March 51st ( AKA April 20th)

Today is Patriots' Day.

No,

 I didn't realize this either,

but it's a nice reason to display our flags.

It was celebrated as the official start

of the first battle of the

Revolutionary War

that was fought in a place called

Menotomy, Massachusetts.

It is now called Arlington, Mass.

5,100 Militia arrived in this town to take it

back from the British.

Unskilled in warfare,

they lined up in positions alongside

the road that the British troops

took on their way to Boston.

They hid in barns, houses, fields and behind 

stone walls.

They didn't make much of a difference

in that skirmish because the British army was

an efficiently trained fighting

machine, who was particularly

adept at close quarter bayonet skills.

There were some casualties,

eleven to be exact, and all

were Militia, that were centered

inside a single house.

Undeterred, the Militia would

take up arms again,

and we all know the outcome of that.

So thanks for their patriotism.

Seems fitting to our situation now.

Thanks to all who put their lives on the

line to make the world safer.

We owe you our lives.

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This clay container holds

gladiolus and mums.

The mums are full of buds,

but the glads aren't showing signs 

of blooming yet,

More "rescue" mums.

The gardenia bushes that flank

the front door are in full bloom!

And they smell magnificent.

The front door pot.

That's mums and an aloe.

(not a real frog...)

The backyard herb garden.

It has several kinds of mint, several kinds of thyme,

oregano, basil and some marigolds 

and a geranium.

Mint, stevia and oregano.

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The tomatoes are looking like

it'll be a good crop this year.

These are cherry tomatoes.

More cherry tomatoes.

Roma tomatoes

Yellow summer squash.

We've harvested about 7 so far.

Bell pepper

Artichokes

Can't be outside unless we have company.

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Observations.....

I haven't left the house and its environs

in the better part of 2 months.

As a result, I clean, wash and cook every day.

Every day.

I change the bed linens weekly.

I've read approximately 15 books,

crocheted and worked on yarn crafts,

sketched in my sketch book,

gardened and played online

solitaire.

I've tried to keep myself from losing

brain cells, hopefully it's working.

The best thing is that I now cook 3 meals 

a day.

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

I try to make them healthy

so we all won't be 300 pounds at the end of this.

And there have been a lot of hits, 

but a few misses too.

The other day,

I forgot the potatoes on the stove!

(I think I may have also summoned a demon.

Well at least there was steam and smoke

and I may or may not have smelled 

Brimstone...…)

But,

a couple weeks ago,

when I really didn't feel like cooking,

this happened.....

I was laying down in my bed when,

I began to think I was developing a brain tumor.

I smelled food.

Now, that isn't in itself weird, 

but

I've been the only one cooking, 

so,

yeah, it kinda was weird.

Well, the CEO, brought home some pizza.

It tasted magnificent!

I hadn't had one in a while.

What a nice gesture.

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

Be Kind

and

Stay Safe!

March 39th (really April 8th)

Electron microscope picture of a coronavirus

attacking hemoglobin.

It really feels like the movie Ground Hog Day.

I've long since expected any difference

to each day that comes.

We get up, putter around the house,

then the CEO goes out to tend the gardens.

Every day.

Every.

Day.

Same old, same old.

SSDD.

This is daily life in the land of brake tags,

Friday Fish Fry's and Neutral Grounds.

We know this drill.

We've dealt with similar 15 years ago

and managed to overcome odds stacked against us.

Now we have to apply those hard earned

lessons about saving lives to the issues at hand.

After Katrina, the Cajun Navy amassed a

huge amount of recreational fishermen

and their boats, to aid the people who were left

high and dry.

Local organizations stepped up to help too.

Our local hospitals did their part.

We didn't need to be told to help, we just did.

Now, we have Good Samaritans making face

masks, feeding the needy, checking in on

friends and relatives all the while keeping

our social distances,

(at least most of us.)

But,

This is South Louisiana, folks.

Ours is a tactile existence.

We hug everyone.

"How's ya Mama an dem?"

"Where ya at?"

It's what we do.

It's in our DNA and that makes it hard

to isolate.

We know it won't be long in the scheme

of things. We'll hunker down, wait it out

and begin to rebuild.

Won't be easy, we know that lesson well,

but we can do this.

Remember the saying,

"Come hell or high water"?

Well,

we've done the high water bit

and now we say,

"Bring on the hell!"

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The Backyard Little Farm

Harvesting an artichoke.

There are actually 5 more on this bush.

Replanting the next crop of 'taters.

This is just part of what we've harvested

so far.

Hazel eyeballing the 

purple cauliflower.

Blueberry bushes.

I just picked a small bit,

enough to add to my cereal.

Corn seedlings.

Still getting a few eggplants.

Zucchini flower.

It's as big as my opened hand.

Yellow squash.

Arugula, chives and romaine.

Asparagus

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

Marigolds and a geranium cutting,

with mint in pots behind them.

Snapdragon and a bay laurel bush.

The Bay Laurel's name is Hardy.

Mint and oregano.

Mint, bay laurel, lavender

and Nugget photo bombing.

Mary's Garden

with amaryllis, Hazel and Nugget.

Citronella, snapdragons and

baby sunflower seedlings.

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

My rendition of a hen.

Crude but it helps

pass the time to create something.

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

As always,

stay inside

and

stay safe!