Back At It!

Can you tell I'm back to working more?  Miss me not posting just about every day?  Well sometimes there just isn't anything to post about either....but yes I am working more but it is a good thing. I would love to get a handle on the debt situation and pare it down to nothing except the mortgage and utilities. That would be wonderful!

Let's see, the balcony garden is doing not bad considering I've got a few empty planters up there and need to get to planting more. First I will be smart though and see what CAN grow in 90+ degree weather as things are starting to really heat up here in Central Texas.  I hate watering things that just shrivel up and die in the heat - talk about depressing!   But I do see a few cherry tomatoes (planted for my dad) and a few green peppers and the zucchini plant has some flowers.  I don't want to disturb that plant too much so I don't disturb the bird's nest, but I cannot tell if it is still being tended to or not.  These little finches can tuck themselves around and down that they are pretty much camouflaged.  <---thank you spell check as I totally mutilated this word! :)

My dad was concerned that tomato plants may not get pollinated way up on a balcony and I looked at the flowers to see if I could tell the difference between male and female flowers but I could not, as I thought about trying to pollinate gently with a q-tip. But I just looked it up and tomatoes self pollinate so they do not have to be cross pollinated, so do pepper plants.  That was great to read and sure enough I saw both today so there you go!  One more thing that nature does on its own!

I am growing cantalope from seed this year for the first time and may have to pollinate that.  But it will be worth it if I can actually grow one! :)

I am so excited that my girls will be home on Memorial Day!! This is my oldest's first visit since moving back east in August!  I am so looking forward to it!  Will have a full house again!  Well off to get some work done this weekend before the holiday is here.


   

Molly's new friend?

I feel a bit like Dr. Doolittle with all the posts about animals, but I don't care..I love animals and feel closer to nature when I come into contact (directly or not) with them.

This morning right when I was finishing my exercising, Molly (the spastic fur kid) started barking incessantly. I figured somebody was walking their dog up the street but I glanced out the window and saw a deer staring back at Molly as if to say "Nah, Nah, Nah, Naaaaah, Nah, I'm out here and you're in there and you can't get me!"

Then I saw it stroll across the front yard, all the while Molly going ballistic at the window. And so I caught a few more pictures of it grazing at our grass. The deer are a bit braver here than back east as they often can be found in some body's yard strolling around, eating or just resting in the shade.  I've even seen their seated shadows at night in the neighbor's yard across the street like they have hunkered down for the night on their front lawn, lots of them! :)

And just now I went to check on my balcony garden and got a few more green beans that were ready to be picked. I need to plant some more soon and try a few other things but need to get more potting soil first. I gingerly walked over to the zucchini plant that sorely needed water, and went to the farthest end of the container to water it but I scared the bird tending its nest and it flew out to a near by tree, squawking all the way, letting me know it was not happy.  Oye!  I was trying to be so careful!  It isn't MY fault the dang bird made a nest in my planting barrel ! 

Well I got some work done this weekend and some cleaning done today, so I am feeling happy about what has been accomplished.  Now to relax...

Surprise morning

This morning after I got up and dressed for the day, I went out to water my balcony gardens. I was going from planter to planter and got to the zucchini. Suddenly I found myself ducking...as a small bird flew up out of that planter and into a nearby tree. That woke me up the rest of the way for sure as I was not ready for that!

Sure enough there is a birds net with tiny eggs in it in the half barrel planter I have my zucchini in. The bird was complaining and chirping loudly to let me know it was not happy that I disturbed it and its nest.  I went indoors and stood by the window to watch it fly to a closer tree, then to the balcony railing, then to a nearby plant..and eventually saw it walking toward the zucchini plant. I didn't see it go in to the planter or nest though because I didn't want to scare it off, as by then two of my dogs were standing near me at the window curious as to what the heck I was doing there.

I'll be careful when I water now and try not to disturb the nest. Wish I could take a picture of the nest but it would be hard to get close enough to take a clear picture.  But I will post updates from time to time as to the development. Hope the eggs do hatch! :)

Monday post

I had a nice Mother's Day yesterday!  My youngest has been visiting and she will head back tomorrow. My oldest called me in the early evening to wish me a Happy Mother's Day too!  Stac and I also saw a movie "The Lucky One" which was pretty good. Nice chick flick for a Mother's Day!

Our power went out this morning for a few hours...figures...it was Monday.  Anyway I was checking out the garden and such and glanced over at a metal coyote out on our flagstone garden out back.  I took a double take because it looked like the coyote had an eye!

 I went up to it and sure enough, it was a snail! LOL.  I grabbed the camera and took a picture and then went over to look closer.  Then I saw the oddest thing, there are snails on both sides of the face at just about the exact same spot!  Too funny!

Just when you wonder...

if your kid ever thinks about you.. you get a pleasant, yes she DOES! 

I am partly an empty nester already, stll have one in college so not quite there.  My oldest moved back east last year and as a parent I'm sure we wonder if our kids ever think about us when they are grown and out of the house. Turns out they do!!

I found out a few weeks ago that she is planning to visit us the end of this month! What a fantastic thing to look foward to.  Then, a few days ago I got this box in the mail with this beautiful flower arrangement for Mothers Day !! These are all hand made (beaded) flowers/leaves that she made, spending hours upon hours making.

It was so sweet of her to take the time to make this for me.  Also found out that my youngest is coming home today for the weekend and will also be here again the end of May.  May is turning out to be a great family time month!

Is it Friday yet?

Hubby thought Missing was on tonight at 7 so we cut an evening walk short, only to find out that it is not on until tomorrow. That's okay, my day has not been that great anyway.

Ever feel like when you take a step forward, you get thrown back, not just a step or two back but thrown back??  I cannot go into a lot of details but was hoping to improve my situation with work and things may be changing causing less productivity.  It has left me feeling a little down...We'll see what happens.

I was going to make popcorn tonight but I am out of oil so I had a box of Cracker Jack instead. It was okay but was going to cheer myself up with popcorn. < Sigh >   I know....things could be worse.

At least it is hump day and it is almost over and it isn't suppose to storm tonight. So I can be grateful for that! Hope it turns out to be a Terrific Thursday! 

Last Night

Well, last night was sleep challenged!

Right when I was coming to bed, one of the fur kids decided to roll over and I did not catch her in time and she fell onto the floor on her back.  Luckily she was okay, and wanted to come right back up. So I made sure I always had one leg near the side edge of the bed so she wouldn't fall out again.

Then..settled in. Started out just fine, only was awake for about the first 10-15 minutes of SNL.

Suddenly BAAMM!! One of the loudest thunderbolts I have ever heard made both hubby and I just about jump out of the bed!  I didn't even know it was suppose to rain.  I looked at the clock and I had only been sleeping around an hour.  I lied there listening to the storm pass by....at one point it was hailing.  That is quite an experience when your house has a metal roof! I was awake until I could only hear a faint rumble of thunder in the distance, probably about 30 minutes.

Then I drifted off to sleep for a bit and then there was a dog barking.  It wasn't the same one from a few weeks ago as it was the bark of a smaller dog.  Then I heard a sprinkler system come on. Then there was a car going down the wet road rather fast from the sound of it.  I don't know how many times I looked at the clock but it was around 4:00am by then.  I gave in and went to the bathroom.

After than I was able to get to sleep but it was not a restful night. Oye!  Hubby said it may be the same forecast tonight. Wonderful...hopefully not!  It is no fun to start out a Monday morning tired!

To end on a good note, however....I got the first harvest from my balcony garden.  Green beans!  I was hoping for some Kale but I started it too late so it isn't going to make it. But I am quite happy with the beans thus far and will have an nice stir fry with dinner tonight. :-)

By the way, I came up with a name for my food blog. I figured I would just use my website name since it is mine and I don't have to worry about copyright/trademark issues.  I had received some ideas like Diane's Dishes but someone already has that and so anyway here it is: Exploring SouthernBelleGourmet.com
Feel free to 'follow me'.

Where there is a will....

My balcony garden is doing well so far this year...and I just had to share.   I have green beans that are not tall pole beans, at least that is what the package indicated, but look at the pictures below..

 ....one of the vines has latched onto the hanging flower above it.....

                     Where there is a will ..there is a way! :)  

                            A good way to look at life too!

~ Sneak Peek ~

I am going to start a new blog soon that will feature dishes from my Southernbellegourmet.com business.  If you saw that movie Julie and Julia, where the gal makes everything from a cookbook by Julia Child, I plan to do something similar and make nearly everything that is on my website. 

I will post the name of my food blog when it is up.  Here is a sampling of what I'll post. I would not mind ideas of a catchy name for it :)

Cheesy Potato Casserole

Empty package into large pan. Add water, and Cook for 5 minutes....

Add 1 can cheese soup, milk, and margarine. .. (I then cooked another few minutes)...

Then place in a  9x13 pan. Bake in oven for 30 minutes at 350.

 Top with grated cheese and French Fried Onions for extra treat! (I didn't add the french fried onions but only because hubby doesn't like them).

There you have it a delicious side dish to any meal!

Hope you liked this preview.  :-)