The Unlikely "Lemonade"

   It is not a hidden fact that I will give just about anything a try.  If you tell me something is edible, I am game.  There are a few things where I draw the line since I am a pescatarian but if it is within my diet range, I will give it a go.  I have no qualms about eating what others deem to be weeds or flowers.  As long as it is not going to kill me, it can be on the menu.

  Here lately, I have been experimenting with concoctions that are supposedly health friendly.  Since my heath took a sharp turn to the "not so healthy" side and doctors cannot find what is ailing me, I decided to take matters in my own hands.  Weirdly, I feel better than I have in months.  My "foraging" in the Small Gardens and perimeter woods has led to some highly unlikely snacks and drinks.

  For the past few weeks, I have discovered the wonders of crepe myrtle and hibiscus flowers.  Both flowers are antivirals and, well, since Mark brought home a nice case of COVID, I decided I could use all the help I could get.  Not sure if it had anything to do with it but, as of this writing, I am still virus free...hopefully, will stay that way.  The other benefit is that I have noticed my arthritis seems to be not nearly as severe.  Perhaps it is helping?  A decoction made from the two flowers and a cinnamon stick then added to homemade lemonade made for a delightful drink.

  While all of this may be just a happy coincident or maybe it is "all in my head" (yes, I have been told that) but if wandering around a garden and picking flowers to eat (or drink) helps, then so be it.  I am good.  I think I will continue with my daily drink for as long as I have the flowers!  Does it work?  Who knows?  

Just Fine

   I was wandering about the yard this morning because, well, I did not feel like doing anything else.  It was one of those days that chores seemed to be far too much effort so I went choreless and wandered.  Sometimes wandering is a good thing.  It does not mean you are lost but rather that you just have nowhere else to go at the moment.  So...I wandered.  As I wandered, I breathed in the goodness that only the Bayou can share.  I needed that refreshing air to help clear the mind.

  Wandering also gives one time to ponder things.  This is where my mind goes at times when it wanders!  As I passed through the Small Gardens, many plants caught my eye.  Ahh, the gloriosa lilies, the deutzia bush, the spirea, the fig trees...all from Pop's gardens from so long ago.  Then the hot pink crepe myrtle blooms stood out against the green, leafy background...again, from Pop.  This all got me to pondering.  Why?  Why do I seem to follow just about everything Pop did in gardening?  It looks like with all the newfangled things on the market, I would simply give up the old ways.  Plant new things! Get new tools!  Use new methods!  Nope...I follow what Pop taught me.  Why not?  It seems to be working just fine.  Yep, just fine, indeed.

Hornets, Whales and Bonsai Crepe Myrtles!

   It seems that 2020 has been a topsy-turvy sort of year and we are not finished with it yet.  What else is to come?   Any day now, I half expect to see Godzilla come sloshing up out of the Bayou.  Trust me...that would be no surprise after what this year has thrown at us.  In fact, I was reading a few oddities that have occurred and I am still astounded.  Have you heard about the whale in the rain forest?  Come now.  Does that seem normal?  Viruses, hornets...bah!  But a whale in the rain forest?  Seriously?  Yep, seriously.  It was all over the news about the dreaded Murder Hornets but I am more concerned about that whale!

  Now my oddity is nothing compared to the earth-shaking things the media is trying to shove down our throats but, when you have been confined to the Small Gardens for more than a month, things are exciting.  My garden "claim to fame" is...wait for it...a crepe myrtle tree!  Yay!!!  Oooh!  Ahhh!  Ok, enough of that.  But, indeed, I was totally engrossed by such a tree this morning and spent a good ten minutes weeding around it.  You see, I have never seen a baby crepe myrtle tree bloom!  Yep, THAT is something that should be news worthy!  "Breaking news!  Climate changes have started creating miniature versions of trees that are blooming all across the South!  We are thinking these trees are harbingers of bad times to come as the trees will spread like wildfire!  They will kill off all food supplies and, worse yet, will steal toilet tissue causing massive shortages!"  Sound about right?  Yeah, well, this is exactly why I do not have a TV in the house.  

  But I do have four inch tall crepe myrtle trees blooming in the front yard.They are like cute, little wild bonsai trees!   Obviously, I neglected to cut back the spent blooms of the large trees last year and the seeds were viable.  Tiny crepe myrtle trees are everywhere and all are blooming!  They are so adorable! 

  Well, that is my all important news flash for today.  Other than that, all is quiet on the Bayou.  We are at peace here.  I do, however, have so many questions about that whale.  Why?  How?  What on earth was it thinking to go there?? What was it seeking?  Did a bird drop it?  If so, I want to see that bird!  Which opens another can of worms!  

It's Charming!

  As you can probably tell by now, I am not one that obsesses over perfection.  Things do not have to meet others' standards to be ok by me.  If I have a stack of books on the coffee table, no problem.  If the chairs in the living room do not match, why worry?  If there are waning blooms on a bush, so be it.  There are far too many other things to deal with for me to get my shorts in a wad fretting over things that truly do not matter.  In fact, it was those waning blooms on the crepe myrtle bush that actually brought a smile, this morning.  I am glad I have not trimmed them.  

  You have heard me mention Pop and his impeccable gardens.  The man worked hard to keep things neat as a pin.  You would have thought that some of that would have rubbed off on me but, while I find happiness in the gardens, mine are quite unkempt by his standards.  I leave the morning glories grow where they sprout, the jasmine has wandered far too rampantly and those crepe myrtles. oh, those crepe myrtles.  (And, yes, I do know the proper spelling is "crape myrtle" not "crepe myrtle".  It is a Southern thing, folks.  We figure those crinkly blooms look far too much like the "crepe" paper for the flower to be called anything else. Get used to it.)  The crepe myrtles just keep blooming even though they are down to spindly clusters now.  It matters not.  They are still providing color to the gardens.  I shall let them bloom.

  The crepe myrtle bushes that I have are all from cuttings from the old farm place.  Pop had a row across the front of the property along the roadside.  There were probably twenty or more of the bushes all in a straight row about ten feet from the road edge.  Each year, he would prune those bushes until they were beautifully rounded little trees and then the tops would burst open in a blaze of color.  Most were of a vivid pink but there was one...one lone purplish one that grew at the very end of the row and looked sort of like a misfit in the bunch.  (Sort of like me...the misfit of the bunch.)  Today's scraggly blooms were of the purplish hue and it stood out like a sore thumb.  Why?  Well, for some odd reason, I have only one purple blooming crepe myrtle.  All the rest are that hot pink.  I did not plan this nor did I plan on my purple crepe myrtle being on the very end of a row of nine bushes that edge the garden.  It just happened.  Obviously, when I took the cuttings only one purple slip took.  Then, since the shrubs were tiny when I planted them, there was no deciphering what the colors would be when the bush finally bloomed.  Like I said, it just happened.  That unique purple bloomer would drive some folks nuts!  I find it charming.  In fact, I guess that is pretty much the way I look at things...charming.  The stack of books, the odd chairs, the scraggly blooms...they are all charming and make me smile.  That is all that matters. 

A New Lesson

  It is sort of a southern thing to have crepe myrtles planted in your yard.  Most of the locals have at least one tree but there are those who have dozens.  Pop did.  All across the front lawn was a row of crepe myrtle trees lining the road.  He took remarkable care of all of his plants but his crepe myrtles were a thing of pride with him.  Each summer along about July, the entire row was a solid mass of blooms.  When planting the trees, he alternated the hot pink with a purple.  He would trim the trees each winter and by blooming time they were about 15 feet tall and thick with branches.  Each of those new limbs was loaded with the foot long clusters of crinkly flowers.  It was a sight to behold!  But...all of Pop's yard was.  I try but mine will never compare with his.

  However, the crepe myrtles are blooming!  I have about ten small trees all started from cuttings from Pop's.  While these do not do justice to their parent plants, the beauty is there.  As a tyke, the blooms reminded me of our favorite "bought" summertime treat...the snowball!  For those who are not familiar with a snowball, it is finely shaved ice flavored with sickly sweet syrups that come in a variety of flavors.  In early summer, snowball stands would pop up all over town and always had a long line of folks waiting for their turn to purchase the treats.  It was a family outing to "Go get a snowball!" Not only was eating the snowball tasty, the fun lasted for hours as we all could make fun of the syrup stained teeth and lips of our siblings.  I was smart.  I always got peach...it did not stain as much as say, blueberry. But now I have gotten off track of the crepe myrtle and I have found an interesting note about the tree.

  While sorting some items on the shelf, I came across an old farm manual.  As I flipped through the pages, I was stunned to find that many parts of the crepe myrtle tree were used in home remedies. Everything from fevers to cuts could be treated with parts of the tree.  I had never known this even though I am sure Pop was familiar with the uses.  Back in the day, there was no running to the corner drugs store or grocery store or department store on a daily basis.  Sometimes, it would be as long as a month or even six months before a "trip to town" was made.  (Not with Pop and his brothers as they had to deliver milk, vegetables and eggs to folks in town.  Their almost daily treks in the old farm wagon put them in the midst of town.)  But, using home remedies was far more prevalent then than now.  It was a matter of survival.  Folks knew what worked and how to use it.  They also knew what was toxic.  Not too many folks are aware that a lot of plants in their yards can be healing or can be deadly.  It may be a wise thing to read up on what is growing out there!  I am sure glad that my grandparents and parents taught me....but why omit the crepe myrtle from my training?  Perhaps, they did not.  Perhaps that was one of the days that I was a dawdling kid without a strong attention span. Ha!  But now I know!  And it is time for me to start studying up on the crepe myrtle!