Happy November

November

The month of gratitude and beautiful orange pumpkins

Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Cookies, Pumpkin Bliss

“The only way to grow a garden, is to plant seeds.  To live an abundant life, plant seeds of gratitude–count your blessings!  It’s free, and they’re absolutely everywhere.” Elle Febbo

Lucky in the Garden

CREATE LUCK IN YOUR GARDEN....

San Diego County Fair 2013

The San Diego County Fair in Del Mar, CA goes  until July 4th. This is the first sign of summer for locals as the Ferris Wheel and Sky Swings decorate the Del Mar Race Track. This was a great week for taking photos. Happy Summer!

when was the last time you shared a banana split? Heaven!

Anything with bacon at the fair

Win a prize and play a game

Traditional Corn on the Cob

Battered artichoke heart with garlic- so yummy

http://pinterest.com/pin/344032859005216432/

Sunflower with natural looking heart center

Photo today: Sunflower in my garden with a natural heart center. 

What are the chances of that? I did a double take then ran for my camera!

Circle of Life Gratitude Rocks

My son and I have been collecting "rocks with lines" that we have found on the beach for years. It has been a fun and slow hobby with a lot of fond memories of days at the beach.

Photo for the day- Circle of Life- Gratitude Rocks

Salad Bowl- From Garden to Table

One of the easiest raised planter garden vegetables to grow is lettuce. It sprouts up well in cold weather and in the summer can be planted in shady areas for equal success. Planting lettuce seeds each month provides a continual and fresh harvest. Throw in some nasturtium flowers for a peppery tasting and colorful addition. Growing a variety of different lettuce types will make your dinner salad bowl a gastronomic delight! 

Renee's Seeds

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thought for the day...

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY 

May today be a day of thanksgiving for our relationship with our mother's. For those who have passed away and for the memories that will always be with us... blessings.

Purple Contessa Flower

Monday Inspiration

PHOTO CREDIT: glassfloatjunkie.etsy.com

I purchased a glass fishing float from a vendor on Etsy to add to my "under the sea" succulent garden. The photo and caption above is from her Facebook page and I thought it was a beautiful insight to start the week. Happy Monday!

GLASS FISHING FLOATS IN THE SUCCULENT GARDEN

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BE KIND

The best part of life is not just surviving, but thriving with passion and compassion and humor and style and generosity and kindness.

- Author Maya Angelou 

so many ways to be kind...

 A little inspiration today as we mourn the sad events of the Boston Marathon and the Texas Fertilizer Plant Explosion.

After a week of trauma in the news I was uplifted to find so many resources for kindness, especially the quote by Mr. Rogers that I heard for the first time:

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me,

 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping." 

1) The Be Kind People Project
2) Random Acts of Kindness Foundation
3) Wiki How: How to be Kind
4) To Be Kind Facebook Page
5) Quotes about Kindness

* Thank you Chula and Bella *

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Bliss Chalk Drawing

BLISS: complete happiness, supreme happiness, utter joy or contentment, paradise.

Wishing you a blissful day full of kind and purposeful thoughts and actions. Create your own bliss? Absolutely!

This link shows how to create a DIY: wet chalk drawing.  Chalk boards make great canvases for artwork that can be changed up, or place in the kitchen for weekly dinner menus. 

(Thank you Taylor for this amazing chalk drawing- not to be erased!)
Happy Birthday Pam!
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Pink Grapefruit Margaritas

Springtime is here and entertaining in the warm weather is just around the corner. For a larger crowd I find serving margaritas a bit easier "pitcher style". This is a nice drink with or without the Tequila.

Ina Garten's Pink Grapefruit margaritas and pre-salt rimmed glasses work well in a large pitcher for a dinner party. I did a little blending of ingredients prior to adding the tequila and it made the mixture a little bit frothier and creamy. Add some fresh grapefruit wedges for a nice fresh touch. For salted rim glasses: dip glass edges in water and use kosher or sea salt spread out on a plate to get an even coating.

Barefoot Contessa Recipe
Pinterest

Apple Blossoms and Growing Apple Trees

Some symbolic meanings of apple blossoms are good fortune, hope, purity, sensuality and motherhood. Apple blossoms were honored by the ancient Celts as a symbol of love. Below photos of apple blossoms are from my garden this week. This is an Anna Apple Tree: Malus domestica which is a wonderful tree for Southern California. I keep it pruned each year to keep the size of the overall tree as a dwarf and it still produces heavily middle and late spring. This tree can be expected to grow to 10 feet high and 10 feet wide. Apples are sweet and crispy for eating and also make a great addition for juicing.

This is an easy to grow tree with beautiful rewards.

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Nature's Patterns- Daily Gratitude

Simply put... beautiful walk this weekend and I was glad I had my camera. The natural patterns all around were jumping out at me, or maybe I was just in a state of amazing gratitude and noticed. 

AGAVE : San Diego

Palm Tree Trunk: Swami's Beach, San Diego

Low Tide: I found a Heart in the rocks

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Happy St. Patrick's Day

♣    Happy St. Patrick’s Day    ♣

Good luck in the garden

Shamrocks are considered a good luck symbol; representing faith, hope and love. The age-old saying: “The Luck of the Irish” with its magical mysticism just might rub off in our gardens today with a little St. Patty’s Day symbolism.

The word Shamrock comes from an Irish word meaning little clover and is said to have gotten its symbolic meaning in Ireland in about the fifth century. St. Patrick used the abundantly growing green shamrock to teach Christianity by using a natural method to show the concept of the holy trinity. Each leaf representing the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The shamrock was a sacred plant in Ireland even before St. Patrick with the Irish Druids because the leaves in a cluster of three formed a triad. Currently the shamrock is still used as a good luck symbol and popular with Irish brides as the clovers are intertwined in bridal bouquets.

Botanically speaking:

“The true Irish Shamrock, as identified by Nathaniel Colgan c. 1893 is a clover. It is not one of any or many clovers, it is one species, collected from a majority of counties at that time and with the exception of a very few plants, the majority were Trifolium repens or a form of this plant – White clover also known as Dutch Clover”. …’From Ireland’ © Jane Lyons, Dublin, Ireland

Scrabble Message of the Day- LOVE

What we love determines what we seek. What we seek determines what we think and do. What we think and do determines who we are and who we will become. -D. Uchtdorf

love

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DIY: ICE MOLDS WITH CANDLES, FRUIT, FLOWERS, HERBS

DIY: Ice Molds with Candles

Here is a great link for small Ice Spheres that can be infused with fruit, flowers, or herbs. This is a great way to add flavor to a pitcher of water while adding a nice splash of color and decoration. These can be fun for a kids party too with plastic zoo animals or toys in the ice molds.

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Being Inspired

The purpose of life is to discover your gift. The meaning of life is to give it away.

-by David Viscott

Hawaiian Palm Trees in Oahu

It feels good to come across a quote, a new inspiration that creates a fresh way to look at love and beauty. We can always count on growing in love and being inspired for a lifetime because love has no limits. Love is always expanding and has the possibility for vast creative expression. This is how I view hope, an awareness of the possibility for growth regardless of how the circumstances seem at the moment. I have often read that finding our gifts comes from doing what we love and that sounds simple enough. 

Enjoy your beautiful day

Just Be You!

“Let yourself be drawn by the stronger pull of that which you truly love.”   - Rumi 

"When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everyone will respect you."
  -Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

                                           

Tuna Tartare Appetizer is a must for sushi lovers

Tuna, Water crackers and warmed Brie Cheese appetizer

Small diced jalapeno peppers and wasabi powder  make this appetizer  tasty!

Another amazing appetizer from the recipe files of Barefoot Contessa. Purchase Sushi grade raw Tuna for this recipe as fresh as possible, a perfectly ripe avacado and it is sure to be a success~
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