Yay me!

It's done!

Today I was able to join my Thursday lunch bunch for the first time in a couple of weeks. We ate Chinese and solved all the world's problems in  about an hour. We rock.....Now if people would just listen to our solutions. Now I am about to kick back and wait for the rains to come. NO WORK TODAY! Not one bit!!!!!

Uh Oh!

I was cutting back the last of Mom's azaleas today in the jungle that is camellias and azaleas all intertwined with vines and grape vines when I realized there was a pissed off bird overhead. Unfortunately, I had not seen her nest in there and apparently while pulling on some vines, I messed up her nest. I think it had some babies in it, but I was never able to really tell. I think they fell out and were on the ground down in the middle of the mess. We tried to find them, but never could. I think I saw one hop around, so I know they were almost ready to fly. I just hope the Mom can stick with them and help them learn faster than she planned. After I realized what I had done, I stopped working there. I didn't even load all the debris on to the truck. I'll get it later when I'm not so upset at what I did. I just hope no predator finds the babies before they can fly!!!!

So very thankful!

Mom is doing really well. Home health came and changed the dressings on her foot today and another came and helped her take a shower. When I got there, she had on her clothes and her ever present lipstick! She got up this morning and cooked breakfast like she has done for 69 years. When my brother and sister-in-law got there, she had it all done. She is an amazing woman.

The hotter it gets, the lazier I get. Yesterday I sweated down two sets of clothes...first in my yard, then again down at Mom's in the garden. Today I was in recovery mode and didn't do much in the garden....dug a few potatoes (which I just ate), mixed and applied about 5 buckets of Miracle Gro, planted a few little watermelon plants and watered one area of vegetables where the peppers, cucumbers, eggplants and tomatoes are. They don't get included when we put the sprinklers on the gardens.

Too close to the truth!

Thank you, Jesus!

Mom is doing really well after her toe surgery yesterday. This time she is allowed to put weight on her foot. This makes everything so much easier. We got her to bed last night and my brother and I both went home. We put a potty chair by her bed. She was able to get up and get to it. She is in a lot of pain, but is willing to take the pills provided for that. This morning, after breakfast, we left her in her chair while I went to get her some groceries and my brother was doing something. She was able to get up and go to the bathroom by herself while we were gone. This made me really happy! She has 2 screws and a plate in her big toe to straighten it out.

Puuuulleeessseeee!!!!

Pre-op registration for my mom's toe straightening surgery tomorrow burned up this whole day. First, we had to see the doctor, then to the hospital for pre-registration, labs, urinalysis, EKG, and lung x-ray.The doc said he has 10 or 11 surgeries tomorrow, but, thankfully, Mom will be #3 or 4. It's on the schedule for 9:30, but, of course, that NEVER happens. Surgery should last about an hour. My brother will get her to the hospital by 7:30....makes no sense to be there so early, but Oh well! I couldn't even go walk out in the garden when I took her home because I had on my new shoes!!!! I must remember to throw some old shoes in my trunk!

Mission accomplished!

Well, not quite, but since I took yesterday off from working in Mom's yard and the garden, I had to go to work today. Almost finished pruning her azaleas and did a little work in the garden. The hard work in the garden is finished. I just try to stay on top of the weeds and grass so that the whole garden looks clean. Basically, it is clean!

Mom cooked lunch today and we had more new potatoes. YUM! I tried to start that silly little Mantis tiller again today and once again, it would not start. I told my brother and he pulled it one time and it started. That just pisses me off!

My biggest tomatoes got cut down by cutworms. Damn things went below the foil I had wrapped around them. They had tomatoes on them! Someone told me today to put an empty beer bottle at both ends of the row! Hello! Now that's something I can do. In fact, I think I'll go empty one of them now!

Dinner!

First Harvest!

Sticker shock!

I need to get motivated to start a walking program, so today I went to Sports Spectrum to buy shoes. Rumor had it that they had a machine and a shoe guru there to decide which shoe would be best for my foot. I stepped on the machine, which told me I had a high arch and the weight is mostly on my heels. A short stroll for the guru told me that I had zero pronation, which was a surprise to me. He brought about 6 pairs of shoes for me to try and it turned out that the Asics were most comfortable to me. I have bought that brand several times before, so I didn't ask the price. I never bought any that were more than $50 or $60, but when I checked out, the bill was $150. That did include one pair of Thorlo socks with extra padding on the ball and heel. I failed to look at the sticker on them either. Turns out the socks were nearly $14. WTH! I've never had shoes or socks that expensive! Looks like I may have postponed purchasing my new Iphone for a while longer!

Happy Mother's Day

Even back when I was a kid, twice a year there was an event called, "Graveyard working". Back in the day, it did require work. Everyone would bring their rakes and hoes and clean the graveyard. This was before there was grass there. Now it is just mowed. Everyone brings food and there is dinner on the grounds in a little pavilion built especially for that. Today was one of the two times a year. We had not been in one year because the last one was in October and Daddy was sick, so we didn't go. Today he was already there....well, he is in heaven, but his remains were there. Even my brother came today and he almost never gets to come. We decided to move ahead and get the black tombstone that will cover all five of us. There is only one black one out there and it just stands out. We all like it. Black is more expensive, but isn't that always how it works out?

Yet another awesome day!

Since I do have a home of my own which I take a great deal of pride in, I spent the morning planting 75 caladium bulbs before I went to Mom's to work in the garden. Brother and I were both there again today. I plowed the sunflowers with a push turning plow. It just throws the dirt up around the base of the plants to cover the grass and weeds growing around them. So right now they look really clean. I planted a row of okra seeds plus 6 okra plants to get a little head start on a few.

We still had enough okra seeds that were already soaked and starting to sprout, so my brother made another row in the upper garden and planted them. I also planted  4 little watermelon plants and got all the sprinklers going on both gardens.

Same garden ....

Upper garden where we have potatoes, sweet corn, bush beans, beets, sugar cane, pinto beans, peas, watermelons and more okra. We lied when we said we would not plant as big a garden as Daddy always did! Guess we will be feeding the masses. Our tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, bell peppers and egg plants are in a different place. We also have a little radish patch and we are eating radishes every day.

Uh-oh!

Communication misfire! I went to the National Day of Prayer service at my church at noon and after that to lunch with my buds. I had to hurry and eat and scram because I had to go pick up Mom to bring her to her doctor appointment. When I was on the way to get her, I thought I met my brother and her in Mom's car. Holy Smokes! Why didn't they tell me he was bringing her? Turns out, it was,indeed, them. Mom told him I was going to plant okra while he took her to the doctor. That is not at all what I told her. I told her that if he was going to take her to her appointment, then I would go work in the garden and plant the okra. It would be presumptuous of me the think he didn't have any plans and could take Mom. I would never do that. Anyway, she misunderstood that I was coming to get her, so he took her. Since I wasn't dressed for working in the garden, I turned around and met them at the doc's office. Surgery on her toe will be next Friday.

Almost lost a tomato plant from lack of water, but I have the drip set up over my tomatoes now, so I hope it comes back to life! I have a soaker hose weaving through the fence by the tomatoes, so it is dripping down over my tomato row!

Dang! I'm tired!

Spent several hours in the garden today hoeing weeds and running the tiller. My brother was there as well, so at one time we had two tillers going at the same time. Now.....the garden looks beautiful again. Dad would be so proud.

Even though I was exhausted, I came home, took a shower and went to Shreveport to run some errands. Got the car washed, bought Laura Bush's new book for Mom as a part of her Mother's Day haul, bought a beautiful plant for her as well, went to Sam's and also did my part to support illegal aliens for Sinco de Mayo at Taco Mania. Just kidding.....I don't know if they are illegal....I just know they can cook some Mexican food!

Damn bugs!

Sprayed all the potatoes again after the rain. The bugs think it is a day at the spa, I guess! I spray it right on them and they just sit there...don't even fall off the leaf! I tried Sevin dust on two rows and sprayed malathion on the others. We will see if any of it works. I dug up 3 little potatoes while I was doing that, but only because I saw them peeking through the dirt. Forgot to bring them home with me!!! Mom didn't want them...but wanted me to have them.

Started trimming back sharply her azaleas because the plant gurus said now is the time to do it and fertilize them. I didn't get far. She has a LOT of azaleas!!! I got tired!

Stupid personified!

This will make you GRIN!

New purchase!

Since neither my brother nor I checked the oil in Dad's lawn tractor (Dad always did that, so we didn't have to think about it), tomorrow we will be purchasing this little number! Who knew lawn mowers run out of oil???? Not me! It spit the bits out and seems to be unrepairable. Oh, well.....that won't happen again. I'm sure we will both be checking the oil way too often. I asked him if the new lawn mower was going to have a red light that says, "Check oil" like my car does!!!! What can I say....we screwed up! I just happened to be the one on the lawn mower when it crashed and burned!!! CRAP!

Well, crap!!!!!

Mom is going to have to have more surgery on her foot. This time the big toe. It is so misshapen that it is putting force on the next toe, which was operated on in January to straighten it along with 2 others. She uses a spacer between the toes 24 hours a day, but it is not enough to prevent a pressure ulcer on the next toe. We were so afraid there was infection in the bones from the previous surgery, but that is not the case. Here we go again! However, he did say this is more extensive surgery, but not as hard to recover from. She will be able to put weight on it immediately unlike the last time. Looks like she may have surgery next Friday. We have another appointment next Thursday to see how it looks after 2 weeks of antibiotics.

OHHHH! NO! UNACCEPTABLE!

My snake phobia materialized while I was at Mom's today working in the garden. As I walked a path I had already walked a dozen times today, I was suddenly confronted with a snake. It wasn't a big snake, but it doesn't take BIG to traumatize me. Thank goodness for the cell phone in my pocket. I stood right there watching it so I wouldn't lose it and called my brother to come kill it. I thought it was a copperhead, but he said it was a spreading adder. Enough to scare the crap out of me. Of course, he just laughed!!! I was too traumatized to take a picture!!!Time to break open the wine!

Biden is a MORON!

Garden 2010

Dodged the bullet!

The storm predictions did not materialize here in our part of Louisiana, but the garden only got 1/2 inch of rain. We have a 5 inch deficit, but the garden really looks good today. My potatoes have some blooms, so that means potatoes are forming beneath the ground, I think! What do I know! It must mean something!

Laid back week!

Very little had to be done in the garden this week, so I have had a bit of a break. It is looking really good and we are hoping for much needed rain tonight......but, not the storms and hail predicted. If that happens, our garden will be beaten up badly! Brother did lots of tilling this week between the rows to keep the grass at bay and he used the bush hog and tractor on the whole place. It really looks pretty right now because I had already done all the mowing with the mower. For 2 days, I didn't even go there.

Mom has yet another infection in her foot...yes, the same one that was operated on in January. It's all healed, but is swollen and red and some lymph nodes are involved as well. This was all noticed by the lady from home health who comes to help her take a bath. She notified the nurses and they sent someone out to see about Mom. They got her in to see a doctor and get some antibiotics. Does it ever end? I thought we were finished with foot issues!!!

Get ready!

It's cold!

Never thought I would not be happy with cool weather in April, but today was just not very comfortable out in the garden. I picked collard greens for Mom to cook and I cooked a pork loin before I went to her house. She also made some hot water cornbread, so we had a nice lunch. She could not eat her collard greens because she is on coumadin (blood thinner) and green things have vitamin K, which is also a blood thinner. Her home health nurse was there when we were getting ready to eat and she told Mom not to eat the greens! Poor Mom! We told her they weren't good. She wouldn't like them!!!! Actually, they were delish!

I planted some replacement tomatoes and protected them from the cutworms. Also, planted a few marigolds in the tomatoes and potatoes because I've been told insects don't like marigolds.

Brother has been having major heart palpitations  for a couple of days now and just generally doesn't feel well, but he won't go to the doctor!! Go figure! His heartbeat is very irregular!

From Facebook!

I pledge resistance to the czar, of the divided states of America. And to the communism for which he stands, one socialist without God, divisible, with health care and welfare for all. -Anonymous American

Brain fart yet again!

These brain farts are coming way too close together these days. Every year I plant caladiums all along the front of my house and each year they are just beautiful. It just dawned on me last night that it's almost time to plant them and I haven't even ordered them yet. Soooo....this morning before church, I was on the computer ordering 100 caladiums. I always plant Carolyn Whorton's since my yard guru told me they would withstand heat better than most.

Since my tomato dilemma, more than a few people have told me that I must protect the stems of the young plants from cut worms by wrapping the stems with foil or putting matches or toothpicks next to the stem so the worm cannot wrap around the plant. I will be doing that tomorrow to the ones that I have left and most certainly will do it to the replacement plants I have to buy now!! Who knew? Apparently, everyone but me! Dad never did that to his plants, so I didn't know. They never cut his tomatoes down.

Finished!

Spent all day in my yard, but once again I am caught up and hoping for some rain. The yard service that does my fertilizing and weed treatment treated my yard this week and said it must be watered in within one week. Crap...I'm not ready to set up sprinklers!

CRAP!

Yet another tomato plant lying dead on the ground this morning. Looks like something is just cutting it off......and not even eating it! Damn, bugs, if you are going to cut down my plant, at least eat it! 5 of the eight Better Boy plants are gone. I guess I will replace them tomorrow with some bigger plants. Today I got another sprinkler system hooked up and have one going on the corn rows. Also, got Dad's drip system he set up on a fence above his berries going again. It's a rather unique system consisting of a soaker hose snaked through a fence so that it drips from the top on the berry plants. It's way cool! It stayed just like he had it all during the harsh winter, but was unhooked from the water source. I was doubtful that it would still work since those soaker hoses are rather fragile, but it did. Dad was very proud of his row of different kinds of berries....blackberries, boysen berries and some others that I don't recall. What didn't survive were his little markers where he had labeled his plants, so we are clueless as to what they are. The very last place Dad ever worked was from a little stool he sat on to clean weeds out of his berries. It was very hard for me to move that stool, but I finally did move it because I had to clean out from under his berries and put new pine straw around them.

Stolen from Facebook!

Moses said to the children of Israel, "Pick up your shovels, mount your asses and camels, and I will lead you to the promised land." Then about 75 years ago, Roosevelt said, "Lay down your shovels, sit on your asses, and light up a Camel, this is the promised land." Now Obama has stolen your shovel, taxed your asses, raised the price of Camels and bankrupted the promised land..2010&2012 YES WE CAN!!!

Another hard day of labor!

I spent 5 hours working in the garden today. All I can say is it better produce some groceries. Part of the time I was trying to rig up some sprinkler systems in the garden because it is getting really dry. I planted some bell peppers, eggplants and more tomatoes. Something has destroyed two of my original tomato plants. I put pine straw around the new plants that I planted today to help with moisture and weeds. My mom even came out looking for me because I had not come inside at all and she was afraid I was passed out somewhere in the garden. Not out of the realm of possibility....I was very tired when I left. I called my brother and asked him to go over at some point tonight and turn off the sprinkler. Our garden water comes from a well and not from the village water system, so we don't have to be as frugal.

Home, Sweet, Home!

It's no secret that I love my home and I derive great pleasure from keeping it looking nice, especially the outside. Today was one of those days that I never left the house, but took care of a lot of things around home. What a project it was to remove the pollen from the indoor/outdoor carpet that is on the patio! It required my high power hose attachment sweeper and then a squeegy. The furniture is still sitting out in the yard hoping for the sun to dry the cushions out tomorrow. I guess I will be back in the garden tomorrow.

Too tired to eat!

Was in the garden by 8:30 this morning and worked there until 1:30. That's just more than this old body can take. That's without taking a break for lunch. Planted some bush beans and cucumbers while my brother planted 5 more rows of corn. That's the easy part. Getting the soil ready to plant is the hard part along with hoeing the weeds out of the potatoes and other stuff. I am determined not to let the weeds win this year. They won all previous years, but not this one if I can stay ahead of them.

I put stuff for beef stew in the crock pot before I left this morning. I think it's good, but I am too tired to eat!!

Yeppers!

WooHoo!

Another day of gardening chalked up with success! My brother and I both worked at Mom's today. He was clearing a place by a fence, so I could plant some climbing green beans. I cleared another place to plant some bush green beans tomorrow. We both successfully used the Mantis tiller and our garden is looking good. Almost everything has come up....even the sunflowers that I planted only a week ago are coming up. I am so excited at how nice our garden looks. I will post pictures when things come up a little more. I planted more tomatoes today. We swore we were not going to plant enough stuff to feed the village like our dad did, but it looks more and more like that is the case.

Why?

What happened here? I had pink, white and purple hyacinths planted from bulbs. As they came up the pink ones bloomed before getting out of the ground and wilted and died. The white ones didn't do much better, but the purple ones came up great and beautiful, but their stalks wouldn't hold them up. WTH? Well, they smell lovely even if they are lying on the ground!!!

Work, work, work!

Fortunately, it's work I enjoy. Spent all day Monday in the yard and garden again. Got my yard all mowed and pristine, then went to finish mowing Mom's yard. We have groceries coming up all over the place. It's so much fun to watch and it makes me miss my dad so much. This is the time of year that he just loved. I must have got his genes on this because I love to garden and work in the yard. It's so satisfying to have a beautiful yard and a lovely vegetable garden. It's certainly not easy on this old body, but it is very gratifying. Hoping for some rain today because our garden really needs it.

My 94 year old aunt is in the hospital and I doubt she will ever go back to the assisted living place. She is too weak to walk and really doesn't want to live. Who can blame her? She was mad that all 3 of her younger brothers went before her. She lost her husband years ago in a boating accident, lost a brother in a tractor accident, lost a daughter to suicide and a daughter to cancer. She is ready to go be with them!

He is Risen indeed!

Ouch, again!

Spent all day in the garden and Mom's yard without even stopping for any lunch or drinks. When I get going, eating is not on my mind. Of course, when I get home, I am starved so I have already grabbed a wiener and malted milk eggs! How's that for a meal!!! I rock!

Planted some more potatoes because so many of ours have not come up. If they do eventually all come up, everyone will need to come get some potatoes....just sayin'! Also planted some pole beans...AKA Christmas butter beans because it seems like they don't get ready until Christmas....80 to 90 days to fruit, but someone gave them to me a couple of years ago and I am finally getting around to planting them. Brother wanted to plant some more radishes, so I bought more and planted them. After I finished up in the garden, I got on the lawn mower and mowed and mowed and mowed and mowed.....still didn't finish, but I will next week. I was tired! I am exhausted, but it is a good kind of exhaustion because I know I accomplished a lot while I was getting exhausted!!! A cold beer and a nap will make it all better!

Perfect day!

Spent a good part of the day working in the garden. Got some tomatoes planted, and some cucumbers, squash and zucchini. Also, planted Dad's two rows of sunflowers. He always loved the big showy sunflowers because he could actually see them in his last years when he was nearly blind from macular degeneration.

Tonight my brother and sister-in-law brought Mom and we met my cousin and two  of her adult children from Virginia at the Crawfish Hole. They don't have crawfish in Virginia, so they take advantage when they come here. They are going back to Virginia today.