Still thrilled with micro-irrigation…

It’s September, never a good month in my garden.  By September, I’m tired of watering, doing it sporadically, the plants are fading away, the ferns are dying.  But not this year, oh no, it’s a jungle out there.  Just look at the size of these plants!  And I haven’t watered one single time since mid July when John installed the micro irrigation system.  Isn’t it awesome?  Check out the size of that impatien next to the the chiminea,  it’s huge!

Some of you may think, egads, that’s overkill.  Of course it’s overkill, it’s me, ladies, I’m always over the top.  But I lo-ove it.  I think it’s wonderful! 

We’ve had such a hot dry summer here, it just astonishes me how well this works.  Hubby installed it in the front, also, so I don’t have to water the plants in my little courtyard.  I’m 100% maintenance free.

Think about it for your gardens next summer.  I can give you all the info.  It’s very inexpensive, it’s all commercial products, not consumer, prices are much better.  It’s an amazing sight to behold… 

~ jan

 

Fish stew, first attempt….

Okay, after several emails back and forth with Carlene this morning, I decided to give fish stew a try.  She was skeptical because flounder is thin, she thought it might disintegrate in the soup.  She lives in Maryland, has great access to all kind of fish and seafood, unfortuanately, in Heavensville it doesn’t happen.  I have to use frozen.

So here’s what I did, here’s how it turned out, and here is my take on it…

• 1 can diced italian tomatoes (a few herbs can’t hurt)
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 2 yukon gold potatoes, diced, with peeling left on
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 1 onion chopped
• handful of chopped cabbage (I didn’t have bok choy)
• 1 cup frozen lima beans
• handful of frozen peas.
• salt and pepper to taste

I simmered the veggies in the stock, then added two whole pieces of frozen flounder, and let it simmer for about 10 minutes, then I took the fish out, gently, and let the rest of the soup simmer until done. 

Carlene likes her soup without cornstarch, we like the broth a bit thicker, so I added a tablespoon or so of cornstarch mixed into 1/2 cup water at the end.  Then I flaked the fish into chunks and carefully put it back in so it didn’t fall completely apart.

And????

It was good, it could have been better I think with a splash of white wine or sherry as Carlene suggested, but nothing was open, and I didn’t want to open a bottle for this.

It does taste like fish, but it’s not overpowering.  I added a few chow mein noodles (no croutons in the pantry) for some crunch.  And yes, that’s a dip bowl I put it in – it’s my favorite bowl for soup….

I would do this again for sure, but I don’t think I would want it more than a couple of times before tiring of it.  However, if I would have had bok choy, I would have worked in 3 of the five cancer starving ingredients, cooked tomatoes, bok choy and flounder.

Starving Cancer: Anti-Angiogenesis–Dr. Oz.

New research shows that 40% of women in their 40s have microscopic breast cancer. Even more shocking, almost 100% of people in their 70s will have microscopic cancer in their thyroid glands.

I was in the kitchen last week, turned on the television, Dr. Oz was on, and was very interested in what the segment was about, starving cancer by eating five foods regularly.  It’s pretty simple, ladies, we can do this and it could save our lives.

I was talking to Ryan about this earlier this week, he suggested making a fish stew, eating a cup of it a few times a week, using all the ingredients in this list, except for the strawberries.  I’m going to talk to my foodie guru buddy, Carlene, see if she can come up with a recipe for us… 

Here’s the video

And here’s the list of foods 

• Bok Choy
• Cooked Tomatoes
• Flounder
• Strawberries
• Artichokes

Exciting news at our house this weekend….

John and Deanna are engaged!!!!!  He proposed in Europe last week, and we are all absolutely thrilled about it!!!

Deanna is absolutely, positively adorable.  She’s spunky and cute, kind and gentle, funny and sweet, a true southern lady, and we’re all so lucky to have her in our lives. 

John is so happy, I’ve ever seen him as contented with his life as he is now.  All of our friends and family are so excited for them, oh what a wonderful gift this is. 

They came home to tell us this weekend, we’ve just had the best time!  Life is good for our family, we are so blessed.  ~ jan

Guess where I’ve been this week???

Oh, I could just gush all day about how precious she is.  She’s on the move, girlfriends, grips those little toes against the rug and balances, she’ll be walking soon, she stands alone for quite a while now.

She has a vocabulary, too!!!  Da-da, Ma-ma, ball and bye-bye.   She’s a happy baby, she has a mother that sings to her and plays with her and laughs a lot, so she mimics that.  She always gets quiet when you sing to her, and she pats her little hands on her thighs when music is playing.  She has rhythm!  She DOES!!!! She’s never still, always playing with her toys, methodically clicking certain buttons to make the sounds she wants to hear.  We just sit and watch her for hours.  She’s not a lap sitter, oh no, she’s a big girl, now, wants down to play all the time.

A lot of you have been where I’m at, you know what I’m feeling, the pure joy of every single thing she does.  She crawls all over the house, follows Lindsay like a little puppy, when she see’s Ryan, she squeals “DA-DA,” and crawls to him as fast as she can and puts out those little arms for him to pick her up. 

These pictures enlarge, if you click on them, you can see close ups.

It’s a wonderful thing, this grammie stuff.  I’m enjoying every second of it…  ~ jan

Just another day in the life…

So, I’m in the kitchen, whipping up a batch of Hungry Girl’s Pumpkin Oatmeal Pancakes, yeah, they’re really good, but anyway, they are lumpy, so I grab my whisk and smooth them out, and I’m thinking that I remember the day we didn’t have whisks. Yikes, I do!!!

In fact, a lot of my kitchen favorites are fairly recent.  Sometimes I forget just how old I really am.  And it just frosts my cake that I won’t be around to see what life in the kitchen will be like 30-50 years from now. 

Just wanted to give you all a reality check this morning.  Sure thing, umhmmm, thanks Jan, right…

A cartoon we all can relate to…

It’s a fall breeze….

The windows are open again, the front door, too. It’s 70 degrees this morning in Heavensville, and life is good.  Family is great, John and Deanna are having a wonderful vacation, Ry’s little family is doing well.

The only way it could be better is if I had a screen door to bang.  Seriously, one of my favorite sounds, preferably with little children running in and out… again

It’s a good day….

It’s cool enough this morning to have the front door open.  The fresh air coming in through the screen smells wonderful.  The dogs are bathed, laundry is spinning in the dryer, hubby just installed micro irrigation for the plants in front of the house.  It’s a productive morning.

John and Deanna are in Tuscany today.  I can’t wait to hear all about it.  I made white beans and tuna with olive oil and sage for lunch.  Trying to have a little taste of Tuscany in Heavensville…

I’ve got somebody I want you to meet….

My friend, Nisha, is a new grandmother to baby Gabby.  Nish and I have been friends forever, and I’ve known Gabby’s mother, Mandi, since she was a toddler.  Isn’t she a precious little baby?  Oh, it’s so much fun when your girlfriends are new grammies, too! 

Nisha is so proud of this grandchild, and she’s having so much fun on an extended visit, getting acquainted with her.

She’s almost two weeks old now, and I can’t wait to meet her!  Oh, she’s just too cute for words!!!!!!!!  She’s gonna be a beauty, just like her pretty little mama!!!

~ jan  

More of those simple things…

I’ve changed so much with the passing years.  Things that once gave me great pleasure no longer hold any interest.  I’m happiest when I’m home, puttering around the kitchen, walking thru my flowers, playing with my dogs, remembering the good times…

My memories of mother come often now, and they’re happy memories. Thoughts of her and the things she did brings a smile to my face daily.  I find myself doing things that she used to do, like cutting fresh roses from the garden for my kitchen, washing my lettuce in her favorite stainless steel bowl that I talk about so often, even sticking the knife in the lettuce the way she used to.  A basket of napkins sit on the counter, just simple things like this give me so much pleasure. 

Our family is on the move this month.  Ryan, Lindsay and bebe Abby are returning from her birthday week with her family in Washington State today.  John and Deanna are leaving in the morning for their vacation in Europe.  They’re going to Switzerland, driving thru Italy, and they’re going to Tuscany, and Verona, too.  Oh, how I look forward to the pictures and hearing about the italian countryside, the villages, and the people.

I’m missing Abby already and I just saw her two weeks ago.  She talks on the phone to me now, she yells “Hi,” “Hi,” “Hi.” I think there will be a trip to Lexington in our near future. 

But for today, I’m content to be home with the dogs and my music, just kicking back with a good book this afternoon.

Safe journey, dear family, life is good…

I’ve come to the realization….

I don’t like to smell like fruit.  So many of the body washes smelly “fruity.”  I’ve tried several, butthey’re just not right.  I like to smell like soap.  Is it my age?  Does this come from growing up using Safeguard and Dial? 

I’m not going to buy anything “fruity” again, even though the Dove Peachy one is pretty delicious smelling.

I just bought a new bottle of Dial Fresh Body Wash, and dahlings, I do smell ‘mahvelous’ today, I really do.  Much better than smelling like a pomegranate…

I’m old now, set in my ways, just can’t go with the trends on this one.  Nope, not even gonna try…

But the good news is that the old standby’s, Zest, Dial, even Caress have slashed their prices deeply, trying to compete with the new kids on the block.  Works for me…

So this is what I've been up to....

Every once in a while I get on an organizing kick.  I learned long ago that containment is the secret to organization, but then I somehow don't always apply it.  My pantry needed a redo.  We always have a lot of food in the house, and it's stacked in the pantry, and half of it you don't see because it's hidden in the back, and when you try to get items from the back, everything falls over or falls off the shelf.

So, I decided that it would be great if everything was in baskets, the way they do it in the Williams-Sonoma or Pottery Barn  catalogs.  Beautiful, brown baskets, all stacked in rows with all my staples in them.  But there are two problems with that, first of all, it could be really spendy.  Baskets aren't cheap, they would easily cost me $20-35 dollars each and that would be a major expense.  And second, they wouldn't be at all transparent, it would be hard to see inside them.

So Sunday I was on a mission, I went to Wally World, checked out their storage section, and found these plastic baskets.  The small ones cost me $1.50, the large size was $2.50, and I bought one jumbo one for $3.50.  And as a result, I bought a total of fourteen baskets, and reorganized my entire pantry for $30, yes, all of it for $30!  What a deal!!! The big basket on the bottom of the pantry I've had for several years, and you can't see the top shelf in the picture, but it's all organized, too, and I think it looks great!!! So here are the pictures, before and after, and yes, that's Hamburger Helper you see in there.  *blush*  Well, after all, it does make a great meal!!! And yikes, I didn't realize it looked that bad before, I really didn't.

What does your pantry look like?  Maybe you would like to redo yours, too.  These baskets work great, you can pull out, for instance, all your pastas, take a look at what you need and put them back, nothing falls over, nothing spills out.  Works for me...

 ~ jan

I thought of mother this morning...

I fixed my favorite summer breakfast, a strip of bacon, poached egg on an english muffin, slices of green pepper, a fresh tomato from John and Deanna's garden, and an onion.  Mother always had an onion with every meal.  I ate it and thought of her, she would have enjoyed it so much.

I've been out of touch lately.  We spent several days in Nashville with the family, celebrating LC's sixty-fifth birthday.  It was such a good time, families are just the BEST!

Bebe Abby is simply adorable.  She's ten months old now, babbling nonstop, pulling up to everything, and crawling everywhere.  She's so funny, she crawls to the edges of rugs, and as soon as she hits hardwood she stops.  Smart little granddaughter.

And speaking of granddaughters, my friend, Nisha, is a new grammie.  Gabrielle Renee was born Monday morning, weighing in at 5 lbs. 5 ounces, the cutest little baby, ever, well, except for Abby, of course, with a head full of black hair.  I'm so happy for Mandi and Eric, they had a tough pregnancy, but all is well now and that baby is just precious!  I can't wait to get my hands on her...

Is dementia setting in?

I have a morning routine, same breakfast every morning, coffee, a poached egg on an english muffin and a piece of fruit.  I make my coffee, get out my coffee cup, put in the Splenda and fat free half and half, slice the english muffin, pop it in the toaster.

I fill a mug 1/3 full of hot water, add just a tiny splash of vinegar and a pinch of salt, crack my egg in the mug, nuke it for 1 minute 15 seconds, drain it with a mesh sieve, and put it on my english muffin.  I do this every, single morning.

So I go through the routine this morning like the trained monkey I am, have everything ready, put in the toast, start the microwave, but wait, where’s my coffee?  I can’t find it anywhere, meanwhile the microwave is beeping, the english muffin has popped up, and I’m getting frazzled.  This isn’t right!  Where IS that coffee!  I open the microwave, jeez louise, I had poached my egg in my fat free half and half and Splenda in my coffee cup!

I’m losing it, I really am…  And no, I didn’t taste it!  Threw it out, and started all over.  Then I burnt my muffin!  It was just one of those mornings…

Now THIS is funny!

I just read this on a wiki site and burst out laughing.  Oh, what I wouldn’t give to be one of these women!

Trinny and Susannah recommend that flat chested women substitute a bandeau made from flesh-colored tights tied around your chest like a bandeau rather than wearing an uncomfortable and unnecessary bra. This way, you can wear a skimpy top or dress without feeling exposed.

Your daily dose of cuteness….

Hillary’s rehearsal dinner caftan….

Is it just me, or is this the most gawdawful getup you ever saw in your life for the most talked about rehearsal dinner of the year.  Is this her idea of country chic?

Law-dee, I just had to do a poll, scroll down to the right sidebar and give me your opinion. 

Maybe it’s just me, but I’m thinking hil took a spill with this caftan look.  It will be memorable though, you can take that to the bank.  Somehow I keep thinking Aretha Franklin.  Oh, bad girl, Jan, bad girl… Well it’s the truth!

Girls just wanna have fu-un…

Crystal Light Natural Immunity Cherry Pomegranate

I’ve been telling everyone how good this Cherry Pomegranate drink is from Crystal Light.  I make it with half the water, so the flavor is really intense, however, the color is really intense, also.

I was out with LC on Milly last night, we were talking to the neighbors, I look at him and do a double take, holy crap, he has a Kool-Aid smile!!! Geezy Pete, I never thought about that!  I asked him if I had one, too, and of course I did!

Law-dee, two old people on golf carts with smiley stains on their mouths.  Our neighbors must have thought we were nuts!  Why didn’t somebody say something?

Cause they were too busy laughing to themselves, that’s why!!!!! 

So this morning I’m drinking it through a straw.  Smart idea huh, well, not really!  I only have one straw, yes, one straw, I’ve had it for a whole year now. It’s a jumbo straw, I had a smoothie at Panera last summer and that’s where it came from.  And no, I’m not a hoarder, I never save anything, but this thing is great for smoothies.

Oh, this sound so stupid, saving a straw for a year!  But I don’t know where to find really big straws.  Note to self:  try to find a package of them this weekend. 

So anyway, I took a big drink with that huge straw and that damn stuff is so strong that I got really choked!  So now here I sit, trying to recover from that little episode.

Oh joy, just another day in paradise…