November 30th

 

This Thanksgiving, I hope all of my

family and friends have a

wonderful day.

I thank God that we are all

well and can share this day

to give thanks for the 

good things in life.

I love words!

This one personifies Thanksgiving,

don't ya think?

This month saw the end of an icon.

The penny.

After 232 years of production,

on November 12th,

the last was struck at the 

Philadelphia Mint.

The lowly penny, it's in so many phrases, 

like...

A penny saved is a penny earned.

A penny for your thoughts?

In for a penny, in for a pound.

Put in your 2 cents.

See a penny, pick it up and

all that day you'll have good luck.

We have quite a bit of pennies saved.

There never was a specific reason,

it just was a thing for us to put

our pocket change in a jar.

Now it's a rather large jar.

I guess in some distant time

those lowly pennies will

gain the respect they deserve

when collectors pay

big bucks for them.

😄

Also, today is the last day of 

hurricane season.

Thankfully we were spared again this year.

Milestones on this day in history:

1) The preliminary peace treaty between the U.S. 

and Great Britian was signed, which effectively 

ended the Revolutionary War.

2) Galileo Galilei began telescopic

observations of the Moon.

3) Michael Jackson released "Thriller",

which became the best selling

album of all time.

4) My Mom and Dad were married on 11/30/38.

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

The peppers are still producing.

These will be dehydrated.

The rest of the veggies are being

cut back for the season.

The CEO is tilling the beds to plant

potatoes and some other root veggies.

The orchids are blooming and 

the succulents are growing

well in the bay window.

All is well and good in our 

little backyard farm.

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

I found some other words that describe me so well...

😁

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

Well, 

since this is almost the end of 2025

and, this is the oldest I've been,

I don't have an idea of

what to expect.

I hope that the remaining years

are healthy and productive.

As Shakespeare said,

"It's not in the stars to hold

our destiny but in ourselves".

💗💚💙

October 31st

Happy Halloween

I love fall.

The weather has been 

absolutely beautiful this past week.

No, there's no typical change in

the leaf colors, but the crispness

in the morning air was 

greatly appreciated.

It makes me want to make 

some nice thick soup

or a gumbo to warm up with.

The grandkids are all too old for

trick or treating anymore,

so we hope for a few

kiddies at our door each year,

but even those are getting

to be less and less.

😞

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

The backyard crops are still

producing peppers and some herbs.

English Thyme

Rosemary

Greek Oregano

Thai Basil

Sweet Banana Pepper

Harvests from a couple of weeks.

These are all sweet pepper varieties.

I dehydrate the peppers and make 

a homemade paprika.

Very tasty!

There's no more Chicken girls,

but this was too cute not to include.

Milkweed.

There's been quite a bit of Monarch

butterflies around lately.

Mary's Garden

Fall decorated front door

The Chrysanthemums are so beautiful!

A dear friend gave me 

this monstera.

It's appropriate for 

Halloween when you 

mispronounce it as,

Monster!

Ha!

More orchid blooms.

The Paperwhite Lilies are sprouting.

They didn't do well last year.

Here's hoping they do better.

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

My sister sent this quote to me...

"I am the daughter of a woman who,

even when broken,

kept walking.

And every time I doubt my strength,

I remember I come from her.

That's where my resilience,

my courage, and my magic

were born."

💖

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

This is a sad attempt

at a pumpkin face on my

homemade apple pie.

😄😕

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

We have our family's graves

all set up for All Saints Day

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

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

Remember,

life is like a camera.

Focus on what's important.

Capture the good times

and

if things don't come out so well,

just take another shot.

Thanks to all who take the time

to check out my blog,

Love y'all!

💙💚💗

 

September 30th

I love this simple little poem.

Yes, it's Indian Summer,

or as its known in these here

parts, 

Summer.

September is simply another month

to endure the sweltering heat.

Remember the old rhyme,

30 days hath September,

April, June and November?

At least it's only 30 days long.

It's our usual weather, a bit less

humid but still hot!

With no particular temperature changes

to get me ramped up for cooler 

weather, I just keep hoping next week gets cooler.

Silly me!

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

The gardenias bloomed until last week.

That's quite possibly a first.

Sunning my Dendrobium orchid

for an hour to give it some 

humidity.

The Phalaenopsis orchid blooms finally died.

😞

Morning sunlight on some of my 

succulents.

The hanging pea sized one is called,

Baby's Tears.

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

Banana Peppers.

They'll turn a bright orange.

Red Bell Peppers

Yellow Onion

Sunflowers

Not sure of the names of these 

pretty flowers, but they were

rescues, like a lot of our

plants.

They were half dead in a trash bin at 

Lowes, so the CEO asked for them.

Now they are thriving in Mary's garden!

My Mason jar of 

dried bay leaves.

I just cut off a new branch from our Bay Laurel tree,

wash it well and then hang upside down in our 

garage to dry for a couple days.

(This picture looks like it's levitating!)

I found a fern growing near our shed.

I tried to take a piece to 

replant elsewhere but it died.

I'll leave it to prosper in that spot.

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

I'm trying to eat whole type foods

and no gluten so I can 

 help my Thyroid condition.

This is kale, hummus, bell peppers,

tomatoes and carrots.

I made a dressing by mixing the

hummus with balsamic vinegar.

It was very good!

This is a can of garbanzo beans,

drained and rinsed.

Then I dried them and added a teaspoon

of olive oil and my herbal blend.

This is also very tasty.

An interesting side effect is that

I wasn't hungry for quite a while

after I ate those for lunch.

Great!

I hope my clean food eating will become

a habit that I can maintain.

After a week, I can say that I 

haven't experienced the

reflux or bloat that I always felt before, 

and I lost 5 pounds!

Win, win!

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

This is a song that

Frank Sinatra sung.

It's beautiful.

It says a lot about getting older

and getting the most out of life.

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

💚💙💗

Thanks for reading my ramblings.

Means a lot to me!

Always remember,

it takes only a little effort 

to be kind.

😊