This Week at Nana's

Weather Update
May is still happening!               

Hot, hot, hot. (Buster Poindexter)

What a beautiful week of hot sun shining over us.

 

 Its time to start making the homemade ice teas.
Flavored Ice Tea Ideas

Garden Plants And Outdoors Update

Mid May and the plants have survived, frost, high winds and scorching days of heat. Recently, there is a threat of grass hoppers lurking about. They are every where in Albuquerque, New Mexico. As you walk along the back yard they jump up in droves. Its very amusing to watch the cats  having a great time catching and eating the grass hoppers. The grass hoppers have not found my little garden area...yet. Of course there is no threat of them eating the front yard since it is mostly dirt. Its getting cramped in the K9 Garden Club. I moved the tomato plants into larger containers and added the wire cones to support them as they grow. The bean plants are not growing as quickly as I had expected but they are developing new leaves each week.

Here is a tomato plant that has blossomed the first tiny yellow flowers. Very exciting.

I love fresh spinach salad. These are looking good.
Soon, I will be sharing this spinach with the neighbors. 
You really can grow spinach inside the house in planters and always have fresh salad. 
You can grow sprouts at home too. I sprout lentils. You can also sprout mung beans, sunflower seeds and chia seeds. Its cool to watch them grow into sprouts and they are delicious on salads and in pita pockets.  
How to sprout lentils video.

Here is a large green lettuce. 
Its so pretty. I hate to eat it. But it must be done.

Plenty of squash blossoms. At the right corner you can see one of the egg plants. When they flower it will be a beautiful purple blossom with a dash of yellow in the center. I grew eggplant last year and the plants took a long time to produce but each little eggplant was delicious and  worth it. I made a lot of egg plant parmigiano. Recipe here and its the best.

The strawberry plants are flowering and seem to be growing well. 
See the growth of a strawberry video.
The tiny watermelon plants are growing but they are growing sloooooooooooooow. 
Each plant has just two leaves. They really need to get growing.

How fast does a melon grow? 
This guy sure loves watermelons. 

The famous berry tree has fruited this year and is dropping berries. Today, I picked a cup of these yummy berries. Im curious to see how many I can get by the end of the week. The tree is in the neighbors yard and I can only get the ones that drop in my yard. LOL. Do you think it will be enough to bake a pie?  LOL.

Okay, I planted 4 giant boxes of wildflower seeds in the front yard but see no action going on. I'm going to assume that trying to grow flowers from seed in that front yard is impossible. Whaaaaaah!
The front yard plants that were planted in 2013 are growing pretty well. The rosemary smells amazing. The ivy plants are growing well too. I hope I can get the front yard to look presentable soon. I need more plants and grass! That's for sure.

I planted some greenery all along the picket fence last year. I also painted the fence with a fresh coat of white paint. The front fence has ivy plants growing and those were planted in 2013. I could take clipping from those ivy plants and sprout some more Ivy to add to the fence area. I wonder how long that would take to root some new ivy.  Hmmmm. 

At first glance I did read it as ASS and not ASK. 

But really they are the same. LOL

Pet Update

I made a new toy for Tuck. I kept forgetting to buy a ping pong ball at the store. Being imaginative, I put a spool in there and it floats. Its a thumbs up and he likes it. He chases it around the tank. Unfortunately, He hides when I get the camera out to video him . I wish I could get him on video playing with his toy. He chases it around. Its pretty funny to watch him. 

I hope you enjoy the video I made of me talking like a crazy lady to my pets. That's what happens to you when you adopt pets that are sooooo cute. Please excuse the accent. I sound much better in person. LOL.

No pets were harmed during the making of this video.

 
Its been pretty hot here and with the a/c not connected the baking has been limited. As you may have seen on my Facebook page, I had baked an apple pie. Its no secret that my favorite dessert is pie. Mostly, I like to bake pies for friends. I'm weird like that. I was going to bake the buttermilk pie but I had been given a giant bowl of green apples and they were starting to get soft. I know, it is unusual that people like to give me apples, but they do, along with hummus, bread and tortillas. Really, its because they know I will bake them a pie. LOL.

 Apple Pie by Grandma Ople

Ingredients:

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie 1/2 cup unsalted butter 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1/4 cup water

1/2 cup white sugar 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 8 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.
2.	Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.
3.	Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.

This Week at Nana's

 

Weather Update
May is still happening!

Its been a mixed up week of sunny days, cloudy days, windy days and cold days.

The first yellow rose of the year has bloomed!

One of the climbing rose trees in the back yard.

Garden Plants And Outdoors Update

The K-9 Kennel Garden Club is still holding up and has not blown away. The plants are getting stronger and bigger each day. I just love to see the daily progress of the plants. The squash plants are slowly but surely developing blossoms. The goal is for these plants to produce vegetables. Really, I enjoy the growing process but truly the highlight is to get something out of this growing season.  I spotted one bee in the backyard and hope there are more around. Unfortunately, the wasps are back this year. I see they have made a little nest on the top of the front porch. Frequently, I see the wasps flying around outside the kitchen window. One chased me out of the garden club this week. Yikes! 

See the lettuce plant? Its almost salad time. LOL. 

I have a lot of lettuce plants growing near the door.

Squash, Tomato, Lettuce, Red Pepper, Eggplant, Spinach.

Plants you cant see are on the side, beans, variety of squash, melons and strawberries.

Spinach Plants (10 Planters of Spinach)

Sarah's Herbs

I planted herbs this year in honor of my daughter Sarah. 

She had given me this potting bench that sat on the porch for over a year now.

I moved it to the K9 Kennel Garden Club and have put it to good use.

Basil, Parsley, Mint, Rosemary, Chives, Thyme. Ive never grown herbs but this year I am giving it my best attempt. Also you can see some new baby eggplant sprouts.

Closeup of the parsley. Finally, I was getting worried.

Lady bugs in our K9 kennel garden club area! Can you see the lady bug?
Just after I took her picture she flew off and away from "Grandpa Joe".

Chili plants are still inside the house. I noticed little fruit flies by them this week. 

I put out little bowls of apple cider vinegar with a dash of Dawn detergent 

and that took care of those fruit flies. 

Well, I was going to get some baby chicks because I had been inspired by others who have chickens but that has not happened yet. I really don't think I can because of the pit bulls that come into the yard. Those dogs don't go over to Robs house because he has a German Shepard. So Rob's chickens are sort of protected. I will have to put that idea on the back burner for now.

Pet Update

Trying to get a picture of Tuck in his house is hard. He tucks his little head in every time he sees the camera. I cant blame him. Other than avoiding a camera he is doing pretty good. I tried to get him to eat parsley last week but he declined. Lately, his favorite snack is the stinky fish smelling turtle pellets. Pee yew. 

Missy, Missy, Missy. Whats new with her? Nothing. She spends her day outside...begging at the door to come in. That's her new favorite thing to do. On the positive side. She has been enjoying tuna and lots of it. Skinny has been missing in action. Probably because the Bonnie and Clyde pit bulls have been terrorizing the neighborhood again. 

Mauricio is just awesome. He is still on his diet and he is not liking that. LOL.

(He doesn't like getting his picture taken either).

Wheezy the Jail Bird

Wheezy is quiet again. What a crazy bird. Loud one week Quiet the next. I don't get it. The training continues. Also, I am using a fake bird to help train Wheezy but its made zero bit of a difference.

Wheezy being a good boy. Step up!

 

Someone has a new barbeque grill and they are using it. It smells so good in the afternoon. I guess they are using some kind of hickory wood. I cant pin point who has it but it sure makes me hungry. In reference to smells, Chuck and his wife burn the toast every morning and Ive sort of gotten use that smell in the morning. Apparently, they like burnt toast. Its actually pretty nice to get up in the morning, grab a hot tea and sit on the porch before I start the day, listening to Rob's rooster crow and smelling fresh brewed coffee and burnt toast. I don't mind the smell of coffee and burnt toast.

This week I had some fun in the kitchen. I actually baked a chocolate cake for a dear friend. I don't eat chocolate but its fun to hear others tell me that I'm crazy and I don't know what I'm missing. Also, this past week, I baked up some banana nut muffins and banana nut bread. Due to some bananas that ripened faster then I could eat them. Sometimes, I buy too many. Bananas are really good for you but they are not my favorite. But, I can sure eat a large amount of banana nut bread. LOL. I used the banana bread recipe from a book called, "The Complete Idiots Guide to Baking".  I do seem to make a lot of muffins because I like to share them with friends. Lately, I have been looking on the internet at recipes for buttermilk pie. Ive never made the famous buttermilk pie and I guess it is a very popular southern pie. This week, I hope to get into the kitchen and make one. I attempted to view the Test Kitchen's recipe for buttermilk pie because I knew they would have a trust worthy recipe but..... they have the recipe blocked because they want subscriptions. I need to find an old family classic buttermilk pie recipe from some southern bell that actually makes them all the time. LOL. 

Interesting. Very Interesying.

How to sew PJ pants in 30 minutes.

How to sew a pencil skirt.

Wow! Serious Grow it yourself video.

Super Size Your Veggies

The Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar

Great Depression Cooking : Dandelion Salad

 

 

Make a rustic potting bench.

  

I know I should not watch this...but its wrong and so very funny.

 

How to unsend a GMAIL.

 Drunk? Angry? Stupid? All of the above? Cancel that email with Gmail's Undo Send feature.

 http://time.com/1364/30-second-tech-trick-how-to-unsend-email-with-gmail/

  How to Detect a Lie 

 

Seeds - Titli's Busy Garden 2014 Week 9

 

How to Make a Fringe Scarf from an Old T-Shirt

Turmeric for Face

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LM3s-S5Vu9k

Make A Perfect Pizza Pie

( silent video)

Interesting Internet Sites

Awesome, fun, interesting videos and graphics about stuff that matters.
http://www.upworthy.com/

The Quartz Daily Brief is the best morning briefing.
http://qz.com

ChartGirl uses info-graphics and images to report on news, culture, and relevant events.
http://www.chartgirl.com

Narratively is a community of talented storytellers who are devoted to uncovering and sharing in-depth local stories with a universal appeal.
http://www.narratively.com/

You Think Your Soooooo Smart. Dont you?
http://youarenotsosmart.com/all-posts/

The company makes short form videos for social outlets that include,
but aren't limited to, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Vine and YouTube.
http://www.nowthisnews.com/

A question and answer site for science.
http://scifi.stackexchange.com/

This Week at Nana's

Weather Update
May has arrived!

Summer vacation is right around the corner. I am counting down the days for the Grands to finish school.

Just last week, I was bragging about the summer weather. Ha! Then the cold showed up giving Albuquerque a couple nights of frost warnings. Brrrrrrr. The wind has been crazy, blowing little tree branches all over the yard. The power was out for a day. I like electricity and miss it when its not there. LOL. I survived. There is rumor of rain before the weekend begins.

Garden Plants And Outdoors Update

 Last week, I dried and processed the lilac flowers that I collected. I will use the lilac powder to make cream perfume, candles and potpourri. I am really enjoying the roses this year. I started collecting the old rose petals from the rose bushes in the back yard. I will dry and process those too. This past weekend, I was unable to plant the wildflower seeds due to the bad wind. That was disappointing. The weather is holding me back and all I can do now is water, pick up sticks and rake.
The K-9 Kennel Garden Club has held up and not blown away. The garden plants (except for the chile plants) have been moved from inside the house to the great outdoors. The garden plants seem to be doing well in the kennel garden area. The newly planted herb seeds are sprouting up. I'm looking forward to the mint growing and plan to harvest it for mint tea. 

Upon inspection of the garden plants they are looking healthy. No sign of bugs eating the plant leaves. Just to be on the safe side, I think I will order some ladybugs on line for the garden to keep the bad insects away. Last year, I remember finding a couple of pink ladybugs in the garden. Its probably a good idea to have a good supply of those ladybugs on hand. 

Finally, I pulled out the family tent from the garage. I will get that cleaned up for camping just as soon as we get a nice day of sunshine. I think the Grands will have fun with it this summer. I plan to set it up for them to have a pretend afternoon camp out. Meaning no sleeping out just late afternoon pretend camp out. You know, roast marshmallows, listen to Irish pub songs and drink root beer. I was invited to go with Ray and Lilly to Santa Fe this weekend for camping but I'm not too sure about this weekend. I like camping. I'm just not ready until June because I don't care for the cold. Brrrrrrrrrrr. I hope everyone has tried to make their own root beer. I posted a video in the side bar. There are good recipes online. You can also skip the root beer extract and use vanilla to make cream soda.
Click Here To Listen To Irish Pub Drinking Songs.

Pet Update
Missy usually patrols the house seeking curiosity. Today, she got stuck behind the washer and dryer. I put  my big fluffy bathrobe down the side of the washer and fortunate for her she was able to use that to claw her way up on top of the robe to get out. That would be so embarrassing to call the fire department for a cat stuck in the laundry closet. She has been getting on top of the tables, the counter, the TV, etc. Normally, she just goes to her cat chair and sleeps. I'm thinking she should stay outside if the weather stays warm. Also, she rolls in the sand and tracks it throughout the entire house. Yesterday, I went to pet her and she was a dust ball. LOL. Poor Missy. I had read that sometimes cats can revert back to being wild feral cats. She has been staying outside more than usual. Any ways, no sign of Skinny Ding Dongs - AKA Pedro the traitor, he is probably being held captive by the neighbors. He is missing out on tuna. LOL. 

The fish gang are all doing great. Mr. Tubbs has not been splashing much and trying to get the food out of my hand before it hits the water. He has simmered down. I don't like when he jumps up out of the tank at me because it reminds me of the time he jumped out of the tank and I had to scoop him up in the dust pan to get him back in. He must weight about 25 pounds.

Mauricio is cool, just hanging out enjoying the snacks and listening for the sound of the refrigerator opening, hopeful for some lettuce to come his way. LOL. He is still on a limited daily snack allowance. Tuck is doing really good. He has a new stone for his UV light tanning. Now that he can fit up on that stone he is using the UV light more. It took me a while to get it. Big turtle + small stone = no UV light bathing. Duh. LOL. 

Wheezy the Jail Bird
Wheezy is back to being a noisy bird, squawking and chirping and trying to get me to pay attention to him. I tried to nap on the sofa (which is a no-no because someone always calls or knocks on the door) and just as I closed my eyes he started in with his annoying squawks. Man oh man, what happened to my quiet bird? He is still very sweet he just needs my attention 24 hours a day. Anyways, I'm still doing training and think something is not right. He steps up on to my finger but nibbles my finger like an insane bird. It does not hurt at all and actually it tickles and makes me laugh. Seriously, this bird is cuckoo. Actually, I don't think either of us know what we are doing. Its like the blind leading the blind. Terrible. 




Orney had some guy mowing his yard again. I think he uses a push mower. That's cool. I have never used a push mower. I have heard they are hard to push. You have to have good muscles. The girl that drives the bright yellow car takes off each morning like she is in the Indy 500. I guess she is late for work or just enjoys take off. Georgie had mentioned that she drives too fast down our street and I had not noticed it before but he is correct she really shoots out of her driveway and down the street.  

 

Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins 
Everyone should make these. They are amazing!

Muffin Batter
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Line muffin pans with paper liners. Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, salt and baking soda; whisk to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil. Mix on medium-low speed until blended. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.

Cream Cheese Filling
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 large egg
1 tbls flour
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

Combine the cream cheese, egg, flour and confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl and mix well until blended and smooth. Set aside.

Muffin Topping
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tbsp. flour
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

To make the topping, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl; whisk to blend. Add in the butter pieces and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.

To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin about 1/2 full with batter, drop in a spoonful of cream cheese filling and sprinkle tops with a tablespoon of the muffin topping. Bake for 15 minutes for regular sized muffin tin or 30 minutes for jumbo sized muffins.

Weird Videos I've Watched

Cats Annoying Dogs