Garden Starts and Trees!

Last summer, I saved the pits from some of the white nectarines, peaches, and one plum that we ate.  I put them in damp dirt in ziploc bags and kept them in the refrigerator all winter.  Yesterday, I pulled them out:

As you can see, they have sprouted!  I planted 3 white nectarines, 3 peaches, and 1 plum in pots.  Now we wait to see if they all continue to grow.  I had success last year with the 2 white nectarines I started this way.  One is growing in the yard, and the other is about a foot tall in a pot on my front porch, waiting to be transplanted.  Obviously, I don't have room for all of these fruit trees, so I may be giving some away if they all grow.

I've also started several seed trays in the sunroom.  Many of them are sprouting.  I've been happily playing in the dirt for a couple of weeks this way.  I even tried to clear up some of the garden space outside, but it's been too wet to do much outside yet, and it is very early, so a hard frost (or several) are most likely still in our future.  I've been trying to tell that to my plum tree, but it has been getting buds.  Oh dear.  There probably won't be any plums again this year.  Crazy weather!

Gyunay and Katie

Gyuany was sitting next to Katie, and they looked so cute sitting together.  Gyunay asked me to take a picture of them, but as soon as I moved in front of them, Katie came to me instead of staying by Gyunay.  Finally, I pitched a treat behind Gyunay just to get her to stay in the picture.  Gyunay thought it was funny, as you can see.

My handsome and amazing youngest son

Book Review - The Sea Before Us by Sarah Sundin

The Sea Before Us by Sarah Sundin tells the tale of the Wrens in England in WWII and their coordination with the US Naval forces.  It is a fascinating look at details of D-Day that are often unknown.  The author did a great job of researching this book, and I appreciate her care to detail.  I admit that I skimmed the battle scenes, just because I don't care to read about actual battles, but other readers will probably appreciate them.

Main characters Wyatt and Dorothy both have difficult pasts, and both are interesting characters.  I liked watching them grow throughout the novel.  The faith elements in this book are obvious and woven throughout the story.  Trust in the Lord and forgiveness are big themes. 

I highly recommend this book.  I received a copy from the publisher, Revell, for the purpose of writing a review, but all opinions are my own.

Stuffed Animal Bean Bag

I decided that we need a way to contain all of Lydia's stuffed animals, so when I saw this free pattern online (https://www.sewcanshe.com/blog/2017/11/8/bean-bag-chair-pattern-with-toy-storage-part-2), I decided to try it.  It's even bigger than I expected, and it actually holds all of her stuffed animals.

It has a handle, so she can drag it around the house.  

So now she has a bean bag chair that stores her animals.  I really like the fabric, too.  I had a good coupon for JoAnn's and was just going to get whatever would work, but this print matches her room so well.  Gyunay loves it, too, so maybe I'll make a smaller one for him.  We'll see...

New Couches

The first time we bought a piece of furniture, it was our living room couch.  It was very nice for many years, but 13 years for a couch is a long time, especially with our family bouncing on it every day.  So we finally decided to buy a new living room couch and ended up with a couch and a loveseat.  The kids are still very excited about this!  

It was ridiculously hard trying to get Gyunay to smile in a non-cheesy fashion for this photo.  I finally gave up and went with this more serious look.  

I took this photo before I moved the brown recliner to the corner, but the couches are still in this vicinity.  We now have 4 reclining seats in the couches, which has thrilled the big boys and Lydia, although not for herself.  She doesn't use the recliners, but she's so happy that Pa will love them when he comes.  They are wonderfully comfortable, so much so that Nathaniel has taken over one side of the loveseat and let me move his recliner out of tv viewing range.  

Book Review - I Will Not Fear by Melba Pattillo Beals

I wanted to like this book more than I actually did.  The author's participation in the integration of Little Rock was fascinating, and this was the strongest part of the book, but it is only the beginning.  I wonder if her memoir Warriors Don't Cry would be more engaging for me.  Her story of severe, life-threatening racism is valuable and eye-opening, especially for someone of my age who always went to school with children of other races and thought it nothing unusual to have them over to our house or to go to theirs.
That said, as a story, it was a little disjointed after the first couple of chapters.  It was more a collection of memories, and no other people in her stories became fully "alive" to the reader.  And I came to have a real problem with her attitudes toward education over marriage about halfway through the book, when she kept stressing her mom's mantra of "Education lasts forever, but husbands are temporary."
Overall, I think she has been an important eye witness to a truly troubling era of our history, and she has certainly had an unusual amount of trials but has learned to rely on her faith to help her through.

I received this book from the publisher, Revell, for the purpose of writing a review, but all opinions are my own.

Icy Beauty

We woke up to an icy show.  I was surprised that we had school today, but the roads are ok.  Everything else, however, is still coated in ice.

January Egg Totals and Etc

January egg total - 103

I also managed to harvest one Bulgarian pepper this month.  I had the plant in a pot and moved it inside in October, and it has been slowly, slowly, maturing.  It was only one pepper, but it was delicious.  The plant has since died; it had done all it could.

Two other pots have been getting a lot of attention lately.  I had two beautiful pots of basil, but they are looking really sad right now. The reason, though, is quite funny.  Lydia has decided that basil is delicious, and she is constantly munching leaves from the plants.  Gyunay occasionally eats one as well, but Lydia is really in love with it.  She recently asked if basil is for sale in the grocery, so she could buy a big bag and eat it all.  I've taken note, and I plan on planting a lot more basil in the spring.