Weekend Reflections ~ 3/17/18 - 3/18/18

curious squirrel at the top of this palm

Although all the weather forecasts had called for rain all weekend, Saturday was a beautiful day!  I took advantage of the wonderful weather and decided to sit in the garden while I called my daddy to wish him a happy 76th birthday.  We enjoyed a good, hour long conversation before hanging up.  

Afterwards, while reflecting on the joy of that phone conversation, I set about preparing a pork roast that I put in the slow cooker for the rest of the day and well into the night.  I loosely followed this recipe, leaving out the onion, using 1/4 cup of water, only one tablespoon of liquid smoke and one bay leaf.  The rest of the recipe, I kept the same.

Since the pork roast wasn't intended for Saturday's meal, I made a favorite of my husband's:

 

there's nothing like a time worn, handwritten recipe, bearing the signs of faithful service in many a meals over the years~

I have had this recipe for over twenty years (I'm sure you couldn't tell, right?😄).  I copied it from the book, The Tightwad Gazette when I was just a frugal tyke, learning at the knee of my sensei, Amy Dacyczyn.  I love that is so flexible and can be made in a multitude of ways.  ~*~  We like adding sweet peas (about a half a cup) to ours. ~ Hubby likes a good splash of lemon juice on top right before he digs in. ~*~  It reminds me of one of the dishes that was our assignment in home ec class many, many moons ago.  We love it so much that I always double the recipe so that we have leftovers, as it tastes as good, or better the second time around.  

For the rest of the day, I reseeded a few flower and vegetable seeds that never germinated.

Other than those few things, I read, relaxed and watched a few relaxing videos.  Thanks to a fellow blogger, Rhonda Jean,  I discovered a new Youtube channel, Li Ziqi Channel.  So many relaxing, beautiful videos!

the first "contender" green bean bloom in the garden!

 

red lilies preparing for a showy display 

On Sunday, I spent the day leisurely sowing more flower, herb and vegetable seeds, reading and puttering around the house.

the first husky tomatoes (one plant, two views)

 

After wrapping up dinner, I ended the day laying back in my outdoor chaise lounge, under the sheltering branches of our very fragrant tree and watched the sky as it turned from dove gray to charcoal.  Ducks and other assorted birds flew overhead.  I was hoping to catch a glimpse of a bat or two fluttering to and fro, searching for their evening meal, but there were none to be spotted.  The air and trees were eerily still as I listened to the distant barking of neighborhood dogs, and the occasional meow of my cat that was lounging lazily beside me.  And when the darkness overtook us, Galahad and I went inside to spend a little time with my daughter, who had just gotten in from work, and hear about her day.

Yes, it's a quiet, slow paced life that we have learned to embrace.  It's our new normal, a new season of life that we are trying to gracefully do justice to.  We are content.  We are happy.  Life is good.

I hope your weekend was fulfilling!  I'd love to hear about it.

Thanks for stopping by! ~TJ