Spring 2018 Blooms

Here are some photos from the yard.

I missed taking a photo of my tulips:(

Columbines

Clematis

Siberian Weeping Pea

Lily of the Valley

Forget Me Nots

Sweet Woodruff

Japanese Maple

Poppy

What Papers Should You Keep?

What papers are important?

What receipts should you keep?

What do you do with all the papers piled on your kitchen table?

What about product manuals and assembly instructions?

Here's what I suggest keeping, plus a few tips about how to organize them:

1. Tax Returns and Support Documents - Keep these in a file cabinet (or fireproof safe) for at least 7 years (and maybe forever) including supporting documents.  Here's a link with more info: 

Keeping Tax Returns

2. Receipts for Major Purchases - If your gas grill, furnace or refrigerator malfunctions within the first year or so, you should be able to document the date of sale.  Even if the warranty is expired, you can still contact customer service with a valid complaint.  I keep the sales receipt inside the front cover of the product manual.  These are in my file cabinet.  You could store them in a plastic bin in a closet or basement storage.

3. Receipts for Major Home Improvements - Depending on what state you live in and what year, there are tax breaks for certain energy-saving improvements.  Keep those papers in a file or folder.  They might even come in handy if you sell your house!

4. Vehicle Records - Keep your purchase records from the dealer, your insurance policy, major repair receipts (transmission, etc.), and warranties in a file, one for each vehicle.

5. Life Documents - Birth certificates, passports, wills, immunization records, social security cards, marriage certificates...all the really important stuff should be in a fire-proof box.  You don't want to ever go through the hassle of replacing these documents!

6. Credit Card Statements, Utility Bills, Maintenance Receipts - It depends on your situation.  If you have a small business and need to use these receipts for taxes at the end of the year, then keep them in a file for that year, then file with your taxes.  If you don't need them for tax purposes, then they can be shredded once you've checked to make sure they are correct.  **These are the kinds of papers I've seen piled up on a kitchen counter!  Have a designated spot for them and put them away.

7. Restaurant Receipts, Gas Receipts, Grocery Store, etc...  Once you've cleared the transaction with your bank account, shred these!!  Don't let them pile up anywhere!

Welcome Spring!

I love this time of year!

I love the flowers poking up through the ground.

I love the green color popping up all over.

I love the smell of freshness in the air.

I love the promise of life coming back from

a long, winter's sleep.

I love dreaming of all the things I want to do outside!

Here are some photos from my yard

and some great quotes to Welcome Spring!

Hans Christian Andersen

"Just living is not enough... one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower."

Gerard De Nerval

"Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature."

Theodore Roethke

"Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light."

Luther Burbank

Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul."

Marcus Tullius Cicero

"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."

5 Favorite Home Hacks

Life is difficult.  Time is precious.  We are all busy.  Here are my Favorite Cleaning and Organizational Hacks that make my life easier.  Please let me know yours!

1. Keep cleaning products where you need them the most!  I keep everything I need to clean the bathroom right under the sink.  No walking around the house to find supplies!

2.  My dishwasher is my absolute favorite appliance.  I was 28 before I had one, so I feel like I'm still making up for lost time!  I put everything that can possibly be cleaned into it.  My dishwasher helps me clean plastics, kitchen racks, combs and hairbrushes, you name it!

3. Shelves!!  What can I say about shelves and cubbies except that I LOVE them.  They make it possible to get everything off the floor and in its proper place.  I get a warm fuzzy feeling when I pass the home organization shelving aisle in any store.  They make my life easier:)

4. Command Hooks.  I put small command hooks on the sides of my garbage can so that I can hook my bag to them.  The bag doesn't fall into the can anymore!  I use command hooks to organize my jewelry on my closet wall.  It's so nice to clearly see the items that I wear the most instead of digging through a drawer.

5. Lestoil.  If you ever have a grease stain on clothes, this product is the best greasy spot remover I've found.  Because we cook a lot, we get grease stains on clothes regularly.  Lestoil has saved some of our favorite clothes!  It's petroleum-based, so it has a strong smell.  But it works like a charm.  I apply with a toothbrush, let it sit for a minute, then launder as usual.  That takes care of most spots.  If necessary I repeat, or let it soak overnight in water with Lestoil.  

Feeling Bogged Down? It's Time to Lighten Up!

This is a great time of year to lighten your load.

Do you have extra time with these long winter nights?

Storage bins and organizers are on sale everywhere.

Why not go through closets and drawers and clean out?

Here are some tips:

Easy to get rid of items 

- books you will never read again

-gifts you've never used

-kitchen gadgets covered with dust

-dated furniture and pillows

-old sweaters/jeans that you don't wear

-old sporting equipment

-extra blankets, sheets, bedspreads

-office/craft supplies you don't use

Donate these to a good charity.

Animal shelters take old sheets and blankets!

Harder to get rid of items

-sentimental family items

-old photo albums

-"Grandma's" dishes, doilies, etc.

You don't have to keep everything!  Try to pare down the volume of these items and keep ONLY the really special ones.

Also, some items can be re-purposed into something

you will use and truly enjoy having.

**It doesn't honor your loved-ones to pile boxes in your garage or attic.  I have some very special items from my mother that I use and treasure.  I re-purposed her hand-crocheted lace tablecloth into curtains for

my living room.

  I have a few pieces of her jewelry that I wear often.  And I have several small  "memory" boxes to hold mementos from my childhood and my sons' early years.  

The items I chose to keep easily fit on one closet shelf and don't bog me down.  It takes some time to make decisions about what to keep, but it's time well-spent.

If you take the time to lighten your load and give to a good charity, you won't regret it:)

Blooming Rosemary??

 Happy New Year 2018!!

May this year be marked by blessing and

God's favor for all of you!

I wrote a post last fall about bringing tender herbs inside for the winter.  In previous years I have wintered-0ver my lemon verbena, rosemary and mint.

Here's the link to the post:  Bring Your Herbs Inside

This year I only transplanted my rosemary plants because we love to use sprigs to infuse butter for steaks.

Well...imagine my surprise last week when I went to water the plants and saw this:

Beautiful pale violet flowers on my Rosemary in January!!

Who knew that this plant bloomed?  I certainly didn't.

I suppose this is a good way to start the new year.

I need to be prepared to learn lots of new things and look for unexpected gifts all around me.  I'm starting this year with thankfulness for my family, my friends, and so much more!

What gifts are around you already this year?

Nonna's Pizzelles

I decided to make Italian Pizzelles to serve for dessert.  I haven't made them in over 20 years.  I got this recipe 
from a friend's Nonna (Italian for Grandma).
Her cookies are delicious. And because I'm now a "Nonna" I knew it was a good sign that these pizzelles
were going to be great:)

Here's the recipe:

3 large eggs

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup butter melted then cooled

1 1/2  to 2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

Anise Oil or Vanilla to taste

Beat eggs and sugar together.

Add cooled melted butter a little at a time. Beat well.

Gradually add enough flour to make a very light dough.

If you want thicker pizzelles, add more flour.

You can substitute orange flavor or coconut rum instead of vanilla.

If you want to roll them for filling do it as soon as you take them out of the iron.

Let cool completely on a rack or tablecloth before packaging.

I have an old electric pizzelle iron that I wasn't sure exactly how to use. I didn't grease the iron enough for the first 2 cookies and they stuck and burned!

So, make sure you grease your iron well! I used a little margarine and then some oil to keep the plates greased.

I put small blobs of dough about the size of a ping-pong ball using 2 spoons.

The pizzelles cooked on the iron for about 45 to 50 seconds until lightly golden. I lifted them with a metal spatula and let them cool on wire racks.

I got 40 pizzelles from this recipe and they were wonderful!! Tony gave them his stamp of approval,

and that means a lot:)

Some interesting family history: here's my mother's pizzelle iron (made in Italy with her initials, CR - Rose Ciotti)

that she used her whole life.

I remember vividly sitting at the kitchen table, rolling out her pizzelle dough into small balls so she could stand at the stove the cook each one for about a minute on each side. I wish I had pictures of those moments:) Mom, I hope my pizzelles are as good as yours!