September 29th

Yes, I know...

It is supposed to be Fall,

but it never feels like

Fall in Southeast Louisiana

until at least the middle of October.

I cannot wait for cooler weather.

I spend about an hour in the morning 

weeding and tending to the gardens,

but then I have to come in for 

a cool shower!

Sometimes I don't even venture outside.

The veggies really aren't producing much.

We do get a few eggplants and some

poblano peppers, but that's it.

The onions are still growing

but the bulbs are small because

of lack of rain and intense heat.

I had a buddy following me around.

Lucy is lonely since all her sisters passed away.

When I'm outside, I always sit with

her and Minew for a while.

I try to bring a kitchen scrap

as a treat too.

Ever curious.

Ditto!

Best Buds.

They even nap together on the patio.

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

The Onions.

The ones in the back are shallots.

(Just a smaller onion)

Japanese eggplants.

I pulled these earlier because of the heat.

They'll ripen to a deep purple

on the window sill.

Poblanos.

Basil on the window sill.

Rosemary in bloom.

Even the flowers are edible.

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

My Dendrobium orchid.

This is the second time it's bloomed,

and I'm so excited!

Beautiful!

My Succulents!

All of these guys live on my kitchen bay window sill.

I have several more in growth stages

that should be ready to 

pot soon.
 

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Getting in the Fall mood!

This is Edgar, our resident raven.

He stays on the etagere year 'round.

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

This tattered little guy

was resting on our mailbox pole.

He's a Polyphemus Moth.

Here's a "did you know?'

These moths have a very short life span.

The entire life cycle from 

egg, to caterpillar, to cocoon, then pupa

and finally adult moth, is only 3 months.

They only spend 1 week as a fully grown moth.

So, this little guy is actually dying.

Another fact about them is that,

they don't eat.

In fact, they don't have mouths!

They only live to reproduce!

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

Oddities seen while driving around town...

Truth in advertising..

A HUGE lawn ornament!

I think this might be a part of the

Worlds Fair gate,

not really sure,

but it looks like it could be.

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

And this

This is beautiful.

My sentiments exactly.

💗💚💙

 

August 30th

Today is a sad day.

Our beautiful Cooper Maran hen,

Ethel passed away.

She and Lucy were 2 of our rescue hens.

The sisters did everything together.

She was 9 years old.

Thank you girl, for letting us

have the pleasure of

raising you.

We will miss you terribly.

💔

She has been getting slower and not eating

and drinking as much lately.

We had been enhancing her feed

and adding oregano to their water.

Oregano is a natural antibiotic

and it aids their immune systems.

It just can't help with their old age issues.

When she ate the gecko yesterday,

I was happy to see that she

may have rallied and was getting back

to her old self.

It wasn't to be.

Lucy and Ethel together.

She was such a beautiful girl.

Now, Lucy is roaming the yard,

probably looking for Ethel.

I'm sure animals

feel grief too.

And then there

 was 1.

👼

 

August 29th

The projected path of Hurricane Idalia.

As far as the month of August goes,

the 29th will live in infamy.

The dates of Katrina and Ida

continue to cause PTSD-like distress.

Now we've got one in the Gulf,

but thankfully, it's not a threat to us.

It really seems like an anomaly

to just have this one dangerous

hurricane in the Gulf so far, what

 with all the consecutively hot days

that went to 100 or over!

This past Sunday the temperature

recorded at MSY was 105 degrees!!

That set a record as the highest 

ever recorded in the New Orleans area.

Along with the oppressive heat,

the rain came sporadically, if at all.

We tried to water our veggies and

ornamental plants twice a day,

but it simply wasn't enough.

Every veggie plant died, with a 

few small exceptions of some

misshaped peppers.

Slowly, due to the heat,

we are removing the dead plants 

to let the beds rest before

planting a fall crop.

There's no pictures of 

dead vegetable plants,

but I took a few shots of the 

menagerie.

Minew seems to like this weather.

In the mornings, she basks in the sun

until it gets too hot and then

she sleeps in the shade near the coop.

Ethel is enjoying the remains of an

unfortunate gecko.

Lucy is scratching her wattle.

Earlier, there was a free for all to 

get the gecko, 

but Ethel got the lions' share!

Lucy, watching a couple lovebugs.

These girls are true predatory

dinosaurs with keen eyesight.

This is the second time my

Dendrobium orchid bloomed.

I'm excited to see these beautiful flowers!

It hadn't bloomed in 2 years.

I originally thought it was root

bound, but upon reading

about the care and feeding

of orchids, they love to be root bound.

So, I'll keep it in the same pot.

😉

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

Some observations....

The Barbie Movie.

No, I didn't see it, but it makes you

wonder how they can get a full

length movie out of a toy?

Oh, I know about the others.

G.I.Joe, Transformers, 

Battleship, The Lego Movie

and even 

Masters of the Universe,

all decidedly bad.

But Barbie?

Ok, I guess little girls can get

positive values from playing

with her, like being anything they

want to be and cooperative play with 

her Barbie friends.

But, 

I don't remember seeing

myself in any of the

pretend Barbie roles.

and

my Barbie looked different.

This is what she looked like.

Who looks like that??

Her lashes were molded plastic.

Her nose was Wicked Witch pointy.

Her waist was ridiculously small.

And, 

her clothes were expensive.

So,

 our Mom made her wardrobe.

Whenever I tried my hand as 

couture designer,

I sewed the clothes onto her body.

To change outfits, 

I used my Mom's seam ripper!

For a Barbie house, 

we used shoe boxes that

we decorated with scrap cardboard,

construction paper and cloth.

I remember that my sister had a car, 

not the OFFICIAL one,

but it served the purpose.

We had a carrier for the doll and 

her clothes - also not an official one,

but it worked.

We used a gallon ice cream tub

as a Barbie swimming pool.

We also had a Midge doll.

I think she was Barbie's cousin.

The good thing about her

was that she could wear all Barbie's clothes.

Anyway, 

the wonder of make-believe play

escapes so quickly.

One day we were playing with

the dolls, and the next.

we were listening and dancing to 

The Monkees and The Beatles 

on a battery powered record player.

It went so fast!

Too fast.

I wish that those simple times

would have stayed longer.

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

Aging brings its' own issues,

like cataracts.

Ha!

Me after surgery on my right eyey.

Soon I'll have the left one done.

Then I'll be able to see!!

Yay!

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

💚💙💗

 

 

July 30th

Yesterday was sad for us.

Due to a neighbor's complaint,

we had to send Gizmo to the SPCA.

He was beginning to acclimate to

our little backyard farm.

But,

in our town there is a domestic

fowl rule that only allows for 4 hens

at the most. 

This has changed from 10 years ago,

when it was 8.

 There always has been a ban on roosters

but,

we heard them crowing every morning,

even before we ever found Gizmo.

So, a code violation notice was pinned

to our front door last Thursday,

It stated that we had to remove

all roosters and hens, over the limit of 4,

or face a daily fine if we didn't comply.

Our 2 girls can remain at home.

Ironically,

we had been trying to find a home 

for Gizmo since the CEO rescued him.

All places he spoke to didn't want

a rooster.

😢

Our only choice was the SPCA.

They assured us that he wouldn't be 

euthanized.

He was such a good boy

riding in the car inside that box.

We said our goodbye's

and left him in (hopefully)

capable hands.

I'm glad we had a small

amount of time with him

and I hope he finds a forever home.

💔

 

July 9th

Yeah, that sounds about right.

Oppressive, hot days with panting pooches

idly laying around.

But,

that's not why it's called that.

Although it really fits for Southern Louisiana!

Picture it...

back in the times of the Holy Roman Empire,

when Sirius, the Dog Star,

appeared in the sky just before dawn,

it marked the days near the end of July.

It also was the start of the hottest days

of the entire year.

So, in Latin, the Romans called these days,

"dies caniculares"

or,

"dog days".

Now you know.

😀

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

Meet Gizmo.

He is a runaway bantam rooster!

We found him in our front yard,

wet and scared.

so, the CEO grabbed a fishing net

and scooped him up.

We were sure he belonged to

our neighbors, but a canvas of 

the neighborhood proved us wrong.

No one claimed him.

😞

To be accurate, we thought

"he" was a "she" at first.

He wouldn't let us handle him,

so we couldn't "lift his skirt"

to tell what his pronouns were.

😆😂

We gave him some water and food

but the girls we not happy!

As far as they are concerned ,

he's an unwelcomed interloper.

After a day, the CEO was able to grab him.

Thats when we noticed the spurs

(a dead give away!)

and a bushy tall tail,

(another give away)

and morning cock-a-doodle-do's!!

(that sealed the deal!)

That's when we changed his name 

from Gidget to Gizmo.

We have tried to have him adopted to 

a good home but the problem is that

no one wants a rooster,

so they become fodder for 

dog fights or cock fights.

NOPE!

We won't allow that.

So, now we have 3 chickens.

His breed is a Belgian D'Uccle

Millefleur Bantam Cock.

(I looked him up online)

Big name for a little guy.

Lucy and Ethel are about twice his size.

He's missing a couple tail feathers.

Seems he got too close to bitchy Ethel,

and she grabbed a feather souvenir!

But that didn't stop him,

he's a brave little soldier.

He crows at "threats",

like Jesuit our resident Blue Jay,

or a few Mourning Doves,

or the morning sun!

Ha!

Finally fitting in.

The CEO is making him

tame by handling him often.

Lucy and Ethel reluctantly

share the coop.

He settled in nicely.

Minew couldn't care less.

At least Gizmo doesn't peck at cats,

so maybe he's her ally.

Ethel eyeballing Gizmo.

She watches wherever he goes.

Kinda reminds me of the Nuns 

back in grade school!

😆

Curious cat.

Follow the leader,

as long as Gizmo stays away.

Potted meat?

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

The heat got to a lot of our crops,

so we harvested as much as we could

to dehydrate or freeze.

The dead ones were put into the compost bin.

These are different kinds of eggplant,

Japanese Eggplant - long curvy ones

Italian Eggplants - large regular kind

Mini Eggplants

Several kinds of cherry tomatoes,

and a few regular small ones.

I cooked these down to a pulp with some

wine, olive oil, seasonings and chicken bouillon.

Then I strained the pulp and froze 

the gravy.

I then add 1 egg and some breadcrumbs to the 

pulp and spread it out to bake in a low 

350 degree oven.

When I take it out of the oven, before it hardens,

I cut it up into squares.

Makes about 2 dozen small "tomato crackers".

They taste great!

Okra flower.

These veggies can withstand the heat.

I usually pickle the pods.

Picking the few cherry tomatoes left.

Cucumbers.

Regular green cucumber.

Round Yellow "Lemon" cucumber.

The yellow one is milder than the regular ones.

Holy Basil.

Thai Basil and Italian Oregano.

Scarlet Mandevilla.

Reddish Orange Dragonfly.

Beautiful!

The Bee garden.

Echeverria with an unusual bloom.

It's a bright pink and grayish green bloom.

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

This is a unique way of looking at

the month of July.

I like it!

Love this!

💙💚💗