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Ok, that’s it… this is the new me. I’m not changing it again. For awhile. Really, I’m not. I had some help, I admit. I made the background, but the banner was modified from a banner offered in a free theme and I can’t for the life of me figure out where I got it. I think if it’s a free theme, it’s cool to use it (duh!), but I do believe it’s proper/appreciated to give some credit. I think the fact that I used the banner to create my own version is ok too. I redrew a bit of it and some of the flowers are different as they’re now my own photographs. So, nobody hit me, please. *bites nails* I do know I love the designs made by the Scribblescratch.com designers, and I downloaded some of them a few months ago (unfortunately they weren’t widget-ready and I’m not smart enough to make those mods to use them with my current Wordpress installation), so perhaps it originated with them. If so, thank you, ladies! Your art is tres’ cute!

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Ok, moving right along…

My grape vine produced an obscene amount of concord grapes last year. I don’t know if the long freeze we had over the previous winter did it, but I’m now crazy in love with the grape vines.

You shoulda seen the things coming out of my kitchen. Grape pie (*recipe below), grape jam, grape seeds. Holy crap, EACH grape has a seed. Did you KNOW that? It’s one of those things in life you just don’t think about until you have to face it head on. Hee. Anywho, I finally figured it all out and made lots of yummy stuff. The pie was most excellent.

But the jam… oh my gawd, the JAM!! I’ve never even made jam before, so I had no idea what I was getting in to. I just knew I could not let those little pearls of sugary sweetness go to the birds. I had thousands of them and I had to make use of them somehow.

So, jam I made. And it was divine!

All this is leading to plums. Lots and lots of plums!

And even though I had to wrestle many of the plums from the dogs, and teach the dogs to not eat the pits, lest they throw up in the bedroom at 3 in the morning on the new carpet (ahem!), I still managed to make two huge batches of plum jam. One is less sugary than the other, but they both settled into being very tasty. Tomorrow I’m going to make one last batch. Something in-between… the baby bear jam.

I’ll be sure to let you know how it turns out. Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, ladleing jam from the pot to the jars… hot, molten lava!!

eta… the Concord Grape Pie recipe, adapted from my friend, Liney’s original:

2 quarts fresh concord grapes
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 T. cornstarch (or another thickener if you don’t use corn products, like me. Arrowroot is a good alternative.)
1 T. butter
Pastry for two crusts

Wash the grapes. Remove the skins and put aside.
Place pulp in saucepan and bring to a boil; cook a few minutes until the pulp is soft. Put through strainer or food mill, while pulp is hot, to remove seeds. Mix strained pulp with skins. Stir in sugar and arrowroot. Pour into crust. Top with a few pats of butter and add the top crust.
Cook at 450 degrees for 10 minutes and then 350 for 35-40 minutes or until the crust is browned.

Make sure you put something under the pie dish as this WILL drip in your oven.

…and I’m sitting in here messin’ with Photoshop. Heh.

Scrawny, age 19. I never expected him (or his sister, who died just last year) to live to be a year old. We found them in the attic after their mother was killed by racoons (ah, ranch life!). They werejust a couple of weeks old. He’s a good boy! And he’s finally the leader of the pack (all dogs now)! He’s livin’ it up!

…and what goes better with messin’ around in Photoshop than music…

David Cook music!! Squeee!

Actually, the last few days have been spectacularly beautiful — warm and sunny with just a smidge of morning fog.

But it’s about to rain again. Just for a few days. It’s probably a good thing because I’ve been shoveling dirt and moving boulders and dethatching the lawn. And I am soooore! The good sore, though. Gardening sore. Ahhh!

The birds don’t mind a little rain anyway!

…counting down the days until spring is sprung.

The deck is going to be fixed next week - yay! I’m just going to finish off the cutout where the tree was, but, man, I’m gonna miss that big ol’ tree. It helped create my favorite corner of the yard.

That corner is a leeeetle more exposed now. Whoa… hi neighbors!

We’ll definitely have to figure out how to soften up that corner again and get.some.privacy! Eep!

I cannot WAIT to get back outside… Is it March yet?

Just like my pear tree gave me one pear this fall, my orange tree offered up a single orange. And she was quite the little tart. In a sweet sort of way.

It’s birthday season around here.

Happy Birthday to my sister, who shares a love of gardening and the lure of a good nursery with me!!

How do people make it through life without a sister? ~Sara Corpening

A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life. ~Isadora James

Sisters annoy, interfere, criticize. Indulge in monumental sulks, in huffs, in snide remarks. Borrow. Break. Monopolize the bathroom. Are always underfoot. But if catastrophe should strike, sisters are there. Defending you against all comers. When sisters stand shoulder to shoulder, who stands a chance against us? ~Pam Brown

To the outside world we all grow old. But not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other’s hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys. We live outside the touch of time. ~Clara Ortega

Happy Birthday, Sister!

You have more influence in my life and on my choices than you probably realize. I respect you. And as such, that respect has taught me to respect myself.

I know you think you contributed to my troubled teens, but the truth is that I emerged from my troubled teens because of you. Even when I didn’t care about myself, I cared what you thought of me.

Thank you for not accepting anything less of me.

Thank you for loving me through all of it.

Thank you for still looking forward to life and all it has to offer.

I love you sweetie pie Dad.

Happy Father’s Day!

Oh, and thanks for the green thumb too!