Monday, March 31, 2025

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.






 

Friday, February 28, 2025

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.
🙏


💗💙💚




 

Friday, January 31, 2025

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!
💗💚💙