In The Refiner's Fire

Do you see the blossoms on this tomato plant?  I'm SUPER excited! To all my US readers - I hope you are enjoying a meaningful and relaxing Memorial Day!  Having a parent and several other relatives who served in the Armed Forces makes me appreciate the sacrifices that so many have made.  We are flying the flag today. And I am very proud to do so. Our visitors left this morning to visit friends for several days before making their way back to their home.  Our home feels to quiet with two fewer people!  They will return in about 6 weeks and we are looking forward to seeing them again. Our meals this week were a bit odd to put together, as we are trying to finish up some odds and ends in our refrigerator and the freezers. We are picking lettuce and rhubarb from our garden this week and we have not received another box from our CSA at this time (we received asparagus and rhubarb two weeks ago and then...

Salad with Salmon and Fruit - dinner one night last week. We had LOVELY weather last week and were able to eat our evening meal outside on the patio several nights.  I am enjoying it so much!   My flowers are starting to bloom - the rhododendron is done for the year but the first wave of iris are blooming and the peonies are budding too.  I'm so happy!  I am so very grateful that we purchased a home with a large garden!  We have guests ("company") until the end of May and I'm enjoying having them here.  Food-wise it means we've been eating up a few things that are a little harder to eat with just the four of us (beet pickles, for instance!).  I like that too!  We spent $62 this week on groceries after spending only $26 the previous week and we are feeding four adults and two teenagers.  We harvested lettuce and rhubarb from the garden this past week and we received chives, a different type of rhubarb and asparagus ...

 The Birthday Cupcakes my children took to school on their Birthday.  They were super easy to decorate and really enjoyed by the children in their class.  The blue "night sky" cupcakes are just a large silver-colored gum ball and star sprinkles on blue icing.  The "campfire" cupcakes are chocolate rocks, pretzels and gummy candy cut into wedges for flames.  They were delicious! WOW!  Mid-May already!  Time does fly.... We're officially in spring/early summer here - the lettuce has sprouted, the rhubarb is ready to cut and we received asparagus from the CSA this week!  YUM!   I'm so excited!   My rhododendron is blooming and making me deliriously happy.  I think spring is my favorite season, though fall is pretty nice too. We have company this week so we are feeding four adults and two teenagers.  Here's what we're eating this week: Sunday, May 13, 2018, Mother's Day:       Bre...

These iris are about seven inches (17.5cm) tall right now - they reach about 24 inches (60cm) - but it is a sign that spring is definitely on the way! A busy week for us!   Out of state family arrived to stay with us for a month and we had two other events this week. We are busy like this for another two months and then have about two months of down time planned.  I am looking forward to the events but not the running.  I am also looking forward to the planned down time later this summer.  Here's hoping for good weather and lots of time in my garden! We are into super saving mode here for the rest of the year.  So, here are several of the frugal things we have done this week: * We made bread, no bake energy bites, minestrone soup, scones, muffins, pancakes, and crackers at home this week. * I replaced buttons on a dress for our daughter. * We attended a free music concert at one of the local schools. * Our children attended thei...