Bits of Sunshine

poppies for remembering

In Flanders Field the poppies grow

Between the crosses row on row

That mark our place and in the sky

The larks still bravely singing fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead

Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow.

Loved and were loved

And now we lie

In Flanders Field.

Take up our quarrel with the foe

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch --- be yours to hold it high

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep though poppies

Grow in Flanders Field.

[Major John McCrae, Field Surgeon, Canadian Forces, World War 1]

taking time today to remember our military members who are no longer living.  and taking time to be grateful for the freedoms i enjoy because they gave their lives.

happiness

He alone is the happy man who has learned to extract happiness not from ideal conditions but from actual ones about him.

"I remember hearing in a talk that the more we express our gratitude to God for our blessings, the more he will bring to our mind other blessings. The more we are aware of to be grateful for, the happier we become."
Ezra Taft Benson

cloud bread

ok, so it's not really like bread.  it's more like a pop-over.  it hasn't curbed my cravings for bread.  but i could put butter and jelly on it.  and we did eat it with sausage patties and cheese for supper one night.  and it tastes really good.  it's just very light, and fluffy.  i think it would be excellent with sliced avacado and hummus. 

so, if you want to give it a try, here's the recipe:

3 eggs, separated carefully

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

3 TBS cottage cheese (or cream cheese)

1 tsp sugar

heat oven to 300 degrees F

mix egg yolks, cheese and sugar till smooth

beat egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff peaks form

fold the egg yolk mixture carefully into the egg white mixture (be very gentle)

drop 10 rounds onto greased or parchment lined cookie sheets

bake about 1/2 an hour (until slightly golden)

cool

the original recipe came from here, but of course, i changed a tiny thing or two . . .

any other topping ideas?  let me know.  :)

dandelion jelly

Gather 4 cups blossoms early in the day.

Wash well and add 4 cups water to blossoms.

Boil hard for 5 minutes.

Drain through a cloth.

Measure 3 cups of dandelion liquid and add 1 tsp. lemon juice, 1 package sure-jell (or equivalent amount of pectin), and 3 1/2 cups sugar.

Boil till it reaches jelly point (drops on spoon begin to thicken). 

Pour into hot jars and seal.

The recipe I was following said this would take about 30 minutes at a full rolling boil.  I boiled mine for 15 minutes, and it was too long.  I should have gone by the "jelly point" - which was at about 8 minutes - but that seemed too short!  So I kept boiling.  And I have some very, very, set-up jelly.  I need to warm it in order to use it. 

But, here's the lovely thing about dandelion jelly - it tastes just like honey!  So, I can warm this jelly and use it on pancakes or bread, or I can use it in any recipe that calls for honey.  (I used it in some awesome stir fry sauce the other night.) 

Maddie and I will have to give it a go again, and see if I can get the boiling time right, so we have some nice jelly. 

But for now, I have some cheap "cooking honey" in my cupboard.

annuals, my foot

in amongst the weeds are . . .

pinks :: sweet william :: dianthus

these are always sold as annuals, but here they are, coming back among my mulch and weeds, returning from maddie's garden that we abandoned in the heat last summer.

i'm going to move them into the gardens i am working on.  these happy little pink perennials.

in the intrest of full disclosure (or, i love ben, so i'm telling you this)

this is mostly for those of you who drive by and see me mowing . . .

but the rest of you might be interested as well.

this is what i mow with: 

by choice.  it is a push mower.  not self-propelled.  well, propelled by myself.  it is old.  it was free.  it is slightly broken.  and very bent. 

and just so you all know, ben really wants to buy me a new one.  something really nice.  even a riding lawn mower. 

but i won't let him.  i'm pretty stubborn.  about this.  (i figure if this is one of the few things i'm stubborn about, we're doing o.k.)

and here's why i'm stubborn.  i'm mowing through this sort of stuff:

and this:

we started from scratch here last summer.

so, i like my old mower.  i can plow through thick grass and over really bumpy, rocky ground, and through patches of thistles and big weeds and i don't have to worry about the mower.  if i had a newer mower, i know that i would have wrecked it a million times by now.  i told ben that if i hit a really big hole or rock and totally wreck this thing, i won't be nervous about his reaction when i have to tell him - he'll just laugh. 

i also love using this mower, because the handle is perfect for me, the mower isn't too heavy, and it is indestructable (at least so far).

 

this old mower also provides me with an excellent workout and plenty of time to think and pray, lots of fresh air, a suntan, and the smell of fresh-cut grass.  i like walking the ground - i never know what i might find.  today i found a wild rose bush, that i mowed carefully around.  i also have a whole grove of cotton-wood trees that are about waist high - volunteers that would have been run over if i had a big, fancy riding mower. 

i'm definitely in the process of defining and working our lawn into being.  in another year or two, i will let ben buy me a new mower.  maybe even a rider.

but in the meantime, if you drive by and see me fighting this mower up and down the hill, know i do it by choice, and that if ben had his way, i wouldn't be lugging this thing up and down the hill.  but for now, he gave in to me on this one.  for now . . .

meet wilbur . . . not exactly the way i planned to introduce you to him . . .

this morning i woke to a strange thumping . . . i sleepily thought, "i didn't know lola could make that much noise in her kennel.  funny that she isn't whining to get out . . . " and fell back to sleep. 

when my alarm went off, i got up and let the dogs out.  i dished up their breakfast to the sound of zoe barking outside . . . "funny.  i wonder what's out there?" i thought.

i opened the door to let the dogs in and was greeted by this sight:

well, actually, he was sitting right next to the house, he moved when i came out with my camera.

that thumping i heard?  wilbur rooting around under my table and chairs - they were bumping the house wall.  zoe's barking?  at wilbur.  "what the heck is he doing up here??" she was wondering.  "hello, people, there's a pig up here!"

so, ben grabbed a bucket of pig chow and i grabbed a stick, and ben led wilbur down the hill and around the bend, back toward his pen. i touched him with the stick every now and again to keep him heading in the right direction.  lots of, "good pig.  c'mon pig.  there's a good pig." sorts of comments from ben.  and we got down so close to his pen . . . but he didn't want to go back in . . . so ben grabbed him by the back legs, and tossed him through the fence.  we checked for weeds and things that might be shorting the fence, then when ben was reasonably sure that the fence was electrified again, we headed back up to the house.  we were putting buckets and things away, when i turned around, and there, coming up the hill, in the sunshine, was wilbur. 

"shoot him,"  i said.  "right now." 

"let's try this again," said ben.

so, once again, down the hill, ben, pig and E.  back to the pen (which took longer than it seems by how i wrote this, but not nearly as long as it could have).  ben grabbed wilbur by the back legs and tossed him through the fence again.  the funce was obviously not working.  so, ben stayed down by the pen, while i went up the the house to grab the weed whipper so we could make sure there were no weeds and such touching the fence.  when i returned, ben fired up the whip and started in.  he was most of the way around the pen, when the whip hit the fence and snapped it. 

now it was my turn to stay down by the pen while ben went up to get fence repair supplies.  i stood guard, so wilbur wouldn't make a break for it again, and wished i had brought my camera with me.  there were so many birds in all the trees.  even a goldfinch!  and ducks flying.  and the sound of birdsong and the river rushing along.  i was thinking about how beautiful it all was, with the sun shining fresh in the morning air.  then zoe was coming through the brush, and stopped with her ears and tail up, like whe was onto something.  i looked behind me, and about 50 yards away (1/2 a football field, you know) there were three does, just standing, watching me.  three of them!  that close!  yeah.  i was really wishing for my camera! 

suddenly, they all turned and bounded away.  ben was coming down the path.  but they didn't go very far.  they stopped where ben could see them, and watched us for a long time. 

ben finished the weed-whipping, and fixed the fence.  he had his fence tester and tested it all the way around.  it is definitely working again. 

so, we left wilbur happily munching his breakfast, and headed up to the house, back to our day.

maddie told me, "mom, that was God's way of having you go and enjoy the beautiful morning."

yep.  it was.  i think tommorrow i'd rather choose to go enjoy it, though, without having to chase the pig back home.

fresh, early morning air

one can of purple spray paint, one small paint brush, a bit of wall paint, and a couple hours

now it just needs a clear-coat and a barn-wood frame, and the back of my counter will be set.

i also have some other colorful projects in my head . . . next up just might be a can of orange spray paint (like my sun stars) . . . and maybe some turquoise (for frames and a collage miss maddie's room) . . . and  turmeric yellow (on my front door?) . . . and a mural (inspired by this one) above ben's and my bed . . .

i have color on my mind . . .

just a little sunday morning snuggle

have a cozy, happy day!

have a cozy, happy day!