Joe=Java=Jamoke=Joy

 

There's nothing  better than a steaming, hot cup of coffee early in the morning. It brings me great joy. I love the aroma, the flavor, and the fact that it's the only thing that gets me motivated for barn duty at 6:00 a.m. 

 

Sometimes that wonderful brew is referred to as Java, Joe, or Jamoke.

 

Java is named after the coffee bean produced on the Indonesian island of Java. Imagine that. How clever.  

 

Joe comes from the song, "Old Black Joe" written by Steven Foster around 1850. He also wrote "Beautiful Dreamer" and "Oh! Susanna".

 

Jamoke (pronounced ja.moh.kee) is a combination of the words java and mocha. Now that's a really yummy combo.

 

For all you coffee lovers out there, I'd be curious to know what your favorite blend of java is. Here's to you. 

 

Now, let's go have a cup of joyful Joe at Jenny's.

 

 

Almost but not Quite

Buzi likes to help me in the garden.

 

Out of 225 town houses, my little garden came in second in the 2013 Newport Highlands Garden Contest.

I learned something about myself that's not very nice; I'm a sore loser. I think my garden should have come in first because it's loaded with colorful blooms and is still blooming. The first place winner has a monochromatic look of white petunias with a little purple for color and some dried out hostas.

I think it would be both tacky of me and probably illegal, to put up a picture of the #1 garden, and let you choose; but I'm not that evil.

Besides, I should enjoy the $75 gift certificate I was presented, keep my mouth shut, and be happy with second place. Argh! I don't do well with being second.

What's nice about a garden, no matter how big or how small, is that everyone can enjoy it. I almost got first place, but not quite.

I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire-The Ink Spots

Ink Spots

This is not a Rorschack test. The Ink Spots is the name of a singing group popular in the 1930s and 1940s. They were the precursor to rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and doo-wop. I know this because I used to listen to my grandparents LPs growing up and the Ink Spots were their favorite vocal group.

One song in particular brings a smile to my heart. It's called "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire." The first line goes like this: "I don't want to set the world on fire, I just want to start a flame in your heart." Ya gotta love the lyrics. Click on the YouTube picture above for some enjoyable smooth, mellow tones and the rest of the lyrics. Then mosey on over to Jenny's for more "I" words.

The Ink Spots

Horse Pucky: Horsie Delights

Surprise, surprise. I decided to use Horse Pucky as the "H" word for alphabet Thursday.

You all know what horse pucky means by now; horse manure in polite circles; horse shit to me. In either case, I sell the cured reconstituted vegetable matter and call it HORSIE DELIGHTS.

HORSIE DELIGHTS work great! Your indoor and outdoor plants will love them. You can use them in at least four different ways.

1. Liquid plant food: Place one HORSIE DELIGHT (one dried horse poop) in a large size empty mayonnaise jar (or other suitable container). Fill with water and let sit for 8 hours. Use about 1/4 cup on indoor plants every other week, then watch 'em grow.

2. Put one HORSIE DELIGHT in a watering can. Let sit 6 hours then sprinkle on outdoor plants. Your flowers will have blossoms the size of pie plates. Well...almost.

3. Dry plant food: Place or crumble one or more HORSIE DELIGHTS on top of soil, around outdoor plants that need OOMPF and let rain wash into the soil.

4. Crumble 1/2 of a HORSIE DELIGHT on top of soil of indoor plant and water as usual. Repeat in eight weeks. 

This stuff works great. One bag of HORSIE DELIGHTS equals approximately 5 gallons of liquid organic plant food. It'll last 3.3 years for one plant. It improves the soil, provides slow release of nutrients, and grows bigger and better flowers, veggies, and fruit.

Currently there's a flower garden contest going on in my townhouse development of 225 town houses. Tomorrow I'll find out who the winner is and let you know. Of course I use HORSIE DELIGHTS in the garden.

Gardening and Georgia O'Keeffe

Gardening is one of the most enjoyable things I do. The garden is small, but it's full of some of  my favorite flowers and is always a work in progress.

One of my flowering front runners are my poppies. Trust me , they're not opium poppies.

I took a close-up picture of one of the blooms the first year of planting. It reminds me of a Georgia O'Keeffe painting. She's one of my favorite artists because I love her large, detailed paintings of flowers. 

My neighbors all wonder why the poppy blooms are so big and colorful. I'll give you readers three guesses. Your first guess will probably be correct.

Jenny's place has some great "G" words for Alphabet Thursday.