Monday, June 29, 2009

The Trials and Tribulations of Getting What I Want


Isn't this some shit. This morning I was welcomed by a delicious paycheck and a phone call to a collection agency allowing me to settle my debt by September. Its an appropriate time to start looking for the apartment to be and looking at all of Nigella Lawson's delicious kitchen goodness for this said apartment. My head was full of the young, naive, amazement and wonder at all things 'possible' in my near future.
Cue the unexpected phone call from my vet telling me that the final results came in for Cee Cee and that she does indeed have Adrenal Gland Disease. The surgery is going to be ridiculously expensensive and she will need hormone shots every 3 months that cost $87 each for the rest of her life. This is IF she survives the surgery. Turns out that there is a definite risk in removing the over acting gland because it is wrapped around a very important blood vessel. One knick and shes gone. :(
My heart is broken. My wallet is broken. All illusions of grandeur are now recog
nized as such and who knows when I will even have the money to even BEGIN saving for the apartment. If all works out I will have another bill every 3 months for that damn shot that yeah- she will need for. the. rest. of. her. life.

Now, I have too much love in my skinny cuban body for animals and so if it means not moving out right away, then sucks. I will just have to deal with it. I will continue to dream about my future kitchen- filled with Jamie Oliver recipes and Nigella Lawson measuring cups and spoons and bowls and plates... I feel so down and out right now. My head is killing me.



Thursday, June 25, 2009

Shrimp Dinners and Rhubarb Nightmares


Last night I was inspired by SeaSaltwithFood as usual and decided to make my take on this delicious garlic/ginger shrimp with broccoli dish for dinner. I especially wanted to do it because Jon has been fighting a cold all week and I wanted to give his belly the super good vitamins and nutrients that broccoli, ginger, and sure, shrimp had to offer. We're talking flavonoids, carotenoids, vitamin C, folate, and potassium (that help prevent heart disease), Vitamin A, Vitamin D, Selenium ( a powerful antioxidant that has been linked to a lower risk of certain cancers), and yea- B12 also. So you can imagine how delicious and good I felt about serving my fat man this delectible meal. Plus- both of us had leftovers for work today. :)

It was really easy to make. Check out seasaltwithfood for this recipe and more easy and scrumptios

ones.

On another note: Today I am saddened by the mission that is eating Rhubarb. I have read about how delicious this fruity vegetable is, and you best believe me that Jamie Oliver has a whole butt-load of amazingly simple recipes for this delectable delight. Its usually paired with strawberries (which makes me very happy). I always thought- hey- even though I have never seen it in my local grocery store, Im sure that I can just grow the damn thing for myself.
WRONG!
Rhubarb takes an average temp of 40 degrees to live and prosper! :(
Not even the inside of my house is that cold!
Upon further research, I found that I just CANNOT be grown in florida (especially miami) NO MATTER WHAT, so get that damn idea outta your head pooka!!

I then proceeded to try and locate dealers on the inter web that would sell frozen rhubarb and I gotta say.. it all looked shady to me.
Im sure I can find somewhere to get it online.... Im just worried about the flavor that it will have when it arrives :(
Its going to have to be frozen, and what if its just some dude who harvested it whenever and had it sitting in his freezer forever? Ahhh Rhubarb... you are a creul, creul delight. :(

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Pictures from Becky

Today the red coneflower finally bloomed! Becky (my little sister) send me some pictures of it! So pretty! I cant wait to see the garden tomorrow to see all of this in person :)



New Shoes!


Just got these shoes at Target. I must say, I am quite impressed with their wide array of slip ons this summer. Im also very happy about this because that means I can wear them to work! Yay!

Ok, I have to admit something this morning... I have to get it off my chest..........
I am fighting the urge to buy more LIVE plants off of Ebay. Primarily vegetable plants. I dont know what it is, but I seem to just have the itch this morning... even though I just cannot spend anymore money!!! I bought two pairs of shoes this morning = $40. :(

Im supposed to be saving up for my apartment- WHAT HAS GOTTEN INTO ME?!?
I was told this morning by a co worker that I have a problem. Nope- I refuse. I can very much restrain myself.... O_O Maybe.


I had a dream last night that Jamie Oliver got into an arguement with me about tattoos and got very upset, and left me! For the rest of the dream I kept looking for him but alas, he was gone... forever. :( My heart broke! I think I shall peruse JamieOliver.com this afternoon to get myself back in order.




..... I do however have one pepper plant that has died... And so, I could most definitely plant something in its place.... maybe another pepper variety? Maybe some more tomatoes?! WHAT SHOULD I PLANT?! There are just so many options.... Look at those babies I just found on Ebay! Under $20 with shipping and I would get FOUR live plants.. Man oh Man.. I think Im going to call Gaby before I do something I will regret.

Hope your day goes well, whoever you are.. reading this. :)

Monday, June 22, 2009

Setting up a Flickr Account


prettyflowersetup
Originally uploaded by pookajessie
Hey guys, just set up my flickr page.. just uploaded some pics from the garden- Hope to update it often. Well, just as often as I update this blog I suppose. That image there to the right was taken this morning- and its a little something I threw together yesterday :)

Bottom right is my red coneflower plant, mint to the middle left, and that big ol barrel on top has three more echinacea plants as well as some morning glories planted in the back there. Cant wait to see them climb all over the old chair there.

This guy over yonder is my zucchini plant! My only one left! I had another one that was doing well, but as soon as its first blossom came out, something ate it all up in a days notice! What could eat so fast?!

I planted more on sunday... two more to be exact.... We will see what happens...


Check out its lovely blossoms to be! There are so many of them clustered together! The plant is just so healthy that I hope it stays this way forever! (I hope I dont jinx it.. :F)

Holy crap! I almost forgot... I planted some Cucumber seeds as well.... I just had them lying around and I just kinda got crazy with it. I hope they do well- Ive never grown them before. If I could take back time, I would grow Mexican Sour Gherkins! I just recently found out about them and was ALMOST tempted to order them as well. (I held back, alright!) So im
growing some regular ass cucumbers- I think theyre english cucumbers. Seeds are softer and less frequent in this variety. I will leave you with one more picture........

My Hydrangea!! Look at them buuuddss giirrrlll~

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Sunflower Seeds





Just purchased some sunflower seeds from Seed Savers! I know, i know- there was supposed to be no more purchasing of any kind of seed..... Sunflowers are just so damn easy to grow and look at these varieties! Also, two out of the three I bought are Organic! I know it doesnt really make much difference but I like knowing that they are Au Natural. :) I cant wait to attract all sorts of attention (animal, insect, or otherwise) by planting these lovelies all over my property!!! :D


GABY: I must share the wealth! I will probably start them all in newspaper pots and then I will leave them at your doorstep like I did the zucchini... buhwhahaa




PS: Where them Four O' Clocks be at? You've got me all curious about the smell....

Check out this cool Etsy seller

Her name is acrylicana and she makes cool rings, necklaces, hair pins and such out of cool plastic cut outs of just the cutest shit ever. I received six rings from her this morning (shes having a Buy 2 Get 1 Free sale!!) and I am very pleased. She sells her rings at $5 a pop and everything else is pretty nicely priced.

Check out her Etsy Shop HERE.



Browsing all of the Etsy stores makes me want to start making my lip glosses again... O_O
Only problem is that its very tedious and time consuming to make large batches and we all know how little time I actually have for my hobbies. :(

Thursday, June 18, 2009

HAH!

Bye bye, Baby Bye Bye


CHECK IT! Those be some shallots and garlic and baby scallion seedlings thrown in there with my hydrangea. The hydrangea btw is forming buds! FLOWERS, FLOWERS, FLOWERS! O_O Gorgeous, huge, bright, hydrangea blooms. Im so excited, you have no idea. It seems that everything in my garden is green. Dont get me wrong- greens my favorite color- but man, I need some flowers. Some color, some pop! Im really curious to see how those shallots are going to turn out... there were two of them... I just sort of threw them in there, lets see what nature has in store for me.

----Caterpillar News---- My mother, in a cuban panic, threw all of the caterpillars away. D:
She called me immediately afterwards, in a hysteria that these huge worms were eating all of my tomato plants! Duh, mom- I keep a close eye on everything back there.... Now I just feel guilty that those little babies are in the garbage! :( Oh well, next time I will post up a huge note on the fridge.

MOM: CATERPILLARS ON PLANTS ARE NEEDED. PLEASE DO NOT DESTROY.

.... I will leave you with this.... HYYDDRRAANNGGEEAAAAAAAAAAA :D



:)

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Photos Courtesy of Becky



Check these guys out! These are only SOME of my seedling army. The ones on the top right are morning glories... beautiful vine but they grow like crazy! Look how much bigger they are than anything else in there.

This morning I awoke to some caterpillars eating my tomato leaves! They look super freaky with huge thorns sticking out of their asses. I didnt think caterpillars really even liked tomato plants, but I guess I was wrong.

-----BREAKING NEWS------

In the middle of this post I started to google different types of caterpillars and found that they creatures on my plants look to be Eyed Hawk-moth babies! Ok so im not so scared anymore. I will allow them to feast because they are growing lads and ladies and they need their nutrition. My plants are pretty big so I think they can withstand some leaf damage.

Also: can anyone tell me what im growing in this one--->
The really tall fellows....I seem to have forgotten what I planted there. PS: The three black containers on the top are growing my farmers market lettuce blend! Baby romaines pretty much....

Well, thats all. Just wanted to do a garden update. :)

Monday, June 15, 2009

Sunday Rant


Havent had such a disappointing sunday in a long time. Having only one day off a week really makes me appreciate it- and I can do almost anything at all (even real boring stuff) and enjoy it.

The whole beginning half of the day was fucking great. A god damn dream. I had my Jon all to myself for the majority of the day and we awoke in each others arms (I know you like that) and headed over to the falls where w
e hung out and laughed with friends who work in a couple of the stores there. We went to Teavana and bought some delicious teas, sampled a whole bunch, and had a great time. A thunder storm ensued, which really scared me because it felt and sounded like the lightning as right on top of us (scary!!) but alas, I had my muscle man to keep me safe, and even though we got so soaked- it was so much fun having this adventure of running to the car, yelling at each other , and drying ourselves with the heater. We changed when we got home and ate some food and pretty much just hung out until he had to go to work. I was so happy.

On the way home I find that little kitten roaming the street (and I do mean STREET) two blocks from my house. I was so caught off gaurd by it that my instinct was to slam on my breaks, get out of my car, and try to see if there was a mama cat around. Nothing. Searched for meows in the bushes- brothers and sisters- nothing. This was literally a gorgeous baby cat, roaming the streets, ALONE.
Now, if you know me at all- You KNOW that I cant just leave this poor, defenseless kitten in the street. (What a fucking curse upon my life) So I take it hope, my stepfather gets all upset, starts to swear and yell, and tells me that I have to get rid "of the fucking thing" right now. I drive to my grandmothers house thinking that surely she can save this animal, but ultimately cannot take care o
f it. I call all of my friends and no one wants the cat (of course). I drive back to the original location, knock on houses, no one wants him. Knock on the door of a neighbor of mine who has 11 cats and OF COURSE cannot take care of ANOTHER cat. He starts to tell me that caring for an animal is the best thing one can do- Im fighting tears at this point. I aborted the convo and got back in my car.
The only option is now going back to my house. Holy fuck. You have no idea what kind of Cuban, hard headed, close minded, yelling bullshit is about to ensue thanks to my ignorant as fuck, dumb as fuck, step father.


Let me clarify something here- I am not upset because my father didnt want ANOTHER animal in the house. I get that part. My problem is that I have exhausted all other options and at this point I feel like im stuck between a rock and hard place. Id rather die then have this man make me throw this kitten out in the street.


He cannot give me one god damned reason why we cant keep the fucking animal. At least for a little bit so I have time to find a home. So i have time to go to petsmart- or call shelters- or even sit in front of publix offering him for free to strangers. All he can do is yell and scream and curse and make everyone feel like SHIT. Thats what hes great at and honestly, probably the ONLY thing hes really good at to tell you the truth. At one point he went right up to my little sister and tried ripping the cat from her arms to throw it outside. What kind of man are you?

If money for the food is the issue, I have no problem paying for it. If we were to keep it, it would be an outside cat, and we have plenty of room outside. But he wont hear any of this, (of course). Theres no talking to this man, no conversations that can be had that dont quickly sky rocket to screaming and crying.

I hate him.

Not for this, but for so much. For years- all the things hes done. The drinking, making my mother cry- not being a real man or a father or a husband for that matter. I feel like im getting realy close now to finally getting to the breaking point and doing some real drastic shit.
All I gotta say is, God help me.


Saturday, June 13, 2009

C'mon KIM@!


Don't know exactly I am posting up this picture, but I found it on my laptop- its Steve and I.
Steve works at our other shop location. He is a tattoo artist. Fun times.

Jon goes in to work tomorrow at 7pm for inventory... and while this must be incredibly annoying for him (hes working until 3 am) I am loving it because it means that I get to spend the day with him! Yay! Gardening projects may be put on hold until next sunday due to the extravaganza that will ensue.

They opened up a Teavana near me and that makes me eternally happy. I absolutely LOVE tea and its about damn time more youngsters start drinking the stuff! There are so many health benefits, and the flavour combinations are fucking great. Wait a minute... did I just spell FLAVOUR instead of FLAVOR?! God damn jamie oliver! Youre english ways are seeping into my subconcious brain!!

Here ya go. Another random ass picture I found on my laptop. It is Jon and I sitting at a fancy shmancy restaurant giving the camera awkward smiles. Thank you Jon parents. Due to your love for food- I have filled my belly many times with delectable treats that I would of otherwise never been introduced to.


....


Yes. This post really has no subject or purpose. I am just so fucking bored and felt the need to blog. Yes. I sound- hip and pretencious. However, I dont have any life changing messages or ideas. :P

Thursday, June 11, 2009

You can go your own way


Holy Moly Guacamole! My very FIRST HSN purchase. The Jamie Oliver Survival cooking set! It pretty much brings every pot you could need (including a wok) with tops and all in one small little set! Its made from T-Fal so they have red circles on the bottom of the pan to let you know what temp the pan is at. Awesome! All for two easy payments of $60. Hey- its do-able. Its especially made from my lover- for people with small kitchens, or to cook in small spaces (begin fantasy of jamie cooking in the garden, now.) so its just going to be perfect for my new apartment! Dont think ive lost sight of it!

Its been sort of slow at the shop for me the last couple of weeks so I feel really guilty about buying it... All i can do is think of Cee Cee girl and wonder if by next week I will have enough $$ for her lab tests. :(

Selfish selfish selfish!


...


BUT LOOK AT IIITTTTTTT.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Just got home from work- Ah! Tattooing all day long! I love it. It can be tiring- especially if you have to sit in awkward positions for prolonged periods of time just to get a straight line, but hey- its worth it!
To the left- you will see a little nugget that I discovered last night in the fridge... it was a delicious shallot that I had purchased a couple of weeks ago and forgot about. I got so excited to see this little green sprout shoot out of the top of it because it made me was to immediately stick it in the ground somewhere! I wrapped it in a napkin and have been hording it in Jon's room since then. Tomorrow I will take it to my house and plant it somewhere! Yay! Delicious shallots forever!!!


My garlic plants seem to be doing very... umm.. well- theyre really not doing much of anything it seems. They grew quickly at first, but they just seem to be sitting there without re
ally developing big strong, green tops. Are they a cold weather crop? They might also not have sufficient space to grow down below because of the weird soil conditions I stuck em in. It was more of an experiment I think: to see if they'd actually do something.

My zucchini is doing pretty ok- but I think the soil isnt nutrient rich enough for the young growing stud muffins. Im going to really try and go purchase some really good organic soil tomorrow for them and other young men in the garden.

... is that weird? Hahha They are little growing men. Ever feel like some plants are female, while others are male? Its weird, I know.

I am going to try and take some gardening pics tomorrow to post up here. I really want to have this blog be really photo heavy with lots of good stuff. Ah- time for the you grow girl forums, YAY!

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Seedy Addiction


Have you ever noticed how incredibly addicting seed purchasing can be? Your mind becomes filled with all of these thoughts of possible flowers and veggies and fruits that you could grow- that you could enjoy- that would just be: AWESOME.
So I spent the majority of a $25 giftcard that my sister in law got me on amazon.com buying seeds. I had just recently bought a whole lot of them and told myself- No More! Yeah right.
This time I purchased some lettuce, thai chili peppers, and a whole heap of pretty flowing plants (Coreopsis, cosmos, pansies...) Gotta brighten up the house a bit, I think.


This is also great because by the time I move out later in the year- I will have a whole bunch of big healthy plants to take with me to my new apartment! Plus, gardening with the mom and sis isnt too bad either. :P


Quickly- let me just add how amazing that Jamie at Home book is. I feel like its straight from an old british womans home- great photographs inside- gardening tips- and awesome recipes. Easy stuff, but delicious stuff-- which is always the BEST stuff.