GLEN BURNIE GARDENS IN WINCHESTER, VIRGINIA CONTINUED - 9-17-24

It had rained before we got there, and the grass was wet. There were parts we had to tread carefully.  The benches were damp but weren't too bad. I was eager to see more of the glass exhibits we missed the last time we were here because of the heat. You can see that post at this link. I don't know whether we will be able to get back before the exhibit goes in October. We were also hoping that it wouldn't start raining again. Thankfully it didn't.

As we headed towards the garden after we parked the car, I noticed something fluttering in a bush next to the parking lot. It was a mockingbird. 

Gregg took all of the photos in today's post. I was very grateful to him for getting them. It has been several months since we have taken any shots of birds, and even longer of a Mockingbird. An interesting fact I found here, is that there are 16 species around the world that go by the name mockingbird. The Northern Mockingbird here is the only native of the United States. 

The bush we found our mockingbird is called the Honey Locust. It has a lot of names and one of them is Three-Thorned Acacia. Its botanical name is Gleditsia triacanthos.

We left him to his preening and crossed the road to the garden. I am once again starting too late to do a long post, but here's a preview of three glass exhibits. I will go into more detail next time.

There were lots of berries to keep the birds happy.

And on that note I will finish for now. More photos to follow.

Thanks for visiting and enjoy your day.

A PREVIEW OF…

 a trip back to Glen Burnie Gardens in Winchester, Virginia. We felt like a ride today (9/16/24). There was thick cloud cover and we knew it was going to rain later, with more over the next several days. But we thought we might be lucky if we started out early enough. This is a planter that I am always drawn to. It has two dragon handles on each side as you can see.  More photos next time as I am tuckered out and am off to bed early.

Thanks for looking and as always, I hope your day is a great one.

LATEST ODDS AND BODS - 9/17/24

This one doesn’t look quite ready to get up yet. I know that feeling!

My latest cozy dream cottage.

I would definitely like this in there.

Or a crackling fire would be great on an extra cold morning.

Definitely this!

And maybe at the other end of the bedroom, or a cozy corner in a quiet part of the house.

And this in the garden.

And this, long considered to be a symbol of good luck. If you have a flight to fancy, if one lands on you it means better times are ahead, a positive experience is on its way. The dragonfly is also associated with change and rebirth, much like butterflies.

 

And talking of butterflies, how about some fun with food?

This is so cute!  I am not sure I would have the patience to put it together though. 

These look simpler, maybe not the lotus..

Does this sound good? This is the main part of our Christmas meal. I have never cooked it this way before. 

And for dessert? Once again, I have not made any of these recipes.

Or something healthier.  I am like the cartoon character who has the angel sitting on one shoulder, and the little devil on the on the other. Should I, shouldn’t I? 

Snacking for later, maybe! 

Pretty Fall art.

No rabbits this time, the bear wanted to say hello today.

How about some wildlife, the real kind this time?

Has she gone yet?  Not yet Baby, soon though, very soon but first, here are a few chuckles for you.

My dentist told me I needed a crown. I was like, I KNOW, RIGHT?”

The likelihood is that you have heard these before.

The following you have to know Marie Kondo to get it, and I believe she is known worldwide.  Her actual quote is, “Take each item in one’s hand and ask: ‘Does this spark joy? If it does, keep it. If it does not, dispose of it.’” I need Marie’s advice for getting into the closets this week. Otherwise I am tossing everything. 

Or I could always throw them back into the closet and wait until springtime, tsk!  I can hear distant laughter😆maybe, from those who know me are smiling or rolling their eyes up to the ceiling. 49 years of sentimentality in these bones. The man in the house has made his start, I will be following soon. Does this spark joy? I have 49 years of things that spark joy in this house, that's my problem.

A few wise words.

Ah yes, this is me.

It is time to tell the kitty that…

Enjoy the rest of your week everyone, 

And thanks for stopping by.

MONDAY MORNING RECIPE POST - CILANTRO-LIME BLACK BEAN RICE

My dish this week came from Julia's Album. The original recipe can be found here. It is described as an easy, light, delicious, gluten free side dish. It is flavored with lime juice and cilantro, which made it very yummy. If you don't enjoy these two items, you could replace them with your own choices. I especially enjoyed the added lime juice. I also like the idea of pairing it with Julia's recipe of Cilantro Lime Honey Garlic Salmon. You can find it at this link, but other favorite proteins would suite very nicely. 

Cilantro-Lime Black Bean Rice - 4 servings

Approximate calories per serving: 321

2 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1 cup Jamine rice, uncooked (you can use any rice that says on the packet that it cooks in 15 minutes)

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons lime juice, freshly squeezed (use one tablespoon first before adding another, to suit your own taste)

15 ozs. can of black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Use a large, deep skillet or a large sauce pan.

Add chicken broth, uncooked rice, 1/4 teaspoon salt and minced garlic to the skillet or saucepan.

Bring to a boil. Mix everything well and reduce the heat to a low boil/simmer. Cover the skillet with the lid. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, covered, until the rice is cooked through.

Remove skillet from heat. Mix in 1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lime juice, rinsed and drained beans, and fresh cilantro into the rice. Add more salt and small amount of lime juice if needed to suit your own taste. Julia suggested 1 extra tablespoon.

Julia's note: she thought 2 tablespoons of lime juice (fresh squeezed only) are just perfect, but the lime flavor might be too strong for some people, so you might  just add 1 to 1-1/2 tablespoons instead of the two she used. I actually ended up adding more lime juice at the table but it's entirely up to you how much.

If you go to her website you will be able to read the full nutritional value of this meal, and see other very appetizing recipes.

(Less would be more trying to add the lime slices to pretty it up a bit, but it worked out as far as adding flavor to the dish.)

I read several comments and thought it would be a good thing to read first next time. Here are some of the things that took my interest.

Adding a fresh corn-on-the-cob and eating it on the side made a great meal for one commenter.

Another said that instead of the whole 2 cups of chicken broth, she substituted a can of coconut cream and then enough chicken broth to make up the 2 cup measure.

Someone else used a bowl with a bed of lettuce, topped with the beans and rice, plus tomatoes, onions, peppers and papaya.

Another commenter asked about making this dish the day before. The answer was yes, it can be made up to two days in advance and kept refrigerated.

Reheating can be done in the microwave, adding a small amount (a tablespoon or 2) of water, or freshly squeezed lime juice. This will prevent the rice from sticking.

Someone said hers was very starchy. Julia said to thoroughly rinse the rice with cold water before cooking and that should take care of it. This is something we noticed and we realized we had forgotten to rinse the rice.

Another person used cauliflower rice instead of rice and said it was delicious.

Someone used a few dashes of green Tabasco sauce (we splashed a little sriracha on ours). 

The dish can be served cold or at room temperature. (We said this would be a great dish to take on a picnic.)

One person used it in a family favorite which was a burrito bowl topped with salsa verde, honey-lime chicken and all the fixings for their particular dish.

Someone else used kidney beans instead of black beans, though the black beans made it look extra pretty in my humble opinion.

What did we think. Out of 10 out of 10, 10 being the best, Gregg gave this a 7 and I gave it a 9. He found it a bit bland and stodgy (the stodginess I think was because of not rinsing the rice. I didn’t think it was bland, just not highly seasoned.  There are times when I would rather have tasty but plainer tasting food). However, the more he ate, the more he liked and by the time he finished, his number became 8-1/2. He said he would eat it again but as a small side served next to a protein.

The first night we served it with an already cooked rotisserie chicken from the supermarket. The second night we bought shrimp which were sauteed in a separate frying pan.

I had this on its own for a vegetarian meal on the third day. There was just enough left for a light lunch and it was delicious. I had a quarter of lime left and sprinkled the juice on my serving. The more lime juice for me the better. I would definitely make this again.

Here is the full address if you want to copy and paste instead of using the link above.

https://juliasalbum.com/cilantro-lime-black-bean-rice/

Thank you for looking at this week's recipe. 

Have a great day!

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE - HERE IS THE STORY OF MY PET RAT

I had a 24-hour pet rat when I was about eight years’ old, a vivid memory to this day, given to me by a little boy I knew in the neighborhood. When he showed me I immediately fell in love with that sweet little thing. I toddled off home carrying it in a small cage, very excited to tell mother about my new pet, that it was a gift and then proudly, I didn't have to spend any of my pocket money (all three-pence of it). Mum took a good long look, smiled and said something like, how nice dear.

The next day, on my return home from school, my new pet was nowhere to be seen. Mum, looking serious as she sat me down, explained with great sympathy, that it missed its mummy badly, and its mummy missed her child. They were very sad and she felt they should be reunited immediately. Then she said to me, I would miss you and you would miss me, right? Sadly, I agreed and I went out in the back garden to seek comfort from my pet rabbits. 

Mum was used to me bringing things home. Worms were really interesting, and frogs. I drew a line with spiders after playing in a long, narrow gully on open land a month before. At great speed, I ran through thousands of tiny hatchlings on thousands of tiny webs floating on the air at face level. My friends ran off screaming in all directions. Mum heard me screaming from the next street over and spent a long time clearing them off my face and out of my hair. Why mother's go gray, I think I've heard that somewhere before. Mum was a good egg. She didn’t grow up with animals but when she married Dad, they came with the territory. We already had a dog, Skipper, a cat, Binky, a budgerigar, Kim, and lots of rabbits named after Dad’s western shows. There was Cheyenne, Sugarfoot, Maverick, Rowdy and Miss Kitty to name a few. 

As for my newly departed pet, I found out several years later from my sister, that Mum marched up to my friend's home, and gave the little rat-child back to its mother, my friend’s mother that is. She apparently was not happy to get it back.

I wrote this story for our son, and I am very sorry I didn’t buy you a pet rat. We did, however, have Bridgette who was our sweet dog-fur-baby, and Big Al, (I don’t know where son got that name from). Big Al was a turtle rechristened Big Alice by son when she laid an egg. I called her Popsy on the quiet. 

And coincidentally a mouse fell into a bucket in the garage found by son. With great pride he announced he had a pet. A few hours later on his return from school, I told him that his mummy missed it too. (I released it into the hills behind our house and asked it nicely not to come back.) Son was around the same age as I was when I had my 24-hour pet rat. He also was not very happy mouse-ling went home, but he understood. That's when we went to the pet store and bought Big Al/Big Alice/Popsy. Bridgette arrived a couple of years later. They were with us for many years and will never be forgotten. They brought us a lot of joy, many smiles, and even more tales I'll tell one day.

 And that's the end of the story of my 24-hour pet rat.