. you can then nail prongs into the ground over the bottom edge of the mesh to hold it in place.
good luck! :) - ashley