Dogwoods, Bluebonnets, and Wisteria

I finally took the time to take photos of the dogwoods. I had a wonderful drive home from subbing at high school today. Stopped by Mama's for a few minutes and ran the programs on her remote. LOL Don't know what she did, but she could only pick up one channel on her bedroom television. I handed her the remote and told her not to "touch anything from the waist down" on it.

The photos were all taken on the way through "the country" between her house and mine. This piece of property actually butts up to the back of our property. We were amazed at how close it really is after the property was logged last year. The logging definitely opened up the sky to the dogwoods. They are solidly peppered across the slope.

I mentioned them growing in layers when they weren't exposed to full sunlight.

Here's that "lollipop" tree again.
Just a note about the wisteria...you can tell where there's an old house place by what grows there...daffodils popping up in the middle of a pasture beside one old oak tree. Wisteria takes over everything. Someone once told me about her love for wisteria...but you only gave a plant to someone you hated. ;o) I stopped in the middle of the road to take these. The heady perfume nearly made me drunk!

The bluebonnets are in my yard. They just keep spreading and spreading much to Sam's chagrine. Of course I do everything I can to help them spread! From previous posts, you've seen them close to the house around the azaleas.

Beautiful Rain

We had about 3/4 inch of rain today. Never heavy at any one time, just nice slow drizzling day. Predictions are for rain through Saturday.

I haven't gotten into my flower beds yet. Been too busy with the quilting project. I have the final quilt sandwiched and ready to start quilting. As soon as this rain stops, I've got to get rid of the weeds and put down more mulch.

Sam saw a hummingbird today! I got the feeder out and made syrup for it. I'll hang it tomorrow morning.

In the meantime, I took these photos yesterday. I filled the bird bath immediately after taking the photos. That frondy thing is a Deitz lily. The little green just to the right is a hosta starting to emerge. See the bluebonnets in the foreground?!

More bluebonnets ready to bloom in front of and to the side of the azaleas. And another hosta. To the right of the azaleas are nandina bushes. Just about everything is going on four years old. Small bushes, huh? Because the windows are so low, Sam wanted miniature everything. They seemed to just lay on top of the ground for the first two years. Oh, look at the green water hose too. ;o) I told ya, I haven't worked the beds yet!!

The black snake is my soaker hose. When we laid out the beds, I wove the soaker hose around the shrubs then covered with mulch. Sam's theory is that the mulch helps to clog the soaker hose so now it resides on top of the mulch.

More Signs of Spring

I love babies! When the colts and calves start hitting the ground it is just further verification of spring. This pretty baby belongs to our neighbors and friends.
I've been quilting. I have a project going on. Details of which I can't fully divulge now. Some friends found out what I was planning, then they elaborated on it for me by sending 'kits' for children's quilts, fabric, quilt blocks, and even money to help with the project. I have made five quilts (albeit small) in just a few weeks. Some were already pieced, some fabrics to coordinate, two I dug around in my stash and came up with something.

They are all machine quilted on my regular sewing machine...no mid-arm or long-arm quilter.


I played with this one more adding more quilting. The center section is basically straight line quilting with a few swirls following the pattern. Flowers are quilted in the pink cornerstones with an all over quilting pattern in that pale pink border. The entire outer border and cornerstones are a large meandering.

I love this fish quilt. I used the sunflower quilt pattern located here http://www.fabricfreedom.co.uk/QuiltsAndProjects.html but went shopping in my stash. I made the top, then using a fusible, fused the fish directly on the top in a random pattern. After edgestitching them down, I layered the quilt and quilted in slightly wavy lines across the quilt representing (in my mind anyway) ocean currents. This is a fun quilt!

In a week or so, I will tell the 'rest of the story.'

Click on this

Yard Work

I should be doing my spring yard work. It's not going to happen this week! I've been volunteering at the public library nearly every day this week. The Friends group is getting ready for our annual book sale on Saturday. If you are in town, please stop by the Courthouse Annex and buy us out! ;o)

I drive by the dogwoods on the way to town or back home and just don't stop to take pretty photos. In the meantime, look what is happening in my very own yard!

Remember the pear trees full of white blossoms? This is what the trees look like now. All pretty and green.

The redbud is really pretty.

All those azalea buds are now blooms...

Bluebonnets! Wait until they all bloom. I am so excited!!

Preach On, Sister!

You MUST see this! Be sure to go to the bottom and turn off the jukebox first.

Jambalaya, Crawfish Pie, Me-o My-o

Goodbye Joe, me gotta go, me oh my oh
Me gotta go pole the pirogue down the bayou
My Yvonne, the sweetest one, me oh my oh
Son of a gun, we'll have good fun on the bayou.


Chorus:
Jambalaya, a crawfish pie and a file gumbo
'Cause tonight I'm gonna see my ma cher amio
Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gay-oh
Son of a gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou.


Thibodeaux, Fontainbleau, the place is buzzin'
Kinfolk come to see Yvonne by the dozen
Dress in style, go hog wild, me oh my oh
Son of a gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou.


Jambalaya, a crawfish pie and a file gumbo
'Cause tonight I'm gonna see my ma cher amio
Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gay-oh
Son of a gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou.
Son of a gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou.
Son of a gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou.


Thank you Hank Williams Sr.! I haven't always been a fan of Country & Western music. Very few teenagers share music tastes with their dads. But many of these old songs that I rolled my eyes at way back then...I remember word-for-word. ;o)


Why am I into C&W tonight? timetries saw my post and recipe for Gumbo. While she and her husband were on their Daytona FL bike week trip, he ate Shrimp Jambalaya really liked it. tismetries asked if I had a Jambalaya recipe. I found a dozen or more recipes in my cookbooks. I settled on one that seemed really familiar and cooked it tonight. Yep. Correct recipe.


First, last night after supper I took my one and only package of frozen south Louisiana wild Gulf shrimp out of the freezer. (Do you know how hard it is to find shrimp in grocery stores not near the Gulf coast that's not from Thailand or China?! Just pert near impossible!) Anyway, I put the package of rock hard frozen shrimp in a dish and left it on the counter. I asked Sam to remind me to put it in the refrigerator before we went to bed. An hour or so later, he stuck his head in my sewing room door on his way to bed. I wrapped up what I was doing, walked into the hall, looked toward the 'other' end of the house to find it dark. Then, I went to bed. When I walked into the kitchen this morning...yep. There sat a bag of room temperature shrimp. Sigh. Sam's office is off the kitchen. He walked past the shrimp on the kitchen island as he left the room and turned out the light. Drats. I bought more shrimp this afternoon. If he was fishing any at all, I would've labeled the other bag and thrown it back in the freezer...as it is...all wasted.


Anyway. Here's the picture of what's left after our supper:


And here's the recipe.

Jambalaya

3 tablespoons bacon grease (or vegetable oil)
3 tablespoons flour
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium green (bell) pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
2 cups water
2 cups cleaned raw shrimp
salt and pepper to taste
parsley
green onion top, sliced
2 cups cooked rice

Make a roux with the oil and flour, cook until light brown. Cook until onions are soft. Add tomato sauce, water, shrimp, salt, and pepper. Simmer 30 minutes. Add cooked rice and simmer five mnutes longer. Serve hot. Garnish with parsley and green onion top.
tismetries! I hope your husband enjoys his Jambalaya!!!

Dogwoods are blooming! If we didn't need the rain, I'd say unfortunately it's raining and I can't get a decent photo yet. But we do need the rain. This was taken about 7:30 a.m. on the way to school Wednesday morning. I hadn't realized the dogwoods were in full bloom until Sam mentioned it. This tree is in a pasture so is almost a "lolly-pop" tree. In their natural state in the woods, the larger trees filter out the sunlight and the dogwoods seem to grow and bloom in feathery layers. When the weather breaks, I'll try to get some more photos.

One Last Warm Day

We were up past 80 degrees today. And, my oh my! Was it ever humid!! Tomorrow we wake to the low 60s...and that is as warm as it will be. Afternoon temperatures are predicted to be between 45 and 48 with an 80% chance of storms. ;o) So much for a glimpse of spring. LOL This IS spring for northeast Texas! Just the norm.

A couple of days ago, I took a picture of one of my azaleas.

Today, I just can't believe the number of buds on the bushes and look how many have opened on this one!

I haven't had the line dance dvd on in a week or so, but thinking back to the H.O.G. Christmas party, I do know another dance. I asked the teenagers at school today and found out the name. It's called the Cupid Shuffle and it is SO easy! (Don't forget to turn my 'jukebox' off at the bottom.)

Rainy Day

We got some rain today. Just for the morning, then the rain cleared out even if the clouds didn't. Predictions are for rain nearly all week. I hope so!

More signs of spring. As one variety of daffodils wanes...

...another begins to bloom.

I had a don't wanna do nothin' day day. I roamed from the television to the computer to the sewing machine nearly all day. I watch Sunday Morning and a church service out of Shreveport (when we don't make it to church physically). After that...there's not much of anything else on. Even when the NASCAR race started...after I'd finished my nachos, I just couldn't sit still.

Windy Days!

The wind has really blown the last few days...probably for at least a week. We are in for a break tonight though. Not just rain is predicted, but storms too. The prediction is for rain all week. We really need it. Since I'm scheduled to sub in the ag department at high school for four days, let it rain!

Sam is off on a bike ride with the Longview H.O.G. (Harley Owners Group). They are riding through the Crockett forest. Hmmm...State or National? Probably State of Texas. It should be a beautiful ride. ?? What? Why didn't I go? I pulled a muscle a few days ago. It's in my lower back down the right side and has invaded that "cheek." ;o) I really wanted to go, but really knew better. So, instead, I put my potted plants out...the lightest plants. I've saved the four biggest for Sam to move later. Generally, they are no problem to move...but with a pulled buttock muscle...;o) Swept up a few of the dead leaves. The major cleaning is going to have to wait until I don't get an OUCH when I turn my body.

I sewed this morning. Made Jonathan another scrub top. It was already cut out so didn't take long to seam it together. Had to take a break and walk around a bit.

Then I walked around outside. The pear trees look like snow. Green leaves are starting to pop out near the top of the trees. Lots and lots of blossoms. Only problem is...a few years ago, Sam pruned them waaaaayyy back. Got rid of all the broken limbs. Well. He got rid of ALL the limbs. I don't know how long it will take before the 'new' limbs are strong enough to hold and nourish the fruit. Two years ago, we got two pears. The squirrels were hauling them off as fast as they could. Last year, I think we got five or six. You should see me out there fighting the squirrels. LOL The limbs are just so small, that very few pears are able to mature. One of these seasons though, I'll once again have more pears than I know what to do with. Oh. Wait. I do know what to do with them. Preserves. Dried pears. Like candy!

Around the corner to the front of the house...more camellias.

And, look! I've been patiently waiting for my redbud to bloom. I started spotting the early bloomers almost a whole month ago. Now, mine is about to erupt all over!