Happy Anniversary!

April 29th is a special day - it's J &T's anniversary! I don't believe we've had a prettier bride in the family. (Or groom, haha) It seems like such a short time ago. They had the ceremony under a gazebo in a pretty park, and it was so beautiful.

They had a perfect day to start their lives together. I think it was 22 years ago, but it may have been 23, I'm a bit shaky about dates anymore. I'm sure they will remind me. Haha.

 Together they made a beautiful family!

Happy Anniversary, kids. Wishing you many, many happy years ahead!

Bedroom Gardening

Gardening is a hobby, it has to be, because if it depended on any expertise, we would definitely starve to death. I just like to play and see if I can get things to grow. After a real hack job on the lavender, it appears it might make it. The mint is getting carried away, sending runners everywhere. It is starting to look as if it wants to escape. I sent one of the Tiny Tims home with Ruth, this one has grown over 3" this week! I hope the weather warms up good, so we can find somewhere to move the squash plant. It's just going nuts. The leaves are bigger than I had anticipated and it wants to lie down. It's not very strong. My thoughts of putting it on a support around the window have been crushed. Would have been cute though ... The 'extras in the bowl are the ones I started the first of March, they are alive and that's about it. I got the Tiny Tims out of the bowl and replanted them the first part of April. Am seriously thinking of re-potting Tim, re-homing the squash and just let the mint and lavender have at it. Plants are plants, you know? 

 Maybe next year, I'll put in petunias or something. Who knows?

Blackberry Winter

I'm sitting here in my heavy robe. I'm cold. The blackberries are blooming, I knew this would be here. It's the second day of a real cool down, commonly known in these parts as Blackberry Winter. In the spring, after it warms up, we still have a few cool spells before the wretched heat and they are called winters. It will warm back up in a couple days. I'm in no hurry, it's still better than the real thing. Ruth picked the best time to visit - before it got chilly.

I used my pressure cooker yesterday. Made the loveliest pot of ham and beans. They weren't quite done, so I had to do them an additional 5 minutes, but I will learn. (Hopefully)

Son J hooked up the new wifi printer on Friday. I haven't figured that out yet. The buttons are in an awkward spot on the top and my eyes just can't see them, with or without glasses.

Watching Doc Martin, love it and the characters! Not much else going on here besides the normal things. A rather large storm went through yesterday, the tornadoes  went through the same spot they usually do (E. of Waynesboro toward Lawrenceburg) I wonder what causes that. Had a wren check out the window birdhouse, guess she didn't like it. Sigh ...

While I was MIA

Thursday, my son J called to see what I was doing. He planned to spend the day with me, watch an old movie and catch up on things. I was pretty tickled! He came a bit later and while we were talking, somebody pulled into the driveway. I sent him outside to see what it was they needed. When he came back in, my friend Ruth was right behind him! I haven't seen her since the last time she came down - a little over 3 years ago. What a super surprise! Needless to say, we didn't watch the movie. We sat and chatted the rest of the time until he had to go. I called DH and asked him to bring home supper and he was just as happy to hear about our visitor as I was!

 We had a great visit. It's funny, we talk for hours on the phone, yet found all kinds of things to talk about. 

 I figured as long as she was here, she could take some of those Naked Ladies home with her to see if they would work at her house. She's going to plant them on the south side of her house close to her foundation and mulch over the winter. Maybe they will make it. 
She's on her way back home now, good thoughts sent for a safe trip home to Minnesota.

Have a most lovely weekend, folks!

"Listen my children and you shall hear ..."

How many of you had to memorize the midnight ride of Paul Revere? Well, it's the 18th of April and very year it comes to me like a ghost of the past. How can I remember this when what I did with my shoes eludes me? I would nearly book bet that your dad or grandfather could (and would) quote some poem they remembered from their school days, but wondered where they had left their reading glasses. I only remember certain parts of what he used to spout on occasion. "You're a better man than I [am], Gunga Din!" and various other numerous poems and prose. He knew them from beginning to end. [You know I have to be grinning at the memory - Dad sitting in his favorite living room chair, his white shirt sleeves rolled half way up, his dress slacks dotted with paint smears, and his feet bare - he's reciting something with gusto. My dad should have been an actor, not an artist!] I only have a few pictures of my dad. My ex said my family pictures were ruined, but some of the 'ruined' pictures are still around. He took them for spite. Jerk. I do have many memories and I can still see him in my mind's eye. Too bad that I can't print them to share with my other kids.

My electric pressure cooker comes today. I'm kind of excited. I hope it works good! I want to make Red Mike and Violets! [Corned beef and cabbage] I'm anxious to take a gander at the cookbook that comes with it.

I finished that collection of The Twilight Zone and have ordered the Doc Martin series to watch before bed. It's due in today, too. I had been streaming Lark Rise to Candleford, an episode each day. Guess that's where my GBs went. Maybe, I don't know how that streaming thing works. I saw 8 episodes before it didn't really want to work. Yesterday, I watched an episode and it was fine, no jerking or stopping or circling. 

I seem to have diarrhea of the keys this morning. Have a good, day, night, whatever.

Back to Normal?

Naturally, with my net slowed, April the Giraffe decided to have her baby. I had been trying to catch the birth. Ever since my goat Becky had given birth, I have been fascinated with how quickly those wonderful babies can walk around. I was curious about a giraffe. I read somewhere that they could be 150# at birth, that fact stunned me too. Anyway, I kept checking and taking screen shots as long as it came in at all. My results:

I missed the 'little' guys first steps. He did quite a few face plants as he tried getting up. He weighed 127#, when they weighed him and he was as tall as one of the keepers! April appears to be a very good mother.
I remember years ago when I had my goats, Billy and Becky. Becky seemed to be in labor a couple of hours before Billy the Kid popped out. He was up and in trouble before we could name him. Fond memories!
My internet seems to be back in business. Today, my clock starts running again. Yippee!

 Have a great new week!

Watching the little circle spin ...

I went over my limit on my internet service. Sure they say unlimited, but after 10G they reserve the right to go from 4G to 3G. Obviously, 3G means the 'thinking' circle will spin on the screen until you just say, "To hell with it!" and shut it off. I get so far and then the spinning begins. So this is my lot for the last week of every month? How lovely. I can check my email and check my blog. Too many clicks and turning, turning, turning ...
 I suppose this will be my post for the weekend.

At the moment, we have no major plans for the weekend, or Easter. I have already eaten my chocolate egg ... Guess I better find some little hobby to spend my time. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend with your friends and family!

I won't take a nap ...I won't take a nap ... I won't take a nap ...

I was up and awake a couple hours or more before the sunrise. I should have gone back to bed! I love these golden mornings where everything is bathed in glory.

 Yesterday I sprayed the lavender with dawn/oil/water. This morning in the good light, I noticed some black moldy stuff on the underside of the leaves and some of them were definitely dying. I whacked it down to the nubbins and made a little cyber note card with the flowers before they got the heave-ho out the window. I have dosed it again - if the plant does not improve, I'll rip the rest of it out and forget it.

 This little guy stopped momentarily, only time to take one shot. You can see how much the fig has leafed out in a little over a week.

   I thought my flowering plum was dead, but this morning I noticed a few blossoms starting to open. I went through my old pictures and yes, the pink blossoms take longer to come out. I hope it gets really pretty, but if it doesn't snap out of this straggly look though, I guess I will end up with a flowering crab and forget it.

Have a great day, night, whatever!

Plants -  I have a question about my lavender. Does anyone know what is going on here? What are these teeny, tiny white bugs/spiders/mites? I have tried picking them off, but they just show up elsewhere. Any suggestions? The plant is not doing very well.

 My chocolate mint is growing marvelously - maybe. I heard that mint was invasive and I will have to agree. It is sending out runners like crazy. Do the runners eventually grow roots along the run so a person could make more plants? If not, I am going to nip them in the bud (runner) or they would take over the planter. If some take root, I'll let them and plant them outside where the ants are.
    A couple of the tiny tomatoes were transplanted and still are very tiny, though they are getting to look more like tomato plants.

Birds - No occupants for my window bird house. It had started out looking so promising. I had two looks and then nothing. Ruth hasn't had any better luck with hers.
    I have ordered a window mounted hummingbird feeder. I was quite surprised on Friday, when a hummer came to the window, looking in! I do want to try it and hope I can figure out a way to keep the various wasps from bugging it. Normally the hummers don't come until around the third week in April, but like the dogwood blossoms, they are coming sooner and sooner. Nobody can convince me that global warming isn't happening!
    The cowbirds are out in full force, gobbling up the seed in the feeder like nobody's business. I shouldn't feel such dislike for them, the dirty rotten scum birds. Such parasites!

Anyone have one of those little electric pressure cookers? I have seen their commercials on TV and I think to myself about how many meals we had the next day because somebody forgot to thaw out the meat or we started too late and ended up eating sandwiches. So, I ordered one from the web site. I figured they would want me to buy this or that for it and didn't want to be hit with that over the phone. I was right! They say free extras but you are slammed with high shipping/handling. I just ordered the cooker and did end up paying for the liner - although I thought the liner should have been part of the package to begin with. The shipping/handling for the cooker must be where they make the money ... I hope it truly is as useful as they say. I know I enjoyed my Swivel Sweeper and considered it a bargain!

I didn't mean to write a book. Have a most lovely day and a wonderful week ahead! 
 

So ... I baked!

DH bought some blackberries from Aldi's on his way way home from work last night. He hinted (more like told me) that it would be nice if I could make him some blackberry cobbler today. I got it in the oven about 25 min. after he got home. These were big berries so the pinwheels didn't want to be pinwheels, haha. I'm ready to dig into it now, wish I had some ice cream.

It was so pleasantly warm yesterday, but today is almost cold. The dogwood are blooming, so this must be 'Dogwood Winter.' I don't know what all the 'winters' are. The folks (or somebody) around here have given each cold spell in the spring a different name. Dogwood Winter is right on and so is Blackberry Winter. We didn't have such  when I lived in Minnesota. I suppose it's something like Indian Summer in the fall. DH has his tomato planted outside, so it will have to be protected, young tomato plants are adverse to temperatures 38F and lower ... I hope it doesn't freeze.

Window Bird House

 Gift in the mail from Ruth!

Trial fit on the window.

The pictures aren't lined up right. Oh, well. Ruth bought us each one of these window bird houses. I couldn't figure out the mylar, so I called her to ask about it and she put hers together while we talked. I had a couple of 'Lookie-loos' within half an hour. No takers yet.This is going to be interesting. (If the suction cups hold) I couldn't put it in one of my room windows, it would be too hot in the sun. It's in the kitchen window, so I can watch from the table.

Nothing' Doin'

We had storms, on and off, all night and into this morning. Then miraculously the sun came out. I got used to that and suddenly the clouds have come rolling in again. Bah! I'm ready to go back to bed with the dogs. They're not enthused with the weather either. Nothing to do besides watch the fig buds burst.

 See Y'all later!