This moment: Lexington's Parkette Drive In

Lexington's Parkette Drive In: Love visiting locally owned joints...especially those with history!

Thanks to Soulemama for this Friday photo sharing concept. Hope you'll share a link to your moment!

This Moment: Um, is that a chicken in my egg?

Since switching from regular eggs to Cage Free, Organic, Humane Certified, I've been finding occasional specks in my eggs. This one was the largest yet, which made me wonder... Hmnnn, I could Google it to find out what it might be, but I figure some things I'm better off NOT knowing, eh?!

Well, yeah, I ate it anyway! (After taking out the speck, of course.) I HATE wasting food, so if it's in my house and it's still edible, I'm eating it. And if I won't eat it, Hubby often will. When Hubby's not around, I'll fix me some egg salad, which he's not that crazy about. Tried these Wickles in it instead of chopped pickles--good stuff!

Thanks to Soulemama for this Friday photo sharing concept. Hope you'll share a link to your moment!

This moment: Bridge walk; Curried chicken salad

Glover H. Cary Bridge opened to foot traffic for first time in 71 years last Friday. An estimated 12,000 people took advantage of the opportunity. It was such fun to walk from Kentucky to Indiana over the Ohio River! (In all, a 2 mile trek.) 

Oh, yes, we made sure Grandbaby got a piece of the action!

Curried Chicken Salad. Just two leftover chicken breasts, mayo, Marzetti Slaw Dressing, pecans, red grapes, 1 teaspoon curry powder, salt and pepper. Served here over what may be our last yellow tomato from this year's garden. 

   Can't seem to post without including food!! Wishing everyone a fantastic weekend!!
Thanks to Soulemama for this Friday photo sharing concept. Please feel free to share a link to your moment.

This moment: A red sky, blue muffins kinda mornin'

Whoppin' Big Wild Blueberry Muffins with streusel topping AND icing. Breakfast anyone? I had a banana peach smoothie myself, but no worries, I'll be having a blueberry muffin mañana! My recipe was found in Martha Stewart Living Annual Recipes 2003, but here it is online. (I used wild blueberries for the fruit; regular all purpose flour, and 1 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon in the batter. Glaze: 1 cup powdered sugar mixed with 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice. Recipe makes 12 regular or 6 whoppin' big muffins.)

Thought it was "Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning!"?
So far so good today...it's GORGEOUS here in western Kentucky!

Thanks to Soulemama for this Friday photo sharing concept. Would love for you to leave a link to your moment!

On my mind this moment: Why, chocolate, what else?!

Freshly made Spago Chocolate Cake*** and Chocolate Cherry Peanut Butter Chip Cookies alongside a slice of MIL's blackberry pie made a couple of days ago. Which do you think Hubby chose to eat after his lunch? Why, his momma's pie of course! ...I am somewhat consoled by the fact that he stole nibbles of the two I'd made. ;)

Chocolate Cherry Peanut Butter Chip Cookies --I'm hoping these are reminiscent of a PB&J, but I won't know for sure until cheat day tomorrow! Grandgirl2 helped me to throw these cookies together; they're a riff on the infamous Neiman Marcus Cookies.

Grandgirl2 is a big chocolate cake fan! ***Unlike I Dream of Baking (where I found the recipe so I wouldn't have to take the time to type it), I did use coffee in my cake. Though I don't like to drink coffee, I love the way it kicks chocolate up a notch.

   Thanks to Soulemama and Rhonda at down-to-earth for this photo sharing concept. Please feel free to share a link to your moment.

This moment: Gettin' my Kentucky on with burgoo and a natural bridge

If you think burgoo looks like a gloppy mess, well, you'd be right. But burgoo's a spicy, meaty, slightly vinegary Kentucky stew, and we buy the stuff by the gallon anytime our favorite source has a kettle on the fire. Comprised mostly of ground-up chicken and barbecued mutton, the only recognizable ingredients in burgoo should be some corn, potatoes and the occasional onion (IMHO). Some misguided folks put Lima beans in their burgoo. That's so wrong! ;)

That's my purse jutting off my thigh, not some bizarre body part. ;)

   Finally remembered to share pics of my favorite site we visited in our recent jaunt through northeastern Kentucky. These were taken at Carter Caves State Resort Park, in a "natural bridge" within the park. Bus-loads of school kids picnicking created a powerful noise near the entrance to this "bridge," but even that could not detract from the quiet beauty of this time worn natural phenomenon.
   Hope to find some time for quiet beauty today, and hope the same for you! For now though, it's time to head to the dentist for a check-up/cleaning. Just another of those "costs money but saves in the long run" little things we do!
   Thanks to Soulemama for this Friday photo sharing concept. Please feel free to share a link to your moment.  

This moment: A picnic, scrap paper and glue kinda day

Winner of the most valued toys of the day: crayons, scrap paper and glue. Some things haven't changed a bit through the years, have they?
   Well, the grandgirls were pretty much the focus of the week. Of course, unsolicited I love yous out of the mouths of babes make any efforts worthwhile.
   I did find a yummy new, incredibly easy cheese spread recipe in a book I flipped through in the gift shop when we took the kiddos to Mammoth Cave yesterday. I hope to share that mañana, when I get a minute to take an "after" pic.
   Thanks to Soulemama for this Friday photo sharing concept. Please feel free to share a link to your moment.

This moment: A surprise in the recyclables & my first organic sausage dish

Oh, yes, this little creature trapped in a can from the recycle box scared the bejeebers out of me!
   Fortunately, Hubby was around to take it outside to freedom...don't know why these little ones find such fun running in and out of our attached garage when the door is left open. Please don't let one ever come up the steps into our house! Can they climb stairs??
   Not sure I should post food in the same post as wiggly little lizards, but I could NOT post just a lizard pic and leave it at that!
   So, here's a pic of what I did with my first purchase of organic sausage (humanely raised pork). The stuff cost an arm and a leg, but I thought it much more flavorful than the factory farm stuff. Hubby just looked at the price and...well, you know!
   I fried up the sausage, divided it into thirds and froze two packages of it for a future use. Gotta love that.
   Made this a few days back. We're eating on a barbecued chicken right now that Hubby's pop surprised him with. 
   Boy, do I love barbecue surprises! Hope your weekend brings you nothing but pleasant surprises!!

Sausage Cabbage Leek Lentil Mish Mash

Thanks to Soulemama for this Friday photo sharing concept. Please feel free to share a link to your moment.

This moment: Drive by landscaping gaping

No grass landscaping--these folks are geniuses!

Happy Earth Day!! Every year I'm trying bit by bit to edge our one acre lawn toward becoming a grassless permaculture. (Guilty confession: I buy the plants/bushes/trees, Hubby plants 'em, but don't dare tell him of my diabolical plot to eventually get rid of all the grass!)
   Rosalind Creasy's Edible Landscaping is my ideal. Seriously, if at all interested, visit Creasy's link--incredible pics there!
   With water resources becoming ever more precious, permaculture, edible landscaping and xeriscaping are the sustainable wave of the future. So, when I'm out and about, I snap shots of other folks' lawns in hopes of finding something to incorporate into our own landscaping. I hope to find schemes/layouts to reproduce on our place...with edible plantings woven throughout. Wish me luck!
   Raining, raining, raining here in western Kentucky. What's it like outside your window today??

Thanks to Soulemama for this Friday photo sharing concept. Feel free to leave a link to your moment.

I liked the bright green ring around the tree on the left.

This looked better in person than in the picture...such a variety.

For some reason, this was my favorite--do love the deep, contrasting colors.

Wonder if bushes lower electric bills by insulating the house from sun?

Sadly, landscaping takes work to maintain...this yardscape is going to pot!

This moment: Energy efficiency tax credit...the door, not the kiddo!

Sweet little G2 at our back door trying to wake up enough to start her day. And a great day it was, by the way.
   This door we put in last year is considered an energy efficient home improvement and earned us a tax break. Gotta love that!!
   Thinking of making any improvements of your own? Might wanna check out this info on energy tax credits on the U.S. Department of Energy's site.
   Hubby will be turkey hunting all weekend. Though he'll be missed, I love having a day or two to myself now and then. Don't you?
   Hope you have a stellar weekend!!

Thanks to Soulemama for this Friday photo sharing concept. Feel free to leave a link to your moment.

This moment: Will there be no more trees?

The blaze as seen from our kitchen window.

Back door neighbors' driveway separates
our property from the patch of woods.

Our northwest neighbor burned his little patch of woods last night.
    The men gathered round to watch the fire in all its glory. I avoided them and took pictures.
   And cried.
   An ice storm hit this area in January 2009 and people have been getting rid of their trees ever since. Africa was once lush with trees...until too many of them got chopped down. If we keep taking out the bulk of the trees, how can we be so sure desertification won't one day become a reality for parts of our great country?

Thanks to Soulemama for this Friday photo sharing concept. Feel free to leave a link to your moment.

This moment: Bird on the wing and another thing

Love how the bird feeder seems to be looking at the bird!

 Gotta love the long exposure that allows us to capture things like birds in flight!
   Hubby recently tiled our bathroom floor; yesterday he replaced the shoe mold trim, and he repainted the room today.
   Guess what? I didn't even know he was going to repaint it... Just found him in there repainting it the same color. He said if I'd wanted a different color, I should have let him know. *chuckle*
   Good thing I still like the color: Chinese Red by Sherwin Williams.
   This bathroom is my one bold stroke in this house! I did sprinkle little dashes of red throughout to unify the whole, but most of the other walls are fairly neutral.
   Well, except for our master bath with its blue walls & lighter blue ceiling.
   Dunno why tiny rooms give me permission to ply the more daring colors. Maybe it's my fear that I'll grow bored with the bolder colors, so I limit them to the tiny rooms that can quickly be repainted.
   What about you...are you WILD or MILD with your paint choices? Hope your weekend is wild or mild--as you wish!!

Thanks to Soulemama for this Friday photo sharing concept. Feel free to leave a link to your moment! 

This moment: Tethered angel

Captured this at French Camp in Mississippi. A little ironic to see an angel chained down! 
   Thanks to Soulemama for this Friday photo sharing concept. Feel free to leave a link to your moment!

This moment: Life's surprises

Went to the grocery yesterday and on the way, I drove behind this truck. Thought I saw a calf in the truck bed, but it turned out to be a BIG dog. I'd never seen a dog as massive as this black and white behemoth! Had to take a pic, even though the car behind me laid on its horn.
   Anyway, got some great buys on won ton, egg roll and round wrappers. Came home and split each package in half, freezing most all of them. (Pictured here with butter wrappers being used as separators.)
   Also got an incredible buy on mushrooms: 10 - 8oz. pkgs. of sliced baby bellas @$1.49 each and 4 - 8oz. pkgs. white button mushrooms at .89 cents each. So ever since getting home from the store, I've had mushrooms cooking down in pans on the shelf of the woodburner. Once cooked, I'll freeze all the cooked baby bellas in various-sized portions for future pizzas, pastas and soups.
   One of these days I need to experiment with dehydrating mushrooms...the 4 button mushroom containers are waiting in the fridge for me to do just that. Hope to find the time tomorrow.
  Anxiously awaiting more news of our brothers and sisters in Japan. Hoping for the best for Hawaii and our own west coast. Tragedies of this proportion remind us all how very precious and uncertain life can be!

Thanks to Soulemama for this Friday photo sharing concept. If you're so inclined, leave a link to your moment for others to visit.