The new monitors came today.  I bought one as an early birthday present for Jay and a second one for me.

Jay’s old one was starting to fade and it was difficult for him to read anything on it. 

His new LCD Acer 22 inch flat screen was just the ticket to solve his problem. 

I on the other hand had little space on my desk with the old Samsung and the new CPU both on it.

I thought a flat screen might solve my problem so I ordered the same unit for me.  I knew I had a little unexpected money coming in so I spent it.

With my desk in a corner my new Acer will allow me to do some paper work on it also.  Most important was we got them up and running by ourselves. ( Aren’t you proud of us Les?)
Yesterday as I walked to the porch I saw this.

To give you an idea of the turtle’s size those things that look like rocks are actually gravel not as big as my thumb.  Just another visitor to write about!

Well a little grocery shopping is in order and I need to do a little domestic goddess duties.  I’ll see yah!

How do my gardens grow?  It looks like very good.  Peony plants now coming up in two places.  The Grape Hyacinths under and around the Quince bush.  The Violets around the Sand Cherry bush.  The first tulip is about to open. Also the white and yellow Daffodils are thriving in all the gardens. 

Yesterday afternoon I spent quite a while preparing and filing recipes. I am now looking for another place to keep the books because they fall over on the buffet.

While I was working on that Spirit was on the floor playing with Brandy’s ball.

There are two Baltimore Orioles in the yard now.  I have two pictures of one of them but trying to catch a shot of it up in the tree doesn’t allow for a great picture but I’ll keep trying!

Have a great day and remember to laugh!

The big thermometer on the porch reads 68 degrees but the thunderstorm yesterday afternoon has made attaining that warm feeling more difficult today. The flag, at the main entrance has been up for a couple of days now but I forgot to show you.  I haven’t checked the far side of the dome for flowers for two days but I’m sure they are coming right along.  I know that the Sand cherry, Quince, and the Snowball bush have tiny leaves spouting out all over so the tulips are not far behind. 

Speaking of the Quince bush the Baltimore Oriole has been playing hide and seek between it and the Crab apple tree.  I have made it one of my objectives to get a picture of it even if I have to sit out there in a lawn chair with the camera glued to my eye!

During the computer build yesterday my grand daughter tried to help things along by showing me her latest invention. 

It is called the Courtneyvision and is strictly voice activated.  No key board to spill coffee in.  You don’t even have to blow the cookie crumbs out from between the keys.  It works very well because I asked it what 2 times 2 was and it answered 4.  I figure if the new machine didn’t work I would just keep the Courtneyvision instead.  Of course I would save on electricity but I don’t know if feeding her would be cheaper!

Pammie has requested the recipe for the tart I made the other day so here goes.  This was found on the back of a calendar page from Kraft Foods (2007).

                      Free-Form Harvest Apple Tart

  Prep 20 min.              Total 55 min. ( incl. refrigerating)

  1 1/2 C flour                                 2 med. McIntosh apples (about 1 lb.)
  1/2 C (1 stick) butter softened                 unpeeled, cored, & thinly sliced
  1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, divided         1 tsp. cornstarch
  1 pkg. (4 serving size) Jello-Lemon           1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
      flavor gelatin, divided                   1/3 C sliced almonds

Place flour, butter, and half of the cream cheese in a food processor; cover.  Process,
using pulsing action, until mixture is well blended and almost forms a ball.
Shape dough into ball; wrap tightly with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate 1 hour or until chilled.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Place pastry on lightly floured surface; roll out to
14 x8 inch rectangle.  Place on parchment paper-covered baking sheet; set aside.
Mix remaining cream cheese and half of the dry gelatin mix until well blended.
Spread onto pastry to within 2 inches of edge.

Toss apples with remaining dry gelatin mix, cornstarch, and cinnamon.
Spoon evenly over cream cheese filling.  Fold edge of pastry over apples toward
center of tart.  (Apples in center of tart will remain exposed).
Sprinkle top with almonds.  Bake, in lower third of oven, 35 min. or
until crust is golden brown and apples are tender.  Cool.  Store leftover in refrigerator.

Makes 8 servings 1 slice each.

For more brown crust, lightly beat 1 egg yolk with 1 tsp. water. 
Brush over crust; sprinkle with 2 tsp. sugar.

Was it good?  You bet yah!  Hope you try it soon.  Our copy is going in the Tried ‘em—Like ‘em book!

What a glorious day.
I spotted my first Oriole this morning at the Humming bird feeder so I had to hurry and prepare the Oriole feeder for it before it moved on.  They are a colorful creature to see in flight.

Every door and window on the first floor was opened wide allowing the fresh air to permeate the inside fully.  Molly was sleeping in the open bedroom window enjoying both the breeze and the sun.  Brandy kept wanting to go outside but didn’t want to be alone out there .  You know it is almost impossible to fold clothes outside when there is nothing to fold them on.  If I left her out secured to something I could hear a whimper every time I passed the door.  I finally brought her in with a warning that I wasn’t playing her game any longer. 

I decided that this was a good day to change my sheets from flannel to cotton. 

Molly decided it was a good time to jump out of the window and get in the way as I was making the bed.  It took the flat sheet, a light blanket, and the bedspread to convince her to move on to the floor.
I took a picture of my work station this morning because SEB was bringing out my new machine this afternoon.

He arrived with daughter Courtney and her friend Brea.  My daughter in law had to work so she didn’t come with them.  The girls explored the dome and picked out a photo album to look at while having lunch.

Les worked on setting up my machine and transferring my data from the old one. 

He then took time to explain some of the extras I now have that weren’t on my old machine.  The speed is faster than the internet can download to.  The ability to play DVDs will be a great addition for me because It takes two remotes to play them on my TV.

Also the fact that it sits up on my desk so I don’t have to lean over to plug into a USB port.  I’m going to love this baby.  I especially want to thank my son for working so hard to build it for me.

…..one of those days.  You know—the kind where you do things but with no particular objective in mind.  My to do list was down to two things—the jam box and the humming bird feeder.  It had laid on my desk for a couple of weeks now and I was tired of moving it around.

I started with packing a box of jams and chutneys to send to my sister-in-law in Florida for her birthday next week.  I have been planning to get it shipped for a couple of weeks but just couldn’t get it done.  Well, it is in the post office and will reach her on Monday hopefully. 

The Humming bird feeder was next.  I assembled the feeder, mixed the nectar, and took out to the Crap apple tree.  I don’t know if the birds are ready to be here but I’m not taking any chances.  That allowed me to throw away my old to do list..

Next while watering the inside plants I stopped to take a picture of the last cactus bloom for a while anyway.

It has really been fun watching my two plants perform right into the end of April.

While in the upstairs bedroom the other day I decided to take down the 2008 calendar.  In doing so I discovered that it had recipes on the back of each page.  One in particular caught my eye.  It was called a Free Form Harvest Apple Tart.  Yesterday while shopping I picked a couple of things I needed to make this recipe.

Right now thanks to hubby’s help it is waiting to be sampled in the kitchen.  Not as pretty as the calendar picture but if it tastes good I won’t care.

Another thing that has been bugging me are the cans of of Eagle Brand milk in my cupboard.  Earlier this year I threw away two cans that were way past due rather than trying using them.  So I found two cans left over from Christmas.  Still good but I was thinking I should use them up.  So I enlisted hubby again and we made Chocolate truffles.

We will give some away and freeze the rest.  There is one can gone and one to go. 

Well it is time for supper to start bubbling on the stove so I had better get my butt in gear.  Take care!  See you later.

Here is wishing Anne and Lesley Jenkins a very Happy Anniversary today.  Son and daugrter-in-law tied the knot eight years ago.  May this be the beginning of a very happy year with many more to come. 

This is indeed the Spring we have been looking for.  When the Forsythia blooms you know it is here and not a moment too soon for me.  Even though today has been gray and rainy all day I’m not letting it spoil my joy.  I took several pictures yesterday of the flowers that are out.

The picture of the dark red plant is of the new growth on the Bleeding Hearts.

This bush has a special meaning for me.  My oldest brother, who passed away a little over a year and a half ago brought it from his house to plant here at the dome. 

Good news—The third rhubarb plant has made it’s appearance in the front garden finally.  I can smell that jam and chutney all ready!

Have a good week and don’t forget to laugh!

Wishing a very Happy Birthday, only a day late, to my sweet daughter-in-law Debra.  She is a colorful person to know !  There are women half her age that would kill to look as good as she!  Seriously she is great looking and as soon as I can get an up to date picture I’ll prove It! 

I sometimes wonder if I march to a different drummer or if my humor is taken seriously when all I want is to make someone smile.  In my post on Magic I felt it was funny.  I mean carrots and zucchini in pockets.  I would suspect that a real shoplifter would at least have hot dogs and steaks in his pocket. Granted we had purposely messed up our hair but wouldn’t it at least rate a snicker?  All I’m saying is I worked very hard to turn getting a haircut post into what I thought was freakin’ funny.  Oh well I’m different I guess!

This afternoon these two old farts trimmed the some of the trees in the front yard. 

That was the first of three trailer loads that Jay drove to the back yard for shredding when we regain are breath and balance later in the coming week.  We certainly were aware that we had sat around all winter when the back and ankles reminded us that we ain’t as young as we used to be.  I’m going to take my trusty grabber out there in the next day or two and start gathering the the little sticks and twigs that the lawn sweeper won’t pick up. 

Right now I have to warm up some Ham and Potato Lasagna that I made for the first time last night.  Glad I made enough for two meals because I sure don’t feel .like trying to create some exotic dish tonight after playing in the tree branches.  Take care—See yah!

Hubby and I woke up this morning looking like this!

The truth be told we have looked like this for weeks.  No amount of shampooing, combing, or brushing could change these poor souls from looking like our home was a cardboard box in an alley to someone you would welcome into your home. 

But thanks to the magic of our very good friend of more years than any of us like to talk about a change has occurred.

Shawn with her trusty instruments has transformed us into acceptable human beings fit to grace the aisles of any super market without having personnel looking for bulging pockets filled with carrots and zucchini.

Yes we can walked the streets of our fair town with heads held high knowing that we offend no one of good taste!  It is indeed magic!