The little tortoise shell cat who adopted

us died yesterday.

I have no idea of her origins other than she

was a pet of a neighbor who passed away.

Then the nameless little furball became

a girl of the streets.

We met on a swelteringly hot day in 

August after hurricane Ida, when she

waltzed into my house.

She was a literal bag of bones.

Over the next few days, I fed and

watered her. 

She must have seen something

in me other than free food

because she never left.

Her best buddies, the hens, all passed away

and then she was our last girl.

Her hearing and eyesight failed her

and she slowed way down.

The final straw was a kitty stroke

that robbed her of movement.

Our Vet helped her transition

over the rainbow bridge.

Thank you Minew

for adopting us.

We never knew we needed a cat,

but you, 

my girl, 

were the best!

💔🐈💔

 

April 4Th

The Peppermint Amaryllis started to bloom!

More and more Scarlet Amaryllis are blooming too.

This picture was taken yesterday

when we noticed several blooms

were broken and hanging low

from the wind.

The CEO cut the broken stalks

and brought them inside.

They are so beautiful!

The same thing is happening to the

Louisiana Irises.

Their stalks have either been bent over

or completely broken.

The Dianthus is blooming.

Minew is resting in the grass.

She's incontinent and doesn't eat much,

but she's comfortable, and that's good.

She's such a pretty girl.

Well, this March 1st certainly brought high winds and rain.

So, I guess March did indeed come in like a lion.

But the weather this morning was also "lion-like" with

high winds and heavy rain till noon.

I don't think March was ready to go just yet.

This month was all over the weather spectrum.

Temperature fluctuations with forecasts of rain,

hail and wind damage along with street flooding.

Cancellations of parades since Mardi Gras,

celebrations and fairs too, left its mark this year.

The Vernal Equinox - Spring, on the 20th, didn't

leave the month any slack either. 

It was quite cold then.

The CEO has been preparing veggie beds 

and the herb pots that the snow 

left dead and barren.

The herb garden.

We have: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary,

several different types of Thyme.

(Our homage to Paul Simon 😁)

We have Purple Basil, Thai Basil. and Holy Basil (Batman!).

There's also some Basil coming up from seeds!

We have Italian Oregano, and yellow onions.

The Asparagus pots.

I harvest them, I actually mean, I eat them,

daily as I putter around.

If the Asparagus spear keeps growing,

it'll "bolt", meaning that it goes to seed

and it becomes an Asparagus Fern.

That's not a totally bad thing later on in the

growing cycle, but now, we'd prefer

to eat the succulent spears.

The flowering weeds are blooming too.

This is a Meadow Buttercup. It's different

from the purplish-blue ones on the sides of the roads.

A Mock Strawberry.

It's edible, but it's kinda nasty tasting.

So, that's a big no from us!

But birds eat them.

Oxalis Daisy.

Another weed, but it's so cute that I had

to cut a stem and place in the vase.

The front entrance plants.

There's Purple Coleus, Yellow Green Coleus

and Ruby Begonia with Sedum trying to

grow back after being in the snow.

Black Scallop Ajuga.

I love this little guy!

Those purplish-blue blooms are stunning.

Now the showstoppers!!

These are Peppermint Amaryllis.

There's 4 buds.

The Fleur de Lis bed has the red Amaryllis.

This picture was taken yesterday.

Here they are this morning!!

There are 42 blooms in this bed.

Up close look inside the trumpet.

We decorated for St Patrick's Day.

Spring

And Easter.

 

*******************************

We got visited by some wildlife.

There was an owl that I wasn't able to

grab a picture - sadly.

He was beautiful!

A baby Opossum

A Mockingbird

(Hey everybody, have you heard?)

(Sorry James Taylor  😔)

And Felis catus, or

Minew

She's an elderly lady who

would rather be left alone.

🐈

I found this online...

So, next time you see a bunch of 

birds or ducks, check out what

they are and where they come from.

There's a bunch flying back 

south from the cold.

👍

********************************

Again,

Thanks for reading.

I really appreciate you!

💗💛💙

Another sad passing.

My dear friend's Dad left this world

to join her Mom.

Now they are her Angels in Heaven.

Bless her and her family.

✞

 

February 28th

The month of February is small

and this blog entry will be too.

😀

The entry decorations started with

Valentines Day

and I even made a cake

for the occasion.

💘

It was Devil's Food!

Yum!

Then, on the 15th, I changed

the decorations to 

Mardi Gras ones.

Although, Mardi Gras

season actually started on

twelfth night, I

opted to wait to decorate.

💜💚💛

The decorations are kinda

meager, but

the spirit is there.

Minew isn't into celebrating

holidays.

She's just a little old grumpy lady

who meows loudly at the door

for her breakfast or

to fill her water bowl.

Cats really don't have

owners, they have staff!

***********************

We haven't been able to

get out into the garden

because the CEO

had a minor operation

and he's recuperating.

He's coming along well.

This was a huge succulent that

we couldn't move the pot in

to protect it from the snow.

I did take a couple cuttings

in case we lost it - and yes,

we lost it.

My hardy oregano is doing well.

A scraggly rosemary that has 

several new leaves and branches.

******************

The other day, I was at Aldi and

they were marking down the

hamburger buns.

They are normally $1.35 each,

so, I picked up 8 bags at

.35 cents each! 

Score!

I put them in the freezer for

later use.

I really like shopping at Aldi.

**********************

Just a simple King Cake 

recipe that bakes really 

fast and is darn tasty!

Spray a bundt pan with butter flavored spray.

Use 2 rolls of refrigerated cinnamon buns,

I used the Cinnabon ones.

Try to overlap the dough a bit to get

all of the buns in a circle along the bottom.

Bake as per package directions.

Allow it to cool a bit before 

drizzling with the icing.

I add the little packets of

icing that come with the buns

to icing I make.

(You need a bit more icing 

when making the buns

into a King Cake.)

Icing

In a bowl, mix the icing packets 

and add,

1 cup of powdered sugar, 

1 or 2 tablespoons milk,

1/2 teaspoon vanilla. 

Mix well and split into 3 containers

then add food coloring to each container.

Drizzle the colored icing on top.

Or,

Don't color the icing,

just drizzle it onto the King Cake and

 add purple, green and gold sprinkles

before the icing hardens.

I might try an apple pie filling in the next one.

And always remember...

Leave the knife on the platter.

😆

In memoriam to Jimmy

A great and loving person

who left us too soon.

We grieve your loss

and will never forget you.

♱

🙏

💗💙💚

 

January 31st 2025

Wow!

It's 2025!

I pray that this year brings

health and happiness

for everyone.

So far

things aren't going

so well.

Prayers for those lives lost 

in the French Quarter

terrorist attack. 

I hope that's all the tragedy

because

today is the last day

of the first month, and

we have 11 more months to go.

***************

On the 6th, we harvested a few

peppers and 3 small 

green tomatoes.

Then,

it was my Grandson's 

17th birthday!

Right after that,

it was my son's birthday.

Since it's Mardi Gras season,

his birthday cake was

a King Cake.

Yum!

Right after the birthdays

the CEO underwent surgery.

and then...

on the 21st,

it SNOWED!

and snowed...

and kept on snowing!

It was almost a

white out situation.

We got 10 inches

before it stopped.

It stayed on the ground,

barely melting, till 

several days later.

This was taken on the 24th.

I've never experienced

that in my 72 years!

We lost a few plants 

but overall, we made out well.

Since we couldn't get out

and school and work were

closed, I baked a lot.

I made biscuits, sausage balls and a pie.

My cherry pie

The CEO was going crazy

with his enforced convalescence.

I copied this picture from an

online article about the snow.

The Cathedral

Then it finally melted.

School was back in session 

and people could get to work.

The temperature started to climb.

The CEO was getting around a bit,

so, he planted some 

Romaine, Bok Choy

and green onions.

He's got them in the garage 

under a grow light.

Then my cousin died unexpectedly.

He was a good man, a decorated NAVY veteran,

a widower, a father and a grandparent.

I will forever miss him.

The CEO is still on the mend,

and doing better every day.

The oregano is the only

plant that survived several

days under a blanket of snow.

I just have to clean up the

herb garden and prepare the

containers for the spring.

In all the snow,

Minew didn't leave her toasty

insulated bed under the heat lamp

(You can see her cataract)

She's a good old girl.

Today is warm,

but rainy,

so, Minew is out and about

exploring the yard.

She seems skeptical

of the weather.

(You can't see the cataract in her 

left eye in the daylight because

the reflecting layer isn't

seen easily)

*******************

Prayers to those lives lost

in the airplane and helicopter crash

yesterday.

*******************

Thank you for reading

my posts and here's to

another year!

💗💚💙