Rainy Day Blues

For some reason Blogger isn't working right for me today. So this blog is in two parts.

I love blue and white dishes. On another forum people were showing beautiful blue and white plates they had found. They were going to break them to use in mosaics. I couldn't bear the thought, and told my cousin, Janice. She laughed at me. The next year for Christmas she gave me a set of blue and white dishes. She told me I could put the hammer to them. I told her no way!! I have them displayed in my china cabinet.

I love blue and white dishes!!

Rainy Day Blues and Whites

Today it is raining. A soft gentle rain. Good for the flowers. The maple tree out front is beginning to lose leaves. Fall is coming.

I love blue and white dishes.

Welcome

This is a welcome sign given to me by my sister, Carol. I love it. I hung it by my front door. It hangs by a rawhide string on a nail driven into the mortar. It is made of slate. She knew I love light houses. I am expecting to meet my future Grandson-In-Law and my future Granddaughter-In-Law soon. I expect to have this welcome sign out. If you ever come see me and don't see this sign, don't think you are not welcome. Sometimes when the wind comes out of the northeast it makes this sign bump against the brick. I always fear the slate might break, so when I hear the bumps, I hurry out to get it and put it inside to keep it safe until the wind dies down again.

Wednesday Morning

This fellow is standing guard at my font steps. I've had him for quite a while. He once stood in one of my bird baths. That was in the days before I knew to put bricks in the bath to keep his feet out of the water. Because I didn't know, he lost part of his feet. I called around to ask what to do. I finally stood him in a box of cement and let it set. He now has a very heavy base and stands at the end of my front sidewalk. This is also where I put my bird feeders on shepard hooks in the winter. He gets decorated from time to time with bird droppings, but being the ever faithful soldier he takes it and never flinches. (Those are volunteer impatiens that have come up behind him.)

Just Regular Old Stuff

Some days you just do stuff. Grocery Store, Doctor's Office, Post Office, etc. Today was one of those. Here I am at the corner of 2nd and Lee heading for home. You can tell that our town is small. Tomorrow, Meggie, I'm planning a hair cut. Cross your fingers for me. LOL

O' Happy Day!!

Carolina Blue Skies! The weather is gorgeous! And today is my baby's Birthday!! Happy Birthday Little PenPen !! Love you always!!! ~mama

You Knew This Would Be Next, Didn't You?

Yes, here is the dreaded hornet's nest in this boot. I wanted my husband to burn this boot last night. He refused, saying this was one of Will's boots and he might want it. The match to this one is still sitting over on the shelving unit.

I think we have more problems than this. I still see some yellow jacket looking insects entering the holes around the bottom of the pot that has a snake plant in it. I hope they are not in the fiscus tree pot also. I might have to scarifice some plants.

An old myth I learned today about hornets: It takes 7 hornet stings to kill a horse. It takes 3 hornet stings to kill a man. It takes 2 hornet stings to kill a child. Thank goodness this is not true. But my source did say many stings to someone who is allergic could kill them. All I know is hornet stings really, really, hurt!!!

Danger Lurks Here

Does this look like a dangerous place to you? I didn't think so either. Late yesterday, after another very hot day, I decided the plants needed watering again. So I puttered about watering ... minding my own business. When I got to the fiscus tree on the other side of the steps, all of a sudden, I was in such pain. Something had stung me just below my left eye. I immediately stopped watering and rushed inside for some Bynadryl. Took the medicine and put ice to my face. Oh, it did hurt. I suffered all through "Big Brother". It had finally eased off before I went to bed. Today my husband went to investigate. He found a hornets nest in one of his boots that sit on some shelves behind the fiscus tree. He has been spaying the nest off and on all day. He says tonight he will definitely take care of it. I just hope he doesn't get stung!

Old Crepe Myrtle

This is an old crepe myrtle my MIL gave us when we first built the house in 1971. It never flowered much. Too much shade. We cut out some trees on that side of the yard last year and now we have many blooms.
This is the statue that is barely visible in the first picture. My brother Bill, and his wife Sandra gave us that "cutie" for Christmas one year. I love his little face and all the animals he's loving on.
The next year on Mother's Day, I got another bird bath. It was the perfect spot for this little statue. Thanks Sandra and Billy.

Pretty Thing

We had rain storms last night. In fact our electricity was off for an hour. Didn't even get to see Big Brother.I love these late thunder storms as they keep me from having to haul water around to my plants. So... this morning everything seems fresh and renewed, especially the weeds. This tiger lily was given to me by my cousin Shirley. It's one of my favorites.

Day Dreaming

Sunday as we were getting gas in a poor section of a town about 20 miles from us, I spied this little building across the way. I noticed the double doors and the stained glass window. I decided it must have been a small church in days gone by. It seemed to be empty. But it was early afternoon, and if a small group had met in the morning then of course it would be empty now. Too bad we couldn't wait around to see if they had church that night. We had to hurry back home so we could go to our own church.

Do You Have One Of These?

A bunch of pictures that need to be added to albums? This little basket was made for me by Little PenPen. It became a picture holder. For a long time it sat on one of my end tables. Visitors, family, and friends, would shuffle through the pictures as we sat talking. The little glove is one of my Granddaughter's that got left behind. Over the years the little basket has wound up in many places. For a while on the head of my bed. I discovered it in the dining room, where it is not suppose to be. I had been working on some of the albums in the bookcase in there recently, so who do you suppose put it in the wrong place? LOL

Yucca Yucca

What is it with Yucca? Mine don't bloom every year. The two oldest pieces are blooming. I was hoping for some blooms on the others.

For a long time I didn't know what this plant was called. My MIL who gave it to me called it "bear grass". Someone on Garden Junk told me the real name. Said it was the state flower of New Mexico. So I had my husband move a large rock over to this corner and I got some paint and painted "Yucca, State Flower Of New Mexico"on it. One year later it had all washed off.

Since then a red cedar has come up in front of my rock and completely hides it now. I let the cedar stay and have been decorating it with Christmas lights. After this Christmas it will have to be cut out of there. The tree is getting too big and my corner needs thinning out.

Yummy Mountain Fried Possum

Yummy Mountain Fried Possum

1 young Possum
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup flour
3 tbsp. fat

After skinning, soak Possum in salt water overnight, then drain and cut into pieces. (Be sure to remove Possum's innards) Parboil meat pieces for 20 minutes. Drain and wipe with a damp cloth. Make a batter of egg yolk, milk, salt, and flour. Dip meat pieces into batter and brown in hot fat. Reduce heat, cover and cook slowly for 1 1/2 hours, turning a few times. Serves 2 to 4.

Enjoy!

Possum Saga - Life Is Hard

The trap has been set for days. Today, right after breakfast, my husband, went to the front door to check it. He came back to report that he had caught a "possum". We all went out to see. I took my camera. I commented on how the possum grinned at me as I tried to get close. GS told me it was probably a male. He said females would pretend to be dead..."playing possum". We were all excited that the PREDATOR that stole the eggs had been caught! The trial would be quick and the sentencing would be severe!! How dare he eat up all those Guinea eggs that were so close to hatching!!!

BUT THEN ... my husband went out to get the paper. As he came back he took another look at that possum. What?? There were baby possums in there. He came to tell me. I took the camera and went back out to the trap. Sure enough, there were at least three babies that I could see. This changes everything. I gave GS a quick call on his cell phone. I left a message. Justice will not be so quick. This afternoon GS and my husband will take the mother and her babies to the swamp and release them. How soon they will make their way back to our place we don't know. But for now she goes free!!

Good Buy

Today I went to Staples for their sales items. Can you believe I bought all this for just $3.14? The 8pack pencils were just 1 cent each and you were allowed to get 3 packs. The pencil sharpeners were just 1 cent each and you were allowed 3. The folders were 1 cent each and you were allowed 10. The 3 ring binders were 3 for 99 cents and you were allowed to get 6. The paper clip dispenser was 80 cents. This sale started on Sunday and goes through Wednesday. I should have gone earlier. I missed out on the 1 cent pencil cases. Thought I'd let everyone know in case you want to go get in on these savings.

Eat Your Veggies! Our tomatoes are not ripe yet.

Yesterday my husband visited our neighbors to the north. They have ripe tomatoes. She sent some home with him along with some string beans and peppers. These are the longest string beans I have ever seen. Most are as long as my arm. She asked if we liked egg plant and he told her no. He says the purple thing in the middle is a purple bell pepper. I must go ask "Purple Cucumber" if she's heard of a purple pepper. (I hope its not egg plant in disquise.)

My next door neighbors are artists. I love to visit and see all the new things they have going on. They do sculpture, paintings, throw pots, metal work, you name it they can do it. They have remodeled an old farm house into a stucco home such as are found in Italy. They have built a tall cement fence across their property up to our line. All of us on the road hate the fence. We can no longer see every thing they are doing when we pass by...LOL

They also do organic gardening in raised beds (and I mean raised... they can sit on the side of the beds and pick the produce. They also have this huge domed area that they ran the cucumbers and these long string beans on... you can go inside and just reach up and pick what you want.

So in the spirit of "ART", I posed the veggies for this picture.... LOL

Guinea Update

The 12 eggs did not hatch. Today was the day it would have happened. The good incubator had been loaned out and the one my husband used never got to the right temperture. He told me that now he is seeing broken eggs around the chicken pen. He is taking the 12 eggs and placing them in a live trap as bait to try to catch whatever is getting the eggs. He says the mama Guinea will soon start laying eggs again. No babies for her yet.

This is this year's Hyacinth Bean plant. Janie from Texas sent me the seeds in May. I always plant them in the same pot next to this pole and watch to see how high it will get. Last year the vine outdid itself. It was really high and round and the blooms and beans in October were spectacular. I hope this year's vine will come "close" to last year... do I dare think "better" than last year?

I Want A House On A Bridge

Some shots while riding over the bridge to Surf City yesterday.

Tradgedy At The Door Steps

When we got home from our little trip down to Topsail Island today, we noticed some cracked eggs lying around the edges of the Guinea, but she was still on the nest. My husband just went outside to check on her and he says many more of the eggs are cracked and the Guinea has left her nest. He hopes nothing has got her. He's headed to the barn now to start up the incubator. Started with fourty eggs and now we are down to twelve. There is probably a full possum around here somewhere!!! If we hatch any of these, I will post pictures. They were supposed to hatch in about five days.

Beach, Fireworks, Hot Dogs

We were invited to the beach by our son and his family for the day. We enjoyed the ocean and hot dogs for supper!
Our neighbors were shooting fireworks when we got home. They were nicer than my pictures indicate...LOL A good 4th of July!!

Five Blue Berry Bushes

We have five blue berry bushes planted along the drive way that leads to the back yard. They are not very old but they provide us with enough berries each picking to make a couple of cobblers. Blue Berries are good for you!!

Today I Remember Richard

First bloom of this season!

My husband's friend, Richard Reel, worked for the water company. His job was to turn on and off the water. Sometimes, when he had been sent over this way to cut someone's water off for not paying their bill, he would hang around here and help my husband for a while. Most times, as soon as the water was cut off, that person would hurry to the office to pay up. Then they would call Richard to tell him to cut it back on. He would still be in the neighborhood.

He was a good friend. One of those people who know how to help without getting in the way. He brought me this flower a few years back and I planted it in front of the ancient fence. This year he will not be by to see it. He went in for a simple gall blader operation last year and had a stroke during the operation. He was kept on life support for a few days, then went home to be with the Lord.