I've been thinking about chickweed lately.  It's that time of year.  

Chickweed is showing up everywhere these days, and I want you to know about it.  

Most people think of chickweed as a WEED. Well, in your yard it probably is a weed (unwanted in your yard.).

But I want you to think of it in a new way.

 

1.  It's edible

2.  It's everywhere

3.  It's free food!!!!

 

Before you eat anything, you must first identify it.  We trust our grocers to identify safe food for us, but when we are gathering food in the wild, we must positively identify it before eating it.  

 

Here's an excellent video on chickweed.  How to identify it, how to use it, and how to feel good about gathering your own salad fixins. 

 

Go to https://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/blogs/edible-weeds-rival-kale-nutrition-urban-food-desert-study 

 

You will see chickweed in a whole new light.  We collected some from the yard, and had it in our salad for lunch.  With positive identification, I'm not afraid to forage in our yard.  

 

If you are interested, there are lots more wild foods to gather.  Stay tuned.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!!

 

We can hear the creek from our house!!!  We can also hear the frogs' chorus.  Sweet!!!

 

I took this photo live, so you may be able to long hold on it and see it move.  Not sure, but it's worth a try.  

 

Haven't been able to get out much this week, but hate to complain about the weather.  Thank goodness for indoor projects.  We have enough to keep us busy for a very long time.  Years!!!!

 

Seeing a lot of moss on the hillsides, and in the garden.  I guess it's not hurting anything, and the green is pretty.

 

Hope you are hanging in there waiting for spring.

 

 

HAPPY WINTER!!!

 

Saturday night the sunset was so pretty, I took another picture.  Then I saw these houses on the ridge.

 

Patty said it looks like they forgot to turn off the lights before they left.  Hahaha!!!!

 

I'm certain they didn't forget, but it sure looks that way!  

 

We NEVER get tired of our sunset pix.

 

 

HAPPY FEBRUARY!!!!

 

 

Yoohoo!!!!   Daffodils getting ready to bloom in my garden!!!!  

 

The bright yellow trumpets make me happy, but so do these buds.  I know they will bloom soon, well, March.  Whenever they bloom, I'm happy to see them!!!

 

Did you know that daffodils are in the same family as onions and garlic and Easter lilies?  It's true!  Liliaceae is the family name, and the family contains onions, garlic, lilies, and trillium.  Or is the plural Trillia?  Whatever.  Daffodils are also in the Lily family.  What great relatives.  I love them all.

 

If you turn left when you leave the neighborhood, on your way to Blairsville, then right onto Moccasin Church Road, you'll see Daffodil Hill on the left.  I love that there are so many of them all on that little hill.

 

I hope you have daffodils in your garden, or at least in your travels.  

 

 

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!

 

 

Today is Groundhog Day.  It has been celebrated in the US and Canada since 1887.  Legend has it that if the groundhog sees his shadow, he'll freak out and rush back into his burrow and spring won't come for 6 more weeks.  Actually, spring comes in 6 weeks anyway, but it's interesting to contemplate the arrival of spring like weather.  

 

I don't know about you, but we've been anticipating spring ever since winter started!  Sorry...All the seasons are good!  Without a certain number of cold days, we'd have no daffodils. OK, I'll take winter, just on that premise.  

 

Back to the groundhogs.  They are also called woodchucks, whistle pigs, and various other names.  We have lots of groundhogs  in our neighborhood.  I wish we didn't.  They burrow under decks, under houses, and wreak havoc in the garden.  But they're here, so we just deal with them.  

 

Ask Mark Mobley about his experience with the groundhogs and his ingenious solution.  I'd tell you, but I'd mess it all up.  I think it involves ammonia and a tennis ball.  Just in case they get under YOUR house, call Mark.

 

Let's hope that Punxsutawney Phil didn't see his shadow this morning.  Then we can look forward to spring like weather. I'm ready to start planting seeds.

 

 

HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY!!!

 

 

 

Al took this picture on Wednesday when he was driving in.  The haybale snowman looks SO good with snow on the ground.  He looks in his element.

 

Too bad the other snowmen got put away with the Christmas decorations.  They would look good too.

 

Honestly, that's why I decorate with snowmen, they can be left up til Spring!!!!  Wait til you see what we have planned for the haybale for spring!!!!!   But not yet, winter isn't over.

 

 

HAPPY WINTER!!!!!

 

You heard correctly:  Jon feeds the deer in our front yard.  They stand out there and wait for him to bring the corn. They step off into the woods just a bit until he starts to leave, then they're on it!!!!!  They don't even wait for him to get all the way away.  Who trained whom?  Just sayin....

 

Back to the point of this blog:   Deer will eat just about anything.  No garden is safe.  I've seen lists of plants they don't like as much, but without enough of their preferred food, deer will eat anything!

 

You can see the Rutgers University list of plants rated for deer resistance at https://njaes.rutgers.edu/deer-resistant-plants/

 

We buy dried corn to feed them, hoping they will leave the Forsythia bushes alone.  We plant things that we know they don't like so much, like Rosemary and Sage and Marigolds.  But when they are hungry enough, they'll eat the Leyland Cypress trees and Junipers!!!

 

Mark had a good point about feeding the deer.  Spread out the corn, so that it isn't in a pile. If it sits too long and gets wet, it can mold and kill them.  Turkeys can die from moldy corn too, so let's not do THAT!!!!!!

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!!

 

 

 

Yep, it's true. This my mom and she's 95 years old.  We should all look this good at 95!!!

 

She certainly didn't look this good last month.  She spent 9 days in hospital, followed by nearly a month in rehab to regain her strength.  At 5 foot nothing and 95 pounds she's quite a powerhouse.  Not everybody could have recovered from that one.  We all had our doubts for a bit.  It definitely took its toll, but she's back!!!!!!

 

Julie took this picture just 5 days after she moved to Sweet Memories.  It is the memory care section of Kings Grant House in Virginia Beach, just 5 minutes from Julie, and 15 minutes from Betsy.  There are about 20 residents and lots of excellent caregivers.  We know that Momma will be safe there and well cared for;  and we're hoping for happy.

 

The reason I'm sharing this is to thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.  It was a difficult decision for daughters to make.  But I'm proud to say that we understand things now, that we never imagined we would ever need to know.  

 

But this we know:  Getting old isn't for sissies.  It is hard work to keep your body healthy, but worth the effort.  

                            Patience and kindness are virtues that we should all practice, cause someday we might need them.

                            Love is stronger than everything. 

 

When you love somebody so much, it's easy to work at making them happy, whatever it takes.  Sometimes it requires listening to the same stories over and over, sometimes it means answering the same question again and again.  Sometimes you have to sing, recite childhood poetry, or just sit and watch them sleep.  But we do it for love; she did it for us all those years ago.  Now it's our turn to show her how much we love her. 

 

I know that Momma is proud of us, even if she can't remember.  She did a good job raising us.      

 

 

THANKS FOR CARING!!!

 

We were walking up Clifford's hill today, and saw this.  According to Siri it's called needle ice.

 

It occurs when the ground is wet and the temperature drops below freezing. It looks like ice is growing up from the ground.  It's beautiful!!!

 

We learned something new today. We'd seen it before but didn't know what to call it.  Now we do:  needle ice.

 

I hope you see some in your hikes around the mountain.

 

HAPPY TUESDAY!!!

Thanks to a question from one of the neighbors I had to do some research to learn something. If we have a gate closed all the time how do the emergency services get in if they dont know the new code? Our gate system has a service called “SOS”  or Siren Operated Sensors. You can read more about how this works and what this is here: Www.sosgate.com

 

The next time you come in look on the keypad post and see this box..