Garden Quote by Rudyard Kipling . . .

For my own purposes I am rewriting this quote by Rudyard Kipling.

"Gardens are not made
By sitting in the shade behind a computer."

I am getting behind in my outdoor work because of the rain. If the truth be known, I am behind in my inside work too. So it's off to the salt mines for me on Saturday.

Alice Waters | The Art of Simple Food + Video . . .

If you missed the recent segment on 60 Minutes you can watch it here. Sorry about the advertisement at the beginning. Alice Waters has been preaching the virtues of cultivating fresh food for decades. As Lesley Stahl reports, this world-renowned chef and restaurateur hopes a slower approach to the food we eat will keep us healthier and greener.

My dog is worried about the economy . . .

My dog Webster is very worried about the economy.

His wet dog food is up to $1.00 a can.

That's $7.00 in dog money!

UDDERLY Unstable American Ecomomy . . .

OLD AMERICAN ECONOMY
You had two cows.
You sold one and bought a bull.
Your herd multiplied, and the economy grew.
You sold them and retired on the income.



NEW AMERICAN ECONOMY (SINCE 2003)
You have two cows.
You force one of them to produce the milk of four cows.
Later, you hire a consultant to analyze why the cow has dropped dead.
You sell the other cow, and start buying dead ‘bulls’ in the expectation that they will be reborn someday.

The solution seems pretty simple, doesn't it? I don't think it takes a genius to figure out how to fix it, do you?

Birthday Boy ~ He's no April Fool . . .

Happy Birthday Webster!

Today is Webster's approximate birthday. He was 9 weeks old when I adopted him from the animal shelter seven years ago. I had to work backwards for his birth date. Today he's 49 in people years but he still acts like a pup.

I "baked" some homemade treats for him. Made up the recipe and cooked these little "silver dollar pancakes" on the panini press. He would flip over backwards if he could. They are really good...like miniature hoe cakes.

I used 1 cup cornmeal, 1 cup whole wheat flour, 3/4 cup dry powdered milk, one egg, about 1/4 cup olive oil and enough soy milk to make a stiff batter. I dumped in some Bacos for flavor. I would have used beef or chicken broth for the liquid but I didn't have any on hand. I dropped small spoonfuls on the panini press preheated to its hottest setting. They were done in an instant ... watch the steam ... you'll know.

I ate a couple myself. They're quite good and organic too.

Life's Little Instruction Book, pages 58 + 59 . . .

...To be continued...

April Food Day -- Bloggers Fighting Hunger

Please help us fight hunger in the US by supporting either your local food bank, or Feeding America, a national food bank with 200 members across the United States.

Click on the April Food Day image above and you will be redirected to the page with a secure link for donating to the humanitarian organization FeedingAmerica.org

Every dollar you contribute provides 7 meals or 10 pounds of food. A $25 gift provides 175 meals. If each of us who has a blog writes something on April 1 and asks our readers to contribute, imagine the difference we could make in our communities.

If you would like to help, copy my post or write a similar article on your blog April lst, and ask your readers to donate to Feeding America.

Provide a link to the original blog, April Food Day, and they will link back to your blog and to your post.

Thank you on behalf of America's hungry.

Push aside the curtain | Henry David Thoreau quote . . .

I thought the blue and white checked curtains in my bedroom were the perfect illustration for this quote by Henry David Thoreau. Most of the walls surrounding us we put there ourselves.

"The garden must be prepared in the soul or else it will not flourish"

I love this English Proverb, don't you?

Today is a beautiful Monday with blue skies, bright sun, a gentle breeze and the grass has turned bright green. Last night's storm with hail, torrential rain, wind, thunder and lightning worked its magic! When I woke up this morning and looked out the window, I thought I had been transported to Ireland. Can lawn mowing be far behind? I don't relish that thought.

10 Good Reasons to be an Ordinary Person . . .

TEN GOOD REASONS TO BE AN ORDINARY PERSON

1. You can throw away your junk: You are not saving it for posterity.
2. When you fall asleep hugging a pillow, you don't think that you need to talk to your shrink about it.
3. You derive great satisfaction from walking your own dog.
4. You can miss a day at work and the world won't end.
5. You have nothing to hide, and no place to hide it.
6. You don't travel the world in search of what you have at home.
7. You don't have to get all dressed up to go get a sandwich.
8. No one notices whether or not your car is clean, the insides of your closets are neat, and your fence is freshly painted.
9. You don't have to try to make something out of everything.
10. You are enlightened, though you don't know what it means ... let alone care about it.

"Why be happy with more if you can be happy with less?" Source: I copied a page from a great little book, "The Art of Imperfection" Simple Ways to Make Peace with Yourself I found it on the book swap rack at my Post Office. The image is a detail scanned from one of my 18th century Charles Heathcote Tatham Architectural etchings, representing the best examples of ancient ornamental architecture: drawn from the originals in Rome, and other parts of Italy, during the years 1794, 1795 and 1796.