Thankful Sunday--July 5, 2015

I am thankful for the bird feeder baffle.

We spent a long time trying to outsmart the squirrels from getting into the bird feeder with no success. Finally, this baffle seemed to do the trick. Oh, occasionally they get past it, but mostly they are baffled. :) Now the poor squirrels have to eat the abundant acorns, walnuts, and berries in the yard, as well as the dropped seeds below the feeder. But I guess to the squirrel, the seeds are always tastier when they come from the feeder. :)

Independence Day

Happy 4th of July

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Enjoy your day as we celebrate the 

239th birthday of our Nation.

A Second Look--June 30, 2015

Summer was here in all of its glory this week. Heat, humidity, thunderstorms, flowers, bugs, busy birds and bees, and thankfulness for air conditioning.

Here are a few things I saw this week 

during a Second Look.

Day lily

Gouty oak gall. This was caused by a small wasp and may be a couple of years old. Apparently these balls contain resin and tannic acid and have been used for medicine and other things over the years.

Bee on marigold

Unlike the bee above that was flitting from flower to flower, this one crawled in and out of the center of the marigold several times.

Fungus

The Japanese Beetles are out now. So far they aren't too bad.

The frequent thunderstorms are bringing down lots of limbs.

Trumpet lily with lamium and Japanese painted fern

Since last week, the wren has lined its nest with feathers and filled it with four eggs.

I think this wren is associated with the above nest.

The bluebird has added one more egg since last week.

Food Talk--Chicken Parmesan and Togetherness

Inspired by Ward's sister, Ward and I are tying to be more conscious about ETHOOLing. One way we want to do this is to spend more time together. We've come up with several different things we want to do and one of them is cooking. To begin with, we decided that we will cook together at least one meal every week and hopefully turn cooking from a chore into a fun time.

To start the process, I brought an interesting cookbook home from the library, Sheet Pan Suppers by Molly Gilbert. The book basically puts together meals that are baked on a sheet pan. Ward picked out the first dish from there that we were going to make--Chicken Parmesan. As luck would have it, Theo was visiting for the afternoon and joined us.

After reading through the ingredients and instructions, we all went to the kitchen to start the fun. Ward set to work preparing the chicken and Theo began preparing the dipping and dregging mixtures for it. I pitched in here and there where needed. When we were about done coating the chicken, Theo had an idea. He said that we should put the left over coatings on some of the zucchini in the fridge and it would be like Eggplant Parmesan. Great idea, especially coming from one of the carnivores. And before you knew it, we were sitting down to a hearty meal of chicken and zucchini parmesan served with steamed broccoli and a salad.

So how did it all turn out? The food was very good--especially the Zucchini Parmesan. Something to remember as we are about to enter the overflowing zucchini season. We worked well together and enjoyed eating together when it was all done.

Were we able to turn a chore into something fun? Well, we're not quite there yet, but we were able to make a chore more pleasant. Also, Ward and I and Theo got to spend time together. That part was great. And when it really gets down to it, we can't ask for anything more.

Thankful Sunday--June 28, 2015

I am thankful for rain.

In some places, there has been no rain. In other places, when it rained, it poured. But here yesterday, I found the rain just right. 

In the morning we had a steady, warm rain and I decided it was perfect time to wash the lawn chairs. So with my water shoes, a raincoat, and a hose, I washed away. And when it was all over, I was wet and smiling. It was like being a kid again and playing in the rain. And this time, I got to make some of my own puddles. :)