Traditions, Old and New!

    This past Thanksgiving weekend has truly been interesting to say the least.. I'm not sure how to bring anyone up to date, since my last post. 

   Let's see, I started off by having Thanksgiving dinner with my family. Thanksgiving is always done at my mothers home. It is always the same, that can be counted on. Dinner at 4'clock, eat and stuff self to oblivion, then immediately do the dishes for two hours, and then head home to be incredibly tired from all that instant fattening up and work, all wrapped into one experience.

   I usually make a thanksgiving  dinner for my family  the day after in my home.. This is usually an enjoyment... turkey, mash potatoes  & gravy, green beans, stuffing, dessert, left-overs etc..  I generally think this is the thing to do... But my mind has turned to new and inspired ways of things...

   Everything  as I know it to be... changed as of this year...

   This change is the most improved idea...  A new meaning for me to have a yearly tradition... of which... I don't have traditions yet.. some people go to "The Dunes" to ride quads and sand-rails for Thanksgiving, or go out of town to places such as Las Vegas, and some shop the infamous "Black Friday" sales .. by which have done all and well not something wonderful for me,
And just not what I'm in to these days... 

   The traditions mostly consist of going to my mothers to have a holiday dinner... Now, don't think that I am not appreciative by any means I am I love it ... But

   Traditions  are also meant to begin and continue...

   By which, I think it has been done!...


   I have lived in the southwest all of my life with an exception of a few years living in Florida...

   I am not a connoisseur in styles of cooking but I am a exceptional dabbler, I love to try new ideas and foods... Although,  Boils are not new, it is to me...
 

   This weekend, a Crab & Shrimp Boil commenced and I must say, "it was Brilliant!"  I have always desired to attend a real Louisiana Crawfish style Boil... Unfortunately, I have never had a chance.

   So "We" thought that having one for ourselves would be the next best thing... We invited all our friends and their immediate family, it couldn't have been too much better...

    The ambiance was sensational, the weather was in full agreement, the food and drinks were endless...

In short this was an incredible experience...
  

   When coming to Traditions,  This is one that I would like to continue every Thanksgiving weekend... have a boil of some sort, It is wonderfully easy entertainment for guests, (maybe more for very close friends, simply because of how cozy it really does get), this is it...

     This was the begining of the feast... in my apple bobbin bucket, we were still filling it up with good stuff...

    But.... by the nights end sittin' by the fire pit,

   The boil began to dwindle down into the wee hours of the night, friends leaving filled with food and drink. I was secretly thinking what am I going to do with the left over food,... (mmmm... all for us, to have left overs like the "traditional leftovers" as usual!) lol!

   I can honestly say this was the utmost amazing night, and feeling this incredibly short and stressful year wasn't all bad...

Omg! Invasions Everywhere!

     I have been kind of laxed with keeping my eyes on my garden. No, particular reason... Just the thought that everything was happy and  "looking" healthy made me feel a bit secure!

     Now, when one thinks plants looking green, fluffy, tall and sprouting, it doesn't necessarily mean that every thing is at it's best.

For instance...

     I have caterpillars everywhere!

Yep!

That's right!

The caption says, "This isn't dirt your looking at!"

Everywhere!
 
    They are IN my lettuce, eating my eggplant leaves, on my orange jubilee, and bougainvillea, Jeeze!
 But, the "good part" is that they are all different types... loppers, horned ones, and they ones I mentioned in the last post...

Missing leaves

     You know!... Gardening is a constant battle! And I know this!
I have to admit though, my defensive action just is not up to par!

      I'm so amazed about the needs and greed that nature exudes... I mean, it seems to me that it's always all or nothing... blooms come and go sometimes in the same day. Insects live sometimes in a 24 hr period,  born, develop, lay eggs, then die...

     But why is it that I can't seem to stay in tune with the needs of nature?... 
I guess making assumptions seems to be MY down fall!

     I don't want to spray icky stuff on them, so I am going to pour soap water to get rid of the pests... Let's see if that will help...

Chili Spray
    
     Use fresh or dried chillies and blend one cup of dried or 2 cups of fresh chillies with two cups of water. Spray fresh. This will kill caterpillars.

Chilli Soap Spray

Ingredients

8-10 chillies (fresh or dried)

4 cloves garlic, diced

2 tablespoons soap flakes

Method:

Combine chillies, garlic, soap flakes and about a liter of water in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, and then allow to cool. Decant mixture into a glass jar and set aside for 24 hours. Sieve and pour into a spray bottle.

The chilli and garlic in this mix with discourage leaf-eating bugs. The soap flakes act as a surfactant – helping the chilli and garlic oils to stick to the leaves.

A word of warning: although this spray is non-toxic, it’s worth keeping away from children, pets and husbands. I’d also advise not spraying on windy days.

I found this recipe on a site called,  Veggie Mama 

 http://www.theveggiemama.com/2012/10/guest-post-keeping-bugs-from-your.html


Garlic Spray
     
     Soak four garlic cloves for several days in one liter of cold water, and then blend. This will kill ants, caterpillars and cabbage worms.
A stronger brew can be made by using hot water and adding several red peppers, ground up, and adding two tablespoons of pure soap to help the spray stick. Use spray when solution has cooled .

Pepper Sprinkle
     
     Any kind of pepper sprinkled on wet leaves will protect them from caterpillars.

These are from this site...

 http://www.angelfire.com/ri/ixia/Insect.html

There were many more to choose from, I just selected a couple that really pertain to me!

Now to choose the right one to use!  I am leaning to the chili spray, I have plenty of jalapenos to use so maybe that one to start!

Weather is changing for the desert,

It rained last night, I feel a chill in the air..  Is this a beginning of fall? 
Got ol' faithful out and it's time to catch -up on what George has to say!

So with book in hand and weapons at reach, I march on to destroy the enemy!


Happy Gardening and Veterans Day!!!!!

Flying by Normalcy

         Normalcy is showing itself, but....

     Life is flying by so fast, I can't believe that it's already November... I hope that Halloween was wonderful for all... As for myself, I think I was a bit Melancholy, we didn't get as many little ones running to the door as usual..  We didn't have a bunch of people over either.

     I guess Halloween mid-week is pretty tough, huh?

        I made  lots of food for the family and we watched old movies. Which made it pleasant...

    *Storm Sandy was something else... I have thoughts and hopes for those that are still enduring the aftermath... Speedy recovery to those who are in need..*

Tangent Check Up

    I've been watching Tangent... It's like watching a pot of water come to a boil... It takes forever to get going...
    I left my tomatoes in their spot, you  know to see what would happen...
   Well, I have flowers and lots of green growth on one of the plants,

     The other one, just not happy.. but I have a few volunteers tomato plant in and around Tangent.. really weird huh?

  Volunteers aplenty!    

Can you see the tomato plant?

    The fig tree is just beautiful, and happy as can be... My pomegranate, wild and messy as ever, I think that it likes to be that way... So what ever makes it happy,  I'll just keep doing it!

     Lately we have been battling some sort of caterpillars on our Bougainvillea and our Orange Jubilee bushes...

 So what happens is this...  The caterpillars start eating or something, on the edges of the new growth they just make a mess out of the tips of the bushes... when searching for them to see where and what they are!
They are not there,  not a clue... but after their "big dinner and damage party,"  they emerge at night in to a moth, of some sort, and flutter
about to lay more eggs and repeat the process...

     Well our local garden center has recently Identified the little culprits...  The Tecoma/Bougainvillea caterpillar. Here is a link to help take care of these buggers:

http://www.ironoakshoa.org/ArchitecturalLandscaping/PlantGuy/Articles/PDF/Caterpillardamage10-12.pdf

     I have some amazing color from the Swiss Chard.. and they actually might get made in to something, if I use them when they are small enough... because they are suppose to taste better young and not bitter...

     Now look at the Peach Tree I am so amazed at how that thing is coming along ...

     It has blossoms and I even think a peach or two!!!

 

     "Beautiful" Huh?

      I have this new volunteer... I have no idea what it is!

     I suspect that it is a squash.... 

A peck of Peppers!!!!

      
     I am still getting Bell pepper, Yay!
They are gorgeous!

     My grapevine, blackberries and strawberries are doing marvelous.... I'm so excited to have a fruit salad at harvest time...

 

      I am still getting eggplant can you believe that !!!

     I love gardening ...


          ~So here are some beautiful Fall colors to leave you with!!! ~


MUMS the word !!!!