It Be Talk Like A Pirate Day

Arrgh, avast ye faithful readers,

If ye dint know, it be National Talk Like a Pirate Day today! So regail and revel in that that be your own! Talk yer dirty talk to the scummy masses today! Let 'em know that ye arrrr a pirate at heart! Florida be home to many pirates, ye see..........all enjoyed the sandy coast of this mosquito ridden spit o' sand. So hoist some grog, see the sun set o'r the vivid blue yonder. Be shure to take a sail if ye have a boat amongst ye.

End of Summer Ice Cream

Technically, it's not Fall yet. And it's going to stay pretty hot in Florida for a long time. So why not get out and host an end of summer backyard party for your friends and family before it cools down too much. Pull out the picnic tables, the checkered cloths and the lanterns along with great summer foods that take advantage of the summer bounty.

Suggestions for food include fresh fruits - like watermelons and cataloupe, barbeque or burgers, potato salad, shrimp, and of course, homemade ice cream. Whether you use the handcrank version or the electric freezer, it all tastes good.

Excellent Homemade Ice Cream Recipe

Makes One Quart - double or triple as necessary for the capacity of your freezer.

If using an a freezer with a freeze ahead cylinder, make sure it freezes for 24 hours in advance of use.

Beat one large whole egg plus 1 large egg yolk along with 3/4 cup sugar. Add a pinch of salt. Mix in 1/2 cup plus a little extra whole milk. Cook in saucepan over medium to medium low heat for 8-10 minutes, stirring constantly. When it thickens/bubbles, transfer the pan from the stove to an ice bath if you are going to make the ice cream right away. Or place mixture in the refrigerator overnight to cool down. If using the ice bath, stir your mixture as it cools down.

When ready to make ice cream, stir in one cup of half and half and 1/2 teaspoon of real vanilla extract. Pour mix into ice cream freezer cylinder. Begin mixing and then add additional half and half to the cylinder until the dasher is completely covered. Freeze at least 20-30 minutes or until your machine notifies you that it is done. If your group likes the ice cream really soft, you can serve it now. Otherwise, remove the dasher, getting children to lick it for you, and cover the cylinder, then move to the freezer to set at least 30 more minutes. Serve plain or with fruit or chocolate.

Saving Money in the Yard

An easy way to save time and money this fall, when working on your lawn, is the mulch your leaves. If you have a mulching mower, this is easy. Just mow and grind those suckers up and add fertilizer naturally to your grass. If you don't prefer to do this or don't have this type of equipment, then start raking.

Just put the leaves back into your flower beds and bare areas to keep your plants and flowers moisturized all fall long. Don't add to the growing landfill with leaves! Save that for your non-recyclable trash.

Start a compost pile. Saving your trash to create a compost pile is an easy way to create new soil and enrich your plantings and gardens. Just be sure to create a place that's pretty far away from your house, because decomposing matter doesn't always smell pretty! A good source to learn about how to compost can be found at How to Build a Compost Bin. Now go enjoy the nice weather Fall brings and make a difference too!

Prepare for Fall

Fall is only a few weeks away, thank goodness. I, for one, enjoy it much more when it's cooler outside. Some things to consider doing to prepare your yard for Fall:

1) Service the mower. Mowing starts to slow down now. Get a jump on maintenance by getting blades sharpened, change the oil, give it a good cleaning. In Florida, we hardly ever stop mowing completely, so keep it running!

2) Talk to your kids about raking! They all want to earn extra money, so fire them up about raking for cash. Those deciduous trees are already dropping their leaves, so stay on top of it and have some weekly raking sessions.

3) Cut back those old flowers! Dead head those faded bloom! Cut back the leggy annuals and give them a new burst of life before planting the new fall annuals. It saves you some money and uses what you already have. Consider adding some new annuals to the old ones to perk them all up.

4) Cooler weather means painting! It's the idea time to catch up on maintenance like fence painting, house painting, etc.

5) Change out your mats! Take a look at what you've got sitting on your front porch right now. How does it look? Ratty and disgusting? Or fresh and inviting? Spend a few dollars at Walmart and get a new porch mat and maybe a new plant to put by the front door. Take down anything that screams Spring or Summer and get rid of it.

A Busier Than Normal Hurricane Season?

I think we're ready to see a really big ramp up on the Hurricane Season in Florida. Fay was just the beginning. The models are already showing several new possibilities rolling our way across the Atlantic.

Take a few moments to survey what you'll need to get through until November 1st, when the season is supposed to end. Do you have all the supplies you need? Are your branches around your home trimmed? Have you cleaned out your garage so your car will fit? Gotcha with that one!

Items for Your Hurricane Supply Kit:

• Flashlights
• Tons of batteries of all types
• Beer, wine, Jack Daniels or all three (optional for some, mandatory for others, especially when you are hosting evacuees)
• Clean laundry (you might not be able to do it for a long time)
• Bug Spray
• Sunscreen
• Canned foods, cookies, crackers, cheez whiz, etc.
• Pop Tarts (this is a stress busting favorite)
• Water - for drinking and toilet flushing when the water system doesn't work
• Tarps to repair roof damage - something to attach tarps (nails, tools)
• Lots of Towels
• Valuable papers in ziplocks
• Lots of Gas in the car
• Lots of Gas for your grill
• Secure your grill
• Weather radio with extra batteries (see above)
• Regular radio for news and maybe music
• Books, crayons, paper and games to read/play when you have no power
• Baby supplies in bulk
• Baby wipes in bulk (this is your shower)
• A good supply of shorts and t-shirts, sleeveless shirts and undies
• Pet food/Carrier

Tropical Storm Fay in Florida

How's your yard doing through this massive Tropical Storm Fay? This one is a record setter to be sure. Massive flooding is a problem in many areas throughout the state of Florida, especially the Space Coast - Melbourne, Titusville, Merritt Island areas. Now St. Augustine is under the gun. Be sure that once this passes, you give your lawns time to dry out thoroughly before you even think about mowing or doing lawn work. Check your trees and shrubs for wind and water damage. Wet soil can make it easy for trees to uproot.

Get ready for mosquitoes too! A news report yesterday said there will be record numbers of the little nasty bugs for weeks to come, due to the excessive rains. Maybe this is the time to buy stock in Off?

Stay dry!

Where to get quality information about Florida Yards

Hey, the site is Florida YARD Dog, right? Betcha want to find some good info about Florida yards, eh?

We attended several seminars at the Hernando County Extension Office and learned about things like when is the best time of year to fertilize, kill weeds, and plant different varieties. They also gave us product recommendations, so we wouldn't waste money on weedkiller that killed weeds that don't even thrive in Florida. Highly recommended.

Click to find the county extension office in your Florida county.