18 Inches Equals Yummy Goodness for Winter

Hubby and I have been jobbing today besides mowing, errands and other chores. He brought me 4 new squash just as I had shredded 20 cups for squash bread to lay in the freezer for winter. I don't know about ya'll but, our old farm house just makes summer baking marathon sessions darn near impossible. Aren't these beauties?

I have been saving some seeds from these lovelies for next year and am thinking maybe I should run another giveaway for my followers.  The squash are heirloom and will grow next summer quite nicely.  This week; I am going to try sauteeing a few squash stalks and simmering some leaves; yes these can be eaten if cleaned properly. 

You can also eat the leaves of your broccoli plants as well.  Quite tasty and much milder than the actual heads of broccoli. 

And don't forget to roast extra seeds for snacks.  Get this; I love the taste of fresh shredded squash for a lite salad just add your favorite dressing or in my case; extra virgin olive oil and roasted seeds.  YUM YUM

Here is our first batch of okra these will be dried for seed; the larger pods. The smallish pods, I will be slicing this up for some gumbo and other cajun dishes this fall. Did you know okra leaves can also be consumed as greens?  Also the seeds can be roasted, ground and used as a coffee substitute which, after seeing the cost of a 36 ounce can of regular roast of Folgers is running near $11.  This will be the next thing I will be trying plus growing chicory.

Cubby Bear just wanted to show off a little; I thought ya'll wouldn't mind.  My next experiment will be shredding some green tomatoes for breads and of course Fried Green Tomatoes. 

Oh yeah on another note; we will be harvesting some mesquite bean pods for flour; I still owe Mrs. Barbara over at

3 Acreshomestead a lb from my 500th blog post giveaway last year.  Seems our trees took a year off from fruiting; I was quite surprised to see them loaded with pods due to our extreme drought. 

So what have ya'll been doing in your gardens?

Bigger In Texas; Happy Birthday

Can you believe this zucchini? Weighs a little over 2 lbs. 

 I used the $20 so, you can have a point of reference.  Hubby found this one tucked under leaves.  Just amazing.  So far we have eaten; raddishes, turnips, greens, onions, Greek oregano, zucchini, serranos, jalapenos, and yellow squash.

 Our corn is now over our heads, quite surprising with all the high winds we have this year.  We have to water nearly everyday to keep our garden up.  Our normal temp is around 100 sometimes; much higher counting the humidity.

 Our first apple fruit.  If you look you can see the wind burn on one curled leaf.  We are hoping as our fruit trees grow; they will toughen.  We were told that we could not grow apples nor, grapes here.  Well we have both so far.  Hubby and I don't mess much with our trees, plants, vines; other than feed and water.  We figure if it grows in the wild then it is meant to be here with us.

Do you see my Greek Oregano (Eleni) has a wide spread?  Hubby trimmed back 1/3rd of her branches and I dried the leaves for cooking later in the year.  It is crazy to know, a 0.5 ounce at a grocery store will cost a consumer $4 a bottle.  So my little investment in Eleni has paid off.  --- I got Eleni at WalMart for $1.77 and now look at her; soon she should flower for seed. :O) 

Our jalapenos are hotter than the serranos.  Crazy heat in these little fire bombs.  

We spoil our little country pooch, Banjo.  He gets bits and pieces of our meals.  This little six pound wonder is a macho small dog; who regularly chases wild critters off our yard in the night.  Here is he eating a slice of French toast; spoiled little monster he is!

This week has been a bit slower with the Memorial Day holiday.  To honor a vet; our family laid a wreath on Mr. Dennis's grave; Mrs. Lily we are so sorry for your loss.  We love you both.

Our son Sid's birthday is today.  Happy 25th, May you have a 100 more years in which is grow and explore the world.

For those who are following our homeschool progress.  We are using Sonlight for both boys this year.  And both love it; especially Saenz.  The stories included in this literature based program take him on adventures all over the world.  On the weekend; I just type up a daily checklist of assignments or milestones he needs to accomplish.  You will notice; I have not included physical or art education; we do those off line throughout the day.   For current events, Time magazine just happened to have an article about the political unrest in Sanaa; so we will learn more about Yemen and the African continent.

I type up this checklist because Saenz; has trouble keeping his binder orgainzed as well as, other materials needed.  This just works better for him over all because he can track his progress without the mess of multiple sheets of paper. 

Okay a short; 'Movies You Need to See:' 

 King's Speech,

Rabbit Hole,

127 Hours,

The Fighter. 

Don't forget this week on History Channel; there are special documentaries on the Civil War.  150 years since, we as a country have made lots of progress; the beauty of America is her flexibility to change as her people change. 

Think about this; when elections are in question; no soliders, para-military or mass mobs go on killing sprees.  America's strength is in her people's belief in our system; we know we things will eventually return to our norm; even after a disaster. The History Channel is running a donation campaign now; to save historical sites throughout the US.  You donate $1.50 and they will match it.

http://www.history.com/give150

Continue to grow and learn; we surely will be doing just that; in our slice of heaven.

Can You See Me Now? Lasik Day, Garden Bounty

My Bush Baby look for last exam.

Let me begin by saying; I am a very blessed woman. Thanks to my hubby for driving me to have my lasik done. While I am currently doing this entry through protective shields and dark terminator glasses; I am happy. We arrived early and sat down with the boys to do some school work in the waiting room.

I snapped this one of myself right before I went into the surgurical suite.  Good Grief, I am middle aged; look at that double chin plus numbing eye drops doesn't help the ensemble either. LOL

What my hubby, boys, and other patients were able see in the lobby.  What I was able to see was blur and orange shiny lights.  I also got the pleasure of feeling the pressure as the doctor put some type of retractor into my eye socket.... YUM YUM are you sick yet? 

About this time, the laser started to do its job and I was treated to the smell smiliar to burning hair, the sound of a tazer being fired, and just some tugging as the flap was made. 

 Then the process was over in less than 20 seconds on my right eye; which was corrected for distance vision. So next my left, which was corrected for near sighted vision: 17 seconds. 

Then after I was done, I was led into a waiting area for a final check.  The girl Megan that went after me was super scared and I just talked to her so she could calm down some.  I felt bad for her because she was so nervous.  Strange how I was not nervous nor scared.  I followed the doctor's instructions while sitting in the chair.  Less than 30 mins; I was out the door and in the back seat with my Cubby Bear.

 About this time, the only real discomfort began.  My left eye started burning like I had been poked with a hot stick but, I kept putting drops in to keep my eyes moist; only a few sharp pains but nothing to freak out my boys or let my hubby know about. 

I just feel so damnably sexy here----SIT BACK AND KISSED MY SELF!  

Cubby Bear wore his shades to match both his parents and rubbed my hand out of sympathy.  At this point he must have seen my eyes tearing.  I just love my little man.

Fresh turnips and two types of squash.  Can't believe how big our veggies are turning out.  

Now 7 hours after surgery, I am resting with my protective shields and dark glasses still.  Drops every so often for irritation and of course antibiotic drops as well.  Tomorrow, I have a follow up exam to check my healing process.  Let me tell you, I can SEE.  Strange but I can see leaves on the trees, roadsigns and such even through all my safety gear.  Can't wait to see what my new 'eyes' encounter tomorrow.

Will keep ya'll posted and please forgive any misspellings.

So Much Green, Just Beautiful

After our rainfall, I got the pleasure of mowing and not complaining at all! 

 Except for all the weeds after the rain; lots of work to do yet.

 Hubby tilling so, we can lay in cukes, cantalope, more corn.

Bless you -- my little slobberpus. 

The green onions hubby pulled and I later cleaned, cut, and oven dried for later use. My house smelled like onions for a day.  Simple instructions, clean them well, cut them thin, lay on paper towels on a cookie sheet, put in oven 125-50 F (8 hours for 1 lb of cuttings), stir occassionaly, and check as more often as the moisture leaves.   

You can also dry foods by pressing between two screen doors on towel layers, put up on blocks in your yard if you live in hot place without humidity.  Solar dry is fine but, watch for bugs, ants, and mildew. I can't use this method because our humidity is so high most of the time === so much for the desert eh?

I wonder if squash leaves can be consumed.  Must do some research since, we have such large leaves.  What do ya'll think?  I know you can use the flowers in almost anything from soups, breads, stuffed, and friend.  HUMMMMMS here.......

Big Box Day Finds Us Happy

 Yesterday we received two large boxes from Sonlight Curriculum.  Saenz needs a brush up with Core F on world history and literature since I focused heavily on math, science, journaling, handwriting, reading, grammar, and research skills to get him firmly on the sixth grade level. Saenz will also be taking a 6/7th with Pre-Alegbra mix to get him up to level with his former classmates; a far cry from being at a middle third grade math level last April when we pulled him out of public school.  

Another note, Saenz will have to take a course in spelling skills; being a dyslexic with Irlens makes that skill extremely challanging.  While I know WORD does a spellcheck if he types out his assignments; he still needs to learn the basics just as well as Zephyr.

I did make the decision this year to hold off on adding a foreign language with Saenz until next year.  It is hard enough for him to read as it is in English so, instead I will be adding Spanish and Latin songs for him to get used to hearing (of course) this will help Zephyr as well.

Zephyr will be starting his first grade this week; reading finally kicked in for him; I was starting to worry by Febuary that I would not be able to start 1st grade on time. Just since March he has went from only recognizing 10 Dolch sight words to 140 just this week.  Huge steps for our little cubby bear; he is now happy to sit with a book and read to us or anyone who will listen.   Zephyr really soared this year in math, science, rote memorization, reasoning, and story telling; his Kindergarten graduation (cap and tassel) walk will take place on the 21st. 

I am happy to have my hubby supporting our efforts to raise our boys to be happy critical thinkers. 

Our boys were thrilled to see the books they will be using to study for the next 180 school days.  Since we school year around; we take breaks as needed.  That is a lovely thing about homeschooling your children; if child or parent needs a day off -- we take one.

Cubby is holding his math curriculum.  I know he will breeze through this because he is already begining to understand the concepts of fractions, money, and multiplication.  This set also came with a neat box set of manipulatives to help Zephyr by using visual and hands on learning tools.  

The boys are basically chomping at the bit for Saenz's lesson to get this project in which, they will learn how to make ink like in ancient China.  I believe this will be in week 26 so, they have a bit of a wait.  Another note, I guess there was a computer glitch with our order because the shipment was missing the first grade instructor guides, binder, and language arts manual.  Oh well, I have already sent Sonlight an email to inform them of the mix up.  All is good though because I can just whip out the math and continuing reading lessons with no worries.  

Okay ya'll do you see my blood shot eyes?  LOL That is not because I have been drinking.... Nope seems the entire property is covered in pollens: live oak and ragweed.  It has been a tough week on my head with all the stuff floating in the air.  All is good though in the garden so far we have: jalapeno, serrano, habanero, yellow squash, zucchini, onion, mustard greens, raddishes, maters, okra, Greek oregano, turnips, carrots, sweet & white taters, and corn is at the 3 foot mark.  So nice to have a garden....

I will leave ya'll with a Big Ole Texas sized!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

PS... Please pray for rain; we haven't had any since March.  Sorely needed here while up North; they are getting rained or flooded out.

We Have A Visitor - Blue Indigo Juvenile

I am thoroughly convinced that snakes are territorial creatures who; have a space in which they hunt, breed, and live.  I have seen this one right outside my window for about two weeks now but, have not had a camera to catch a shot.  Well I got lucky this time because our special guest had helped himself to a meal so I got a couple of shots of him/her.  This is a blue indigo snake and is definitely only a juvenile at just over three feet.

 I was standing less than a foot away to take these shots. It is such a lovely snake and has been documented at up to 8.75 feet long.  We had one that our second year here that was pretty close to 9 feet and its body was as thick as my forearm; heavy bodied snake.  We respect these beautiful animals and feel blessed that one has taken up home in our inner yard.  Which means less rats, mice, and possible rattlers where our boys tend to play.

 Saenz loves these.

 Crooked yellow neck squash will be ready soon.  This plant has four fruits.

We picked some snacks right out of our garden: some onion to go with our zucchini and of course right out of the garden raddishes -- rinse and eat. (We got the raddish seed from a lady in England who sent them as a gift.) 

Life is good and we are counting our blessings and saying thanks!

Painted Ladies, Ants, and a Mad Frog; OH MY!

Our painted lady catepillars have now started their pupa stage with their chrysalis forming/hardening.  Of the five catepillars we received only one seems to have died.  The rest are now safely attached to the lid of the jar.

 Day one Monday 19 April: Going to Pupa.

Day 2, April 20th: All 4 are in pupa, notice no legs or hair protrusions.

Yesterday, we got in the ants for the ant farm.  Let me tell ya, those suckers were really angry being in that tube.  Follow directions and definitely refrigerate them for 2 minutes.  Hubby was the one who put them into their farm. He did such a great job only one escapee made a run for it.  That little bugger tried to sting as soon as it was touched.  The above picture was just after one hour after farm arrival. We gave them water, a sliver of apple, a piece of bread, and a corn chip; mind you really small pieces.

This picture was taken after six hours of them being left alone in the down stairs (darkened) bathroom. Notice they now have a pantry started on the left hand side, have moved their dead, have started tunneling.

This morning, we have found them to have built several chambers, more tunnels and have cleaned up their den.  After a few days of rest, we will add a few more drops of water to see how the ants react plus maybe add a piece of mango.   

Do you see what I see? 

Zephyr is holding our first zucchini of the season.  Happy to say, he will help me chop it up for our dinner plates later.

Other garden news: we tried those battery powered mole/gopher chasers. So far, they have worked perfectly since, the little fur balls have left the area. Key to sucess with those 'chasers' is to not let your soil dry out completely since, watering helps to conduct / amplify the noise they emit.

Our newest threat are from rabbits coming into the yard.  So, we will be hanging deer netting onto our fence to keep them at bay.  Also to combat the fire & red ant problem we have; we are using orange oil mixed with water to 'kill - discourage' ants from taking up home in our garden beds.  This is not a QUICK solution; you have to keep spraying the mixture because it is not a poison, will not harm people or critters without exo-skeletons.  For those who want to know; Orange Oil dissolves the shell of the ants exoskeleton thus killing the ants.  However if you just want to ants to nest somewhere else use; corn meal or pour boiling water onto their mound.

Keep in mind, 'natural solutions' take a longer (much) period to work.  Natural solutions are not pesticides and have to be given time to work their magic.  When we have a problem with leaf eating critters, I just mix a solution of dish soap, water and cayenne pepper to spray the leaves.  Again this has to be done on the days not watering and takes time but is not harmful to humans.

For my friend John over in England.  Sorry, he did not have a box to piss in but; this is the 'Mad' frog we seen at the zoo. 

Oh and for our Jewish friends hope you have a wonderful Passover. For those who celebrate Easter; have a great service and week.  We are expecting our family this weekend: Junior and his two girls, and Sid for the weekend. YIKES maybe the Easter Bunny will make a stop at Grandpaw's and Grandmaw's this holiday.

PS: Thanks Mrs. Lily for taking us into town to buy our monthly feed and two new peach trees. Saenz and I enjoyed our lunch with you yesterday. Please stop by next week.........we love you!