May 23rd

Looks like my little cherub is hiding.

He's tucked in between the sage and mint.

 

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Today is "Lucky Penny" day.

You know the old adage....

See a penny, pick it up and all the day you'll have good luck.

Does that count if you find it in the wash?

I hope so.

In the past week I've made 45 cents in petty cash!

Somehow my luck didn't improve.

Yet....

 

My oldest son came home for a few days to help

us celebrate the 7th grade graduation of my granddaughter.

It was a sweet occasion.

I came headfirst into the reality that she's getting older.

No, 13 isn't old by anyone's definition, but I can see

the years slipping by.

They are flying way too fast for my liking.

Jeez, I've got shoes older than she is!

(a matter of fact, those Birkenstock's may

have been there when Moses parted the Red Sea!)

But, that's another story......

At that wise old age of 13, she's quick to remind me

that we are now in the 21st century, Grammy!

Oh, how well I know that!

I don't feel like I'm circling the drain yet, or

lining up to be a resident of a nursing home.

(or as I like to refer to them,
God's Waiting Rooms)

Just seems unfair that the closer you get to

"Check Out Time",

the faster it seems to go.

 

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My Mother's Day gift in full bloom.

We had to put them outside

due to the smell!

I knew I had seen them before but I didn't know their names.

Such a beautiful flower.

Such a stink!

 

The gardenias are almost finished blooming.

I had cut branches of them loaded down with blooms,

to bring into the house.

I just love this scent.

 

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In a relative kinda way, this is a Magnolia flower.

Same kind of waxy bloom with an intoxicating scent.

We were in City Park to see the new Sculpture Garden.

It was beautiful!

A manmade waterfall....

in New Orleans,

How cool is that?!

An odd, steam punk looking sculpture.

I liked it!

I had to take a picture of this.

Back in the day, on the Morgus the Magnificent Show,

Dr Morgus had a skull

that he called Erik.

Erik spoke to him on the show.

And....

I have an almost life sized ceramic skull that I break out

every Halloween.

Guess what his name is?

Yep.

Erik.

That's the first thing my son said when he saw the skull.

"Look, its Erik"

 

And this little guy

fields of wildflowers on Marconi

Takes your breath away!

 

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A handful of cherry tomatoes.

Two are regular ones and two are purple.

Soooo tasty!

 

We've harvested 6 cucumbers so far.

They are so much better than the ones from the store.

The CEO like them sliced with a little Italian dressing.

 

 

This is three kinds of potatoes: Yukon gold's, Russet, and Purple Fingerlings,

Mirlitons, Purple Bell Peppers, Yellow sweet onions, cherry tomatoes,

Celery, the cucumbers and about a weeks worth of eggs.

I made potato salad and the only thing I use that's not from the garden

is mayonnaise, salt, pepper and paprika.

Yay!

Do you see a pattern here?

We have an impressive amount of

purple veggies.

New to the Chicken Scratch Farm.

We also have yellow and red as well as the usual green

bell peppers not mature enough to pick.

Cauliflower

 

Romanesco Broccoli

the florets look like fractals.

Taste is milder than regular broccoli.

 

Oh, and we made Green Mint tea.

Just boiling water, bruised mint leaves and stevia to sweeten it.

Tastes amazing!

 

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It really feels good to be able to grow/raise

our own food.

(nope, we won't eat the girls)

 

Speaking of the girls,

Ethel is broody.

At least each season, one or more get broody.

That's when all she wants to do is sit on her egg.

Yes, we remove the eggs daily, but

she sits on everybody else's too.

Bless her feathered butt!

She'll leave to grab a bite to eat and drink water,

and back to the nest she goes.

Hazel, on the other hand, gets impatient 

so she started laying eggs in the mint pots.

She just lays the egg and hops out.

No broody-ness for her.

Yet.

Now she's dug a hole in the garden and is

chilling out.

Silly hen.

 

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and grandchildren.....

 

and

still missing our Leia.

 

 

 

Remember.....

Gardening is cheaper than therapy,

and

you get to eat stuff!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 12th Mother's Day

 

Today is a day set aside to honor our Mothers.

And it might seem to be only a Hallmark holiday,

but its inception was heartfelt.

In West Virginia, in early 1908, Anna Jarvis held a memorial for

her mother Ann, who was a peace activist during the Civil War.

After the war, her mother created

 'Mother's Day Work Clubs'

that addressed public health issues.

Anne wanted to continue her mothers' work and set aside

a day to honor all mothers because she believed

a mother is the

 "person who has done more for you than anyone

in the world."

So, in 1908, Congress made it an official holiday.

That's the background.

Now the reality.

Mother's Day for me, is bittersweet.

It's sad that the only way to honor her now is

flowers on her grave.

Still,

I wonder what life would be like to still have her here.

I wonder if she'd think I did a good job mothering my kids.

I wonder what she'd think of my grandkids.

I know she'd love them to pieces.

And spoil them too!

I hope she's looking down and smiling,

knowing that we love and miss her.

Here's hoping I did a decent job of raising my kids and

assisting with my grandkids.

As the picture said, life and Mothering, doesn't

come with a manual,

So we have to do it by the seat of our pants

and guidance from our Moms.

 

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The CEO gave me these lilies for Mother's Day.

They are beautiful, but have a weird smell,

and the pollen on the stamen, doesn't come

off clothing very easily.

Weird, but they are incredibly beautiful!

 

 

The hostas are blooming.

Looks like it'll be pale lavender flowers.

 

These are our beets

Can't wait to eat them!

Cherry tomatoes.

When ripe, they'll be purplish in color.

 

 

A hanging basket of deep purple petunias

Pretty yellow chrysanthemums.

They bloom twice for us,

in spring and again in the fall.

 

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Hazel has had a wild hair.

 She began laying in the mint planter.

We tried to deter her from it by putting

a sprinkler over the top of the planter,

but the little witch pushed it off.

She's determined!

 

If you are wondering how long hens lay eggs,

here's a chart that'll help.

Our girls were born in early December of 2016.

So, they are about 2 1/2 years old now.

Lucy and Ethel are a bit younger

and are about 2 now.

The following picture shows egg % counts as they age.

To keep the same egg production,

you have to keep adding younger hens to the flock.

But, to introduce a baby hen is a bit difficult.

They have to be acclimated to the flock

or the girls could injure or kill them.

Chickens are territorial and can be mean

to newcomers.

So,

 I'm not sure we'll do that till our current girls

age beyond 7 years.

That's assuming nothing catastrophic happens!

 

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

I found a good recipe on Pinterest

that I'd like to share.

It's muffins.

Easy - Peasy!

Only 3 ingredients and very light.

1) Cake mix of any flavor

2) 3 large eggs

3) 1 can of pie filling, any flavor.

Mix together

Place in muffin tin

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Bake for 35 minutes.

Makes about 24 muffins.

I used a yellow cake mix with cherry pie filling.

They came out golden brown and delicious!

The CEO asked me not to put frosting

on them, so we ate them as is.

I've got to try a yellow cake mix with lemon pie filling next!

Or

Spice cake mix with apple pie filling!

The sky's the limit!

Hope you give it a try.

 

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Oh well, time to go to sleep.

Hope your Mother's Day was as nice as mine.

And,

Thanks to the 2 reasons for my day, my sons.

 

April 28th

Today is bittersweet.
I'm remembering Leia
Its been a month since she passed.
Not a day has gone by that I haven't thought of her,
or grieved for her.
I still find myself expecting to see that wagging tail.
But then I realize, she's not there.......
It is also fitting that I post this on this particular day.
Its National Pet Parents Day.
So, I just remember what a great dog she was and
content myself with our feathered pets.
Those girls make me smile.
You simply can't be in a down mood and watch their antics.
Sometimes just the way they cluster around us when we are outside,
or when they waddle-run after an unsuspecting bug, makes me laugh.
Just recently a Meter Reader was attempting to look over our fence
and was startled by the sudden clucking of our Guard Hens.
I went outside to ask if he needed to get into the back yard
and he politely declined.
I think he was wary of the chickens!
They did kinda look homicidal.

This pic was taken at 9:30am!

Last week we had a bit of stormy weather.
We put the hens in the coop because there was a threat of tornadoes.
All I could envision was the scene from The Wizard of Oz where
the cows and chickens are caught in the whirl wind!
It turned out to be a deluge worthy of Noah, but no tornado.
Thankfully!
So, we let the girls back out to scan the yard for bugs like
feathered metal detectors looking for gold!
It was still windy, but not on a caliber of making them airborne.
They weren't happy about the forced lock up.
They tend to exhibit a sort of Napoleon Complex.
Short and sassy!

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

Cucumbers,

or as we call them,

Pickles!

Summer squash

Blueberries.

Our bushes didn't produce much and

we were worried about it.

So, I looked it up.

(yay Google!)

Turns out a blueberry bush needs to mature.

It'll be about 3 or 4 years till they really produce

Potatoes.

We've harvested 2 russets, and can't wait

till the others are ready to pick.

Bell Peppers.

If you look closely you can see the small buds.

 

Kale

We've gotta watch the hens with these plants.

They love them!

They'll even get their heads into the wire fencing

to grab a bite,

and we don't want the stuck in there.

Celery

This was grown from the end of a bunch from the grocery.

 

Hosta

It blooms!

This flower will probably be purplish.

Gardenias.

I love this bush.

The pity is, it only blooms once a year,

but, oh when it does,

it's magnificent!

 

I loved the scent so much I brought some inside.

Now the whole kitchen smells wonderful!

 

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We love veggies.

I use them any kind of way possible.

They are especially great if you grow them, but

I bought a bunch of Brussels Sprouts last week that

I was going to roast.

Ours didn't do so hot this year.

But,

I found a great recipe on Pinterest

that I wanted to try.

First, wash and cut the sprouts in half.

Then put them into a bowl and add,

olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder

parmesan cheese and a bit of breadcrumbs.

Mix all this together well and spread onto

a greased cookie sheet.

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Bake for 20 minutes, then flip them over

and bake for another 20.

They are fantastic!

And as per my criteria, very easy!

I saw another recipe for Brussels Sprouts

that I'm going to try.

This one says to add olive oil, 2 tablespoons of basalmic vinegar,

2 tablespoons of honey, salt and pepper.

Put them onto a greased cookie sheet.

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.

Bake for 15 minutes and turn them over,

then finish baking for another 15.

Sounds yummy!

I've done the sprouts with balsamic vinegar, but not this way.

I'll let ya know how these turn out.

 

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Oh, well, its a beautiful day outside.

I don't want to spend it indoors.

But,

I've gotta fix something for lunch.

I'll see what I can put together.

Then off the work in the garden.

It calms my soul.

 

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Winnie the wise one........

April 18th

Chilling on the patio with a fine feathered friend,

namely, Pepper.

She and her sisters love to be near her humans.

 

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It is the 18th of April.....

Reminds me of the poem by Longfellow,

"The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere".

I had to memorize it in high school.

I still can remember most of it.

 

Seems that Longfellow took some artistic license when writing it.

It was written almost 100 years after the fact.

The actual parts are:

1)Patriots did ride to warn the towns.

2) Two lanterns were hung in the Old North Church.

3)Paul Revere ordered the lanterns lit.

What is wrong, is that Revere wasn't alone.

There were several riders, probably up to 40.

They still considered themselves British subjects,

so they didn't yell "The British are coming!"

They probably didn't even yell at all.

They wouldn't have wanted to give themselves away.

They went door to door to give the warning.

They most likely said,

"The Regulars are coming!"

because that's what the army was called.

The British were there to arrest John Hancock

and Sam Adams, who had already bugged out to
Lexington.

Revere and a few of the Patriots did get arrested.

He told the British that they "were all dead men!"

He said that so they wouldn't approach Lexington

because the Patriots would be ready for them.

So, as you can guess,

 they ignored Revere and during the trek toward

Lexington, they hear several shots ring out.

The few British guards freak out,

thinking there are way more Patriots out there,

 retreat and release

our hero Paul and friends.

So, back to Longfellow.....

His iconic poem reads better than the actual events.

He climbed the tower of the Old North Church

on April 5th 1860,

and was inspired to write the poem.

I love history!!

 ***********************************

 

Petunias.

 

English Ivy

(and a curious Nugget looking on)

 

a rescue Hosta.

It was just a leaf last week,

now it looks great.

 

Gardenias are blooming like crazy!

The scent is wonderful.

 

Summer squash blossoms.

They are edible but I'd rather the veggie.

 

Cabbage

 

Pepper,

 helping me weed around the Muscadine

Grapes.

 

Our wind chimes.

 

Since I couldn't get much done with

the girls underfoot,

So,

I gave them a dried worm treat.

That lasted as long as the worms did.

They have short attention spans.

 

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The burning of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris

was such a heart wrenching thing to watch.

I've never been to Paris, but I have always wanted to.

Seeing the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame would have

been highest on my list to see.

 The damage to that 800+ year old building has affected

the entire world.

 

Years ago I was intrigued by the gargoyles on the Cathedral.

That encouraged me to make my small collection.

I've put them in the highest point in my house.

Here's my homage to them.

 

 

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Just remembering........