Tomatoes, Peppers, Edamame Oh My!

Posted on June 18, 2014 by sghamer

Hey Readers!

Alomost ready to pick!

I am happy to say that the garden at Hotel Yorba is coming along. I am very pleased with how things are growing. The only issue I am having thus far is that something is eating all the leaves on my okra plants. What would do that? I have been able to pull up some carrots that I have used in my morning juices. One thing I am excited about it my Edamame! How cool is it that I am growing it! Very cool. I love the little pods. It has taken to my not so great soil really well.

Edamame

I have spotted one cucumber growing but there are a lot of blooms. The cucumber/squash have done a good job of attaching itself to the trellis. I hope keeping the veggies off of the ground will help them grow larger.

I am not sure if I mentioned but when I bought my green peppers, I accidentally bought a jalapeño pepper by mistake. Now, I don’t like hot things. Pepper, at times, can be too much for me! But My Man is looks spicy, hot things and it very excited about the mistake I made. He will be happy to know that his pepper plant already has a peppers growing on it.

HoT! HoT!

One of the lemons on our lemon tree

Yesterday evening I was looking at chicken coops on Pinterest (I do this all the time) and came across one picture that inspired me to decorate The Majestic some more. I have old photo’s (me and my big brother taken by my dad) and artwork that has been sitting for years in my garage gathering dust and I thought what the heck! The Girls deserve some art in their lives and it will make the coop look nice. So I went to the garage, grabbed the artwork, a hammer, some nails and a step stool and went to work. I think it turned out nice. What do you think?

The Majestic

I also found this old shell mirror that use to hang in my grandparents bathroom. I loved that mirror and thought it would make a good addition to the coop. I think my Honey might have made it, so it is very old. Some of the shells have come off so I am going to glue them back on with the help of a glue gun, clean it up and hang it up over the coop door. Maybe the girls will see their reflection and be like “Wow, you’re a good-looking chick!”.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow I will be going in for my first regular dose of chemo. Round One. I will get my port accessed, have a EKG (not a big deal) and then at 1:30pm get hooked up and the chemo will start flowing. My very good friend, Rebecca, will be making the trip with me. That is making my parents very happy (me too! :)). They are out west on a trip and can’t be here. I told her that I am going to have her take pictures of everything so I can share it with you guys. She is also brining her lunch. It’s like a field trip! I am not nervous, just ready for it to start, work and shrink LT. LT is ready too.

Readers, are you growing a garden this summer? Whatcha growing? Having issues?

Austin, Texas

Posted on May 18, 2014 by sghamer

I am back Reader’s!

My trip to Austin, Texas was wonderful! What a wonderful city and a WONDERFUL group of strong, independent, fun ladies I got to hang out with for three days.

Rock Texas

We stayed at the downtown W in Austin. It was a very nice hotel and almost everyone there was super nice. I had a room with two double beds that was pretty big and the bathroom was great too. We spent Friday afternoon out by the pool where we did a lot of shop talk, had some food, drinks and big laughs.

Very windy out!

Fancy but COLD!

On Thursday night we had drinks and food at the W’s outside lounge area. Once again, great Shop Talk, getting to know each other and laughs were had. We then walked to the a bridge at dusk to se THOUSANDS of bats wake up and fly out to start their day. It was amazing!

Me and Willy!

My new BFF!

Waiting for the bats.

Bats! -Not taken by me.

Our hotel was right next door to where they host Austin City Limits and record the show. My man and I hope to see a show there one day.

I was able to find a place to get my daily juice/smoothie. It was right by the hotel and is called the Daily Juice. They had so many fruits and veggies in that place! I had a really hard time choosing. The first day I went totally green and bought one that had kale, cucumber, parsley and celery to name few veggies.

Super Green!

On Friday morning I went for a smoothie that had blueberries, strawberries and peanut butter among other yummy things. It was really good. I hadn’t thought to add peanut butter to a fruit/veggie smoothie before.

Yummy Good!

We ate at some great restaurants for lunch and dinner. At dinner we had two different signature cocktails made for us. Both were very good.

The food was soo good. Judi (head gal) did a wonderful job picking the restaurants (with the help of her hubby Theo) and the tasting menus.

Our class field trip was to the Zilker Botanic Gardens where we had a guided tour. It was a beautiful garden and they even had fairy houses!

Overall it was a wonderful trip that I feel lucky to have gone on. I learned a lot, saw some cool things, ate some yummy food and most importantly met some great ladies!!

It was a lovely weekend…

Posted on April 28, 2014 by sghamer

Reader’s!

How was your weekend? Mine was pretty good. The weather was so nice. On Saturday I went to Lowes and got some tomato plants, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, okra and peppers to plant in the garden.

Okra and Bell Peppers

Cucumber and squash

Tomato plants

Yes, I have three different tomato “cages” that I am using. I have been collecting them over the past few years. I just got the ones with the bamboo sticks. This summer I will see which ones work out best.

I also cleaned out the nesting boxes in the coop. I got rid of all the used hay, sprayed them down with water and then let them dry in the sun. Then I let Zazzles and Terrance Peterson out into the main run. The meeting of the young hens and older hen’s went ok. Poppy and Turbo pecked at them a little bit. They were mainly interested in eating and drinking Zazzles and Terrance Peterson’s food and water. Today Aidan and I once again let them out again and I was able to hold Zazzles and Terrance Peterson for a bit. They are so cute! I then put them both on the highest roosting bar to try out.

Zazzles!

Such a cutie.

Zazzles roosting for the first time!

Terry Pete!

Hi!

They did great! They stayed up there for about 10 minutes or so. Then they both flew off and landed on Poppy and Turbo. They didn’t like that too much. I plan on letting them mix together over the next few days. Hopefully by this weekend they will have gotten use to each other and will be ready to live together.

On Sunday we spent the day with friends and had a wonderful time and dinner. Although I have a lot on my mind, I had a wonderful weekend. I have a wonderful family and wonderful friends. I want to thank you all for your prayers and good vibes. They really mean a lot to me and my family.

Today I filled out an application for co-pay assistance for my medication. The pills cost around $8,500.00 a month. My deductible is around $1,500.00. The special pharmacy suggested we fill out the application so we did. After My Man and I talked about it we decided that if we do get the assistance, we would donate the money we saved to the Winship Cancer Institute. There are a lot of people out there who need co-pay assistance more than we do, so it is the least we can do. Drugs can be $$$!

Succulents…I like saying that word.

Posted on August 19, 2013 by sghamer

Good Day Y’all!

I hope you had a wonderful Sunday. I did. I went out and about to Lowe’s, TJ’s and Peri 1. First stop was Lowe’s. A few months ago my friend Chad made me a planter with some succulents in it as a gift. He makes the planter in his wood shop and then I his mom adds the succulents. I saw one when we went to dinner one night at his and Kristin’s home and told him how much I loved it and how it reminds me of my Honey (grandmother); she always had succulents. Well, I loved the one he gave and guess what? So did Panny!!! I think she ate one of the plants and then one died. I wanted to replace the missing plants, so I got two plants and did my best to replant them in the planter. I was VERY messy but it rained and cleaned up my mess.

Planter By Chad Elley

I also got some baby mums to plant in a planter, a bag of daffodil bulbs, a lamp shade that turns out not to fit the base we have and a few other things.

Mums!

I then went to Peir 1 to order a cushion. It had been out of stock on the website but they were able to get it for me. Woot! Then is was off to Trader Joe’s to get some food. When I got home I ate lunch and took a nice long rest. I needed it!

After my workout on Saturday went so well, I realized I needed to get back to doing my yoga. I am planning on going to a class on Wednesday at noon. It is a Yin/Restorative Yoga class at the club. Yin/Restorative Yoga is a deep tissue stretching form of yoga. You hold the poses for a long time but the are mainly poses where you are sitting down or on your back. Great class for beginners. I have taken it a few times and loved it. Last night I did some of Vinyasa and Yin/Restorative Yoga. I practiced for about 35 minutes and it felt good. This morning I did a short practice but was pretty tired and sore from Saturday’s workout and last nights yoga. While I was finishing up, laying on my carpet floor, I thought about our side room. It had my exercise bike in it but has really been a place we put crap in and then shut the doors! I decided to make it my yoga room!

I moved all the crap into another room where I can shut the door! Are you wondering about the sub-flooring? It is that way in our closet too. A few years after we moved in our cats Tommy and Simon had a pee fight. They peed in our closets, they peed in the side room. Pee! Pee! Pee! So much so, we ripped the carpet out. That stopped it but that was like six years ago! I kid you not. However now I am happy! It is perfect for my yoga mat. I should pop up the tacking that runs the perimeter of the room…maybe.

Shout Outs!

Angie H. & Dora M.- Thank you ladies! I love my goody box! You two are soooo sweet!

Sara Attali Design- I don’t know this woman. I have never met her or spoken to her. In fact, I send her money and she sends me things. But the things she sends me! So lovely! If you are looking or know someone who is looking for a head covering, check her website on Esty out!

New scarf from Sara Attali Design

Readers!!! I need your help. I would love to get my average daily views up to 150. Right now I am around 110 and have been as high as over 400. How can you help? If you come via Facebook, share the link with your friends. Retweet if you are on Twitter. You can subscribe too! I really want to share My Hotel Yorba with everyone. Hopefully they will enjoy it! Now get out there and rock your day!

Pool and Birthday updates…

Posted on May 11, 2013 by sghamer

Happy Saturday!

I hope you are all having a great morning. We here at Hotel Yorba are having a great day so far. We got some good news on Wednesday afternoon. Bob, our pool guy, called and told us that they were going to be able to do the pebble-tec on Thursday and Friday. They got here at 7:30am on Thursday and were done before noon on Friday. It looks great!!

My Man and I are very happy with it. Can I tell you how excited I am that we are now filling the pool with water? Can I tell you how I am not excited to get the water bill? We started filling the pool on Friday afternoon and it is still going! I think it will take till Sunday to finish the filling the pool and then we have to fill the jacuzzi. Like I said, not looking forward to the water bill.

So my big birthday is on Monday. I will be turning the big 40!! Woot! Woot! My Man gave me my gift early on Friday night. Isn’t it pretty?! Love it! It is all shiny and it sparkles. I am such a girl.

This morning we woke up early and went downtown for breakfast. We had to get to the jewelry store, Worthmore Jewelry, where My Man got the watch, so they could take some links out. While we were there, we had our rings cleaned and I gave them my older Tag to get serviced and cleaned.

While out and about, we found a bakery and bought some challah bread so that My Man and The Boy can make me french toast tomorrow morning! We also bought a loaf of olive bread. I can’t wait to dig into that! The boy also got two cookies and ate them…it was 9:45am!

Tonight my boys are taking me out to The Optimist for my birthday dinner. I will make sure to take some pictures and post them. It now 11:30am and I am going to go check on the water level of the pool and then hang out with The Girls before it starts raining. Oh! While checking out the garden yesterday, look what I found!

My first tomato of the season! Woot!

Question: What is your favorite way to eat tomatoes?

The Boy’s New Hairdo!

Posted on April 9, 2013 by sghamer

The Boy got his haircut the other day.

Getting it cut.

The Boy: Will she wash my hair?

Me: Yes

The Boy: Does it cost extra?

Me: No.

The Boy: That’s awesome!

My neck itches!

Today has been a pretty good day. Work went well, I have been meatless all day (but that may change around dinner time) and I got to work out with SK. I have missed my last two training sessions with her and boy did I feel it today! It is either the missed sessions, the fact I was up at 5am, allergies or because someone didn’t realize it was 80 degrees outside and didn’t turn the air on inside the gym cause I just was not at my usual form today. Goodness! I was a mess. At least I felt I was a mess. My heart rate took forever to get back into Zone 2 and I just couldn’t catch my breath. I don’t think I have address this yet but I am missing two wedges out lungs. On two different occasions I had a soft tissue tumors located in the top lobe of my left lung. To get them out, they had to go in and cut out the tumor and the surrounding lung tissue. I usually don’t have an issue with breathing but I did today. SK said I was doing ok. I go back to her bright and early tomorrow morning. I told her I hoped I was able to move!

Speaking of allergies, The Boy is all clogged up and coughing. For those who are not from the South, it is a mess here right now. My car, our outdoor furniture, the chicken coop, they are all covered in bright green pollen. Our poor screened in porch! Thank goodness I remembered to bring in the cushions this year. I have been getting severe pollen warnings from my Weather Channel app on my phone for the last three days. The Boy had to miss recess because he was such a mess today at school. I can’t wait till it rains!!!

Homework

The Boy is back at school and the homework has begun again. I can’t wait till summer, I am so sick of homework. After homework I went out to hang with The Girls and plant in the garden. I planted three rows of beats and one row of bok choy. I have never grown bok choy before but I love it, so my fingers are crossed. I also added arugula to the lettuce tub I have on the porch. I then sat a little with the girls and watched them kick dirt on each other. Two grumpy old hens.

Guess what I was covered in when I came back inside? Pollen.

Question: Have you started planting your garden yet?

Veggies, Flowers and More Veggies!

Posted on April 7, 2013 by sghamer

Basil

Weekend

It has been so beautiful out this weekend in the ATL. I think Spring has finally sprung! Saturday I took The Boy to guitar practice in the morning. Afterwards we hit Lowes and I bought a ton of bulbs to plant in my front yard. Now, for those who have never seen Hotel Yorba, it is located up on a hill. I have one of those steep driveways that frightens most people. Now, trust me and our garbage man, when I say it really isn’t that big of a deal. Anyway, apparently my house is built on top of one large ass rock. I can not begin to explain what a pain in my (now firmer) pale as paste, ass it is to dig a simple hole. AWWWW!! If it wasn’t rock, it was clay. After a lot of sweat, scratches and bad language, I planted most of the ones I bought. I still have a little more to do but that can wait till next weekend. I had enough!

After a quick lunch, I moved on to the backyard. I had bought eleven tomato plants and some purple and sweet basil to plant. The herbs are planted in containers that I have on our porch. The tomatoes and other veggies are planted in our garden.

Tomato

After I was done, I realized only got one cherry tomato plant. My Man likes to use cherry tomatoes on his salads that he takes to work, so today I headed back to Lowes. This time I bought two more tomato plants, two cucumber plants (the only two I could find!), cucumber seeds, two yellow squash plants, rosemary and two soaker hoses. When I went in the backyard to plant, I let The Girls out. Poppy took a dirt bath and Turbo did lots of scratching. I found a few grubs (I think that is what they are called) for her to eat, while I was planting. She comes running when I call her and eats them right out of my hand. Don’t be too grossed out, I wear gloves. And just so you know, I try to give them to Poppy but she does not come when I call her! Silly Chicken! I still have to plant beets, carrots and radishes in the coming weeks.

So the pain in my (now firmer) pale as paste, ass moment was laying that damn hose out! Ugh! Once again there was bad language and several times I looked over to find Poppy laughing at me! No Grubs for you Poppy! By the time I got done, I was soaking wet and pissed off. I better have to best garden ever this year!!

Garden

One cool thing that happened this weekend is that our friends, who live in Kentucky, stopped to spend the night on their way back from FL. It hd been awhile since I had seen them and it was a lot of fun catching up. It just sucked to see them go this morning!

Bye-Bye

What am I listing to

The Civil Wars

http://thecivilwars.com/index.php

The Hunger Games Soundtrack

http://www.amazon.com/The-Hunger-Games-District-Beyond/dp/B0072HTHKS

Is that an Owl in your lettuce?

My Hotel Yorba

Take the wife of The Man, mom of The Boy and a H.C.B., a decade with cancer and see what happens.

Tag Archives: Garden

Tomatoes, Peppers, Edamame Oh My!

Like this:

Austin, Texas

Like this:

It was a lovely weekend…

Like this:

Succulents…I like saying that word.

Like this:

Pool and Birthday updates…

Like this:

The Boy’s New Hairdo!

Like this:

Veggies, Flowers and More Veggies!

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: