Observations

So today is my last day of NaBloPoMo. Somehow I have managed to make myself post each and every day in November. I am so glad that I signed up for this, and I will definitely do it again next year. A lot has come about because of this which makes it mean even more to me.

As for my observations, well they have nothing to do with NaBloPoMo.

I've noticed in my daily life that:

1. People treat me differently if I have my son with me, then when I am alone. This includes grocery shopping, visiting friends and family, travelling, etc.

2. People seem to get quite unkind and sometimes mean during this season. This is mainly on the roads and in the stores.

3. My cat definitely thinks he is a dog. He begs for treats and he will make noises at times that sound like a bark/growl.

4. My son positively changes my life each and every day.

5. I am content with my dietary choices, and feel good about everything I put in my body. With the exception of those days when I eat junk food. But, I refuse to feel bad about the chocolate.

6. I am not the same person I used to be. I think most people can say the same thing. I still am not sure who I am, but that's OK.

And with that, I will say it was a very good November.

Plastic bags

I grew up in a household where we recycled just about everything. I used to be embarrassed when I was young and would have my friends over. I used to wonder why my Mom had to do something that none of my friends Mom's would do. She would always request paper bags when asked by the bagger at the store. She would bring ratty old used paper bags each and every shopping trip. As the years went on, she would add some canvas bags to her paper bag collection in the car trunk.

We also had a compost pile, but that will have to be for another day.

Now I understand her drive to do this. I'm thankful that she spent my youth stressing the importance of saving the earth. She never did it in a way that alienated anyone either. It was just a fact if you knew my Mom.

I recycle, and it is much easier now than when I was growing up. I just set out my bins and the recycle truck picks them up for me. I also take the tin cans to the bird sanctuary as a donation.

I have some bags that I use each time I shop at the grocery store. The main issue is I need some more, and preferably a bag that can smoosh up easily and hold a lot. So I've been searching for a strong reliable new bag. I've found a few ideas at this site: Eco-Bags. I can't verify how well they work, but I have read about them in the past.

Just a note on plastic bag consumption. I do reuse my plastic bags for cat litter changes and bathroom trash can liners. I do not throw them out, ever. But, the amount that are used? Here is a link if you'd like to read more: Reusable Bags.

Stained Hands

We made it to the farmers market right on time this morning. Only, it turns out that I was a week early. So, next Wednesday we will try again.

Out in the backyard this afternoon, we were pleased to see our mulberry tree all fruited again. This tree fruits about 3 times a year.

Tomorrow

The seasons here for growing food run a bit different then where I'm from originally. During the winter, the abundance of veggies and fruits start. Tomorrow is a day we've been particularly anticipating for a couple months.

A local farmers market has finally opened! I'm not sure how many stands will be there, and I know it will be small. The one stand I'm positive will be there is from a local organic farm. We were members of their CSA for a couple years, and the taste of farm fresh produce........well you can't compare.

The boy and I will be there for the grand "opening" with bags in hand. I'm hoping to maybe find some more like minded people while we are there, and maybe they will have kids.

I know they will be there for at least four Wednesdays, so we're hoping for a good turn out. I'd like them to stay for the entire growing season which typically ends at the beginning of May.

Change

We had a surprise early delivery this morning. Our new laptop has arrived. We really needed to replace our extremely old computer, and made the decision to purchase a new one. It is simple and basic, just what we needed. I should have it all set up by early evening.

Our Yard

When we moved to this house we had very few ideas about changing the yard. We excepted what was planted, and really didn't see the need to add much.

Fast forward, to when we moved back to our house here, we suddenly had the urge to really make this yard work for us. During the clearing, we found a tree that turned out to be invasive. We have been thinning them out, but they are a constant battle. I think we realized why they are invasive within the first month. The little seedlings spread like wildfire, and it goes to seed constantly.


We have planted some Crotons to replace part of the natural fence we had to take down due to the Brazilian Pepper Tree. They are colorful and will grown to a nice height.


Now that the mosquitoes appear to be a smaller bunch, it is really peaceful to sit out back in the early evening. We have a family of squirrels that play and hop from tree to tree. There are many types of birds, hawks and even vultures who visit. I'm still trying to capture all the butterflies who frequent our flowers. It's nice and quaint here.

And then the grass was covered

We woke up this morning to a strange site in the back yard. Randomly splattered across the yard were orange balls. Small tiny fruit like balls, that were indeed oranges. I couldn't count how many were there. Twenty seems like a good guess, but there may have been more.

There are many theories as to what happened. I figured some of our young squirrel friends had knocked them down, or maybe some birds. The boy figured it was the wind. Although, there hasn't really been too much wind these days. My husband has placed blame on the neighbor kids. Probably since our neighbors next door have an orange tree as well, and they enjoy throwing things into our yard.

My husband may be right, although I can't figure out what they'd be doing outside throwing oranges past 11pm. Maybe it was early morning? Either way, our tree actually looks like it's only missing a couple oranges.

The neighbor kids are young, and I believe the oldest are 7. They are twins with mischievous grins. We rarely see them, but they were trying to chop one of our palm trees down one afternoon.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this entry, so I shall end it. But, I'm watching for flying oranges tonight because we already have a big enough mess to clean up tomorrow.

Tree

I really was unaware of how much heat a Christmas tree gives off. Of course, it's awful bright too....and I mean awful in a good way. It's actually close enough to where I'm typing this entry that I have a glare on my screen. Oh, and it's been up since last night.

We stopped with real trees many years ago. I just hated the idea of cutting down all those trees for such a short amount of time. It was a personal decision, and I don't have an opinion on what other families do.

We tried doing a live tree, only to have it not live. This was back in my pre-gardening days. I still feel guilty about that little guy. I'm sure it was because I didn't follow the directions, but it really discouraged me.

Now that we live in a tropical climate, we choose to use an artificial tree. We purchased a new one this year, and it just sparkles and shines. My son's eyes light up every time he looks at it. I know it's early, but we don't mind. We like to enjoy it for as long as possible every year.

Once I figure out what to use for a tree "skirt" I'll post pictures.

Today

Happy Day of Thanks to everyone out there. We had a very low key day here, enjoying the company of our family and nature. We do have a very exhausted boy who went to bed much past his bedtime, but he just loved everything about today. As I've said before, he does enjoy the simple things. It reminds me to enjoy them too. Tomorrow we are opting out of the giant shopping battles out there. We'll probably enjoy a nice cup of tea and maybe a bike ride at the park. Oh, and of course a stop at Bubba and Grammie's as they mentioned the possibility of Christmas lights tomorrow. I really enjoy the twinkling lights this time of year.

From my four year old

"I always am thankful, so I don't need a special day to tell people. I'm thankful for you Mama, and for Daddy, and for Doodle, and for Bubba, and for Grammie......"

It's like those unexpected "I love you" statements in the middle of busy, angry supermarket shoppers. They feel so genuine. Making the day seem brighter, in the midst of chaos.

Visitor

After our weekly visit to Bubba's house, the boy and I spotted a hawk of some sort on our back fence. I had seen him before, but my camera isn't the greatest when it comes to taking a picture quickly. Unless of course, you would really enjoy a blurry shot of nothing!

I started by taking a picture from the inside, which looked awful. So, I wandered quietly into the lanai to snap a few. They would have been ok, but I hate the look of screening in front of pictures.

The boy was hoping it was an owl, and we really couldn't tell from that distance. So, I decided to open our lanai door and risk scaring him off. He wasn't the least bit phased by me. He would look around, almost as if he acknowledged me at one point, and allow me to take pictures. So, I of course obliged him and took more than enough. Bubba had the idea of taking the pictures to my favorite Bird Sanctuary for an ID on the type of hawk. We are thinking of going next week to ask.

Here he/she is. (Note:Please disregard my neighbors house in the back, they have been doing work on it.)

Cactus

I have been regretting not being more interested in plants and gardening when I was younger. It doesn't do much good to regret things in the past, but I still have the tendency. Which brings me to the purchase I made on Sunday. I found the perfect red "Holiday" cactus plant. I'll have pictures soon, as my husband is still working on setting up the final destination.

I had been thinking about my Gram's Christmas cactus. She had one in particular that was very old, and it bloomed beautiful every year at Christmas. I remember her sticking it in the back bedroom closet every fall, only to pull it out a couple months later. It would then go back to the sunny bedroom spot where it would thrive for the rest of the year. When she died, there was much discussion on what would happen to her cactus plants. We finally decided on a neighbor who was thrilled to be the recipient. Had I known how important that plant would have been to me, almost 8 years ago, I would have taken it home.

My Mother also had a very old cactus. Her's was beautiful each year too, though she says it would bloom at Easter if she forgot to put it away for a couple months. My Mom's has been passed on as well, because she wasn't able to bring it when she moved south. So, I figured I would start my own plant and hope for the best.

I have learned that there are actually three types of these cactus plants. I'm amazed at this, but now that I see the pictures, I know mine is called a Thanksgiving cactus. That forum I linked to is a wonderful source of information. I like Gardenweb as well.

I am not disappointed at all. My son is thrilled that we have a new plant to add to our small indoor collection(cat you know). We have been doing a lot of reading on houseplants lately, and I can see him picking up all the knew information like a sponge. So, this may not be my Gram's Christmas cactus, but it is now a new generation started.

It always happens at night

I'll never understand why when anything is going to go wrong, break, get lost, etc., it always happens at the most inconvenient time. You know, at night time when nothing is open. Usually to make things worse, it turns out to be a Sunday night, Thanksgiving week.

Everyone is well. Our central air conditioner, which isn't even two years old? I noticed it was feeling a little sickly when I stepped into a huge pile of water in my hallway. I considered how this happened, and saw that my son was not near the area. But, the closet where the central air is held? Water leaking out from under it.

All I know is my husband must be the most clever and resourceful man in the world at times like this. So far, all is well in A/C land. I'm hoping it lasts, and all I need to do is see if our A/C man can do a routine cleaning.

Here's to hoping for a dry night.

Headache

I noticed the past two days I had this horrible migraine like headache. It didn't seem to be stress related, it seemed to be house related. Every time I left my house, within about 5 minutes it would disappear. I spent much of yesterday running errands. Normally a run to the grocery store this time of year can send me home with a migraine.

It kept me up a lot last night. So, I figured I must be getting sick. I started boosting up my immune system with hopes of knocking it out before it knocked me out. Then the Boy and I were outside taking care of the plants before our weekly trip to Bubba's house. I realized my headache was gone, and I felt wonderful. So, we packed up and headed to Bubba's.

I felt fine the entire time. I was inside and outside, and still no headache. Until of course, I went back inside my home.

When my husband came home today he said "You can really smell those, huh?"



The beautiful roses he had given me, turned out to be the culprit. I forget about this every time. After a good airing out of the house, and moving the roses to our lanai....my headache has gone.

Blogs and moving forward

It's been hard coming up with an entry each day. I think I give most of my energy away during the day, and completely draw a blank by evening. It isn't that there aren't things I would like to discuss, but more that I don't feel I can add much to the conversation. If that makes sense.

I've been reading a lot of blogs this week, and I'm always amazed at the clarity in which they write. I haven't been blogging long, and maybe jumping into the NaBloPoMo was a bit too much. I'm sticking with it because it has been a good experience thus far.

This brings me to a conversation I had with my husband last night. I've been really thinking about formally studying herbalism for many years now. I have been studying on my own for years, and I feel like there is so much more I want to learn. It isn't really a career or income based choice. I feel it is just something that has been calling me for years. I enjoy it. Simple as that. The more I read about herbs, the more I want to learn.

Next year, which isn't really that far off, I'm going to start a formal correspondence course. I would love to actually attend, but that isn't possible at this time. Right now I am narrowing my choices down, but I've always felt like Rosemary Gladstar is the right teacher for me.

It's a big step forward, and I'm counting down the months.

Santa

My son has some ideas about the whole Santa topic. These are completely from his own head, as we have chosen not to go into too many lies with the topic. We've been thinking of doing the St. Nicholas story with him. Sometimes we just aren't sure what to tell him. He questions us constantly on the Santa issue. Things I just don't expect from a four year old. I was oblivious until I was OLD. I don't know how old I was, but I was ruined for life. Well, not really ruined but I was truly surprised at the truth. So, after a day of seeing Christmas decorations at our mall I had a lot of questions to answer. I was having a hard time keeping up, and I really am not known for thinking on my feet. So, while sitting in the living room I hear my son say to his Dad:

"Dad, tell me why Santa's helper lives at the mall?"

I guess I need to think of a better explanation about the mall Santa.

Real Pants

We've entered another stage, which I'm enjoying, with the Boy. He's always been fairly particular about which clothes he wants to wear. This includes when he could not dress himself. I've always liked that he makes choices, and we have done our best to make sure he always has options.

We were visiting with Bubba and Grammie the other day. The Boy casually was checking out the pants we had brought out of the "winter" closet. He noticed the button, and started getting very focused on that button. I finally asked him if something was wrong. The furrowed brow and fidgeting fingers made me realize this wasn't something that would pass.

The problem? The button was a fake button. It didn't work. The even bigger issue? The place where the zipper should be? It's sewn without an actual zipper. I find this mildly amusing, but immediately realize he doesn't.

This whole week has been the Boy going through his clothes with great care. Elastic waist pants? No. No. No. Only sweat pants are allowed to be button and zipper free. If there isn't a real button and a real zipper on any pair of pants? Those are not real pants, and big boys certainly don't wear anything but real pants. Or so I am told.

I'm completely and utterly loving age FOUR!

Today

It was absolutely beautiful today. The Boy and I made our planned trip to the animal sanctuary and the weather was perfect. I cannot say the same for the animal sanctuary. We were unable to visit inside because a school had reserved a time slot, and of course it was when we were there. I'm pretty sure we'll be heading back tomorrow morning though.

Instead we spent some time wandering through our beloved Mangrove Bridge. There are always an assortment of creatures around, and I usually forget to snap any pictures. I was too slow to catch any shots of the fiddler crabs, but oh how great they are!

After spending a good amount of the morning there, we headed to another nearby park to enjoy our packed picnic. It's different this time of year because of the return of the "snowbirds". They are our wintering humans from the north. You can always tell when they are back because it is impossible to drive, walk or bike at a decent speed. But, they do contribute to our economy here, or so I'm told.

Now for some pictures.

Planning

It looks like the boy and I are taking a quick drive to our local animal sanctuary tomorrow. We try to be there once a week, and usually that means bringing our aluminum recycle cans to donate. It's just become almost a ritual with us. It is right by a river that is filled with many creatures. We can walk the mangrove bridge and see fiddler crabs, raccoons, cranes, egrets and the occasional fisherman. Gosh, though I'm not fond of fishing, those older fisherman can sure make me laugh with their stories. I guess I've grown fond of them and their ways. They always have something interesting to share with the boy, and he's beginning to look for familiar faces.

Hopefully my camera and computer will cooperate for me, so I can post new pictures tomorrow. We'll be bringing a picnic and just enjoying the scenery.

Citrus

I know I've mentioned my orange tree a lot lately. We've been pretty excited to get some homegrown Florida oranges right in our backyard. And then today happened.

We were all out back this afternoon. We being: my husband, myself and our son. I was checking on my hibiscus, and the boy was tackling my husband. It was just an average Sunday afternoon here.

Until my husband is suddenly showing me a green piece of fruit. This fruit still has it's branch attached to it. He's inspecting it, the entire small poor green fruit. He points out a couple tiny fly like bugs on it. I'm still staring in horror. I'm thinking he will give me some explanation of the accident that must have caused this.

He says to me with glee "I think these are LIMES!" I still can't quite think of the words to say. My son is jumping up and down screaming "Can we eat it? Is it ready? LET'S EAT IT!".

We all walk back to our chairs. My husband asks for a knife, to check this situation out. The entire time I have been watching him warm up the "lime" and smell it. So, I grab a knife and he starts by cutting the top off.


He smells again, and let's me take a good long whiff. It does indeed smell like lime. It was so fragrant I had a sudden desire to drink a margarita. He then drinks some of the juice, and I of course do the same. Hmm, it really is lime-like. So, he just slices it open.



It looks oddly like orange seeds, and like an orange. My husband take a small bite and says "Weird. It kind of tastes like an orange when you bite into it." He then decides to just toss it out into our backyard collection of coconut shells. And, he has completely moved on.

Now, I'm not sure what all this means. Some people down here call the trees just plain old "citrus" trees. As in, you could get any type of citrus any given year. I know my husbands friend ate one of the leaves(on purpose) and just said "Citrus tree. Could be grapefruit this year." Hmm. So, the yellow ones? Maybe they are going to become lemons? I am completely thinking this could be pretty interesting for us this time around.