New Year's Day and Random Stuff

New Year's Day Sky with Dancing Clouds

New Year's Day dawned cold, wet and altogether dreary. Bummer!  However, by noon, although it was still chilly, with a brisk wind blowing, the sun was shining.

My son-in-law (Gardening Daughter's husband), called me about 10:30 to invite me to a New Year's Day lunch, which was to feature Black-Eyed Peas and a lot of tasty leftovers from their New Year's Eve get-together with friends from his work place.  I gladly accepted.  One of my resolutions for this new year is to spend more time with my children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren (I currently have three blood-greats and one love-great.)

 I had my fill of chips, yummy Spinach Dip, guacamole, pickled okra, olives and other (need I say high-calorie) foods before settling down to a bowl of rice and Black-Eyed Peas, cornbread, and sides of steamed cabbage and other dishes we Arkies enjoy.  Also present at lunch were Elder Daughter (ED) and her mother-in-law (ED's husband stayed home to watch football), and my son and his wife.

I had been moved by the invitation to lunch to get into my own kitchen and make something to take for dessert.  I make a mean bread pudding, if I do say so myself.  So I made a big one (four eggs, a scant cup of sugar, 30 oz. of milk, generous dashes of Saigon cinnamon and vanilla, about 3/4 cup of golden raisins, a couple tablespoons of melted butter and almost a whole large loaf of several-days-old-white bread.)  While it was baking in a well-buttered dish, I prepared a hard sauce of butter, powdered sugar, dark rum (usually kept only for medicinal purposes and flavoring for my annual mince pie), and a wee bit of vanilla.   Still-warm bread pudding with a teaspoon of rum sauce drizzled on top is pretty tasty.  Turns out, it was a big hit with my son's wife, so I sent her home with a 16-oz. container full of pudding with a generous dollop of rum sauce on top.  She was a happy camper.  My son-in-law hinted around about the remaining pudding, so I left that for him, and will pick up my dish later. Funny thing is, I didn't know either of them were so fond of bread pudding, since I don't think I have ever made one to take to a family dinner.  One never knows how the most humble things can be appreciated.  Or -- maybe it was the rum sauce!

My late afternoon was spent at my church.  I have Altar duty this week, always a labor of love.  Setting up everything for tomorrow's services took about forty-five minutes, then I worked in the office for a couple of hours preparing the service schedules for the remainder of January, and writing checks for the "first of the month" bills.  As treasurer, I am not allowed to sign checks, just to prepare them for the signatures of others.  The authorized signers should be at one of the services tomorrow and the checks are ready for them. I'm glad to have that little chore out of the way.  I usually work in the church office on Monday mornings, but I may give myself a holiday.

All in all, not bad for the first day of the new year.   I was well fed, blessed by the company of my family, and pleased with what I accomplished at work.

I hope your day was as enjoyable.

Bits and Pieces - Stuff and Junk

One of the Lily Beds

Thank goodness the power is back on! I could not have stayed in the house yesterday without it. Temps in the 90's with humidity to match.

I worked in the church office in the morning (nice and cool). When I left at noon, the interior of my car, which had been parked in an unshaded spot, would have put a sauna to shame! Nearly blistered my posterior when I sat down behind the wheel!

Did I have enough sense to go home, drink something cool, put my feet up, read a good book or take a little nap? Oh! No! I was voluntarily out in the heat most of the afternoon.

I took a trunk (and back seat) full of items to the recycling center at the Air Force Base: office paper, newspapers, all sorts of cans, glass, cardboard, and plastic. It's amazing how many things can be recycled if one just takes a few minutes to sort them out instead of relegating them to the landfill trash.

After that, I visited the local home improvement center, which has a large garden shop, to look for bargains. Just about every day, they put on sale at a deep discount plants which are in less than prime condition. I bought four Russian Blue Salvia plants that looked like they were on their last legs, and three Asian Lilies that were without blossoms (but so are the ones I have that have already bloomed). I also purchased (not at a deep discount, I'm sorry to say) another bird feeder like the one shown in yesterday's post, a suet holder and two suet blocks, a Niger Thistle sock for finches, and a bag of bird seed. I was tempted to buy a special food block made for squirrels, but I'll just let them eat bird seed -- it's cheaper.

The store is just over a mile away from me, so I arrived here quickly to give the poor Russian Sage plants a drink. They were parched. I watered them four different times before dark, and misted the leaves several times. They really perked up and by the time I was ready for bed they were looking like healthy plants; I think they're going to make it! I hope to get them in the ground today.

I hung the feeders, cleaned and refilled the bird bath, and watered the lilies. "Dearest Love" (day lily) has huge buds on it so I should have photos of it soon.

After the sun disappeared behind the neighbor's house, I re-broke the ground and pulled out all the grass and weeds in a new flower bed on the west side of the house (it's been waiting for planting for a couple of months.) That's where I'll plant the lilies and sage I bought today, and where some of the thinned out day lilys will go when I get them divided. I have my work cut out for me.

Who knows what today will bring?

Summer Doldrums? - Post 44

Thanks for your kind comments, friends, to my previous post. It is sort of nice to have a new play-toy that I didn't have to purchase myself, but I didn't "deserve" it so much as it was, as are all give-aways, the luck of the draw. I guess I just needed something to post about and the arrival of the snips was, at least, something. I am in the summer doldrums, I think. Too much yard work, perhaps?


So that this post will be more than just a bunch of words, I've included a photo of my "double" ditch lilies. The initial fans of these were give to me by my husband's sister-in-law in the early 1970's, and were first planted at the home I shared with my husband. About 18 months after his death, I moved to my present residence and some of the lilies came with me. They were, for a long time, the only day lilies I had. They are prolific multipliers and are now in several locations in my yard. It's time to thin them again but, due to the nature of the soil in my subdivision, I'm dreading the preparation of a new flower bed. Thank goodness they don't require pampering.

I don't have much on my agenda for today. I need to stay inside and do household chores during the torrid part of the day. It's very hot, and muggy. I don't know what else I could expect for the middle of an Arkansas July. Later this afternoon, I'll be mowing the grass. The City gets picky if your lawn looks shabby, and while mine is not quite to the 'pasture' stage, it's time for a hair cut.

That's a whole lot of nothing, but I need to get back in the habit of posting every day, or if not daily, at least regularly. Thanks for bearing with me.

Hope you're having a great day.

I'm A Winner! - Post 43

I've been know to whine a bit about "never winning anything!" I've entered many a contest / giveaway in my lifetime and have come to one inescapable conclusion: If I'd just saved the money I spent on postage to the Readers Digest Sweepstakes, Publisher's Clearing House and the like, I could probably paint the inside of my house, or at least a couple of rooms, the cost of paint being what it is.

I can no longer make that statement. The UPS delivery man, otherwise known as Mr. Brown, just brought a small box to my door. Inside the box was a pair of Silvermark Herb Snips, "The versatile kitchen tool for fine cutting jobs" according to the packaging. I am the recipient of these cute lime-green-handled snips courtesy of Jane Marie of Thyme for Herbs. A few weeks ago, on Jane Marie's blog, she invited her readers to participate in a giveaway, the prizes for which would be donated by the W. Atlee Burpee Co. All one had to do was post a comment, and she would randomly select three winners.

I won! I won!

(I know, I know... pitiful, isn't it?) Nothing cuttable in my kitchen or garden is now safe, but it will be cut with the cutest shears you ever saw.

When I was just a kid, Mama always bought her flower seed packets from Burpee, and I sort of fell in love with the sound of the name "W. Atlee Burpee" -- a bit exotic, don't you think? We used to receive seasonal catalogs from Burpee, and we kids would ooh and ahh over all the beautiful flowers and the tasty looking veggies. I'm quite sure I've eaten many a tomato that was started from a Burpee seed. And Zinnias; Mama always had multi-color Zinnias in her flower borders, and those came from Burpee, too.

Before I forget: I can't remember how I came to my first visit to Thyme for Herbs, but I now am a visitor at every new post. Jane Marie has THE MOST BEAUTIFUL DAY LILIES I have ever seen, and unlike myself in regard to my relatively paltry lily collection, she knows the names of 99% of them. She's currently showcasing the current blooms. The lilies, and the photographs, are amazing. If you like photos of flowers, go take a look! Tell her Pat sent you.

Oh! And you can also enter Jane Marie's current giveaway, again courtesy of W. Atlee Burpee -- some cute hats!