The day started with a trip to the next town over to get a couple begonias -which I didn’t find. Stopped at the local grocery store to pick up a couple of specials – of course they didn’t have any! How can a store advertise specials and then have a very small supply? My day had to get better. I started moving plants outside – here’s my “before”picture.
Boring – very boring but getting better.
Some of the plants are pretty heavy – no wonder my arms hurt. Then I cleaned some more – under this “original to the farm” lilac bush. It’s in full bloom right now – such a heavenly fragrance!
The tree next to the lilac bush is the favorite squirrel tree – Hazel and Telly bark up at this tree many times a day. The squirrels love to eat at the feeder.
I keep walking towards the barn – chickens and geese greet me.
If you’ve ever considered planting a hops vine – DON’T DO IT! This is a volunteer, one of many, that has taken hold many, many yards across the farm from where the original is planted. Invasive hardly describes it!
And right on the other side of the fence is one of my all time pet peeves on the farm – weeds in the parking area. These need to be sprayed continuously all summer. I just happen to be the only one that it bothers! And I have sooooo many other jobs!
Goats and geese in the pasture.
Goose on a nest – don’t want any goslings!
Goat pen – the minute I open the door, about a dozen barn swallows fly out.
Someone asked if I was planting a garden this year – I’m not but Rick is. Here are three tilled up areas waiting for seed.
We’ll enjoy asparagus next year!
And guess who helps me in the barn – COLTON!
And that’s the farm tour for today – a calm, quiet day making it almost unbelievable that we are experiencing a pandemic throughout the world. This was a glimpse into the life on 10 acres in North Iowa, May 16, 2020.
Be Still, My Friends.
Farm life, while I fully understand is constant, hard, physical labor, has such appeal to me. Digging in the dirt is soothing to me. So thank you for touring us through your property!!
Sorry your day started out so disgusting. I’ve had those days, too! Hate it when I follow an ad & they don’t have it!! Aarrgghh!! Placed a couple orders online to one of the local fabric stores here in MN. Got an email back. . . One of the orders is out of stock, & The other, because of such high demand for online orders, your order will be delayed. Ho hum!! Curb side pickup!! Thinking maybe by the 4th of July!!
Looks like there will be a very good sized garden at your farm this summer. . Hmmmm. Lots of work to be done there!! Good luck with that!!
Stay still girl!!
Peggy S
Peggy S – just to set the record straight – I am NOT working in that garden! I have so much to do around here, any spare time I find will be spent reading a book on the porch – ha!
We spent today weeding all the way around the house. New landscaping on the front of the house demands so much attention to keep invasive plants at bay. Forty years ago, I bought six lily of the valley. Pretty sure there are at least 6,000 now, what pests. You cannot kill these things. If anyone knows how, I will do anything short of setting a fire.
Another “never plant or you will be sorry” addition to the list is “Hawaiian Ivy”, it has a real botanical name but that’s what I bought it as, Hawaiian Ivy. It cannot be killed, it can barely be contained. Anyone with sure fire remedies or instant death recipes, I will demand my sons name their first born after you!
Otherwise, a beautiful blue sky quiet day in the neighborhood. You see no planes in the sky, no contrails… so strange. What we did see… mamma oriole building her lovely basket in our maple tree, we think she started about three days ago, so a week yet of building before she lays her eggs. We have two oriole pairs, loads of yellow finches, blue jays, cardinals, juncos and chickadees, robins galore and bunnies … eating my balloon flowers. Why don’t they eat lilies of the valley and Hawaiian Ivy?! I think today we also “welcomed” a grey catbird, but from what I’ve read, we really don’t want them. Aggressive towards orioles.
I always love seeing your cats parked wherever the choose to be! And the goats, love the goats!
Be still and enjoy spring! What a great time to feel hope in new growth and new life!
Oh, how I feel your pain with Lily of the Valley! I have always had a bunch in a shady corner where my air conditioner unit it. It stayed there for 12 years. This year it has invaded. It marched down the side of house, around the corner to full sun half way down that side of house. My husband started digging them up. The roots are not very deep but a lot of them! This is war as they gobble up my perennials. I am thinking about flattening a snow shovel blade and pounding it in the ground where I want them to stop?
Enjoyed your farm tour, and like your entry decorated with all your green plants. I wish I had your green thumb to keep those plants alive during winter. My grandmother loved cactus and she had a lot of them in her small home in Minnesota. She’d put most of them outside in the summer and geez, how they grew for her. They always bloomed too. It was a beautiful day today and I cut some lilacs off my one shrub to bring inside. The blooms are white and very fragrant this year. Was a nice addition to the dinner table tonight.
I grew up in mid Northern Iowa and your photos and comments make me miss the country life so much. I enjoy all your happenings, love the animals, gardening, flowers–oh also your quilting.
Yes. I agree. When I walk about our farm here in Or, it is hard to believe we are in the throes of a pandemic. Everything is so peaceful and the animal’s routines (chickens and cows here) never change. They don’t realize our world is upside down. They remain unafraid that their world may change as well. This is worrisome and I pray they will never have to know.
It looks like Telly is planning on a garden and walking her plot. She might be waiting for those ‘Good For Her” pumpkins and their seeds. Or maybe she loves carrots. I had a dog who would beg for carrots while I was peeling them.
Love your blog, Mary. You give us much food for thought.
Another invasive is spiderwort, pretty flowers but they take over. Even where they were never planted! I played in the dirt today – weeded, planted a new tomatoe plant, potted 2 flowering plants, and just now went out and pulled random weeds. No mosquitos yet, so sat and enjoyed the nice evening. Almost forget the problems of the world on my own little acre.
Your tour around the farm is so relaxing to me. I miss the green of spring and all the things growing. I have never in almost 60 years gotten used to the heat and brown of Southern California. I love to hear what my cousins are still doing in southwest Minnesota and up in the twin cities. Keep posting your photos I love them.
Things appear to be coming right along at your farm. Looks nice & peaceful, as you said!
I know what you mean about the stores. I went to different stores & still didn’t get all the items I needed. This is getting really frustrating. Despite our numbers not really declining, our TN governor has said that 5/21, I think, amusements parks & large venues can open!!!! Not sure that’s a good idea. Do you know how insanely crowded Dollywood & Pigeon Forge & Gaitlinburg get in the summer? There is no way they’ll be able to self distance & be sure everyone is wearing masks. I understand the economic impact & I don’t have the answers but I truly fear for a rebound worse than the initial go ’round. I pray I’m wrong!
Have a good Sunday. Get some sewing done!
Your place looks so peaceful.
I am so envious of your lilac bush-I have loved them since I grew up in NC where they were plentiful! One of the worst spankings I got was for picking my aunt a “flowerpot” of lilacs-thing was-the lilac bushes were beside her neighbors front porch and I had severly pruned them! I have tried but they don’t seem to live and grow here in SC.
Thank you for the farm tour. I love your flower bed! I thought of your Garner farm as we made our way home from Rochester through north central Iowa for the sixth time this spring. Several farms had goats and geese reminding me of visits to Country Threads where Coulton greeted us at the front door.. Seeing the trees bud out and burst into leaf from week to week has been a real treat. I will ring the bell ending radiation treatments Wednesday and head home to finish some quilt projects before heading back for surgery the end of June. This has been a spring to remember!
Donna, congratulations on getting to ring the bell. I’m so happy for you. Be sure to let us know how your surgery goes. I’ll be praying for you.
Donna Sproston – wow! Congratulations on finishing those treatments! You’ll let us know how your surgery goes in June, won’t you? So glad you visited in the past – I so wish I could put blog names with faces that I remember!
Wish you the best in June. You have a great attitude, and that really is half the battle! Stay strong!
Donna, my heart ❤️ is singing for you this Sunday morning as I read your post! I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers as your surgery date approaches. Peace to you.
Thanks for the lovely post. It made me smile. I love that the animals carry on as usual, despite the pandemonium going on in the rest of the world. There is nothing like some animals, a good piece of ground and something growing (hopefully not invasive) to brighten spirits. Be safe Mary!
Thoroughly enjoyed the tour! Farm life is much harder in snow country. I’m very spoiled here in the southwest. At 70, I sometimes think ‘I’m too old to do all this work’. But my body is, so far, holding together and my husband and I like working this place so I guess we’re not too old. I just don’t can anymore. We have a garden and lots of fruit trees and give most away. That’s fine with me. We freeze some for us and make others happy.
Patty McDonald – I wonder, too, if my old body can do all this work but what would I rather be doing? I can’t think of anything else – maybe someday I’ll be sick of it and can’t but for now it’s “carry on”!
I can smell those lilacs all the way out here! Mine won’t bloom till around Father’s Day. Our invasive plant…aspen trees. Cut one down and a zillion will come up every where. Mow them down in the lawn, and it feels like toothpicks underfoot.
Life on the farm looks grand.
Love the goats, chickens, geese, dogs and that rich, black Iowa soil. Could you substitute petunias for begonias? I saved the picture of a Connie beside a huge planter at the library. So beautiful.
I love your farm tours. When the shop was open, I loved to come see the animals, my girlfriend was a “do we have to look at the goats?” Yep, I do. She shopped inside and I checked out the animals. I’d love goats, but it’s not an option for me. They were giving away chickens in Ft Dodge at a chicken house, my sister was sure I needed some. No thank you. My chicken houses are gone, flood ruined them, I worry enough about cats and horse when the water is up, I don’t need more to try to protect. But the farm is still better than town.
I enjoyed all the pictures today. Our lilac bush has buds, but has not flowered yet. There was an orchard oriole at the feeder yesterday. He was beautiful. I was able to pick up plants at our hardware store. Many people were out; some of them not wearing masks. I found out today that the sewing expo in Madison in September is not going to happen. I am disappointed but understand, We will try again next year. We are to get heavy rain and wind for Sunday and Monday. We still have crops to get in. Farming is always taking a chance. Have a good rest of the weekend.
Diane in WI – Rick has lots of his garden already in but nothing is up because we need rain – hopefully tonite! When I shopped today, 90% of the shoppers did not wear a mask! I shopped fast and left!
Loved the farm tour; Colton is beautiful! Thanks, Mary
90% is huge! That makes me sad, not to mention concerned.
Headed off to bed to read. I am no using my Kindle, which I had put away because I would rather hold a book. Now I am happy to have it.
The “garden” you put together is beautiful. The lilacs are a sure sign of spring. I agree about the hop vine. I have one. i can’t get rid of mine either. We have a utility pole (electrical) as you look out our picture window. (We live on US Hwy 59 by Slayton, MN.) I planted a piece of that vine(about 5 yrs ago) to crawl up the pole–I would rather look at the vine, than the pole. It does crawl up that pole. Then I got a call from the electric company that if they had to repair that pole, they would have to take the vine down. My reply was, “please do.” No action has been taken.
I love lilacs. I always have. I guess it goes all the way back to my Grandmother’s house when I was little. She had lilacs planted by her back porch. I would love to have lilacs planted close to my house. When we built our house twelve years ago, we didn’t have any landscaping done. Every year or so we talk about having it done, but it always seems that something else needs to be done first. We live in the middle of forty acres. Since the property is surrounded by woods and on top of a hill, no one can see our house anyway. So does it really matter?!?! There is an old lilac bush way down where the old farmhouse used to be ( almost ninety years ago), but it is so tall that you really can’t pick them. Guess I’ll have to wait for the landscaping, but I won’t hold my breath. 🙂
Dianne in Ohio – no landscaping? It doesn’t have to be elaborate but wouldn’t you like some flowers or shrubs by your house? I don’t do it for anyone else to see – just my own pleasure. Nobody ever comes here anymore which is ok but that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate some landscaping. If you plant lilacs, try Korean lilacs which are shorter and absolutely the most fragrant bush of any!
Thank you, Mary, for the suggestion of the Korean lilacs. I’ll check around to see if I can find them at one of the nurseries in our area. I am not totally “flowerless”. There is a small area next to my front steps where I have a few plants. Then I did plant some flowers along the sunny side of the “shelter”. That was the first structure that my in-laws built here several years after they bought the land in 1957. It is the size of a small, one car garage. They kept their lawn mower and other tools in it to use when they drove down from Cleveland on weekends. It is still in very good condition. Back then the property was mostly all fields with some woods. Now, it is the other way around, with roughly 35 acres of woods and five acres of grass to cut. It takes a long time to cut that grass. Thankfully, my daughters come down on the weekends and do most of the yard work.
It’s nice u can take plants outdoors, I am sure u Welcome nice weather,
I am in Phoenix area, and our grocery store ads, have shrinked, hardly any specials on Wednesdays, and good luck finding items on ads,
We’re seniors so we shop earlier part of the day, and still can’t find many items..
I am using Amazon, and asking family and friends to watch for items that are hard to come by..
We’re wearing masks, I made masks for family & friends, getting ready to start a second batch, I have been in my casita 9 weeks, my husband does the shopping, we Pray other folks shopping wear masks..
Thank U for sharing your pets, such Peace in your acreage..😷😷😷😷
Thank you for the beautiful pictures of your farm!! My tiny garden is growing like crazy…4 tomato plants, a yellow squash, green zucchini, and 3 cucumber plants that my neighbor grew from seeds. And the dormant rhubarb plant I got from Michigan is popping out leaves. The blackberry bush is also sprouting! I agree that keeping after the weeds is a pain!
Be Still and enjoy God’s work!
Jamie in hot Phoenix
Hi Mary! I had the pleasure of visiting your shop in 2008 when we were visiting a friend in Clear Lake. I got a great photo of a calico cat that you had, sitting on an outside table. I so enjoyed my time at your shop so I am always so happy when you share “farm life” photos. I’m writing to ask if you have seen this great show on Animal Planet on Saturday nights called Saved by the Farm. It’s about a couple in Michigan that run a sanctuary for farm animals. They have goats, pigs, sheep, ducks, and much more. I always think of you when I see goats! If you haven’t seen it, check it out, I know you would enjoy it. Tonight they had a two week old goat with a bad leg that they took in, he was so cute!
I used to be anal about closing the ads, but I’m now wheelchair bound and live in an assisted living home. I have to read my emails on an IPad and for some reason I can’t get the ads to close…very annoying! I do keep trying though. Your emails are always the brightest spot in my day so I have been wanting to thank you forever. Please keep me on your list and I’ll keep trying to close those darn ads. My new life would be so dreary without you!! P.S. I’m not a quilter but I enjoy ALL your emails.
Jamie Valimont – first of all I want to thank you for visiting, for being a blog reader and for closing those pesky ads. I handle the blog entirely on my IPad! I will look for Saved By The Farm – I love shows like that! Now a question – how did you become wheelchair bound and where are you from? It distresses me to think that my life is giving your pleasure – it sounds much different from yours but sad that this is your new life. Some days I don’t really know why I post on the blog – nothing exciting has happened for me to report on but I blabber away about my simple life. And then I hear from a reader such as you who appreciates my simple life in the country and then I know why I post! Tell all of us about yourself – details and if you’re not a quilter, what are your hobbies, do you have a pet, family, your favorite tv shows? I have many questions!
Hi Mary,
So honored to hear back from you. Believe me, you give a lot of people warm fuzzies, we appreciate you so much. About me: two years ago I started having falls, as time went on the falls became more frequent, I had to wear a medic alert necklace and got to meet the paramedics too many times. After a fall in mid-December they hauled me off to the hospital. My legs became very weak and I was sent to the assisted living home. It’s very expensive to be here, I’m blowing thru retirement savings. Had to give up my apartment, almost every thing I own and saddest of all, my beloved dog. I couldn’t afford to pay rent and pay for this place. I miss my dog Snickers so very very much, he was my best friend. My vet found a lady in Colorado to adopt him, I hope and pray he is loved and well taken care of. We do have 2 “house dogs” here, I love them but they’re not my Snickers. Our home has been on “lockdown” because of the virus so I don”t get to see family or friends at this time. Better safe than sorry.
My hobby for over 20 years was creating all of my greeting cards using rubber stamps. I was able to brighten a lot of lives with my homemade cards. Many times at funerals I would be told “my mother saved every card you sent her”. I was so happy that, like you, I was able to brighten someone’s day. I did discover punch needle at your shop and bought about 10 kits from you. I enjoyed it but was disappointed to discover the high cost of framing.
To answer your other questions, I’m originally from Michigan and moved to Phoenix in 1977 shortly after my father passed on at the age of 55 I thought he was old, but as I hit my 50’s, 60’s and now 71 I realize how young he was. My favorite tv shows are on animal planet and food network plus Young Sheldon, Blue Bloods, NCIS, Mom, and just a couple of reality shows like Little People Big World & the Million Dollar Listing shows.
I think I’ve bored all of you by now so I will let you go. Be grateful for the bounties you have, like being able to walk, being independent and having your own animals who enrich your lives.
One last thing Mary, what was the name of your gorgeous calico cat that I met in 2008…every time I looked at his picture I wondered about that.
Oops, I should have said his or her picture!
One more thing, I started Saturday Morning at the Movies here and could really use some suggestions on wholesome movies we can watch, we have access to Netflix here. Thanks.
Jamie V – all calico cats are female and I’ve had several beauties – it was probably Aggie you saw – she lived in the quilt shop her entire life. I am so sorry Snickers is no longer in your care – I think dogs are nearly essential to living – do you hear from the owners? Maybe that would make you feel worse – I don’t know. Can you still make cards? Yes, framing is expensive so we learned to glue our finished pieces to assorted household items like wood boxes or anything that would hang on a wall – not perfect but lots cheaper. I wonder if my hands could still do punchneedle. I love the same tv shows but watch a lot of Netflix series that would not qualify as wholesome – some are very violent with bad language for sure. I have a cousin who has lived in Phoenix for many years. I hope I’m never faced with having to give up my dogs – my sympathy to you.
Jamie again,
I finally figured out how to close the ads…happy day!
Jamie again,
I finally figured out how to close the ads…happy day!
Jamie again,
I finally figured out how to close the ads…happy day!
PS, my email address should not be capitalized…another tech problem I have to figure out…grrrrr!
Beautiful photos. My children spent a lot of time on the family farm and have grown up with a love for nature. We have always had a large vegetable garden and enjoy sharing the bounty. We will plant on a smaller scale this year as my husband has not been well. My jobs have always been the weeding and the picking of the garden. Everyone laughs because I love to weed. It is a quiet, thinking process. Small compared to the area you deal with.
Mary Ann – my hat is off to you if you enjoy weeding!! AND the picking? Does your husband just plant it? Yikes – I don’t enjoy vegetable gardening that much obviously.
Home Sweet Home, more meaning now than ever to me. But we did take an
Afternoon ride yesterday to my BIL and SIL’s summer place along one of our beautiful lakes here which was so refreshing. We social distanced outside on their deck and watched sailboats glide by and jet skiers enjoying the sunny day. It helped all four of us to talk and share concerns. Their daughter in PA is now helping covid patients who have recovered with their new to them side effects such as breathing techniques, etc. Such a worry for them. It bothers them as much as us people don’t take this seriously to protect themselves and others. As we drove home and saw crowded parking lots at home improvement stores, outdoor burger joints, grocery stores, we just prayed this doesn’t cause more to catch it to raise the numbers higher. So far my niece here is still doing ok isolated in her apt recovering.
Kathy in western NY – so glad your niece is recovering! When I went after plants yesterday, I think most of North Iowa was out socializing! No masks, no social distancing! I hope it doesn’t backfire on us!
Mary, Have you thought to chain a goat out by the parking area to see if he would eat the weeds for you? If he would do that, it would save you some weeding on your part.
So enjoy your farm tours! It was a wonderful day for you to be outside with the animals and your plants. Thank you for sharing!! 😀❤️
Mary, thank you for the beautiful farm tour and have been meaning to thank you for telling us where you bought the beautiful card! I placed an order but haven’t received them as yet – my church has sent out a list of our shutins for us to send cards – am looking forward to sending those cards!!
Love your farm tour. Your after picture of the garden, looks great
Thank you. I enjoyed that visit to your farm. Living on a small lot in a subdivision in Scottsdale, AZ I do not get to see much farm life. It is a lot of work, I know, but so worth it for the calm beauty in your farm.
Thanks for the tour. You are so good with plants…I’m jealous. I’m loving your lilac tree. I grew up with lots and love the fragrance. I miss that! Enjoy them while you can. Take care.
Thanks for all the pictures this morning. There are 3 Mule deer 🦌 visiting down in front of the property. Seems like the Elk come @ night after Pepper has gone to bed. She just doesn’t know we welcome them here to eat the weeds, etc. No way could we plant veggies in this rocky soil on the side of our mountain.
Suppose to rain in a while…Spring is a long time coming here. I am concerned how Idaho’s 4 Phases of Opening Up are going to be. Seems like we have near 34-24 new cases reported a day.
Launa – you’re so lucky to see all the wildlife every day! Right now I’m enthralled with the birds!
Mary, I have to share a fun story with you. Dave and I built an owl house, maybe 3 years ago or so. We put it up as high as we could get it in a pine tree on our property. We feed birds and enjoy sitting, listening and watching the birds during the day and listening to the owls at night. I was disappointed one day when a black squirrel came to the feeders. He has become a regular. Then we discovered that we had two! UGH you know what that means. One day Dave drove the truck into town and when he got to a stop sign he heard a racket and a black squirrel fell out of the truck. Poor thing, but I was happy. A week ago we came home and discovered the remaining black squirrel laying on top of the owl house, enjoying the day! We laughed. A couple of days ago, I happened to look up at the owl house and ran back to the house for the binoculars! YEP…..THREE faces looking out of their penthouse apartment watching me!
Connie – I loved your squirrel story but have never seen a black squirrel – where do you live?
Connie and Mary: I live in Southeast Nebraska and we have a lot of black squirrels in our area. Story has it that someone caught a black squirrel and dropped it off at a friend’s (?) yard and that has been some 30 years ago. We see them quite often around here.
I am in SE Minnesota……..Right on highway 61, along the Mississippi, north of Wabasha (Home of the Grumpy Old Men and a bit south of Red Wing,
Mary, they have white squirrels in Wabasha!
I love all these farm and nature stories, so different than Southern California. I live in Alta Loma which is about 60 miles east Los Angeles and we used to be in the pathway of migratory birds, but alas despite the complaints of many professors from the Claremont colleges they drained the reservoir and built homes… However I do have a fun story. I was taking a walk in my neighborhood and I looked up and saw a line of birds resting on the telephone lines upside down! I thought they were dead and wondered what was going on. All of a sudden they started their “parrot” cries and off they went to fly to some important destiny. We have been invaded by masses of parrots that return in the spring and sing their tropical songs! Apparently these are a multiplied group of escapee caged parrots! Oh, and last year I had a beautiful red parrot of some kind nesting in my Magnolia tree!!
Carolyn Barnett – oh my gosh – actual parrots? Like ones you’d see in a cage? But these got loose?? Wow – I’d love to see a picture of that! Or do they fly north to your area in the spring?
Mary , I think they may fly to southern Mexico for the winter. Quilting friends that live at the foot of the San Gabriel mountains from Pasadena to my home ( approx. 35 miles East) have seen these parrots. I worked for the Visiting NursesAssoc. for 20 yrs. before retiring and I have more stories than you can imagine. Here is one. I was seeing a TKR patient and on his enclosed patio live two beautiful red parrots. I forgot what they were called… Big tho, anyways he said he didn’t even buy them. Apparently they landed in on his lawn and they allowed him to capture them by throwing a blanket over them!! Seems they wanted their easy caged life over freedom!! His home was about 3 miles from mine. I loved this type of work as I love the complexity of people and their interesting lives! Carolyn
Carolyn Barnett – loved that parrot story! What is TKR?
Hi Mary,
My favorite, Colton❤️❤️
Hi Mary,
My favorite—Colton❤️❤️
What I love about animals. They don’t know or care about a pandemic so they still get close to you for a pet or a hug. Wish we all were more like animals. Seeing your farm brings back happy memories on my daddy’s farm many years ago. Growing up on a farm is such a wonderful way to grow up.
I read with interest that Diana in Des Moines and Linda Rouse wanted to know how to get rid of unwanted plants —- cut them in the dark of the moon phase also known as the new moon- Dark of the moon phase occurs each month Look on the internet for that information
Margaret in North Texas – good to know! Dark of the moon, huh? I’m going to look that up!
Hi Mary! We have a fairly large gravel parking area in front of our house that I use a pre-emergent on twice a year. It’s called Noxall and isn’t cheap but well worth spreading it. I still have to spray an occasional weed because they’ll grow in just a speck of dirt! I get it at our local farm supply store.
Tina W from Oregon – thank you for that info – I’m going to look into it. Would sure save time for me. I use RoundUp but weeds still pop up.
Thanks for taking us on a walking tour, everything looks so fresh and new~ ready to burst forth into vibrant green leaves and colorful blooms. Squirrels at the feeders are the bane of my existence– arrgh! Having said that, though, if hungry squirrels the worst thing that I have going on, I have it pretty good, ha! I have never heard of a hops vine. I’m assuming this is what is used in beer making, maybe? When I was a little girl growing up in Massachusetts, my grandmother had a lush honeysuckle vine growing up a trellis at the end of the front porch. I recall how heavenly it smelled when in bloom (right on par with Lilacs, in my mind); it’s a wonderful memory of sitting out there and playing Chinese Checkers with my grandparents. When I moved to NC 45 years ago I learned that folks here consider Honeysuckle one of the worst, invasive, vines to have; they tore them out and burned them. I suppose there might be different varieties, I’m not sure– cultivated Honeysuckle and wild, perhaps? Anyway, I’ve avoiding ever looking for one here for fear it might take over! 😉