Fun – Vessels and Vittles

Because of Corona

“Because of Corona”.

It seems I’ve heard that phrase a lot over the past three months or so. That’s because Corona has changed everything! Any plans made in January for early 2020 were knocked off the map immediately.

Well, with everything on hold, or stopped, I found myself needing to regroup. I’m not good at sitting around doing nothing in the evenings. I always have projects set up. I worked from home anyway so my days weren’t different but after work I’d usually head out to do stuff. Not anymore.

So, I did a patio project. 😊 …. on the cheap, because that’s how I roll. My patio was the typical 12×12 slab of cement right outside the back door.

A sad little pot that overwintered and survived.

Pretty boring.
Here is what I did:
1. First, I measured out a 3 foot perimeter around the patio into the grass area. My lawn is pathetic bit I don’t care about that.

2. I filled in the perimeter with brown mulch from Home Depot. Only took about 8-10 bags.

3. Then I went around my yard and collected large rocks. I have more rocks in my yard than a quarry… really ridiculous….but they came in handy because I used them as a border on the mulch. Feeling pretty already.

4. My mom was parting with a nice patio chaise lounge so I grabbed it and stuffed it in my little car and brought it to its new home. 😎

5. Part of my reason for wanting to modify my patio was because I wanted to start a veggie container garden. So, next I needed to find ways to have my containers off the ground because I have The Wild Kingdom in my back yard… rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, possums, every bird species known to mankind, cats, and a hawk or two. I mainly needed to make sure the rabbits didn’t think I was opening up a buffet for them.

I went through a series of ideas …. using stuff I had because I don’t know how to build anything. So, using some extra landscape blocks and some shelves off FB for $5…and the seller was gracious enough to even deliver it. (Some awesome folks in the world)😊

The tabletop is one of the shelves from a large 3-tier garage unit.

6. The next treasure I picked up was from FB as well. A subdivision near me that had a pool area decided To replace all their umbrellas and sold them for $25 each!😳💪🏽 These were not small residential ones, they were commercial size heavy duty ones. I beat to the pickup place at 6am the next morn before work and grabbed one that, besides being A little faded looked great! Score!! I’d picked up a brand new heavy stand the season before for $15. 🥰

7. Again on FB I picked up two huge beautiful resin planters, which means I could lift them by myself. Got both for $10. The seller later told me that his wife was mad that he sold them so cheap but he told her, “l’m happy they sold and are out of the way and Jan is happy.” Lol lol. Yes, I am kind sir.

8. Last, I set up my garden. You can read my last post about the garden but once that was in place I just sat back and relaxed.

Along with a few other low-cost or freebie items I changed my whole patio for hardly any money! Part of the joy of it all for me is getting a good deal!!

Today, I sat and enjoyed the fruits of my labor.😍. So pretty to me.

Well, I hope Corona hasn’t derailed you too much and that you‘ve found something to put your heart and soul into while waiting out out lockdown.

It seems things are slowly opening back up so stay safe out there!

Love and Peace! 😘

Winter Prep: Maple Mama Update

We are finally getting some Fall-like temps here in my part of the country! Yay! No more mowing lawns, planting flowers, or watching my Japanese Maples grow. They have done so well. I’m quite surprised actually by how much they grew!! Some were tall and lean others were short and wide.

20191014_195541782_iOS

Such a difference from this past April….

I needed to find out what to do with them over the winter months. It typically doesn’t get too cold here but a couple of days or so it might dip into the 30s. I learned that the main goal of getting them through the winter is to make sure the roots do not freeze. Some sites said to just put them into the ground. Given the rocky yard I have, plus the fact that I have 25+ of them, that is not an option.

However, I ran across a site where a guy just left them above ground in pots and packed mulch around them. So I did that.

I tucked them in a corner of the house and put mulch around them. Hopefully, they will be protected from some of the winds, they will get the morning and afternoon sun, and the mulch will keep the roots from freezing. I think I need to add a bit more mulch this weekend.

20191016_171034538_iOS 1

I’m going to be so ecstatic if they survive the winter and come back. I anticipate the leaves will fall but I’m going to be eagerly awaiting to see if next April I see brand new little leaves.

Anyway… say a little Japanese Maple Tree prayer if you think of it. 🙂

Peace!

Spring Is For Renewing

Typically, Fall is my favorite season, but this year Spring Time is winning my heart. This year has felt pretty tough in a lot of ways; strained friendships, sicknesses, unexpected changes…just challenging times. I know I am not alone in feeling this way. A quick glance of my social media accounts proves this. Seems everyone is going through something.

Sometimes, during the tough seasons of life, I do things that are pretty random and different … it relieves stress for me to change things up.

I was looking out my window the other day and saw what seemed hundreds of red leaves on the ground. I thought they were fallen leaves from a nearby Japanese Maple tree. Upon closer inspection I realized they were leaves alright, but not fallen leaves. These were newly sprouted “Baby Trees” 😊. Apparently, all the rain we’ve had caused the seeds from the Japanese Maple to sprout in my yard. Blue skies, sunshine, red maple trees and awakening green grass. I really so love being in the south this time of the year. Everything comes alive so early in the year compared to where I’m from.

Well, I am no gardener by any stretch of the imagination. My home had beautifully established landscaping when I purchased it. So grateful for that. However, when I saw these little sprouts I had one of my random ideas.🤔🙃. The two Japanese Maples in my yard are so gorgeous I wondered if I could grow new trees from these little sprouted seeds.

Y’all….😂😂. Yes, I did. I called the local call-in gardening radio show on Saturday morn. As much as I don’t garden I love listening to this Gardening Show each weekend. This guy named Walter Reeves is like the gardening guru in my area. Anyway, I got on the air easily because I called really early, in case ‘friends’ were listening and recognized me. 😂😂. … “Hey, that sounds like …” 😂😂

Walter Reeves told me what to do, so I did it.

Japanese Maple seedlings. The two trees on the bottom are the parents of these little ones.:)

I now have 25 cups with Baby Japanese Maple Trees in them. Walter said I’d be watching these a loooong time. 😂 I don’t mind, it’s a distraction from all the “must-do”s in life.

Will they grow? Who knows. 🤷🏽‍♀️.

Was this a random adventure? Sure was.

What will I do if all 25 succeed? Don’t know, but I sure will feel successful in my adventure and some of my friends will be getting a new Japanese Maple tree..haha… or I will sell some to reinvest was in my new Japanese Maple Tree business 😂.

Honestly, it felt good just to get outside in the sunshine, dig in the dirt and have hope for better days and new beginnings….even if it came in the form of planting new baby Japanese Maple trees.

Happy Spring, friends!🌸🌺✌🏽💕

I Think I See How This Works Now

This food-body connection is really a retraining of the head. Even more than losing weight, I really wanted to learn how to keep it off! That is the big challenge… I’m sure I’ve lost a million pounds in my lifetime, and have gained a million two hundred pounds. 😩.

Well, for the past six plus months I have held steady… that is an accomplishment for me. I’ve tried to wean myself off of daily weighing and from putting every morsel on a digital scale and logging into My Fitness Pal. I want my brain to KNOW when enough food is enough… and I want to be in control enough to STOP EATING ON TIME. Easier said than done.

However, In the past 6 months something has worked. I’ve had times when I did overeat and times when I did under-eat. Somehow it balanced out. I’d be up 2 pounds one day, then down 3 pounds a couple days later. I always remained within a 3 pound window plus or minus. I’m ok with that. It seems my body is happy at my current weight. So I don’t fight it. I did start another exercise program that I will blog about in a future blog.

Anyway, I had some mighty wonderful meals over the past month. One of them was this:

Barbecue Nachos

Barbecue Chicken Nachos from Cue Barbecue. This was one of the most delicious things I’d had in two years. Great day! This is definitely going on the treat-list.

Then, during a week of meetings for work I tried something that I swore I’d ever eat – guess I was feeling adventuresome. Yeah, I tried it: Hot Chili Alligator from Henry’s Louisiana Grill …. it was good too; not fishy, not spongy, didn’t taste like chicken, didn’t taste like fish… tasted like…. alligator.🐊 I’m sure it being fried helped 👍🏽

Alligator

Unfortunately, Henry’s was only 1 of several restaurant meals that week. By Friday, I literally didn’t want to eat anything and pretty much didn’t.

On Monday I ate lay out 1000 calories all day which included four types of vegetables (collard greens, turnip greens, cabbage, and rutabaga) and a lot of water, lemon water and tea.

Collard greens

(Aren’t they beautiful?) 😊… were delicious too!

Feeling better already. It’s crazy how my diet during that week made me feel so sluggish.

Anyway, all this to say, I think I see how this works. There is no getting ON a diet and getting OFF a diet for me. There is only food awareness and balance; knowing what’s going in my mouth and knowing when to stop. 🛑 Dang! Took me 50 years to learn that. 😒. Better late than never. ✌🏽

Love y’all. 🌺

Chimichurri: a.k.a. Parsley Sauce

☘️ HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY☘️

I just impressed myself with this new recipe I just made. OK, it was t like it took a genius to do it but I actually had all the ingredients already (a big incentive to anything I try) and it tastes great!

My refrigerator was spilling over with fresh parsley this week because I bought some so I could see if it really helps with digestion if you eat it raw. It does! I had no idea how much I was buying though and I’m not one to waste so I searched for ways to use a boatload of fresh parsley.

AB1D992B-B581-4652-8375-8554794948C8

I’d never heard of chimichurri but apparently many have and according to online reviews it seemed to be quite tasty. I found my food processor and gave myself a quick tutorial on how to use the thing again 😕. There were a ton of recipes online but I found this 5-minute chimichurri recipe after some searching and got to work. OH MY! I started mixing these basic ingredients and I immediately loved it just by the luscious aroma. 😍 Yuuummm…. the parsley, fresh garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes…. nom nom nom!

Now, the recipe uses tablespoons for the ingredients but says you can use teaspoons. I use teaspoon portions.

89A49082-21D5-4E44-9940-E314E259CFF8

People, when done, I tasted it straight and WOW! I don’t even know what I’m going to put it on but I’m sure whether chicken, fish, beef or pork it is going to be delicious!!

I stored it in a small mason jar to keep in the refrigerator. It reminds me of pesto, which is made from basil, but I like this much better.

44A2B688-4F33-4E07-843E-A43BCAACDF6E

Well, let me know if you decide to make it and if you like it!🤗

Til the next time…. stay safe and be kind.

💚 & ☮️

P.S. 😂 I just realized I made a green sauce for St. Patrick’s Day! Had a cracking myself up moment.