Happy Easter to All!

Easter Morning - 2011
Home-made Easter baskets with
White Chocolate-covered Pretzels

Is Easter Day as glorious outside at your house today as it is in HPNC?  I certainly hope so.  It's actually a tad on the warm side (83 degrees as I write this) for April, but who's complaining?  Not I.  The world has thrown off the winter doldrums and come alive again!

Since we didn't have company this Holiday (read that:  Missy M couldn't get away for a visit), we have been busy yardening, as Mr. T calls our work in the yard and garden.  He's extremely glad to report that he can now get his car all the way to the end of the driveway.  Woo hoo!  Now, that may not sound like a lot to you, but what that means is the three-and-a-half pallets of mulch-bags is now down to just 1 1/2.  Progress...one wagon-load at a time!  He's been making walking paths in the back yard, by laying mulch over newspaper and landscape-fabric...and his work looks fine and dandy.  Those last bags are destined for path-making in the way-back to help give definition to the garden, orchard, and berry patches.  (We'll hope for some cooler, cloudy days to get back on that task, though...:)

Also, that pallet of bags of garden soil = gone!!  We've been creating flower beds in the front, on the side, in the back, and in the way-back...and we've gone through nearly 50 2-cubic ft. bags in the process.

I've planted annuals (vinca, petunias, marigolds, lobelia, and lantana in the sunny spots and hanging baskets on the deck; impatiens and coleus in the shady ones, along with Boston ferns in hanging baskets on the front porch) and divided some perennials (iris, daylilies, and sedum) to populate all the new beds, so things are really looking colorful around here.  We've moved the palms and the ferns from their winter refuge on the plasticized/screen porch to the deck, in preparation for moving them to their summer quarters.  I repotted the lemon tree...which looks so happy to be released from wintering in the too-dark window in our bedroom to its sunny spot on the deck.



Another basket of lettuce from the garden...
and an onion

 And, the garden?  With all that rain we had last week...and now all this warm weather we are having this weekend...it is really starting to produce.  We may have to start eating lettuce-salads for breakfast just to keep up with Bibb, Grand Rapids, and Black-seeded Simpson leaves (see photo, left)!  The strawberry patch is loaded with flowers and the beginnings of berries...so much so that I've got the whole thing covered in bird-proof netting.  Ditto the (new) blueberry and blackberry bushes.  The potato-plants...which I really was worrying about...have jumped out of the ground and are looking hale and hearty; we've "hilled" them with bags of leaves.  The carrots and the spinach are finally showing signs of growing, after just sitting there doing nothing for weeks. 

I planted several of my herbs (basil, dill, oregano, sage, lemon balm, and parsley) in two beds and several pots for the porches, to add to the rosemary, lavender, and mint I'd already potted up.  And, I seeded a couple of pots with chives, since my old potting didn't survive.  I even took a chance and planted 5 tomatoes on Thursday (gasp!  before May 1st???); I really want that first tomato sandwich of the season, don't I?

It's been a good week in the garden, but a difficult week for Mom.  She had one of those good news/bad news visits with her ophthalmologist last week. Good news:  you don't have macular degeneration, because your vision has cleared up remarkably well since you were here 3 months ago.  Bad news: your vision problems were caused by a stroke in your eye...and we can't predict if/whether it will reoccur.  That was hard for her to hear...and even harder to move beyond, since reading and watching her sports on TV are important elements in her day.  While I can take refuge in my garden to help me cope with the concerns of the day, she is much more limited in where she can go and what she can do.  Sigh.

So, for Easter, instead of the usual chocolate bunnies in their Easter baskets, I made white chocolate-covered strawberries...along with white chocolate-dipped pretzel sticks for N/M/E and Mr. T's baskets (photo, above/right).   Then, I printed up coupons for what I thought they wanted/needed the most:  an uninterrupted nap for Mr. T, and a ride in the countryside with a picnic lunch for Mom. 

We'll wait until the late afternoon when it is cooler on the deck to have our Easter dinner:  grilled ham steaks, Hawaiian sweet potatoes, deviled eggs on garden lettuce with carrots and celery, and biscuits.  I hope you've had a special day with those who are special in your life, too.

We continue to be thankful for our many blessings...for each beautiful new day that dawns...for the strength to face life's storms...and for learning to dance in the rain.

A Day to Remember

Edith Frances Keaton,
first and only daughter of
Margaret and Jimmy

Lucy Margaret Stewart had honey-colored hair and violet eyes. She'd been born a few years before the turn of the last century, on a hot Haywood County August night, the first and only daughter of a "grass widow" artist and her second husband, a mechanical genius four years her junior.  There would be two younger brothers added to the family, but Margaret would remain the apple of her father's eye for the remainder of her too-short life.  Her own mother died when Margaret was barely a teenager, an event that probably encouraged an independent and self-reliant streak.  Encouraged by her step-mother, who had enjoyed being a teacher in the Big City before her late-in-life marriage, Margaret not only set her sights on being a teacher, too; she also was determined to attend the brand new West Tennessee State Normal (Teachers) College [the forerunner of the University of Memphis] at Buntyn Station on the outskirts of Memphis.

John Shirley Keaton, who'd been called Shirl by his family in Dyer, also arrived at Normal in the birth-year of the college with the goal of being a teacher...like several cousins on his mother's side of the family.  He was a few years older than most of the other students, but he'd had to earn enough money to attend school.  Although working for his father driving cattle across Missouri to Kansas City filled his bank account and kept him fit, he knew there had to be an easier...and cleaner...way to earn your living. Friends on campus decided he looked just like a handsome actor of the day and changed his nickname to Jimmy...which he kept for the rest of his life.



Baby dress of pongee -
made by Margaret for Edith

 Margaret did graduate and got to teach, in rural Hardeman County.  She was also a talented seamstress, who was known to be able to look at a new fashion (dress, skirt, blouse) and be able to make an almost carbon copy...no pattern needed. 

Jimmy graduated and taught in Ridgeley; he also played semi-pro baseball for a time, traveling by train across the South.  The War to End All Wars drew the US into the conflict in 1918, and Jimmy joined the Army...not once, but twice!  His service was interrupted when he went home to help after his father died of a stroke while working in the garden [...and now we know why I am constantly being warned not to work in my own garden in "the heat of the day"].  After his discharge, and against stiff odds (Margaret's father objected and refused to attend the wedding ceremony...supposedly because he considered it too soon after Jimmy's father's death), they married in 1919. 



Close up of the embroidery on the baby dress





To this union, a baby girl arrived on April 14 of the following year.  Ninety-one years ago today.  They named her Edith Frances, in honor of both her grandmothers...Ada Judith and Frances Florentine...although her birth certificate would record it as Francis.  She, too, would be the first and only daughter...and the apple of her daddy's eye.  She would lose her mother at an even earlier age, when Margaret died of complications of her third pregnancy, an event that still brings tears to Edith's eyes when she speaks of it.

After Margaret's death, Edith and her baby brother Edward moved to the family farm, where they lived for several years in their grandfather's home...along with a cousin who'd also lost his mother.  She and Edward went to live in their father's house in Henning just as Edith was starting her teenage years...a difficult time and a difficult transition.  Still she made new friends...now counted as "life-long" friends...and they all graduated from Ripley High.

Edith tried out college life in several locations (Knoxville, Martin, and finally Memphis) and graduated with a permanent teacher's certificate...a rare document that would technically allow her to teach in Tennessee, if she so desired, even at her age.  She taught in a one-room schoolhouse in Lauderdale County before getting a "regular" classroom in Hardeman County.  But, she decided that teaching might not be her path after all.

Against her father's objections, Edith followed a cousin's lead to Nashville to work in what was then called The Welfare Department.  There, she and a friend rented an apartment that they affectionately called The Dump.  There, the two of them, along with the cousin and two other friends, indulged their love of travel by driving all the way across the country to California...the first of many miles that she has traveled in her lifetime.  And, most importantly for me, she met and fell in love with my father in Nashville.

Of course, I've made their love story sound very simple...and it was anything but.  Still, they married (eventually) and had three children:  me...the first and only daughter; a baby boy who died at birth; and my brother.  We have an older half-brother, but it would be decades before we could finally include him in our family.  Momma (for I get to call her that...at this point in the story) worked as a child welfare worker, specializing in adoptions...at a time when most women were not employed outside of their homes. She retired from the Welfare Department...known as the Department of Human Services by then...(for the final time) the year after our daughter was born, when she became known as Nana...and a couple of years before my father tried out retirement for the first time (it didn't take...:).  They had just celebrated their 38th wedding anniversary when Daddy died from complications of open-heart surgery.  Not wanting to live by herself, she cast her lot with us, and then the travels really began.



Happy Birthday, N/M/E!!!

 Nana/Momma/Edith has lived her life to the fullest and has many memories to cherish.  She has travelled to all fifty states as well as the District of Columbia.  She has been to our neighboring countries of Canada and Mexico, as well as the Bahamas and several islands in the Caribbean.  She has been to England, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands.  Not bad for a girl from Hardeman County, she says.

Now in the 10th decade of her life, she is the last one of her generation on several branches of our family tree, but even younger generations are fond of Aunt Edith.  She has friends from all over, and she receives several cards and letters each week from addresses in TN, OH, GA, AZ, HI, KY, and MO...to name a few.

Just like the Jimmy Stewart movie, it's been a wonderful life!  And, today is a day to remember...and to celebrate both that wonderful life...and the wonderful woman who has lived it.

A Cause for Pause

Dear Ones,

Forgive me for such a pitifully-poor post today.  No pretty pictures.  Just words. 

I'm pausing from my usual posting because I'm neck-deep in receipts, papers, files, year-end statements, and the general mountain of documentation required to file one's taxes.  An annual event for us all, I know...but that doesn't make it any funner. As Brother J said:  "I'd rather be having a root canal."

Because I once long, long ago...in a land far, far away called Mississippi...worked for the IRS (a great story for another time...:), I draw the chore of  "preparing taxes" every April for our somewhat complicated Fed. and NC joint returns (one sole proprietorship, two home offices, etc.), N/M/E's very simple return, and Missy M's fairly straight-forward filings (albeit with a different state return).  This used to require a couple of weeks of gathering, organizing, completing worksheets, calculating, and transferring the final figures to file the final forms.  Whew!  However, for the past ten years or so, I have used TurboTax...and couldn't be happier.  Happy as one can be at tax time, let's say.

Momma always said that Daddy would wait to start their taxes on his birthday (April 11th...yesterday, as it so happens) and work frantically through her birthday (April 14th) so he could finish by the deadline of April 15th.  Every year of their marriage.  Drove her crazy.  He would have loved this year, 'cause he would have had 3 more whole days to work with!

Me?  I understand that totally.  Since they usually had a balance to pay (probably because of Daddy's "extra" electrician jobs he did...or maybe because of the laundrimat...who knows?), he didn't want to have to deal with the bad news until the last minute...and he certainly wasn't going to write that check a minute earlier than he had to!  He was a do-it-yourself person, so he hated to turn it over to someone else to do...although there were years he did just that.  And, he always got a lot of energy and motivation when he was pushed by a deadline.  I'm so like him...in those, and so many more ways.

Anyway, it's the last minute.  We'll probably have to pay a balance, at least on our Federal taxes, although it appears that NC might just owe us again this year.  [It would be nice if we could just ask NC to pay the USA for us, wouldn't it?  Nah.  That's way too logical.]

Yesterday, being the date of what would have been Daddy's 88th birthday, I commemorated the occasion by getting the last TurboTax Home & Business software package at Office Depot and installing it while I was gathering the documentation.  By suppertime, I'd finished and e-filed both Mom's and Missy M's returns, and had started on the Business portion of ours.  A couple more days, and I should be ready to send it through cyberspace...hooray!!!

Before I get back to the taxes, though, I thought I'd report on Mom.  She had a good weekend while Brother J was here from Nashville. They took a drive around town and stopped to visit AW.  Of course, all that activity left Mom exhausted, but at least she got to see all the dogwoods in bloom in HPNC, which she just loved seeing.  We'll celebrate her 91st birthday quietly on Thursday, when I'll make her favorite:  strawberry cake.  We have two doctor visits scheduled for later on this week, so we are hoping that the weather cooperates.

OK...back to work.  Now, where did I file that receipt for printer ink cartridges from last June...?

A Question of Two Eggs

Colors of Spring:
Gold finch in the pink dogwood

 Make up your mind, already!  Is it Winter...or Spring...or Summer?  Hard to tell around here.  We've had a couple of 80+ degree-days lately, complete with high winds and followed by strong storms...and now back to the 50's with a chance of light frost tonight.

Some of you remember our pink dogwood (photo, left) in the front...and how beautiful it bloomed last year, just in time for Nana's 90th birthday party in mid-April. Well, because of the unseasonably warm days we've had, it's bloomed already, way ahead of the azaleas. 

 Since we've returned to chilly nights, I made what is possibly our last pot of beef-vegetable soup (AKA: "clean out the refrigerator" soup...:) of the season for supper tonight.  No worries:  the pot is full to the brim, so I'm sure I'll have some to tuck into the freezer...just in case.

And when I checked the now almost empty fridge (I told you it was "clean out the refrigerator" soup, didn't I?), I found just two eggs in the egg-keeper.  Hmmmm.  Now, should I make a skillet of cornbread to go with that soup?  Or, should I make a chocolate cake?  Decisions, decisions.  You'll just have to wait 'til the end of the post to see what I decided.  (No cheating by clicking ahead...:)

Let's see.  A recap of our weekend sounds like a broken record: yard and garden work, or yardening, as Mr. T calls it.  With sunny weather and warm temps, we packed Saturday and Sunday with as many chores on our list as possible.  While I was at the Kathryn Clay Edwards Library in Greensboro for Master Gardener volunteer duties at the Earth Day Celebration (I helped wee ones...and some seniors, too...plant Patty Pan squash seeds in pre-moistened peat pots...what fun!...:), Mr. T channeled his inner Paul Bunyan by cutting down a cedar tree in the back yard.  He also built a flower bed at the end of the driveway with landscape timbers as well as distributed about 50 bags of mulch (from those pallets that were delivered months ago when we built our garden shed, remember?)

When I got home, we cut down three more trees (two more cedars and a sickly tulip poplar) in the front yard.  Why are you cutting down trees, you ask?  Well, these are some we'd identified as needing to go to open up our landscape to some sun light for the other plants (especially those in the front yard, which were blocking both the sun from our one magnolia tree...and the path to our front door).  And, we've waited the recommended year after our move before we did anything rash.  (You know, as in:  "wait at least a year before you make any drastic changes to your new home, inside or out...")

Never fear!  As you know, we rarely throw anything away...we just repurpose it.  So, those tree trunks (minus the limbs) are now outlining a new path and patio area in the natural area of our front yard, created using all those bags of mulch.  Since they are cedar, they will last for years.  And, now the front of our house looks much more open and welcoming to visitors.

Removing that cedar in the back opened up the right side of our back yard, too.  We moved our swing and the tiny brick patio in front of it all the way to the corner, where we can enjoy the azaleas (which are just about to bloom...any day now).  We also created a mulched path to the new swing location...and it's a whole different place!

Last of the King Alfred Daffodils



Today, after a night of wind, rain, and hail, I picked the last of the King Alfred Daffodils (photo, right) in the Way Back and the Blue Star Hyacinths (oh my golly gosh...these do have such a fabulous fragrance...:) from around the mailbox and beside the garden shed, so that I could give the bulbs a good dose of Bulb Booster while the ground is moist.  I hope the bulbs will grow big and fat...so they can put on a similar display next year.

And, I weeded the strawberry patch...so I could cover the tender plants yet again with row covers.  Tonight is supposed to be clear and cold...mid-30's...so a frost is certainly possible.  There are worlds of white flowers on the plants, and I want to try to save all those potential tasty berries.  Yum!

So, with all that work, you just know the answer to the question of two eggs, don't you?  Whoever heard of cornbread being a reward?  Not me.



The Answer of the Question of Two Eggs:
Deep Dark Chocolate Cake, of course!


I got out my Hershey's Make It Chocolate Cookbook (c. 1987) and made the "Deep Dark Chocolate Cake" with "One Bowl Buttercream Icing."  This is sooooo easy and soooooooooooo good.  And, if you look at the cocoa tin you will see that cocoa has antioxidants.  That makes it health food, right?  Tee hee. The key is the boiling water you add at the end of mixing the batter.  Plus, I also ice the cake while it is still warm, to seal in the moisture.

Nana/Momma/Edith, who is still having good days and bad days...and sometimes all in the same day, like today...gave me that cookbook, all those many years ago.  Surely she won't mind having crackers with her soup...so that we can finish our meal with chocolate cake?  Surely...

Marching Through March

I know I've sung this song before, but where has this month gone??? 

Since I last posted, I headed my PT Cruiser (known as a "Peety" to other PTC drivers...:) Miss Lillie Pearl south on I-85 for a work-week in the Big Peach.  It was absolutely beautiful in Atlanta, with nearly everything wearing Spring finery:  redbud, crabapples, azaleas, and Bradford pears...all at the same time!  Of course, you know what comes with all those blossoms:  p-o-l-l-e-n.  More on that in a minute.



Shopping!  My fav Jo-Ann's in Duluth, GA

 As usual, I packed as much into one week as I possibly could.  In addition to client sessions, I scheduled a dentist appointment (yes, I still go to Dr. Tatiana Shifrin, the same wonderful dentist I went to when we lived in Duluth...:), and some personal time for catching up with old friends, one of whom introduced me to a new-to-me Cuban restaurant called Havana South in Buford...thanks KD!  I made it to my favorite craft store, Jo-Ann's Super Store in Duluth, (photo, left) where I found some inspiration...and a fantastic bin of buttons, which had been marked down drastically.  I love a bargain bin, don't you?


Ooh la la! LaMadeleine's in Duluth, GA


I got to eat at one of my favorite restaurants, La Madeleine Country French Cafe, in Duluth.  I used to eat at the one in Dunwoody at least once a week when I worked at SEMA Group Telecoms in the Perimeter area, and it was always my choice for my birthday lunch (when the Boss was buying with her company AMEX card...:).  Everyone else wanted McCormick and Schmicks or something equally as pricey.  Me?  I wanted the Tomato Basil Bisque, a freshly tossed salad (like the Mediterranean...which was a special), and fresh breads with butter and house-made jams and preserves...not to mention the luscious dessert selection (just like in the photo to the right...:). 

You know, there is a part of me that misses living in the Atlanta area, still...after all these 9 years.  That is, until I tangle with the infamous traffic.  Then, I'm just happy for the wonderful memories...and glad that I now live somewhere else a tad saner.  Our I-85 is not nearly as crazy as their I-85.

Because of a last minute reschedule request, I found some time on my hands on Thursday, so I thought I'd  devote a few hours to retail therapy at the Mall of Georgia, including a substantial block of time at Nordstrom's and Nordstorm's Rack.  By Wednesday night, however, I began to realize that the sore throat and congestion I'd been trying to ignore was NOT a result of my earlier visit to my dentist.  When I started sneezing several times an hour, I had no doubt.  They're backkkk:  Spring Allergies.  Oh dear.

Instead of shopping, I spent Thursday in bed, dragging myself out only to go to Walgreen's down the street for "reinforcements."  That included additional Benedryl (which make me sleepy), some Allegra-D (which doesn't make me sleepy), a new bottle of Nyquil (for the night-time miseries)...and a couple of Krispy Kreme donuts at the drive-through location next door.  You know..."take two of these, and call me in the morning."  Ahem.  Having the Tigers get knocked out of the first round of the NCAA Tournament (which is indeed wacky this year...:) certainly didn't help my disposition one little bit.  I managed to get up and out to get my work done on Friday, but I realized I'd have to put my departure off until Saturday.  That was a tough decision to make, for many reasons...not the least of which was that Bro J and SIL J were in NC for the weekend, and I'd miss some precious time with them. Sigh.

I made it home...just in time for my "allergies" to morph into some sort of upper respiratory infection, complete with fever for three days.  Poor Mr. T.  He'd already been responsible for Nana's care while I was gone, and now he had another patient on his hands.  Good grief.  Still, I was able to dodge the bullet of vertigo (always a fear...), and I got to read several of the China Bayles mystery series (I'm not sure what rock I've been under these past 20 years...how did I manage to miss this delicious series by Susan Wittig Albert for so long??), so it wasn't all bad.



21 (Karat) Gold...
...Finches, that is!

 I'm happy to report that we've all survived and are getting back to normal this morning.  Well, if you can call this morning "normal," that is.  We awoke to find snow falling as we started the final week of March!  Too warm to stick, thank goodness...but unusual for sure.  Of course, it was just a year ago that the Big Tornado devastated a nearby portion of HPNC...so, I'll take a soft snowfall any day.  We also noticed that all of the bird feeders were being well-visited, as you can see from the number of goldfinches (photo, left) under the squirrel-proof feeder (where there were three more birdies on board!).  They didn't let a little snow stop them.  Neither did Mr. T, who is off to NJ for the work-week.

Nana/Momma/Edith has actually had a fairly good week, health-wise, but she received a personal punch this morning.  We learned that her good friend and traveling buddy from Pickerington had passed away last Saturday. Eileen had been quite ill for a long time, so the news wasn't a shock; still, it was sad nonetheless.  She was a sweetheart and will be missed.  This makes the second of Mom's Ohio friends to die in recent months; her other good friend and traveling buddy from Pickerington, Thelma, left us at the end of January. As you can imagine, Mom feels each and every loss very deeply.

Me?  I feel great today compared to the last few days.  But because I missed one week to work and then pretty much slept through another week, I am so far behind in everything that I'm feeling overwhelmed from the get-go.  Last week, I couldn't even pick up my heavy Master Gardener training binder, much less focus on the lessons, so now I have several chapters to read and complete assignments...before class begins on Wednesday morning.  I also have a volunteer activity scheduled for Thursday. 

I decided that we need some comfort food today to help us feel stronger, so I pulled out my recipe for Ham and Veggie Bean Soup.*  It was a favorite of my dear Daddy's, who liked it so thick that it was hard to still call it a "soup." More like a chowder, I'd say. "Thick enough to hold the spoon upright."  After years of trying to make it thick enough to satisfy without having to mash all of the beans into mush, I finally learned the secret:  add 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes just before serving!  What could be easier?  I'll serve our soup with hot Garlic Cheese Beer Biscuits and some apple slices.  Yummm!

Check out the recipes below when you need a bowl of comfort, too.  And remember, one foot in front of another...


==========================================================
*Ham and Veggie Bean Soup
 
Ingredients:
 
1 cup dried navy beans
4 cups water
1 T. butter (more or less)
1 ham steak (about 8 ounces), cut into small cubes
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced onions
3 whole peppercorns
1 clove (whole)
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp dried thyme, crushed (I also use fresh, when I have it)
1/2 tsp salt (I use Paula Deen's House Seasoning instead)
1 can chicken broth + enough water to equal 4 cups
1/2 cup seasoned mashed potatoes



Directions:
 
1. Soak beans according to the package, either overnight or using the One Hour Shortcut method (which is what I do).  Be sure to drain the soaking water off the beans before you cook them again in 4 cups of water to soften, prior to assembling the soup.



2. While the beans are cooking in a Dutch oven (following the soaking period), melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat.  (I also add some bacon grease for flavor.)  Lightly cook the ham steak cubes.  Then, pushing the ham to the side of the skillet, wilt, but do not brown, the onions, carrots, and celery until tender, stirring occasionally.


3. Add the ham and vegetables to the beans in the Dutch oven; add the seasonings, the chicken broth (or stock) and enough water to cover by 1"; heat to boiling.  Boil for 1 minute.
4. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 1 1/4 hours or until beans are tender.

5. Remove the bay leaf, the whole peppercorns, and the clove. To thicken the bean mixture, crush a few of the beans with a potato masher; then, stir in seasoned mashed potatoes, about 15 minutes before serving.

6. Cover and simmer 15 minutes longer or until soup is as thick as chowder.


Serve with hot garlic cheese beer biscuits, for a real tasty treat. 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Garlic Cheese Beer Biscuits


Ingredients:

2 cups self-rising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1/3 cup shortening
3/4 cup grated sharp Cheddar
3/4 cup beer (or slightly more, if needed)
1/2 tsp garlic salt, more or less
1/4 stick butter, melted


Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, (1 tsp salt, opt.), and sugar together using a fork; cut in shortening until it resembles cornmeal. Add cheese. Stir in beer all at once, just until blended; add enough beer to form a soft dough. Do not over-stir.

Using an ice cream scoop, fill well-greased muffin cups to 3/4 full. Brush biscuits with melted butter which has been blended with garlic salt. Bake for 10-15 minutes.



Enjoy!

Monday Morning Melody

Raised beds in the Wayback:
Blueberries in front; blackberries beyond

Whew! What a busy...and productive...weekend we had.  Since the weather was mostly sunny and generally warm, we tackled a big project in the Wayback Garden:  building enclosed, raised beds for three new blueberry bushes, along with the ones to come this Fall (photo, left).  We also added raised beds for the blackberry bushes (2 new ones; 3 relocated ones).  The Berry Patch portion of the Wayback Garden is off and growing!


Pots of herbs for Hyacynth:
Parsley, Lavender, Rosemary, Thyme, and Mint


While Mr. T was working his wood-working magic with saw and drill, I rooted several dozen forsythia stem cuttings across the back property line.  Then I concocted my own special potting soil, using the wheelbarrow for mixing the soil from last year's pots with sand, peat, fresh potting soil, and compost to give it "new life" for the coming season. 

I then potted up several herbs, including rosemary, thyme, mint, parsley, and lavender.  These new pots decorated the area around Hyacynth's seat (photo, right)...but only for a while.  Most of these guys are Mediterranean in origin, so they prefer the warmer climes. The weather report was for much colder temps today and tomorrow, so we hauled them all back inside the Greenhouse Porch, along with the ferns and the palms and the potted geraniums that we are over-Wintering...they had been enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon on the deck.  Soon, and very soon indeed, we'll hopefully be able to leave everybody outside.



A Goldfinch visits the feeder...
Spring brings back bolder colors



And, we know that Spring is almost here...just around the corner for sure.  This morning, for instance, Mr. Gold Finch (photo, left)...sporting his brighter suit of feathers...arrived on the feeder outside the Morning Room and sang his own Monday Melody.  Isn't he just beautiful?

Of course, we are rejoicing that the Memphis Tigers made it to the NCAA Tournament...if only just barely.  They had to beat UTEP (on their home court, I might add) to win the Conference USA Tournament...and thereby get an automatic bid...and they did it with one whole point to spare.  On free throws, no less.  They play Arizona in Tulsa on Friday at 2:30ish.  Honestly, I had my doubts that they'd make it to the Big Dance this year...oh, they have a boat-load of talent, but not enough discipline or direction, in my own humble opinion.  Still, now that they are dancing, you know I'm cheering:  Go Tigers, Go!!!



I wish everything in my Monday report was good news.  Mom update:  not so good today.  Back pain is waking her up/keeping her up at night, meaning she's getting less restorative sleep.  So, the next day is harder to manage without more pain medication.  Last night was a difficult one, so today is less than stellar, shall we say?  Wish I had better news to share.  Sigh.  I'm guessing it's almost time for us to get a follow-up Xray to determine if there have been changes since she received the original diagnosis.

Still, I noticed that she perked up a tad when I printed out a blank bracket for her to fill out.  You know she loves her sports, and she likes nothing better than to pick the winners...whether it's in horse-racing or the NCAA Tournament.  I can't wait to see how she calls the games on favorites Memphis, Duke, North Carolina, and Tennessee. 

Personal note:  I'm OK with the Blue...but I don't wanna see no Orange in this house.  No way.  No how.

March Moments

Contemplating a crow at the bird bath.
Where's Ella Rae?

Pardon me. My existentialism is showing today.

You know, it's true.  When you distill life to its basic elements, it's not the big productions that matter.  It's the seemingly minor moments that make your life...well, your life.

For instance, I once decided to create a Stewart Family Cookbook to complement our Stewart Family Reunions we were then having annually at the cabin on the farm in Hardeman County.  Major production.  At the time, I was changing employers (nothing new there...I was always changing employers...just keeping basically the same job with each one...:) from Training Manager at Leader Federal Savings and Loan in Memphis (remember them?  Ah well, they're long gone...:) to Training Manager with Fogelman Properties; I had a pre-schooler, who was getting ready to start first grade; and we'd just sold our house in Cordova and rented a townhouse in Bartlett, so all our worldly goods...including the recipes I'd collected from family members to create said cookbook...were packed up in boxes (again, nothing new here...our stuff has spent a good deal of time packed up in boxes...making a move somewhere...:).

Long story short:  it took me 10 years...and four more employers, and four more moves to three more states...to finish that project.  While it was being done, I thought it was the production of the cookbook that counted:  the text-entry, the graphic design, the printing, and the assembly.  I was wrong.  It's the fact that the cookbook exists at all that counts.  Because it exists, I can revisit each individual recipe, time and again, and I can be close to the contributor of the recipe each time I choose to make it.

Case in point.  Mom mentioned that she'd like something sweet yesterday.  Since her diagnosis of lung cancer, I've been concentrating on incorporating good nutrition into our menu:  lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, more whole grains, etc.  But, honestly, I could care less about our "diet," as in restricting calorie consumption (other than monitoring it to make sure that Mom is getting enough calories) or worrying about fats (other than to keep a balance between our proteins, carbs, and fats).  Now is not the time to "lose 10 pounds in 10 days."  (Of course, it's times like these that make me ponder if I haven't wasted far too much time on dieting in my lifetime.  But, that's fodder for another post...:)



Texas Sheet Cake -
See below for recipe!

 Anyway, I turned to the Family Cookbook to help feed our sweet-toothes teeth.  I selected a favorite that I haven't made in a long while:  *Texas Sheet Cake.  This is one of the recipes from my (Lunn) first cousin, Betty Jean, who passed away a few years ago.  I included it in the cookbook because it was one of my favorites that I'd brought to a Stewart Family Reunion...and you'll find it at the end of this post, just in case...

As I had hoped, it put a smile on Mom's face.  "Exactly what I wanted," she said. Reward enough, I should say. Plus, we got to talk about what a wonderful cook Betty Jean was...in a family of wonderful cooks.  Good cake.  Good memories.

I can report that we've had a good week.  Brother T left to return home to KY, and we miss him lots...especially for those nightly basketball games, now that we are in the thick of March Madness and the conference tournaments (where the heck is St. Peters anyway?).  Mr. T headed to Indy (via a stopover there-and-back at Missy M's in Louisville) for the big reveal of their new truck at the Truck Show this week; he reports all's going well.  So, it's just been the two of us in HPNC...and the three houndz, of course.  Can't forget the Drool Gang, can I?

Mom's pain is being managed well enough, and she is getting up & about a little more.  She's coming to the Morning Room for her breakfast like she used to, where she loves watching all the bird and squirrel activity at our feeders (see above photo for the ginormous crow in the bird-bath).  Last Thursday, she even went along for the ride with me to Kernersville and other parts of the county.  She loved seeing all the Spring blooms: daffodils, redbud trees, and forsythia bushes.

Which brings me back to...it's not the big productions in life.  It's the magical moments, like savoring a favorite dessert...or taking a ride in the countryside...or enjoying your morning coffee while watching the wildlife.  I'm learning to take it slow and cherish each moment.

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Betty Jean's recipe for Texas Sheet Cake


Ingredients:


Cake:· 2 sticks butter
· 1 cup water
· 4 T. cocoa
· 2 cups sugar
· 2 cups self-rising flour
· 1 tsp. soda
· ½ tsp. salt
· 2 beaten eggs
· ½ cup buttermilk

Frosting:


· 1 stick butter
· 4 T. cocoa
· 6 T. milk
· 4 cups confectioners' sugar (sifted)
· ½ tsp. vanilla
· ½ cup chopped nuts (pecans) - optional


Directions:


Bring to a boil the first three ingredients. Remove pan from heat and beat with a spoon into a mixture of the next 4 ingredients. Add the beaten eggs and buttermilk to this mixture; beat until blended. Bake in a prepared sheet cake pan at 400° for 20-25 minutes. Do not overbake.


While the cake is baking, prepare the frosting by boiling the first three frosting ingredients. Remove from heat and add the nuts (optional), the confectioners’ sugar and the vanilla. Beat with a spoon until smoother. Add more confectioners’ sugar if too thin; more milk if too thick.


To Serve:
Remove cake from oven and immediately frost to seal in the moisture. Allow to cool before cutting.
Enjoy!