In All Its Splendor

The sky, in all its splendor, was literally alive this morning.  I took these pictures shortly after 7am.  I was in my dining room looking out the window and noticed the sky changing.  I couldn't believe how beautiful it was.  I grabbed my camera and headed out the door.  No matter which direction I looked, there was beauty.  I actually took 46 pictures and let me tell you, it was a tough decision to make on which pictures to post, keep, or delete.  We had a little misty rain, making part of the clouds dark, while in the same shot, there was brilliant white.  My pictures do not even come close to capturing the beauty of it all.

Here, the sun is lightly tipping the mountains.  The glow was awe-ness!

 

I decided to go further out back and take more pictures.  At first I started walking but on second thoughts, I hopped on the 4-wheeler because the ground was wet, the air definitely had a coolness to it and I was wearing flip-flops.  There was a mass of weeds on the side of the lane but after looking at them, who could call them weeds....I guess it's all in the perspective of how you look at it.

This little tree, bush, or whatever it was, looked really interesting, too.  I've been down the lane many times and I have never noticed it before. 

There is one spot in the lane that is kind of covered with trees and as you are coming through, this is the site.  Again, awesomeness!

Even the mosquito pond looked beautiful this morning.

Fresh Garden Salad...Mmm

I mentioned a few posts back how much we love eggs in our salads.  Actually, we like a lot of stuff in our salads.  Where the garden is producing so well, I basically have a salad everyday.  There's nothing better than a good, garden fresh salad.  First of all, I start with a lettuce mix and spinach as my base.

 Then I get all my toppings ready, using fresh peas, broccoli, bottled beets (from last years garden), kidney beans, eggs, and cheese.  I usually have fresh cauliflower and zucchini too but I didn't have any in the house.  Oh, and I like raisins but I used them all up on my last salad.

Mmm-m-m-m-m, mmm, mmm.....looks good enough to eat, huh!

 

Now, for the final touch.....homemade Ranch - er packaged ranch that you add milk and mayonnaise to.  I found a recipe for buttermilk dressing that claims you will never buy the bottled dressing again.  I haven't made it yet but it is on the top of my list.

 

Here is the recipe for the buttermilk dressing found at:

http://www.thesisterscafe.com/2010/12/buttermilk-dressing

Buttermilk Dressing
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp parsley flakes
1/2 tsp dried minced onion
1/2 tsp salt
dash of freshly ground pepper
1 clove garlic, crushed

Mix all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours to blend flavors. Cover and refrigerate any remaining dressing.
*For Buttermilk Parmesan Dressing: Add 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese and 1/2 tsp paprika

Amazed...Not Dazed

For those of you who know me, you will totally understand when I say........Woot, woot, yeeha!  I mowed the lawn today and I did NOT hit a single trunk/limb.  I had some close calls with what I'd call little twigs, but that's about it.  I'm still amazed instead of dazed.

The smaller tree on the left is the one I disappear in.  The branches are so low that when I come to this area to mow, I just forge forward and hope I come out the other end, eventually....with arms flailing, trying to push away all branches that get in my way.

Now, can you see the big, bad branch/trunk hanging real low on the left-hand side of the screen.  Well, this guy sent me to the chiropractor last year.......bout took my head off.  I was paying attention to the center of the trunk, being careful not to run over my lawn ornament and WHAMMY!  Now you can see why I am so excited today that I finished mowing the lawn without a scratch, totally unscathed.

Where Has This Bad Boy Been?

We have had rain most every night for the past few weeks, leaving the ground and garden leaves pretty wet.  It has actually been a good thing because we haven't had to water the garden and our garden is thriving nicely.

Along with gardens come scrumptious salads and with that, comes sliced, boiled eggs.  We love eggs in our salads.  My question is this...................where has this bad boy been for my 31 years of married life.  For 31 years I've done the tedious task of slicing my eggs by hand.  But let me tell you, NO MORE.  I finally purchased an egg slicer and it has been a wonderful gift to myself.  I put the egg in one way, slice it, take it out and turn it around, and slice it again and I end up with perfectly sliced eggs every time.  I think I'm in love.