Enjoying the Bounty of my Harvest

And by spouting the terms ‘bounty’ and 'harvest'..

I am surely exaggerating.

My ‘maters+

My basil

=Caprese Salad=YUMMO

If only I could make this at home.

Are dairy cows sold on Craigslist?

TGIF; Wrapping up the week with a few transformations.

The first transformation: I almost ended my life yesterday eating one of these.

It would have been embarrassing to go that way.

I can see the obituary:

Suz died by choking on an overly dry organic cracker that she greedily took from the Jason’s Deli salad bar.

And by greedily, I mean I take about 6 of these each time I get a salad.

They make a nice snack for later. A DEATH snack.

Have I told you how much I love spray paint?

I LOVE IT! And not just for huffing.

I use it for real stuff!

When the painters took off the lantern lights from the back garage, I was shocked at how nasty they looked.

I contemplated dumping them.

But you know, I loathe adding to the landfill.

So I took the time, taped up all the glass and I splurged on a can of spray paint.

Flat black is awesome.

Please don’t give me hell for the earth killing bulbs…I did not put them in there. I have plenty of the swirly low light output guys around.

There was also a casualty last week. Between the pressure washing and the painting, my front door bunny took a beating.

She probably did not see it coming.

Burial later today.

I try not to let these things get me down.

I found a replacement.

Maribel.

Make new friends, but bury keep the old, one is black silver and the other is some funky color. And about to become semi-black.

I think that little bowl Maribel is holding will be a great hiding spot for the house key.

She was not done drying at press time. I already heart her.

In other non-important news:

We replaced our kitchen table light and bar pendant lights.

We have had the same lights for 13 years…

Just like the Democratic party, I was ready for change.

OLD: Brown/Brass=Poop.

New: Brushed nickel=up to date.

I love home depot!!!

I took pictures, but they don’t look that great.

What are you doing this weekend?

Putting away your Christmas tree? Shameful.

Getting out your valentines Day tree? Weird.

Doesn’t it annoy you when people call it ValentiMes day? Weirdos.

What is up with that? grrrr…

Bee Sweet People!!!

Grandma Gave Me Marlboros for Breakfast.

Or maybe they were Camels.

Linds, Suz, G’ma, Lo 1996

Today, we know cigarettes are full of badness.
In 1971, not so much.
Grandma used to make me cigarettes cinnamon toast for breakfast.
It was a treat.
My special treat; breakfast cigarettes.
She would toast my bread.
She would butter my toast.
She sprinkled a bit of sugar and cinnamon on it.
She would slice it into 4 strips.
Voila: Cigarettes.
She would call me to the breakfast table:

“Suzanne, come get your cigarettes”

And I came a-runnin’ for my morning smokes treat.
Crazy right?
Crazy delicious.
Guess what we *cough cough* had for breakfast today.

My Grandma smoked until she was 75 years old.
You may recall that she just left us this past September.
She was 96 years old.
Apparently sprinkling cinnamon on your smokes takes the badness out.
I need to tell the Surgeon General.
And no, this did not cause me to smoke.

did you get crazy food as a kid.

Beer? Raw hot dogs? Cigarettes?

If this was just my family, then I might be embarrassed.
Might be I said.

Babies are the Best treat on the entire Planet.

And they are low in calories.

Our little baby visitor…

He is a gift from above.

I heart him.

I wanted to keep him for my very own.

unfortunately, his parents also find him this wonderful.

selfish people.

Linds giving him a tutorial on how to update a FaceBook status.

I adore the fact that my girls BOTH have a nurturing instinct.

Some people have it, some people don’t.

I don't think I had this instinct..until a baby exited my body.

Coach has it.

He has it majorly.

When this lil’ man came here…Cocoa was so confuzzled.

She could not figure out if he was a human, an animal, or perhaps a snack?

kidding, she was not going to nibble.

But she was very, very concerned about this little creature….I think she missed the boat on being a Mama herself.

Because, she was just a lovin’ on our little boy.

Our house is quiet again, no babies, no houseguests, no painters lurking outside my windows.

Back to my regularly scheduled program of searching for the bottom of the laundry hampers, cleaning up outside, inside, planning meals, etc…you know all the glamorous stuff!!!

TGIF; Peeping Toms and take a Gander at my ‘Maters.

Believable Buff.. That is the new color of our house.

Can you believe it? Believe it Sister.

The house has been a-buzz with activity and men this week.

I am very pleased with the color choice. It is only a tad bit darker than the prior color, but everything looks so nice and clean!!!

It was strange seeing so many men outside the windows this week. every.single.day. Usually I only have my one peeping tom. This week there were 3!!!

There was much PRE-PLANNING on my part before I could shower…I don’t like an audience while bathing.

I am weird that way.

before.

after.

Coach still has not seen the color.

He leaves when it is dark. He gets home way after dark.

I still think he has time for a third job.

Kidding.

He will see it Saturday. Or Sunday.

There is some work ahead for me as far as the landscape.

Read: Men trample plants.

And of course, it is almost time for me to trim and mulch again.

I took an ibuprofen after just typing that.

***

I did a major happy dance when I saw my ‘mater plants.

My very first crop!!!! I exhausted myself harvesting them.

Wait, do you harvest tomatoes.. Or just pick’ em?

Ok, before you start putting in orders for homemade Salsa…two of them will go right to the compost.

Not so pretty huh?

Did I ever tell the world you that I make the best salsa ever?

I do.

Don’t tell anyone. It's top secret.

**

I have a baby visiting me this weekend.

I have not seen him in a few months. And now he is 5 months old.

I just hope I can make it through the visit without chewing off his cheeks.

Or nibbling his toes.

I turn cannibal around babies.

I have a taste for them. Like a vampire for blood.

What are you doing this weekend? Eating babies? Making salsa?

Painting your house…or maybe your neighbors house?

who would chose that hideous color?

I spent the weekend avoiding ghosts.

Over the weekend we visited St. Augustine, FL.

The Oldest City.

Lo is interested in the college there and they were hosting a softball camp on Monday, so we made it a family weekend.

Our first order of business was meeting up with some long lost friends who live nearby. Do you have really wonderful and close friends that you don’t see?

No, I am not speaking about the invisible ones!

We have not seen them in 16 years!!!

We traipsed all over St. Augustine's cobblestone streets.

We did not have time for an official ghost tour on this trip, but I KNOW I felt some of them trying to attach themselves to my clothing. And my hair. hitchhikers.

Don’t worry, I got rid of those clothes before I came home. I kept the hair.

I am no dummy.

This is why I avoid antiques stores as well.

On Monday Linds and I visited the Castillo de San Marcos.

It was really interesting and chalk full of history. And full of ghosts as well.

Linds and I thought this sign was funny…”Please do not Linger on the drawbridge”

So, you know what we did. We lingered… just a bit.

There were no signs saying: Don’t put your feet inside the canons.

But she did it anyway.

I don’t know where this type of behavior comes from.

Have you ever visited St. Augustine?

Ok, more importantly, do you believe in ghosts?

I do.

My FIL is better than YOUR FIL.

Today is my Father in Law’s birthday.

Happy Birthday Bill!!!

Relax ladies, this was a few years ago.

Was it a rule in the 70’s to NOT wear your shirt for the camera?

I have written before about how blessed I am to have married into a wonderful family. I know I am lucky, and now I am just rubbing it in.

I personally have learned a lot from him over the last 25 years.

*He taught me the appreciation of good sharp knives and quality pots and pans. (His collection of Calphalon is breathtaking) He also collects coolers, grills and fishing poles. You know, all the important stuff.

*He is a master in the kitchen, and I have learned MUCH from him over the years. But lord knows, he does not follow a recipe! I think this is a sign of confidence.

*He taught me selflessness. He came to TX and he helped us move into our new home. We knew no one else. I was 8 1/2 months preggo. He set up our house with/for us. He set up Lo’s nursery (crib, changing table and stroller) Hung up all the blinds, curtains etc…

*He tolerates Cocoa’s unnatural love for him and his beard.

*He has cooked many meals for us in person and he cooked many meals for us to enjoy later on. After each pregnancy, he would come and cook for days and fill our freezer. He left me a large supply of chili as recent as Christmas!

I could go on and on, but really, you get the gist. He would do anything for his family or friends…anytime, anywhere.

He is awesome.

He is amazing.

Do you have someone like Bill in your family????

You know, those people who always give, give and then give some more???

Blink. Blink. It happened again.

Another day.
Another year.
Another dance.
The Winter DANCE.
Another year that I am proud to be her (their) Mama.
(yes, they call me Mama. Cause we grew up on a NOT farm)


When Lo put on her heels, Linds said: “Wow, it is like standing next to a skyscraper!!! “




hair and makeup by: Mama.
Oh the conversation while I was applying makeup….”don’t give me hooker eyes…Oh, no I could not do that. But I would try if you wanted that.”
that is what a good Mom would do. Right????
Dress and shoes picked out by Lo and Linds.
Pride and tears swallowed by: Mama.
She drove herself to and from the dance in Daddy’s pick up truck. She met up with her girlfriends.
again.


Friends and fun now. Boys and drama later.
I love these days.
I love my kids.

Chickens, eggs, and moving to Green Acres.

I have been thinking about chickens lately.

My friend Techno Doll raises chickens.

She brought to my attention of how horrid it is for caged chickens on chicken/egg farms. This has been on my mind.

I will only purchase cage free eggs now.

But, then somehow this has gotten deeper into my psyche.

Lo and I saw someone selling roosters/hens on the side of the road the other day.

I said: Wouldn’t it be cool to have our own chickens to make our own eggs?

She agreed with me and immediately named our rooster: Hank.

So, if I have room for a veggie garden, why not a hen house?

Green acres is the place for me.

Not.

But, it was on my mind.

I dreamt that we were putting in a hen house. I was going to get 3 hens and one rooster. Hank.

But you know, it would not end there. It never ends there, soon I would have a goat (or 6) and perhaps a cow.

I would name the cow: Daisy.

Then, someone things got confuzzled.

Next thing I knew, my Aunt needed an egg. MY EGGS.

She wanted to have another baby.

(and apparently she wanted to be in medical books too)

So, I of course gave her some of my Eggs.

So weird.

I will not eat eggs for a while.

Oh, and don’t buy regular eggs. Please. If we all halt buying from caged farms, they would eventually have to change their ways.

Only buy Cage free, or even try to buy from a local farmer who has cage free hens. (none in my area, I already searched, but you may have luck!)

Chickens have feelings too. If you want to see how bad they have it, you can google chicken egg farms and see.

Or look at the video that Techno Doll has on her site. (click link above)

It is not pretty.

Am I being a downer today? I hope not.

All photos borrowed from Flickr creative commons.

TGIF; And then some.

My lacking in green talk is pitiful.

I did this about a year ago, and you can too. Visit: Catalog choice. It is super duper easy. You just check off the catalogs that you NO longer want/need.

Now, I know if you get unwanted (or wanted) catalogs and junk mail, you surely are recycling them. Right?

Seriously, I will come and peek into your recycle bins. I will.

The post man will thank you.

The printers will thank you.

I will thank you.

And I won’t have to shank you.

***

This is my next goal:

It will more than likely look like this:

I have talked about it for a few years. But dang it, I will get it done.

Funny thing, you know how men are from Jupiter and women are from Earth?

Wait, that was not right.

Men are from Mars, women are from earth.

that is better. (either way, men have their own planet)

I have been thinking about this veggie garden I want, and I always start with this thought:

“Oh, it will be so hard to get it going, but then it will be a breeze to work it.”

When I told Coach I wanted to get it going this year, his first words are:

“It will be easy to MAKE the garden, but a lot of work to keep it up”

How funny is that? We are opposites.

But like Paula Abdul said: Opposites attract!!

Yes, I get all my wisdom from great 80’s songs.

***

That is all I know.

{this is how my Grandma ended every phone conversation}

Hugs for Haiti. I hope those folks get the help they need…lord knows they have our (USA) sympathy and support.

No big plans for us this weekend.

How about you? what are you doing?

If you tell me you are building a veggie garden and then recycling all the paper products in your home, I will come over and sing awesome 80’s karaoke with you.

photos borrowed from flickr