October 2nd

I love looking up meanings of words.

The Roman word "calends" is derived from the

Greek word meaning to announce or begin.

Scholars believe that it was in reference to 

the beginning of a lunar cycle or the day

of a first full moon. 

Hence the English word, calendar.

So....

the official flower for the month of October,

is the Calendula.

There's a few reasons for that.

It's also known as a pot marigold because it

is related to marigolds, has a similar smell and the

early Romans used it as seasoning in "pots" of stewed food.

This flower was originally called "Mary's Gold"

by early Christians, probably due to

it's tendency to bloom in October, a month

dedicated liturgically to the Blessed Mother.

Yes, it is totally edible.

It has been used in herbal remedies for centuries.

This is called "Creeping Oxeye"

or "Trailing Daisy".

It's an invasive weed, whose stems become woody

and difficult to eradicate completely.

We've been trying to get rid of it for

a few growing seasons, but I guess

it really needs to be sprayed with 

a chemical to completely do that.

That's something we can't do because of the hens.

(Besides, it's kinda cute)

😏

This is a Morning Glory.

Yes, it's another weed, albeit a pretty one.

There's no smell to it and it is invasive as well.

The vines are surprisingly tough.

They, like the Trailing Daisy, are really

difficult to control.

They need to be pulled out by the roots

but that can prove to be difficult. 

We've taken to using a small shovel to get to the

entire root, only to have it sprout back up

in a week.

The joys of gardening!

When I was looking up info on

calendulas,

I saw this picture of a baby duck 

sitting in a patch of mint,

wearing a calendula hat.

And he's asleep....

Awwww..

😊

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

The girls are really into helping in the garden.

Every time we are weeding or planting,

they come running to "help".

(It's really only a ruse to grab

an unsuspecting earthworm or grub)

Ethel, Hazel, Lucy and Nugget

on patrol.

Pepper walking directly in front of me

to slow me down.

Hey, girl, stay in your lane!

Lucy looking  good perched on the 

wrought iron chair.

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

The watermelon vine is still producing

a few "icebox watermelons.

This one is about the size of a softball.

This type of melon doesn't get very big,

so as we harvest them, they get

gobbled up pretty quickly.

Collard greens for the hens.

They love their 

green leafy veggies!

Today's harvest of bell peppers.

And these too....

I canned my last batch of peppers.

It made four 8oz jars and four 4oz jars.

I used a 4oz jar for salad dressing yesterday.

This is a sweet and sour pepper-garlic sauce.

I make it every year with the peppers,

fresh garlic and onions.

I've added cranberries at times too,

but for this batch, I didn't have any.

It's great with chicken, beef or pork

and I make the salad dressing

 by adding olive oil.

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

In these unusual, to say the least, times

with the world feeling like it's falling apart,

and the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel

feeling as though it has burned out,

I'd like to impart two nuggets of

indisputable wisdom.

 The first is:

I don't think that in my 68 years of living,

I would have ever dreamed of entering

a bank with the intention of making a withdrawal,

while wearing a mask and being greeted by

a friendly teller, while unloading my

large purse on the counter.

😆

and this...

So, on that note.....