Welcome to Our Fritillery Factory

The garden is looking pretty ratty. It has been so hot that the only job that is getting done every day is watering. The dill and parsley are going...going...gone to seed. They need to be pulled up and composted. The passion vine has taken over the back fence, several trees and a swing set. It needs to be cut back. A few days ago, I pulled up a dill only to find a little swallowtail caterpillar on it. I put the baby back on another dill and left them all alone. Tonight, I went out to hack back the passion vine only to find it covered up in Gulf Fritillery caterpillars. When I checked on the parsley, looking for more black swallowtails. I found a Gulf Fritillery butterfly drying its wings and getting ready to fly. I hope all of these caterpillars chew the passion vine back significantly. That would make my gardening job a lot easier.

The flowers in the collage are passion flowers and Turk's cap.

Can you see the eggs in one of the pictures in the collage?

Pin Cushion

I picked today to begin quilting and working out again. Don't really think they have anything to do with each other. It just seemed like a good day to start doing things again. I have not sewn since Christmas. Somehow, when I don't use things, they get lost. How can they get lost when they have not been touched. I think some Monkey or another has been into my stuff again or maybe it was a Manx. A lot of stuff was pushed off of the back of the sewing table. Looks like the work of a tailless feline to me. One of the missing objects was my pin cushion. I was putting my needles into a little glass saucer my mom's friend made for me. (I really should have taken a picture of it too) The saucer just wasn't right. I needed a pin cushion. There are lots of homemade pin cushion patterns on the Internet. There are some really cute needle holders made from soft drink bottle lids and felt. I may make some of them later. Tonight, I needed an instant pin cushion cuz I'm lazy like that sometimes. The picture above is my roll up pin cushion. I rolled up a rectangle of quilt batting and then rolled the roll in fabric and tied it with crochet thread - viola, pin cushion.

Know of any instant crafts?

Happy 4th Y'all

Manly and Uncle J. put on quite a show. This is the only half decent picture I was able to snap. I should have shot a video, it was that awesome. Happy 4th y'all.

Tomorrow, We Are Going to Blow Some Stuff Up

Manly and Baby Monkey came home with all of these pretty explosives. Now they are working on a control panel made of wires, a piece of board and light switches. They are in the living room right now doing math and electrical engineering. I think I am going to go hang out on twitter and hope they don't set anything off inside of the house.

This Was Amazing

I was feeling a little blah today, so I looked back through our vacation photos. The pictures above were taken at the Xcaret Echo Park. The performance is the four bird men. They climb up and descend from the Universal Tree. The music for the performance is played on pre-Hispanic instruments. This is a form of worship to the sun god. The four men represent the four elements. I couldn't find anything about the other spinning activity, but it looked really cool and dangerous.

The head guy, the one who played the instrument and stood on top of the poll while the others spun down, looked like he was in his late 70's or early 80's. He climbed right down that rope like it was nothing. None of these performers were young men. I was seriously impressed.

A Brief Visit to the Outdoor Education Center

Here are a couple of pictures of the Bog Garden at the Outdoor Education Center. It is filling in pretty well and should be show ready next spring.

Over in the Butterfly Garden a milk weed has gone to seed. Still waiting on the Monarchs.

A Trip To Canton

Saturday, after closing the library, Kathy and I went on a trip to Canton, Texas to visit the spring. The spring is a place for Canton residents, or anybody else for that matter, to get fresh clean water. We keep a container of it in the library work room. Now I have some here at the house. The picture is Kathy filling one of her many water containers. I am jealous as I only had one.


The next stop was a little vegetable stand. That little kitty was worn out.

The next stop was Mrs. Sides' pea farm. I bought okra, lady cream peas, cantaloupe and Noonday onions. Now the story is that Noonday onions are sweeter that Wala Wala and Vidalia onions. Never having had a Wala Wala or Vidalia onion, I cannot comment. However, the Noonday onions are very sweet. An onion can only be a Noonday onion if it is grown within ten miles of the town of Noonday.

Those lady cream peas were wonderful. They are like a very very good black eyed pea.


Finally, we found the Troubadour Blackberry Farm. This farm is run by the band director of Kaufman High school with his family. I wish you could taste the blackberry cheesecake his wife made. Most excellent. They are going to send me some information on their set up so there will likely get another post.

After returning from our trip, I started cooking. I made lady cream peas, fried okra, and hot water cornbread for dinner.

Lady Cream Peas

Pound of lady cream peas

2 Sliced of Bacon

Pinch of sugar

Enough water to cover the peas.

Simmer for an hour or so and enjoy.

Hot Water Cornbread

1 cup Corn meal

Pinch or more of salt

Boiling water

Add enough boiling water to the cornmeal to create a dough thick enough to shape into patties. Fry in a little oil until golden brown.

Fried okra

Sliced okra

Egg white

Cornmeal

Cajun spice mix to taste

Coat okra with egg white and dredge with seasoned cornmeal. Fry until golden brown.