TTCG: All veggies are in!

All my veggies are in and most are doing fine.  I'm growing three kinds of peppers, Roma tomatoes, collards, red cabbage, broccoli and a variety of herbs.  Collards are having a hard time- only 3 out of 8 plants survived- think they were too young when I out them in.  Cilantro died right away, parsley is holding it's owns- they were a little young too.  Other herbs- German thyme, African blue basil, sweet basil, dill and lavender.  Garlic chives seem to be perennial- they are still going strong from my very first fall garden two years ago.  Trying big pots for peppers, tomatoes, and egg plant- seems to be very efficacious.  Here are the pics!

TTCG: Official start of 2014-2015 Growing Season in Mary Rose's Garden

 Here are the new plants waiting to go into my plot.  I have purple cabbage, collards, and broccoli, Roma tomatoes, yellow bell and cubanelle peppers, marigolds, and of course- lots of herbs.

This weekend, I finally got around to getting my newly expanded plot ready.  It was a great day and not too hot so was able to get everything clear.  Doesn't it look great!

This is what's left of my original plot.  Oregano on the left, garlic chives on the right, and a big healthy African blue basil in the back. Jalapeño pepper next to the basil- the one that was in my nursery almost all summer!

This is the border between my new and old plot.  The new plot was overgrown with mint which is pretty much a weed in Plot 2, but I use a lot so stuck it in a pot.

And here's all that is left of the new plot.  Còuldn't bear to deliberately kill the long beans, so put them on a trellis.  

Can't wait for next week!

DOSE: Defining My Story

This is my garden. It is a place to share what I've learned about life. It is a place to talk about history and progress. It is a place to share vision and values- wisdom, strength and hope. It may be a place where you find some inspiration or where you meet a friend. Soon I'll include a list of my favorite links to other sites. There will be links to recovery, links to wellness, links to a bright and promising future.

This is also a rosestory.  My friend Steve has suggested that I call the site a herstory, modifying the defintion of history to reflect that I am a 'her'.  But I am not just a her, I'm a person, a person who is like a rose growing in a garden.  And for that reason, I've modified his definition to how I've defined the site.

Main Entry: rose·sto·ry
Pronunciation: 'rOs-st(&-)rE
Function: noun
1 : Tale, Story
2 a : a rose's record of significant events, often including an explanation of their causes from her perspective b : a treatise presenting systematically related natural phenomena c : an account of a patient's medical background d : an established record
3 : a branch of knowledge that records and explains past events
4 a : events that form the subject matter of a rosestory b : previous treatment, handling, or experience (as of a metal like gold)


Since 1995, I've been writing a book that I want to call "The Discipline of Self-Esteem".  The discipline of self-esteem is a term I use to describe the growth that naturally occurs when we treat ourselves with dignity and self-respect.  For some people, that may come naturally, but I grew up with family violence, with an alcoholic parent- with a father who always told me that I was nothing- despite all evidence to the contrary.  And for me and people like me, it is something that we need to learn from scratch.  Over the years, the more that I learn, the more that I need to learn.  And what I've learned so far is this: you can't love anyone else until you love yourself.  Loving yourself has so many layers.  You love yourself by forgiving yourself for your mistakes.  You love yourself by treating your person with dignity and respect.  You love yourself by eating healthy and nutritious foods- and the variety of opinions on what is healthy has staggered my imagination.  You love yourself by giving yourself an allowance, by budgeting, by planning for the future.  You love yourself by paying attention to your appearance, by fighting for yourself at work, by telling others what you need.  You love yourself by keeping a clean and functional home.  All of this and more- I've had to learn and am still learning.  Here I will tell you what I am doing and what is working and what is not working and maybe we'll learn something- and maybe all that we will learn about is friendship and love- and that is something beyond price.

Update October 14

Not being true to my resolve to update weekdays.  I'm in the middle of re-organizing my home after having the counter-tops refinished and getting new flooring throughout half my apartment.  Things are so much easier to clean but there is so much to do!  Verizon took down my personal website (they did this for all the free space- not just mine) but I saved all the text and pictures, so will be adding them a little at a time.  Tried this morning but my computer wanted me to do a ton of other things which hopefully means I can start tomorrow.  Also wandering around on my own blog and rediscovering it- so hopefully will begin moving posts to the correct tabs(as in new look in the garden).  Also have to systematically reduce the size of my pictures to cut down on loading time and set up a reasonable mobile format for phones.  Isn't life fun?  I think so!

WOTS: End of September 2014

I love this arrangement of summer flowers in fall colors with a little pink thrown in to mark the transition from summer to fall.

DOSE: Things accomplished week of August 28- September 3, 2014

Thursday: Got up this morning and started to track my food again.
Readings for today- the last reading for today really hit home that I need to keep on keeping on.  Everything that I am doing- the blogging, the cleaning, the dieting, the exercise- are things that I need to keep on doing to be ready for God when He comes.  Sometimes it will get tired and old- but faithfully sticking to the task has it's rewards- Just as the Master rewarded the good and faithful servant for doing his job-  God will reward us for sticking to our self-improvement programs- whatever they may be.

Wednesday: This is as far as I hot this week.  Been working on packing things away for an apartment clean-up tomorrow.  Too many things that have been put off too long.  But the message above is the theme for this week's work.  Back to keep on keeping on until the task is done.

POMP: Progress on my porch August 28, 2014

What can I say?  It's the end of August.  Do you like my unintentional selfies?
Stuff has been growing all summer- it might not be the stuff I wanted to grow- but it's growing.  All the basils were very happy this summer.  Tomatoes are in pain but still living- most of the tomatoes are popping due to the rain.  Tarragon is growing like a weed- may move it to the TTCG common areas for all the enjoy and give it more room. Everything that died last summer pretty much died.  Was able to keep some parsley growing in the nursery area- lots of water, shade at mid-day but plenty of sun early in the morning.  All the small planters need to be dumped and re-planted.  Everything needs to be moved off the porch and the porch needs a good scrub down.  We're still having rains but there is so much sand on the porch, I hate to go out there!

Maybe if I post this picture, I'll have to go out and do something about it this week- and have a good start to the upcoming growing season.  Thinking of transplanting the cubby things to crates, then filling the wood planter with dirt and grow lots of greens- things that don't need good root depth.  Can't wait for the cool weather crops.  The last two nights on the way home from work- I felt a bit of a cool breeze and thought- yes- that is what I moved to Florida for- because fall is the best time to be in Florida- balmy breezes, cool for us but not at all cold (70's and 80's) and always a hint of moisture in the air.  Not so great when hurricanes come- but let's face it- that is where those balmy breezes come from- the gathering or waning storm out to sea.

That's all for this week!

DOSE: Things Accomplished This Week August 21-28, 2014

Thursday: Downloaded the Map My Fitness app to work with my weight control app and keep more accurate records.

Friday: Sometimes when you look at your life, you only see the problems.  You wonder how you can deal with them all- there are just so many.  Then you read today's Ezekiel reading.  It's God's promise that if you work with Him, then He'll work with you.  If He can bring a field of bones to life- full of flesh and spirit- then he can help me overcome my problems- that was his promise to the people of Israel in Ezekial- and that is His promise to you.

Wednesday Wrap-up
Have done nothing with the Map My Fitness app all week- but tackled the clutter with everything my heart and soul could handle and today I'm looking at a clutter-free living room floor.  To be honest, had a cold three days last week, so getting this done was huge.

Maybe being true to yourself - which to me means being faithful to this blog- really does help all the pieces of your life to come together.

Also lost 3 pounds this week- but don't really think I can claim the credit for that!

TOGA: Richard Hutchinson- first farmer to own a plow in Salem MA

Richard Hutchinson (1602 - 1682)- 10th great grandfather
Joseph Hutchinson (1633 - 1716) son of Richard Hutchinson
Benjamin Hutchinson (1668 - 1733) son of Joseph Hutchinson
Benjamin Hutchinson (1694 - 1780) son of Benjamin Hutchinson
Nathan Hutchinson (1716 - 1795) son of Benjamin Hutchinson
Samuel Hutchinson (1749 - 1821) son of Nathan Hutchinson
Samuel Hutchinson (1775 - 1852) son of Samuel Hutchinson
Martha T. Hutchinson (1801 - 1887) daughter of Samuel Hutchinson
William S Burnham (1824 - 1905) son of Martha T. Hutchinson
Mary Frances Burnham (1863 - 1956) daughter of William S Burnham
William Burnham Liebler (1902 - 1975) son of Mary Frances Burnham
William Michael Liebler (1928 - 1994) son of William Burnham Liebler
Mary Rose Karline Liebler daughter of William Michael Liebler


Richard Hutchinson was the most practical of all our immigrant ancestors.  Most of our ancestors came for a strong set of beliefs.  While that may be true of Richard too, history records that he came with a plow.  I remember my uncle Frank telling me as a small child that while some people called him lazy, he preferred to think of himself as someone who always found the easiest way to do whatever he had to do.  For example, he would make sandwiches with one slice of bread because you could just take a slice of bread, put something on it, fold it over, and have a handy sized sandwich.  Think Richard might have had some of that kind of thinking.

In the early days of the New England settlement, everyone had to be a farmer because the food was all grown with hand tools, making it hard for anyone to grow more food than his own family needed. I can just imagine a Frank-minded ancestor back in England- no way am I going to plow my fields with a hoe and shovel- and so he brought a plow.  And Salem gave him extra land time and time again- because he had a plow.

Here are some links to peruse on your own:
http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hutchinson-201
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rhutch/richard_hutchinson.html

Here is a tracing of our family from the thirteenth century through Benjamin Hutchinson.  Although it continues longer, it only looks at the heirs, so in our line it sotos at Benjamin.
Genealogy of Hutchinsons of Salem MA
  Like the Lathrop line, the Hutchinsons begin in the East Riding of Yorkshire. In 1278, Barnard Hutchinson was described as the proprietor of the parish of Cowan in the East Riding of Yorkshire.  This was a parish with a tiny population- mostly his family and retainers- but a few thousand acres.  He held the
Hutchinson Crest and Motto Bravely Supporting the Cross

TTCG: Brief Update week of August 23rd

Have a bad cold so did not get down to the garden this week.

Travis posted a great picture of the sign Freidemann created.

The Plot 3 Sundial Garden build looks just amazing

Jennifer Marshall reports that the Plot 2 butterflies are still abundant in the garden

Sorry that's all for this week.

WOTS: Sandhill Cranes Visiting FMHI

This is a real window on the season for Florida late summer.  When the rainy season sets in (late summer and fall), you can often see egrets snacking on the bugs and seeds that have been brought to the surface.  They are very comfortable in our urban environment.  But Florida Sandhill Cranes are an entirely different story- don't think that I have ever seen one here.  And if I  have, they weren't wandering around on the sidewalk outside the building.  They hung around for a couple of days after the recent rainy days- and I hope they went on to better pastures.

The birds were here.

If you zero in on H until you see USF Bunyon Drive, this bird is in front of the center building on the North side of the drive.

This is Florida Fish and Wildlife on why it was not good for the cranes to be here.  Too much glass, too many cars parked, too much traffic.

DOSE: The practical side of starting over

Yesterday, I accomplished something that I've been trying to do for months.  I did a reasonable job of cleaning the apartment.  True the bug man came- it's always cleaner when he's coming because. I know that he's looking for dirt- but I didn't feel bad that I had to let him in and wasn't afraid of him coming when he did.  That's a major accomplishment for me.  It was hard and it was painful - I can only work 15 minutes before I need to take a 5 minute break- but it looks nice to me- maybe not to a clean freak but we can work up to that.

I also have been tracking my weight with My Fitness Pal for a week or so.  This is a free tracker and there is an IPad app.  It is really a lot of fun and works well.  It does help modify behavior.  Today, it has started to praise and nag- not sure I like that feature, but I guess feedback is important.

I am trying to be daily to scripture reading and mediating on God's word with Daily Reflections.  Today what hits me from them is that if you are being faithful to God, then he will out a right spirit within you.  And as I am writing this blog, the efforts to do the right things seem to bear fruit.

I still have to go back to Curves and I bought two swim suits but have not gone into the pool on the other side of my back porch- so we will see what tonight or tomorrow brings.  Whatever it brings, I will let you all know.  I am starting next weeks blog today- will track just these three things: diet, exercise, and inspiration and let you know how I do...

So until next Wednesday...

DOSE: Rebooting my DOSE routines

Been a long time since I've really followed by DOSE (Discipline of Self-Esteem) routines.  So maybe it's time to start an old routine with new twists.  So... this is my new version of my FLY TODAY routine-morning edition.

FLY TODAY:
First Love Yourself
Then love Others as Dearly As you love Yourself (adapted from www.flylady.net )

 LAUREL WREATH FAMILIES (Let’s Be One):
Listen to each other
Accept one another
Use positive language (what’s right not wrong)
Respect boundaries
Endure as a family
Love each other (adapted from self-esteem article on www.cyberparent.com- link is listed as risky and article is no longer there last time I looked- but I like the concept! )

 Before you get out of bed (5 minutes)
Stretch OUT- do every movement to a count of 7:
            Slowly stretch your arms above your head and make angel wings.
            Laying on your back- push up with your legs to stretch out your back-walk back down.
            Point each toe toward the ceiling and make circles in the air
            Pull your knees up to your chin and hold
            Holding your hands together, move your arms to each side
            Rolling onto each side, stretch your legs front and back
            Laying on your back (head on the pillow) roll your head from shoulder to shoulder.
Now jump out of bed- no hesitation- no pain. (adapted from Beverly Sassoon’s, A Year ot Beauty and Health).  Now that I am in my sixties, every morning brings pain getting out of bed- this lessens it quite a bit.

The rest of these in this order- adapted from messies.com start up routine:
MAKE UP- Make the bed before you leave the bedroom.  (For me- if there are any clothes on the bed- put them in the dirty or clean clothes laundry basket).

Breathe IN:60 Seconds to Fuel your whole day (1 minute).  I do this in my porch garden.
Stand straight and tall.
Breathe in for 3 seconds, then breathe out for 3 seconds.
Repeat the breathing 10 times. (thanks to Linda Wilson Beavers- an excellent massage therapist, a great SAS programmer and even better friend)

 Fuel UP: Eat a nutritious breakfast (grain, protein, fruit).  Drink 8 ounces of liquid.  If you did not swish and swipe the kitchen last night- do so now. (Note: Swishing and swiping the kitchen is Step 1: Kitchen).

 Wash UP: Take a relaxing bath or shower.  Brush your teeth. Get ready as if you were going out for the day.  Get dressed including shoes. (15 minutes)

BODY:  Do a 15 minutes of moving your body- choose activities that fit your life.  Right now, I am trying to lose weight, so I plan to start doing Curves 3 mornings per week (30 minutes), swim 3 mornings per week (30 minutes), and walk for endurance once per week with my son Rob (Al Lopez Park- as much as we can do in an hour).

SPIRIT:  Meditate for 20 minutes- your choice of methods.  Currently trying to meditate on the daily lectionary using Daily Reflections as a guide.

MIND:  Read something inspirational for 5 minutes every day.  Inspirational is in the eye of the beholder. (Currently reading Seven Habits of Highly Effective People).

REFLECT:  Use some sort of self-examination process to see how you are doing with your program.  I like Sr. Kathy’s points: (Franciscan Center, Tampa, FL)

• For what am I grateful today (name 5)
• What has the last 24 hours been like?
• Is there anyone to whom I need to admit I was wrong?
• What do I want to improve?
• What do I want to say to God?
• Is there something God is trying to say to me?

Then there’s my favorite: JUST FOR TODAY (shortened from Al-Anon version)

• I will try to live through this day only and not tackle all my problems at once.  I can do something for 12 hours that would appall me if I felt that I had to keep it up for a lifetime.
• I will be happy.  This assumes to be true what Abraham Lincoln said, that “Most folks area as happy as they make up their minds to be”.
• I will adjust myself to what is, and not try to adjust everything to my own desires. I will take my ‘luck’ as it comes, and fit myself to it.
• I will try to strengthen my mind.  I will study.  I will learn something useful.  I will read something that requires effort, thought, and concentration.
• I will exercise my soul in 3 ways: Do someone a good turn and not get found out; if anyone knows of it, it will not count.  I will do at least 2 things I don’t want to do- just for exercise. I will not show anyone that my feelings are hurt, they may be hurt but today, I will not show it.
• I will be agreeable.  I will look as well as I can, dress becomingly, keep my voice low, be courteous, criticize not one bit.  I won’t find fault with anyone nor try to improve or regulate anyone but myself
• I will have a program.  I may not follow it exactly, but at least I will have it.  I will save myself from 2 pests: hurry and indecision.
• I will have a quiet half hour by myself and relax.  During this half hour, sometime, I will try to get a better perspective of my life.
• I will be unafraid.  Especially I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful and believe that as I give to the world, so the world will give to me.

St. Francis Prayer:
Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.  Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; for it is in giving that we receive; it is in the pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

And of course, a big part of my personal growth is trying to keep on schedule with this blog.  That is not working this week- but all we can do is go forward and try to keep on keeping on.

POMP: Evaluating Super Absorbant Polymers

Somewhere I came across a video about Using Diapers to Make Your Plants Grow and I wish that I knew where.  The stuff inside the diapers that absorb all the liquid is called SAP and it helps pants retain moisture.  The video is created by VW - but wanted to see if it was safe- so did a google search and came across A review article on SAP where I learned that these are chemically inert (see safety section at the end) and safe to use.  But I am still a little skeptical.  Anyone know anything about these?

On other experiments, am finding that using those square closet things for plants is not such a great idea- these containers are falling apart but the size is good so am looking for 1 foot cubes to grow things in.  SAP might be good in there because keeping water in the top shelf plants is my biggest problem.  You don't need to get diapers though- you can get this material in plant supply stores.

This is the top side of the planter left as it was.  Mostly volunteer stuff.

This is the closet organizer- Basil dries out and no weeds. Organizer is starting to decompose..

So this experiment worked as far as growing tall plants but is problematic as far as retaining water goes and does not appear to be all that happy a place for plants.

Next week, I hope to show a new crate garden getting started- with pictures through the process of assembly.  Until next week!

TOGA: Andrew Burnham

Andrew Burnham (1800 - 1880) - 3rd great grandfather
William S Burnham (1824 - 1905) son of Andrew Burnham
Mary Frances Burnham (1863 - 1956) daughter of William S Burnham
William Burnham Liebler (1902 - 1975) son of Mary Frances Burnham
William Michael Liebler (1928 - 1994) son of William Burnham Liebler
Mary Rose Karline Liebler daughter of William Michael Liebler


Andrew Burnham Ancestry.com Story View

DNA evidence links me as a moderately possible 5th to 8th cousins to someone with the following Burnham lineage: John Burnham 1617-1694(original immigrant) to Josiah 1662-1692 to Ebenezer 1691-1746 to Andrew 1726- 1787.


Been a little overwhelmed lately but future updates will tell the tale of the three Burnham boys shipwrecked in Maine while immigrating on the  Angel Gabriel.  Also looking for the account of the Burnham tapped by John Winthrop Jr. to travel with him to start the Connecticut Colony.  Will also post back here when there is more hard evidence to link us.  Next week, we start looking at his wife's original immigrant ancestors and the documentation there is very exciting.

TTCG End of Summer

Plot 2: August 17, 2014

This is the papaya tree- still growing strong and putting out fruit.

This week's basket with papaya inside

Butterfly loving the zinnias

Rest of my basket

View of the garden from the back of the water pump

This week, the garden looked a little overgrown with weeds and volunteers- but it is the end of the summer.  Our president Travis sent out a newsletter that told us all the begin getting our beds ready for fall.  That was my conclusion last week- that it was time to get all of the plants that are overgrown out of my garden- dig the whole thing up and renew the compost.  Luckily, Travis anticipated that need and has made sure that we have all the compost and materials that we need to get started.  Now comes the hard part- what to plant?

WOTS: 7 Layer Dip and Things to Do With It

These are my flowers for this week  Basically took the flowers from last week and added the zinnias that I collected from the garden.
The seven layer dip that I am writing up today is basically Pioneer Woman's 7 Layer Dip.  I mostly put in into a 9 by 9 inch pan and am showing you each layer as it is built up.  I am also serving it cold.

First layer: A can of refried beans combined with a can of chiles, heated just enough to mix.  Also added a little cumin.  As far as I'm concerned, you just can't add too much cumin- about 2 teaspoons.

Second layer is 3/4 cup of grated sharp cheddar cheese.  I just fill up a custard cup.

Third layer is a cup of sour cream.  Important here to spread carefully so it doesn't mix with the other layers. You can see that mine did just a little.  I just plopped it down by heaping tablespoons and the sort of gently eased it over the cheese layer.

Next layer is the Guacamole layer.  This is just 2 small chunked avocados with the juice of a half lime and my pico de gallo.

The next layer is 3/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese.  

This layer is a 3.5 ounce can of whole black olives chopped.  I never buy chopped olives- tastes way fresher to cut them yourself.

The final layer is pico de gallo or fresh salsa.  To make it, I chopped 2 medium tomatoes, 1//4 bell pepper, 2 cloves of garlic, and a bunch of green onions and most of a bunch of cilantro, then added the juice of one lime, salt, pepper, a teaspoon of organic sugar and at least a teaspoon of cumin- more to taste.  This makes about 2.5 cups- 1/2 cup for the guacamole layer and 2 cups for this layer.  Pioneer Woman only added a cup in hers but it just didn't look right.  She garnished hers with jalapenos but I added more cilantro because I am a cilantro kind of girl.

All this came right to the top of the pan which I made a few hours before and refrigerated until the Dean's potluck lunch yesterday. It held up very well.  At the luncheon, the main dish was tacos- I just took a shell, added some meat sauce and filled the rest of the shell with a little lettuce and this dip.  For me- that is a lot less complicated than trying to put on all the ingredients individually.  Of course, you can also use it like a dip.   Since I was 15 minutes late to the lunch- about half was left over- so I covered and refrigerated it- and it made a lovely taco salad.  Just put a bed of lettuce in a bowl, add any cold meat you want (or serve without meat)  and plop a big spoonful of this dip (we each had 1/4 of the pan on our salads last night- without the meat) served with chips on the side or arranged neatly on the edge of the bowl.  All three ways of eating this was just delicious!  Enjoy and make it your own!

POMP: Thinking of growing fennel for pollen

 This week, I was a little bit lazy in the garden, so I moved my crates in front of the tiered wooden garden and got this beautiful picture with my pineapple sage poking out from my scented geranium and rosemary.  Rosemary looks very happy.

Still haven't planted my nursery yet.  Jalapeno is sending out some flowers.  Parsley has been cut back to almost nothing- but is alive and sending out new shoots.

 One the shows that I am absolutely obsessive over is Game Of Thrones.  At the beginning, watching it on TV was one of the sacrifices I made for my son Rob- too much blood and gore.  But then he got the DVDs and I learned the story and became a fan.  Then read the books and became a little obsessed.  Was watching one of Emergency Awesome's videos to catch up, and saw this link for the cookbook on Amazon. From the reviews, I learned that the cooks for this book are at the Inn at the crossroads.  They have lots of articles that open your culinary horizons.  The first recipe I saw had fennel pollen as an ingredient.  Here is how to harvest it: Harvesting Fennel Pollen  So if you can harvest it, shoukl I grow it on the porch or the garden?  Growing Fennel in Zone 9  From investigation, I learned that it can be fairly invasive, can be grown in pots- and if we want an ingredient fresh- then we need to have it on the porch- so I filled a pot with regular potting soil, took some fennel seeds from my spice boxes- and my next experiment will be seeing how fennel grows from seeds found in my spice box!  The pot is now in my nursery- if it sprouts, I'll post pictures next week.  In the meantime, guess I'll order some fennel powder from Amazon!

See you tomorrow.  Have pictures for 7-layer dip that I am bringing to a pot luck today- if it is successful, I'll share it with you tomorrow!

DOSE: What do we live for, if not to make the world less difficult for each other?

Found this quote by George Eliot on today's Daily Reflections.  It made me think of the passing of two great actors in the last two days: Robin Williams and Lauren Bacall.  Both of them, in their own way and time, made life a little less difficult for all of us.  Just like in today's reflection, one past too soon but with a life full of wondrous deeds- the other lived a long full life but with deeds just as wondrous.  And both of them made life a lot less difficult for all of us- not only could they take us away from our troubles and pain- but much of their work made us think and filled our heads with new thoughts that changed the way we feel.  I hope that Robin finds that What Dreams May Come was wrong about suicides and that the person who reaches down and pulls him from the pit of despair is none other than our loving Lord Jesus Christ.  I believe that Robin and Bacall are in heaven right now having all their tears wiped away- because God loves those who gives so much of their hearts to others.  And I don't remember too many roles they played where we did not see their whole heart and soul.  That's what made us love them so much.  The world will be a little less bright without them, but we can see them whenever we want- thanks to the marvel of our electronic world.

So to them, and to you, I leave this photo of a little bit of heaven on my Earth- the place I imagine it would be great to walk with God, which ironically, I think is a photo from one of my own morning walks.  Sometimes, the most beautiful things are the things right under our noses.  Until tomorrow!

TTCG Plot 2: August 9,2014

This is my basket this week: cranberry hibiscus, zinnias, butterfly pea flowers, mint, oregano, and African blue basil.

Here are the flowers growing in the front of the garden.

Plot 2 is not producing much in the way of food this time of year.  The plants that are thriving are just taking over.  We are awash with lemon grass and some 6 ft tall plant that looks like giant dill.  As last summer, flowers are doing well.

Violents in a patch near mine.  Violets are edible and look beautiful in salads and in ice.

More violets growing under the sign

White zinnias growing in the pathways

An array of pink zinnias growing in the pathways

These are the plants along the gazebo that I planted in May.  The thai basil, sage, and red salvia are doing great.

The plants on the other side of the gazebo did not make it (though they might come back from the roots in the fall.  But this milkweed looks very happy here.  Might be a good idea to plant more here- we want to have a place for baby monarchs to grow.  The monarchs love our zinnias.

Lots of basil, lemongrass, and a huge cranberry hibiscus on the herb mound.

This would also be a good place to plant more milk weed- they did very well here last year.  Maybe if we let the gazebo plant go to seed, we'll have more here soon!

These beans are growing well in the plant nursery.

There are also some baby tomatoes and what looks like mooring trees on the other side of the plant nursery.

That's this week's Plot 2 update on the Temple Terrace Community Garden!

WOTS: Remy's Ratatoille and Sunflowers

Remi's Ratatoille or Confit Byaldi

What's on the stove?  This lovely concoction of fabulous summer vegetables.  Got some lovely lady finger eggplant, purple bell peppers, and Roma tomatoes from A Simpler Place in Time.  This was a lot of fun- and a lot of chopping and slicing but went really fast because the fun factor was just amazing.  I started by roasting green and purple peppers in a 450 degree oven for 15 minutes while I chopped up a medium onion, three tomatoes, and a teaspoon of garlic.  Fried these in my cast iron pan with a little olive oil, parsley, thyme and a bay leaf.  By the time they were chopped and cooked down, the peppers were cool enough to remove their skins.  Into the sauce with the peppers!  Then the fun begins- slicing the zucchini, Roma tomatoes, eggplant, and yellow squash into 1/16 inch slices.  Then I simply poked each slice into the sauce and overlapped them so that about 1/4 inch of each of the veggies is visible.  Then drizzle with some herb infused olive oil and out into a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. I baked some chicken along with mine and served it with a crusty french bread.  Especially loved the flavor of the vinaigrette sprinkled over the top just before serving.  Delight in a bite!

Thought I'd give you a Window on the Seasons too!  August wouldn't be August without sunflowers!  Just sunflowers, a variety of mums, and some airy purple things from Publix, in my red pitcher and sitting among canning jars in my window. Must be the canning my Mom did in my childhood, but come August, I love to pile assorted canning jars together for my window.  Country bling!

Have a great weekend everyone!  See you on Monday with more of my Frank Liebler (2nd great grandfather) story.  Thinking that TOGA (Tales of our Great Ancestors) is better than SOFA (Stories of Our Family's Ancestors).  Even if they weren't great in the historical sense (although some truly were impressive people), they are all my great-grandparents- so they are great in that sense.  Until then!

POMP- Progress On My Porch: Garden Week of August 7th 2014

I decided the POMP is a better acronym for my porch garden.  P can stand for so many things: Progress, Pictures, Portrait and even Pride- so here we are- new acronyms.

You would never believe that it was August in Temple Terrace to look at all the lush greenery on my porch.  There are three big differences this summer.

1) I put three high growing plants in two crate planters.  The crates were just ordinary craft crates from Michaels.  Each basket is simply lined with landscape fabric and a three equal part mix of potting soil, peat, and perlite- more P's!  

We are thinking multiple P's tonight as a prayer for my sister Beth's wonderful Newfoundland, Smokey.  He had a miraculous recovery from heart trouble this winter, has cancer but is responding well to chemo, and today had another miraculous recovery from urinary problems- so we are all praying for P's!

Anyway the extra depth of soil is really helping the plants retain water in the heat of the day- which is really kept to summer survival.

2) The plants come from Cheyenne's Country Thangs.  Two or three summers back the plants from her shop did very well and this year, I am enjoying that huge basil on the left.  It's very hard to see but on the right is a cherry tomato plant intertwining with my scented geranium and cascading down in front of the box.  And in the back, a Roma tomato plant is coming back after dying back to almost nothing.  If anything will live in the summer, it's a cherry tomato but any tomato this time of year is great.  I'm only getting 10 tiny tomatoes a week- and it's a great little treat that I harvest a few plants at a time!  Anyway- all three plants that are thriving contrary to expectations come from Cheyennes.  The scented geranium is several years old and was not happy in the smaller planters- it is growing by leaps and bounds and came from my other local produce vendor  A Simpler Place in Time.  I'll be using the eggplants from there in my Ratatouille's ratatouille whose success or failure I will post on Friday.

3) The third thing that I am doing differently in the last week that really is helping- is to insert the stem of my watering can into the soil when pouring on new water.  More water gets absorbed by the soil and the moisture gets retained much better.

Here are a couple more pictures from this week:

This is my three tiered wooden garden that I rescued from TTCG Plot 3 when they wanted to discard it last year.  The sage is growing in one of those foldable cloth cubicles full of my 3-P soil mix.

And this is my nursery box.  All these plants are waiting to be moved into the next grate planter.  There is a jalapeño  pepper, regular parsley and curly parsley- all three also came from Cheyenne's.