Happy Mothers' Day

 
 
 
 
Here are the flowers that bloomed for me today. The first day lily, the first French hollyhock, endive blooms, and flowers from Manly Man. Hope you all had a happy Mothers' Day.

The Queen's Bathroom

So, it seems it is time to tell a story about our mothers. Of course it should be touching and warm, not. Here is the story of my mother and the Queen's bathroom.

In my late 20's I worked for a large, international hotel chain. I was very very good at selling hotel rooms. Because I sold a lot of rooms, I was treated to many free trips. I went to St. Martin, Puerto Rico, Saint Thomas, New York, Puerto Vallarta, and the list goes on and on. The jewel in my travels was a trip to London. The trips were almost always for two and I was single, so I invited my mom.

We left from DFW, had a lay over at O'Hare and then on to Heathrow. What a flight. We arrived for our four day stay with jet lag and no clue what the food was going to be like. We really should have done more research on what to eat. We stayed at a new hotel on Chelsea harbor in a beautiful suite.

We visited museums, Victoria and Albert comes to mind. We went to Bath and Stonehenge. We followed a lovely lady through the streets of London. She carried a yellow polka dotted umbrella and showed us where the Texas Embassy is located. Everyone should take a street tour like that one.

The biggest, most important thing we were able to visit was Buckingham Palace. We were able to tour the palace because it was being used to help pay for the repair of Windsor Castle, which had been damaged by fire.

We were in this long long line (que) and I dearly needed to potty. Asking for a bathroom in England will get you some really strange looks. When I finally was able to make myself understood to one of the tour workers, she passed me off to someone at a side door and explained to the other proper, nice lady that I needed a W.C. They both looked equally shocked at my need, but took me to the Queen's bathroom. It was really a nice little bathroom. The second lady stood gaurd over me and delivered me back to the que and my dear mother. She was clearly glad to be rid of this crude, American, worse Texan with the bad manners to have bodily functions. I found this all to be hilariously funny, which the proper ladies found even more distasteful.

My mother is a sweet, mostly proper, little woman. She raised seven children and none of us are in jail. Most of us have college degrees. All of us respect her and hide the fact that we may want a tattoo from her. She would never ever do anything illegal or immoral. Her mother, my grandma Rhodella, raised her better. So her next question caught me totally off guard. She asked, "Did you steal some toilet paper?" Absolutely not. She raised me better than that.

Well, okay, maybe she has a wild side.


What is the craziest thing you mother ever did or expected you to do?

Orange Oil

In my post yesterday, I mentioned orange oil. There were a few comments asking about the product. Here is a little more information on the orange oil I use. It is the oil that is in the skins of oranges and other citrus called limonene. It is pure orange oil, not a product scented with orange oil. The brand I use is Nature's Guide. It can be used full strength to get off stuff like the goo on the library books or diluted to an ounce a gallon to make a pretty nice all purpose cleaner. Don't use it on wood surfaces. It will dissolve the finish. My favorite thing to do is mix it with baking soda and use it to clean the bathtub. With three boys, my bathtub gets pretty yucky. The orange oil and baking soda really clean it up fast. I buy it at a local feed store. Many organic garden centers carry it. It is expensive, but it goes a long way and is worth it. If you have asthma, like I do, or are sensitive to harsh ammonia containing cleaners, this stuff is a great option.

A great cleaner for windows and mirrors is straight white vinegar. Again, no trouble breathing using this instead of ammonia. Murphy's oil soap is my product of choice for wood surfaces.

Use orange oil on
Counter tops
Sinks
Bathtubs
Toilets
Slick covered books (not fabric or paper)
Tile
Linoleum
Appliances
As a spot remover for oily stains on clothing

Use vinegar on
Windows
Mirrors
Glass fixtures

Murphy's oil soap
All wood surfaces.

Now if this makes me sound like some kind of good housekeeper, again wrong. This place is a mess, better get to work.

Killers

So I am a gardener and I work at the library, which set of books do you think I would make a pet project? Well, you guessed wrong. We have a true crime section that was a total mess. Most of the books need editing in the computer and new labels. They are also pretty dirty. I have been working on these books for about three weeks. I am about half way through the set of them. They are really really hard to clean. We were using something called Goo Gone. Today I finally got fed up with that product, took a break, came home and fetched my orange oil. It worked like a charm. I clean more books today than I have in the whole time I've worked there. Everybody needs to try orange oil.

Another thing you have to do when working within a group of books like this is weed out the damaged books. So I deleted about six books from the collection this week. My coworker suggested I do some research and replace those old torn up books with newer true crimes books. So now I am researching serial killers. I have a folder that is labeled Deb's Murderers with names of criminals and books about them in a nice long list. So I get to suggest books for the darkest set of materials we have in the library. Yippee.

Which books would you work with if you couldn't work in the garden section?

Fried Chicken

I can get my men to do just about anything for something chicken fried. Venison is they Monkey's favorite. Manly prefers chicken fried steak or fried chicken. If you have ever made fried chicken, you know what a kitchen trashing, time devouring undertaking it is. Manly wanted chicken for dinner, so I stopped off after work and bought Chicken Express instead of making it myself. There was a major monkey celebration over that box of chicken. One even said he loved me "more."

One type of fried chicken you can't buy at a speedy chicken joint is Italian fried chicken. I will share the recipe below. If you would like you can Italian fry an eggplant and it is very nice as well.

Chicken breast sliced or pounded very thin, think cutlets.
Fresh bread crumbs (soft)
Garlic 2 cloves per two slices of bread to make bread crumbs
Herbs 1 tablespoon dry for each 2 slices of bread used to make bread crumbs or 1/4 cup fresh per two slices or bread used for bread crumbs, or just wing it.
Oregano
Basil
Parsley
Sea salt to taste
Egg white
1/4 cup water
Vegetable oil

I use my food processor to make the fresh breadcrumbs combining processing the herbs with the bread. Mix water and egg white. Dip chicken breast in egg mixture and coat with bread crumbs. Press the breadcrumbs firmly on the chicken breasts. Fry in vegetable oil until golden brown. Serve over pasta with pesto sauce

Pesto
1 cup fresh basil leaves (lemon basil is my favorite)
4 cloves garlic
Juice of one lemon
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
2/3 cup olive oil

Process all ingredients in the food processor until smooth. Add more oil if the sauce is too thick or more cheese if it is too thin.

Enjoy.

It is Safe to Come Back

After a good nights sleep, an afternoon nap and some light gardening, Aunt Debbi is all better. The monkeys behaved well today. I even took one of them to a recruiting meeting and he didn't pull any stunts.

I partially installed my second rain barrel this afternoon. I say partially, because we were not able to get the down spout off of the gutter. Manly will take care of it for me, I am sure. As soon as it is finished, my rainwater storage capacity will double.

A quick note on Monday's meeting. Paul Riddell came to speak to the KCMGA about carnivorous plants. He actually kept that group quiet they were so interested. Keep a couple of our master gardeners quiet is sometimes a challenge. One member whispered to me that we need a video camera, she was that impressed.

I was finally able to pot up some of the plants I received from Nola. A fewer random pots to trip over on the deck YEAH. Here is what I am thinking, I received seeds and plants from Nola who received seeds and plants from Linda and Brenda. So now I should give a few seeds away and maybe a surprise. To get plants you gotta come see me. So leave me a comment and a link and I will send you some seeds. I have enough for the first ten people who post a comment.

Hurry before I run out.

As I read this agan in the a.m. I see a big, glaring ommision. I forgot about Monica and here fantastic progressive seed exchange a few months ago. I extend this offer of seeds in her name as well.

Melt Down in 3.2.1

Get up can't find socks
Cry
Realize I have the most awesome husband who does not hold me accountable for socks,mine or his. (ofb should not comment, as that may cause sobbing.]
Sweet gift from another MG
Meeting #1
Meeting #2
Lose control of meeting #2
Regain limited control
Awesome speaker
Discover awards won by organization YEAH!
Receive awesome bug eating plant
Help put together rain barrel
Drop rain barrel off at home
Library for six hours when brain quit working
Extended family dinner brain still not working.
Monkeys appear to be happy
Screaming toddlers - poor babies, poorer babies mamas.
Brain begins working in reverse, not a good thing.
Sister leaving town again:(
Commit to something I can't get out of so I won't have a day to myself
Head home late when monkeys experience a mood swing
Wrangle Monkeys to bed. When all Monkeys became suddenly, epically unhappy.
Help me, somebody please help me.

Tomorrow I will do a proper post. Right now I intend to fall into a babbling heap.