Summers Acres

Pruning the Grapevines

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It is the time of the year to prune grapevines. It is best to prune them during their dormant stage in the winter, but it is also a good idea to prune them as late in the winter as possible. Pruning them late in the winter leaves less time before the open wounds caused by pruning to naturally heal themselves. During the winter, the vines are dormant and will not heal the wounds caused by pruning. This leaves a slight chance of disease to enter through the wound. Now, it is still better to prune them early in the winter than to wait to long, but to be on the safe side, I like to wait until late in the winter.

There is a lot of information to be found on the internet about pruning your grapevines, but a lot of it is very difficult to follow. I have read and reread dozens of posts about pruning grapevines, and to be honest it was mostly very difficult to follow. Luckily this is our first year, so the pruning this year is rather straight forward.
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Chicken Cam – 6 Day Old Chicks

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The baby chicks are growing so fast. It amazes me how long their wing feathers are getting. They have a fascination for pecking on the cardboard walls and floors of the box. We love to watch them scratch in the wood chips.

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Simple Door Reinforcement

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Here is a very simple, and cheap home security improvement that anyone can do in just a few minutes.

The plates in your door right now probably have 3/4″ or 1″ screws holding them in place. All this accomplishes is holding the plate in place. If you remove those screws and replace them with longer screws, it will add a little more resistance should an intruder even try to kick your door in.

Using 2″ or 2 1/2″ screws will secure the, plate in place as well as go through the door frame and into the stud next to the frame. This will make your door more sound.

Now, I am not suggesting this will stop an intruder, because it won’t. However, with 2 screws through the door knob plate, and 2 more through the dead bolt plate, it just may add enough resistance to force an intruder to fail to breach your door on the first try, or cause them to loose their balance due to the additional force. This could buy you some precious time. Enough time to get your wits about you, or give you a jump on preparing to defend your home and family.

There is no guarantee that any of this will help. However, there is a chance it will slow an intruder down just enough to change the outcome in you favor. For the few cents 4 screws cost, why not? Even if you think the odds of this helping are as low a 1%. Wouldn’t you buy that extra 1% for under a buck?

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The Gardening Notebook E-book Review

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Recently I was given the opportunity to review the newly released “The Gardening Notebook” E-book by Angi at SchneiderPeeps. I’ve had it for about a week now and quickly glossed over it when I first received it. However, I did not want to do a review until I could spend more time with it.

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Gardening Notebook
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Baby Chicks

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I took Monday off from work so that I could go with George to get his wisdom teeth cut out. That all went as well as can be expected and was even quite comical at times (gas and anesthesia). In the evening after Jon got home from work we all took a trip to Tractor Supply. I figured George would want to stay home and take it easy, but he wasn’t going to miss out on Jon and me buying our first baby chicks. He is a country boy and has had his own chickens and roosters for several years. I’m sure he figured we would need his guidance.

TSC got their first chicks and ducks supply in on Monday. By the time we got there, all the baby ducks were gone and one container of the baby chicks were empty as well. Oh, you could hear them cheeping as soon as we entered the store. They had 4 large metal tubs still left. Oh, they were all so cute! I wish I had thought to take a picture of them then. But we were so excited, that it never occurred to me.

All of the little yellow fuzz balls were a straight run of White Cornish. The sign said they were better for meat chickens.
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Heritage Everbearing Raspberries Latham Raspberries

Planting The Raspberries

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Yesterday after church and our grocery run in Walmart, Jon planted our new raspberry vines that we bought from Tractor Supply Company Saturday. These were packed in peat moss and the raspberries we ordered online last year were shipped in a dormant dry root state.

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Chicken Waterer Heat Lamp Supplies Tractory Supply

Chicks, Onions, Garlic, and Raspberries

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I apologize the posts have been sparse this week. Work has been hectic and very full days all week and it seems life has just been a bit busy.

My oldest came by Monday after work to discuss his taxes, all the details about getting his wisdom teeth cut out this coming Monday, and to drop of his laptop for some software installation. It was good to spend the evening with him as sometimes I may not see him for a couple of weeks.

Then Tuesday I worked a little late as I was on the brink of a coding breakthrough and I just could not let it go! I got my program working fantastically and headed home. My boss was in the parking lot as I was leaving work and texted me that my car didn’t sound right and I should probably get it looked at. I had not noticed, but I turned the radio off and did hear the humming/whirling sound it was making. I had just had the oil changed last week and there were not issues. So, naturally I am really concerned as my Envoy is a 2005 and has 145k+ miles on it. After getting home, since Jon was closing I worked on George’s laptop. I installed his AVG virus protection, Microsoft Office, and then did some “clean up” on his laptop as he does not. He would not be offended if he never had to use a computer again, but alas he must use one for college.

Jon was off Wednesday and had already planned on taking his truck to the dealer as his check engine light had been on for a few days and his truck was less than a year old. So, he did that super early and luckily all was well. They said it was some code due to the aftermarket gas cap he has (we all had our gas syphoned awhile back and bought locking gas caps). OK, whatever at least it wasn’t anything big. So he was done at the dealership about the time I was heading to work. So I dropped my car off at another garage for them to take a look and Jon picked me up and took me to work. I had a bad idler pulley and they replaced it for $159. Well, that wasn’t in the budget, but at least it wasn’t worse. I was worrying the whole time until the garage called to tell me the problem. Then Wednesday evening we all went to church after work and school.

Thursday I actually went to Zumba to work out. I have failed miserably at working out recently, but am glad I went. I should report the instructor for attempted mass murder! It was brutal or ummmm I have gotten out of shape.

Then Friday I picked up George’s 4 prescriptions in preparation for his wisdom teeth surgery Monday and went to Sarah’s indoor soccer game. They won.

Then today Jon and I went to Sarah’s last soccer game of this indoor season and the girls won again. It was cool to wrap up the season with 2 strong wins as the beginning of the season was a bit rocky. Then we went to Tractor Supply after the game. We love TSC!

We were mostly going to look for onion sets as we need to start planting in a week and supplies for chickens. Yes, chickens. We have been discussing and preparing for awhile. The TSC employee said the baby chicks will be in Monday! Yay, I thought it would be a few more weeks. So, we went ahead and got some starter supplies for new baby chicks. Continue reading “Chicks, Onions, Garlic, and Raspberries” →

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Gun Tote’n Mamas’ Conceal Carry Zebra-Print Basic Hobo Handbag

Gun Tote’n Mamas’ Conceal Carry Zebra-Print Hobo Purse

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This is a fashion/safety post for the ladies. Some time back Jon and I took the conceal carry permit (CCP) class and registered for our conceal carry permits. Initially, I bought a belt style holster for my .38 Ruger. But a holster never really felt comfortable to me. This is probably because I do not usually wear a belt and I have right many “curves” so it always just felt like it was poking or rubbing me somewhere. I truly believe it is because of the shape of my body and not due to a lack of design of the belt holster I have.

So, for several months now I have been looking for a conceal carry purse. Like most women, my purse goes with me everywhere so it makes sense to keep my handgun there as well. What I found out is they are quite expensive! I do understand they need to be of stronger material for the liner as well as exterior. Conceal carry purses are made at a higher quality than the every day purse due to the need to securely support a heavy handgun safely. I really had hoped for something under the $100 range if at all possible.

I also am quite picky about the design of my pocket books. I need pockets and compartments in a functional size and design. While I always like a good looking purse I look for functionality first. That has always been a laborious task for me even before having a CCP and now having extra “functionality” requirements.

And lastly, well dangit I wanted something cute! I generally go with a leather bag of some sort. Leather tends to be more durable. But leather CCP purses were either several hundred dollars or were only in a biker or western style (neither of which I preferred).

So, after several attempts at looking I bought the Gun Tote’n Mamas’ conceal carry zebra-print basic hobo handbag from amazon for $75. Have I mentioned I love amazon? It is now showing for $80.

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Peroxide Mouthwash for Whitening Teeth

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I used to be a smoker and drink wine, coffee, tea, and grape juice. Although I quit smoking a few years back and rarely drink a glass of wine, I still frequently enjoy coffee, tea, and grape juice. These are all some of the worst things for staining or yellowing teeth. There are many products on the market that offer teeth whitening (Crest White Strips, Rembrandt, etc.). I have never paid for professional whitening, but over the course of my adult life I have spent countless dollars on the over the counter products to keep my teeth white and counteract the staining effect of some of my favorite things. Although over the counter, they can still get quite expensive. On top of the price, none of them are really enjoyable to apply or use. Some are abrasive gritty toothpastes, bleaching gels and plastic trays, plastic whitening strips, and brushing a liquid bleach onto the teeth.

About 4 or 5 years ago, a friend emailed me an article about various home remedies one of which was using hydrogen peroxide as a mouthwash. If I still had it I would share it, but that has been many moons ago. After that email I looked at some of the products I had been using and found that hydrogen peroxide was a key ingredient in them. The mouth rinse which is the last step in the multi-step system that Rembrandt has was pure hydrogen peroxide. So, I read the Hydrogen peroxide bottle I had at home (for wound antiseptic cleansing) and found it also said right on the bottle it could be used as an “oral rinse”. The bottle I currently have in the medicine cabinet says “oral debriding agent”.
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Gettin’ Down on the Mountain

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I guess everyone thinks Jon and I have just lost our minds. Well, my immediate family does not seem to think so, but they have probably already lost theirs too. Jon’s friends think so. A few of them have said so. One of his of buds texted him this youtube video a while back. He said it reminded him of Jon. Neither of us had heard of this song, but instantly fell in love with it. It is now my ringtone on my iphone for Jon.

Gettin’ Down on the Mountain by Corb Lund – CD Cabin Fever

Do your family or friends think you have lost it? If so, I’d love to hear your stories. We personally think anyone is crazy if they do not get back to some basics and learn to do for themselves some.

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