February 28th

Although it's kind of early for a 

Happy St Patrick's Day wish,

(not till March 17th)

it's the next holiday on the calendar.

I've got a few green decorations

that I break out to celebrate my 1/4 

Irish ancestry.

😃 

My maternal grandmother was Irish.

My maternal grandfather, whom I 

never knew, was German.

On the paternal side, my grandfather

was French and my grandmother

was Italian.

So, with this kinda lineage,

I classify as a Mutt.

😆

I can also reliably choose to

celebrate any of the days for 

those countries

and living in New Orleans,

celebrations are life!

And

this February has an

extra day!

Yay, Leap Year!!

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

This is the "surprise" lettuce

that survived the freeze.

We've eaten the other one.

It was great in salads and on sandwiches!

One of the blueberry bushes

that is trying to come back.

a few of the others aren't 

looking so well.

Cherry tomato.

We've planted several so far.

Asparagus

Onions

These will be re-planted in the

larger bed soon.

Lemon Verbena

French Thyme

Italian Oregano

Thyme

Rosemary

in Mary's garden.

Prep work in the raised beds.

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

Gardenias showing new foliage.

White Pansy.

Another "surprise" survivor

from last spring.

Variegated English Ivy

Chrysanthemums from last season

making an appearance.

Dianthus

Paper Whites.

I hope many bloom this year.

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

The Supervisor, Minew

🐱

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

Here's a DIY

Homemade Scented Laundry Crystals

I love using this stuff, but it's too 

expensive to buy and has some

weird ingredients too.

That's why I decided to make my own.

All the ingredients are super cheap,

so you can make a lot of it!

3 cups of Epsom Salts

1 cup Baking Soda

30 drops of scented oil

(If you buy the pre-scented 

Epsom Salts, just skip this step)

Mix well and store in 

an airtight container.

I use about 2 tablespoons per load

because I rarely have a small load.

No, 

there's not enough oil

in a couple tablespoons

to leech onto your clothes.

Here's another tip to stop

using dryer sheets or

liquid fabric softener.

add 1 cup of distilled white vinegar

to a full load rinse cycle.

It naturally softens your clothes

without chemicals, it can remove

soap buildup and stubborn odors,

it keeps the washer drum

clean and prevents

that oily build up on the lint filter

when using dryer fabric softener sheets,

that is due to oils in the chemicals.

💓💚💙

Thanks!

😊

 

January 31th 2024

The CEO gave me these beauties!!

Jeez!

January is almost done and February

is knocking at the door.

This winter has been the usual

ups and downs of temperatures.

We've had it dip to the high teens

and then into the high 60's,

with rain and fog mixed in for good measure.

Typical for southern Louisiana.

😆

The morning I took this picture,

it was 19 degrees!

It had been misty rain for most of

the night, but by the morning,

there was a layer of ice over everything.

Brrrr!

These are amaryllis, that were left out

but we put them near the house.

The layer of ice didn't seem to bother them.

And, 

it seems the plants that didn't die are starting 

to come alive.

None of the veggies in the big garden 

survived the cold.

This is the remains of the okra.

The onions did survive because,

being a root vegetable,

the ground didn't freeze.

In total, there are 6 large pots, full of starter

onions, that we plan to re-plant in the big garden.

Some of the herbs survived too

because of their woody stems.

English Thyme

French Thyme

Greek Oregano

Peppermint

Rosemary

Bay Laurel

and a small surprise!

Walking around assessing the

cold damage,

we found a small but mighty little

lettuce plant tucked under the planting table.

We plan to move this little guy to the big

garden soon too.

Minew the supervisor.

🐱

We miss our chicken girls.

😥

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

A few of my indoor succulents.

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

Happy Mardi Gras,

and 

Happy St. Valentine's Day

Or,

as us Catholics know it....

Ash Wednesday.

😊

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

I'm usually not a person that

recommends weird things

I've seen on Instagram,

but...

this one reel really got my attention.

My car is almost 20 years old 

and the headlights are yellowed

and cloudy.

I've tried other "fixes" that

have never worked.

Some were: shaving cream, toothpaste,

Mr. Clean Magic Eraser

and baking soda with vinegar.

NONE worked.

But when I saw this oddity

I figured I'd give it a try.

This man squirted insect spray

directly onto the headlight.

Then he wiped it off with 

a paper towel.

The headlight looked like it was new.

He said in the reel that you may

have to repeat the process to 

get them to become clear again.

So, I figured, why not give it a try

and this morning I did.

There's no before picture because

I honestly thought it wouldn't work.

This picture is after one application

and I am astonished how well it actually did work!!

Amazing!!

The kicker is,

this works with any kind of insect spray,

I used 

RAID (ant and roach killer).

Try it!

I thought I'd share a couple pictures

of my Paternal Grandparents.

Madelene

1892 - 1922

Stanley

1888 - 1961

💚💙💗

 

December 24th

It was the night before Christmas

and it's raining.

Spending a quiet night at home

is the best.

I'm thinking of Mary riding a donkey into

Bethlehem being 9 months pregnant.

It was Luke's gospel that says the trip

was taken as an imperial command

because all people had to return to their

ancestral town due to taxes.

That journey is approximately 81

miles (I looked it up) and it 

supposedly took them 4 days.

Wow, I hope Luke took some 

artistic liberties with that story

and it didn't actually happen that way

he should have given poor Mary a break! 

 Some interesting tidbits from

the Christmas story..

1) Bethlehem translates from Hebrew to

"House of Bread" possibly due to 

the area's significance for

grain production.

2) Jesus, Mary and Joseph's names

translated to Hebrew are: Miriam, Yeshua

and Yossef. 

3) The name Jesus literally means 

"The Lord is Salvation" in Aramaic.

In Greek, Christ means "the anointed one"

and Messiah means "one who is anointed".

and

4) Some biblical scholars say that

Jesus was actually born in the spring.

It was changed to "Christianize"

the holidays and have them take

over the old pagan days of worship.

Christianity has endured for so long

because the message resonates

with so many people.

It's about hope.

Peace and Hope for the world.

That is my prayer for tonight.

Luke 1:26-28

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel

was sent from God to a city of

Galilee named Nazareth,

to a virgin betrothed to a man named

Joseph, of the house of David;

and the virgin's name was Mary.

And he came to her and said,

"Hail Mary, full of grace

the Lord is with you!"

Merry Christmas!

 

December 17th

Our last girl passed away quietly

this afternoon.

Funny girl Lucy is gone.

It's the end of an era here.

We are sad because it's so hard to lose a pet.

I went to check in on her and she was

laying in the coop with her eyes closed.

I called to her, but she didn't stir.

I knew she was gone.

Lucy went from a scared baby to

a flock leader in her short life.

Yes, she was a feisty girl.

She and Minew were best friends,

especially since Ethel died.

Minew is walking around looking for her.

She looks so lost.

In the past few weeks,

Lucy has been slowing down and not eating much.

We did all we could but it was her time to

say goodby.

We will remember all our special girls.

To honor her, we plan to feed the

ducks at the park with the

remainder of the chicken feed.

Thanks for the memories Lucy.

You and your sisters were

the best girls.

💔

 

December 1st

I've been a bit under the weather.

This has lasted over 3 weeks and

I'm taking it slow.

I'll get back to blogging as soon as 

I feel better.

As always,

Thanks for 

perusing my humble

musings.

💋