February 26th

Lent begins.....

and also

fasting and giving up something.

The Catholic church has

dietary restrictions 

set for today and Good Friday.

It is up to us to fast on all 

Friday's during Lent if we desire.

But why?

Why fasting and giving up something

only for 40 days till Easter?

Well, 

that's what it's all about.

Starting with the ashes...

They represent dust, 

meaning, "From dust you are,

and unto dust you shall return."

Humility in the face of mortality.

Forgiveness from sin.

The ashes are the original

recyclable material too.

They are last Palm Sunday's

burned palms.

Then there's fasting.

It's meant to curb the desires 

of us mortal humans, and to

center our lives with prayer

and devotion.

The abstinence from meat is

a similar devotion.

Abstinence just means to

refrain from eating the 

flesh of mammals or fowl.

That also pertains to soup or gravies 

made with them.

Fish is allowed.

Why?

Traditionally meat was

expensive and only eaten

during times of plenty, feasting

or rejoicing and by the rich.

Fish also has ties to the apostles as

"Fishermen of men".

Why Fridays?

It's because of the traditionally

celebrated day of Jesus'

crucifixion.

Giving up something that

we've always done,

for only 40 days,

is really fruitless.

However, 

 doing something positive,

like helping others

or volunteering,

or praying

seems more in line with

the meaning of Lent. 

So, in keeping with dogma

I hope that this in some

small way, has shed light

on our curious traditions.

And no,

it doesn't mean to eat crawfish

till they shoot outta your nose!

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

The first mirliton!

There's a few more on the vine.

I'll wait till those get bigger

and make something with them.

Romanesco Broccoli

These have a slightly milder

taste than regular broccoli,

and they're so pretty!

A living Fibonacci Spiral.

Eggplant

They haven't stopped producing.

Thankfully.

Tomatoes

A lonely little plant nestled

in with the bell peppers

decided to produce these 2

and then died.

Kinda sad....

Cauliflower

Just boiled to use in salads.

There's a small piece of broccoli too.

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

A few days ago this baby

appeared on the patio.

The chicken girls left it alone,

so we thought his Mom would

come back or check on him.

We went out several times to 

check on how he was doing,

but he didn't wander too far.

In this picture,

he's sitting in the scratch feed pan.

We thought that was a good

sign that he was trying to eat.

He's a baby Brown-headed Cowbird.

They are native to the south and

are frequent visitors to our

backyard farm.

To our surprise, when we went out

the next morning,

he was laying on his side

a few feet from the scratch feed pan.

The CEO tried to pick him up,

but sadly he was dead.

There was no obvious way he died.

But...

Now, there's an adult

Cowbird circling near the patio.

His Mom?

Maybe.

So sad.

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

We had spaghetti and meat sauce

for dinner the other night.

The CEO asked for garlic bread,

but I had other ideas...

This is focaccia.

I made it with refrigerated pizza dough,

crushed garlic, olive oil, onions,

green onions, leeks, parsley

and parmesan cheese.

Then baked as per package directions.

Yum!

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

Scarlet Sage

It isn't edible, just pretty.

Amaryllis

They're about to bloom.

Chrysanthemums

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

Lucy lounging in the sun

outside of the coop.

Ethel.

This is the very thing that

we hope they stop doing.

Chickens never listen!

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

On to the next celebration!

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

"Be sure you

put your feet

in the right place,

then stand firm"

A. Lincoln

February 19th

Well hello there!

It's always inquisitive Pepper.

She loves to have her picture taken.

The girls following me as I check 

the veggie beds.

Nugget

She's pecking at the broccoli leaves.

You'd think she'd have better

sense than to jam her head in 

between the wire.

Last year her comb got caught.

Goofy girl!

Nugget eyeballing me

when I told her to get away.

They never listen...

Hazel, Pepper and Nugget

having a morning snack.

A funny thing happened on the way to the coop.

A stray cat,

 one I've never seen before,

was walking along the top of the wooden fence.

He was a big-faced, all black cat,

quite a bit larger than the girls.

I went out to patrol the area because

I was wary of him being a potential predator.

Now,

our girls are cat savvy, 

by that I mean they can handle themselves

 with the neighborhood felines,

as evidenced by the incessant

"hen pecking" of the small calico cat.

(No, he doesn't seem to get the message,

yes, he keeps coming back,

and the chickens keep pecking him,

bless his simple little heart)

Anyway,

Hazel was busily scooping out bugs

from the grass when the large cat jumped

down from the fence near her.

She squawked and flew up into the air!

(Well, she didn't get much lift,

cuz she's fat, so...)

She flew up in fright but

 came down in fury!

Her squawking brought all "the girls to the yard".

They immediately assessed the situation 

and fanned out to encircle the cat.

Their feathers puffed out, their necks were

held high and they froze in that position.

I was expecting them to whip

out switchblades and have

a West Side Story style dance beatdown!

It was like Custer at Little Big Horn!

Like Rambo!

Like mad as hell chickens....

The cat, assessing the intelligence of 

landing in the middle of this unfortunate scene,

looked around toward me,

as if pleading

"Call off your hens!".

I, on the other hand, was in a

wait and see mode,

chilling on the patio with a cup of tea.

I knew those girls meant business,

and they were gonna make him an offer

he couldn't refuse.

The cat correctly presumed that since he was

on his own, retreat

was his only escape plan.

And, with a quick look around again,

he leaped up onto the fence

and beat it outta there,

licketysplit!

(always wanted to see that word in print)

Anyway.....

The chicken girls were still in 

attack formation in that weird

Children of the Corn - like,

semi-circle and for a couple seconds

they were very still and quiet,

then all hell broke loose!

 They all started clucking

to the top of their lungs,

as if to say...

"Take that cat!'

"And don't come back!"

But, I think there were actually some 

fowl words too....

And just like that,

the backyard was calm again.

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

Brussels Sprouts

Broccoli

Purple broccoli

Harvested Broccoli

for salad today.

White Broccoli

Leeks.

These are grown from

the ones we bought at the grocery.

Mint, oregano and thyme.

Pretty much everything in this picture

is a rescue.

The fence part, the bakers rack, the pots

and most of the plants.

Cool!

Patchouli,

because we like the smell

and it keeps mosquitos away.

Chrysanthemums

Red Dianthus with wild violets

Mother Aloe's flower stalk

Louisiana Iris about to bloom

Can't wait to see the color.

A piece of geranium I'm trying to root.

Ianceolata - 

or Egyptian Starcluster

Citronella,

another plant that

mosquitos don't like.

Smells like those coils at the drive-in!

A Ladybug and her

ahem.... 

Gentlemanbug,

having a little

afternoon delight.

L.O.L.

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

Just a small list of stuff I don't get....

Bidet - why? 

I don't want a wet butt, Ill use

a wet wipe instead, thank you.

Anchovies,

on pizza.... why?

Who said "Oooh, lets put these

small salty slimy fish on pizza!"

Fragrance commercials,

why?

Who buys this stuff because of 

Johnny Depp in the desert scooping sand

and looking into the setting sun?

What does that smell like anyway?

and 

Toilet paper, diaper or feminine hygiene

commercials with blue water?

Why?

Blue stuff doesn't come outta

humans,

just sayin'

February 8th

Daybreak.

Beautiful dawn sky as the sun was peeking

over the neighbor's roof.

The chicken girls were starting to stir.

Morning is a great time to search for

tasty bug morsels.

I, on the other hand,

woke with a headache and my

hair doing a spot on imitation

of Don King's long lost

white sister!

And,

I was feeling so grumpy that

I probably shoulda been 

residing under a bridge

eating Billy Goats,

but after a look at this

beautiful sky,

(and a dose of Tylenol),

I was ready for the day.

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

Looking spring-like around these here parts.

We've got many things in bloom,

or about to bloom.

The poplar tree has been putting on

its' display of crimson

seed pods for a few weeks now.

Such a beautiful color!

The Brussels Sprouts are...

sprouting.

No hens can get to them through

the chicken wire.

Thank goodness!

(Although, Nugget tried last year

and almost lost her comb!)

Broccoli

Yellow Broccoli

We also have White Broccoli

blooming as well. 

Tomatoes

The Bell Peppers and Tomatoes are nearing the end of

their growth cycle on these current plants,

so we have new ones waiting to get

a tad bigger before planting them.

The Eggplant is in that number too,

but still producing.

Celery, Onions and Garlic are 

starting to sprout.

Chrysanthemums,

not just an autumn plant.

Gardenia

Mother Aloe

Wild Violets

And business as usual

as the chicken girls

follow us around the yard.

(Pepper, Lucy and Nugget)

I pulled up a few stray weeds,

while the girls watched to see if

I'd disturbed any unsuspecting

bugs.

They were flapping their wings

around me like they were

just called up from the audience

 to play PLINKO

on The Price Is Right!

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

I recently read an online article about how

science fiction books, movies and television

influenced our real lives.

It said, that when Motorola was in development

of a thing called a "cell phone",

they took the look of the "communicator"

from Star Trek.

One of the scientists said that, that show 

had a profound effect on his younger

years and was one of the motivators

of his choice to pursue a science career.

It also showed things that we take for granted today

that were science fiction a 

mere 50 years ago.

Like.....

a Roomba.

Well, back in 1961, Rosie, the Jetsons

maid had one.

(Never understood the need for a maid

on the Jetsons, robotic or not,

because of all the convenience

machines they employed. Hmmm)

And....

Wasn't this the original Siri?

(Albeit a sentient one,

but a Siri or and Alexa just the same)

HAL 9000

"What do you think you're doing?

Dave? Dave?"

And,

there's tons more.

Total Recall had robot drivers,

Minority Report had touch screens....

Boy,

have we come far since the '50's.

Wonder where we'll be in 50 more years?

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

(except for roaches and mosquitos,

those can go extinct!)