Happy Halloween 2022 !

I thought I'd share our finished projects this year. We have a large display and the tutorials are on this blog site. 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 find anywhere else, like: a tutorial for my 20 … Continue reading Happy Halloween 2022 !

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How To Make A Bagged Dead Body For Halloween

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. Like most of my projects: this is simple but impressive. I've seen some bodies in our neighborhood and online instructions (using plastic containers) and … Continue reading How To Make A Bagged Dead Body For Halloween

Milk Jug Spider

Here we go! It's Halloween time on my blog again! I hope you enjoy the tutorials over the next few weeks! 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 … Continue reading Milk Jug Spider

Haunted Heads

I had two main projects I wanted to accomplish this Halloween. One project was my Silver Faceless Aliens and the second was some posts with masks, or: Haunted Heads! I decided to do these after I saw a pin. But unfortunately, no matter which pin I opened I couldn't find the instructions to make these. … Continue reading Haunted Heads

Silver Faceless Aliens

It's Halloween time again! I'm trying something new this year! Silver Faceless Aliens! They are human height and shape and creep everyone out! I instantly had the idea after looking at this mask. So much fun! Like all of my projects: it's super cheap and has a big impact. I'm making four. Here are the … Continue reading Silver Faceless Aliens

Glowing Jellyfish: Outdoor Halloween

Here we go again! It's time for my Halloween tutorials! I'm always working on our Halloween display. This year I decided I needed jellyfish! I love spooky stuff but the creepy, gory, sicko type stuff just doesn't light my fire. However, glowing awesome jellyfish sounded way too cool to pass up! I got this idea … Continue reading Glowing Jellyfish: Outdoor Halloween

In My Summer Garden

Here's a walk through of what I have growing in my garden right now. I bought this plumeria last fall and kept it in the house through winter. It's huge! This rivals the plumeria I saw in Hawaii. It loves our heat and the water retention my raised beds have. I planted it in with … Continue reading In My Summer Garden

I Painted My Kitchen Cabinets And I Love Them!

Two years ago today I finished this project and wrote this post on how to paint kitchen cabinets. I have to say that they are still one of the best home improvement projects I've done. Not simple. Not easy. But very worthwhile. The finish is just as nice as the day I rehung the cabinet … Continue reading I Painted My Kitchen Cabinets And I Love Them!

Fine Paints of Europe: Dutch Door Kit

This is the most reflective paint I've ever seen! I'm at it again! My mom came to visit me and it's been crazy! We cut down two trees with a chainsaw. It was the above ground growth on an incense bush and a pomegranate, that died back during our horrible freeze. My 20 year old … Continue reading Fine Paints of Europe: Dutch Door Kit

Watering In High Heat

The most expensive part of my garden is the city water that we're on. Our city water is piped in. The aquifer that our land is over does not have good water. We're near an air force base, started in the 50s and I wonder if over the years, that aquifer has been polluted from … Continue reading Watering In High Heat

Food Forest

Nonastringent Persimmon I started working on my perennial food forest about eleven years ago. Gardening is my hobby, not my job, so those eleven years took time I might have used for other things. That time I chose to use in my garden created a solid foundation in feeding our family, outside of the grocery … Continue reading Food Forest

Summer Sun And The Fruits Of My Labor

Summer is officially bearing down on us down here in South Texas. Boy, is it hot! If you garden: you sure don't want to do it in the middle of the day when it's over 100°F! However, all the things down here that I choose to plant will usually sail through the heat as long … Continue reading Summer Sun And The Fruits Of My Labor

Show Stopping, Southern Shrubs

I live in the South. Where I am: summer ends up getting really hot (above 100° Fahrenheit) with little to no rain for months at a time. In summer we get moisture that blows in from the Gulf of Mexico and that humidity (without rain) is a real problem. There are weeks where we don't … Continue reading Show Stopping, Southern Shrubs

The Greatest Green You’ve Never Eaten: Sweet Potato Leaves

I'm always looking for new ways to use my garden. After years of growing sweet potatoes I came across a recipe that called for the leaves. Sweet potato leaves are edible? Yes. Yes, they are.The sweet potatoes slips I got this year were supposed to be a bush variety. While they haven't thrown vines out … Continue reading The Greatest Green You’ve Never Eaten: Sweet Potato Leaves

What To Grow In Spring and How To Use It

I have a very short spring, especially this year. Usually I get my summer corn out in the beds in late February and harvest by late May. This year was an odd one. We froze all the way out into March and it was heavy freezes, too. Very bizarre for my part of the world, … Continue reading What To Grow In Spring and How To Use It

Saving The Harvest

Spring is full of heavy lifting, digging holes and amending soil. I usually build or renew my beds in spring and then switch on and off between: planting/watering and harvesting the first spring veggies. It's usually beautiful outside and I enjoy the time I'm out there. I end up in a meditative state. I can … Continue reading Saving The Harvest

Melon Trellising

I usually grow my vining melons on a trellis. Trellising makes them easy to care for and the plants themselves are healthier. Getting melon vines off the ground keeps the powdery mildew under control and I can easily spray the leaves when the inevitable aphid explosion comes. Since I like to research things, and I'm … Continue reading Melon Trellising

Pre-summer Checklist

Right now I am finishing up the main chores I have left until our summer is in full swing. Our days are already in the 80's and 90's but we are still cooling off at night (and when it rains) so it's not officially summer weather for us. I have to hurry to get everything … Continue reading Pre-summer Checklist

Building The Perfect Raised Beds

Cardboard and paper trash is a gardener's treasure! This is a Hugelkulter/Keyhole cross, garden bed. I have grown in beds of this design for close to 10 years and I love them! I can grow an endless amount of things in these beds. This is a banana in the background and okra up front. Overwintered … Continue reading Building The Perfect Raised Beds

Moroccan Sweet Potato Fritters with Ras El Hanout Yogurt Sauce

Sweet potatoes, beet roots (These are chiogga beets. White, yellow or striped beets have a milder flavor than solid red beets), beet greens and spring onions This is my recipe for using up spring veggies before the heat of summer ends their season. I grew all the veggies except the sweet potatoes (which are not … Continue reading Moroccan Sweet Potato Fritters with Ras El Hanout Yogurt Sauce