Oh Man it's Hot, Hot Hot

It has become so hot and humid in the past week or two that I promise it feels as though you could cook an egg on the sidewalk.



The only problem is that I have no sidewalks anywhere close by. Yesterday I braved the heat for a couple of hours and potted some seedlings and cuttings, today I didn't even go out after I made a mandatory trip to the corner grocery store. I wish I could say that I had done something productive or made some pretty piece of jewelry, but I cannot. In truth I think my brain feels much like that egg on the sidewalk.

I thought about things to make and do all day, but I just couldn't make myself do any of them. Do you have days like that? When you do have those days, do you just work through them or give in to them? I keep telling myself, not to give in, but "my self" hasn't been listening lately. I need some kind of routine. Do you schedule your time, or just let it flow when creativity shows up with another bright idea? I have never been a night owl, but lately, that is when I want to work on things. It is out of character for me in a big way. I think I should start working on a schedule, but not tonight. I believe I will just go bend some wire and add a few beads and think about it for a while.

Wednesday's Wisdom

LAUGH LOUDLY

PRAY OFTEN

FEEL DEEPLY

EXPRESS FEARLESSLY

PLAY HARD

WORK JOYOUSLY

COMMIT TOTALLY

TOUCH TENDERLY

LIVE CONSCIOUSLY

And be sure to remember, Attitude is the mind's paintbrush. It can color any situation.
Have a wonderful Week.

What happened to the rest of the week?

This is one of those weeks that just flew. The kind of week where you wake up one morning and realize it is Saturday, and somehow you are sure that when you went to sleep yesterday it was Wednesday.I have been very busy this week... I have gardened,



crossed daylily seeds,


made jewelry,


learned to make a chain maille cross,



cooked and played chauffeur. It has been a terrific week. It just went so by fast.
If the rest of the summer goes by as fast as this week, we'll be heading back to school in about 3 hours. I am definitely not ready for that.

My camera is acting up and I am having problems lighting it up and keeping it focussed. It is one with image stabilization and even though I had put it on a tripod to take these pictures, I bracketed exposures and used time delay so that I wouldn't jostle the camera in any way, it still wasn't sharp and clear. I hate to think about replacing it, but I sure need one that works better than this one lately.

Tomorrow, I am planning to cook Father's Day Dinner for both my Hubby and my Dad. They both love the same thing and so I make it for all their birthday's and special days too. It will be a mexican cornbread ( with meat and cheese and peppers) and I will probably add some sliced tomatos, nachos and a chocolate cake. Sounds Yummy doesn't it? I will let you know how it all turns out.
Have a Great Father's Day!

What's your Favorite?

Is there one special recipe you remember from your childhood? One that maybe you grew up enjoying and learned to cook for yourself later? I have way more than 1. I was so blessed, My Mom and Grandma and older Sister are all great cooks and I have learned from them.
Tonight, we were looking for something to munch on and this came to mind. My Mom has made these for us for as long as I can remember and sometimes still does. I make them and my sister makes them too.
We always just called them "Boiled Cookies". Those of you who eat solely with your eyes, feel free to look away now. They "ain't" pretty!


But they are so so good. Sometimes Mom would make them for breakfast. Mom said she knew if she made those we would eat something ( never mind the sugar rush). Many days we would slip out without eating so if Mom made these cookies, we all ate.
Shortly after I was married, I told my husband I was going to make "boiled Cookies" and he never said no but he did everything humanly possible to keep me from making them. Finally I made them before he got home from work and he loved them too. LOL, He had no idea they were really chocolate oatmeal cookies.
Anyway, we made some tonight and I just had to tell you about them. If you were here, I would share, but since you aren't, Would you like the recipe? If you will leave me a comment, I will send you my recipe, but I want to know what your favorite childhood food dish was.


Enjoy

Tightwad Tuesday's Tips

Some people are born organized, not me. Some people are born spenders and some are born savers. I am definitely the latter. I have yet to convince my teenager that frugality is fun, but where there is life there is hope right. I love to do things the easiest, cheapest way possible and so I thought I would share my frugal tip for seed starting today. You have probably seen them everywhere. There are hundreds of posts on the internet for making newspaper pots. The problem with newspaper pots is that I can never seem to regulate the moisture and keep the newspaper from becoming a weak soggy mess.
The easiest way for me to start seeds is to use ziplock baggies. I know a lot of gardeners germinate in baggies with coffee filters or paper towels, but for me it seemed to take twice as long. ( Have I mentioned in the past that I am not the most patient person.)
My method is to use ziplock sandwich bags that I buy from the dollar store. I fill the bag about 1/3 full with my moist seed starting mix. Then I dump the seeds that I have soaked overnight ( I soak them all) with about 1.5 ounces water that the seeds soaked in right into the baggie. I seal it up making sure there is air in it and set it in a warm bright spot, indoors in winter and outdoors in the shade in the warmer parts of the year. I don't open it again until I see some germination beginning. Then I leave the little plants in the bags until they have reached the top. By this time, the seedlings are ready to pot up into their starter pots.


Learning this trick increased my germination success tremendously. The frugal part is that I buy the cheapest bags at the dollar store roughly 25 bags for $1.50 and the baggies are re-usable.
When I want to root things that need a lot of humidity, I use the larger baggies and set the container right into the bag. As long as there is condensation on the inside of the bags, the medium is moist enough. This method is ideal for starting plumeria, daylily and basically all seeds.
Hope this works wonders for your propagation potential.

Funny Friday!

MEETING: ALL DAY
WHERE: MY HOUSE
FOR: PEOPLE WITH OCD

I don't have OCD issues mind you, I just need to be surrounded with people who feel the need to clean.

Day Lilies are blooming!

It is that time of year again! I love it too. The daylily plants surprise me everyday with a new flower. I just can't get enough, even though I am really running out of space. There is always 1 more that just needs a home. Besides, if I plant more flowers, I have less grass to cut right? Actually, I don't mind cutting grass with a pushmower, but years spent landscaping have led to an outright hatred of weedeaters.

I just love going outside in the mornings and seeing new blooms.
I can't wait to see what will be blooming tomorrow. I didn't work outside today, I went shopping instead. It has been so hot out that I just didn't want to endure the heat and biting bugs today. I still have some hybrid cross seedlings to pot up, but instead of potting them, I might just plant some around the birdbath.


It will be interesting to see the flowers on the seedlings for the first time. You never know what you will get when you cross pollinate them.
My bottlebrush tree took a beating during the winter when it snowed and I had to cut it in half yesterday.






I wanted to cry, it was huge and beautiful, I just keep telling myself, it will grow back. I am planning to mix up some homemade fertilizer and feed everything. I think I will start with the bottle brush and then move on to the daylily plants.


Hope your day is full of flowers!

Stop and consider God's wonders. Job37:14