No Leaves...

No leaves. But just wait! 

In the making and will be

So beautiful! SOON!

~~~

xoabb

expecting spring! 

 ~


Sky Watch Friday
Do join us! 

Who Said Baseball??

~~~

xoabb

expect anything!

Tree Peony After the Rain

I like this photograph. I take my photos with a very good but very simple camera. Said camera takes  some wonderful photos...lucky lucky shots at times...really quite good every once and a while, if I don't say so myself! Today is one of those quite good photo days (according to me). Hope you enjoy it!

~~~

xoabb

expect anything!

Tree Peony, 4/20/10, Columbia, MO

Cracked Pots

A friend of my mom's sent this to her. I like it:

An elderly woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water.. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house." The old woman smiled, "Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house."

Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You've just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.

SO, to all of my cracked pot friends, have a great day and remember to smell the flowers on your side of the path!

~~~

xoabb

expect anything!

Photo: Tree peony, Columbia, MO, 4/22/10; 3:47pm

Sunday Serenity - Contemplation

Two True Gardeners: 
Dad in the foreground after turning the soil, 
Mom in the background harvesting salad greens


And me? I'm simply loving these most wonderful folks
and this most wonderful place on earth...

~~~

xoabb

Still Waters Run Deep

Farm Pond - Callaway County, MO

4/20/10, 7:15pm

~~~

xoabb

expect anything!

~

Sky Watch Friday

Do join us!

YIPPEE! Spring is Just About Here!

Please click here to see a larger photo of the above.

This little field of woodland crocus just delights me every year around this time. Once these little beauties have opened their lavender petals I know spring is just around the corner. This year they didn't open until well into March, which is late - they usually are opened by the last week of February. This is on the road I take to work so I have the pleasure of seeing them twice a day.

I know of two yards in Fairfield that are covered with crocus each spring, and Miss LaLa told me about another field of crocus in downtown Westport. She called me yesterday and told me of discovering another field of them right here in our neighborhood while she was taking her morning constitutional. Of course, she had her camera with her!
HopefullyI'm sure she'll be posting those photos soon!

I love the way they spread! Each year they extend their reach just a bit further abroad. And, no, mowing doesn't hurt them as they are through blooming long before it's time to mow and, unlike daffodils, their blooming the following year isn't hurt by being mowed.

Wish I'd planted these in our yard when we moved in 29 years ago... Just think how beautiful it would be today!
Yeah, right, like Stella-dog wouldn't trample them to death!

~~~

xoabb

expecting spring beauty!

P. S. My friend Kate did a post today that features beautiful photos of ~weeds~. According to authorities, the above crocus is also considered a ~weed~: "It naturalises easily, thus earning an official recognition as a weed". Hmmm...just goes to show you one human's idea of beauty is another's idea of irritation.

Missourah Morel Madness...I Have It...

One more thing to cross off my Bucket List!
I have found my first morel mushroom ever! It was simply thrilling!
Can't you see how hard they are to spot?

Earlier this week, mom, dad and I spent a delightful afternoon and evening with my cousins and spouses at Cathy and Tom's MO farm that's located east of Columbia and along the Cedar Creek. Tom had brought us a mess of morels earlier in the week that he'd picked at the farm. Because of that, my other cousin Curt and I were both determined to go morel hunting as well, though neither of us had a clue how to do so. We were hoping Tom would give us some pointers. He did: "Just look for a brown wrinkled thing sticking up out of the brown leaves." So off the three of us went on our morel adventure. It hadn't rained since last week and Tom said this could have a big effect on the number of morels there were to be found. This proved to be true. Tom almost immediately found two (which he sent home with me) while Curt and I continued to look in vain. Just when I was about to quit, I looked down and saw Mr. Morel, above, plain as day! And that was the end of that. Not one more did any of us see. Curt was not at all happy he didn't find one as well and has vowed to return to the farm after the next rain.

My morel in all its glory!
The greenery you see clinging to the bottom are fiddle head fern babies.

Because of the lack of rain, the morels were beginning to dry out. Mom told me to trim the bases and put them in a ziploc bag full of water. We refrigerated them overnight and the next morning they were perfectly plump once again.
And tonight's meal? A sauce made with just-picked asparagus from my parent's garden), just picked morel mushrooms and cream over pasta. Don't you wish you could join us? 

 Below are photos of that huge first mess of morels Tom brought us. Recipe is included as well:

Morels split in two, washed dried well and ready to be sauteed.

Our first batch was simply sauteed as is over medium high heat in half unsalted butter and half canola oil - about 3 tablespoons each. We turned the morels once and cooked them about a minute or so on each side. While you usually will drain most things on paper towels after they're done, don't do that with morels! You want that buttery flavor to come through with each bite. Keep them warm until ready to serve (which should be as soon as possible).

Our second batch we did the more traditional way. This time the morels were tossed in flour and then the excess well shaken off.

Again they were sauteed in the butter-oil mixture and turned once.

Just sit yourself right down, take a bite and be transported to flavor heaven!

In the above photo, the plain morels are on top - and it looks like someone's been snitching more than a few - and the flour coated morels are on the bottom. While both are delicious, I really do prefer the plain morels. Why coat even a tiny bit of the flavor with anything? I wish I had more time to stay for the next rain so we could go morel hunting again. After tonight's pasta it will be another year before I'm able to once again enjoy morels in all their glory. This eating seasonal thing is really irritating at times!

~~~

xoabb
expect wonderful flavors!

The Old Man, A Sycamore Tree

Photo: Summer of '07
Above is a clearer look at the photo in my header.

Look how much more "tree" there is here than in the photo below.
I wonder how old this tree is.

The Old Man - Still Standing!

I ventured down to the valley to see if this magnificent sycamore was still standing. I was worried on three fronts. 1, as you can see, he's hanging on precariously by, it looks like, just about 1/4 of his roots; 2, there was a major rain storm and the valley flooded this spring. If you look at how the waters eroded the earth just below this old tree, you'd find it impossible to believe Old Man survived the onslaught; and sadly, 3, there is a major highway being built about 50 feet from where he stands. Though his surroundings have basically been destroyed, he is still standing. (The photo in my header is of the same tree that was taken the summer of '07.)

~~~

xoabb

expect anything!

~

Photo: Taken 4/20/10 of the old sycamore tree (The Old Man) that is along the banks of the South Fork of the Grindstone Creek in the valley below my parents home in Missouri. The photo in my header is of the same tree but taken in the summer of '07.