Colorful Explosion

Today my rideabout was fruitful - no! Flowerful! The Rhododendron shrubs are in full glory with their rounded clusters of showy pink, red, purple and white flowers.

I also saw that some of the multi-color Iris have opened, and Poppies are popping. I'll show them in a later post, along with the invasive yellow pond iris. 

The fungus grows in the white pine tree graveyard.     Please click on an image to view larger 

Different Music Dance

Now this isn't going to be a spectacular post about music or dance! I have been accused through the years of dancing to different tunes. That, today is one of those dances.

It's National Biscuit Day!

So....  It is Peanut Butter Crispy Cookies Day here!

Yes, my grandmother always said I was the most contrary child she ever knew and she was correct through and through.

Well I didn't follow the exact directions either! I only used 1 cup of dark brown sugar and 1 cup of white granulated sugar to turn this old recipe into a new one - CRISPY! Some I pressed as they came out of the oven and some others I didn't. This crispy version made six dozen!

RECIPE

Peanut Butter Cookies from Grandma's Recipe Collection

Sift together - 

2 C flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

Blend well before adding flour mixture -

1 C peanut butter

2 C brown sugar

1/2 C butter (1 stick) I said BUTTER!! (Don't melt!)

2 eggs

Add -

1 tsp pure vanilla

1/2 C whole milk 

Cool dough in refrigerator for a bit, then teaspoon 12 scoops to an ungreased cookie sheet. I don't usually press them into a ball and flatten with a sugared fork, because I don't feel it is necessary, but you can if you wish!

Bake - 350° oven 9-11 minutes depending on how crunchy you like them. The less time in the oven the chewier they are!

After baking, let them rest a bit before removing from sheet to rack to cool.. 

Makes about 4-5 dozen, depending on size.

  

Green on Memorial Day

Golf car battery was on charge so I hung around the cabin. Everything is so GREEN!

James is happy today.

Yin Yang

This collage of twin grandsons at 3 1/2 months old needs a caption! They are very different in personalities! 

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In Chinese philosophy, yin and yang is a concept of dualism in ancient Chinese philosophy, describing how seemingly opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they may give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another. Wikipedia

Everything's Good in the Neighborhood

It never reached 60° but the sun was shining and it was a bright and breezy day. The first thing I saw was a weathervane at a neighbor's home. I never saw it before today.

Just down the road and around the corner the male Mallard had this little pond all to himself; a pretty boy to be sure. There must be good eatin's there because he did a lot of ducking!

I thought this little window was sweet! The old house at a neighboring lake was three stories high.

Evident were many wild phlox of all shades and the buttercups are popping up everywhere, along with ferns. 

Back home again just checkin' on the Mister's pink geranium. All is OK here.

I wasn't bold enough to take pictures of the many bleeding hearts, both pink and white in yards of homes nearby and I didn't want to trespass when no one was home. These are from a year ago.

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Look for the lily, iris and clovers which will be next to bloom - among others - in my neighborhood!

Findings Today

Today I took a short ride around the lake and, at the lowest end, heard the jug-o-rum,  jug-o-rum song of of bullfrogs! I couldn't catch a glimpse of even one but I heard and enjoyed their voices. I did spot a little turtle sunning itself in the same area.

 My mother was a nature lover through and through. She took every opportunity to point out and identify for us, many woodland creatures and plants. We were always going for walks in the woods, fields and pond areas. Today I noticed a plant that I haven't seen for a long time. As I don't walk through the woods now I was delighted to find these at the shady side of the road.

They sometimes are called bog onions, brown dragons, Indian turnips, wild turnips, American wake robin, but I know them as Jack-in-the-Pulpits. They thrive very well in moist and shady, seasonally wet locations and are deer resistant. This perennial can live 25+ years! *For more information click on the link below. 

I have a tale to tell about these! My kids all played in the woods behind our home when they were young. One son around age 8, had discovered this plant when it had gone to seed and encouraged his younger brother to join him and try out a few of the little red berries. They soon both came crying and blubbering in pain, drooling and almost unable to tell me what was wrong. After learning what they did, a quick call to the doctor followed and I was told to have them rinse their mouths out with milk, spit it out and then suck on white bread soaked in milk until the heat subsided. It worked! Lesson learned, the hard way. Thank goodness they didn't eat any and only bit into a few!

The thousands of Lily of the Valley plants around the cabin are just starting to bloom and I pulled a few blossom stems for inside because I love the fragrance. We are expecting heavy rainstorms tomorrow so I will have my outdoors - indoor. A couple of snips from a neighbor's lilac bush completes my homey atmosphere and I'm happy.

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Jack-in-the-Pulpit Information

Nature Photos in Slide Shows

I haven't submitted any of my photos to our NE Regional TV station since *November, but thought this one of the flowering trees had merit. Much to my pleasure it was used in the Friday evening slide show along with many others that were so appropriate for this time of year. Mike Stevens, who hosts and creates this section of the program once suggested to me to try to get photos that don't have man-made things in the background unless they directly relate to the subject being photographed. I'm really an amateur with an eye for nature so this has helped my images be more pleasing, I think!

Here is the link to this particular slide show: 2019/05/17 Slide Show

Here is the link to see my submission in the *November slide show:  

2018/11/30 Slide Show

Here is the link to the entire slide show library:  https://wnep.com/tag/photolink-library/

Green Green Green!

It's time to plant my Portulaca and the Mother's Day Tuberous Begonia, even if it is going to rain more in the next days ahead.

I love the feel of the warm soil in my hands and never wear gloves. "Henry" my rooster is happy now.

The little colorful blossoms will soon bud and this tub will be a flashy, splashy and vibrant sight!

The Martha Washington Geranium now sports the trellis that the bully hummingbird loved as his lookout stand.

It is a painful process for me to wait for the daffodil leaves to die out and wither away before I can cut them off but it is a necessary process in order to have blossoms again next year. As you can see clearly, the Hosta and the Seedum plants are doing well in spite of being crowded.

 The sunshine brought out a daughter and her dog, a fisherman, and a sun bather!

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