Showing posts with label Seasons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Seasons. Show all posts

Thursday, January 19, 2012

It's January...

And I'm not getting much writing done on my WIP or blogging. The weather hasn't been too horrible-  moderately cold days peppered with very cold but we've had plenty of snow and apparently it's bringing out the wildlife in the broad daylight....
(sorry about the fuzziness of some of them but I took them through my windshield)
 Just a few yards from my car, this guy was checking out the area.
 Thought about heading in for a snooze...
 changed his mind
 and turned to head further down the road.
I hope the neighbors were keeping their cats and small dogs inside!

Friday, October 28, 2011

Last flowers of summer

A week and a half ago, we were on a walk in the foothills and I took this picture.  

Today the hills are covered in snow (and no, I am not going out there to take a picture!). It's possible they may have made it through the storm, but winter has made it's presence known and I am already feeling the denseness of the cold. I hang on to warm weather as long as I can in spirit and in mind because I need it to survive the shortened days and brittle winds of winter. 
So here's to holding on to the last flowers of summer. 

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Comfort Food...

Last year at this time, I was out walking on a cloudy cool Friday and took these pictures. I was amazed at the brilliant colors that still lingered along the path I took though winter's first nip was in the air. This year, the colors are just as brilliant (as you have seen from my header!) but Indian Summer tarries so long that one would almost wonder if it will ever end.   As much as I might wish the blue skies and brilliant sunshine will never fade into winter's dimness, alas, the forecast tells another story. And I have a few favorite recipes that ease the chill that sets in my bones as the nights grow colder and the days grow brisk. Wednesday the weather is predicted to tank pretty abruptly and we will probably make a vegetable soup for the first time. But what I would really like to be making (if I didn't have to work that day) as the sky grows cloudy and the possibility of the "S" word sneaks into the weather man's script is a family favorite:
Chicken Pot Pie: 
1½ c. cheddar cheese
3c. cooked, diced chicken (you can cook broil or microwave three chicken breasts fairly quickly to make this amount, then quickly chop it up!)
½ c green pepper
½ c. chopped onion
(Sauté both onion and gr. pepper in 3 T. butter)
1 can of Cream of Celery Soup (or chicken)
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
3 oz mushrooms (opt.)
½ c pimento (opt)
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Put into unbaked pie shell (recipe below). Cover with pastry, pinch securely. Cut slits into top for steam to escape. Bake 45 min. or until crust is golden brown at 350 degrees.

Crust:
2 ¼ c. flour
1 tsp. salt
2/3 c. Crisco
7-8 T. water
Put flour and salt into bowl. Cut Crisco into flour with fork until it pieces are pea-sized. Add about half of the water and mix until well blended. Continue to add the remaining 3-4 T. until the dough is moistened. Divide in half. On a lightly floured surface, flatten dough. Roll from center to edges to 12” circle.
 To transfer to pie pan: Fold in half, then into quarter. Lay gently into pie pan and unfold.   

 And as long as I'm making a pie crust, an apple pie sounds good! The crust is the hardest part and all you needs are some apples! This year I have some waiting in the kitchen that were given to us (making me feel sooo guilty) but if I were to buy some for a pie, I would buy several different types of apples for the best ever apple pie! Some tart, some sweet, some crispy, some softer. Yum! Maybe I'll get busy!!! 

Monday, October 3, 2011

Monday, Monday

Every other day, every other day
Every other day of the week is fine, yeah
But whenever Monday comes, but whenever Monday comes
A-you can find me crying all of the time
When I was girl I used to sit by the stereo with a hairbrush nestled close by my mouth bellowing out Karen Carpenter songs at the top of my lungs. The albums (remember those? the large black disks that you could actually watch turn and you could play backwards?) were my father's but we were allowed to play them as long as we were careful to keep fingertips off of the vinyl and never, never, never, let them drop onto the floor (oh, there was pain of DEATH if we let the albums drop onto the floor!!!).
These weren't the only songs I remember from childhood- it's just that she has the famous 'Rainy days and Mondays' song that most people remember when they think of Karen Carpenter. And I sound quite a lot like her (I was a music major in college and I was a singer for most of my adult life). But The Mamas and The Papa's 'Monday, Monday' is another classic from my childhood which I love so I thought I'd make that the theme today. Little depressing but Monday seems to get a bad rap that way. It's hard to find an upbeat Monday song (in fact is there one? I mean a GOOD one.) 
 Mondays aren't so bad for me. I am off every other Monday and on the other week I work a 5 hour day. That's because on Tuesday I will work a 10 or 11 hour day and we at the library will be working our asses (excuse my English!) off because the people in the neighborhood will be jonesing for computers and the holds they put on over the weekend. So I'll take Monday... somebody write me a bluesy Tuesday song!  
So theoretically I try to get some writing done on Monday. Theoretically. But there is also housework to be done, a son to pick up from school, errands to be run and blogposts to post. So we'll see if I get any writing done today. I hope to. 
 But this was Saturday in the Rocky Mountains on our way up Mount Evans (although we didn't go to the top. We'd had to park further down than we'd thought because of hunting season).
We were in the mountains to view the changing of the guard. It happens at the equinox... The god of darkness, Tanist, (in Celtic mythology) defeats the god of light, Lugh. It must be a fantastic battle because things change dramatically. In other words, Autumn comes and soon thereafter Samhain- which is when Tanist will take his throne as Dark King. (Makes me shiver just thinking about it!)
 Fall is a bittersweet time for me. I love the beauty of fall, the crisp scent of drying leaves... sap eking out of the bark. But the change of season is difficult for me (I have suffered from seasonal depression for many years) and I know what cometh... lurking around  the corner like Lugh's dark spirit!
 Nevertheless, how can anyone not appreciate this heart stopping beauty? 
What did you do over the weekend? Get any writing done? Or did you put it off because Mother Nature beckoned like I did? 

Thursday, September 22, 2011

What I did on my summer vacation...

Mr. Michael from In Time... has asked me to write a 300-500 word report on what I did on my summer vacation. There are lots of other reports that you can read if you go back to his blog here. They'll be great so you should check them out!

Thursday, November 25, 2010

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