Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Silence

Sorry for my silence. A lot has been going on around here lately. I just wanted to put up some photos until I have some more time to update fully. Have a lovely Wednesday.

"Corner in Progress"



"Jumping"



"Eating Loquats"



"Brown Widow Spikey Egg Sac in the Boy's Swing"



"Mulberry Tree is Fruiting"

Friday, February 22, 2008

The Honey Tree

After failing to keep a sickly yellow hibiscus alive, even after transplanting and extra special care, the Boy and I found a Jasmine tree we loved. The Boy calls it our "Honey Tree" because while picking one out it was covered in honey bees. It attracts honey bees and butterflies, which we love to have in the garden. I cannot describe the scent with words, but I'm sure it is a focal scent in a quite a few perfumes out there. It is planted between our Loquat tree and the lone surviving yellow hibiscus. It's gardening time here, and I have a lot of pictures to show. I'm also trying to keep my gardening bug in check!


Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Tiny Greenhouse

First, I apolgize for the pictures. My camera isn't the best of the bunch, and is pretty finicky lately. Actually, I fight with my camera on a daily basis. So, the lighting may look a bit strange.

We picked up a small kit while purchasing some soil for a new project in the backyard garden. It is a tiny cactus growing greenhouse. The Boy did everything himself, even planting the teeny tiny seeds in those little tiny pots. He now is keeping it in his sunny bedroom window. I really think these kits are a lot of fun. We grew sunflowers from a similar kit meant for outside. They did wonderful.

Here are some pictures. Just to show how tiny this kit was. We've been really doing some reading on cactus plants around here lately. Something about the prickly nature of cactus plants has really caught the Boy's attention.



Saturday, February 16, 2008

Valentine's Party






I'm not really crafty in the sense that people "ooh and ahh" over what I make. But, I do make an effort with the Boy because I think crafts are great for kids. Plus, we had a Valentine's Party to go to. And, when the Boy and I decided to make our own Valentine's cards.......there were only about 15 people going to the party. We made a huge mess for a couple days, and had a great time coming up with ways to decorate the card stock paper. Our cat Doodle even decided to become a part of it.

That last photo was when I thought we had made more than enough cards. That is twenty cards. Until I checked my email and found more people were coming. We ended up making forty cards and finished in time for the party which was Friday. I believe there were over thirty kids there. It was a great time, and we are looking forward to meeting up with them again.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Breathe

There will be rain. And, though it will be pretty stormy weather, we need rain. So, the Boy and I headed out to pick up the plants I had spotted Sunday. Perfect time to plant, and I'm ready to get working in the garden again.

The are where I planted is looking pretty bad at the moment. It is the area where our local "Flame Throwers" like to sneak through. We have a temporary block that my side neighbor is participating in. Soon, we will be putting up something permanent.

The Boy and I raked up mulch that was probably there long before we moved in. We rotated the soil a bit, much to the chagrin of the palmetto bugs that were living back there. Then after ripping and cutting at a vast array of roots, adding some nice new soil, and trying to center everything, our new plants were home.







They are Red Sister Cordyline Terminalis. I have a lot of work to do in that back corner of the yard. Including lots of weeding, which will lead to ripping up the rest of the mulch I suspect. The bird bath needs to be scrubbed out, and possibly relocated. More to come, soon.

Monday, February 11, 2008

My garden can cause trouble

My poor plants are fighting during this dry weather we've been having. And, I follow our water restrictions which in turn has caused some of my plants to look pretty wilted.

I can water today, and I looked forward to giving the old plants a good soak. Until I realized while watering my yellow hibiscus tree, that my hose is great for watering neighbors too. First I heard a mumble, then a yell and I briefly saw my neighbor in the back jump up above the privacy fence. I guess he was working on his machinery back there and I got him and the machinery wet.

I felt bad because this isn't the first instance. I'm not sure why he has tons of machinery behind that fence, but it is basically holding his fence up. I have wet both him and his elderly father. Actually, my husband has too. We are irresponsible water people.

Time to get myself a better watering handle for the house. Possibly, a longer hose that actually reaches the plants I'm trying to water. Home depot has been calling me actually. Ever since I saw those beautiful plants on sale yesterday. If I purchase them, we have a perfect spot.

For the record, he's not mad. Just a tad....watered.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Accidental Thief

Let me preface this by saying it really is accidental. I have had this "phenomenon" my whole life.

I know I am not alone in this. I'm from Maine and have a "Maine accent". Not the downeast Maine accent, nor the northern accent. But, it is definitely there although I am losing it since being down in this area of Florida.

My thievery is of others voice tones and their accents. For instance, my cashier at the farmers market has a very strong New Zealand accent. While speaking to him, suddenly my voice thinks it too is from New Zealand. I sound quite silly, but for some reason I cannot control it. That man from Texas talking to me at the health food store? I suddently have a Texan drawl...only we all know it must sound awful fake. The New Yorker bagging my groceries at Publix? You can guess how I start talking.

I also tend to pick up on the tones people are speaking to me with. I will get very soft with a soft spoken woman, or very brash with a loud man. Deep voice? Me too! I'm not sure why this happens, but I can remember instances from various periods in my life. Maybe it's some weird insecurity in me, trying to fit in. I really don't know.

Luckily, around my husband and son I talk in what appears to be my own voice. I have the ever so slight southern accent developing, and I don't mind. So, if you are talking to me and notice I'm beginning to sound just like you.....I apologize in advance.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

To market, to market

I still don't have this whole food shopping technique figured out. It became more complicated when my son decided to eat like a growing teenage boy, and less like what I had imagined four year olds eat.

I make meal plans and I budget. Somehow this process still doesn't work out for me. I am still making extra shopping trips throughout the week, which in turn leads to spending extra money. I'm always thinking: "since I'm here anyways I might as well pick up....".

I also tend to pick great items out, only to have them sitting in my house. I am great at buying things that will not go together in a meal. I have lots of pieces of meals, just not one complete meal.

This is what I'm working on. I really need to find a system that will work for me.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

The calm

Mr. Nicodemus is feeling much more like himself. A call in to the vet made it clear what I've thought for years. Nicodemus is allergic to Clavamox. So, it's been noted in his chart, and he's back on Zithromax. And, can I tell you he is a completely different cat. He isn't sneezing as much and his tummy is getting better. He's been eating, thank God! And, Our Lovely Life had a wonderful suggestion in the comments before for getting sick kitties to eat. So, thank you again!




The Boy and I finally got around to starting some new avocado seeds this week. My pictures didn't come out very clear, but it was a lot of fun. We had a very big avocado plant in Maine, but since it was winter we never got around to planting it.





After all that hard work, we had three seeds started. Only to be questioned by my husband the next morning about how we had placed them in the water. I put them in upside down. So, we are peeling new ones tomorrow...pointy side of seed up.

If you want to try doing this, it is really fun. Plus, you get to eat the avocado first! Here are some instructions: Growing Avocadoes from Seeds and Grow an Avocado Tree!.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Update on my Cat

My regular vet wasn't in, so I got the part time vet. He was extremely excitable, and I don't think he was out of vet school very long. Either way, he had me in tears within 5 minutes of talking. He rambled on about all these things that would basically be the end of my cat, so we needed to do this, and this, and this.

After crying, and asking a ton of questions, I opted for the blood CBC. And, of course their CBC machine was broke. I had to wait until the next day for Doodle's results. He changed the antibiotic to Clavamox and gave us eye and nose drops.

They called with his results today. All looked great. His white blood count was down a bit, but that is expected with a virus such as URI. After they apologized for the other vet completely freaking me out, I thanked them.

Doodle is acting better from the URI, but he's not doing well on the Clavamox. For a cat that has consistently ate through this entire illness, his tummy is upset enough to cause him not to eat very much. Plus, his eyes stay dilated from the eye drops and I can't find out if that's normal. He's had trouble with Clavamox in the past, and this time is no different. So, I'll call the vet in the morning to see what to do next.

He did curl up on my head tonight. Something he hasn't done since he started getting sick. My poor baby.