{ Mother's Day Sunday }

I wanted to come in today, very quickly, just to wish you all a Happy Mother's Day.  Hope you've all had a wonderful day with your loved ones :)

I've had a super day, woke up to a gift from my daughter and the sweetest most precious letter.  It made me cry so much.  We always wonder if we're being good parents, if we're doing the right thing and raising our children the best way we can, so when they tell us or show us that what we've done is not only enough but seen, appreciated and loved, it means the world.

I think it's safe to say that my daughter knows me pretty well.  The candle smells amazing and so do the soaps.  I don't know about the tea yet, I'm going to have a cup tonight before bed but I'll be sure to let you know what I thought in tomorrow's post.

It started with church the very first thing this morning, and today's sermon was absolutely brilliant.

My wonderful husband also went and got me breakfast and donuts this morning, and then my daughter bought us all Domino's pizza for dinner.  It was the perfect day.

Surrounded by my husband and children, spent doing what I wanted to do which wasn't much aside from some tinkering around in the veggie garden. 

Yes, it was a good day.

{ Tackling the weeds, and repotting some house plants }

The past two days, I've spent a lot of time pottering around, literally, with my house plants as well as trying to control the weeds overtaking my planters in the front yard.  Pesky little buggers, they just take right over your whole yard if you don't stay on top of them.

The weather has been acting a little strange, so I wanted to start by showing you this photo I took of my pool, in the early morning hours.  You may not be able to tell, but there's steam coming off the pool.  Looks so neat!

Had quite a few of my house plants that had outgrown their pots, and I've been wanting to re pot them for a while but just never seem to get around to it.

Got them all repotted and even split my Dragon Wing Begonia into 3 different plants.  It was absolutely humongous and looking a bit squashed in it's previous pot.  Fingers crossed they do well with the fresh soil and with more room to grow, would hate for them to die from the shock of the transplant.

I left one in it's usual spot in the living room, then moved the two newly transplanted into my bedroom.

Also took all my little succulents that were in tiny pots, and transplanted them into this cute bench planter that I've had sitting around for a while.  My brother and sister in law actually gifted it to me last year for my birthday.  Isn't it just the cutest thing?

There's 3 in there on the picture above, but this morning I popped another one in there, same kind as the one on the far left.

2 years ago when my grandmother passed away, my wonderful mother in law sent me a beautiful Peace Lilly.  I was so scared of it dying, but it's been thriving and doing really well, so much so that it's tripled in size, and it took was needing to be transplanted and given a bit more room.

From one plant, I ended up with 3, which thrills me.

You know if you've been my reader from the beginning, you surely know that I was never good with any kind of plants, I used to refer to myself as having not a Green Thumb, but rather a Thumb of Death.

But I think that pushed me to start trying harder, researching, and taking some risks.  Since then I've been in love with planting and growing my own veggies and herbs, taking care of house plants and so on.  I'm nowhere near where I wish I was, my plan is to have tons of plants in the house, but not there quite yet, I still have some casualties from time to time.

But it sure is nice to see the fruits of my labor growing happily inside and out.

With us stuck inside, our schedule has been a bit all over the place.  Meals are simple, quick and easy at times, especially lunches which consists of frozen pizzas, sandwiches or leftovers.

But hey, as long as I get a good meal on the table at dinner time, that is what matters, at least to me.....well and my family too.

Just wanted to show you my laundry area.  I was giving it a good cleaning today and quickly threw on a coat of blue paint on the cabinet under the sink.  I want to make the laundry area tie in with the rest of the kitchen, and I think this works.  I still need to put on another coat or two, but I love how it looks already.  What do you think?

Laundry was done, weeds were tackled in the front yard, others were transplanted and repotted, floors were vacuumed and I even managed to reorganize and clean both my walk in closet and the master bathroom.

I've also cooked up some delicious food, and have been adding the photos to the food blog as well.  I added the Caramelized Upside Down Banana Cake recipe, and tomorrow I need to add my Beef filled Crepes.

By the way, if you follow me on Instagram, I usually show you what I'm making for dinner and take you along with me.  I've also started saving those to my highlight, so you can find the recipes through there too, in video form.  It's just a fun way to get the recipes and see how to make them, if that's something that interests you.

These are delicious and I think your family will enjoy them.  They're a Portuguese/Brazilian recipe.  I thought I had shared these on my food blog, I mean I've shared so many recipes since 2006, but I checked and it seems I never did.  I'll get the recipe up tomorrow.

Well, I'm going to grab my book and try to finish it.  It's pretty good, I'm looking forward to sharing my review with you soon.

Have a blessed night friends :)

{ Administrations of Lunacy by Mab Segrest - TLC Tour }

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: The New Press (April 14, 2020)

A scathing and original look at the racist origins of psychiatry, through the story of the largest mental institution in the world

Today, 90 percent of psychiatric beds are located in jails and prisons across the United States, institutions that confine disproportionate numbers of African Americans. After more than a decade of research, the celebrated scholar and activist Mab Segrest locates the deep historical roots of this startling fact, turning her sights on a long-forgotten cauldron of racial ideology: the state mental asylum system in which psychiatry was born and whose influences extend into our troubled present.

In December 1841, the Georgia State Lunatic, Idiot, and Epileptic Asylum was founded. A hundred years later, it had become the largest insane asylum in the world with over ten thousand patients. Administrations of Lunacy tells the story of this iconic and infamous southern institution, a history that was all but erased from popular memory and within the psychiatric profession.

Through riveting accounts of historical characters, Segrest reveals how modern psychiatric practice was forged in the traumas of slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction, and Jim Crow. Deftly connecting this history to the modern era, Segrest then shows how a single asylum helped set the stage for the eugenics theories of the twentieth century and the persistent racial ideologies of our own times. She also traces the connections to today’s dissident psychiatric practices that offer sanity and create justice.

A landmark of scholarship, Administrations of Lunacy restores a vital thread between past and present, revealing the tangled racial roots of psychiatry in America.

Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Photo by Laura Flanders

About Mab Segrest

Mab Segrest is professor emeritus of gender and women’s studies at Connecticut College and the author of Administrations of Lunacy and Memoir of a Race Traitor (both from The New Press). A longtime activist in social justice movements and a past fellow at the National Humanities Center, she lives in Durham, North Carolina.

Connect with her on Instagram.

REVIEW:

Whew!!!

What a read and what a journey that Mab Segrest takes us on.  If you're looking for a light, fun read, this is not the book for you.  But if you're looking for factual, informative and jaw dropping stories, then pick yourself up a copy of Administrations of Lunacy.

I had no clue what I was in for.  When I chose to be a part of this book tour, my thought was that it would be an interesting read as far as psychiatry and asylums, which is something I've always found really interesting.  I went into the book with no preconceived notions, I wasn't even sure what I was about to delve into aside from the general subject of lunacy and it's history.

Mab Segrest does her research, and every single statement she makes, is immediately backed up with fact.  It is not a book for the faint of heart. Period!

With that said, we are taken into the deep world of lunatic asylums and the racism fueled treatments that were administered to women and African Americans.  Racism at it's highest.  Disgusting to say the least.

I struggled at times to keep reading because my heart broke for these poor souls who were treated like they didn't matter, and all for the benefit of white rich men who only saw money as the means to an end.

The stories of these individuals will forever remain etched in my heart, I couldn't forget them even if I tried.  Why do human beings inflict so much pain on each other?  It is a question I don't think we will ever get a real answer to.

Hundreds upon hundreds of women and African Americans killed in these asylums, deprived of decency, denied medical care because they were deemed to be in the minority.  The history of mental illness and psychiatry in this country, is marred by the atrocious acts perpetuated on these poor victims.

The book itself is not a smooth read by any chance, it reminds me almost of a medical journal or a history textbook, but the information and stories written in these pages are so poignant and so deeply touching that you can't but keep going.  I don't think I will ever feel about psychiatry the same way I did before, this book was a huge eye opener.

Worthy of 5 stars!!!

Thank you to TLC Tours and the publisher for providing me with a review copy of this book, in exchange for my honest review.

{ Busy end of school year }

The past few day have been spent trying to get all the school work finished.  There's a lot.

11th Grade is no joke, and Nick is taking Astronomy, Game Design and Chemistry, we won't mention the Algebra 2 because yeah, this old head of mine can't deal.  Last day of school is the 15th of May, so next week Friday.

I just realized that my last post was on Monday and that was the Happy Homemaker Monday.  I swear this week has flown right by, but it's been a good one nonetheless.

A lot of homemaking, cleaning, not much swimming as the weather has been a bit strange and with the strong winds, that's a huge no no for me.

I know many people don't iron anymore, but it's one of those homemaking chores that I love doing.  I still remember as a teenager, I would beg my stepmom to leave the ironing to me.  A big ol' pile of clothes, 6 people worth.

I would put on some music, and happily iron the whole afternoon long.

We had a laundry area at the back of the house, it had one of those old cement sinks with the washboard.  A spot for the ironing board, washing machine and so on.  I don't know about you but I adore old laundry rooms.

I'm constantly on the look out for an old washboard, or even an old sink.  Maybe one day.

The sewing machine has also been used multiple times, not only for masks, but I've been working on some placemats.  Nothing too fancy, pretty basic but I needed some new ones in spring/summer colors.

Still have 2 to finish sewing up, and am hoping to get to them this week but truthfully, Nick wants to get his schooling finished before the 15th so we have been pushing full speed ahead and everything else is taking a backseat.

I'm slowly coming around to catching up on shows, though not really.

You know I was thinking the other day that when my children were little, I often felt like I had no time for anything and would think about the day they would be grown and how much spare time I would have then.  Haha

No really, I thought surely as they get older, it frees up more time for me, but it really doesn't.  It's just a different kind of need from them, but nonetheless your job as a mother is as important as it was when they were toddlers needing your full attention.

My homemaking has been enjoyed to a whole new level.  I used to enjoy it but lately I'm taking so much pleasure in doing every task before me.  I also used to rush through the task at hand because I was already thinking about the next thing on the list.  I've stopped doing that.  I concentrate on what is before me, take my time and then move on, and if the next thing does not get done today, it will move on to the next day with no problem.

My chalkboard wall had not been updated in a long time.  Yesterday I scrubbed it all clean, gave the wall a good wash, then redid it again.  I'm not an artist, as you can clearly see, so no stunning looking chalkboard with fancy writing and all that jazz.

It's functional though and that is really all that it needs to be.

I just realized looking at this picture that between Tuesday and Wednesday is not a lot of space.  Don't ask how I did that, I don't know.  It's going to bug me though, so once this week's plan is done, I may redo the days again.  OCD at it's finest.

Last night's dinner was delicious.  It is a new recipe that I tried and I'll have it on the food blog this morning.  Lemon and Garlic Baked Chicken Legs.  SO good!

I also have a ton of bananas.  I've shared before how I like to buy the bags of overripe bananas from the commissary.  I use those for baking.  I grabbed two bags this time because I want to make some banana jam too.

The cake I made above is a caramelized banana upside down cake.  It is divine.  I don't think the recipe is on the blog yet, I'll have to check, but if not, I'll add it when I add the chicken recipe.

Just bear with me, I am doing a lot better on posting the recipes over on Full Bellies, Happy Kids.  I used to be so good with it and then moved to Texas and fell off the wagon, big time.  Since then it's been a struggle to get back into the rhythm.

Honestly I think that the minute Curt retired from the Air Force and we moved from Arizona, everything changed.  It shouldn't have, and I didn't think it would affect my blogging, homemaking and so on, but it ended up being the one thing in my life that took the biggest hit.

I'm not quite sure why.  I've tried to think back and make sense of it.  The only thing I can think is that we were in a different stage of our lives, it was just us, we did what we wanted when we wanted. There was a comfortable rhythm to it all, and then Curt retired, we moved States, my family moved to America and the life we once had disappeared.  Maybe it's something else, but that is the only thing that I can think of that would cause such a drastic change for us and for me as a person, and ultimately as a blogger.

So what I need to focus on now, is bringing that part of me back into a very different world.  Kids are grown, one has graduated 3 years ago, one is graduating next year.  We have our own house, our little pug girls are no longer with us.  There's been so much change, maybe I haven't quite grieved everything, I think that is probably the biggest thing for me. 

It's good to let go and grieve what was, but I never did.  I just jumped right into the next chapter and kept going. 

Sorry for venting and putting this all down here, but sometimes when you start writing and thinking at the same time, you start healing and learning.  It helps to think clearly.

Here's my question to you, what do you miss most about my blog?  I am talking to those that have followed me for many years, many all the way back from 2006. 

Or what did you enjoy the most?  What kept you coming back? 

Would love to know. 

Alright friends, I need to get this post up, then start my day.  Have a blessed one :)

Schooling - Game Design Portfolio, History Portfolio, English Semester Exam, Astronomy Exam
Print book label and wrap book for shipping
Post Office to mail book
Tractor Supply to pick up some soil
Finish placemats

Belgravia

Youtube Vlogs

{ Happy Homemaker Monday - 05/04/2020 }

Good morning friends, and a very happy Monday May morning.  This is our first Happy Homemaker Monday for the month of May.  We are enjoying the warmest of weather already, very reminiscent of Summer, even though we're not quite there yet.

The pool has been providing plenty of exercise and fresh air, I am already sporting a very dark tan, such is my skin tone.  Unfortunately it's also been the week of high winds which completely mess me up, allergy wise.  Goodness it still amazes me how debilitating allergies can get.  I need to get a hold of some local honey and start doing the honey treatment that the doctor suggested to maybe get my system used to all these allergens that constantly attack me.

I'm not quite sure what the week holds for us.  Curt is still teleworking from home until the 15th, and I love having him here every day.  I see a lot of parents complaining about the whole family being home, about their husbands, their children, and I just don't understand it.  I've never understood it.

I remember when my kids were still attending public school, I would get so excited for Spring break and summer break and hated returning them back to school when it was over, while the other moms around me complained and said things like  "I can't wait to get them back to school, I've had enough of them being home."  Maybe I'm strange LOL    

Anyway, let's get on with our post.  I wish you all a very blessed week ahead.  Stay strong, stay focused on the Lord and rest in the assurance that this will all pass.

♥♥The Weather♥♥
I'm looking at the weather and realizing that there will be quite a few days that will keep me inside and out of the pool.  Bummer.  But, I can't deal with the wind, it completely knocks me off my behind.

Monday - Mostly sunny, wind,  103
Tuesday - Sunny, wind, 79
Wednesday - Sunny, 85
Thursday - Isolated Thunderstorms, wind, 90
Friday - Partly cloudy, wind, 70
Saturday -  Mostly Sunny, 74
Sunday - Partly cloudy, 73


♥♥How I am feeling this morning♥♥
Pretty good.  We've been sleeping so well since we got the little air conditioner in the bedroom.  No more smothered and super hot in here.       


♥♥On my mind♥♥
Just running lists of things I need to do, what I want to bake, clean, sew and do the rest of the week.  I find that some days I am not productive at all, and that is when I'll start feeling a bit cabin feverish.  So with that in mind, I need to draw up some lists for the week ahead and tackle some projects.          


♥♥On the breakfast plate♥♥
Just a cup of coffee with vanilla creamer.  I'll have some toast once I'm done with this post.                 


♥♥On my reading pile♥♥
Finishing up Administrations of Lunacy for a review on Friday.  It's been a weird read for me, not an easy read at all, so it's taken some time to get through it.  Next on the list is Beyond Awkward Side Hugs by Bronwyn Lea.     

Source

♥♥On my tv♥♥
Nope, still have not caught up on anything.  I'm getting annoyed with myself lol

I did start the first episode of Belgravia and loved it, I mean, what is there not to love when it's from the creator of Downton Abbey?

Belgravia
Outlander
When Calls the Heart


♥♥On the menu this week♥♥


Monday - Lemon Garlic Baked Chicken Legs, Spaghetti Aglio e olio, Salad
Tuesday - Pork Chops in Mustard Sauce, White Rice
Wednesday - Cottage Pie, Bacon and Garlic Sauteed Greens
Thursday -  Orange Chicken and RiceBeef and Onion Pie, Mixed Veggies
Friday - Deep Dish Sausage Pizza
Saturday - Herb and Cheese Stuffed Burgers on the Grill
Sunday - Creamy Rotini with Ham and Asparagus, Garlic Bread


♥♥From the camera♥♥
I don't have the perfect house, I don't have a magazine ready home, and honestly I don't think I even have a theme anymore.  I went through the country/primitive theme a long time ago but since moving into this house, I just haven't been able to bring it all together.  It is a bunch of things I love just thrown together as I go, but what I find is that they are a representation of me in object form and it ends up working.  There are a few spaces in the house that are my favorite, and this one by the big window is one of those. ♥   
     

♥♥Looking around the house♥♥
The only ones awake, are myself and hubby.  He is working on his computer and I'm in the bedroom working on this post.  Marley is asleep in the office with hubby, by the back door, enjoying the sun rays coming in.
Windows have been opened, curtains have been pulled back and the house is slowly coming alive.      


♥♥Chore I'm not looking forward to today, or this week♥♥
I'm back to hand washing dishes full time.  Dishwasher is out again.  We've decided that it is not a priority and something we need to go spend money on, as at least in my eyes, is not a necessity or something we can't live without.  So I will continue washing dishes by hand.  It's not that I mind, except for those days where there is a mountain waiting in the sink.  Blech!             


♥♥To relax this week, I will♥♥
No doubt be jumping in the pool any chance I get.  Also gardening, reading, watching tv and whatever else comes to mind at the time.                


♥♥On my prayer list♥♥
The President, our country.
For our country to open up soon.  My daughter is struggling being off work and waiting for her store to open.  Thankfully we live in Texas and our State started opening on Friday of last week, although not all businesses are up and running yet. 


♥♥Devotional/Bible Verse♥♥
The only thing you can control is your focus.  - Pastor Steven Furtick

Yesterday's message was so powerful, again.  What are we doing during this time stuck indoors?  Why do we always think we need to know when things are happening?  The only one who knows what is going on, when the virus will be gone, when the country will open completely, is God.  That's it.

So in our time in the waiting room, we need to focus on God, not on what we are going through because through this God is showing us something.  What God is growing within ourselves and for us in our outside world, is greater and more beautiful than we could ever imagine.  I for one am so excited to see what is to come of this.

I've shared the link above for you to watch the sermon, if you wish.  It is called Focus on the Fruit.


PLEASE stop sharing links that are not Happy Homemaker Monday related. This linky is only for the participants of this Monday feature. I am actually getting tired of having to go through and delete links to random blog posts. Be respectful!!!