I Love This Garden!

Ive been racking my brain trying to find a place for some plants, and I really want to try this! Check out the story here. If its too late for this year, I may try it next spring.

A Thought for Today

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch,

a smile, a kind word, a listening ear,

an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring,

all of which have the potential to turn a life around.

-leo buscaglia

Great Freezer Meals Recipes

Wow! this reminds me so much of the days when my kids were young and it was all your could do to get a good and nutritous meal on the table for your kids. Its not their fault that we have to work...they deserve to have something good for them and not some fast food packed full of calories or some preservative that who knows why there are so much cancer or other illness in children today. Read the additives on the packaged foods you are buying...and then look up what some of those things are. Scarry! I must say. So...for all you young Mom's out there, I salute you! Its not easy raising kids. Check out some of these recipes. I am going to try a few myself. Let me know if you do and how they are....


Good Freezer Meal Recipes

• Chicken Nuggets
• Fannie Farmer’s Classic Baked Macaroni and Cheese
• Beef Stew
• Chicken Tetrazzini with Caramelized Onions (make the alfredo sauce from scratch – it’s very easy)
• End of Summer Vegetable & Fresh Herb Casserole• One Skillet Lasagna
• Chicken Enchiladas
• Spinach Black Bean Lasagna
• Ground Beef and Tomato Manicotti
• Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

You can also search the freezable meals at My Recipes or the make ahead recipes at Whole Foods. And be sure to go over to http://simplemom.net where these recipes came from and all her other great thoughts on making life better and simpler for Mom's!

New England Blueberry Coffee Cake

Been talking about the blueberry muffin recipe that I found on Martha Stewart, but this beats them the muffins and any other recipe that I have tried or tasted....Dave found this recipe in the Gooseberry Patch Blue Plate Special Recipe Book. I wanted to share this with you. You have to try this one!

New England Blueberry Coffee Cake

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 T. Baking Powder

1 t Cinnamon

1/2 t. Salt

1 1/2 cup blueberries

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup butter, melted

Combine dry ingredients together; gently fold in blueberries and set aside. Whish egg, milk and butter together in a small mixing bowl; add to flour mixture, stirring carefully. pour into a greased 8"x8" baking pan; sprinkle with topping. Bake at 425 degres for 20-25 minutes. Makes 12 servings.

Topping:

1/4 cup butter

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1T. all purpose flour

Optional: 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Combine ingredients, mix well.

Let me say.....this is the best coffee cake I have ever had in my life. WalMart has some of the best blueberries that I have ever bought fresh. Especially good for this part of the country. Usually, they are sour and tart. But these are sweet and taste like blueberries should! Enjoy.

New Things to Share...

Found this wonderful free internet radio station. Nothing better than having a station that plays the music you love. Its called Pandora, and you simply list a favorite singer or group and it plays all similar style music. Try it!

Then on Angry Chickens blog....she comes up with a great suggestion for making up tea that will keep in the fridge for up to a week and not having to have a huge pitcher that takes up space. Here is what she has to say...

Instead of making large amounts in big jugs that are unruly, cumbersome, and seem to strain my wrists, I make 3 small batches in mason jars, highly concentrated. Very highly concentrated. Then I just pour a tiny amount in a glass with a ton of ice and water. Done! The jars of this concentrated tea last about a week in our house because really, you only need a tablespoon or so. And the beauty here is 3 mason jars take up no room in the fridge at all;

Go to her blog to get the full details.... http://angrychicken.typepad.com/

I have just been working so much that there is so little time for doing some creative stuff that I have setting here waiting on me to get started. I painted two canvas this week getting the backgrounds ready for some projects that I have in my mind. I need some down time to create!

This week while working, I had to take a drive out to Lake Humphrey to a listing that I sold. I always grab my camera when I got out because I love all the wild turkey and deer around the lake. Here are a few of my pics from that day.

Wanted to share this with you today....

The following post is written by health columnist Lisa Byrne.

Have you been overcome with an emotion when you’re met with a certain smell? Ever walked into a room that just smells inviting or relaxing? Do you have sharp, vivid memories attached to some scents? The science of scents and their impact on our brain chemistry and overall health is called aromatherapy.

Using natural scents to calm, invigorate, balance, or focus throughout the day is a beautiful way to bring wellness into your routine.

A little science on aromas -

The chemicals that are responsible for scent are very small and often come in a ring shape (in chemistry terms, they’re called aromatic structures). These small airborne molecules travel into our noses when we breathe in and can pass through the olfactory nerve into the center part of our brain. This place in our brain is called the limbic seat and controls our moods, emotions, memory and learning. So it’s no wonder that smell is strongly related to all those experiences.
Scientists have found scents like lavender increase our alpha brain waves (which is associated with relaxation), and scents like jasmine increase our beta brain waves (causing a more alert state).

Nature is chock full of thousands upon thousands of scents, each composed of many different molecules that can impact our well-being simply by breathing them in.

Simply getting out in nature and turning our attention to the variety of smells is a calming and balancing act. As you walk around your backyard, try taking some leaves and crushing them in your fingers to release their odor, and begin to sharpen this underused sense.
Targeting aromas to work with our moods

Beyond the plants themselves, a simple, satisfying way to use aroma is with the essential oils of pure plants. Plants contain complex and powerful substances called essential oils, which act for the plant much like our blood does for us.



Essential oils feel and work differently than vegetable oils (like olive or sunflower oil). Vegetable oils are pressed from the seeds of plants and feel slippery and greasy to the touch. Essential oils are distilled from plants and are highly concentrated extracts from all the plant parts; flower, tree, root and shrub. They are light to the touch and evaporate rapidly. Because they are so concentrated, a little goes a long way.

A Beginner’s Mood-Scent Menu

Relaxing and Calming :: Lavender, Roman Chamomile

Invigorating :: Peppermint, Sandalwood, Lemon, Orange

Balancing :: Cinnamon, Basil, Parsley

Uplifting :: Rose, Bergamot, GeraniumFocus :: Cedarwood, Frankincense


Some ideas to get started -

There are many ways to engage your sense of smell and benefit from the healing powers of specific scents in nature. Here are just a handful to get you started.

1. If you are using an essential oil, start with just a drop or two in your palms, cup your hands over your nose and breathe in for a few seconds.

2. Dab some essential oils on your neck or wrist as a natural perfume. Sometimes I even run a bit through my hair — there is something romantic about perfumed hair.

3. Freshen a whole room by using a diffuser or add a drop or two of an essential oil on a tissue and place in a vent of the room. The forced air will circulate the smell throughout the room.

4. Start an aromatherapy garden. Growing these plants and herbs, even in a window sill, can bring their natural scents into your home all day long, a natural way to infuse your home with nature’s healing smells. You will also have them on hand to crush a few leaves in your fingers for a deep breath.

5. Add scents to your daily routine with children. Before nap or bedtime, bring out a calming or relaxing aroma. Before homework time, bring out a scent that helps with focus. Children tend to respond well to natural scents used in moderation, but always be sure not to overwhelm them with aromas that are too strong.

Explore the impact that different natural scents have on your moods and emotions. It is a simple, enjoyable, elegant way to enhance your day.

Do you respond well to certain scents? What emotions, moods or memories do you have that are strongly connected to smells?
___
Lisa is a holistic health counselor who is passionate about helping Moms take excellent care of themselves within the constraints of a busy lifestyle. Visit her newly designed blog at The WellGrounded Life.

I had recently read an article about using used dryer sheets and making flowers from them. I gave it a try and was pleased with the results. You simply cut the dryer sheet into various sized of circles, spray them with Glitter Mist, and attached together. Pretty cool! I also made the leaf stems from the dryer sheet and the inside piece is just a covered button.

Find the Best Gas Prices at WomansDay.com - Gas Prices Websites

Found this on the Womans Day Site...if you are planning to do any traveling by car, these are some neat sites online to check the fuel prices.
Find the Best Gas Prices at WomansDay.com - Gas Prices Websites

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Here is a pic of a print that I did several months ago.

Lately, I have been pretty excited about the opportunity to go to Lisa Kaus' class this coming February. I had emailed her several months ago and she is finally going to be somewhere in a place & time that I can get away and go take her class. Go to her website and check out her work. So, you can see that is the style that I love making. http://lisakaus.blogspot.com/ .

When I was young, I took some art lessons in watercolors, charcoals and oil from an artist that was a family friend that lived in Comanche. He later went on to live in Santa Fe, NM and sell his work there. I think he did quite well. However, that had nothing to do with my abilities... I continued doing some painting and made a few Christmas gifts one year. Later when I had children, all that stuff went into storage and never was seen again.

So here I am in my later life, children grown, feeling inspired to be creative once again. I really enjoy making cards for others, its been one of my first attempts to my creativity. I really like this piece that I painted and did some paperwork on canvas. Its kind of a mixed media form of art.

Good news! Charlie came home last night and is eating on his on. Thank you for all your prayers in the past few weeks.

Check out these places!

Oklahoma History Center

We took a day off and went to Oklahoma City to visit the Oklahoma History Center and the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. I had no idea had wonderful both these places were to visit.The OHC is more than just a facility dedicated to educating the public about Oklahoma’s history. Actively working with other agencies and individuals interested in preserving the It is located at 2401 N. Laird Ave., Oklahoma City, OK. http://www.okhistorycenter.org/. They have a limited time display of all Oklahoma's rock history. You feel like your somewhere else than in Oklahoma when you walk through this. I have lived my entire life in Oklahoma and today the wealth of information was amazing about things that I never knew about Oklahoma. Never learned in Oklahoma history, from the countless educational trips my children and I went on at the state capitol and museum tours. This place offers so much more in learning about Oklahoma.

This is a pic of the reproduction of the plane Wiley Post was flying when he and Will Rogers died in a plane crash. Wiley Post was quite a character. The original plane flies in the Smithsonian. I have been fortunate enough to be there and have seen it.

Oklahoma City of Museum of Art

The Oklahoma City of Museum of Art is located in the heart of downtown Oklahoma City's Art District, 415 Couch Drive, OKC. http://www.okcmoa.com/. The Museum is home to a permanent collection of European and American art, including an exceptional collection of Dale Chihuly glass, and the Midwest's premiere repertoire cinema, which presents the finest international, independent, and classic films. The Chihuly glass exhibit is worth the visit alone. We had seen some of his work at the Atlantis in the Bahamas a few years ago and had come to know of his work from our visits to the Northwest.

Another fun thing that I would like to go back to is the Roof Terrace is open to the public on Thursday evenings (May - October) from 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. for Cocktails on the Skyline. The Roof Terrace is a gathering place for downtown workers, adventurous suburbians, pre-concert and film goers, and the art crowd. Located atop the 3-story Donald W. Reynolds. Wow! That would be fun. And its all right here in Oklahoma!

Just wanting to wish everyone a happy independence day!  My thoughts and prayers go out to our troops and their families - thank you.  Hope you are enjoying your holiday weekend -  i'm looking forward to great bbq today! Enjoy the day and be sure to surround yourself with the people you appreciate the most, be safe, and have a happy 4th

It's a great day to celebrate our freedom.

It's a great day to acknowledge and be grateful that we are free to agree or disagree with each other and be outspoken about it...our freedom of speech...which is what we practice every time we blog or read someone else's blog.

It's a great day to acknowledge and be grateful that we have freedom to worship as we please...or not worship at all.

It's a great day to acknowledge and be grateful that each and every one of us who are citizens of this great country have the same rights granted through our Constitution.

It's a great day to acknowledge and be grateful to the people who sacrificed and continue to sacrifice for our country...freedom doesn't come without a price.

It's a great day to thank God for the many blessings we have enjoyed as a country.

It's a great day to wish you a Happy 4th of July...hope you enjoy time with your friends and family.

Let freedom ring! -Carol Wingert