Random stuff

I stepped into the back yard to scoop poop this week and realized something.  The cicadas are gone!!  I'm not sure exactly when I last heard them, but I think it's been awhile.  I'm glad their lifespan above ground is short and I'm also glad I won't have to listen to that again for another 13 years!

I'm getting excited about our pears.  Wait, let me back up for a minute...  My husband has always wanted to have pecan trees and fruit trees.  When we first moved to the country, he planted quite a few on a spot he cleared at the north end of our property (pre-pasture/livestock/pond days).  Despite meticulous care, they didn't make it.  I think the worst was when kids(?) on ATVs destroyed quite a few of them by running over them!  He tried again when we were big into the goat business.  Well, you can imagine what happened with that.  Just think goats, horns, and the need to butt things.  A few years ago he decided to give it one more try with three pear trees in our front yard.  Two of them have fruit this year!!  I'm hoping to at least get a pie or cobbler out of the deal if we can fend off the bugs, birds and whatever else might get in the way.

For this final item you might want to quit reading if you're the type who switches the channel when the lion starts chasing the antelope during the nature show.  My husband was working in our new "pool garden" (which deserves an entry of its own) and I was standing on the back steps calling for Alice and Mabel to come in while taking in the heavenly aroma of our gardenias that are blooming.  All of a sudden we heard a huge crashing noise and I saw something fall from a tree.  Immediately Suzy and MamaDog went tearing into the woods.  My husband asked "What was that??" and I told him I thought it looked like a squirrel fell out of the tree.  He looked a little skeptical and said that squirrels were very sure-footed creatures.  I said maybe the branch broke off when it jumped on it.  Before he could counter that, here came Suzy prancing out of the woods with a live squirrel in her mouth looking very pleased with herself.  I'll stop my story there.  Besides... I decided it was time to come back inside at that point. 

 

Favorite Five - Fruit

It's only natural to follow up my Favorite Five - Vegetables entry with one on fruit. I think it might be harder to approach fruits than vegetables since fruit flavors have a wider application. For example, my favorite flavor Life Saver Candy or Tootsie-Roll Pop is orange, but the fruit itself doesn't make my list. As with vegetables, there aren't too many fruits I don't like. I'm not particularly fond of blackberries and raspberries or papaya and mango. I love cantaloupe, but don't care much for honeydew. It's only been in recent years that I've acquired a taste for watermelon. Enough rambling. Here are my favorites:

1. Avocado - Just like the tomato, this is botanically a fruit but usually treated as a vegetable when cooking. Since I didn't include it with my vegetables, it gets top billing here. Love, love, love it!!

2. Olives - I had to "google" to see if olives were considered a fruit. I like them black, green, with the pits, without them, stuffed, any way I can get them!

3. Lemons - When I was growing up I often requested a lemon icebox pie for my birthday rather than a cake. And.... in my opinion, the best lemonade is made fresh, with very little sugar. The more sour, the better.

4. Strawberries - Arkansas grows some of the best strawberries around and I always look forward to them being in season. It's almost that time of year!

5. Apples - We eat apples at our house several times a week. My favorite way to serve them is diced with a sliced banana then topped with a dollop of yogurt and a sprinkling of walnuts. I usually buy Gala apples, but for eating out of hand, nothing beats a tart Granny Smith.