Wednesday, June 30, 2021

June 30th

Today is my Mother's birthday.
She passed away on June 4th 2002.
She would have been 104 years old if she 
was still with us,
and I still miss her,
every day.
She was such a strong woman.
I remember her at 44, after my Dad
passed away, taking on any and all
issues - whether that was painting, cutting grass,
changing tires, getting on the roof to replace tiles,
or just being a Mom.
She was the "go to" person in our family.
Her mother, my Grandmother,
lived with us till she passed away in 1969.
My mom was a rock for everyone at that time too.
Then in 1972, my aunt died from breast cancer,
Again it was my Mom who stepped up.
After all these years, I still grieve her loss.
So, 
in tribute to her, there is really
no death when someone can still 
remember and love them.
They'll only die when we forget.
💔

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


It's been a bumper crop for our cherry tomatoes this year.
This is from Friday.



And this is after some of them have been dehydrated.



A gallon ZipLock bag with dehydrated
veggies and herbs.



Inside the bag, you can see tomatoes, rosemary,
oregano and thyme.
I then use a coffee grinder to 
pulverize it to get a powder consistency



Then I grind it to be used in cooking.


This is dried mint that I use for my green tea.



Stevia to naturally sweeten it.
I use an immersion strainer in hot water.
Tasty!



We had to cut down a few tomato plants,
because of these little bugs.
They are called assassin bugs.



They have a pointy mouthpiece that they
use to puncture leaves and fruit to eat .
We can't use most bug sprays because
of the hens, so since most of this plant
was infested, we just removed it.



Nugget says Hi!



This garden has Bell peppers, Jalapenos, 
Carolina Reapers, and Ghost Peppers!
Our grandson loves hot peppers,
so this is basically for him.



Hazel hadda get into the picture too.



Then Lucy came running up,
She's afraid she'll be left out.




Artichoke Thistle


Mint flowers.
Yes, they are edible.
I use them in green tea.



Ethel has been broody so we have to take 
her out of the coop.
She likes to be cuddled.
Silly hen!



Stargazer Lillies.


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


Last week we noticed quite a few leaves
and small branches on the ground.


Then we looked up....
It's a squirrel nest!


Recently for my birthday,
the hubby gave me these stunning roses!
Oddly they don't smell.
Nothing.
No smell at all.
I looked up why store bought roses have no smell.
According to Google,
store bought roses don't smell because
they have been bred for looks and that
gene that switches on scent, is 
bred out.
Wild roses couldn't survive without their scent.
It attracts bees and other pollinators to the flowers.
So, to get the "perfect" roses to sell,
we lose out on the very reason
people love them,
their scent.


***************************
Observation on sports bras.
1) Why are they so hard to get on and off?
Makes you feel like you're seconds from a 
psychotic break when you are sweaty and 
the damned thing gets above your boobs and 
entraps your head!
2) There are only 2 sizes,
 of which neither is the Goldilocks one.
It's always either too big or too small.
and 
3) Is taking off a sweaty sports bra considered
resistance training?
 If your cup runneth over
your bra is too small!

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

To quote Bob Dylan,
"Take care of all your memories.
For you cannot relive them."
💚



 

Tuesday, June 15, 2021

June 15th

 

Yeah, that's hot!
I was weeding the flower and veggie garden
but I hadda get in out of that heat.
The picture doesn't show that the
"Feels like" temperature is
104!!
And,
there's very little breeze,
so, in the still air it probably feels hotter.
Summer in the deep south,
is back with a vengeance.
🌞

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



I took a small break to sip my water.
This scene makes me smile.
When the breeze does blow, I get to smell
all those wonderful herbs,
It's amazing!
And as I look around
I see our Blessed Mother
with her blooms.
So pretty!
That's Pentas Lantanas
at Her feet.



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


The mailbox garden


A line up of Ladybugs,
how cute!


More fern fronds growing.


Gardenia bloom.


Stargazer Lily.
It finally opened!


Weird, how their stamens poke up so high.


Just a very pretty, stinky bloom!


English Thyme


German Thyme



Space Portal of Time! Ha!


Summer Squash



Bunches of Cherry Tomatoes waiting to be picked



Bell Pepper.



Eggplant


Japanese Eggplant


Long Tall Sally Pepper.
(not spicy)


Jalapeno Pepper
(Spicy!)


The pickle plant.
A.K.A. Cucumbers.


Baby cuke!


Artichoke.
We decided that we'll let these last 2 
chokes bloom.
I hope they are purple!



Just a few of the last blueberries.
I gave them to the girls for a treat.



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

🐔
I wonder, 
as the girls sunbathe in the heat of the day,
did a T-Rex do the same?
Chickens share DNA with their
dinosaur ancestors,
so,
maybe I'm witnessing
Jurassic habitual evolution?
Whenever they do this, 
it scares me.
I'll go out and stand over them
and go,
"Hey, are you ok?"
And they always jump up,
ruffle their feathers and move along.
Ungrateful wenches.....





I was about to fix lunch yesterday
when I saw Hazel eyeballing me 
through the window.
She was clucking to get my attention.
I indulged her and went out to
chicken cuddle.
😀



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

Is it just me or has the twist
ties on bread become smaller?
They used to look like the blue one.

Now they look like this green one.
This is a new thing because we've always used
them to tie up the leggy veggies,
so, recently the CEO had to tie 2 together
to accomplish that purpose.
This is on Bunny Bread.
I don't know if it has changed on others.
😕


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




My butter looks like a confused owl.
🦉

😆😂



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

In time for Father's Day.


Now all we can do is place flowers
on his grave....


💚