Fish Tacos

I asked the nurse where she likes to eat when she’s at work. She told us about a Mexican restaurant and her favorite thing to order is fish tacos. I said it didn’t sound good. She said she held out a long time in spite of friends getting it. She said it is her favorite thing to get there. So I ordered it. It was good. My favorite thing was the green salsa.

Planting Seedlings

I planted a few seedlings today. Red salvia I bought, but red zinnias I grew from seed. They aren’t very big but should grow rapidly if we have a few sunny days.  Trying to get the ground cover out really slows down planting. I gouged a bucketful of the cloverlike roots out and only planted three zinnias.

Electrician Came

The electrician who wired our house came this morning to put our bedroom on the generator. He didn’t charge anything for it.

On Hold

The doctor’s office sent my prescription to the pharmacy wrong. It has been over a week so I called the pharmacy to see what the problem is. They said the prescription request was resubmitted but hadn’t come back. She suggested I call the doctor and request they send it. I stayed on hold for over an hour. I finally decided they had taken the day off forFish Fry Day. If they were going to close down it would have been nice if their phone message hadn’t said please hold.

Still Raining

When it rains all the time it’s easy for the yard to look ragged. It can’t be cut with the lawnmower or trimmed with the weed whacker.

Irises

I dug up a bunch of irises in the autumn and started replanting them today. They won’t bloom this year but they should live. The irises I left in the ground are blooming or sending up bloom stalks. I’ve had this on my to do list for a long time. But weeding and getting rid of the ground cover is what makes me want to put off planting the irises. But I got started today.

My Big Three

When we were on safari in Kenya, we saw lots of animals and were constantly on the lookout for the big three. Now we live in Tennessee and my big three are goldfinches, indigo buntings, and cardinals. We have a lot of cardinals, but the goldfinches just pass through. We see a lot of bluebirds, but not so many indigo buntings. To see all three at the same time is spectacular. I like the herons and huge woodpeckers. I’ve seen a couple of red-headed woodpeckers. We have more of the pileated woodpeckers. I’m not sure I spelled that right. But we have a lot of interesting birds. The hummingbirds have started coming. Larry likes birds and feeds them.

Japanese Maple

We planted this about six years ago. It has grown beautifully. It's lovely in the spring and again in the fall with the vibrant foliage. In the summer the shape is still wonderful but the foliage has some green in it as well as red. We have four but three are upright, still gorgeous foliage but the shape is a regular tree form.

Stubborn Fern

Larry's stubborn fern is about a yard across. He bought it when it was small and it has done really well.

Basket

The discounts silver falls came in so I was able to finish my baskets. The angelwing begonias have been in a couple of weeks already so they should take off now they are outside.

Flower Boxes

Today I got all fifteen flower boxes planted. I had to get another bag of potting soil or I’d have finished before now. But they are planted and watered with most of the mess tidied up. I enjoy having the flower boxes but it is a lot of work so I don’t know how long I’ll be able to do it. So this year is taken care of. Who knows what next year will bring.

Porch plants

The baskets are up. Since it was overcast and rainy, I decided it wouldn’t burn them to hang them. I took most of the vegetable seedlings to the back porch and then gave everything a light solution of fertilized water. I couldn’t do much off the porch because of the rain, but there was plenty to do on the porch.

Great Day

I used FaceTime for the first time and loved it! I made a bunch of trips to the porch from the greenhouse carrying tender plants so they can have a couple of days to harden off. I weed whacked a little. Sweetie Pie saw my Amex bill and said if I died he couldn’t pay it. I said maybe I’ll die at the beginning of the month. What an interesting conversation.

Plants

Today we went to a nursery and bought spring plants. I put them on the carport next to the house. Tomorrow I plan to put them on the porch and bring cuttings out of the greenhouse. They need a few days to harden off and then I’ll start putting them in the flower boxes.

Recipe Derailed

I started out planning a stuffed zucchini bake. I decided it would be better with taco seasoning. I took it out of the oven and Larry asked if the lasagna was good. That didn’t look much like lasagna to me and certainly didn’t smell like it. Maybe I’ll eat some tomorrow.

Wasp Continued

My hand, wrist and forearm swelled, hurt, and itched so I went to the doctor. He gave me a tetanus shot  and told me to take some pills. I said I thought he was going to send me to a doctor for carpal tunnel. He said the swelling has to come down. That was a relief. My blood pressure was all right and my weight was down six pounds from when I was there in February for lab work follow up.

Pork Roast

Yesterday I bought half a pork loin and put it in my slow cooker until it had to be picked up with a slotted spatula. After letting it cool overnight, I divided it into three shallow disposable foil pans. I labeled them with date and contents for the freezer. My plans for them are sweet and sour pork and barbecue. I like having the long part out of the way. An acquaintance at the hospital mentioned getting her foil pans at Dollar Something. We have a new one near here. Maybe I’ll check it.

I Wonder

I wonder if those people extolling the virtues of Barbara Bush remember how mean they were about her when she was First Lady. Fat, old, and frumpy come to mind.

Wasps

On the way back from the mailbox a wasp stung my wrist. We have a lot of wasps, but they usually mind their own business. This one seriously objected to something and let me know.

Stuffed Eggs

There are a lot of things I can have for breakfast, but I’ve been eating a spoonful of peanut butter for a couple of weeks. It lets me eat early enough so I don’t feel like it’s actually lunch. So I take my vitamins and allergy pill and around dinner I take my calcium pill. Tonight I packed a couple of stuffed eggs to take with me to volunteer and take my vitamins and allergy pill there. The tricky part is I’m supposed to take my thyroid pill first thing and then not eat for an hour.

Hummingbird Scout

Today Larry saw his first hummingbird of the year. He went in and immediately made hummingbird syrup. Larry is doing well. He took out the garbage, moved the big plastic garbage bin to the road, changed three fluorescent lights, including getting the ladder, and took the dead tubes to the garbage bin. It is great to not be the only person doing what needs to be done.

Dogwood Trees

The dogwood trees have started to bloom and some trees have begun to leaf out. It’s spring and it looks it, but it is still pretty chilly. The lilacs are blooming, too. The dark purple irises are open. I was looking at pictures from this day last year, and spring was further along last year.

Rainy Day Stuff

We had a flash flood warning for today so I put my car out to get clean and threw fertilizer to all the roses and lilacs. That is easier than watering the fertilizer in. Catching a rainy day for fertilizer is faster than watering it.

Talked to Mama

I was whining to Mama about my low carb chocolate mousse. It has a great texture but isn’t chocolate enough plus the chocolate made chewy globs. Mama said to dissolve five tablespoons of cocoa in a small amount of water and then stir it in. So I’m planning to try to improve the mix I have in the refrigerator.

Flash Flood Warning

We have a flash flood warning so I moved my car out so the rain can wash the pollen, cat tracks, and mud from road repair off of it. I had washed it last week because of the cat tracks across the hood, up the windshield, down the back window, and trunk. The pollen was decorating those tracks and making them worse.

Pebble Isle

It was too windy to sit outside but we went to the river anyway. I planted a flower box with cocktail tomatoes. I plan to plant several more and put them on the back porch. The regular tomatoes will go in the garden. We haven’t had much luck with tomatoes the last couple of years because of horn worms. Maybe we can keep ahead of them this year.

Low Carb Chocolate Mousse

An acquaintance at the hospital gave me a recipe for low carb chocolate mousse. It is stretching it to call it a recipe because it listed the ingredients but not amounts. So today I made it. The next time I see her I’ll ask for amounts. Everything was excellent but it wasn’t a strong enough chocolate flavor. The ingredients were cream cheese, whipped cream, sweetener, and cocoa.

Flower Boxes

All the flower boxes are ready for plants. They are in their brackets. The last frost date for this area is April 15 with a fifteen day margin of error in either direction. I’m not in a hurry to put the flowers out but the hard part for me is filling the flower boxes with dirt and carrying them to the porch. So the hard part is done.

Better

Larry tilled some in the garden and we planted cabbage plants. They have been in the greenhouse for several weeks and looked good.  Larry felt well enough to till so that is great news. He wants his life back in spite of dialysis. So now he can drive himself around, he isn’t using a cane, and he tilled and used the shovel to plant eighteen cabbage plants. He is definitely improving.

Yesterday

Yesterday was our quarterly volunteer meeting. So I volunteered, chaired the meeting, and then went to the bank to get the new treasurer on the account. That was an additional two hours after the regular  four hours of volunteer work. I was so tired, I couldn’t stay awake until my newly established “bedtime.” I worry that I’ll wake at 3 when I go to bed early. I did, but went back to sleep until 6:30. So I got up and was pretty happy with the adjusted bedtime.

Hard Boiled Eggs

Our Walmart isn’t a big one but a larger one in a nearby town has little bags with peeled hard boiled eggs ready to eat or use for a salad or stuffed eggs.

Weed Killer

Larry found the right sized propane bottles for the flame weed killer. Larry used it on some weeds and I used it to try to discourage the ground cover I planted and then decided it is too invasive for my flower bed.  Considering I only planted a little, I don’t know if I will ever get rid of it.

Green Pig

A neighbor showed me the green pig on Walmart’s site. I had already downloaded the Walmart app but had not signed. So today I logged in and found the green pig. It automatically checks to see if something on my scanned receipt is available cheaper in my area and gives me a credit to use when I shop there again. Or maybe I have to show my phone. I guess when I show a credit I’ll figure it out.

Snow Flurries

We had snow flurries this morning but nothing stuck.

Ha!

We went to an outlet shoe store and found Birkenstocks at a bit less than half the price I’d last seen them for. The home health nurse told us about them. We went as soon as she left. It took a while to find two in the right size. But we were successful:)

Busy Thursday

I changed the sheets, ran the dishwasher, ran the deebot, went to Walmart, weed whacked, and washed my car. I was busy all day. I also transplanted some seedlings into pots from the soil plugs I started them in. I still have a lot of seedlings that are ready for larger pots.

Consultant

A timber consultant came to the house today and glanced at our woods and said he would put us on his list for May. Then he will come out, mark the trees to be harvested, and put it out for bid. He is really backed up because of the extended amount of rain we have had.

Flower Bed

Today I used my kobalt  40 v chainsaw for the first time. It worked great. I cut volunteer mimosas and elms. They were growing in the strip flower bed that runs parallel to the road. I have knockout roses, irises, crepe myrtles, and  day lilies in that bed.

Egg Gourds

When I post from my phone, I don't know how to insert a picture. So I'm using my Kindle and here's the requested picture.

I painted these in my little greenhouse. The weather can be dismal but the greenhouse is always pleasant....unless it's warm outside...then it is miserably hot. It's really small. I'd call it a greenroom but that's a whole different thing.

This ground cover is in full bloom now. I have three patches of it but one has suffered from monkey grass enthusiasm.

Strawberry Fat Bomb

An acquaintance at the hospital gave me her recipe for a strawberry snack that is on her Keto diet. It called for a block of softened cream cheese, 1/4 cup melted butter, four T heavy cream, three T sweetener and 1/4 cup mashed strawberries. I mixed it all with a hand mixer and used a small melon scoop to make little patties on parchment paper. Then I put them in the freezer. They are good. Worth making again. It was nice to realize the Keto diet recipes are a new source of ideas for me.

Ordinary Day

About the only thing I did for Easter was decorate, make stuffed eggs, and buy a small ham. The rest of my day was my Sunday list. Fertilizing the greenhouse plants and gardenias was the big thing. But I asked Larry to look at my new battery powered chainsaw to tell me where the oil goes. He showed me and said he has some. I weed whacked around the back steps and wandered around a little cutting down green onions.

Easter Memories

My favorite Easter memories are set in Citronelle when the kids were young. The front yard was most of the acre of our lot and at Easter was covered with white flowers dancing on slender stems. In my memory the azaleas were also blooming along with dogwoods. Hiding eggs in the dew drenched grass was better in memory than reality, I’m sure. The kids dashing around with Easter baskets was real.
Happy Easter!