Hi from Shreveport, Louisiana!

Hello! I finally discovered a way to get online here, so I can check in and say hi. Been staying busy with my MIL, and I have taken pics of the beautiful leaves of red, gold and orange! It is so pretty here, and the smell of the pines and other trees especially in the evening along with the sounds of the crickets and other wildlife, have me in hog heaven!!! I feel like I have entered the twilight zone, in the way that it is so different from home and the slow pace of life just about has me shut down. I feel this trip has to be sent to me straight from God...since I really needed to be shut down for a while. I am so happy to be away from work and enjoying a whole new scenery and loving spending time with my other grands here, MIL, kids and BIL and SIL.

Had Mexican (Tex-Mex) here the first two days, and today I forced my hand at getting some Cajun food...so had some world class crawfish etoufee! It was delicious over rice!

Life has slowed so much, that my MIL is going to teach me a few things about crochet...(she is an expert)...and we went to Michaels today to buy yarn and crochet needles...

Will be reading your blogs, but will probably not have time to comment while I am here...will post pics when I get back home...

Julie

While I'm gone...

play my little Bubble Shooter game in the sidebar...it is addictive and I have gotten a score of over 26,000 while sitting here watching my husband wrestle with his suitcase! Good entertainment on both counts! LOL.

Leaving town!

Flying out of town for a few weeks...may not have internet there...will try to post when i can...

Julie

Julie draws!!! A miracle!

The inspiration for Cactus Monday...continued new growth on my salvaged prickly cactus plant (started from one pad from that chopped down tree in the neighborhood).

I came inside and took out my gel pens...found my homemade sketchbook... (it was buried in a bunch of art crap thrown into a cubby for months now...(sadly)...

And scribbled out this little pad showing some new growth! She is a cute little growth area showing promise for a new pad, and many more for years to come! I had this thought that I wrote out next to it...how can anyone be sad when they see something like new growth??? Impossible!



Happy Cactus Monday!!!

The first of the peppers!

Hey...this was fun...a week ago was the last time I looked at my pepper plants that I have planted by my front door. I walked out yesterday and ba-da-boom...there were 4 nearly ready banana and cubanelle peppers! This is just the beginning!!!

I can hardly wait to let them get just a little bigger and then I will stuff them and make some Hungarian appetizers! It calls for using cream cheese and dried beef...but I think I will use sausage instead...and add cut up red peppers and rice, and cheese to make them really stand out delicious!!!

It's gonna be fun! I can already taste them!

Happy Halloween!

Such cute paper pumpkins to make (for all you parents/grandparents) at Hostess Blog.com! I think I might make a few to hang about for tonight. Of course, the grands are coming to trick or treat at Grandma Julies house! I am excited! Afterward we are going to a friends house to eat and drink some wine, and hang out. Should be a really fun day! I wish the same for all of you in blogland! Happy Halloween!!!

Drying catnip and other fun activities!

Hi everyone!
Today I finally got the pipe fixed in my backyard sprinkler system! The first guy never showed up on Tuesday. The second guy was awesome...got here tis morning, and had er done in about 20 minutes! He will be back to change out my timer and some other gadgets around the pump area. I am still digging out sprinklers that had become buried under the lawn, and changing out some for all new...cleaning the ones I can. It will be such a relief to have it all working properly again!

Just before the sprinkler guy came, I had trimmed my new catnip herb that my friend had given me for my birthday...and I had a thought that I would like to make some homemade cat toys for her cats with the dried stuff! I looked online for instructions. One site said you can place them in a paperbag in a dark, cool place...I didn't have a bag, so I rolled them in papertowels, labeled them, and will just wait a few months now. I will look for some tough, yet soft...mouse-like fur to sew some toys out of and stuff with fluff and catnip! Should be fun!

I met my son, daughter, Mom and brother for lunch at a wonderful deli here. It was great being with all of them. Then we took my son looking for new shoes...poor guy hurt one foot somehow and is limping around. He feels it is getting better, doesn't look swollen...and wants to wait to see an MD. He was wearing some inexpensive thong type sandals every day...so I wanted to help him find something a bit more supportive, yet stylish for his ultra-cool self! Of course, he found two great pair at the grooviest store in the world, Journeys!

Then I made three pizzas (2 for his house/family), and 1 for my house. I made them a cheese pizza with marinara sauce, and a BBQ chicken pizza with Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce, chicken and sauteed onions on top! Ours turned out real well (we had the BBQ chicken one also)...so I hope both of his did too. I delivered them to his house ready to go into the oven.

I had baked the chicken (dry) in the crock pot all day...then just cut it up for the pizzas! Worked out well.

Mom came over to eat with us. We watched a DVD of "Keeping Up Appearances" episodes...while we ate. We loved that series so much on BBC...and we found this tape of 5 shows at the library.

You know, I found this really great website called Hillbilly Housewife, on my blogger pal, Mary's website, Pokeberry Hill. Suzanne, the creator of Hillbilly Housewife, has all sorts of inexpensive and fun recipes....and lots of other stuff as well. It is worth having a look at if you are into living frugally. I also recieve her newsletter each week, and it is a lot of fun as well.

I did discover another neat site called Old Fashioned Living, and am looking forward ot exploring it tonight. It has a bunch of tabs along the top that let you navigate through easily...there is a craft section... and I am interested in finding some really awesome things to make for Christmas gifts. I am thinking of something embroidered...I miss the days when I used to do more of it, and also another needle art called candlewicking.

Why does life have to move from easy days of fun...to solid work and worry...and one more thing to do every waking minute of each day. I am ready to move to a slower pace of living...I'm just not sure how I can pull it off. I seriously don't think I would mind being poorer, and living a more oldfashioned lifestyle.

The question is...can it be done these days???

What have I done?

Well, on Sunday I decided (well, officially...not abruptly) to end my current job. I have been having a lot of stresses lately and the past several months at work have built up and I have become, as they say in the medical world, "Burned Out". I turned in my two week notice yesterday morning, and they asked me to take a 1 month leave of abscence instead, to give myself time to decompress and re-think. This was such a great jesture on their part. I will continue my benefits during this month, and be relieved immediately from the stress. My good team that I work on, will protect my position for the month, and at the end of the month I can decide if I will return or not. I work for one of the best companys in the universe! I am blessed and oh so fortunate.

So, here I sit at 4am, thinking about what I can accomplish in the next month to relax, better myself, think, and ponder. I hope to spend some time outside in my yard and get my winter collards and climbing green beans going. The sunshine will be good for me. I will revitalize my sprinkler system. I discovered a broken pipe in the back yard on Saturday that feeds water to one whole side of my yard. The sprinkler man is coming today between 10 and 11 am. The bug man needs to come too. My husbands car goes in the shop today and I will take and pick him up from work! I hope I can meet my Mom and daugher for lunch. Even with no work, I will be busy.

Sorry I missed Cactus Monday...send me some positive thoughts, and I'm sure all will be well.

xoxo- Julie

A pumpkin from one of the loves of my life!

My heart nearly cracked in half yesterday when my grandson arrived at my door with a large pumpkin he had painted at a festival and said it was for ME! I love this boy so much...what a little sugar! The pumpkin was still wet and glossy looking, and the whole thing just shone with love!

The little artist, Donovan... with his creation!

Ain't it the purdiest punkin you ever laid eyes on??? Best fall season I ever had, so far, for sure!

Yard Sweep!

I had such a week from H-E DOUBLE HOCKEYSTICKS, that by the time I got home, I grabbed a beer and decided to go outside and take pictures of anything blooming in my yard. Anything you see with a bloom on it, is LITERALLY the only things blooming in my hot, sandy soiled, dry yard. It's rather dismal. I found some interesting plant patterns as I walked around, and decided to include these, and other things that caught my eye! I hope you will see something interesting, and if any artists out there see anything inspiring, feel free to draw, paint or sculpt, and let me see it!!! My plants love to inspire artists and poets!!!

In no order whatsoever:
Here is my twisty cactus sent to me from Claude...I am twirling it in the sun (it gets eastery sun every morning, so I turn it a quarter turn every 2 weeks or so, and it is starting to twirl...such fun! Sorry Claude!!! (I think it is so cute)!

Here is the top of one of my Mexican Sunflower bushes! This one bush just started blooming away a few days ago...none of the other ones are, but this one just felt like it, I suppose! LOL!

And a close up of a few flowers on that bush! These things are about 14 ft. high and are due for a trimming, but I just hate doing it cause there goes the blooms!

I caught Mr. Bunny hiding out between the Kalenchoes and the Thai Pepper plant! My cat, Baby loves to come out an lay in this area with Mr. Bunny quite often! They are BFF's.

I found three (only three) hibiscus on all of my 6 bushes! Dismal, I tell ya! Lack of water and fertilizer, Tootsie! My bad.



Can you see at least two thai peppers on my plant??? It is covered...looks like it will have 100 peppers at least!!!

The next three pics are three varieties of Jasmine on my side and front fence. One is variegated, one is Confederate Jasmine, and I forgot what the other one is called.



Here is a close up shot of some of my Oyster Plants for Evelyn. ;)

How about the patterns in the trunks of the Philedendrons??? Pretty beautiful, I think!

The leaves of the Philedendrons are huge...about 3.5 ft long!!! They are beautiful leaves too, don't you think?

Here are a few shots of the Gloriosas! They truely live up to their name! GLORIOUS!


Here is a stalk of the purple/pink colored Ti plants! These grow in the same bed as the purple and green oyster plants and I love the look with my yellow house in the background!

Last, but not least is the star of the drought conditions...the white Periwinkles! They can take the full sun, the heat, and no darn water! These plants are like cast iron! They are my new absolute favorite if you want reliable blooming action year- round with no water. There you have it...the plants, blooms and patterns of my yard right now. Have a wonderful weekend!
Julie