Day One Hundred Five 2013

"Since Iris is the Greek goddess for the Messenger of Love, her sacred flower is considered the symbol of communication and messages. Greek men would often plant an iris on the graves of their beloved women as a tribute to the goddess Iris, whose duty it was to take the souls of women to the Elysian fields*."      ~Hana No Monogatari: The Stories of Flowers

[*The Elysian Fields or Elysium refer to a beautiful meadow in Homer where the favored of Zeus enjoy perfect happiness. By the time of Vergil (Virgil), the Elysian Fields had been located in the Underworld as the home of the dead who were judged worthy. In the Aeneid, those blessed dead compose poetry, sing, dance, and tend to their chariots.]

I love the Irises that bloom in our yard. The Iris is the Tennessee state flower.

Don’t say I never taught ya nothin.

Day One Hundred Four 2013

Neil and I enjoyed frozen hot chocolate and a little people watching at Poet's On The Square coffeehouse this afternoon. The frozen drink gave us a delicious brain freeze, and the people watching was interesting to say the least. I wanted to take pictures so badly but my inner censor said better not. A walk in the park after the frozen hot chocolate would have been great, but the rains came down and the temperature dropped, but that's OK cause it's all good. Happy first day of the week!



Day One Hundred Three 2013

Don't agonize. Organize.   ~Florynce Kennedy

A good system shortens the road to the goal.  ~Orison Swett Marden

You must have discipline to have fun.   ~Julia Child

I am an organizer. I like to have a place for things when I’m not using them. I enjoy the process. I probably could have made a living at organizing other peoples stuff. I used to be a neat freak, and it took me a long time to realize it’s a waste of time. Life is short. I’m getting older. I have other things I’d rather be doing than making sure a thing is in [what I perceive] its place. But I’ve let this one go for months [years] ~ the kitchen cabinets. Yikes! What a disaster zone. Julia Child would have been horrified. I ended up spending all day [beautiful day] cleaning out, throwing away [did I really have a bottle of olive oil that expired in 2009??], and re-organizing the precious little cabinet space I have in my kitchen. Wore me out, but it was totally worth the effort. I’m still not finished. All those open shelves need to be cleaned of dust and cobwebs. Spiders are probably nesting in my Pyrex. Oh well. As Scarlett O’Hara so blithely put it, ‘I’ll think about that tomorrow.'

Day One Hundred Two 2013

T G I F

Trying a new recipe ~ Hearty Beef and Barley Soup in the Crockpot

I bought a very small bag of pearled barley (I want to say ‘Pearl Bailey’ ~ if you’re under the age of 50, you have no idea who I’m talking about ~ anyway ~ I digress) because, let’s face it, who cooks with barley? Not I. But the soup recipe called for it ~ three-fourths of a cup. Lots left, of course. I put the rest of it in this vintage freezer Ball jar. I collect old jars. This one’s pretty rare.

One of the reasons I bought that jar is because of the galvanized lid. The original owner (I’m assuming) apparently put up some cherries and wrote the date on the lid ~ which dates back (way back) to when I was but a sixteen month old baby. Pretty cool. And old.

Neil took the day off to do some much-needed yard work. He bought a couple of truck loads of black mulch and spent most of the day spreading it, which will (we hope) look good and keep the weeds at bay.

Couldn’t have asked for a more awesome day which was a cool-ish 60 degrees. Felt more like spring after the eighty degree heat wave this past week. The rain yesterday evening washed away some of the pollen, thank you very much.

Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!" ~Robin Williams

“Tell me the story about how the sun loved the moon so much that he died every night just to let her breathe.”  ~Anonymous

The strong wind yesterday blew petals from our cherry trees around like pink snow ~ a very pretty sight to see but wish they’d stay on the trees a bit longer.

Grandson Elijah after school. He was thrilled that it’s Friday and did a happy dance when he got inside the house.

Grandpa Neil, granddaughter Shelby and grandson Elijah (and moi) treated ourselves to some Mae Pearl’s frozen yogurt. Elijah got a brain freeze.

This is a terrible washed out picture, but the Hearty Beef and Barley Soup turned out great and was pretty tasty. Barley adds an interesting texture and flavor. We’ll have it again. Leftovers, you know.

“There's a sunrise and a sunset every single day, and they're absolutely free. Don't miss so many of them.”
~Jo Walton

Happy TGIF, y’all!

Day One Hundred One 2013

Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems. ~Rainer Maria Rilke








Hark! the hours are softly calling
Bidding Spring arise
To listen to the rain-drops falling
From the cloudy skies
To listen to Earth's weary voices
Louder every day
Bidding her no longer linger
On her charm'd way
But hasten to her task of beauty
Scarcely yet begun.
~Adelaide Anne Procter