Wednesday, July 15, 2020

I Like Thursday #117

Happy Thursday, hope you are all surviving.  I missed everyone last week, it had been one of those weeks that things just went south from the get go, and I struggled all week long.  This week has been much better.

I like that I am now considered a full time employee after being considered "part-time" for the past 7 1/2 months.  I am not a huge union fan, but per our contract if you average over 36 hours of scheduled work per week for 2 consecutive fiscal quarters you can force full time.  I just squeaked under the wire for the first quarter with like 36.67 hours per week average.  The difference between full time and part time?  Insurance cost...about $50 a week for full time, for part time it was almost $160 a week.  Time off accrual, and holiday pay. 

Last week I spent a lot of time working in the yard and in the pool.  I have a shirt that I love the sentiment,
And into the Garden I go to love my mind and find my soul.

The kids knocked down all the thistle and made sure to leave what flowers I had intact, which weren't many. 

Look at the difference in the grow bags, these cucumbers I started from seed!  I then bought what were supposed to be 2 zucchini from the nursery, but upon further inspection it looks like one zucchini and another cucumber.  You can see how much my plants have grown in a short couple of weeks. Before.  I have one lone coneflower up at the top of the hill.  I planted some sedum which is a ground cover, I have more to plant, but I have to pull roots first and it has been a wee bit too hot to work in the garden by the time I get home in the afternoon.   I have also been trying to grow some wooly thyme and prep some more chamomile, and I think perhaps some hollyhocks. 

The tomatoes.  Beefsteak is over 6 feet tall. 

Beefsteak and one of the tomatoes so far.
Grape isn't as tall as beefsteak, but is kind of getting leggy and spreading all over the deck. 


I am amazed that these are orange, there was not a hint of color yesterday evening when I was watering.  Perhaps tomorrow there will be fresh grape tomatoes off the vine.

My coneflowers are huge!  I found the small orange coneflowers at work.  There is also some Anise Hyssop in this bed, and a couple of lavender plants. 
What is it you love the most about your yard/garden?  Mine are the scents.  I have honeysuckle, heliotrope (vanillay scent), and anise hyssop (licorice scent)  all mixing together, especially when it is hot, it makes a heady scent that is a gift to the nose. 

My petunias and lettuce are growing nicely too. 

My Zinnias took a hit one day when it was really hot and supposed to rain, and it didn't, but they are struggling back, and some blooms are appearing.  Bobbin and Girl cat like to pop the dead heads off the flowers and flick them back and forth across the deck.

I love the yarrow in my bed by the house.  It sometimes get this gorgeous dark rust, but other times it is mustard yellow. 
Something has taken to laying in it, and there is a resident snake that like to hang out there too, so I kind of avoid the area.

The animals are always fun to watch.  Boy cat playing sneaky coming over the roof of the woodshed, onto the chicken house roof, and across the fence. 

Bobbin enjoying the sunshine.

With her bestie girl cat.

And if you need a smile, walk next door to visit the kittens.

If you look close all 4 are there.  On top of the box is Haze, on the very bottom is Tangiers, upside down with the white chin is Ashes, an on top of the pile is Wookie.  Can you believe they are almost 3 months old already?

There are also the new chicks that the kids incubated.  I ended up with 4.  Using an incubator is a learning curve. 

Then there is a chicken, which I have named Rogue.  I told the kids one day there was a chicken out.  When I went looking for her I couldn't locate her.  The kids looked and couldn't locate her either.  They told me obviously I was crazy. 

Here was the picture I took of her as proof, that is my garage door.  She is very brazen and will fly to the top of the gate, jump over, explore, and hop back over in the evening.  Sigh!  There is always one in the flock.

We had a day where we got almost 2 inches of rain.  After the rain this sweet little bunny came hopping out to feed.

My mom ordered mother's day gifts, but they didn't show up until about 4 months after she ordered them.  I will say I had seen them and couldn't wait to try it out.  It is a garlic press.

This is what the press looks like.  I was making what my daughter calls avocado crack. 

3 cloves of garlic crushed
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1-2 cups of diced tomatoes I used Romas, but at times I use grape
1/2 cup Feta cheese
1 TBS olive oil
2 TBS red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste.

I know you are asking where is the avocado?  Well I will spoon about a cup of the mixture out and then toss my 1 chopped avocado into it.  Eat it as a salad, or with some tortilla chips it is awesome!  That way I can have it for a couple of days. 

Oh back to the garlic press. I sliced my garlic a little.
Then you just rock the press back and forth over it.  You get a great size for garlic pieces, and clean up is relatively simple.  So far I would give the gadget a two thumbs up!
Some other things that caught my eye this week.

A ginormous metal coffee cup.  I considered buying it and putting a hole in it to use as a planter. 
These cute little planters with fake succulents.  Hedgehog.
Another hedgehog.
And a unicorn.

Finally these are the books I enjoyed the past couple of weeks.

Murder on Black Swan Lane by Andrea Penrose, this is a 2nd reading for me, I read it in 2017, but that year was kind of a blur for me so I reread it. 

In Regency London, an unconventional scientist and a fearless female artist form an unlikely alliance to expose unspeakable evil . . .I enjoyed my 2nd reading and am currently reading Murder at Halfmoon Gate with these same two characters. 

Curse of the Poppy by Emily Organ which is the 5th installment of the Penny Green series. 

The Skeletons of Birkbury by Diana Febry.  Per Goodreads:

When the body of a teenage girl is discovered in Birkbury, the villagers close ranks. Gossip turns to fear and suspicion as they realize the killer is one of them and is prepared to kill again.
DCI Peter Hatherall must fight his past and class divisions to find the killer.
All must decide which secrets are worth dying for.  I enjoyed this book and had a hard time putting it down.

Now head over to LeeAnna's at Not Afraid of Color to catch up on the other I like Thursday posts. 

19 comments:

  1. Aw thanks for the smiles.those kitties are too darned cute.and Bobbin is so relaxed looking. Great likes and great looking garden. The rogue chicken is funny. She is a leader not a follower lol

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  2. Oh I just love seeing your garden, feeds my soul too! Have a wonderful week!

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  3. I really like seeing your garden. I have only 2 plants in pots. That are slow this year, I’ll keep my fingers crossed for a long fall. I have one lonely flower...not hopeful. Have a great week!

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  4. Hi Colette! I am thrilled for you that you get to be full-time now. I think they have a gem of an employee - they're lucky to have you. I am giggling over Rogue although her brazenness could be dangerous. And Bobbin enjoying the sunshine with BFF is just too darn cute! That garlic press is awesome! I've never seen anything like that. I have those little succulent holders at work with real cactus in them - if they've survived my lack of attention. My boss waters when she thinks of it but I was much more attentive. I know my peace lily is gone and probably a few others. Happy Thursday to you, my friend. ~smile~ Roseanne

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  5. your baby chicks are so cute! And I love all your garden pics. My favorite thing about my "garden" (in quotes because it is very small) is all the color. My zinnias have been going gangbusters so far, but every year they get this white leaf mold. It doesn't seem to bother the flowers, but it's ugly and I wish I knew how to get rid of it. My grape tomato got leggy too and I neglected to put a tomato cage on it, so I keep having to add garden stakes! But the tomatoes are great. :)

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  6. all great likes! I will have to look for those books, sounds like the ones I love to read. Have you read any Anne Perry? she is married to a policeman in old england but she is from a Good family and she investages the good familys that he can't

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  7. I'll have to look for those books. Love seeing the animals outside...and inside! They all look like they know how to take it easy during the summer days!

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  8. Yay for the full time. I thought my tomatoes were monsters, but you got me beat! The stainless steal on the garlic press is supposed to get rid of the garlic smell - if you rinse it under water and rub your fingers against it. Bun! And chicks. what great likes this week.

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  9. Lots of beautiful things growing in your yard, including those kitties and chicks! The runaway hen cracked me up! Glad you got full-time at work - I know that isn't always easy to do, and you have to take it when it comes available.

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  10. You must have a green thumb! You have so many beautiful things growing all around you. I love seeing the kitties. They got big so fast! The baby chicks are adorable! I think full time where I work is 32 hours. I get my own insurance since I only work 24 hours. That's fine with me! I'm looking forward to retiring in a few years.

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  11. I feel like I had a little vacation at your house!!!
    Lush. Lots of life here. You made what I used to call bruchetta topping, which I used to use as a dip without avocado. Yum. Kittens and a friendship between girl cat and bobbin, chickens, so much life. Congrats on the perks of full time work, since you were basically doing it for a while now especially good to get some benefits. Love, LeeAnna

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  12. Good Morning, Colette. I really enjoyed reading your post while having my mint tea and listening to the first bird chirps of the morning. Your gardening skills are so wonderful...you grow so many things so well. Looks like you are going to have a bumper crop this year. And those cute kittens, chicks and Bobbin playing around. So much amusement. I'm glad you qualified for the full time status. What insurance exactly do you mean? Have a great weekend now.

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  13. Congrats on moving up to full time status with the added benefits. I hope one result of this pandemic is that everyone gets health coverage of some sort. Your garden is doing well. I seen those grow bags on a number of blogs now and I should look into getting some for next year. I hope you get the cherry tomatoes before the squirrels.
    Pat

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  14. Unless I’m seeing things, I would definitely agree that there’s a chicken on the loose! Your garden and flowers are doing well. I’ve been wondering how that garlic rocker worked. Thanks for the review.

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  15. Yep, must be a year for leggy tomatoes, mine have gotten away from me too...had a run in with tomato worms also but my chicken ladies have enjoyed that little challenge :) That garlic press looks like an interesting find!

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  16. I'm glad you were able to get full-time at your store, but I'm sure you'd rather be spending all your time in your garden than there. With all the moving this year we don't have a garden, which is hard. Your garden and yard are so full of beautiful things! That Houdini chicken is too funny. Thanks for sharing these wonderful likes!

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  17. Yay for avocado crack. Congrats on getting benefits you deserve! That’s a major shift in insurance cost. I love barely sautéed grape tomatoes with salt pepper and olive oil. That’s an interesting looking garlic press. Enjoy and stay safe.

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  18. What’s not to like! Choosing joy in all the small things around you is absolutely the way to live your life. Delightful post!

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