A Memorial Day Wish

A happy and peaceful weekend is my wish for each person reading this post...for those of you in the United States, a Happy Memorial Day.

We all are grateful to... and remember... all of the brave men and women who have given their lives over all the years to try to keep the world a safer place.

This photograph is one of my favorites...I took it in Mendocino, California a year or so ago when we were there.   I wish I could link that Peace flag with flags from all of the countries the world.

A Little Garden Friend - Camera Critters #112

This is my Camera Critters photograph for this weekend!  I took it last year, actually, but it's froggy time again.   I'm going outside to see if I can spot a few of these camouflage experts since I'll be gardening today, anyway.  It's almost impossible to see them unless they move...very clever, Mother Nature.

I'm not entirely sure of the difference between frogs and toads...I should look it up somewhere...but not now. 

 
This little guy was hiding underneath the Ohio Spiderwort in our lakescape!  The frogs almost disappeared a few years ago.  Don't know why.  Last year there seemed to be an increase in the little creatures and this year I haven't noticed very many...sure hope they're not disappearing, again.

UPDATE - May 30th:  In one of the comments below, Phil asked if I knew what the species this little frog belongs to...I have to admit that I didn't know so I went to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) website and discovered that it's a Northern Leopard Frog!   There are photos of several different species of frogs that live here and descriptions of their "voices", too.  Interesting how you can tell what kind of frog it is by it's voice!  Thanks for asking, Phil!

Also...that white fluffy stuff in the photo?  It's fluff from our cottonwood trees...they are just the messiest trees this time of the year when they drop their cotton.  Luckily it only lasts for a couple of weeks.

Facebook - The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook.

The Good:  Popping in on friends and family just to see "What's Up"?   Pictures of a horse show or birthday party or learning that my nephew's wife ran a marathon for charity.  The birth of a baby or wedding pictures (but not 50 of them, please) are perfect to share with friends and family.  Pictures of a new puppy or kitty.  Or how a garden is progressing.   I love stuff like that.  Any kind of photos, actually...I love photographs.

Sharing a joke or a favorite website (nothing rude or offensive, please) or blogpost or useful information is a good thing.  Wishing your friends and family a very happy birthday or anniversary is a nice thing to do...it's a gentle reminder to other friends and family and it makes the day special for that person or couple.

It's a perfect venue for keeping in touch with friends and family members who live far away.


The Bad:  Not being able to have a separate Facebook page for business or for blogging friends or other associates who are not family members.  

Oh, I know there's a way to do that but it's not legitimate and would be kind of a pain in the neck, I think.  Having to constantly monitor my account and privacy settings.  Security is paramount, especially for personal family pages.  I don't think young children should have Facebook pages.


The Ugly:  I'm very sorry but I just can't tolerate drivel.   I don't need to know someone is bored.  I don't need to know that someone is having a bad hair day.  I don't need to know that someone broke a fingernail.

Posting an "I love you more than life itself" comment to your significant other when you actually see each other every day is incredibly annoying.  I'm glad you're in love but let's keep the intimate details private.

I don't like radical political postings, either.  It's fine to voice an opinion - that's a good thing. It's called freedom of speech.  It's an important part of who we are.  I'm all for it.  But getting nasty is way out of line in my opinion.   I've read Facebook posts that are downright mean from otherwise lovely people!  I don't get it. 

Posting just for the sake of posting is just not necessary.

Wow...I can't believe this turned into a rant!  What are your thoughts?  Are you a huge Facebook fan?  Do you have multiple accounts and if so, how do you do it?

Just wondering...

Betwixt & Between Spring & Summer

Prairie Roses in Lakescape

I've been out gardening the past couple of days and let me tell you, I have a new appreciation for dear old Jack.  He spends almost all day, every day (when it isn't raining and, of course, not in the winter) out in the gardens or yard.

We have three perennial gardens -  one for flowers, one for evergreen shrubs, mostly, because it's shady there, and one for hostas, astilbe and lily-of-the-valley.  I'll take pictures some time but they're not at their peak, right now.

Plus we have three lakescape gardens.  They are filled with native grasses and wildflowers and are planted at the edge of the yard near the beach.  The roots grow deep in the ground and since the lot is sloped toward the beach those deep roots keep water runoff from the roof, driveway and road from rushing down into the water.  Keeps the pollutants out of the water.

This top photo shows the planting of the right side of the lakescape in 2004...that's Jen down there with a drill.  We drilled holes and plunked little plugs of grasses and wildflowers into each hole.  We planted 1100 individual plants...I kid you not!

This photo shows that same garden in June 2008.

Pictured below is the left side of the lakescaping during planting in June of 2004.

And this is that same garden four years later!

Anyway, I promised to help more this year.  I really do like gardening but seems like I have so many other projects going at any given time that it's just easier to let Jack take care of the outside stuff.

In fact, I call him the "outside guy" and I'm the "inside guy".  The inside guy does all of the cleaning and cooking and most anything else that needs to be done indoors.  The outside guy mows, gardens, does car stuff, etc.

As you can tell, the outside guy has a ton of garden work.   So since I can really use the exercise, I'm going to get out there, too.

Hmmm, it just occurred to me...the outside guy is more physically fit than the inside guy.   Probably because he gets more exercise?

I think the penny just dropped...

A Crop Duster at Lake Mary

Last year our neighborhood was invaded by some sort of tent caterpillar that stripped trees of their leaves.  I really don't know exactly what they were but they were insidious.   Our trees didn't sustain a lot of damage but there were dozens and dozens of the nasty buggy things that actually claimed one side of our house to weave their little tents!  Ick!

Anyway, THIS year we were ready!!  Everyone in the neighborhood agreed to have a guy come to spray the trees before they could invade again.

I checked to make sure that whatever they planned to spray would not be harmful to any living thing...not plant or animal.  Or human.  I was assured that this is an eco-friendly substance that would only deter the bugs.

So Sunday the deed was done.  Here are pictures that I took of the crop duster that sprayed our trees.  The photos do not do justice to the event.

I wish you could have heard it.  It would swoop down, release it's spray and climb back up into the sky.  It sounded like a bomber!  Really.  It was so loud.  And as it dove toward the tree tops, the noise accelerated so that you wanted to cover your ears.   Then it would pull up, bank around and come in for another shot.

I have to admit that it was kind of cool! 

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

 
It's rhubarb season in Minnesota - as it is a lot of places.   For Rhubarb Pie you can't beat the recipe I've posted on Rhubarb Pie - Great Recipes.  It's the first recipe on the page and I pretty much guarantee that you'll love it if you try it.

However, yesterday I found a recipe for Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp in May/June issue of Clean Eating magazine.  Looked good, I thought.  Generally speaking, I try to make a recipe exactly as written the first time.  Then I tweak it one way or another if I think it would improve the recipe.  Even though I hadn't prepared this before, I did tweak this a bit because I didn't have a couple of the ingredients.

Here's the recipe.  I've noted my revisions in italics.

INGREDIENTS:
2 stalks rhubarb, sliced (1-1/2 cups)  [3-4 stalks, actually needed]
18 to 21 medium strawberries, sliced (3 cups)
1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 Tablespoons organic evaporated cane juice  [I used Sucanat ]
Juice of 1/2 lemon  [About a tablespoon of lime juice - didn't have a lemon]
3 Tablespoons spelt flour  [whole wheat flour - did not have spelt flour]

TOPPING:
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup Sucanat
1/4 cup coconut oil
2 Tablespoons spelt flour  [whole wheat flour]
2 teaspoons ground flaxseed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon  [I eliminated this because I didn't want it too cinnamon-y]
[2 teaspoons wheat germ - added this just because I had it and it's nutty which I like]

INSTRUCTIONS:
One:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Two:  In an 8 x 8-inch baking pan, combine rhubarb, strawberries, 1 tsp cinnamon, evaporated cane juice and lemon juice.  Sprinkle with 3 Tablsepoons flour and gently toss to coat.

Three:  Prepare topping in a medium bowl, add all topping ingredients.  Using a pastry blender or your hands, mix until well combined, then spread over fruit mixture in baking pan.

Four:  Place pan in oven and bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until topping is golden brown.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

And that's it!  The topping was quite brown and it was not easy to photograph...looked kinda blah.  I think it's because I used whole wheat flour.  And it's a lighter topping than a traditional crisp topping.  Had I used brown sugar and white flour and butter it would have been a more traditional topping.  It also wouldn't have been a "clean eating" recipe - ha!

But the flavor is wonderful.  Next time I make it I might double the topping ingredients because I do like a lot of crunch.  The rhubarb/strawberry mixture is sort of sweet-sour and that's also because Sucanat is not nearly as sugary as, well...sugar!  But we like that tartness so it was great.

It's a recipe that lends itself well to revisions...so give it a go and let me know what you think!

Now I'm off to plant the vegetable garden.  We're very late getting it in so we'll be harvesting late...darn it.  That's what we get for gallivanting around the country.

Our Equestrian

We're back from our travels and I'm so far behind on everything that I've just decided to take it a day at a time.

I promised to post some photos of our granddaughter's horse so here are two.  This was an outdoor competition called a "Play Day" for her 4-H horse club.  Her horse is a Paint named Denali.  She's a wonderful horse.

That's it for now.  I've got to get through this weekend and then I will buckle down and get serious about this blog stuff!!  Have a great weekend, everyone.

NOTE:  I'm posting this on the Camera Critters  meme, today.  It's my first submission.  Camera Critters is a fun photo blog...check it out.

Bear with me...this is a mini-hiatus :)

We are on the road.  Have taken a quick trip for about a week trying to cram in the sporting/artistic activities of some of the grandchildren.

We're in Kansas.  Got here Tuesday night.  Wednesday....started a project for daughter MJ which involved creating an entire new facade and hearth for their fireplace.  Natural stone/travertine hearth and travertine mosaic fireplace surround.   "Have trowel, will travel"...that's us!  Thursday...continued fireplace project.

Friday...baseball game - 5 year old grandson.  Also, finished the fireplace.

Saturday...soccer game - grandson  (he's amazing)...and in the afternoon, theater showcase for 9 year old granddaughter.  They did sketches from the Broadway play "Godspell".  It was really excellent.  That child has talent!

Sunday morning...leaving for Nebraska...horse show with 15 year old granddaughter.  Also baseball with 11 year old grandson.  Sunday night...dinner with old friends.  Tuesday...another baseball game.  Wednesday...school program for 5 year old granddaughter. 

Thursday...home.  Whew.  Will be back in circulation as soon as I can catch  my breath.

Sorry...gotta rush....

I Love Mum Post it time-lapse HD.mov

I know this is my second post, today, but I really wanted to share this video with you.  It was a post on Shantiwallah's Blog.  She is a teacher in New Zealand and she has a lovely blog.  I've been following her for some time.  I really think you'll enjoy this...the music is quite catchy!




There!  Didn't you enjoy that?  I love that I can sit at my computer and visit all over the world...thanks, Shantiwallah!

Mother's Day

This will be short and sweet.  Am enjoying a very happy mother's day with two children, a sweet daughter-in-law and 3-year old twin grandson and granddaughter.

Flowers to plant (alyssum and impatiens), a variety of baking supplies (which I love), a candle and a back scratcher (my only request and no, it's not Jack...it's a lovely bamboo back scratcher from Jack)

And...you'll get a kick out of this...the wine?  Chosen by my 3-year-old grandson at Trader Joe's because of the happy face!  His sister "helped" open the cards...can you tell?  I just had to record that for posterity!

A Happy Mother's Day to all mothers and aunties and grandmas...all over the world.  We are kindred spirits.

Hilary's Hiking and Camping Cookies

I haven't posted a recipe for a long time so we're overdue.  I just happened to have enough  ingredients on the list for these delicious cookies and since the three-year-old twins will be here tomorrow,  I have a good excuse to make them.

We first had Hilary's Hiking and Camping Cookies on one of our housesitting assignments...the very kind homeowner (Hilary) left them for us.  She and her husband like camping and hiking...hence the name, I think.  Hilary told me that she adapted this from a basic recipe she found in her Laurel's Kitchen cookbook. 

This recipe lends itself to whatever variations you care to make...keeping proportions and the basic ingredients, of course.

Ingredients:
1 cup peanut butter*
1 cup honey
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups whole wheat flour.

Extra Goodies:
1/2 cup (or more) each of:
Dried fruits (raisins, cranberries, blueberries, etc.)
Sweets (chocolate or white chocolate chips or carob chips, etc.)
Nuts (pine nuts, almonds, pecans, walnuts, sunflower seeds, etc.)
Miscellaneous (granola, coconut shavings, etc.)

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

• Mix peanut butter and honey
• Lightly beat egg and add to Peanut Butter and  honey.  Mix.
• Add vanilla, almond extract, baking soda.  Mix well.
• Add other goodies.

The dough will be VERY sticky...just so you know :-)

• Drop by tablespoons onto greased cookie sheets.  Or roll balls of dough in coatings such as coconut, chopped nuts, etc.)  (I lined the cookie sheets with parchment)
• Bake 12 - 15 minutes.  Watch at the end because honey will make overcooked cookies turn black.

You can make the dough, form it into a roll in clear plastic wrap and freeze it for later slicing and baking.

* Pure peanut butters are best because they don't contain added sugar, etc.   

When I made these, today, I used pecans, raisins, unsweetened coconut and sunflower seeds because that's what I had in my pantry.  However, they're chewier and sweeter if you use both raisins and another dried fruit like cranberries or dried cherries.  In fact, I baked only one pan of these and I have the remaining cookie dough in the refrigerator.  In the meantime I went grocery shopping and bought some dried cranberries so I'm going to add those.

And here's something kind of crazy...you know how most of the time there's nothing like a cookie right from the oven?  Still warm?  Well, I prefer these after they've cooled.   Not sure why.

I do love a recipe that lends itself to a little "tweaking".  And this one does.  If you try this recipe be sure to let me know your own special tweaks.

Picture Pretty

I'm a little cranky, this morning.  Kind of like this cloud bank.  Haven't slept well for the past three nights.  So at 3:00 a.m. I was trolling through my online photo album and came across these  shots from our trip to Washington.  There's a little town called LaConner not far from my sister's house in Washington.  It's quaint...filled with lovely little shops and antique emporiums...great cafes and candy shops.  Stuff like that.  I highly recommend LaConner as a day trip if you're ever out that way.

The sky was threatening when we left for LaConner but by the time we got there it had cleared up and turned fairly sunny and fairly warm.  We wandered around slowly enjoying the day.  Here are some of the sights that caught my eye:

This charming old pram planted with dainty flowers,

An old fence as garden art...I love garden art.  Well, I love tasteful garden art...not too over-the-top.  This isn't.  It could be but it's not for some reason.

This little puppet theater caught my eye...

I'm not sure but I think these might be Parrot Tulips...love the raggedy edges.

Have you ever seen such a whimsical fence?...I love fences.  Some day I'm just going to travel around taking photos of fences.  And barns.  And churches.  Stuff like that.

There...I feel better already.  It's sunny and hopefully will turn into a nice warm day.

That's it, folks...

My Moment in May Photo

POD of Thuccotash365 posted a beautiful photo of the moon, yesterday, and added a note about the New York Times' blog project called A Moment in May.  Briefly, it was a project that asked photographers all over the world (amateurs like me, too) to take a photograph at exactly the same time and submit them to the blog.

Here's what the New York Times invitation said (and I quote):

Attention: everyone with a camera, amateur or pro. Please join us on Sunday, May 2, at 15:00 (U.T.C./G.M.T.), as thousands of photographers simultaneously record “A Moment in Time.” The idea is to create an international mosaic, an astonishingly varied gallery of images that are cemented together by the common element of time.

I thought it would be interesting to show what our little birdhouse looks like at this particular Moment in May...you can see the grasses hanging from the little door and I don't know (yet) if they're working on this year's nest or if this is the end of last year's nest.  I'm going to keep watch the next week or so and if we don't see any activity then I think we'll (well, Jack) will take it down and clean it out.  Probably should have done that last fall but...

Anyway, participating in the project was fun!  The time stamp on my photograph says 10:00:06.  We had exactly one minute to get a photo so I made it in plenty of time.   I don't know whether or not my photo will be chosen for the mosaic but hey...it's worth a shot!

Thanks, POD, for the suggestion!  Can hardly wait to see yours.

The World's Only Corn Palace

Yes, you read that right...Corn Palace.  It was the last and wackiest detour on our way back to Lake Mary after leaving the Black Hills of South Dakota.

The Corn Palace is in Mitchell, South Dakota.  Only an hour or so from the Black Hills, it's known around the world as..."a folk-art wonder on the prairie of South Dakota."  They aren't kidding!

The outside of the Corn Palace is embellished with murals depicting all sorts of historical and regional designs.  Please watch this short but sweet video.  Takes less than a minute.  You'll be glad you did.  There's a bit of history there plus you'll see how the designs are applied.


Each year a new theme is chosen.  The facade of the building (which is an auditorium) is stripped of it's previous design and redecorated with new corn and grains.  Over 3,000 bushels of milo, rye, oat head, and sour dock are tied in bundles and attached.  The murals that are applied aren't applied until the corn crop is ready which is late summer.

Admission is free and in the summer they offer tours.  I'm not sure what the tour would include unless there's some design studio or some such thing that's not opened to the general public.    We were given a Mitchell visitor's guide when we arrived and this is a quote from the Corn Palace page:

Twelve shades of colored corn are planted in a separate field to maintain color purity.  The very best ears are hand-picked by our local grower for use on the Corn Palace.  Each ear of corn is then sawed in half, shaped and trimmed to fit the designated spaces, then nailed into place by local artisans.  Roughly 275,000 ears of corn are used to redecorate the murals each year.

This year's design is illustrated on this page of the website.  And the 2010 Festival is scheduled for August 25th.  This year's entertainers?  Well...Check It Out!

In the museum section there are photos of every single year since its inception except for 1944 (because of World War II, I'm sure). 

You can see a slide show of each of the designs since 1892  HERE.    Clicking on each design will enlarge it.  You'll be amazed.  I actually thing that the earliest designs were the most remarkable and the most beautiful.  I didn't document the date of the picture above (which I snapped inside the museum) but if you look at the clothing it has to be one of the earliest designs...maybe even the first.

A little history (which you'll see in the video):  The first Corn Palace was built in 1892 as a way to showcase the crops grown in the fertile soil around the region in order to attract immigrant farmers to settle near Mitchell which had been settled only twelve years before.  They had a harvest festival and even had famous entertainers join the fun.  Imagine...more than a hundred years ago!  I'd say the farmers of South Dakota were well ahead of their time.

As I mentioned, it's an auditorium and is used for stage shows, sporting events and the like.  When we were there, the Shrine Circus was setting up!   The murals on the interior are permanent and they were designed and created by Oscar Howe, the late Sioux artists and South Dakota artist laureate.

So...if you're ever out of vacation ideas...head for the Hills!  South Dakota.  One of America's best kept secrets, perhaps.

I'd say it was a worthwhile detour...