December 13th

12 days to Christmas!

Don't ya just love this picture?

Today is National Ice Cream Day,
Gotta love that.
Hmmm....
Upon thinking about it.....
I don't really get why National Ice Cream Day is in December.
Its cold out, so why celebrate a cold concoction?
Don't you think it'd be better to celebrate this day in the summer??
So, I looked it up.....
There are several times a year when this holiday is celebrated,
but only today, is it treated to its very own day.
Ok then...
Ice cream, who thought it up?
Well, the ancient Romans sort of did.
Although they pretty much just used flavored snow,
(not yellow, I hope!)
Think of those wonderful fruit flavored Italian ices!
Good old Marco Polo, in his travels, brought back a type of sherbet
from the far east. (along with spaghetti), seems that
he was an early foodie who wanted to share all the tasty stuff he'd eaten
on his treks.
(but how did he get something that'd melt all the way back to Italy?)
Maybe he just wrote the recipe down?
(or maybe he invented the first Igloo cooler??)
Anyhoo
Sometime in the 16th century, some French people said,
"Hey, I'll add eggs, cream, vanilla, milk and sugar to this
cold stuff and then churn it a while!"
(read that in your best French accent)
That, my friends, was a Eureka! moment.
That tasty idea spread to Great Britain,
where the king himself, Charles the First, declared
it a delicacy. It was served at many state dinners.
Americans, being the lowly colonists that we were,
didn't get brain freeze from ice cream till about the 1740's.
Even George Washington was a huge fan.
Records show that he spent nearly $200 on ice cream
during the summer of 1790!
$200.00!!!
Jeez! I don't think I've spent that much in a summer using today's dollars!
Maybe that's why his teeth were so bad?????
Lesson not learned George!
Anyway, after that the newly christened Americans,
couldn't get enough!
And, as they say...
The rest is history.

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Its raining out.

Its just a slight drizzle,

Just enough to get wet,

but that doesn't deter the girls in their

pursuit of bugs!

I just refilled their feed, but they'd

rather follow me on my way to the

compost heap.

 

This is Rosemary.

She was a rescue last spring.

The CEO found her in the garbage at

a clients' house.

She's beautiful!

 

The only reason the few peppers are still here

is that they are in a wire protected area.

The girls can't get their little beaks into them.

 

This is a Roma tomato.

They aren't doing so well now.

We got many this spring and early summer,

but the heat got to them.

 

Mirlitons!

(autocorrect doesn't understand Louisiana,

keeps wanting to correct to "millions"..)

 

The side garden.

Yellow sweet onions, spinach,

and parsley.

 

Pepper in the compost bin.

She's in chicken heaven.

She's got the worm buffet all to herself, for a few minutes.

 

A geranium that is still blooming.

 

 

A marigold near the front door.

So pretty.

Didya know they are edible?

As long as there's no pesticides or chemicals on them

they make a citrus like addition to

to a salad.

I dry them and add it to my homemade soap.

They add awesome color and they are antibiotic

and antifungal too.

 

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These are the cards the grandkids sent to

recovering soldiers.

How sweet are they?

 

Just hoping to instill the real reason for Christmas!

 

 

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Dr Seuss was an inspiration

to all kids.

 

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This is my happy place.

I'd love to be able to be in that picture,

without freezing myself half to death!

Also, I love the quiet, silent moments I have to myself,

and the awe inspiring sights of nature.

Beautiful.

 

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

 

And remember,

during this Christmas season,

if you Jingle,

Jingle all the way.

Because,

nobody likes a

half-assed

Jingler!

 

 also...

Get well CEO!

He had a nasty fall and is recuperating.

The chicken girls miss you.

Love you.

 

 

December 5th

 

This is the Sweet Gum tree that I park under

every day while waiting for the kids

to get out of school.

It's beautiful, especially in the fall,

but that big bugger has these

lethal, thorny, ball type seeds, that'll

stab right through a shoe sole!

This is my Love/Hate relationship.

I won't wish that it be cut down or

die of some kinda blight,

but maybe a nest of angry woodpeckers

would be nice. 😈

 

Speaking of woodpeckers........

Yesterday, I heard the one that occasionally

roosts in my Poplar

outside of my kitchen.

It was incessantly pecking away at the tree trunk.

Again, I'm not wishing any ill

to befall my little feathered pain in the butt,

BUT,

I'd like him to find a home elsewhere!

ASAP!

 

The other infrequent visitors are a small hawk and 2 cats.

I don't have any cats.

They just come in the yard.

Leia could care less.

She simply isn't bothered by any other species.

I attempted to identify the hawk in a bird book we have,

but there are so many.

He looks a tad smaller than the chicken girls,

with gray wings and yellowish gray feet with black talons.

A couple of days ago, he was actually on my patio.

The hens vamoosed.

I don't believe he can harm them,

but it seems typical, predator/prey behavior.

The girls know to get away and get under things.

Hawks hunt by swooping down and grabbing,

but the girls instinctively know what to do.

The cats are another story.

They don't hunt the chickens.

They just seem like strays looking for a place to crash or food.

There's a black one and a tiger one.

The black one got a bit too close to Henny the other day.

She didn't like that.

She ran after it and pecked the bejesus outta

the poor cats' head.

The ancestral dinosaur came out in her!

I haven't seen that cat since!

(good riddance!)

 

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This is our first haul of mirlitons.

The vine is producing quite a lot.

 

This is broccoli.

Last year, we didn't get much yield.

(partly because the hens got in there and feasted)

Hoping for a decent crop this year.

(and we have it fenced off)

 

The bell peppers are covered in blooms.

As long as the chicken girls don't find them first,

we should get a good crop into winter.

 

I found a tomato bush growing out of the bricks

on the side of the patio.

No clue how it got there,

but,

I'm considering it a windfall.

I'll replant it in a container.

It's about a foot tall.

 

This is Pepper.

She was the most curious today.

She followed me all over the yard.

I put the kitchen scraps in the compost bin,

while the girls waited patiently for me to leave.

All they wanted to do was scratch around in the newly

turned up dirt.

Annnnd,

Here's Nugget.

Eyeballing me.

"No girl, I don't have any worms."

We can't walk out the door without

our feathered escorts.

 

Say "ALOE" to my little friend.

He is going to need watching.

If the temperature goes too low,

he'll die.

He was on life support the entire early spring

because I forgot to bring him indoors

before the freezes and snow.

 

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

 

Musings.......

A picture all the way from California,

courtesy of my son.

So sweet.

A perfect heart.

 

 

I was at the grocery yesterday,

minding my own business, 

while dutifully running

down the items on my list,

when,

Lo and behold!

I was startled by this unfortunate porcine part.

Decapitated.

Beheaded.

Guillotined.

I'm sure at one point he (or she) was wallowing

in his pen with not a care in the world.

Slurping up slop with his little piggy lips,

wagging his little corkscrew tail....

Then,

WHAM!

this happened........

But lets not get "a head" of ourselves here.

Its' sticker says "Pork Market Head"

Sells for $13.19

No!

I saw him looking at me,

with his dull gaze....

And it reminded me.....

my Mom and Grandmother made Hogs Head cheese

when my sister and I were little.

I remember them cutting the head up and

boiling the parts to get that collagenous glue

that holds the "cheese" together.

They didn't use the eyes.

(thank God!)

So,

like curious (demented) children,

 we rolled them around on the kitchen table,

trying to stab them with a fork!

How barbaric!

They squished like an over ripe grape!

Gross!!!

To think, I might have stabbed myself and needed some

"oink-ment".

I don't eat the stuff.

Can't bring myself to do it.

I just remember those eyes!!!

And...

where, oh where are his other tasty parts????

 

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

 

Remember.....

According to my Mom,

"Everything happens for a reason"

So,

When you think something is falling apart,

it may actually be falling into place.

 

 

Hugs!

November 30th

Well this month is almost over.
We've celebrated a few holidays too.
But I'll bet you never dreamed that its also
Gluten Free Diet Month, or
Sweet Potato Awareness Month, or
Native American Heritage Month.
We never hear of these to celebrate.
I'd like to correct these wrongs.

I celebrate the gluten free diet daily (mostly).
I am on a rather loose interpretation of a gluten free diet.
The only reason is that I have issues with my stomach.
And let me tell you.... gluten tastes good.
No gluten, however, tastes terrible!
Especially gluten free bread!
Yuck!

Sweet Potato Awareness.....
Now how can we celebrate this?
I'm aware that there sweet potatoes.
I'm aware that I like eating sweet potatoes.
Ok, I've celebrated.
Done with that one.....

Native American Heritage month is gonna be a bit harder.
As far as I know, I do not have any Native DNA.
I haven't taken a DNA test to be sure, but
I guess if a certain congress woman can make that claim,
I'll assume that I am a Native American (only for today).

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

This was taken December 11th 2016

Our girls are about 2 years old.

They were so small that we had to keep a heat

lamp on them in the cold,

and they pretty much stayed in their cage

in the garage at night.

We draped an old blanket over the cage

and they quieted down for the night.

 

That's Pepper.

So stinkin' cute.

Lucy and Ethel are a bit younger.

They all get along like sisters now.

Bitchy, curious, sisters,

who do not realize that they are chickens.

I really believe that they think

they are dogs.

They still follow Leia around like

baby ducks following their mama.

Leia doesn't even give them a sideways glance,

but still they follow her.

Goofy hens.

 

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

 

And in the spirit of the season,

 

Please remember to send a Christmas card to

a soldier this season.

We are planning to send several.

My grandkids will write a sentiment inside

and address them.

Just trying to instill giving as well as getting.

And,

Salvation Army of Greater N.O.

Women and Children's Emergency Shelter

4500 South Claiborne Ave.

New Orleans, La.

70125

 

Remember,

"There but for the grace of God, go I"

(Its an idiom that is attributed to John Bradford.

He lived in the 1500's.

He was a clergyman who encountered

the wrath of the English monarchy.

He was imprisoned in the Tower of London

and later burned at the stake.)

 

To end on a lighter note....

Take care of yourself

You are loved.

:)

 

 

 

November 19th

Today is National "Play Monopoly Day".
What a relief!
I thought today would never come.
I've waited all year for this!!
Not!!
But seriously, who thinks this stuff up?
Its also "World Toilet Day".
Now this is off the charts, ridiculous.
(but I love that somebody thought it up)
As much time as humans spend on out respective toilets,
we should devote a whole day to them.
I'm unsure of how to celebrate though.
I'm sure after my coffee, I'll come up with a
suitable way to thank the toilet gods.
But seriously, its actually meant to bring awareness to
unsafe sanitation globally.
The United Nations came up with this "holiday"
several years ago.
The site says ".... approximately 4.5 billion people
live without safely managed sanitation and about 892
million practice open defecation."
Open. Defecation.
Wow.
Nope.
Thank God I was born in a flushing toilet nation!
Oh, and their 2012 slogan was "I give a shit, do you?"
I shit you not!

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Kids are home from school,
People are putting up Christmas decorations,
Fed Ex is delivering........
Wow!
Wish I'd have thought of Amazon.
EVERY DAY in my neighborhood, is a delivery day.
Stores have safe locked storage boxes to store your purchases till
you can retrieve them.
WalMart has online grocery shopping.
Used to be that only the Sears catalog was my Mom's
"online" (phone), mail order place.
I'm outta my element.
My generations' dinosaur ways are slowly leaving the citizen consciousness.
Mind you, I do dislike shopping, but
I also like to peruse the aisles when I'm looking for a gift.
I might find something awesome.
But, you can argue, and rightly so, that I can find a plethora
of "awesome" stuff online.
And, I'd have to agree.
Its just that my "old ways" find themselves entrenched
in my psyche and adopting new ways has been an adventure
in my continuing tech education.
So, as a result, I rely on my kids and grandkids.
If I were a Jeopardy category,
I'd be "Antediluvian Organisms", for $200 Alex!

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

On the chicken front.......
Yay! They've started laying again.
A small start, but a start nonetheless.

yesterday's output.

I don't know if they understand the concept of humans eating fowl
on Thanksgiving, but something finally motivated them,
and it surely wasn't my incessant pep talks.
I know its only 3, but we'll take what we can get at this point.

Lucy

                                           Chicken 101
As the days get shorter, hens typically lay less.
They cycle an egg around every 24 to 36 hours, but
they always lay more when the days are warm and longer.
Unlike a human female, we are born with a certain allotment
of eggs for our entire life.
(That's why it is more difficult to conceive at an older age.)
Not so for hens. They just keep producing eggs till they are
about 6 to 8, years old.
They can produce a clutch of chicks well into their advanced ages.
Our girls however, will never have a fertilized egg.
(a good thing for us!)

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

bell pepper

 

We noticed that the bell peppers, the tomatoes and mirlitons,

have been in bloom.

We were waiting to see if they'd produce,

and they have.

Now, if we can keep the hens from snacking on the baby veggies....

 

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Came across this recipe on Pinterest.

I'm going to try it.

(don't know about the 101proof bourbon,

but I'll use what we have)

 

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

 

 

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Remember,

hug your family.

Tell them how much you love them,

you may not get another chance.

 

 

 

 

November 12th Veterans Day

To all veterans of all branches,

especially those in my family,

I'd like to share my thanks for serving.

Today is the official day to honor those who served,

but in the true definition of the day,

it was on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month

in 1918.

Armistice Day.

In actuality, the Treaty of Versailles was signed

June 28th 1919.

But, the cease fire became the revered date.

Then in 1954,

this holiday of remembrance,

was re-named, Veterans Day.

That way we included Veterans of all wars.

In Arlington National Cemetery at the

Tomb of the Unknowns,

a wreath is placed as well as a parade of veterans

that culminates in the Memorial Amphitheater.

The red poppy became a symbol of World War I

because of the poem, In Flanders Fields by John McCrae.

So,

I want to thank all veterans for their extreme sacrifices.

In the words of Ronald Regan,

"Some people spend their entire lives wondering if

they've made a difference in the world, but

Veterans don't have that problem"

They are the heroes.

 

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As senior citizens go, I don't feel that old.

(today)

Now, yesterday, that was a different story!

Oy, don't get me started.......

Anyway,

I was thinking about being a nurse,

and how my career was shaped by my

need to teach and help.

It also reminded me of the stupid

S@#t patients say!

So, I'd like to share a few.........

This list in no way is complete.

It is just a small compendium of sorts.

1) Roto Cup Surgery. My patient couldn't put her arm above

her head because of this problem. (rotator cuff)

2) Prostrate Trouble. This is prevalent in older men who

don't know the word PROSTATE.

3) Ty Yen All. A mild pain medicine frequently requested.

4) Strip Throat. A complaint due to overstating a simple sore throat.

(as in a STREPtococcal infection)

5) All Heimers disease. A confused state of someone's relative.

6) Sclerosis of the Liver. Typical of an old alcoholic. (cirrhosis)

7) Blood Clogs. This is what caused the patients' stroke.

(blood clots or thrombosis)

8) Immaculate Generation. An eye disease or a virginal birth?

(macular degeneration)

9) Fibals of the Eucharist. Fibroids of the uterus.

10) Vomiking . To regurgitate.... a lot. As in,

"Help me, I'm vomiking "

 

 The following list is from nurses charts.......

1) "He was awake, alert and orientated.  ??????

 (the word is oriented!)

2) "I conversated with the patient about the meds."

(again, No. Such. Word.)

3) "The IV is in the anticubical area."

(ya mean antecubital, moron!)

4) "the compacted stool was in the rectal vault."

(nothing grammatically wrong with this,

It just reminds me of the Disney movies

that won't be available for a long time)

5) ".....bruises in various stages of resolution."

(again, nothing wrong, just really a good

description of a healing bruise, but

what color was it?)

Now this one is from my youngest son

who had Chickey Blocks

when he was in pre-school.

(he meant, chicken pox)

And....

This was from a doctor's dictation print out on the chart.

"the patient saw doctors from Ellis Shoe and Two Lane."

Thanks to my friend for her collection.....

She needs to publish some of her extensively crazy stuff!!!

 

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

Nothing new on the chicken girls.

No. Eggs. Yet.

The CEO even went so far as to ask our vet.

He said its a waiting game.

They'll lay eventually.

So,

we continue to search the yard and the coop for an elusive egg.

Their feathers are beginning to come back in.

All signs are "go" for potential egg production.

And

  at the weekly staff meetings, the girls don't

even bother to attend.

I think they know the content of the meeting and

they just don't care.

I probably sound like the adults in

a Charlie Brown cartoon to them.

Wa waaaah wa wa waaaaa!!!!!

(EGGS!)

 

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

I love puns.

So, thought I'd share.

Here are a few, song related ones......

 

 

misheard lyrics......

 

 

 

Hope they made you smile....

 

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And the thought for the day......

 

 

 

 

 

and again,

my heartfelt thanks.

 

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

 

 

 

October 31st Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

I love this holiday.

I think its because it heralds the "holiday season".

The weather is changing,

and the time is changing....

(well, not till November the 4th)

and the little ones are so excited to

consume mass quantities of sugar.

And the slightly cool occult undercurrent of it

makes for an interesting night.

Its believed that the current traditions have stemmed

from ancient Celtic and Gaelic harvest festivals

of Samhain.

They usually disguised themselves as spirits,

to ward off any ill effects during the harvest.

They believed that during that time of year,

they could convene with the dead.

It was best done around the witching hours.

They felt that most of the apparitional

experiences were sensed between midnight and 2am.

This was a Pagan celebration.

Once the Celtic and Gaelic people became

Christian, the church turned those old festivals into

 All Souls Day and All Saints Day.

So, in the years since I was a kid and costumed in an old sheet

with eye holes cut out,

a homemade witch

or a Beatnik,

(don't judge, it was the late '50's early '60's)

this holiday has been "consumerized".

Every store has decorations,

the big box specialty Halloween stores pop up

to entice parents into buying "fancy",

one time use, costumes,

and the candy makers ramp it up.

But...

I still love the goofiness of this day.

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

 

The girls are enjoying some cut up cabbage.

That's Lucy, Sandy and Henny.

The other girls didn't partake.

They still aren't laying.

This is the second time I've had to buy eggs.

The CEO is thinking of a barbeque.....

Oh! My!

Apparently their egg strike isn't unusual.

We've been checking out various agriculture sites,

and they all say the same.

Just wait it out.

Heavy sigh........

C'mon girls give us a break!

 

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

Just when we were about to write off the veggies for this year,

we got a pleasant surprise.

The vine has about 6 small Mirlitons

 .

This unusual looking plant is

Patchouli.

Its supposed to be great at repelling mosquitoes.

So far, so good.

Has that nostalgic smell too. 😁

The Stevia, mint, oregano, basil and rosemary are

doing well, because the hens don't eat them.

Yay!

The tomatoes and bell peppers didn't fare well this year,

a combination of the girls munching on the plant and the veggie,

and the weather.

It was way too hot!

 

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

The best dog in the whole world wasn't doing well.

She had an eye and ear infection.

She has diabetes, so its pretty easy to get these

opportunistic bugs.

Her left eye has some drainage and her ears were itching her.

She has a cataract in her right eye and small benign

growths on her left bottom eye lid,

but these are existing conditions

and had nothing to do with her current problem.

The meds we had to combat infections weren't working,

so off to the vet she went.

2 antibiotic eye drops,

1 oral antibiotic,

and

she's back to her silly self.

She still has a droopy left eye.

Its getting better every day.

Here, she's on the prowl for dinner.

She usually eats twice a day, morning and evening.

This was taken around 6pm.

"So, Mom, where's my dinner???"

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

 

*****still tweaking Boudreaux *****

 the Little Cajun Ghost.

I keep rewriting it.

 

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

 

And in keeping with the holiday...

The penultimate line from an old Scottish poem....

From ghoulies and ghosties

And long legged beasties

And things that go bump in the night,

Good Lord, deliver us!

 

and

 

 

From Dante's poem, Inferno,

the inscription over the gates of hell....

"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here!"

 

(I might put that over the coop.....)

There's a lotta poop!

No hope of not getting it on your shoe.

Just sayin'

 

 

 

 

Whatever you are,

be a good one.

                                       Abraham Lincoln