Orange juice

Orange Juice

Mom's orange trees were loaded this year. She had way more oranges than she could eat. Also she was having fun with the new orange picker she got for her birthday. Any way she brought us a whole sack full. These type of oranges are real Florida oranges. They are better for juicing than eating.

We don't even have a juicer but with these oranges you don't need one all you do is cut the orange in half then pick out all the seeds, stab with a fork and twist it. The juice flows out like a faucet. Mmm... fresh squeezed Florida orange juice is the best thing ever.

Blue Berries

We got some blue berry bushes and are going to try our hand a raising blue berries. We thought to our selves, if we have to have bushes why not get ones that are either pretty or have food on them. So with luck we will be enjoying blue berries every year. We will have to wait until after New Year's to get them in the ground as we decided to go to our friend Lou's big New Years Eve party.

Christmas 09

We had fun decorating the tree. It didn't take long at all this year as we used a PLASTIC one. (yuk) Usually we get a permit from the forestry service and go out and cut down a sand pine in the forest but Chris thought it would be easier to go with plastic. Less mess. No sap on the carpet. And it was. But as I said we have not had a plastic one and there was a little difficulty putting it together. We got it used with no directions. Chris never reads them anyway. He jammed the pole into the base. We had to buy a base for it cause the original was missing. So when it didn't fit exactly we continued on. The real ones never fit right. We matched the colors on the branches to the trunk one row after the next. Then Veronica noticed they were getting bigger as the went up. "That's because the bottom is smaller to fit presents" Chris assured her. They got bigger and bigger till finally Chris had to admit "I think it's upside down." Which would have been great but it was too wobbly.

There was a flurry of getting things ready and before I new it Christmas had arrived. The girls tore threw the presents with their usual gusto. The dog was, hands down, the happiest one as he had gotten a stocking full of new toys. He took each one and piled them up. It was cute. Then he spent the rest of the day begging for ham. We enjoyed eating snacks of the season. Cakes, cookies, fudges, dips, crackers, cheese ball, brownie, breads, ect. We had some of all that stuff. When the dinner was done we could hardly move to eat it. But the ham came out really good so we did. Aunt Patty stopped by with Evan. Jessica had to work so they were going to have their Christmas start late. But really they had already had their Christmas about two days earlier when Even go to go shop with a cop. It's a program that the Mt. Dora police provide to kids that have lukemia, like Evan. He was suppose to go earlier but he had come down with a fever of 103 and couldn't. But they didn't forget about him they made a special trip just for him. So... Hat's off to the Mt. Dora police. They really made a differance for little Evan.

We all love to see Evan. He is always so happy and full of life. We got him some parachuteing toys. Him and the girls had fun playing with them in the living room.


All in all I'd say eveyone had a great Christmas and we are looking forward to next year.

Lighting up the city.

We took a trip to the Venetian gardens after Thanksgiving and saw the park all light up it was pretty awsome.

Here is me and Chris with some friends. The closest thing to snow men we get around here even though it was pretty chilly that night.

Thanksgiving

In this picture I'm wearing an apron my mom made for me a long time ago. When I was little I remember her wearing one similar to it every year at Thanks giving as she prepared the meal. People don't where aprons anymore and it's a shame. They just say something about the cook and let you know when it's time to eat. When the apron comes off.


Some people sat around and enjoyed hors devours and others enjoyed checking out guns. For some reason we had an odd amount of guns at Thanksgiving. Which is even stranger when you consider no one went turkey hunting this year. Maybe next year we will. But I'm saying right here and now I do not pluck or clean birds. I just cook them.

And here is the yummy yummy star of the show. Before carving you should always check the internal temperature of your bird or you'll end up like we did with it being a little too pink. But it was not a problem we popped it back in for a while longer and it came out just fine. All in all I'd say the food was pretty good and the company was even better. Can't wait to do it again next year. Oh, and yes we have been enjoying turkey soup and turkey sandwiches and turkey, turkey, turkey. MMMM....

Catch up post.

Oh, I have been terribly neglectful about posting anything. So I will try to catch you all up in the next couple of post. Well, before Thanksgiving, literally the day before, as we were getting her from collage Erica joined the Army. She had trouble acquiring funding for college and thought to herself. Here is a way to pay for college and to have a career and see the world, and defend her country. We are very proud of her for making this decision.

Halloween

Here are our little trick or treaters. Actually she's not so little any more.:( In the coming years she's going to want to go to parties with her friends and ditch the old people. She grew up so fast. The cat is a friend. I don't know exactly what our girl was. A ballerina princes. She made the costume herself. They had a lot of fun and scored a ton of candy.

It was pretty warm that night. I'm so glad it has finally cooled off some. Well if you call a high in the 80's cool. I've been wearing a jacket in the morning. It's a nice change.

So we have a new site for you to check out. It's:

floridaliving.embarqspace.com

Home day.

I know, two post in one day but today is actually the first day that I have had to sit around the house in a while. And so Chris decided that he had had enough of the glare through the blinds onto the television. He wanted curtains! Which was actually a lot easier than hanging the blinds.

We found the perfect curtains kind of beach cottage but still masculine.

We carefully measured. We didn't want to have the curtains dragging on the ground nor did we want them hanging short of the window. The curtain measurements were on the package. We found the center of the window. And measured five inches above that, which seemed to be the perfect height. Then we stretched out the measuring tape and got the bracket places level parallel to the window. This is most important so that the curtain doesn't hang crooked.

We also checked to make sure the brackets were level up and down. Chris's small level was just perfect for this.

After marking every thing and making sure it was level, that's what I'd like to say. But Chris is a more getter' done kind of guy, So it was "this looks good." and I don't need that. Measure and up they go.

The package says this is a 30 minute job. It took us about 10 minutes and that includes trying to figure out how to get the curtains on the poles.

And ta da! They do look great. And the dog jumped off the couch on to them to test them and they didn't fall down so... I love them.

Dinner

So... for dinner we decided why cook? We had all this left over meat loaf. So we invented these most scrumptious sandwiches ever. We took the cold meat loaf slices and topped them with big thick slices of tomato, some mozzarella, salt, and minced garlic. Then grilled them for 10 minutes in the oven on 450. Then served them on 12 grain natures pride wheat bread. That's the kind with the sunflower seeds in it. Added a little mayo and ketchup. We had fries on the side. But a mandarin salad would have been great too. They were so good and hearty they filled us right up.

VB's birthday.

Last weekend was VB's birthday. She invited a few friends over to spend the night. We were going to hook her up with a red neck water slide down the hill in the back yard but we finally had some fall weather so it was too cold. Last weekend we had record lows and this weekend we've got record highs. Actually from last night to today the temperature difference was 18 degrees. And people think the desert has brutal extremes. That's what they say about Florida... "If you don't like the weather...just wait and it will change."

Any way... Mom came by and brought a bunch of kites. Apparently she found some great sale and bought the store out. So the next day the kids had a great time flying kites.

They had a difficult time at first

But soon they learned if you can get it up high enough the winds are steadier and you don't have to do as much running. So when the wind blew they let the string out. And when it was calm they ran a little.

Before I knew it they got the kites up. Tied the extra bit of string on (250 more feet).The original string was probably 100ft. They were all so happy. Until finally the string ran out and they didn't know to make sure it was tied to the string holder. So up up and away the kites went. Crashing into each other and becoming one. They finally were captured by an old oak tree two houses away the only problem was they had walked three houses in the other direction. While the kite string was stuck in the tree the kites flopped about above the tree. The string laid perfectly across the tops of all our neighbors houses. Winding around a satellite dish or two. Luckily the string pulled free of the houses. (woof) and we recovered one kite from the tree. But that's what always happens to kites they end up in a tree.

Last night VB whipped up a batch of these awesome muffins. I think they were an invention of my mom. They were delicious and thought I would share the recipe.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins.

1 Package (18.25oz) White cake mix 1tsp baking soda

1cup crunchy peanut butter 3/4 cups water

2 eggs 1/3 cup strawberry jam

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine cake mix and baking soda. Add peanut butter, water, and eggs; beat just until blended.

Fill paper-lined muffin cups about two-thirds full. Place a teaspoonful of jam in center of batter in each muffin cup. Bake 18 to 23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in muffin comes out clean.

Serve warm. Yealds about 18 muffins.

Veronica used squeezable grape jam. They were very yummy. She is such an awsome litte baker.

Fall

It doesn't feel like fall at all. It's so hot and sticky all I keep hearing is how everyone is ready for cooler weather. The heat index has been in the hundreds. But you can tell it's fall because all the halloween decorations are starting to come out. Even our dog has gotten into the act.

VB wrote a poem about fall:

The Day Fall Fell

When I walk outside I can

see the leaves changing

colors. Everybody is

making turkey. The

smell of the pumpkin

pie feels like it's standing

next to me. All the

children playing in

the streets. I love

to feel the coldness

of the air.

Fall where are you??????????

Also I snapped another visitor to our little lake.

It's a Great Blue Heron. They stay in this area year round but they are a migratory bird and are found all over. There most be a lot of tasty treats in there for the birds. Probably frogs. I'm surprised he didn't fly north to get some cooler weather.

We've got ducks.

I noticed something splashing around in the pond. Some thing bigger than our usual turtles and black birds.

Turns out it was a duck family. The babies are so..... cute. There were about seven. I think that is a lot for ducks.

I think our little lake is perfect for this type of duck, the red-billed whistling duck. They like shallow water and they eat aquatic vegetation. As you can see from the pictures our lake is full of vegetation. It looks like there is almost no lake left. They also eat insects, snails, larvae, rice, and seeds.

They are usually nocturnal so I was lucky to see them out during the day. The little ducklings were frolicking and playing in the shallow water at the edge of the lake. I guess they were enjoying this cooler weather as much as we were.
I've never heard any ducks quacking and that's because this type of duck, commonly called Wi Chi Chi or Oui Ki Ki, don't quack. They make a high pitched whistle that sounds like their name. Now that I know they are out there, I'm going to be listening for them.

Lazy weekend

This was a very lazy weekend indeed.

I did get the hedge next to the drive way trimmed. It's about six feet high so that's no small feet. VB helped. It's so wide across that I could not reach all the way to the other side of it so.... Our side looks nice and trimmed but the neighbors side is still all shaggy and looks bad. I don't know what the regulations are when it comes to hedges. Am I suppose to trim his side or does he do that? I don't know. But I didn't want to go on his property so that's why his side looks bad.

The green beans I planted out front are doing good. We've got some flowers on them so I expect we will have green beans for dinner in no time. Now I just have to get out there and weed. It's getting to be a little over grown.

Skadoosh

So... It turns out that in our city you are suppose to get a yard sale permit. Oops. So last blog post was all about an illegal yard sale and apparently yard sales are banned on Sundays. Which is why we had such a poor turn out on that day. Oh well. It was kind of fun and next time we will get that permit.

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day. We decided to stay home and have a fire in the back yard and we smoked a pork butt in our little smoker and had pulled pork sandwiches. MMM.... They were so good. Chris makes this dry rub with all these different spices and things then smokes it all day. But he wont tell anyone what it is in his rub that makes it so good. Later that night my Aunt came over and we sat around the fire and chit chatted for the rest of the night. It was a lot of fun.

Reese's was a little concerned about the fire.

Veronica's foot.

So last night we spent about five hours in the ER because, well mostly because I didn't want anyone saying I was a bad mom.

Veronica fell down the stairs at school the day before yesterday. She did the rest of the day at school and walked home. She looked fine, her foot hurt, but she was fine. I didn't see any reason to panic. But... when I got to work, a lady I work with's daughter also fell down the same stairs a couple of days ago. She rushed her to the hospital and they said something about a growth bone that if it gets injured the bones wont ever grow right so...

(when we got home) off to the hospital we went. Plus Veronica was complaining about the bottom of her foot, not her ankle so I thought well maybe... it was a broken bone. I've heard you can break a bone in your foot and you wont even know till years later when it gives you a problem.

As it turns out it was not a broken bone, or a sprain, she was just fine. Just a bruise on the bottom of her foot. Which is what I knew all along. So THththth...to all those people who thought I was a bad mom for not rushing her into a flu infested hospital full of germs and sickness. Thanks a lot.
Also is there really a bone that if you break it your bones wont grow right? My Aunt Patty said she heard it was in your wrist not your foot.

Never Forget 9/11/01

Yard sale

Sunday waiting at the yard sale.

This is what was left.

So we started out I've got some junk I think I'll have a yard sale because I'm so broke. I'm not a big yard saler but I know the general routine. Then..... my aunt who just moved said "I've got so much junk and stuff I've just got to eliminate. How about you sell it at your yard sale." She is a professional yard saler so I knew I would get some good stuff. So OK Now I've got some real stuff to sell. A race car bed, a computer table, some glass things. I'm thinking I'm going to clean up. I almost sold the bed to a lady at work and another wants to come by Friday to preview my junk.

So Friday I sold $5 worth of stuff to my friend. I thought "Wow I'm going to do great."

Saturday I woke up bright and early and started dragging all the stuff out into the drive way. Pretty soon my friend showed up with three big tubs of stuff and said "I was going to give this away do you want to sell it first." So OK now I've got an amazing amount of stuff to sell. Then my mom showed up and she brought me a van full of stuff to sell. Now I've got so much stuff. Before I knew it I had a yard full of people. One guy was kind of funny. He looked at all my stuff and as he was paying me for some of it he says "you've got nothing good here. I this looks like something but it's not. It's all junk." Then he starts rushing me and saying he has more yard sales to get to. Man it must be really stressful to drive around all day looking at peoples junk that they don't want anymore trying to find some thing that's not actually junk. Most of the people were really nice and I was surprised at all the junk that people did buy. We did all right at .05 for most of the items. .25 for cloths. .50 for shoes. We made almost $40. I was excited and no one even made an offer on the bed.

So Sunday We marked the bed down. We marked the computer stand down. I got got up bright and early again. Dragged stuff down. I expected most people would show up after church but I sat there just in case. And I sat there. One lady came by all day. We made three dollars. Now the computer table and the bed have a sign on them that say free. But no one will take them. Oh well. Guess you just have to do yard sales on Saturday. I didn't know that. But we had fun and plan on having another one in November.

Gardens and Hermit crabs.

Garden

We finally got some veggies planted. Not the main garden but some green beans and a tomato in our front planter. Some of our herbs died so we will be replacing them soon. While we were cleaning out the bed and getting it ready to plant this dragon fly kept landing on Veronica. She would shake him off but he kept coming back. Finally he decided to stay on her foot. You can see her toes are all crunched up in this picture because he tickled. I think maybe he liked the color of her toe nail polish.

Me and Veronica made the green bean fence and then Chris came by and said that it wasn't deep enough and pushed the poles down for us. I think it came out pretty good. I hope we get some tasty beans from it.

Hermit Crabs

Veronica's hermit crabs have out grown their shells again. So we had to make a trip to the crabage patch for some new one's. She's taken very good care of them so far. She's had them for about two years now. They live to be 20 to 30 years old. The expert at the crabbage patch told us we will be needing a new tank to keep them in soon because they are getting pretty big. You have to have three time the largest crabs shell size in the depth of the substrate (dirt) in their crabitat (cage). So we will be looking for a 29 inch fish tank soon. She also had to get new water dishes because they have to be able to get inside and fill up their shells. They like salt water and fresh so we had to buy two new dishes.
She loves holding these creepy little creatures and actually thinks they are cute. When her friends come over she enjoys having crab races. The crabs seem to love her just as much because they are thriving.
As soon as the new shells are introduced the crabs check them out. They roll them over and poke their heads inside for a look. Some times they take a test try and then go back to the original shell. It's truly an amazing thing to witness, the choosing process.

Not a lot is really known about these creatures and they have been unsuccessful at breading them in captivity so... I think the more we can learn about them the better and there is no better way to do that than by children observing them. As long as they are given the best possible care. They can not with stand cold temperatures for long and need constant vigilant attention. So that they don't run out of water, salt water, or food. You can learn more about them at the crab patch site. http://www.hermitcrabpatch.com/Keys-To-Hermit-Crab-Survival-a/139.htm

Well, Veronica loves them so I guess that's what matters.