March 30th

As the world turns.....

We remain sheltered in place

and our lives may irreparably change,

but there remains hope

that our families, friends, aquaintances

and the world stays safe.

As a retired nurse with asthma,

I face a dilemma.

It's hard not to jump in to assist my

medical friends and colleagues.

I wrestle with that need daily

over my need to stay safe, 

not only for myself but my family.

I can't heed that call for help

and that makes me extremely sad.

As Aldous Huxley said,

"Maybe this world is another planet's hell",

maybe prayer will help....

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

Sitting on the patio this morning

sipping a cup of tea.

I watched a Mallard couple fly in to

join the chicken girls.

They unconcernedly grazed around the yard 

only a few feet from my chair.

But,

the hens weren't so accomodating.

Hazel made it known that

she didn't take kindly to any

uninvited guests.

She ran after the male and pecked him

on his tail.....

He flipped out!

He ran after her quacking loudly 

and she initially took off

like a "chicken" outta hell!

Then she must have decided that,

hey, wait a minute,

this is MY yard.

So she turned on a dime and

did her own pursuing.

Now it was him who hightailed

it out by taking flight with his mate.

Since our girls are waaaay too fat to fly,

the chase ended.

I hope the Mallards come back,

but the reception in this neck of the woods

is rather cool.

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

This week's harvest.

Cauliflower and broccoli.

A lonely asparagus.

Artichokes are getting big.

There's 3 on this bush.

Can you spot the tiny ones?

Tomatoes

This part of the potato patch was harvested 

last week and we are beginning to

replant potato "eyes".

Brussels sprouts.

They are too small to see clearly yet.

Mirliton

Cucumber flowers

Yellow squash blossoms.

They are edible too,

but we'd rather eat the veggie.

😋

Cauliflower

Spearmint

Our mint is in pots because

it can grow like a weed 

unless you keep it contained.

We cut our mint back a bit each day

and use the cut pieces in a mint green tea.

Just boil water, crush cleaned mint leaves,

immerse and let steep,

then strain into a pitcher.

I add a bit of stevia to sweeten.

Very tasty!

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

Beautiful Louisiana iris

Lantana.

Can't eat this plant, it is 

strictly ornamental.

Scarlet Sage,

or Salvia Coccinea.

The flowers of this plant are edible,

and the leaves can make a tea.

( but they really aren't tasty 😝)

Butterflies love them!

This is Pentas,

or Egyptian Starcluster.

This was a rescue plant from the trash 

bin at Lowes.

Add a little love, compost and they bloom!

We have this plant as food for butterflies

but,

in Africa it is used as medicine.

They use the roots in tea to treat malaria,

leaves in tea to treat diarrhea

and crushed root as a poultice to 

treat non-life threatening snake bites.

Amazing little plant, huh?

And the ladybug marches on...

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

As I've said before,

its been a year since the best

dog in the world left us....

😔

This was the beautiful sky

on that sad day.

Somehow this made

me smile despite my grief.

Please stay safe

in this uncertain time!

💖