Rooted in Mississippi

This is the second time I have picked our fig tree this year and, as usual, there are more figs than any ten people could eat! Figs have no shelf life, they rot at lightening speed.  I am not one for making preserves, but I suppose I should, even if I end up giving them all away!

My husband calls these Delta Figs. All I know for sure is that they are a small variety that grows well locally.  This year has produced the largest, most tasty figs in recent memory, despite the lack of rain.  The trees seem to respond well when you harvest the fruit regularly.  In addition, this past year, the neighbor trimmed the trees, because the branches were hanging over his driveway.  I need to remember to trim them again next year, a couple of the branches go over our roof, where you can not reach the fruit.

Princess sat out back on her ragged throne, surveying the landscape.   Please note the mud on her snout, she has been enjoying the ground that was softened by the recent rain.  Now that it is drying up, she is losing a little of her enthusiasm for digging.

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The day started out kind of crappy, because I had a sinus headache, but it turned around. I met Lisa for lunch at the Ag Museum Cafe, where I got the vegetable plate and some unsweetened tea. It was delicious and the little bit of caffeine gave me a nice boost.

My husband brought home some very cool white eggplant from the office. One of the ladies who works there has a victory garden and he commented on them, so she sent him home with some. I learned that white eggplant has a tougher skin and has to be peeled, but that it is less bitter, even though it has more seeds. You cook it just like regular eggplant, so I figure on making up a batch of Eggplant Parmesan sometime this week.

I had thought about getting up early and cooking it up for Lisa, but I felt crappy and was glad we had already decided on going out for lunch. Lisa came by the house before she went back to work, to meet Rudy and pick some figs. We have a bumper crop of Delta Figs this year; they are smaller than grocery store figs, but very tasty. Lisa took about a half of a gallon ziploc bag home with her and the trees are still full of ripe figs.I’ll leave you with some more pictures of unbridled doggy cuteness. Last night, Rudy cuddled up with me like a baby. When I had to go to the bathroom, I slipped out so as not to disturb him. He was sound asleep in that awkward position and did not move. He even slept through my giggling while I snapped a few photos.

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This morning, I finished up with the final touches on CQMagOnline! There were not enough sponsors for this issue, so Nora gave me some space and I decided to put in a tiny link to this blog. CQMagOnline is a completely volunteer operation and the fees paid by sponsors just barely cover the cost of the web-hosting service. In the past, the staff has donated money for the operating costs to keep Nora from having to shoulder it all on her own. If you want to help, submit your photos to the Reader’s Showcase, consider donating an article, or buy ad space in a future issue. Go ahead, it is inexpensive and should be good for your karma!

I actually got a lot of other stuff done today too. I packed up Rudy and took off to run errands. He was a perfect gentleman in the post office, even though the person at the counter took forever to take my money, affix the postage and tracking information, then scan the package. At the very end, he was getting a little antsy and moving around in his travel bag, but he never barked or whined. Afterwards, I took him to PetSmart where he had a ton of fun, but I also had a strange encounter with a woman who cut us both off and then kept apologizing. When I was checking out, she was right behind me, and it dawned on me that she heard me calling Rudy “Rude” while I was reassuring him and must have thought I meant her! Oh, well, misunderstandings happen.

Finally, we visited the drive through teller at the credit union before going home. After taking all three of the dogs for a walk, I took a break and watched last night’s episodes of The Closer and Saving Grace (which I thought was compelling), then headed into the yard for limb duty. After filling one garbage can, I loaded the chimenea and made a big pile next to it. Unfortunately, I could not really get the fire going, probably because of all the rain we have gotten lately. So I gave up and picked some tiny tomatoes before getting to the business of cooking. I grilled some burgers that I put into a marinade yesterday and a couple of ears of fresh corn. All in all, it was a really productive day and quite enjoyable, except for the mosquito bites.

And of course, there are more photos of intense doggy cuteness. Rudy has really found the soft spot in my heart.

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I am so sore today. I feel like I have the flu, without any respiratory symptoms. It is not from over-exertion at the bellydance festival, although I did take two classes.  All of my joints ache, especially my knees and hips, which is why I am whining.

This all started last month after the Kami Liddle work shop. I think that really was due to exertion, but it hung around for longer than it should have.  It does seem to get better when I get enough sleep, then flare up again when I do not.  I have a goal in SparkPeople for getting eight hours of sleep a night, so it is pretty easy to track.  I was so worried about my disrupted sleep, that I finally gave up caffeine. 

I am drinking strictly decaf when I have tea or coffee, which is a lot less often since I went unleaded.  I did drink a single sugarfree redbull ten days ago, just before the second day of the Mardi Love workshop, but that was pretty much it.  Oddly, I have been craving chocolate, which I think might really be a caffeine craving in disguise.

Back to yoga, I had to force myself to go today and I had trouble keeping up with Tara, because I was aching all over.  Even my feet hurt by the end of class!  I called my doctor’s office this afternoon and made an appointment for tomorrow.  Maybe he will be able to figure it out.  I do not want the lack of sleep or the abundance of joint pain to keep me from enjoying my upcoming vacation. 

On a less whiny note, I got into my herb garden again this afternoon, because I decided to cook yellow squash and onions.  It smelled so good, until I left the heat higher than I should have after I added the squash to the caramelized onions and garlic.  We ended up eating it anyway. 

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Another Getting to Know You Wednesday quiz from Create a Connection.

YOU choose what to tell me:

List 3 random facts about you, that we will be entertained by:

1. My whole body vibrates when I shimmy.
2. I am allergic to cats, even though we have two.
3. I used chives, rosemary, sweet basil, and oregano from my own greenhouse last night in pasta sauce last night.

List 2 things about you, that are important for us to know:

1. I am a terrible house keeper.
2. I can toss a 2 cubic foot bag of organic potting soil over my shoulder and walk around with it through the store, check-out and to the car without a problem.

ME! My turn to ask questions!

Do you like board games? What are some favorites?

I used to! I was all about the word games, like Boggle and Scrabble.

What are your non-artistic hobbies?

Bellydance, orchids, reading, and herb gardening.

Do you collect anything?

I collect clutter, does that count? Okay, I like rabbits, eggs, tea cups, tea pots, anything dachshund related, but I don’t actively collect any of those things.

And now, our Creativity:

What types of art do you enjoy creating the most?

I like to paint and draw, but I am more likely to write, spin wool, stitch, knit, crochet, or bead.

Do you have a type of art that you’ve always wanted to try, but never done? What is it?

I pretty much have dipped my big toe into everything that interests me in art, but I always like taking classes.

Do you have any art “how to” sites that you would recommend to us? What are they?

No, mostly, I learn by doing…and the occasional book. The website I like are the ones I use for motivation, like Everyday Matters and Illustration Friday, which are listed in my links, under websites.

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While I was at the Kami Liddle workshop, the neighbor fixed the fence.  I would have been happier if the wood matched a little better, or if maybe he would have given it a good pressure washing after he was done, but that would be expecting too much.  He denied all culpability and blamed his current paramour. 

The photo on the right is of my dilapidated greenhouse.  That one side is the only one still in tact.  Most of the roof and half of the panes on the side are missing, broken, or ruined.  I am still waiting for the cost estimate on the repairs.  In the mean time, the herbs I picked up are doing well, but I really need to go get some potting soil and set them in larger pots.  I also have a small batch of onion sets that I need to put out, but I need topsoil for that too.  Maybe by the weekend I will have managed to get by the gardening center for supplies.

Things are getting back to normal at Chez Root.  The workmen are gone and things have begun to settle down.  My front porch is sporting a little catnip in the formerly empty urn and the windchimes are happily floating on the promise of a little rain.  

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I know some of y’all are jealous, because it is spring here in Mississippi, but let me remind you of the two downsides to early warm weather down south.  First, the high pressure and warm spells often create scary storms.  That can mean violent rain storms and tornadic winds, which have swept through the area a couple of times in the last few weeks.  The tornadoes and straight line winds are bad, but the rain is good, because it washes away the other downside, pollen.

You want to know how bad the pollen is right now? 

This is a photograph of the neighbor’s cat, we call him Igor, because the side of his face is funky.  At first I thought there was a new, unidentified gray cat in the greenhouse, eating Omar’s food.  Then as I got closer, I realized it was Igor, who is a black cat.  His face is the only spot not completely covered in pollen.  This is regular pollen, not the insane greenish yellow pine pollen! 

I also wanted to include a picture of the sideways door that my husband had to rig to try to halt dog and cat traffic through the wrecked fence. It is more Sanford and Son, than Shabby Chic, but he had to do something.  Especially since it is probably going to take the guy a few months to make legitimate repairs. His home is for sale and this is an obvious problem, so he should be motivated to do it sooner rather than later, but you never know. Pretty awful, huh?

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Some of you may remember that back at Christmas time, the neighbor hit the fence and broke several of the boards.  It was mostly a hassle, because his cats could get through the hole and we were worried that his Great Dane might poke his head through too.  My husband engineered something to keep it covered, because it took our neighbor forever months to get it fixed.  In fact, he only finished it about a week ago, and here is a photo of the repair he made.

It was finally resolved and we breathed a sigh of relief, then early this morning, I open the door to let the dogs out and see this.

 

I swear, if it were not for the tree, his car would have been in our yard!  This time he broke ten boards, plus the braces and cross beams.  He also busted up the bottom part of the fence, so our dogs could definitely get out.  My husband tried to nail boards and plywood as an emergency fix, but the damage was just too severe.  We can’t have the fence wide open for the next two months, waiting on the neighbor to get around to fixing it on his own schedule.  He eventually used that old door mounted sideways to fix the hole.  It ain’t pretty, but hopefully my dogs won’t escape.  I will have to keep a much closer eye on them while they are out back.

Now for some good stuff.  I thought I would include a photo of my confused Christmas cactus, which is blooming like crazy.  It is really my mother-in-law’s plant, when she passed, I brought it and several aloe plants home to try to salvage them. Perhaps because of this other worldly connection, it is actually a clairvoyant cactus and bloomed again in anticipation of the second wrecking of the fence. The two really are in sync!   

I also bought some herbs at the local garden center.  I picked up chives, pineapple sage, thyme, oregano, rosemary, parsley, and even some catnip.   When I came home, I left some of the plants in front of the door while I secured the dogs and situated the other stuff I had brought home.  Choochie found it and was inside the bag, rolling on the plant.  So I decided to repot one of the catnips and stick it out front to entertain the him and the neighbor’s cats.

Next, I called a glazier to come out and evaluate the greenhouse.  I will not know if they can fix it until after they come by tomorrow.  At least I hope it is tomorrow!  In preparation, I spent two hours cleaning out the green house, raking leaves, cleaning up broken glass and finding spots for all of my new herbs. 

Oh, and today we worked on opening the heart chakra in yoga class!

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