In the Garden…In the Kitchen

…two of my favorite places to spawn some photo art.

In the garden I walk in my flip flops, I pick the harvest; I pull a tiny weed or two.
I pluck a flower and snap a picture to capture its smell forever.

In the kitchen I preserve the taste forever. I smell the aroma of fresh goodness mixed with some sweetness. I stir and stir until all is perfect.
I stash it away for another day.

  

I love to create works of art from the blessings that flow before me. 

Grab your camera and click away in your daily doings! 

You will not only have fun but you will create wonderful memories.

Peas, Paint, and Picasso

Hello April! You are welcome here. You have arrived with a changing warmth; one that feels comforting to the touch.
Comfort is good…it is safe. Reassuring.

The lion passed on by ~ followed by the gentle lamb.

The Easter season is approaching…a season that I love because of it’s promises. Promises of hope, forgiveness, and eternity… More reassuring comfort for us where we can find peace and joy.

I find a certain peacefulness while in my veggie garden…in the mornings while it is still cool, the birds are singing, the sun is peeping around through the trees bringing forth a new day. The dew is still lingering on the plants. Cute little green lizards are catching bugs to eat. Ladybugs are climbing high on the stems of the peas in search of the blooms. Bees are buzzing their gossip.   Life is good.

I picked my first English peas this morning…YaY! So excited!



Fresh Pick of the Day!

I then picked enough lettuce for my lunch salad. Three different types of leaves, along with some young and tender spring onions for a little zip! Going to add some roasted walnuts, cherry tomatoes and drizzle with EVOO and red wine vinegar. Paired with a turkey sandwich on Honey Wheat Berry bread; it is going to be delicious!! So rewarding to know that I planted those veggies, God nurtured them, and now we get the benefit of healthy food.

I’m working on a little project for Holly…so I cannot share it with you yet. It’s a secret…something for her new house in Jacksonville! Shhhh…don’t tell! It involves paint, wood, wire, and a ribbon. Lots of pretty bright colors.

It really feels good to hold an artist brush in my hands again! Swirling colors together, matching them together in the design…I love being creative. I can’t wait to see the finished project and see her face when I give it to her!

I'm also working on an antique mirror for a shabby look…here are the beginnings…

A large solid oak frame with beveled edge mirror…a steal for $2.98 at the thrift store in Tillman’s Corner, west of Mobile, Al.  I’m going to give it that shabby look and put some fancy hooks from Hobby Lobby where I had to fill the 4 holes on each side.

We are expecting storms tonight…I pray they be gentle and kind to us. Holly and her husband Richard experienced a rather scary tornado storm as it passed through the New Orleans area last week…you may have seen the aftermath of damages and flooding on the national news. At a friends house where they were visiting, they stood and watched black “boiling” clouds as they passed over, dumping golf ball size hail everywhere, including on Holly’s car which would have been under a parking shelter had they not been where they were. Oh the luck! 13 good sized dents not including those on the roof which were too numerous to count. They had just made the final payment on the Murano in December, paying for it in only 4 years…I was so proud of them! BUT…most importantly…they were safe and unharmed when the tornado touched near the WalMart where they shop. Thank you Lord!

Please spare us tonight from bad weather although we need the sweet rain!

Going now to put some clothes in the dryer. listen to it tumble,
and dip my brush in some paint after I eat that salad!

Pea Picking Good

Did you watch the Hallmark movie "The Lost Valentine"?  Betty White and Jennifer Love Hewitt were awesome. They drew the tears, the romance, and the love straight from the past into the present. If you missed it Sunday night be looking for the encore…it is a must see.

If this movie does not touch your heart, you are made of cold hard stone. Love at its best and I’m not speaking of Jennifer, although she was great. Sean Faris…well he added a little eye candy for every one of any age…And Betty…what can I say…she is just plain awesome in every way!

We had a beautiful weekend here in the south…temps in the seventies on Saturday…such a tease…so what did we do? Gardening. Yep…after much prep work which involved some horse poo compost, knee bending, back aching work; our end result was 80 feet of planted sweet English peas and 24 feet of sweet onions. I can’t wait to see them do their thing and reap the harvest. If you have never eaten fresh picked and shelled English peas, you are being deprived! Le Sueur has nothing on fresh!

Speaking of picking….

I have been picked! Yep me, out if thousands of bloggers in bloggerville world, to review a Gooseberry Patch cookbook. The reviews will be from their newest not-yet-released cookbooks. I get a first sneak peek at the book and get to try, play, and prepare the recipes…then I get to tell you all about it! You will be among the first to find out what’s in the book, see a prepared recipe, and find out how to get it first! So stay tuned for some fab recipes with photos, my thoughts straight from the taste buds and most of all a SPECIAL surprise. I am so excited. I have the honor and privilege of wearing this special badge on my blog...

 along with having the opportunity to test out some of the recipes before the book hits the shelves!
Stay with me and be looking for my first review coming up sometime in February… There will be something in it for you!   The excitement mounts…

BTW…tomorrow begins February, the LOVE month…ready or not!

A Sunday Walk…

~ If you are seeking creative ideas, go out walking.

Angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk.

~ Raymond Inmon

I do not want the peace which passeth understanding,

I want the understanding which bringeth peace.

~Helen Keller

~ Only those who have the patience to do simple things perfectly

will acquire the skill to do difficult things easily.

 ~ Johann Friedrich Von Schiller

~ It is important to expect nothing, to take every experience,

including the negative ones, as merely steps on the path, and to proceed.

~ Ram Dass

~ Fear is not your enemy. It is a compass pointing
you to the areas where you need to grow.
~ Steve Pavlina

~ Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it.
 ~ Bill Cosby


Enjoy your week!

 

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Mine is growing and giving me some veggies. I’ve had the pleasure of picking my first English peas…so sweet and tender; and heads of beautiful green broccoli. I love it! The horse poo has paid off.

~ The best place to seek God is in a garden. You can dig for Him there~

George Bernard Shaw

I am most at home in my garden where it doesn’t matter if I wear make-up, my clothes don’t match, or that my shoes are dirty. The birds sing to me, the butterflies flutter by in their beauty, and a cool breeze flows by. Swoon~

Throw on you rubbers and take a walk with me through my garden…

Rows of tall green plants full of blooms and tiny pods of sweet peas…

Huge leafy broccoli plants with flowery heads begging to be cut...

Lined up green tops of onions growing and reaching toward the sky…

Bushy leaves on the bed where the potatoes sleep…

Tiny little plants growing up to make some okra…

Huge leaves connect each of the squash plants as they build a canopy for big bright yellow flowers which reveal little baby veggies…

Cucumbers trying their best to reach the fence to trellis on…

and bell pepper plants getting a fresh start, along with

some new tomato plants which I have already caged.

Along the edges are some mixed wild flowers growing

from their youth with petunias and daisies all around.

~ The best way to garden is to put on a wide-brimmed straw hat and

some old clothes. And with a hoe in one hand

and a cold drink in the other, tell someone else where to dig.

~ Texas Bix Bender

LaughOutLoudCute!

I get pleasure from my garden where I feel the sun’s warmth,

I get to dig in the dirt with my hands, and I get the delight of reaping my rewards.

I am at home in my growing space.

Mary, Mary, quite contrary,

How does your garden grow?

With silver bells, and cockle shells,

And pretty maids all in a row

When I don my yellow rubber ladybug shoes, with gloves on and tools in hand, I begin to cultivate my love of gardening. And when I tire and need a sit-down; the “pink” chair is my resting tool. Yes it is pink! Jackie even sits in it for a while! So…what’s on the menu for supper…baked ham, homemade mashed potatoes, fresh English peas, and sweet tea. Grab a fork and come eat with me!

~ Gardening is the art that uses flowers and plants as paint,

and the soil and sky as canvas.

~ Elizabeth Murray

Go dig in the garden and bury all your troubles…you will find peace there.

How does your garden grow?

              

My word for 2010-Experience

I’ve experienced growing things.

Peter Henderson Seeds and Mary Mary graphics found in Google search.

Not Tonight Honey

What a beautiful and wonderful Easter weekend!! God is good, life is good, and all is good. We are blessed beyond measure and cannot even begin to imagine the sacrifices that Christ made for us…just for us…me and you!

Our weekend was spent with joy and lots of good eating…Holly and Richard were home from New Orleans with us. After spending a couple of hours with us on Friday afternoon, they had dinner with Richard’s parents…a feast from what I was told! Then to bed at our house late and up early Saturday morning with Jackie and Richard off on the hunt for wild turkey…not the kind in the bottle either; and Holly and I off to the vet’s office for annual shots for the troops.

*vet prices are so much cheaper here in Alabama than in NOLA*.

Jackie called up a big gobbler sniffing out some hens, for Richard. They watched him strut his stuff and parade for the ladies…but he never came within shooting range, but a show he did perform! We met them later for breakfast, ran some errands and returned home to prepare lunch. I had made one of my faves, "Slap Yo Mama Italian Bake" It’s so good you will want to slap someone! :)  A combination of ground beef, pepperoni, Italian sausage, spaghetti sauce, three pastas, and three cheeses…baked together in one dish served with garlic cheese bread and a green salad.

Do I hear a "YuM YuM"?

That night, like we ever got hungry after the lunch feast, we had all this:

Fresh gulf shrimp and oysters fried in Louisiana Shrimp fry batter, baked sweet potato fries, homemade cole slaw, hush puppies and grilled Alligator Sausage home grown and made in…you guessed it…Louisiana. Supper was finished off with my homemade

De Lime and De Coconut Cheesecake! Can you say "Oh My"?

Easter morning my kitchen swirled with the smell of cinnamon, bacon and caramel. Homemade cinnamon rolls with pecans and cream cheese icing, turkey bacon, scrambled eggs and Crème Caramel coffee from World Market.

Another "Oh my"! for all these great

taste-bud-pleasing and breath-taking smells!

After a beautiful morning of worship, observance of the Lord’s Supper and singing Easter praises, we went out to eat some good ole Mexican food!………

Now can you say "Pepto Bismol" and "Rolaids"?

I do NOT need to eat anything for another week!

Did I cook last night?...NO

Will I cook tonight?...NO, not tonight honey!

Maybe I will later in the week… *winking*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My English peas are in full bloom and I have a head of broccoli the size of a quarter!! I love going out into my garden early with the morning sun shining and the coolness from the night. My flower seeds are bursting up through the ground and I planted some petunias in a pot hanging from a whimsical sign that says… "Maters". This is my place where I see my rewards unfolding before me…slowly but surly.

 I love it!

Thank you for letting me share my weekend with you. I hope yours was as equally good, blessed, and inspirational. I know mine was!

My loves and their pets made it back to New Orleans safely with God as their pilot!

                When I say that 'I am a Christian', I am not shouting that 'I am clean living.I'm whispering 'I was lost, but now I'm found and forgiven.'

*********

For those of you who asked about the cupcake holders in my last post:

they are Wilton silicone bakers, found at WalMart 12 for $9.99!!