HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone! 

Some fun and funny stuff has been going on here at the ol' homestead the past few days. More on that stuff in the days to come. For now, wishing you and yours a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving!

:)

Busy Beans!

In case anyone missed it (all two of you - ha!), my mom is here for her annual Thanksgiving visit. She's awesome and I look forward to it every year. But that little old lady keeps me busy, busy, busy! I'll try to get these out as regularly as possible, but sometimes... it just doesn't happen, lol.

This morning though, I had her out on the back 40, picking beans. Those are some of the plants up there. I'm thinking it has to be the type of bean plant, because I have fewer plants than the other kind of beans, and am getting way more yield! In four days, I have more than half a gallon Ziploc bag full of 'em in the fridge. There are enough to eat now, but we're saving them for our Thanksgiving dinner. 

We did a little gardening today, but not as much as needed doing. All in good time though, right? Pictures of it all as we get it done.

:)

Post Card Saturday!

Here we are again - Post Card Saturday! Wooooo! (Applause here! haha)

Okay, so maybe it's not that exciting. But hey, I love me some post cards, and hopefully you do, as well.

Tonight's post card was picked by the Maternal Unit. I don't think she really gets the concept of Post Card Saturday, but she picked one out that is pretty appropriate. Gotta love how stuff works, eh?

If you didn't see, here's the detail of where this card is from - Key West. For those of you who don't know, my mom and I have been trying to get down there the past several years, and every year, something has happened to prevent it. So this was to be the year!

Only when I looked, there were almost no hotel rooms, and the ones available were - super expensive. At least for us, haha! Then I learned that there's supposed to be some sort of Festival going on down there, meaning that we would likely not have found rooms at a decent rate, regardless.

Le *sigh*.

Here's the back of the card. One that's not written on, but the picture and all are similar to others from the 30's and 40's and 50's that I've posted. So it's cool (to me, at least, lol) both because someone gave it to me and because it's historical. To me, it is! Hopefully you enjoyed it. Pretty, right?

:)

There Was a Slight Delay...

I promise I've not forgotten my most awesome blog!

But my mom arrived last night (YAY!) and the night before I was finishing up stuff for her stay. No worries though - Post Card Saturday tomorrow and more on the bean front, too. Because you can never have too many beans, haha!

:)

Autumn!

Laugh if you wish. But today felt like real fall. As in truly autumn. For South Florida, it has been muggy the past few days, but it rained this afternoon, the temperature fell, and we're getting our version of autumn right now. 

Fall is my favorite time of year, and one of the things I miss the most about being here. Autumn is when you make thick, hearty soups, can and freeze stuff for winter... *sigh*. It's hard to think about all that when stuff grows here almost all "winter". But I've been doing it. Bought *two* turkeys today, in fact, but more about those another time - ha!

But tonight... is marvelous. I'm going to snuggle in my jammies with some hot tea and pretend this will last longer than a day or two.

:)

Nice Harvest!

Would you look at that pile of green beans?! Heck yeah - picked them all today. Last year, the problem was that I'd get all kinds of beans, just not enough all at the same time to actually make a decent serving at a meal, lol.

That does not appear to the be case this time.  :D  Let's hope it keeps up, right? Since this is the sort of thing that is the point of my so called no work, non-dig garden, haha! Not sure how I'm going to cook them yet, but they will be cooked - and soon.

:)

Never Straight to Bed

So here is one reason why I can never just go straight in to bed, lay down, turn out my light... and sleep.

Here is another one.

People who say cats aren't social, that they are aloof and unfriendly, have never been around cats. Not really. And once I get my space cleared, there's always one between my ankles, or behind my knees, or Phil, my enormous 25 pound boy, who loves to sit on my chest and purr purr purr...

They do make warm spots, however, so once I do get to sleep... Zzzzzzz... lol.

:)

Post Card Saturday!

And it's still Saturday! Again! I'm on a roll... haha!

Today's postcard must come from the UK, because the card itself says it it is only to be posted in the United Kingdom, lol. There are lots of interesting things about this card, and one very glaring absence. 

There is no date. Or well, there was at some point, but when someone cannibalized the card for the stamp, it tore off the postmark that was clearly right over top of the stamp. There's no date on the card itself from the sender, though given the address, the feel, the look - it seems pretty old. 

But as you see the front up top, here is the full back (with no stamp and the postmark torn off with it).

Take a closer look at the address. This seems the height of confidence in your postal carrier. It literally is addressed to someone at "Ladies School". I swear the other part of it says "booktowne" but it's not capitalized that makes me wonder if it's supposed to be "bookstore". Regardless, that's a pretty vague address for someone who might not know better, haha!

Now for the message. If you hadn't noticed, there's some writing on the front. I have several cards that *only* have writing on the front, I guess for when you were just supposed to address the back. But the front says:
"Do you like this view?Thanks for your p.c.c. It fills a space very nicely." 

I have no idea what a "p.c.c." is, but apparently it is a good space filler - hah!

And the message on the back:

Dear S.
I suppose you are working hard for the Intermediate now. It will not be long till the Summer holidays now. With best love from Ethel.

So one of those girls' schools, clearly. Not sure the time period, of course. If you look along the side of the message where the printing is, that's where it tells you that it is only to be posted in the UK. 

Another mass of questions. I really, really need to do some serious research into postcards and their history, I think. Perhaps a lot of these questions would be cleared up like that, lol. Though some of them, the personal things, we'll never know. Still, it's all in fun, right? And I totally love the history, the personal bits, all of it. That's the main point, I figure.

Thanks, and Enjoy!

:)

Another Little First

Something is working in the garden, finally. Would you look at these? Yep - those are the first green beans of the season. These are the bush beans, rather than the pole beans I grew last year. There are a ton of tiny ones out there, and even more blossoms. Cross your fingers enough get ready to be picked at the same time to actually make a good serving for dinner, lol.

I also noticed that there are a bunch of blossoms on the surviving cherry tomato plants! Even a couple of teeny tiny tomatoes! Excellent!

And peppers on the old pepper plant. If you recall, the other one died :( And the new plant isn't doing all that well, either. I'm going to move it from where it is and hope for the best.

But there ya' go! Quick garden update. It might just grow whether I say so or not, ha ha!

:)

Thanks to Our Veterans

I put the wrong post up yesterday. So I am a day late, but no less sincere. Because of our veterans, I can say whatever I like on this blog, for example, and I am grateful to you all.

Now the Weather...

It is November. Thanksgiving is around the corner. It was just Halloween. 

But it's hot. 

Here in South Florida, it never *really* gets cold. There are a few chilly days here and there, but nothing major. And I also can't say it's steaming right now like it was in the summer. But it's fall, doggone it! The weather is supposed to be chilly. It's time to make soup. I want to haul out heavy shirts.

Alas. I've been wearing shorts. For those of us transplants, who are used to four seasons, it's really... different. 

I miss seasons.

:)

That (Thanksgiving) Time of Year

Why yes... Yes that is. It is exactly what you think it is. 


Thanksgiving salt and pepper shakers. Tee hee! 



If you don't know by now, I am the Holiday Queen. I *love* decorating for holidays, and the amount of decoration I have for most all the holidays is, well... Yeah, I have a lot, lol.

Now it's time for Thanksgiving. I have things here and there about the house, and it makes me smile. These shakers are new - first time using them this year. I found them at a yard sale and had to have 'em, lol.

So don't go there yet! Thanksgiving still needs to be appreciated and enjoyed!

:)

Post Card Saturday!

And it's still Saturday!

This is a pretty one. You can't really tell from the picture, but the "crown" and the gold trim on the dress are embossed. They stick up and sparkle, anyway, as do the letters, lol. Just a pretty card, I have always thought. 

Here's the full back. 

Note the postmark - 1913. And this is one of the few cards to make it to me with the stamp. :D  The address is a little more complete, but still no zip codes yet, I guess. 

And here is the message. As best I can read it, it says...

Dear Cousin - I am ashamed I have not answered your card before. Hope you all are well as I am sure it leaves me that way. I was going down home for a while yesterday but Gramph did not come after me. Tell Auntie I will write a few things about something that has happened down there pretty soon. Love, Bernice

Apparently even without Facebook, cable TV, and smart phones, people managed to keep in touch, lol. 

So there you have it - another Post Card Saturday. Hope you enjoyed!

:)

HAPPY FRIDAY!

It is, indeed, FRIDAY! Need I say more? Enjoy and more tomorrow!

:)

Solar Power!

Would you take a look at this thing? If you can't tell or haven't guessed - that's a solar oven. Yes, a solar oven! Those are cookies inside it.


I saw this at the Green Fair I went to a few weeks back, and thought it was just the coolest thing! Given that this is South Florida, I'll bet one would come in pretty handy around here, too. They aren't expensive, but they aren't cheap either. But from what I've found out about them, you really can bake pretty much any and everything in them. How cool is that! I wonder how long it would take to make up the cost of one in electricity savings, ha ha!

Just something to think about.

:)

Quick Update

For those keeping score, this is just a quick garden update.

Pumpkins! 

Yes, I know Halloween is over, but that doesn't mean pumpkins have to be. I planted some in a "hill" in one of the tubs. Two plants came up, but now I can't tell which is which, or if they've just grown together, lol. Here's the plant with two blossoms on it. Note the leaves looking weird - no idea what that's about. I need to look that up, I know.

Now look at this. It killed me, but I did it. I read that you need to cut off all but one blossom from your pumpkin vine (in enclosed spaces like mine) so that the pumpkin would actually grow. (I think that may have been part of the watermelon problem.) So I did it. Cut off three potentially nice blossoms that you see here. Yes, I left two instead of one, but one wasn't looking all that good, so I figured I'd give them both a little more time and see which one looked like it might make it. *sigh*

And Beans!

I planted a bunch of these this year, and they are bush beans and not pole beans. Less than half the seeds have come up. But the ones that have, look like this. See? All covered in blossoms that will hopefully all turn into beans, lol. Again, not a ton of them, to have to freeze or anything. But if I can get my lazy butt out there this weekend, I might plant some more and see what happens. 


So not a lot, but there is some garden news.

:)

Thanksgiving Season!

Halloween is fun, and I love it! I love Christmas! Well, I just love all holidays really, lol. And I also believe there is a time for everything - including Thanksgiving.

I'm not ready to just skip from Halloween to Christmas without that pause in between. It annoys me that all the stores (and half the population) seem ready to do it. Oh, and don't get me started on those stores that are going to be open on Thanksgiving... Can we say "boycott"?

Not me - no way! I"m getting out my Thanksgiving decorations this week, and I am going to enjoy it, thank you very much. It would be great if you all would do the same. 

Have a great one!

:)

Post Card... Sunday

Well, a day late and dollar short again, as the saying goes. And I was doing so well! Just another of those days that got away from me. I'll do better, I promise!

Tonight's post card is short and sweet. I love the picture on the front of it though. It makes me smile, giggle sometimes, lol.

Here's the back - not one that's written on, though you can tell it's old. The card stock feels old, and it's faded. If you need further proof, here's where the stamp goes.

Ahhh... to live in such simple times that two cents gets a postcard across the ocean...

Enjoy! More tomorrow.

:)