Happy GREEN day!

Top o' the evenin' to you, my friends!

Oh, guess what? My computer is down again! My moniter just simply quit the other day. I'm not happy about that, but I can't do anything about it for now. It will be a while before we can save up for a new one. Meanwhile, it's back to the same as last time I had computer problems. I will not be here often for a while, as I only have my dh's work laptop and shouldn't use it too often. (sigh).

St. Patrick's Day is one of my favorite days of the year. Yes, it is my birthday, and that's always fun, but I just love the color green so much, it makes it extra festive for me to see so much green around in decorations and attire!

We celebrated my birthday yesterday with a family BBQ and some lovely cream pies for dessert. Yummy! I received some nice gardening things and four wonderful fruit trees! We will get them planted this week. I now have a bing cherry tree, a raineer cherry tree, a fugi apple tree and a golden delicious apple tree. I'm so excited! We'll probably plant them in the secret garden so the deer can't get to them.

Last week I added four new laying hens to my little flock. I was down to one lonely hen and found a lady who rescues fowl of all kind and gives them away to good homes. So I'm now up to five in the litte hen family and they are doing well. It's nice getting four to five eggs a day again.

Speaking of my girls, it's time to go put them away for the evening, so I will close for now.

I'm sorry my blogging time will be a bit sparse again until I get a new moniter, but don't worry, I'll be thinking about each one of you and looking forward to coming back full time again!

Blessings one and all!

Fruit

"Balance, peace, and joy are the fruit of a successful life. It starts with recognizing your talents and finding ways to serve others by using them."

~Thomas Kinkade~

Molasses Crinkles

This weekend I made a batch of Molasses Crinkles from a recipe I've had for a long time. I just ate the last one a while ago...yummy! Here is the recipe:

Blend together:

3/4 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup molasses

Add in and mix well:

2 1/4 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp each:
cloves

cinnamon

ginger

Roll into balls & put tops in sugar. Bake at 350 F degrees on ungreased cookie sheet for 8-9 minutes.

Enjoy!

Fire Starters

Hi friends,
Today in the kitchen I made fire starters. They really work well for getting a fire going if you do not have kindling. The 'recipe' is very simple:

Fill paper egg carton cups (NOT the styrofoam kind) about 3/4 full of dryer lint; pack it in tightly. Pour melted parafin wax (be safe and use a double boiler you use for non-food items) over the lint, filling the cups up the rest of the way. Leave to set, letting them firm up (you can put them in the freezer to hurry the process along). Once cooled and set, cut apart the individual egg cups and store until needed.

Great for home, camping, hiking or an evening at the fire pit.

Pottery Bowl

Hi everyone! It was very fun for me to have you guess what the photo on the previous post was! I loved every single guess! Here is what that photo belongs to. It is a small pottery bowl, measuring about 5 inches across the top and just over 2 inches tall. I bought it second hand a few months ago and just love it. The colors are so striking and it's a nice little size. I have always loved pottery and will be sharing from time to time other pieces I have. Any other lovers of pottery out there? Thanks for taking the time to guess the photo!

What is it?

Any guesses? :o) Be specific!

Birding Journal

I have been having fun working on my birding journal. I spent quite a bit of time Saturday working on it. It is very simple. I have a three-ring binder, which I put in pages of card stock with holes punched in to fit through the rings. I am putting photos of each different bird I see, with a little bit of information about where I saw it, and sometimes it's habits. It will help me keep track of the different birds I see and be something fun to look at once in a while.

Rufous Returned

After being graced with the Annas hummingbirds for the last few weeks, the little Rufous was easy to spot this afternoon. They have arrived! Had this little male turned facing me a bit more, his vibrant red throat would have shown up for the photo. I've heard that the Rufous arrive with the buzzards, often riding on their wings. I have no idea of the truth of that, but it's fun to think about. I shall do some research and let you know. Either way, spring officially starts for me, when this variety of hummers arrive!

Happy Mothering Sunday!

Happy Mothering Sunday to all ladies in the UK celebrating today! I hope you have a most lovely day, full of love and appreciation. If you live alone, or have no one around you to celebrate with, please do something wonderful for yourself! You deserve some royal treatment! Bless you! xo

Touches of Spring

Today, between times of pouring rain, I got out to take a few photos. The top photos is of buds on an ornamental flowering plum tree, the next is a pair of Wood Ducks on the pond, third is a Mr. & Mrs. House Sparrow on our roof, and last is a Starling (winter appearance) in the plum tree. It rained so hard today, but every once in a while, like a typical spring day, the sun popped out in all it's glory!

In Like a Lion

March has arrived like a lion in our part of the country. The sky is dark, the wind is moving the black clouds at a fast pace, and it's pouring down rain. How did the new month arrive where you live?

Happy March 1st!