Dreaming of Chickens - Rocky and Carlo's

[i_am2bz]

First of all, welcome!

Second, DoC & k0xxx - now, don't hit me, but one of my all-time favorite movies is "The Big Easy" with Dennis Quaid. I loooove the Cajun accent & the zydeco soundtrack!!!

 

[Dreaming of Chickens]

Good dog! 'possums and 'coons can do a number on a garden, so it's great to have a dog that protects your yard.

Widening the sidewalks, nice! It seems as though they are trying to make some improvements down there. The Parish always had it's problems with crooked politicians (like most places), but it seems as though there is at least an effort to make some things better.

I do miss the extended growing season down there. It was nice to have okra producing from June, all the way through October, at times. We even had bell peppers still producing at Christmas one year. Ya gotta love that SELA weather. There's nothing like steeping out of the house at 7 am and feeling like you've been slapped in the face by a warm, wet dish rag. And people up here complain about the humidity.

Yeah, the dogs do a good job of keeping varmints out. My big dog is almost 70 lbs. I don't worry too much about him out there, but little Ricky is only 19 lbs, much more vicious in the attack and won't give up, so I worry about him get'n ahold of a big ole possum without his big bro around to help him out. So far, though, we've been luck to not have any injuries.

Da Parish has been working on a lot of improvement programs, but we do still have a lot of corruption too. Next time you are here you should check out the park. They are not done with it yet, but it is coming along very nicely. They are fixing up "the duck pond" and putting peddle boats in like they have at City Park. That's gonna be cool. There is also some other project up on the hill at the park, but I don't know what they are doing there. Chalmette High is also pretty amazing now.

It is pretty funny when people from other areas complain about heat and humidity. A few years ago my supervisor went to Chicago for training in something like June. She was walking down the street on what she thought was a beautiful warm sunny day. Beautiful meaning it was only in the 80's and with what we would consider low humidity. She almost fell on the sidewalk laughing when two ladies walked out of a building and complained that it was so hot and humid they couldn't breath. She told them not to ever visit New Orleans in August!

 

[Dreaming of Chickens]

First of all, welcome!

Second, DoC & k0xxx - now, don't hit me, but one of my all-time favorite movies is "The Big Easy" with Dennis Quaid. I loooove the Cajun accent & the zydeco soundtrack!!!

We won't hit ya, or at least I won't, but I can't stand those fake Cajun accents! Or even worse is when they have the characters talking with a southern accent in New Orleans. A lot of movies and t.v. shows that are based down here I just can't watch. I also used to date a guy that grew up in California. He loved my accent, which is yat not Cajun, so he used to try to say New Orleans the way we do. He tried and tried until I told him to stop or I was gonna hurt him. So he stopped. It wasn't a bad movie, if I remember right it was pretty good, but..... ya know.

 

[i_am2bz]

First of all, welcome!

Second, DoC & k0xxx - now, don't hit me, but one of my all-time favorite movies is "The Big Easy" with Dennis Quaid. I loooove the Cajun accent & the zydeco soundtrack!!!

We won't hit ya, or at least I won't, but I can't stand those fake Cajun accents!

Yeah, I kinda figured that's what your reaction would be! Thanks for not hitting me!!

 

[Dreaming of Chickens]

Well, not really anything to report, but if I don't get on here at least a few times a week I'll just stop writing here all together and I'd like to keep it going. So, warning, this post may be boring. There are are few things I have been thinking about do'n. First, and it's a big one, hubby and I really, really, really need to sit down and write out a list of SS goals and the steps we need to take to get there along with some kind of a time line. We talk about the stuff we want to do and we are working on a few things, but we don't have it in writing and we don't have a solid game plan. I think writing it all down makes it more real and makes ya wanna stick to it and get that list checked off. I'm kinda put'n off the list writing though because I know it is gonna be a big one since we are just getting started on this path. I'm gonna need a lot of paper.

I've also been thinking about putting another garden bed in the back yard along side our storage shed. We haven't really planted much in the back yard because there used to be a lot full of trees behind our yard. They were recently torn down so now there is plenty of sun in that area. There are still a few things I can put down this time of the year, but I really think that what I would do is just build the raised bed and fill it with the soil and then it will be just about ready to roll for spring. I'd just have to till it up and put a chicken wire fence around it to keep the dogs out. If you plant anything they think you did it so they can dig it up and play with it.

Hubby bought a bunch of books on SS and surviving disasters and stuff like that, so I guess I know what I'll be doing when I have a few minutes of free time.

So that's about it for now, nothing really happening, just a lot of thinking and mental planning. Hey at least I wrote down that I want to write a list. That's something right?

 

[snapshot]

Thinking and planning is about all we can do right now too! All I hear is "Patience, patience". It's not easy!

 

[Dreaming of Chickens]

Let's see. What's on today's to do list. Eat Breakfast, go to home depot for replacement tomato and bell pepper plants then plant them (I've lost two more tomatoes and it's getting too late to keep replanting. never gonna get to can anything at this rate) weed gardens, re-pot several plants, plant and water the grass, water the gardens in front and back yards..........well that'll be enough to get my day started.

I am pleased to report that I have about 18 garlic popping up. I'm excited about that. I've never grown garlic before. And, it looks like we are getting a new crop of figs! I want fig preserves!! Corn and beans are growing like weeds and I think I just might have an eggplant coming in. Just not happy about the peppers and tomatoes right now. Also down to one squash, but I'm not getting any more of that.

OK. Let's get this party started! Ya'll have a great day.

 

[framing fowl]

Writing your ideas and goals down is a great idea! Even if you feel the list is such a monster that you will never get it all done, it's a good exercise, especially when you are just starting out in your SS journey and there are so many things you want to do and explore. It allows you permission to focus on what you need to be doing at the moment. It is easier to stay on task and focused and you end up getting more done. You can enjoy the steps along the way more because you're not worried about "When am I going to get ________ done?" You know that it will be done next weekend or in three months or what have you.

Then it's always fun to look back and see how far you have come.

 

[Dreaming of Chickens]

thanks ff. That's why I want to get it done. It helps ya to get organized and set up a game plan. If not you just tend to do a little of this and a little of that and nothing ever gets finished. Or, at least you never feel like your getting anywhere. I want to see the check marks on the paper!

So, got a bunch of my list done today. went to home depot and they only had cherry tomatoes and no bell peppers. Went to Lowe's and they didn't have any tomatoes or peppers. So, what was I supposed to do? Buy 2 blueberry bushes instead right? Right! So, that's what I did. I have no idea of where I am going to put them or when they produce berries or anything, but I got 'em. I only bought two. I figure we should get enough for blueberry pancakes and muffins with two bushes. I'll see how much they produce and maybe I will go back and get more next year. Maybe then I can make jam or pancake syrup out of 'em. yum.

What I got done today:
mosquitoes are really bad today.
Weeded and watered the gardens
Staked up one of the corn plants and the two eggplant plants that were lean'n. Think I might have like 3 eggplants coming in.
Planted some of the grass. I really need hubby to help me with that. Having a hard time digging up the ground in the back yard.
Started preparing a small garden patch off to the side in the yard. Need to get fencing for that to keep the dogs out of it.
Still need to re-pot those plants. I'm gonna do that when my break time is over. Also, I think I'm gonna go out there and take some pics to post.

 

[SSDreamin]

If you are anything like me, you will regret getting those blueberry bushes! They are like potato chips to me - I can't just live with one or two! I am up to six now, and thinking I'll be adding more once we move