News of the Day

Here are some of the links I've shared today on my Aunt B's Kitchen page on Facebook.  I share lots more on Twitter, G+, and Pinterest.  Do join me there!  :)

On my blogs:

Good Morning

Crispy Homemade Chicken Strips

Wheat and White Flour Tortillas

Pancake Day

Food:

Grilled Italian Vegetable Napoleons with Basil Oil from A Family Feast

Tomato Pesto Tart With Cauliflower Crust from Tori Avey

9 Simple Ways to Make Veggies Irresistible from Delish

Kids:

Free Father's Day Doodle Art Cards to Color from Kids Activities Blog

Inspiration:

7 Steps to Live Your Ideal Eulogy from becomingminimalist

Health:

8 Natural Remedies That May Help You Sleep from Health.com

Good Morning

image source 

I don't usually drive to work with the radio on.  I dislike all the chatter on morning radio.  I prefer to enjoy the passing scenery and my morning thoughts in quiet. This morning, though, I was expecting a phone call and needed to turn the radio on in order to use my car's hands-free device.  


I was mostly filtering out what was said (treating it kind of like white noise) until the DJ's conversation turned to odd stories in the news and, in particular, to a story about the theft of a bread truck.  The thief was dressed in only his underwear and, after stealing stealing the truck, made all the scheduled deliveries on the route before tossing any remaining bread from the truck to passers-by, Robin Hood style.


You've got to wonder about the back story behind a snippet like that.  Why steal a bread truck (or anything at all, really) dressed only in your underwear?  Why make the scheduled deliveries after taking the truck? But, most of all, why on earth did none of the people he delivered to not report something unusual?  I mean the guy was in his underwear!  Did they think he stripped down because it was a little warm in the truck? Maybe...


Anyway, it gave me a chuckle, and I hope it makes you smile too.  


Sometimes it's good to change our routine and welcome a little levity into the moment, don't you think?  Smiles are the very best way to start the day.   :)

Have a joyful Thursday.

News of the Day

Here are some of the links I've shared today on my Aunt B's Kitchen page on Facebook.  I share lots more on Twitter, G+, and Pinterest.  Do join me there!  :)

On my blogs:

Good morning

Food I don't usually buy, and a recipe

Thirty-Three Years

Food:

A collection of 43 healthy homemade salad dressing recipes from ChinDeep

Homemade Sweet Potato Chips from Meal Planning Maven

Old fashioned sour cream doughnuts from Handle the Heat

Kids:

Sponge Tower Jenga from What do you do all day?

Good Morning

I often walk early in the morning at this time of year, while the air is cool and sprinklers are scattering bright rainbows across green lawns. 

I love this gift of water.  It beads the tip of every blade of grass and the petals of every flower with tiny crystal balls.  If I look closely I can see, captured within them, perfect reflections of the surrounding gardens; tiny, self-contained fairylands in every single drop. 

The water draws creatures to the garden too:  

Bright blue dragonflies flit from plant to plant on wings so impossibly transparent it defies imagination to think them capable of flight.  

Fat, furry bees bumble about their business, pausing from their work now and then for just long enough to lap a drop or two from a nearby petal. 

Robins stand with heads cocked, prospecting for worms the moisture has drawn closer to the surface of the lawn.

Sparrows bathe where puddles form, splashing water into the air and dancing beneath the droplets.

Tiny green frogs with mighty voices hide among the leaves and serenade me as I walk along.

How can I not be happy with a greeting like that to start the day?

I hope that your morning has brought its own special gifts your way, and that you find time to pause and unwrap them.  Have a wonderful Wednesday.

News of the Day

Here are some of the links I've shared today on my Aunt B's Kitchen page on Facebook.  I share lots more on Twitter, G+, and Pinterest.  Do join me there!  :)

On my blogs:

Food I don't usually buy, and a recipe.

Food:

10 Ways to Use Radishes, from Chatelaine

Fruit Dip Ice Cream With Roasted Berries, from Pastry Chef Online

Health and Fitness:

 

Alzheimer's Prevention Program:  Keeping your brain healthy for the rest of your life, from UCTV

Housekeeping:

112 Awesome Uses for Baking Soda You Didn't Know, from Home Tips World

Gardening:

Making a frog house for your garden, from Joybilee Farm.

Imperfect Gardening 101:  The Plant and Pray Method, from Weeping Willow Microfarm

News of the Day

Here are some of the links I've shared today on my Aunt B's Kitchen page on Facebook.  I share lots more on Twitter, G+, and Pinterest.  Do join me there!  :)

On my blogs:

Good Morning

Making the Best of Things

Food:

Spicy Ginger Sweet Potato Mash

Health and Fitness:

The Do's and Don'ts of being healthy from The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans on Facebook

Housekeeping:

Canning Inventory Chart from foodpreserving.org

Gardening:

An amazing dragon hedge shared by 

The Kids Should See This

Astronomy:

Five Sky Events from National Geographic

Child's Play:

Coat Hanger Weaving from ArtChoo

Good Morning

Here, we do green.  

The delicate, watercolour foliage of April and May in June gives way to a lushness that can only be described as voluptuous.  Our mild, wet springs bring life to every inch of soil and early summer finds the landscape a tapestry composed of a million shades of green.

Along the river, big leaf maple trees cast broad leafed shade across the pathways where I stroll, their huge leaves nodding in the breeze and lit from behind to make a pattern more glorious than any stained glass masterpiece humankind can craft.

Cedar, fir, spruce, balsam, and yew each bring their individual hues and textures to the deeper wood.  At their feet, the licorice ferns unfurl, tall green feathers, bowing gracefully to honour the filtered sunlight.  Named for the flavour of their roots, these ferns were a childhood treat of mine.  It charmed me that I could pull one from the ground and find the taste of candy.  I love them still, although now more for their appearance than their flavour.

In the yards and public gardens I pass on my way home, expanses of lawn unroll like rich green velvet, the blank canvas into which bright flowerbeds are placed in careful composition.  They are framed by tall green hedges and overlooked by rhododendrons now showing the last of their blooms among strong, leathery green leaves.  

Ivy twines up tree trunks and over rock, and wisteria and laburnum drip from trellises.  Who knew the humble pea could aspire to such greatness?

Even the cracks in the sidwalks sprout green: tough tufts of grass and plantain and, in the shade, every surface eventually pulls a blanket of soft moss up around its chin.

As I look at all that green I think "calm" because it soothes my spirit just to look at it.  I think "rich" for what greater wealth could there possibly be than this?  I think "grateful" because I am.

I hope that your Monday is off to a happy start and that you find a moment or two to pause and enjoy your surroundings.  Have a joyful day.