Garden Fuss

This time of year can be so hard on everyone. Especially the little fluttery fellows who have to now rely on the kindness of others or scrape and peck away to find little scraps of something with all this cold and snow. With that in mind my son and I devised a plan to utilize some goodies left-over from our poor old hamster Moosie who passed away. To start out we took some toilet paper rolls and poked holes in the top and attached yarn to them so we could hang the finished product. We then smeared peanut butter over them and rolled, smashed, and squished as many seeds and nummy fruit bits to it as possible. They are now hanging from our trees and we've already seen a couple visitors. Mainly squirrels, but visitors all the same.  

This dish has been inspired by watching one of my favorite new shows on the Food Network called The Worst Cooks In America. The fam says it was a great hit and I look forward to making it for them again in the future.

This year I have resolved to do more in the arena of growth. Of course I will continue flower and vegetable gardening, but in addition to this pastime of mine I am working on personal growth as a student of life. For starters I have attended a local gardening club to meet like minded people, get me out of my own little garden haven, and also to aide in my yearly planning for the growing season. Most importantly though is the meeting like minded people. Gardeners are my kind of people. I learn so much from past and current gardeners that I think my brain is physically growing. Another way I intend on growing as a student of life is to open myself up to new experiences. There are so many options out there and I would love to expand on my culinary knowledge as well as get into pottery design and explore some home improvement courses and maybe even some woodshop. While I am wading into the waters of personal growth though I have to get some of the fussing actually documented her...

Happy New Year everyone!!! Have you received any catalogs for the upcoming growing season? So far we have received approximately 5 catalogs: Territorial Seed Company, R.H. Shumway's, Veseys Seeds, Jung Seeds & Plants, and Miller Nurseries. I'm sure we are going to receive a few more which should include Park Seed, Gurneys, and Burpee. We've only ordered from two of these places in the past and have somehow ended up on a Uber large mailing list. That's ok with me because mom and I have plenty to thumb through at night before bed. Pretty soon we will have meeting of the minds and put together an official plan for the growing season. For sure on our list of returns will be the chocolate cherry tomato. It is such a great snacking and oven dried treat that takes little space and little maintenance to grow. If this beautiful sweet tomato makes a return as a volunteer again this year it will be just as treasured as it's been the last 3 years. As far as what is not mak...

Our second annual cookie exchange was a success. Yes there was snow, cold, and only half the amount of invited guests. However, we had a great turn out full of fun activities and great food. Speaking of the food, everyone loved the lasagna, brie en croute, variety of cheeses, brownies, cake, cookies and more cookies of course.  Bright reds and greens have been a big part of our holiday parties for years. These colors don't just involve the decor, they're in the foods and the drinks. This year our guests had to again come up with their most creative holiday cookie that did not contain artificial dyes and sweeteners. For some guests this was not an easy task so they opted out of coming all together and though disappointing, I fully respect their decision. As you'll see from the pictures below, we had a variety of delicious natural cookies that I was happy to display and even more happier to devour.  The types of cookies prepared included: Mint Chocolate ...