February 28th

The month of February is small

and this blog entry will be too.

😀

The entry decorations started with

Valentines Day

and I even made a cake

for the occasion.

💘

It was Devil's Food!

Yum!

Then, on the 15th, I changed

the decorations to 

Mardi Gras ones.

Although, Mardi Gras

season actually started on

twelfth night, I

opted to wait to decorate.

💜💚💛

The decorations are kinda

meager, but

the spirit is there.

Minew isn't into celebrating

holidays.

She's just a little old grumpy lady

who meows loudly at the door

for her breakfast or

to fill her water bowl.

Cats really don't have

owners, they have staff!

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

We haven't been able to

get out into the garden

because the CEO

had a minor operation

and he's recuperating.

He's coming along well.

This was a huge succulent that

we couldn't move the pot in

to protect it from the snow.

I did take a couple cuttings

in case we lost it - and yes,

we lost it.

My hardy oregano is doing well.

A scraggly rosemary that has 

several new leaves and branches.

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

The other day, I was at Aldi and

they were marking down the

hamburger buns.

They are normally $1.35 each,

so, I picked up 8 bags at

.35 cents each! 

Score!

I put them in the freezer for

later use.

I really like shopping at Aldi.

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

Just a simple King Cake 

recipe that bakes really 

fast and is darn tasty!

Spray a bundt pan with butter flavored spray.

Use 2 rolls of refrigerated cinnamon buns,

I used the Cinnabon ones.

Try to overlap the dough a bit to get

all of the buns in a circle along the bottom.

Bake as per package directions.

Allow it to cool a bit before 

drizzling with the icing.

I add the little packets of

icing that come with the buns

to icing I make.

(You need a bit more icing 

when making the buns

into a King Cake.)

Icing

In a bowl, mix the icing packets 

and add,

1 cup of powdered sugar, 

1 or 2 tablespoons milk,

1/2 teaspoon vanilla. 

Mix well and split into 3 containers

then add food coloring to each container.

Drizzle the colored icing on top.

Or,

Don't color the icing,

just drizzle it onto the King Cake and

 add purple, green and gold sprinkles

before the icing hardens.

I might try an apple pie filling in the next one.

And always remember...

Leave the knife on the platter.

😆

In memoriam to Jimmy

A great and loving person

who left us too soon.

We grieve your loss

and will never forget you.

♱

🙏

💗💙💚

 

January 31st 2025

Wow!

It's 2025!

I pray that this year brings

health and happiness

for everyone.

So far

things aren't going

so well.

Prayers for those lives lost 

in the French Quarter

terrorist attack. 

I hope that's all the tragedy

because

today is the last day

of the first month, and

we have 11 more months to go.

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

On the 6th, we harvested a few

peppers and 3 small 

green tomatoes.

Then,

it was my Grandson's 

17th birthday!

Right after that,

it was my son's birthday.

Since it's Mardi Gras season,

his birthday cake was

a King Cake.

Yum!

Right after the birthdays

the CEO underwent surgery.

and then...

on the 21st,

it SNOWED!

and snowed...

and kept on snowing!

It was almost a

white out situation.

We got 10 inches

before it stopped.

It stayed on the ground,

barely melting, till 

several days later.

This was taken on the 24th.

I've never experienced

that in my 72 years!

We lost a few plants 

but overall, we made out well.

Since we couldn't get out

and school and work were

closed, I baked a lot.

I made biscuits, sausage balls and a pie.

My cherry pie

The CEO was going crazy

with his enforced convalescence.

I copied this picture from an

online article about the snow.

The Cathedral

Then it finally melted.

School was back in session 

and people could get to work.

The temperature started to climb.

The CEO was getting around a bit,

so, he planted some 

Romaine, Bok Choy

and green onions.

He's got them in the garage 

under a grow light.

Then my cousin died unexpectedly.

He was a good man, a decorated NAVY veteran,

a widower, a father and a grandparent.

I will forever miss him.

The CEO is still on the mend,

and doing better every day.

The oregano is the only

plant that survived several

days under a blanket of snow.

I just have to clean up the

herb garden and prepare the

containers for the spring.

In all the snow,

Minew didn't leave her toasty

insulated bed under the heat lamp

(You can see her cataract)

She's a good old girl.

Today is warm,

but rainy,

so, Minew is out and about

exploring the yard.

She seems skeptical

of the weather.

(You can't see the cataract in her 

left eye in the daylight because

the reflecting layer isn't

seen easily)

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

Prayers to those lives lost

in the airplane and helicopter crash

yesterday.

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

Thank you for reading

my posts and here's to

another year!

💗💚💙

 
 

 

Christmas Day 2025

Merry Christmas

May the hope and good will

of this season stay with us

throughout the year.

Our humble tree is a 

collector of memories.

It's artificial, but only

in the respect that it's

something we can love

year after year.

There's no thought of 

color schemes or decorator

ideas to adorn it,

it just holds memories.

Collectables.

Things that we hold dear.

So, on this rainy, warm

Christmas Day

in the deep south,

I hope that all

your wishes

come true and

make it a point to

cherish what is truly important.

Family.

(and cookies)

Oh,

and Minew says

"Me too!"

This picture sums up

all my prayers.

Hope for a weary world.

Much love....

and remember,

don't borrow money from an elf,

they are always a

little short.

🎄

 

Happy Thanksgiving

I'm a couple days late, but the sentiment is

still there.

Every year while I'm cooking

our family's Thanksgiving dinner,

I try to remember what I'm thankful for.

This year I decided to do it

a bit different.

Here are some of the things

I thought of,

Thankful for the ability to smell:

coffee brewing, rain, freshly cut grass,

flowers, the ocean, forests, a library,

babies, puppy breath and home cooking.

Thankful for the ability to see:

the moon and the stars, sunrises and sunsets,

mountains, especially the snowcapped ones,

clouds, flowers that have the most exquisite blooms,

the faces of my loved ones, familiar scenery,

a running stream, a summer rain shower, the ability

to read.

Thankful for the ability to hear:

Music and singing, a baby's laugh,

birds chirping, kids playing, waves on a beach, breezes,

a crackle of a fireplace, the words, "I love you".

Thankful for the ability to touch:

Fuzzy, soft and silky cloth, tree bark, warm water,

the water of the ocean, holding hands, hugs, 

a warm mug on a cold day, loved ones faces.

Thankful for the ability to taste:

tart lemons, sweet nothingness of cotton candy,

snoballs, juicy hamburgers, beignets, and

a Thanksgiving dinner with my family.

🦃

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

There's only a few veggies growing,

the bell peppers and the sweet peppers.

Our Mirliton vine is growing well and sweet basil

is too. This week I'll harvest the basil to dehydrate.

Cooler weather sometimes kills the plant.

We have a few cherry tomato plants with

flowers that we hope will produce fruit.

I'm down to 6 pints of tomato gravy that I 

cooked and froze this summer.

We are planning to do jerky

with ground beef and chicken

this winter.

Minew, doing her best job - sleeping.

If she can fit on something, she'll sit on it.

This is a container of potting soil.

The angel doesn't look pleased.

😊

 ****************************

I ran out of this this week

and now I need to make more.

I always keep it in a Mason jar and 

it comes in handy for a lot of dishes

so I thought I'd share the recipe.

Cream of Something Soup

4 cups of powdered milk

1 1/2 cup of cornstarch

1/2 cup of chicken bouillon

4 teaspoons of onion powder

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons of Cajun seasoning

1/2 teaspoon pepper

mix well

to use: 1/3 cup of mix to 1 cup of milk, warm water or half and half.

I add it to soup, gravies, rice and chicken.

I have made a beef one that I used often too.

In place of the chicken bouillon, I add

1/2 cup beef bouillon and

1 cup nutritional yeast.

Everything else is the same.

Try it!

💚💙💗

 

October 31st Halloween!

It's 7pm and not one Trick or Treater has come

knocking at our door.

Kids do parties these days or go to 

Trunk or Treats.

Oh, well the times are changing.

💀

The Halloween decorations are 

put out in the stores by the end

of August along with school supplies.

The candy is bought, eaten and re-bought

before Halloween night.

👻

As a kid of the '60's things were

much simpler.

Sure, we had store bought costumes,

but the bulk of the kids had homemade ones.

My sister and I were ghosts and witches 

quite a lot.

Neighborhood moms made popcorn 

balls, and candy apples.

Yes, we got those crappy

circus peanuts and the inedible

orange and black wrapped taffy,

but we also got fun sized chocolate!

My sister ate her candy, 1 piece at a time

and saved it till way past Christmas!

Me?

My candy was gone before the week was out.

Then I'd sneak some of my 

sisters' stash.

😄

We'd watch the scary movies on TV

and stay up to see Morgus.

The Mummy and Frankenstein with

Boris Karloff,

The Werewolf with Lon Chaney

and Dracula with Bela Lugosi was 

such scary stuff in black and white!!

😯

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

The purple Cymbidium Orchid

in bloom, with its velvety petals,

is so beautiful.

Long Sweet Cubanelle Peppers

Some are yellow, some are turning

purple, and some are red.

There's a green Bell pepper too.

That's the last of the veggie crops.

Thai Basil

Marigolds

Sweet Basil

English Ivy

Milkweed with Monarch

Caterpillars munching the leaves. 

2 Caterpillars

2 more...

and 1 more here...

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

A few spooky decorations around the house.

When my boys were small,

we had a book with this poem 

and we'd say it every

Halloween.

I couldn't pass up the 

chance to say it again.

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

Can't forget Minew,

she accompanies me on 

my daily garden chores.

Well, it's almost my bedtime

so I'll close out the blog with

something I read a long time ago.

It's said that the veil between

the spirit world and the real

world are very thin tonight

after midnight till dawn.

So,

here's hoping

there's no 

Ghoulies and ghosties

going bump in the night,

Good Lord, deliver us!

👻

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

💗💚💙