Memorial Day May 27th

For all those in heaven who will forever

remain in uniform......

Thank you.

This is more than a three day holiday,

more than barbeques and family reunions.

It's about the ultimate sacrifice to the greater good.

Few can say they would lay down their lives

for their fellow man.

You who died while serving,

whether we know your names or not,

are our heroes.

I send a prayer of thanks.

 

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Parsley

When we got this plant it looked like

it was dying.

We repotted it and used compost

and

just a little TLC.

Looks great now!

 

Basil.

We have three kinds.

Sweet Basil, Thai Basil and Christmas Basil.

All have similar tastes.

Great, versatile herb.

 

Yukon Gold's

or,

Maybe alien potatoes.

How cute are these?

 

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Marigolds

 

Petunias

 

Chrysanthemums.

More Chrysanthemums about to bloom.

 

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Ethel...... brooding.

She doesn't want her picture taken.

She fluffed out her feathers and clucked at me.

But she calmed down when I

patted her.

Nugget posing

Hazel and Pepper trying to capture a lizard.

He got away.

They weren't happy so they stayed there eyeballing him.

 

Chicken Facts

1) As hens get older they lay larger but fewer eggs.

2) Humans see in 3 color bands (red, blue and green).

Chickens see those too but also have UV vision.

The thought is that UV helps determine which

eggs will hatch or not, explaining why hens

sometimes kick an egg out of the nest.

3) Chickens have exceptional hearing. It has been

shown that they can pinpoint sounds to within

a few inches. They are also able to regenerate

hearing cells as needed when they age.

Scientists are studying this as to how they

may apply it to human deafness!

4) The number of chickens on Earth is around 25

billion. The number of humans on Earth

is around 7.7 billion. We are outnumbered

3 to 1!

5) Scientists have isolated "Chicken speak" like

they have done with whales. Chickens makes

assorted different sounds to announce that

they've laid an egg, there's a predator in the

air or a different call for a predator in the sky,

or to identify individually their many offspring.

 

We think that they recognize their names

as well as come when we call them.

Silly birds!

 

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I don't get political,

but in light of all the so called

"politically correctness"

and turn to democratic socialism

in the world today,

I'm reminded of a quote from

George Orwell's classic

1984

 

  He wrote this in response to Nazi Germany......

 

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But wait!

 

When I worked at Kmart, I was explaining to a woman

why we could not take back the item she wanted to return.

She was growing more incensed and continued to argue with me,

as I told her that we did not

sell that particular item nor would she be getting a refund.

In a huff she says to me...

 "Well, at least you can call me a cab!"

I took a breath....

"Ok"

"You're a cab!"

and I simply walked away.

(drop the mike)

 

Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

 

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May 23rd

Looks like my little cherub is hiding.

He's tucked in between the sage and mint.

 

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Today is "Lucky Penny" day.

You know the old adage....

See a penny, pick it up and all the day you'll have good luck.

Does that count if you find it in the wash?

I hope so.

In the past week I've made 45 cents in petty cash!

Somehow my luck didn't improve.

Yet....

 

My oldest son came home for a few days to help

us celebrate the 7th grade graduation of my granddaughter.

It was a sweet occasion.

I came headfirst into the reality that she's getting older.

No, 13 isn't old by anyone's definition, but I can see

the years slipping by.

They are flying way too fast for my liking.

Jeez, I've got shoes older than she is!

(a matter of fact, those Birkenstock's may

have been there when Moses parted the Red Sea!)

But, that's another story......

At that wise old age of 13, she's quick to remind me

that we are now in the 21st century, Grammy!

Oh, how well I know that!

I don't feel like I'm circling the drain yet, or

lining up to be a resident of a nursing home.

(or as I like to refer to them,
God's Waiting Rooms)

Just seems unfair that the closer you get to

"Check Out Time",

the faster it seems to go.

 

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My Mother's Day gift in full bloom.

We had to put them outside

due to the smell!

I knew I had seen them before but I didn't know their names.

Such a beautiful flower.

Such a stink!

 

The gardenias are almost finished blooming.

I had cut branches of them loaded down with blooms,

to bring into the house.

I just love this scent.

 

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In a relative kinda way, this is a Magnolia flower.

Same kind of waxy bloom with an intoxicating scent.

We were in City Park to see the new Sculpture Garden.

It was beautiful!

A manmade waterfall....

in New Orleans,

How cool is that?!

An odd, steam punk looking sculpture.

I liked it!

I had to take a picture of this.

Back in the day, on the Morgus the Magnificent Show,

Dr Morgus had a skull

that he called Erik.

Erik spoke to him on the show.

And....

I have an almost life sized ceramic skull that I break out

every Halloween.

Guess what his name is?

Yep.

Erik.

That's the first thing my son said when he saw the skull.

"Look, its Erik"

 

And this little guy

fields of wildflowers on Marconi

Takes your breath away!

 

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A handful of cherry tomatoes.

Two are regular ones and two are purple.

Soooo tasty!

 

We've harvested 6 cucumbers so far.

They are so much better than the ones from the store.

The CEO like them sliced with a little Italian dressing.

 

 

This is three kinds of potatoes: Yukon gold's, Russet, and Purple Fingerlings,

Mirlitons, Purple Bell Peppers, Yellow sweet onions, cherry tomatoes,

Celery, the cucumbers and about a weeks worth of eggs.

I made potato salad and the only thing I use that's not from the garden

is mayonnaise, salt, pepper and paprika.

Yay!

Do you see a pattern here?

We have an impressive amount of

purple veggies.

New to the Chicken Scratch Farm.

We also have yellow and red as well as the usual green

bell peppers not mature enough to pick.

Cauliflower

 

Romanesco Broccoli

the florets look like fractals.

Taste is milder than regular broccoli.

 

Oh, and we made Green Mint tea.

Just boiling water, bruised mint leaves and stevia to sweeten it.

Tastes amazing!

 

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It really feels good to be able to grow/raise

our own food.

(nope, we won't eat the girls)

 

Speaking of the girls,

Ethel is broody.

At least each season, one or more get broody.

That's when all she wants to do is sit on her egg.

Yes, we remove the eggs daily, but

she sits on everybody else's too.

Bless her feathered butt!

She'll leave to grab a bite to eat and drink water,

and back to the nest she goes.

Hazel, on the other hand, gets impatient 

so she started laying eggs in the mint pots.

She just lays the egg and hops out.

No broody-ness for her.

Yet.

Now she's dug a hole in the garden and is

chilling out.

Silly hen.

 

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and grandchildren.....

 

and

still missing our Leia.

 

 

 

Remember.....

Gardening is cheaper than therapy,

and

you get to eat stuff!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 12th Mother's Day

 

Today is a day set aside to honor our Mothers.

And it might seem to be only a Hallmark holiday,

but its inception was heartfelt.

In West Virginia, in early 1908, Anna Jarvis held a memorial for

her mother Ann, who was a peace activist during the Civil War.

After the war, her mother created

 'Mother's Day Work Clubs'

that addressed public health issues.

Anne wanted to continue her mothers' work and set aside

a day to honor all mothers because she believed

a mother is the

 "person who has done more for you than anyone

in the world."

So, in 1908, Congress made it an official holiday.

That's the background.

Now the reality.

Mother's Day for me, is bittersweet.

It's sad that the only way to honor her now is

flowers on her grave.

Still,

I wonder what life would be like to still have her here.

I wonder if she'd think I did a good job mothering my kids.

I wonder what she'd think of my grandkids.

I know she'd love them to pieces.

And spoil them too!

I hope she's looking down and smiling,

knowing that we love and miss her.

Here's hoping I did a decent job of raising my kids and

assisting with my grandkids.

As the picture said, life and Mothering, doesn't

come with a manual,

So we have to do it by the seat of our pants

and guidance from our Moms.

 

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The CEO gave me these lilies for Mother's Day.

They are beautiful, but have a weird smell,

and the pollen on the stamen, doesn't come

off clothing very easily.

Weird, but they are incredibly beautiful!

 

 

The hostas are blooming.

Looks like it'll be pale lavender flowers.

 

These are our beets

Can't wait to eat them!

Cherry tomatoes.

When ripe, they'll be purplish in color.

 

 

A hanging basket of deep purple petunias

Pretty yellow chrysanthemums.

They bloom twice for us,

in spring and again in the fall.

 

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Hazel has had a wild hair.

 She began laying in the mint planter.

We tried to deter her from it by putting

a sprinkler over the top of the planter,

but the little witch pushed it off.

She's determined!

 

If you are wondering how long hens lay eggs,

here's a chart that'll help.

Our girls were born in early December of 2016.

So, they are about 2 1/2 years old now.

Lucy and Ethel are a bit younger

and are about 2 now.

The following picture shows egg % counts as they age.

To keep the same egg production,

you have to keep adding younger hens to the flock.

But, to introduce a baby hen is a bit difficult.

They have to be acclimated to the flock

or the girls could injure or kill them.

Chickens are territorial and can be mean

to newcomers.

So,

 I'm not sure we'll do that till our current girls

age beyond 7 years.

That's assuming nothing catastrophic happens!

 

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I found a good recipe on Pinterest

that I'd like to share.

It's muffins.

Easy - Peasy!

Only 3 ingredients and very light.

1) Cake mix of any flavor

2) 3 large eggs

3) 1 can of pie filling, any flavor.

Mix together

Place in muffin tin

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Bake for 35 minutes.

Makes about 24 muffins.

I used a yellow cake mix with cherry pie filling.

They came out golden brown and delicious!

The CEO asked me not to put frosting

on them, so we ate them as is.

I've got to try a yellow cake mix with lemon pie filling next!

Or

Spice cake mix with apple pie filling!

The sky's the limit!

Hope you give it a try.

 

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Oh well, time to go to sleep.

Hope your Mother's Day was as nice as mine.

And,

Thanks to the 2 reasons for my day, my sons.