Sunday, January 22, 2012

Spice Jars Organized!


This is such a good solution, I'm surprised that I haven't seen it before!  I have tons of spices.  My son loves to experiment with flavors and seasonings, and I'm a sucker for recipes.  Spices need to be cool and dark- which is hard in the kitchen.  This is just a regular photo box- I bought it at Michael's for $2. It holds 24 regular size bottles of spices.  I have it on a folded wire shelf- just high enough so spills on the counter won't get it wet (I worry about stuff like that).  I guess if the box gets a little messy- I can look for another one on sale some other day (I have two filled with spices- one for jars, one for T-Z and the spices and herbs in bags- and a third just in case). It is also really easy to clean around- just lift one box and 24 spices go wherever you want.

This has been working really well for about a week- which is a pretty good record for me!

A Billion Positive Moments

One of the secrets of a life well-lived is this simple fact: Life is made up of millions of moments- every positive moment contributes to a life lived well. Just strive to make the moment you are living now, a positive moment- and forget about the rest.

I added it up:  If I live to be 100 years old and every moment that I lived was positive, I would have 3 billion, one hundred and fifty-five million, seven hundred and sixty thousand well-lived seconds.

Of course, not every second that I've lived so far has been well-lived, but if I try to make every second from now on well-lived and I lived another 32 years, then I would have lived well for at least another one billion seconds.  This is a goal we can all attempt to reach.

Maybe that's why things like 12 steps and even my own Addition Principle seem to work so well.  These approaches all focus on making this moment count.  We can blame ourselves for the past and we can wonder what the future holds- but all we can do is the best we can do with the moment that we are living right now.  So lets go out and experience some seconds well-lived today!

Love always,
Mary Rose

P.S. As soon as I had this revelation, I went to the flowers that I needed to arrange, set up the tableau, and then took this picture for you!  Hope it brightens your day!

Saturday, January 21, 2012

First fruits!

Here are the first tomatoes from my patio garden this winter!  It's kind of cheating because these were on the plants already when I got it from Cheyenne's in December. The little one on the left is a tiny Roma.  They smell so good!  Think we're going to use them on tacos for lunch today.
This is how my tabletop garden looks today.  I really am enjoying the begonias- need to start some cuttings.
Under the table I am storing my poinsettas.  An article from the Temple Terrace Garden club says that they need to stay fairly dry until the end of March when they should be but back about 50%.  Then when the temperature gets and stays about 70 degrees day and night they should be put into the ground pots and all.  In the fall, they need to come out and go somewhere where they won't get any extra light at night- then they should be in full glory by Christmas.  We'll see!  I haven't been able to get the poinsettas through the summer yet- but maybe if I find some ground  or huge pot somewhere, that will keep them cool enough not to dry out and die.

These are my tomato plants and a side view of my table top.  In the tomato and the right, I have a pepper plant.  Rob harvested the first pepper from that plant last week also.

These are my three sisters.  They were not happy with the frost we had a few weeks back-knew that going into starting the seeds.

Took an old iron table bottom that I am not using and arranged all the window boxes into two tiers.  They all seem to be happy like this.
This is my romaine lettuce- looks delicious.  Doesn't seem to be forming a head- but maybe I'll steal a few outer leaves for my tacos.
These are my newest plants: From left to right- a plant that is supposed to attact butteflies, Thai basil, ornamental pepper, and sage.

I was afraid that the two frosty nights last week were going to wreak havoc but the weather is 54 degrees right now with a high around 84 today- just perfect!  That's all for today! 

Love, Mary Rose

Great-Grandma Weber's Summer German Potato Salad

 This was a staple at our family's summer outings for as long as I can remember.  My youngest sister asked me for the recipe so I though...