Egg Suzette

     One day I went deep diving into my antique cook book collection to try to find out some more interesting recipes to cook eggs, as I had a surplus of duck eggs to deal with. We had been loving the scrambled eggs and egg salad sandwiches. But honestly, I was getting tired of it. 
     But check this out, the finished picture is on the bottom left.
     Yep, you got it. It's deviled potatoes made with eggs and sour cream. The kids also love this recipe. I like to scoop out the cooked inner potato, give that to the rabbits, then pour the eggs mixture into and around the potato shells. Then add cheese and bake in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes until the eggs are cooked.
     The internet says Princess Diana used to love this recipe and would eat it every morning for breakfast.

Another kiddie pool water garden

     Decided to put together a nice little pond garden at a friend's house so as to have something to look at. This served the purpose of encouraging me to put to good use an extra kiddie pool and to repot some overgrown cannas. Both the cannas and the water hyacinth are edible perennials that look incredible when planted in the right place.
     The pool was simply thrown onto that spot, which receives full sun for about 7 hours a day and dappled for the remainder. It has no overflow holes in it, so if a storm comes it is possible for water hyacinth to be washed out and released into the yard. I felt comfortable doing this, because this area of this property is not near any natural or unnatural standing or moving water sources. Water hyacinth is known for its exponential growth here in Florida. I like it because it is edible after cooking and edible raw for the rabbits, plus high in plant protein. It also has an amazing purple flower sometimes.
     The Cannas were replanted in layers of rabbit manure, then mulch, then dead leaves lining the bottom of the pots. I have been perfecting this mix for a long time, and it works well for the cannas. The manure is so high in nutrition that the water in the pool promptly browned up, causing supergrowth of the water hyacinth. Not only that but a few days later tadpoles spontaneously appeared in the water. I suspect the parents were tree frogs, likely the Cuban tree frogs that also live at my place.
     I also tossed a mosquito dunk into that water. I know, it's got genetically modified bacteria in it, but it is the most natural simplest prevention of mosquitoes outside of seeding fish. With the virus running rampant I wasn't about to hit the pet store, even supposing they would have something that would be able to survive in water that was likely to get very warm. Words have been said about burying the kiddie pool so the plants are more at ground level, but words are just that.
     I look forward to building more of these in the future. The kiddie pool gardens seem to be a great way to keep the cannas warm in the winter and hydrated in the dry season. Maintenance is the same as every other garden - weeds have to be removed, extra water hyacinth may have to be eaten or composted, mosquitoes will have to be controlled.
   
   


Lake Louisa State Park Picture 1


Yield on Cost

     I have recently been trying to learn a little bit more about investing, as it seems to be something in life that truly does matter. With the economy changes that have been happening since the pandemic, I feel like a lot of the more useless parts of the world economy are going to start dying off, like nail salons and pizza restaurants. I think that people are headed toward a future where they will have to be willing to do more for themselves like cooking and cleaning. That being said, I still think there will always be a need for an economy, there will hopefully always be groceries available and homes to live in.
     The investing strategy I am currently Interested in is called dividend investing. That is where you own stock in a company andbit pays you a small share of its profits, usually this is just a few cents per share of stock. Not all companies pay out dividends, but some do. Theoretically, if you own a large variety of a lot of stocks you could be living off the dividends, assuming you are living cheaply.  
     Yield on cost is the ratio of how much it will pay you, the yield, for the cost of the stock. I found an amazing yield on cost calculator here. You just type in the ticker symbol and it tells you the yield on cost ratio per thr most recent dividend payout information.


     Before purchasing any stocks it is wise to learn about the company first, but this can be one great way to figure out how to work this investment strategy. Another way is to figure out what the funds at the large investment houses are buying sticks in and holding those individual stocks. Remember that you should have a broad and diverse investment strategy and not be heavily invested in just one sector like healthcare or oil.