Saturday, August 11, 2012

The latest critters...




I just couldn't resist this picture....sorry it's not clearer, but I was shooting through both the glass door and the screen porch.  Such a sweet pic.   We've had about 4 or 5 fawns this summer; they all seem to enjoy our "estate" and apparently feel comfortable enough to lounge around.





Here are a few more shots...




















                                    Chillin'.....























This little guy/girl (a tree frog) was hanging out on our living room door the other night...couldn't resist a few pics of him too...!


















                                                                             



The Great Bee Count was today...Couldn't believe my eyes when (without even thinking about the count) I spotted 4 bumble bees on my zinnias this morning. 









Blurred once again, but no doubt...it's a bumble bee!  So glad to see these garden helpers!








Hope you're having a great day!

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Velma


Velma is retiring....today...sigh...I will miss her sooooooooo much.


 You see....Velma is 78 years young....with 50+ years of nursing under her belt.   She has a wealth of knowledge and wisdom to share, coupled with a big dose of diplomacy.   We have laughed and cried over the past 3 years...we've tried to keep each other in line.  It helps to bring her doughnut holes!  :)   She works three (and sometimes to her chagrin 4) days a week with the local physician, who has been said to have delivered half of this small town.  Granted she has not worked with him ALL that time, but she has dedicated herself to being a gatekeeper great nurse and liasion between physician and patient.   Velma is dependable and a woman of her word.

 For the rest of each week, she is my right hand nurse.   Friday afternoon I and D's (incision and drainage procedures) are our forte...we've got it down!  Betadine...check; gauze...check; lidocaine (would you like it with or without)....check; scalpel...check;...CTAs....check....on and on.  Of course, we would rather do them anytime other than a Friday afternoon, but sometimes that's just the luck of the draw.  She's the reassuring nurse to a frightened patient; she's the calmness in chaotic times and she's always in charge.  Velma always has a smile....but if you cross her up, it's best to just keep on walking....especially if the conversation begins with or contains..."I SAID" (with a big emphasis on SAID)!  We've shared Subway tuna sandwiches, corn dogs, fried chicken strip salads, chicken spaghetti and DQ Hawaiian blizzards (no bananas please).   And never ask her to eat the lettuce...."you know...they never wash that lettuce"!

Velma will be retiring to her front porch, drinking peach tea with her honey of who knows how many years, watching the bluebirds, wrens, cardinals, doves, hummers and whatever else flies through.  She'll now be able to keep up with the newest batch of baby squirrels and enjoy their crazy antics.   I will miss our conversations about birds, critters, families, recipes, plants, catching up on Glenda and Butch, hearing the latest about grandchildren LeeAnn, Keri, Jason, Daniel, great grandson Camden and especially about her soul mate,Glen and what he cooked for supper last night!

Velma....I wish you many bright and glorious days to enjoy with your family and friends.   I will always value our friendship and working relationship....it's been a "great ride"!   Thank you!!!





Sunday, June 3, 2012

Vine-ripened today....Salsa tomorrow!







We're moving quickly on this....





















Because tonight I discovered this...














Fish Tales

Over Memorial Day weekend, we had special visitors....long-time neighbors, Kevin and Sue...(think about 23 years long-time) and s-i-l Irene.  Fishing was the order of the day and evening.



A nice basket of 16" fat white bass....so fun to catch!

Told you they were big!




















Daytime fishing was not all that great...until Kevin caught this:













  What you don't know is that one end was capped....NOT GOOD.  There was a total of 7 tired stressed catfish caught inside...Four thwumped (??) out pretty quickly.   Once the cap on the other end was removed, here came 3 more.   PLEASE do not report us to PETA!









SAD....they received a proper burial.






But now....Harvey has a great idea for a new fish habitat....just make sure both ends are open.

Blackberries, watermelons and bunnies

Check out these blackberry vines at our favorite berry patch....our first picking was very early...walked lots of rows to get a couple of little cartons of ripe berries.    Vines were LOADED!   Second picking, we learned...don't go on a Saturday afternoon....berry scavengers had already cleaned up.   Hopefully will pick this week, on a Wednesday this time (luckily the patch is closed Monday and Tuesday) and pick our fill of this seasonal fruit.  





























Moving on to watermelons.... what's your secret to picking a ripe one?   After googling the subject, some pointers I found were....make sure the bottom (ground side) is yellow, dry twisted stem, hollow sound with thumping (or beating) and making a scratch with your fingernail on the rind.   If you can see white under the scratch, it's ripe (or so they say).   So I must have scratched half a huge box of melons in the grocery....secretly hoping no one was watching.   I tried to be very inconspicuous....and I only made one scratch per melon...So this is what I came home with.

Yellow bottom - check


No stem.....no check
See my scratch???   Told you I was inconspicuous!    



And voila....ripe melon!   Of course, tasting the "heart" is the first step!


So, with watermelons on my mind, here's my first melon in our garden  (actually I think it might be a cantaloupe....the vines are all mixed up)...


Enter this....

Now...don't get me wrong....bunnies are cute....but only outside the garden!   The garden was enclosed but it didn't take Bunny long to squeeze through the fence squares for his escape.  Stay tuned....



















 






















Sunday, April 29, 2012

Garden faves


Received this cute kitty planter for Christmas....


















I'm excited about my little hydrangea bed...they really like their home....have 2 "rebloomers" (Twist and Shout and Blushing Bride) and one of the typical pink hydrangea plants; also have a fourth plant, which I purchased at the spring plant sale last year in Nacogdoches last year.  It had light greenish-white blooms last year; will see what happens this year.


















Saturday, April 28, 2012

Garden....April 25, 2012

On one of the blogs that I follow (See here), Sheryl takes pictures of her garden once a month....a great way to compare progress and give self a little pat on the back.   I started with our vegetable garden...just a few random but specific shots...

Watermelon Vine

Tomatoes (look closely!)




















Yellow Squash


Elephant Garlic














Zucchini
Malabar Spinach




















We found this warm weather spinach at The Natural Gardener in Austin.   Check them out here  This is probably my most favorite nursery...to buy and to enjoy the views and landscaping!  Plenty of swings and benches to soak up the sights and rest your feet.  If you have a chance to visit, check out their AWESOME artichoke plant!   Wish I had taken my camera...the phone camera just didn't do any justice....





Some more jammin'

After our 2nd strawberry picking outing, we made more jam....we are no experts in this jam-making business, but we have learned a few things along the way!








If using pectin, use the makers recipe...it doesn't work to use your favorite recipe and just dump in a little box of pectin!   If not using pectin, expect to get less of the end product because the jam reduces with prolonged cooking.  

A full cook-top!















 Either way, the finished product is fabulous!    If too thin, just pour on angel food cake, pound cake or ice cream!   No wasting here!











 Kitchen CLOSED!












Sunday, April 8, 2012

Strawberries and Bunnies

The Berry Patch in Fairfield...awesome and bountiful berries...the fruits of my labor!









Next up...strawberry jam!   No pics yet, but 2# of strawberries, 4 cups of sugar and 1/4 cup of lemon juice yields just a tad over 2 pints of fabulous jam....I see a return trip for more berries in the near future! 

 Cute bunny, compliments of Kendra....she's turning "Martha" on us!


Finally....




water to float our boat! 








All smiles from the captain! 


 

Buzzed.......



 Could it be this...

  or this....




or this???







Whatever the lure...I got buzzed twice this afternoon....Harvey witnessed it...our hummers (or at least one) are back!  Hope to get some pics soon!

Happy Easter!

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

MIA...


Sorry folks...it's been a while!   The lake is up up up and gardening has occupied as much time as I can squeeze in.  We have had 9 inches of rain over the past 3 weeks, so spring has had a good start!  The vegetable garden was planted last week....last nite we had hail, but not damaging!  I've been shopping at some cool nurseries and have some exciting green things to plant.

A welcome sight...water to float our boat!
















             

  A couple of favorites....

Dwarf fairy duster....CUTE!




Blue hibiscus




















Have a great day!