Deer Me!

Why the big deal? It's not but it's a first. So we're sitting on the porch and hear a car honk down near the driveway and the next thing to happen is a lovely doe sauntering up the drive, very hot, in fact panting. She circled the house and headed for the cow water tho she didn't drink and jumped the fence and headed into the pine trees. We are thrilled but I'm glad she moved on and wasn't enticed by all our delicious flora we've worked so hard to establish. Our other country friends complain how the deer eat all their plants. John said, "I wish she could be our pet deer." There really is a deer in the back near the bush.

Graduation

Last Wednesday was graduation. Yeah! After I figured out that no one would actually fail the course (after all they do need the volunteers) I sailed through my final open book exam (and still missed a few questions on fertilizers - best to just forget fertilizer and pest control and let nature handle it) and received my Certificate of Completion and name badge. Great time and I'd do it all over again. The instructor read some of our goals we had expressed at the beginning and she decided my goal of "I hate to garden so make me love it" was successful. I agreed.

Patio Cover

In two just rained-soaked days John thought up on paper and with no plans came up with a wonderful shaded area for our deck. The man can build anything. He's my hero. And Roadie agrees. It took just two attempts and walla he has a whole new playground. Now if we can teach him to clean out the gutters.

Coyotes

The hair stands up on your neck, the heart starts to beat rapidly and you expect to see them with snarling and curled lips staring at you with red eyes from the edge of the yard. My first thought is of the cats, their favorite, and I know the cats roam around the woods to the east.

I had seen Roadie going in that direction earlier so I ran to the front porch and started yelling for him to get home over and over again, clapping my hands and doing all the signals to get his attention when John nudged my arm and pointed to the rocking chair and their sat Roadie all big eyed wondering what the heck is mom all crazy about. Next time I'll check out the rocker first before freaking out. No the coyotes still make me freak out. Isn't he the cutest!

Master Gardener

Began my Master Gardener class 3 weeks ago. Oh the Latin. Each week we have 5 plants to memorize the genus, family, common name, growing conditions, and soil. This week it's Prunus serotina, Philadelphus coronaries, Cornus florida, Cycas revoluta, and Zamia floridana, oh my. Doesn't sound too difficult but we have only a couple of minutes to get a mental picture of the plants and a fact sheet to study. This is on top of our weekly lessons and quiz on prior week's lesson. Fortunately, the website is a godsend for referencing. The class will run 15 weeks. So far, basic plant botany, soil sampling, nutrient deficiencies and garden pests have been covered. It's been too long since I've actually had to study but I love the class and the people are very interesting. At the end we are required to volunteer at the center and they give us many different choices that would satisfy any number of areas of interest. Wish me luck.

Planted my wildflower garden a week ago and see little sprouts. Yea. Dad is making us an above ground herb garden box. Roadie will be so happy when he has a constant source of catnip.

Lets see. So far we've had Bluebirds, Redwing Blackbirds, Towhees, Goldfinch, Yellow-rumped warblers, Hummingbird (male), Red headed woodpecker, Red bellied woodpecker, Woody wood pecker, Cedar waxwings, and all the usual garden birds.

We're snuffling and rubbing our eyes as the oak dust falls around us. Everything turned green quickly last week and the wild phlox are in bloom as well as dogwoods, etc. I love spring.

Somoas

Today arrived the most expensive box of Girl Scout cookies ever. $3.50 for the cookies and I'm only guessing @$8.00 to ship. Payment on the way but worth every bite. Next time though money up front and no C.O.D. okay?

Thank you Abby; the cookies are delicious. Grandma Susu

Skin Care

Just got my pathology report back from last month's trip to the dermatologist. I'll back up a little. Just before Christmas a really ugly cyst-like sore erupted on the back of my right arm. I, in my all knowing, ignored it until I couldn't anymore and went to the doctor who said "I'm not touching that" looks like skin cancer and I can't do a biopsy. Anyhow I'll spare all the details, did have an appointment with a new dermatologist on Jan. 29th who removed 5 different spots for biopsies and froze 7 other spots. Two on my back (one mole), left thigh, right hand, and the right arm. Both the rt. hand and rt. arm turned out to be squamous cell cancers. The others were negative (whew). So back I go for more treatment. The biopsy she took from my arm was the size of a nickel and about 1/4" deep and it is still healing and still hurts. Hope she doesn't have to take too much more. I have been through this before (1993) and my first basal cell appeared just to the right of my nose and required removal and 8 stitches. It was just a little pore that would bleed when I'd wash my face.

Protect your skin and don't ignore any changes.

How high can I jump

We haven't laughed so hard all week. Our bed is so high I'm now looking out the window at the ground instead of the treetops. Our bed is so high I have to look over the edge for my side table. Our bed is so high I'm looking down on the light bulb in the lamp. Our bed is so high Shamu decided to sleep somewhere else. Isn't that partly why we got the bed, to share with the cats! But it was nice not to have to bend down to put the sheets on. With all the fluffy bedding it is 35" tall- that's waist high, oh my.

New bed

It has been a long time since we went bed shopping and forget about being prepared by internet research which actually just complicates your decision, not to mention the sticker shock.

This morning was the final straw! This was the day. I woke up in the middle of the night humming to the tune of (Steely Dan's '70s) "Barney to the left of me, Roadie to the right of me and I'm stuck in the middle with you." I did know I wanted a Simmons Beautyrest World Classic, no pillow top, and medium firm to kind of soft. No one store has the same label so you can't comparison shop for price and the salespeople are no better than car salespeople. I've laid on so many beds I lost at least 24 hours off my life. Anyway today we had success. And at an OOPS store. They said they were 2nds but right now the beds are mostly just 2008 overstocks. Got a great king-size bed that met all my criteria and saved about $900. Works for me. Hopefully for the brood too.

Suet Recipe

Mother nature has been so unkind this season. We had 2 winters, cold and bitterly cold.

I just left my coat hanging on the rocking chair all season for a quick pick up dashing in and out. And my vest, gloves, hat, John's coat, etc. covering most other surfaces. You see coats never make it back into the closet and shoes just gather around the doorways. We've talked about a coat rack but why bother when we have the rocking chair (kind of homey actually). That's all coming to a welcomed finale but I've been fooled before so I won't be putting that coat away just yet.

Of course the migrating birds are passing through but for my usual stick around for the winter birds, here is the suet recipe I rely on as an all weather, year round and no fail.

1 cup crunchy peanut butter
2 cups "quick cook" oats
2 cups cornmeal
1 cup lard (no substitutions)
1 cup white flour
1/3 cup sugar

Melt the lard and peanut butter, stir in the remaining ingredients. Pour this mixture into square containers about 1-1/2" thick. Allow to cool or freeze. Yummy.

I discovered something about pine cones after using them as suet receptacles. On a particularly cold morning I went to bring it in for refilling and the blades were completely closed up tightly. I never knew that. So, I placed it near the fireplace and the next day the blades were open. Dadah.

Princess 1993 - 2008 We didn't name her. Haley, the little girl next door in St. Pete, gave her the title. Princess was a neighborhood cat shared between our houses. We heard the original owners just didn't want her and so she moved to our street. She finally decided to live with us permanently and we were more than happy to give her the love she so deserved. She loved the farm and the freedom from cars and other dangers. Not that there aren't dangers here but so many great places to spend the day. When we walked into the vet's office today the girl said "a Russian Blue." I just thought of her as a gray cat. She had been really out of sorts lately and drinking water at every chance (loved pool water) so I decided a vet visit was in order. However, never did I think I would be having to say goodbye to this beloved pet. Princess was in total kidney failure and probably in much distress. Wish I had paid more attention to my gut feeling about her symptoms sooner. The decision to have her put down was the only option at this stage of kidney failure. I said my goodbyes and gave kisses through my tears and left the room. John had her resting place ready when we got home under the wax myrtle where she would spend lazy days in the tall grass that grows underneath. A nice rock marks the place. Thank you Princess for all of the wonderful years.