First Carrot, Not pretty

 
Well lookie there. One of the first carrots of the year is bifurcated. Yes, I know how to avoid this. No, I am not going to replace all our soil with sandy loam. Not unless we win the lottery. Doesn't it look like it is doing high kicks?

I Have it Under Control. Really I Do

My wall of tomatoes is a mess. You see, I am letting my lettuce go to seed so I can save them for next year. There is also a cilantro going to seed in there. Of course coriander is absolutely essential and I must let it go to seed. What I am not leaving in on purpose is a tree trying to grow, some poison ivy, morning glory, dandelions, and a couple of tennis balls somebody planted for me. Then, oh the horror, it looks like there may be a pumpkin vine. What will I do. Do you remember what happened last year?
 
 
I spent a lovely hour at butterfly gardening sister's house this afternoon. She has asked us to help her remove some volunteer plants from the butterfly garden. Much like her big sister, she just does not want to pull up baby plants. Which brings us right back to what happened last year.

I came home with Texas star hibiscus. Hopefully, the police will not become involved. I also got purple cone flowers, cow pen daisies, bronze fennel, a candle stick tree, and gomphrena. Gomphrena brought about a truly hilarious tweet by foolery on twitter.
 
I don't remember planting this amaryllis, but isn't it cool?
 

I also have a raised bed gardening sister. Maybe I will visit her next week.

To all of you who commented for seeds, they should be in the mail at the end of the week with a surprise.

Help There is a Monkey on My Roof

 

Never mind, false alarm. He is just cleaning out my gutters.

Here They Are in all Their Glory: Grammy and Opa

 
 
Here they are, the parental and grand parental units. This should explain everything. Seven kids a dozen grand kids. These two are playing with her mothers' day hat. Weeeeeee.

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.