Noiw for Something Completely Different........

I may go surf fishing tomorrow................enough said............

First day of Fall is Early this Year..........64 degrees....

64 degrees this morning.........had to break out a sweat shirt.........brrrr.........
Cool and breezy all day............brrrr...........
So cool that Zeus the "BAD" cat stole my chair in the outside office.........grrr....

Last year it did not cool off until 3rd week of October......grrr....
It might be a cold winter afterall..........grrr....
Better get cracking on ordering the fall plastic for Z shop and greenhouses........grrr....

One good thing about the cool weather is the warm and fuzzy feelings I get while listening to Mosaic Mom's latest writing adventures.........yeah....

Also, the lettuce is planted and 7 months of fresh salad is coming............yeah....
That does not even consider the magnificent crop of celery that is just around the corner........

Strawberry plants look good and the blackberry plants are awesome.........no problems there.....
and,
Soon it will be "Marigold Season"..........golden yeah there................

Jury Duty.............i.e. Hang em High.............

Spent 6 hours yesterday on jury duty..........

My day consisted of five 10 minute breaks...........
Three trips to bathroom...........
I was saved by my jeans and jacket (kept me form freezing), a nice stash of peanut butter/bacon sandwiches, carrot sticks, water and peanut/raisen mix.........all fixed by MosaicMom.........

During the day, forty people were chosen and left the stable.........15 minutes they came back to the stable..........nothing had happened.

After another 3.5 hours, my luck ran out and I got picked as one of 18 to go to court room.........
We got stopped on way.........had to stand for 30 more minutes.............they could not find the bailiff.....maybe he got bored and left......finally we were sent back to the jury stable and told that the defendent pleaded out.........we then got to go home at 2:30..............

Good thing because by then everyone in the stable was in a 'hang em high' mode...................

I could not possibly work in what appeared to be such an unorganized job..........
I guess the strategy now days is for the 'convict to be' to plead out at the last minute.......i.e. take five years now or face 18 irritable jurors who want to be somewhere else.......that would equate to 50 years minimum....

At least that way it saves us time in the long run...........Nice to be back at work today knowing that my civic duty is done for at least another year.....

Weekend Homework..........

Another plant patent finished and one more to go............it must be done this weekend........too hot to do anything else and it looks like the Z shop will be closed due to travel and hunting........

It has been a good week and I am hoping for more......within the next month all the details for the new hybrid release mechanism should be in place and "away we go".......to where - that is the question......anyway I am hopeful that this new system should work well.........

I bought wires and now am making new connections for the golf cart.....much cheaper and better....They are being soldered and sealed with shrink wrap.......I have always wanted to solder and it is actually working.....much fun and satisfaction.......I even filled the batteries with water......the cart is running in peak form now and "away we go"......where = anywhere we want now, and fast too..............must check the blackberries several times each day you know.....

"Weedle" While You Work..........

Heard a new word yesterday.....from my boss no less............

The word was wheedle and, sine I like new words, I had to stop the discussion and ask "what did you say?".....it was either that or go home and ask MosaicMom.......

He repeated the word wheedle - i.e. to cleverly manipulate.....

"Oh", I said and the conversation continued....

A few minutes later, he left and I got to thinking about my 2 new assignments I realized I was "wheedled"....grrr......

I ran home to MosaicMom and we studied the new word......There are other definitions but I will stop with the 'manipulate' one. We had some great laughs, she consoled me and life moved on......I thought the incident was over and done.

This morning at work one of my buddies came into the greenhouse and in the course of discussing research (of course) he used the work WHEEDLE.....I swear this is true......I bit the end of my cigar off and about flipped out......Once I regained my composure, I asked "what was that word?".....He said well I am from TEXAS (so is my boss by the way).......

I through him out of my greenhouse immediately.......I can only take getting weedled once a week.................curious? Go to the urbandictionary.com...............

What do they do for fun in Texas anyway.........................???????????????

Yes We really get Blackberries............

Below is a sample of our 2008 berry harvest......each container has 1.5 lbs of berries........that would cost $10.00 plus in the store down here.......not that they would be edible......
That was only part of one days picking..........plus we have increased our planting by 50% ...........my next goal.........GET A BIGGER FREEZER...........and pants.......
PS....I took the photo from MosaicMom.............

It's ALL About the BERRIES..................

I love blackberries - especially in cobbler when I can add all the berries I want........
It is awesome and so easy to make it is pathetic......

1. 1 cup butter (soft).
2. 1 cup sugar
3. 4 teaspoons baking powder
4. 1/2 teaspoon salt
5. 1 cup milk
6. 2 cups flour.

Combine sugar and butter, add salt and baking powder and stir. Add the milk and flour and mix with a large spoon.
Add the mix to the bottom of a 8 x 12 inch cake pan.

BERRIES: use at least 4 cups frozen (or fresh) berries mixed with 1 cup of sugar.....let set ahead of time so the berries get sweet.....

ADD the berries (and the juice) on TOP of the dough mix........Bake at 375 for at least 45 minutes to 1 hour...take out when brown and the dough does not stick to a knife inserted in it..............
..............................

Below is how our crops have developed since 2006.

Here is photo of our newest planting established July 2008. Greed got the best of us and we had to plant more.
Below is our first planting started in July 2006.

Below is how it looked in spring of 2008....note all the flowers........

Now below is the same row in September 2008.....The bushes are about 3-4 feet high and 6 feet across...No care....just water and fertilizer.........I must thank mosaic mom who has championed this growing method.........

I am ready to hit the kitchen again..........nothing beats a freezer full of happy blackberries.......except a happy stomach full of happy blackberry cobbler..........lots of fiber in them berries though................

A Happy Labor Day Weekend...........

Why.................?

Lawn is mowed and green..........
Golf cart is fixed and fine........
MosiacMom is now a true metal worker........
We have a Yamahaaaaaaaaaaaaa to backup the golf cart............
Big pump was out but got fixed by PD......
Blackberries growing like crazy......
Almost no roofs left on Z shop to worry about.....so let it blow........
Pool pump filter fixed by pool girl MM.....
Z shop getting a little cleaner..........
Sentra and truck had minor issues that are fixed........
Labor day over and surf fishing season begins......
New pole up and ready to receive bat house.....
Big weeds around Z shop oak trees cut down...........
Plants in greenhouse clipped and clean up..........
No hurricanes yet...........