LIFE OF A MINI ROSE

This picture is the vry beginning of a mini rose - the buds have not even opened yet!!

Day One - bud has opened!

Day Two - Bud has opened even more!!

AND, still opened even more on DAY THREE!!!

Sadly, DAY FOUR - The rose is starting to look a little shabby!! And that is all!!!!!!!!!!

IT'S ALL ABOUT GARDENING

You might say, an alternative title is: "A Picture is Worth 1000 Words"! This is one of my latest garden creations. In my side yard, I this beautiful old Red Bay tree with small Palm tree next to (Saw Palmetto). There was a lot of yard debri around it, so I cleared the debri away, made a path with recycled tiles I found for FREE. I know call it "My Path to No Where". It starts at no where and ends at no where! Ther are two garden statues of a rabbit and frog in that garden! And the best part, I get to look at each day from one of my windows!!

MY FLORIDA GARDENING JOURNAL

NOTE Everything you plant from seed, start in a pot!!!! Florida's soil is too sandy & acidic to start seeds in!!! Then, amend the soil we store bought Garden Soil, once the seeds have started growing!!! From seed I have successfully started, Cosmos, Sunflower. Just today planted tomatoes from seed!! I had some sun-dried tomatoes in the house. I took about 6 pieces which had some seeds still in them and planted them in a pot with good soil in it & watered well. Also, last week, planted hot peppers in a pot. About 4 years ago, I decided to plant some succulents. This spring two of the four succulents had flowers. The big bright white blossom above, is from a small cactus about 4 yrs old!! This is the 1st time it has flowered!! Apparently, it is one which flowers for only one day - I wonder, if I'll have to wait another 4 years for the next bloom. One week ago, I planted herbs - parsley, sweet basil, mint, & chives. These were not from seed - but they are doing really well anyway!! My cannas have come back to life and are also, soing well. AND to finish off the gardening I have grapes growing in my yard - WOW!! And, I thought my green thumb had turned real dark brown - maybe even black!!! Moral of story, Gardening Requires Patience & Time! Fortunetly, I have lots of both!!!

CAT(S) VS. CHICKENS

Well, you probably all know by now, I love cats!

Let me begin by introducing the players in this mini-drama, 1st, a neighbor's free- range hen & her chicks (if you look closely in picture with barrel you can see her -sort of in the shadow); 2nd, another neighbor's cat (black & white); & least but not last, my cat - Friday, orange tabby.

As I said, the hen & her 5 chicks are free-ranging the neighborhood. The neighbor's cat, for some reason, has taken a liking to the chickens. He is very possessive & protective of them. He is also, know to to chase other critters away from the chickens, this includes other cats. Friday, is an indoor cat with a bit of a Harry Houdini Complex. He likes nothing better than to escape outside. I have been watching him watch the chickens for a whole week. You just knew what was on his mind.... 'Oh boy I really want real chicken for dinner'. After about 5 or 6 days of watching the chickens from inside the house, he escaped, and made a bee-line for the chickens across the street.

'Oh good neighbor's cat not around.... no one on duty protecting chickens'. So he thought!

That is until, he got about 1.5 feet directly in front of the chickens! Now, this is when things got real interesting! The mother hen spread her wings, started flapping them, jumping up & down, and madly squawking - loud enough to wake the dead!

Friday, didn't want real chicken for dinner anymore!! He just was not planning on mama being around!!

I grabbed him .... he needed to be rescued! He was in my arms purring happily!!

MORE ANCESTURAL JOURNEY!!

Below is a picture of my parents.

Yes, this is becoming a journey of ancestry, history, and geography. The further back I go, the more of a journey it becomes!!! Since my last posting, I have found out that on my father's side I can trace my lineage back to King Altoy of Turkey, born 25 AD (Mesopotamia at that time)!!! Another branch of my father's side can be traced back to the Plantagenet's (King Henry II, Richard The Lion Heart, & King Henry VIII of England)!!!

Along the way, I have found out not to be afraid to talk about what you have discovered to date, and occasionally "Google" what you need to look for. Twice, I have talked with a close friend about my prior research!! This lead me to places I would not have thought to go. She told me, that her nephew and my Great Grand Mother are burried in the same cemetery!!! WOW!! The second conversation, was centered around my Mother's maiden name (Sheldon). I mentioned to her that there was a branch of Sheldon's who lived in Northampton MA. Also, that there is a connection to the Deerfield MA Museum. The next part of the story can only be called amazing, until 7.5 yrs. ago I lived in Greenfield MA (only 11 miles north of Deerfield MA) - never knew until I started tracing my ancestry that there were Sheldon's in Deerfield MA!! So now, I google "Sheldon's of Deerfield MA", a whole 3 - 5 pages come up WOW!!!
And now the end, I will be taking an actual, physical ancestry journey back in time, in October of this year. This journey will include: Deerfield MA; Gardner MA; Westminster MA; Fitchburg MA; Falmouth MA; Westerly RI; New London CT, & Gettysburg PA, as well as Orange County VA!!

VALENTINE'S KIDS PLACEMAT

This craft is real easy to make!!! Even, a child with the help of an adult can do it relatively easily!!
MATERIALS:
8.5" X 11" paper
stickers and/or stamps
maybe even crayons/markers
self-adhesive laminate sheet 9" x 12"
scissors
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Place stickers on on paper and or color, and/or stamp paper.
2. Peel a little of the adhesive back on the laminate sheet.
3. Attach laminate sheet to the paper.
4. Smoothly, and gently peel the remainder of the laminate sheet
back, so that the rest of the paper is covered.
5. When you have it all covered, there will be left over laminate on the edges
of the paper. Trim it off with the scissors, and you are done!
The picture I have here is one I made with Valentine's Day in mind. I have seen this used as a placemat for animals or for other special occasions!!

FUNKY FLORIDA GARDENING

AND not to mention - funky FLorida weather!!! 73 one day, 35 the next!!! What the heck!!!

I have tried so hard to start a garden here in Florida!!! If is isn't lack of water, it is poor, sandy soil!!! What to do??? Started from seed (3 times) no go!!! My front mail box garden, it is doing very well - of course it has mostly succulents in it! A variety of cactus, and one lonely Rosemary!! These all did very well, even with the frost last night!! I covered them up!!

I gave up on the seed tray idea! Went to putting potting soil in half of a pot, then special seed soil in the top half. This pot was planted with Cosmos from seed. You can see for yourself they are doing very well. Maybe a little frost bitten - hope they will revive with Floida warmth & sunshine!!! Will keep you updated on my garden's progress!!!