Butter-Rum Walnut Cake: King Arthur Flour Recipe

Oh, WOW. This looks so delicious. Be sure to read the reviews below the recipe for one lady's changes. The recipe is very versatile. King Arthur Flour Recipe

Halloween Pot Luck Lunch at My Office

We had our office meeting today and most of the agents dressed up for Halloween. I went dressed for a Safari Hunt with a pith helmet, binoculars around my neck, khaki pants, hunting jacket and white turtle neck. I bought the white pith helmet at the fireman's rummage sale the end of September and I have worn it several times outside when I do yard work. Our manager made turkey chili and we all brought something for a pot luck lunch after the meeting. Pictured above is the best Halloween party food that one of our agents found on Pinterest and copied. Isn't it great? People dived right in and the guacamole was gone in a flash. Happy Halloween. Don't eat too much candy. xo

Vintage Halloween Costume Photos

I love looking at vintage photos from days gone by when Halloween costumes were homemade. See more here and find your favorite. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Glowing Jack-O-Lanterns

So many carved pumpkins. I love the idea of putting some of them up in the tree. People really get into Halloween decorating in a big way, don't they? via

Unhaunted House and A Baby Bear

It must have been a real challenge to move all those giant pumpkins and gourds, right? I hope the people grew them on their own property instead of buying them. Is it my imagination, or is this halloween/fall display blocking the front door? If so, maybe it IS haunted! via

I adore this photo of a brown bear cub with the cutest face and pose ever. I have almost finished digging up and repotting plants to winter over and I did find some "evidence" of a visit from a bear quite close to the house. I don't feed the birds or leave garbage in my can for long, so I'm not worried. Found on Pinterest. xo

Cake with Flag Icing

I love this cake! The next holiday with a flag theme is Memorial Day in September. That will give you a little over a month to figure out how to do this. The cake stand makes it look like a straw hat decorated like a flag. via

HAPPY JULY 4th 2018

Things are so much cooler since we had a torrential rain yesterday. You can see the mist coming back in the distance because the earth was hotter than the air.

Enjoy the fireworks tonight.

Remember this? It is an old composition I made on my kitchen counter with cherries and a flag made from safety pins and colored beads.

Here is another fireworks display. 

HAPPY JULY 4th

Bunny Mellon Embraced Friendly Weeds

Giant Mullein growing in her poolside gazebo.

Vanity Fair once described Bunny Mellon as the “high priestess of pruning and pleaching” for her devotion to gardening and personal love for pruning. While Bunny had an affinity for picking wildflowers and celebrated vegetable gardens, she loved pretty weeds as well.

Verbascum thapsus, a biennial plant, was once used as an herbal treatment for coughs, congestion, chest colds, bronchitis, and inflammation. For most of the year, the huge, furry leaves flourish under Bunny’s gazebo, stationed next to her display greenhouse. She felt that weeds were friendly, and often added to the beauty of her home, hence why the weed mullein was allowed to sprout between the stones. Its common name may have come from the Celtic term meaning yellow.

Read the entire article at Oak Spring Garden Foundation

Happy Memorial Day. It's cold, dark, and rainy here at my cottage but I don't mind. xo

The above link will lead you to my previous posts commemorating this holiday, celebrated each year on the last Monday in May.

My New Glasses: Eyewear

I have never mastered taking selfies so this is my version that looks like a double exposure. My reflection in one of my balcony doors also looks through to one of my living room walls. I wanted to show you my new glasses and the photo below is an enlargement.

I am very camera shy and I can take better photos of myself than anyone else.

This closeup shows the subtle colors in the tortoise-shell frames. My old ones had smaller lenses and wire frames with nose pads. They were quite comfortable but not that becoming. I bought them because I had clip-on sunglasses that fit and soon after I got those glasses, I lost the clips, so that was a wasted effort in economy. I have clip-ons that fit my new glasses too but I didn't realize it until I found them in a drawer full of old glasses. I can see more clearly out of my new frames but when I watch TV in bed, I can see better out of my old wire ones since the lenses are smaller. My new eye doctor tweaked my left lens making it easier to read street signs so, overall, I'm happy. I think it takes a long time to get used to your own reflection in a mirror before you look like yourself to yourself if you know what I mean.

Enjoy this long Holiday Weekend. Be safe if you are on the road. xo

Mac and Cheese to take to Easter Brunch

I made this Mac and Cheese yesterday and took it out of the refrigerator early this morning to get it down to room temperature. It's in the oven right now heating through and hopefully browning on top. I might have to put it under the broiler for that step. All the ingredients were completely cooked so heating up is all that's necessary. I used this recipe found online. I used a shredded cheese mixture called Fiesta Blend. I have never purchased already shredded cheese in my life and the giant 5-pound bag should last for a very long time. I made the cream sauce, added the 3 cups of cheese and poured the whole thing in my baking pan. The sauce tasted delicious and very cheesy so I skipped the step calling for more cheese in a center layer. I put it all on top.

I haven't eaten cheese in a couple of months, so this will be a real treat for me. I made my cranberry, pineapple, jello dish without the nuts to take to a dinner later. That link will take you to a blog post showing Webster, the wonder dog and it contains another link that will take you to a post with photos of my mom. So bittersweet.

I weighed myself this morning and I'm hoping I don't pack on too much weight but that's probably wishful thinking.

I did have to put it under the broiler. Here's the finished product, ready to pack in my carrying basket. HAPPY EASTER. Enjoy your day. See you later. xo

Easter Baskets for You

I made this for you on on my phone. It is a gloomy rainy day and I was feeling a little creative. 

Shamrocks, Planted by Leprechauns

For some reason, I frequently get wild shamrocks growing along with my seedlings. In this case, it's a rosemary cutting. I have some growing along with a geranium in one of my pantry windows too. Happy St. Patrick's Day, dear friends. Today, everyone is Irish. xo

Americana Christmas Tree

I thought I would be anxious to start taking down my Christmas decorations now that Christmas has passed but I'm not. I think I'll wait until New Year's Day. This tree is nice. via Here's hoping all of your celebrations were as nice as the one I attended at a friend's new home.

Evergreen Coconut Cake Topper

This little evergreen sprig looks perfect with a twine bow on top of a coconut cupcake that looks like it's covered in snow. via

Beautiful Christmas Cookie Scene

So pretty. I love this Christmas Scene made of iced cookies and powdered sugar. I have the perfect background board but will I make one of these? Sadly, probably not. via

Flags All Over Town for Veterans Day

Madison, NJ

Veterans Day 2017

Every lamp post has a flag. It looks deserted but the town folk were gathering for a parade. My photos. The trees are bare and today was our first really cold day but the sky was blue and the sun was out. Later in the day, it warmed up a bit. It was a lovely Saturday to be out and about. xo

City Dwellers Love Pumpkins Too

These three stoops are in Boston. They are all taking fall decor to the next level that easily transitions into Halloween. via It is raining like crazy at my cottage as I await watching 60 Minutes on CBS and The Durrells in Corfu and The Collection on PBS. Enjoy your Sunday evening too.

Sorting The Pumpkins

via

I passed a pumpkin patch near my cottage recently but it was nothing like this. The pumpkins were picked and put into HUGE boxes for transporting to a local farm market. I like this arrangement better where they are being sorted and sold on site. Have you purchased your pumpkins yet? Enjoy the long Columbus Day weekend. xo

Labor Day 2017

I like this graphic because it puts the symbols of manual labor in Labor Day.

In the early 1900s, Lewis Hine left his job as a schoolteacher to work as a photographer for the National Child Labor Committee, investigating and documenting child labor in the United States. As a sociologist, Hine was an early believer in the power of photography to document work conditions and help bring about change. He traveled the country, going to fields, factories, and mines -- sometimes working undercover -- to take pictures of kids as young as four years old being put to work. Be prepared to see some very powerful archival photos.

The Photos That Helped End Child Labor in the United States

My Sunday started out cold and rainy but it is bright, sunny, and very pleasant as I write this post at 5:00 in the afternoon. Enjoy the rest of this long Labor Day weekend. xo

Welcome to the Lewis Hine Project ™, an amazing journey through 100 years of American history. From 1908 until 1924, Lewis Hine took over 5,000 photographs of American child laborers. His compelling pictures helped to persuade legislators and the general public to support laws prohibiting child labor. All the photos, with Mr. Hine’s captions, are posted on the Library of Congress website. Since 2005, I have been identifying the children, tracking down and interviewing living descendants, and writing stories about how the lives of these children turned out. 

You can see all those stories on this website.

Blueberry Cherry Patriotic Pie

Blueberries and Dark Sweet Cherries are still in season so why not bake this pie for Memorial Day? Vanilla ice cream would complete the red, white, and blue flag theme. Just a thought! via