Saturday, July 19, 2008
My New BFF (Best Frog Friend)...
Full Moon Tonight ~ set your moon dials!
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My desktop is completely full!
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P.S. ~ I just noticed that my desktop theme matches my blog theme. This was not intentional but shows that I have always liked the dark gray background. I have had my totally awesome 21" HP f2105 monitor for almost two years. It is the best!
Friday, July 18, 2008
Pop some bubble wrap...
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Thursday, July 17, 2008
Bluebird sighting...
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Mochaware Pepper Pots
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If you like what you see, you might be able to get it here if you hurry! This would be the perfect gift for an antique collector who loves to cook. There is a full-page color photo on almost every page and it is a real visual delight. I have a showing of my real estate listing this morning so I have to log off. Keep your fingers crossed for me! I will be back later.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Watermelon Recipes
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WATERMELON PAD THAI
8 ounces flat rice noodles
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger
1 pound cleaned medium shrimp
1 to 2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 cup fresh bean sprouts
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaf
1 cup chopped scallions
1/8 cup ketchup
1 cup seedless watermelon puree
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 cup chopped dry roasted peanuts
8 ounces flat rice noodles
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger
1 pound cleaned medium shrimp
1 to 2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 cup fresh bean sprouts
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaf
1 cup chopped scallions
1/8 cup ketchup
1 cup seedless watermelon puree
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 cup chopped dry roasted peanuts
Place the noodles in a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Allow to stand, nudging them apart with a fork, until tender. About 10 to 15 minutes. Drain.
Heat the oil in a large heavy saute pan or wok over medium high heat. Saute the garlic and ginger for 60 seconds and add the shrimp. Stir fry, while adding the soy sauce, for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the noodles and stir fry another minute or two and stir in the sprouts, cilantro leaf and scallions.
Mix the ketchup into the watermelon and stir into the pan with the sesame oil. Cook until hot, sprinkle with the chopped peanuts and serve immediately. Serves 4.
• • •
GRILLED KIELBASA WITH WATERMELON RELISH
1 cup minced watermelon
1/4 cup minced onion
1/2 cup finely chopped cabbage
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
2 tablespoons honey mustard
3 pounds kielbasa or sausage of your choice
1 cup minced watermelon
1/4 cup minced onion
1/2 cup finely chopped cabbage
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
2 tablespoons honey mustard
3 pounds kielbasa or sausage of your choice
Mix the watermelon, onion and cabbage in a mixing bowl. In another small bowl slowly mix the vinegar into the mustard and then pour the mixture over the watermelon/onion/cabbage mixture and toss together.
Grill the kielbasa until brown and crisp on the exterior but still juicy inside. Remove from grill to a cutting board and cool for 5 minutes before cutting the kielbasa into bite sized pieces and skewer them with a pick. Serve warm with the relish for scooping with the kielbasa. Serves 12 as an appetizer.
• • •
Note: I have not personally tested these dishes but don't they sound good?!!!
Photo from Flickr
Blueberries for Breakfast
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Now are you ready to learn something very cool indeed? Have you ever wondered how people put symbols in their posts? Do you ever have to type something in a foreign language and need to put in an accent or other symbol? Do you get tired of writing the word cents and wish you could just put a cent symbol? Well...me too! For years I had to do it the hard way with html. Recently I did a Google search for Windows Alt Symbols and a fabulous cheat sheet came up on someone's blog. It listed 255 symbols you can get just by hitting the ALT key on your keyboard and while you are holding it down add a number or numbers using the Numpad. That's the part of your keyboard that looks like a calculator.
These all work perfectly in Microsoft Word but all of them did not work with the font I am using in this blog. Look here to see the chart. I keep a shortcut for this on my desktop and use it many times daily! Now I have to give credit to the Blog's author, Brown Thoughts. You might also want to bookmark another site that shows these symbols in another format...though some of the fun ones are missing. Enjoy and let me have your thoughts in the form of a comment or an email. Enjoy your day.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Miss Potter returns!
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One of my earlier posts was a rave review of the dvd movie entitled MISS POTTER
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Monday, July 14, 2008
Good Night
1917 Architectural Design for a $12,500 House
This is my favorite house plan ever! Scanned from one of my 1st edition architectural books. In the early part of the previous century the white pine council published bi-monthly booklets called The White Pine Series of Architectural Monographs ~ A Bi-Monthly Publication Suggesting the Architectural Uses of White Pine and its Availability Today as a Structural Wood. At the end of the year they were hard bound. I have hard bound firsts of volumes 2, 3, and 4. They must be very rare because I have never been able to locate the first volume. I do have a complete set of the modern reprints but nothing compares to the originals!
The house pictured above is one of the winners of a contest called: The Second Annual White Pine Architectural Competition for a House to Cost Twelve Thousand Five Hundred Dollars. It was judged at the Greenbrier in White Sulpher Springs, West Virginia on May 17 & 18, 1917. My guy did not win any of the top prizes (1st ~ 4th) but he is the 5th mention for Design No. 194. I wonder if he became famous in his area? Let me know if you have heard of Benj. Schreyer, New York, N.Y. Don't you wonder if this home was ever built and if it is still standing? There are two enclosed porches on the first floor and two sleeping porches on the second floor. Oh, for a sleeping porch! The plot plan is lovely too. I did not scan the detail sheet showing the fireplace side of the dining room, the front entrance, a couple of cornices, the north and west elevations. and the cross section.
Hopefully this design will inspire one of my readers and this home will be built again.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
OCD episode at the clothesline.
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99 cent gas in Morristown, NJ on 8/3
Now this is post worth reading if you live anywhere near Morristown, NJ. I was reading The Morristown Daily Record online just now and noticed an article about a church that is having a Gas Giveaway and offering really cheap gas (99 cents per gallon) on Sunday, August 3rd at the Exxon station on Morris Street in Morristown across the street from the train station. Make sure your tank is empty three weeks from today! My last gas purchase was cash only @ $3.99 per gallon. See you in line at the gas pump!!! You heard it here first! Afterwards you might want to go to The Morristown Farmer's Market behind Headquarters Plaza. Sounds like a plan!
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Saturday, July 12, 2008
Lady's Mantle with Dewdrops
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Feel free to leave a comment if you are enjoying my new blog.
I would love to hear from you!
Design on an old cement pot.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Bees are few & far between!
I have a lot of clover on my 2-acre property. I love it. Not many people have it these days since it is considered a broad-leaf weed. Who decided that things with a broad leaf don't belong in a lawn? Do children get to look for 4-leaf clovers these days? That was practically a rite of passage in my childhood.
The landscapers love those "weed and feed" products. Homeowners should take a stand and stop these applications! Or start taking care of their own lawns. I turned mine over to a landscaper last year and it broke my heart. They used those weed whackers around all the trees and injured the bark. I am doing it alone this year (as I have always done in the past) and have never been happier. I don't have a string trimmer...I use the old fashioned kind that you have to squeeze by hand. I once read that the best thing for a property is the footprints of its owner. Words I shall live by! I try to mow in stages so that the few remaining honey bees will stay around. This colony collapse disorder is a huge problem.
Enjoy your day! Over and out.
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The landscapers love those "weed and feed" products. Homeowners should take a stand and stop these applications! Or start taking care of their own lawns. I turned mine over to a landscaper last year and it broke my heart. They used those weed whackers around all the trees and injured the bark. I am doing it alone this year (as I have always done in the past) and have never been happier. I don't have a string trimmer...I use the old fashioned kind that you have to squeeze by hand. I once read that the best thing for a property is the footprints of its owner. Words I shall live by! I try to mow in stages so that the few remaining honey bees will stay around. This colony collapse disorder is a huge problem.
Enjoy your day! Over and out.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Meet Tabitha
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I need new friends.
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•What's a Blog?
•Wow, that's the first one I have ever read.
•Where do you find the time?
•Can you help me do one too?
•What's the value?
•Why would I want to read it?
•Who reads it?
•Who took your pictures?
•What site did you use?
•Do other people have blogs too?
•Who taught you how to do it?
•How much does it cost?
So far only four of my old friends have shown any genuine interest...♥Stacey, ♥Kelly, ♥Lynn, and ♥Marybeth. I have a link to Stacey's Blog. See my section called Sites that I Like. She is a fabulous cook and you will love her recipes and dialogue.
My photograph for the day is a bluebird perched on top of a birdhouse on my property. Who took the picture? I did!!! That is the main purpose of this blog. I needed another creative outlet for my photography and this is the perfect venue. I hope you will check in each day to see my new posts.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Mowed grass this morning.
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Today was perfect for mowing. Overcast and breezy. I was way behind and it took me quite a while to do half of my property. After 3-1/2 hours I decided to call it a day. Plus the sun came out and I was so hot I could die anyway. I have a huge project going with the grass clippings. I normally don't save them in the grasscatcher on my snapper riding mower...but lately I have. I have been spreading them quite thickly in areas with weeds and it is working beautifully. When I bought my first house in 1975, I bought a book called How to have a Green Thumb without an Aching Back by Ruth Stout. I still follow her teachings. Mulch away and don't be afraid to put it on thickly. Grass clippings are the best. Plentiful and free. You practically never have to water anything either. The picture I chose for today's posting is from an antique engraving dated May 1st, 1806. I like this barrow so much better than the orange plastic one in my garage. Actually I hardly ever use it. I much prefer my Garden Ways Cart with the big bicycle tires...my first purchase on becoming a homeowner. I put it together myself and it has served me well. I couldn't have collected all those grass clippings without it!
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Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Blue and White Checked Curtains.
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I love blue and white checks. The fabric for these curtains has been made and remade 5 times since 1972. They started out life in a New York City walkup on West 74th Street. They covered a large sliding glass door that opened on to a deck. They are currently on a tension rod that fits inside the casement. They are still going strong. Never lined. This woven fabric is only a little faded on the reverse side. I wish I had more for the great price I paid on the Lower East Side. I am always shocked when I see the prices for designer fabric. So I shall be content with what I have!
Monday, July 7, 2008
Fun with Photoshop Elements
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