A Walk To the Park

Yesterday, the weather was so nice that we decided to take a walk to our local neighborhood park.  Along the way, several things caught my eye and I wanted to share them with you.  This is my neighborhood:

A Varigated Mossy Tree Trunk

(the green caught my eye)

Give A Treasure, Take A Treasure

(a nice surprise for the neighborhood children, the idea is to leave and trade your unwanted toy for a "new" one that someone else left inside.)



Glasswork Lamp Post

(the owner of the treasure chest is a glass blower and has decorated the power pole in his front yard with his art.  Isn't it beautiful?)

The Dragon Tree

(Every time we walk past this house, Remy says "See dragon, see dragon!")

Spring Blossoms

(I think this is an apple tree, it's across the street from my house so I get the pleasure of seeing it every day!  It is the most gorgeous pale pink.)

Fungus

(This branch had been trimmed from it's tree and was left lying next to the sidewalk.  I thought the stripes on the fungi were so pretty.)

Three Years



March 11, 2008
photo by Jean-Marcus Strole


I Carry Your Heart
by E.E. Cummings

I carry your heart with me(I carry it in
my heart)I am never without it(anywhere
I go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)

I fear no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)I want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

I carry your heart(I carry it in my heart)

 



The View From My Window

Photo taken by Me, Enhanced by PuNk rAwK pUrL

This is the view from my sewing room today.  Nothing says "Spring Fever" quite like the case of March rainstorms.

>SIGH<

Bring on the flowers and the flip flops...

The ABC's of Me

My friend Tammy of the infamous PuNk rAwK pUrL has a pretty cool blog.  Recently she decided to participate in the Love of Lists Challenge, which you can read about right here. While I'm a big fan of writing lists and an even bigger fan of challenges, I have a two year old, and a much bigger challenge of managing my blog as it is.  However, I loved her first list post so much that I decided to give her a little link love and do at least this one.  So, as inspired by The Knit Purl Gurl herself, here is an ABC's About Me:

 Some stuff about me... alphabetically:

A. Age: 33

B. Barefoot: I cannot sew with shoes on. 

C. Children: My sweet little Remy Paige, born January 26, 2009.  (And two little angel babies that didn't survive the pregnancy)

D. Dishes: The chore I do every day.  I desperately wish I had a dishwasher and am considering moving just to have one!

E. Every Day: I talk to my sister.

F. Fenway Frank: Our second miniature dachshund who is deaf and half blind.  He has a half sister, Schnitzel McPoo and a cousin (??) Oliver William.

G. Grandpa: is 76 years old and is still a long-haul truck driver!  HONK HONK!

H. Hair Color: red as can be since day one!

I. Ireland: the best vacation I ever had, which was also my honeymoon.  We spent 2 weeks traveling the country.

J. James: My ever patient husband.

K. Kentucky: My family has deep historical roots in the Cumberland Gap of Kentucky.  My 7x great Uncle, John Shell, was named as the World's Oldest Man in the Guinness Book of World Records.

L. Lion's Mane: What my hair looks like in the morning.  Scary, huh?

M. Married: March 11, 2008.

N. New York City: My hometown in 2001.  I am a firsthand 9/11 witness. 

O. Olives: I love 'em on my pizza!!

P. Pink: My favorite color.  So much so, that my husband bought me a pink diamond wedding band.

Q. Question: When are you going to have more children?  Answer: Never, so stop asking!

R. Remy: As in Jerry Remy, the baseball player we named our daughter after.

S. Sister: 15 months older than me, and we look nothing alike!

T. Tulip: My favorite flower!  Especially black tulips.

U. Unbelievable: I have an extra vertebrae in my spine.  Weird, huh?

V. Vera Wang: The designer of my wedding gown.

W. Worms: Is there an official term for a Worm-phobia because I definitely have one. 

X. X-tra Curricular Activity in High School: I was a cheerleader.  Stop laughing.

Y. Years I have been sewing: 28, can you believe that?

Z. Zipper: one of my favorite words of Remy's because she says "Ris-sah" and it's completely adorable. 

What are your ABC's? If you choose to do the same survey on your blog, link back here (and on Tammy's blog, too, since she started it!) – I would love to learn more about you!

A Perfect Day for Banana Bread!

See that cute little girl up there?  She's two years old and doesn't like bananas.  Can you believe that?  What kid doesn't like bananas?  Well, she doesn't, so that answers that.  For some reason, I find this phenomenon hard to believe, so when I'm at the store I find myself with a bunch of bananas in hand, talking myself into buying them because she's bound to like bananas at some point, right?  Wrong.  (They make her gag!)

Well, after throwing away about 150 overripe bananas over the course of a year, I started my search for the most perfect banana bread recipe.  I believe I have found it, and I'm proud as a peacock to say that it's my own creation.  If you make it, will you come back and tell me what you think of it?  Have fun baking!

Even the Two Year Old Will Eat This Banana Bread Recipe

1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar

1/2 cup softened butter

2 eggies

1 1/2 cups mashed, ripe bananas (about 3)

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Sugar-In-The-Raw (optional topping)

1. Heat oven to 350*. Coat a 9x5 loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, mix brown sugar and butter.  Add eggies, bananas, buttermilk and vanilla; beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.  Stir in flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.  Pour into prepared pan.  Sprinkle Sugar-In-The-Raw on top before baking.

3. Bake for 1hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool about 10 minutes before transferring from the pan to a wire rack.

YUM!!