Welcome to the blog-o-sphere!

 Day 1

   Welcome to day one of my blogging experience. I've never been much of a writer, so bear with me!
I hope to share recipes, humor and life experiences on here. We shall see together how that turns out.

First, a bit of history....
 I moved to Missouri almost one year ago from Champaign, Illinois. I had decided that after working on a house for 14 years with Mark C., and Roger D., that it was time to give it a go. Knowing full well that there was much to be done before it was completed, I moved in.
The first thing I found upon arriving was that leaving the house empty for two years before coming was not a good idea. Someone had cut the wires ( for scrap I assume) so, hours were spent figuring out what and where the damage was. Then, how to fix it.
Our day to day duties included insulating walls, hanging drywall and cutting fire wood. ( Note to self.......... fireplaces suck ass!)
Once warmer weather arrived I was excited about getting flowers and veggies in the ground. Mind you this is the Ozarks, they grow a lot of rocks here!!!!   I was turning the ground at a snails pace when a friend brought over his big boy tiller and turned 5 times the ground I had in less than 20 minutes.
Finally, after fertilizing and de-rocking I was ready to go! 
I put in tomatoes, carrots, beans, corn and beets to name a few. I wound up only  getting  tomatoes and a few beans.  The other veggies just didn't have the strength to make it!

Raised beds with delivered dirt for this spring!  Lessons learned!
The flowers are another story............ we managed beautiful roses and Dahlias. I plant Dahlia's every year in honor of Roger Dodd. They were beautiful!
Jay did quite well on his flowers here, he had zinnias for days.
My next adventure was to get me some chickens, so ............ I DID!
I went with my friend Jay to CACKLE HATCHERY in Lebanon. I bought some cute little baby chicks which within a few months became hawk food!!!!!!!!   Damn lessons learned. This lesson was, hawks will fly into an uncovered coop!
Mark followed suit and moved here as well. It's been a difficult adjustment for him. He was spoiled by city buses and fast food in Champaign. The only delivery here is the mail!

We wish every day that our dear friend Roger Dodd was still with us, this was a dream the three of us had.
Roger was here several times before he passed away and I have fond memories of his  silly antics.
Ever seen anyone having a drag attack while raking 2 acres of ground?
We have!
He is here in spirit, and may have had something to do with the disappearing chickens now that I think about it!!
This I suppose is enough for one day................  see ya on the flip side!