And...It's a New Day...

Today, I woke up with a new feeling of hope.  Things will be beautiful again.  My garden helps me, as it always does, to see the promises of the future.

Isaiah 41:10 (New Living Translation)

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
      Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
   I will strengthen you and help you.
      I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

A Peony bud...promising to bloom soon...

A struggling Azalea in my front yard that decided this was the year it was going to overflow with beautiful blooms...

Ladybug friends on the Lemon Balm...

Lilacs just about to bloom...

My neighbors Dogwood Tree that graces us with it's beauty every single year...I have a perfect view of it from my deck...

Blessings,

Jackie

Simple Spring Treat...

It's Spring Cleaning week here at the house...which means lots of easy dinners like sandwiches or frozen pizza.  Tonight we get to enjoy a yummy treat...Strawberry Shortcake...made with sliced purchased pound cake, sliced strawberries and whipped cream.  Hello Spring!

Thanks For Stopping By....

Jackie

This Is How We Celebrate The Day Before The First Day of Spring...

It's Bound To Be Yummy And Not Last Long In Our House!  

Happy Spring!!

Jackie

Springtime in the garden...

...is, quite possibly, the loveliest time of the year!

small...dotted friend on the lemon balm...

longtime garden decor...painted brown, blue and now red...

Lilacs starting to bloom and filling the air with their sweet scent...

A clubhouse with a perfectly natural opening. Club meetings held here everyday after school...

North-looking view of my newest flower garden...

Salad for dinner?

A potted herb garden. Thyme. Chives. Rosemary. Oregano.
And...if you look in the background here you can almost see raised bed #2 that hubby built me for Mother's Day!

Chives in my new Cutting Garden. Cosmos, Zinnias and Snapdragons Coming Soon...I hope...


Blooming Lilacs produce beautiful arrangements for my dining room table...bathroom counter...living room table...etc...

Jackie

It's Only Just Begun...

...Spring, that is! I'm having a hard time staying out of the garden but I'm finally starting to recover from 3 weeks of feeling pretty miserable and getting a recent diagnosis of bronchitis. Having bronchitis and pneumonia within the last 4 months is taking it's toll...mostly on my emotions. I need to make some changes in my nutrition and stress management and I'm working on that now. Nutrition... I know what I need to do. Stress Management...this is something else altogether. This is hard for me. Taking time to do things for myself is necessary but finding the time is a challenge. I know I need to make these changes so the time will be found.

The sun is shining today and I'm feeling a little better. I took a little stroll through the yard the other day after it rained and this is what I found...

The potted geranium is loving all the rain...

The clematis is full of buds and I can't wait to see it in bloom...

Pretty purple blooms...

Cardinal eggs waiting to be hatched...less than 2 feet from our front door in a Holly shrub...

Oh, what's this? It's a little sneak peek of the giveaway I'll be hosting soon...

Until next time....


Jackie

Well, Hello...

How are you? I've missed you my Blog Friends! We had a great week off. I didn't have the whole week off...but most of it. We visited with Grandmas, Grandpas, MeMe's, PaPa's, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Brothers and many others. We had fun with friends and we spent a lot of time at home too. I believe Spring has finally arrived here in MO. Every day I see more green everywhere I go. Here is a little snapshot of our week...

Beautiful sunset after a heavy downpour...

Walks around campus are becoming more enjoyable with the warmer weather and the blooms are starting to pop out...

I hid LOTS of these this week. The boys participated in several Easter Egg Hunts...Fun Times!

We did lots of running around and not just looking for eggs...

Candy colored Tulips...perfect for Easter...

At the end of the week we looked at our stash and realized that we had lots of yummy candy but also good friends and a great families...We Are Blessed!

I haven't visited you lately and I can't wait to see what's been going on in your lives for the past week. I hope you all had a great Easter!

Oh, and this little post is my 200th.

200...can you believe that? 200 posts means I'm going to have a fun giveaway sometime this week. Stay Tuned...it's really cute!! And speaking of giveaways...I won one recently and I'll be posting a great big Thank You and photos soon!

Talk To You Soon,

Jackie

T.T.Y.L.

Well, it's Spring and it's time for a Blog Break. Time to do some cleaning, visiting with family and friends, celebrate Easter, gardening, painting (maybe) and reading. The boys are on Spring Break this week and I'm taking a couple days off too. I'll leave you with some photos from around our beautiful state of Missouri. There is a lot of natural beauty here...especially our mountains and streams. The mountains are sometimes surprising to some folks who have never been here. If you haven't seen them in person I hope you get to someday.

The Farmers Markets are also starting to open up. I'm hoping to get to ours this coming weekend. I hope you enjoy the little photo tour of a few of the Farmers Markets in MO.

I look forward to catching up with all you real soon.

T.T.Y.L. (talk to ya later)

Jackie

Soulard Market in St. Louis

Columbia Farmers Market

City Market in Kansas City

Taum Sauk Mountain State Park

Branson Railway in the Ozark Mountains

Bennett Spring State Park

Hodgson Mill in rural Ozark County Missouri

Step Away From The Snowmen...

I have some really nice neighbors across the street. They live in a nice home, plant beautiful flowers and spend a lot of time in their flowerbeds during the warm months. Our whole neighborhood benefits from the beauty of their flowers. Usually, they are quick to change their outdoor decor with the changing seasons. This year...not so much. As I gaze out my west window and admire the buds on all the trees in my yard and theirs...what do I see? Snowmen! Cute ones I might add...but they are still snowmen. It's spring people...Time. To. Put. The. Snowmen. Away.

A couple of weeks ago I put out a cute spring flag with pastel flowers. I know it was still technically winter two weeks ago...but I'm ready, you know? I want to see flowers, green grass, bunnies...all things spring. Yet, the snowmen continue to taunt me from across the street.

So, yesterday when the temperatures soared to 60 degrees...I brought out the big guns...

The SUMMER Flag!!

Take That Frosty! (grin)

Spring really is popping up all over my yard. But, look at this...I met some friends from high school over the weekend and we had a fun time reminiscing...and we went to my favorite store in the world and I got this... oh, so cute... pitcher and the place-mats. Brightens up my dining room!! Try not to look at the china cabinet that really needs to be re-organized. Of course now that I've brought it up how can you NOT look at it.

The Daylillies are coming alive...

A Hydrangea peeking out of the mulch...

Potted Chives...Sometimes I cut chives all winter...this winter was rough though...so I'm happy to see these friends...

Oh, we have new neighbors again. They have been busy moving in...not sure who they are yet though...they seem to be having a little trouble getting all their "bedding" into the house.

An early spring sunrise out my back deck. A benefit to not having leaves on the trees yet...

Jackie

Muffins...So Many Ways To Love Them...

We have muffins in our house A LOT! They are easy, cheap and oh, so yummy! We eat them for breakfast and for snacks. I make them from scratch, from those little packages of muffin mixes for 78 cents and from baking mixes. There are so many types of muffins to make and I want to share some of our favorites with you and give you a recipe for a bulk muffin mix that I'm trying for the first time. Having a jar of muffin mix on hand sounds like a great idea for my family.

All-Star Muffin Mix
Prep/Total Time: 30 Minutes
Yield: 4 batches (11 cups); 1 dozen per batch

8 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups sugar
3 Tbsp. baking powder
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. ground nutmeg

Additional Ingredients:
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter

In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Store in airtight containers in a cool dry place or in the freezer for up to six months.

To prepare basic muffins:
Place 2-3/4 cups muffin mix in a large bowl. Whisk the egg, milk and butter; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fill paper lined cups 3/4 full and bake at 400 degrees for 18-21 minutes.

Of course the best thing to do is add whatever you have on hand to the muffin mix after you add the "wet" ingredients above.

Here are some we like...

Blueberry Muffins (add 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries)
Apricot-Cherry Muffins (1/2 cup chopped dried apricots and 1/2 cup dried cherries)
Rhubarb-Orange Muffins ( 3/4 cup diced fresh or frozen rhubarb and 1/3 c. orange marmalade)
Cappuccino Muffins (1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips and 2 tsp. instant coffee)


...And one of our favorites is the Spring Strawberry Muffins that I posted last March.


Do you have a muffin recipe to share? Please share it in the comments section so we can all add to our recipe collection!

*photo - heart shaped blueberry cheesecake muffins from a Martha White Muffin Mix look lovely with old silver, old china cup and purple crocheted doily made by my Grandma many years ago.

Jackie

The Old Dead Sticks Are Starting To Bloom...

Kobe was just sure that I had put some old, dead sticks into the vase. He was so sure that he bet me 50 cents that they wouldn't bloom. Well, he won the bet because they didn't bloom by March 10th...the deadline. I was still hopeful though, and I continued to faithfully change the water every day and now the cut branches from one of my Weigela shrubs are finally starting to show some life. It has taken approximately 2 weeks for the blooms to turn green and I can almost see the pink around the edges of the buds. It won't be long now...maybe just in time for the official start of Spring this very weekend.

Cut branches on March 8th...

Branches starting to show a little life on March 15th...more photos to come when they bloom. Next experiment in forcing blooms will be some cuttings from my Lilac bushes.

The garden planning continues. Another raised bed will be built in the next couple of weeks and the planting of lettuce and peas very soon...this year will be my first time planting these early season vegetables. My garden has almost always been mostly about color and beauty with flowers and this year I want to focus more on producing food for our family with hopefully enough to share with our friends and neighbors too.

Until Next Time...


Jackie

Taking Time to Comfort...Me!

I've had a struggle this winter with taking time for myself. Specifically, taking time to enjoy my coffee, journal and prayer early in the morning...before everyone awakens in my house. When everyone else wakes up, I have to put myself aside and take care of their needs. Working full-time, taking care of my family, taking care of my home and other responsibilities leaves little time for me...to connect...with me. I know this. Yet, I've continued to to neglect this time that I need. The rest of my life has suffered, in a way, this winter because I've neglected taking this time for myself. Oh, I've gotten up early in the morning like I always do but I have found myself doing laundry, checking face-book and email and even mopping floors and then before I know it...it's time to wake up the kids and get myself and them ready to head out the door for the day. I've been frazzled...less patient than normal...and stressed.

However, for the last month I have made an appointment with myself around 5:00-5:30 a.m. I don't turn on the t.v. or the computer. I don't open my journal, devotional, bible or whatever book I'm reading or studying. I light a candle before I even turn on any lights and curl up in my chair with a comfy blanket and I am Quiet.

I Breathe.

I Connect with Myself.

I can Think.

When I am Quiet, I can truly focus my prayers, what I read will be more meaningful and my journaling will reveal my true feelings about what is happening in my life. It's easy to lose myself in the busy-ness of my life and my role as a Mom. I need to reconnect with myself daily and then I do a much better job in all areas of my life.

My Comfort Basket**. This little basket holds my journal, bible, devotional and a candle. I carry it to wherever I want to spend my Quiet time each morning.

Little touches of Spring-time inside my home.

**Believe it or not...I made that little basket more than 10 years ago at the House of Mary B. in Arrow Rock MO.