Thank you God in the name of Jesus for another day to rejoice and try again!
Another Day to Rejoice!
I Think That I Shall Never See A Bad Tasting Blueberry!
It’s that wonderful time of the year. Even with the drought, the blueberries are coming into season in Michigan. I usually just eat them plain after washing them in a vinegar rinse to get the pesticides off. As delicious as blueberry dishes are, I try to eat them plain because I don’t like the additional calories and added fats. However…
I did have some getting a little soft and always cook them up with some sugar or in a dish to preserve them longer. Waste not, want not! The following is a blueberry Scone bread that I made and I also cooked some berries in a couple of Tablespoons of sugar and 1 teaspoon of cornstarch in the microwave for a few minutes to thicken into a sauce. Then I broke down and went to a local bakery and saw they were selling pieces of their chocolate fudge cake. I tried using the cake as a base for the blueberry sauce and it was really good! I replace the butter and or sour cream in the scone recipe with low-fat yogurt and some mayonnaise and it tastes great with less fat. Experiment. Then just eat your failures or give them away. I did not make all the dishes the same day! You can always freeze some for a treat during the winter months. I always cook up some fresh fruit sauces to eat during the winter months on pancakes or waffles. Hearty meals are not a problem as long as you don’t eat like that all the time.
Promising a Rose Garden in 1932
My mother’s side has managed to hang on to all kinds of photos since the invention of the camera. Not sure when some of these were taken, but some were in the 1800’s.
Looking through the stash, I happened upon an envelope of black & white negatives. Most were of my great grandfather’s home in Detroit and his beautiful rose garden that he was so proud of. I had never seen these before and I was not aware that he had been such an avid gardener. I lived with his daughters growing up, my gram and my aunt Ruth, who tended a garden in the yard as well. Mostly black raspberry bushes and all kinds of flowers. They had one apple tree, not sure of the type and one Montmorency tart cherry tree. I used to love to climb the trees to eat of the fruit when they came in season. My mom tells me recently of all the worms because they did not spray. I don’t remember ever seeing any worms when I ate the fruit. I don’t know if that is good or bad. I guess worms are a lot better for you then pesticide.
I have scanned some of the negatives of my great grandfather’s gardens the best that I can. I am not sure what type of camera they were taken on, but there are two sizes of negatives, both very large and not numbered. My great gramps came to America from Canada. His parents were from Germany. He passed away before I was born so I never knew him. His wife, my great grandma, had passed a few years before these pictures were taken. Even though they are black and white, I hope that you enjoy them as much as I did finding the negatives and turning them back to print. Check out the rungs on the ladder. It appears homemade! It may bring back memories for some of the older folks, for the younger ones, enjoy a trip back in time to 1932!
Have a Happy and Safe Fourth of July
And don’t try lighting firecrackers in your hand and throwing them. I did alota
nerve damage to one of my hands many years ago.
Organic Gardens = Too Many Varmints
I will gladly take the worms
and bugs amidst the sighs,
to know I grow the purest things
that won’t sit on my thighs!
pogirlshines©
We have really been having a scorcher all over the USA. Hopefully we will cool off soon and get much needed rain to put out all the wildfires and keep our gardens growing. Dearborn Michigan was over 100° for the heat index a few days ago, and I know we were one of the cool areas. It is 12:30pm and currently 86° with the forcast only for 87° I wonder. Most of the heat is in the southeast at this time with still no sign of much rain anywhere, especially in the areas that need it the most.
As a Christian I pray, but I realize I never really pray about the weather. I think this is a good time to start. I wonder what would happen if everyone reading this blog prayed for rain. It’s sort of like doing a little rain dance in your head, in the name of Jesus!
Creating Creative Breakfast
I used to think that breakfast meant cereal, yogurt or eggs and whole wheat toast. Even bagels and cream cheese from Panera or an Egg McMuffin. I have decided to shed about 10 pounds in the next month or two and I am now trying to streamline my eating for this loss. Then I figure I can add fairly normal carbs to each meal, even a small dessert, and maintain as long as I stay physically active.
The most important part of breakfast to me now is protein. A little fiber and even less sugar is OK too. I know my muscles need the protein and as long as I have sufficient carbs higher in fiber, it will be good for me even while losing the weight. I sometimes make up 6 of these little breakfast h’orderves. I do know that if I keep my portion small with enough protein, I do not feel hungry soon after like I was doing eating larger meals. It is a deadly cycle.
Eat alot, crave alot! I hate it!
These are some breakfasts that taste good, and are high in protein but equally high in fat so not so good for you. Just make sure to eat smaller amounts.
Scared the Turd Out of a Little Bird Today
I swear it screamed! If birds can scream, this little bird actually screamed when it looked back and saw that I was right behind him. That he actually let his guard down like that and could not sense “human inches away” must have freaked his little bird brain right out. He was digging feverishly in the sun-scorched dry dirt for something, anything that even resembles a bug so it took him a few seconds and he let me walk up to him and stand for a few seconds before he looked back and with a very loud and shrill TWWEEEET, took off across the yard.
I do have bird baths and fountains so they are getting enough water and cooling off, but they are eating all of my black and red raspberries this year. If I go out near the berries they start squawking and gathering all around by me like a scene from the birds. They do not want me near their food supply. I tried to get it on film, but when I go out with a video cam, almost no birds are in sight. When I step out by myself they are doing all kinds of “fly” things. One large robin was sitting in the middle of the berry bush, looked at me come towards her and just kept eating and ignoring me so I stood there resolute in the knowledge that I will not be getting anything from my garden this year. Then if by chance they miss something, yeah me!
Enjoying Summer Evenings
Sometimes muggy but never cold
thank God the seasons won’t get old.
The stars try peeking through the smog
the crickets and the croaking frog.
Reflected underneath the stars
are happy faces, speeding cars.
Po’ Girl Shines©
Squirrels and the Old Oak Tree
Soo disappointed that I did not have my video cam ready for some squirrels outside that were playing hide and go seek. The one would crawl stealthily on his little belly low to the ground to try and peer over the edge of the plants, see one of the other squirrels and bolt! As much as these things annoy me when they dig all through my garden looking for who knows what, they are funny to watch once in a while. I have two little baby ones that come down to eat things in the yard now and they are very skittish.
Late Spring Organic Gardening Update
These are the things that I have found on my latest yard inspection:
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Too many weeds! (My fault)
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Quite a bit of leaf damage that I blame on ants.
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Minimal varmint damage such as chewed leaves and vandalism.
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Birds are getting most of my berries this year so the chirp must have gotten around that I have both red and black raspberries.
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My beans, both pole variety and bush, are not germinating very well or something is getting the seeds before this happens. Most of the green bean leaves have a lot of holes and insect damage. I was not vigilant early enough, but am now regularly spraying with my detergent, Fels Naptha bar soap and water and garlic powder. Doesn’t smell or taste too good to most of the bugs. Make sure to re-spray after watering or a rainfall, if you are lucky enough to get one this year.
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All my plants maturity is behind schedule. It is warm enough so I blame the fact that I did not compost my soil this year or add extra nutrients. I have watered minimally and I live in quite a polluted area and saw the difference between gardening in this city compared to the areas that I used to live in that were considered the suburbs, but were almost country like in setting instead of factories all over.
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There is a continuous group of all kinds of animals. My birdbath and fountain attracts all kinds of birds. I also keep a shallow pan of water for little animals to go to for drinking or bathing. Sometimes the birds are hogging all the water at the same time. They are cleanest birds because I see more of them taking baths than drinking!
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The plants doing the best are the ones I placed in the flowerboxes this year instead of the usual annuals. You’ll see Spearmint, Dill, Yellow Banana Peppers and tomatoes along with a few Geranium.
Po' Girl Shines 
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