"Lemonade, Lemonade, just like Grandma used to make"

Song - Lemon Tree by Peter, Paul and Mary 

I like lemons but I especially like lemon trees.  

The aroma when they are in bloom is just majestic.

Occasionally I pick a basket full of ripe lemons for the house.  Just the scent of the lemon rind is amazing.

Right now I have about 8 lemon trees and today I harvested half of the crop so that they have energy for a new batch of fruit.

Freezing Lemon Juice

---

One other thing about harvesting lemons before pruning... you can freeze fresh squeezed lemon juice in ice cube trays and keep them for many months in the fridge. Freeze them in the ice trays and then bag them up once they are frozen. A great way to have water with lemon!

If you'd like some ideas of what to do with your lemons, particularly Meyer lemons, check out Amy Scattergood’s  100 Things to do with a Meyer Lemon article from the LA Times.


 “I believe when life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade...and try to find someone whose life has given them vodka, and have a party.” --Ron White


<sup>Or my personal favorite....

When life gives you lemons, find a kid with a paper cut!</sup>

From the Bleachers

Song - San Francisco 49ers Song

My boys are heading to the Super Bowl! 

L to R - Jon, cousins Sean & Paul, Andy c. 1988

Well not really but they are going to a great party at a friends home to hopefully celebrate the 49er's victory!

I am not a big football fan so I am looking forward to a day of gardening and reading in peace & quiet at home!

In preparation for the event Mr. B has spent several days pondering as to what he should make to share at this special event.


Would it be a Super Bowl Stadium Snack Dome? Mmmmm....maybe......

He looked at photo's of various structures for days.

No, that didn't feel just right. (Thank goodness - lordy - can you imagine my kitchen after building that ?)

Every morning he would pour over recipes.

Then one day he settled on the Muffuletta!

And there were days of pouring over various Muffuletta recipes.

Now if you know Mr. B - he isn't going to follow just any recipe.  He needs to combine several, then tweek it just a little to make it his very own.

"The muffuletta sandwich has its origins at the Central Grocery in the French Quarter of New Orleans. According to Marie Lupo Tusa, daughter of the Central Grocery's founder, it was born when Sicilian farmers selling their produce at the nearby Farmers' Market would come into her father's grocery for lunch and order some salami, ham, cheese, olive salad, and either long braided Italian bread or a round muffuletta loaf. In typical Sicilian fashion they ate everything separately sitting on crates or barrels while precariously balancing their meals on their knees. Her father suggested cutting the bread and putting everything on it like a sandwich, even if it was not typical Sicilian fashion. The thicker braided Italian bread proved too hard to bite and the softer round muffuletta loaf won out. Shortly, farmers came to merely ask for a "muffuletta" for their lunch.<sup>"    from Wikipedia.com



Whether or not the 49er's win, I know they will have fun!


"Julie Brown to Emmitt Smith, Dallas Cowboys running back (Super Bowl XXVIII):

......"What are you going to wear in the game Sunday?"</sup>

 

Take a Peek Outside

Song - I Dream of Spring - KD Lang



It is only February 2
and generally my garden
still looks like winter
but after a few days of sunshine,
nature is beginning
to awaken.



The Garden in Winter today.....but look closer...

Our Tulip tree

You must get close, very close to see the small changes going on.

The Climbing Hydrangea is beginning to bud

As is the White Lilac

A Dogwood bud

I like to put my Macro lens on my camera when I stroll around my yard. It forces me to pay close attention to the little details.

Usually the Quince is one of the first signs of Spring

 

Or the Snow Drops

And the Forsythia

 

The Grape Hyacinth surrounds my garden with little purple & blue suprises

 

An old Hellebore hiding under a fern in my shade garden


 

I love the scent of Narcissus - don't you?

The Daffodils will be out soon

Around the corner, in the bright morning sun, 

I smell something beautiful and I see my Daphne plant is in full bloom

 

Under planted with little sweet Pansy's

The Strawberry Madrone is beginning to bloom

And a little Sea Foam rose made an appearance today

Looking at the first photo of my Winter garden today, would you ever expect so much was going on?

"A single rose can be my garden, a single friend, my world." ~ Leo Buscaglia

Beatrice

Song - Annie Laurie

"Beatrice"
2013

Beatrice is a Scottish Highland Cow that lives near the town of Tomales, California. Every morning on my way to painting class I would take photo's of these beautiful cows.

$250 - Framed
+ $15 s/h

Acrylic on stretched canvas

Framed with a Clear Maple Floater Frame

If you would like to see a photo of "Beatrice" inside the frame please contact me.

Thank you for viewing my art!

Henri

Song - Dancing in the Basque Country

 "Henri"

2013

Henri is a Manech Sheep that lives in the mountains of the French Pyrenees near the little town of Banca.  It was fun to see a herd of them strolling along the hillside with their bells ringing.

$250 - Framed + $15 s/h

Acrylic on stretched canvas

Framed with a Clear Maple Floater Frame

If you would like to see "Henri" inside the frame please contact me.

Thank you for viewing my art!

Cuppa Tea

Song - Tea for Two by Art Tatum

On these colder than usual California days, I like to make a cup of tea in the late afternoon.

The sky is gray and it's getting dark,

it's been a full day, 

the birds are trying 

to elbow the squirrels

off of the bird feeders

for one last bit of seed,

the heater just clicked on, 

the house is oh so quiet,

soon it will be time to get dinner started 

but for now it's tea time!

I get out my ingredients.

Fire up the kettle.

 Warm up my teapot with hot water.

The last few weeks, I have been enjoying "Blue Eyes" by Lindsay's tea.

 

It is a blend of hibiscus, rose hips, delicate sky-blue cornflower blossoms, orange peels & sweet apples that are mixed to create this flavored blend.

And what I love most is......it makes my tea........

a lovely shade of Cranberry pink!

I place a cozy on top of my tea pot, curl up in a comfy chair and watch as the sky goes dark.

According to George Orwell  A Nice Cup of Tea by George Orwell  tea making has 11 steps in making a proper cup of tea, #6 is to bring the pot to the kettle as the water should be boiling at the time of impact! (oh dear, I think I have been doing it the opposite way all of this time!!)

And according to John Lennon....
“Yoko, you’re supposed to first put the tea bags in, and then the hot water.”
One night, however, John came up with “I was talking to Aunt Mimi this afternoon and she says you are supposed to put the hot water in first. Then the tea bag. I could swear she taught me to put the tea bag in first, but…”
“So all this time, we were doing it wrong?”
“Yeah…”
We both cracked up.

(I think Aunt Mimi got it a little bungled up!)



"I got nasty habits; I take tea at three." - Mick Jagger 

 

Movie Night

 Song - Saturday Night at the Movies by the Drifters

 It has been about a year now that I informed my family that one of the things on my "bucket list" was to watch 100 of my favorite movies together.
I think it began as 50 movies and has grown to 100 plus!

So we decided that Sunday night would be our "Dinner and a Movie" evening.  I either cook something simple or we order pizza but most likely than not we grab some Chinese food!

Of course, a lot of changes have happened to my movie list over the year.  Most of the changes are from Mr. B who wants to get some "Real Guy" movies sprinkled in.  The boys weigh in too as to what they want to watch.  But I also think they have been pleasantly surprised by the diversity and interesting story lines.

So here is my list....anything missing?

Absence of Malice

 An Affair to Remember

African Queen

All About Eve

  Amadeus

Amelie  X

American Graffiti

The American President

 

A Beautiful Mind  X

The Bells of St. Mary’s

Billy Elliott  X

The Birds

 The Bishops Wife

 Bottle Shock  X

Breakfast at Tiffanys

Breakfast Club

 Breaking Away

Bringing Up Baby

Buena Vista Social Club

Bull Durham

Bus Stop

Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid

Casablanca

Castaway

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Chariots of Fire

Chocolat  X

 Citizen Kane

Coal Miner's Daughter

 Dave  X

Dances with Wolves

Dirty Dancing

Driving Miss Daisy  X

Dr. Zhivago

The Elephant Man

ET

Father of the Bride

Fiddler on the Roof

Field of Dreams

The First Grader

Forrest Gump

Frankenstein

French Kiss  X

Fried Green Tomatoes

The Godfather

The Gods Must Be Crazy  X

Gone With the Wind

Good Will Hunting  X

The Graduate

The Grapes of Wrath

Grease

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

A Hard Day's Night

Harold & Maude

Harvey

His Girl Friday

The Holiday

The Horse Whisperer

Il Postino

Indiscreet

It's A Wonderful Life

Julie & Julia

Juno

 The King and I

The Kings Speech  X

Kinky Boots  X

Lawrence of Arabia

A League of their Own

Legends of the Fall

Life As A House  X

Life is Beautiful

Love Story

The Magnificent Seven

The Maltese Falcon

The Milagro Bean Field War

Miracle on 34th Street

The Miracle Worker

The Motorcycle Diaries  X

 Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

My Big Fat Greek Wedding   X

My Cousin Vinny

My Fair Lady

My Favorite Wife

The Natural

Nell

North by Northwest

The Quiet Man

An Officer & a Gentleman

On Golden Pond  X

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Out of Africa

The Philadelphia Story

Pretty Woman

Psycho

Rain man

  Ray

      Rear Window

      


  Rebel Without A Cause

Remains of the Day

       A River Runs Through It

Rocky

Roman Holiday

Romeo & Juliette

Rosemary's Baby

       Sabrina

Same Time Next Year

Scent of a Woman

The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao

Shine

       Sideways X

       Sleepless in Seattle

       Some Like it Hot

       The Sound of Music

       Splendor in the Grass

       Stagecoach

       Steel Magnolia’s
 The Sting  X

 

 

      

       The Thin Man

       Titanic

       To Kill A Mockingbird

       Treasure of the Sierra Madre

       Twelve Angry Men

       You’ve Got Mail

       Waking Ned Devine  X

       When Harry Met Sally

       The Wizard of Oz

       Working Girl

The " X  " means we have seen it.  

Can you figure out my original list and the one's Mr. B added?

What would you add if this were your list?

 “Film as dream, film as music. No art passes our conscience in the way film does, and goes directly to our feelings, deep down into the dark rooms of our souls.”  -- Ingrid Bergman