Country By Choice: Kitchen & Garden. . .Garden & Kitchen. . both are looking good!

What a handy guy!

It's been a while since my last update and the kitchen is really starting to come together. Steve got most of the lighting installed last week and it looks great. After taking down nine florescent fixtures we were worried that the six can lights and three pendants wouldn't give us the light we've been used to, but we really like the new look.
Last week we went to pick out our slabs of granite and the backsplash tile. They are scheduled to be installed next week then it's just fixing the sheetrock, a little paint and getting everything put back together. Oh and the floor, I bought the stuff to 'refinish' the slate floor on one of our many trips to Lowes, so that will probably be the finishing touch. I can't wait.

Last week Steve and I took a break from working on the kitchen to trim up the trees around our property. It was an all day task that really gave the yard a 'face' lift. We decided to trim up a large cedar tree back by the barn that we have said we wanted trimmed up for years. 'Papa' Steve cut the branches on the back side of the trunk longer than the others so the grandsons could have a 'ladder' to help them climb up the tree. It's a great climbing tree for growing boys.

If you haven't figured it out already, I think I'm in love with the greatest guy EVER! And, if the kitchen project and hours of tree trimming weren't enough, he recently bought me the greatest gift a garden-girl could ever want. It's like one of those Mantis tillers you see on TV, but this one is a Sears Craftsman tiller with a 4-stroke engine. . . yee haw! After the nice rain we got last week the garden really began to grow, as did the grass and weeds. So today was weedin' day. Usually, this time of year I'd take on several rows everyday and hoe, hoe, hoe. This morning I mini-tilled 70% of the garden in just over an hour. Yea! It was incredible! Thanks, baby! I love my new toy!

The plants really like the rain we got last week and has begun to look like a real garden. The potatoes are getting tall so I've mulched them with lots of hay, along with the tomatoes and peppers. I've been picking peas, radishes and spinach. The onions are beginning to make bigger bulbs and the late plantings of melons, cukes and winter squash are all poking their head out. Late last week I planted another row of okra and soybeans so the harvest will be a little longer, even though I'm not sure what I'll do with more. I just can't stand to have blank garden space. Here's a few new pictures so you can see how it's grown.