Too short

Source: wisuella.tumblr.com via Susy on Pinterest

I suppose, in the end, we will find that life was too short as well. I hope to make the most of this beautiful, marvelous, epic time that I’ve been given.

Carbs are Killing You…

Tags

carbohydrates, low carb lifestyle

Boudreaux and the Texan

#14 – Boudreaux and The Texan…

 

Boudreaux once had a job as a taxicab driver in Baton Rouge.

One day, he picked up a Texan on his way to the airport. When they passed by the LSU football stadium, the Texan said “What’s that?”

Boudreaux said, “Dat’s Tiger Stadium.”

The Texan said, “How long did it take y’all to build it?”

Boudreaux said, “Mais, about five years.”

The Texan said, “Oh, we’ve got a bigger one in Austin that only took one year.”

As they passed the state capitol, the Texan asked again, “What’s that building?”

Boudreaux said, “Dat’s the state capitol”.

“And how long did it take y’all to build that?” Boudreaux said, “About three years.”

The Texan said, “We’ve got one in Austin that only took six months.”

Boudreaux had just about enough of this, you know. Then they drove past the Mississippi River Bridge.

The Texan said, “How long did it take y’all to build that bridge?”

Boudreaux said, “I don’t know. It wasn’t there this morning.”

Boudreaux and Clarence

#8 – Boudreaux & Clarence…

Boudreaux lived across the bayou from Clarence, who Boudreaux did not like.

There was no bridge or other easy way to cross the bayou so the two would argue by yelling across the bayou.

Boudreaux would often yell across the bayou to Clarence, “Clarence, if I had a way to cross dat bayou, I would come beat you up!”.

The threats continued for many years.

One day the state built a bridge across the Bayou.

Soon after the bridge was built, Boudreaux’s wife, Clotile, says “Boudreaux, you’ve been talking about going across dat bayou to beat up Clarence all dese years. Now that they have dat bridge, what are you waiting for?”

So Boudreaux decided it was time to go see Clarence, so he started walking down to the bridge.

Just as he was getting ready to cross the bridge, he looks up at the sign on the bridge, reads it, and goes back home.

When Boudreaux gets home, Clotile asks “Mais, Boudreaux, did you go beat up Clarence?”

Boudreaux said, “Mais no Clotile, dat sign on dat bridge says ‘Clearance 13 feet 3 inches’. Mais, Clotile, Clarence don’t look dat big from across de bayou!”

For Mary…

Tags

emily dickinson, honeybees, poetry

 

Bee! I’m Expecting You

Bee! I’m expecting you!
Was saying yesterday
To someone you know
That you were due.

The frogs got home last week,
Are settled, and at work;
Birds, mostly back,
The clover warm and thick.

You’ll get my letter by
The seventeenth; reply
Or better, be with me,
Yours, Fly.

 

Emily Dickinson

Little Bit O’ Sunshine Cake

Tags

Betty Crocker, cake, calamondin, calamondin marmalade, filipino lemon, Fruit, local fruit, Marmalade

This is how I chose to combat lack of sunshine today: with a calamondin marmalade cake topped and filled with calamondin curd.  This calamondin fruit is simply amazing.  I’ve made marmalade, juice and zest with this tiny mouth-puckering fruit.  It’s a thousand times better than a plain lemon or orange.  I’ve heard it described as a sour orange but it’s not quite that either!

This cake is such a special treat.

I used one of the many lemon-yogurt cake recipes that you’ll find floating around the internet.  Do reduce the sugar though.  Sometimes, I completely cut out the sugar and replace it with my homemade calamondin marmalade!

For the filling, I turned to my trusty Betty Crocker red and white cookbook…such a simple recipe!

3/4 cup sugar

2 T corn starch

1/2 cup water

3 T calamondin juice

1-2 T calamondin marmalade

2 egg yolks, beaten

Combine all ingredients, cook and stir until bubbly.  Cook and stir for two minutes longer.  Add:

1 T butter

Melt butter into mixture.

A sunshine girl in a cold gray world

Tags

early spring, gray days

Day #3 of gray chill.  Supplies of Vitamin D appear to be depleted.  Complete lethargy settling in.  Need for hot beverages and foods becoming overwhelming. 

I need to check my bees!  So many things that aren’t quite suited to these cold wet days we’re having.  This weather is so strange to me.  Granted, it’s really not all that cold.  But it is gray.  And it’s wet.  The fog is so thick that it’s absolutely falling like rain.  The roads are slick as though rain has fallen but it’s just the dew/fog/whatever it’s called!

Days like these remind me that I do, in fact, love the sunshine.  I’ve never lived any place where gray days are the norm.  How do you all manage when you don’t see a bit of sunshine for days and days on end??

 

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

Tags

Beekeeping, Honey bee, innisfree, Lake Isle of Innisfree, poetry, W. B. Yeats, yeats

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,

And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:

Nine bean- rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,

And live alone in the bee-loud  glade.

I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,

Dropping from the veils of of the morning to where the cricket sing;

There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,

And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day

I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;

While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,

I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

W.B. Yeats

Well, I can see…

Tags

Beekeeping, gardening, work days, yard work

Well, I can see that I didn’t blog yesterday, even though I had thought I would!  Usually, I just throw a picture up for Wordless Wednesday and call it done.  Maybe the fact that I had trouble remembering what day yesterday was had something to do with it!

I stayed busy yesterday doing lots and lots of yard work.  Of course, I’m always happiest when I’m doing work outside, so it was a good day for me!  We have crazy algae growing on our white vinyl siding (the result of 90% humidity throughout most of the year)  I love the green shade of the algae.  Now, if only it would get together and cover the entire surface…it would be the prettiest shade imaginable!

The second task was opening up the beehive again.  I opened it up on Tuesday and examined it frame by frame.  I am so inordinately proud of these honeybees.  They are gentle, hard workers and they keep a clean hive.  Our queen is very strong, obviously, and she’s raising a good crop of daughters to do good pollination work!  On Tuesday, I examined the brood frames and was thrilled to see one frame almost completely filled with tiny eggs.  For me, one of my most valued accomplishments has been learning to keep bees. 

The fish pond also came due for a cleaning yesterday.  Situated as it is, right beneath a lush cherry laurel, the surface of the pond has been covered with blossoms and leaves for the past month.  This necessitated BOTH filters being cleaned and the tubing replaced!  The fish are ever so much happier with this arrangement.  Speaking of fish, we lost our koi this season.  I’m not sure what happened, I just visited the pond one day and he was gone.  Disturbing as well, one of the other fish was injured (are you thinking what I’m thinking??)  We lost the koi and the largest comet (8-10 inches).  The giant catfish was growing too large for our pond so we returned him to the nursery and he is now living happily in one of their giant outdoor ponds!

Unfortunately, I’ve also been watching lots of television on hulu.  The newest show we’re watching is Raines, with Jeff Goldblum.  Have any of you seen it?  We really like his acting.

Well, that’s it for today.  Hope

The Non-Blogger and what she’s been doing

I don’t even know that I can call myself a blogger anymore, but I have all these nifty blogs floating around!  I keep telling myself that I’ll do something more than the occasional tweet or flickr upload, but that’s barely happening either.

The truth is: I’ve really been busy!  Been having fun sewing and tending honeybees and hauling horse manure to the garden.  We’ve been visiting family lots more this year and that has been really fun as well!  The greenhouse is full to bursting with peppers and eggplants and tomatoes and various herbs.  The raised beds are filled with onions and garlic and strawberries, kale, collards, lettuce, cabbage and spinach!

Take a look at the little crowns I just made last week:

Now, that’s what I call having a good time!