Note to self!

WooHoo.....3 1/2 inches of rain!

Went down to the garden this morning to try to see what needed to be done in between the rains. Brother had already cut the okra this morning and most of it was too big to use because we had hadn't cut it since Saturday. With the rains, more will be ready tomorrow, but it is supposed to rain again tomorrow, so we may miss that cutting as well. I tried to pick peas, but kept bogging down and losing my balance, so I gave up. There are blooms all over the peas since the rains yesterday, so we still may get a lot of peas. Got very few tomatoes. They aren't putting on any new ones. I am loving all the rain, but I sure do get lazy and sleep a lot. And.....I spend way too much time playing Bejeweled Blitz on the computer. It drives me crazy! I don't even know why I put this frog graphic on here. I hate frogs!!!! And.....I must be ADD judging by the way this post is all over the place!!!!:)

Yet another rant!

Due to inclement weather today, I have spent a lot of time reading blogs and on Facebook. It amazes me how many people misuse "your" and "you're" and "their", "there", "they're" and "its" and "it's". I know the previous sentence is poor sentence structure, but I am just frustrated with people today. My last few years of teaching English, I made it a point to just harp on these words over and over. Obviously, I failed because a lot of the people I follow on Facebook are my former students. It just drives me crazy and a few of them are teachers now and making these elementary grammar mistakes. Actually, at least one is an English teacher and it takes every ounce of restraint I can muster to not correct the errors....especially on those who are now teaching!

No explanation needed!

Be afraid...be very afraid!

CRAP!

More aphids....not on any of the things they sprayed last week, but I just discovered them on my althea and some of my flowers in pots. The man sprayed everything but the althea. Don't know why he didn't spray it. I wondered why the leaves were not looking healthy and there are very few blooms. Now I know after inspecting it closely. It's always something!!!!

I need counseling!

I didn't know it, but Obama's health reform bill (which he hasn't read) will insist that since I am 66 and about to die, I need counseling to prepare me for the medical care that I am NOT going to get to save my life! What a CROCK! Our nation will not survive this MORON!

It's over!

The gardening is winding down. This morning I picked the last of the corn and tomatoes. Okra will keep making for a long time, but there will not be tomatoes to go with it. I may have to go back to the Farmers' Market Tuesday afternoon and score me some fresh tomatoes. I cut off enough corn to cook today and gave the rest to my sister-in-law. I hate to see it end because I enjoy it so much even though it is hard work. I will have a few more peas to pick and my brother has some sweet potatoes growing, but for the most part, it's over for this season. I will look forward to planting a fall garden which will include broccoli, cabbage, turnip greens, and carrots.

My view...

I was completely oblivious to the fact that my town was hosting a little tykes baseball world series this weekend. Imagine my surprise when a friend called and asked if I would drive her in a convertible in the parade. Well, yeah...I can do that. She is the krewe captain and our queen for last year came and rode and threw some beads. Many states were represented and the weather was 10 degrees cooler than yesterday. Still 90's, but bearable. Short 20 minute parade down the main streets and we were done. Cute kids!

WooHoo!

Finally, got some very beneficial rains tonight just after I finished mowing. Lost power...which is highly unusual in my neighborhood. It wasn't off for long, but long enough for me to figure out that I cannot find the cute little flashlight that my brother brought to me from one of his trips. I just used it a few weeks ago while down under my desk hooking up the computer. I cannot find it anywhere! Of course, it is going to bother me until I find the damn thing!

Fingers crossed......problem solved!

Looks like the aphids are dead! Of course, I had to hire the big guns to do it, but since they were sprayed this morning, they seem to all be dead. Now I have to wash the dead ones off the leaves and wash the "honey dew" off the tops of the leaves. Also, since the yard was treated yesterday, the bahai is dying, the crab grass is dying and the other weeds are dying. I'll be a happy camper after I get it all mowed and start watering again. Next week, we are supposed to get a break in the weather after 10 days of over 100 degree heat and no rain. The highs will be in the low 90's instead of the low 100's!!!

WooHoo!

Well, OK! Just maybe my faith has been restored in my yard company. The dude with the big truck was here at 8:30 this morning spraying my crepes and azaleas. He promises that this will work. Of course, I am the eternal optimist and always believe, at first, that it will. I didn't even know they had a tree spraying program, but next year I will make sure to include that service in my program.

Now I have the rest of the day to do as I please. I may even go to a movie since it is too hot to do anything else. I've been told not to mow or water the yard for another day and I did all my duties at Mom and Dad's yesterday, so I am unleashed! Look out!

All hope is not lost!

The dude finally came to take care of all the weeds in my yard today that should have never been there in the first place. He used one spreader of granules and two different backpacks of liquid. Something surely will kill the bahai and crab grass. While he was here, I asked him if he had anything for the aphids on my crepe myrtles. He said he did, but it was on his truck with the big sprayer. He will call Randy on the other truck and tell him to come spray for me. He says it will definitely kill aphids. Of course, this is the same guy who told me last week that he would be here in two days, so I don't have much faith. We will see, but now that I know there is something that may work, I will keep calling until someone comes and sprays.

Giving up!

This morning I spoke with my plant guru about the aphids on my crepe myrtles and he said there is basically no sure way of getting rid of them this late in the year. He starts treating the ground around his in January, so I guess that's what I will do next season. I actually started spraying the leaves as soon as they started putting leaves on this year, but that did nothing to solve the problem. Now the leaves are turning yellow and falling off. An acquaintance bought lady bugs through Amazon, but they are dying due to excessive heat in South Texas. Heat would be an issue here as well, so I'm not ordering any.

Awww, Man!

I screwed up! It's been so hot this week that I have not been to Mom and Dad's at all this week. Today I went there to check to see if peas were ready to be picked, but before I checked on them, I swung by the little okra plants to see if they were putting on okra. Turns out there was okra everywhere and nearly all of it was already too hard to use! Damn! I love me some okra and tomatoes, but I didn't get much okra I can use. I will be checking it much more frequently now.

My brother and I got all the mowing done at Mom and Dad's, but it was majorly hot and dry. I got the peas and tomatoes picked before I had a complete melt down. We don't have many peas or tomatoes right now, so that part was easy, but HOT!

Backyard nature

While I enjoy watching the hummers, I am not quite so fond of the mockingbirds. They get on my very last nerve because they constantly fuss while I am outside trying to work. I know they are just being protective moms, but, please, just shut up!!!! There must be nests with babies all over the place because there is never a quiet moment. Apparently, it was time to kick some babies out of a nest in my backyard today. I watched some babies fall out of the tree and walk around on the ground for a while. Then one made his way to my patio and stayed there forever. I wasted half a day watching to see how the mom would get him to fly and I still missed it. I saw the mom bring a bug to it a couple of times, but I missed how she got it to leave. That baby will be riding the short bus! She had to invest way too much time on that one!!!

Maybe the best cartoon ever!

For your viewing pleasure!

Just playing with graphics...

WTH!

Since moving to Louisiana 3 years ago, I have used the same doctor. He's wonderful. He has (had) a lab person that never hurt me when taking blood. A few days ago, there was a report on the news that a woman had been sending nude photos of herself to a 16 year old boy. Turns out it was the lab person from my doctor's office. She is now in jail! People are just freakin' CRAZY! I don't understand this kind of mentality!

I need RAIN!

Apparently, the areas all around me got a shower today. I, however, did not get a drop. I dread seeing my water bill because I do have a green lawn. We did have a break in the heat today. Enough so that my brother and I got our parents' yard mowed and I even got my own yard mowed when I got done with theirs. Thankfully, it was not oppressively HOT and I didn't mind doing it at all. I also picked a 5 gallon bucket of tomatoes. The bucket was so heavy that I had to go get Dad's truck to bring it back to their house.

I got corn!

I harvested, shucked, silked, cut off, and packaged 62 ears of corn this morning. My sister-in-law did the same thing to 87 ears yesterday. My brother set a trap for the coons and hung plastic Wal Mart bags over random ears on the stalks. It looks like redneck heaven, but looks like it worked for one night. Tonight might be a different story. My cousin came by and told us to put marshmallows in the trap. That's how he catches the coons in his barn. Mom had some, so I guess we will try that tonight. Mom cooked some of the corn I picked this morning along with some peas, cornbread, and fresh tomatoes (which I also harvested this morning). Add some iced sweet tea to that and it doesn't get any better.Life is good! Hot as hell, but good!

Summertime....and the living is HOT!

I guess it's serious business when there is a "heat advisory" plastered to the TV set all day just like they do when there is a storm coming. That's reason enough for me to stay inside and vegetate. I still have to go out and move the sprinklers around, but it's ok because I just walk right through the water and cool off.

The coons have found my corn in Dad's garden. They got all of the ones that are my favorites....the butterfruit! I did not get one ear of it. Now, they have found the corn down closer to the house. My brother picked 33 ears this morning, but that may be all we get. It's impossible to scare coons off.

Sorry, Peeps....I can't help it!

I am getting better at this and I am pretty proud of this one. Fresh peaches turned into a cobbler again. I don't need this, but I enjoy making a cobbler once in a while...mostly when the fruit is fresh picked and not frozen.

Technology ROCKS!

Well, CRAP!

If I had just called to check my phone messages at home, I would be in Houston right now instead of at home. My jury duty was canceled and it's the only reason I came right back home. If I had stayed gone another day though, everything green here would have died. It almost did anyway, but I have the sprinklers (all 3 of them) going now.

The reunion was great fun. It was so nice to see all these old students from 20 years ago. Now, I have already received a facebook message from the class of 90 that I have to come to theirs next year and the class of 91 that I have to come to theirs the next....dang....I'll be pushing 70 by then!

After I got all the way back to Shreveport, I remembered that I did not get the hanging clothes from the closet in the hotel. CRAP, again! I have called them and they are sending them to me. That's not the first time I have pulled that sort of nonsense!

Road trip!

Tomorrow I am taking my first brief road trip in about 2 years. I am headed back to Texas, where I spent many years teaching school, to attend the reunion of the class of '89. Fortunately, they invited me to come and I am looking forward to visiting with them. Many of them I have already re-connected with on Facebook, but I am looking forward to seeing them in person for the first time in 20 years. Well, many of them, it's been that long, but there were a lot of them at my surprise retirement party in 2002. I love me some Texas, but I have not been back to the area since most of the homes were lost to flooding by Hurricane Ike. I would like to be able to swing through Houston and go to Central Market on my way home, but it is just too far out of the way and I have to be back on Sunday. Jury duty is on the agenda for Monday.

'nuf said!

Click on image to enlarge

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Yummo!

 

Well, I don't know how it tastes, yet, but my house smells divine! Peach cobbler with fresh peaches from the farmers' market. Update to follow as soon as it cools enough to eat!

UPDATE: It is delicious!

Farmer's market.....yum!

As much as I discuss my garden, one would think I wouldn't have a need to go to the local farmer's market. OH! That would be wrong! I went to Shreveport to the afternoon market today and made off with cheese/bacon bread (if it has bacon in it, it has to be good..right?), tomatoes, fig cake, and peaches. The peaches are good, the fig cake is a little too sweet with a glob of fig preserves in the middle, and the rest remains untasted as of yet. My tomatoes just aren't quite ready, so I am at the mercy of others for now. People at the market were clamoring for the corn. Thank goodness, my sweet corn is ready, so I didn't have to fight that crowd. It's a great market protected under a huge metal structure from the sun and parking is close.

Update: The bread....No...not so much! Very bland...has no salt...didn't taste even a hint of bacon or cheese! Big ZERO on the bread!

Short night!

My mom has to spend the night in the hospital for some sort of oxygen/pulse overnight test. She has already had one at home and it showed some cause for concern because her pulse gets too low. I just took her there and left her with the technician. I get to pick her up at 5:30 in the morning to take her home. OOOOKKKKKK! I have to set an alarm. Haven't done that in a long time!!!

OK...I tried!

I spent the big bucks on those quirky little energy saving light bulbs, but today I took them all out of the bathroom and put my regular 100 w bulbs over the mirror because it was too dark in there. A bulb that lasts for 8 years was a good selling point for me, but they also say not to dispose of them in the regular garbage because they contain mercury. WTH! So where do I dispose of them? I still have them in a light fixture over my kitchen table, so I guess I'll wait 8 years to worry about how to dispose of those......if I don't replace them with regular bulbs that put out some light before then!!!

Bluebird Taj Mahal

If I were a bluebird, I would totally want to raise my children in this beautiful home. What's not to love! Look! It even has a little patio. Do they want me to get out there and paint that sucker and put a little "welcome" sign on it? I watched for an hour this morning out my bathroom window as a young pair of bluebirds checked out the digs. It was 30 minutes before either of them would go inside the house. They would each look in the hole, but wouldn't go in until the female (of course) finally made the move and went inside. After she "manned up" and went in, then the male started going in as well. Isn't that how it always is? They spent an hour checking the place out. I had to leave to get started doing nothing today, so I don't know if they made a decision to move in and build their home.

My sentiments exactly!

Well, crap!

I love QVC and I order a lot of things from them. It's a great business and easy to deal with. Last week I ordered a Seagate back up external hard drive. All I had to do was hook it up with a USB and, voila, backups begin. I did that and immediately got a message that "installing onto a FAT32 volume is not allowed". HUH! I had no idea what that meant, so I emailed my computer guru. He said it meant it was not compatible with my current hard drive. WHAT! That was never mentioned as a possibility during the QVC presentation. I have packed it up and am sending it back!

Overloaded!

I have reached a point where I can't watch any of the news programs any more. Glenn Beck is my favorite, but I haven't been watching him either. Everything political just seems so hopeless and keeps going to hell in a handbasket (whatever that means)! I agree with Rush and Sean, but I just get tired of hearing the same stuff over and over. I don't want to sound as if I have given up because I haven't. I just need a break from all the Obama crap. Geeze....he is killing the nation I love. How can there be so many MORONS in positions of leadership? I would rather just go outside and talk to the flowers.

My life has been quite mundane lately...

My life has been quite mundane lately, so I have been negligent in posting to my blog. I guess I get my fix on Facebook. Today is a hang out at home day and that is quite alright with me. However, for some reason, I was up early so I went to McDonald's for their big breakfast. When I have a big breakfast, I'm pretty much worthless until it wears off, so I went back to bed. Tonight our krewe has a Captain's party about 30 minutes up the road from me in Walkerville, Arkansas. It still amazes me that I live so close to Arkansas now. Our theme this year was the Krewe that Never Sleeps with a concentration on Vegas, so we are having a fish fry at a member's deer camp and lots of Vegas type games. It will be fun.

It's always something!

I have lived in a new construction house for 3 years, so one would think everything would be in good shape. Well, it is...with the house, but the China made faux wood blinds are not. I had to order a whole new blind because a crappy little plastic piece in the housing broke and made my house look like a redneck house. Of course, this is in the garage, but it still looks crappy and the window faces the front. NOT acceptable. I took the blind down and thought I had it fixed, but I didn't. My brother came and tried to fix it and he is the one that discovered the broken essential piece. Yes, on some things I am just anal!!!! My house is one of them!

It's only getting worse?

I tried to give the prez the benefit of my significant doubt. I wanted to be wrong about the man, but every day I find out that I was not wrong. He is just very scary!

I'm addicted!

It wasn't enough that I have been addicted to Facebook for several months, but now I am addicted to the Facebook Farm Town. One would think that doing the real thing in the real dirt would be enough, but, alas, it is NOT!

Today is going to be another of those too tired to move days. I guess I did too much yesterday because today I am totally void of energy. Also, I have yet again whatever it is that doesn't allow any food to stay down. It's happening regularly now, so I'm thinking it is not a virus. It's OK with me because I need to lose some weight. It kind of sucks that it happens when I have fresh squash and cucumbers that I want to eat!!:(

Wow! What a Monday!

This Monday started around 6:30, which is highly unusual for me, but I needed to get some stuff done at my home before going to Dad's to work in the garden and yard. I was at his house by 9 and so was my brother. We both got busy tilling and mowing and gathering the fruits of our labor. Even Mom came out and helped me pick berries since we finally figured out how to beat the mosquitoes. I came home with new potatoes, squash, cucumbers, and berries and now I am too tired to eat.

When I got home, I called my computer guru because my computer shut itself off last night and started smelling of burning wires. He thought it was the power source going bad and directed me to someone else to fix it. I took it in to the other person and he agreed that it was a bad power source, changed it immediately and I was back home and hooked up in 30 minutes. Small towns ROCK!

As soon as I got finished with that. I had to go work at the Krewe den where we are moving out and getting ready to build a new den. Only 4 of us showed up to work and it was hot PLUS I was already exhausted. I'm too old for all this stuff in one day!!!!! Time for some ME time!

Change of priorities!

Now that it is officially (at least temperature wise) summer, my spending priorities have changed. During the cool months, all I could think of was putting in an acrylic floor in the garage and built in cabinetry. Yesterday my mind changed and a sprinkler system moved to the top of the heap. My house is the only one in the neighborhood that does not have one, so I have to drag sprinklers and hoses all over. It's not hard, but I just like the way the sprinkler system keeps it looking beautiful.

Perfecto!

The weather here was perfect today for working outside, so I took full advantage of it and took care of my yard. It won't be long before I cannot do it all at one time even though it is a small yard because it will just be too hot. Today I was able to do all the mowing, all the edging, and blow everything off without taking a rest. Right now everything is pristine and perfect...just the  way I like it. My caladiums are coming up and they are always very pretty, so I am looking forward to their showing off in a few weeks.

Yesterday, after lunch with the ladies, I went to check on the garden and dig a few potatoes for me and my mom. The mosquitoes were so bad that I couldn't stay out there, but I took a can of yard guard and sprayed all in the berry plants and my mom and I were able to pick the berries without being bitten once. That stuff is awesome, so I'll be buying more of it to use every time I   go to work in the garden. Our berries are planted along a fence, so picking them is easy and doesn't require much bending over. I hate spraying OFF all over me, but I still do it.i guess it's better than West Nile Fever!

Tonight I went to dinner with my bro and sis-in-law...fried pickles and boiled shrimp!! Woohoo! Fried pickles are a new gastric discovery for me and I love them at this restaurant.