OK, no cute kids or pets, so here’s some more flower pictures 🙄
My moss rose are blooming up a storm!! 
As are the periwinkles in an old planter on the fence… they also have some moss rose and purslane popping up in the corners as well:
The marigolds out front are starting to show good from the sidewalk/street, but up close, you can see that a few spots still need to be filled in. But they add some really nice bright color up front:
I made another new recipe yesterday, just a simple thing for a homemade salad dressing. We ate light last night, a grilled chicken salad. We’re trying to eat healthier and lighter, and it’s easier in the summer. In the winter, I tend to want to bake a lot, make heavier dishes, casseroles, chili, soup, stews, etc. So, it’s easier in the summer to justify having just a big salad for supper.
I found this recipe at my favorite foodie blog, Sweetnicks. Cate always posts really good recipes. Everything I have tried from there has been delicious. Thanks Cate!
I think this recipe is now my new favorite. I still really like the Honey Mustard salad dressing I’ve been making for years, but this one is really good too. Hard to pick!
Here’s the recipe, and it can also be found here on Hambones.org. Along with all of my other favorite recipes!
Maple-Mustard Salad Dressing
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Yield: about 3/4 cup
Stacy’s Notes – Made June 2006. Didn’t have shallots, so I substituted 1 T finely diced red onion. Served this on a grilled chicken salad – yum, a definite keeper!
I finished a really good book last night, “The Red Tent” by Anita Diamant. It was quite unlike any book I had ever read, and I really enjoyed it. “The Red Tent” is the story of Dinah, from the Bible, daughter of Jacob and Leah, and is a fictional retelling based on Biblical facts. It is told by women, for women, about women. The tent signifies the place where the women go every month, and when they bear children. The book starts off with the stories of Rachel and Leah, and then progresses to Dinah’s full life story (as envisioned by the author).
The book was engrossing and had me reading the exact passages in Genesis to see how much is from the Bible, and how much is embellished by the author. The telling of the details, the customs and cultures of the time, as well as the sisterhood that this book embodies all made for a very engaging read.
For the record, this makes #34 on the year, with a total of 12,176 pages read. Up next is a book by a new-to-me author, Jennifer Weiner. I’m starting with one of her more recent books, “Goodnight, Nobody”. Check back in a few days or so for a review 🙂
Happy Flag Day!
Flag Day is a day for all Americans to show respect for the flag and what it represents. It represents our freedoms, and the people who have bravely protected it and our nation for hundreds of years.
One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
We have our flag flying today – do you? 🙂
I had a terrible afternoon on Monday. I decided to clean out some clutter from a bathroom drawer, and I was throwing things out, into the garbage. One of the main things I was culling was old bottles of fingernail polish. For whatever reason, I decided to open one of them and look at it. Don’t ask me why, I have no idea. I thought I had it closed, but no, it was not closed, and being the clumsy oaf that I am, I dropped it. It was a bottle of really bright pink nail polish and it bounced on my white counter tops, spilled out a bunch into my white sink. Then, I tried to catch it and ended up tipping it down my white cabinets and onto my new ceramic tile floors, including in the light colored grout. Then, when I finally got the bottle and threw it away, I got bright pink nail polish all over my wicker wastebasket. 😳
Well, I only had about half a bottle of fingernail polish remover and I went through that in just a few minutes. I tried to clean up polish from the sink, counter top, cabinet and floor with other cleaners that I had, only to learn that nothing gets up fingernail polish other than nail polish remover. I drove to Walmart and bought several huge bottles, then spent the rest of the afternoon trying to get it up.
I learned two things:
1. Fingernail polish remover will take the top layer of paint off of latex painted surfaces. My cabinets and drawers now need to be repainted because of all the paint that peeled off where I was cleaning off bright pink nail polish.
2. Not even fingernail polish remover will remove hot pink from light colored grout between ceramic tiles. Nothing gets it out. I used a bottle of remover and then some grout cleaner and they are still stained.
Sigh. I despise being clumsy. I despise ruining things that Tim and I work so hard to improve and maintain. I hate messing up my homey little house. Sigh. Monday was not a good day. I know in the overall scheme of things it doesn’t matter, but yesterday, and today, it matters to me. Especially every time I walk in the bathroom and see pink. 😥
Whew, things have been so busy around here, that I haven’t even taken the time to blog about them. Not that they are especially interesting or even eventful, just our exceedingly mundane lives 🙂
Let’s see… to catch up on the last several days for us, click here (beware, long, but it does have pictures!):
Let’s do some more fill-in-the-blanks this week! =) Thanks for playing Monday Madness, all of my faithful participants!
1. I have a picture of an ocean scene on my computer desktop.
2. There are lots of family pictures hanging on my living room walls.
3. My big goal for this week is to get things ready for the weekend.
4. I plan to visit all my regular (about 15) blogs this week.
5. The weather we’re having right now is blazingly hot.
6. I really should work out and drink more water more often.
My blog and I hit a nice milestone last night – we logged our 10,000th visitor to the site. Fittingly enough, it was my sister Gail. 😆 Thanks Gail, and everyone else, for visiting my blog and reading my entries, answering my questions, and leaving me comments. I really enjoy it, and appreciate it.
Here’s to the next 10,000 visits!
I’m too weary to blog today… we’ve been busy in the yard and out buying stuff for the yard. I’ll try to catch up tomorrow or the next day. Yard work in 95º weather tends to wear a person out! 🙄
Time to feast again! 🙂
Friday, June 09, 2006
Feast Ninety-Seven
Appetizer
About how much money did you spend on gas this week? I haven’t filled up this week, so none. The last time I filled up (maybe last week), I think it was about $45 bucks or so (of course, the tank was not empty, I fill up somewhere around 1/4 of a tank or 1/2).
Soup
What is your favorite brand of toilet paper? Quilted Northern
Salad
When was the last time you discovered something that you thought was pure genius?Hmm, that may require more thought than I can muster this morning. 🙄 Years ago, I thought buying lettuce washed and cut up in a bag was a stupid idea and a waste of money. Uh, well, I’ve totally changed my mind since then! Same thing with the iPod, when Apple first came out with them, I just didn’t get it. Now, looking back, I think that is probably near genius – iPods are smart, fun, easy to use and a total money pit. Look how much iTunes sells, songs and even TV shows – who would have ever thought you’d pay 2 bucks to watch a TV show on a tiny handheld device, when you could sit and watch it on your big screen at home!
Main Course
What is the least amount of sleep you can get by on per night? I am a sleep addict and I require a lot more than most people. I really need 8-9 hours a night, but I can squeak by on 6-7 hours a night. Only if I must. I’d have to make up for it the next day or night!
Dessert
June is a popular month for weddings. Do you know anyone who is getting married this month? Nope.
Have you ever heard the old saying “never go to the grocery store hungry”? Well, that definitely applies to me. I tend to buy a LOT more food, especially junk food, if I go when I’m remotely hungry.
The problem is, when I went today, I was not hungry! But, I still bought some junk to snack on. Here’s the snack of the day… yum, so good
P.S. Yes – my breath smells wonderful now!
OK, so here’s a question – if I put a facial moisturizer on my face that has SPF 15 in it, then I put on makeup/foundation that has an SPF of 15 – does that mean I have SPF 30 coverage on my face? Or does one cancel out the other and I still just have an SPF of 15 on my face, out in this blazing hot sun? It’s hot here, and supposed to be 96º this weekend. Ick. Gotta get serious about sunblock and sunscreen soon.
I finished another library book last night, “Miss Julia Meets Her Match” by Ann B. Ross. This is probably the 5th Miss Julia book I’ve read, and I’ve really enjoyed them all. They are light and funny and very Southern. Sometimes, while I’m reading them, I just die out laughing, really loud. I get some funny looks from Tim sometimes 🙄
For the record, that makes #33 for the year, with a total of 11,855 pages read. Up next to read is “The Red Tent” by Anita Diamant, which I’ve heard good things about. Check back in a few days or maybe a week, for a review of that one. 🙂
If you’ve read my blog before, you probably know that my better half is recently, totally and completely obsessed with golf. He started last December and has played almost non-stop since then. He has had lessons, hit golf balls in the back yard, gone to the driving range, played in scrambles, and gotten in as much “regular” golf as he can. He has been wanting me to go with him, but I have resisted thus far. Until yesterday, that is.
Tim got off work a little early and wanted to go play 18 holes. He “talked” me into going with him and riding in the golf cart. Expecting it to be like going to the driving range with him, I took along a book and my iPod, as well as my camera. Well, the iPod never came out and I read maybe 2 paragraphs in my book. The camera, however, got a good workout!
I must admit, it was a lot more fun than I had expected it to be. I’m used to sitting still, watching him hit balls from one spot. Not so on a golf course. It was pretty constant movement and activity. When we first started out, there were two carts of golfers behind us, and I was hesitant about even going. But, Tim played the first couple of holes pretty quickly, and we got a head start on the others, and from then on, we were pretty much on each hole by ourselves. Which was great – we had a lot of fun! I took a lot of pictures, learned to drive a golf cart, helped him look for his ball :cry:, drove around looking for the yardage markers, etc. Not knowing anything about golf, I had no idea you could drive the golf cart out on the fairway (well, not on some holes, par 3’s on this course), and so I had a blast, zipping around with him, looking for balls, taking him his clubs, getting water, etc. The course we went to (Caroline) is really pretty, and I really enjoyed being out there with him. There’s a lake there, and of course a lot of water and sand hazards on each hole. We encountered a bunch of geese on one hole and had to wait for them to get across the cart path. The place was really beautiful and I took a lot of scenic pictures and a ton of flower pictures (they had gorgeous daylillies on several of the holes). I may post those later this afternoon on a separate post.
We were really late getting home, so we stopped and picked up some food for supper (salad for me and burger for Tim). We watched a movie from our collection after we got home, a recent purchase of a really old movie that I like (Memphis Belle). All in all, a really good day!
Click to see pictures from our golf outing…
This week’s topic:
10 ways you like to relax
1. Sleep!
2. Watch TV
3. Watch a movie (preferably a “chick flick”)
4. Read
5. Surf the Internet
6. Take a Bubble Bath
7. Sit outside and listen to the birds singing, my windchimes chiming
8. Take photographs of anything
9. Listen to music on my iPod
10. Play mindless games on the computer
