As you may (or may not) recall; other than a bit of basil and rosemary, I only had room and time to plant one food plant this year, a cherry tomato called Black Cherry. I am happy to report that this lone plant has worked it's little organic roots and leaves off to keep us in tomatoes:
I have to pick them before they are fully ripe and let them finish ripening inside, where a hungry little rabbit can't reach them. Mayhap I should change my name to Beatrix, dress the bunny in a wee jacket and plant some carrots?
Off to the doctor in the morning, keep your fingers crossed for me.
There have been a few surprises since moving south. Some have left me with my heart in my mouth, others have made me chuckle; still others have left me with a feeling of wonder. At all times, however, I've been left with the certainty that critters of all sorts like nothing half so well as a good laugh at my expense.
There's the heart attack frog, for instance, whom I first met when I was going to get bottled water from the spare refrigerator, which is located in a shed/workshop outside of the house. H.A.Frog had plastered him or herself on the window; fortunately for me, for our first meeting Le Ribbett had gathered it's limbs together in a neat little bundle, like this:
Subsequent meetings found the little croaker splayed across and pressing against the window like a tired old hussy trying to rustle up a drink. Well, except for the time it crashed into, and clung onto, the window right beside where I was sitting, prompting an impromptu run to the bathroom...
Then we have the ever-popular George and friends (with various and sundry permutations of the name),
one of whom, who should have more properly been named Georgina, chose to move into the house and become our resident pest control and pet. One often sees her darting busily up and down walls in search of an insect dinner. She has also proved herself both remarkably fecund and agile by giving birth (being a live-bearer rather than an egg-layer) on the ceiling above my head. I might have carried on through life happily ignorant of this momentous event, if Georgina hadn't arranged for some of what I assumed was amniotic fluid to drip on my head.
I heard her snicker as she scampered off.
Being in the southern part of Florida during the summer means you see rain. Lots of rain. Lots of rain means there are unhappy and hungry reptiles about; the long, slithery kind. On yet another hot night, when I'd stepped out to fetch water from the other refrigerator, I came face to face with uncertain long and slithery death. Well, foot to face. If I'd gone down the steps and to the shed door. Which I didn't, because I noticed a long, skinny, moving and hissing stretch of ill-tempered snake banded in red, yellow and black stretched out in front of the shed door.
It was dark outside, with only a rather dim outside light to see by, so I levitated backward into the house and quickly slammed the door. Of course there is a rhyme to help one differentiate between a real and a false coral snake, and I could remember it? That's right, other than gibbering "snake, snake, SNAKE " my mind wasn't functioning. Snakes don't usually frighten me, I'd often take one or two to my mother as a gift when I was a child, but a far too close encounter with a rattlesnake when I was in my early teens persuaded me that caution where poisonous creatures were concerned was the course of wisdom. Fortunately, the park's owner was able to safely wrangle the snake, identify it as non-venomous, and released it somewhere a bit more removed from human habitation. The frog, the myriad Georges, and I were all quite happy with that solution. The snake stuck out it's tongue and sneered at me as it slithered into the wild.
And then there's the feathered joker that kept me puzzled for days as I tried to figure out where the duck with the obnoxious quack was hiding. After a little sleuthing and a bit of research I realized: If it quacks like a duck it may well be a Northern mockingbird! They're lovely birds about the size of a cardinal or blue jay, with a beautiful voice and are quite talented mimics who can memorize up to 200 songs and sounds. I'm sure it had a good laugh or three as it quacked at me! At least it wasn't imitating a car alarm, as they are wont to do.
Who here thought a 55 year old woman who hadn't worked outside the home in, what, a decade? How did the time pass so quickly? Anyway, 55 year old woman, work, decade... oh yeah, and with no current marketable skills... who thought she was just going to jump right back into the job market and score the big one? Not I, despite having been -ostensibly- hired, along with a dozen or so others; even after having begun 'training' with the company I had that odd little feeling in the back of my head. A few days after being hired we were all sent home for not being proficient enough in our training. It wasn't difficult work or training, the company got no fees, etc... from any of we 'new hires', so what gives? (I am keeping an eye open for anything new and exciting regarding, say, my SSN.) Ah well, life goes on... not holding my breath until that check shows up in the mail, so the job hunting process has begun again.
On the other hand... my daughter, who has long since returned to Indiana after her birthday, is having an exciting time of it.
She and Mom at Medieval Times.
The kidling has acquired both a couch and a fiancee, both of which are about a foot longer (or taller) than she. This makes her happy which in turn makes me happy.
I've been filling my time with the usual activities: reading, cooking, writing, etc... which have all been made much easier since I'm no longer tremoring. All those pesky movements which made my life so unpleasant are almost completely gone, along with a lot of other unpleasant medical stuff which has improved tremendously. (Not going into TMI territory here.) Other than finding out that the arthritis in my spine has worsened significantly, I'm most certainly on the upswing and I have no doubt I'll find work... it will take a while and won't come with a fancy title and that's okay. I refuse to give up and that's what matters.
Before I go, it's been a while since I last posted so I feel obligated to put up pictures of food.
A slice of Jenn's birthday cake, an almost-but-not-quite Schwarzwalderkirschtorte:
A big batch of homemade barbecue sauce and barbecued ribs, as well as some cashew chicken I've made for Mom over the last few weeks.
Oh and before I go: Please don't blame me for Trump's running mate. Whilst I am a native of Indiana, (aka a Hoosier) I no longer live there. I am relieved, on behalf of my former home state, that he has taken himself out of the running for governer; one term with him was more than enough!
My beloved nephew, Dana, seems to be following in his father's (my oldest brother) footsteps, sharing his penchant for Jimmy Buffett, grass skirts and shell bras:
He seems to be searching for his dignity.
More pics from yesterday:
Mom with her head in the clouds; she had a fall during the island excursion of the trip... not a bad one, but she's sore today.
A couple of pelicans took pity on me and stood still long enough for me to snap a picture. The bubbly area to the middle left of the photo was hiding a very shy manatee.
Another dolphin; the younger ones were quite exuberant and would approach quite closely. We also spotted one of the subjects of their study: Rocky, an adult male dolphin.
Before we left on the cruise we had a light lunch at Snook Inn, this is alligator with a spicy remoulade. We also had conch chowder, Manhattan style, with a nice hit of heat. The kidling had shrimp followed by a slice of chocolate mousse 'cake' topped with chocolate-toffee bits. It was all delicious.
Fortunately, we were on the last leg of the trip when we saw this heading toward us; we made it back to the dock and had just jumped in the car when it began pouring down. Seriously, it cracked the sky!
Tomorrow is the kidling's birthday and we are, at her request, going to Medieval Times... I spent much of the day today preparing her birthday cake: layers of chocolate cake moistened with a fresh black cherry/peach moscata sirup. It is covered with white chocolate ganache and served with the peach moscata-infused black cherries and the rest of the sirup ladled over.
Never heard of Medieval Times? (Lucky you! lol) Here's a link where you can see what you're missing---> Medieval Times We'll be eating our dinner with our bare hands . . .
Yet, no photos yet! Please don't strangle me! I'll put just one up tonight, of the kidling, but I'm also sharing a link of a video she did today of some of the dolphins playing in the boat's wake.
Watch the video and you'll see why she's looking a bit, well, smug; great job using just her cellphone!
Oh okay, just one more photo! (Obviously, I'm not as good as the kidling.)
Poking my head in and waving; the kidling has arrived so it's go like crazy time. Tomorrow we're going on a cruise with the folks of the Dolphin Explorer; they're studying the dolphins of the southwest Florida waters and we lucky souls get to go along! (Expect lots of photos.) (Oh, and expect to read a bit about Rufus the Toothless vampire and a book review next week.)
Here's a teaser:
For image source, more photos and more information about the cruise, go here: LINKY! (This is just what I'd do if I could get away with it.)
After nearly a month of non-functioning laptops for my mother and I, (hers stopped working and mine mostly died three days later-ala The Princess Bride, I thought it was completely dead) my laptop is up and running again! Yes, I can once again whine, pout and be silly in your general direction. Both my phone and Kindle were working but were quite recalcitrant regarding the blog... occasionally I would see a link on Facebook and be able to reach a blog from there, but that was it. Anyway, that's all over, thank goodness! I do have a few photos to share, along with a couple of lovely bits of good news.
The basil and rosemary are coming along, the rosemary is soon to be transplanted to a permanent spot. The tomatoes are thriving; the branches are nearly 4 foot high and are covered with baby cherry tomatoes!
We've already gotten a half-dozen fresh tomatoes and more are busily ripening; they have a lovely tanginess.
The various tropical storms have made sky-watching even more fascinating than usual, although there have been interesting sights on land as well; think I'll close the photo section with a lovely lobster bisque...
It was a sample of the restaurant's new recipe and was deliciously creamy with a surprising little 'kick', yum!
As for the good news: The kidling will be here soon to spend her birthday with us, it will be SO good to see her. (Oh, and she recently got a significant raise!)
Also, next Tuesday I go for an interview and facility tour with a potential employer. This is for a desk job, full-time, with a company which provides decent remuneration and benefits. Considering how long it's been since I worked, I couldn't ask for a better way to get back on the work force... I decided it was time to go for baroque, lol.
Last, but never least, I live a bit over an hour from Orlando, Florida now... please keep everyone who has been affected by the tragedy in your thoughts.
