It's been interesting, to say the least

Out of the gate, I had to show you one of the cards I received for my birthday this year. Isn't this gorgeous? It's a pop-up flower garden, and the birthday wishes were made to the Queen of the Zinnias! Love this tons.

Well, so far, 51 has been a bit too eventful. I'd love for it to slow down a bit! Four sick kitties (yep, Bunny and babies), multiple trips to the vets, meds, a week of vacation that turned into becoming a nurse to Bunny and babies instead, and here we are at the weekend. Next week, I begin training for a new-ish position at work, and I'm both nervous and looking forward to something different, although, if I'm honest, I like the current job that I have just fine. But growing and learning is still important to me; new skillsets can be valuable in many ways, including self-satisfaction that you really can learn new things far into your years.

The birthday fun lingered all last week. On Thursday, my work friends had a butterscotch pie party for me! Two of my work family are retired/semi-retired, so it was good to catch up with each other. We've been together for over a decade and we are all mostly still in one piece, one way or another. They are lovely people, to say the least. I'd take a bullet for any of them. 

See my pie (what's left of it)? It's from Peggy Ann Bakery, and it's the old-fashioned, cooked butterscotch kind. This stuff is great. In fact, if they sold just the cooked part in containers, I'd buy it on a regular basis, because who wouldn't want that in their life all the time? Thick and creamy, with tons of flavor, this is the stuff I'd never bother to make since it's made so well locally. The pies at Peggy Ann are extremely reasonably priced, too.

It is hard to believe that Memorial Day is nearly upon us. I plan to enjoy every drop of summer this year. I've never been a summer person, but I find that as the years pass, I am living more and more for that summer season. I've got some red and white checked bunting hung out in the apple trees and garden, with just a bit more bunting yet to add around the porch for Memorial Day. Isn't this the best stuff? I've only started using bunting in the last five years or so. Can't imagine why I didn't do this sooner.

I feel tired today. The humidity is revved up, thanks to a storm system that arrived yesterday and has yet to move on. We've had dry heat with a good breeze for several days, and it has spoiled me. Now, we're looking at humidity through tomorrow. I'll be glad to send it packing and get my energy back, but I also recognize that the rain was very needed. The newly-planted Zinnia and Calendula seeds have germinated, and they look like they have grown inches just overnight!

Heading to the kitchen for toasted sourdough topped with an over-easy egg and Dukes mayo. Not a bad way to kick off a Memorial Day weekend. I'm sure that Grainger county tomatoes will factor in there somewhere! Have a blessed Memorial Day weekend. Never forget those who died in military service on our behalf, selfless acts of love for people they never knew. I am eternally grateful.

The humidity is killing me (not)

We have turned hot! Not warm - hot! Well, hot to me, anyway. low to mid-80s with the potential for two days at 90 this week. I know for people out west, that's not considered very hot, but to East TN, that's hot! We cool off again, eventually, and we have the gift of being in the 50s in the early mornings in this part of the country during a large part of the summer months. Thing is, this heat that has set in has almost no humidity. Now, having said that, we need rain. But I'm not going to lie - in the shade, with 83 degrees, a breeze and 37 percent humidity, you can kind of imagine what heaven will be like! It's very nearly perfect. You don't sweat, the bugs don't stick to your skin, and you don't have the makings of a headache somewhere at the back of your brain that often happens when the humidity sucks. We'll see how long it lasts! It's a gift, that's for sure.

Grainger County tomatoes are already available. Got three big beauties at a local nursery, and I'm all ready with several jars of my Dukes mayo on standby. Nice to know those tomatoes are available until our garden begins producing. They're very good. Not nearly as good as our own home-grown tomatoes (what is, though??), but they taste like the real deal. Along with big slices of Georgia sweet Vidalia onions and sourdough bread, salt and pepper, those sandwiches will be a staple for the next few months. I love autumn, but with that season, I always mourn the passing of tomato sandwiches.

One of my best girlfriends made me an old-fashioned 7-up cake! Here it is, ready to be cut and served with chocolate covered cherry ice cream later today! I'll get a better picture after I pop open the container. I am beyond excited. It's been a few years since I had one of these. I'm looking forward to the nostalgia of the taste. It's a big cake, so this may very well be breakfast for a while, lol (kinda not kidding; I mean, is it any worse than a donut??).

The next three pictures are just an indulgence of the things I love because today is my day. So, I give you Lacey, Oscar and Baby Higgins. I was talking with someone the other day. My job is pretty demanding, and I spend a lot of time working. That's okay, I like my job just fine, even on the hard days. But between the job and the rescues, it doesn't leave a lot of time for self-care. 

I look a mess a lot of days. That works for me, though, because look at these guys. They're stunning. They were all in need at some point. Sickly or abused or vulnerable or all of the above. To take something like that, to make it healthy, to make it feel safe, to make it feel loved is the best thing in the world. I don't care about my gray hair, the lack of makeup, the old clothes. I do, however, care more deeply than I can ever express about these guys and all of our other babies. I'm grateful for a husband who loves them as much as I do and who indulges the heck out of them. This is worth everything to me. This is what will be with me when I am with God. I cannot wait!

The coming week will be a bit different. I'm on a wonky schedule in an effort to take a bit of time off. I'm hoping to gut through some closets and drawers at home and to do some neglected spring-cleaning. I did manage to pull off a small bit of deep cleaning recently, but a couple of rooms I've yet to work on need some attention. 

I'm looking forward to a week of open windows and fans and breezes blowing through the house up until lunchtime, followed by a closed up house, curtains drawn against the heat, and an afternoon scary movie or two. I've got popcorn and Cadbury fruit and nut chocolate bars for the movies. I hope, also, to have that one morning where I throw on shorts and a tank top and head to Sonic for my Ocean Water and tater tots, summer music blaring, moon roof on my old Subaru rolled back, and literally nowhere to be for half an hour. 

I hope your Sunday is lovely and that your humidity is low and you have a healthy breeze. It makes a difference, doesn't it? It feels - literally - like life is so much easier when the weather is glorious. It doesn't hurt to have an old-school 7-up cake waiting on you, either . . . . Love to you!

Train whistles in the south in the a.m. hours

We live in the south, albeit not the deep south. Our south is the mountains, the Appalachian south, the Allegheny range view where on a hazy day, no matter what season, your view is a soft gray-blue combination of mountains and lonely. I can see why so many people find the mountains to be mystic, full of secrets and things that are beyond normal comprehension. They're beautiful, but they don't look inviting. If you go for a drive in the middle of a sunny day, it's dark and cool in the higher elevations, and it becomes very easy to lose your sense of time and direction. I was brought up by someone from the mountains, my father being from way back in the hills in Tennessee. I believe that melancholy plays a significant role in the hills. While I'm not melancholy in general, perhaps that is where I get my hint of the melancholy every now and then, and it manifests in my reaction to some sounds and smells.

We live not far from the railroad. It's not in our backyard or anything like that. You can't hear the train going through, chugging down the tracks at all. But what I do hear, particularly in the late summer evenings or the early summer mornings before dawn, is that long, soft-as-cashmere whistle that emanates from the train as it passes through the railroad crossing. Throw in some honeysuckle on a breeze, and suddenly the world stops for a few seconds while I live in the moment. It is the utter culmination of reaching the point of total relaxation, even if for just a few seconds. I feel my body tune itself towards the sound, and I breathe. There is nothing quite like it. I listen for it daily before the sun ever debuts. It has been part of my morning routine for over twenty years. 

Meanwhile, in the yard, lots of color is popping out all over. Yellow coreopsis and Siberian blue irises are in full swing. These will last for a couple more weeks, then the irises will be done for the year. The coreopsis will bloom periodically up through autumn. It's nice to walk out the back door and see these happy golden flowers! 

The front porch is ready for ice tea, tomato sandwiches, a box fan and chit-chat or reading. Now, we just have to get warm enough to utilize it. Looks like next weekend will be in the 80s, so I suspect the mornings will be perfect for some time out there with a book. Plenty of that to come in the near future, I hope. I do have some red and white checked bunting that will be put up around the banisters next weekend. That will add a bit of pizzazz for summer, which will be here in about five weeks. 

Look at Bunny! Isn't she fabulous?! Yesterday afternoon was a tad cloudy, but it was warm-ish (well, I had to wear a jacket later in the day, but . . . still better than freezing). We spent some time outside with Bunny and babies, part of our weekend routine. Bunny would live outdoors if we would let her, but it's not allowed. She's only outside under supervision to keep her safe. Other than that, she's required to be inside. As you can see, she's a very good girl.

And here is Bunny with her babies, all looking out the front door, wondering "why aren't we out there?!!" This little crew loves being outside. Unless the weather is terrible, they get to go out at least once a day, twice a day on the weekends. Bunny is second from the left. Look how her babies are outgrowing her! 

We finally head into warmer weather this week, so I made pasta salad yesterday, old school style with Dukes mayo, vinegar and just a hint of sugar and salt, fresh onion, peas and carrots, and cheese diced up. Refrigerated overnight, it will be eaten cold with saltine crackers and a slice of tomato. It tastes like spring turning into summer, which, if you are me, that really is a thing. Train whistles, honeysuckle, pasta salad, hazy mountains - all of this is my change of season melancholy. It's lovely, though. It's a good kind of melancholy, it forces me to just "be." I'm not great at that, I move around a lot, I'm too busy for my own good some days. But I have always invested in and been good at celebrating the season with sights, smells and tastes. I hope I never lose that ability; it brings me such joy.

Here's to the next coming season, where the food has flavor, shorts and t-shirts rule the fashion world, and the breeze carries the smells and sounds of life. 

Food from the 1970s, croutons and chili mac

Tomorrow is the full moon, and, boy, can you tell. Under the early morning-still nighttime sky, Lacey and I took a run, and she was absolutely full of herself. I had to correct her twice (voice correction followed by positive reinforcement with heaps of praise for following the correction, which she loves). At one point, she and Baby Oscar made up some crazy 30-second chase game. All this is going on while foods from different eras are traveling through my mind. 

If you were around for 1981, did you ever watch the Peanuts Halloween show and find yourself loving the Dolly Madison snack cake commercials just about as much as the Peanuts special? Remember the Zinger Zapper??!! Makes me want cream-filled cake at 4:30 in the morning. For the record, if I recall correctly, Dolly Madison was the sponsor - or at least one of the big ones - for the Peanuts specials, so it's no wonder my generation grew up loving snack cakes. We didn't stand a chance. And I'm sorry, food snobs and critics - but snack cakes really are quite good. 

But it made me think about other foods, too, particularly from the 1970s, some of which I remember vividly - tuna casserole, anyone? I know I've referenced jell-o on more than one occasion, and I particularly adore Coca-Cola cherry salad. In the summer, it's a staple around our house. Ice cold and sweet, but not overly-sweet, thanks to the thin layer of sour cream spread over top. The other thing I have had a few times in the past and loved, mostly at church dinners, is the sweet macaroni salad from the 1970s.

Now, this salad is unusual. You need to make it the night before, and it does have a can of sweetened condensed milk in the recipe. If you make this salad, if possible, you need to follow the original recipe, which can be found all over the internet. The ingredients in the salad make a difference in off-setting the sweetness of the condensed milk. The salad needs to set overnight, as well, so it's a make-in-advance thing, which is a time-saver for the day that you want to eat it. It's great in the summer with saltine crackers and REALLY good, strong, stinky cheddar on the side and a few slices of fresh tomatoes. I've only made this a couple times in past years, and I don't know why. And yes - it has two cups of Dukes mayo . . .  . I mean, you probably already figured that out. I'm putting it on the list of things to make the first full week in May. 

I digress with the food talk, but you need to know that at some point, more 1970s foods, as well as church potluck dishes are going to pop up in this feed. Those foods made me the foodie that I am today, along with my experiences in the Deep South, which gave me an unyielding love of Dukes mayo, fresh seafood, fried green tomatoes, and southern style cornbread. I don't have a home town or a lifelong experience with a location. I'm from everywhere and nowhere, and out of all the places that I've ever lived, my heart is very much in the Deep South. The beauty of those old trees with Spanish moss, the food, the culture, the salty air, the breezy summer mornings, the colorful homes . . . . did I mention the food? These things are spiritual to me. My inner self is calmed by them, and I find myself closing my eyes sometimes and just re-imagining the smells and tastes and views. There's a longing there, for sure.

Meanwhile, back in upper Northeast Tennessee where I have lived for more than two decades and where my paternal roots are firmly planted (I've been coming here my whole life but only moved here permanently in the mid 1990s), this weekend's cooking adventures included homemade croutons and baked vegetarian chili-mac. I had four odds and ends bags of bread, including a heavy, yeasty Tuscan bread, a partial French loaf, hamburger buns and one lone, stray hot dog bun. No worries, set the oven to 350. Cube the bread, toss it in melted butter and olive oil until nicely coated. Spread out on baking sheets, sprinkle heavily with Parmesan cheese and bake for ten minutes. Flip the croutons, bake for ten more minutes or until golden brown, and then let completely dry before storing them in an air-tight container. We eat ours in soups, salads and sprinkled on top of anything where we want a nice crunch. They are really nice directly out of the oven, still warm and salty from the parm and butter. Here they are! 

We try to eat down the kitchen and cabinets every now and then, so you have to get creative sometimes. I have not made baked chili mac in years, so using the odds and ends and some leftovers, we had vegetarian chili mac topped with globs of sour cream last night. This is comfort food at its best. I also like to take vegetarian chili and pour it into a greased dish. Then, top it with your favorite cornbread recipe and bake it on 350 degrees until the cornbread is nice and golden brown. I believe the last time I did this, it baked for about 25 minutes or so. Now THAT'S really good stuff. For us vegetarians, chili is a very good source of protein, as you can see below from all the beans.

Change is on the horizon for us this week. It's a good change, I believe, and one that I hope propels us in some new directions. Remember that longing for the Deep South? I so very hope that in the coming years, we get the opportunity to remedy that longing by making the Deep South a space that we love and embrace more often. Time will tell, and that's what it will take - time. Dreams sometimes don't happen overnight, and that's okay. It gives you something to aim for, something to look forward to, that metaphorical vision board that keeps us going. I've turned so many things over to God in the last couple of years that I'm surprised he's not blocking my calls or hasn't unfriended me, ha ha. But He's God, so that makes Him capable when we humans are standing at the threshold of something and our impatience is starting to show.

Of course, I would be remiss if I did not post a couple of baby pictures. My baby girl Trudy and my baby boy TC . . . . those faces. Good grief. I don't stand a chance against them. They run our schedules and our lives in general, but they would, wouldn't they?? They're in charge. When you look like them, you get whatever you want and then some.

I've got Sunday laundry to do and babies to take outside for play. We only go to 61 today, but the rest of the week looks stunning. Next weekend is the big reward: 70s and sun both days. I'll finally be able to use my clothesline to the point where the clothes and towels, etc., will actually dry! I'm looking forward to that.

Blessed Sunday to you. I hope your weather is warm and breezy and sunny. If it is, please push some of that my way, please??

 

Aaaaaand we're one!

And just like that, Bunny's babies turned one on April 15th, complete with party hats and pictures! I did not do full-body pictures because they had all been rolling around in dirt and looked absolutely filthy. But their faces are just as cute as ever, so precious. They couldn't be sweeter. They have wonderful personalities, each one different, and all of them have the BEST quirks and silly behavior. It's never dull around here, that's for sure. I'm grateful for them. I know that God's hand was in this and, that for some crazy reason, they were meant to land in our laps.

Baby Trudy

Baby TC (aka- "my lil' guy")

Baby Higgins

Turned very cold (of course we are in one of a million of our "winters"). Two nights in a row of frost coming up. I'm not fond of that, very aggravating to have to bundle up yet again every time we go outside. Currently, it's 26 degrees, I kid you not. Tonight we go below freezing again, then after that, it looks a bit better with nights in the 40s. I know warmer weather will be here soon, but wouldn't a balmy 67-degree morning right now be gorgeous?!

It's a quick post today. I've got supper in the oven, laundry rolling around in the dryer, and it's only 4:27 a.m., which means I still have more to do before I go to work. The weekend is coming, though, and I'm very relieved about that. They come and go quickly, but even so, they simply do not last long enough. Here's hoping that very soon on the weekends, I'll finally be able to consistently use our laundry line. Nothing like drying clothes outside in the hot sun! Happy Thursday or "Friday Eve," as I call it.

 

The noise of spring and the cravings of quiet

First and foremost, let's get the nerve-shattering critter cuteness out of the way. The indulged critter pictures for this post are tabby Baby Oscar, who turned three in March, geriatric Faerie Kitty, Georgie, who is well on her way to eleven, and mama Bunny, whom I guesstimate to be about two years old. These lil' pumpkins couldn't be cuter if they tried!  Hasn't Bunny "filled out" ever so lovely? Climbed that tree, most likely, to get some "me time" away from her youngsters! And before anyone has a heart attack, Bunny is only allowed outside under supervision. She is so cute. That face! 

Spring is noisy! If you step outside on our property in the early morning hours, there are disputes galore. Yelling, squawking, dive-bombing, mid-air fights - you name it, then it's probably happening. That's just the bird kingdom. Throw in the yapping squirrels and the dogs all around the countryside getting revved up from the noises and you can barely hear yourself think. I don't really enjoy it. The bluebird is, hands down, my favorite. Those tiny, precious, beautiful birds are so gentle and so quiet. I'm always glad when summer arrives. Everything is much more hashed out and settled down.

I've never been a person who enjoys an overly-busy household. The trafficked comings and goings of large families would probably do me in. I think if that's what you're used to, it's simply a matter of habit and is expected and does not bother people in those environments. But if you're like me and your world has always been small-ish by choice, an overabundance of noise makes every nerve in the body pucker. I'm happy to let the busyness and noise of work take over my day since that's expected with most jobs, isn't it? But when I get home, the "you can hear a pin drop" quiet is absolutely wonderful. 

Quiet doesn't always mean you're on the couch relaxing, though. With all of our precious rescues and house projects underway, there's not a lot of sitting or lying around that gets done. One project gets knocked out and the next one follows right on its heels. We've begun a rather large one that will require an excavator and a concrete business in the near future. I don't look forward to the project, but I do want to get it over with. On the heels of that are a couple of indoor paint/moving stuff around projects. Once that gets done, I'm really hoping to take a break from that type of thing. Hopefully, things will be situated again for a while by the time the holidays roll around.

We are smack-dab in the middle of our varied and plentiful winters. It was beautiful for a few days, all warm-ish with lots of good sun. We're back to cloudy and cool again with showers and drizzle thrown in there. It's only just turned spring, so I know we're in this for a while, but I'd sure love to wear shorts and a tank top in the morning hours soon. There is nothing like going outside before the sun comes up, dressed that way so that the early-day warmth can brush your shoulders. It feels like what I imagine cashmere would feel like if cashmere could be perfect weather.

The babies turned one this past week. Where did the time go? I'm hoping that we can get some birthday pictures today in their little birthday hats. They're still fairly wiggly babies, so we'll see how those turn out. I wanted to do them yesterday, but the sun was not out, and it made for terrible lighting for the pictures, all that gloom and drizzle and cloudiness. 

Brace yourself. Things are getting planted in the garden! I'm so excited. The tomato plants go in soon, and everything else will follow. Also in bloom are our cherry trees for the first time! You have to be patient with cherry trees. They do not get blooms or fruit for at least the first 4 to 6 years of being planted. So if you're looking for instant gratification, these aren't it! But several years have passed since they got planted, and here we are. The cherry blooms are pictured below. We won't get a lot of cherries this year, but we will get some. Then, next year, we should really have a nice crop!

The apple trees have bloomed, as well, and everything else like the blueberry bushes, the old grapevine, the butterfly bushes, knockout roses, etc., are finally showing signs of waking up. I couldn't be more excited. The gobs of flower seeds will go in either on Mother's Day weekend or the following weekend.  I cannot wait! It signals the ability to sit on the porch comfortably in the morning sun and enjoy the breeze, the buzzing of the bees, and everything else in between without having to be bundled and wrapped up! On a less encouraging note, we do have two nights were we will have frost this coming week. That IS normal for this time of year around here, but it always makes me feel like we are farther away from my shorts-and-tank-top weather than I'd like to be! But it will be here soon enough, and I'll eventually being ranting that "it's too hot!!" So, there you have it.

I need to make my summer stockpile list soon. Scary movies, favorite Sonic drinks as well as favorite Frosty brand drinks (blue cream soda or root beer, please, in that brand; that's the best), extra Dukes mayo for fresh salads and tomato sandwiches, Lipton tea bags for ice tea so cold that your teeth hurt, fruit fluff salads, corn in a cup, pea salad . . . the list is huge, and it strikes me that, over the years, my largest list of favorite seasonal foods gradually shifted from Autumn to Summer. I would have never dreamed that, but it's true. Throw Peggy Ann bakery goods in there at the weekends, and it's sheer heaven.

I can let the news and the nay-saying and the media sensationalism all fall away simply by turning off the TV or putting down my phone and going out on my front porch to watch the mountains on my right and the gardens in front and to the left of me. It's a beautiful thing and not a luxury that everyone has. I don't take it for granted, and I'm very grateful for it all. The simplest thing - a Frosty blue cream soda and a tomato sandwich with Dukes mayo, heavy salt and heavy pepper eaten in your favorite place  - can make you feel like the richest person earth. These are the best moments in life.

Blessed Sunday to you. The days are long, the years are short, and the special moments can be felt more easily and more often if we just tweak our efforts a tiny bit to that end. Love to you, wherever you are.

Happy Easter! Meanwhile, all my bits are freezing . . . .

Happy Easter! Jesus has risen, and God is love. What a fantastic reassurance that He is in control, despite how things may seem or feel at times. There is tremendous comfort in knowing that God is on the throne and that we can go to him at any time for any thing.

We are at a whopping 37 degrees and dropping until the sun comes up! I guess I shouldn't complain. Yesterday morning was 24 degrees and the morning before was 28 degrees. So 37 is technically a warm-up. We hit 66 with sun today, which is right in my weather sweet spot. It'll be beautiful.

I got my Easter order placed at Peggy Ann's by the skin of my teeth! I kept forgetting to place the order for my bunnies and eggs, and finally, on Thursday, I remembered. They had orders booked for Saturday, but the girl who makes most of them happened to be the one who answered the phone when I called, so she said that she'd be glad to make them for pick-up on Friday morning, if that worked for me. I was very appreciative. Here they are, and aren't they precious?!

Daffodils and irises are in bloom right now, but the thing I'm looking forward to the most, as always this time of year, are our four ancient apple trees. They get the most beautiful, fragrant blooms. Right now, they are getting their tiny, pink buds. They'll be open soon, and I cannot wait. Also, the first full mow of the year has occurred, and the grass is really beautiful right now. With the turning of the calendar month last year, we said good-bye to the first quarter of the year. I know, amazing, right?

I got around to a bit of spring cleaning yesterday. Living room windows look brand new, ha ha. I changed out curtains and washed everything that had cat hair and dusted and vacuumed the rest. I swapped winter throws and decor for spring/summer items, and everything feels a bit better.  However, now, when the sun comes up, you need sunglasses to sit in the living room. Once the trees have all their leaves and shade the front part of the house, it won't be so bad. But for now, the living room looks like a nuclear light explosion if the sun is full force. I may be pulling those curtains closed in the first few morning hours for a while. . . .

Let's talk food, particularly vintage jellos. Remember the days of the jello mold? They were a wonder of clear color with fruit bits floating around inside them . . . if you were like me when you were little, you appreciated the clearness of jello. You could always find your favorite fruit in it and try to eat that part with any luck. I loved (and still do) the cherries in the fruit cocktail. Then came the jello salads. Then came the layered jellos. Then came the fluffs. They were fairly common back when I was small, particularly for church dinners and any type of gathering. Nowadays, when you see a jello mold, it's a treat and everyone oohs and aaahs over what used to be an inexpensive staple for a lot of families.

So why bring up jello? No reason, really, other than I read a few articles on vintage foods, and layered cakes, spice cakes and jello dominated those articles. I am seriously craving the orange fluff jello salad made with cottage cheese. I may have to make that on the first of May to celebrate that new month, as well as May Day. May tends to bring with it consistently warmer temperatures, although we still get a lot of cool/cold morning in May and early June. And rain. But rain around here is its own season. I will say one thing, though - that rain makes our flowers and gardens really beautiful. It's definitely a trade-off.

I hope your Easter is blessed. I cannot imagine how people live without God in their lives. For me, it would be such an empty existence. We are not worthy of His love, but at the same time, we are His creation, made for His glory. Knowing that we would be hopeless in the face of free will, God created a way of redemption for us through His Son. My hope is in the Lord . . . .