joy ~

It snowed last night ... we got a couple inches ... and it's only in the 30's today.  Time to go out and brush off the snow and harvest the last of my mushrooms!

I was quite surprised to see that there were still this many coming on.  The darker ones are the Blue Dolphin Oysters, the light tan ~ the Pohu Oysters and the ones with the cracked looking caps are Shiitake.

I'm thinking a nice ol' kettle of mixed mushroom soup OR better yet ... a nice venison loin cooked on the grill smothered in 'shrooms.  Yum.

~ * ~

When the sun peeked out this morning it was so nice to see ... it left a nice glow cast across the living room ...

... but what really caught my eye was the blooms on the Thanksgiving Cactus.

They remind me of the flowers you see on orchids ...

 I love how the sunlight was filtering through the blooms :)

It's the little things that give me joy.

Until next time ...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel

patience grasshoppa ~

It took awhile ...

Remember waaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyy back in March when I started my avocado orchard on my window sill ?  ... lol

Well ... long story short ...

I started out with five ... they got rotten and fuzzy looking ... all except for one. I just kept on putting fresh water on it and ...

WAHLAHHHHH!!!!

after 7 long months of it sitting in the window ...

after 7 long months of Dear Hubby saying "How long is this glass with this big seed thing in it going to be sitting in the window?"

after 7 long months of me patiently waiting ...

after 7 long months of me looking at it whenever I did dishes ...

after 2 months of me putting a bogainvilla vine slip in a glass of water beside it ...

... telling it to put on some roots like it's neighbor ~

It finally happened!  My little avocado seed has a root.  

Can you believe it ... it took 7 months!  Not 7 weeks like all the literature I read on them says it takes.  7 months!  I wonder how long it will take for me to get an avocado off of it??  I hope I live long enough to find out.

Until next time ...

So it goes in my neck of the woods.

~mel

nom noms ~

Can we talk?

I have a little problem.

It hurts right here.

Come sit on Grandma's lap ... 

let me see.

I think you need a little hugging and some loving.  Maybe a few little "nom nom nom's" on the cheek will help too.

I think it's working!

Oh thank you Grandma ~  here's some "nom nom nom's" right back at ya!

Once again ... all is well :)

Carry on!

Until next time ...

So it goes in my neck of the woods.

~mel

apple pickin' ~

I hand picked a pretty nice bunch of apples off the tree this morning ~ and there's still some out there for the deer.

I started with the largest ones and worked my way down in size.

Now I KNOW Dear Hubby is going to be begging for a pie.

I saw this recipe and always wanted to attempt it; but seriously ... I can't imagine doing it ... but it sure does look tempting:

~ image from the internet ~

It's Paula Deen's Savannah High Apple Pie

Mercy!  I would love to bite into that ~ but would probably go into cardiac arrest or a diabetic coma!!  Oh why do I even look at stuff like this on the internet!! Oh... oh... oh... drool ... drool ... drool ... it has a caramel and pecan topping over apples ... oh lordy ... I have to quit dreaming and go do something constructive.

I think I'll make some Jello.

Until next time ...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel

more snow ~

It's only the first week of October and Old Man Winter decided to blow in and give us a tease of what's to come.

This was 4:30 a.m. when I got up with Dear Hubby to see him off to work.  The yard was white with snow!

We couldn't watch television because the snow was over the needle of the dish.  So before leaving for work, Dear Hubby ~ what a sweetie ~ took a pipe and put the mop into it so he could reach and cleaned it off for me.  

It really wasn't that necessary of a thing to do ... because I didn't even stay up this morning and watch TV like I usually do.  I went back to bed until 7:00 and by then most of the snow had already melted off. lol

It's a little early for snow in my neck of the woods.  I know (or at least I HOPE) we'll still have some nicer weather and get to enjoy fall a bit longer.  This tease of a snow just reminds us of all the things we still need to get in order before the big freeze of winter hits.  I need to put away the lawn furniture and hopefully get to finish cleaning up the rest of the leaves on the ground.  AND my shiitake mushrooms and oyster mushrooms are just starting to fruit and I really want a few more harvest off them if possible.

Also, I have a new to me greenhouse that needs to be set in place and sealed up so I can use it next spring.

Once I get those few projects under tow ... let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

Until next time ...

So it goes in my neck of the woods.

~mel

it's snowing ~

Oh boy!  Here it comes and it's way too early for my liking.

As I write this ... it's snowing!  Yes Cheryl ... the "S" word.  And it's coming whether we like it or not.

It's not accumulating.  It's melting off as soon as it hits the ground; but none the less ... it's snowing!!!

Ohhhhh.... I'm just not ready for it yet; there's too much fall season I need to enjoy before it switches over to winter.  Where's my Indian Summer?  We still need to get the boat put away.

This change in weather did spark the Shiitake mushrooms to start putting on fruit ~ finally!  These logs were inoculated in May of 2013.  I swear ... it was like waiting for an elephant to give birth :)

So far ... just a handful of mushrooms; but I have high hopes for a pretty good harvest of them ... seeing as how wet it's been and how much the weather is switching up.  Fungi is finicky on when it wants to fruit.

I best get off the computer and go do something constructive ~ like fold that last load of laundry ... or maybe eat a bowl of Jello!

Until next time ...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel

cooler days ~

The cooler days of fall are here.

I love the color of fall ~ the scents of fall ~ the feel of fall ~ I love it all !!!
















Only sad thing about the fall season is that it always seems to fly by too fast.

  Old Man Winter likes to show up too early.  I heard the weather man say this morning that we could have some light snow flurries as early as this coming Friday.  Friday?  This Friday?  That's only 2 days out!!!  Pray the weather man is wrong.

~~~*~~~~

There hasn't been much activity on the compost pile during the day ... but come night time the skunks have been busy checking it out.  Just what I didn't want to see.  Oh well.... just as long as they keep their tails down and I'm always up wind of them.

~~~*~~~

I wonder if Mom plans on picking the crab apples off her little tree or if she's going to let them go for the birds and deer?

Speaking of which ... these two come running into the yard if they hear an apple fall from the tree ...

... don't go flashing that tail at me ... I'm not going to chase you away from the tree.  I'll let you be as long as you leave a few apples for me.

~~~*~~~

 Taking a nap???  or watching TV???

Smile ... my little chickadees!

Until next time ...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel