Mary Janes Farm website

This is miss mary jane

don't you already just love her by looking at her red hat and apron?

This gal Mary Jane is a real farmer and cook and seamstress. She lives in Moscow Idaho and lived for many years on a farm with no electricity or running water. Her magazine and books are about tapping into your inner farmgirl..whether you live in the city or country every woman has a farmgirl heart and she is there to guide you back to yours. She can teach you to eat healthy, raise chickens, make an apron or bake crackers. On her website there is a Farmgirl chatroom, a Farmgirl Barter where you can trade junk. You can strut your stuff in the marketplace, or you can start your own farmgirl chapter (there are now 900 worldwide)

http://www.maryjanesfarm.org/

You are going to LOVE this woman and her earthy ideas and I might add her fabric...

Cheers to Happy !!

Wild Horse Monument

In Vantage Washington, just over the Columbia River and going up the other side there is a roadside view of the 'Wild Horse Monument' it is the best place. When driving over the Columbia

                           
on Interstate 90 you start singing 'Roll on Columbia' and humming the words you don't know and then you say ' Oh look the wild horse monument' like you haven't said that a million times before. Today we stopped to take pictures....

Oh look a trail, well anyone who knows me for a minute knows I don't walk up hill, so I start around the other side to take another shot......

I was going to see what kind of shots I could get there,

There I got that one and no snakes, now back around and there right in front of my eyes is someone coming from the monument........

Yes the 'cutest boy in the world' went up there and got the most fabulous shots...see..

aren't they beautiful?

and then this one

doesn't he look like he is dancing?

and back down again!

That is such fun!

Cheers to Happy  !!

Fall is here and with it comes a certain sense of loss.  Not only for sunny days, but it always brings to my mind our little gardens are going to bed down and sleep for the winter.  Today I want to share a really special garden with you.  I have  a dear friend (I think of her as the Goddess of Gardening) Trish.  So you can refer to her as "Trish the Goddess".  She invited me over the other day to photograph some of her beautiful flowers.  I took pictures for less than an hour and had 180 images.  It was so wonderful to stand in this magical place.  Before I post more of pictures I want to share with you a treasured memory of mine.  My grandfather, Oscar Swalander's family came to the Pacific Northwest in the late 1800's.  He had a little sister Velma (better known in my circle as Aunt Wowie, Velma being way too hard for my mother to pronounce).

Now Aunt Wowie had a wonderful talented way of explaining life to all of us.  She was the one that told us about the fairies in the garden.  She would explain that some of the flowers were actually little umbrellas to keep the fairies dry in the rain.  Or she would tell us that if were very quiet and still we might actually see the fairies dancing about among the flowers.  So as you look at the pictures here think of her and imagine smiling little faces dancing with carefree abandon in "Trish's" Garden.

I am not going to name the flowers because I can't remember all of their names.  I could just make some up, however if you tried to buy the seeds with my names it might be a little problem...

These sunflowers were simply amazing.  I am thinking
little fairy children would love to climb to the top
of the tall stems and lounge around on the flowers.

The picture on the left of the Zinnia's (I do know that one) brings to my mind Monet's work.  The flowers were as tall as I am.  Wow!!!

This tree is fabulous.  The leaves smell like peanut butter (Not kidding either) and the flowers smell like gardenias.  How amazing is that one?
I see fairies sliding down these leaves and playing in the moss under the tree.

Rosa Rugosa what beautiful flowers.

This beautiful flower is a Black Holly Hock.

I say "slide on over Georgia O'Keefe's Poppy"

because this one is real.

You know only in a magic garden will you find morning glories among the grapes.

This is one of my favorites.

These just might be parachutes.  Multi-tasking in

the garden.

Party hats for fairies I am thinking....

I don't know about you, these could be little tables. Just sayin'

Before we leave this most enchanted garden,  remember these flowers will go to sleep for the winter and spring will come and we will look forward to their most welcome return.  And on those long winter night's we can look at the seed catalogs and dream dream's of what's to come.  What will the Goddess of the Garden think of next to delight the eye in the spring.   One can only imagine.  For all of this I say thank you Trish for sharing with us.

Same time next year...

Cheers to Happy !!

Mary....

Oh Sunday, Sunday

I belong to a gang, we used to be an active gang ,and  it would just take a few minutes to round everbody up again, just in case anyone wants some cows moved or some songs sung. The Thunder Mountain Gang. Oh my we used to have so fun! We dressed as cowboys, rode horses, took trips, and listened to Cowboy poetry. We went to Idaho to listen to some of the best cowboy poets ever....One could easily say it was the best of times.... A Cowboy poet, Denise McRae, who lives on a small ranch out in the high mountain desert of Leadore Idaho, wrote the most moving and touching poem I have ever heard. It has touched many hearts and I wanted to share it with you on this Sunday.

The Little Purple Flower

Back home in Leadore where the weather is harsh,

A little purple flower grows out in the marsh.

On a tall, thin green stem growing out of the ground,

five petals point upward, the rest of the flower points down.

Below the purple petals is a little yellow band,

and on the band I see the touch of the masters hand.

On the little yellow band is a red zigzag line,

running clear around so perfect and fine.

In that little red line I find reason to believe,

theres somebody somewhere much greater than me.

And I believe God is the one with the power,

who else would spend time designing a flower

that would grow out in Leadore in the marshy cold sod,

with such attention to detail, who else but God.

So a simple little flower with a zigzag red line,

is my reason to believe in intelligent design.

And the universe ain't chaos I believe God has the power,

to speak to my heart with a little marsh flower.

Denise McRae

Cheers to Happy !!

Cookbooks

Oh Boy do I have cookbooks! There was a time in my life when I collected cookbooks, I think a cookbook is a good read. I got rid of most of them, here is my current bookcase of cookbooks....

I know it is a little messy but I have all the favorites that I have kept,

I have got Julia,

This old gal, this is a great read!

all of the Barefoot Contessas,

This sweet mothers cookbook

Fanny Farmers Baking book,

and speaking of baking,

                             

This is the most loved of books! The cookie cookbook! My kids and I made so many wonderful cookies from this book it is in a very delicate condition.

A  sweet little book on mexican cooking,

James Beard on Bread,

No Kitchen would be complete without 'a cowboy in the kitchen',

There are these great ones,

and then there are these,

Can't forget this most adorable one!

(I wrote this charmer)

my favorite go to cookbook out of all these?

                          

America's Test Kitchen! The best book around,

and baking book.

they explain everything, they show plenty of 'how to', they have the 'best of the best, recipes

and even,

they tell you  the products to use, because this being Americas Test Kitchen they have tested them all.

Here they are testing and sampling canned diced tomatoes.

If you were going to buy just one book, or give one book, this is the one!

Cheers to Happy !!

Juice

How the heck do you get the 5 sevings of fruits and vegetables in per day? Puzzling huh? A juicer is one way to do it.

              

You can juice all kinds of vegetables:
Cucumbers
tomatoes
Carrots
beets (great for iron)
beans
celery
peppers
different herbs
parsley
ginger
mint

Fruits including stone fruits

Apples

Oranges

Grapes

all berries

peaches

plums

pears

lemons and limes

Put in the combination you and your family like and out comes liquid sunshine!

This is peach, apple, carrot and orange, very tasty

I have the Jack Lalane juicer, I have seen it available at target and at cosco both at about $90.  I bought mine on Craigslist for $15. The best money I have spent for a long time.

Cheers to Happy !!!

The Grand Cinema

Do you want the most fun movie experience? Go to the Grand Cinemas! It is a small movie theater,(only 50 seats per theater) that shows mostly artsy movies, some of them are independent films and some are not, and sometimes foreign films... They show 4 movies so usually there is something there that you are dying to see.

The tickets are $8.50 for full price, and popcorn $2.25 for a small bag...The butter they put on is REAL ...ice cold water is free..The grand is mostly run by volunteers. They have an $80.00 membership you can buy and save $1 off of movie tickets and free popcorn, also many free movie nights, so it is worth the price if you are a regular movie goer.

The Grand Cinema is located in downtown Tacoma on the corner of 6th and Fawcett in the Merlino Arts building...perhaps you have seen the neon sign.

Here is a link to the Movie theater...

http://www.grandcinema.com/

The Tacoma film festival is from October 1st-8th.
Check it out...there is all kinds of films playing all around town. Some sound very interesting.

http://www.tacomafilmfestival.com/


Enjoy the Arts!!

Cheers to Happy !!