Choice Morsels

For photos, I have two today : First, a nice shot of some of my miniature roses that are in the front corner bed near that large pot with the ceramic cat in it. You can see a couple of my Hoosier rocks. I have a small ring of them around  a pair of miniture roses: one light pink, one dark pink. And by "Hooiser rocks" I mean I toted them here from Indiana. The property we grew on had a valley with a rocky stream as the bottom that Mother and us 3 girls were haul stones up from for Mother's rock garden. Then later, my younger sister, Pat, carted a bunch of those to her home in Terre Haute. Eventually, Mother moved to Terre Haute also and when Pat sold that house, the pile of pretty, garden-sized stones moved to Mother's house. Finally, on a visit home, I decided to haul about 10 here to Florida for my flower bed. So, you see, they are traveling rocks. Second is a photo of Blue Salvia. It's cousin to the showier Red Salvia and you can buy either at an

Today we're going to talk about Oregano. It's that herb that makes spaghetti sauce and pizza taste so yummy! Good news---oregano has excellent health benefits! #1) Oregano is loaded with potassium and it's an anti-oxidant. (Anti-oxidants help eliminate free radicals in the human body, which are molecules that can damage healthy cells.) # 2) Oregano, in studies, has also proven itself able to kill E-coli and many of the bacteria that can cause food poisoning. Adding oregano to ground meat you're planning to cook is the equivilent of dropping a SEAL team into a terriorist camp. The enemy will be eliminated. So, for this benefit, add 1 teaspoon of dried Oregano per pound of ground meat. For example: for 1 pound of hamburger, add 1 teaspoon. #3) *Oregano is also known for it's anti-cancer properties. Noteable Italian research indicates a high intake of oregano, such as in the Mediterranean diet, is particularly good at reducing the occurance of colon cancer

Today's Prompt is:   "Share something you learned embarrassingly late in life." Napoleon's first bowling outing in "Bill & Ted's Most Excellent Adventure" Alas, I didn't learn to bowl until I was 34.     Not that it's embarrassing---perhaps just  unique.        My parents did a little league bowling together before us kids came along---I know this because I remember seeing the old bowling bags stashed out in our Dad's workshop.      Bowling as a family just didn't end up being something we did. Probably because of the costs. Plus we lived way way out in the country, there wasn't even a convenient bowling alley around.       My first attempt at bowling didn't happen until I was in the Air Force. My supervisor was putting together a hospital bowling league  and was trying to encourage my involvement, so offered to teach me how to bowl. That only lasted one try. Bowling is a skill that not only takes practice, but

Wednesday Garden Photos! Today I have a two views of some of my garden beds to show you: First my Hosta Lily and Ivy bed that runs along the shady north side of my house. These particular Hosta's are called "Giant Hosta's" because they grow into a wider spread then most----but they're not the largest Hosta you can get. There is a huge type. Mine are in bloom right now---3 foot stalks lined with pale lavender blossoms. Strictly an outside display flower. Not for cutting. The green stuff between the blooming Hosta's is a type of ivy for outdoors. It looks nice, but can be invasive. I have to use the hedge shears on it a couple times a year. This bed runs between the A/C unit and the back porch. The trellis you see at the far end of the picture has a red climbing rose on it, something I put in last spring. It's pretty carefree. I just snip the ends finished blooming. The next picture below is the bed that runs along the landscape block wall we p

Today's prompt is: "Share a lesson you learned from your Father that still sticks with you to this day."    Set the way-back machine for the early 70's. Make me about 16 and my sisters 13 and 10ish respectively. It's summer and our parents have decided we're taking a two week driving and camping trip to Durango, Colorado to ride the narrow-gauge train to the historic mining town of Silverton. My Dad asks me to plan our camping stops from Indiana to Durango!        I'd never been entrusted with such an important mission before!      I remember scouring over the road-atlas maps, calculating the mileage and driving time, then selecting State Parks at the appropriate stopping points. The neat thing was, my Dad used my plan. The places I picked, were the places we stopped. I distinctly remember choosing a park in Iowa and very likely also selected the The Great Dunes National Park, which was on the way to Durango.      We only stayed one night at

  I have 2 Garden Pics for you today: First photo up is another one of the 10 new day lilies I ordered and planted last fall. This one is called "Prairie Fire." It's a strong maroonish-red with a bright yellow throat and the first of the 10 to bloom. At this time, only 2 haven't bloomed yet: the white and one called "Midnight." Day lilies have a broad blooming season, though. Some re-bloom, some blooming only once. Prairie Fire blooms once it appears. However the new yellow and "Grape" seem to be re-bloomers. Day lilies are an excellent flower in the flower bed for care-free areas you want to naturalize or in borders or to use as a medium-high filler in a bed with tall flowers at the back and shorter in front. If you like spring daffodils, they make a good companion planting partner with day lilies, since they come up first, then die back before the day lilies appear. So plant your daffodil bulbs among your day lilies! Next pi

Today we're going to talk about barbecue sauce---the bottled kind you buy. Do you read the ingredients before buying?  I used to buy what was cheap---usually the Kraft, but then I started reading the ingredients and noticed the first ingredient on the Kraft bottle and several other brands was corn syrup. You know, Karo. It's not that corn syrup is bad. You want Karo when you make a pecan pie.  No, my only concern is corn syrup is just plain o' sugar and I don't want to buy a bottled sugar. Besides, reducing sugar intake is being encouraged nowadays, since type 2 diabetes is directly related to obesity. So changing to a bottled barbecue brand to something without corn syrup on the ingredient list could be a good move. Of course, I realize you can make home-made barbecue, but I like the convenience of ready-made. I buy Bull's-Eye Barbecue because the first ingredient on the list is tomato puree . Other ingredients include vinegar, molasses, mustard powder and

  On to the Garden Pics of the Day: Below are some Gardenias. Gardenias are a flowering shrub that ranges in size from regular to dwarf. This one is a regular, full size blossom type, which can grow into a tree if you don't keep it pruned and shaped. This bush is, oh, eight feet tall and 10 around at least. It's due pruning this year once it's done blooming.  (Someone asked if it's currrently blooming and it is and has been for nearly 3 weeks now--but is nearly done. The photo is this years bloom.)   I'll probably trim off at least 2 feet. I never got around to last year. Like Azaleas, it must be trimmed quickly after done blooming and not cut again, because it sets next years blossoms before the end of summer. The flowers on this bush range from 3 to 31/2 inches in diameter. Not all gardenia bloom so large. The greenery is very shiny and I find it generally a trouble-free shrub. I really don't do anything to it, but pruning. The flowers smell richly