Monday Photos

Just a few photos I took while walking around the yard the other day.

Spring is sprouting and looking very lovely!

I am always amazed that something that looks so dead sprouts to life and grows such beautiful Irises!

I took 5 minutes yesterday to throw together a beginning to my annual fall décor.

I love having pumpkins and mums / asters.

 

 I need to pull some weeds, convince my husband that he will not need his wheel barrow until spring (really honey, not till spring!) and get some pretty leaves to fill in the blank spaces in the barrow.

 

 I am particularly in love with the bucket of "pinkle" colored asters next to the rusty tones of the wheel barrow and pumpkins!

Pinkle is my youngest daughters word for not quite pink but not quite purple.

I love the old watering can hanging from the handle of the wheel barrow....hmmmmm what else can I find? Tune in next week!!!

Off to the UP of Mich. for a Saturday afternoon football game this weekend! Have a great Weekend all!

Roasted Peppers

On Saturday I roasted up all my peppers for the freezer.
It is super easy to do and I can use them all winter for things like quesadillas, chilies rellenos, Italian sausage and peppers, etc.  the uses are endless.

This is how I did it.

First, clean off your peppers and place on a baking sheet (mine is REALLY well used).

 

 

 Cut off excess stems or they will burn and smell awful!

Next, pour oil over the peppers (no need to drown them) and rub the oil on all areas of the peppers with your hands.

 

I used canola oil but coconut oil would work well too.

 

Place in a 450* oven for about 20 minutes (times will very according to the number of peppers you have) until black/brown and blistered.

Place the roasted peppers into a bowl (heat proof) and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to cool in the bowl and the skins will release from the peppers. (I had to take the poblanos out of the oven about 10 minutes earlier than the green peppers as the flesh is much thinner on a poblano than the green)

 

Next, clean the peppers by pulling off the skins and cleaning out the seeds and stems.
(Sorry for the picture quality, the sun was glaring off of the plastic wrap I was working on and washed out the picture)

Lay flat in a freezer bag that you have labeled with contents and date. The bags take up very little room once frozen flat since they can be stacked or slid in to a very small area.

Once frozen, simply slice off what you need and return the rest to the freezer!

Blessings

Each year since our children have been small, I have placed a basket on our counter this time of the year.
This basket is filled with all the amazing veggies of the season that our garden or others have given to us. God's blessings.
This year is no different, even though things are still terribly crazy in our home. God still blesses us.
In-spite of my weaknesses, we are still blessed.
I dusted off my camera and snapped a few pictures of our blessing basket.

 The colors are amazing!

Inside are red potatoes, zucchini, yellow summer squash, green peppers, poblano peppers and red and yellow tomatoes.

I have plans for the peppers today. The rest will be eaten during the week.....between trips to the hospital and Dr's appointments.

I am blessed.

Have You Ever Had One Of "Those" Days?

You know, the kind where the birds are singing,
you hit every light green,
there is a smile on your face from the moment you wake up?
Well, I had one of those days yesterday! Sunday.
My hair cooperated (yeah!)
I put on a new dress for church and at least 20 people stopped to tell me how cute my outfit was.
Came home from church and put on yet another really cute outfit and out to the yard I went.
Cut for my Mom a huge bouquet of flowers and surprised her....she LOVED them!
Came home and cut flowers for myself. Aren't they beautiful!!!

And then IT happened.

Insert the "wreeeet, wreeet, wreeeet" horror movie three notes of doom here!
While out in my yard cutting flowers and really expecting Mr. Blue Bird to come and perch on my cute little finger, our female dog took a walk.
An ugly, ugly walk.
GOOD FEELING GONE.
Why you ask?
This!
What ever this is that she rolled in!

The smell was simply vomitous....no other word fits here, just sayin! 

Well, she is quite un-happy with me now.
She did not like the bath that followed.
I used a hairbrush to scrub her.
Serves her right.
Bet she won't take that walk again!
I ate an ice cream sandwich.
Feeling better now.

Yard Work

I spent a few hours in the yard

picking up sticks....exciting right?

Not so much.

You see, we built our home on the land

that I lived on when I was born.

So I cleaned up after these trees when I

was a child and I am STILL cleaning up

after these trees today!!

I do not like it any more now than

I did then. Call me crazy, but I don't believe

that anyone grows into joyfully cleaning up the yard.

 Front Yard sticks..

 

Mom's side yard sticks. And yes, I picked up every one!

On a brighter note, this tree was planted by my Dad

when I was pregnant with my son.

 

I cannot believe that enough time has passed to make

this tree this big!!! It was a foot tall when my Dad

planted it! It must be at least 80 feet tall now.

Sigh.

Didn't my husband and I just bring our little boy home from the hospital like last week????

 

The yard is picked up. We now have enough of a pile of branches that a very large bon fire is in our very near future and even tho our son is no longer a baby, he is still as handsome as he was back when he used to walk by my side, down the road to my parents house to help clean up the yard.....

I think I must be in need of more children to get me out of the yard work!!!!!



What Is Happening Around Here?!!!!?

As I was outside on Wednesday I noticed a few signs of spring. Buds on the trees,

 Snow and ice melting away,

 Flower pots begging to be filled,

 And Iris plants breaking through the soil and announcing their presence.

I cannot wait to be out there filling those flower pots,

cleaning up the Iris beds and feeling the warmth of

the sun on my bare arms.

And there will be back yard projects to blog about too!

Another Random Day....

Which started out with a couple of Mom's

and their children coming into my office

this morning and performing a random act

of kindness!!! How cool is that!!!!

They gave me a card that their first graders

made and pretty bag of bath goodies!!!

I feel so blessed and loved!

Today is my Mother In Law's Birthday!!!!

She is an amazing woman who loves her

son fiercely and all of us that have come

along for this wonderful ride!

Happy Birthday Loretta M. Payne!!!

We are preparing for a multiple birthday

birthday party at our home this coming Sunday.

I have been busy making goodies (I will share those

with you tomorrow!) getting decorations made

and planning the food....it should be so much fun!!!

Remember my updates from the spring on

"How does your garden grow"?

Well, mine has been doing pretty well,

we have had to water once a week because of

the drought that has been on going in our area.

But, it has been worth it!!!

Our blessing basket is looking wonderful!!!

This is how our garden has grown....

Can you tell that a 2 yr old and 3 yr old picked my tomatoes!!!!



Oh The Many, Many Things I See,

When strolling in our back yard.

I love the privacy we have, not having

anything but the river behind our home.

I love that we have such diversity of nature

back here, good neighbors, family

and of course, the chickens.

And then there are the herbs,

something so sweet and beautiful

in the petite rather lacy flowers

found on my thyme.

And what brings more life to a back deck

than a child's toy? Nothing, I believe.

Beauty in simple things,

Beauty in the many, many things I see!