Plum Crazy

 Made plum purée, plum jam and plum fruit roll ups. 

The roll ups were AMAZING! I added some of my chiles and they had this pleasant spicy and sweet mix. When the weather cools down I will be making more jam and fruit rolls up. 

Fourth of July

 For the 4th we went to Phoenix to hang out with Dorothy. It was a short trip but fun. 

Z

Calaveras Big Trees National Park

 Victoria came home early this summer and we went up to Calaveras for the first time. WOW! It was so beautiful. The weather was nice, sky was clear and sunny. It wasn’t too hot, yes it’s summer and it was warm, but not unbearable. 

I love being out in nature and spending time with my girl. What a fun day. 

💕Lady Phoebe

Time Keeps Flying By

 I’ve been very busy and also very distracted. I left town for a week and feel that my poor garden started to decline around the same time. The bulk of what I grew was squash and most of that has been harvested so I believe I will to go in and clean that all up. My pumpkin plant is growing, but at a slow pace so most likely, unless things change, I won’t have pumpkin by October. Only time will tell though.

My tomato plants have grown so HUGE yet have produced only 1 tomato. I had a branch full of green tomatoes and as I was watering the hose went around the plants and broke the branch. Yes; the very branch that had tomatoes in the process of ripening. So irritated and sad. Seriously, of all the branches  that had to bite the dust? My other tomatoes 🍅 were chomped to pieces by Templeton. I suppose it wasn’t meant to be.

During such a questionable and difficult time in the world, going out into my yard with a shovel allowed me to feel value and brought me the peace of mind I needed 

I am already planning what I’ll do next year in the garden. The joy, tranquility and sense of accomplishment I’ve gained from gardening overrides any of the downers that happened. 

My trees produced so much fruit that this fall, and probably winter, I’ll be busy making jelly and fruit leather with everything I froze.

A bonus I’ve enjoyed is being able to share what I’ve grown. It’s a great feeling to hand food over to people I care about. 

💕 Lady Phoebe

Garden reflections

I was FaceTiming with my good friend Miss Dena and showed her the garden. She was blown away. Maybe because I see it on a daily basis I forget the changes and growth more easily; so I went and looked at photos to refresh my mind. And what I saw blew my mind and had me feeling so appreciative of what has happened in my yard.
Here are some images of the different stages:

Pre garden or AKA weed garden. 

Sprout garden

Garden with plants

Plants getting bigger

WOW! Big, full and producing garden.  

Sacramento Love

For as much as I fretted and stressed and (sigh) resisted moving here to the Sac area; I have found so much to fall in love with.

One place I absolutely LOVE and ADORE is the state capital grounds. Here are a few reasons why.

1. It’s physical history. 😍 And I love history.

2. The trees (I’ll post more one this later, but there is a tree scavenger hunt. Could you just die...? It’s like I’m in heaven.)

3. The gardens. They have a cactus garden and rock garden and a ... ROSE Garden:

The Garden

My garden is looking good. I could even say it’s looking great when I think of how far it’s come along. But..

I love my garden and gardening it’s therapeutic and fun. So far I’ve grown and harvested zucchini and yellow squash and then more zucchini and yellow squash.

1st harvest

2nd harvest 

3rd harvest? Who knows, at this point I’ve lost count . hehehe

My tomato plants that I’ve grown from seed are growing like crazy and are pushing out some of my chili plants, but no red tomatoes...yet 🤞The tomato plants my son brought to me that were nearly dead are thriving and growing all over the place but no toms 🍅 ... yet (I’m hopeful, I mean I did bring them back from being nearly dead) My corn is still shorter than me. Sadly my lettuce, radishes, cauliflower, beets, tomatillos, cilantro, onions, watermelon and a few others are all MIA. 

Gardening is fun and rewarding; it’s like raising kids, so when my sprout babies fail it breaks my heart. 

I still have a plan to plant more seeds, I mean I really wanted to pull carrots out of the ground and really want fresh cucumbers, and cilantro and cauliflower and... lol I could go on but will stop now 😄

 I also am going to need to dig up my chili plants and move them since other plants are being area hogs and taking over. 

I am looking forward to posting about my plums that are almost ready to be picked. Soon, Phoebe soon; be patient. I plan on making fruit leather with them. It’s a beautiful purple delight. 😍  I’ve even made some mixed with strawberries 🍓 😋 I’ve found a place that sells local honey and so this will be a win win for me.

💕 Lady Phoebe

Late Nights

It’s after 1 am and I’m up unable to sleep watching The Crown. I love history, so to watch real events turned into entertainment is fun.

There is a show on Netflix called Sweet Magnolias starring Brooke Elliott. She happens to be an actress I really like. She was the star of Drip Dead Diva. Yes, I’m slightly obsessed with that show. Netflix stopped making it available and I had to buy the box set. I am obsessed the way some people are obsessed with the show the Golden Girls (rightfully so. So funny!)

I wish there was a way to read in the dark so I don’t disturbed my sweet hubby. I’m finally getting around to reading Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring. My poor father is in a bit of shock that his daughter, at the age of 48 is finally reading this book, one of his favorites out of many. He asked me why I had not read it before. I really have no idea, except for when I tried back in my 20’s I had other books I preferred. Then I had kids and didn’t have time. When I did try, my time was so limited that I’d start only to have my attention diverted again and again, making it hard to get into the book and figure out what was happening. It ultimately began to feel like a waste of tine. Plus in my 20’s and early’s I wasn’t very interested in the story line.

Now as I read I think: ‘Girl you were a fool! This book is AMAZING!

From a spiritual point of view, I’m in awe. Tolkien wrote so many people at different levels could enjoy the book.

One Dogs Life

Waiting for Mr. J to return home from work. 

This pup, Paxton, is 5 years old. In dog years does that make him a teen or middle aged? 💁‍♀️ He is a Yorkie Bichon mix; I’d like to grow his hair out long so he’ll look more Yorkie-like. Getting there is a challenge for this adventure loving dog:

I’m not as crazy as I look

At any rate he keeps me busy. He cracks me up, frustrates me at times and steals my heart often. 

Look at him: 

How is that even comfortable to sit in the chair that way? It looks painful to me, but he seems to enjoy it.

So even when he does this:

Or this

With a face like this, seriously how can I not just love him? 💕

💕 Lady Phoebe and Mr. Pax 🐾

The First Harvest

I researched when to pick my zucchini and come to find out it is best to pick them while they are small or medium sized to help the plant to produce more. Well, that I can manage doing, I’ll have no issues having more produce to enjoy and share. I love grilled squash and zucchini bread is also a favorite in our home. 💚

I might have waited too long to pick the bigger one but I’m certain it’ll taste good. I can’t wait for tomorrow night’s dinner.

I have a lot of yellow squash showing up as well. It’s so very pleasing to watch things grow. 

As I was looking at photos the other day I found some of the garden from day one. Wow what a difference. 

I have more to plant, some seedlings didn’t survive but I am quite satisfied with my garden. My Wonderland section has managed to bring tomato plants back from the dead or almost dead. And even though I am somewhat uncertain of a few plants in there, (I believe some might be cucumbers and maybe another squash) at least there is life happening all over the place. 🌱

Gardening is a healthy thing to be obsessed with, and obsessed I am. A garden is a friend you can visit anytime of the day or night (yes I went out and picked my zucchini in the dark with a flashlight in tow) and always be welcomed. 

💕 Lady Phoebe

Date Night

Things in our neck of the woods aka Elk Grove have started to open back up; to basically celebrate this monumental event (hahaha 😃) my dear Hubby planned a date night out. In a restaurant, where we sat down, had our order taken and brought to the table.

When everything was getting shut down we didn’t really know how long it would last or how much would be able to go back to the way we once knew them to be.

He set up the reservation and sent me the text to be ready to go out. When we drove into parking lot we followed the roped lines to check in with the workers waiting in parking lot. Then we waited in the car until we were sent a text telling us our table was ready (around 10 min or so).

We entertained ourselves by taking pics:

 When we went in and were seated, we were told to take a pic of our table receipt with our phones to view the menu (which would be limited on items) and waited for drinks to arrive.

We placed our order, waited a normal wait time and then were served. When we needed something it was brought over, so no issues there. We enjoyed our meal and watched how they cleaned up a table after being used. Napkins are balled up together and placed in a plastic bag and tied closed, everything is sprayed down and cleaned off by gloved and masked workers. The system seems rather tight. There is no salt and pepper shakers or ketchup bottles or vase of flowers left on the table.

When it was time to leave there is an option to pay from your phone again. Have you caught what has increased? Yes, the use of our cell phones has greatly increased.

There were two celebrations taking place (that I saw): a 16th B-Day and a graduation. It is nice seeing people doing normal activities amid the chaos of our time. Our country is also dealing with riots and looters during the protests for black lives matter. There is a lot of unrest, confusion, hurt, anger and yet people are trying so hard to help heal people’s hearts and lives with patience, love and understanding. So, though it is all so difficult and hard to understand and know what to do, if we choose to find the good and turn towards the Lord, we will find what we are needing and will know what we can do. 💙💛

The date was fun and it was nice to get out, but I’ve come to a few conclusions:

1. Dinner was good but our meals at home have been really good, even great. (Plus at a fraction of the cost)
2. Our conversation didn’t change just because we were out. Still talked about life events, kids, future... blah blah stuff.. same ole same ole! 🤭😉
3. Together, no matter where we are, my man and I have fun. We are able to laugh and think and share.
4. My favorite dates are still going to the river, driving around town, or eating a nut burger at the Sunflower Cafe. 🌻💛🤎🌻

Basically it boils down to this: If I’m with this man, then that’s good enough for me.

💕 Lady Phoebe

Something Other Than Leaves

I’m so proud of my plants, they have gotten so BIG?  This emoji 🌱 no longer seems quite right when describing them. Check these babies out!

The exciting moment for the day is that while weeding, normally a less than exciting activity, I came across a gift. Squeal 🤭 Yes I really did squeal and giggle; I might even have done a little dance.

If you look closely there is a zucchini squash nestled in there. I’m not a 100% certain when to pick it so it’ll be at it’s best and not go bad. But I’m certain I’ll figure it out. 💚

I’m finding gardening to be even more therapeutic than I could ever imagine. I am even starting to feel like I can say I have a green thumb. Why?

Well, my son brought over tomato plants that his roommate was killing off because they weren’t the kind he wanted, and I’ve managed to bring them back to life. I wish I had taken photos of how pathetic they looked so I could track their progress. So, even though it may sound so sad what the roommate was doing, I now will be reaping the benefits. 🍅❤️

💕 Lady Phoebe