I saw this and I had to make one! All of my Halloween decorations are cheap, but some require a little planning. If you want to make this you will need to find the pieces and order them so that this is done before Halloween! Get my new e-book on Amazon! It’s free with Kindle … Continue reading Cousin It… Oh Yeah!
This is a great project! I've been able to reuse the original for nine years because I bought a dress form and a Styrofoam head that I restretch the ghost over every year. I really recommend getting a form for this project. Find out how to make her below! Halloween 2023 Oh, I had fun … Continue reading Easy Packing Tape Ghost
I made my original dead body bag about 4 or 5 years ago and I've learned some things about how to make these after having to repair it a few times. Get my new e-book on Amazon! It’s free with Kindle Unlimited or $3.99 to purchase. There are projects in this e-book that you won’t … Continue reading How To Make A Bagged Dead Body For Halloween
I love making Halloween decorations, but I think they should be nearly free. Most of the things in our yard are homemade (with the exception of a couple of blow up displays and some skeletons.) I need my display to make a big impact (because we are trying to get people to walk down a … Continue reading Trash Bag Witch Circle/Ghost ring
Here we go! It's Halloween time on my blog again! I hope you enjoy the tutorials! I love making Halloween decorations! I also love to make CHEAP decorations. I don't think I can find a good reason to buy a lot of what I see in the stores. I am pretty happy with a lot … Continue reading Milk Jug Spider
These are striped cushaw squash. These are a Texas staple. They are vine borer resistant and have a great flavor. These look like giant summer squash, but no. They are definitely winter squash. I had another large one that was super rotten. It's out in the yard. I'm going to let it plant itself for … Continue reading Today’s Harvest
I spend a lot on my garden. City water is the biggest thing I pay for, followed closely by plants. I could spend a heck of a lot more, but I'm a dumpster diver at heart. The other day I was coming home, from dropping my youngest at school, and I saw this sink in … Continue reading Trash To Treasure
This month is heavy on the picking and light on the work. Why? Because I worked hard in the spring to create this exact scenario. Water-wise, deep beds have yielded incredible amounts of produce. See how we built them here: Hugelkultur, Keyhole Gardens: Bridging Ideas and here: Mother’s Day Raised Hugelkultur Bed! Instructions for creating … Continue reading Reaping The Rewards Of Spring Planning
I usually hate wild morning glory. It's called "bind weed" in the Midwest because it gets tangled up in equipment (like mowers) and has to be cut off. I've been trying to get rid of the wild morning glory for twelve years. I've finally learned to just enjoy it. It doesn't take up much space … Continue reading In The Garden
I grew a few bush, and vine habit, winter squash this year. I only grow squash that are squash vine borer, resistant. There are two squash borer invasions per season here in my part of Texas. I only got one green one this year. If I like it significantly more than the yellow ones I … Continue reading Winter Squash, Texas Style
I love my bananas, but still no fruit. If you keep the water up, you can have a jungle too! Giant fig One of my little friends! Meet you out in the garden to sample our produce! Crazy Green Thumbs
This is awful for trying to juice pomegranates. In fact I think it would be awful for citrus, which is what it is made for. This does not compress enough to be worthwhile. I used my fingers to juice what was left and it shot out from under my grip and spilled what little the … Continue reading Yes Or No: Pomegranates?
Can you grow and fruit pineapple in south Texas? Absolutely! The plants need to be brought inside for winter, but you can definitely grow your own pineapples. This one was grown from a pineapple top from a fruit from the grocery store. You can use tops from the grocery store, but you will get smaller … Continue reading Pineapple, Texas Style
Took this photo on a cross country trip. My mother and I have remarked that we each have seen clouds that we've never seen before, in the past ten years or so. My mother is in her mid seventies. I'm in my early fifties. That's quite a span for two outdoorsy women to draw from. … Continue reading Strange Rainbow Cloud
This is a G.E.M. avocado. It's supposed to be hardy to zone 9. Thanks to the warming temperatures over the last ten years we have been moved from 8b to 9a. As most people know: we are still in the tail end of an ice age and when you are coming out of an ice … Continue reading Avocado, Texas Style
Feel like today is 101°F. I'm currently hiding out in the air conditioning. However, I was out there about an hour ago moving stuff so the mowing crew can weedeat the gravel area. Right now it looks like the Serengeti. Grass as tall as my torso. The grass got out from under me this year. … Continue reading Fall Garden Happenings
Both flowers seem to have been well pollinated, even though I didn't see anything on them. Seems like I don't need to worry about hand pollination, since: I wasn't home to mess with the first one and the fruit still set. Interested in seeing what the flavor of this is. Hopefully better than the ones … Continue reading Developing Dragon Fruit
One of my family's favorite summer foods are often called either "quick" or "refrigerator" pickles. These make the crunchiest pickles because they aren't cooked. I grow Armenian cucumbers, which are actually melons. They taste like cucumbers and they don't get bitter in our high heat like actual cucumbers do. So, I always have fresh additions … Continue reading Quick/Refrigerator Pickles
We went on a tour of different universities. My boys had to deal with me excitedly saying, "Mushrooms!" as I ran across the street to take pictures. Yes. I am that embarrassing as a parent. But, they had a lot of patience for their goofy mom. I can't go places and not notice things in … Continue reading Great Links About Fungi
OMG! I am so glad I stuck with the annoying, ridiculously hard to train (to move indoors for winter), tropical vining cactus: the dragon fruit! I have only seen one other flower that rivals a dragon fruit flower. It was also a type of night blooming cereus. My mother had it as a house plant … Continue reading Dragon Fruit: Texas Style!
Crazy Green Thumbs 