Choice Morsels

Today's Garden Pic for this last day of May is White Day Lilies! Many of my hybrid lilies have names. These are called "Ladies Gloves." They're a creamy white with yellowish centers. Very profuse bloomers. In Other Garden News:  I was pleased to discover two of my birdhouses finally got used this year and I actually recently had to empty nest out of them! They've been hanging out there for at least 3 years as empty real estate till this spring! One was a Tufted Titmouse nest, which is built in a loose style with a lot of leaves mixed in. It wasn't very neat or tightly constructed.  I also know it was Titmouse's in that birdhouse, because I found their feathered fledgling youngin' on the ground right below it, on his first day out of the nest.  The other birdhouse had a Carolina Wren nest that was very delicately constructed first with a thick bed of moss topped with fine dog fur with a wee dent in the top to hold the eggs. It practi...

The Ocala National Park is the second largest nationally protected park in the Florida! Located East of Ocala, Florida, it's  It's 607 acres of protect Florida eco-enviroments ranging from springs to conifer forests to wetland prairies and is spread over 4 counties. Established in 1908, it's the oldest national forest East of the Mississippi and the Southern most national forest on the continental U.S. Camping: There are 14 developed campgrounds, each with it's own name. Amenties vary from campground to campground. Only Salt Lake Campground has full hook-up service for RV's. Several others have dump stations & shower facilities, while others offer a primitive camping experience. Cabins: Two cabins are available for rental for a small group or large family. One for 10 people; the other, 12. Recreation: The Park features natural springs for swimming and a lake for canoeing, boating & fishing. There's also picnic areas, extens...

Today's Mama Kat is, "Share a new recipe you'd like to try." I have whole Pinterest board devoted to recipes I'd like to try called "Food Ideas" and more lolling around in my "Likes." So, here's a selection of interesting recipes on my "try sometime" list! (The recipe links will take you to the recipe location on whatever blog it was originally pinned from.) No Bake Chocolate Oat Bars A new twist on No Bake Cookies!  Iron Skillet Steak & Potato Nachos I saved this one because I thought Hubby would like it! He tries anything I make, but he especially likes meat & potatoes! 5 Minute Carrot Raisin Salad I happen to love Carrot Raisin Salad. I was sad when Chick-Fil-A stopping carrying theirs, it was so good! I saved this recipe because the photo shows carrot matchsticks being used, which is something I always have on hand. ...

Today's Garden Pic of the Day is of a Torch Lily or Hot Poker! The photo was taken in mid-April this year!  You can see 4 O'clocks flower buds in the background. I have several Hot Pokers, but this is the only one that bloomed! H ere's a shot of recent plant purchases: Purple Veronica and Creeping Jenny. The Verconia got put in a sunny back flower bed, where it will have room to spread. I've never had it before, so it's something  new to try. The 5 Creeping Jenny plants I spaced along a barren sandy strip of soil that's opposite my front door that grass simply won't grow well in. (pine roots & shady)  It's a low growing ground cover that I hope will spread and eventually fill it in. It's so low, it can be mowed over. 

Summers on and it's time for picnics and family get-togethers galore, so here's some of my favorite desserts perfect for taking & sharing! All are made in a 10 x 13 pan and slice to serve 24! Vintage Glazed Lemon Cake! A moist lemon cake made with a yellow cake mix and lemon Jello! Banana Cream Poke Cake! A cool summery cake made with a yellow cake mix and instant pudding! Sopapilla Cheese Cake  Pie Mouthwatering cheese cake bars made with Pillsbury Crescent Rolls! Quick Italian Cream Cake! Coconut & pecan deliciousness made with white cake mix & instant pudding topped with a light cream cheese frosting!

This weeks Mama Kat blog prompt: "April Showers bring May Flowers. Show us your May Flowers!" A white ceramic kitty peeks out from behind Hosta that's between Red Saliva and  Pink Million Bells in my front garden container! **** A stone Hippo swims among wood chips beneath  a Curly Parsley in a container  on the back patio! (He's a gift a friend brought back for us from his visit in Africa.) **** In Florida, May brings Easter Lilies! My house was surrounded by dozens of these all blooming at once! **** May also brings Gardenias! This bush is heavy with blooms both new and old!  **** In Florida, May is blueberry season! These are container blueberries. **** My young tomato plants in my veggie garden! The one on the right is bred particularly for Southern heat & humidy; the other is a Roma. Both are determinate, meaning they only grow to a set height.  you look closely you can see Marigold leaves poking out ...

Today's Garden Pic is one I just shot this morning! It's small size day lily, pinkish-maroon in color with yellow-green throat! These blossoms are about 3 inches; a standard day lily blossom is around 5 to 6 inches! Mama Kat Thursday this week will be "Show us your May flowers," so there will be lots more lovely garden photos tomorrow!

Since summer time means cook-outs and picnics, I'm sharing  a some of my favorite pot-luck take-alongs! Each recipe links back to the Good Eating Monday post where I featured it! Caprese Pasta Salad A delicious combination of pasta, grape tomatoes, fresh mozzarella & pesto dressing! Oriental Ramen Noodle Salad A sweet-sour salad made with bagged slaw mix, crispy Ramen noodles, carrot matchsticks, green peas, mandarin oranges, sliced almonds and sesame seed with a yummy sugar, vinegar, soy sauce & sesame seed oil! Broccoli Raisin Salad Another sweet-sour salad featuring broccoli florets, raisins, walnuts & mandarin oranges with a mayo, sugar & vinegar dressing! Pineapple Fluff A combination of coconut pudding, crushed pineapple, mini-marshmallows, pecan pieces and whipped topping that can be either a salad or a dessert!

We moved to Eglin Air Base in August, 1985. Hubby had two children from a previous marriage, a boy and a girl, named Shane and Stacy that we'd have out to visit us in summers for a good number of years. Their step-Dad was in the Navy stationed on the west coast and we were in the Air Force stationed in the East, so summer was the only time they could visit and usually it was just a couple weeks. But in 1986, Shane happened to already be at our house several months before summer. He was 13 at the time. It's hard to remember exact details now, but there was some sort of altercation at his other home that motivated his Mom & step-Dad to put him on a plane and ship him out to us right in the middle of the spring school semester!  So, he'd been living with us since around mid-March. We were living in base housing then, in a small two-bedroom unit that was part of a 4-plex of similar two-bedroom units. One of the unique features of living on base was the tornado siren,...

It's actually unusual for me to see my 4 O'clocks open at mid-morning. They normally open near dusk, stay open all night, then close when the sun comes up. On the day found them still open in mid-morning, it was heavily over-cast and dim when I took this photograph. About 2 hours later, the sun came out and they closed. So they must cue on the degree of sunlight. So here's a pretty shot of my 4 O'clocks wide open in mid-morning on a cloudy day:

Today's recipe is a random creation of my own:  Chunky Basil Pesto Chicken Kielbasa Pasta Sauce! It calls for a large can of diced tomatoes instead of a tomato sauce. Just mix it up in a skillet and serve of spaghetti noodles!  Also the Kielbasa for this can be either   Hillshire Farm   Basil Pesto Chicken Smoked Kielbasa  or  Hillshire Farm Chicken Smoked Roasted Garlic Keilbasa.  I prefer Basil Pesto for the best Italian flavor. The photo is mine of the this sauce in my iron skillet! Chunky Basil Pesto Chicken Kielbasa Pasta Sauce Ingredients: 1/2 Tablespoon Olive Oil 1 Hillshire Farm Basil Pesto Chicken Smoked Kielbasa, sliced 1/2 cup sliced onion 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning  1 cup frozen Bell Pepper strips  1 large 28oz can of Diced Tomatoes with juice 1 Tablespoon cornstarch Optional : 1 cup frozen broccoli and/or sliced mushrooms Directions: In a skillet add oliv...

The Mama Kat blog writing prompt for today is "Share a quote you love." I keep a whole Pinterest board of full of quotes I love on which to draw and these 3 are the fav quotes I've selected for today: If I'm doing anything creative, whether crafts or house painting or even cooking, I make a mess. Everything will be out and everything will be open and I'll be in the fine throws of creative genius. That's how it is. This quote is absolutely true about me. It's been that way since I was a kid. My brain is never bored. It makes it's own fun. This is my favorite coffee quote. It makes me snicker whenever I read it. ******* What's your favorite quote? Thanks for Visiting!

I mentioned our A/C was out. It's fixed now. It needed a new coil. They put in a Trane brand coil and I hope their clever ad saying "You Can't Stop A Trane," is true! I'm fairly behind on my garden & beds. It was cold so long this season. I am getting a nice bunch of blueberries from my two container blueberries--probably enough for some really nice muffins. The birds aren't bothering them, which surprises me, but they're on a completely different side of the house from the feeder. I have 5 mounds in the garden for squash & melon; two were planted a week ago. Those seedlings have popped up. Today I planted two more mounds: one with a squash and one with melon. Today's Garden Pic is one I just shot this afternoon while it was still sunny. It's a wonderful texture shot looking down into the middle of one of my Sea Holly's at the first bloom to turn color! Sea Holly is a fun perennial that ranges from lavenderish-blue ...

Exciting this week: our A/C has to be repaired. Not a little thing either. Major sudden leak in the coil that happened overnight when we turned it on this week. Just one of those things. Have to replace the coil and full freon refill. (It's the new breed of Freon used nowadays.) Luckily, weather is still temperate to the cool side here in North Florida, so open windows and fans are keeping everything comfortable.  Today's Good Eating recipe is Homemade Korean Bibimbap! I hunted around until I found a recipe with enough specifics and pinned it to Pinterest myself. I love Bibimbap and since our favorite Korean Restaurant closed, I just haven't had any, so I decided I learn how to make it myself! What is it? :  It's a bowl of steamed rice stopped with cooked, seasoned beef and a variety of cooked veggies topped with an over-easy egg.  (Of course, you can omit the egg or cook it hard if you prefer) In restaurants it's often served in a hot lava bowl, bu...