Thursday, May 06, 2010

Odds and Ends

Sorry about my absence.
It's been a bit of a whirlwind around here lately.

Last weekend, I went home to St. Augustine to do some chores that Mom had reserved for me. It's been a stressful week or two for my folks, lots of medical testing and I could tell Mom needed a dose of BEARDOG medicine.

So, after school on Friday , Bear and I jumped in the JEEP and lit out for the ancient city.

We had an uneventful trip and soon were hanging out on the back porch with the folks. Bear worked his magic and the happy chatter went on until bedtime.

It rained that night and the next morning I found this little critter resting on a bit of fence, still covered in tiny droplets.
The chore list included trimming the holly away from the powerlines to the house, edging the confederate jasmine away from the sidewalk it coveted, and weeding and then mulching Mom's new blueberry patch.

On my last visit, Mom was going to let Dad's old veggie garden patch go to forest since he wasn't gardening anymore. At the time, the thought of Dad's rich black, compost enriched soil not being used to grow food was painful to me as I have nothing like at my place.

"What about blueberries?" I asked her. "You guys love blueberries and they are easy to grow."

That was appealing to her so we planted 4 young blueberry bushes, but did not have time to mulch them correctly on that visit.

So, last Saturday we put down a weed barrier and placed pine bark mulch atop that.

At lunchtime, we had wing culinary smackdown between Zaxby's and Dick's Wings. I bought some from each place and brought them home for their lunch.

If I had known how sad Dick's Wings were, I would not even have bothered. Boring, GREASY, and almost no sauce.
It was an easy victory for Zaxby's.
However, Zaxbys could take a lesson on making fried dill pickles from Junior ... yes, Junior is a great pickle fryer!
Zaxby's is NOT. Blecchhh.

After lunch, Bear schnuzzled his grandma a few more times and then we hit the road for PFHQ ... mission accomplished.


Back at PFHQ, I found this backlit grape leaf at the end of the day.


And, when I walked out to check on my datils and tomatoes, I found a snake had been busy under the blueberry bushes.

Apparently he dropped his pen.




Sunday, I scrubbed and sterilized my old tilapia tank in preparation for my personal prawn farming experiment.
The prawns in the classroom RAS are doing so well and growing so fast that I just can't stand it ... I have to grow them myself.


More on that later ...

12 comments:

Arkansas Patti said...

You are such a gooood boy. That was for Bear for cheering up his grandmother.
You are pretty good also.
Maybe you can grow breeding pairs of prawns to help replenish the Gulf in about 30 years. Smart move.

MamaHen said...

I tried the fried pickles once. They did not live up to the hype that I had heard for so long.

Deb said...

Fried pickles? Now I've heard everything. I can't wait to hear the unfolding of your personal prawn farming experiment.

I hope all is well with your parents.

Miz S said...

Ah, yes. I am familiar with the whirlwind scenario. Well, as long as you blow by and update us from time to time. How many days until your glorious period of unemployment starts?

I love the protective coloration on that moth.

threecollie said...

Hope all turns out well on the medical front for your fine folks...in the meanwhile I am glad for Bear's magic and I am sure they are too. Take care.

R.Powers said...

ArkPatti,
So ... I get a dog biscuit? LOL
You are right, Gulf of Florida shrimp may be in short supply for a while.


Annie,
Frying a healthy dill pickle is kinda silly of course, but all things in moderation ... mostly. I like them home made.


Deb,
You have to try them... if you are a pickle lover. These prawns are just fascinating.
I may try breeding them although it is fairly complicated compared to most crusty's.


Miz S,
It was good news, so the whirlwind seems like a mere dustdevil now.
Unpaid summer leave starts June ten.

3C,
The tests turned out extremely well so we all took a big sigh of relief. Bear's magic apparently works wonders.

lisa said...

You are such a great son! That is one of the reasons why we moved back out to the east is so the hubby could be closer to his parents so he can help them out as much as possible! They are like one of our best friends along with being his parents and my in laws!

Pablo said...

FC, have you been able to incorporate the Gulf spill into your biology classes at all? Are the kids interested in the subject?

Thunder said...

Adding to the subject Pablo brought up: Any estimates on how bad the impact will be around Cedar Key?

robin andrea said...

It's always nice to read of your visits with your folks. Glad to know that Bear can work his magic there too.

Fried pickles? Now that's a first for me. Never heard of such a thing before.

R.Powers said...

Lisa,
It's what families do,isn't it?
We take care of each other.


Pablo,
They are frustratingly clueles about current events outside the social/pop/networking scene.
They may be the most connected generation, but not to the news.
I have been using it and updating them on events/effects as it unfolds.
We have two field trips to the Gulf next week.


Dave,
If the oil reaches the Cedar Key coast ...even a little, it will devastate the clam farmers.
DEVASTATE.


Robin,
Bear is some sweet kinda medicine!
:)
Fried pickles are the bomb! I will have to do a post on them.

LaDivaCucina said...

FC, what about permaculture for your dad's garden? Isn't that a way to garden without weeding and kind of natural? Also, I didn't know you could grow blueberries here, thought it was too hot!

Eager to hear more about the home prawn farming experiment! Keep us posted please!