Every year, right after the first day of spring, winter makes a comeback. I told you we had a fake spring!

Guess what? I am predicting that we will have another one from the beginning to the middle of April, too.

I wanted to share the good news that all of my seedlings and plants survived the night in the greenhouse!

I was worried all night about it and checked my phone three times keeping a watch on the temperature.

When I woke up this morning, I saw snow on the mountain and jumped out of bed with a loud, “What the fuck!”

Yup, everything was covered in a light coating of snow. Everything except for my greenhouse! 🥳

Nelly and Roxy knew that winter returned the way they woke up all curled up together. After their breakfast, they snuggled up together again on the heated blanket.

I had to go to Saratoga this morning while Marty was working one of his second jobs to make two deliveries and pick up ingredients for production this week.

I also picked up my new progressive glasses. I was shocked at how good I could see! Wow! I adjusted to them right away and drove home wearing them.

After I got back, I brought the rest of my seedlings out to the greenhouse this afternoon after I planted more seeds of basil and different flowers.

I needed the grow rack upstairs with the heated mats in our warm bathroom.

When I checked on my seedlings that I put out there yesterday I was shocked how much they grew and looked so much stronger.

I don’t know the proper terminology here and I didn’t have time to go back to find out here’s what I learned..

Seedling growing under grow lights get 400 whatever you call its. Seedlings in a greenhouse on a rainy day get between 500-800 whatever’s and 1500-1800 on partly sunny days.

No wonder why they grew. I also figured it’s going to be cloudy this week so the full on sunshine won’t shock them.

Now, I get to watch the springtime and old-fashioned mixed flowers, sweet peas, asters, and alyssum germinate and come to life.

There are still many veggies and herbs to start in the next couple of weeks as well. I love gardening so much and seeing everything!

Goodnight! 😴

This is my third year as a gardener. I decided in the fall that I would grow everything from seed this year.

I got many of my seeds from farmers on Etsy, where you can order as few as 10-25 seeds of veggies and flowers.

We don’t need more than that since we aren’t a farm. We are halfway homesteading at this point, meaning no farm animals.

I’ve considered chickens but tabled that until next winter to ponder. It would be nice having chicken poop as fertilizer for days.

Farm fresh eggs would also be awesome for our home use only since we use A LOT of eggs for the business.

As I said, that’s next year’s decision.

I started some flower seeds in mid-February, and they have been doing well.

I planted vegetables and herbs the first week of March which are also coming along.

I had to transplant one flower variety to bigger pots. This is what I want to happen but I realized quickly what gardeners said on YouTube that you will run out of room sooner than later.

I quickly ran out of grow light shelves and sunny windowsills. We talked about getting a greenhouse last weekend, and we did.

I saw one small 6×8 greenhouse that I liked, and it would be perfect for my needs. I found one online from Harbor Freight.

We watched several YouTube videos on reviews of the greenhouse I chose. Some gardeners had theirs for 6-8 years and were still using them.

They all said the same thing, it sucks to put it together, and the instructions are shit. Ok.

I went back online and I kid you not, there was a $129 dollar coupon on the greenhouse reducing the price to $229. Yay.

I drove to Bennington and got the greenhouse. I drove home and we started putting it together a couple of days later.

Putting it together was such a pain in the ass! We took advice from the YouTubers when they said don’t tighten anything since you will have to unscrew things several times.

It took us 2 days, the same time as the YouTubers.

We have experience when it comes to doing projects, I can’t imagine how difficult it would be for someone who isn’t handy.

When we finally got the damn thing built I installed the floor using patio pavers we used last summer.

These stones will help retain heat in the greenhouse at night. Marty did find a still in the box greenhouse heater on Facebook Marketplace in Latham, NY.

Today, Marty build me two shelves using all recycling materials we had from previous projects.

It was a chilly day here in Vermont but the sun was shining brightly. The greenhouse got to 90 degrees inside. I brought out some seedlings and the herbs that survived over the winter.

I had to open one of the vents to let some heat out. It felt so good in there. The shelves were perfect and my herb table fit between the shelves with less than hair length in between.

When things like this work out, I feel I have the “other side” helping us. 🙏

We set up the smart heater which I can control from my phone and receive notifications if the temperature gets too hot or too cold.

If things go well in the morning, I’ll be relieved that it actually worked. Fingers crossed that everything survives.

So far, I love my new greenhouse and that it was only a $229 investment which will pay for itself when the garden starts producing food.

I am super excited and nervous at the same time that I have success.

Our girls, Nelly and Roxy loved being outside with us while we were working on the greenhouse.

They don’t care what we are doing as long as they are with us. They soaked up the sun and laid on the greenhouse box.

Nelly and Roxy both entertained themselves putting their balls inside the big box and in between the frames that we were putting together.

This week we will have our foot on the gas as far as our business goes. We are vending at a gluten-free expo at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut.

It’s a big deal doing this expo with a lot of product to make to take with us and keeping up with our regular wholesale orders from stores and restaurants.

I had two anxiety attacks last week and finally decided that whatever we do, everything always works out in the end.

I’ll be taking photos of what it takes getting ready for a big event and at the event itself so I can write about it when it’s all over.

Have a great week, this may be the only time you’ll hear from me until next Sunday.

I haven’t made a traditional St. Patrick’s Day boil dinner for years, and this year was no different.

Don’t get me wrong, I grew up eating the traditional corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes, and I loved it.

I loved the leftovers more. The year I realized I didn’t have to eat the boiled flavorless version to have the good stuff the next day was huge.

It made me question all the traditional food I made through the years. Yes, I’ve changed other stuff too.

This year we had corned beef sandwiches on mock GF rye bread, caramelized cabbage, cole slaw, and doughless knishes.

Mmmmmmmm!

I went through my memories on Facebook and was pleasantly surprised there were no photos of the traditional boil dinner.

Photos of me were shocking, showing how differently I looked through the years. Yikes!

When I looked at some of the photos, memories flooded in—some bad recollections, especially from 2014.

This was the St.Patrick’s Day after my adopted mother, Eileen’s stoke in November 2013.

My face was swollen along with my eyes from crying, stress, guilt, and exhaustion.

The month of February I spent cleaning out Eileen’s apartment since she wasn’t ever going home.

It was a enormous job. It sucked. I thought I would never get through it, but I did somehow.

I prayed a lot to not completely lose my shit every day. I drank like a fish. I felt alone working on her apartment every day.

I went through and touched everything she owned. I kept looking for a folder different from the one with her legal paperwork I needed the night of her stroke.

The folder I was looking for contained my adoption paperwork and all of my biological information.

My mother promised me she had this information for decades. She used it like a carrot dangling in front of a horse.

She told me she didn’t want me to have the folder until after she died. I never found it.

I laid on my back in her living room in her clean and empty apartment on the last day of February, also my birthday, sobbing.

The realization that Eileen lied to me all of those years promising me she had all my birth information.

Well, she didn’t die, but she was dead to me when I realized what a lying bitch she was.

I was in complete disbelief that there was nothing. Zero. Zip. It was like a bad dream I couldn’t wake up from.

This may have been the biggest blow I have ever received in my life. This was worse than anything I could ever think of.

I wouldn’t wish that heartbreak on my worst enemies, not that I have any I know of.

She ripped my heart out, stomped on it, and threw it to the fucking curb. How could a mother do that to her child?

For the next nine years while she was at the nursing home, I pretended being her daughter, looking after her like I promised my father I would when he was dying.

I didn’t think that one through when I said it that’s for sure. Lol.

All I could think of was now I would never know where I came from , who my birth mother was, what were my nationalities.

Did my birth mother ever think about me, especially on my birthdays? Did I have any siblings?

I walked around in a daze, drinking heavily at night and cried my eyes out for weeks. I was in a deep state of depression.

Well, the good news is I got my shit together and I divinely found my birth mother the next month and everything I ever wanted to know was answered.

Yes, she always thought about me on my birthdays. After all the years I spent crying and wondering about that on my birthdays, this made me so happy.

The rest is history and I never said a word to Eileen about it. It did make pretending to be Eileen’s daughter easier after I found J.

Gosh, in the photos, my hair went from red to black, and now my natural color brown. My eyes were like slits from drinking so much.

I was 52 pounds heavier than I am now. I felt like shit all those years. I was unhappy, I can see it in my eyes. It breaks my heart now looking back.

Back to St. Patrick’s Day, as a child I dreaded St. Patrick’s Day and not knowing my nationalities.

My mother upset me every year telling me I was allowed to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day because everyone was Irish on St. Paddy’s Day.

As an adopted child, I wanted to feel like I fit in, and this, “you’re not Irish” thing made me feel horrible like she was rubbing it in that she knew she was.

That made me madder and madder through the years. After I found out my nationalities I never told Eileen I was 78% Irish.

She didn’t deserve to know but I felt smug as hell every St. Patrick’s Day after finding out.

The end of last March, I forgave Eileen for everything she put me through. It made me who I am today.

I am finally free of pain, agony, hurt, and disappointment. I can live in peace and finally take care of myself.

This St. Patrick’s Day is the best I have ever felt mentally, emotionally, and physically. It’s really quite unbelievable to me.

I am grateful where I am but I am even more grateful I never have to go through those degrading St.Patrick’s years again.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day guys. ☘️

***For the record, I didn’t intend for this blog post veering off the subject of corned beef.

However, after I looked at myself in the St. Patrick’s Day photos things changed.

I never know where a post will take me until after it’s written.

I’ve lived in Vermont for almost 30 years and know that the spring-like weather we are experiencing will not last.

Usually, one or two fake springs get people’s hopes that spring is here.

Gardeners know all too well that winter isn’t over until it’s over. Last year was an exception with an early spring—a true gift.

While the weather has been nice, I’ve seen signs of spring in my gardens!

Our garlic and onions we planted back in November are popping up through the leaves. How exciting.

The wildflower garden bed wearer better than I imagined over the seasons.

The slanted edge I put in last spring did its job and kept grass and weeds out of the flower bed. Time well spent.

This year it will be easy to put a clean edge on all of my flower beds. I’m pretty happy that the effort and hard work weren’t done in vain.

I have many seeds germinating and some are getting like crazy. I’ll be transplanting to bigger containers for some of them sooner than later.

At the end of last year we picked up 6 long and thin raised beds which will go in the new veggie patch.

Raised beds are the only way to go for us. We have a big problem with moles digging tunnels everywhere in all of our yards.

We also have a large bunny that isn’t phased by anything. That was the baddy that ate my morning glories last summer.

I’ve given up the idea of using these six beds to try to grow something to block the view of our neighbor’s unmowed, neglected, and full of broken plastic toys & vehicles scattered every few feet up against our fence.

I’m not putting any more energy there. It is what it is and I’ll live with it. I’m done.

I pruned the hydrangeas and our pear trees before it was too late. They were out of control!

To say I am excited for spring is an understatement but time is passing by too quickly so I’ll be patient and take each day as it comes with gratitude.

I’ve held my tongue on this situation for years, but now that puppies are involved, I would not be true to myself if I didn’t write about the animal neglect going on next door to us.

Last summer, two dogs next door barked at us constantly whenever we were outside.

We felt terrible for them. Their owner and tenant of the home is a complete asshole whom we have put up with for the last 8 years.

The female dog had puppies I think back in August. There were 6 of them. We think there are still three puppies living there.

The dogs haven’t been outside except for one time since Halloween. One of us is usually home so we know whenever the older dogs go outside.

We’ve had snow on the ground since mid-December, and there have never been any dog prints in it.

For the last few months, their owner is gone for 2-3 days at a time. When he does show up, he runs inside for 5 minutes and must feed them and leave for another day or two.

How are they fed? All at once? What if the bigger ones eat all the puppies’ food since they are all together?

What if the water bowls are tipped over?

The guy sleeps at the house one or two nights a week. When he is gone, the dogs bark nonstop, and they are left in a pitch-black house.

The barking isn’t what upsets me, it’s the neglect and the mistreatment of these dogs and puppies.

They stare at us out the windows barking their heads off. Yesterday, after the dogs being alone for 2 full days I decided to take videos of the pathetic situation.

Their owner did come home last night and was at the house for 12 hours. How do we know?

We receive notifications from the surveillance camera on our front porch when cars pull in and out.

When he had a beagle a few years back we tried contacting animal control but were told there was nothing we could do.

The beagle fell out of the second story window and survived. After that, the dog was tied up outside all the time.

The dog barked 24-7 until the 3 bed and breakfast inns customers started banging on our door since they didn’t get any sleep. We showed them where the dog was kept outside

We contacted the owners of the house and realized that was a big mistake since they are the tenants grandparents.

The dog finally went somewhere else, who knows where. I’m glad I don’t know.

The guy used to breed lizards and had around 75 of them and kept a bunch of snakes and rats.

What happened to all of them? Can they go for 3 or 4 days without food and water? I have no idea. Maybe they can.

I know first hand how horrible the house smelled two years ago with only two dogs when we helped his girlfriend and her kids move out.

This guy is a maniac and a screamer with a very bad temper and wanted to get into with us a couple of years ago.

We decided he was not worth our breath, energy or able to have a normal conversation with. So we act as though he doesn’t exist.

This person throws our mail that was put into his mailbox by accident on the ground. Some of the mail are checks from our wholesale customers.

This is how we get paid and have money. Checks show up missing often since we were expecting them after seeing the envelopes on mail notification images on a daily basis.

Our mail has his footprints all over them and some are pressed into the ground and torn. Who does this? Isn’t that tampering with mail?

We contacted the postal service and they always have another excuse why this happened even though know the situation we are in.

All that aside, we feel hopeless with the dog and puppy situation. It’s heartbreaking.

On top of that, I dread another summer of the dogs barking at us whenever we are outside or on our front porch.

For the record, they don’t bark at all when he is home.

Our hands are tied. Period. The police can’t do anything about it and we don’t have animal control like most other places.

I feel better after finally exposing the situation rather than sitting here like a coward worried he will find out.

He is the kind of person who would retaliate if he found out and God only knows what he is capable of because he anger issues.

He screams at his kids, parents, friends, girlfriends, and grandparents. We can hear the screaming inside our house through his and our closed windows.

Just ask anyone who has ever tried to live there with him. There have been at least a dozen. They all move out for the same reason.

If anyone has any ideas, please let me know. Websrebuaes to living next to the house of horrors, but this is different.

In the meantime, I am on the lookout for a pair of noise canceling headphones to wear whenever I am outside.

Last thing…Why do people have pets when they don’t take care of them? I can’t understand it.

I was in Saratoga on Friday, picking up a delivery, and I had an eye appointment.

While driving I was thinking about what to make for dinner. This is where I do some of my best thinking.

In previous years, I wrote us about not eating meat on Fridays during Lent. Why, when I don’t follow Catholicism anymore?

As I’ve said before, it’s for completely nostalgic purposes, plus it makes me think of Lenten meals that are different from the other meatless meals I make.

I was looking for inspiration and I saw a website for vegan Lenten meals! I was like what the hell??

If you don’t eat meat in the first place, then what the fuck difference does it make if you follow a Lenten diet? Seriously! WTF!

I decided on spaghetti with white clam sauce. I always have in minced and chopped clams in the can, but this time I wanted to use fresh clams.

Fresh clams were easy to find in Saratoga and at me back about $16. I had everything else in and thought we couldn’t go out to dinner anywhere for $16 bucks. What a bargain!

I started by soaking the fresh clams in a bowl of cold water, as shown in the photo above.

Soaking the clams for an hour or so in cold water pushes any sand that was trapped inside the clams out. It worked too!

Next, I sautéed 4 cloves of minced garlic in olive oil. I added the zest and juice of one lemon.

I didn’t have fresh parsley, so I added some dried, just for color.

I added some white wine that I have just for cooking purposes and reduced it down. I added a pinch of red pepper flakes, kosher salt and pepper.

I let it simmer on low while I waited for the pasta water to boil and the spaghetti to cook.

I few minutes before the pasta was done, I cranked the heat up to high and added the drained clams and covered the pan tightly.

All the clams opened except for one dead guy which always makes me swear. Oh, really now? Lol.

I threw the spaghetti on top of the clams and added a few thinly sliced pats of butter instead of a whole stick as I used to do.

I served it up and we enjoyed it immediately. This is one of those meals that should be served right away before the clams and sauce get cold.

It was really delicious, affordable, and healthy. I can’t wait to make it again during the summer and serve it with a big salad and some grilled bread to dip in the tasty sauce.

I am thinking about making cod curry this Friday coming up. My friend Arthur made it for dinner last year and it was really good.

He is sharing his recipe with me. I’ll share it with you guys when I get it in case anyone is looking for a dinner idea. ☺️

Well, fuckity fuck! You are out there! Yay!!!!

Your comments that I woke up to this morning made me cry good tears. I guess I just needed a little “attagirl.”

Please comment is you have the time of your life like a post or better yet suggest my blog to friends on Facebook under Julzie Style or email a friend a piece he or she may like.

My heart is full and I will continue to write, shit I have three posts going in my head at once.

I really needed to hear from you guys so thanks for taking the time and for your kind words.

You aren’t getting rid of me that fast now! Love and hugs. ~ julz ♥️

I was not in a good place when I started my blog in January 2021. I was struggling with my mental health, overall health, and happiness.

My blog was there for me when I worked through some tough times dealing with my adopted mother, Eileen.

I was a very unhappy person and in a constant state of depression.

I did however have to desire to share my cooking knowledge and life experiences with people the way I was doing on my personal Facebook account.

I had a lot to write about on all kinds of topics. I shared my deepest darkest moments with all of you.

Writing helped me get through the mental and emotional abuse I suffered from for years.

My mother began abusing me when I was nine years old. She used guilt, punishment, manipulation, and sometimes physical abuse.

She was an Oscar award-winning actress. I always say Meryl Streep had nothing on her.

Somehow, last year, I was able to forgive her and my life is completely changed. I am entirely changed both mentally and physically.

I live in a state of peace and comfort these days. I am finally able to be me and no longer a victim. It feels wonderful.

I feel like at this point, as a writer, I don’t have as much to write about. I wrote about all the weird, quirky and many sides of me.

I wrote about my spiritual gifts which a lot of people weren’t ready for. I lost a lot of followers during that series.

My desire to cook has dimmed a bit. I had a lot of culinary tricks, hacks, and knowledge that I wrote about.

Since switching over to a healthier lifestyle my cooking has changed as much as my eating has.

Don’t get me wrong we still eat delicious food with lots of flavor. When I cook I still cook with love, but it’s not that important to

Over the years I shared many of my own recipes. Some readers were kind enough to send me small donations to my blog when they tried one of my recipes.

This made me feel appreciated!

These days I have to be honest with you all, I don’t feel like writing as much. I feel like I am having a hard time thinking of things to write about.

As a general rule, I try to never waste readers time writing about shit no one cares about.

I wonder how many people still actually read my blog? How many people liked it better when I was fucked up?

I have had a loyal group of followers that have supported me, gave me feedback, made me laugh and smile, gave me suggestions, comments, ideas and inspired me to continue writing.

It’s funny how many people tell me when they see me in person who much they love my blog. I am always shocked.

You would never know it on my end since only a handful of people connect with me. Its kind of disappointing to be honest with youZ

Sometimes just a “like”on the blog’s Facebook page would tell me I still have readers out there.

I didn’t start my blog to be a make money operation and to be frank it is expensive to maintain.

This is the first year I questioned if I should renew everything. I decided to give it until then end of this year to see if I felt differently.

I don’t have the time to dedicate myself to writing enough to ask for donations. I feel like I have to really perform whenever someone sends me a donation.

For the rest of this year, I still plan to continue my blog and writing; it just may not be as often as I used to.

When I have something to share, teach , or tell you all, I will. This will keep things fresh for me and get me excited to write again.

I can’t wait to share our garden expansion and our root cellar that we’ve never used for anything but will this year to store our root veggies through next winter.

The Benedict’s that lived in our home for 60 years used our root cellar as they were big gardeners and grew a lot of food.

The tradition will continue and hopefully I can channel Mr. Benedict and have as fruitful of a garden as he once had.

I never want it to seem like I am showing off when I post many of my accomplishments or our big projects as someone suggested to me last summer.

I am just proud as fuck at what can be accomplished and hopefully will inspire someone else.

Through dance, I’ve learned that one of my life’s mission is to teach, inspire and cheer people on. It’s the cheerleader in me! The same as I was all through my school years.

I’ve learned a lot about myself over the last four years. I never in a million years dreamed I would be a sober, happy, healthy, and content person. But here I am.

To those of you who are still with me thank you. I appreciate you, your comments, love, support, and feedback. ♥️

I’ll catch up with you soon.

~julz

It definitely feels, smells, sounds, and looks like March, with the sun shining differently and casting different shadows.

You can smell the earth from the ground and the leaves that have composted over the winter.

Very slowly Spring sidles in.
She steps cautiously, as Winter
isn’t quite done yet.
Maybe there will be one last finale.
She bides her time, not wanting
to steal the show.
She has lifted the sun slightly,
not that you would notice immediately,
but the extra light is almost tangible.
The blossom remains tight in
the bud, almost ready to pop.
The daffodils have followed the
arrival of the hardy snowdrops,
who had little fear of Winter.
They are getting ready for their
grand show in March.
To my delight the birds are returning
their cheerful chortling in unison.
And my heart is feeling lifted,
Almost, as if, I am ready to be born again.
I’m nearing the end of the tunnel ..
I’m bursting with anticipation
for the glorious entrance of Spring ..

C.E. Coombes 🌼 Serendipity Corner

Artist Credit: Jo Grundy

The birds are happily chirping up a storm in the morning. The snow is melting, but more importantly, the rock-hard ice is finally melting.

Many people fell on the ice this winter and a lot of people got hurt. I wore ice cleats on my muck boots for weeks.

Marty fell twice on the ice in the last couple of weeks, thankfully he didn’t get hurt.

The perennial flower seeds I started in mid February are growing! I planted echinacea seeds and most of my herbs on Sunday.

I checked on them today. I was thrilled to see some seeds sprouting already!

The sight of something coming to life and growing is one of my favorite parts of gardening.

I am growing everything from seed this year. I want my garden plants to be as mature as the ones I pick up at the nursery in mid-May.

I am ready to do the work of transplanting to bigger pots when the time comes.

That being said, I am starting my veggie seeds over the weekend instead of on St. Joseph’s Day, March 19 as I always done.

A few veggies will be directly sown in the garden such as peas, green beans, carrots, and beets.

Lettuce, arugula, and spinach will be planted directly in the garden in the next few weeks. How exciting! There is nothing like harvesting your own lettuce for a salad.

This year, I am trying several varieties, not just a basic lettuce mix. We have missed our homegrown daily greens like crazy.

On to another reason why it feels like March, I am completely out of cold weather lunch and dinner ideas. in other words, I am in a cooking rut.

As excited as I get in the fall for comfort food, hearty soups, and stews I am tired of them. I’ve exhausted all of my winter dinner go-to items.

Oh, and while grocery shopping on Saturday, I was shocked to see corned beef for $17.90 a pound in the store!

Seriously, what the actual fuck? I’ll make just potatoes and cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day before I spend that kind of money on corned beef!

That’s it for now guys, talk to you soon! 🙂