A Happy Father's Day to all fathers out there.
I must confess to having never heard of Rolinia. It sounds delicious. It's mango season here. The large tree across the street is filled with them and I find some in a plastic bag sitting on my outdoor table every day. Doreen puts them there. At first, we go on a mango frenzy. Now, the mangos arrive faster than we can eat them. So, I remove the flesh, discard seed and skin and freeze the flesh for later use. They are so good. For Northerners like us, it is such a genuine treat to eat warm ripe mangos right off the tree.
The weather office keeps on predicting rain but we only get a few clouds here and there. This is the worst drought I have seen since moving here 6 years ago. I even went out at night a few days ago to dance naked in the full moon, but no dice. I'll have to resort to some other way to shock Mother Nature to send us some rain.
Take care, all.
Sylvain.
The coconut wireless - chat thread
I just love mango in any form. Remember me when you wipe your mouth from eating too much off the tree!!! LOL!!! We have to contend on store bought and nectar from the grocery store Belle
We've been having storms every night for the last several nights. Expecting another tonight.
Hi.
We gopt a bit of rain and lots of thunder, but not enough moisture to get us out of this drought.
Drought is so depressing. I am not one to fawn at the sight of a well-manucured lawn, but brown lawns truly get me down. At least the golf courses are also under the watering ban. They had always been exempt from watering restrictions before. Let's face it: when the water is gone, it will gone for everybody, so it's only fitting that golf courses be forced to cut down on their consumption. Oh, how I long for the return of the rainy season.
Take care, all
Sylvain.
Amen to that! Our golf courses are finally required to use "re-cycled" water.
our golf courses are brown.
We pretty much haven't had rain since October (rained in my neighborhood twice)- Lake Houston is 5 feet below normal.
We do have the most chance of rain this week that we've had since last year...so..fingers crossed.
I am glad we came first week of May where we played 5 times in Houston and vicinity. The grass were still lush. Belle
Have more storms hitting tonight.
I'm home safe from my trip to Ca. All went really well with Amma for six days.
It is hot and humids here and it hardly ever rains except when we get a hurricane.
Got five happy dogs.
hugs, katie
Sylvain,
You lost your Storm Thong?????? ROTFLMAO
My question for the day is.....If we are in such dire straights with water, why are we sill building and building more condos, etc????? DERN, I have been here for 28 years, I get first dibs on the water!!!!!!!!
Hap
Oh Nancy, Nancy, dearest Nancy... The Storm Thong is safely kept in the utility room, in a safe box with digital combination. I dare not pull it out and wear to dance under the full moon on account of the havoc it can wreak on the weather systems worldwide. We have been without a Big H... since I got here 6 hears ago, so why tempt the fates?
But I haven't forgotten about it. Desperate times call for desparate measures and who knows what lies ahead. I am concerned, however, that it is now a bit too big for me. No problem. I have a sewing machine and I can make it fit again. It's one thing to dance under the full moon in a purple spandex thong, but having it drop down around your knees during the performance is definitely a fashion faux pas.
Take care, all.
Sylvain.
ROTFLMAO!!!!!
Oh Pepper - what a pretty planter that has turned out to be! LOL on the coffee hiding in the truck! What an unbelievable number of storms are hitting your part of the mainland, I check out everyone's area of the country every morning on the TV...some need no more rain while others (like Sylvain) can't wait to get outside and wear a purple spandex thong even though it could be quite a show if that elastic isn't tightened!
We are really enjoying having the kids here even though it's quite like bedlam with the construction still going on at the same time.
Laurie and Dustin (they will kill me for posting this!)
Dustin is helping his grandpa around the garden...
Sylvain! You are a hoot. How I would love to hear your stories with your French accent.
Jen, becareful on those tall ladders. Friend of my son's fell 14 feet and crushed both feet. He has had numerous operations and the prognosis is not good.
Pepper,
Thinking Missouri doesn't need anymore water for awhile.
Last two nights we have had blessed thunderstorms. What a difference it makes. City water just doesn't cut it no matter how much you use.
Currently, we are being overrun with Argentine Ants. Internet says there is no viable treatment. They don't sting but they do bite me and I have large whelps from allergic reaction. Other thing we are watching is the giant cicada killer wasp. must be 2 inches long. Mounds all over the backyard.
I think that is what has been getting the Swallowtail cats.
Going to work at rearranging my sewing room today. Boy, what a mess.
Jen, we cross posted. Beautiful family. Looks more like brother and sister than mother and son.
Mornin' PK! Good luck with that sewing room, every now and then I make an attempt at organizing my sewing stuff but the trouble is that I have too much fabric and odds and ends! This is what I have been doing for the last couple of years - yes, you did read that right - a couple! Not sure I will ever be finished! This is when I had it spread out on the floor to baste the quilt, backing and batting together...It's turning out to be quite a beast to handle!
Just read that Katie is back home over the border safely! Welcome home, Katie!
Hi everyone,
Yes, I am home saffe and sort of sound. Couldn't sleep my first night back but got about twqelve hours last night in my air-conditioned bedroom. I'm still hacking from my cold but feel pretty good.
Lots of new growth while I was gone. Two flowers on one of my dragonfruit plants which is very exciting. Lost most of my little arhat plants but reminded Tony, who felt quite guilty, that these things happen. We have about twelve small cherimoya trees and lots of little goldenfruit plants. The latter is one I have big hopes for here. It's one of the newly touted superfoods and sounds like it is well-suited for our climate - and poor soil.
Two out of three of my Logees blueberries are putting out new growth, the third might be dead. I've got five purple cup and saucer vines doing well; they should be perrennial here.
Brought two big bags of bird seed. I love hearing the birds around the house. Some sunflowers are blooming now and I have lots more seeds.
Tony's wife Fely is thrilled with the stainless steel cookware I brought back for her and the shoes for Antonio, who just had foot surgery, are a perfect fit. I love having a family that appreciates me.
Time with Amma was wonderful. She has hugged millions of people and she asked, through her translater, where I'm living now and why she doesn't see me as often as she used to. I about swooned but managed to tell her that I'm living in Mexico now so I don't see her as often as I used; however, I assurred her, I am "always with my Amma."
After Amma, I had to have a tooth pulled. My first and maybe only extraction of an adult tooth. The dentist told me everything else looks good and complimented me on how well I've taken care of my teeth. Hoping the rest will last as long as I do.
While with Amma a new friend told me of a powder she was using on some bites she had. I got some (at Amma's bookstore) and it is healing up the sores on my arms!! They can be very painful and get really nasty when I'm playing in the dirt so I'm really happy about that.
Took my time coming home due to cold and dental work. It's so good to know that Tony is here taking care of things while I'm gone so I don't have to worry.
Today is in the mid 80's and the humidity is creeping up. The plants love it while we people hunker down for another long, hot, but beautiful summer.
hugs, katie
Oh Jen. That takes my breathe away. I took lessons many,many years ago and pieced one sampler quilt. It takes a mathematical genuis to do the pattern you have selected. Will you hand quilt it? My mother always had two or three quilts going in different stages at one time. When she pased she had one in the frame and another ready for a frame. There must be enough pieces cut for 10 more very large quilts. My thimble finger was cut when I was a toddler and it is deformed. Makes it very difficult to do the beautiful rocking motion required to do those tiny stitches. I have all of her quilting supplies and have guilt for not keeping them in use. When do you have time to sleep?
PK
That gorgeous "beast" of a quilt would have taken me decades, not years - if I could have possibly done it at all which is doubtful. Wow, you have done a fabulous job.
LOVE the quilt!!! It's gorgeous!!!
Pk, parts of Missouri could still use rain but those around the Missouri River basin and here in my area for the most part are good on rain. But it's all soaking in so really no complaints. Except I can't weed my veggie bed and I have weird weeds in there. lol. I have a plant that looks like sedum but not sure that it is. Can't get rid of it!! Might have to cardboard the garden this winter. I haven't done it yet because I always get a few potatoes and onions that survive winter and start growing in the spring. I want those volunteers!! lol
Sylvain,. ROTFL over you!!
Your daughter and grandson are gorgeous!! And super happy looking.
Katie, my blueberries are ripening now. I have 2 in pots, one which needs to go in a bigger pot. But a big spider that is bigger than my palm owns the old chicken house where I store my stuff. He can have it!! lol. I'm not messing with him.
Aw shucks! I would rather machine quilt the Beast in order to get it done faster as I am sick of the sight of it! I don't think all that fabric will fit under the sewing machine head though...we'll see. It doesn't take any great math skills I can assure you, otherwise I have been lost before I even started!
Lol on that huge spider Pepper, I would give it a wide berth too!
Good to have you back home Katie - isn't it amazing how much a garden changes in just a week or two?
Fighting for computer time with the kids here! Yesterday morning was spent paddle boarding. It's great fun, but very tiring as you have to use every muscle you have to keep your balance and not get dunked.
OMG, OMG, OMG! That picture is a quilt? I hadn't clicked on it before I read other posts that came after it. It is magnificient. My grandmothers both quilted and Gail's great-aunt was a quilter, too. What a beauty! What size is it? I have to print a picture of it for Gail. She'll flip. Congratulations on that.
Sylvain.
Mahalo Sylvain - it's king sized - trust me to bite off more than I can chew...
I love the colors, Jenn. If you are tired of it you can send it over here.
kb
Love the quilt Jen! It is just beautiful! We finally got some rain. We needed it so bad.
Hi Everyone! Hope everyone is well. We are OK.
Jeanne
Nice to see posting Jeanne. You friends here. i am glad you got some rain. Belle
Gail got quite a kick out of that king-sized quilt. We both agree it's spectacular.
Take care.
Pu'ole, a.k.a. Sylvain.
Cleaning out the book shelves today and it takes forever because I have to do a quick run through of every single one. Rediscovered a treasure....."Hawai'i's Floral Spendor.....from Jen with the various plants marked that are growing in her garden of paradise. Pictures just can't do it justice. So glad I found it. The last two years have been unusually difficult in my life and I am just now getting back to "normal". Need a definition for that. Another common phrase these days seems to be .....dysfunctional......show me what ....functional.....is. hahahaha Not trying to get too deep. Just one of those things that I ponder ever now and again.
I love every single one of you. Make my day.
Princess Kilikina
Hi, everyone.
The weatherman predicts scattered showers and thunderstorms here today. I say: not to scattered, if you please. Like Oliver Twist, there I am standing with an empty water bucket, asking "More, Please. I want more".
Cleaning out book shelves. I remember when we left Montreal and we loaded a trailer full of books that had been housed in our house's smallest room. It had euphemistically been called "the library". It had no shelves. Books were piled floor to ceiling, wall to wall. We gave all that to a newly opened assisted living facility. They supplied the trailer and the workers to collect all that. Gail and I now own electronic readers. No more books all over the house! As the nepharious Martha would say: It's a good thing.
Princess, I wish I could make your day. I'm sending you positive vibes. And here is a cattleya orchid that bloomed outside yesterday.
Take care, all.
Sylvain.
That orchid is beautiful. All my orchid plants were stolen by the caretaker at the house where I used to live. However, he got murdered (not by me, really) so I don't hold a grudge.
When we visited my granparents in Florida when I was a kid I loved seeing all the orchids in Cyphrus Gardens which was nearby. Coming from the snows of Michigan's Upper Penninsula it was magical.
Thanks for bringing back the memory.
kb
Wow, Kate. That must be quite a story. Have never attempted an orchid. I already kill too many plants with love.
Sylvain, I, too have a nook. Of course, it is first generation and they keep upgrading and upgrading. All I wanted to do was read and so I am still very satisfied with my purchase. I love going to a website, perusing the book shelves, click a link and instantly the book is in my hands. Magic. I was horrified at the dust bunnies that surrounded my books on the shelves. Many of them still have connections that I don't want to break so I trudge on with all my "stuff" around me.
Next area is the "sewing room". In it's former life it was our daughter's bedroom. We purchased pre-made counter tops from Home Depot and installed them on two walls. Ikea cabinets with glass doors cover a third wall. The closet doors have been gone for years and there are plastic drawers in the little cases stacked all along the wall. The fourth wall is under a high window and covered with a cutting table. In the mid to late 80's I had a partner and we designed and made wearable art. Have a computer sewing machine that also embroiders, two sergers and a good old fashioned White machine. My mother was a quilter for eons and I inherited all of her sewing knick knacks and quilting tools. Have a collection of over 250 vintage pin cushions. They remind me of all the ladies before me that just HAD TO create. Lots and lots of vintage linens as well as about 100 crochet hot pads. I am always amazed at the beauty and craftmanship that went into these little works of art.
Well, sorry everyone, sure didn't intend to kill the thread.
You haven't killed the thread. :~)
I've been busy trying to keep up with weeds in this heat we are dealing with now. Temps have been in the 90s with high humidity so it's hard to keep weeds under control. I am finally getting there though!! lol
The caretaker was kidnapped and murdered by two local druggies who thought they could get some money from him. He ended up dead and they ended up in jail. The new caretaker was no more honest than the old one so I moved shortly thereafter.
I have never gotten back into orchids but I've gotten a kitchen culture kit for tissue culture and lots of people are using those for orchids.
I used to buy orchids in Oakland. I haven't seen any here but I think they would do well.
Our hot and humid weather has arrived and I'm doing well to get up and dressed, let alone get much work done. I try to manage to help Tony at least a little. We are tweeking the path in the little back yard and planning where we will put the seedling papayas when the weather cools off. Which will probably be in October.
hugs, katie
Goodness, Kate. Did you see that they are warning American citizens to stay away from the border towns this weekend. Expecting an extreme drug war. There is an article in The Dallas Morning News today concerning prestigious private schools from Mexico moving their campuses into the states because of the violence. I hope you are far enough in the boonies to be out of danger. Hot here as well. 100 yesterday and 101 today.
Aloha Everyone,
I had my cataract surgery done last Wednesday and have lived to tell about it! Ended up with a shiner and scarlet eyeball from broken blood vessels so I am quite colorful, but I am starting to see well - heck, in a few days time I should be able to see into the future!
PK, your sewing room sounds like a dream room for anyone who is into sewing, I wish it were mine! I have always been fasinated by those embroidery machines and I have been known to stand for ages and watch the demo's in the stores running all by themselves. Lucky you!
Sylvain must have altered his purple thong because I see that Florida has finally got some much needed rain, Well done!
Such hot weather across the country, I don't know how you are all surviving day after day. My brother who lives in WI had a tornado touch down 3/4 mile from his farm and although he had no damage to his cows or property (except for a couple of very large trees down), all his bales of hay blew away - some as far as 1/4 mile. He spent Sunday with the tractor picking them all up and bringing them back into the fields. They are expecting more severe storms in his area today...
Dustin has gone home and Laurie leaves today. We will miss having them around. Frank has been so happy to have his swimming buddies who can keep up with him in the ocean rather than me, as I am not a very strong or fast swimmer and I don't like to be too far away from the shore line!
We picked our largest ever (so far) bunch of bananas yesterday - Frank judged them to weigh about 70 lbs. That's a lot of bananas! We are going to take some of them down to work today for the visitors to help themselves when they check in, and also some to the fire station as they always enjoy a lot of the excess we produce in the garden. There are certainly times when there is too much of a good thing!
Posting a picture of Dustin and his Great Grandmother (my Mom) I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe 4th.
I am half-way down the Baja penninsula wich puts me 600 miles south of the border. The border towns or big cities seem a world away from where I am. We do have occasional drug problems, as mentioned above, but there are few places in the world where some of these don't exist.
Glad your surgery went well, Jenn. I've had two cataract surgeries and both went well, too.
I've had a couple days of a stomach bug so my "work" has been limited mostly to telling Tony what a good job he is doing. There are places prepared now for me to plant some of my aloes when my stomach stops hurting. I think I'm still recovering form my trip to Ca.
Scout the visiting dog now seems to be a member of the family. We haven't heard from Jon who is rumored to be in Canada. Scout seemed a little sad at first but now she's interacting some with the other dogs and taking her turn to cuddle with me. I thought she might miss the Old Roy dogfood she used to get so I brought some from Walmart but she seems to prefer home-cooked chicken and rice.
My outdoor tub is full so I'll have a soak after Tony leaves.
It is beautiful and quiet here. If the temperature would just drop back to 80 it would be perfect.
hugs, katie
Jen, glad that your eye procedure is now behind you. My mother had the same and after she was healed she couldn't believe how vivid the colors were. I understand that cataracts make things just a bit foggy. Great picture of a beautiful lady and a handsome young man.