Kitchen Garden Day.

 So I had planned to clean up what was left of the garden and get it ready for fall which is all winter long hear in Florida, but I got a little side tracked. I did pick the last of the vegetables that were growing. Two really pathetic looking egg plants.



Home grown eggplants.

I had stopped at a road side stand and purchased an eggplant earlier in the week. Mine didn't quite measure up. They must have been using some sort of chemicals to make their egg plants look so good. Or maybe they were using GMO seeds. Ha! Just look at my prized egg plants compared to the real thing. OK mine barely resemble an egg plant but they tasted just as good. Well, not the little one it was a little rotten. One of them was smaller than the other! I know they are both little. Any way fall garden plans are shaping up. Squash, maybe some carrots. I'm definitely going to try some more broccoli and the thing that grows best in my sand is....tomatoes so I'll plant some of those too. 



My eggplants just don't measure up.

I made a great spaghetti and eggplant with these click the recipe tab above to view the recipe.

Reese's view.

 Yes! I'm out side. Look at all mom's  oregano! They still haven't straightened up that bird bath. People.

 I smell something. What is it?

Oh.... It's a....

Rainbow!

And the day before the hurricane is suppose to hit too. Hope that's a good sign.

I hope these peanuts that mom planted survive. I love boiled peanuts. Especially the spicy ones.

I think I'll pee on those chives next time I come out. Ohp time to go in.

Hurricane preparedness!

There's a hurricane a comin'

We did our best at cleaning up the yard and our supplies will just have to do. No one believes this storm is going to hit us directly anyway so..... Let's just hope not. But it is always good to be prepared.

We could use some more food. Mostly we have the peanut butter and canned meat. Notice it's tuna. We also have some Gator aid. They say it's good to have a flavor for your water but also gatorade will replenish your electrolytes. If there is not electric we are all going to need it with this heat.





We've got plenty of bottled water, we hope, and we filled these old zephyrhills 5gallon bottles with water to flush the toilets. We will also will fill up the tub if it looks like we will take a hit. I don't think our power will go out. Our lines are under ground but you never can tell about the lines leading up to ours. Last time we had a hurricane go straight through central Florida there were people that didn't get their power back on for two weeks. A lot of people have generators but we haven't made the investment yet.

The main thing people do before a hurricane is stock up on ply wood to cover there windows and doors. We've already got the plywood. So... check. We wont be standing in those lines. We probly will get gas before it hits and fill up our reserve tank just in case but I'm pretty sure the local gas station has a generator.

The most important supply is the booze and we will have to definitely get more.

Last weekend of summer before school starts!

Bet you thought it was going to be a picture of us at the beach! Nope we stayed around the house. Did some back to school shopping. School supplies! And pulled some weeds. Getting the house all spiffy for the up coming school year.

After I pulled most of the weeds in the front garden I noticed the chives had beautiful flowers on them. I've had these chives for ever and never had a single flower so this made me pretty happy.

Garlic chives. Notice the flat leaves.

These are great chopped up on scrambled eggs.

 After pulling a few more weeds I found I had this water melon vine. I'm not sure if I planted water melon seeds here or not. It's a possibility. I've planted a lot of stuff in that front garden but the only thing that really grows good is weeds.

Possibly a weed that looks like a watermelon.

We noticed this unusual lizard looking at us through the window on the door this morning. He stayed there and let us take tons of pictures, but only this one came out any good. Notice the strange flap of skin on his back.

Chris took this awesome sunset picture. It's the last sunset before school starts the official end of summer.



Cherry Lime aid!!



I got a great bunch of limes at the veggie market on Sunday we squeezed them all up and made some delicious cherry lime aid. It's easy to do all you need is...

Lime juice (fresh squeezed is best)

maraschino cherries.

filtered water

ice cubes

decorate with some lovely tiny umbrella picks.

First you squeeze the limes. Roll them to make them juicier than cut them in half insert a fork and twist it all about. Be sure to do this over a strainer to catch the seeds. Then add a generous about of sugar. Add the filtered water. Stir well taste if it's too sour add more water or more sugar till it taste right. Then pour some of the cherry juice into the glass it will sink to the bottom giving it a cool bi color or you can stir to make it all pink. Add ice. Stab a couple of cherries with a fancy pic and decorate. I'm told gin could be added to make it more fun.

This is truly a taste of summer so refreshing and good!

Catching you up.

July!

Family came down and boy was it a busy month. Well, I already posted about our canoe trip and it's already August so I will do the short and sweet version of last month.




Kay and Mom on the 4Th!

 The 4Th of July was a blast! Getting together with family and friends over at Aunt Patty's resort. For a fun day of swimming and bar-b-Que. Catching up with family is always a good time. We had live entertainment via Dylan and Dalton who played guitar, bubbles and fireworks. Couldn't ask for anything better. And I even got a picture of Kay with her eyes open!

GATORLAND

Me and Chris acting like tourists.

Next day we went to Gator land. Talk about nerve wracking. We thought one of those guys was going to loose his hand when they were feeding the alligators and not to mention wrestling them. We had a great time even with all the Florida heat. Definitely a one of a kind experience. 

BEACH



Gary taking the beach home with him.



And of course everyone who comes to Florida must go to the beach. We did some body surfing and sand castle building. All the typical beach things. You can't have a bad day at the beach.

August!

Rain sheeting off of the neighbors shed.

This month started off with a storm out in the Atlantic. Luckily it fell apart and was not much of anything. We did get some really good rain. And there was a water spout spotted in a near by lake. Now we are all just hoping to make it through the heat of August.

Dove that has adopted us as his new home.



Honey suckle that Aunt Gail gave us is really doing well.





Nothing but beautiful sunsets for the rest of the summer.



August is back to school season for us here in Florida and so the summer has almost come to an end. But because it's Florida we will have nice warm weather until at least October. I'm sure we will be out and about some more before it's all over with.