tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57248792591452156592024-03-06T00:18:03.333-08:00Practical HerbologyMariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435569432089129564noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724879259145215659.post-91602888382601221092014-06-17T17:59:00.000-07:002014-06-17T17:59:00.488-07:00Making books<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I've finally made the tutorial on how I make altered books or faux Midori notebooks. You can find the video <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WiigYiyPAU" target="_blank">here</a><br />
Here are a few more pictures of the books which, hopefully will help since sometimes I was not in frame. I was in a hurry to put the video up... so it is not very good. Hopefully you'll still get something out of it :). Let me know if you have any questions!<br />
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Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435569432089129564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724879259145215659.post-81825436158724533102011-03-07T15:55:00.000-08:002014-02-26T17:57:19.835-08:00A Bit Of This And A Bit Of That.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I have an aversion to going to the grocery store. I don't know why. I have no problems getting up on Saturday morning to go to the farmer's market. I have no problem planting peas in the rain because I want to eat peas. But going to the grocery store is like pulling teeth. Thankfully my husband took that job and on top of that he takes the toddler with him EVERY TIME which is just lovely. However, sometimes he is not there and I HAVE TO bake just this minute or I need eggs and it's January and the hens are not laying and the supermarket's eggs are gross anyway.<br />I don't have a lot of substitutions that I have actually tried but these I use all the time:<br /><br /><u>Eggs:</u> replace with 1/2 cup of pear or apple sauce for every egg. I make The Simple Cake without eggs now: it makes it moist and slightly dense but light at the same time. In short it's good. I replace some of the eggs in a lot of recipes now and it works great every time.<br /><br /><u>Almond Meal:</u> sliced almonds in the food processor with a bit of flour (otherwise you get glue)<br /><br /><u>Buttermilk:</u> if you want it right now mix 2 1/2 cups milk and the juice of 1 lemon. Microwave in 30 seconds increments until thickened.<br /> If you have 24 hours and want to make more buttermilk than what you have: put 1 cup buttermilk in a quart jar, fill with milk, screw on the lid and shake to mix . Let rest for 24 hours in a warm spot. It will keep for weeks in the fridge.<br /><br /><u>Self-rising flour:</u> mix 1 tsp baking powder for every cup of flour.<br /><br />Also, while I think that whole milk, cream, butter and animal fat are important for good health, sugar and grains are less so. I have gradually reduced the amount of sugar in what I bake. You can easily remove 1/4 cup sugar and nobody will notice (I remove more than that) and you can replace one cup of regular flour with a cup of whole wheat flour without problems ( if there are several cups of flour in the recipe).<br /><br />For a very complete list of substitutions try the <a href="http://www.joyofbaking.com/IngredientSubstitution.html">Joy of Baking</a> page.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijslXDOT68Q0jEZA08Od_xWJ6uA5tocA6_tRVzHmqFxlpMWqf14UFb_GsnH7sm3Mah323H7aVALO_-ibe7Va41FvkbNU8H_oVYCV4tqT81ZA-KT1oPQwm2kVnQwifhi0PQlxZVEnpG3iup/s1600/October+2010+153.JPG+Halloween+2010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijslXDOT68Q0jEZA08Od_xWJ6uA5tocA6_tRVzHmqFxlpMWqf14UFb_GsnH7sm3Mah323H7aVALO_-ibe7Va41FvkbNU8H_oVYCV4tqT81ZA-KT1oPQwm2kVnQwifhi0PQlxZVEnpG3iup/s640/October+2010+153.JPG+Halloween+2010.jpg" width="396" /></a></div> <i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Halloween 2010. Good thing I have a witch/fairy/pirate</span></i>.<br /><br />Now you can go mix some magic potions. For my part, I'm going to attempt a new kind of potion today: a face cream.<br /><br /><br /></div>Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435569432089129564noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724879259145215659.post-30896893568233031852011-03-06T13:44:00.000-08:002014-02-26T17:57:19.841-08:00Strawberries, Apples and Menus.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVSsoMZgKlM1NNLhb_NnQIgRDJPGjo3VrOIiJHXjDWZgRgf8tiYlaCnKsxx6TzF-qPgk4KT92CrXOM1nwI2hhu_kRVSPwNGsfkhiWCKlF0w59u5Y6Lqih-5-Jus7bB_Ah4occoi5IcjGMN/s1600/February+2011+Birthday+Cake..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVSsoMZgKlM1NNLhb_NnQIgRDJPGjo3VrOIiJHXjDWZgRgf8tiYlaCnKsxx6TzF-qPgk4KT92CrXOM1nwI2hhu_kRVSPwNGsfkhiWCKlF0w59u5Y6Lqih-5-Jus7bB_Ah4occoi5IcjGMN/s640/February+2011+Birthday+Cake..jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Birthday Cake.</i></span><br /><br /> There have been a lot of cakes made around these parts lately. Two birthdays, lots of rainy days and well, you know, it's winter. What could possibly be better for the soul on a cold day than coffee or hot chocolate than cake.<br />I know: whipped cream.<br />But I digress.<br />Although whipped cream would go very nicely with cakes AND a hot chocolate so everybody wins.<br />Ok, ok. So, the birthday cake was very very simple: a sponge cake, a syrup so that the cake was moist, whipped cream and strawberries.<br /><br /> <span style="color: red;"> <b><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Sponge Cake</u></span></b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">3/4 cup all-purpose flour</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">4 large eggs at room temperature</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">3/4 cup sugar</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">1/2 tsp almond extract or vanilla extract or orange flower water or anise extract... you get the drift...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 9 inch cake pan with parchment paper. Butter and flour the paper and sides of pan.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Sift the flour (I almost never sift flour but in the case of a sponge cake I do it because there is no baking powder in this cake and the air in the flour will help keep the cake light ).</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Whisk together the egg yolks and 1/2 cup of sugar until they are light in color and thick. Mix the extract of your choosing.</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Whip the egg whites until they form soft peaks then add the sugar and keep whisking until the whites are stiff and glossy. Fold a third of the egg whites into the sugar-egg yolks mixture, fold half of the flour, fold another third of egg whites then the rest of the flour. Then what is left of the egg whites until the batter is smooth but don't overdo it.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Bake for 20-30 mns until a toothpick comes out clean. As soon as you get the cake out of the oven run a knife around the edges inside the pan. Put a wire rack on top of the pan, invert and peel off the parchment paper.</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Let cool completely and cut in half. With a brush soak both halves of the cake with a syrup:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">1/3 cup sugar</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">1/3 cup water</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Juice of 1/2 a lemon </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">1 tsp of almond extract or whichever extract you choose</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Over high heat bring water and sugar to a boil. When sugar is dissolved remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and extract. Let cool.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Make whipped cream with a bit of sugar. Put some in the middle with pieces of strawberries mixed in. Decorate the cake with whipped cream and strawberries.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">By the way it looks a lot more lengthy on paper than it was to actually make. I think it took 30-45 mns of putting together the ingredients and decorating the cake at the most.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">And now, another very very old cake recipe from France. It's always easy to spot an old-fashioned recipe: there is absolutely no restraint in the amount of butter and sugar used. I love to bake and I have made an extraordinarily high number of cakes in my life and I'm a chocoholic.... and yet, I think this cake is my favorite. It has a thin crust of butter and sugar on top and the inside is moist, the apples melt away in your mouth and there are little pockets of gooyness on the sides. </span><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA-J1Bdlsa1-lhq18E1lBhGIFX_sNrAFRh2DdnXntMlFkSwjif5NhRORpuXURnq-fO98gboYpkROlrycCvwn29eSaLfvb2ZQVd8a7xGJG5fofDj5s33_ooZodSEHfgGOgDiAx0ldToRAdo/s1600/Feb+2011%252C+Apple+Cake..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA-J1Bdlsa1-lhq18E1lBhGIFX_sNrAFRh2DdnXntMlFkSwjif5NhRORpuXURnq-fO98gboYpkROlrycCvwn29eSaLfvb2ZQVd8a7xGJG5fofDj5s33_ooZodSEHfgGOgDiAx0ldToRAdo/s640/Feb+2011%252C+Apple+Cake..jpg" width="640" /></a><br /> <i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Apple Cake.</span></i><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"> With old recipes the proportions are not very exact on top of me translating from old French but I did my best.</span><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></i><br /><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></i><br /><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></i><i><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"> </span></span></b></i><i><b><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Apple Cake</u> </span></span></b></i><i><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></i><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">1st part:</span><br /><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">10 heaping tbsps of flour </span><span style="font-size: small;">(I'm talking about the regular soup spoons used for eating. And Frenh soup spoons are bigger than american ones so really go for plenty of heaping. I'm not sure this sentence is gramatically correct.)</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> 8 tbsps of sugar, not level but not heaping either ( I did warn you about about this recipe right?) </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> 6 tbsps of milk</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> 4 tbsps of oil</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> 2 eggs</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> 3 tsp of baking powder ( mostly level... yes I know)</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> 3 or 4 apples</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">2nd part:</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> 1 stick of butter</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> 1 cup of sugar</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> 1 tsp vanilla extract</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> 2 eggs</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Preheat oven to 375F and butter and flour a round cake pan. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Whisk together the flour, sugar, milk oil and eggs until smooth. Pour in the pan and put apple slices all over the surface. Cook in the oven for 20 mns, it should just be starting to color.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">In the meantime melt the butter and sugar in a saucepan. When everything is well melted remove from heat and let cool a few minutes. Whisk in the eggs. Pour on the cake after the 20 mns have passed and cook for another 20 to 25 mns until nicely golden.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">All right, that was a long post. I'm going to make a separate post today on how to substitute eggs, buttermilk etc...when baking. I think it would be easier to find later that way. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435569432089129564noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724879259145215659.post-13300128480727497152011-03-04T20:04:00.000-08:002014-02-26T17:57:19.847-08:00Ooops.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I think we forgot to wish you a happy March!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVGeXELGDTzHzFGA8EsJn157Zd0ynnq5stajOoA12DtXHQvFvsKW1WwEkCyhWHSML-HZBoHbxLKxAc3v-i-rdkneCoFxaJ9xwtfC5DgyY5naSk-HNzZSdWkX1QlSZ9ohc9S2QzWxtIwnK5/s1600/March+2011%252C+Selena..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVGeXELGDTzHzFGA8EsJn157Zd0ynnq5stajOoA12DtXHQvFvsKW1WwEkCyhWHSML-HZBoHbxLKxAc3v-i-rdkneCoFxaJ9xwtfC5DgyY5naSk-HNzZSdWkX1QlSZ9ohc9S2QzWxtIwnK5/s640/March+2011%252C+Selena..jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDdUNVyXEPehXPmxiuTuJ9eiyvlxlLzh68YcvqQXOGOM7EfYJnfniz-V0Fqu8DAw4TFVPYHq5M6HyWTLxA4Hcp14STWUcjOvbmosQqqePmVCWG5-pZVn-nttyh1K28sA_bSt9G6yXfyiBz/s1600/March+2011%252C+Selena+in+the+garden..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDdUNVyXEPehXPmxiuTuJ9eiyvlxlLzh68YcvqQXOGOM7EfYJnfniz-V0Fqu8DAw4TFVPYHq5M6HyWTLxA4Hcp14STWUcjOvbmosQqqePmVCWG5-pZVn-nttyh1K28sA_bSt9G6yXfyiBz/s640/March+2011%252C+Selena+in+the+garden..jpg" width="424" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIaoVUs7uuZ1FNj-prgFHUN7Y9raxgQIKDvl704TqLnYpJ4j4lIGqlQWNuJdFeekWKKikFH0f3JxqUPfIc7Lslf4ugjCoRLsNHQW3_p0jPBvtktKrWkoVm4aaqS-jX855Lz6Er1Npbp3Ix/s1600/March+2011%252C+Selena+In+The+Vegetable+Garden..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIaoVUs7uuZ1FNj-prgFHUN7Y9raxgQIKDvl704TqLnYpJ4j4lIGqlQWNuJdFeekWKKikFH0f3JxqUPfIc7Lslf4ugjCoRLsNHQW3_p0jPBvtktKrWkoVm4aaqS-jX855Lz6Er1Npbp3Ix/s640/March+2011%252C+Selena+In+The+Vegetable+Garden..jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1si1s9ejz7-QK_LDdohEnVa0qqjjLx3Sgvpk3MXaKWmWjeDQgRC-c6_IDAM_u8v8614FpaZJrGEmlFacT83r__V6ZbiZgw-9AhyphenhyphenonYPzeh8f9MbzXOqtDwefTbRQmPO7fRL5jL29mjRXd/s1600/March+2011%252C+Selena+and+Spring+Flowers..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1si1s9ejz7-QK_LDdohEnVa0qqjjLx3Sgvpk3MXaKWmWjeDQgRC-c6_IDAM_u8v8614FpaZJrGEmlFacT83r__V6ZbiZgw-9AhyphenhyphenonYPzeh8f9MbzXOqtDwefTbRQmPO7fRL5jL29mjRXd/s640/March+2011%252C+Selena+and+Spring+Flowers..jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br />I know, I'm shamelessly giving you pictures of flowers and a toddler instead of the post I promised on cakes and ingredients substitution when baking. But you see, only 20 mns into the nap there was a diaper leak and a very cranky toddler. So we spent the entire day outside. Surely she should take a big nap tomorrow. You know, to catch up?<br />Right. Tomorrow then.<br /><br /></div>Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435569432089129564noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724879259145215659.post-73143614945908678352011-03-03T01:00:00.000-08:002014-02-26T17:57:19.852-08:00Cakes Are On My Mind.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Bad weather and a toddler can make for a very long day especially when you are a one car household and... today you don't have the car. On most of those days we bake. It's always fun and nobody is going to complain about the end result! I was going to post the recipes for 2 more cakes and tricks on how to replace some ingredients when baking today but time is running away from me so that will be for tomorrow.<br />Back to today's cake.<br />This is a very easy old French recipe. It's actually at least a century old and I bet a lot more than that. Since my entire family still makes it that should say something. It has been the first birthday cake for all my children, even for my third who was sensitive to dairy and soy. I modify the recipe depending on what I have at home. You do not use measuring cups or spoons for it. Just use a regular glass ( mine holds 1 1/4 cup ). You can use a smaller or bigger glass, the only thing that will change is the cooking time. Be careful, if you go too big the edges and top of your cake will brown too quickly and the inside won't be cooked. Split it into 2 baking dishes instead.<br /><br />Here is the original recipe:<br /> <br /> <u><i><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #741b47;">The Simple Cake</span></span></b></i></u><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #741b47;"></span></span><u><br /></u>Preheat the oven to 375 F<br /><br />Mix 2 and a half glasses of flour<br />1 and a half glasses of sugar<br />3 tsp of baking powder<br />a pinch of salt<br /> Make a well and pour in the center:<br />1/4 glass of oil (I use olive oil ) and 3/4 glass of milk<br />2 eggs<br />2 tbsps of vanilla sugar, 1 tsp of vanilla extract or 1 tbsp of orange flower water (my favorite)<br /><br />Here are some of the variations I have done:<br /><br />Replace 1 glass of flour with 1 glass of almond meal<br />Replace the milk with hazelnut or oat milk<br />Replace the orange flower water with anise or almond extract<br />Add berries or fruit to the dough<br />Add a large handful of sliced almonds<br />Add 2 large handfuls of chocolate chips<br /><br /><br />Bake in the oven for 40 mns or until a knife in the middle comes out clean.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF4LwfAxVVijNjjRJQW5EJZ_Zvh_fMLOoXTDu5lPYdCDLMxc3dfgqWZ-vUi4PoS3aExDpVgHu51TuxhBlDpNANNvF5rAA2rrg0QgsuSmIPxoVF4-6jSDfHluqw5maeygtYL7REBcTHfKx7/s1600/March+2010+Simple+Cake..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF4LwfAxVVijNjjRJQW5EJZ_Zvh_fMLOoXTDu5lPYdCDLMxc3dfgqWZ-vUi4PoS3aExDpVgHu51TuxhBlDpNANNvF5rAA2rrg0QgsuSmIPxoVF4-6jSDfHluqw5maeygtYL7REBcTHfKx7/s640/March+2010+Simple+Cake..jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> </i></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The Simple Cake.</i></span><br /><br />Join Rhonda at <a href="http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/">Down to Earth </a>and post what is on your mind too.<br /><br /></div>Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435569432089129564noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724879259145215659.post-55811616462741419042011-02-28T13:00:00.000-08:002014-02-26T17:57:19.857-08:00Storms, Woodchips and Blossoms.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Our bad weather continued: hail, high winds and sheets of water. Very exciting. And even more exciting a forecast of snow for last Friday night. Sadly, by then, the storms had passed and we had a hard freeze but no snow. I had very disappointed children on my hands. Snow in sacramento... what is the world coming to?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPqSvjj5PDWa_frIj5feKkAf03Q1v4XD_koXTnam4Ik2xETm0nZ3TdqB_P2KNzuOuhMDcP9N-vvNfNw5wSifBw7zye9pD3P0BEkzpQH5UPsVt1uerkfQA2TvFuM8EkHkRPqc47IbijHlJg/s1600/Feb+2011%252C+View+From+My+Office..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPqSvjj5PDWa_frIj5feKkAf03Q1v4XD_koXTnam4Ik2xETm0nZ3TdqB_P2KNzuOuhMDcP9N-vvNfNw5wSifBw7zye9pD3P0BEkzpQH5UPsVt1uerkfQA2TvFuM8EkHkRPqc47IbijHlJg/s640/Feb+2011%252C+View+From+My+Office..jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>The View From My Office.</em></span><br /><br />The hard freeze though... we have those regularly and it is a big threat to farmers in the valley. Almond trees are very sensitive to frost and so are plum trees. Unfortunately, our plum tree was in full bloom when the cold weather hit. Hopefully we will still get a few plums. Usually we harvest more than 40 lbs of plums so it would be a great loss.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi549cf7MXWgUCffR2DhPzEiyqG8Q8kLnRp8LmfWtiOyRRp1vxx-7KqO1dW6n0yOTc7zxJeH68K-1TVwpwPYQEyXwh6bDhyphenhyphen5_6M7dytSAJFG0V3y1cmV05HAWGJOzWw3NuHv5fhXR89Ftoq/s1600/Feb+2011%252C+Plum+Blossoms+In+The+Storm+3..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi549cf7MXWgUCffR2DhPzEiyqG8Q8kLnRp8LmfWtiOyRRp1vxx-7KqO1dW6n0yOTc7zxJeH68K-1TVwpwPYQEyXwh6bDhyphenhyphen5_6M7dytSAJFG0V3y1cmV05HAWGJOzWw3NuHv5fhXR89Ftoq/s640/Feb+2011%252C+Plum+Blossoms+In+The+Storm+3..jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>Plum Blossoms.</em></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi35Z_6o-Zrrf_pouBBbFaN_AqOao1dvzVBn6phUvwNh0sRSYxxcrxpfvhmLoSTML0j4HFOyPuXZ5dnPjdKLbE5Af1q_4sU-_DfIQSGXFg-A6YByAx3fsf2rEFJogJW5Aa-EA2_bODkRj9n/s640/Feb+2011%252C+Plum+Blossoms+In+The+Storm..jpg" width="640" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>Plum Blossoms</em></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Luckily most of the apricot blossoms were still shut tight. Last year was not good for apricots, maybe this year I can make apricot jam again.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5aMTQc8yayYL0wzA0fKkMvvvaqMGKUU47G16BEb8nFAUzN7bB0-PK-LcyHPmMPIuARmz8qbWqMjGWxpZaSMpfPXuujIVoASXQtwwjJ4Arogpzb8c_V8QsK5ZprnxAIny6iLiPJtlsaHfa/s1600/Feb+2011%252C+Apricot+Blossoms.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5aMTQc8yayYL0wzA0fKkMvvvaqMGKUU47G16BEb8nFAUzN7bB0-PK-LcyHPmMPIuARmz8qbWqMjGWxpZaSMpfPXuujIVoASXQtwwjJ4Arogpzb8c_V8QsK5ZprnxAIny6iLiPJtlsaHfa/s640/Feb+2011%252C+Apricot+Blossoms.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>Apricot Blossoms.</em></span><br /><br />It was most definitely not hammock weather.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUi-WzQRmurvbpgyakyiQGo4QRgrnkC59TuFtZQfHgJuHkZphfqlbcpITNgSHkKUxMbOhvXbFIJ1jTspts3JxbQftAHiprkGS22lqy_z1_xxj2hXoLSIzShSByznjYW26BL7zZv_Xl5ee0/s1600/Feb+2011%252C+Not+Hammock+Time..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="502" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUi-WzQRmurvbpgyakyiQGo4QRgrnkC59TuFtZQfHgJuHkZphfqlbcpITNgSHkKUxMbOhvXbFIJ1jTspts3JxbQftAHiprkGS22lqy_z1_xxj2hXoLSIzShSByznjYW26BL7zZv_Xl5ee0/s640/Feb+2011%252C+Not+Hammock+Time..jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>The Hammock Over The Swamp.</em></span><br /><br />And the yard was a swamp so nothing got done in the garden.<br />Well, almost nothing... Mark put wheelbarrows full of wood chips on the new-future-vegetable garden and the chickens went to work: in 2 days they had spread all the wood chips around.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD11TwSDvnagEGgLtCcAd4wvJq_n4IlOps7DggUF5Yiwy3VkocwY90jHZB_hwRW9VktJQRxU9nPTnavL-1ua4iUPo21xQFcShcZniEE-qvwecOs3zN02045lj8nI144UXVsha4M61xUDDx/s1600/Feb+2011%252C+Chickens+Spreading+Wood+Chips..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD11TwSDvnagEGgLtCcAd4wvJq_n4IlOps7DggUF5Yiwy3VkocwY90jHZB_hwRW9VktJQRxU9nPTnavL-1ua4iUPo21xQFcShcZniEE-qvwecOs3zN02045lj8nI144UXVsha4M61xUDDx/s640/Feb+2011%252C+Chickens+Spreading+Wood+Chips..jpg" width="476" /></a></div><br /><br />I love team work.<br /><br /></div>Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435569432089129564noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724879259145215659.post-78174457079904139022011-02-23T11:01:00.000-08:002014-02-26T17:57:19.862-08:00Clean, Clean, Clean.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Do you like cleaning? I don't but that's an improvement over hating it which I did before I made my own cleaning products. Commercial cleaning products made me feel ill and I was not too impressed with their effectiveness and their cost. Especially since i didn't want to use anything harsh or bad for the earth if I could avoid it.<br />I tried many different formulas over 2 years and these are the one I have chosen and used for over a year now. I'm thrilled with them: they don't smell bad, have no fumes that make me fell sick, cost very little to make and best of all they work extremely well.<br /><br /><u><em><span style="color: #990000;">Laundry Powder:</span></em></u><br />Grate one bar of soap (any soap will work, it truly doesn't matter in my experience)<br />Add one cup of Washing Soda ( if you can't find it, ask your store to order it for you)<br />And one cup of Borax (in the laundry aisle).<br />Mix well.<br /><br />I use 1 1/2 tbsp for a big load, if it is a very dirty load I use 2 tbsp. It works better than any laundry detergent I've tried before and honestly I think I've tried most of them.<br /><br /><span style="color: #990000;"><em><u>Glass Cleaner:</u></em></span><br />Fill a spray bottle with Club Soda. Mmmm, that's about it. Spray, wipe. It works so much better than the stuff from the store, you have to see it to believe it.<br /><br /><em><u><span style="color: #990000;">All-purpose Cleaner: </span></u></em><br />In a 16oz spray bottle put 2 tbsp white distilled vinegar with 1 tsp borax fill most of the bottle with very hot water. Shake until the borax is dissolved. Add 1/4 cup liquid soap and 15 drops of essential oil ( I use Lavender which is a bactericide but tea tree oil is also good by preventing mold and mildew). Shake a bit. Spray and wipe.<br />This recipe comes from this book:<br /><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=lauriennsblog-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0671535951&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe>I love the recipes. Everything I've tried worked out beautifully and it is full of tips.<br /><br /><br />And you, do you have favorite recipes you use for cleaning?<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I know the picture has nothing to do with the post but the flowers remind me of fresh and clean laundry.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNcmJ_dYkwWhDygfUpT1DzNFY_S5pQQ54XJeNOUYebR6E802bVY0rIIQcatrXJFlrq7akTE16P5zBDLKAyZRxhQ1nR5dii5To3AAzrOZ_2uOcehuQl2Kwe0Z6CpnMBlvQbo1_e6l0dsSyj/s1600/February+2011+Chinese+Cabbage+Flowers..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNcmJ_dYkwWhDygfUpT1DzNFY_S5pQQ54XJeNOUYebR6E802bVY0rIIQcatrXJFlrq7akTE16P5zBDLKAyZRxhQ1nR5dii5To3AAzrOZ_2uOcehuQl2Kwe0Z6CpnMBlvQbo1_e6l0dsSyj/s640/February+2011+Chinese+Cabbage+Flowers..jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>Chinese Cabbage Flowers After The Rain.</em></span><br /><br /><br /></div>Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435569432089129564noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724879259145215659.post-4214439105756434802011-02-21T15:57:00.000-08:002014-02-26T17:57:19.867-08:00Tires, Birds and Batteries.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">On Sunday was <a href="http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/">The Great Backyard Birdcount</a> so we decided to go to <a href="http://www.cosumnes.org/">The Cosumnes River Preserve</a> like we did last year. It is an area of marshlands and you are garanteed to see thousands of birds of hundreds of different species. We saw a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Eagle">Golden Eagle</a> once but at this time of the year the area is famous for the gathering of the beautiful and graceful <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandhill_Crane">Sandhill Cranes</a>.<br />And so we left. Later that was intended but we left. As we were driving I was getting quite excited. We had had a lot of stormy weather in the past week and the skies were spectacular especially since we were getting close to sunset. We were 5 miles away when we got a flat tire. Fun, I tell you. Thankfully, my husband knows how to change a tire in 15 mns flat and it gave me time to take this:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfcAsVyVRKfuJ78Uumr5hy_hv_puI6qjyz-PlMl2e9tMoU4-c8nplAAhDAuoGKVPZa8muej1uN_7V2SZBuxTnHZY9uq9caJ4Y_1l4bx_fOpQD6_OcUV755ArtluNOSUZLnykoJL0-k5teq/s1600/February+2011+Flat+Tire..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfcAsVyVRKfuJ78Uumr5hy_hv_puI6qjyz-PlMl2e9tMoU4-c8nplAAhDAuoGKVPZa8muej1uN_7V2SZBuxTnHZY9uq9caJ4Y_1l4bx_fOpQD6_OcUV755ArtluNOSUZLnykoJL0-k5teq/s640/February+2011+Flat+Tire..jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Flat Tire.</span></em><br /><br />So, after that little interlude, we continued on and arrived to the river just in time for all of this.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ei8GLe0k9d50ZMwSEvltI3PwzOAAFesSOiIBrMEjz_zxz0LpyS8jikzloTWkxvUl8eno_3I3O67n9GObBlQlHrdEqw6qacb1w8G0lI0FdglyehrT0kNRDnSSRjO0LzwhuW4DZw7EXG58/s1600/February+2011+Selena+At+The+Cosumnes+Bird+Preserve..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ei8GLe0k9d50ZMwSEvltI3PwzOAAFesSOiIBrMEjz_zxz0LpyS8jikzloTWkxvUl8eno_3I3O67n9GObBlQlHrdEqw6qacb1w8G0lI0FdglyehrT0kNRDnSSRjO0LzwhuW4DZw7EXG58/s640/February+2011+Selena+At+The+Cosumnes+Bird+Preserve..jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW9CqFS_fle5VYsqAvfJd_GwWi2hTxSQteyZ4mdJBPUzHne40KZv7Z8T4boqpRK_BYAaAjlcVasi_J5iWcq68GJYxJaFSWdchlO44t9BH64JhgRyEV01_m1LEBMZuXnn4mtHIjg5Ar5E0P/s1600/February+2011+Evening+At+The+Cosumnes+River+Preserve..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW9CqFS_fle5VYsqAvfJd_GwWi2hTxSQteyZ4mdJBPUzHne40KZv7Z8T4boqpRK_BYAaAjlcVasi_J5iWcq68GJYxJaFSWdchlO44t9BH64JhgRyEV01_m1LEBMZuXnn4mtHIjg5Ar5E0P/s640/February+2011+Evening+At+The+Cosumnes+River+Preserve..jpg" width="424" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd5Y_Xuzi7Bea1liJG1V9WGfPcsB2AAsahjnpcd-9dQjhh3VSAQU1ra36AcvQTVR0foCnEiA8KtF7ohF1GHEEnQXxf6DF2NKkw9h0OiRhpzyf6hhmbOvtliq6ZwULSy8EdsrMZkTemd0lL/s1600/February+2011+Stormy+Skies+At+The+Cosumnes+River+Preserve..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd5Y_Xuzi7Bea1liJG1V9WGfPcsB2AAsahjnpcd-9dQjhh3VSAQU1ra36AcvQTVR0foCnEiA8KtF7ohF1GHEEnQXxf6DF2NKkw9h0OiRhpzyf6hhmbOvtliq6ZwULSy8EdsrMZkTemd0lL/s640/February+2011+Stormy+Skies+At+The+Cosumnes+River+Preserve..jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTi3AFmZ5qHhDqtTSfEsV0tgw8X_g2X4m7RwpmDkuRDwcqCWp0IypFZiOEftNLbQA9aVjgnB6znhVRPzDfMmSuWAqLL-XHAid7wUXUjkIC0-4ShzRNJ50Oj5CwzBGwVra66jx3inPEVV1M/s1600/February+2011+Cosumnes+River+Preserve+2..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTi3AFmZ5qHhDqtTSfEsV0tgw8X_g2X4m7RwpmDkuRDwcqCWp0IypFZiOEftNLbQA9aVjgnB6znhVRPzDfMmSuWAqLL-XHAid7wUXUjkIC0-4ShzRNJ50Oj5CwzBGwVra66jx3inPEVV1M/s640/February+2011+Cosumnes+River+Preserve+2..jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj25A9zaU4mIXx1HuTpMpdNjDHnR0vjCsBhCs2eZKOMOczf-S9Nm2TIN92tL_EEvEElxqdw-L3EvT7xp26CQ8NOLLeEExDIQgflMuf2eTAgqCug2NBGM-Ny8MqoJ5NM2n5PYnsXLVM45wER/s1600/February+2011+Cosumnes+River+Preserve..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj25A9zaU4mIXx1HuTpMpdNjDHnR0vjCsBhCs2eZKOMOczf-S9Nm2TIN92tL_EEvEElxqdw-L3EvT7xp26CQ8NOLLeEExDIQgflMuf2eTAgqCug2NBGM-Ny8MqoJ5NM2n5PYnsXLVM45wER/s640/February+2011+Cosumnes+River+Preserve..jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmLMk2u2yI2Yyj3eOMRIRgJYtmzrMM2aakEUnIK0sVr2UdTThqs5arvuTESVcDm8ehmxOrMWKj_GnqA_pGWI0Av6bcu3HJuoeGXj5QnGZngrHRvNK31rreRya8ZvEPNGtyb9D5jUf36w35/s1600/February+2011+Sunset+Cosumnes+River+Preserve..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmLMk2u2yI2Yyj3eOMRIRgJYtmzrMM2aakEUnIK0sVr2UdTThqs5arvuTESVcDm8ehmxOrMWKj_GnqA_pGWI0Av6bcu3HJuoeGXj5QnGZngrHRvNK31rreRya8ZvEPNGtyb9D5jUf36w35/s640/February+2011+Sunset+Cosumnes+River+Preserve..jpg" width="440" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;">And it was at that point that my camera's batteries died. Yes they died. Just as the skies were turning orange and red, just as dozens after dozens of the beautiful big cranes passed over us to land gracefully in the water perfectly silhouetted in the orange skies.</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">And I won't even talk of the bunnies by the pier that the sunset illuminated just so that their ears were glowing softly.</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Nope, I won't mention it. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><em><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></em></div>Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435569432089129564noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724879259145215659.post-43172511227843896862011-02-18T12:26:00.000-08:002014-02-26T17:57:19.872-08:00Lamb's Lettuce, Rain, Sun and Hail.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">We had a whole week of sun and then 3 days of rain and to my surprise one day among the spinach, Mache (aka Lamb's Lettuce or Corn Salad) appeared. I had planted it last year when it had done moderatly well. I always let a few vegetables go to seeds. I like surprises! But I had forgotten the Mache completely.<br />That morning I thought it would make a great lunch for the next day with a few soft boiled eggs.<br />Alas, later that day we had hail several time and well, the mache was just not looking so perky anymore. Ah well. Such is the life of a gardener. Luckily some of them were protected by the spinach and we ate those. Others went to very happy chickens. And of course some will go to seed. To be reborn in late fall for another surprise meal or two.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEqvR7QmJM6XcH0enezV6hbUklJVucA8ah3CphP06-lLUCI7M2430TQ94WbOIWBSDYX6ZfKMS_argF4ff5q4XFMc-b7EpPVm3suwwePAh9cI5N65oZ4NNZIADSkP1JqFv-Yp-0Kl-NQTSk/s1600/February+2011+Mache.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEqvR7QmJM6XcH0enezV6hbUklJVucA8ah3CphP06-lLUCI7M2430TQ94WbOIWBSDYX6ZfKMS_argF4ff5q4XFMc-b7EpPVm3suwwePAh9cI5N65oZ4NNZIADSkP1JqFv-Yp-0Kl-NQTSk/s640/February+2011+Mache.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Lam</span></em><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>b's Lettuce, February 2011.</em></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Inspired by </span><a href="http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-size: small;">Down To Earth.</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em> </em></span></a></div>Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435569432089129564noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724879259145215659.post-44032771152906017172011-02-14T14:15:00.000-08:002014-02-26T17:57:19.877-08:00Whipped Cream, Love and Chicken Manure.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Just a quick note on this very busy day to wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day. I'm very lucky to have so much love surrounding me and I hope you do too. Everybody should.<br />On that note, I'm going back to shoveling chicken manure with Mark before it starts raining again. Yes, it's very romantic don't you think?<br />But this evening we get time to ourselves which is very very rare... so we'll try to make the most of it.<br /><br />I'll leave you with some whipped and love from the birthday boy and girl.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUFLchHxA_dqHwSX49NOfJhnhRcGBWPuVQa4Cdvvm7ZBymH-BnJBMYPTRfE943oJRoRZ690iFHnUrefAwSp_N7j0TX8uaFpLSM81lRRWoAnKjuvPbHH3C2AMjrMb3PkxUGRrLCclRAWbCS/s1600/February+2011+what+is+sweeter+than+whipped+cream.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUFLchHxA_dqHwSX49NOfJhnhRcGBWPuVQa4Cdvvm7ZBymH-BnJBMYPTRfE943oJRoRZ690iFHnUrefAwSp_N7j0TX8uaFpLSM81lRRWoAnKjuvPbHH3C2AMjrMb3PkxUGRrLCclRAWbCS/s640/February+2011+what+is+sweeter+than+whipped+cream.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <i><span style="font-size: x-small;">February 2011.</span></i></div>Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435569432089129564noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724879259145215659.post-61838818397018651182011-02-14T14:05:00.000-08:002014-02-26T18:00:00.953-08:00Whipped Cream, Love and Chicken Manure.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Just a quick note on this very busy day to wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day. I'm very lucky to have so much love surrounding me and I hope you do too. Everybody should.<br />On that note, I'm going back to shoveling chicken manure with Mark before it starts raining again. Yes, it's very romantic don't you think?<br />But this evening we get time to ourselves which is very very rare... so we'll try to make the most of it.<br /><br />I'll leave you with some whipped and love from the birthday boy and girl.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUFLchHxA_dqHwSX49NOfJhnhRcGBWPuVQa4Cdvvm7ZBymH-BnJBMYPTRfE943oJRoRZ690iFHnUrefAwSp_N7j0TX8uaFpLSM81lRRWoAnKjuvPbHH3C2AMjrMb3PkxUGRrLCclRAWbCS/s1600/February+2011+what+is+sweeter+than+whipped+cream.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUFLchHxA_dqHwSX49NOfJhnhRcGBWPuVQa4Cdvvm7ZBymH-BnJBMYPTRfE943oJRoRZ690iFHnUrefAwSp_N7j0TX8uaFpLSM81lRRWoAnKjuvPbHH3C2AMjrMb3PkxUGRrLCclRAWbCS/s640/February+2011+what+is+sweeter+than+whipped+cream.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <em><span style="font-size: x-small;">February 2011.</span></em></div>Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435569432089129564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724879259145215659.post-51766724421665821752011-02-10T15:07:00.000-08:002014-02-26T17:57:19.884-08:00And a One, and a Two!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <br /><br /><img border="0" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXohV2GNQ0B5Jmm7GagPPAOE4EH03pu-QFbax7ZoNurVJc4x1sCYy-RsY0LRmB7JYaiEqscU2NNIxeI-fXoS14EIN5lY3EztxpWth7TmHpcgJz3BoxPbnVTgYqvBT9pfGLuNrKKsbmC96g/s640/February+2011+2+ans%2521.jpg" width="640" /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">2 years old!</span></i><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Inspired</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> </i></span><span style="font-size: small;">by </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> </i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/">Down to Earth.</a></span></div>Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435569432089129564noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724879259145215659.post-29690476107614875142011-02-08T20:11:00.000-08:002014-02-26T17:57:19.950-08:00Flu And Parties.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Well, I'm going to go offline for 2 or 3 days: too many sick people to take care of including myself. I'll <strike>knit</strike>, shuttle kids to and from school, and <strike>take naps</strike>, cook healthy meals, and <strike>lounge in a bath</strike>, plan and shop for birthday parties, <strike>sleep in late,</strike> and clean the house so that peope don't get scared when they come for the aforementioned parties.<br />I hope that all of you who were sick are better and thank you for all your well wishes in the previous post :) </div>Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435569432089129564noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724879259145215659.post-76989560593218583012011-02-07T17:34:00.000-08:002014-02-26T17:57:20.012-08:00Busy But No Bees?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">We have had lovely busy days around here. Spring decided to come early it seems. With temperatures in the 65-70F range and beautiful sunny days nature around us is literally exploding. I've been outside from sun up to sun down: trimming roses ( I hesitate to call what I do pruning because it sounds like I know what I'm doing and I'm not. But it works so that's ok, my roses are full of blooms by April), digging up the old strawberry patch: the plants were too old and not producing well anymore. Laying down more cardboard, manure and bone meal in the new potager. And taking care of some of the weeds because boy, they exploded too. And the mosquitoes too. A lot less fun those.<br />But that's too much talking when really we just tried to soak up as much "spring" as we could. Because of course bad weather will surely come back before May arrives. But in the meantime maybe you'd like a tour of the garden on this beautiful February days?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Z5HN-8-kjG63avX131J4ZOfV7OeK2vpucp_K3eHvVHw6CfSWStx4eS2TsftyUHXeWEaXi-twXQ2iJcPBHMXqGqx91759lxSyu6Bw6-GLZWpRstM8Z7FNtL3XbpoJxhKyQqjMLpZzwxS8/s1600/February+2011Brussels+Sprouts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Z5HN-8-kjG63avX131J4ZOfV7OeK2vpucp_K3eHvVHw6CfSWStx4eS2TsftyUHXeWEaXi-twXQ2iJcPBHMXqGqx91759lxSyu6Bw6-GLZWpRstM8Z7FNtL3XbpoJxhKyQqjMLpZzwxS8/s640/February+2011Brussels+Sprouts.jpg" width="424" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>Brussels Sprouts.</em></span><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyZD44Sm9LIjJMIMi51bUeagLsbVeBJ9g0G1I7DPgp4Gl5GZDec74L7U0SGqLPIlkZL5XlmRLC1maWOqznKU3_stVwHMakleCyEb-t_Q5JT59DpuuHBBHiNeShZo0M3pjVUUJG3ZFwLeKr/s1600/February+2011+Russian+Kale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyZD44Sm9LIjJMIMi51bUeagLsbVeBJ9g0G1I7DPgp4Gl5GZDec74L7U0SGqLPIlkZL5XlmRLC1maWOqznKU3_stVwHMakleCyEb-t_Q5JT59DpuuHBBHiNeShZo0M3pjVUUJG3ZFwLeKr/s640/February+2011+Russian+Kale.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Red Russian Kale.</span></em><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCjYvOlnWQtP1DAVBoKeDR91H9YdjEZ7XraxOqp3FvqjyrOUNTGOeLqA54SPRZUtQXR2vLg01txPexprWQC8Mu4qZzZMLE7r-yERKxJzKnnBM-mZHDeCyR2p9QFCMhviu5fJjVV1MuWTLn/s1600/February+2011+Red+Russian+Kale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCjYvOlnWQtP1DAVBoKeDR91H9YdjEZ7XraxOqp3FvqjyrOUNTGOeLqA54SPRZUtQXR2vLg01txPexprWQC8Mu4qZzZMLE7r-yERKxJzKnnBM-mZHDeCyR2p9QFCMhviu5fJjVV1MuWTLn/s640/February+2011+Red+Russian+Kale.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Red Russian Kale.</span></em><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlkluNnhGb1UOgeFPhVGc2yH48wRX_crcIOS3LrvZTiQw8Bz_RGUPpqvj0TJeNGIW4d4BXG-pGui7idg6mf8KkmUnmkPOMrkbLt2SwrHwAzdmlFhYZqsiYjc7idCCwxC9Qw1HKQWe7NM1X/s1600/February+2011+Chinese+Cabbage+Flowers..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlkluNnhGb1UOgeFPhVGc2yH48wRX_crcIOS3LrvZTiQw8Bz_RGUPpqvj0TJeNGIW4d4BXG-pGui7idg6mf8KkmUnmkPOMrkbLt2SwrHwAzdmlFhYZqsiYjc7idCCwxC9Qw1HKQWe7NM1X/s640/February+2011+Chinese+Cabbage+Flowers..jpg" width="424" /></a></div> <em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Chinese Cabbage Flowers.</span></em><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxE_LZe9i-cg3JkZVZXu3QWb3i953lFbJsk0Ushsh3IYsjdtpOhWoeVz08LTQSAeTRCLOV6_kukguDniAP2_sYl3KBB_YUraqyt8CpVhLyDM9oQaRMBN-WpfwPEfYy2ThTkShnwwtPRHae/s1600/February+2011+Calendula..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxE_LZe9i-cg3JkZVZXu3QWb3i953lFbJsk0Ushsh3IYsjdtpOhWoeVz08LTQSAeTRCLOV6_kukguDniAP2_sYl3KBB_YUraqyt8CpVhLyDM9oQaRMBN-WpfwPEfYy2ThTkShnwwtPRHae/s640/February+2011+Calendula..jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>Calendula.</em></span><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg16jZUc_o4FAS-t1Bi9ufzYcaHknLdUcFekg4rqFMWrvvBr1Pgo14iK7Me6dnK2eNIn15HbkOLaMgPRpbSxIyaAGkIxIQxrA5sF5JcBG34JlOaZkmpJpxGL2L0P6Yxk1GFfOE6nkrSrtX5/s1600/February+2011+Buds+I+n+The+Sunset..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg16jZUc_o4FAS-t1Bi9ufzYcaHknLdUcFekg4rqFMWrvvBr1Pgo14iK7Me6dnK2eNIn15HbkOLaMgPRpbSxIyaAGkIxIQxrA5sF5JcBG34JlOaZkmpJpxGL2L0P6Yxk1GFfOE6nkrSrtX5/s640/February+2011+Buds+I+n+The+Sunset..jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Buds In The Sunset.</span></em><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC5TiDIGl0CkbYrGSo13MwosiDKM9sL3ZpNWVhsEbjAp5yBZnT31BlPq9LesiDbwUp7uRspIMtCCu2nvGjIa2nasVjgdWhgF8AT-0ZD2MbmaEX9ULm4p4UGoCDNrRKoiDTXPvkozt-5gj9/s1600/February+2011+Moonlight..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC5TiDIGl0CkbYrGSo13MwosiDKM9sL3ZpNWVhsEbjAp5yBZnT31BlPq9LesiDbwUp7uRspIMtCCu2nvGjIa2nasVjgdWhgF8AT-0ZD2MbmaEX9ULm4p4UGoCDNrRKoiDTXPvkozt-5gj9/s640/February+2011+Moonlight..jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Moonlight.</span></em> <br /><br />Unfortunately, by Sunday, my eldest daughter was coming down with the flu. So I've put back on my doctor's suit for a few days and I'm making <a href="http://recipesforapracticallife.blogspot.com/2011/01/rain-flu-and-potion.html">this</a> several times a day. Hopefully nobody else will get it... we have 2 birthdays to celebrate this week... Now I need a cake plan.<br />And there is something worrisome: in spite of 3 days of these temperatures, I haven't seen any bees. None. Usually at 65-70F I see a few. I always let some plants go to seed for them so that they have food in early spring and I have a lot of them visiting on the years before... but this year nothing. </div>Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435569432089129564noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724879259145215659.post-49393293181590970952011-02-03T13:33:00.000-08:002014-02-26T17:57:20.080-08:00On My Mind.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">The sun has been out for two days... time to start seed planting! Hopefully our garden this year will be as successful as last year.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhiSuKL_fbb1zUY6hUdFv-pf-uyJdymimUD-9mZZWifoaJ1IsWrksa2eoM33_rW-9yhFb8SNwppvTEOWnPPzfcH_o9fLfhMnATuYIDamyFnLsSXVVK-140Q4lNuYx1lpMakdZc8qvXd3Fx/s1600/July+2010+057.JPG+modified.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhiSuKL_fbb1zUY6hUdFv-pf-uyJdymimUD-9mZZWifoaJ1IsWrksa2eoM33_rW-9yhFb8SNwppvTEOWnPPzfcH_o9fLfhMnATuYIDamyFnLsSXVVK-140Q4lNuYx1lpMakdZc8qvXd3Fx/s640/July+2010+057.JPG+modified.jpg" width="424" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>The garden in July 2010.</em></span></div>Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435569432089129564noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724879259145215659.post-15302304266515074992011-02-02T16:32:00.000-08:002014-02-26T17:57:20.147-08:00Of Serpents, Groundhogs and Crepes.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">And more holidays coming to brighten the dark of Winter! Well, ok, it's sunny today but you know what I mean.<br />Actually our beautiful weather today might be a sign of some serious weather ahead.<br /><br />Imbolc (on february 1st) is the day the Cailleac, the hag of Gaelic tradition, who gathers her firewood for the rest of the winter. Legend has it that if she intends to make the winter last a good while longer, she will make sure the weather on Imbolc is bright and sunny, so she can gather plenty of firewood. Therefore, people are generally relieved if Imbolc is a day of foul weather, as it means the Cailleach is asleep and winter is almost over.<br /><br />And here is a Gaelic Scottish Poem about the day:<br /> <i>Thig an nathair as an toll</i><br /><i>Là donn Brìde,</i><br /><i>Ged robh trì troighean dhen t-sneachd</i><br /><i>Air leac an là ir.</i><br /><br />"The serpent will come from the hole<br />On the brown Day of Bride,<br />Though there should be three feet of snow<br />On the flat surface of the ground."<br /><br />February 2nd is Groundhog Day in the United states. If the groundhog sees its shadow when he gets out of its burrow (therefore if the weather is sunny) it means that there will be 6 more weeks of winter. Unfortunately or fortunatly, he seems to be right only 39% of the time.<br /><br />In France it's the bear that will get out of its den to predict the weather. No words on whether he is more accurate than the groundhog however...<br /><br />But more importantly, on February 2nd is La Chandeleur in France. To celebrate the return of the light people will make <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cr%C3%AApe">crepes</a>. The roundness and color of the crepe symbolizes the sun (and its return). To bring good fortune to your family for the coming year, using your left hand, flip a crepe into the air and catch it again in the pan all the while holding a gold coin in your right hand.<br />I know that sounds a little hard. A bit. But I promise you can do it. If you don't you'll bring doom to your family.<br />No pressure.<br />Ok. What about the recipe for the crepes?<br /><br />- in between 250-300g of flour ( 1 1/4 cup )<br />- 4 eggs<br />- 1 l. milk ( 4 cups )<br /><br />Put the flour in a bowl, make a well and out in the eggs. While whisking add the milk. Whisk until the batter is smooth. As best you can anyway...Let rest for an hour or two at room temperature or in the fridge overnight. It's not absolutely necessary to let the batter rest. It just makes it thicker a bit. I have done it plenty of times without resting the batter.<br />Butter a frying pan generously and put a laddle full of batter in the center, tilting the pan to make the crepe very thin. When the underside is golden brown, flip the crepe and cook for another minute or two.<br />Keep the crepe warm under foil or in a lukewarm oven while you cook them all. the recipe should make around 25 crepes.<br />Then, at the table, you can fill them with all sorts of fillings.You can have a savory crepe (my favorite is ham, cooked mushrooms and gruyere cheese) or sugary with jam, sugar and lemon, nutella, applesauce....<br /><br />This is my family recipe. As far as I know there are as many recipes as there are families. I usually double it. It'll keep for a couple of days in the fridge and it freezes very well. It makes the best crepes in the world... naturally.<br /><br />Are there any traditions about weather or this time of the year in your region?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYMZQgJY6JpuHzGjImD1OqJFKQ3HacJ3IJjRsENJKhEgVrhYdwUEXS4uypAUUTrJP6Xxiorj3JB0LH3kBXC2MTrKAK8df12NZj-AdMOptMrI1YKl6XbwuzvjEt9Mw1F0-doRJixgLnKjUP/s640/February+2011+Plenty+of+Firewood..jpg" width="424" /></div> <i><span style="font-size: x-small;">At least we have plenty of Firewood.</span></i><br /><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Briggs2_12-0"><span></span></sup></div>Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435569432089129564noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724879259145215659.post-59580094273368982882011-01-31T16:21:00.000-08:002014-02-26T17:57:20.214-08:00Faeryland.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I did not have the intention of posting 2 posts in a row about our walks along the river but we went back on a very foggy morning and it was so beautiful, I thought I'd share.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWv4ab4kAtwyzDMQ1cpOprATdJYZN79teXavbUi71Fh1PJJx6TkXUnUxfYuL_3Be4cZuSPVpPNzOsqaDs5eh-C0i_Nm6G9d3G5YRSfijXlWcHJlsV-VQhCPNLrruRGZXLPEHUMcnI5KdA2/s1600/January+2011+A+Very+Foggy+Landscape.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWv4ab4kAtwyzDMQ1cpOprATdJYZN79teXavbUi71Fh1PJJx6TkXUnUxfYuL_3Be4cZuSPVpPNzOsqaDs5eh-C0i_Nm6G9d3G5YRSfijXlWcHJlsV-VQhCPNLrruRGZXLPEHUMcnI5KdA2/s640/January+2011+A+Very+Foggy+Landscape.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <i><span style="font-size: x-small;">January 2011.</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOD6PAPIWkgIUzWYqRiE-eVZQ9pFW3EiSlmpri01Q-K5tGiGDBG0AVcta8cb9SzlomKdXPF3-q-3Sq-T3uuYv2L25iVSIhugegalHCprVFDGJaMRmeXr0EF8f3J54jwYaRQDYUpTGVHkCt/s1600/January+2011+Over+The+Bridge.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOD6PAPIWkgIUzWYqRiE-eVZQ9pFW3EiSlmpri01Q-K5tGiGDBG0AVcta8cb9SzlomKdXPF3-q-3Sq-T3uuYv2L25iVSIhugegalHCprVFDGJaMRmeXr0EF8f3J54jwYaRQDYUpTGVHkCt/s640/January+2011+Over+The+Bridge.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Does It Go To Narnia?</i></span><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJB4i2eCPl9BVWGkxfZJArZ4RfAPc9xyzxf0AAVvBuHMVDodD_l0CnKCBokkoCiz_cUewAuO5-_VIYx9EklqSMMUIaoUDjmeM4cNvGITcKDyu4kMz8q0kJ1Y7PJQCyNfKA3CFy8B6EYz76/s1600/January+2011+Flight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJB4i2eCPl9BVWGkxfZJArZ4RfAPc9xyzxf0AAVvBuHMVDodD_l0CnKCBokkoCiz_cUewAuO5-_VIYx9EklqSMMUIaoUDjmeM4cNvGITcKDyu4kMz8q0kJ1Y7PJQCyNfKA3CFy8B6EYz76/s640/January+2011+Flight.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <i><span style="font-size: x-small;">A Turkey Vulture In Flight.</span></i><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuLbT35JiAjvHi4FJSJ7Ec6fQxih7wcGKj06xIaxyJ-cV4TrnLGASmalGQYQJzT0-Wt_wMDf17rfrwug3fnOOenCfnvHVmLLYqg84k-3_3IMvrV0QLp-p4_IPkozRJfz4AjhAn6AxbtXRF/s1600/January+2011+Flying+Geese.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuLbT35JiAjvHi4FJSJ7Ec6fQxih7wcGKj06xIaxyJ-cV4TrnLGASmalGQYQJzT0-Wt_wMDf17rfrwug3fnOOenCfnvHVmLLYqg84k-3_3IMvrV0QLp-p4_IPkozRJfz4AjhAn6AxbtXRF/s640/January+2011+Flying+Geese.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Wild </i></span><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Geese.</span></i><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOP5i19NT0PifOE4QZ3UU0TrnrmrTWBipL9XC2mQa2HgHgtEJllT9l-d59UkPsWWsw91E7EAax3Mzi5NUIJtufwR4VuGQKXIDcnNlpPWF5mgXZXD2CUkWkaPe0rSI5ctaMOFWs3Sc0RXjF/s640/January+2011+Fog+Dew.JPG" width="640" /> </div> <i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Whose Web?</span></i><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz4DLyvBU8Op2lEeszqdXFQ5XzhwWFhjmzxaXjDFg4qKZ9Ejpsjlt52iDFtbYftv5L4HrIqVI3LraXoBlt_qhwLaBw6q7cNpES2nzujjwQVLWalEl_iiMGeupUnEovxwtOZ4ztx_H8UCoF/s1600/January+2011+Fuzzy+Mushrooms.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz4DLyvBU8Op2lEeszqdXFQ5XzhwWFhjmzxaXjDFg4qKZ9Ejpsjlt52iDFtbYftv5L4HrIqVI3LraXoBlt_qhwLaBw6q7cNpES2nzujjwQVLWalEl_iiMGeupUnEovxwtOZ4ztx_H8UCoF/s640/January+2011+Fuzzy+Mushrooms.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Velvety Mushrooms.</i></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5uf9snsvEfBmyxEOwBmuYcWmoFdDruhwOAeOzCPTUq_Ouf3ovzhQL7KeODaGIk9IfX-STov_s6S64LD56myNRxnGkWYycgUtgQa1p4Jb5vKz77u2PlSEuzX3SPKp-bz6Y0JE_ms6oogq8/s1600/January+2011+Can+You+Spot+the+Squirrel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5uf9snsvEfBmyxEOwBmuYcWmoFdDruhwOAeOzCPTUq_Ouf3ovzhQL7KeODaGIk9IfX-STov_s6S64LD56myNRxnGkWYycgUtgQa1p4Jb5vKz77u2PlSEuzX3SPKp-bz6Y0JE_ms6oogq8/s640/January+2011+Can+You+Spot+the+Squirrel.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Can You Spot the Squirrel?</i></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5AWUXqoorIT9D1jPS9CYD-AQiMKceNXlS4ze-xECR4zSHHe87FJYos6jzi9tb7KD7mLAvLYIKrl5qO-AXPwII_Ku2UOzkR-i1iyQj6_i8FUP_BsS9kkcfTfDDY-FzAultXMdoKTVWCkIe/s1600/January+2011+First+Signs+Of+Spring.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5AWUXqoorIT9D1jPS9CYD-AQiMKceNXlS4ze-xECR4zSHHe87FJYos6jzi9tb7KD7mLAvLYIKrl5qO-AXPwII_Ku2UOzkR-i1iyQj6_i8FUP_BsS9kkcfTfDDY-FzAultXMdoKTVWCkIe/s640/January+2011+First+Signs+Of+Spring.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Did A Faery Waved Her Wand To Bring In Spring?</i></span><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7dOZZ_QxGjTpd74sOgWs3B7bhez8ZuBXDRhPzX64XVp7x7nzLAnkeJj-vJZEJK5GVuAjWW2oB5UxgZ8lFHVv6QT2wBhZXmjNr7JkphnAlic1HcfZMLfiz_2ZU5yqbnSzwQ3WfT9VN4Kqs/s640/January+2011+By+The+River.jpg" width="640" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Majestic Oak.</i></span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj4x2DuUq3w5q1z8Q5FinSk3iDgQldXSXzDnNjV0rlsHnS5RA27_4XkYnNdvJVykcwqEfDSz9VneqnuKGLUZBzgzkJj2CoSyj-4ONH_HQcRgSgDfiTcf2uQ78OMWw6UL9rfc6UTZoI_2I6/s1600/January+2011+Effie+Yeaw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj4x2DuUq3w5q1z8Q5FinSk3iDgQldXSXzDnNjV0rlsHnS5RA27_4XkYnNdvJVykcwqEfDSz9VneqnuKGLUZBzgzkJj2CoSyj-4ONH_HQcRgSgDfiTcf2uQ78OMWw6UL9rfc6UTZoI_2I6/s640/January+2011+Effie+Yeaw.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Surely The Faery Folk Live here.</i></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI1WtiGw6bOQdsFgJaDG4ejeARs4gSxmGMZd2oGYf_TEA86FL6OzADAf0GaeDqmnwQkvhC1QAo07uUWcF3xLXQpN4GnKCO_cwmO5BVdh8tK_B1Hg2YuY0iKCLDgdi2ecrJPism0Im5VSng/s1600/January+2011+Geese+Flight.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI1WtiGw6bOQdsFgJaDG4ejeARs4gSxmGMZd2oGYf_TEA86FL6OzADAf0GaeDqmnwQkvhC1QAo07uUWcF3xLXQpN4GnKCO_cwmO5BVdh8tK_B1Hg2YuY0iKCLDgdi2ecrJPism0Im5VSng/s640/January+2011+Geese+Flight.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Flight Of Geese.</i></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC7VhOh1r5GzLAyAKuelxsL_zIkoa3yURw_fKi0eI5IV3g8OIskrfPJ6i0IalzziqkNlhir7YZ35i29JPgnQuvyTD1gHoKCdingfbWHK9GI1vnm9w-klijRSknpu9tAN7Kv53eKdnlWL5P/s1600/January+2011+On+The+Branches.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC7VhOh1r5GzLAyAKuelxsL_zIkoa3yURw_fKi0eI5IV3g8OIskrfPJ6i0IalzziqkNlhir7YZ35i29JPgnQuvyTD1gHoKCdingfbWHK9GI1vnm9w-klijRSknpu9tAN7Kv53eKdnlWL5P/s640/January+2011+On+The+Branches.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Beautiful Lichen.</i></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilC3qvfE1uaYZTYMUrDkgbC9mLxKcviiGs9MZLRrYac02ByRTjYYMatRytLjNwY_aT3KLqP8Fud58T69CXtUl3gBAM2vvTCkQ4y3y_D19wksdmVb4dVerKxbcr2y0PyVPNpYA2sgvSaQ1b/s1600/January+2011+Silhouhettes.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilC3qvfE1uaYZTYMUrDkgbC9mLxKcviiGs9MZLRrYac02ByRTjYYMatRytLjNwY_aT3KLqP8Fud58T69CXtUl3gBAM2vvTCkQ4y3y_D19wksdmVb4dVerKxbcr2y0PyVPNpYA2sgvSaQ1b/s640/January+2011+Silhouhettes.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Silhouettes.</i></span><br /><br /> <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbxO6jFNik-5H2KJIljJabLO8j2sXEz8fVcRPs4Vs-MtwBCyq5u3JfboonhMSzlUu8qNxVD3hVBM9qmXTz8jiod2L0nZMa4BhOvhuodCPQCRMpqYIcLAhRf6FiICUg0NcdfqugEI6vo6Pk/s1600/January+2011+Startled.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbxO6jFNik-5H2KJIljJabLO8j2sXEz8fVcRPs4Vs-MtwBCyq5u3JfboonhMSzlUu8qNxVD3hVBM9qmXTz8jiod2L0nZMa4BhOvhuodCPQCRMpqYIcLAhRf6FiICUg0NcdfqugEI6vo6Pk/s640/January+2011+Startled.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Startled. </i></span> <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj142HfK_vWdzuO6DW1VdHO8ZrE5h37D6CbjeVeNvJJr3oeLnZPmdlC1EAtl9NM-neRn2mtMasiIxYufWlXKRBbFgMbnT6VicLoeBYpC2KXe5Tny9DKHBl19ifnn6wM50bV0psHGFybVARE/s640/January+2011+The+Deer+In+The+Fog.JPG" width="640" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> The Deer In The Fog.</i></span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzqGmPQBF6i_uk_aLufXSPdUTx9JTr0lbQr-Iuba_6Uj6rVXx6IBIraOFoNa4NIwdflRmg1kEshyphenhyphen8cTMLABhq6VNFbILpj4NvZiCPI9YEDRZ4xNDWC5oS9KQn7gmQH7Bh-AG632VsKB74u/s1600/January+2011+The+Meadow.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzqGmPQBF6i_uk_aLufXSPdUTx9JTr0lbQr-Iuba_6Uj6rVXx6IBIraOFoNa4NIwdflRmg1kEshyphenhyphen8cTMLABhq6VNFbILpj4NvZiCPI9YEDRZ4xNDWC5oS9KQn7gmQH7Bh-AG632VsKB74u/s640/January+2011+The+Meadow.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> The Meadow.</i></span> <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZMtPOG0jkikImqmtTZbUxmynGv5O0u4edAu79ES8KwjP0ArPL0ioOZGpn2zR3w6D-HCr2UFWDmqZ-eUvok-ArzHid_1QSj2Q6zN8wT9ZzvPQZdVHG-oRQNyzjV29NZJvqMOWvfI5183p8/s640/January+2011+Turkey+Vulture.JPG" width="640" /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> Silhouette Of A Turkey Vulture.</i></span></div> <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijQArqOCbvqq8F-Sl3_dv3tMe5LzqIevETZLKd8ZzjQoExUAjukqPNwJRQAiCV9XCU7Qc7o-3gfj1lL4u2rDkS8RyIBuY5xz50Aj97mhXwKGJg_qJzgJxgNlCAgNW5GpG5HOYEYx7KwV-g/s1600/January+2011+Turkey+vultures.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijQArqOCbvqq8F-Sl3_dv3tMe5LzqIevETZLKd8ZzjQoExUAjukqPNwJRQAiCV9XCU7Qc7o-3gfj1lL4u2rDkS8RyIBuY5xz50Aj97mhXwKGJg_qJzgJxgNlCAgNW5GpG5HOYEYx7KwV-g/s640/January+2011+Turkey+vultures.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>How Many</i><i> Turkey Vultures Can You Spot?</i></span> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTXBA0jSzUM1oCeMWTWUJAw8XEZp92MjZNgjKI4yxJXlGK5KY3NL9q8OVRjpTNscnLeqlDHqPqCI4xgwCVIlWc5GGH8lgyEW4COGSKn5N3TSssU3TZQIXYDOI4aIHZsipZwN_1Z7-9f2zt/s1600/January+2011+Wild+Turkeys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTXBA0jSzUM1oCeMWTWUJAw8XEZp92MjZNgjKI4yxJXlGK5KY3NL9q8OVRjpTNscnLeqlDHqPqCI4xgwCVIlWc5GGH8lgyEW4COGSKn5N3TSssU3TZQIXYDOI4aIHZsipZwN_1Z7-9f2zt/s640/January+2011+Wild+Turkeys.jpg" width="640" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_NqAQKWfydEOOyosCFVebp9uh9cwghJhyphenhyphenmujZXP_eut1ydMe_z_aFv_hjmX4kFuNt7so5m4XtiFvybVMrK2ZPcH_CbHRW50zou9b7k6CqECfhrYqzO9DCFN_0BbRb86hniTizxGRdFqI7/s1600/January+2011+Follow+Me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_NqAQKWfydEOOyosCFVebp9uh9cwghJhyphenhyphenmujZXP_eut1ydMe_z_aFv_hjmX4kFuNt7so5m4XtiFvybVMrK2ZPcH_CbHRW50zou9b7k6CqECfhrYqzO9DCFN_0BbRb86hniTizxGRdFqI7/s640/January+2011+Follow+Me.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Wild Turkeys.</i></span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">And I'm so happy to have my little Elf to share all of this with...</span></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBn8yDzLfXpfJ1BZcRfE5xy06QkNO4tO_FZxVL5PdM0ZDYUhHci2W4xuOuU5xx07rGFm5K_klXP3H_yXSnTKKvueVsOaD-1r8doOAORgBCkJ7Gy6DYfcofRs3X9kon20ZsaeLrd5TuzBcL/s1600/January+2011+068.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBn8yDzLfXpfJ1BZcRfE5xy06QkNO4tO_FZxVL5PdM0ZDYUhHci2W4xuOuU5xx07rGFm5K_klXP3H_yXSnTKKvueVsOaD-1r8doOAORgBCkJ7Gy6DYfcofRs3X9kon20ZsaeLrd5TuzBcL/s640/January+2011+068.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /> <br /></div>Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435569432089129564noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724879259145215659.post-4516859847230985572011-01-27T13:26:00.000-08:002014-02-26T17:57:20.283-08:00On My Mind.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><i>Following <a href="http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/">Rhonda.</a></i><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyaH9AIKKiK81U8wigjdbe5w3ABwjJavFdhOGcJNuwnB6LDwI2_uNZH_mF4P8dfGiJWoeZIUcZIzd61FhavoV-kKlzB00pG8EPJYep0QpF-nrZEFAseXOVRdymDNNdGhBSb8uf3h2v-8P6/s1600/Decembre+2010+At+the+Effie+Yeaw+Center.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyaH9AIKKiK81U8wigjdbe5w3ABwjJavFdhOGcJNuwnB6LDwI2_uNZH_mF4P8dfGiJWoeZIUcZIzd61FhavoV-kKlzB00pG8EPJYep0QpF-nrZEFAseXOVRdymDNNdGhBSb8uf3h2v-8P6/s640/Decembre+2010+At+the+Effie+Yeaw+Center.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>By The River.</i></span><br /><br />Taken at this wonderful <a href="http://www.effieyeaw.net/Pages/default.aspx">Place</a>.</div>Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435569432089129564noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724879259145215659.post-7215184093584691712011-01-26T12:17:00.000-08:002014-02-26T17:57:20.345-08:00The Thief And The Sunflowers.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl_dxD8sNw1rI49p-y1PmDtyzI9XtF9r4TRnmzcr0HAIejHLhDHz4BkoMaMKZbWsf7vHjhoM7YyfqTc-Wfw5Qw6oVpzNwYEECWFE19OhuJmSYavvdyxaFJjn4D1n_Aq-bI67TizDCNwjW5/s1600/January-February+10+Little+Thief%2521.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl_dxD8sNw1rI49p-y1PmDtyzI9XtF9r4TRnmzcr0HAIejHLhDHz4BkoMaMKZbWsf7vHjhoM7YyfqTc-Wfw5Qw6oVpzNwYEECWFE19OhuJmSYavvdyxaFJjn4D1n_Aq-bI67TizDCNwjW5/s640/January-February+10+Little+Thief%2521.JPG" width="544" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Little Thief! </i></span></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />This was last year.<br /><br />This is this year:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8b-jXlf9lbkN36qitnTBee_v4A3StP54BmujRPlwZcimVWoJfI0KGpMP0gmB1mWz86h1-s6fM00cjXHkSQ2Qg-URCxoqXccppLB6ffm9XdW__aHSYbghyphenhyphenUK0nqtqar3hjZBwRbIMAL6xR/s1600/January+2011+Little+Thief2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8b-jXlf9lbkN36qitnTBee_v4A3StP54BmujRPlwZcimVWoJfI0KGpMP0gmB1mWz86h1-s6fM00cjXHkSQ2Qg-URCxoqXccppLB6ffm9XdW__aHSYbghyphenhyphenUK0nqtqar3hjZBwRbIMAL6xR/s640/January+2011+Little+Thief2.JPG" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Little Thief The 2nd. </i></span></div><br />Now they are kind of cute and most definitely entertaining for the dogs, the toddler and the rest of us.<br />However.<br />They would win hands down any and all food competitions.<br />They really are rats with a furry tail.<br />Which I wouldn't care if,<br />They were not also comparable with the amount of food they eat.<br />I don't care if they eat the bird seeds.<br />But. <br />Could they please leave my Apricots and Sunflowers alone this Summer, thankyouverymuch.</div>Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435569432089129564noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724879259145215659.post-51025356087605685792011-01-25T05:58:00.000-08:002014-02-26T17:57:20.408-08:00Twirling Your Way To a Recipe.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMQggLfl_JdBANzB5pS9DX92i9Wum6h5qZi2Ok6R2xV7UNlURr6ErkVOQFgHldEfTV4Dnyt_0vuGIl50I3znJKJT0nqVMhQG0HwAj7zZGfbrb6D5Rzr6lxxNmBHoXgECZzTLHEyrji9pDe/s1600/January+24+2011+Selena1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMQggLfl_JdBANzB5pS9DX92i9Wum6h5qZi2Ok6R2xV7UNlURr6ErkVOQFgHldEfTV4Dnyt_0vuGIl50I3znJKJT0nqVMhQG0HwAj7zZGfbrb6D5Rzr6lxxNmBHoXgECZzTLHEyrji9pDe/s640/January+24+2011+Selena1.JPG" width="424" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXh0CEclFB27IFKPd8iP38jJKjucnCS-LD0fbzy-DMa-u88BarvPOyeaYB1-0tZmWP4fu_Hk_6Z5zRM-nuxd8DGOPeLM6eOOZOJfPG2Xv_nRlXu5fluiqYKZSHHucWSVZNlMlYfd1bwgGO/s1600/January+24+2011+Selena2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXh0CEclFB27IFKPd8iP38jJKjucnCS-LD0fbzy-DMa-u88BarvPOyeaYB1-0tZmWP4fu_Hk_6Z5zRM-nuxd8DGOPeLM6eOOZOJfPG2Xv_nRlXu5fluiqYKZSHHucWSVZNlMlYfd1bwgGO/s640/January+24+2011+Selena2.JPG" width="424" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjgBdcfe-MT_06mOnkl-AopGLrVl187E4Q0pbX7eWqlbVeddvn6ss6hw8obCiLsno4upXkywoy5n4EJaxTHcFiY4hZ3j9vqIkvfDNa6J3oE3TpSrTAQdo35W-eVN-QJpW-yisAFUD72AG8/s1600/January+24+2011+Selena3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjgBdcfe-MT_06mOnkl-AopGLrVl187E4Q0pbX7eWqlbVeddvn6ss6hw8obCiLsno4upXkywoy5n4EJaxTHcFiY4hZ3j9vqIkvfDNa6J3oE3TpSrTAQdo35W-eVN-QJpW-yisAFUD72AG8/s640/January+24+2011+Selena3.JPG" width="424" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCytMIONxcZWRzGo84B-iSyFKaxieJdQTRrGcn-1vwmQOHzg1ozIR6h8LOvC6dDlagIzbPc-jXW6qWyFTjneoDUrDF-L1jZ_hXTalsm7uULR-G95pNWyGy2AxG_tzKDvuB4jrAy3rgKvsV/s1600/January+24+2011+Selena4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCytMIONxcZWRzGo84B-iSyFKaxieJdQTRrGcn-1vwmQOHzg1ozIR6h8LOvC6dDlagIzbPc-jXW6qWyFTjneoDUrDF-L1jZ_hXTalsm7uULR-G95pNWyGy2AxG_tzKDvuB4jrAy3rgKvsV/s640/January+24+2011+Selena4.JPG" width="424" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqYmzbmA_9HrDYJbWIUsd6JfuiPQWLelzyw9EZ4jzz2Z97tDuF5FXcjrA42Fz_7o1LxtgsUo5USKcdHmg8lFB1EjRqP9_dS7-ZS4KDwzqYfKnJBUI4wGMCeojYHzvOJp_39_dlQOiz3KK_/s1600/January+24+2011+Selena5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqYmzbmA_9HrDYJbWIUsd6JfuiPQWLelzyw9EZ4jzz2Z97tDuF5FXcjrA42Fz_7o1LxtgsUo5USKcdHmg8lFB1EjRqP9_dS7-ZS4KDwzqYfKnJBUI4wGMCeojYHzvOJp_39_dlQOiz3KK_/s640/January+24+2011+Selena5.JPG" width="424" /></a></div><br /><br />And here is the recipe!<br /><br /> <b style="color: #38761d;"><u><i>Pork Chops with a Mushroom-Sorrel Sauce </i></u></b><br /><br />Cook the pork chops on medium-high heat until they caramelize but not until cooked through. Remove them from the pan and add a sliced onion and the mushrooms of your choice. Cook until the onion is golden and the mushrooms are cooked almost all the way through. Add the Sorrel and cream. Cook for 2 minutes and add the pork chops to the sauce. Cook together for about 15 minutes.<br /><br />I served it with steamed Potatoes.<br /><br />Everybody loved it including the toddler.</div>Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435569432089129564noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724879259145215659.post-15132475302324358112011-01-24T15:54:00.000-08:002014-02-26T17:57:20.470-08:00The Fog and The Quince Tree.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">While the week-end was beautiful, sunny and dry, today started with a thick blanket of fog.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm36_OXjQlOc0chcqJSopRbhpPNQk_THVsj5vj1AC3EH2zqd49l-ajZ8S_3L9UGbTPIzvn6NS0QE64HyFZ6R-70PHB7MNim-rIZkiGkPDrd4zyImhEm6PbfEI_S9yyVRqwOzha-K_GmE7t/s1600/January+24+2011+Fog+Droplets.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm36_OXjQlOc0chcqJSopRbhpPNQk_THVsj5vj1AC3EH2zqd49l-ajZ8S_3L9UGbTPIzvn6NS0QE64HyFZ6R-70PHB7MNim-rIZkiGkPDrd4zyImhEm6PbfEI_S9yyVRqwOzha-K_GmE7t/s640/January+24+2011+Fog+Droplets.JPG" width="640" /></a> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Droplets on the Fig tree branches.</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSZ1UZAimlaHupRyX7yUAf_93oOHRoktbx0wpcUpIBPOBBlURlHqy38SkgFlIN3wVddWABt8o210yALfbZLk50t6ItfcUdagv6M6_V0bG2hCSMbKYSr3V6XexOLkLC_1Ui18XAUsV8osdH/s1600/January+24+2011+In+The+Fog.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSZ1UZAimlaHupRyX7yUAf_93oOHRoktbx0wpcUpIBPOBBlURlHqy38SkgFlIN3wVddWABt8o210yALfbZLk50t6ItfcUdagv6M6_V0bG2hCSMbKYSr3V6XexOLkLC_1Ui18XAUsV8osdH/s640/January+24+2011+In+The+Fog.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Foggy Morning.</i></span> </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7okhragrCGVxUt92Rkk8rYg_OQitswWx830rU1s6DS6kypv4Hd2EwHyUHhUV6nM-3tSag2_ZE_PTzrjjPbeQ8xQ8smG5p-iVKxFcVVf9exhf_AgbPGQrnggBI_mz9-qvmjC1kA9PbCaoD/s1600/January+24+2011+Laurel+Leaf.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7okhragrCGVxUt92Rkk8rYg_OQitswWx830rU1s6DS6kypv4Hd2EwHyUHhUV6nM-3tSag2_ZE_PTzrjjPbeQ8xQ8smG5p-iVKxFcVVf9exhf_AgbPGQrnggBI_mz9-qvmjC1kA9PbCaoD/s640/January+24+2011+Laurel+Leaf.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> Water collects on Laurel leaves from the Fog.</i></span><br /><br />We spent most of the week-end finishing digging in the future vegetable garden and going to nurseries to find a Quince Tree. This was not easy. But it's easier than trying to find the fruit for sale at the markets in the fall. I can't really explain this actually. Quinces are a very very popular fruit in so many cultures ( from Asia to Mexico...to Spain... Membrillo anyone?), are so incredibly easy to grow and taste so heavenly that I can't quite explain why they are not more popular in the States. Maybe because for most varieties it has to be cooked before you can eat it?<br /><br /> The Quince, <i>Cydonia oblonga</i>, is related to Pears and Apples and when ripe is yellow with a white-gray fuzz all over that needs to be wiped before cooking. The trees are extremely beautiful in any season: superb blossoms in Spring, the leaves in Summer are a medium green with fine white-gray hairs or depending on the variety, a dark smooth green, making a great contrast with the multitude of yellow pear shaped fruits hanging heavily from the branches. In winter the gnarly silhouette of the tree makes for an interesting focal point in the garden.<br />The quince probably originated in Iran thousands of years ago. It is now widely cultivated in all the Mediterranean basin and in Asia as well as South America. There are many varieties of Quince Fruit Trees ( not to be confused with the flowering quince tree <i>Chaenomeles</i>); mine is the "Smyrna', is self fruiting (and heavily at that) and could be as high as 20 feet if we let it. But we won't... we'll pruning at a height of 10 to 12 feet so that the fruit is easy to pick and , considering its location, does not put too much shade in the vegetable garden.<br />Growing a Quince tree is very easy: they have shallow roots and will grow in almost any soil, including clay like mine.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB0XQJ5UeyyVjV5AverNsZ_ecun0lIbD8b321rmGoxr7nrOIz9FmC5izrj_mAcikKZNmg6kK4qX1iquey1hcwfPaWE-KFTVKWuSShxzCBhdFxg2bhlcXSC1cSODcl2kHKwpGuHcn_2Bh7u/s1600/January+24+2011+Quince+Tree.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB0XQJ5UeyyVjV5AverNsZ_ecun0lIbD8b321rmGoxr7nrOIz9FmC5izrj_mAcikKZNmg6kK4qX1iquey1hcwfPaWE-KFTVKWuSShxzCBhdFxg2bhlcXSC1cSODcl2kHKwpGuHcn_2Bh7u/s640/January+24+2011+Quince+Tree.JPG" width="424" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The Shallow Roots of a Smyrna Quince tree.</i></span><br /><br />They thrive in moist soil and a warm site and benefit from fertilizing from Spring to Summer with a Seaweed solution. Few pests and diseases bother them except maybe fireblight ( they are related to Apples and Pears ). If your tree is affected, cut off the branches at least 12 inches below the signs of disease. And plant them where they'll get plenty of air circulation.<br /><br />I'll post pictures of our tree as the months go by... and I'll also write of the many many recipes using quinces.<br /><br />Did you know that you can even use the seeds as a remedy for coughs, including pneumonia?<br /><br />What's not to love? Maybe I should dedicate my tree to the Goddess of Love like the Ancients did.</div>Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435569432089129564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724879259145215659.post-23756911844768459662011-01-21T00:01:00.000-08:002014-02-26T17:57:20.533-08:00The Mushroom In The Sorrel.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Following <a href="http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/">This Lady</a>, this is on my mind... spring and a Sorrel Bread pudding...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuncdjf4QBT8ZCSoij7i_LHUwv_wzm-Q59mgYVhEXpOKDGbaxlPEb1I1Eek6QfOucwnE8me8hp19At3-qC9-aVzmbqKBpANi5aC4AJEBN8nnu9_S0NE51npuubPGxwYUCVwyg7D6_LXo-D/s1600/September-October+2010+008.JPG+The+mushroom+in+the+sorrel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuncdjf4QBT8ZCSoij7i_LHUwv_wzm-Q59mgYVhEXpOKDGbaxlPEb1I1Eek6QfOucwnE8me8hp19At3-qC9-aVzmbqKBpANi5aC4AJEBN8nnu9_S0NE51npuubPGxwYUCVwyg7D6_LXo-D/s640/September-October+2010+008.JPG+The+mushroom+in+the+sorrel.jpg" width="388" /></a></div><br /></div>Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435569432089129564noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724879259145215659.post-88775277474271830882011-01-20T16:34:00.000-08:002014-02-26T17:57:20.599-08:00A Beautiful Day and Poop.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">This morning we went to the zoo and got a (really rare) treat of french fries with mustard<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcH6-zGtto8XYz6kWBaR3-Ag3RK3Ga85yLpGcDAXzOXEPzQzTE9tlwbWRv2jHoP-NGP_lXYPXNusdnnaP9Ewqqh4rl_Ok72BqPQIGNQ91tl-ZtvxU1fjHA8R0p0NSsgROKmkED7ZWW3uVQ/s1600/At+the+zoo%252CJanuary+2011+009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcH6-zGtto8XYz6kWBaR3-Ag3RK3Ga85yLpGcDAXzOXEPzQzTE9tlwbWRv2jHoP-NGP_lXYPXNusdnnaP9Ewqqh4rl_Ok72BqPQIGNQ91tl-ZtvxU1fjHA8R0p0NSsgROKmkED7ZWW3uVQ/s640/At+the+zoo%252CJanuary+2011+009.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Almost 2....</span></i><br /><br />Baby Girl skipped her nap so we headed out to the garden, played in the sand box and worked on putting some of this compost full of good poop...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGp1ic9LRgPcs7RqRZ7k7Rseu8rC4XAlDtXQ9dFIWathHSmYu71Cj2VISPWeeefKrx8p3Ukoo-lKtRCJYiuwQ7Ep6r9dsOJ7jSa_QUum3ukEezSqC_zlovDVj59u3S99gPgLZYxjaWqyaJ/s1600/Compost+Pile+January+2011+012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGp1ic9LRgPcs7RqRZ7k7Rseu8rC4XAlDtXQ9dFIWathHSmYu71Cj2VISPWeeefKrx8p3Ukoo-lKtRCJYiuwQ7Ep6r9dsOJ7jSa_QUum3ukEezSqC_zlovDVj59u3S99gPgLZYxjaWqyaJ/s640/Compost+Pile+January+2011+012.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Leaves, poop and worms.</span></i><br /><br />There, also known as the Future Potager II<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9D9E2PMEReO7oyVEBqKeqpl62jRYq_K9YwxVhv40q-I-msoZb4t6okKjHy103tTwqxbH0eorqMcBfIuswgrFBZCLd20gjuP3yX7m5hLSAOMpze58qSruQmhvWSrEgFeUkc5ccRD_QdD68/s1600/Future+Dreams+January+2011+014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9D9E2PMEReO7oyVEBqKeqpl62jRYq_K9YwxVhv40q-I-msoZb4t6okKjHy103tTwqxbH0eorqMcBfIuswgrFBZCLd20gjuP3yX7m5hLSAOMpze58qSruQmhvWSrEgFeUkc5ccRD_QdD68/s640/Future+Dreams+January+2011+014.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Potager The II.</span></i><br /><br />And then, then, we drooled other This<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUV0UI7gjAG5YcttXBRbHsczSewUGUKg94u7nDmHsKWrUaxR2AncQFraiJE04A3d7s28CAaiQWLm7-cmD-MEvd6hg_SBe9-hESRxzfgH-7Vy12B0XUBv8LDXvCYVpcb076RsTW-MnjXmnw/s1600/Seed+Packets%2521+January+2011+010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUV0UI7gjAG5YcttXBRbHsczSewUGUKg94u7nDmHsKWrUaxR2AncQFraiJE04A3d7s28CAaiQWLm7-cmD-MEvd6hg_SBe9-hESRxzfgH-7Vy12B0XUBv8LDXvCYVpcb076RsTW-MnjXmnw/s640/Seed+Packets%2521+January+2011+010.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Drool Worthy.</span></i><br /><br />All of this under that sky<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2XBS1_IspXQH_HGBDqbM-IpyQCXWIJl_200OgPPhkl6PMKK8B5fWshnOrwSQPLxcCtHHaYP9d609e6WF_2F5mkKGiDbHys3dPVdxoTxEqonE6ytcod2zWtLXA9eSE0NAotCDLwS4zMBSE/s1600/Garden+View+January+2011+013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2XBS1_IspXQH_HGBDqbM-IpyQCXWIJl_200OgPPhkl6PMKK8B5fWshnOrwSQPLxcCtHHaYP9d609e6WF_2F5mkKGiDbHys3dPVdxoTxEqonE6ytcod2zWtLXA9eSE0NAotCDLwS4zMBSE/s640/Garden+View+January+2011+013.JPG" width="424" /></a></div> <i><span style="font-size: x-small;">January 2011</span></i><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435569432089129564noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724879259145215659.post-29602278935597245312011-01-19T11:54:00.000-08:002014-02-26T17:57:20.662-08:00The Mud, The Seeds and a Gardener's Happy Spot.No, no, no, nothing salacious going on...<br />This is a gardener's happy spot:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyV3ClyxxxKxlmHFN4XFdOHewXME4X2l1f08UOxtBtm5wcO4Smx8mSW8LWQ9JeinfsMCcJTyzQLG2vRPkBMr3qHHDwwvSQQoz2bg46H__0_WpuW4_mJTf3r28coAQx6ttSAYfUn_JK8-4u/s1600/January+2011+003.Seed+catalogs.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyV3ClyxxxKxlmHFN4XFdOHewXME4X2l1f08UOxtBtm5wcO4Smx8mSW8LWQ9JeinfsMCcJTyzQLG2vRPkBMr3qHHDwwvSQQoz2bg46H__0_WpuW4_mJTf3r28coAQx6ttSAYfUn_JK8-4u/s640/January+2011+003.Seed+catalogs.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br />Seed catalogs. Show me a gardener that doesn't like them. In the past I have ordered happily from <a href="http://www.johnnyseeds.com/default.aspx?source=google_johnnys_seed&gclid=CKqrreGPwKYCFQdMgwodRSXiHQ">Johnny's</a> Selected Seeds and <a href="http://www.reneesgarden.com/">Renee's seeds</a>. I also bought seeds from the local nurseries as well as a frightening number of plants, flowers and vegetables ( and let's not forget the trees ). Let's just say that moderation is not my first, middle or last name.<br />And this year, for the first time, I received a catalog from <a href="http://rareseeds.com/">Baker Creek</a>.<br />Oh dear. It took me days of looking at the catalog, then an entire day of harassing my family with what about <a href="http://rareseeds.com/vegetablesa-c/carrots/parisienne-carrot.html">this one</a>, or <a href="http://rareseeds.com/vegetablesa-c/cucumber/dragon-s-egg-cucumber.html">that one</a>? And what about<a href="http://rareseeds.com/vegetables-d-o/eggplant/listada-de-gandia-eggplant.html"> this</a>!? Did you see the <a href="http://rareseeds.com/vegetables-p-z/squash/winter-squash/galeux-d-eysines.html">warts</a>, that's so awesome, rhaaaa the agony we don't have enough room, I have to<a href="http://rareseeds.com/vegetables-p-z/tomatoes/orange.html"> choose</a>, I can't stand this, honey can we buy the house next door to get a bigger yard? <br /><br />Or move where we can afford <a href="http://rareseeds.com/vegetables-p-z/tomatoes/red.html">10 acres</a>?<br /><br />Sadly we are not moving but I finally managed to finish the order at 12:30 am. Their website is great. I love the comments on the products and ordering was easy and smooth.<br />Now we'll just have to see and taste the results.<br />Saying that I'm excited is an understatement.Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435569432089129564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724879259145215659.post-13463675156360144692011-01-16T16:27:00.000-08:002014-02-26T17:57:20.729-08:00The Rain, the Flu and a Potion.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTma4r__HtuhQZgKcQj6EeI9B8zvGqfnsYs3Mc2OxpffPCAWyJt53WLT8GNWw4HishFwDpwGk1Kwpw67uCAMD_VVWaAgQwbLvufUVpXyS-esurpz24lU95bCgwUIGADJwjwF9JN57rGBKd/s1600/095+Herbal+Tea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTma4r__HtuhQZgKcQj6EeI9B8zvGqfnsYs3Mc2OxpffPCAWyJt53WLT8GNWw4HishFwDpwGk1Kwpw67uCAMD_VVWaAgQwbLvufUVpXyS-esurpz24lU95bCgwUIGADJwjwF9JN57rGBKd/s640/095+Herbal+Tea.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Tisane</i></span><br /><br />Well, it's raining for a change. At least it's not foggy, that's always a plus. And a weird cold/flu virus is going through the house.<br />The symptoms?<br />Aches and a fever at first, followed by a cough and a runny nose with watery eyes.<br />There are several "potions" that I use for colds and flu but this time I wanted something simple and fairly quick and with what I had on hand because, well, I was sick too and, did I mention this before?, I have a toddler which by definition, means that I take care of a fairly demanding little, but mighty, person.<br />So, here is what I did:<br /><br />In a mug:<br />Crush a garlic clove<br />Add a pinch of cayenne pepper<br />A bit of cinnamon<br />A tea bag of Gypsy Cold Care from <a href="http://www.traditionalmedicinals.com/">Traditional Medicinals</a><br />A tea bag of HerbaTussin from <a href="http://www.traditionalmedicinals.com/">Traditional Medicinals</a> if you are coughing<br /><br />Pour boiling water, cover, and let steep for 20 minutes.<br /><br />Remove the tea bags, put in raw honey and the juice of half a lemon.<br /><br />I'm happy to say that it worked extremely well. My son missed only a day of school ( good thing too, it was the midterms ) in spite of falling sick on Monday.<br />I got it too, 2 days after him, and it only lasted a day and a half for me. Of course with him sick, I knew what was coming and started to take the tea as soon as I felt the aches. I'm breastfeeding my toddler and I did not have a cough so I used the tea for colds Just For Kids, again from Traditional Medicinals.<br /><br />Drink this tea 3 times a day until all of your symptoms disappear.<br /><br />I have the project to do an online Herbal and I'll start this very shortly . I'll detail which herb is best used when and also their growing conditions. In case you'd like to start an herb garden.<br /><br /><b><i><u>As always remember to consult your doctor if your symptoms worsen or if you are already taking medications.</u></i></b><br /><br />I also made a dinner that should help when you are sick:<br /><br /> <b style="color: #274e13;"><i><u>Indian Rice and Vegetables in Goose Fat</u></i></b><br /><br />Rinse 250g of rice and soak it for 30 mns.<br />In a skillet, cook an onion until golden and add a chopped garlic clove and an inch of ginger (also chopped)<br />Cook for 2 mns and add the rice, drained. After a couple of minutes add a large can of tomatoes and a bit of salt.<br />Cover and cook on low for 20 mns.<br />If you have some serve with chopped coriander. Sadly I'm out and I keep forgetting to plant it... <br /><br />For the vegetables,<br />I cut potatoes in chunks and steamed them with Brussels sprouts. In a skillet I cooked an onion, garlic and dinosaur kale together in goose fat. When cooked I added the steamed potatoes and Sprouts.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOcaxcuMbU7Mv-vhmtBfdFM3tl9ZxBDR2rSzGUeA-2Q0tgZHK9u6RFpKA2-1n1EWHJzNqv5gQJEM2oEPRyLWrq6hPyl1N9WKzm1TM872VmH7OwofAVSdPStcGR9_mVAUkh-YfvHNoroBkJ/s1600/January+2011+010+Brussels+sprouts+and+Dino+Kale.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOcaxcuMbU7Mv-vhmtBfdFM3tl9ZxBDR2rSzGUeA-2Q0tgZHK9u6RFpKA2-1n1EWHJzNqv5gQJEM2oEPRyLWrq6hPyl1N9WKzm1TM872VmH7OwofAVSdPStcGR9_mVAUkh-YfvHNoroBkJ/s640/January+2011+010+Brussels+sprouts+and+Dino+Kale.JPG" width="424" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Brussels Sprouts and Dinosaur Kale, January 2011</span></i> </div>Mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435569432089129564noreply@blogger.com0