This Is Us

  This year I planted a whole packet of Zinnias in our garden and it’s beautiful!!! I love Zinnias. There are so many colors and they just keep blooming. They are great for the pollinators and for keeping color in your gardens all summer and fall. They have quickly become one of my favorite flowers! If you’d like to know more about these beautiful flowers you can read it in this  Post - Zinnias . What are your favorite flower(s)? 

  We have been having problems with our cat and bugs getting into our garden beds this year.  I read that sprinkling cinnamon on the soil will keep them out.  Cats and pests don't like the strong smell of cinnamon.  Cinnamon also has antibacterial and antifungal properties which helps control plant diseases, umm hello... How wonderful is that?!  It can also help roots grow on cuttings. If you sprinkle cinnamon on your seed starting blocks it will help your seeds start out their journey healthy, as it helps prevent diseases. To use it on cuttings, lightly dust the cut end of your cuttings before planting. I will be sprinkling cinnamon on our garden beds and seed starting blocks every spring from now on!  Who's with me?  

  Our chickens used to just free range and roam around our yard.  Brichette got Rooben, and unfortunately that had to end.  We didn't think he would hurt them, but he has.  So, we can't just let them out in the morning, let them play around, and then close the coop at night.  We decided to build a chicken run.  We can put them in it in the morning and then take them back to the coop in the evening.  Nick built it out of wood and latus and put a door on it.  So far so good.

  Our first gardening beds weren't tall because we didn't have to fill them up with much.  However, it was hard to pick the fruits/veggies, pull weeds, and made my back sore. So Nick has added metal to some of the boxes and built some new boxes taller.  We put cinder blocks and branches in them, then we filled them with dirt.  We moved the strawberries over and planted other stuff in the other new beds..  This will make it so much easier to garden out of. Hopefully we can get the rest of the garden boxes adjusted to taller ones and get other things growing in them.  It's so nice to have them taller... I love them so much!

  Today it was warm enough that we could take our sweet ladies, Bluey and Bingo, outside.  Pullets (adolescent hens) can only be outside full time if the temperature is constantly above 50 and after they have slowly been taken outside for a few hours at first, then adding a few hours more and more to add up to a whole day.  This is to get them used to the weather. After they have been outside all summer, they will be fine with fall, winter, and spring, because they will be used to it. We are so blessed to be able to have chickens and I wish we could have more. 

  On Saturday we (I mean Nick) not only built  this trellis  but he made some of our garden boxes taller with metal that he had. We moved our strawberries over so we could get rid of all the stupid weed grass stuff.  We need to do the other two boxes. It's so nice to have them taller.  It's easier to weed, when we need to, gather the fruits/veggies, and see what needs to be done. This is what they looked like before. This is Lydia and Tyler helping me move the strawberries over.

  Even though we had sunshine and warmth in St. George for our spring break getaway:  Day 1   Day 2   Day 3   Day 4   We got a lot of snow at home.  So we will just stay inside and watch movies. lol I know we need the moisture and I am so grateful for it, but I also love the sunshine and warm days.  I try hard to just enjoy every season and everything it brings.  So we will just enjoy having the  Electric Fireplace  on and watching movies in the darkness with our fun LED lights on that are on top of our  Entertainment Center .

  Our sweet little chickens, Bluey and Bingo, are doing so good.  They are getting so big and they are so cute. We let them out of their brooder for a little while today and they were so funny to watch. Here they are...

  Today is the first day of spring.  Yay!!!  I am so happy to have spring here.  Now, that doesn't mean we won't be getting anymore snow.  Utah is known for having snow clear until April, sometimes even in May.  But... for the most part we can start planting our garden and getting our seedlings going inside to plant outside after our last frost (which is in April this year!). For our photo challenge today it’s signs of spring. Well, I woke up today to rain. Lots and lots of rain. I am so grateful for the rain. I was just hoping today would be sunny and a little warmer. Although spring usually brings lots of rain. Lol! But, it might be sunny later today! Anyway… Here are the signs of spring around here...

  For our photo challenge today, since it's St. Patrick's Day we chose Green as the prompt. We have a fun day of having green food, wearing green, and watching a movie.  You can read all about our St. Patrick's Day Parties  HERE . Here is some green from our yard.  It's a nice sunny day today.  It's not warm, but it's not cold or windy either.  The kids have spent most of the afternoon outside.  It's been wonderful!

it’s been raining most of the night, so our ground is covered in wet and puddles. There is also a little left-over  snow, piles of leaves, kid’s toys, sleeping grass, dead flowers, but there are a few signs of spring starting to come up. Day 15 for our photo challenge we picked On The Ground. I wish we could post about sand on the ground because we are on vacation to a warm beach, but I can't because we are not.  One of my favorite songs is Dirt by Florida Georgia Line.  Have you ever heard it? If not here is the link to their official video  Dirt, by Florida Georgia Line . It's a good song. Here is our ground today…

Day 10 is what we are dreaming of. We have big dreams...  We would love to have at least 10 acres with a big farmhouse, a huge garden, and lots and lots of animals and bees.  I would have a little farm shop that we could sell our homemade and fresh food out of.  Oh how wonderful that all would be. What are your dreams?

Day 7 of our photo challenge is Wind. Wind is a powerful element. We have created windmills to use that power. I wish we could have a windmill to power our home (it’s against the city regulations 😩). It brings in storms. It clears out smog. It carries birds. It distributes seeds. Did you know: The highest wind ever recorded was 253 mph. It was during the tropical storm, Olivia, in 1996 on Barrow Island, Australia. Crazy huh? Humans can survive blasts of 500 mph. Which is important to know because sometimes pilots need to eject from their planes at those speeds.  Happy Tuesday! I know it’s hard to tell with photos, but in these the wind is blowing very hard. If you want to see the videos, check out our Instagram! 😁

Day 6: Mountains/Beach 🏔️ I love the mountains! Nick and I have lived in Utah our whole lives. We have mountains all around us! We love spending time camping, driving, hiking, and picnicking in them. I don’t know if I would ever be able to live without them. 🏖️ We do enjoy spending time at the beach though! Which do you live by? Which is your favorite? Some fun facts about Mountains… The tallest peak in Utah is King’s Peak at 13,528’ There are 80 mountain ranges in Utah Mount Everest is the highest Some fun facts about Beaches… There are 7 pink sand beaches The world’s longest beach,  Praia do Cassino, is located in Brazil. Beach…