Witches Sailing Through The Sky

Witches Sailing Through The Sky

On their broomsticks,

Way up high.

Black cats howl

As they go by...

For this is

Halloween!

 

Halloween Village

Halloween Village in our entry way.

I have been collecting these little cute houses for years.

I love the trick or treat kids (kinda hard to see), who walk through the graveyard :)

I love the little houses...  The barn above makes me homesick for the farm I grew up on!

 

 

The little church on the far left is from Sleepy Hollow.  Have any of you been watching "Sleepy Hollow" on Monday night?  It is SO scary!  I am a big chicken when it comes to scary shows or books.  My husband keeps telling me that we shouldn't watch it again, but now I need to know what happens! 

 

I hope that your have had a great weekend!

~ Joeby

Take your Time

Saturdays are made for taking your time!

 

What a beautiful day in the North Houston area!  It rained last night bringing in a cool front to our area.  The morning was clear and crisp.  Fabulous day!!

 

Wild Flower Festival

The Woodlands Wildflower Festival

Lots of people were there.  They had a petting zoo and bouncy houses.  Year before last we took two of our grandbabies who were living with us while their parents were both deployed with the military.  We had them for 8 months, and it was fabulous.  Not a day goes by now that I don't miss those little rascals.  It was hard work, but a life changing experience - wonderful.  Lots of fun taking little ones to the petting zoo, etc., but this year, we just got the free wildflower seeds :)

 

We plant the seeds in our "wild" areas in our back yard.  So fun to see what comes up and what does good from year to year.  Different each year.

This was taken May of this year.  I love to see the flowers come up and all the bees that enjoy the flowers.  Plus, it makes our yard look great!

 

Shopping!

I got these fabulous little pumpkin ear rings. 

Love them :)

We made a fast trip into Trader Joe's so that I could stock up on my basics...

We also made a trip into Starbucks so I could get a Passion Flower lemonade.  Love it....  Thanks Paula, for getting me hooked on them!  And, we managed to go to Chuy's Mexican Restaurant for lunch and I got my favorite Shrimp Tacos.  Gotta love the creamy jalapeno dip!  I will never lose any weight... 

 

I hope that your Saturday was wonderful!

Until tomorrow,

~Joeby

 

It's Friday!!

I didn't manage to get any crafting done today.  I am ready for the weekend for a little down time.

Part of my plans for the weekend is to finish planting my new flowers in the front yard and a few herbs and vegetables in the garden.  We are also planning on attending the Wildflower Festival in The Woodlands.  I can't wait to spend the weekend with my husband :)

 

More Halloween Decorations

 

Rosemary Cashews

 

I make these cashews when I host bunco or book club and for holidays.  They are very delicious!  And, addicting, so be prepared to share :)

 

Rosemary Cashews

 

1 pound whole raw (unsalted) cashews

2 Tablespoons fresh rosemary, minced

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 tsp. coarse salt

2 tsp. brown sugar

1 Tablespoon butter, melted

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the cashews on a rimmed baking sheet and heat in the oven for 4-5 minutes.  Combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl to form a paste (make sure bowl is big enough to hold the hot cashews and stir).  Add the cashews, hot from the oven, into the bowl and toss to coat all cashews with mixture.  Pour back on baking sheet and cook for 5 more minutes.  Remove pan from oven and stir around so they do not stick.  If the mixture looks "baked on" the cashews, you are finished.  If it still looks "wetish" then cook for 3 more minutes.  Do this until the cashews are lightly browning.  Be careful to watch during the last part so the nuts do not burn at all.  They will be fragrant and delicious!!

 

 

I hope that your weekend is delightful!

Until tomorrow,

~ Joeby

Love What You Grow

Love what you grow and

what you love will grow!

 

Cleaning Up The Garden

I haven't worked in the garden in a long time and it showed!  I felt bad because my sweet potato vines had grown through the fence into our neighbors yard. 

Digging in the beds for the sweet potatoes was really fun, and they did very well this year.

I had a hard decision to make about taking out these tomatoes.  There were only 2 little green cherry tomatoes and no blooms... So, I decided to tear them out and plant fall veggies instead.

These are the beds after the 1st 3 were cleared of sweet potatoes, and tomatoes.  In the 1st bed, there are 3 eggplants that were being choked out by the sweet potato vines.  One little eggplant was there, and several blooms.  I think they have a chance of making something having the vines out of the way so the plants can get some sun - so they made the cut :)

 

Looking the other direction.  In the closest bed is pumpkin vines.  The 2nd bed has okra, and some tomatoes that were planted in July.  They may or may not make anything...  But the okra is still producing, and there are several little pie pumpkins growing.

 

This is a big bed out in the back yard.  (The other planter beds are in the side yard).

This big bed was originally built so I could plant flowers.  I decided that having vegetables growing was more important to me.  The rest of the yard is all pretty with flowers, trees, grass, etc.

Our little dog loves to get in the bed and eat the cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower, so the fencing is necessary.  I still need to get a few more white fence pieces.

 

Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes from my garden!  I am so excited that the potatoes did so well this year.  I'm afraid with my leg-swelling troubles, I have not given my garden the attention that I usually do.  But, it didn't seem to make that much difference :)

This potato weights 1 1/2 pounds!!  I can't wait to eat it.

 

More Fall Decorations

I saw this fabulous squash at Trader Joes a few days ago and couldn't resist it, or the little orange Pumpkin on top.  I love the colors!

 

If you live in the Houston area, Fall is a fabulous season for planting in your garden!  Plant something.  It is good for you, I promise!

Until tomorrow,

~ Joeby

You Must Keep Moving

Life is like riding a bicycle

in order to keep your balance

you must keep moving!

 

 

Another busy day in a busy week.  The best part of today, is the cloudy day.  I LOVE cloudy rainy days.  Nothing is better, to me, than being cozy in my house.  It was a little bit cooler today,

 so that made it even better!

To celebrate the cooler weather today, I made soup and cornbread for dinner.  It was delicious!

 

Lentil Soup & Cornbread

Lentil Soup Ingredients (plus you need some thyme - fresh or dried).

 Cornbread ingredients.

Finished Cornbread - it was extra yummy tonight :)

This is my cornbread snack while waiting on my husband to get home from work for dinner.

It was very delicious with a little butter!!

Dinner - Lentil Soup & Cornbread

 

Lentil Soup

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 celery, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

salt and pepper to taste

1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes

1 lb. lentils

10 cups chicken broth (I use Knorr cubes and water)

4-6 springs thyme (or a tsp. dried)

2/3 c. elbow macaroni

shredded parmesan cheese (for garnishing)

 

Heat oil in dutch oven - saute carrots, onions, celery, garlic, salt & pepper until tender (5-8 minutes). Add tomaotes, and cook until tender and starts to break down (8 minutes). Add lentils, mix to coat.  Add broth & stir. Add thyme, bring to boil over high heat.  Cover & simmer over low heat until lentils are almost tender.  30 minutes.  Stir in pasta & cook about 8 minutes.  Ladel & sprinkle with parm cheese to serve.

 

Cornbread

Preheat oven to 425 degrees - you want it nice and hot before you put in the pan.

 

2 cups cornmeal mix (I use white, but you can use yellow)

1 egg (if using an extra large egg, otherwise use 2)

1 1/2 - 2 cups buttermilk

1 tsp. sugar

2 Tablespoons solid vegetable shortening - heated

 

Mix all ingredients except shortening until well blended.  It depends on how humid the day is or how the cornmeal absorbes the buttermilk as to how much you need. It needs to not be thick and easily stirred and easy to pour. 

Heat 2 T. of shortening in an 8-inch cast iron skillet (you could use a round or square cake pan).  I heat mine on top of stove until the shortening melts.  Pour hot oil into batter and mix well.  Then pour batter in the hot skillet. 

Put skillet in oven and cook for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

 

I hope that the month of October has been pleasant for you so far.   I have had a fun time trying to blog each day in October!

Until tomorrow!

~ Joeby

October 15

A friend is one who

overlooks your

broken fence and

admires the flowers

in your garden!

 

Oh my goodness..  I am SO tired!!!  I went to a meeting this morning.  Then ran to Home Depot to look at their flowers and plants.  Then I came and dug in the garden (literally) for hours!!!  I am going to be very sore tomorrow...  Luckily, my sweet husband took us out to eat Mexican food, so now I am very, very full and very tired :)

Pretty flowers that my husband brought home to me. 

He is the most thoughtful person I know.

This is the "before" of my gardening. 

I will post an "after" tomorrow.

Sweet Potatoes harvest from today. And, 2 little sugar baby melons.  Sweet potatoes taste better if you wait for about a week before eating.  That allows the skin to cure and lets the sugars distribute through the potato.  If it weren't so hot and humid here (not to mention the squirrels...), I would let them cure outside.  Last year I baked a sweet potato the day I dug them, and it was good, but much better the next week, so I will wait this year.  Gardening is all about doing and learning.

Early this spring, I found a couple of peanut plants.  They did not do well, but I thought the peanuts were cool and wanted to show a picture.

 

I find growing a little of our food very satisfying.  It is fun to plant your troubles in the garden, and then watch them grow into veggies and flowers.  I would love to have a real farm one day where we could grow most of our food organically.

 

I hope that your day has been a good one.  I am achy in a happy way that reminds me of working hard on our family farm while growing up in Arkansas.  Hard work is good for you!

 

Until tomorrow :)

~ Joeby

 

Faith & Love

Faith plants the seeds,

Love makes it grow!

 

I love my garden, and I do have faith that my little seeds will grow.  Here is to wishing for a good day of gardening tomorrow!!

We usually go to a wildflower festival near our home each fall where businesses in our community give away packages of wildflower seeds.  These orange Cosmos are from those seeds and the orange color is perfect for October.

The Cosmos really took a beating with the 3 1/2 inches of rain we got over the weekend.  But they are beautiful even beaten down a little.

Love this mercury glass owl!!

When my sweet husband and I were on our Alaskan cruise last month I got this cute skull and knitting needle (cross-bones) project case.  Green & brown together is still a favorite combo...  I carried this with me all day while running around.  I even managed to knit a little :)

 

I hope that your October is going well!  Hard to believe it is almost half-way over.

 

~ Joeby