Happy Halloween 2024

Of all the Halloween decorations I've seen this year, and there are many creative ones, this witch\scarecrow is my favorite.

What A View!

One last posting from my visit to Chicago last month.

We took in the 360 Chicago Observation Deck at the John Hancock Observatory, which is on the 94th floor, a mere 1,030 feet above Chicago, YIKES!

One of the offerings is called "TILT", where you stand against floor to ceiling windows that slowly tilt outward towards the city below.  Um yeah, I passed on this option but there were many people doing it.

The views were incredible in all directions -

I found the below signage funny, which were posted outside of a pub we went to.  Based on the news I've seen, Chicagoans don't seem to follow the "no gun" directive.

A Google search returned the following, "as of July 7, 2024, there have been almost 1,200 total reported shootings in the city, according to the Chicago Police Department."

Looking forward to my next visit to the windy city!

 

Spanakopita (spænəˈkɒpɪtə)

I picked myself up this box of Spanakopita from Trader Joe's the last time I was there.  I had a hanker'n for spinach pie and thought this would be the perfect Patriots game kickoff snack.  Truth be told I miss my mother's spinach pie 😢.  Being the fussy eater that I was back in the day, I didn't appreciate this Greek dish, alas.

Although, not even close to my mother's version, it didn't disappoint!

My brother suggested a iPhone app called "Trash Panda", which identifies potentially harmful ingredients in your food with a quick scan of the products bar code. 

While waiting for these delicious treats to cook I took a peek at the ingredients listed on the back of the box and immediately knew this was NOT a healthy item.  I knew this by a quick look at ALL the ingredients shown.  Healthier items have minimal ingredients, so ones that have more than a few typically are bad, which turns out to be the case.

So, I used the Trash Panda app to scan the code and sure enough it was confirmed! A couple potentially dangerous ingredients flagged - canola oil and cellulose gum AND a warning that this product "may be bioengineered"!  

Good Grief!  Seems the FDA is how you say, "as useful as tits on a bull"!

Since I've been watching what I eat and have been good in general, and since I was already committed with the purchase and the tasty aroma wafting from the kitchen, I ate these, burp!

However, and sadly, this will be the last time I purchase this item.  We all need to do a better job at checking the ingredients on these items, as most contain bad $hit - bad oils, bad chemicals, bad dyes, etc.

Food for thought (see what I did here 😉)!

Bridges Not Walls

Instead of running and hiding and ignoring issues, address them!

Understand that walls don't just keep people out, they also prevent love from getting in...

Whatcha Doin Down There?!

My little shadow keeping a close eye on me and wondering what I'm doing in the basement.

She was welcome to come down to inspect and hangout but chose to keep an eye and ear from above -

 

#Blessed

So, I Sowed Not Sewed, So There!

You can't tell from these pictures but I planted my Winter Rye yesterday.

I sow it like I'm feeding chickens, just toss it around, then lightly rake followed by a good watering and now we wait.

Wanted to take advantage of the nice weather we've been having, so the rye can get established.

Doesn't look like much but I will post some follow up pics once it starts to grown and then again in the spring when it really takes off.

The Grand Finally...

Tonight's pizza and the last of my home grown tomatoes.

It was SO delicious! I'm gonna miss my fresh tomatoes, they make all the difference!

Trixie approves too!  She is also a BIG fan of my tomatoes and pizza in general.

A Life Lesson

It's a difficult thing to do, especially when you're a genuine person with a BIG heart.  However, if you can do it, you'll save yourself a lot of pain and heartache.

As the saying goes, "A leopard never changes its spots"...

One Last Tomato Hurrah!

These are the last of my home grown tomatoes, alas.

They were the remaining green tomatoes on the plants, when I pulled the plants out for composting.

They've been sitting here on my counter slowly ripening!

Looks like tonight's homemade pizza will be the end of these, as they're starting to go bad.  However, I'll use what I can and savior each bite.  Can't wait!

#Blessed

Another Halloween Appropriate Insect

This cool looking dude was visiting my deck the other afternoon.

I see these critters out in yard occasionally but they're usually hiding on flowers.

After a bit of research I determined this is a Jagged Ambush Bug and to be honest, it's one of the cooler looking insects I've seen here at the ole homestead.

Best I can explain is that they're similar to Praying Mantis, at least in the sense of how the patiently sit and wait for an unsuspecting insect to visit and then they strike.  Like a mantis they use their hooked forelegs to immobilize their prey.  However, where these dude differs from the mantis is it's use of venom, which is injected, that turns the prey’s insides into a buggy milkshake that the ambush bugs drink up through their straw-like beak.

The circle of life...

I Don't Care For This Getting Older Thing

It was another beautiful day, so I took a drive to the Westwood cemetery.  I stopped, grabbed a sandwich and ate it grave side.  It was so peaceful and quiet.

I went prepared with supplies and plans to cut back and thin out the hostas and wash the headstone, both accomplished.  I split both hostas clumps in half and intend on planting them here at the ole homestead.  Then I turned the soil in front, as well as edged, then scrubbed the headstone with soap and water.

The finished and cleaned up product, looks much better -

The cemetery has done a bit of expanding and with it, mom and dad have a new wide open view, as you can see below.  I preferred it the way it was but we can't stop progress, so I'll accept it for what and how it now is -

It's always comforting to visit.  Since I was in the area, I drove by our old house too.  It looks pretty much the same but a bit overgrown, otherwise no changes by the current owners.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't shed a tear or two.

I miss them both each and every day.

We All Have Our Struggles

and the hurt they then inflect, even though unintentionally, cuts DEEP!

That's A Wrap!

I harvested my carrots on Saturday!

I would have preferred to let them go a bit longer, with nice weather predicted for the coming week, but something started eating the tops, so I opted to dig them.  That officially closes out my vegetable gardens for the season.

This was my third planting of carrots.  My previous two didn't have much of a chance with the darn wild rabbits, however.  As you can see, still not the greatest harvest, as most are tiny with the bigger ones still small but no worries.

I washed them, cut them up and into the crockpot them went on Sunday morning with other veggies and a nice turkey breast!  A terrific early afternoon meal!

A little hanky-panky going on with these two but they did form a lovely heart -

 

Geesh, No Respect

Trixie wasn't too happy about getting a bath yesterday and expressed it -

But she smells a whole lot betta!

The Uglies

I came across this freaky thing while raking the other day, YIKES!

Seems appropriate with Halloween right around the corner!

Turns out this isn't some spooky Halloween prop but rather a female prepupal Polyphemus caterpillar.

Interesting, especially up close and personal, to say the least.

After the photo shoot, I took her back outside and placed her safely under a shrub and covered with leaves.

Think Spring!

These flower pics were what I still had blooming in my yard a couple weeks ago!  With our first frost in the books and now that I've cut everything back for the winter, I thought I'd post these pics of what to look forward to next year...

Gerber Daisey, aka African daisy -

Butterfly Bush, aka Buddleja -

Rose of Sharon -

Rose of Sharon -

Honeysuckle - 

Cosmos -

Purple Cone Flower, aka Echinacea -

Cosmos -

Balloon Flower, aka Chinese Bellflower -

Balloon Flower, aka Chinese Bellflower - 

Oxalis -

Begonia -

Cleome, aka Spider Flower -

#Blessed

Welcome!

New fall front door swag -

It needed a change and I'm please with it and how it looks.

I'm Working On Accepting This...

Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho

I spent yesterday afternoon in the yard, taking care of chores.

I did a bit of tree limb pruning, raking and mowing!

Although, the lawn is brown and beat up in spots from the lack of rain we've had, I still like how it looks when it's freshly cut.  Especially now with the leaves falling it doesn't stay clean for very long.  Since we've had our for frost, the leaves will begin to turn and start dropping even faster.

I piled the trailer even higher with the limbs I cut!  It's a good full load now, tied down and ready to be taken to the town recycle center -

For those keeping track, like me but of course, this was the 20th lawn cutting of the season!

** UPDATE: ** We took the trailer to the town recycle center this afternoon and ALL was dumped; it's gone!

Soapy Water!

I don't believe you'll find this tip on Pinterest, so here you go.  You can thank me later!

I used this Windex product back in the spring to spray the outside of all the windows of my house.  It did a pretty good job at cleaning them and they were streak free as claimed.  The key part is this bottle has the ability to stream long distances.

So, instead of recycling, I saved the bottle with the following specific fall use in mind and let me tell you, it didn't disappoint; worked like a charm.

Every year around this time in the fall, the south and west sides of my house attracts Box elder bugs and stink bugs, see pics below, GRRR!  They amass hiding under the clapboards, behind the shutters, wherever they can.

They're not dangerous and don't do any harm to me or the dog or the house, with one exception - their poop!  They poop everywhere and it stains the house, double GRRR!

However, here's the good news and why I saved the above bottle. The Box elder bugs can be controlled and killed simply by spraying them with soapy water!  SO, every couple of days now for the past several weeks, I pour a generous helping of Dawn liquid soap into the bottle and fill up with warm water.  Attach it to my hose and spray the sides of my house, behind the shutters and under the clapboards.  This bottle does a terrific job at reaching the second floor windows, nooks and crannies from the ground and has some good force with it also. AND boy-o-boy does it flush these dudes out good.  Although, mostly effective, it doesn't kill them all but does well enough and helps to spray their poop off the house too.

If it's not the deer or the rabbits or the woodchucks, it's these darn insects.

It's a battle and I'm holding my own!

It's Official!

We had our first hard, killing frost of this fall last night!

Fortunately, I'd been keeping an eye on the local weather anticipating this was coming, and earlier this week brought in all the plants I wanted to over winter inside, so they're all safe.