Scavenger Hunt

We are in dry season here in the Tampa Bay area. Although we had one day of rain two days ago, there were no rainbows.   But I have a photo taken just two months ago in Juneau.  Taken from the deck of my sons home looking towards the mountain.  I hoped to capture the double rainbow but you can just barley see the second one. Sorry to say "No Pot of Gold".

 The words for this weeks Scavenger Hunt are

Rainbow

Fluffy

Letters

Metal

Tree 

You will all have to admit, 

Dryer Lint is Fluffy!

Letters

This is where I keep my in coming Letters, just waiting for me to deal with them.

 Metal

My Bromeliads waiting to be planted in the yard, sit on my Metal potting table.

Trees

Although it looks like a large bush, it is actually a 75 year old, very tall Hickory Tree that fell yesterday morning in my neighbors back yard.  We had an entire day of rain and the roots loosened and down it came... very close to his home!

I'm joining 

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

My Wildlife Habitat had some new Visitors

 My yard is registered with the National Wildlife Federation because several years ago I turned it into a Wildlife Habitat.  There have been so many different critters coming and going but these are a first. "Peacocks!

 

The peacocks were  out back the other day digging and looking for food.  I never realized how slow these birds are, just moving about without a care in the world.  Maybe they are domestic, but they sure were not afraid of me when I came out wanting to shoo them from  one of my flower beds. I had tiny seedlings about 2" tall in there. 

Oh well, their mashed now.

I quickly called my daughter and asked her to " Google and find out what peacocks eat"... she said, "seeds, oats, bugs and nuts".  I ran into the house and found all but the bugs and tried to feed them.  

I want them to stay around my yard!

That was three days ago. 

The peacocks hung around for several hours then walked on through the woods.  Maybe they will come back one day?   I just loved it when they made that "jungle sound" they were so loud.  My yard is like critterville out there and each day I may see something new. 

This little lady came up from the creek to lay her eggs.  Although I did not bother the turtle more than taking her photo,  she was not about to come out of her shell until I went away.

I love my yard and all who inhabit it.

"Have a wonderful week everyone" 

Outdoor Wednesday 

Happy Mothers Day Mom ...

Mothers Day 1998, I remember coming home from work  carrying a simple bouquet of flowers for my Mom.

She did not feel well that morning  and before I left for work  I told her to go lay down and watch a bit of TV and call me if she needed anything.

It all seemed so simple because she did not seem sick.

I came home that day and walked into her room and she was  peacefully sleeping in her bed.  Her TV was on and her morning coffee was still on the bedside table.  I did call her from work,  about 10am to check on her and she told me she was ok.

Well when I walked closer to talk to her I noticed she was indeed sleeping. Somewhere between 10am and 4:30pm Mom died in her sleep.

Today I still wonder why she would leave us on Mothers Day?  With her Irish sense of humor, I guess she was sure we would not forget the date.

For all that have your moms close by, go see them, or call them.  Better yet, take them to dinner.  

How I wish I could do this.

Sending good vibes and love out into the heavens to say

"Happy Mothers Day  Mom"

My Violet bloomed just in time for you

"Oh How I Miss You"

xoxoxox

* * * * * 

They say a persons worth is measured by their achievements during a lifetime, well, these three are my greatest achievement! 

"Happy Mothers Day to me"

(their going to beat me for posting this old photo but it was one of those happy  carefree days we spent together)

I'm on a Scavenger Hunt once again...

It's time for Scavenger Hunt once again and I'm in...

Today's words,

 Sidewalk

Inspiring

Time

Close up

With Mirror

* * * * * 

Sidewalk,  I took this shot when the guys were taking up my front sidewalk.

 Now this is Inspiring.  

The cooks  at our local Italian market were  making, by hand,  all this wonderful Pasta

 Time, it takes a lot of time  especially for me to knit a cable design on a winter scarf.

Close up... while at a local feed store looking for chicks I came across this rather odd looking chicken. She was not at all amused with my trying to take her close up.

With Mirror 

I found myself wandering around my home looking for something 'with mirror'... then I thought, hey, upstairs in my master closet.. I've been working on it all week, putting in new BHG style white wood shelving. The mirror will be incorporated into the shelving, once it's finished.

I'm linking up to

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

My Master Closet... Let the Project Begin !

I have this great walk in closet and have been telling myself for several years,  to redesign the shelving.  Finally I got to it with the first step.  Taking all the clothing and stuff stored out and making piles of 'thrift store, toss and store in the downstairs closet'.  Then I put all saved clothing back on the shelves.  It looks empty and I rather like it!  Now for the first time in my life I can say, "I have nothing to wear"...

Inside the closet are such odd shaped walls. My idea is to tear out all the dumb wire shelves (who invented those horrible things?)  and replace them with wood shelving  along with cubbies to hold shoes and an assortment of things.

Sorta like something you might see in BHG Magazine.

My inspiration, although mine will not be exact but close to it!

  A place for shoes and handbags too!

This is how I've been storing my purses.  haha, hanging on nails.

I'm also happy to say, "This closet is all mine" don't have to share.

"Imagine and it will happen"

But first I need to measure and buy the wood, nails, screws, glue, mollies and paint.

Sounds like a lot of work I know but "Imagine and it will happen"

May seem a bit crude to some but here are my designs for each wall.  Now to get some good measurements and have my local Home Depot Guy cut each piece of wood to fit.  They always never do me wrong when cutting. 

Now I've done other projects in my home. The pantry 

and my Linen Closet HERE

Also I built my 

Fireplace Wall Unit, HERE

I found out putting up wood shelving is really easy as long as your measurements are accurate.   It's a bit  time consuming but I've got the time and the want and that is all I need!

* * * * *

Today the wire shelves came out, I spackled the holes and tomorrow a fresh coat of white paint go's on the walls.

Update, wood ordered and the building of my shelves,will begin on Thursday!

"Wish me luck"

I'll post more as the closet reno progresses.

I'm linking up to

Inspiration Friday 

A Marvelous Mess 

Tuesdays To Do List

Yeast.... it's many uses.

Yeast is a commercial leavening agent containing yeast cells; used to raise the dough in making bread and for fermenting beer or whiskey

;;;

 If you have ever baked a loaf of bread, or experimented with brewing beer or wine, it is likely that you have used yeast as an ingredient.  If so you may have wondered why it was so important to include this seemingly trivial component in your recipe.  Perhaps you even wondered, where does yeast come from?

However, this familiar product has an intriguing and unusual history with ancient origins.

 
Egyptian hieroglyphics offer some of the earliest proof that yeast was used as a baking and brewing ingredient over 5,000 years ago.  Grinding stones, baking ovens for yeasted bread, and sealed urns containing cooking and brewing ingredients have also been discovered amidst ancient Egyptian ruins.


The Bible also makes reference to leaven, a soft, doughy type of bread.  Yeasts left over from brewing or wine making were used as starter cultures for these biblical leaven recipes. 


Where does yeast come from?  While the earliest uses of yeast can be traced to ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, Middle Easter and even primitive European cultures, yeast is certainly not native to any of these places.  

 The fact of the matter is, nearly 2,000 unique species of yeast can be found universally occurring across the globe, in the air, and in the soil; where ever there exists natural plant matter.

Yeast is actually a tiny microorganism, classified in the plant kingdom of Fungi.  Where does yeast come from?  In essence, yeast could be considered a mushroom or mold variety that feeds on the natural sugars found in grains, fruits and vegetables; producing carbon dioxide as a byproduct of its consumption.


Yeast has been around for so long, it has come to be recognized as ‘the oldest plant cultivated by humans.’

It wasn’t until 1859 that Louis Pasteur,    a French chemist and microbiologist sought out a superior answer to the question; where does yeast come from.  Pasteur discovered that yeast was actually a living, single cell organism, able to actively grow and reproduce.  He identified that fermentation was actually a form of cellular respiration carried out by yeast cells.  This ground breaking discovery forever negated the idea of spontaneous generation, and led to drastic improvements in food preservation and sterilization. 

 The next time you bite into a sandwich, take a moment to observe the tiny air bubbles that give the bread its spongy texture.  These bubbles were created by active yeast, which caused carbon dioxide to rise through the baking bread.   It may surprise you to think that the very yeast cultures that gave rise to your lunch sandwich could be thousands of years older than you.

Just today I used Yeast to make my pizza dough. 

I'm joining Jenny Matlocks

Alphabet Thursday the letter Y 

Sea Urchins and Anemone

I wanted to share some photos of Sea Urchins taken by my son and his wife, during low tide in Juneau, Alaska

This body of water is right where they live and on one of their many hikes in the wilderness near their home, they were able to get these great shots.

Low tide.

 

Mother Nature is simply amazing..

sharing this link with

Outdoor Wednesday