Ah, the simplicity and beauty of blue hydrangea blooms in a white vase. Lovely.
Blue Hydrangeas are at their peak in my New Jersey garden. I look forward to the bloom of these flowering shrubs every year. Best of all, they are long-lasting, and sometimes I manage to pick them at exactly the right moment to dry and enjoy all year.
All I can say is, “Yum.” This is an amazing crock pot recipe. So often when I use sauce with chicken the meat turns out surprisingly dry. Perhaps it is the brown sugar that keeps this chicken a bit moister and succulent. I love it. I don’t remember where I found the recipe, somewhere on the Internet, so I don’t know who I should credit.
Sweet Baby Ray’s Chicken
(I always pull off the skin to reduce the fat content and to enable the sauce to sink into the meat. I also soak the chicken in a big bowl of cold salted water for about an hour to pull excess blood out of the bones)
4-6 pieces of chicken (I only use thighs, the meat stays moist)
1 bottle Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbecue Sauce
1/4 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1/2 – 1 tsp Garlic Powder
Mix five sauce ingredients together. Put a thin layer of sauce on bottom of crock pot. Add a layer of chicken, pour on sauce, add final layer of chicken, cover with remainder of sauce. Cook on low for 6-7 hours.
I change-up the recipe a bit so that I can use the big family pack of thighs that are so often on sale. When I do this, I fill the empty bottle up with about 1/3 of a cup of water, shake, and pour into sauce mixture. I bump up the amount of vinegar and brown sugar to 1/3 a cup. Enjoy!
A few final pictures from Jamaica.
I hope to return to Jamaica one day.
Jamaica has a gorgeous array of plant life. Here is a beautiful example of a bromeliad.
Bougainvillea
Hibiscus
Not sure of variety, perhaps a type of canna.
Croton
Loved, loved, loved this terrific foliage plant. I am trying to identify it, and hopefully find a tropical plant nursery here in the states and buy one for home. These grow large in the tropics and this one was actually part of a hedge. (I have since found out the name of this lovely bush/shrub/tree…it is called a Sea Grape, I am going to be able to order some seeds and try to grow my own. Oh Happy Day!)
Palms
Jamaica is amazingly beautiful, but I think her best resource is her people. Noel, our favorite taxicab driver was a real blessing to us during our stay. He drove us to local beaches and neighborhoods and showed us the real Jamaica. He played beautiful gospel music in the cab as he drove.
Talia and Tanish, creative entrepreneurs, we bought some custom t-shirts, bags, hats and jewelry from their shop. Sweet ladies.
Lorna, hair-braider and shop owner extraordinaire, smiling her gorgeous smile.
Roy, another shop owner, “Yea Mon!”
Another of my very favorite local people, Bruce, talented seashell and starfish hunter. His finds are gorgeous and to me priceless. Joe and I loved spending time talking to Bruce and listening to his stories of how he spends his days.
Marcy, a local lady, who set up shop right on the beach. She found for me the perfect island dress in her big bags of product. She had an amazing smile and was so gracious to us as we searched for the perfect garment.
The resort is all-inclusive. The bartenders are always on call whether you want to indulge in island rum and pineapple, Joe’s favorite treat, or a Paw-Paw Daiquiri, non-alcoholic and very frosty, a bit like a snowcone in a glass, my favorite drink.
We went to almost every show they put on in the evening. The activities crew at the Royal Decameron is top notch. Thank you Jamaica for your hospitality and the perfect week of vacation.
My husband and I have just returned from a week-long stay in Jamaica. I’ll be posting pictures and observations about our stay throughout this coming week.
The flight down and back was uneventful and serene. Taking off and flying are a piece of cake after the long lines and aggravations of getting through the check in and the multitude of screenings and humiliations everyone must go through in order to fly in this age of constant tension and threat. I am in my fifties, and my boarding pass was marked with a code, and out of the party of four people I was flying with, I was the one chosen to have my carry-on, shoes, and person searched and patted down before I could begin my journey home. The screeners were professional, but the entire process still felt like an assault, and though my husband says I managed to keep a smile upon my face and remain polite, I DID NOT LIKE BEING PATTED DOWN WHILE OTHER PASSENGERS OBSERVED THE PROCESS AS THEY ENTERED THE PLANE’S BOARDING LANE. Anyway, no harm done, and at least the pat down was on the return trip and not the flight down.
The trip in itself was amazing and perfect, but the process to arrive and depart is a nightmare. I am old enough to remember when flying meant being pampered. Now the airlines act as if they are doing you a favor to let you aboard their aircraft. When my son asked the attendant what kind of beverages they had, her reply to him was, “The same things we had on your flight down.” And there I will rest my case.
I’ve grown dragonwing begonias in red for many years. I’m excited about this pink variety. I hope I can keep it going all summer. I’ve already taken a cutting and it is rooting already in water. Hooray!
I have at least six frogs in my pond this spring. They overwintered from last year’s tadpoles caught in a local lake. I love these frogs. They croak and splash about in the small pond bringing me great pleasure. I would have more frogs, but last year mallard ducks used my pond as a feeding trough, eating many goldfish and tadpoles. This year, the ducks returned, but I was ready and covered the pond with mesh to keep the hungry birds away.
I have always loved to swing. When I was young my grandparents would take my sister and I to a park in Newport News, Virginia, overlooking the James River. We would feed the ducks there and also swing on the large swingsets. I must have been three or four years old, and I remembering wondering, in a mixture of excitement and fear, if my Uncle Johnny would push me so high I would fly in a big circle over the top and back round again. I can tell you I held on very tight.
I have a swing in my backyard, not just for my grandsons, it’s there for me too. My husband and I found the perfect board, a piece of driftwood on the banks of the Chesapeake. We brought it home, sanded off any rough edges, and drilled a few holes in the side for the rope. Before we put it into place, I wrote this on the bottom and we both signed our names:
“This piece of driftwood was found on the banks of the Chesapeake in April of 2008, near Northeast, Maryland & Elk Neck State Forest. They (Kathy & Joe) were camping in the Scamp.”
It’s true, if you don’t contain spearmint in some way it will spread everywhere. The fact is though, I am very happy mine has taken over portions of my yard and garden. I love spearmint tea. Pick off a few inches of stem with a few leaves intact, cover with boiling water, add a dab of honey, and you have a soothing, fragrant, delightful and vitamin packed cup of tea. I’m a cheerleader for spearmint in the garden: “Go, spearmint, go. Rah! Rah! Rah!”
Last week as I was walking the neighborhood, I found some pieces of green and aged bamboo. Someone had cut them and discarded them as refuse. Hmmmmm….I have paid for bamboo stakes. I picked them up and carried them for the fifteen minute walk back to my house. I guess that is one of the “Quirky” aspects of this post. I have always been a scavenger, finding pleasure in turning discards into treasure or useful items.
I found out later that my nephew knows how to make an Australian instrument out of the green bamboo. It is called a digeridoo. I located a few videos on Youtube; I’ve embedded one here if you are interested in viewing. I find it quite an amazing and quirky talent to be able to bring such beautiful tones and rhythms out of a simple piece of bamboo.
A digeridoo is easy to construct. Click here: How to make a DIGERIDOO
Another item I press throughout the year are lichen. Lichen grow on the bark of dead and decaying trees. They are varied in color and markings and press well in heavy books. They will leave deep indentations within the book, so be sure it is one you don’t mind losing for pressing. I also have used heated books to press the lichen, but don’t necessarily enjoy the smell that ensues from the microwave when I open the door. The lichens will retain a bit of thickness, so they are not necessarily good for greeting cards, but they can be used to make fairy furniture and other natural arrangements.
A good site to visit for more information of lichens can be found here: Lichens. Happy Pressing!
“My help comes from the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:2
I love the display of carnivorous plants in the Longwood Gardens conservatory. They are fascinating and unique. I find joy and peace in knowing that the Maker of heaven and earth loves all mankind, and is the ruler of all the earth, no matter what man might say. The creator of such diversity is able to bring salvation and healing to every man or woman’s heart no matter what their circumstances, past or present. He can bring beauty out of ashes and dust. I think that good thought deserves an, “Amen.” Have a glorious Sabbath Day.
I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber;
Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord watches over you—the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all harm —he will watch over your life;
The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
I learned a new term recently, blushing pies. The way to do this is to add some strawberries or any other pink or red-colored berries to pie recipes. I blushed my recent peach pie with a few strawberries. The pie is not only prettier, but tastier too. Happy Blushing!
I’ve had this cocoon hanging on a shelf for many months. I’ve become so used to its presence it has been nearly forgotten, until last night…
Yes, the photograph tells the story, a moth was born, a very large moth. I was dozing, almost dreaming, when the sound of beating wings filled the room. Our television was still on, and I think the light drew the newly emerged moth. At first we thought it was a bat, the moth was that large. We quickly grabbed a towel to throw over it. Thankfully, it dawned on me that the moth had left it’s cocoon. The moth landed on the floor, and I placed my hand beneath it’s feet. It climbed aboard, I cupped my other hand over it, and we let it escape into the night through our bedroom window.
I think it was a Polyphemus Moth. My only regret is I was not aware the moth was emerging and missed watching the birth. He or she is out there in the night now, meeting other moths and doing what moths do.
Last week, I arranged apricot roses, chartreuse mums and yellow, peach-tinged alstromeria into one-sided arrangements for our church services. The flowers were in honor of our mother’s May birthdays.
The roses bloomed quickly, the alstromeria a bit slower, thankfully it opened in time for the Sunday services. I love alstromeria. The roses are glorious, but not long-lasting; the alstromeria will hold onto it’s petals for two weeks or more.
After church, I gave one arrangement to my mother, and took the second to my mother-in-law. They were both pleased with the bouquets.
Gorgeous color combo.
I began writing down good memories I had of my childhood for my mother’s birthday. Within an hour or two, I had written my way through half a stack of index cards. I didn’t get past the age of twelve because there were SO MANY good memories writer’s cramp set in. I bundled these good memories into a Vera Bradley cosmetic bag and gave them to my mother for her birthday. She said she is going to read one a day, and was very pleased with the good thoughts. Over the next few weeks I’ll get out my Sharpie pens, gather a few more index cards, and begin to write about year number thirteen and so on.
I love Mangos. They are definitely in my top ten of fruits, maybe in my top three. The hardest thing about eating a mango is cutting into the fruit exactly when it is at its peak smoothness and sweetness. The cream of the mango crop, at least in my opinion, is the Champagne Mango. They seem to ripen to perfection. The best way to know if they are ready to eat is to gently smoosh the fruit for a bit of give, then take a good whiff for fruity fragrance. The fruit is succulent and almost indescribable in taste. A bit of heaven in a bite. Mangos are packed with vitamins and enzymes that aid digestion. I can’t eat enough.
For as long as I have been self-aware of myself as a person, I have also been aware of the personhood and divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ. I have my parents and grandparents to thank for instilling within me an understanding and love for Jesus. What they did for me is priceless and has stayed with me all through my life. At my worst, as a teenager in the 70’s, through several years of bad decisions and actions, the best in me was that I never lost my love for Jesus.
Because I am a firm believer that even a very small child can have a correct concept of the Lord Jesus, and love him with a purity adults often lack, I talk to my young grandsons about the Lord now and again. Lately, I’ve been talking to my middle grandson about Jesus. Derek is three, and as all three year olds tend to be, he is very honest. Last week we were driving somewhere in the car, and I said to him, “Derek, do you love Jesus?”
Derek answered, “No.”
This is not new. I’ve asked him about Jesus other times and he has been resistant to “loving” Jesus.
“Why not?” I asked.
“No, don’t love Jesus.” he said. I let it drop, but prayed that God would find a way for Derek to realize Jesus loved him.
Later on in the week we were together once again. I’ve noticed children love to group things into lists, and out of the blue, with no prompting, Derek said to me, “I love Mommy. I love Daddy. I love Nanny….” and then, he spoke the words that caused me to swing him up, hug him to me and praise God. “I love Jesus.”
Oh the joy those words brought me. All on his own Derek added Jesus to the list of those he loves. My prayer was answered. I feel such peace that Derek has a concept of Jesus as a person. I am thrilled he grouped Jesus together with those he loves. He might have said it only to please me, but it is a start, and I will continue to build on it, as will his parents, his Sunday School teachers, and those spiritual touchstones he will come in contact with throughout his life. I rejoice that Jesus is on Derek’s list of those he loves. Is he on yours? Is your name listed in the Lamb’s Book of Life?
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. John 6:47
This is an early morning photograph of my Square Foot Garden. I have to say, hopefully without sounding like I’m bragging, this method of gardening has been a major success for me. I have lettuce daily, my broccoli and bread seed poppies are ready to begin budding. I have cooked and eaten my kale and swiss chard, and though I have always loved fresh greens cooked in various ways, I can now feel a “fresh greens fanatic” point of view taking me over.
The Square Foot Gardening Website can be found here: Square Foot Gardens. Take a look and browse the information and photographs. Better yet, buy the book and create your own little area of vegetable heaven.
This is a view of the back of my Square Foot Garden. I know my pea trellis leaves a lot to be desired, but the peas come and go quickly, and I will be replacing them in a few weeks.
Because I didn’t want to give up too many of my squares to the dozen tomato plants I am growing I planted half in containers. These are doing very well too, the stems are beginning to look like tree saplings. I already have some flower buds on a few plants. O Happy Day…tomatoes in a month or two. Hooray!
I was honored to see one of my Square Foot Garden photographs was featured in a Mel Bartholomew Blog Post. Take a look: My Square Foot Garden Squares On Mel Barthlomew’s Website.
