This is a Black Pearl pepper...isn't it beautiful?  I love the dark colored leaves.  The little pearl peppers start out nearly black and will turn bright red when finished.  Once done, I plant them around in my garden in the hopes of growing more of this pretty plant next year.

Black Pearl Pepper

Pearl 1

See the lizard and the yellow bug below?  They played a game of wait and watch for a long time before the lizard finally ran off without the meal.

Pearl Lizard

Mother Nature is amazing...  We pulled out our smoker pit yesterday to prepare some chickens for company last night and I saw this growing from the wooden planks on the front of it.  It is called Yellow Jelly Fungus.  Isn't it pretty?

Yellow Jelly Fungus 1

Yellow Jelly Fungus 2

Dinner was fantastic, btw... Rick used oak charcoal and chunks of pecan with which to smoke the chickens and they were super tasty and tender.  For dessert, our friends took us out to a local La Madeleine and I enjoyed some wonderful cheesecake before the ride back home in a brand new BMW convertible with the top down... what a nice treat!  (The fungus couldn't stand the heat from the pit and is all gone now...awwww.) 

Abelia

I love my Abelia bush.  With the recent rains and cooler weather it has filled with flowers and bumble bees.  

Just to update...Ellis is still with me.  He wants to play more and chases Miss Toby almost everyday.  He still eats very little, but enough that I haven't had to supplement him lately.  We just take it day by day, but it's clear he doesn't want to give up.  Not yet.

Usually I'm fussing about my crazy cat, Ellis, but today I'm giving him some slack.  Oh, he still terrorizes my other kitty and I get very mad at him, but Ellis is sick and probably won't live too much longer.  A while back I noticed a severe weight loss in him and it just got worse.  He didn't act sick, but I finally had to take him in to see why he was so skinny.  The vet said he has some sort of blockage in his intestines and that it would... in effect... kill him.  He didn't know what it was and surgery would be exploritory and over $2,000 to start with.  That is not in my reach, so... instead we talked about making him comfortable and what to do when the time came.  The vet estimated that it would be within a week...from the way the cat looked.

I hate to give up... I'm very hard-headed and usually it's a good thing.  I found that Ellis likes to eat the gravy from cat food, but not the food.  Why doesn't the cat food industry make cans of gravy?  My sister has a cat also near the end and he does the same thing...eats only the gravy.  Anyway... I feed him a lot of gravy and some favorite treats as often as he wants to eat.  I also force feed him a little baby food and a cat nutritent supplement.  Some days he looks extra skinny...others just skinny, but usually he is still the same little shit that he's always been.  He wants to play, he chases Miss Toby, he sits in my lap and purrs... in many ways he is just the same.  But, I know that this can't go on forever...  while I get a little food in him (and thank goodness it still comes out)...  some day it won't be enough and I'll have to make that hard decision.  I hate that. 

I took a nasty fall several days ago.  I was walking down my front sidewalk to get the mail and as my left foot stepped off the curb and into the street it hit a muddy patch and went straight out in front of me.  I came down directly on my right knee in the street.  In the first second or two I really thought it was possible that I had just broken something... like my knee-cap.  I was afraid to even look.  I pulled myself up and limped back into the house as quickly as I could.  (I just hate laying there bleeding all over the sidewalk...don't you?)  Luckily it just scraped a ton of skin off and didn't break anything.  My knee became very swollen and hurt like hell..and in fact, still does... but I feel very fortunate that it wasn't any worse.  Now for some reason the skin around the injury is super-sensitive to the lightest touch and that is driving me crazy.  I can't even let the bedsheets brush against it without hurting.     

Today is my mother-in-law's birthday.  Happy Birthday Beaty!  You're doing a great job.  :)

You decide...  a car is traveling down a residential/business road at about the posted speed of 40mph... it's a boulevard and he has two lanes on his side going in the same direction when another car (with out-of-state license plates) pulls out from a parking lot and onto the boulevard right in front of him.  Our first guy is able to quickly maneuver around the car that just pulled out in front of him without hitting anyone, but instantly pulls back in front of the offending driver and slams on his brakes.  I mean he stops!!  The out-of-state guy behind him now has to slam on his brakes (no chance to go around this time) along with about 6 other cars behind them both. 

I was waiting for the sounds of crunching metal as I drove by...what stupidness.     

Today is my sister Carla's birthday... Happy Birthday Sis!  I hope you have a great day!

The chili was fantastic.  Not too hot...just right.