December 31st, New Year's Eve

 

And here's to the end of 2018,

and the beginning of 2019....

Hoping the next 365 days will be

filled with beautiful moments,

treasured memories,

and all the blessings

you can know!

 

2018 started out with so much promise.

We had several frosty days and even a couple of snowy ones too.

January 18th

Our Bird of Paradise.

 

In February, it was still cold.

We had basketball with the granddaughter,

Grandkids birthdays,

and Mardi Gras.

But by March,

our garden was trying to burst out of the ground.

March and April were great growing months.

Our tiny suburban farm was producing nicely!

 

By

May and June,

We were actually eating veggies mostly from the garden.

It was wonderful!

Our oldest grandson graduated from high school,

Granddaughter and grandson  performed in a concert.

And just like that school was out.

I went to California to visit my son.

Swiss Chard

Eggs!

Cucumbers

The tomatoes and bell peppers were prolific.

Every day we'd pick veggies or fruit.

 

July and August were incessantly hot!

The relentless sun destroyed several of our plants.

Even the chickens stayed in the shade.

School started again and it was back to the daily routine.

Ethel

Pepper

 

 

September didn't bring a respite from the heat.

After all this is southern Louisiana!

But it did bring Saints football!

 

and October brought Halloween.

 Our little Cajun ghost.

 

November brought more militons and a few other veggies.

December the 6th was when the CEO fell from a ladder.

He is still under the weather and its almost been 4 weeks!

Here's hoping he gets back on his feet soon.

 

 As far as the new year....

 

and....

 

December 24th

Twas the night before Christmas,
when all through the house,
not a creature was stirring......

Well, a few of us are still stirring anyway.
Papa isn't in his cap, but he's on the couch watching TV.
Mama, is however, in her gown, typing this post.
The best dog in the whole world is laying at my feet,
while I try to drown out the noise of "Quantum of Solace"

Sorry James Bond, but I just can't watch your movie anymore.
But, "White Christmas" played in the background through 3
showings today. Can't beat that music!

Today started out promising....
It was a beautiful Goldilocks morning, not too cold, just right!
Plans were not made, but they could have been.
But the day ended the same as usual, these past few weeks.
That's not a bad commentary, its just how it has been here.

I am hoping Santa will bring me winning lottery tickets.
Then I remembered, I haven't been out in 3 weeks, but to the grocery.
So, those tickets won't be in my stocking.
Oh, well, I should be thankful for all I have....
and I am, but those tickets would be really appreciated, Santa.

I'm thankful for a mortgage free roof over my head,
For a car that's 14 years old but runs great,
For a family that is the absolute best,
For friends that are like family,
For the fact that I live in this country,
For my family and myself being healthy.
What else is there?
Monetary possessions?
Do I NEED them?
No. They're nice to have, but not necessities.
I happily embrace this simple life.
Thank you Santa,
you really did give me an incredible Christmas present!

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

This is broccoli.

Note the chewed off leaves that are close

to its wire enclosure?

Well, that's the work of the chicken girls.

I caught them red handed!

(red beaked, would be more appropriate)

I scolded them for sampling the produce.

I don't think they'll listen.

 

This is 2 new artichoke plants.

That brown stuff in the middle is

the old plant.

We thought it had died but these growths are new.

Yay!

 

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

Chickens 101

Sleeping chickens.

Chickens go into a kind of stupor when they sleep.

When it starts to get dark, they march into the coop.

They either group together on one side,

or sit in one of the roost boxes.

With darkness coming earlier in the winter,

they automatically sleep till day break.

Sleep for them is odd.

I've seen them sprawled out in the grass or dirt oblivious to everything.

So, they do take naps during the day.

I've seen them sleep during the day with one eye open and one closed

but only for the outdoor naps.

My guess is that it's a protection against predators

But, that behavior, I've only seen in the summer.

Makes sense, longer days, less sleep time at night.

When they sleep, you can move them around in the coop

and they never completely awaken.

They aren't floppy, they seem to be aware, just stupefied.

They are also creatures of habit.

Whatever spot one of them occupies,

she will always go to that spot.

Ours girls never out of the coop at night.

They always sleep inside with the door closed.

 

Another observation.....

Dominance.

The dominant hen eats first, in the same place each time.

Our dominant hen is Pepper.

With a close second of Lucy.

Although they all vie for attention,

it's always Pepper who comes first when called.

I swear she even knows her name!

 

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

 

We watched Home Alone last night and this

was my question too.

 

And....

in closing,

I'd like to ask for just one thing from Santa,

 

Saints in the Superbowl!

 

 

Merry Christmas

to all

and to all a good

night!

 

December 13th

12 days to Christmas!

Don't ya just love this picture?

Today is National Ice Cream Day,
Gotta love that.
Hmmm....
Upon thinking about it.....
I don't really get why National Ice Cream Day is in December.
Its cold out, so why celebrate a cold concoction?
Don't you think it'd be better to celebrate this day in the summer??
So, I looked it up.....
There are several times a year when this holiday is celebrated,
but only today, is it treated to its very own day.
Ok then...
Ice cream, who thought it up?
Well, the ancient Romans sort of did.
Although they pretty much just used flavored snow,
(not yellow, I hope!)
Think of those wonderful fruit flavored Italian ices!
Good old Marco Polo, in his travels, brought back a type of sherbet
from the far east. (along with spaghetti), seems that
he was an early foodie who wanted to share all the tasty stuff he'd eaten
on his treks.
(but how did he get something that'd melt all the way back to Italy?)
Maybe he just wrote the recipe down?
(or maybe he invented the first Igloo cooler??)
Anyhoo
Sometime in the 16th century, some French people said,
"Hey, I'll add eggs, cream, vanilla, milk and sugar to this
cold stuff and then churn it a while!"
(read that in your best French accent)
That, my friends, was a Eureka! moment.
That tasty idea spread to Great Britain,
where the king himself, Charles the First, declared
it a delicacy. It was served at many state dinners.
Americans, being the lowly colonists that we were,
didn't get brain freeze from ice cream till about the 1740's.
Even George Washington was a huge fan.
Records show that he spent nearly $200 on ice cream
during the summer of 1790!
$200.00!!!
Jeez! I don't think I've spent that much in a summer using today's dollars!
Maybe that's why his teeth were so bad?????
Lesson not learned George!
Anyway, after that the newly christened Americans,
couldn't get enough!
And, as they say...
The rest is history.

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

Its raining out.

Its just a slight drizzle,

Just enough to get wet,

but that doesn't deter the girls in their

pursuit of bugs!

I just refilled their feed, but they'd

rather follow me on my way to the

compost heap.

 

This is Rosemary.

She was a rescue last spring.

The CEO found her in the garbage at

a clients' house.

She's beautiful!

 

The only reason the few peppers are still here

is that they are in a wire protected area.

The girls can't get their little beaks into them.

 

This is a Roma tomato.

They aren't doing so well now.

We got many this spring and early summer,

but the heat got to them.

 

Mirlitons!

(autocorrect doesn't understand Louisiana,

keeps wanting to correct to "millions"..)

 

The side garden.

Yellow sweet onions, spinach,

and parsley.

 

Pepper in the compost bin.

She's in chicken heaven.

She's got the worm buffet all to herself, for a few minutes.

 

A geranium that is still blooming.

 

 

A marigold near the front door.

So pretty.

Didya know they are edible?

As long as there's no pesticides or chemicals on them

they make a citrus like addition to

to a salad.

I dry them and add it to my homemade soap.

They add awesome color and they are antibiotic

and antifungal too.

 

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

 

These are the cards the grandkids sent to

recovering soldiers.

How sweet are they?

 

Just hoping to instill the real reason for Christmas!

 

 

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

Dr Seuss was an inspiration

to all kids.

 

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

This is my happy place.

I'd love to be able to be in that picture,

without freezing myself half to death!

Also, I love the quiet, silent moments I have to myself,

and the awe inspiring sights of nature.

Beautiful.

 

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

 

And remember,

during this Christmas season,

if you Jingle,

Jingle all the way.

Because,

nobody likes a

half-assed

Jingler!

 

 also...

Get well CEO!

He had a nasty fall and is recuperating.

The chicken girls miss you.

Love you.

 

 

December 5th

 

This is the Sweet Gum tree that I park under

every day while waiting for the kids

to get out of school.

It's beautiful, especially in the fall,

but that big bugger has these

lethal, thorny, ball type seeds, that'll

stab right through a shoe sole!

This is my Love/Hate relationship.

I won't wish that it be cut down or

die of some kinda blight,

but maybe a nest of angry woodpeckers

would be nice. 😈

 

Speaking of woodpeckers........

Yesterday, I heard the one that occasionally

roosts in my Poplar

outside of my kitchen.

It was incessantly pecking away at the tree trunk.

Again, I'm not wishing any ill

to befall my little feathered pain in the butt,

BUT,

I'd like him to find a home elsewhere!

ASAP!

 

The other infrequent visitors are a small hawk and 2 cats.

I don't have any cats.

They just come in the yard.

Leia could care less.

She simply isn't bothered by any other species.

I attempted to identify the hawk in a bird book we have,

but there are so many.

He looks a tad smaller than the chicken girls,

with gray wings and yellowish gray feet with black talons.

A couple of days ago, he was actually on my patio.

The hens vamoosed.

I don't believe he can harm them,

but it seems typical, predator/prey behavior.

The girls know to get away and get under things.

Hawks hunt by swooping down and grabbing,

but the girls instinctively know what to do.

The cats are another story.

They don't hunt the chickens.

They just seem like strays looking for a place to crash or food.

There's a black one and a tiger one.

The black one got a bit too close to Henny the other day.

She didn't like that.

She ran after it and pecked the bejesus outta

the poor cats' head.

The ancestral dinosaur came out in her!

I haven't seen that cat since!

(good riddance!)

 

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

 

This is our first haul of mirlitons.

The vine is producing quite a lot.

 

This is broccoli.

Last year, we didn't get much yield.

(partly because the hens got in there and feasted)

Hoping for a decent crop this year.

(and we have it fenced off)

 

The bell peppers are covered in blooms.

As long as the chicken girls don't find them first,

we should get a good crop into winter.

 

I found a tomato bush growing out of the bricks

on the side of the patio.

No clue how it got there,

but,

I'm considering it a windfall.

I'll replant it in a container.

It's about a foot tall.

 

This is Pepper.

She was the most curious today.

She followed me all over the yard.

I put the kitchen scraps in the compost bin,

while the girls waited patiently for me to leave.

All they wanted to do was scratch around in the newly

turned up dirt.

Annnnd,

Here's Nugget.

Eyeballing me.

"No girl, I don't have any worms."

We can't walk out the door without

our feathered escorts.

 

Say "ALOE" to my little friend.

He is going to need watching.

If the temperature goes too low,

he'll die.

He was on life support the entire early spring

because I forgot to bring him indoors

before the freezes and snow.

 

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

 

Musings.......

A picture all the way from California,

courtesy of my son.

So sweet.

A perfect heart.

 

 

I was at the grocery yesterday,

minding my own business, 

while dutifully running

down the items on my list,

when,

Lo and behold!

I was startled by this unfortunate porcine part.

Decapitated.

Beheaded.

Guillotined.

I'm sure at one point he (or she) was wallowing

in his pen with not a care in the world.

Slurping up slop with his little piggy lips,

wagging his little corkscrew tail....

Then,

WHAM!

this happened........

But lets not get "a head" of ourselves here.

Its' sticker says "Pork Market Head"

Sells for $13.19

No!

I saw him looking at me,

with his dull gaze....

And it reminded me.....

my Mom and Grandmother made Hogs Head cheese

when my sister and I were little.

I remember them cutting the head up and

boiling the parts to get that collagenous glue

that holds the "cheese" together.

They didn't use the eyes.

(thank God!)

So,

like curious (demented) children,

 we rolled them around on the kitchen table,

trying to stab them with a fork!

How barbaric!

They squished like an over ripe grape!

Gross!!!

To think, I might have stabbed myself and needed some

"oink-ment".

I don't eat the stuff.

Can't bring myself to do it.

I just remember those eyes!!!

And...

where, oh where are his other tasty parts????

 

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

 

Remember.....

According to my Mom,

"Everything happens for a reason"

So,

When you think something is falling apart,

it may actually be falling into place.

 

 

Hugs!

November 30th

Well this month is almost over.
We've celebrated a few holidays too.
But I'll bet you never dreamed that its also
Gluten Free Diet Month, or
Sweet Potato Awareness Month, or
Native American Heritage Month.
We never hear of these to celebrate.
I'd like to correct these wrongs.

I celebrate the gluten free diet daily (mostly).
I am on a rather loose interpretation of a gluten free diet.
The only reason is that I have issues with my stomach.
And let me tell you.... gluten tastes good.
No gluten, however, tastes terrible!
Especially gluten free bread!
Yuck!

Sweet Potato Awareness.....
Now how can we celebrate this?
I'm aware that there sweet potatoes.
I'm aware that I like eating sweet potatoes.
Ok, I've celebrated.
Done with that one.....

Native American Heritage month is gonna be a bit harder.
As far as I know, I do not have any Native DNA.
I haven't taken a DNA test to be sure, but
I guess if a certain congress woman can make that claim,
I'll assume that I am a Native American (only for today).

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

This was taken December 11th 2016

Our girls are about 2 years old.

They were so small that we had to keep a heat

lamp on them in the cold,

and they pretty much stayed in their cage

in the garage at night.

We draped an old blanket over the cage

and they quieted down for the night.

 

That's Pepper.

So stinkin' cute.

Lucy and Ethel are a bit younger.

They all get along like sisters now.

Bitchy, curious, sisters,

who do not realize that they are chickens.

I really believe that they think

they are dogs.

They still follow Leia around like

baby ducks following their mama.

Leia doesn't even give them a sideways glance,

but still they follow her.

Goofy hens.

 

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

 

And in the spirit of the season,

 

Please remember to send a Christmas card to

a soldier this season.

We are planning to send several.

My grandkids will write a sentiment inside

and address them.

Just trying to instill giving as well as getting.

And,

Salvation Army of Greater N.O.

Women and Children's Emergency Shelter

4500 South Claiborne Ave.

New Orleans, La.

70125

 

Remember,

"There but for the grace of God, go I"

(Its an idiom that is attributed to John Bradford.

He lived in the 1500's.

He was a clergyman who encountered

the wrath of the English monarchy.

He was imprisoned in the Tower of London

and later burned at the stake.)

 

To end on a lighter note....

Take care of yourself

You are loved.

:)