This Post brought to you Today by the Letters C and L

C for Cherry and L for Lemonade! My most favorite scent of Yankee Candle - Cherry Lemonade. Yum.

I took my little coupons they e-mailed to me to the mall and bought eight tonight! You see only six because I already put two into my hurricanes before I remembered to take this photo for you. The cashier did point to my coupon where it states one coupon ($15 off my $45 purchase) per customer but I convinced her to ring up each set of 2 candles (+one votive to meet their $45 requirement) separately and just pretend she's seeing me for the first time each time. Either she found me charming or it was too near the end of her day to argue with me. Either way, I think it's a silly, silly rule!

Oh, and I needed kitchen hand soap too so I dipped into Bath and Body Works for a few. Okay, okay, and Pottery Barn - but that's It!

Smells like Summer!

05/01 UPDATE!

Bad news, Bloggers... I called the Yankee Candle store today to see if they would put aside a few more jars for me but they are now SOLD OUT. And, what's worse - the woman said this scent is now "retired" - Odd, since I don't remember Cherry Lemonade being around long enough to reach retirement age! However, there is hope, albeit slight... The scent is still available in all sizes on the Yankee Candle website but what they have is what they have until it's sold out there too. Drat!

So I've placed three orders under different names using three different addresses, which has depleted their stock by another fifteen jars.

I'm off to figure out how to burn a candle slowly until Yankee Candle comes to their senses!

Meet Mickey!

This little cutie managed to find his way into the solarium this afternoon (while I was napping). Fortunately for everyone, the French doors into the kitchen were closed - Whew! William said Bing chased it around a little but wasn't quite sure what to make of it. I haven't seen a lot of mice but this one is such a Compact! Look at those ears - So tiny and so cute... Well, under that glass he was cute - He may have been less cute if he had made it into my house!

Hello, little Mousie under glass

Look at those tiny legs and little tail as he stands (below)

If you can enlarge that photo (click on it) and not smile

then you're having a Bad day!

Awww... He's sitting up as if to say, "Please, kitty won't you let me out?"

After this photo William carried Mickey back out to

the deck and set him free in the potted boxwood

Bundt Carrier - It's a Good Thing!

Although I don't plan on taking my Bundt cake anywhere, this Martha Stewart Bundt carrier I picked up at Macy*s is pretty cool. It's plastic so there is much less chance I will break it when it's time to wash it and I won't have to worry the boys will break it either - Not like I do when I put out my big glass cake stand and dome. Martha's Bundt carrier and waiting to frost my cake until after my nap...  It's a Good Thing!  

Sunday morning... A bit off Balance

When I took the puffed pastry out of the freezer last night to test this recipe I expected to have my little breakfast experiment on the table much earlier than I did. However, my start today was delayed because William didn't come rolling in from his prom until 2AM.


Now I was seventeen once too, and I have a vague recollection of some of the after-Prom activities that occurred at the Majarus house where we all ended up to spend the night. But in my defense, my parents knew not to expect me home that night. We weren't as prepared for such a late night because Hanna's parents told us they would call around midnight when they expected to have William and Hanna back at their house. But that didn't happen... We watched Charlie Wilson's War (worth seeing!) and some shows I had on DVR until midnight but the call to pick William up never came. Instead, the doorbell rang at 2AM. Any way, all of that turned my breakfast today into Brunch!

I found these cute Le Creuset Poterie bakers yesterday and

while I bought them with this recipe in mind, I see using

them for individual baked ziti or lasagna dishes too

I formed 1 sheet of puffed pastry into the poterie, trimming the excess

I spread a tablespoon of stone ground mustard over the pastry

and covered it with grated cheddar cheese. I formed bacon I baked

in the oven for ten minutes around the edges and used two strips

down the middle to separate the eggs into two portions

Baked in a 400 degree oven just until the eggs set the way we like

them and served with hashbrowns - Very Yummy!

I also managed to brew sweet tea and bake a Bundt cake so now that Brunch is over, my cake is out of the oven and I'm out of the shower, I'm going back to bed. And, as if my decision to nap needed to be justified, I just opened the issue of Mountain Homes Southern Style that came yesterday and found this on page 8:

The Magic of Sufficient Sleep
The Harvard Women's Health Watch suggests six benefits of getting enough sleep (usually seven to eight hours for adults): improved learning and memory abilities; better metabolism; fewer work errors; better mood; improved heart health and better immune system function.



So that settles it! It's just me and Bing-kitty (because there was a tux to be returned) so I'm off now to indulge in a bit of Me time... Yea!

Prom Night

We just dropped William off at Hanna's. They are off to his Junior Prom... My, how time flies!

What a beautiful Couple

William is quite handsome, despite

the Liza Minnelli hair do. Oy!

Brand NEW Visitors!

Look who found us this morning... Canadian Geese!

I was rushed out of the shower this morning to, "Come see this!"

When I got down to the solarium this is what I saw... A lovely Canadian Geese pair

Click to enlarge this photo below to see a little bouncing Squirrel butt... I opened the window to take my picture and a bunch of squirrels ran across the yard from the bird feeders

In this shot Mr. Squirrel is plastered flat against the tree

I dumped out the last of the cracked corn last night  

and I guess they found it!

Just to prove they're not the ones you buy at Home Depot!

Come one, come all!

I sure hope they bring me some babies

Come back soon!

Bye...

All of these pictures are worth seeing full size

but especially this one

Off they go...

Hey! Wait for me

Let's Eat!

Fork Tender

I love Cooking this Way - Totally frees me up for 

important things like Shopping and Naps!

Slow Cooker Saturday!

My pretty little slow cooker is back to work today cooking up Country Style ribs. I don't enjoy pork so I won't be having any; however, my sweetie really does, and I know the raccoon and opossum will appreciate my effort too. To this recipe I added two granny smith apples cubed and I substituted two medium white onions for the dried minced onion it called for. I mean really, dried onion? Blech. Any way, the house smells amazing! Maple syrup, cinnamon - who needs potpourri?

I had to include this photo because if you look beyond my

kitchen island you see my sweet Bing-kitty - He loves to watch me cook!

Country-Style (Short) Ribs
1.5 pounds country-style (Short) ribs
1 Tablespoon maple syrup (I used 2)
1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce (I used 4)
2 Tablespoons dried minced onion (Ew! I used 2 med white onions)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I used a Tablespoon - oops!)
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger (I grated fresh ginger)
1/4 teaspoon Allspice
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (I crushed 2 whole cloves of fresh garlic)
1 dash ground black pepper
*I added 2 granny smith apples cubed
**An hour before serving I added 2 cans (drained) Northern Beans and 1 can (drained) Lima Beans at the request of my dinner companion


Directions:
Combine all ingredients in slow cooker. Cover and cook on Low for 7 to 9 hours


How easy is that!?

Quintessential Spring

For me, Spring is all about the excitement of seeing things come back to life, and nothing in the garden excites me more than finding new baby animals! Knowing that what we provide is good enough to make animals want to raise families here thrills me no end. So without further delay, allow me to introduce the newest additions to our garden...

The Bluebirds are back! Here is daddy feeding his chicks

Sweet, sweet fuzzy baby birds. You should hear them!

Difficult to see I know, but there is a baby squirrel sitting in the

birdbath click to enlarge to see his tail in the bath!

I cannot get enough of this Arbor rose

His Christmas Gift happened Today!

Finally, after two cancellations due to weather we had the ceiling we needed for the Flight to happen...

Here comes his Ride

All strapped in and Ready for Take-off

Bye!

In the Sky - Up, up and Away he goes!

They did tail to nose flips (twice), several barrel rolls and something

called a Clover. John, the guy from Bluegrass Skyventures who chatted with me

on the ground, said they get about eight poeple a year that end up hurling

during their flight. I told him I'd be one of those people, for Sure!

On his way Back to Me (thank you, God!)

Thumbs up and waving - Must have been Fun!

Not bad for a plane built in 1949

This WWII AT6 Texan saw action in Korea and it's Still ticking after

all these years. We couldn't have asked for a more Perfect day

for this little Adventure - Merry Christmas!

Administrative Professionals Day

Every day at work is pretty much a sweet gig; however, there are two days a year when the VP's I work for spoil me rotten - My birthday and administrative professionals day. Today was APD and by 10AM my desk looked like a funeral parlor. Check out that Cymbidium orchid arrangement - Wow! And, from our SVP, I received the beautiful arrangement you see on my desk. Of course, the tulips are from our yard and every bit as lovely.

Lunch out with the Girls at The Melting Pot

We started with a cheese fondue and a great salad and finished

with a chocolate desert fondue. We dipped cheesecake, brownies

rice crispy treats, coconut marshmallows, pound cake and strawberries - Yum!

Pod sweet Pod

Fantastic!

My Mallard Pair

Sunday morning by the pond brought me a visit from my Mallard pair. How sweet they are... They fly in together, touching ground at the very same moment. Then he stands watch as she eats first and then she returns his favor. After they eat the cracked corn we put out for them they take a little dip in our koi pond and then amble across the yard and into to the creek where they can be heard chatting away until they fly back up into the yard for another snack before flying away again. How lucky I feel to have them stop by...

I love new hostas - they look like liquid green bouquets

The purple azalea behind the pool was glowing tonight on my walk