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.