Quote

Books, we know,

Are a substantial world, both pure and good.

Round these, with tendrils strong as flesh and blood,

Our pastime and happiness will grow.

-William Wordsworth

And Again

 She's done it again - a cookbook I couldn't wait to read cover-to-cover. As soon as I got my copy of Gluten-Free Girl Everyday, I sat down and read the whole darned thing.

 For a while now, I've been doing everything I can to save time in the kitchen. It's not that I don't love cooking. I do. It's one of my favorite things to do, but a girl can only spend so much time in the kitchen until her clothes stop fitting. Plus, there are a million other things to do, like play with the dog, work in the garden, hike with Mike, knit, read...the list is endless. So I've been cooking up meal components on the weekends to make meals on the weekdays come together in a snap.

Shauna's been doing the same thing so she can spend more time with her beautiful family. Lucky me, because the result is a cookbook filled with recipes I can't wait to try - like the vegetarian chili, the rice-crust quiche, the chocolate chip cookies, and all the different rice and beans recipes.

Easy Peasy

My in-laws-to-be gave me an Earth Box for Christmas. Of course I wanted to plant it right away, but there wasn't the space in our tiny apartment, and it was way too cold outside.

I finally got around to planting it a few weeks ago with some pea starts. They've finally caught on, and are blooming. I can't wait for fresh peas from my own backyard!

Tree on Lake

Clouds

Lately, I've become obsessed with watching the sky. It's been three years since I had a kitchen sink with a window over it, and I finally have one now. And the view of the sky has been lovely.

We've had scattered thunderstorms lately. It's so strange, since it often rains for only five minutes or so, then clears right up. Strange for me, at least. But the shifting clouds offer a lovely view.

Quote

It's never too late to realize a dream.

-Andrew Weil

Ranunculus

The tulips have faded, both at our old apartment and our new rental house. I'm slowly working on pulling up all the weeds I inherited from our landlords and waiting on Miss Utility to mark the ground so we can till the soil. There is one little garden bed with decent soil, just waiting for something pretty. I decided on ranunculus, since they seem pretty simple - plus I love the way they look.

I'm having trouble waiting on my other plants, but I'm so glad to see a nice pop of color every time I drive around the corner.