Spring into Summer!

This  has been a most enjoyable Spring!

Having our beautiful Family all together for the Easter Holiday was a wonderful start!

Two weeks after Easter I flew to Florida for five days to visit a gal pal and that was delightful!  The Gulf is gorgeous and they have a boat so I had the immense pleasure of sailing in Sarasota Bay!

Two weeks later I was in New York with the Grands, having a ball!
While in New York I took a Croissant class at Sur la Table (gift from Barby and Sean) and it was such fun!! I will post regarding that in the near future.

Now Memorial Day is here and the start of Summer!!

My daughter, Katie, recently said, "Mom, can you give me some quick meals...I need some new
ideas."

Summer is the very best time to keep it clean and lean!

Tonight we are having Gulf Garlic Shrimp over Rice with Steamed Fresh Green Beans.  Total time?
28 minutes!

I prefer Gulf Shrimp and wait til they go on sale.  These 16/20 shrimp were purchased yesterday at
A cost of $14.99/lb.  I only bought twelve of them.  (6 for each of us is plenty!)  After peeling and deveining the shrimp, I place them in a baking dish with  2 tablespoons of melted butter and healthy drizzles of olive oil.  I throw in 3 thinly sliced garlic cloves, dash of salt and pepper and sprinkles of Spanish Paprika plus a shake of red pepper.  Into a 425 degree oven for just  enough time for the shrimp to turn opaque.

Meanwhile I sauteed the rice in a tad of butter, turned it to simmer and steamed the green beans and, voila, a tasty dinner in just a few minutes.

(Yes, it is white rice and I know, I know, not good BUT every once in a while, we indulge.)

Katie  is fortunate in that her sweet James has a very educated palate at not even four years!

More quick menus to come.

Mother's Day Reflections

Tomorrow is Mother's Day.

To women with children, this is a very important day.

Nearing my 7th decade, I suppose one would say I am "old school".

You know what I mean.....respectful, being courteous, diligent work ethic, yada yada.....

As a woman who is one of the very few in my circle who still has a parent living ...my Mother.....
I feel dutie-bound to provide my Mother with whatever she needs.  At times, I experience extreme
frustration.  She is sharp as a tack and remembers every little thing that ever happened to me!  That said, she also will say one thing and then when I attempt to accommodate her, she will say something
else!
As she is approaching her 90th year, I cannot help but feel that our days with her are surely "numbered".
However, since her health is wonderful, she just may outlive all of us!!

Nonetheless, I have moments of reflection when I think back how I thought my Mother knew everything, was the most wonderful woman and could do anything. As an adult now, I see that not all of that is true.  However, rather than being disappointed in her.....I continue to value her and remember all those times she was there for me.

This brings me to Motherhood in general in my thoughts.

We Mothers spend so much of our lives in Guilt and Fear.

We constantly worry and stress from the moment we are aware of that wonder growing within us.
We worry that the Baby will be "all right".  We worry about their safety.  We worry about their
health.  This continues into their adulthood and does not abate.  (My own girls accuse me of being
a "helicopter" Mother even at their middle age!)

Then there is the Guilt.  Every Mother on this planet has made mistakes.  Almost all Mothers are
well-intentioned but many  have made mis-steps or perhaps a lapse in judgment.  Then when their children have problems, most Mothers shoulder that burden as their own personal fault.  (It can be
such a  "no win situation"!)

Speaking personally as a Mother, there is nothing greater in this life.  When you have an extension of yourself .....it is awe-inspiring!  (despite my many mistakes!) When I look at my three daughters who are each beautiful, brilliant, caring, loving, dedicated women!  When I look at them with their Children and see what wonderful Mothers they are!  Oh my, and then the grandchildren!  Talk about a Life Complete!

I am sure most in my circle of Friends and Acquaintances feel the same!

Spring Planting!

It is finally, officially SPRING!
We all thought it would never arrive!
Now that it is here, we are scampering to collect all the flowers and herbs we can get our hands
on!
Usually in this area, we wait until Mother's Day to plant our precious gems.
However, since we seem not in danger of frost, I am heading out tomorrow to the nursery so
I can "transform" our courtyard.
When we purchased this home, the former owner never attended to the courtyard.
It looked like this:

Pretty dismal, right?  I set about finding hardscape companies to rework this area.
Our former home had a huge deck, under roof with skylights, with an adjacent  open deck with an
arbor of wisteria......oh, I loved that space!  Bob had cable television out there for me and I would
enjoy and savor every moment I could spend there!

This courtyard was somewhat daunting!!

I interviewed five various companies.

Some of the companies suggested stamped concrete. I found that cold and boring.
Some suggested tek decking. That proved cost prohibitive and would not work with our existing
exhaust systems with the water heater, furnace, etc. which, unfortunately, vent out onto the courtyard!
Others suggested pavers.  Boring!!!
I chose Details Landscape in Hummelstown, PA.
The owners' son, Michael, dealt with me and he was so accommodating.  He re-purposed the existing
bricks, supplementing what was needed after flower (weed) beds were removed and created steps (where we had rotted wood not in anyone's code enforcement!)
with more bricks and rustic stones.  He really worked magic in that courtyard!
I was able to utilize some of our deck furniture.  I had purchased the Victoria set from Martha Stewart at KMart (remember when she hooked up with them?) and had everything.....the table, 5 chairs,
the umbrella, the chaise lounge, two rockers, the sofa, the glass coffee table.....all with cushions in
a taupe design.
Since the courtyard space is smaller than our previous decks, I gave a childhood friend of one of my daughter's (Hi, Megan!) the chaise and the rockers.
Michael was so very diligent.  I enjoyed watching his process.
Weather intervened and also a trip to Europe was in the offing (mine!!)  so the process took much longer than originally anticipated.  Michael was unflappable....always calm!  It was near October
that we finally were completed!
Here is the transformation:

Many years ago, my oldest daughter, Christina, gave me a strawberry pot she had filled with
fresh herbs for Mother's Day .....such a wonderful, creative idea!
I tried to replicate that last year and had some success. (yay!)
This year I am going to attempt to grow wisteria in a pot!  (don't tell Bob!  He always thought
the wisteria was the most invasive thing he ever encountered!)  I am hoping to have it entwine
itself on our privacy fence....although I don't know if that is in accordance with HOA rules.
Surely the next post will be about my great finds at the nursery!!!