Red Lion and Snow...

Amaryllis "Red Lion"

This is the latest one to bloom!

The color is spectacular!

It has 4 flowers on it.

I just love it! 

It snowed overnight here in New England--about 2 inches.  It is stuck to all the trees, etc.,  and looks very wintery.  The forecasters say that we are in for 8 more inches tomorrow.   Now,  Folks, someone please tell them that it is April 3,  not February 3,  and that it's time for Spring to rear it's beautiful head!  It is so hard not to let myself get depressed.  At least,  I got to plant my snow peas on Friday. Oh, Hey!  Maybe that's why we have snow!!!  The temperature was 70 degrees on Friday and I enjoyed every minute of it!  Go figure!

My maple sugaring days are over for this year.  The tree dried up!  I took the tapping equipment off of it and put it away.  I'm really looking forward to next year.  Oh wait,  I'll be another year older by then.  I don't want to wish my life away.  haha  I want to savor what I have now and I'll take the rest as it comes.  So, for now...

'Til next time,  Love ya,  Jean 

Easter...

He is Risen!

To all my family and friends,

have a wonderful day!!!

'Til next time,

Love ya,  Jean

Maple Sugaring...

I found out that you can tap a silver maple tree for sap to make maple syrup.  What I had always heard is that you had to have a Sugar Maple tree.  Not so!!  There are many trees that can be tapped in the winter/spring that will give wonderful sap that can be processed into delicious syrup.  Thanks to the internet,  I found this out at almost the end of the season and I didn't know if it would even work.  As you can see in the picture below, it did indeed, work! I ended up getting about 10 half pints of syrup!  It is still flowing somewhat,  but not enough to process now.  I will probably take the taps out soon and plug up the holes that I drilled.  I have also read that you can drink the sap as a '"spring tonic".  I haven't tried that yet...maybe at some point.

 Here is the tree that I tapped.  As you can see,  it is a very large tree.  I bought two taps but could have used 3 on it.  When the sap was flowing freely,  I was getting about 2 to 4 gallons a day.  It takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup.  And it takes a whole day to cook it down.

Here is a picture of my set up...

This is the tree that grew up on it's own... I had to have part of the trunk cut off a few years ago because it was pushing against the shed roof.   

A close up of the sap in the milk jugs,  
it looks just like water.

This project was a lot of fun.  I hope to start a little earlier next year.  I would like to make enough to supply the whole family.  They will only get one jar each this time... lol

'Til next time,
Love ya,  Jean

Irish Blessings...

May your blessings outnumber
The shamrocks that grow,
And may trouble avoid you
Wherever you go.
~Irish Blessing

If a man who cannot count finds a four-leaf clover,
 is he lucky?  ~Stanislaw J. Lec

What do you get when you cross poison ivy with a four-leaf clover?
 A rash of good luck.  ~Author Unknown

Happy St.  Patrick's Day,  Everyone!

'Til next time,
Love ya,  Jean

Oh, those eyes...

I found this painted rock at a thrift store last week...

I was trying to get a good pic of it...

too much light...

Oh,  those eyes are so piercing...

and so pretty...

I never know what I'll find there!

Some days nothing, and some days lots of great stuff.

It's always an adventure!

'Til next time,

Love ya,  Jean

Cupcake papers...

I finally gathered up all my cupcake liners 

that have been strewn all over my kitchen cupboards 

and various other places in the cabinets and closets...

I put them in my big apothecary jar...

  Turns out I had quite a few.
And now I know where they are
and what I have...

I used a lot of the small ones
at Christmas to put cookies in...
They looked so cute!

What a nice touch it added to the display.
And who knows,  
maybe I'll even make some cupcakes!

I will probably continue to add to my collection.
Just another addiction on the horizon!
(there's still some room in the jar.)

Oh well,  enjoy the little things in life while you can.
Dance to the music,  love the ones in your life,  breathe in the fresh air and sunshine, 
take a walk and just enjoy being alive.
Live,  laugh and love!

'Til next time,  Love ya,  Jean

Desire...

It has finally opened up...

This Amaryllis is called "Desire".

The color is bright orange.

It has 4 flowers...

I just love it!

I used the "soft snap" setting on my camera so you wouldn't see much of the background.  It sort of worked,  but not really.  I want a new camera but I am not sure what to buy.  They are a big investment so I want to make sure I get the right one.  Lots of research ahead!  So for now,  I guess I'll use my little Sony Cybershot 12.1 megapixels...  Please bear with me.  haha

'Til next time,  Love ya,  Jean