Monday, November 18, 2019

November 18th

Its a beautiful day in the neighborhood.
(to steal a line from Mr. Rogers)
The deciduous trees are loosing their leaves.
There's not a cloud in the sky.
Ahhh.
South Louisiana in the fall and spring
are my favorite times of the year.
Never too cold or too hot.
But,
that can all change in a heartbeat.
Ya just never know.
So....
I'll take today as it is.
Practically perfect in every way.
(to steal another line,
this time from Mary Poppins)
Hope I don't have to pay royalties
to Disney.

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

When the temperature went to the low '30's last week,
I thought I'd lose some of my Aloe plants.
Luckily for us, they didn't succumb.
This is the Mother Ship.
She is always making babies.
We've put about 8 or 9
into their own pots.
Grow babies, grow!



This is Elvis Parsley,
and his cousin...
Curley Parsley.
They still like the cooler weather.
I harvested some last month and put them into 
an ice tray with olive oil.
Then I freeze it to use later.
The olive oil never freezes hard
and doesn't damage the herbs.



Mint flower.
The flowers are edible too.


My succulents.
They are growing into beautiful plants.

Desi the Cuban Oregano.
He doesn't like low temperatures.
I don't want to prune the dead pieces yet
because they'll protect the ones under them.


Nugget and Pepper.

Pepper.

Nugget, Lucy and Ethel.
They are better trained than some dogs.
They always come when called,
they like to be held,
and
they always want to come inside the house.
Nope,
ain't happening.
They aren't house trained.
*****************************

The ongoing kitchen reno project.
The CEO had to replace some old wiring.
Glad that he found it because
it'll prevent an electrical fire in the future.
I like the idea of fixing up my 40 year old home,
but the reality is exhausting!

I watch some of those home improvement shows
but admittedly some are ridiculous
and
the home buyers are unrealistic.
They use several terms that grind my teeth!
Here's a few: 
1) Clean lines - Ok, I get it but some may prefer
an actual kitchen or dining room.
They act as if they need to be observant of all
areas of the home at once. How much time
do they really spend in the kitchen cooking?
All freakin' day?
Doubt that.
2) Open Concept - same deal. They need everything
open to see everything at once. 
Sight Lines, another pretentious word,
 means the same thing.
3) Complete Gut Job - Yeah, yeah, you don't like
something about your potential home and would 
like it completely changed. 

4) Turn Key - I don't know if this is completely
true because most would like something changed.
5) Man Cave, City Center, Outdated - these are also
useless and sometimes not based in the reality of
a budget.
So, watching the First World problems of young
professionals who make the rest of us feel 
like we live in hovels,
can be highly entertaining!
Just sayin'

And this one because I couldn't help myself...

Read this on Pinterest,
"HGTV be like....
I work part time at a daycare for goats
and my husband breeds salamanders.
Our all-in budget is
$1.3 million."


**********************************
So now that I've had another rant...
I'll just close with pleasant thoughts

(dunno about those ants and spiders...)




Monday, November 11, 2019

November 11th Veterans Day

On November 11th, 1918....
the war to end all wars....
World War I,
was finally and officially over.
The armistice was signed on
the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
So, 
this day was dubbed 
"Armistice Day".
It began primarily as holiday to honor
World War I vets.
But,
as history proves,
then came World War II and
on its heels,
the Korean War.
So, Congress signed the 
Veterans Day bill
to honor all veterans.
Then,
in 1968, Congress passed the
Uniform Holiday Bill
to ensure all federal holidays would
be henceforth celebrated on Mondays.
It was hoped that it would spur
family activities and travel over the
long weekend holiday,
and stimulate the economy.
By 1968, this new Monday holiday
sadly included the veterans
of the Vietnam War too.
In remembrance of this day,
Veterans of all branches
of military service are included.
They take an oath to serve, 
an oath to defend, support and obey,
and 
to put their lives on the line for us.
So,
I take this forum to honor my
family who have served.
My Dad,
 my son, U.S. Navy 
and my nephew, U.S. Coast Guard
along with several cousins, in-laws and friends.
And to those who never made it back
to the arms of their grateful families,
Thank you

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

There's demolition and reconstruction
happening at our house!
the floors and the kitchen
are undergoing a
much needed face lift.
It's slowly coming out of the 1970's.
The avocado green formica counters
are gone as well as the old ceramic
brown and tan floor tiles.
I've got a range, microwave and dishwasher in 
the den.
The kitchen table is there too.
They'll be put back after the tile floor goes in.
Same tile as in the den.

The dull berber carpeting in the den and hall
has been transformed too.
It's now a lovely wood look porcelain tile.
It's finally coming together.
We've been planning this for some time now
and now that it's upon us,
it is a bit daunting.
The work involved, the mess,
none of those I fully appreciated till
I'm in the midst of it.
We'll deal with it.
Can't wait till the new cabinets and counter tops are in!!

********************************
The chicken girls are loving
the cool weather.
Hazel hasn't tried to repeat that
"AWOL"
missing hen act, again.
Thank goodness!
But,
everybody is laying again,
except Hazel.
Of course, it's Hazel.
The nonconformist,
the risk taker,
the rebel!

As we cleaned out the pantry 
to make way for the new cabinets,
I found several items that the hens love,
canned yams, 
slices of bread and
a couple of cans of tuna in water.
So, 
we gave them an unexpected treat.
They came at me like:
 a class full of pre-schoolers at snack time!
Or,
1960's girls at a Beatles concert!
Or,
trying to catch a coconut at a Zulu parade!
Or,
sharks eying chum in the water! 
Or,
reenacting a scene from "The Birds"!
Ok,
I'll stop.
I get carried away with similies.

**********************
and remember.....