Memorial Day 2011

Shasta County Veterans

Memorial Service.

Keynote Speaker

Command Sargent Major

Ted Lidie,  U.S. Army Airborne Infantry (Ret.)

Inspirational ~ guaranteed to make you cry.

"If freedom isn't free, then who's paying for it,

and at what cost?" he asked, noting that fewer

than 10 percent of Americans will ever serve.

  "Today we honor that 10 percent. 

 The cost of freedom

 is paid willingly by those who value it."

I was sorry to see that there's  just one member

left of the Pearl Harbors Survivor group

 that regularly attends this ceremony.

It was a stark reminder that we are loosing

"The Greatest Generation".

Helping hand.



Amazing Grace

Northern California

Veterans Cemetery

Igo, California.

Along with thousands of flags,

flowers, ribbons, there was this.

On one side of the marble headstone,

rests the veteran

and the other side is his wife.

Sweet tributes.  I loved her headstone.

Can you see what it says:

Wife ~ Mom ~ Grandma ~

She did it well.

Then our own visit

to pay our respects to our loved one.

Richard truly is

Forever in our hearts.

We honor the men and women who served and

gave the ultimate sacrifice.

Memorial Day Weekend

I hope your Memorial Day weekend will

be terrific.   We will be observing Memorial Day

on Monday with a ceremony down at the Civic Center.

I can't get through the service without tears,

and this year will be especially touching as we lost

our own WW11 Veteran this past winter.

The rest of the holiday weekend will include

more outdoor work and probably more time out on the lake.

It's beautiful out there with the lake just 2 1/2 feet from the crest.

But it will probably look like this ~~ again.

We still have the tenting up on the boat, and last night

we  had the propane heater on to stay warm.

It's been unusually wet and cool this spring. 

Now, on to rants:

I didn't realize until I got home

from the grocery store last week,

that a 5 pound bag of  sugar (for the hummingbirds)

is no longer 5 pounds.

I wonder how long they've been doing this.

The last time I bought sugar was for canning

last summer.

Blogger ~~~ ahem.

I can't leave comments anywhere,

including my very own blog.

I've been working on a family reunion blog and

struggling to sign in on that blog with a different

e-mail account than the one I use for this blog. 

 I can't tell you the hours of frustration trying to log into that

blog while blogger kept rerouting me to this blogs

sign in page.   This was two days ago, before I realized

that Blogger was the issue, not my own misguided

attempts between the two blogs.  

Then yesterday, I saw several posts about the comment

problem, and realized it wasn't me after all. 

I checked this morning and still can't comment.

~~~ Sigh~~~

 I hope they get it fixed soon.

Just know, that I've seen your latest posts

and appreciate the time and effort everyone

puts into their blogs.   Take care, and

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.

Edited to add a note for Amy.

Here's a copy of my blog comment

that won't go through on your blog.

"I hope this lets me post. I love this. I wonder if you stop stitching the inner circle of the rick rack about the size of the button you added on top. Then glue/sew the button to the felt itself. It would sit within the petals instead of on top. Just an idea.

Yesterday's flower was an iris. I tried posting again on my own blog, and still can't. I just now, have been able to post on another blog, then not the next one, and now hopefully this one will post. I hope they can iron out all the bugs we're experiencing.  Take care, Patricia ( in case it doesn't log me in.) May 27, 2011 12:14 PM   "

For everyone else, In case you were wondering about the above comment I was trying to leave on Amy's blog, here is the link.

http://keepnthesunnyside.blogspot.com/2011/05/vintage-rick-rack-turned-flowers.html

It's a really cute flower pin made with vintage rick rack.

Wild Flowers and a Beautiful Sunset on the Lake

Here's a photo of more Blue Blossom

"California Lilac"

My previous blog photo of this shrub,

only showed a close up of the flower clusters.

I can't identify the following flowers,

but they're pretty.

 This fern isn't blooming,

the white flowers are a separate plant.

Rick's catch and release.

This bass measured at 14 inches.

Time to head back towards the marina.

The spectacular finale.

Camera Fun

The other day I was working on the

never ever ending job of

cutting down ivy.

  Gads  ~ it's exhausting,

because it's all hillside and

man/gal handling the push mower weed whacker

on the hillside is tough ~ tough work.

So I needed a break.

With ice tea in hand,

I parked myself in a rocking chair

out on the front deck,

and just sat still with the camera

ready to see what I could capture.

All without moving from the chair.

This little one was busily doing a bit of

weed ~ eating of his own.

They also like chrysanthemum plants.

ahem...

I was enjoying my break

grateful for the cool

weather, and the ever increasing

 puffy clouds that were accentuating the sky.

It was very nice listening the the bird chatter,

while they were flitting about in the trees.

 I had moved the potted clematis to the front deck

so getting yet another clematis photo was fair game.

There may be nothing special

about lizards, but you know what?

This one was gifted with the most beautiful

blue necklace.   See what I mean?

It was just sparkling in the sun,

like a blue sapphire necklace was wrapped around his neck.

 While writing this post,

with dusk settling in to darkness,

Rick  from his office,

calls to me "Look outside". 

We're both in our offices with windows

facing the same view.   Oh, shoot.  I don't have my camera.

It's a fox sitting on a rock just watching us watch him.

It's just way cool sometimes to live in the woods.

It's the second time we've seen a fox here.

OK then, 

 Keep your cameras handy,

cause you never know

what's going to come into your view.
 

Linda's Lemon Verbena Bread

 Lemon Verbena is one of my favorite

herbs to grow.  Brush your hand across the leaves

and the aroma is absolutely lemony.  

I've grown lemon verbena for years

 and never used it as an herb,

until this past week.

 I decided to try a recipe found on Linda's

Prairie Flower Farm Blog.

Time for tea out on the deck.

This is  Linda's lemon verbena bread and jasmine tea.

Talk about smelling wonderful.

The jasmine tea perfumes the air around you,

and the lemon scent from the bread. ~~ Oh my goodness!

You can use dried lemon verbena leaves as a tea also.

I should try that someday.

The tea towel is one that I picked up at the

American Cancer Society Tea/Boutique. 

 It has four of those tea pots appliqued across the bottom.

Grab your cup of tea and  check out Linda's blog.

   http://prairieflowerfarm.blogspot.com/

Here's her  handy  recipe print out link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/prairieflowerfarm/LemonVerbenaBreadRecipe#5361426046572616226

Please  print out the recipe from that link. 

 You'll get a cute recipe page  adorned

with red rick~rack and flowers.

It felt weird  to take food out on the deck

to take photos.   Rick says as long as I don't have

imaginary friends out there enjoying tea with me,

it's perfectly OK.   I did drink the tea, but I added  those

three slices of "mini  loaf size " tea bread  to the plate

I took to Seniors for game day. 

Everyone loved it.

Thanks Linda!

Lemon Verbena Bread

1 cup sugar

1 stick unsalted butter

1/4 cup chopped lemon verbena leaves

1 1/2 cups sifted flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

1/2 cup milk

grated rind of 1 lemon

2 eggs

Glaze:

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon lemon verbena leaves, chopped

juice of 1 lemon

Cream butter with verbena leaves in mixer or food processor.  Add sugar and beat well, then eggs, salt, and remaing ingredients.  Grease loaf pans: 1 large, 2 small, or 4 mini loaf pans.  Pour in batter about 1/2 full.  Bake at 350*F for 30 to 45 minutes depending on pan size.  Test bread by using a toothpick or cake tester.  Meanwhile, prepare glaze.  Mix ingredients listed.  Leave loaf in pan.  While it's still hot, pour glaze over it and let sit several hours.  Remove loaf from pan.  Wrap in foil to ripen overnight before serving or freeze immediately.  You may garnish it with whatever leaves or blooms are on hand.  Verbena leaves, lavender blossoms, violets or small roses are beautiful.  It freezes well.



Foodie Friday ~ Migas

Looks good doesn't it?

I needed to use up some

store bought eggs in a hurry.

Not because they were getting old.

Nope. 

 I had just purchased

a Costco sized carton of two dozen.

Then  just a few days later,

  I got to buy REAL eggs.

  Honest to goodness ~ home grown eggs

from a friend's daughter's chickens. 

I grew up having fresh eggs from our own chickens.

Back then I didn't have anything to do with the chickens. 

My brother took care of them, while I was just steps

away in my own world ~~ my very own garden.

But I remember the eggs.

There's nothing like really fresh,

 rich orangish yellow yolks.  So good.

I didn't use the precious

  Ameraucana eggs for this recipe. 

 Those eggs will shine on their own

as simply over easy,  with the whites done

 and the yolk runny to dunk toast corners in.

Sorry for the that image

 if you don't care for your eggs that way.

PW's recipe (link below) is

a fabulous way to use up a bunch of eggs.

I made this for dinner the other night.

I'll need to cut down the recipe

for just the two of us.  I used 11 eggs.

We still have leftover Migas  in the refrigerator,

and still more store bought eggs to use as well.

I did make breakfast last weekend using the

home grown eggs.   So~Very~Good.

Anyway,

here's the link to the recipe,

and yes I did copy her idea of serving

it with a sliced orange on a Fiesta Ware plate.

Uh, at least my plate IS a different color. 

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/09/ree-drummond-migas/

Here's another interesting link to an article I found

when trying to find out how to spell Ameraucana.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ameraucana#Confusion_with_Easter_Egger_chickens



OK then,   I'm off to go mow the lawn

and battle the ivy creeping into the kitchen porch garden.

Take care, and have a fun weekend.

Spring Watch

It's not just new flowers blooming,

that mean spring around here.

It's squirrels gathering nesting material,

and  the new evergreen growth 

with it's fresh lime green color.

I love the contrasting green colors.

  

It's the shiny new green on the Red Bud.

  Most people don't see the sun, soil, bugs,

seeds, plants, moon, water, clouds, and wind

 the way gardeners do.  quote / saying by Jamie Jobb

It's the crows nesting in several trees on our hillside,

and gliding past our windows.

  I'm determined to have the camera ready

as they land on the deck rail and check out their

surroundings before hopping down to the bird bath.

It's the hummingbird territorial wars, and

  jack rabbits hopping about in the early morning.

It's finding evidence of bears visiting during the night.

You really don't want a photo of that ~~ scat.

I almost forgot to mention

our most frequent visitors.

Deer.

 Oh dear.

It's garden chores.

Uh ~ lots of those.

 It's having lunch out on the kitchen porch

while watching the comings and goings of the wild life.

It's seeing what's new, and what needs to be done. 

Sometimes I'd rather close my eyes.

Who in the world  thought

(previous owners thank you very much)

 ivy and vinca minor were worth planting,

and for that matter ~

 Mother Nature gave us poison oak.

Why oh Why?

 Everywhere I look on the property

there's another project that needs doing,

which sometimes is overwhelming,

 but  with one bitty step at a time

it's getting there.

  I'm not forgetting to appreciate  how green it is.

It's lovely.

  A garden is a place to feel the beauty of solitude.

quote/saying by Bob Barnes.