Linda @ Linda’s Lunacy

Saturday on the Farm

May 21, 2011 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

It’s so much fun now to walk around the yard and see everything. Maybe one of these days, I’ll take a video.

Does anyone know what kind of flower this is? I got it at church on Mother’s Day, but it didn’t have a tag in the pot.

I was told this plant was a house leek, but I’m pretty sure it’s a Sedum, instead.

These two plants are in one of the gardens in front of the house. The Sedum is in the lower left of the picture, right behind the trellis. You can just barely see the red flower right before the 1st Hosta. You can also see the Glad foliage closer to the house. If you look behind the van, on the left side of the driveway is where our main vegetable garden is. On the right of the driveway, across from the veggies, is where the apple trees are, with the raspberries behind them.

When you go to the end of this garden, and turn left around the corner of the house, you come to the Bible Garden. A Bible garden is a garden with either plants mentioned in the Bible or plants grown in Bible lands. Sometimes, it’s fun to use plants with names that have something to do with the Bible.

These are Day Lilies.

I have two of these, and they are getting lots of buds. 🙂

One of the rose bushes has a bud. My two rose bushes in the Bible garden are about 10 years old, and don’t have much life left in them. They have been frost bitten too many times. You can see the dead wood in this picture. Yeah, probably should prune that.

This is my daughter Hannah checking out the Lamb’s Ear on the other end of the Bible Garden.

The Lamb’s Ear is shooting up, getting ready to send out the flower spike.

Look at the apples! These are not in the Bible Garden, but are along the driveaway.

The Chickens decided they wanted to go for a ride.

The Tulip Popular tree in the backyard is getting a lot of tulips on it. This tree is to the left of the chickens trying to catch a ride on the trailer. The Tulip Popular is the Kentucky State Tree.

Now we’re back behind the house in the herb garden. This is Feverfew.

My son looking at all the herbs. 🙂

Yes, I realize that newspaper and cardboard mulch is not very attractive. But these are the only things that will stand up to free range chickens. I have used hay as mulch in the past, and I love it. Unfortunately, so do the chickens. They love to shred it, and send it all over the yard while looking for lunch. So for now, the chickens win. Pretty soon, though, they will be penned up again. I do believe that I will miss my little buddies knocking on the front door for food, and crowing outside my bedroom window at 4:30 in the morning. Ok, I won’t miss the crowing! lol

Here are some links I found helpful:

Learning About Pests & Disease
DIY Organic Fertilizer

Grab The Saturday on the Farm Button!

Saturday on the Farm is a blog carnival that lets us share links to our blog post. It’s fun to visit each others farms.

To participate in Saturday on the Farm:

Write a post about your homestead, farm, farmette, or the tomato plant on your deck. Your cows, goats, chicken, or your favorite kitty cat.
Add the link to your post (not your main page) below.
Please link back to me so others can join the fun, too.

For more Farm & Garden posts, please visit:
Homestead Barn Hop
Bloomin’ Tuesday
Frugal Gardening 101
Fertilizer Friday/ Flaunt Your Flowers

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Our Homeschool Week in Review

May 20, 2011 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

This week hasn’t been terribly exciting in our home. We’re just plugging along with work.

It ended up being cold this week! Which is highly unusual for Kentucky in May. We did manage to get some work done in the garden yesterday. Today has turned out really warm! So we worked some more in the garden and got a few things planted.

I did talk with each of the kids about their goals this week. More important for the high school kids than the 4th and 6th graders. But since we talked about how much of a summer break they are going to get, the two younger ones were really interested. lol

Hannah, 15, who is completing 10th grade because she worked ahead, doesn’t want to take a summer break. She just wants to keep working. Calen 16, who is completing 10th grade does want to take a break. So as soon as he finishes his books, he will be on vacation until the first week of August. He does spend time working on computers and such, so I’m sure he will make wise use of his time. Or I’ll find lots of work for him to do. lol

The 4th and 6th graders will be only getting the month of July off for vacation. Of course, they will get a day or two off here and there when cousins come to visit.

I’m not a big fan of summer vacations. I learned early on in our homeschool, having started kindergarten with our oldest in 1991, that it’s easier to keep schooling over the summer. I found attitudes about starting school again after summer vacation were less than desirable. Besides, in real life you never get the whole summer off. Unless, of course, you are a teacher. 🙂

One exciting thing did happen since my last homeschool week in review!

I have been selected to be a part of the TOS Homeschool Crew!

I am so excited! I’m really looking forward to reviewing some great homeschool products!

Until next week, here are a few websites I found helpful:

Homeschooling Grades
How to Calculate Grade Point Averages For Homeschooled Students
Homemade Butterfly Feeder

Please visit:
Weekly Wrap Up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.
Wrapping Up The Week
Weekly Homeschool Highlights

This Week’s Favorites

May 20, 2011 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

I found lots of new favorites this week.

Backing Up Your Photos
How to Create a Watermark Action in Photoshop
15 Ways Technology Can Clear Your Clutter
Baby Quilt Patterns

How I Healed My Childs Cavity

Testing New Essential Oils

14 Natural Items for Your Alternative First Aid Kit

Steps for At Home Allergy Testing

Homemade Jams in a Jiffy
White Bean Vanilla Cake
Frugal Living with Food Sensitives
Ranch Bean Dip
Home Canning Meat
Homemade Turkey Breakfast Sausage
Ranch Dorito Taco Salad
Make Your Own Gluten Free Convenience Foods
Healthier Brown Rice Krispy Treats

Hope you found some new favorites, too!

Please visit:

Saturday’s Stumbles

Share Your Faves.

Once a Month House Cleaning?

May 20, 2011 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

Have you read any of these articles about once a month house cleaning?

The Case for Once a Month Cleaning – Part One

How to Clean Your House Once a Month – Part Two

A Day in the Life of a Once a Month Cleaner – Part Three

They definitely have my attention!

Since I’m still not feeling up to par most days, could I really skip most weekly cleaning tasks? It sure would be nice to be able to put my energy into other projects that need to be done besides cleaning.

So, I’m going to try this!

Well, actually, I’m going to ease into it by trying bi-weekly cleaning. Since we’re having company the last Friday of this month, I don’t want to subject them to my cleaning experiment.

No weekly cleaning for me this week. Yea! I spent my time and energy working in the garden instead. 🙂

So what do you think? Would you try monthly cleaning?

Wordless Wednesday – Cat Nap

May 18, 2011 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

I looked out the front door the other day to find this crazy cat taking a nap with a shovel as a pillow!

For more pictures, visit Wordless Wednesday,
Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom ,
Say “Cheese” at It’s a Blog Party
A Beautiful Mess,
Live and Love Outloud,
Shibley Smiles
Angelica’s Awesome Adventures
The Florida Hogans
The Life of Rylie & Bryce, too
Mama to 4 Blessings
Wordy or Not So Wordy Wednesday
Frugality is Free
Dear Crissy
Baba’s Farm Life
Resourceful Mommy
Mrs. Mama Hen

Taco Pasta Salad

May 17, 2011 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

I’ve been making this Taco Pasta Salad for almost 5 years. And we still love it. 🙂 This recipe is from the July/August 2006 issue of Country Woman Magazine. Everyone that I have served it to, loves it. Hope you do too!

Taco Pasta Salad

3 cups uncooked spiral pasta
1 pound ground beef
1 envelope taco seasoning
1 1/4 cups mayonnaise
2 to 3 tablespoons milk
3 3/4 teaspoons cider vinegar
3 3/4 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon ground mustard
7 cups torn iceberg lettuce
1 – 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cups crushed nacho tortilla chips

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Stir in taco seasoning; heat through.

2. In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, milk, vinegar, sugar and mustard; set aside.

3. Drain pasta; place in a large bowl. Add beef and mayonnaise mixture; toss to coat. Add lettuce, tomatoes and cheese; toss to combine. Sprinkle with tortilla chips.

Serves 12-14

MY NOTES:

I have also used elbow, shells and other shaped pasta. They all work well.
I don’t like mustard, so I don’t use it.
I have used all kinds of lettuce, not just iceberg. I use raw spinach, too.
You can also use plain tortilla chips. Or none. I often serve this without chips.
We like to sprinkle the cheese on the top, instead of stirring in.
It’s delicious served warm like the recipe says. I also make this ahead of time and refrigerate. Served cold with or without chips it makes a great summer meal.