November 18th

Its a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

(to steal a line from Mr. Rogers)

The deciduous trees are loosing their leaves.

There's not a cloud in the sky.

Ahhh.

South Louisiana in the fall and spring

are my favorite times of the year.

Never too cold or too hot.

But,

that can all change in a heartbeat.

Ya just never know.

So....

I'll take today as it is.

Practically perfect in every way.

(to steal another line,

this time from Mary Poppins)

Hope I don't have to pay royalties

to Disney.

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

When the temperature went to the low '30's last week,

I thought I'd lose some of my Aloe plants.

Luckily for us, they didn't succumb.

This is the Mother Ship.

She is always making babies.

We've put about 8 or 9

into their own pots.

Grow babies, grow!

This is Elvis Parsley,

and his cousin...

Curley Parsley.

They still like the cooler weather.

I harvested some last month and put them into 

an ice tray with olive oil.

Then I freeze it to use later.

The olive oil never freezes hard

and doesn't damage the herbs.

Mint flower.

The flowers are edible too.

My succulents.

They are growing into beautiful plants.

Desi the Cuban Oregano.

He doesn't like low temperatures.

I don't want to prune the dead pieces yet

because they'll protect the ones under them.

Nugget and Pepper.

Pepper.

Nugget, Lucy and Ethel.

They are better trained than some dogs.

They always come when called,

they like to be held,

and

they always want to come inside the house.

Nope,

ain't happening.

They aren't house trained.

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

The ongoing kitchen reno project.

The CEO had to replace some old wiring.

Glad that he found it because

it'll prevent an electrical fire in the future.

I like the idea of fixing up my 40 year old home,

but the reality is exhausting!

I watch some of those home improvement shows

but admittedly some are ridiculous

and

the home buyers are unrealistic.

They use several terms that grind my teeth!

Here's a few: 

1) Clean lines - Ok, I get it but some may prefer

an actual kitchen or dining room.

They act as if they need to be observant of all

areas of the home at once. How much time

do they really spend in the kitchen cooking?

All freakin' day?

Doubt that.

2) Open Concept - same deal. They need everything

open to see everything at once. 

Sight Lines, another pretentious word,

 means the same thing.

3) Complete Gut Job - Yeah, yeah, you don't like

something about your potential home and would 

like it completely changed. 

4) Turn Key - I don't know if this is completely

true because most would like something changed.

5) Man Cave, City Center, Outdated - these are also

useless and sometimes not based in the reality of

a budget.

So, watching the First World problems of young

professionals who make the rest of us feel 

like we live in hovels,

can be highly entertaining!

Just sayin'

And this one because I couldn't help myself...

Read this on Pinterest,

"HGTV be like....

I work part time at a daycare for goats

and my husband breeds salamanders.

Our all-in budget is

$1.3 million."

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

So now that I've had another rant...

I'll just close with pleasant thoughts

(dunno about those ants and spiders...)

November 11th Veterans Day

On November 11th, 1918....

the war to end all wars....

World War I,

was finally and officially over.

The armistice was signed on

the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

So, 

this day was dubbed 

"Armistice Day".

It began primarily as holiday to honor

World War I vets.

But,

as history proves,

then came World War II and

on its heels,

the Korean War.

So, Congress signed the 

Veterans Day bill

to honor all veterans.

Then,

in 1968, Congress passed the

Uniform Holiday Bill

to ensure all federal holidays would

be henceforth celebrated on Mondays.

It was hoped that it would spur

family activities and travel over the

long weekend holiday,

and stimulate the economy.

By 1968, this new Monday holiday

sadly included the veterans

of the Vietnam War too.

In remembrance of this day,

Veterans of all branches

of military service are included.

They take an oath to serve, 

an oath to defend, support and obey,

and 

to put their lives on the line for us.

So,

I take this forum to honor my

family who have served.

My Dad,

 my son, U.S. Navy 

and my nephew, U.S. Coast Guard

along with several cousins, in-laws and friends.

And to those who never made it back

to the arms of their grateful families,

Thank you

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

There's demolition and reconstruction

happening at our house!

the floors and the kitchen

are undergoing a

much needed face lift.

It's slowly coming out of the 1970's.

The avocado green formica counters

are gone as well as the old ceramic

brown and tan floor tiles.

I've got a range, microwave and dishwasher in 

the den.

The kitchen table is there too.

They'll be put back after the tile floor goes in.

Same tile as in the den.

The dull berber carpeting in the den and hall

has been transformed too.

It's now a lovely wood look porcelain tile.

It's finally coming together.

We've been planning this for some time now

and now that it's upon us,

it is a bit daunting.

The work involved, the mess,

none of those I fully appreciated till

I'm in the midst of it.

We'll deal with it.

Can't wait till the new cabinets and counter tops are in!!

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

The chicken girls are loving

the cool weather.

Hazel hasn't tried to repeat that

"AWOL"

missing hen act, again.

Thank goodness!

But,

everybody is laying again,

except Hazel.

Of course, it's Hazel.

The nonconformist,

the risk taker,

the rebel!

As we cleaned out the pantry 

to make way for the new cabinets,

I found several items that the hens love,

canned yams, 

slices of bread and

a couple of cans of tuna in water.

So, 

we gave them an unexpected treat.

They came at me like:

 a class full of pre-schoolers at snack time!

Or,

1960's girls at a Beatles concert!

Or,

trying to catch a coconut at a Zulu parade!

Or,

sharks eying chum in the water! 

Or,

reenacting a scene from "The Birds"!

Ok,

I'll stop.

I get carried away with similies.

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

and remember.....

October 31st Halloween

Happy All Hallows Eve!

Can't wait to see the little ones

in their costumes tonight.

I hope they bundle up!

It's 50 degrees out.

This Halloween started out

rainy and cold.

It's been a few years since we've had

weather like this.

The recent weather has been all over the place.

Last week a tropical storm blew through.

Some downed branches...

A few destroyed veggies...

A bunch of blood oranges downed...

A tomato bush blew over...

But all in all,

we were lucky.

No real lengthy power outage,

no real damage.

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

The new Lavender plant made it with no ill 

effects from the storm.

My old Lavender plant died.

I haven't had much luck with them.

Hoping this time is the charm.

This is a new kind of plant for us,

Portuguese Oregano.

Tasty.

This is a rescue succulent.

The CEO brought a few leaves home

from the nursery where they had fallen

from the Mother plant.

We weren't sure if they'd grow,

but we are really pleased with these.

New plants sprout from the "nursery" leaf.

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

The girls are beginning to lay again after their hiatus

of molting and the scare of their

sister "leaving the nest".

Thank goodness.

We had to break down and

buy a dozen eggs!

Segue into Zombie Hens!

As I've explained before,

chickens are omnivores.

They'll eat anything.

As a matter of fact, it's good to give them

extra protein during their molt.

The feathers are protein based and 

they lose valuable nutrients during

that process.

So.....

we give them beef and pork fat.

They gobble it down like a longshot

in a competitive hot dog eating contest!

So...

for Halloween, I gave them a treat,

some cooked 

chicken fat.

Yeah, CHICKEN FAT....

Yes, they were probably

cannibals!

But,

what better day to try it?

Before I gave it to them,

I had a mini moral dilemma.

Should I feed them chicken?

Are there any "chicken ethics" on 

feeding that to them?

Then I had a "what the hell"

moment and just threw it in the grass.

They came a'runnin' to grab

a tasty morsel of some

dearly departed kin.

At least they didn't eat brains!

Bwahahahaha!!!

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

Since the day of the week is Thursday,

as in "Throwback Thursday",

I thought I'd post a picture of myself 

and my sister from the '50's.

Her costume is a recycle of

a Christmas play.

No, she wasn't an angel,

she was Little Jesus.

She doesn't remember the play,

only that she hadda ride in a wagon

and tell people that she was Jesus.

We've laughed so had at this.

60 odd years after the fact

it's hysterical!

Although we can't remember 

exactly what our Mom 

had in mind for her costume on Halloween,

10 months after the play,

we just assumed that she became an angel.

Me, on the other hand...

I got the oilcloth witches costume

complete with a crepe paper hat

and a Fuller Brush broom!

Always homemade costumes for us.

(Although I don't think either of us

look particularly happy to 

get our pictures taken)

Now on to this century....

The irony of my grandson who hates 

bugs wanting to be Spider-Man

for Halloween, isn't lost

on this family.

My daughter.

This is really amazing!

Her friend, a make up artist,

did this for her.

She said it took over 4 hours!

How cool is this?

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

A spooky picture of the Cabildo

and Cathedral

The part that went over the fence last!

October 22nd

UPDATE!

This little faker was found!

Thank goodness!

Seems that she took a short sabbatical

and hopped over the fence into the neighbors backyard.

She can't really fly,

but she likes to hop up on things.

Even with all of our searching

and calling to her,

 she didn't utter a squeak!

I'll say this...

she was mighty hungry and thirsty

when she got home.

so,

she chowed down and drank

a lot of water,

then got a lot of hugs!

She is my Grandson's favorite.

He kept saying that she

didn't die, she was just lost.

He was right!

The other hens kept gathering around her.

Maybe she was telling them of her night out.

Chickens....

They will surely make you crazy!

Her chicken guardian angel

was working overtime today.

Well Hazel,

the grass ain't always

greener, 

now is it?

October 22nd

And then, 

just like that...

There were 4.

Last evening around dusk,

when the hens gather inside to sleep,

the CEO went outside to lock the coop.

As is our usual, he counted heads.

He wasn't able to find Hazel.

We searched the backyard till it got too dark,

then we searched more with flashlights.

We never found our pretty girl.

Her sisters milled around inside the roost,

huddling together.

They knew.

She wasn't there.

She was gone.

When Sandy and Henny died,

the CEO found feathers everywhere.

The racoon that killed them

mutilated them.

Not this time.

No, feathers, not a sign of Hazel anywhere.

So, our conclusion is that

some prey bird took her and swooped her away.

This morning when I opened the coop,

they all remained inside.

They usually jockey for position to

see who will get out first.

Not today.

When they finally came out, they

stayed close together.

All four were making a keening sound,

almost sounded like they were crying,

or calling out to Hazel....

Lucy got on top of the coop,

to look around.

They are more than just egg producers to us.

They are our pets.

We pamper them,

hold them,

they eat out of our hands,

they come when called

and jump into our laps.

So, it's hard for this loss.

Again.

We've lost Henny, Sandy and Leia our

beloved Golden Retriever.

So, now we grieve this loss too.

Our Hazel.

She would lay the blue eggs.

And she had the most beautiful

golden and black feathers.

And she was the most cuddly of the girls.

Baby Hazel in 2016.

Hazel following me as I walked 

around the yard last year.

2019 is without a doubt,

the year for grieving

our deceased pets.

But,

At least we can say with confidence,

that our animal companions

have had the best life we 

could possibly have given them.

Our animal friends teach us

more than we could have expected 

and 

love us more than we could have hoped.....

that's why we miss them more

than we could have imagined.

So,

thanks for the memories

Hazel,

Sandy,

Henny

and most especially,

Leia

I didn't have the heart to

take any pictures of the

plants for this post.

Remember,

never take anyone or anything

for granted,

life is way too short.