Growing Lemon Trees From Seeds

 It's a blessing and a curse that I inherited the need to save ad grow every seed that crosses my path. My grandma was the same way - I got my green thumb from her. Since my sister and I both work in healthcare and are around a couple other people every single week that probably aren't as paranoid as we are about germs, we take it upon ourselves to nearly kill our stomach linings with large amounts of acidic liquid. And by that I mean boiled lemons in water.

This is something we did way back and I swear, we didn't get sick all winter that year. We boiled an entire bag of lemons and refrigerated them overnight and drunk the concoction the next day. I haven't been boiling the entire bag at once, but I do 5-6 lemons at a time, 2-3 times a week. 

Now that you have the backstory that may or may not have been needed, you now know why I have lemon seeds to begin with. 

I saved 6 seeds a few weeks ago in hopes of planting them. I figured 6 was a good number, because I wanted to have at least 2 trees to plant. So my surprise, all but one sprouted and the 6th one is on the brink of sprouting. I planted them all in eco pots Friday, but for some reason I didn't include those in Friday's post, no clue why. I have them under a UV light now, but I'd like to get a plant heating mat from Amazon, because it'll be used even after the lemon trees are done. I suppose we'll see.

So now you can expect lots of included photos of my lemon sprouts throughout the next few months. Unless they don't make it, of course, but hopefully they will. 

Here are a few pics from Friday:

Here are my 6 little lemon sprouts. I always use the moist paper towel in a zip lock bag for sprouting seeds whenever I can. It's tried and true and works almost 100% of the time.

I added soil to my little eco pots and microwaved them to warm the soil.

Then I made little indentions in the soil and added the seeds. They only need to be about 1/2 inch deep.

Weekly iPhone Roundup {1.21 - 1.27}

 Another week gone, another snow storm that resulted in a power outage. Years ago this area lost power if the wind blew in the wrong direction, then the electricity company "fixed" it somehow and we were able to withstand all kinds of storms without so much as a flicker. Now it's polar opposite and the electricity goes off even when it's not storming. It's murder.

Still in Sim mode, so not doing much else. I mean, with the power outage there was no playing, but still. I'm slowly starting to get out of it, though. You can only play the Sims for so long before you start losing it and eventually getting creeped out by the thought. Then you put the game away for 3-4 months before it sounds enjoyable again. It's a strange thing if you think about it.

Not much more to talk about, so I'll leave it at that. Hope everyone has a safe weekend!

Waiting in line at Taco Bell for my little bro.

Watching the second episode of The Last of Us. All I can say is amazing. Everything was awesome, even the amazing clicker.

Tuesday I made some homemade beef stew (with vegan meat) and it was delicious.

Pics of the snow storm from my phone.

Not really a snow storm, but these snow covered trees make you think it is.

It was enough of a snow storm to knock out the power.

Thank God for kerosene heaters.

One more of the heavily snow covered trees.

Poor Max was terrified because the power kept going off and making a terrifying sound to him.

This snow covered oak tree is a beauty.

Ventured out Friday for some items from Dollar General.

The air was crisp and refreshing, as was the bright lighting.

Mid-January Snow Storm

As I'm sure most of the Midwest knows this by now, but a considerable snow storm ripped through Southeast Missouri last night leaving thousands without power - including us. Thank God that it's back on today, but it has flashed off a couple times leaving me with lingering anxiety that it's going to go off again. There are still people close to us that have no power, so we're one of the lucky ones, which I'm undeniably thankful for. 

I documented most of the snowfall on my phone, which I'll share Friday, but I did take my camera and wide-angle Tokina lens to the front door to try and capture a better photo of just how much snow was hanging on the trees. It was a very dense, heavy snow which is why there were so many power outages last night. I'm just thankful ours is back on and pray to God that it stays that way.

Here are some pics of the heavy snowfall on the trees:

See how immensely heavy the snow was on the trees?

The snow covered weeping willow looks haunting.

Not gonna lie, all of the trees look kind of spooky covered in snow.

Last snow covered tree photo. I'm in love with how well the Tokina does in low lighting.

Weekly iPhone Roundup {1.14 - 1.20}

 This Sims 4 is still taking over the majority of my life. When I'm not working or sleeping, I'm playing The Sims. It's an addiction at the moment and leads me to live a rather boring life. I mean, even if I wasn't playing at the moment, I wouldn't be doing anything worth blogging about. It's far too cold and drab to take any photos. I don't like being repetitive about what I post, which is why I don't go out and take the same pictures over and over again. 

With that being said, here are some pictures from my phone this week. Enjoy!

Beautiful sunset in Perryville Saturday night.

One of the prettiest of the year so far.

Still obsessed with the beautiful sunset in my mirror.

I went to McDonald's Saturday night for a coffee and pulled behind an SUV with this AMAZING Umbrella Corporation decal on the back of their car. Literally obsessed!

My purple orchid that I've been nursing back to health for months.

The Last Of Us premiered on HBO over the weekend and it's literally giving me life!. I don't know how many times my eyes were watering due to the excitement!

I'm also still obsessed with Little Nightmares 2 when I'm not playing The Sims.

Probably my biggest Sims 4 fail - this broad returned home from working with $2. Um, excuse me?

Weekly iPhone Roundup {1.7 - 1.13}

 This is probably my worst roundup post yet. I only took pictures of my mom's dog, Hyde, while we were in Perryville and literally only took two pictures of homemade coffee this week. Damn... I think I need to give The Sims a break for a while.

I think this is something that applies to all simmers. Unless, of course, you're a YouTuber that releases only Sims content, then I get why it's a daily thing for you. For the other 97% of simmers out there, myself included, playing The Sims is something that comes in waves. It's not like other games, you're either in the mood to play or not, there's no in-between.

Right now, for example, I'm super into playing and literally only think about playing. In another week or two I'll probably be disgusted by the thought of playing and wont play for months at a time. No joke. I mean, if The Sims team would happen to release some amazing content in-between my urges to play, then I would probably play. It would have to be something monumental like Medieval gameplay or new ages.

Anyways, done with my Sims ranting, here are the pics from the past week:

Hyde, my moms chihuahua, helping me drive. I was actually at a stop sign, though.

He has the cutest little chiweenie face ever!

He looks like a Simpson character here.

Sitting on my guts waiting at Sonic.

His face is so stinking cute. I also don't know if he's a chiweenie or not, but he looks like it.

Waiting on the Sonic delivery.

First time making cold foam coffee. This was the Starbucks cold foam copycat recipe.

It's just 3 tablespoons of heavy cream, 2 tablespoons of 2% milk & 1 tablespoon of vanilla syrup. Then you mix them everything together with a wish and then blend with a little mixer that they sell on Amazon specifically for foaming or whipping milk.

That Post Apocalypse Feeling

 I actually left the house today and took some photos of weeds, twigs and leaves... shocker. I never leave the house in time to catch the sunset, but it wouldn't have mattered much today because it's cloudy AF. And in my defense I don't take Max for walks until after he eats dinner. 

I think for the first time since I was in school I'm actually looking forward to summer. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love gardening season. I love to plant seeds and buy plants, but since we have a pool now I have a major reason to anticipate the summer months. I always look forward to spring, it allows for better photos, warmer weather and longer days. 

Since I got a new tripod for Christmas, I'm STOKED for Milky Way season. I'm not sure how easily I'll be able to photograph the Milky Way early in the season, I really only started in June. I'm just anxiously waiting for my first Milky Way shot of the year!

Okay, this blog is boring AF, so I'm going to end it here.

Dried up twigs.

Fall leaves.

This is an old log down the road.

More leaves, would've been better edited in lightroom.

Weeds.

More weeds.

These little dried up flowers.

I think they're wildflowers of some kind... maybe.

Weekly iPhone Roundup - New Year Edition {12.31 - 1.6}

 So I'm completely aware that my blogging has almost completely halted lately. I mean, the holidays played a big part in that, but I've also been playing The Sims ALL week long. When I'm not playing that, I'm playing Astro's Playroom, which I've been obsessed with since like Christmas. You wouldn't think something so simple could be so fun, but it really is a blast. I think the main reason is because you don't have to think too hard about what you're doing, lol. It's just like a simple arcade game that you don't have to get set up for, like The Last Of Us. So yeah, I've been hella preoccupied lately.

I'm not going to get into New Years Eve or day, some really uncomfortable things happened and I don't want to talk about it.

Since I've been going at The Sims so hard, I haven't really done anything else. Quite literally if I'm being honest - I become very lazy when I'm in a Sims kick.

With that being said, here are the very few pictures that I've taken on my phone this week:

My moms youngest chihuahua, Hyde. He's obsessed with us.

It was a Pizza Hut kinda night for my little brother.

First picture of the New Year. This is actually a bag I got from Thiland, it's a boho style and I'm literally obsessed with it.

The fog was unreal Sunday.

I don't think a foggy start to the New Year is a good thing, but I could be wrong.

The egg prices in Rozier's in Perryville were insane! $6.75 is just too much.

These eggs were even more expensive.

These are the most expensive at almost $7 a dozen.

This is the "cheaper" option of eggs.

More nasty fog.

The fog was unreal Monday. It was much worse than this pictures depicts.

You could only see like 15 feet in front of the car.

Boiling lemons to drink the water because everyone in Perryville is sick.