Musings of Donna

2010-06-23T10:56:00.000-07:00

Oh wow, has it really been over a year since I have done any kind of posting?? how terrible.. LOL I guess since the induction of regular facebook time as well as other things like work, having four kids, and just trying to juggle it all without sinking, is really enough, and thus, the blog get's put behind. It's all good though.. LOL.. I think if I could figure out a way to post blogs from my phone I would be more updated.. when I see how I can, or if I can.. maybe then I will be more apt to participate.. till then., maybe every now and then I will actually come on and post. Nothing much is happening other than working...

Rooibos Tea

2009-03-28T22:13:00.000-07:00

I have always been a tea drinker, even before I was a coffee drinker, and have enjoyed many a coffee in the morning, and grumbled without coffee in the morning. I've since then given them both up. Coffee was really hard to give up, I had withdrawal, I had headaches, I was cranky, and made the excuse of working nights and being up with kidlets, made coffee OK. Now I'm not a morning cocoa drinker... something about sweet stuff and morning makes me gag... and it's not really a great way to start off the morn with a spike in the blood sugar!
So it's now been a few months since I've drank coffee or tea, and I would have to say most of it is because of Rooibos Tea. Now don't get all up in arms that it's a tea, and I shouldn't be drinking it.. hold on... Rooibos is an herbal, caffeine free tea, it tastes great, has a mild and smooth flavor, and is good for you. Check it out, and go buy some!
http://www.teamuse.com/article_040501.html

Six new little girls

2009-03-23T10:42:00.001-07:00

Aren't they cute! I stalked Tractor Supply store for three days, until they finally came in. I was told Monday the 16th, but they actually didn't show up till Wednesday the 18th. I am so happy to add to the brood. The other girls will be excited.
I now have 11 chickens. We have four hens and one snarky rooster, which will most likely be rehomed. Two hens came from an egg farm in Lawtey, the other two hens are ones we raised from chicks.
These cuties we just bought are random breeds, it's a bit hard to tell when they are new chicks, we will be able to tell what breeds they are when they get a bit older. Chicken raising is fun!

just some basic randomness

2009-03-23T10:19:00.001-07:00

I found out that I am a routine kind of person, I like a routine, I like doing things on the same days and such.. I found this out by not having a consistent work schedule. I've had different days off, not generally two days off together, but at least two days off in a week. It is hard, and tiring.

I've been in a slump since starting at Whole Foods and really couldn't understand why.. well it dawned on me.. work Sunday, Monday off, work two days, Thursday off, work seven days, Friday off, work Saturday, Sunday off, work 2 days, Wednesday off, work 3 days, Sunday off, Monday off, work 2 days, Thursday off, work 4 days, Tuesday off...
It was maddening.
I couldn't really schedule anything, I was tired because I rarely got two days off together, and didn't seem to get anything done.
So I asked the "schedule Gods" please can I have Thursday and Friday off, with Working Saturday morning, on a consistent basis, from here and out forever!!!
it's so far worked, week two and I already feel better and like I can actually get some stuff done around the house and have a bit of a life while working.
Getting back on schedule.. awesome for me... and I honestly thought I could handle a random schedule.. I can't.

My New Job

2008-12-21T08:14:00.000-08:00

The store in Jacksonville opened up on December 10th 2008. We had a grand opening, and the store was packed with eager customers wanting to get into the store and check us out. I was fortunate enough to have a sneak preview.... as is the benefits of being an employee http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/careers/benefits.php ... or as they say "team member". The values and benefits of this company cannot be compared to any other place I have ever worked, with the exception of Wild Oats, which was a comparable company, that Whole Foods purchased this past year.
More information about Whole Foods can be found here: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/ I urge anyone who does look onto my blog to at least see what the "fuss" is all about. I feel proud to work for a company that is so concerned with the environment, community, as well as the world people.

It has been a welcome breath of fresh air after working for the Holiday Hell... Well ok the Holiday Inn, owned and franchised by Murpho Co. Inc. What a transformation...

snakes, crabs, and moths

2008-10-12T19:39:00.000-07:00

I'll pick up just about anything, as long as I know what it is, know it won't cause bodily harm, and hopefully not bite me. I like taking the pictures of what is crawling around. That is if I can catch it. The black racer, I left alone to pics only, although this one will come right up to me, by at least a few feet. When I was releasing the little ring snake, the racer cut between me and Acelin, and he and I were only about three feet apart. Acelin suddenly said "snake mom, snake" and well, goodness there it was, moseying along, it obviously has not much to fear, and is a good three feet in length!

T.S. Fay -vs- our back yard

2008-08-24T13:29:00.000-07:00

TS Fay hit our area late on Thursday August 21st. It didn't come with a lot of wind, but liked to stall and hang over an area for far too long and create a lot of rain. We were NOT the only area in FL affected by Fay... in fact ALL of Florida was affected by Fay. I think rather a record for Florida. Seen big storms, that come and go, but this one ziged and zaged all across Florida till everyone felt a little bit, or a lot of Fay. Here is my yard Friday morning:A bit of water creeping in, not even too much more than a heavy flow of thunderstorms, I got wet playing in the water with the kids and having fun catching frogs and salamanders. I'm standing on the block in the back yard by the red maple tree. Still high and dry:

Frog I caught... yes I have four boys and they all shied away from the frog, not wanting to try to catch it. Slippery thing it was, but worth the catch!
Three little salamanders that were caught in the inflatable Alligator pool:
Friday afternoon, before I went to work, the water had come up some more:
the block I was standing on earlier is clearly under water:
Friday night when I came home the water was up to the blocks on my porch. Pictures proved to be futile, so I didn't take any. We had an early trip that was long planned to Orlando and left early in the morning, when it was still dark. I had looked out and water was up to the porch. When we got home late that day I was in a bit of a frenzy seeing that the road connecting to our road was closed, so we did take another road and came to our house and the front was still DRY.. what a sigh of relief! However upon going into the back, the water had gone into the porch, and was up by about 2 inches. Our cat was obviously not amused!

Side of the house:

One of the many play toys that are just floating around in the back yard, the water was over our back fence, which is 4 ft tall... now it's 4 ft deep!

Sunday Morning and the water had receded a bit, the play house is still afloat and there is so many "critters" in the water.
These are the cement blocks right in front of my porch, still a bit under water, but not completely submerged.
The reflections of the trees in the water is pretty, really, but not having water property, I'm not really amused. Our back yard is the place for the boys to run around safely and have fun... now they can't till the water is gone! Which may be a week or more.
The critters found alive and dead in the porch were interesting. many spiders, worms, a few fish but the leech was a gross out moment for me, even though I summoned up the courage to actually pick it up and put it in a bowl and add water to see it in it's "natural" environment, I couldn't pass up the observation, since I had NEVER seen a leech in person, It was a neat opportunity, the kids weren't as amused as I was though.

The leech video (it's only 10 seconds)

good gravy it's a garden update!

2008-05-28T21:05:00.000-07:00

I know it's been over a month, but I did have progress pictures, that somehow disappeared... that's what I get for not uploading them right away, huh? So anyway, here is my lovely front yard garden:
Here is from the front porch looking in the direction of the picture above
Flowers planted around the Sago Palm
Brussels sprouts looking nice
corn, sunflowers, and marigolds
planter box full of tomatoes... not including the other 10 plants placed around the yard...
Cucumbers

the next two are just pics of the self heal that has really taken off, if you look down at other posts you will see the difference! It's a good ground cover and really inches around and crowds out the weeds, plus it has nice little purple flowers that shoot up.

So it's a lot of work, I still have other things I want to plant, and move, and weeds to pull, bugs to pluck, and very soon, veggies to harvest!

More random garden photos

2008-05-27T21:22:00.000-07:00

Onions

Interesting tomato flower stem, there are four flowers to one stem, usually it's one on one. The stem is really thick too.
First Sunflower bloom
Hydrangea flower... this was a "rescued" plant. I dug it up and transplanted it into my yard. It had MANY dead branches on it.
Japanese Eggplant
I think this is our 15th Zucchini... the kids are sick of zucchini already..

Tomatoes soon!

Chickens

2008-05-26T21:41:00.000-07:00

Silly birds, let me take your picture... no I'm not the crazy boy who wants to pick you up all the time, it's me, the person who feeds you. well they wouldn't cooperate, but here they are, the birds.

I think it's time we find names for these birds.. I'm thinking airhead, dingy, and dumb dumb... no not nice, but really these are not the brightest birds in the hen house. The aracaunas are a bit flighty and HATE, can I emphasize that enough... HATE to be separated... the old adage of "birds of a feather flock together" is even an understatement with these two chickens. The other I'm not sure if it's a barred rock, or a Dominique, nor am I sure if it's a hen or a rooster... grrrrrr.

They like to get under a little table on the porch and poop.. Did you know chickens poop a lot.. yep, little poop factories, however, according to my friend Judy, chickens are not to be compared to geese, I believe geese own the monopoly on the poop factories.

So chickens are fun, they cluck and coo, and fluff around, and are nice little animals to keep. These ladies are around 3 months old, and still have a bit of growing left to do, hopefully we will have eggs from three hens in a few months. I can't wait!

Random garden photos

2008-04-19T19:31:00.000-07:00

Broccoli floret

Corn getting tall, it's about 10 inches tall now
Yarrow flower, purple flowers behind are self heal

top of Brussel sprout plant
flowering chives with lettuce behind
stink bug
Blueberries starting to redden
My garden assistant, taking care of a grasshopper

your trash, my treasure

2008-04-15T19:48:00.000-07:00

Now as I drive around I look for wood, we need it for the soon to be chicken coop, as well as borders for plantings and such. Having Monday's off is the perfect opportunity to check to see what the neighbors have cleared out over the weekend. I have already picked up a lattice plant support, which I'm not sure what I'll plant under it, but I'll figure something out.
Since I live an improv lifestyle and go with the flow, I find and I can create. These boards, plywood, landscape timber and cement rounds will come in handy in something. It's just so much better finding this stuff as someones trash, then to have to buy it. There is always more that I can get, but I choose to limit myself, so I don't end up too pack ratty. Which that is pretty easy to do. So I get what I can, leave what I can't and regret what I should have, and move on with what I take.

more garden progress:

2008-04-07T21:25:00.000-07:00

I got all the self heal and Yarrow out of the planter box, and it has been transplanted in front of the bushes, since it will spread and is a nice ground cover with little purple flowers, I thought it would be nice under the bushes as well. I lined it with newspapers and mulch to keep the weeds and grass at bay, hopefully.

Freddy cat helping me scope out the front area. I added some decorative grass, mulch and the lemon balm, because it was in the same planter box as the yarrow and self heal, and I plan to use that box for a nursery for tomato seedlings.
same area, different angle. The dirt area around the sago palm has flower seeds planted, Naturtium, Celosia, Marigold, Cosmos, and Tithonia all summer, annuals that are drought resistant.

behind the squash I have planted cucumbers, I have wire fencing to make some supports for them to grow up onto.

This is a crepe myrtle that has some transplanted yarrow at the bottom of it. And the Corn to the right. The pile of mulch just doesn't seem to get much smaller... what's freaking me out is that I keep considering another load! The backyard better watch out!

Homemade pasteurized grapefruit juice

2008-04-07T11:33:00.000-07:00

We received a huge box of grapefruits from a neighbor and I started squeezing them for juice, as there was NO way we could ever eat them all before they went bad.

I decided to pasteurize the juice so it would have a longer shelf life in the fridge, giving that Mike and I would be the only ones drinking it. Liam participated in the process, and I talked to him about the reasons for pasteurizing juice and milk, as well as the temperatures needed for killing off bacteria, especially since our process wasn't the most sanitary, nor were the fruit, I decided it was a necessary step.

The first part was calibrating the thermometer, I showed Liam how to check for proper temperature reading, as well as why it was necessary. To calibrate, fill a cup with ice, and water, and check the temp... it should register at 32 degrees, F. If not, the thermometer needs adjusting. A quick turn of the bolt on the back, got it to 32F.

I made a simple syrup of sugar, honey and water to go into the very sour grapefruit juice.
Into the pot... it's nice to have such a large stainless steel cooking pot!checking the temp, slowly rising.Checking every few minutes during the cooking to get the juice to the temp of 165... I went ahead and raised it to 18oF for a quick kill. A temp of 165 held for 15 seconds generally suffices for basic pasteurization.

I wanted it to cool as fast as possible as well, so Ice was put in a bag to basically "ice bath" the juice. I went through two bags of ice till it was close to 50F, then it is cool enough for the fridge.
We got a good gallon and a half of juice
A full bucket of compostable grapefruit remnants
And just a few grapefruit left for eating, the box was full to the top when we started.
Many thanks go out to Louis Pasteur for coming up with this process. It has increased the shelf life of milk, and many other items, as well as decreasing the possibility of food borne illnesses occurring through bacteria growth. A great scientist, who's method we imitated in our own kitchen.

garden garden March

2008-03-13T21:15:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of work ahead. I saw a tree getting cut down and chipped down the road, so I asked for the mulch. My plan is to utilize as much of this mulch for the front yard to eliminate most of the grass.. ha, weeds, and outline the planting areas, and walking areas around them.

It's a lot of work, and I get some help, but the vision coming into place is fun. I'm sure my neighbors think I'm a bit nutty... but I think they are nutty for wasting water on grass. I have a few planting areas, and it only takes me about 10 minutes to water now.

I've got corn, squash and brussle sprouts so far:

Corn here: Brussle sprouts and squash
pepermint in the red pot, with self heal around
adding the mulch to have areas specific to plantings and walking.
The huge pile of mulch

Growing and starting the garden, It is time.

2008-03-05T21:46:00.000-08:00

So far the Cauliflower is doing pretty well, and we've been enjoying broccoli already, but I started tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, squash, cantaloupe, and corn. I spent about $20 on the seeds, soil, and peat pots and already have sprouts of each. We did have some bad weather come along, and I had to put the pots in the garage for two days, but they did fine, and hopefully no more frost! The onions look great, and I pulled some up early to use for green onions... they are quite tasty. Also have noticed that my fresh broccoli is juicy... never had that experience with broccoli! Home grown is best!

Below are some plants growing out of the compost.. I'm sure the top is tomato, not too sure whether the bottom is a veggie or a weed. I am just so excited to get another growing season started! The compost will soon get a great boost with the addition of 5 hens fertilizing it and coming to my family, later this week! yeah!

Kilts and Tartans

2008-03-05T21:19:00.000-08:00

I like them, I think they are interesting, and I always enjoy seeing a man in a Kilt. Might it be that I get to see some leg, or is it the ingrained heritage calling to me of this item of clothing. The Irish wear a Kilt, but the Scottish just make it so much more of a National Item.

I admire the heritage, and I always admire a man in a Kilt.

The Scottish fest was quite fun, and I love seeing both young and old men in a Kilt. However, I find it funny when seeing a man in a Kilt, and the girl he's with in Jeans, like one of the pictures above. I purposely tried to not have any face shots, as the subject is Kilts.

New Job

2008-02-03T20:17:00.001-08:00

I am a cook for the Holiday Inn that just opened up here in Orange Park.

I work evenings, and like it so far. I work with a great group of people, the ones who were not so great, were fired or quit...mostly fired.

I went in with the boss saying "this will be easy" That is quite the understatement. I am the prep cook, I prepare the salads, and desserts, set them out for the buffet, and help on the line for the restaurant if they are busy. We haven't been busy, but that's expected for only being open 3 weeks. The preparation is minimal... with all the prepackaged items that can be bought, it's just putting the boxed salad in a bowl and putting it out, cutting the frozen sawdust cake and putting that out. My immediate supervisor and I just couldn't tolerate such grossness. So upon formulating a plan, I have made fresh pies, rice pudding, bread pudding, cream puffs, crepes, and many more desserts from SCRATCH... We have gone from just having premade potato and macaroni salad, to having broccoli, carrot, cucumber, apple salads, and jello available.

We are striving to make the Holiday Inn restaurant and buffet healthy... if it's at all possible.

New Year's Eve Prayer flags for 2008

2008-01-01T13:48:00.000-08:00

It's not quite like the ones here:http://www.prayerflags.com/ but the premise and intent is the same. "Prayer flags are inscribed with auspicious symbols, invocations, prayers, and mantras. Tibetan Buddhists for centuries have planted these flags outside their homes and places of spiritual practice for the wind to carry the beneficent vibrations across the countryside. Prayer flags are said to bring happiness, long life and prosperity to the flag planter and those in the vicinity"
We all did a prayer flag or two, Cameron did two, and put them out in a quiet area in the back yard. They are heartfelt and positive. Granted they are just paper and the prayers are just written in pencil or pen and they are taped to string and hung in the yard, I am sure the wind will be happy to carry our prayers and wishes across our yard, and hopefully bring positive attributes to us.
I have wanted to do a prayer flag for many years. I would like to have authentic prayer flags, written and inscribed by us, on cloth and hung in our yard. It is a project I must put forth more effort into producing. Getting everyone interested in putting their thoughts, prayers, and well wishes onto a piece of paper, just didn't have the same significance, but the desire to have them heard is what counts.
I think this too will become a new years eve tradition, a creation of a new prayer flag each year.

I need a muse

2007-12-01T20:11:00.000-08:00

I have all this material, all the necessary tools to make something wonderful, beautiful, inspiring. However, I lack that desire to adhere two pieces of material together and have a creation that others would oooh and ahhh over.

I need a muse.

Someone or something that makes my senses come to life and want to pour out my creativity into,

intertwining threads and fabric with the fine art of a needle,

but no muse. Being a bit down and not too happy about things hinders my muse. I need a light unto my path of creativity, but it has been extinguished for now. Hopefully soon, in the very near future that light will shine again

Planter boxes now...

2007-10-26T08:56:00.000-07:00

Have been overtaken by the marigolds, well one has, I actually pulled the marigolds out of the other planter box to put in brussel sprouts, broccoli, and cauliflower. The heavy rains we had really made the marigolds bud up. There are so many flowers on there. I don't know what variety of marigold these are, I saw them at a park, and picked the flowers to plant. They are quite tall, and really sprawl out a lot. Just a few plants filled up this 3'X5' planter box, and then some hanging over.

I still have the peppers growing, as they are still producing, some lemon balm, self heal, onions are buried by the marigolds, as well as chives, and I have another herb that I cannot remember what it is in there. A stray tomato plant has come up, and I'm debating on letting it grow or not... we will see.

Freddy

2007-10-26T08:46:00.000-07:00

My cat Freddy.

He's an interesting sort of fellow. Doesn't like to cuddle, but likes to always be near whatever we are doing. Everytime I'm in the back yard he's right there, watching, or underfoot.

He was born the day after Christmas in a paper bag, we came home from Disney and there was Freddy with three other kittens. He was the pick of the litter, the smart one, the healthy one. And now at almost 7 years old, he's still a great cat. I love my Freddy Cat!

Herbs

2007-09-25T19:58:00.000-07:00

This is the basil I planted drying out in the sun. It bolted so I also have a lot of seeds!!!I haven't "processed" it yet... so funny, processing is pulling the dried leaves off the plant, and putting the leaves in a jar, simplicity...
I clipped the Stevia a few weeks ago and dried it and it came out surprisingly well. It was quite intense with sweetness when fresh, but so much more when dry! I am very happy about that! I decided to chop it dry and use it as a tea additive infusion with a few other herbs I grew... peppermint, a bit of lemon balm, and some red raspberry leaves that I pinched from the woods behind our house. It's a great way to squelch my sweet tooth, and also brew it with some chamomile flowers and it's a perfect late night tea! Peppermint, chamomile and stevia... yum
this is the jar of my herbal tea mixture... there is quite a bit in there, probably about 4 cups, and only a half of a teaspoon is really enough for a cup of tea.

weird stuff I keep

2007-09-25T19:42:00.001-07:00

I have a variety of odd collections. I have the normal stamps and coins that I collect, and Mike has comic books and action figures to go along with those comic books. And then I have some stashes... I will not even go into those, I'm seriously weeding my fabric stash, as it's too much stuff to maintain. But here are some of my more "off the wall" collections:

Sharks teeth, mostly collected on the shores of the Gulf Of Mexico in Florida, either in Venice Florida, or Englewood Florida. The two large ones on the bottom right are only partial teeth, sure wish I had found a whole tooth! They also come from different kinds of sharks, and that is usually determined by the shape and color of the tooth. Some are new, some are old (fossils) but all are COOL

Shells, but only ones I find, and only these spiral type shells, any other are not interesting....
Rocks or shells with holes in them. there is a parasitic bug that will drill a hole into a shell of a mollusk and eat the mollusk. Sometimes the creature thinks a rock is a shell, since they both are hard, and the bugs aren't really smart enough to distinguish between rock hard and shell hard, so they drill away into the rocks, hoping for something to eat, and many times drill right through. There are two I like more than the others, one is a small rock with a partial hole, and looks a little like a bowl, the other looks like PAC man.
Other rocks that are smooth in shape, textured, or pretty color.
My box of other rocks... these are long and textured, bumpy, and actually make a nice sound when knocked against each other, and I would think make a nice wind chime...

So that's it... other than the many different cigar boxes, and a few skulls I have found... I only have three and don't really consider that a collection. Maybe if I find a few more skulls then I'll show a pic of my skull collection. So far I only have a dog, armadillo and mouse skull. So there it is.. you now know I have boxes of rocks, and bowls of sharks teeth, and skulls hanging around in my home.

clean slate

2007-09-25T19:37:00.001-07:00

I pulled up the watermelon, cantaloupe, cucumbers, and beans from the front yard, and weeded like mad. I pulled out the basil and the eggplant and marigold from one of the planters and put in starters for Broccoli, Cauliflower, and Brussel sprouts, which I will move when they are sprouted and big enough. The Pumpkin in the back yard is SAD SAD SAD... I just don't think I do well with squash, I couldn't get any of it to grow or produce. But I'm

happy have done all the work that was needed, and now have a new clean slate to start again. If anyone sees the cat in the first picture you will get a prize....

I like to catch things

2007-09-25T14:05:00.001-07:00

Here is a pic of a legless lizard that I found in the front yard. I had to catch it and show it to the boys. It's clearly NOT a snake, but a lizard. I fear it died soon afterwards, it had been tangled by a cat and had some puncture wounds. But it was neat to finally see one and catch one.

Rain Rain Rain

2007-09-10T22:06:00.000-07:00

It rained quite a bit last week... rain was good for the lawn in the back yard good for the plants in the front yard, and good for the watermelon growing like crazy

but not so good for my laundry, doesn't it look sad sagging on the line? It was dry by the next evening, believe it or not! Yep I left it out till then!

Home Oven Chili Roasting

2007-08-30T11:23:00.001-07:00

Home roasting of green chili will fill your home with a wonderful aroma, that is intoxicating. I do not suggest this an activity to do with children, so I had my little guys pick out a movie, and they got "planted" in front of the TV, mainly because roasting is HOT HOT HOT, and even handling the chili will transfer the Capsaicin to them. So washing of hands before handling anything else is necessary! So to start the day my kiddos decided on Cars to be the movie of choice. Wash the chili, not completely necessary, but sometimes a rotten one can be found in the bunch, and there is still dirt and such on the chili, and just want to make it pure, after the washing place them evenly and flatly as possible on a pan, do not crowd them onto the pan. I used two sheet pans for roasting the peppers on.
Get another pan ready for "sweating" the peppers after roasting, this is an important step, deep enough to hold all the peppers you are roasting, and a cover, I'm using a lasagna pan and foil.
Broil the peppers, as close to the broiler as possible, and turn on the light, you will need to watch very closely, as they will blister up rather quickly, when one side is blackening after approximately 2 to 3 minutes, you will need to pull them out and turn them over to roast and blister the other side. I have the second pan to broil in the oven the whole time, allowing the peppers to bake a bit and soften up, you will not need to flip these, just let them stay in the oven.

When the first pan is then all blistered, blackened, and done, switch the pans around, and start the blackening process with the other pan, remembering to turn the peppers after they have blackened on one side, and allow them to get blackened and blistered on both sides, approximately 2 to 3 minutes per side.
This is how they will look when blackened and blistered properly. They are not burnt, they are perfection. You might get wisps of smoke coming from the oven, and some of the peppers will bloat and pop from the steam building up on the inside. If you hear popping, that is a GOOD sound!
After they are done, transfer the roasted peppers to your sweating pan, and cover, tightly isn't necessary, just enough to hold the heat and steam in. Let them steam or "sweat" for about 30 minutes.
all covered, now you can do some fun stuff with the kids till you are ready to peel the chili
When ready to peel the chili, I have found that using an ice bath is the best way. It cools off the peppers enough to handle, and keeps your hands a little cool and you unaware of the Capsaicin that is digging into your skin. If you are really sensitive, gloves can be used, and are recommended! I have to stop for a minute and say thanks to The Frontier Restaurant( http://www.frontierrestaurant.com/ ) without having worked there for almost three years, I would have never known the special step of peeling green chili. Unbeknowst to many people, most New Mexican's do not roast their own chili.... why? Well it is roasted in such an abundance, they can already purchase it roasted, peeled, and chopped. Sure we can get it that way here in Florida, but it's only in little cans. Canning does something BAD to green chili, it's NOT the same. I used to buy huge Bueno chili http://www.buenofoods.com/ frozen tubs of green chili. They did all the hard work. The Frontier Restaurant roasted their own chili, and in idle hours of the work day, employees would peel the roasted chili. There always was a chili peeling station in the back, my first day of work, I peeled chili for 8 hours!

peeled chili... oh yes, you do need to peel it, it can be peeled prior freezing, or after, but you cannot eat the peel, well you can, but it's tough, and tasteless. The seeds are really hot, and not really good to eat, a few will not do any harm, but I don't care to eat the seeds.
The peels and the seeds. it seems like a lot, and really out of 10 pounds of green chili, the amount of flesh you get to actually eat is probably close to 6 or 7 pounds.
I chopped the chili and placed into bags for freezing. Chili should be frozen. Even though it is quite potent it will go bad, mold and rot, after a few weeks in the fridge. But what kind of moron lets the chili sit in the fridge for that long?
I roasted about 10 pounds of chili, and got about 7 to 8 cups of chopped green chili, I got 5 bags total, each with about 1 to 2 cups of chili
This same process can be used for any chili pepper, red peppers, green peppers, jalapenos, anything. If you want your own roasted red peppers follow the same steps, and you will get the same results with red peppers. I highly suggest this if you find a bunch of red peppers for really cheap... but that's not likely to happen. LOL, but doing it yourself is cheaper than buying roasted red peppers.

I would also like to thank my parents for sending out such a surprisingly abundant amount of chili. What a wonderful gift from New Mexico. I say, you can take the gal out of the Southwest, but you can't take the Southwest out of the gal!

Treasure from New Mexico

2007-08-28T09:29:00.000-07:00

Green Chili, need I say any thing more... definite treasure, not just one box, but two. At least 30 pounds of green chili. My parents sent some out last year, but just two plastic grocery bags full, and we still have some of that, but I was using it very sparingly... now I can go HOG wild. I'll probably give some away to some friends I have who have resided in New Mexico. As a visitor to the land of Enchantment you cannot get the whole spectrum of the importance of Green Chili to New Mexico, you must have to live there for a minimum of six months to understand why it is on every menu in every restaurant in New Mexico. It is an essential ingredient to AUTHENTIC Southwestern cuisine.... one I miss dearly, but am fortunate enough to know how to duplicate!
Now I just have to roast it, which will fill the home with the aromatic senses of being back to where my roots lie. Oven roasting of chili is pretty easy, wash and dry the chili, place on a pan, just set the oven to 450 or even broil, and watch the chili, once the skin is blistering and blackening, you need to turn it over, till it does the same on the other side. Take out and let cool, or you can put it in an ice bath and peel the skin immediately. I usually like to freeze it with the skin on, I just feel it protects the flesh of the chili from freezer burn, but it is also easier to peel after it has been frozen, just thaw and peel under some cold running water and presto.. chili, and then do as you wish!

my Watermelon shop of horrors

2007-08-22T20:36:00.000-07:00

I'm no Semour, and it's no Venus Fly trap flesh eating plant, but boy does this watermelon grow like crazy. I had no idea it would take over my whole front yard, and just scramble about reach where ever it is allowed, and just grow grow grow. My youngest of my brood waded into the depths of the vines and he was up to his waist in growth! There are hidden watermelons that I've almost stepped on, not knowing they are there... Good thing I guess, I don't want the neighbors stealing my melons! There is one cantaloupe vine in there as well with a few melons on it. Hopefully I will get to eat them, the raccoons took the melons off the vines in the back yard, and the little burrowing caterpillars took the last one I had!

I have to keep moving it off the sidewalk and bunch the vines back onto the main plant, the red speck you see in the middle is the planter with the peppermint growing in it... not that you can tell.
I guess a sago palm is good for crawling watermelons, and there are two baby melons hanging on those vines already.
decent sized melon. But it's shaped like a gourd, I plan on picking it tomorrow, it's got that nice tok tok sound when thumping it. The last one I picked was a little under ripe, but it was getting end rot, so I picked it early. It was still good eatin, and juicy!
can you see it? under the leaves is a large watermelon, at least 7 pounds! The plant hides it's fruit very well, and since the vines take over the yard, any chance of weeding is GONE... but I figure the weeds also allow for some retaining of moisture for the plant, especially since it's been so dry dry dry!

Sewing Diapers

2007-08-13T20:53:00.001-07:00

Diapers Diapers Diapers.... I'm in need of more and more diapers, the one's I'm using for Acelin are just about thread bare, so I'm trying to get organized and motivated to make some more diapers for him.

I've started out and FINISHED three PUL and suede cloth pocket diapers, that are side snapping (see the snap press) These really are awesome fitting pocket diapers, and the same pattern I used for some that I made him in size SM-MD that fit him till he was about 23 pounds. He has some others that he wears, but more is always better!

This is a fitted cotton diaper with a cute outer woven material and BLACK flannel inner. It has a quick dry soaker that folds out, but is sewn in and attached to the front. I HATE snap in soakers, after using them for the past year, they are just a PITA and I will NEVER make or buy another snap in soaker diaper AGAIN. I also made this a turned and top stitched diaper... I am sick and tired of serged edge diapers falling apart, the thread gets caught and forget it you have thread everywhere pulling out. They are cheaply made and easy to make, but just not durable in my opinion. I've been sewing for 15 years, so I think I have a good opinion on that.. LOL
Check that inner, soft and cushy flannel. And yep he tried it on and it fits like a charm and soaks like a dry sponge!
These are on the "ready" list, they are cut, and ready for elastic and assembly. Cute prints, boyish, and fun, the pirates-skull, racing flag, pool table balls, are all awesome prints. I also have a few that are just solid blue cotton velour, but they are too boring to share. All so far will have the black flannel, with the exception of two having the blue cotton velour.

Eggplant Parmesan

2007-08-13T20:43:00.001-07:00

OHHHH can you smell it, doesn't it look delish? Fresh eggplant from my garden, and basil from my garden as well!

I used the recipe from America's Test Kitchen cook book, and it is a really good way to prepare the eggplant. It was oven fried rather than pan fried, saves in oil and fats, AND you from eating soggy greasy eggplant Parmesan! With the oven frying the breaded eggplant is placed on hot 450 degree pans with only 3 Tablespoons of oil, cooked for 15 minutes and then flipped and cooked for an additional 10 minutes. It's important to cook eggplant completely, or it can give you an upset stomach!

I also made ratatouille with my same eggplant and squash, and tomatoes from the garden, and again, used the America's Test Kitchen book... It was oven roasted ratatouille instead of frying everything it is oven cooked, and then drizzled with EVOO, so good.

I think EVERYONE should buy all the cookbooks from America's Test Kitchen, and tune into that show on PBS every time it is on. I'm a self-proclaimed "foodie" which is what 18 months of culinary school and 7 years of professional cooking will also do to you... and I think ATK is the BEST of the BEST.. practical cooking advice, with products you will find in your local store, AND using basic kitchen tools! Awesome books!

dead tree in the backyard

2007-08-08T22:39:00.000-07:00

We cut down this tree this past Saturday. It was surely dying, and a hazzard for the family and for the fence, and house. A crew of friends with chainsaws and ladders came and helped us out. This pile of wood is just a small portion of what is left of the tree, and the remainder of it is still behind the fence, and on the back fence... the chainlink was going to be replaced eventually, but we will fix the portion that is gone.

Cameron and Liam are playing some Star Wars type of fighting game.... in front of the stump. I had asked Mike to just cut it flat to the ground, I guess he forgot, he was thinking I was still musing about making it into a perch of sort or over look... hun, it's a little short to to that now... It will just become some climbing obstacle for the boys to jump off of and break something, I'm sure.

Beans beans beans

2007-08-08T22:35:00.000-07:00

This is the one thing I know I can grow... and they are so delicious! The boys love the beans, and eat them fresh while walking around in the yard. The are delicious cooked buttered and a bit of spike on them... yummmmmmy. I wish the purple ones stayed purple when cooked though.... they turn to a nice dark green.

The end of the Garden.....

2007-07-24T21:20:00.000-07:00

Everything comes to an end, and plants eventually die and give off all the fruit or veggies they can. As it can be seen with the sunflowers and tomatoes. But, I did get a good amount of tomatoes from the plants, more than I could eat myself, but not enough to do any canning of the tomatoes... They are so much better fresh. But I did make some awesome diced tomatoes for a few dishes.

I thought hanging the sunflowers here would be a good way to let them dry out.

poor tomatoes....

The watermelon is vining away at the grass... can't tell where the grass is and the vines are either... there is one melon in the pic... unfortunately Acelin decided to pick it.

Eggplant is doing really well, I've made baba garnish, and have ratoullie planned this week as well.

trimming

2007-07-11T20:38:00.000-07:00

I did some major trimming and pruning of the tomatoes today and pulled out three of the plants. They were past their prime, and I have a few more tomato plants with some large green tomatoes still on them, and have decided to leave them till the tomatoes turn a little orange and them pick and pull them out. The tomatoes didn't do quite as well as I had hoped, I really need to plant them earlier next year, and get them out before the bugs and disease set in.
I also pulled out all the dwarf sunflowers and laid them out to dry, and some of the mammoth sunflowers that were ready to dry.
I also pulled out all the corn, and think I will try again in August with the corn, it was really good, sweet, but small, and just not very productive. But I'm not complaining for some good organic sweet corn for about $2.00 and some water...
The squash had to go too. The bugs were eating it up and the heavy rains pelted the leaves like mad and they were rotting on the plant.
I have watermelons curling up the front yard and looking nice, with some small melons on the vines already. I pulled the watermelon in the back yard, it never produced anything, and am going to pull up the cantaloupe as well as the beans, since the raccoons have taken everything on them.
I'm not disappointed at all with the garden mistakes I've made, I feel it's been productive. I need to know more about growing in North Florida, and when to plant what. The sunflowers, tomatoes, onions, peppers, basil, lettuce, carrots, chives, peppermint, beans, and cucumber so far have been a success. I'm hoping nothing takes my cantaloupe in the front yard, or the watermelons. So the front is looking a little haggard, and the grass is getting tall where the vines of the watermelons and cantaloupe are enter twined. It looks like I have a bad weed problem, but I like the inconsistency of it. Makes it more like a regular FL front yard.
Pics to come later.....

New lawn mower

2007-07-03T22:18:00.000-07:00

What's that you hear? nothing, just a quiet whirrrrrr..... and the kids playing, laughing, having fun, talking to me, and in the yard while I'm mowing the lawn? Oh what bliss it is to be pushing this thing around now. There is a pic of our old gas hog mower that wasn't working too well anymore anyway... We also got the grass catcher to add fresh cut grass to the compost, and to use for mulch... yeah!
Here's a pic of the back yard after I cut the grass... isn't it divine! So nice, and the grass loves the new mower too. It told me so.

garden updates

2007-07-03T21:59:00.000-07:00

I have red tomatoes... goodness I didn't think this day would ever come! Now Ihave a TON, but they are so good, but not perfect. Got me thinking about all those perfect tomatos you see in the stores and all the imperfect ones that get put in sauces and canned. So few are perfect, without blemish, spot, or pest... so many, which taste just as good, and are just as nice, have blemishes, spots, and bites from pests. Kind of like people.

Eggplant... they are so pretty, their flowers are nice and purple, and these wonderful eggplants. Oh I'm going to like this, the boys won't though. Guess I need to make some babaganoush.
So here WAS my cantaloupe... racoons stole it right off the vine, as well as the other ones. They also ate my yellow squash.

Corn, beans, and cucumber, growing good and fast. We've had quite a few beans and they are so good. Mmmm I love fresh beans! The boys are devouring them faster than they can grow.

Freddy and Onesies

2007-06-24T21:26:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, cat torture. Cats don't like to wear clothes, but we found that Freddy can easily fit into a size 24 month onesie. He wouldn't move, poor guy just sat there bewildered.
We tried to dress the other cats, but they weren't as cooperative.
Oddly Freddy was, maybe he wanted his picture taken.
It was also the third rainy day in a row, so boredom was surmounting.

sunflowers sunflowers and corn

2007-06-07T20:20:00.001-07:00

Oh my gosh, these dwarf sunflowers are just so pretty. I must grow them every year now... many of them! I surrounded the peppermint and lavendar bucket with the sunflowers, and it makes for a pretty setting, I think. Too bad the peppermint and lavendar doesn't grow as fast as the sunflowers. I especially like the way the sun shines through the back of the pedals. I really love this picture, this is afternon sun.

Morning sun on the sunflowers, so bright cheery and yellow.
CORN... I never knew the silk was a nice purple color. I'm even more amazed as to how colorful vegetable plants can be.

The pollen stalk from the corn. No it's not tall, the corn is only about 3 feet tall. But that's still big enough to produce corn!

Holy Miracle Grow and Barry!

2007-06-07T20:05:00.001-07:00

Look how tall the sunflowers are getting, and I've only used the miracle grow water feeder twice, but all the rains from Barry probably had something to do with it as well. Jacob was very nice for cooperating with me. I wanted him to be the example for height. He's 6 ft 1 inches. It's clear that this sunflower must be about 7 ft tall.

Tomatoes busting out of the box!
This is my little corner of color. Right at the end of the front patio. See I grew other things than just veggies or herbs.

Cantaloupe

2007-06-01T19:27:00.000-07:00

It's getting bigger, I have a few others, but this is the same one in the picture below.

Sunflowers and tomatoes

2007-06-01T18:46:00.000-07:00

The dwarf and mamoth sunflowers are doing nicely. They are so pretty, Acelin is in flower power love. He will reach up to the dwarf sunflower and feel the middle, like he's getting some of the summer sunshine from the flower into him. You can see the majority of my front yard garden here, beans and corn to the left, sunflowers and tomatoes to the right, in the middle are some seedlings of zuchinni, cucumber, and watermelon.
The sunflowers are getting tall! The grass is a pretty sad state. Maybe with the new rains it will actually grow. I conserve the water and really only give the grass a drink once or twice a week, the rest of the water goes to the plants that actually produce something.
Tomatoes..... ohh look at all those blossoms! I counted the other day, I had over 60 tomatoes, and now more flowers, goodness what will I do with them all? EAT THEM!
The other night I drempt that I had some red tomatoes... is that crazy, or am I obsessed? I checked... they are all still green. Hurry UP!

compliment

2007-06-01T11:50:00.000-07:00

I got a really nice complement about my front yard garden by a neighbor walking by. She's an old Italian lady, and was happy to see tomatoes at my door step. We chatted for a while, and she was "Proud of my garden" and thought I did a really good job and it was a good idea to plant in the front yard!!! There is a neighbor with sunflowers and tomatoes in his front yard too.

Snake

2007-05-27T09:57:00.001-07:00

It's just a black racer, not a water moccasin this time!!! Thank goodness. They have been everywhere lately, this is just one of about 4 snakes that have been in our yard at the same time! They are pretty. But I have to canvas the whole yard each day before the little boys go out to play just to check for snakes. I don't kill them, I just make sure they go somewhere else with the help of my broom.

tomato support

2007-05-27T09:46:00.000-07:00

I had to create some "fencing" around the tomatoes for support. Two had broken their stakes, and the rest were taller than the stakes I had put in. I read in Organic Gardening to put supports around and then string, rope, or clothesline to help hold up the branches. I choose the clothes line. I didn't want to use those tomatoe cages since they are rather ugly and tall, and would have looked odd in the planter boxes. But I knew something had to be done to aid in support. I must have 30-40 tomatoes already! With the support stakes and the line it was about $30. far cheaper than some other already made supports.

Calendula flower... I seem to have more leaves than flowers though. It is a very pretty little yellow flower. It's right next to the tomoato, the leaves in the picture are tomato plant leaves, with the calendula leaves below.
eggplant blooms, they are really a very pretty shade of purple, maybe lavendar, light purple. this picture the color is a little washed out. But there are more buds ready to emerge!

Backyard garden update

2007-05-24T10:40:00.000-07:00

Here is one of the planter areas in the back yard. It has yellow squash, cucumber, radishes, and parsley. The cucumber was supposed to grow towards the fence, and I haven't gotten out to train it in time. Oh well, the radishes are almost ready for plucking... I guess they should be ready in about a week. they are hot hot hot! Baby cantaloupe... it's so cute, small and fuzzy....
Cantaloupe vines all around. They have plenty of room. The zuchinni is about done. Acelin kept attacking the zuchinni for some reason, and many of the blossoms were pulled off by him before they could produce. Zuchinni is quite the delicate plant. But then Acelin has no delicate qualities about him.
This is kind of a mess, needs weeding, but to the very bottom right hand corner is Stevia, that I planted last year, and then a gladolia behind it, carrots to the bottom left, and then beans behind along the fence. The beans are absolutely delicious.... they don't make it into the house though, we just can't seem to not eat them raw, freshly picked, and off the vine. Acelin and Cameron love them like this... good, it's best for them. There is a sad rogue tomato staked at the end. It just started coming up, so I let it grow. It has a few tomatos on it, but it's the tallest thinnest tomato plant I've ever seen, it must be 4 feet tall! I have no idea what variety it is.
This is a little rose I have at the end of the screened porch. I transplanted it last year to this area, and it was just one long branch, and one short branch... sad little rose. It is obviously doing much better now. I also need to weed this area, but there is rosemary, thyme and watermelon growing in the same planter area, and gladolias...

Garden update

2007-05-24T10:22:00.000-07:00

It has been requested that I do an update on my garden. It's growing fast, and big, and have found some mistakes, especially when it comes to crowding. Those little plants look like they will have ample room, but as they grow, the problem of more needed room arises.

So later in the year I will do a little better with planning. I have had a battle with some bugs and fungus, and hopefully have it under control now. Picking bugs off the crowded plants proved to be difficult, but capable. I also took one tomato plant out, it just never seemed to do well, it was in one of those "peat pots" that you are supposed to be able to just plant in the ground and it adds "compost" to around your plant... umm nope, it just kept the plant's roots from expanding like they needed. However, the Eggplant that was in the peat pot is doing just fine.

This is my small corn patch, the weeds are growing good around it from all the watering.

Cameron hanging out under the sunflowers, they have grown a bit more since then. A neighbor has a few sunflower plants that are close to 8 feet tall! I don't think ours will get that tall, but they are close to 5 ft, some are at least. Tomato, Tomato, Tomato...... I have quite a few bunches of Tomatos. The one plant that got devoured by bugs is recooping and now has new buds, the other plant I took out had a few, but they were all cracked and wonky... due to the peat pot not allowing adequate moisture.
I also have bell pepper buds, and Eggplant flowers. The medicinal herbs are finally coming up, and I have mint and lavendar growing pretty well! I also planted green beans, zuchinni, cucumbers, and cantalope in the front yard, but they are just mere seedlings now.

I started thinking about how planting "fruiting" anuals in the front yard makes perfect sense.... they are big green, quick growing, flowering plants that look nice, but also provide you with food. Why doesn't everyone do it???

Diaper Laundry

2007-04-30T07:57:00.000-07:00

Diaper man with his diapers hanging on the line...
I thought the diapers looked a little too pale and weak so I decided to do some dying... I haven't dyed anything for about a year, and with some prompting from questions about dying material by a friend of a friend, I decided to take the plunge and dyed some of Acelin's diapers, a few of my shirts, and one of the kids shirts, which was a bit grungy. I had a shirt that failed to be white any longer and thought I should dye it for fun. I also throughly dyed one finger purple due to a hole in the glove. But I do like how the blue and green diapers came out! The My mama is a goddess shirt came out how I wanted it to. Dark on the bottom and sleeves and around the neck, and lighter in the middle!
Dying is fun, but I'm trying to curb another obsessive creative streak for me!

Miracle Grow

2007-04-30T07:54:00.000-07:00

Well I decided to succumb to commercial fertilizer. I had put some vegetable fertilizer down before planting the corn in the front yard, only because the soil is so poor, and boy did that corn pop right up, and it's green green green, unlike the yellow corn in the back yard. I thought everything needed a little fertilizer, and let me tell you, those plants popped right up, perked up, and shot up in just 24 hours! It was amazing! So I will continue to fertilize, I guess with raw soil and little nutrients in there I have to give the plants a little food.
I also put some grass mulch around the plants in the back yard, just to keep the moisture in, and around the entire mound for the watermelons, and they seem so much happier now.

back yard garden

2007-04-21T10:14:00.000-07:00

This is my back yard garden, these two plots don't have anything planted in them as of yet, I will get into that later today, or tomorrow. I plan on radishes cucumber, beans, and whatever else I have in seeds to plant. In the first picture you can see the whole side with some of the other planting plots already growing goods, and the tool hanger on the fence with a bucket for weeds, and the tools for the fire pit, which is just next to the two planting plots.

These are my two blueberry bushes, they should grow to be pretty big. Out in the woods are blue berry bushes almost as tall some small trees!
This is my first planting plot, a little crowded, but there is space on each side for the plants to vine off to, In only have 5 or 6 of each. On the right I have cantaloupe, on the left I have zucchini, in the middle is lettuce, and the thinning make good baby lettuce salads, or just enough for a sandwich. The back has a few corn plants, but I really don't know how they will do since they require 4 rows to get evenly pollinated. In the back planter I have a tomato that I rescued growing from my compost bin, carrots, beans, marigolds, and stevia, as well as a gladiola bulb, and some morning glory vines. I also planted the passionflower seeds I had behind the two empty plots, as it is a flowering vine, and the fence needs something to crawl up on it and grow. I do have one watermelon mound next to the rear planter plot.
I plan on keeping it simple so I don't get overwhelmed or sick and tired or maintaining the plants. I tried to get some other mom's I know to help out with the garden, and that they too could reap the rewards, but nobody wanted to get in on the gardening action...

front yard planter boxes

2007-04-21T09:42:00.000-07:00

Here are my planter boxes that we have put in the front yard. Mike built them out of plywood and I painted them, moved all the dirt around to fill them with dirt, and then I put about 6 inches of manure and garden soil in so there would be decent dirt on top for plants.
Here you can see the cement paver blocks we also put in, and the pine bark mulch around the blocks and planters. I definately don't want to weed around the planters.
This is the view out our front door, the planters mirror the driveway, side walk, and the little cement patio in the front near the front door. The bottom picture is from the yard, and most of the front yard looks like the scattered grass and dirt. I plan on just making it more of my garden, as it seems a waste of water to get grass to grow. The plants you see in the bottom corner are sunflowers. So far in the planters I have: Tomatoes, bell pepper, eggplant, onion, carrot, chives, carrot, basil, and some medicinal herbs: Catnip, hyssop, valerian, Calendula, lemonBalm, Self Heal, Skullcap, Arnica, yarrow, and Astragalus. I have a separate little planter with lavendar and peppermint growing as well.
It's been a fun project, and I just keep planning on expanding it. I have more yard to cover, and have 4 rows of corn planted, and also plan on planting some watermelon and pumpkins in the front yard. I do have flowers and some bushes as well, but again, trying to get the most use out of the water that I have to buy to put on these plants, I believe is in my best interest, as well as my families, and the environments. I am also not using any fertilizers, other than compost, or pesticides on these plants. As I gain a harvest, I also plan on selling what I can't use, composting anything that is wasted, and any annuals will continue with a fall planting and winter havesting plants for Florida.

little boys room

2007-04-16T08:40:00.000-07:00

I switched rooms with Jake and the little boys last weekend. The room was already blue and Grandpa had put the shelves up for Jake, so we decided the shelves would stay. I was going to paint the contrasting walls white, but it was just too much of a contrast, and I didn't like how it looked, since I already had to put primer down, I did use a white primer. I went and did the room accent computer match at Home Depot and came up with either green or yellow, and I decided the green would look much better. I taped off some accents on the wall around the window to give it a little more interest, and to make it seem like there were curtains or something different around the window. I got the nice faux wood 2 inch blinds for their room, and put them up so they would fit into the window. The blinds really keep a lot of the light out, which is good for afternoon naps!

I didn't have all the books and stuff on the shelves when I took the picture, they are now crammed with things!

Acelin and Cameron really like their new room, and all the floor space they now have. I also had to replace some of the tiles on the floor, and Home Depot didn't have the same kind, but the contrasting of the tiles on the floor add interest as well. It was a fun project, and much needed. The little boys really needed the space to be able to play in their room, and I needed to get some of their toys out of the living room and dining room!

2007-03-31T18:42:00.000-07:00

There's been a big white bunny running around for over a month, we see it in the early morning, usually in our yard, and sometimes in other people's yard. and it's been destroying my yard, eating the flowers I just planted, and digging little holes all around the yard, and one big hole under a bush, so I have been on a mission to catch the bunny for several weeks. We've tried on several attempts, and each time the bunny just took off, or I didn't have enough help, pretty hard to catch a bunny on your own! Or in the dark, as it's usually only out in the late evening or early am, before it's light out.
so this am the boys saw the bunny in the front yard, it was chasing one of the cats around the yard, It has usually been out early in the am but we had rain most of last night, so I think it holed up for longer, and came out later. So we got Tiger cat in the house, then Freddy cat saw the ruckus, and started to investigate, so the bunny goes up to Freddy, they start playing a little bit, but the bunny got Freddy pinned against the tree and started humping him with a great fervor... Freddy was quite annoyed and was hissing and bit back at the bunny, Liam exclaimed "What the Hell?" so once Freddy was out from under the bunny's love grasp the bunny seemed a bit dazed and Liam was able to pin him.
So the moral of the story is: if you are on the run, and stop to have sex, chances are you will get caught.

Just hanging out

2007-03-16T21:05:00.000-07:00

I really like the green of these shamrocks... at least I think they are shamrocks... just pretty, nice to look at, and please me. And then I take this other picture of the opossum skull in the tree. Mike and the boys found the skull while on a hike with the Boy Scouts. He put it up in the tree, just to kind of watch over us I guess. I think it looks neat.
Nothing else going on, just getting acquainted with myself and trying to feel more comfortable within my own skin. I got a nice comment about some photographs I took and sent out to a friend, she liked them, and thought I was an awesome photographer... I am, I know I am, I like to look at different subject matter and not really what most people would consider normal. Today I put up all the framed photographs I had in the house. I finally hung them, some have been sitting in that box for over two years! I never did put them up in our rental home, just didn't feel right, but I hung them really nice in the hallway, and put more artwork up in the living room... I went through the box and realized I have a ton more art work, photographs, and such to frame... so I think I will start getting more frames and just buy them a little at a time so I can decorate my home more and more with what I hold dear. My family, and my images.

I just wonder

2007-03-11T20:11:00.000-07:00

So I'm sitting eating ice cream out of the container, the older boys are still up watching a movie, with a friend over, the younger boys are asleep, and Mike is in bed. I desparately need a shower, I've been diggin in the dirt all day, and made a garden plot, and planted a few seeds. I'm glad I didn't do my planting at the end of February like I had orignially planned, we had freezes last week! So being my procrastinating self, actually saved any growing I had tried to estabolish and then eliminate.
Mike and I ran to home depot to get some wood for the planter boxes I want to have in the front yard. I wanted them big, high and menancing.. partly to hide some ugly parts of the yard, and to not be a back breaker when planting and harvesting. I'm running a co-op for medicinal herbs, and 6 other ladies and I are planning herb gardens, and will be dividing up the seeds we get, since I don't need a packet with 200 seeds, I thought it would be good to divide the packets up.
So Mike cut and built three planter boxes, 2 ft high, 3 ft wide, and 5 ft long. They will be dug down a little bit, and I do have to paint them first. But I think they will look nice. I also planted sunflower seeds in the front yard to make a sunflower fort for the boys. I think that will be neat too. I have enough seeds, I should do one in the back yard as well.
Everything is going good so far. I have to find new home owners insurance, being part of the take out list, we lost ours.... well will, as of May 30th. Kind of sucks, but I'll get some soon. I'll make the front yard look a bit better, and then get some insurance. HA...
laters.... off to take a shower, got dirt in my toe nails!
Caio!