Can eating vegetables get better than this?

Brent and I were hungry for lunch and discussed our options on our way home early this afternoon.  Tired of grilled cheese sandwiches (his specialty) I suggested trying to dip potato bread in our leftover pumpkin pancake batter and frying on the griddle like French toast. It turned out delicious! And I say, doesn’t that count for two vegetable servings!

Going Stag

Today I spent several hours working out in the front yard. It looks much better but there is still another full day’s work to finish it up.  I cleared out the weeds in the front planter and had Brent dig some holes for me to plant some of our plants purchased almost two years ago for landscaping! Much better!

When I was finished for the day, I decided to take a few pictures. My favorite is of the staghorn fern.  My dad originally obtained some staghorn fern plants from a friend of my mother's. He took the old containers apart and replanted the ferns into 4 or 5 large hanging baskets. Mother gave us one of the baskets in October 2003 and we hung it from a tree limb.  It was heavy and not easy, but they did it!

Then we decided to take that tree out since it was so messy and had to move the fern to the front yard magnolia tree.  While hanging there, the wire basket rusted through and the LARGE plant fell to the ground. It sat there for quite some time as it is too heavy for two men to move.

 

Mike and I decided  last spring (2009) to make a macrame holder out of nylon rope for the staghorn to rehang it. After a botched attempt (wrong shape), Brent used his math skills to help us retie the knots in  a way to fit the plant. Mike had our fence guy build a metal post and cement it deep in the ground to hang the staghorn on. It was not an easy thing to drag the staghorn across the yard (sliding it on boards)  and then hoist it up onto the pole using Brent’s engineered rope pulley with Mike wrapped around the ropes pulling as he walked down the street!  But up it went last spring.

The plant looked pretty sad after being shoved into a macrame net holder with leaves being squished here and there as well as the wear and tear of the original fall and then travel across the yard. I watered and cared for it, gently pulling leaves through the woven macrame.  And voila! This spring it just took off and is full and beautiful!

 

There is Plenty Indeed for my two Hands to Do!

This morning, we headed out to Lake Moreno to help clean up the campground as part of California’s Mormon Helping Hands day. The yucca were all in bloom, the hills still green and wildflowers spotted the landscape. We got our assignment and cleaned out a primitive campsite by shoveling out trash from the fire ring, sifting out broken glass and cleaning up the area. All went well until they fired up the wood chopper and began feeding in downed tree limbs, etc. and spewing it out like volcanic ash! My asthma pleaded for me to hide! We finished our one little area and then left as the boys had so much school work and projects and real work and lessons to prepare and …. But it was a lovely trip to the mountains.   

A Nifty Little Trick – Maybe!

This evening I discovered our first spring epi (epiphyllum) blossom in a pot tucked under our lemon tree. Since the blossoms don’t last long whether on the thorny plant or in a vase, I decided to cut the bloom to enjoy inside. By tomorrow night it will be limp and the beauty will be gone.  So, carefully I reached under the tree and across the big pot (the blossom of course was on the farthest side, difficult to reach) to cut the blossom off. But, not careful enough, with my other hand trying to pull away the lemon branch, my thumb brushed along the epi plant producing a thorn now stuck in my thumb.  The thorns are really a little spine that is clear and small and impossible to see –but definitely a bit painful. So, after placing the prized bloom in water, I went to relieve my pain. 

There are two methods that I know of to remove this tiny thorn. 1. Use a roll of tape. 2. Spread a small amount of white glue across the area and after it dries, peel the thorn off with the dried glue.  Well, I didn’t have any white glue (after Brent’s escapade years ago using liquid glue to make mousetraps all over the family room, I switched to glue sticks), so I tried two kinds of tape (scotch and packing) and neither worked. So, I searched through Chelsea’s desk drawer and found a bottle of white glue!!! But, as one might anticipate,  the glue was no longer runny but was rubbery. After all, the price sticker states I bought it from Thrifty’s which has been closed for many years!  I managed to wipe a damp spot of glue on my thumb and tried to wait until the glob dried. It was obnoxious and I pulled it off too soon with no thorn removed! Brent helped me try the glue one more time. So I’m trying to be patient in letting the glue glob really dry this time. Then hopefully rip and remove to a pain free thumb.