Show and Tell Friday - a graduation gift

Sometimes when I look back, I realize that remarkable things happened to me that I took for granted at the time. I grew up in a small town, graduated in a high school class of about 90 kids, and all the girls were given a small jewelry box as a gift from a local furniture store. Looking back, I am surprised by the business' generosity . I love my little box, and it is filled with keepsakes, some mine, some my DH's things. My hometown had a showroom for this furniture store, which was based in an even smaller town farther east of us.

Here is a closeup of the inside of the box - it reads " Lane presented by Roark Furniture Company, Laura, Ohio".

Our family moved into town when I was 14. I had always lived on a farm up to that point, and quickly learned to enjoy some of the benefits of small town life. There were certainly more kids to play with, and even though I was one of the oldest to play, I loved the street games we played - does anybody remember playing 'mud gutter' as a kid?

We rode our bikes to the library - I loved going to the library and getting a new book whenever I wanted.

You could go up the block to the furniture store (Roark's) and see if they had an empty refrigerator or stove box, which you could drag home to use for all sorts of things - a play house, mostly. I guess it seems juvenile to play at 14, but I remember enjoying all these new ways to play 'in town' that I had never been able to do before.

that's my show and tell, don't forget to visit Kelli's blog to see who else is in on the action this week!

GREEN THUMB SUNDAY grape hyacinths

I am so pleased every time I see something 'new' blooming in the yard. I know grape hyacinths aren't that special or unusual, but it is so nice to be out in the yard, enjoying the warm weather, and spot something that wasn't there the last time I looked. I didn't even see these bud, and I have bunches of them all over the yard! Some people don't like these because they can be invasive, but that has not been a problem in my yard.
At any rate, I hope everyone is enjoying spring. Happy GTS!

Show and Tell Friday- art from a friend

I have a dear friend, Dona, who died of cancer a few years ago. Before she died she mailed me this painting she did, and a lovely large vase, which I've shown before.

She loved to paint, and did mostly abstracts like this one. Sometimes when I look at a beautiful sunset, Iwonder if Dona has a job up in heaven painting clouds. This would be a job I know she would love to do!

Blogger and I are having trou ble loading the picture in.I'll show it tomorrow if not today. -obviously I finally got this to work !

Don't forget to go to Kelli's to see what everyone else is sharing today!

bargain purses -dare to be different!

I carry fairly big purses. I have a lot of 'stuff' I like to have with me. That said, I also hate to spend much on them, so I check the clearance racks for deals. I like to pay $6 or less for a new purse. It has been a while since I found any at that price, but wanted to show you some of my recent finds.
These two purses are identical in style, just different colors. One of the things that tickled me was the label, which says 'Dare to be Different'. I'm just sayin', here, but these don't look

very 'au courant' to me- they look like something a MAM (middle-aged Mom) would use. That said, I really do like them, and am looking forward to using them. Here is my last

find. I think I'll change over to this one right now. Dare to be different, I always say!

GARDEN BLOGGERS BLOOM DAY -April 2008

Things are still pretty sparse around here, but we do have some things blooming. I've already mentioned the violets, and the crocuses, but the pasque flowers are popping out-

The hyacinths are starting to bloom, we have several colors, but this light pink one is a current favorite of mine.

The daffodils have just begun to bloom-look closer-

you can see a little spider peeking out!

This daff is called 'gentle giant' or 'lion something a-jig' , I can't remember which-

This scilla always surprises me- I forget it is there until it blooms. It has a nice sweet fragrance.

Happy Bloom Day! Go see Carol at May Dreams Gardens to catch up on everyone's gardens!

GREEN THUMB SUNDAY Springtime in the Rockies

When it's springtime in the rockies -
the weather can change so fast,
that one minute it's sunny and the next there is hail!

Our weather today has been fabulous, with a high temp in the 50's, but the last two weeks have been very cloudy, with a few 'five minute storms' hitting us.

Things are starting to bloom here, which makes each trip to the yard exciting. I wanted to show you something that I am particularly happy about- the violets are blooming, and this year I have 3- yes - 3 different colors of wood violets. Last year I saw some white ones, and some pink ones (which I had never seen before!) at a friend's garden, and she was good enough to share some with me. I have been on the lookout for white violets for some time, so I was very pleased to get these starts.

The beautiful blue/violet ones are always lovely.

Here is my white violet:

and the pink! The pic doesn't do the color justice.


I've seen yellow wood violets in the wild, and would love to have some of them, too. Any other colors out there that I don't know about?

Show and Tell Friday - another find from Tai Pan Trading

It's Friday again, and time for Show and Tell. Head over to Kelli's blog to check out all the action!

I found this cute dish at Tai Pan trading. I am thinking it is a chain, but I don't know if it is nationwide, or not. I do know that it is too much fun to go and walk thru every aisle, and see what kind of great 'stuff' they have.

I have a particular weakness for glass dishes. I bought this last fall, and haven't used it yet. I need to come up with something fun to do with it, any suggestions? Best of all, it wasn't very expensive!

Happy Birthday to Gretchen!

Time flies by, there is no doubt about that.

It is hard to believe that Gretchen (my daughter) is 25 years old today!

Hmm, a quarter of a century old... what else do I think of when I think of quarters:

the obvious:

a quarter moon ---
maybe a quarter horse???

Happy Birthday, Gretchen!!!!

X O XO O XOX OX O with much love from your mom

Green Thumb Sunday - spring bulbs

Spring is slowly coming along here in Utah. I saw these chinodoxia out my kitchen window today!

The crocuses have been blooming for a few weeks.

Here is a closeup of these oh-so blue flowers -
Happy GTS!

Show and Tell Friday - Parsnips from last year's garden

Parsnips have always seemed like one of those old-fashioned veggies, like turnips. Who EATS parsnips, or turnips, or kohlrabi? Well, somehow we tried them. I think our youngest daughter somehow got us started on parsnips. We like them, and I really only put them in a pot roast.

At any rate, last year was our second year to grow them. (and I planted them too close together, and then didn't thin them properly or vigorously enough). But then I didn't get them all pulled in the fall, as much out of laziness as anything, I suppose. But I knew we could see if the parsnips and the carrots that were left in the ground would overwinter like 'the books' say they will.
On one of my ventures into the back yard bog (spring run-off and snow melt), I grabbed a gardening fork and checked the parsnips. Yup, they were still there, and so I decided it was time to see if they were any good. You can see they were a muddy mess in the first picture (above).

So I rinsed and scrubbed them off outside, and then brought them inside for a second cleaning.

They don't look too bad! Then on Sunday we made Pot Roast with them. Here's my recipe for the crockpot, but it is nothing remarkable:

Crockpot Pot Roast

1 2-4 lb beef pot roast, chuck roast or something similar

1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes, pureed

meat tenderizer, if desired

1 pkg. pot roast, beef stew, or onion soup mix

onions, chopped

garlic, minced

carrots, chopped

parsnips, chopped

potatoes, optional - or serve w/ mashed potatoes

I usually leave out the potatoes, otherwise there isn't enough room in my standard sized crock pot.
I put the meat in the crockpot about 9 a.m., and add the meat tenderizer, soup mix, and pour the tomatoes over the top. Cook on low for about 3 -4 hours.

About noon or 1 p.m., I take the meat out of the crock pot and add the veggies. Put the meat back on top. Let it cook another 4-5 hours on low, and it is done.

This is great as a stew the next day, add some more veggies and cut up the meat.

So, that is it- the pot roast was great, the parsnips delicious, if small, and I'll have to dig up those carrots soon!

Go to Kelli's blog, home of Show and Tell Friday, to see what everyone else is showing today!