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Life with my 5 Thinglets and Mom encouragement? Check out the category Motherhood Uncensored at JessieGunderson.com

Follow my journey to publication and beyond at JessieGunderson.com

FACEBOOK Jessie Gunderson author of Blog Schmog
TWITTER JessBlogSchmog.

I’m working on moving this blog to it’s permanent location at jessiegunderson.com

I hope you’ll join me over the next week or two or three…as I get things up and running and we have some giveaway fun! Don’t forget to subscribe at the new location. Subscribers and FB fans will get extra entries in the contests.

“Like” the facebook page Jessie Gunderson Author of Blog Schmog for updates.

Here are the top ten writer hashtags according to an article written by Robert W. Hart at Novel Publicity.

1. #amwriting – Meet other writers by using this hashtag on updates about your writing day.
2. #amediting – When you are editing your WIP (work in progress) use this hashtag.
3. #askaagent – Some agents you follow might answer questions when you use this hashtag.
4. #fridayreads – What are you reading? Better yet, are people reading your book? Twitter your favorite books on Friday with this hashtag.
5. #WW stands for Writer Wednesday – name writers you follow by using the @ sign followed by their name like this @jessblogschmog and then use this tag on Wednesdays
6. #pubtip – Authors and agents will use this tag offering free advice and possible publishing wisdom.
7. #yalit or #yalitchat – This hashtag is for YA authors and writers.
8. #wordcount – For the word count crazed.
9. #writetip – Have a writing tip? Need a writing tip? This is the hashtag for you.
10. #FridayFlash or #FictionFriday – Share your flash (quick) fiction blog post with this hashtag.

I’m going to try to use some of these from now on in hopes of meeting more friends. See you on Twitter!

I just love these fly eating flies so I’m sharing the information again. This is one of my favorite pest solutions.

We’ve been using these tiny little bugs to control our fly population for five years now.  I learned about them while wearking at a ranch as a horse wrangler.  They are the neatest little bugs and of course, they provide a solution that is pesticide free and in my opinion actually works better than anything out there.

Spalding Labs sends you a small package filled with little black, rice shaped eggs packed in wood shavings.  It’s the fly predator larve.  The bugs emerge in a couple of days and you simply sprinkle them onto the ground on or near manure, rotting hay or any other problem area.  They are not much bigger than the period at the end of this sentence but they work wonders.  The tiny bugs get straight to work eating the regular fly larve, stopping the flies before they even get a chance to hatch.

At my first introduction to the predators I was amazed but sure I would not be able to afford them.  Not so!  A monthly shipment of 10,000 predators (enough for my small farm) is only about $30, much less than a couple cans of spray and a trap that doesn’t work.  It’s cold enough here that I only need 4-5 shipments, other areas of the country may need to continue the shipments longer.

Click here to check it out for yourself.

Have you ever tried a container garden and found it was a bust because you couldn’t keep the potted plants watered enough? Or you leave for an overnight camping trip and poof! Your little babies burn up in an unexpected heat wave.

If so, you might like this method that I dreamed up in my little pea (haha) brain. It’s modeled after the highly successful Earth Boxes that I have. But since my whole vegetable garden is going on the deck this year and I only have two Earth Boxes I knew I needed to come up with a plan. Two planters simply would not do. See the original earth box? It is the black planter in the back. The other’s are my homemade version.

So, here is what you do.

To make a water reservoir in the bottom of a pot you will need to either start with a container that doesn’t have holes or plug them somehow. I used tin foil. My goal was at least an inch deep reservoir. Larger for my big planters. If you have a slightly smaller pot to slip inside that is also shorter and will allow a small space under it that is ideal. You can also use rocks to create the space for water to collect. Some of my planters have 1″ rocks in the bottom to create the bowl for water.

Next you will need some type of tray to keep the dirt from filling up your reservoir. In my smallest pots I used a piece of paper towel. Larger pots got a cardboard piece with holes poked in it. Who knows if we really needed the holes. This is all an experiment.

I filled the reservoir with water before putting the tray or porous membrane in then added the dirt and plants. In large pots I inserted a piece of pipe down the side of the pot so I could deliver water directly to the reservoir instead of top watering. Below are diagrams of the whole process. So far it is working splendidly! I’ve even got some small pots with Wave Petunia’s on the South side deck that I’ve only had to water once a week so far this spring! I’m sure in the summer heat they will last a couple days if we take off for the weekend.

I have a large cedar box with watermelon and another with an heirloom black tomato. My earthboxes contain bush beans and squash. Then I’m growing a yellow pepper. A jalapeno, a planter with various herbs and several pots of mixed lettuce and edible flowers (nasturtium and pansies) as pictured at top. What’s in your garden?

Please join me at my new web home JessieGunderson.com and don’t forget to like the Blog Schmog Facebook community HERE.

I’m definitely not a super mom. I don’t dress my kids in matching outfits each morning (or dress them at all for that matter) or have every meal (including regularly scheduled snacks) ready in a jiff. I do yell too often and I’m selfish with my time. I don’t handle it well when my four year old regresses into diapers or my two year old embarks on another extremely messy adventure. I’m just plain selfish ol’ me. I never was the one on the playground who’d say, “When I grow up I’m going to be a mom.” I’m not the one with a perpetual smile and a guest ready house. But I’ll probably let you visit anytime anyway. Nope, I’m just plain ol’ over ambitious me.

Despite all my shortcomings my children and my hubby think I’m great. Peewee tells me I’m the super girl on her pull ups.

This morning I brewed myself a pot of coffee without the coffee!

If you are like me, that could be an enourmous tragedy. Want my Po’ Girl’s cafe latte recipe?

Po’ Girl’s Cafe Latte:

• Brew coffee (don’t forget the coffee)
• Heat 2 cups of milk in a small saucepan
• Add 2 Tablespoons of dark chocolate peanut butter (or 1 Tablespoon each of peanut butter and chocolate syrup)
• Sprinkle with cinnamon & sugar
• Whisk and whisk to create a frothy foam
• Pour 1/3 cup of coffee and fill the rest with your milk mixture.
• Drink up!

Yesterday I yelled when Peewee poured a powdered Gatoraid drink all over the kitchen floor.

Last week I started to cry while trying to get the family to church. But I stopped, crying was a waste of time.

Do you ever feel like you go one step forward while your kids drag you kicking and screaming, ten back?

I’m back to the seasons discussion I have with myself at least every–well–every season.

This too shall pass and when it does gone will be the days of chubby baby cheeks and the unhindered smiles of an infant.

Gone will be the days my little girl thinks I look like every pretty lady in a magazine and especially the super girl on her panties.

Away the days will fly when train track pieces clink and boys make manual driving sounds in the play room.

And fly away the days when my boy thinks I’m a famous author when all I ever accomplish is a blog post here or there and a paragraph or two on my novel for sanity.

What will you miss?

So gimee a break will ya?  I’m gardening. Woohoo!

What vegetables are going in your garden this year?

Oh, my boys take such good care of me. Look at my lunch love from Scarfunkle.

It’s Mother’s Day this Sunday so I thought I’d pose a fun question and we can  celebrate by getting to know eachother a bit better.

If you could take a day off and do anything or go anywhere without having to worry about the cost or the consequence (ie. messy house when you return). What would you do?

I am so spoiled, I get to do my favorite thing often. Mine would have to be a nice long horseback ride alone with Mountain Mare! In case you missed last years virtual horseback ride, here is the link.

Getting boys to read is sometimes as difficult as putting hair back on a bald man. You can slap on a toupee but it ain’t gonna be pretty. Or, you can poll moms on Facebook and come up with a pretty good idea of what might work and what those little (and big) guys might actually like. Not to mention, come up with some great reads for Mom as well. Here is our list. Many of these I have yet to read, but my mom friends recommend them, so if you find a book that is a toupee (dumb) and not a real head of hair (super cool), don’t blame me.

Don’t laugh at my alphabetizing. They are all mixed up by author and/or book title based on how they were recommended to me. I just left it that way. This list is largely a list for me but I’m just sharing it with all of you so no haters. Ha!

I’ve included some of their comments. Anything I’ve read personally is highlighted in red. Also, my comments are in red so you will know what books you can ask questions about. Do you have any questions on the one’s I’ve read? Do you see any great books we’ve missed?

Younger Boys:

• Andrew Clements
• A-Z Mysteries
• Beverly Cleary – My boys love the Ralph Mouse series
• Boxcar Children
• Douglas Bond books
• Farmer Boy (Little House Series) – My boys loved all the Laura Ingalls Wilder books
• Flat Stanley
• Geronimo Stilton
• Hank the Cowdog
• Jack Russell – Dog Detective
• Junie B. Jones – one mom felt she is a bit sassy for her liking.
• Looser List
• Magic Schoolbus series
• Magic Treehouse - …popular, but it has Merlin and stuff in it.
• Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot series
• Star Wars
• Teddy’s Button – 1800′s language

Older Boys:

• Diary of a Wimpy Kid – lots of grose boy humor but they like it. Not real literary if you ask me.
• DK Eyewitness – non-fiction
• Dragons in Our Midst by Bryan Davis
• Dragon Series by Donita Paul
• G.A. Henty historical novels – Good for ages 8-16… some violence, so depends on the child and you. Read aloud for 6+… My boys and girls love them.. and all love history too.
• Great Illustrated Classics – simplified (and illustrated) classic novels.
• Hardy Boys
• Louie L’Amour – Westerns
• My America series for boys – fictionalized diaries of young boys in America at different times.
• My Side of the Mountain – good for outdoorsy-animal loving 11 year old.
• Narnia – C.S. Lewis
• N.D. Wilson – Christian author, VERY creative, funny, quirky, intense.
• Peretti’s, The Cooper Kids Adventure Series – Christian author, intense. Some said scary.
• Red Rock Mysteries by Jerry B. Jenkins (author of the Left Behind series) and Chris Fabry
• Rick Riordan
• 39 Clues
• Xander Nash – teaching the Bible through the adventures of a young boy detective.

Young Adults:

• Ted Dekker – Christian author. His more recent novels are a bit dark.
• Frank Peretti – One of my all time favorite authors. Intense.