Saturday, April 29, 2006

Weekend Herb Blogging 30

Burnett Salad

My Salad burnett got too happy and it bloomed. One singe little bloom on one of the plants. I guess its about time to harvest this little gem and have a delish salad with it.
Strawberry!

My plants are producing, only problem I have now is the pill bugs are eating them all up. So I have to do something with those little buggers.
My regular rescue hybiscus

It's producing flowers like crazy! I took this a week ago and it has had about 5 blooms since then.

I had done a post for WHB29, however I got the link in way too late to be a part of the roundup. So if you want to see some beautiful African Violets please just click the link.

I have not had time today to do much else so I dont have any new pictures. We are grieving over the loss of a special kitty Xannon. You can read more here about the circumstances.

May you be blessed throughout your day.

Weekend Cat Blogging...

I dont have a picture to show this time. Xannon was shot and killed by a neighbor in my community. This particular neighbor doesnt care if they are family pets or strays -- they come in his yard they are dead. My boys have been devestated.. my heart is broken. I don't think there is much more I can do about this. I have decided that we need to build a catery. My cats may not like the idea of being "penned" up, however, the alternative is much less acceptable. We are also missing Marlin -- the large orange and white tom we had for over a year. I know there are several other neighbors that have cats that they do not bother to spay or neuter. I have mostly done my female cats as I was able to. Yes, I probably have too many cats as a general rule.
1. Missy came to us when we lived in Kerrville some years ago. She too was shot -- her right front leg just below the elbow was blown out. The vet was able to set her leg in a special cast and she recovered. She has a constant limp and probably arthritis. Missy is spayed.
2. Ayla -- I got her from a friend. She's done well and is a pretty calico and spayed. She had:
3. Coral -- who's now two and spayed.
4. Boots is from Ayla's first litter -- and neutered.
5. LeChat was a rescue from a counselor -- and spayed.
6. Pita -- another rescue abandoned by previous renters.. and spayed.
7. Carmel -- current not spayed and preggers with hopefully a Xannon Baby.. she will be spayed as soon as the babies are weaned.
8. Spooks -- spayed and still as silly as ever.
9. Bandit -- a feral tom whom we have never been able to trap to neuter. And blind in one eye from a fight a very long time ago.
10. Merlin - a little orange and white male that is still a baby. Need to get him fixed ASAP! (Get him done before Carmel is done with pregancy and babies)
There are two feral females we are going to trap this summer and take them to the shelter. I cannot afford to keep taking care of all of them -- not my favorite thing to do but what else can I do? You cannot hardly afford to fill your car much less care for all these animals. I don't care to adopt anyone out at this point and time. Xannons memory is still too fresh.

Have a great day.

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Weekend Herb Blogging #29

There is a lot I have learned in the past weeks about African Violets. One of them being that there is about 15,000 varietes! Now that is mind boggling! I have added to my collection and have found a few very resourceful sites. Rachel's Reflections is just one of those sites.

Below you can see some of my lovely bloomers!



This one is an Unknown and I believe a rescue from Lowe's.. The leaf is standard in size and the flower shape would be considered "pansy".. So I am just going to call it "Blue Pansy Standard".




This is my Strawberry Daquiri. I don't know when it will bloom again. But you can find photographs at AVSA.org -- they have loads of pictures of these beautiful plants in full bloom! When my S.D. blooms again I will show you.



This is my new addition - It's called a Winter Ice. It has tri-colored leaves - white, light green and dark green. The blooms are Doubles that are white with blue edges. Doubles means there are two sets of petals on the blooms. Positively a favorite already.



Going to the African Voilet nursery is dangerous to my account. There were so many beautiful violets to choose from, and the nursery has half a huge house dedicated to just violets. (The other half of the house is too, but those are not for sale as they are cuttings that are in the process of growing up into pretty new plants.)

Weekend Cat Blogging #46

Xannon Stretch!


It's time for weekend cat blogging! We are a late entry this week due to just be plain ole busy busy busy! You can see other cat blogging peeps at Eatstuff!. Be sure to visit Kiri and Clare there!
I hope your weekend was fun and eventfull in good ways!

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Spooks likes the new couch....

Spooks Lounging happily!



She will sleep on the couch like this for hours. She's such a character.

In the next few days I hope to make it to Camp Verde and take pictures at the country store of the famous camel they have. And take new pictures of the items they have on the grounds of the store. I hope to continue to add pictures of this area. I am starting to take my camera everywhere I go -- but sometimes I have to leave it with my husband so he can get pictures of kidlets playing baseball and doing other things.

Hope to hear from those of you whom visit my blog.
I will have to say I have a few favorites which are listed on the left side of my blog -- Farmgirl is updated daily. And recently has been touching the hearts of many with her hearts of stone (I think that's just the outer shell -- under that hard casing is a heart that melts just like everyone else in this world.) Becca will hopefully be updating hers everyday. Kalyn does our weekend herb blogging -- which I try to make. Clare over at Eatstuff does the weekend cat blogging -- I try to make that too. There are many many blogs out there -- but those are my absolute favorites.

Have a great evening everyone.

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Weekend Herb Blogging # 27

New Additions... African Violets


I have decided to try my hand at African Violets. The two you see here are in front is a "Miniature Country Angel" and the one behind is a "Strawberry Daiquiri Standard". I got these for myself for my birthday today. I am hoping to be able to do cuttings and make more plants. There are over 250 different varieties of African Violets and I could not possibly name them all. I do have a few favorites though and most of them tend to be varigated and have purple and white flowers or pink and white flowers. The two shown above are no exception. You cannot see it very well, but the SD most inside leaves are nearly completely white. As I learn more I will share what I learn. Right now they are in "transistion" as I get them accoustomed to their new home. I will do my first cuttings around Easter provided they are healthy and thriving.
You can see more pretty green growing things at Kalyn's Kitchen. She does a round up every weekend on Sunday evenings. Share your favorite "anything green grows" with her too! And check out the other bloggers who share thier favorite herbs and plants.

Have a great week everyone!

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

A Day in The Life... 04/04/06

The Great Escape! Valentine munching on a bale of hay....
Outside the goat pen!


She just climbs on through the fence to munch on the grass and other yummy items she could find. She also got braver and braver -- getting ever closer to the busy road we live on. And you can see below how the neighbor had to fix his little artist from getting out. He tied up the tin with wire, making sure of course, that none of the goats would get injured on it. He's got two new additions, and I will show them off tomorrow.
A wall for the escape artist.



Baby Looking Glass Begonia


You can see an earlier picture of the plant here when I first placed it into a pot and read more about it there. It's obviously doing quite well. My parent plant got plagued by something and has nearly died back to nothing. I am currently treating it and will show off pictures when and IF it recovers. I am certianly hoping it will and will gladly share my findings if it does well after its blight with either mold or scale.. not sure which.

Have a great week! Remember to kiss and hug those you love, and tell them you love em too!

Saturday, April 01, 2006

Weekend Cat Blogging # 43


I AM SOOOO TWISTED!


It's time for Weekend Cat Blogging. Visit Clare and Kiri over at Eatstuff. to see all the cat and food loving bloggers. Every week Kiri gets her slave Clare to do a weekend round up of all his feline friends. Please go by and visit Kiri and be sure to check out all in the round up! Be sure to leave your permalink showing off your feline friends too! Have a great day everyone!