February 15th

 

Yay, it's President's Day.

Nestled in between St Valentines Day and Mardi Gras Day.

How convenient for mattress sales.

Back in the revered history of our country,

I can reasonably assume that our

founding fathers did not have the

sales of mattresses in mind.

But, this quote from Washington may shed

some light...

"We must consult our means father than our wishes."

Could he mean a sale???

Or this from Thomas Jefferson,

"Never put off tomorrow, what you ca do today."

Even Honest Abe said, " The patent system

added the fuel of interest to the fire of genius."

Was he talking about the invention of memory foam?

Whatever the case may be, 

celebrate accoridngly...

Build that cabin with Lincoln Logs,

cut down that cherry tree,

proudly wear those wooden dentures,

fly that kite in a rainstorm

and by all means buy a freakin' mattress!

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It's also c-c-c cold!

Been a while since we've seen this kinda LOW!

But then it's south Louisiana,

wait a day or so and the weather will change.

We'll get all 4 seasons in a week!

and...

it's been a while since it snowed here too.

Granted, it wasn't much, but to a 

Louisiana girl,

It was awesome!!

Do you wanna build a snowman?

That's snow in the mint pots,

and ice on the ground.

Snow on the Thai Basil

and on the artichokes...

Might not be able to see this too well but,

the edges of this puddle are frozen.

Then the power started going out.

Not here, but in many places where

the ice accumulation on the wires

couldn't handle the strain.

Hopefully by now all is working again.

It's toasty inside, but I don't wanna 

venture out in this.

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

The chicken girls weathered the snow well.

They refused to be cooped up all day

and incessantly clucked to get out.

So we complied.

But,

the CEO put the heat lamp 

over the spot where they rest.

This was about 8:30 this morning.

They came to stand under the lamp every so often,

but then went out to forage again.

When the sleet stopped, I went out to do 

a head check.

Hazel (dark feathers) and Nugget (red feathers)

followed me out into the yard while I 

checked on the crop and took pictures.

Three of them even laid eggs today.

So, it was business as usual.

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

I found a really informative site about 

how to stay warm in Louisiana

during freezing temperatures.

The first suggestion was,

STAY HOME!

Sounds like a plan to me!

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

Don't know about you, but

I think this is an improvement

over a kinda scary bald 

screaming guy...

Dontcha thnk?

🐔

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

My sister,

best gift when I was 2, 

and it's the gift that keeps on giving.

💗

February 4th

 

Today is World Cancer Day.

It's aim is to inform, enlighten and encourage.

Early detection is the key, but sometimes

it's simply a hit or miss proposition

whether or not cancer is detected.

So, the World Cancer Day seeks to

advance medical research and treatments

while heading towards the

eradication of cancer around the world.

All cancers have their own colored ribbons,

but the lime green one is specifically for

Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

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

This is a giant Mustard Green plant.

We grow it for the hens to munch on.

They love it!

And...

Speaking of hens..

That's Nugget digging in the Spearmint.

Ethel waiting for a treat.

Hazel with her head behind the Cuban oregano

pot looking for bugs, while Lucy patrols close by.

Pepper was in the coop.

Now back to the garden.....

This is Green Broccoli.

Purple Broccoli

We also have yellow broccoli, but

they haven't started to "fruit" yet.

The CEO pulled up the straggly Bell Pepper

plants to amend the soil before he plants

something different in that spot.

We were able to harvest a few peppers

before the plants died off.

This is Broccoli, Peppers and

2 Tomatoes.

He has a few new herbs for my

herb garden.

Here's a few.

Those are German Thyme and English Thyme.

(It's actually 5 and 6 hours ahead of us!)

😁

They taste similar, but the German

one is a tad stronger taste.

My preference was French Thyme,

a subtle aroma and taste,

but that plant didn't make it past

last summer.

We did get enough to dry for my herb blend.

Cilantro.

I use this in all kinds of dishes.

Great taste combo with celery.

This is a new addition to our

herb garden.

It's Pineapple Sage.

It has a typical sage-y taste but with

a pineapple undertone!

Amazing flavor!

The seedling starter area.

There's all kinds of small plants,

from veggies and herbs to ornamentals.

Asparagus.

One lonely shoot. 

They need to be harvested soon after

they shoot up because this plant wants

to make fern-like leaves if left alone.

(I ate this one!)

This is the potato patch.

There's Russets, Yukon Gold's and Purple ones.

This is Celery in the foreground

and

Brussels Sprouts in the background

The Begonias are blooming like crazy!

Scarlet Geranium

Both the Begonia and the Geranium

are edible plants.

The Begonia flowers have a sharp citrus

like flavor and  are very tasty in a garden salad.

The Geranium flowers have a lemony flavor

and their petals are a great additive in

herbal teas, like jasmine or chamomile.

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

This is a simple to make pound cake.

It starts with a pre-packaged cake mix.....

In this version, I used Pillsbury Lemon Cake Mix.

Then, I substituted the oil with the same amount of

mascarpone cheese. 

Baked as per box directions.

( I had to check on the done-ness in the middle

 twice, but all came out well! )

This cake is dense but great with berries as a dessert.

My grandkids ate it with a scoop of ice cream!

Delicious!

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

When life's hills become too steep,

I'll take my sister's hand to remind her

that she'll never go through anything

without me by her side.

💚