Rainy Weekend Fun

We had rain all weekend (except when it was snowing), so I spent most of my time inside. I took this opportunity to go back to an old hobby of mine--beading. That was motivated by the fact that I needed to clean the room where my work space was for another reason. And when I saw that I could actually sit down at my beading table, the call of the beads was more that I could resist. I was itching to take the large jumble of beads I have to see what I could do with them. I decided to make badge holders for some of my coworkers. I had to do a bit of creative design to work with just what I had on hand. It was much too yucky out to go for more supplies. However, I liked the challenge of this.

So what did I end with? I ended up with five new badge holders to add to ones that I had made before. After my intense sessions yesterday,  today I'm going to see if I can get my eyes to refocus more than five inches in front of my face. :)
Here are a few pictures of the fruits of my labor. The pictures didn't turn out so well, but I think you'll get the idea of the tedious detailed, fun weekend I had.

Is there an old hobby that you want to try again?

Thankful Sunday--March 30, 2014

I am thankful that this grinder has found its new home.

Theo bought this very large grinder for his grandfather several months ago. However, it has been living in our garage until yesterday when it was finally delivered to its new owner. His grandfather was happy to get it and we are happy that we now have a little more space to maneuver in our garage.

Food Waste Friday and True Food Confessions--Mar. 28, 2014

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. Also, I am using this public forum to encourage us to eat out less which includes better meal planning. You can follow how we are doing in this endeavor by reading True Food Confessions. 

This Week's Food Waste

A Tomato

I have a suspicion that this tomato was starting to rot before I brought it home. Luckily, the others in the bunch have held up. Otherwise, we were good to go this week. :)

This Week's True Food Confessions

Do you know what happens when you go to the grocery store when you're thirsty and hungry? You buy a lot of juicy, sweet fruit and a couple of vegetables for good measure. So guess what? We've been enjoying a lot of fresh fruit this week. :)

Also, I got asked an interesting question recently when a friend was seeing our redone kitchen for the first time. After the proper ooohs and ahs, she asked if I liked cooking any better in my new space. Without hesitation, I said no. However, I have been thinking about that question since then. While I enjoy being in my kitchen more, I do not like cooking more. You know how they say (whoever they are) that you should trust your first reaction? Well, I guess it's true in this case.

Do you find that your first response to something is often the right one? 

Until next time...

Hillwood Estate

Recently Ward and I got a chance to visit Hillwood Estate and Museum in Washington, DC. The visit had been on our list of things to do for over a year now, and we finally made it.

Hillwood Estate was home to Marjorie Merriweather Post in her later years (1955-1973). Besides living in the mansion, Post used it to display much the art that she collected over the years. She was the richest woman in the United States at one time thanks to owning General Foods. That afforded her enough money to follow her passion of art collection. French and Russian were her favorites. After her death, Hillwood was opened as a museum for the public.

We visited on a warm afternoon, and we weren't the only ones who thought it was a good day to go. It was crowded, but we were able to work our way through the crowds to see what we wanted. Besides the seeing richly furnished bedrooms and kitchens, we saw many built-in display cases scattered throughout the house. These held much of her collection. Porcelain was a favorite of Post, so we saw numerous sets of dishes among other things. The thing that impressed me the most was the opulence of what we saw. Intricate details, fine painting, and gold everywhere. Amazing. It was almost more than my eyes could comprehend.

Next we wandered through the gardens around the house. We visited the greenhouse that was full of orchids. The color, beauty, and variety of them was like the plant version of what we saw inside. Opulent and amazing.  Then we ventured through the rest of the gardens. It was early in the season, so there was very little in bloom. We found a crocus here or a daffodil there. And while I appreciated what I had seen thus far, it was this part of the visit I liked best.

 Here are few pictures from our afternoon.

Library

Adam Bedroom Suite

Russian porcelain and English painted enamels

Orchids

 

Path to Japanese Garden

Crocus outside of Dacha

A Second Look--March 26, 2014

Where I live, there are a few robins that hang around all winter. However, I still get excited when I see a flock of them for the first time in the spring. When I was a kid, spring wasn't officially here until the first robin arrived. Well, it's here! The robins are out in full force. While watching them this week, I saw a robin tugging a worm out of the ground. Now that's a picture I've seen everywhere--in cartoons, greeting cards, books, and now I've seen it for myself after all of these years. It's was an exciting moment. (Sometimes, it's the little things. :) ) Also, there are a few more crocuses blooming and guess what? We had more snow.

Here's what I saw this week during my Second Look.

This was one of many robins that were visiting. It was a windy day, so notice the ruffled feathers.

A few more crocuses have been popping up here and there.

This crocus came up in the middle of the grass where a squirrel had planted it.

 

One foggy morning, I saw these deer grooming each other. Usually, I just see them eating.

This tufted titmouse has its tuft down.

We got a few more inches of snow yesterday.

Thankful Sunday--March 22, 2014

I am thankful for orchids. 

Yesterday, Ward and I visited a greenhouse that was full of orchids. Not only did we appreciate their beauty, we were thankful for the memories they brought of Ward's mother. She grew up in Central America where orchids were native, and she always had a special fondness for them.

Food Waste Friday and True Food Confessions-March 21, 2014

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. Also, I am using this public forum to encourage us to eat out less which includes better meal planning. You can follow how we are doing in this endeavor by reading True Food Confessions. (Thanks to Jo from Simply Being Mum for sponsoring FWF this week.)

This Week's Food Waste

 None

 It was touch and go for a while with a bag of lettuce, but I managed to eat it all before it went the way of slime.

This Week's True Food Confessions

I know the weather is getting to be an old theme on this blog, but here it goes again. Last week when I was shopping, a package of zucchini caught my eye and I had to have it. Why? Because it reminded me of summer when there is always a boundless zucchini crop. Sort of the "think it and it will come" idea. Combined with broccoli, it made a delicious casserole that served us for two dinners and two lunches. This has been a favorite recipe in our family for many years.  It contains zucchini chunks, eggs, cottage and shredded cheese topped with bread crumbs. I usually add another vegetable like broccoli or asparagus to give it more flavor. This recipe comes from Jane Brody's Good Food Book. Here's a link.   Zucchini and Cheese Casserole

A Second Look--March 19, 2014

Spring is officially here tomorrow and if I look at things objectively, it really is spring outside--meaning the plants are putting out new green leaves despite the fact that they keep getting covered up with snow.

Once again, we had a lot of variability in the weather this past week. The weekend saw temperatures in the 60's followed by rain and snow the next couple of days. Although we haven't had another heat wave, the snow is melting.

Here's what a saw this week during a Second Look.

Saturday was windy and warm with temps in the 60's.

Sunday and Monday the snow came.

By Tuesday much of the snow had melted, especially under the trees. Other places still had a few inches.

The snow was deep enough around the area of this fungus that I was glad I had my boots on.

I guess there's a reason they call these snowdrops.

Another crocus. My count is now up to two.

It really is pretty.

Thankful Sunday--March 16, 2014

I am thankful for this cookie jar.

When we moved from Texas years ago, my friends gave me this cookie jar with Texas bluebonnets on it. It has graced our shelves ever since. The only thing it has never done is hold cookies. They never last long enough here to get stored. :)

Food Waste Friday and True Food Confessions-March 14, 2014

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. Also, I am using this public forum to encourage us to eat out less which includes better meal planning. You can follow how we are doing in this endeavor by reading True Food Confessions. 

This Week's Food Waste

These oranges were good.

The bag of oranges we got this week came with a rotting one. :( However, I cut the rotten part off and cut the rest up for the critters. The birds and squirrels seemed to enjoy it. Otherwise, we did pretty well.

This Week's True Food Confessions

 We had a good week with cooking and eating our meals. However, we had a bad week with picture taking of our meals. Nevertheless, here are a few pictures from last week.

I Spy

 Can you find...

1. A chicken casserole? This was made to use up extra noodles that were found during a pantry clean up. We also had a chili casserole made from leftover chili. Both were tasty and easy to make.

2. Cucumbers? These cucumbers provided a nice counterpoint to the heavier casseroles. They were also a refreshing snack.

3. Roasted broccoli? We also had roasted brussel sprouts. We had been wanting more of these since we bought some very expensive ones at the grocery store a few weeks ago. Brussel sprouts were on sale, so it seemed like the perfect idea. And it was.

4. Juicy fruit? Besides these oranges, we also enjoyed fresh pineapple and apples. The apples were the Pink variety and were a nice combination of sweetness and tartness. They were pretty good for an out-of-season fruit.

5. Walnuts? Even though the squirrels are snatching food from the bird feeders, they are still enjoying nuts from the walnut trees in the back yard.


 

Today...

Today, I'm going to go with the flow and embrace change. 

Adjusting to change is not always easy for me in both little and big ways. Yesterday, the weather reminded me once again that change can be a good thing. It went from cloudy, to rainy, to a rainbow all in a matter of minutes. Each stage was spectacular to see.

Cloudy

Rainy

Rainbow

A Second Look--March 11, 2014

Spring is finally here. Some days are cold and some days are warm. The snow is melting and I found my first crocus. :)

Here's what I saw this week during a Second Look.

I was very excited to find this crocus blooming.

However, all of the other crocus that I found were leaves just emerging from the ground.

Something has started to build a nest in this box.

The snow has been melting and now is left only where there were big piles.

The daffodils are also coming up but no sign of a bloom yet.

Although, I'm not finding as many as last year, I still find a bone on most of my walks. I don't know what this one is.

And the earliest of all, the snowdrops are blooming in full force.

The Empty Nest

As I have mentioned before, the nest is empty here. Wally and Theodore are now living on their own.

Wally and Theo long before they left the nest.

This is not the first time that Wally and Theo have been gone. At various times they have both been away at college at the same time. But this time is different. This time I think it's going to take. Wally has a job good enough to support himself and Theo is making plans for when he finishes school that don't involve coming back home.

And what do Ward and I think about this? We're glad because it looks like we've succeeded in raising independent, responsible, contributing members of society. Sometimes we weren't so sure this would happen. Like the time Theo refused to go to school because he thought he already knew it all. Or the time Wally flooded the house with the garden hose. Or the time when Theo started a fire at school during the electricity unit. Or the time Wally wouldn't do his homework because he thought it was too boring. Or the time the teacher called. Or the time the other teacher called. Or the next time another teacher called... But you know what? Just like all of the older and wiser people told us, it will work out. And it did. Thank goodness.

After a few tears on my part, we are adjusting to a quieter house. We're enjoying not having to figure out a schedule with the cars. We like it that now we can keep food in the house. (In case you haven't heard, young males eat a LOT.) We are also trying to keep quiet as Wally and Theo are figuring out things in the big world by themselves. I'm having a hard time with not offering too many opinions (some would call it nagging, I call it being a mother), but I'm working on it.

We know that there are ups and downs to everyone's life and Wally or Theodore may boomerang right back here. But for now both parents and children are enjoying the right of passage that is the empty nest.

In the essence of Full Disclosure, the nest is not really empty if you count our four needy (kneady - get it?) cats. :)

Thankful Sunday--March 9, 2014

I am thankful that days are getting longer.

Even though I lost an hour of sleep last night because of the time change, I am very happy that the days are getting longer.

Food Waste Friday and True Food Confessions--Mar. 7, 2014

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. Also, I am using this public forum to encourage us to eat out less which includes better meal planning. You can follow how we are doing in this endeavor by reading True Food Confessions. (Thanks to Jo from Simply Being Mum for sponsoring FWF this week.)

This Week's Food Waste 

None. Yea!!

I saved mushrooms and carrots by adding them to some fried rice. I've never made fried rice before, but I'm happy to report that it turned out well. I'll be using this in the future as another way to use up expiring food besides soups and casseroles.

This Week's True Food Confessions

Lili asked a couple of weeks ago how our food preparations have changed now that we have an empty nest. (An empty nest post is coming soon.)

We had leftovers from Shepard's Pie we had this week.

Short Answer:
We cook about the same, but now we have leftovers so we don't have to cook as often.

Long Answer:
When I was thinking about how things have changed, I'd say the biggest change is that we now have leftovers. For the last 20-some years, leftovers have been nonexistent. Or I should say, leftovers never lasted more than 8 hours. I may have gone to bed with leftovers in the fridge, but they would be gone the next morning with nothing left but an empty dish in the sink. Then I thought even further back about how our food habits changed throughout the years.

When we were first married, Ward and I lived in New Orleans. You may have heard that New Orleans is a city with great food and that is very true. It's just not its world famous restaurants. It is a place where a sandwich from a grocery store counter to cheesy fries from corner bar maybe the best you've ever had. At that point in our life, we had no kids and lots of money. That meant a lot of eating out with friends and learning to love turtle soup, shrimp Poboys, and crawfish. When we weren't going out, we worked a lot of overtime. Eating at home was catch as catch can.

The next chapter was when we had Wally and moved to Houston. Three years later, we had Theo. At this point, we both had full-time jobs with overtime. Usually by the time we got home, we were all tired and cranky. The question was did we want to go out to a restaurant where we had to wait for our food with fussy toddlers or did we want to eat at home where we rarely had anything prepared. The restaurants often won out. In Houston we learned to love Tex-Mex food from our frequent trips to the local restaurants. I am not exaggerating when I say there was a Mexican restaurant on every corner in our neighborhood.

As the boys got older, I quit my job and only picked up some occasional part-time work. I did more cooking at home and became a very good grocery shopper as far as getting the most for our money. Sometimes, I would have meals planned for the week or month and sometimes, I didn't. We still enjoyed eating out, but the frequency was less than before. Much of our eating out involved visiting Ward for lunch at his work cafeteria. Afterwards, we would take a walk and feed the ducks at a pond outside his building.

As the boys got still older, they became more and more involved in the food preparations. That might mean making applesauce with all of the neighborhood kids or leaning how to make chili. They were still young enough (preschool and early elementary ages) that they thought this was all fun.

When they both were in elementary school we moved to Maryland where we live now. I continued to involve the boys in more and more of the food preparations.  We would plan menus together as a family and sometimes each family member would plan them for the week or month. We discussed balanced nutrition and cooking times and methods that would fit into the schedules. The whole family read cookbooks to look for easy recipes and food prep was very much a family activity. We started adding a Maryland favorite of Old Bay Seasoning to many of our dishes.

Move ahead a few more years to when the Wally and Theo were in their teens. By this point, they were often in charge of the evening meals. During summer breaks, if they didn't have a job, they would be entirely in charge of suppers. Ward and I had our jobs outside of the house and they had their job inside the house is how we looked at things. I helped with shopping for the food if they were not yet driving. However, they needed to make up the grocery list. I was trying to teach them good life skills as well making sure that they understood the responsibilities of being a part of a family (or any group.) I learned a few things from them as they ran the kitchen. (i.e. Wally loaded the dishwasher more efficiently than I ever had.)

Now we're up to the last few years. This is when I started to worry about eating out too much for both financial and health reasons. I had not magically learned to like cooking, so this was a struggle for me. We ate at home a lot more with simple but nutritious meals. Theo got very interested in cooking at this point because he was getting tired of the same old things we were having. He improved the quality of our meals a lot during this time. However, the novelty eventually wore off for him when he realized how much work was involved with much of what he was interested in eating.

Where do we stand today? How do Wally and Theo cook now that their cooking involves only themselves? Wally is very happy to eat a peanut butter sandwich everyday. He has always loved peanut butter so this is actually a pleasure for him. However, he does cook occasionally when he thinks he should be fitting some vegetables in.  Theo still likes to experiment with flavors and cooks mainly at home. His main motivation for this is to save money. However, sometimes he is so busy with school that he enjoys a takeout pizza. How about here? Ward does not like to cook and does not feel at home in the kitchen. However, he is willing to help with food preparation and clean up. And even more he is willing to eat out. I still struggle with cooking at home most of the time and when I'm tired or stressed, cooking is the last thing I want to do. Planning is key for me to forge ahead during these times.

Has you cooking style changed over the years?

A Second Look--March 5, 2014

Between rain and snow storms, I managed to take a walk around the whole yard this week. I went looking for signs of spring, but mostly I noticed signs of animals. A day after I took this walk, the snow returned. I'm glad I got out when I did.

Here's what I saw this week during a Second Look.

The deer have been spending the winter mostly in the lower part of the yard. However, I expect that to change once our bedding plants start budding and there's a lot of tasty things to eat close to the house.

There are no signs that any of these burrow entrances have been used recently. I guess the groundhogs think it's still too cold to come out.

Most of the snow had melted, but I found these rabbit tracks in some that was left.

The rabbit prints were leading up to this den. We have collected a huge pile sticks that several animals have made their home.

A bigger perspective on our stick pile habitat. There are two major entrances--one below that was in the above picture and one a couple of feet above. I have imagined all kinds of animals living here, but have actually only seen rabbits around.

It wouldn't be a winter walk in the yard without finding a bone. I don't know what this is but my best guess is part of a groundhog skull.

This is another place that an animal/bird has been keeping warm this winter. The bottom of the hole is filled with leaves and grass.

The next day the rain and snow returned and I did most of my looking out the window where I saw a female cardinal, a chickadee, and a male downy woodpecker.