May 27, 2024

The garden and other stuff....

 

These hollyhocks came up from seeds 2 years ago.  Last year all it did was grow and fill out ~ no complaints here, it was green.  There were two plants that came up, one was near the yard so I put a tomato cage around it so it wouldn't get trampled or cut by the mower.  This year they've grown like crazy.  The one in the photo is nearing 6 feet tall!  The other plant isn't yet blooming, but it's getting ready.  It is so nice to have them since I don't have many more flowers.  I looked at Lowe's for marigolds, but I couldn't find any.  I thought that was crazy, as lots of people plant marigolds in their gardens.

My shishido pepper has a tiny pepper on it, the tomato has two small fruits on it, my jalepeno plants have tiny little fruit.  I think those peach peppers are finally sprouting, but I still am not sure.  The one thing I can't get to sprout is chives.  What the heck?  I thought they would be easy to start from seeds.  All in all I'm happy with the garden.  This year I also planted carrots, but I'm not sure how many we'll get.

Have a wonderful week....

Love, 365

May 15, 2024

It's about thyme....


 I have an herb garden, with parsley, lavender, dill, oregano, basil and thyme.  The thyme, oregano and thyme wintered pretty well and are doing their spring growth.  So, time to cut back a bit.  I've already got some oregano drying, and this morning I cut a lot of thyme off too.  I love cooking with fresh herbs, it really does make a difference.  

Last year I had a black swallowtail caterpillar on the dill, and it munched everything, leaving only a few sticks.  But I hoped it would grow back, but no.  So, sorry butterflies, I'm going to pluck you off the first time I see you!  Fresh dill is amazing.  You can eat someone else's dill, lol.   

Romeo is helping the "loaves and fishes" ministry today, so I have a rare morning alone.  They cook food for 300+ people ~ Greek chicken, green beans, potatoes.  They are also cooking for a low income school today.  The organizers come and pick everything up, so all they have to do it cook it all.  

What to do?  The usual I suppose!  Take the dogs for a walk and see what the day brings.

Oh, and I'm having a lot of trouble posting comments.  Sent a message to blogger...lets see if they respond.

Love, 365

May 13, 2024

It's Monday! hahahaha

 

Oh, how I used to envy the people I saw out walking with or without dogs on that first day of the week.  Now, I get to be one of those people!  I do love it.  Peg mentioned that the days go by faster during retirement, and I do agree.  At 8:30pm ~ when I notice it ~ I mention to Romeo, what the heck happened to the day????  

I painted the downstairs bathroom (it's a half bath, and fairly small).  When I bought the paint, I noticed that Lowes had these packets of scent you can add to the paint.  I figured, why not?  Well, I can tell you why not.  It mixes with the scent of paint and is awful.  I won't be doing that again.  I'm heading there today to buy some garden plants and some paint samples (remember when those were free???) because I'm tackling repainting the dark accent walls with a new color.  I also need to paint my office, and our bedroom, but just one room at a time, please.  Next time I'll enjoy the scent of plain ol' paint, which is a lot better than paint mixed with lavender.  

My hollyhocks are growing like crazy, and one has shot up at least 2 feet.  It has tons of blossoms on it ~ usually they have a large single spike, but I noticed there are flower buds on the main stem too.  The original color was white with a pink center.  These came up in the yard from seeds that blew around, but I honestly don't know if they will be the same or a different shade.  One of the plants is nearly as tall as I am (which isn't saying much, haha).  I'll post a photo when they bloom.

Now that Pascha is over (Orthodox Christian Easter), I've been working on some big cleaning jobs.  I cleaned the stove top...not a favorite job.  Then I remembered that I've been meaning to clean the vent hood, specifically the blower housing.  I estimate it has been at least 10 years since I've done it.  That was a big mistake.  It took two days to clean all of that sludgy grease.  I put a reminder in my calendar for next year because I'm determined not to go through that again.  Romeo was using a spinning scrub brush, so everything around the housing was splattered with that same gunk.  I coulda killed him.  :-)

I'm making pumpernickel sourdough today.  This is one of those breads that you don't put in the fridge for a cold rest before you bake it (I did that once, and it just didn't rise well, so was too dense).  So, if you don't get started early (8am) I'll be up late finishing it.  Most of the time I make pumpernickel for our Priest, as he loves it.  This time we're gonna try it.  I think it'll be great with ham and swiss.  Probably won't have it today though; the last time I made it I was baking at 8pm.  

Well, I guess I've bent your ear (or would that be your eyes, haha) long enough, and I need to get a few things done.  Have a great week!

Love, 365

4 more weeks to go.......

  This is a photo of the dental offices new building.   I am working during their move.  I thought it would be "fun".  I haven...