This tutorial shows you how to make the best looking pool noodle lollipops out there. Don't mess with the dollar store noodles. I decided to add some Christmas tutorials for my decorations outside. I'm creating a candy background for some characters from the Nutcracker Ballet. My first task was making some candy. I decided on … Continue reading Big Beefy Pool Noodle Lollipop Decorations
My grandmother used to make cinnamon pickles out of watermelon rind. It was a dessert she proudly put on our plates. They were delicious and in memory of her, I now make them yearly for my extended family and my kids. Last year I also tried a vanilla pickle which was pretty gross. I'm not … Continue reading Just In Time For Christmas: Modern Cinnamon Pickles And Lemon Candy Pickles!
I have a language learning hobby. I ended up with about 8 years of French between middle school, high school and college. I was not at all serious about it until college. I started with several languages on Duolingo, years ago, and ended up just focusing on French. This year I tried to learn chess, … Continue reading Do You Duolingo?
We still have a couple of weeks until we freeze for the year. Most of my plants are shutting down. A few completely tropical plants are starting to fruit. I will be repotting some of the smaller plants into a single pot and bringing others indoors as is. My son's lemon tree is about ready … Continue reading Happenings In The November Garden
These are the type of friends you don't need social media to keep up with! Today the emu had some of its own friends. You may be wondering why the heck anyone would want an emu. I did. So I looked it up! Emu meat has the taste and texture of beef. So. Maybe one … Continue reading Walking And Friending
This is super easy. 1. Get out a crockpot/slow cooker. Don't use something to cut this on that will be hard to get the grease off of. 2. Put 3-6 lbs of pork fat, cut into 1 inch cubes, into the cooker. Look for organic grass fed pork. Otherwise, this will be more similar to … Continue reading Rendering Lard
I passed a bunch of goats the other day. I had a handful of jujubes. Only one goat cared. Then I thought to cut up an old plum and brought that the next day. I only had one taker. But today I brought a cut up apple and now I'm best friends with the entire … Continue reading My Best Friends
"Oh, that lady's hips!" "What beautiful hips she has." "Those hips are delightful!" No, not a personal description. These are rose hips. 😜 We're playing the "what is that squash?" game in the compost pile. Tomatoes from the food bank. Bright orange zinnia. Beautiful cactus fruit!, What in the heck is this? It looks like … Continue reading Walk=The Same. Things I Notice? Always=Different!
This time in the sun, at double the pace. There's a bunch of really negative stuff in my life right now, (at a distance) so I enjoyed a walk! It was a pretty, but a little bit blinding, walk! Itty bitty start of something seriously pokey! It's just sticks and leaves. I definitely looked closely … Continue reading Another Walk
Riddle me this, Batman: how does a leaf, follow a stream, a couple of hours after a storm with a clear drop (or three) of rain? It floated through rocks and on muddy water, but the raindrop it carries is still pure. Pretty, even if I can't explain it! I'm in Arizona right now helping … Continue reading Flowers in the Desert
This is a great project! I've been able to reuse the original for nine years because I bought a dress form and a Styrofoam head that I restretch the ghost over every year. I really recommend getting a form for this project. Find out how to make her below! Halloween 2023 Oh, I had fun … Continue reading Easy Packing Tape Ghost
I'm always working on our Halloween display. This year I decided I needed jellyfish! I love spooky stuff but the creepy, gory, sicko type stuff just doesn't light my fire. However, glowing awesome jellyfish sounded way too cool to pass up! I got this idea several months ago and ordered what I needed in September. … Continue reading Glowing Jellyfish: Outdoor Halloween
Happy September from me and one of my cats: Mimi. I got a particularly good photo of her eyes, so I'm sharing. Mimi is an adult rescue cat. She's our second full time house cat and she came from a 90 year old lady's house. Our house is very different from where she came from. … Continue reading MIMI
Feel like today is 101°F. I'm currently hiding out in the air conditioning. However, I was out there about an hour ago moving stuff so the mowing crew can weedeat the gravel area. Right now it looks like the Serengeti. Grass as tall as my torso. The grass got out from under me this year. … Continue reading Fall Garden Happenings
This is a G.E.M. avocado. It's supposed to be hardy to zone 9. Thanks to the warming temperatures over the last ten years we have been moved from 8b to 9a. As most people know: we are still in the tail end of an ice age and when you are coming out of an ice … Continue reading Avocado, Texas Style
I looked around online for ways to give my son some privacy in his new dorm room. We signed up for a two person room and started with a three person assignment. My son met a kid on our tour and they both wanted two person so now they're going to be roommates. They still … Continue reading Dorm Room Privacy
You may or may not remember when I warned about suckers coming off below the graft area on fruit trees. But: I said to watch for them and don't let them get out of hand... These are peach suckers, from the graft zone and they are clearly out of hand! I cut them as close … Continue reading Trouble In (Summer) Paradise
Ever heard of a Dutch Baby? Well, my goodness, I hope you have! These are sort of pancakes, but much poofier and you make them in the oven. I used to eat them every Sunday after church. I went with my parents when we all lived in Colorado. We used to get them at the … Continue reading Buttered Dutch Babies
So. Yes. I am having a new experience in my garden. As my grandmothers were, I'm also: usually always home. I visit my family, but mostly around Christmas time when my garden is asleep. This year I'm finding out what happens when you aren't home to stop disasters! There were bees and hornets all over … Continue reading Crazy Happenings In The Garden
Man I tell you what. Don't enter into a contract with a crazy person. We had to redo our Eagle Scout project. So, basically we built it twice. The woman we were working with has had some health problems, so: I'm choosing to blame that on her awful behavior. But she was sending pages of … Continue reading Finished!
Crazy Green Thumbs 