thoughtful thursday...

gardening is an instrument of grace.

~~~

may sarton

~~~~~

~~~

~

wishing you garden grace.

peggy

tasty tuesdsay...

do you love good bread?

i loooove good bread!

i mean i looove it!
love it, love it, love it!

~~~

and i love easy peasy lemon squeezy!

~~~

this bread is gooood bread

and it is easy peasy lemon squeezy to do!

you gotta try it!

~~~

all you need to make this bread is

flour, salt, water, yeast

and a covered dutch oven.

~~~

i learned to make this bread from jayme

at tales from the coop keeper.

~~~

no-knead bread

~~~

(easy peasy~ no kneading!)

~~~

3c flour

1 1/2 t salt

1 1/2 c water

1/4 t yeast

~~~

dissolve yeast in very warm (not hot) water.

mix flour and yeast in a large bowl.

when yeast is dissolved

add to flour mixture.

mix into a ball, still using a spoon.

cover the bowl with plastic

and let rise.

for 18 hours!

~~~

18 hours!

~~~

after 18 hours,

punch the dough down

and let it sit for 10 minutes.

take the dough out of the bowl

and add a handful or two of flour

to the dough.

mix the dough back into a ball.

sprinkle flour into the bowl

and on the dough ball

and then place the dough ball

back into the floured bowl.

cut a couple of slashes

across the top of the dough ball

with a serrated knife.

cover the bowl again with plastic

and let rise for an hour or so.

~~~

preheat your oven to 500

and place your dutch oven

in the oven while preheating.

take dough from the bowl

and place into the dutch oven.

cover the dutch oven.

~~~

reduce the oven heat to 425

and bake for 30 minutes.

after 30 minutes,

uncover the dutch oven

and bake until golden brown,

another 5 or 10 minutes.

remove from oven

and cool.

~~~

when cool,

cut a slice, butter,

and enjoy!

~~~

my pointers:
i use milk instead of water
in this recipe.
i use milk instead of water
in all the bread that i bake.
i like the crust and the texture
that milk gives the bread.
i also place a baking stone
under my dutch oven
when baking this bread.
i use a baking stone under
any pan that i bake bread in.
~~~
this is a rather long process
and the whole yeast thing
can be scary,
but this recipe
is so easy and so not fussy!
i'm here to tell you...
try it!
~~~
try it, try it, try it!
~~~
you will be so glad you did!
~~~
you will love this bread!
you will love the toast
from this bread!
you will love you
for making this bread!
~~~
it really is that good!
~~~~~
~~~
~
wishing you a bread-baking day!
peggy

fruits to come...

the rhubarb is coming...

~~~

soon it will be time

to make rhubarb cakes and bars,

and to freeze rhubarb

for jam.

~~~
the strawberries are coming...
~~~
soon it will be time
for strawberries and cream,
and to freeze strawberries
for jam.
~~~

the raspberries are coming...

~~~

soon it will be time

for raspberries and cream,

and hopefully enough

to freeze

for jam!

~~~

my rhubarb and berry garden

is only a few years old.

my harvests continue

to grow each year

and i look forward to the day

when my harvests

are enough to share

with family and friends.

~~~~~

~~~

~

wishing you a berry good day!

peggy

can't get enough...

spring has been

especially beautiful

this year.

the days have been

sunny and warm

and

the flowers are

blooming, blooming, blooming!

~~~

i can't get enough of it!

~~~

my sweet violets are beginning

their wave of pale purple

in my gardens.

~~~

the grape hyacinths

add more purply-blue fun!

~~~

the little flag iris

show off more shades

of purple!

~~~

and the berginia,

with it's soft pink clusters,

adds another color to the mix!

~~~

gotta love spring!

~~~~~

~~~

~

wishing you a beautiful spring day!

peggy

earth day...

it's earth day!

~~~

regard heaven as your father,

earth as your mother,

and all things

as your brothers and sisters.

~~~

native american proverb

~~~
i love the earth!

and i want to take care of her

in any way that i can.

~~~

i watched oprah's earth day show
last year.

it opened my eyes

and shocked me into action!

it changed my life.
~~~

i've come to know

that i can only

make the earth

a better place to live

by doing my part.

~~~

in this past year,

i've been working

on doing my part...

~~~

i have learned to live

with much less paper,

much less plastic,

and am recycling more.

i reuse and repurpose items.

i pick up litter.

i use less water.

~~~

mostly

i am just more mindful of

taking care of the earth.

~~~

it feels soo good

to be taking better care of the earth,

to be living greener.

i have come a long way

and i have a long way to go!

~~~

join me!

~~~

it is our collective and individual responsibility

to protect and nurture

the global family,

to support its weaker members,

and preserve and tend

to the environment

in which we all live.

~~~

dalai lama
~~~~~

~~~

~

wishing you a reduce, reuse, recycling earth day!

peggy

south dakota state flower...

the pasque flower
or mayflower,
is south dakota's state flower,
and one of the earliest
to bloom
on the praire.
~~~
the stems and outer flower
are fuzzy and soft.
~~~
the flower color varies
from white
to a deep lavender.
~~~
my pasque flower
is a domesticated one.
the lavender is much darker
than the ones
i see in the wild
which are a much liter lavender.
~~~
the seedhead of the pasque flower
is fuzzy and feathery
and suggests another nickname~
prairiesmoke.
~~~
the pretty purply seedheads
are as beautiful
as the flowers themselves.
~~~~~
~~~
~
make it another wild day!
peggy

south dakota wildflower...

this is bloodroot

poking thru the ground.

~~~

this wildflower native

to south dakota

gets its' name

from the blood-red juice

in its' rhizomes.

this juice was used

by native americans

for dye.

~~~

the flowers emerge
wrapped tightly by the leaves.

~~~
it flowers and
the leaves open.
more foliage follows
on longer stems
after the flowers are gone.
the foliage is as beautiful
as the flowers are.
bloodroot lives
in the shade.
~~~
i got my bloodroot
in a coulee
on some land
of my dad and mom's.
i didn't know what it was
when i dug it up
but i loved the foliage.
later, i learned
all about
my little wild treasure!
~~~~~
~~~
~
have a wild day!
peggy

first plantings...

it's time...

~~~

time for planting!

~~~

tonite my husband and i

are going to plant

our potatoes and onions.

we are planting

yukon gold white potatoes

~~~

and pontiac red potatoes.

~~~

we cut them up a couple nites ago

(2 eyes/piece)

to let them dry out

before we plant them.
~~~

we plant

red and white potatoes

and

red and white onions!

~~~

we plant enough vegetables

for ourselves

and to share

with family and friends.

~~~

i soo love growing

our own vegetables.

it soo makes me feel like

laura ingalls wilder,

and,

in case you don't know,

i looooove

and am all about

little house on the prairie!

~~~~~

~~~

~

wishing you the joy of planting...

peggy

~~~

p.s. we're still eating potatoes and onions

from last year's garden!

thoughtful thursday...

there are two ways

of spreading light;

to be the candle

or the mirror

that reflects it.

~~~

edith wharton

~~~

~~~~~

~~~

~

spread your light...

peggy

spring smiles...

my daffodils are blooming!

~~~

their bright sunny yellow smiling faces

bring a smile to my face!

~~~

and these sweet little scilla...

~~~
are now showing
their pretty purple faces,
smiling at me
as much as i'm smiling
back at them!
~~~
oh the joy of spring
and the flowers
she brings!
~~~~~
~~~
~
make it a smily day!
peggy

tasty tuesday...

yummy yummy

sweet-as-summer

peach jam!
~~~

i love to make jam

(because it is soo easy peasy

lemon squeezy to do

and tastes soo good!)

and peach jam

is another one of my favorites!

~~~

i buy a crate of elberta peaches

(i only buy elbertas~

they are the best!)

when they are in season.

~~~

i love to eat fresh peaches

peeled, sliced, sugared,

and topped with 1/2 and 1/2.

yummy yummy!

as summer treats go,

it really doesn't get any better!

~~~

i save some peaches

to freeze some for jam

so i can taste summer

all year round!

~~~

peach jam

~~~

8-9 peaches, peeled and crushed

3 t lemon juice

4c sugar

1 pkg pectin

~~~

mix all together in a larger saucepan

and bring to a rolling boil

over medium heat;

reduce heat

and boil for 17 minutes;

pour into jars

and refrigerate.

~~~

it really is soo easy to make jam

and you can taste summer

when you do!

~~~

helpful hints

~~~

1) when i freeze my peaches,

i freeze them in bags

enough for 1 batch of jam.

~~~

2) i add the lemon juice to the peaches

when i freeze them

so they don't brown

and then i don't need to add

any when i make the jam.

~~~~~

~~~

~

have a peachy day!

peggy

a friendly day...

the girls were coming

on saturday

and i wanted

everything

to look and taste

it's best!

~~~

my little pink violet was blooming...

~~~

the rolls were baked

and frosted...

~~~

the table was set...

~~~
the cookies were baked...
~~~
and there were squill blooming!
~~~
i was ready!
everything was ready!
~~~
and then they arrived!
~~~
amy, carol, and susan
were here for the day
to chat, laugh, shop, and eat!
~~~
it was a greaaat time,
a greaaat day,
with greaaat friends!
~~~
i can't wait to do it again!
~~~~~
~~~
~
make it a friendly day!
peggy

the color purple...

the color is coming...

hurray!

~~~

and it looks to be

the color purple!

~~~

these scilla

will be blooming soon.

~~~

the color i've been waiting for

is coming

~~~

...at long last!
~~~~~

~~~

~

wishing you

a little pop of purple today!

peggy

thoughtful thursday...

loving yourself

has lot to do

with slowing down...

rather than adding

one more thing every day,

why not try adding one

thing less?

~~~

...try editing your days;

craft them

to sing concisely

like memorable lines

of poetry.

~~~

mike mason

~~~~~

~~~

~

love yourself today...

and every day!

peggy

introducing okiru...

meet okiru!

okiru richard.

~~~

okiru is 5 years old

and lives in uganda, africa.

~~~

okiru is my sponsor child thru

compassion,

a christian organization

devoted to

children.

~~~

i only recently

learned about compassion

and the work that they do

with children.

~~~

after learning about compassion

i knew

i needed and wanted

to sponsor a child!

~~~

i chose uganda

as the country i would help

and then okiru

as the child i would sponsor.

~~~

i was immediately drawn

to okiru's picture

when i saw it.

i clicked on his picture,

read his profile,

and i knew he would be my sponsor child!

~~~

okiru and i

share

the same birthday~

june 27!

~~~

compassion began in 1952

and serves 650,000 children

in 20 countries.

~~~

this dvd

walks you thru the process

and the remarkable transformation

in the life of a sponsored child.

~~~

i would be happy

to share it with anyone

who is interested

in sponsoring a child

thru compassion.

~~~

i truly believe,

that thru this sponsorship,

my life

will be changed

as much as okiru's.

~~~~~

~~~

~

make it a life-changing day!

peggy

craving color...

i'm craving color today...

~~~
it's a gray day outside,
with little color anywhere.
~~~
not finding any color outside,
i looked around inside
and i found some color!
~~~
lots of color!
~~~
in my laundry room!
~~~
color, color, color...
~~~

bright and beautiful color!
~~~

my color craving is satisfied!

~~~~~

~~~

~

wishing you a day full of color!
peggy