Simple Reality

Aunt Nancy's Iris

Summer is ending. The days are warm and breezy, perfect for reading a book in the sun. The cool evening air is a perfect accoutrement to those beautiful starry nights. I find myself challenged to find those hidden leaves that are beginning to change to the wonderfully warm fall colors. I can almost smell mulled cider wafting through the house. It is time to pull out those sweaters from storage and freshen up our favorite throws.

These are just a few of the simple realities that I find so beautiful. I have recently started a new photo group on flickr for just this kind of Simple Reality.  I recently read,”Everyday might not be good, but there is good in everyday.”(author unknown) I couldn’t agree more! This is my motivation for this group. Personally I am challenging myself to find the beauty in every day. I think it’s time to bring this trend of simplistic living into our personal lives. It is a way to remind ourselves to stop and breath. Stop and enjoy! Cherish these moments!

Please come check us out! We would love to see you join the group. The parameters are easy. Photograph what you fin beautifully simple or even simply beautiful. Hope to see you there!

The flickr group is called  Simple Reality

I’m Listening!

 

Come Again?

Zucchini, Zucchini, And More Zucchini!

I planted beans, zucchini, tomatoes, cantaloupe, broccoli, peas, and lettuce. Out of those we lost peas and broccoli to rabbits and birds. The most rewarding have been the tomatoes and zucchini. The zucchini has decided to come in all at once and while I love it there is such a thing as to much. I have given many away and now I am trying to find different recipes to use them all up.

I found this recipe for zucchini cake at Pioneer Women’s blog. It is fantastic. It tastes just like carrot cake and in fact can be used to make carrot cake. All you have to do is use carrots instead of zucchini. The recipe for the cream cheese frosting was my favorite.  Many times the frosting is way to much for me but this recipe allows you to thin it out to your liking with pineapple juice. This cake disappeared quickly.

Zucchini Cake

Puppies! What a handfull!

I volunteered to watch/train my Dad’s new puppy. She was two months when he picked her up from the Humane Society. We kind of have our doubts that she was actually that old. She has been a handful! She has challenged me more then any other puppy I have ever had. I have three girls of my own, two of which I have raised since they were puppies. Both of them were so easy and calm. This puppy is the total opposite. She is teaching me all new levels of patience. 

 We have now had her about a month and a half and she is coming along nicely. She loves my girls and is just down right adorable. My girls on the other hand love her in small doses. They wear out easily around her and resort to jumping on the bed to get away from her.Don’t get me wrong, all three love her and have so much patience with her but they are not puppies any more.  All three of my dogs have taken different mothering responsibilities with her which has helped out a great deal. Below are some shots of Gracie (my Dad’s puppy) with my girls.

Relaxin!

Playing with the basketball!

Looks innocent, doesn't it?

Flower Snap Shots

Mexican Sunflower

 

This beauty is planted in my front yard. It attracts butterflies and has beautifully vibrant colors.

Cosmos

 

This flower is blooming right next to my sunflowers. For a free packet of seeds it is the strongest flower I have this year.

Rose

 

This was taken in the spring. It was one of many blooms that graced us with their beauty this year.

Below are a couple more that I found at the houses of our family and friends.

Iris'

Daffodil

hyacinth

The Lounger!

We have had one of the coolest summers on record. July passed us by without one 90° day. My dad decided to come up for a visit this past weekend and wouldn’t you know it, we hit our first set of 90° days. Saturday was about 92° but it felt like 100°. Sunday was even worse! The temperature read about 94° but with the humidity it was unbearable. We stayed in for most of the weekend or enjoyed indoor activities. One of the times we ventured out we found a little visitor lounging in the yard.

He was enjoying the shade!

You know it’s hot out when the squirrels are lounging around!

New Dessert

I was on the hunt for a cheap dessert the other day when I stumbled upon this gem. These cookies and cream pudding pops from www.kraftfoods.comare simply scrumptious. I must warm you though, a little goes a long way. After creating this recipes with the chocolate pudding we decided they were a little to rich so we used vanilla pudding the nest time. It was perfect. They are extremely cheap to make. The recipe calls for disposable cups and spoons or wooden sticks. I am sure you can create these with non-disposable items as well.

My next attempt will be frozen yogurt pops. Here is what I came up with based off of the cookies and Cream recipe.

• 1/2 cup to a full cup of strawberry yogurt
• container of fat free cool whip
• vanilla sandwich cookies.

Directions: Mix and pour into small cups. Add spoons/pop sticks in the center and freeze for 5 hours or until firm.

I will let you know how it turns out. I am excited to experiment with this idea!

My favorite way to cook veggies!

veggie foil packs

During the summer I rarely cook in the house. With our gas grill we end up making the majority of our meals outdoors. One of my favorite things to make on the grill is vegetables.  There is nothing better then corn on the cob cooked on the grill, unless, maybe a foil packet of veggies.

What we do is, dice up potatoes, add as many extra veggies as you want, toss with olive oil and seasoning, then place them in foil and roll the edges to make a packet. Our favorite things to add are peppers, onions, garlic, broccoli, mushrooms, or green beans. The best thing about it is you can add just about anything to make a great veggie pack. We usually  keep the seasoning pretty simple. With so many flavors in the pack already there isn’t much need for spices, but then again that is all a matter of taste.

Living a little cheaper.

It’s unavoidable, today’s economy has touched everyone in some way or another. You turn on the news and the signs of the times is evident. While I walk my dogs I see so many houses empty and for sale. I all I can think is how scary it all is. Me and my husband have decided to cut costs along with the many others affected by this recession.

At the beginning of April he was told his hours would be cut drastically. He was supposed to go down from a full week to about two days. We have been very blessed that as of now we have only had one or two three day work weeks. It’s unnerving though, to have such instability.

Feeling that crunch has caused us to seek out cheaper options. We have limited our use of air conditioning. We originally decided  not to use it at all but the first couple of 90 degree days caused us to cave. Our entertainment has taken a big turn to things that are free or nearly free. We have stopped most of our frivolous purchases, boy do I miss that. We are also seeking out cheaper recipes every day. It has been a challenge but it is worth it.

One of our luxuries that we have chosen to eliminate is our satellite tv. We have all the things needed for digital tv but in order to get any channels we need a much better (and more expensive) antenna. For now, we are without tv entirely, but we did find a way to watch some of our shows plus shows we had never heard through a site online. It is called hulu. It is completely free. We are also able to hook up our computer to our tv and watch it through our television screen. I am beginning to wonder why we were even paying for tv when this is so easy.

Hope this helps some of you. I will be back with more cheap short cuts soon.

Enjoying the first yield from our garden!

Me and my husband enjoyed a great salad with dinner this evening. It was full of mixed greens an olive oil vinaigrette and lots of little salad toppings. What made this salad great for us is that it came out of our own garden. It is the first fruits of our labor and it was greatly enjoyed. There is nothing like eating fresh produce out of your own garden. I can’t wait for the rest. My peas and the broccoli really didn’t make it do to the local rabbits, but the rest of the veggies look great.  My tomatoes have not only tripled in size this week but there are sprouting flowers all over. My cantaloupe is also sprouting flowers. I am really looking forward to a big juicy cantaloupe right out of the garden. My beans and zucchini were the last things planted and they are absolutely gigantic.  I am said that it didn’t all turn out but I am happy with how well the rest are doing.