October 12th

This isn't my work,

But,

it is so cute that I thought 

I'd include it again.

Just an inquisitive little hen.

Reminds me of Henny and Sandy.

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

How apropos.

We have a day of celebration!

Yay!

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

 Well, the cooler weather came about this morning.

Thank goodness!

I was beginning to think

I lived in the middle of a

dead end street in

the capitol of the

seventh circle of Hell! 

Here's a conundrum...

The heat index has been in the 100's.

Heat melts things.

Then why haven't I lost weight??

??

I'm gaining so much weight

that my white cotton panties

might be enough to rig a sail

and power a yacht down to Cuba!

!!

By the 2nd law of thermodynamics,

entropy,

when matter (Me) is heated,

it changes shape, area and volume.

So, with that in mind,

if heat melts, 

wouldn't my adipose

tissue melt?

??

Humans are mostly water, so,

shouldn't I also lose weight due to water loss?

??

I have sweated in areas that

I didn't know I had sweat glands!

These are the things I think about....

So,

this morning we went to vote,

then get gas in the car 

and on to Costco.

There were people there in COATS!

C'mon,

Coats?

the temperature was 64.

It felt soooo wonderful!

It made me happy as a colony of

E.coli in a room temperature

egg salad!

I felt like breaking out into a song!

!!!

**********************  

 The garden loved the rain yesterday.

Looks like everybody perked up.

This is our Thai Basil

This is "Stevia Nicks"

The Stevia is a bit leggy, but still

hanging on.

Just a small bit in our mint green tea

and it is just sweet enough.

(yes, I name the plants)

This is "Desi"

Cuban Oregano

(yes, I know the plant names are stupid)

Just 2 of the Eggplants peeking from 

behind the leaves. 

Purple Bell peppers.

Almost ready to pick.

Cucuzza 

Between the Eggplant bush and the

Cucuzza vine,

it looks like a cave.

Pepper,

she is always following

us around.

Such a cutie!

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

a contribution from my friend

An Elephant Ear flower.

I looked this up...

It is actually part of the seed stalk.

The long white stalk is clusters of small flowers

that become the seeds.

The plant doesn't bloom yearly,

and sometimes may take years to bloom.

The plant doesn't rely on seeds to reproduce.

It grows by rizhomes, or tube like productions 

from the parent plant.

Amazing.

I had no idea.

Thanks,

Melissa!

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

Just remembering

my girl,

Leia.....

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

and this....

2 old ladies were attending Mass.

Sitting so long on the hard wooden pews 

were starting to make them squirm.

Rose Marie leaned over to Lucille

and whispered,

"My butt is going to sleep."

"I know,"

 replied Lucille,

"I heard it snore three times."

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

Always Hugs!

October 1st

I found this picture on Pinterest.

I love the tranquil beauty of a 

Louisiana swamp scene.

Well, it's finally FALL!

Yay!

Not really for us down in the deep south.

The weather is still oppressively hot!

To quote Neil Diamond,

"You can almost hear yourself sweat."

The heat and humidity are especially

hard on people with asthma.

Me!

It has me breathing like the losing horse

in the last lap at the Kentucky Derby!

(I had to use a simile)

The chicken girls are starting to grow their feathers back,

but only Hazel has been laying eggs daily.

I had to get a dozen eggs from the grocery.

It is definitely not the same.

I noticed that the yolks are much lighter

and the shells are fragile.

I am really spoiled by our girls!

Thanks Hazel.

(she said "You're welcome")

Since the comb tearing incident,

Nugget's comb lays across her face at times.

It is especially pronounced now that she

has less feathers on her head.

She reminds me of the old time actress,

Veronica Lake.

Ha!

(But Nugget is way cuter, right?)

Early morning critter patrol.

Looks like they've found a few.

Lucy, Ethel and Hazel,

 checking out the compost heap.

They were spending so much time in there that,

I swear,

I thought I caught a glimpse of Jimmy Hoffa!

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

There are 3 cucuzza's in this picture.

Can you find them?

Last week our harvest was in full swing.

The cucuzza's went crazy!

I froze some, gave some away and

I dehydrated some.

I dipped these in basalmic vinegar and then in

Italian flavored breadcrumbs before dehydrating.

Very tasty, healthy snacks.

The peppers are still giving us all they've got!

Isn't this a beautiful sight?

This morning I noticed this little guy,

all by his lonesome,

poking up his head.

Asparagus tastes so much better

when it is freshly picked.

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

Last week I noticed a misspelled sign on some candy 

at a local gas station.

It reminded me of a picture we took while on 

vacation in Tennessee.

It was a blackboard sign in front of a fruit stand.

It read "We be open",

so,

in the same vein, 

I found these gems online....

 

We might be able to understand this error.

After all, the "N" and the "M" are

next to each other on the keyboard,

but why didn't the person see it later???

Huh?

I had to read this one twice.

It's better if you read it aloud.

And this.....

My personal favorite.

I think I'll call it that from now on.

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

Here's another of my daughter's recipes,

Lasagna

Ingredients: 

1 pound of sweet Italian sausage

1 pound lean ground beef

1 large white onion minced

5 cloves of crushed garlic

1 28oz can crushed tomatoes

2 6oz cans tomato paste

1 15oz can tomato sauce

1/2 cup chicken broth

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup chopped basil

1 teaspoon oregano

1 pound lasagna noodles

30oz ricotta cheese

1 egg

1lb sliced mozzarella

1 cup grated parmesan

Assemble:

Cook sausage and meat until browned.

Add, sugar, basil, oregano, onion, garlic,

crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce

and chicken broth.

Simmer on low heat for about 4 hours.

The mixture will reduce.

When it's done, put the lasagna noodles in a pan 

and pour hot water over them.

Let them soak for about 30 minutes.

Then drain.

In a mixing bowl, combine the egg and ricotta cheese

and refrigerate until you are ready to assemble 

the lasagna.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Spray or grease a deep, 9x13 pan.

Then begin building the lasagna.

Spread a layer of the meat sauce first.

Then layer the noodles.

On top of the noodles, add more meat sauce 

with a layer of the ricotta cheese mixture.

Then sprinkle some parmesan cheese,

and repeat layering accordingly.

Cover the top with all the rest of the parmesan and ricotta.

Cover with foil.

Bake for 25 minutes.

Remove the foil and bake for 25 more minutes,

to allow to cheese to brown.

Looks Yummy!

Thanks for the contribution.

Can't wait to try it!!!

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

This is a little weed, but it is so cute

I can't pull it.

Another weed, but it's climbing on the 

old mirliton trellis,

so I'll pull it up when the flowers die.

So pretty!

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

September 16th

Chickens

They are everywhere.

Especially around here.

I've had the cutting board and the 

wicker basket for years

before we owned hens.

Clairvoyance?

It's still molting season here.

Feathers, feathers everywhere!

Can't blame the girls from wanting

to take any excess feathers off in

this oppressive heat.

But,

they aren't laying.

We are down to our last 8 eggs.

I've had those nonproductive staff

meetings where they attend, but only for

the after meeting treats.

As I wrap up the meeting, they cluck

in agreement, but I don't think

they are really listening......

Freeloaders..

Nugget and Pepper have

much less feathers than their sisters.

They look like Zombie Chickens!

Poor babies.

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

The backyard farm is looking a bit

haggard from the heat too.

There's still a few hardy veggies

that we've been able to collect.

Cucuzza

(that's blood oranges in the background)

Bell Peppers

Roma tomato

That's the giant Eggplant bush

There are a few small ones in there.

We harvest them when they get a tad bigger,

unless the hens get to them first!

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

Boy, I'm getting old.

(Ta Dum, Hiss)

I need my glasses for everything.

The other night, while getting up to

use the bathroom, I stumbled over the 

end of the bedspread.

NO, 

I didn't have my glasses on.

I wouldn't have been able to see

in the semi-dark anyway.

But, 

I stumbled around like a bat 

with its' sonar malfunctioning.

Then, I jammed my pinky toe

on the door jam into the bathroom.

All this while doing an 

impressive one footed pirouette

before flopping back onto the bed.

(The Romanian judge gave me a 10/10!)

To my credit, I never yelled,

I simply hissed through my teeth for

20 minutes!

Never once did the CEO awaken.

Commendable, right?

But,

Speaking of stumbling....

Last week I was walking through the yard,

aiming to get to the compost heap

with a load of veggie scraps

in my hands,

when a small green snake

decided to slither across my left foot.

Let me be clear...

I had a pair of flip flops on.

That meant that the snake skin and

my skin made direct contact!!!

My immediate reaction?

I'll explain in easy to understand terms.

I screamed like a 3 year old who 

lost her Mommy in a department store!

The veggie scraps went airborne.

Then I flapped my arms as though

I'd get lift off.

All this while high stepping like

teenaged majorettes in a 

choreographed dance routine!

Wasn't pretty.

I looked for that little offender

but I couldn't find him.

He slithered off into HELL!

Listen,

I love animals,

all kinds of animals,

BUT...

God made a few design errors.

Snakes - No arms, No legs.

I'm thinking His Angelic R&D 

in Heaven was either misinformed

or they miscalculated the outcomes

of design on building snakes!

Unless, that's their little inside joke.

"Let's scare the crap outta humans!"

That's just my opinion,

but I'd like to add a few more...

Mosquitos,

No redeeming qualities.

Back to the drawing board please.

Love bugs,

Why?

Another inside joke?

"Let's see humans wash this off their cars!"

Roaches,

Yeah, this picture is of them as they meet

 their Maker again.

Shoulda thought this one out a bit more too.

Only good roach

is a dead roach!

As I said,

these are my opinions,

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

Another recipe from my daughter.

If I haven't said it,

she's a great cook!

Hope you like this one....

Sweet Potato Quiche

Preparation:

Looks yummy!

We'd have to sub some other kind of cheese

because the CEO doesn't like goat cheese.

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

Hazel says "hi"