Bird watching…

We have been working hard this summer cleaning our yard. Good news is we can see our property line before we couldn’t it was an overgrowing mess. Thanks to every one Panduka and Niegel we have been working like crazy to clean up the yard.

I have been working in the backyard; along the property line cleaning we had several forsythia bushes. Since we wanted to maintain a small flowering garden we have control the growth of the forsythia bushes. At least for the time we like to think that we have control the forsythia bushes.

Now that we have done most of our planting the bulbs as well; things are looking good. I meant yard looks much cleaner. Since I have done planting and beds are not fully covered, I meant with mulch the soil is exposed. We are blessed with a lot of worms in our land hope this is a good thing.

When I was doing my dishes I saw group of birds. Of course with much excitement I went and grab my camera and started taking pictures. I stayed inside afraid to go outside thinking the group of birds will fly away. I took some pictures from inside I do apologize for the clarity of the pictures but I hope you can see them and spot them. There were cardinal, woodpeckers, and finches and many more that I had no clue I have couple of books about birds I would love to get them out soon.

I was simply elated with flock of birds visiting our backyard and digging for worms…

Quote of the day “a 20 minute meditation can help you see things afresh"

Enjoy!

Roses… I was not ready to say goodbye…

 
These are from a flower bouquet that I received for my B’day. I was not ready to throw these guys. However the whole bouquet was ready to retire. I threw all the greens and kept the roses.

As I was cleaning dead stinky greenery corner of my eye stopped at the milk vases that was sitting on the floor. Just like a light bulb went off… I decided to have my roses in my newly claimed milk vase.
I made roses into ball shape arrangement and placed a rubber band close to head of the ball. Then I placed the stems on the cutting board and cut them really short.

Finally played with it a little bit to arrange it more eye pleasing manner. Placed the flowers in the vase on my dining table and enjoyed during dinner.

Quote of the Day “create a routine that soothe the soul"

Enjoy!

My New Finds…

 
 
Well I promised to myself that I am going to go to few garage sales. Guess what my first one happened to be this FALL. I found my first milk glass collection for $2.00. Yes, it was a deal I could not resist. One of the reasons I was looking for vases was I do not like fake flowers any more. I am done with them.
I have work so hard this summer preparing my garden I would love to bring in some flowers that I have planted.

I am making small changes, the humongous crystal formal vases I have are great… I hardly use them… but I wanted few dainty vases to show few flowers natural flowers on display. Reason one is I might not have a huge harvest of flowers this year may be later… so I can use my formal vases.
I was making room in my nest as I have plenty of room… remember our new old tiny house… with a fairly big garden.
Reason number two is the antique value in these vases. These vases go back all the way to 16th century. They are so many versions and many years they have come back. They do not go out in style. This may be one factor I think they are fairly low in price for the antique value.

However I am happy with my first purchase paid really a very low price for these guys… Can’t wait till spring to load these little containers with pretty flowers… Do you bring flowers in-doors, if so how would you arrange them to add some character to your décor?

Check back in my next post how to do just that…

Quote of the day “

Enjoy!

Enjoy the last bit of summer…

 
I wanted my kids enjoy the last bit of summer with all the summer berries and sweetness. I initially saw this recipe at http://www.thesleepytimegal.com/ , she adapted from Ina’s Cooking show. If you want to savor the last minute of the summer with your kids you can get it the recipe from here . This is a lovely simple way to enjoy summer berries.

However you can substitute anything seasonal. I received a bag of apples from my neighbor and I did the same thing. I will post the recipe on how I make apple crostata. Simple recipe to make but delicious with a little bit of vanilla ice-cream on the side…

Quote of the Day “ take joy in serving others"

Enjoy!

How to dress up your chandelier for the holidays…

 
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays that I like to celebrate with my family and friends. I have added a collection of Halloween decorations to our house. This year I decided to add some holiday to our chandelier…

Berries I just love the look but it stinks… They come in so many colors...

Quote of the day “live with passion"

Enjoy!

Dinner under $5.00…

 
 
We went to Boston for dinner at Penang; we love Tai food very much. Penang offers a great ambiance and the food is phenomenal. I love their noodle soup bowls. I would love to learn how to make it home.
Whenever I go to Boston I try to go to Chinese supermarket because this is where I stock up my Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean sauces… they are less expensive than from the local grocery store. I find most of the time same or better name brands not that I read Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese but I can see the differences. Some are great on labeling in English as well.

Well I bought my stock of sauces and I bought some Bok Choy. This is a wonderful vegetable with crispy, bitter, crunchy, and with great colors. I know I love the colors of the vegetables.

Here is my simple Bok Choy recipe…
1 Tablespoon Dark Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Light Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon of Plum Sauce
1 teaspoon of Sesame Oil
2-3 teaspoons of rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon of vegetable or olive Oil
3-4 Garlic Cloves chopped
Medium slice of ginger chopped
Medium onion chopped
7-8 Bok Choy heads cleaned vertically sliced
How to
Mix in a bowl, dark, light, plum sauce together and set aside. Add the Vegetable oil and sesame oil to the pan medium high heat add garlic and ginger until slightly golden brown. Now add onions sauté them until golden brown bring the heat to high and fry them for few seconds now add your rice wine and listen to the beautiful sound it makes… get back to cooking…

Add your Bok-Choy and sauté it until it begins to wilted at the very beginning of this process add your sauce mixture and cook it for 15 seconds if you like to have them crunchy cook less. Serve immediately with warm white/brown rice

Quote of the day “make food from scratch whenever possible”

Enjoy!