The beginning of a hobby

When I was a child my parents did not spend any energy into flowers. My mother was allergic to almost everything under the sun and if someone made the mistake of giving her flowers for a gift, she would thank them for the gift and then put the flowers in my father’s den, where the door was always closed from the rest of the house so the only person that got any enjoyment from the flowers was my father.

My first trip to a flower store was amazing – all of the wonderful aromas, and the beauty of the flowers was almost overwhelming! I knew that I couldn’t buy any flowers to bring home because of my mother’s allergies, but I saw a small dish garden made of cacti and succulent plants and I bought that and brought it home, along with a book about plant care.

That began my love affair with plants and flowers. I read that book cover to cover three times, and then checked out every book in the library that I could find about plants and flowers. I became a walking encyclopedia about the subject. One of my fantasies revolves around having my own greenhouse full of flowers uk, not to sell them, just to enjoy them for myself, being surrounded by things of beauty and heavenly fragrance.

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Comfort Food

My mom hates to cook but I have to tell you, she is a great cook. I don’t know anybody who can make a meatloaf taste as good as she does. She makes meatloaf a couple times a month and it is always awesome. I really like it with mashed potatoes and brown gravy, but sometimes she makes scalloped potatoes. I always want peas with meatloaf, too. I don’t care if she has other vegetables, too, as long as there are peas.

Another thing she makes is her own recipe for chicken and dumplings. I have had a dozen different kinds of chicken and dumplings recipes, and many of them are quite tasty. But my mom makes the best. Her dumplings are always big and fluffy and they melt in your mouth.

They say everyone has a “signature dish” and I bet my mom would like to think that something fancy that she makes would be her signature dish, but my votes go to her meatloaf and her chicken and dumplings.

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The price of mattresses

Mason was complaining that his back has been hurting more and more every day lately. I asked him when was the last time he had bought a new mattress and box spring set, and he told me that he has never bought one; the bed he has been sleeping in was a hand-me-down from our mother. Then I asked him when was the last time he had flipped his mattress. Again, he said he never had because no one had ever told him that should be done! I laughed and told him that what he needs to do is buy a new mattress and box spring set because the bed he has been sleeping in is almost forty years old!

So Mason has been comparison shopping for a new mattress and box spring set in as many furniture stores in los angeles he can find. So far he has been very unpleasantly surprised at just how expensive new mattresses and box springs are! So for now, he has flipped the mattress over and put a bed board under the mattress for a temporary fix until he can find what he wants that won’t break the bank. I hope that helps, but I also hope that he gets a new mattress and box spring set soon!

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Planting the seeds

My interest for gardening started when I was about five years old. My parents used to take me out to my grandparent’s farm for long weekends and during some school breaks, and I followed my grandfather around the farm like I was a puppy dog. He taught me how to slop the hogs, feed the chickens and plant the flowers uk. Sometimes he would let me pick some of the flowers to take into the house at supper time to give to my grandmother.

My favorite times were when cousin Roy would bring his big Belgium work horses over and let me sit on top of the one named Lucky while he led Lucky around the yard so I could have a ride. My grandfather died from a farming accident when I was seven, and that ended the farm days. My grandmother sold the farm and moved into town. I miss those wonderful times, and I miss the farm. But mostly I miss my grandfather; he was special to me.

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Cover your mouth

One of the things that really annoys me is when adults cough or sneeze without making any attempt whatsoever to cover their mouth and/or nose. Their spittle goes everywhere, and it grosses me out. There is a certain relative of mine that will cough while she is cooking and won’t cover her mouth. Once I spoke to her about it and she acknowledged that she does it, but said “tough patooties” in response to my concerns. Needless to say I try to avoid eating anything that this particular person has cooked! And what makes this even odder is that this person refuses to keep face cloths or dish cloths in her house because she says that they spread germs! How ironic is that?

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