Mosaic Mom

This is the wierdest Blogger looking page yet.
I have come in on another Browser.
I have had to by-pass all of Google's attempts to sign me up and suck up my passwords forever.
However if this works...
Cut and paste from old blog below just as a test:

I am pretty much fed up with Blogger. And I am very seriously thinking of ending the blog in October.

Today I hauled zucchini and yellow squash out of the garden and have spent the afternoon turning it into Squash Bread. In 15 minutes, I'm gonna chow down on it. Also harvested tomatoes, cukes and basil. Planted Zipper Cream peas and the last planting (till fall) of Contender Green Beans.

Blogger seems desparate to sign me up to a browser I don't want. Apparently they are deliberately not putting paragraph spacing into my posts. Grrr. I will figure out a way around this.

The Kid came home yesterday and hauled away some garden harvest including…a gallon of blueberries, a pint of strawberries, a pint sized baggie stuffed with rosemary, a huge amount of bell peppers, 4 zucchini, 2 cucumbers, 2 yellow squash, red and white onions and a bulging gallon bag of grape tomatoes. Despite her frequent use of the crock-pot-cooker, she turned down a bag of carrots. I also sent her home with ½ a roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, and carrots for a ready to heat and eat dinner. After she left, Plant Daddy and I strolled around in our little harvest cart and hauled in another 2 yellow squash, 2 zucchinis, 2 cucumbers and 4 tomatoes. That little garden is the gift that keeps on giving. We are about 2 weeks away from corn and another round of green beans. Oh yeah!

Here's Friday's progress on the Mosaic Face... No work today because rain was predicted. Last night PD and I wrapped this face up in a sheet of plastic so that all this work won't wash away. Since I wasn't mosaicing, I went to Publix. Got Italian sausages. Added to our peppers, tomatoes and onions, added basil. Then Plant Daddy hauled a baguette out of the freezer and we had supper. Delicious!

I spent yesterday adding eyes, since it was cloudy. Heavy rain is predicted for Saturday, so I might have to drag out some plastic to cover this work in progress. If this blog looks all screwy, Blogger is playing with itself again and its their fault.

A Kid we know is working on a school project.
If you want to help, answer these questions and email them to me.


Survey for Class

1. How old are you?


2. What is your gender?


3. What is your ethnicity?


4. What kinds of technological devices do you use? (i.e. Black Berry, iPhone, PC, Mac, Xbox, PS3, etc.)


5. What do you use your personal computer for? (i.e. Social Networking, School, Work, etc.)


6. In the case of a power outage or a lack of access to these devices, how long do you think you could go without technology?

7. Do you think you are dependent on technology? What about society?


8. How much money do you invest in technology on average per year? Do you think you spend too much? (i.e. video games, consoles, computers, new phone, etc.)


9. In the event that your computer crashes, do you have personal information that is usually stored on your device backed up?


10. Do you keep paper records of all your personal information?

11. Do you read on devices instead of reading books? (i.e. Kindle, Nook, iBook, etc.)

12. Why do you use social media/networking sites?


13. Do you believe you have privacy on the internet? Why or why not?


14. Do you use websites like Youtube, Hulu, and Netflix more than television/cable?


15. Do you keep up with news and current events with the internet more than conventional means? (i.e. television or news papers)


16. What is your opinion on online education? Would you prefer online classes over going to a classroom?

Why is writing a better hobby than mosaics?
Because you can write indoors in the cool, cool A/C.

Mosaics…if the sun comes out, you’re cooked.
At least on this project, anyway.

The weather had been breezy and cloudy since late morning, so after lunch I decided to go work some mosaics on the face. I was out but 10 minutes when the sun came out and broiled me.

And look at that young tree there blowin’ in the wind. It was like standing in front of a hair dryer out there. I got 2 tiles on and quit for the day. Try again tomorrow.

My marriage is in jeopardy!
Last night we were out of potatoes...

so I cooked up a home made macaroni and cheeze.
It was delicious, but I can only get away with that once.

We are out of potatoes. Therefore today I must go get a few bags.

Forget Rice, Noodles, Bread or Grits...That Plant Daddy wants his potatoes!

Last night we also had home made carrot slaw and baby beets. Garden fresh of course.
And Blueberry Cobbler. Yum.
I didn't work on the mosaic because some sort of pollen was blowing around in the wind and made my eyes very itchy. So I stayed inside and cooked.

Remember this slab?
I posted this picture back in January.

Tonight I finally got back to it.
Thanks to PD for taking the photo!

On Monday morning, I swept up 5 dead cockroaches. There were 3 different kinds...a small tan skinny one, three medium sized fat ones, and one giant king size.

"Well," I said to myself,"at least they are dead. That means the pesticide in the house is working."

HOWEVER...

Last night I was watching TV, a cockroach the size of a small puppy lumbered across the living room in front of the fireplace. It paused and looked at me as if to ask if I were handing out pet snax.

I hurled an expletive but as I got up to squish it, the roach vanished behind the bookcase.

I am on my way to Lowe's to buy a fresh jug of Ortho Home Defense...and any other glow in the dark insect killing nuking effective roach death chemical I can find. Grrrr.

You can grow green beans in a pot.

Makes it easier to keep on the porch,
easier to water and fertilize and
way easier to harvest!
(Also easier to pick up and take it inside if comes the killer frost during winter).

Here I planted 6 Early Contender green beans into an 8 inch pot and these are ready for the picking.

You get about 6 beans to harvest per plant. I counted 39 beans in this pot. Now, that's a supper's worth right there. Just add cornbread or biscuit.

Out in the garden a big ole row is ready to be picked…well, almost. I picked a few yesterday and they were undersized. So TOMORROW, I will pick them and have a delicious meal.

Since I couldn’t pick beans yesterday, I hauled 3 wagonloads of tree branch prunings. Oh, my aching back!

At lunchtime I sat under the newly pruned oak tree, cause now that it was limbed up you can sit under it and catch some shade, and I sat there and read 15 Views of Orlando. It is a chapbook out of UCF.

My friend Susie sent it over so I could read the Phil Deaver story since we are taking his workshop in 2 weeks. The story Heart by Lindsey Hunter is awesome!

I know I had sworn off fiction contests, but I might enter this one next year. I have till December to decide.

Plant Daddy and I will not be taking our evening walk tonight.

The temperature is perfect.
There is a light breeze.
The bugs aren't out in force yet.

So why won't we be out of doors?

The smoke is so thick we cannot see our neighbor's pasture. Even when I walked out to the front gate to open it for PD returning from work, my nose ran and my eyes watered. I had a headache and cough within two minutes.

I wonder how the tourists are enjoying this?
Or do tourists even go outside anymore?

The only positive is that the news station is NOT reporting that this was started by a Dept. of Forestry "Controlled Burn".
There's a blessing.

So here's just a lot of leftover stuff...

Hookers annoy me.
Bicyclists annoy me.
So imagine how I felt on my trip to the Post Office this morning when I saw a hooker on a bicycle!
Grrr.
If she'd'a had a pet squirrel on her shoulder, I'd'a had a stroke!

Interlibrary loans never cease to amaze me.
I just received a book about the history of plant nomenclature...from the Jacksonville Public Library.
Last month I read a history of women and gardening in a book borrowed from FAMU.
This is one of the greatest treasures I can imagine. Interlibrary loans.

Another trip to the mushroom farm...another 2 pounds of white button mushrooms for One Dollar! I love that too.

Brrr...what a chilly Easter morning.

Yesterday I got up and Plant Daddy said we were out of strawberry jelly.
I made a dash to Publix to get Sure Gel and made 3 quick pints.

I got a package of jelly beans while I was there, so we are set for today.

Yesterday evening I grabbed the tree saw. I limbed up an oak. It now makes a pretty focal point for our evening walks.
And I took out a cherry that had come up near the birdhouses. Wonder how that happened to grow there?

Except for the frying of the chicken for supper, this is going to be a day of rest.

Happy Easter to all.

Yesterday I went back to the garden to plant the eggplants.

I positioned the shovel over the potential hole, placed my right foot on it, pushed and wailed.

I was digging into pure sand, no roots, and my case of shovel leg was so bad, tears welled in my eyes.

I tried pressing with my left leg. It was out too. I tried pushing with my shoulders and they were out with over use strain as well. That Nandina really had its revenge.

I managed to get the 5 eggplants installed. I managed to get 2 rows of green beans in.
I got through 4 loads of laundry and then sat and read Phil Deavers book, “Silent Retreats” since I am attending his workshop on short story writing in 3 weeks.

The shovel leg reminded me of the time in grad school when I hiked into the North Carolina Appalachian Mountains with 3 botanists. Ted and Ginny Emigh, me and a girl named Esther. Esther wanted to collect elm seeds.

We hiked in on Friday and out on Sunday. I had no hiking boots, only tennis shoes.

Come Monday back on campus at UGA, I had hiker leg.

I could not lift my leg up high enough to step from the street to the sidewalk. The curb was too high. To enter the Plant Sciences building, I had to go around back to the service entrance.
Once inside, to climb stairs, I had to use both hands and pull myself up by the handrail.

I have had clipper elbow…too much squeezing of the hand clippers making propagation cuttings.

I had semi-truck arms for a while after we loaded 20,000 pots of Mandevilla onto a truck. I remember going to Publix and I could not grip a can of DelMonte corn and steer it to the buggy.

Ain’t muscle over use great?

Today my goal is to make it to the corner store and buy jelly beans.
I might get jaw jam from too much chewing, so I'll only get one bag.

Went to Publix yesterday.
It was hard to march past those bunny cakes and Easter egg cakes, but I did it.

I went straight for the zucchini. Had to pay $1.29/lb since my own crop is a few weeks away yet. It just gorks me to pay for veggies. Oh well.

My writer friend happened to call and she said she was at Publix this week and would not shell out for the tomatoes that she knew had no flavor. She will be out here at my place basket in hand on Sunday.

I also had to pay for a head of lettuce. With temperatures at 92 this week, my garden lettuce is long gone to seed.

Instead of paying sale price of $1.69/lb, I drove to the mushroom farm and paid .50/lb for portabellas. That’s a deal right there. I put a few stems out to see if the fox squirrels will eat them. They eat native mushrooms, so we’ll see.

For supper I stir fried onions, garlic, mushrooms, tomatoes and zucchini together with basil, oregano and parsley. Served it over the Buy 1 Get 1 Free Ronzoni Bow Tie noodles. Oh Yeah!

Today’s goal…try to get the last crop of green beans in for the spring garden. Also 5 eggplant plants to install. I see more shovel leg pain in my future.

This is why I have to write everyday…so I can remember where the heck I’ve been and what I’ve been up to.

Last thing I remember, it was last Thursday and I was harvesting peppers and strawberries for Plant Daddy to take with him to bread class.

I think Friday I spent a good deal of time on a scientific manuscript about the DNA of bacteria.

On Saturday I finally tossed my porch furniture. I have a photo of me and Plant Daddy lounging on that furniture at my Mother’s house in 1978, before we were even married. Yikes.

It was used furniture when she gave it to us in the late 1980’s. I had replaced the cushions once or twice and every year at the start of swimming season I washed it down with bleach.

But this time I decided I just couldn’t wash off the lizard poop anymore. Into the dumpster it went. Then I hauled out the pressure washer and cleaned the pool area and the driveway.

On Sunday, I dug two clumps of Nandina from the front of the pool deck and moved them to a new home. Let’s just say, those plants did not want to relocate and I gave myself a bad case of “shovel leg”.

“Shovel leg” is when your right leg hurts so much you can barely walk around and getting up and down the stairs to the house is a screamer.

So on Monday, since I wanted to sit on my butt, I finished up a manuscript about Fittonia I’ve been working on since January.

On Tuesday I went out to a local nursery and took photos for the Fittonia article and got it sent to the editor. I was in a sweat because of trying to make a deadline on the October issue.

Yesterday, I finished up the change orders on the bacteria paper and shipped it out. My email limit is 25MB. This paper weighed in at 21.6! It was the biggest thing I’ve ever worked on.

In between there was gardening…planting corn, planting beans, harvesting onions, watering zucchini. And I finally got the laundry done yesterday.

Whew…just in time to run to Publix and fetch the Easter ham.
Those sweet slices will go good on Plant Daddy’s delicious bread.

This is so not like me not to post, but the first big project got delivered today. The other one should go out tomorrow and I'll get a breather and catch you up.