Look at these pea pods! Lots to update you on. First as you can see from the above picture the pea pods are coming along great! However, the cucumbers did not take after the fur friend incident so I decided it was time to take action and start something else in that area.

Here is a peek at the new starting kit, I planted four rows of cucumbers, four rows of cantaloupe, and four rows of eggplant. We have never had much luck with melons so I am hoping by starting them inside we will have hearty little plants to put out this summer!

I also started some zinnias in hopes that they will be looking good around Mother's Day! Trying to think ahead a little bit here and stay on top of the growing! Searching for an idea to vine the pea pods with, if you have any you want to share feel free to leave suggestions in the comment section. 

A quick update on the doll, still rooting hair and breaking needles, but I think she's getting close. Going to add a little more weight to her limbs and body; looking for her to weigh about seven pounds or so. The outfit that she is wearing now was one of my daughters so that is neat!

So excited to see the Cilantro has finally sprouted! These poor plants have had a rough start as my fur friends like to jump up on the garden tables and knock them over. But this herb looks like it's going to make it! Hopefully when it get stronger and bigger we will be able to make some salsa!

Time to turn these tomatoes they are reaching for the artificial sun that we provide for them. So happy to see the growth, they are just about ready to go into their own little pots! Our goal is to plant a garden outdoors with just the plants we have started indoors! You can see that the little fur friends did get one of the seedling pods but we keep trying and after these get transplanted we will start a whole new crop!

Quick update on the doll, after breaking two more needles she is half way done with rooting. I would have liked to use a smaller needle but considering I have already broken so many I will just stick with what I have and continue to work on filling in the open spots later.

I picked Melaleuca for the month of February and so I wanted to share a quick little recipe for homemade hand sanitizer. I used half cup of Aloe Vera, one teaspoon of witch-hazel, twenty-five drops of Melaleuca and twenty-five drops of Lemon.

Melaleuca is known to have the following properties, antibacterial, antiseptic, antiviral, antimicrobial, expectorant, fungicide, insecticide, and stimulant. information from Shareoils.com  

I have been thinking a lot about chickens in the garden. I researched some pros for having chickens in the garden and found that they not only give you fresh eggs they also keep your yard free of nasty bugs. There is the droppings to think about but again if they are in the garden their droppings will add much needed nitrogen for a more healthy soil. Chickens that we have had in the past were also great little scrap eaters, meaning when you have some kitchen scraps they will gladly gobble them up for you. Taking care of chickens is not a really difficult job, but it is a good way to teach children responsibility.  They also provide great outdoor entertainment, our chickens had free run of the entire back yard. They would often follow us where ever we were especially if we were weeding I think they thought we were looking for a treat, when we would find a worm or grub they were very excited to come over and get it for us. Another favorite was to watch them take a dust bath, they would find a sandy spot in the yard then roll and fluff their feathers to get the sand all over. They would also come when called and enjoyed a little snack of bread or corn, Well I think I have talked myself right back into getting chickens, I truly do miss the little flock that  we had! We will need to find a better way of protecting our little flock, there seems to be a raccoon, weasel, or mink we are not sure what it was because we never saw the nasty varmint  we were just grief stricken to see what had happened to our beloved little flock.

A quick update on the doll, I have a long way to go but thought I would add a picture of what it's looking like right now, Today I was able to finish the nails, the dry matte finish and start to add some of the weighing material. I also added the eyes because I know looking at a doll with no eyes seems a little bit freaky to some. Now I will be able to start the rooting process for adding a little hair.

 Adding a few drops of Melaleuca to your diffuser will help to freshen and purify the air, adding a few drops to a water spray bottle will give you a cleaner to spray on surfaces to help protect from environmental threats

 I really enjoy flowers and because it's freezing outside I decided to garden with crepe paper and these carnations were the result of that! I'm thinking of making more and stinging them to create my own carnation vine. Looking so forward to spring when I can be working with flowers for real!

 In keeping up with how it feels outside I tried my hand at rooting wool to make this little penguin. He's not completely finished still needs some flappers and feet, and a nose job, due to his being so crooked.

Still working on the doll, I was able to finish the mottling, veining, and some of the creases today. I must say the mottling really does give the skin a natural look.

• Rub Frankincense on your hands after a long day of gardening for a warming and soothing effect.
• Helps reduce the appearance of skin imperfections.
• Can be applied to the bottoms of feet to promote feelings of relaxation and to balance mood.
• Take one to two drops in a veggie capsule to support healthy cellular function.              information provided by: https://doterra.com/US/en/p/frankincense-oil                          picture provided by Google images