Accomplishment!

Yes, you read that right.  I actually accomplished something today.  And just what was it that I accomplished?  Well, I'll tell you. 

I finally, at long last, finished this book!

Yay me!  Next time I go into town, I'll put it back into the Little Free Library and see if they have something else I want to read, though I still haven't read the book my brother gave me for Christmas.  I might even take it in tomorrow, if I can get myself dressed and moving.  Then, once I've dropped the book off, I can run by Walmart and pick up some more bags of garden soil.

Which segues nicely into my next accomplishment.   Ever since I've lived in this house, I've collected up twigs and small limbs that fall, and over the years, I've built up quite the collection of them.  Even using them to start fires in my wood stove, I still had a lot.  So, what better use for them than to fill my new garden beds?  

The best part, after getting the majority of the twigs up, I found a nice, thick layer of compost underneath them!  Once I added that to my beds, it filled them up quite nicely.  

And there was enough to fill both beds about halfway up. 

I'm going to let it all settle a bit, and hopefully get rained on a few times, then start adding soil later on in the year.  I'm well aware that these probably won't be ready to be planted this spring, but they weren't really intended to be part of this year's planting anyway.  

Speaking of rain, we are nearly 5" below normal for this time of year.  It's so bad, we're under a burn ban and red flag warning.  In fact, there is a massive wildfire in the county just to the South of us, covering some 3000 acres.  I sat outside by my fire pit a bit, but didn't light a fire -- not even in my wood stove this morning.   It got down into the mid 40s last night, which would have made a fire feel good, but I didn't feel like fooling with one. 

But as I was saying,  I got this entire section of the old chicken coops cleaned out, ready to start re-filling with whatever I want to put into it. 

I don't yet know what that will be.  I do know it won't be chickens, though.  I might move my potting table here.  With this one being on the end, it will get more light than where I have the table now.  At least, I'll be able to see when I'm potting stuff.  

Moving right along, I'd brought all of my plants inside last night even though it wasn't supposed to frost, just in case.  As soon as the sun came up, I put everything back outside, including the zinnias.  

They do need thinning again, but I'm debating on whether to try to separate the seedlings instead of just snipping one off.  I've got some pots I can up pot them into, so I may try to do that.  Then again, in just two more weeks, I'll feel safe enough to plant them into their permanent homes, since it'll be past the danger of frost.  According to Grok, it's probably safe to plant now, but I think I'll wait anyway. 

I recently watched a YouTube video on pinching zinnias, which I'd never done in the past -- probably because I'd never started them from seeds before.  I think I'll pinch these when they get big enough.  The video says to wait until they have at least two, and preferably three, sets of true leaves before doing it.  As you can see, these have just started getting their second set, so it's too early to pinch these.  We have such a long growing season this far South, so I have plenty of time.  

I might go ahead and plant some of my bachelor's button seeds, and save some back, just in case.  Oh, and look at this!  As I was taking photos of my bluebonnets to force you to look at, 

look what I found!  It's a baby bluebonnet!  

It looks like some of the other seeds I'd planted might germinate after all.   I know it can take a few years and several freezing and thawing cycles sometimes.  

Now, if you'll excuse me, House Of David season 2 is up on Prime Video, and I think I'll go watch an episode or two.  

Laters...