A beautiful March day

We have had beautiful sunshine for the last three days.

Every day I gather my wheelbarrow and the dogs and I head up the driveway.

The Indian Plum trees are starting to leaf out. There are tiny white flower buds encased in translucent green cocoons.

The bright sunshine illuminates the ferns growing along the forest floor.

It is very still.

I work all day making neat piles out of fallen branches.

The sun keeps me warm as I listen to the birds.

It's late afternoon and the shadows become long.

Sound carries from far away.

I hear the distant drone of a small plane, the piercing cry of a woodpecker.

I finish my work, wheelbarrow in hand.

The dogs and I head for home.

The end of another beautiful day.



Dogs have owners, Cats have slaves

Maggie

I woke up this morning and had the same thought I have every morning. I don't want to get up. Because I know what awaits me every morning.

This.

Ling Ling

And this.

Now don't get me wrong. I love these sweet little faces. But the staring really creeps me out. First thing in the morning.

They follow me over to the coffee pot. They trip me as I fill the pot with water, scoop the coffee into the filter. And then they make their move.

A quick lunge to the left and I am doing the two step, trying to stay on my feet as my feline friends head me off at the pass.

All this just so I will open up a can of food.

Yea, just what I want to smell first thing in the morning. Tuna.

Ninky

This guy could care less about eating. All he wants is to go outside. He will patiently wait until I have fed the 'girls' and then it's his turn to dart in front of me as I head over to the door to shut off the porch light. Once again I nearly fall on my face trying to avoid squishing him into kitty rugness. So out he goes.

But it doesn't end there with him. Soon he is back. Staring through the glass door. Does he want to come in? I open the door. He stands halfway inside, halfway outside. He can't make up his mind. It's freezing out. I can't shut the door until he decides. Finally, he makes up his mind. He will stay out.

But he wants to be fed.

Outside.

More tuna smells. Yum.

Whitey

Then there's this guy. I usually get a few sips of coffee in me before I have my morning ritual of coaxing 'Mr. Happy to See Me', out the door. This guy can jump like a circus dog. For no reason other than sheer enthusiasm.

You gotta love it.

But first thing in the morning? 

So while I try to find cans of doggie food and fill my bucket of kibbles, and bird seed to bring out to the birds, he is leaping and jumping and overwhelmingly excited over the whole process, tripping me once more as we head for the door.

Where he turns around and blocks my way, because this is where I have to 'surprise' him with a dog biscuit. Even though this happens every day, he still pretends he is surprised.

Biscuit in mouth, he is happy to now prance in front of Little Bear. He loves to flaunt his biscuits.

Little Bear

This brings me to my favorite. Oooops! Did I say that? Shhhhh! We don't want the others to hear, but yes, this homely face is my very favorite. My sweet patient Little Bear. She is getting on in years now. She moves with slow dignity. Sometimes her back leg goes out on her and she will suddenly list to the side. The other day she actually fell down and she was so surprised and a little embarrassed. It broke my heart and I gently helped her up again. I treasure every morning with her. She greets me with her toothy smile (yes, she smiles). She looks for all the world like she is baring her teeth in a nasty snarl, but we know she is simply smiling.

She loves her chow, so she stamps her feet impatiently while I fill her bowl with her favorite. I fit in a couple more pats to the head and then leave her to savor every last bit.

I fill the feeders and then finally, I am free to drink my coffee and start my morning.

Ironing Hubby's clothes for work and packing his lunch. While I perform these rituals, I am accompanied by Ling Ling. She loves the laundry room. Especially the laundry baskets. Even better if there are freshly dried and folded clothes inside.

If there are no laundry baskets available, this empty water bottle box will do just fine, thank you. I heard this little crackling noise and looked down to find her carefully turning herself around inside the cardboard tray, the plastic forming a nice little cave. Ling Ling loves a good cave.

She is a true creature of comfort.

Birdy boy

Once I get Hubby out the door and depending on the weather, all the cats and dogs outside, I then turn my attention to this little guy. Birdy boy. Every morning he accompanies me while I do my household chores.

This is imperative. You do not ignore a Cockatiel when he wants to come out. If any of you have a bird, you know what I mean. For those of you who don't, let's just say the screeching is like fingernails on a chalkboard. Times 10. An unhappy cockatiel is an unhappy home.

He is trouble with a double 'T'. He loves to chew anything paper or leather, or wood, or well, anything. So I have to give him things to play with. Toothpicks and Q-tips are favorites. Little scraps of paper. Peanuts. Lettuce.

Don't ask me how I ended up with all of these little darlings.

O.k. since you asked.......

Birdy boy was a lost cockatiel. Yes, you heard me. I coaxed him over to me from the roof with wild bird seed. That was 15 years ago. We've been together ever since. He is tame and loves to ride on my shoulder and 'sing' me pretty songs.

Maggie the gray tabby was a stray kitten my daughter found. She kept her with another cat in her apt. until the other cat died and then Maggie was so lonely she cried all the time. I took her in about 9 years ago and she has been with me ever since.

Ninky
One day soon after, I was watering flowers near the blackberries and out popped this little yellow cat face. He was starved and when I found him, he threw up the contents of his tummy. Blackberries.

Ling Ling was my Mother's beloved Siamese mix. When my Father went into the nursing home with Alzheimer's, she was my Mother's loving companion. Right before my Mother died last March, she made me promise to take Ling Ling because that was 'the only thing in the house she cared about'.

Whitey, the dog, ran in front of my truck at a busy intersection the day I was coming back from my eldest daughter's wedding gown fitting 5 years ago. I followed him because I was concerned about this beautiful dog running in traffic. As soon as I stopped, he ran under my truck and refused to come out.
The neighbors started coming out and told me he was a stray, that he had a companion that the dog catcher caught, but they couldn't catch him. Naturally I had to take him home. We had just lost my beloved border collie 'Twiggy' from old age and Little Bear was heartbroken and so were we. Whitey definitely filled the void.

Little Bear getting a kiss from Twiggy

That brings me to 'my favorite', Little Bear. My youngest son brought her home from a friend's house as a roly poly puppy, saying if he didn't take her, she was going to the pound. She looked just like a little teddy bear, hence her name. I had to sleep on the couch with her for weeks so she wouldn't cry and so I could house train her. She never did get house trained, no matter how hard we tried, so we set her up in her own insulated heated dog house with 10 inches of shavings on the floor. My daughter sacrificed her play house for her. She is 13 years old now.

As you can see, all of these sweet little companions found me, not the other way around. It was meant to be. I wouldn't have it any other way.

But I still hate the smell of tuna first thing in the morning.

One last Snowfall (I hope)

 

I woke up early this morning to a sugar dusted world.

I forced myself to go out and feed the birds. It was so cold and I couldn't quite wake up.

Of  course I stepped in doggie doo on the way to the bird feeder.

Don't you hate that?

But the little birds were so grateful.

The cats don't quite know what to do when it snows. I love to watch them pick their way across the snow, shaking each paw with every step. Ling Ling is especially prissy. But she wanted to be outside, so her wish was granted. She is quite spoiled. But look at that little face. Just as sweet as can be. I can't help but spoil her.

The clouds are very low in the sky today. The weather has been very moody. One day it is sunny and warm, the next it is snowing. All weekend Hubby and I worked outside in mild sunny weather, picking up branches from the ice storm. It is very overwhelming. But we cleaned up an area that was most important. The top of the driveway and alongside the road. We filled the back of the pick up truck 4 times.

It looks much better now.

But I have 300 feet of driveway to finish. All lined with broken trees. I have one side almost done. I've been going out myself and doing a little here and there whenever the weather is mild, while Hubby is away at work.

We have gigantic neat piles of branches waiting for the chipper.

It is very hard work and my body can only do so much at a time.

But I am in no way complaining. I am very grateful that the house wasn't damaged or we weren't hurt. This week has been a terrible week across our country with Tornadoes causing so much heartache and loss of life.

I have nothing to complain about.

I have these sweet little faces to bring a smile.

And my crocus are starting to bloom. Even in the snow.

And I have daffodils to remind me that spring is just around the corner. (This picture was taken last week)

And last night Hubby brought home a package from the Post Office. Inside were all these little gifts from my sweet sister-in-law, T, all the way from N.H.

Just look at that sweet little sachet! The scent of Lavender, mmmm! And a beautiful photo all framed and ready to place close by as a reminder of how much we miss our dear ones.

So I will be busy creating a Thank you card and writing some letters.

So let it snow!

 

How is the weather where you are?

Collecting Porcelain Boxes

I love little porcelain boxes. They are miniature works of art. Not only that, but they are useful, too.

They are great for holding all sorts of little odds and ends.

I've been collecting them for quite a while and had them stored in a box in my loft. I have been doing some organizing up there and Hubby suggested that if I didn't use what I had

hoarded saved, it had to go.

So naturally I had to find a use for them!

I find them everywhere for just a couple of dollars; thrift stores, garage sales, and vintage shops.

Placed on top of a vintage piece of needlework or a pretty plate or tray, they are sweet and charming.

I have found a wonderful use for them besides holding paper clips or sewing pins.

Do you hate throwing out all that lotion that you can't get out of the bottom of the pump bottles? Do you hate the looks of the jars that your face creams comes packaged in?

You can use these small porcelain boxes or pretty jars to pot up your leftover lotions and face creams! You won't mind leaving them out in plain sight.

Just cut the plastic lotion bottles with a serrated knife to get started, then cut around with a pair of scissors to get the leftover lotion out.

Then use a rubber spatula to scoop out the lotion into your favorite jar.

This little beauty with hand painted violets is made of polished alabaster with a hinged lid.

It looks so sweet on the decoupaged tray that I made from a pretty napkin. I keep this tray on my bedside table. 

I filled this darling heart shaped box to go in the upstairs bath.

It has a blooming lily pad with a long legged egret and pink cherry blossoms. Vintage Love.

This unusually shaped one is a lotus blossom. I filled it with lotion to keep by my kitchen sink. It's so much prettier than a plastic lotion bottle.

This tiny heart shaped charmer is hand painted and rimmed with 14 karat gold. The tiny plate is the perfect size for this little vintage heart. I keep my rich night cream inside and keep it on my vanity. This is one of my favorites.

This little trio all have similar colors of poppy orange, yellow, and mossy green. One is actually an orphaned sugar bowl.

I filled them with tiny kitchen odds and ends. The sugar bowl holds butter mints (which I love, but have to hide from my candy stealing Hubby). Shhhhhh! The other two boxes hold birthday candles and candle holders which would otherwise be lost in the pantry or a drawer.

They perfectly coordinate with my soup tureen in my kitchen queen cupboard.

The soup tureen was a gift from my Dear Mother who passed away last year. It has unusual colors and finding coordinating china has always been difficult. When I found that sweet little sugar bowl, I knew it would be perfect.

I love collecting these tiny treasures. They are small, useful, and beautiful.

What do you collect?  

Apple Crisp

With the weather alternating between cold and damp, or warm and sunny, I wanted to bake something that would satisfy both situations.

This can be eaten warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream

or

cold with a dollop of whipped cream

or

 fresh out of the oven

But please, take the time to put it on a plate first. This is sooooo good!

I will give you the original recipe, but the pictures show the recipe doubled to make enough for serving guests or eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Lol!

(picture shows recipe doubled)

Apple Crisp

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Butter a pie plate or equivalent size baking dish

Ingredients

Approx. 6-8 apples, (more or less) depending on the size of your baking dish

cut into bite size slices about 1/4 inch thick

I used Gala apples, but any firm sweet/tart apple will work

 2-3 tbsp lemon juice (bottled is fine)

1/4 cup sugar

Topping

2/3 cups oatmeal (quick or 'old fashioned')

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 cup cold butter

Peel and cut up apples and place in a large bowl, add lemon juice and toss well. Add sugar and toss again to coat apples.

Pour into buttered pie plate or equivalent size baking dish

Topping

Mix all dry ingredients together well in medium size mixing bowl. Cut butter into small pieces and add to dry ingredients.

Using a pastry blender (or large fork) 'cut-in' the butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

(picture shows recipe doubled)

Spread evenly over the top of the apples in baking dish

Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes or until apples are soft when pierced with a knife.

Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees and bake 10 minutes more to 'crisp' the topping.

Cool for 20 minutes and serve as is or with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Or cool completely and serve with whipped cream.

Apple Crisp will keep covered in the refrigerator for several days.

Enjoy!