We are building a liferaft for our neighborhood

All along the outside rim is taters, you can see the row that has come up already. I made a smiley face with them. I put in radishes and onions here too, and on the far side over there is more onions and a patch of carrots. On the opposite side of the taters is all our herbs rosemary basil oregano dill parsley. We got 3x 10lb sacks of taters in the ground, cut up of course. Im looking for 1000lbs of taters, with plenty of onions to go with them. This spot out here is for our neighborhood, the mailman, garbage men, and friends. The boxes in the yard are enough for us for 12 months of canning, but I will be cannin most of this as well Im sure, and we should have plenty of corn to dry, freeze, and share too.

We finally figured out what to do with this flower bed. Strawberries and blueberries. There is Grace's potatoe plant on the right. We didnt get the blueberries yet. We're gonna put dwarf bushes in there that grow only a couple feet high and wide, and can be shaped. Check out our new rock border. We ringed all the trees, too.

This is a test patch of potatoes to see if it is a good spot. They seem to be doing great so far

We have about 30 peaches. This tree just got planted last year. Peach and pepper jam here we come

Everything here is looking good

We are training the tomatoes to grow up the string, instead of out to the side. This way you maximize your space and get bigger fruits

The birds like these cherries when they are still sour. Not as much as Jack does, though. Im trying to get enough ripe to do something with, but it may not happen

That plum tree is absolutely loaded down this year. We will have wine soon

There is our silver queen corn. We ended up with 270 or so, plus rattlesnake beans and snow peas

The tomatoes are loving the sun out there. 49 plants: roma mostly, but there are about 5 other types of bush in there too. The front row is cucumbers. They are just starting to pop out of the ground

Sprung

Corn beans cucumbers tomatoes potatoes onions radishes chives basil dill rosemary oregano

That boy right there worked like a man for 12 hours that day

We added another box. We are doing square foot gardening in these. romain bush beans tomatoes many types of peppers onions red potatoes cucumbers nastaturtium marigold different types of leaf lettuce carrots radishes broccoli

That little guy has been helping through it all.

I went and traded in the Chevy for a Dodge. ya ya, whyd you buy a dodge, blah blah. We all love it. Its bigger in the back, 4wd, 50k miles, and easier to clean on the inside, no carpet, all vinyl. Our note is much cheaper, too.

We had a lot of snow this year, with more coming today, apparently


Luke is a performer. He loves to make people laugh


Jack had a legendary birthday. I'll post pics of his party when we get them developed. They are on a waterproof camera. His interest in toys is awesome. He likes toys that are puzzles, magnets, blocks, magic, and things that make you think.

Here is Jack looking up Vat19.com. If you have kids, go there to find the most awesome toys in the world. Luke does everything Jack does. He is so tired here, but he won't quit until Jack does



Here is one of Jack's buildings. He builds probably 30 structures a day. He likes to set them up as domino runs, too.



Bucky balls! If you don't know what they are, you haven't looked up Vat19 yet!

Grace did a really good presentation for school. They let her record her speech, so she could just push play when people came by, instead of repeating it. I thought the idea was weird, but she practiced and practiced, then recorded, edited, clipped, etc. She learned about recording and it came out very good. Her reading was very good, it sounded awesome. Im glad she had the experience with the recorder and am impressed with her ear for speach

Been busy

Theres the new floor in the back bathroom



Ive been taking classical guitar lessons for a month. This guy is the man at the top of the mountain, and Im lucky to be able to work with him. He started the knoxville guitar society, and has been at UT for many years.

Shot of the ceiling and cabinets

Check out all that molding! I had help with a few things in there, but the molding is MINE


We are turning the tile room into a studio. We put up 5/8 sheetrock over the existing walls, and will have 6 1/2 inches of that fire blanket/sound insulation in between the two walls. Everything is sealed in with sound caulk. Those metal tracks and studs are floating on it, not touching the ceiling, walls, or floor, to stop vibration.

Before shot. Ive been picking up old couch cushions on the side of the road for their foam. I filled in these windows with it, stuffed it in good, and 7/8 plywood over the top, then the sheetrock

The fireplace is no more. The hole is filled with foam, and capped, then rocked

MMMMMMMM

Eating lean

First time deer hunting. Beginners luck. They put me in a really good spot. More to come.

This old house

Imagine getting up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and forgetting about this.

This is the old floor in the back bathroom. Notice the ghost in the picture. It is in every one I tried to take, moving around, but always there.

How is that for buildup. No wonder the sinks wouldn't drain.

This is with the new plumbing and tile installed. I got my buddy Tex helping. We put down subfloor, then mortar and backerboard, then tile. It is solid and looks and feels much better than the old mushy saggy mess. We redid the rock over the walls, and now have wainscotting up, getting it all ready to paint.