I need to “remember” to practice what I preach…

I used to be in the habit of regularly telling myself, “you can do just about anything, Jan, if you just take your time.”  But that kind of fell by the wayside, as do  most things with me.  I’m old(er), I forget.  I was getting hubby’s script filled this morning, he has a bug and hasn’t felt well all week.  The clerk asked for my address and I just went blank. I  looked at her with this silly vacant stare and could not remember my street number for anything.  She was about my age, she laughed and said she forgot her phone number and had to speed dial her husband to find out what it was.  Oh, old(er) age is such a hoot!

But back to my story,  I have fleurs sitting in a flat, waiting to plant.  Most of them can wait, but I have several  “Peachy Keen Superbenas” that I really wanted to get in the ground, as it’s going to rain all weekend, and there is nothing like rainwater to give plants a good start.

So I loaded Milly up with a trowel, a bucket to sit on, Epson Salts, more about that later, a Diet Coke, my plants, and, with Maggie riding shotgun, we headed for the patio.

I unloaded the golf cart, ensconced Miss Maggie in a comfy chair, took Butterbean out of his rabbit hutch and gave him a snuggle, and finally gathered everything around me and sat down on the bucket to plant the verbena.

Well there were roots, lots and lots and lots of roots, and my trowel wasn’t going through them, and I was thinking, drats, I wish Larry were out here!  But he wasn’t, and then I calmed myself and told myself once again, “you can do just about anything Jan, if you just take your time.”

I wasn’t in a hurry, a gentle breeze was blowing from the north, Maggie was snoozing nearby in the chair, so I just sat there and slowly chipped away at the soil and the roots.  It took me awhile, but they are planted, all ready for the rain, and I smiled to think that it was such a little thing, but it gave me such pleasure to accomplish it.  So just take your time, ladies, chip away a bit at whatever you’re doing, a little at a time, and you’ll get there. 

Oh, about those Epson Salts.  We have a local legend in Heavensville, a great gardener, who’s often on the news programs giving advice, and he said to sprinkle a tablespoon of Epson salt in the hole before you plant your flowers, it’s good for the plants, promotes strong stems, growth and vivid blossoms.  So I sprinkled away, we’ll see what kind of results I get from doing this.

And earlier I was down by the woods, I go every day on Milly, just observe nature, enjoy the smells, the trees, the dappled sunshine.  I took this picture of what I like to think of as “wild fleurs” but they’re probably just “weeds.”  Nevertheless, they’re nature, and they’re so pretty…

This is so true…

Mom had so many sayings, you’ve heard me mention a lot of them before.  My two all time faves are:

I’d rather take a lickin’ from a chicken

She drove her ducks to a poor market (meaning she didn’t marry well)

My boys quote grandma all the time.  Their favorites are:

“Everything tastes better with a little brown sugar”

“Done or raw, it’ll fill your craw”

Mother would be 94 now, so of course these are really oldies, but goodies

So I’m in the kitchen making Salad-in-a-Jar

I’m watching FoodTV, I always have it on in the kitchen, and Paula Deen’s son, Bobby is at their Mother And Sons restaurant, and he’s  hugging on this sweet, jolly black lady who has been cooking for them for the past ten years and her nickname is “Jellybelly.”

Well, something just clicked when I heard that nickname, and if I don’t get a handle on my food intake, I’m going to be using it as my handle when I sign off.  That’s just the cutest name I’ve heard since “Butterbean.” 

I think I’ll take it for a spin right now.

Hope you’re all having a good Sunday!

~ Jellybelly 

My eggs this morning were a religious experience, SERIOUSLY!

Hubby went to a town wide rummage sale yesterday morning and he came back with not one, not two, but three dozen eggs, sold to him by some old hippie looking women out of the back of their truck.  Just look at these brown speckled beauties. Aren’t they awesome?

The taste is so amazing, it’s unreal the difference in fresh eggs.  The yolks are so golden yellow, the taste is so fresh, it’s indescribable.

I took things like this for granted when I was growing up.  We always had hens, and I was terrified of them, too.  They would peck the heck out of me when I tried to get their eggs. I still remember their fat tummies, and how warm the eggs felt as I tried to scoot them out from underneath the irritated hens.

But I’ve looked at Martha Stewart’s bevy of beautiful hens over the years, and often wondered what it would have been like to just have had a couple of gorgeous chickens.  But then you have to get a rooster, and those suckers can be mean.  I always wanted a duck, too.  And don’t get me started on the horse!

I’m just an old country girl, sitting here this morning, drinking horrid decaf coffee because I’m out of regular, watching the finches on the feeder, my windows are open, the birds are singing, the sun is shining, and I once again live in the country!

It doesn’t get better than this.  Well, if Abby were coming to spend the day it would be better.  *sigh* 

I firmly believe that families should all live within a fifteen mile radius of each other.  I think it should be some kind of national law, and I just bet most grandmothers would agree with me!

My take on Trisha Yearwood’s premiere cooking show

Well, she made these killer brownies with German Chocolate Cake Coconut Pecan Frosting, need I say more?  Yep, I posted the recipe, it’s on Jan CAN Cook.

She was a natural, relaxed, funny, obviously at home in front of a camera and it’s very evident that she knows her way around the kitchen.  I think she could be just a bit bawdy too, if she let loose, probably as a result of being on tour buses with all those guys in her band for years.  It was a good half hour.

So what’s bugging me?  Well, it isn’t anything to do with the show, it’s her references to “her” girls.  And here’s an excerpt from a newspaper about the show.

Although Yearwood said the couple's three daughters are interested in cooking, she doesn't plan to have them on any shows for matters of privacy. She and Brooks want the young women to continue to lead lives as normal as possible.

Okay, she’s a stepmom, I get that, but these aren’t “her” girls, they’re Sandy’s girls.  The girls belong to Garth Brooks first wife, whom, if you believe the tabloids, he left for Ms. Yearwood, and who lives just down the road from them, and who has battled breast cancer in the past few years.  The woman has had a lot to deal with.

If I were the “first” wife, it would bother me to no end to see the pretty, talented, stepmother referring to my daughters as “her” girls.  Maybe I’m being old fashioned, but for some reason, this really rubbed me the wrong way.

But I still like her, I think she is enormously talented, and maybe they are all one big happy family, I hope they are, and I hope by now that it doesn’t bother his first wife at all.  So why should it bother me?  Oh fiddledy-dee, I don’t know, just got a bee up my bonnet about it…

Wolfgang Puck Pressure Cooker

 

I was telling my friend, Nan, this morning about this great price for this pressure cooker on eBay.  The seller has 26,000 pieces of positive feedback, plus a 30 day money back guarantee.

$45 for this 7 quart pressure cooker, free shipping.  Amazing price!  I have a Wolfgang Puck Pressure Cooker and I love, love, LOVE it!  Can’t say enough good things about it, I use it several times a week.

HSN is showcasing these today for $139.  It’s the same pressure cooker as this one, except the dial is different, this is probably last year’s model.  I’ve had mine for several years, ever since my friend, Jean, told me to check it out on HSN.  I think I paid $129 for mine back then.

And Wolfgang will be demonstrating these on HSN today at 4, 5, and 10pm Central Time.  I’m going to tune in and pick up some more tips. 

So, if anybody is interested, here’s the link -

Or if you have questions about cooking times, just email me, I even boil eggs in mine (5 minutes) potatoes (6 minutes).  Just set it, forget it, walk away and don’t worry about whether or not your food will cook properly, it turns out perfect every time.  Your kitchen stays clean, great for summer, and it doesn’t explode like those range top ones your mother used to have.  What more could we want???  And my favorite thing to cook in it – BEANS!  1 lb. of any kind of dried beans, seasoning, and 6 cups of liquid, water or broth.  You set it for an hour and forty-five minutes and come back to perfect beans every time.

I know, you’re thinking, well that’s not fast!  BUT, I never remember to soak beans ahead of time, and I don’t have to watch them, they don’t boil dry like they do on the stove, I don’t have to babysit them, sometimes I leave the house and run errands.  You couldn’t do that if you were cooking them on your stove.  And if you do remember to presoak the night before, you can cook them in less than thirty minutes.  I use mine more for veggies, cabbage rolls, stuffed peppers and beans than meat, I need to shake it up a bit and cook meat in it.

Update:  Nana emailed me to say she ordered this from eBay. It was too good to pass up!

Orange Blossom, Jo Malone

ORANGE BLOSSOM
The scent of clementine leaves in the morning dew sparkles above a heart of orange blossom and water lily, transporting the wearer to a garden oasis.

Doesn’t this par-fum look amazing?  I’m sure I won’t be able to smell it in Heavensville, but it sounds wonderful.  That is all…

Ma’am, I’d like to add something to that order…

Could I have an organic doggie biscuit please.  What???  You don’t have organic doggie biscuits??? Well drats!!!

Okay, I’ll take a small chicken breast, grilled with no oil and chopped into small pieces, hold the bun, no fries and a glass of water please, lots of ice, no straw.  And would you ask the manager about carrying those biscuits, after all I do come here often.

Thank you very much.  Have a nice day… 

Trish Yearwood Is Coming to FoodTV Saturday, April 14th

She will be on at 9:30 am, right after Pioneer Woman.  Here’s some more information…

I haven’t been around much…

I’ve had this big computer project occupying my time, no time to blog, and shame on me, I’ve had news for days now and haven’t shared.

Remember all the pictures I posted of “Marigold”, the Holland Lop Bunny?  Well, Marigold turned out to be a boy and now his name is “Butterbean.”

Every little granddaughter needs a bunny, P-Pa built Mr. Bean a snazzy house, and he’s currently ensconced under the birch tree, tucked into a corner of the patio.

He’s just a little guy, a gentle soul, who loves to be held, especially when you have a strawberry for him to eat. He will only be four pounds when he’s full grown and he’s so tame, just the perfect little bunny!  Miss Abigail is going to love him!!!!!

Around the neighborhood this morning…

To garden or not to garden….

It’s only the 30th of March, the garden centers are stocked with annuals, and I’m like a racehorse at the gate!  Do I plant, or do I wait?

I keep holding off, checking the forecast, it’s all good, I’m tempted to just go ahead and dig in the dirt, but I’m trying to hold off.  In the meantime I have something more to occupy my time, more about that later, possibly today ;o)

Or I could go on a picnic, this is one of my favorite spots. So many possibilities, but right now I’m going out to sing in the sunshine…

An evening drive…

Hubby had a meeting here tonight, so I took the girls and went to the duck pond.  The sun was setting on this second picture, what a gorgeous creature this is!!!!!!!

Once a country girl, ALWAYS a country girl…

I see beauty everywhere, even in this old barbed wire fence.  As I’m getting older, I’m finding that life really does come full circle.  I’ve always enjoyed the country, but now it’s more of a need.  I “need” to be with nature and experience it’s  daily rituals, life not dependent on what man has created, but what nature intended.

I can’t imagine a life lived indoors, with no “need” to experience the rhythms of the season.  I was born into a country life with nature as my playmate, and now, I find that once again it is thus, and I appreciate it more now than ever before. 

Country life, it’s a beautiful thing….

I’m not a photographer, but…

How can you not take good pictures when Mother Nature is giving us such a gorgeous palette to work with this spring.

I uploaded an album to Picasa, and thought some of you might enjoy the intensely amazing colors.  When I was working with the photos, I thought, “oh my, these pictures are so green they don’t look real.”   It’s just stunningly beautiful outdoors, so pretty that it’s hard for me to stay inside.

So take a peek at my album, sit back with a cup of tea and enjoy the beauty of nature.

~ jan

Deanna’s Kitchen Table

 

Didn’t my daughter-in-law do a great job with her spring table?  I love her Humpty Dumpty Cookie Jar, and her cake stands and those little mugs are so cute!  She posted this picture on her FaceBook page and I snagged it for all of you to see.

I do love a good tablescape, and this one is just spectacular!  Good job, sweet girl!!!!

The Bobbsey Twins at Home

When I was a little girl I loved The Bobbsey Twins. My favorites were "The Bobbsey Twins at the Seashore" and "The Bobbsey Twins in the Country." I read my books over and over again when I was a child, I've loved to read my entire life.

Tonight I was messing around on my iPad and on a whim I Googled "the bobbseyntwins .epub" and right away this book popped up, I downloaded it and now I'm reading it, and I'm eight years old all over again. I can't help but wonder if Abby will enjoy these little stories or, belonging to this generation of children, will she be too sophisticated for these simple books. Time will tell, and you can bet that Grammie will do her darnedest to instill my love of reading the children's classics to my sweet little granddaughter.

Maybe I'll start picking them up on eBay now, and by the time she's old enough for them I'll have a big collection for her to chose from. Oh, would I have loved having more of these wonderful books when I was a little girl...

And who says you can't go back in time. Sure you can, you just have to be open to finding ways to experience life again through the eyes of your grandchild...

 

 

 

Don’t you love a pretty sunset…

It’s that time of year, switching out my closet….

Now, this is a job I detest in the best of times. My mother had a saying for chores she dreaded, and it was “I’d rather take a lickin’ from a chicken” and I most certainly would rather take a “lickin from a chicken” than switch out my closet, especially this year!  I long for my closet in our last house, hubby took a bedroom, complete with window seat, and turned the entire room into this wonderful closet, tons of shelves and bins, a dressing table, a white ceiling fan, it was wonderful and we wallpapered it in this really wide girly pink and white striped wallpaper, it was pure heaven and I never had to switch out seasons. *sigh*  And even though he gave me the walk-in closet in our master bedroom in the condo, there is no way that it will hold all of the clothes that I never wear.

So he got my summer clothes out of the attic, and I painstakingly, and I do mean painstakingly went through them and sorted them into piles.  Here’s how it went…

I have this enormous pile of cute clothes,  I call it, “not a shot in hell!”

I have a large pile, I call it, “if I diet religiously until July and eat nothing except salad-in-a-jar with no dressing, I “might” be able to wear some of this crap.

And then there is this itty bitty puny pile that I call, “if I really, really suck it in and ignore the muffin top, don’t button my pants and never look at myself from behind, I can wear these butt ugly clothes.

Just another day in paradise….. ROARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

And did I ever mention how much I hate shopping for fat clothes?  Well, I do!!!!!!  So I won’t!  I’ll just stay in the house and wear caftans!  Long, flowy caftans, maybe  leopard ones, and I’ll wear turbans so I don’t have to straighten my hair.  Hey, it worked for Thelma Roper back in the 70’s, why won’t it work for me?

I’ll be sure and post pictures…

Oh, what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day….

I took my breakfast down to the creek this morning for a solitary little picnic, and it was absolutely, positively spectacular!  I’m enjoying this unexpected early spring so much, I haven’t spent this much time outside in years.  I snapped a few pictures, Mother Nature is really strutting her stuff this year!!!!